When RAD takes over- traveling with the Punkies

So we have been in Florida for 5 days. It's been sunny and warm, I've gotten burned and now it's turning tan just what I needed after being in the Seattle rain for 2 years! Mommy lives the sun Goddess!

The Bigs(my oldest who almost 6 and 7) have been pushing and itching to ruin our trip since we got in the van to get on the plane.

We rented a house so we would have plenty of room and so the kids would have consistency. They also have their own pool so I can wear them out every day!;-)

So far Bu has torn art of the wall in their bedroom, hit 2 out of 3 of the other children, peed on himself in public, swore at me, and has just had an all around bad attitude.

Zo has thrown himself down an escalator( he's fine) trying to knock me off it, peed all over himself, wiped BM all over his bathroom, tried to drown his baby brother in the pool, referred to me as " his bitch"( several times) and told me to F off when he didn't want to follow the rules.

I expect behaviors and warn all that we come into contact with but I try to wake up every morning wipe the slate clean and try again, it's hard to balance the structure and allowing them to be boys and just have fun. Throw in trying not to let the Bigs ruin the fun for the Lils and its a constant puzzle!

Vacation might kill me!;-)

Xoxo Nicci Wendy

Traveling With The Punkies

Today is Day 1 of our Florida trip! 6 hour flight then an hours drive once we get to Orlando! 

I packed a ton of snacks, IPads and magazines! Hopefully that will get us there(with maybe a few drinks for Mommy along the way!)!

Wish us luck!

Xoxo Nicci Wendy

 
 

Bubbles and Balloons - Jen and Joe

I apologize for the absentee Wendy!  Life has been anything but dull lately and I'm working on my bubbles and balloons... 

I guess Bubbles and Balloons are a bit of a Maryism... so I'll explain in greater detail. 

Bubbles: You know when you have something that's bothering you... thats consuming your thoughts, something completely out of your control yet you insist on letting it fester? Yeah.. me too. 

Its so easy to say "Just let it go!" Um... not so easy for me.

When something or someone really matters to me, I don't have it in me to "just let it go" its not in my genetic makeup. (God how I wish I had that superpower)

A good friend of mine, Jen, who also happens to be a licensed professional counselor taught me about bubbles. It's where you actually picture yourself putting all that negativity into a bubble, think Wizard-of-Oz-Glinda bubble and then physically flicking the imaginary bubble into the air. 

For whatever reason, this is fairly effective for me, if only for a brief moment, it gives me peace. Give it a try, it might work for you also. 

Balloons: 10-12 years ago, I had a fairly high-stress demanding job. I also had an office with a door and a view of the San Francisco Bay, but that's another story for another day. 

One day with my head in my hands and tears hanging on by threads to my eyelids, enters Joe... little did I know at the time, but Joe was a very wise, compassionate man. 

He unknowingly, taught me a life skill. One I now refer to as, balloons. You know all those millions of things you need to do? 

Laundry, grocery shop, pay bills, order the antennas, finish the invoices, eat healthy, work out, go to church (regularly), pay attention to your husband, kids, parents, friends, dog, chickens, blog... well, those are all balloons. 

Big, beautiful, different colored helium balloons.

He taught me about pulling one balloon down at a time, anchoring it properly and then moving on to the next... 

"Its impossible to hold them all down at once..." - Joe. 

Thank you Jen and Joe for these two very valuable lessons in life. 

In this season of my life, I'm working on my Bubbles and Balloons - (insert 99 Luft Balloons in your best German accent) 

Peace out -  MaryWendy

Confessions of a Crazy Mommy

I'm so addicted to the Fox TV show The Following! It isn't even funny!

It scares the Bejezzers out of me but I can't not watch!

Kevin Bacon really is yummy and delicious and I love him! I really think we should make him a sexy Saint! Saint Bacon!

And the guy who plays Joe Carroll is such a great creep! He could totally really be the leader of a crazy cult!

There's only 4 episodes left! Watch it people!!! It's good!

Tomorrow is My 40th Birthday

Today is my last day of being under 40.  

Age 40 feels quite significant... we make a pretty big deal about it in our culture, particularly for women, I'd say. 

I'm not sure how I feel about turning forty. On the one hand I feel like a big loser because I'm so un-accomplished at this point in my life... I was considered a likely-to-succeed kind of child, typically performing at the top of my class and all of that. But I've always had a flighty, unfocused side to me, and I'm kind of a perpetual kid. So I haven't had any huge success career-wise or salary-wise and I haven't used my creative side to its fullest so I feel kind of "meh" being 40 and not being able to list some amazing list of accomplishments. Some of my minor accomplishments that I feel happy about were more personal ones-- like going back to school at age 37 and becoming a gemologist and starting a new, rather low-paying but very fun career... completing a Bikram yoga challenge, etc. 

School was one of the best things that happened to me in my 30's. Becoming close to my mom again after several big rifts throughout my life was another dramatic, positive change, my friendship and love relationship with Jake was an enormous life change, and my cool female friends seemed to be a theme of my late 30's, too. 

I am often assumed to be ten years younger than I am, so I can't whine about my 40th too much. I don't really know what "the secret" to that is. Aging is, in part, genetic. I did two "cosmetic" things in my 30's which I think really make me feel young -  I had Lasik vision correction; I went from having 20/400 vision and dealing with my glasses and contact lenses to having perfect 20-20 vision. I had my teeth whitened by my dentist using Zoom whitening. They were pretty white already but I read something about teeth darkening in your 30's and I panicked and did it, now my teeth are really white. Not fake white, but really white for natural teeth. I'm SO happy about both of these procedures and feel like having perfect vision and white teeth make me feel really young. 

So far I haven't seriously thought about any Botox or fillers because I don't think I need them yet. 

So, goodbye to my 30's and hello to my 40's! 

Me at 40! (Well, 39.99!)

Spring Cleaning: Declutter Your Car in 10 mins

Your car's interior: don't neglect it, especially if you spend a lot of time in it, driving your kids to and fro, commuting to work, etc. No matter how big a car or SUV it is, it's still a very small room with very little storage space.

Needs:
a bag for trash
car cleaning wipes, reusable cleaning cloth, or paper towels + all purpose cleaner
vacuum
optional: air freshener

Park somewhere nice, where you can get into all doors easily. Dress comfortably so you can bend and move around. There are a couple of nice places near my house where you can put in some quarters and have their powerful vaccum for a few minutes.

Set the timer on your phone for 5 minutes, grab a bag to use for trash, and go! Go to it! If you have kids, get them to compete and see who can get the biggest bag of trash in, say, 2 minutes and the winner gets a reward! Pick up all the wrappers, fries, leaves, etc!

Now vacuum up the smaller pieces of debris...quickly! Doesn't have to be perfect. I once spent something like two hours cleaning my friend's van. But I was obsessing...

Wipe along your door handles and other areas that people touch. Wipe the dust off your steering wheel and all the plastic or leather parts.

Now pop your little vent clip air fresheners or spray a little bit of something nice into the carpets in the backseat, or mist the whole car if you're using something natural and non-toxic!

Aura Cacia Relaxing Lavender Mist is my favorite, but there are so many great ways to freshen your car.
They used to have a ginger-mint one that I liked, too. It's hard to road rage when your car is clean inside and smells like lavender... your drive to where ever it is your are going is going to be so nice!

A cute, handmade car trash bag available on Etsy!

Kitchen Gadgets I Can't Live Without #1

I am a kitchen gadget Whore! There I said it now we can all breathe a little easier!

I wanna tell you about some of my favorite kitchen items over the next few months( yes I have that many)!

I'm going to start with my absolute favorite(well right now, it changes every few days or so) my cast iron skillets!

I have 2 so far a 12 inch and a 16 inch. I cook everything in them! Searing burgers and steaks to perfection! Baking pineapple upside down cake and corn bread that gets the perfect caramelization, or a big batch of breakfast potatoes!!! People it will change your life!

I like to look at thrift or antique stores but you can find them already seasoned on Amazon!

Xoxo Nicci Wendy