Best Family Vacation~priddymomma

Princess Cheerio is 18 months old.  We haven't gone on an official vacation with her yet.  This summer, we went camping.  While it was still fun, I thought we had to build an ark.  These pictures were from one of the rare sunny post-rain moments. 

We went camping at Tippecanoe River State Park in Winamac, Indiana right after I found out I was pregnant with Princess Cheerio.  That stands as our favorite family vacation.  The weather was great, Cheerio Champ loved being outdoors, and we did some real bonding as a family.

I ended up sleeping rather a lot as I was exhausted from the first trimester of pregnancy.  We couldn't do nearly as much hiking as we wanted, because the mosquitoes were terrible on the trails!  But it ended up being so relaxing and fun.  We didn't anticipate how much we would enjoy just being there and being outside.  The campsite there had plenty to see and a playground for Cheerio Champ to visit.  The bathrooms had tree frogs, which Cheerio Champ thought was awesome.  And the long car trip was pleasant as Cheerio Champ loves car rides.  Oh yeah.  Our car battery died overnight as well, but we got a jump from a friendly camper and made it home just fine.  All-in-all, it just goes to show you that the road bumps are the parts that make a trip memorable.  If your vacation isn't going as planned, there might just be more fun in store than you could have imagined. 

(A)Typical Tuesday~priddymomma

SURPRISE!  I get to be first this week!  Tori has some sick kiddos, so either you’ll hear from her later this week or you’ll have to contain yourselves until next week.  I’m sure you all know how it is. 

This week, we’re covering A Day in the Life.  It was an interesting day I took notes on.  I had planned to tell you all that my days aren’t normally like this and that they aren’t usually this hectic…but maybe they are.  What is NOT the usual, however, is my injury.  You see, I unwisely decided a bench in the middle of the mall at 11:30 p.m. was the perfect place for a Broadway Dance number.  It turns out that it is not.  I stepped down from said dance number and abruptly rolled my ankle.  Talk about your show-stopper!  Total drag, as I was on a date with the hubby at the time.  I’m recovering though.  Thank-you for your concern.  I’m an idiot.  I know.  Anyway, we were out late on a Monday night, so I got up late on Tuesday and had to deal with an injury.  All-in-all, I was fairly miserable.  Fun fun. 

Without further ado, here it is! 

Tuesday April 9^th, 2013

6 a.m.-Wake up after five hours of sleep.  Pee.

Injured so just remained in bed.  Hubby was nice enough to bring me food and drink.  Hubby leaves for work.  Read until Cheerio Champ wakes up

8 a.m.-Spent 1 hour in room with Cheerio Champ.  Playing, reading, and tossing around Spanish vocabulary

Got him set up to get ready and started on chores

9 a.m.-Got Princess Cheerio up and nursed.  One hour behind normal schedule.

Eat a few bites of leftovers from fridge while assembling breakfast for the kids

8:30 a.m. -Breakfast-granola, yogurt, and fruit for Cheerio Champ

Yogurt, fruit, and cheerios for Princess Cheerio

Princess Cheerio spits food in my face.

10 a.m.-Changed Princess Cheerio-poop gets on a block.  Don’t ask.

Cheerio Champ’s reading a chapter book nicely.

Cheerio Champ wants to be tickled.  Tickling occurs.  Princess Cheerio very upset she is being left out.  Princess Cheerio gets tickled.  The pattern continues until injured ankle is tapped and I am DONE.

Clean poop block

Cheerio Champ wants to sweep up stray cheerios

Take board book from Princess Cheerio.  Books are not food.

Put away dishes in drainer

Wash highchair tray and drainer of dishes and wipe down table and highchair.

Start laundry.

Sweep up cheerios Cheerio Champ no longer cares about

Give Princess Cheerio the baby doll Cheerio Champ took from her

Take Furby away from Cheerio Champ for the day for screaming the same nonsense over and over in my face. 

Thank Cheerio Champ for giving Princess Cheerio her baby doll back.  Watch kids pass doll back and forth for a while.

Cheerio Champ is upset about the cheerios he didn’t get to finish sweeping up.

Try to sneak a cupcake in the kitchen while the kids are playing

Everybody has a cupcake.

Clean up cupcake mess. 

Kids extra whiney.  Both are tired and both got shots yesterday at the doctor’s office and are not feeling their best.

Realize I need to pay power bill today.  Can’t immediately find power bill.  Find it in the bathroom…

On way back to computer desk, stub toe and jar injured ankle.  Cursing follows.  Small amount of tears.  Now fury.  Realize Cheerio Champ saw entire episode.  Now need to address behavior issue as he is kicking things and screaming a colorful word.

Fill water bottle and finally put away cereal from this morning. 

Limp to computer desk, only to have to look for the power bill again.  CHEERIO CHAMP is trying to eat it after taking it from Princess Cheerio, who was also trying to eat it. 

Princess Cheerio wants me to read Goodnight Moon and I tell her just a minute.  She begins slamming book against gate and falls and cries.  

Comfort her and read the damn book.  Cheerio Champ interrupts to tell me George Washington’s birthday (February twenty-two!). 

Put her down, only to have her slam book and cry again.  Now Cheerio Champ wants to read Goodnight Moon.  Tug-of-war.

Scold Cheerio Champ for talking meanly to Princess Cheerio.  Scold Princess Cheerio for playing with the vent.

Watch Princess Cheerio booty bump the door and giggle.  I giggle, not her.  She’s very serious about this booty bumping. 

Watch Princess Cheerio booty bump baby gate.  Tell Cheerio Champ not to booty bump baby gate.

Finally get soggy power bill paid online.

Tell Cheerio Champ to quit chewing on Goodnight Moon.  Tell him to put it back on bookshelf as he took it in his room to chew on it where I couldn’t see him.

Tell Cheerio Champ not to touch a birthday present for a friend.

Kids are yelling.

Kids are making rude noises. 

Headache.  Ankle is swelling more.

Getting set up for nap time.  Tell Cheerio Champ to leave baby gate alone.

Get Cheerio Champ set up with some presidents information he can look through (as per request).  

Pee.

Take book Princess Cheerio is eating.

Turn on lullaby music.

Come to find that I didn’t actually add laundry to the washer.  Trying again.

Ankle throbs and I almost fall.  Cheerio Champ laughs at me.

12:30 p.m.-change Princess Cheerio (finally dressed in day clothes) and nurse down for nap.

1:45 p.m.-Quiet time for Cheerio Champ

Elect not to exercise or homeschool…or do much of anything due to swelling in ankle.  Curl up in bed.

Hear Cheerio Champ in hysterics.  Rush in to find he has a new hopefully-not-hobby:  stuffing toys in his nose.  Toy comes out.  Lecture…and life goes on.

2:30 p.m.-change Princess Cheerio and curl up in bed again

2:45 p.m.-hubby calls.  Hobble my ass to phone in dining room.  Coming home early.

Finally get to shower and wash baby food off my arm from this morning

3:10 p.m.- hubby is home

3:20 p.m.- hubby changes Princess Cheerio and puts her in highchair while I assemble lunch

3:30 p.m.-late lunch for kids and no lunch for me.  Didn’t feel like standing any longer.

Hubby is nice enough to clean up after lunch 

Find out my brother and his girlfriend aren’t coming over after all.  Relieved in a way because my ankle aches, but sad we don’t have plans

Kids play/scream/beat me up while hubby makes egg sandwiches for dinner

5:30 p.m.- dinner.  I get some veggies and fruit to go with sandwiches.

I need desperately to lay down, so hubby is kind enough to allow me to.  He finishes dinner with the kids, cleans up, and bathes Princess Cheerio.  

I wake up to Princess Cheerio screaming in the bath tub.  I have napped for fifteen minutes.  Wooo!  I feel better for it though.

Hubby takes care of after bath routine with Princess Cheerio and reads her a story.  I play with Cheerio Champ a bit.  He tries to bite me during tickles.  

Nursing Princess Cheerio while hubby showers Cheerio Champ and reads to him and puts him to bed.

8 p.m.-Bedtime for Princess Cheerio.

Hubby is studying Tai Chi via DVD.  I collapse in a heap and drowse/read for twenty minutes before looking for a snack. 

Remember that there are wet clothes in the washer and throw them in the dryer.  Fold massive basket of laundry.

Play Mario Party 8 with hubby.

Feed cats.  Check on kids.  Brush teeth.

10 p.m.-bed.

10:30 p.m.-pee.

11:00 p.m.-pee again.

Can you relate?  What is a day like for you?  Any topic requests?  Comment or email us at thecaseofthemissingcheerios@gmail.com.  We’d love to hear from you!  Look for Leslie’s post on Saturday!

Cleaning...Schedule?~priddymomma

WOW has this been a busy couple of weeks!  I’m typing this much later than I usually would get to it, because MY KIDS ARE GROWING UP!!!  Princess Cheerio just turned one this week!  ONE!  And Cheerio Champ turned five last week!  We’re planning a big party this weekend, we had family pictures taken yesterday, we hosted an Easter brunch at our place last weekend, there was a lot of spring cleaning, and etcetera!  Thus, last minute post.  I’m doing good to have remembered to post at all…

Cleaning!  I’m not sure I know what that even is!  I feel like my house has been in desperate need of a cleaning since I was pregnant with my first.  I found out the hard way that my husband has way looser standards of what “clean” is than I.  (Rinsing out a bowl to use a second time a day later is NOT clean, man!  What is WRONG with you??!)  He works full time, so he doesn’t have the “time” to spend on chores that I “do”.  (“apparently”  I feel like “using”  “quotations” all the “”time””?)”  He cleans when he’s feeling charitable, so I try to keep him happy.  (Is that so wrong?!) 

My house is in a state of flux at all times.  Its clutter and cleanliness are directly reflective of my inner state of mind at any given time.  If the front of the house looks great, I’m putting on a face for the world, but you can bet the bedroom is full of things to sort through and organize.  Hey!  I just sorted through some inner demons!  Time to tackle that closet!

I try to keep up with the day to day things and at least not make a bigger mess of things, though I’m finding that harder and harder the more mobile Princess Cheerio gets.  She likes to pull all the books off the bookshelves and eat them.  Literally EAT them, like a literal adorable bookworm.  I’m not sure that is the healthiest thing on the planet, so I try to discourage that if at all possible.  But, I digress.  Cleaning up after the kids 1,048,209,034,403 times a day is not helping me catch-up on backlogged chores.  Also, homeschooling and exercise dips into that time drastically, and errands, not to mention actually spending time with my family!

I read a tip once that helps.  Let’s say you are in your living room, but you need to get your kiddo a cup of water.  On your way to the kitchen, you can grab a cup someone left on the coffee table and rinse it out as you get your kid his juice.  When you head back to the living room, you have the juice, but you can also take that magazine that came in the mail to the coffee table.  See where I’m going with this?  It works, but I have one issue:  I easily get sidetracked and find myself leaving jobs half-finished or starting a project that is just not very high on the priority list.  (Yeah!  What a great time to scrub the faucet!  My face sure looks funny like that!)  Two hours of cleaning = zero complete projects.  “Hi honey!  What did you do today?”  “…I don’t know…”

Don’t believe all the tips though.  I read a tip that suggested not procrastinating anything that takes less than 30 seconds to complete.  That sounds reasonable and is all good and fine if it’s a toilet paper roll on a holder, but 30 seconds is an eternity in tot time.  Tot time, by the way, is the term for the amount of time that passes when you are not actively watching your child.  (Yes.  Coined by me.  I’m allowed to do that.  I’m a blogger.  Please don’t try this at home….unless you’re a blogger.)  You know the feeling.  “Kids are playing nicely.  Awesome!  Time to pee!”  *sits down*  CRASH!  *gasp*  “WHAT WAS THAT??!”  THAT was a tot second.  30 seconds five times in a row lands you some dead kids.  That’s all I’m saying. 

In a perfect world, I have assigned each family member (who is old enough) chores per day, leaving chores on their chore towers when they haven’t been finished.  We flip them when they are completed.  Here’s the schedule:

Sunday:

• Hubby-take out trash, wash dishes with wifey (no.  He doesn’t call me this, thankfully), dust mop floors (we have hardwoods), bathroom surfaces (main bathroom)
• Myself-bathroom surfaces (master bath), wash laundry, wash dishes with hubby, sweep and mop bedrooms and hall, wash towels
• Cheerio Champ-make bed, clean room, help sort laundry

Monday:

• Hubby-clean toilet (main bathroom)
• Myself-clean toilet (master bathroom), wash laundry, wash dishes, dust mop
• Cheerio Champ-make bed, help sort laundry

Tuesday:

• Hubby-take out trash, clean bathtub and shower (main bathroom), wash dishes, clean out van
• Myself-clean shower (master bathroom), wash laundry, dust mop
• Cheerio Champ-make bed, help sort laundry

Wednesday:

• Hubby-day off
• Myself-wash towels, wash laundry, wash dishes, dust mop
• Cheerio Champ-make bed, help sort laundry

Thursday:

• Hubby-take out trash, wash dishes, mow lawn (though not in the winter, obviously)
• Myself-take out recyclables, wash laundry, dust mop, wash Princess Cheerios’ bedding
• Cheerio Champ-dust, make bed, help sort laundry

Friday:

• Hubby-take trash cans to curb, sweep and mop dining room
• Myself-wash Cheerio Champ’s bedding, wash laundry, wash dishes, dust mop
• Cheerio Champ-take sheets off bed, help sort laundry

Saturday:

·         Hubby-wash dishes, sweep and mop kitchen, laundry room, living room

·         Myself-wash laundry, wash my bedding, dust mop

We have monthly chores on a checklist that we try and usually fail to keep up with.  I remake the list each month.  Trees hate me like that.

Like I said:  that’s the run down in a perfect world.  Usually, I run out of time in my day or collapse in utter exhaustion before it gets completely finished.  Or throw a tantrum.  That happens occasionally.  Okay, frequently.  FINE!  Every afternoon.  Get off me!  If something disgusts me enough, or if I know company is coming, I clean.  This is why cleaning businesses do so well.  I would be putting people out of their jobs if I cleaned!  They have mouths to feed!  I guess that implies that I’d hire them.  I’m too embarrassed to invite them inside!  My house is a mess…

How do you do it all, moms?  What about you, dads?  Any advice?  Stories from the trenches?  Cleaning company recommendations?  Leslie will have her say on Saturday, and we will have a fine new topic in the week following.  Good night! Zzz