Overachiever - life of a mom - epic fail for the fairy

I met the toothfairy once.  He (yes he) lived in downtown Miami near the old Miami Heat stadium.  We met while I was parking my car super excited to see my first Billy Joel concert.  

The tooth fairy was a really nice guy.  We talked about how hard the times were, how health insurance was hard to come by in his industry.  He was just trying to make an honest living.  And honestly, teeth don't pay in - they pay out.

Perhaps hardships are why the Tooth Fairy decided to get a second job when he opened a little enterpenoural endeavor with Captain Crunch.  Yup, the Tooth Fairy and Captain Crunch were business together, on the streets, in downtown ghettoville Miami.  Might I say they were making a tax free killing at it too.

Source: media.photobucket.com via Teresa on Pinterest

For 2.5 hours, and 20 dollars, the dynamic duo of vivid imaginations would park their green and white striped webbing lawn chairs right by your car parked on the street.  They promised that it, and your hub caps, were still there when you got back.  

The Tooth Fairy of downtown Miami may have been a man in tights, but he was a man of his word.  Two and a half hours later my car, and its hubcabs, were still there.  The Tooth Fairy was not.  I bet that he left to give all the toothless little boys and girls of Miami their treats.

Fast forward 20 years.  The Tooth Fairy who services my house is not as reliable as Captain Crunch's sidekick.  

It was established early on that our Tooth Fairy does not work on Sunday nights.  Why?  I have no clue.  The fairy just hasn't been able to produce on Sunday nights.  

The first three times a Sunday night tooth loss rolled around, the tooth fairy's deliquency left for some really upset children on Monday morning.  It was thought that our Tooth Fairy probably under union contract.  The contract probably stipulates that there will be no fairy work on Sunday nights.  At that point, the kids seem to be OK with fact that they would have to wait until Tuesday.  

Source: awkwardfamilyphotos.com via Felan on Pinterest

Then there was the episode that the Tooth Fairy was a no show on a Thursday.  At that point, we seriously thought we had a looser on our hands.  Perhaps it was that the fairy had a cold and just couldn't get out of the fairy house?  Or could it be that the fairy had eaten too many fairy Girl Scout cookies and couldn't fit thru the fairy portal.  Who knows?  That time it took the fairy three days to show up.  Slacker fairy.

But could the fairy seriously forget for an entire week?  

It seems that it is true.  The fairy kept forgetting for an entire week!  What kind of fairy do we have at our house?  Obviously this character is not from the same mold that took care of my car 20 years ago.  Does this fairy realize that every time he forgets -- it ends up costing him 5.00 instead of the standard 1.00?  Our fairy must be an idiot - we are in a recession for Pete Sake! 
  

Overachiever - life of a mom - my Favorite Product

Love, love, love my daughter's Goodbyns!  

These little green beauties make packing a nuterious lunch easy peasy! 

They are easy to close and fit perfect in her 31 gifts lunch bag.

I ordered the set a while back when a creative blog I follow was having a 40% coupon code.  For 9.60 plus shipping, I ordered the Mix and Match set.  It came with one sandwich case, one small meal container, one snacks, and two dippers.  The set comes in  green or pink, I choose the green.  All Goodbyn products are BPA free which leaves this mama of four happy.

Every morning, I find it a breeze to pack Princess P's lunch.  I pack all natural ranch in one of the dippers with carrots sticks in the other part of the container.  Then I usually put some all natural pretzels, cereal or some other crunch on the other side (the girl likes crunch).  I find that the snack container is the perfect size for a few ounces of yogurt and some fruit.  I rarely use the sandwich container but am sure as she grows that I will.  

I find that I save a lot of money by using the Goodbyn system.  For just one child, I buy less plastic bags.  The portion controls of the system allow less food waste and it has cut down on purchases.  I am also more aware of what I am putting into my children's lunch.  I do not just grab items in the pantry to shove in a lunch box.  Not to mention that buying bigger items at the store saves money too. 

As the weather gets warmer, I look forward to taking the snack container to the park with us to enjoy some healthy breaks. I also hope to add the water bottle to Princess P's collection.

The big three are also getting Goodbyn's soon.  They are the perfect thing for this busy family.  The Goodbyn system helps us save time and money while keeping this mama aware of what she is packing for their lunches.  It is a great product and I highly recommend it! 

**Goodbyns did not compensate me for this post, but if they would too :)***

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Legoland Discovery Center Atlanta Review

Meh-
Yup - that would be a five out of 10 folks.

Things I liked about the place-
1. buying tickets online saves you money
2. it is cute
3. the 4D movie is actually really good.
4.  The miniture Atlanta built from legos was neat for about 10 minutes
5. Spending tons of time with my little guy - PERFECT

Things I did not like-
1. the lack of professionalism amongst the employees
2. the droves of daycare group when you are suppose to have an assigned time to enter
3. It was dirty
4. 5 total events.  One event, anyone over 4 ft. tall could not do.  One event, just for girls. The race car event was a three foot track - lame.
5. Over priced Cafe that we avoided.

Things to know - 
1. probably best for ages 4-7 (or maybe 8)
2. Lots of legos to build with (which you can do at home too)
3. After 4 pm is 12.50 (which still gives you amble time to do everything)
4. Not geared towards bringing a toddler with you at all.
5. It is really easy to loose your children and the security is lack luster at best.
6. check and see if daycare groups will be there or not.

I am not really sure if we could go back again.  Now don't get me wrong, we LOVE legos at our house -- all 1,000,000 pieces of them!  It was a great day out with my 6 year old but could have been better if the staff had been more attentive in general.  I would say if you were going with more than one child do not bring a walking toddler or someone over 9 - - they will be bored to death.  Go after 4 and save 7.00 a ticket.  Do not expect it to be like a Disney run event.  

Letter of the Day is W

W

He is the leader. 

He is super smart.

He came into the world like he leads the world - quick, decisive, and cunning.

He has the longest eyelashes.

Tells the greatest jokes.

Has the sweetest dimples.

He walks like my dad (like a duck).

Matter of fact he does a lot of things like my dad (and I'm OK with that).

He is passionate about everything he does.

He loves.

He laughs (since the day he was born).

He is a great chef.

He is the best salesman I know.

And today, today he is all mine. No one to interrupt our fun.  Just mama and her little buddy.  Who could ask for anything more?

Playdate

She was a surprise.

A happy surprise.

I love her so much.

She always knows the right time to cuddle.

When I am sad, she gives me kisses.

My little sidekick is one the best friends a gal can ask for.

For now, hold this time still

One Day ......

my coffee table will not look like this.

I will have time to read real fiction.

There will be little dishes to wash.

Her room won't be a mess anymore.

Laundry will not be my worst enemy.

But it will be over.  

They won't be little anymore.

I won't have to kiss their boo boos.

It will be quiet.

It makes me sad.

Sad, to think of a life without little ones everywhere. 

But for now, I will let it be and enjoy the moment.

Because I know it won't  be long.  

Easter Hunt Drop out

The president had an egg hunt in class.  

And after 30 minutes of precise instruction......

they were off!  28 kids, 764 eggs 4 acres of land.  

Each child worked as hard as they could to find eggs with only their sight word on it.  

W's word was "could" and boy could he find some eggs.  In about 10 minutes he had all of his eggs.

But some friends were all walking around yelling their sight words..

It was then the parents realized that we hid the eggs a little "too good".

And when the teacher wasn't looking, we began throwing eggs in large piles in the middle of the field.  We never let her see us, we didn't want to get sent to the principal's office. 

Make sure to read some other good Easter Memories on the Bunny Trail 

Moses and Billy Idol

Average Family @church

Moses is a given in any children’s church curriculum.  Why wouldn’t he be?  He is great.  His story is amazing!  But Billy Idol?  Billy Idol is generally not a part of traditional church curriculum.  Especially at a Southern Baptist Church. That is unless one of my little ones is in class.  Yes folks you read that right, Michael and I are training are children to love Jesus via 80’s rock n roll.

              Source: projekt-klangwelt.com via Klangwelt on Pinterest

It began at the Friday night school dance.  W decided it would be a good idea to dress like a rockstar, thus was born the 6 year old version of Billy Idol.  This “Billy” had blue jeans, a red bandana around his head, and a sleeveless cut off flannel shirt in a lumber jack type plaid pattern.  Sounds

more like a version of Larry the Cable Guy if you ask me.  Instead of Billy Idol, it would be more on key to call this one “Billy Jo.”  But redneck or not, my son proudly came in 5th in the costume competition at that night!  He was living the dream.  He would continue to hold onto that dream well into Sunday morning.

That is when he decided it would be beneficial to introduce his church friends to the likes of his new rockstar status.  No, he did not sing “White Wedding” or make perverse dance moves.  He waited during the Moses lesson for a quite moment to blurt out, “does everyone know who Billy Idol is?”.  If you blurt out anything to a group of kindergarteners, of course they want to know.  And if you are a 6 year old who friends want to know about something you seem to know about - you are suddenly a celebrity.  This is the perfect storm for a kid like W.  

So, next time your child’s Sunday School teacher says, “You won’t believe what your child did in class today.”  Don’t ask.  Just hang up the phone. They will ultimately understand. 

This is more of a club than a post.  A place where you know you can be excepted - even on Sundays.  As much as we try to get to church with everything in place, it just doesn’t happen as we planned -- never.  So come along with the Cloudt’s as we candidly share our not so perfect Sundays.

Camp Sleep is for Wimps

SLEEP......

does not know a 2 year old,

doesn't happen with blustery winds,

is interrupted when it rains,

stinks when the air matress has a small hole in it,

stops when Candian geese decide to visit,

and becomes a luxury when tent camping.

BUT WHILE CAMPING...... 

we unplugged,

unwound,

threw rocks in the lake,

ate hotdogs,

roasted marshmellows,

jumped puddle rocks,

made forts,

sat and talked,

snuggled,

shared,

played with nothing but nature,

discovered,

loved,

and realized we can sleep other nights.

Thankful but Forgetful

*The last year I have been sewing a lot and I am thankful.

*Money from sales has pitched in on the things for my family and I am thankful.

*My business has exploded over during a tight budget year and I am thankful. 

*There are new relationships built with the ladies at the craft store and I am thankful.

*Seeing you all use/wear your items give me a smile and I am thankful.

*Meeting new people has been a blessing and I am thankful.

*Filling a creative need has been awesome and I am thankful.

*In the last three months I have worked crazy hours and I am thankful.

*Orders you place have paid for Christmas and I am thankful. 

But then I come to Christmas and I stop.  Why did the last many weeks become such a frenzy for my little Proverbs 31 business?  It is just a season to endure or did I loose the meaning of something wonderful God has given me in the mix?  I have been a mad women trying to keep up with orders.  I continually think about ways to drum up new business.  There have been many trips to the store and just as many late nights sewing.  One could say that I have been tied too tight - literally in thread.  

I have taken something beautiful that God has given me and tried to turn it into a hectic/stressful/rushed existence.  All in the name of buying my child the latest electronic gadget, the greatest lego set, or the perfect superhero set.  Do those things replace the 25+ hours a week that I sit in front of my sewing machine?  

I have missed moments that will never return.  Found myself with no patience at the end of the day.  I even began craving oreo cookies (I dislike oreos).  They have watched more TV in the last few weeks then they have seen their mom.  Where is Proverbs 31 in that?  Do I want my kids to think that following God means you have to be in a tissy all the time?  I don't think that really shows them how to take care of their "gifts".  

So this Christmas, my kids will not go without but they will go with less.  In exchange they will get more - more of the mom they deserve. 

*I love what I do and I am thankful.

*Because what I love what I do so much, I will be slowing down a bit and for that realization I am forever thankful.

Yes, there are four

"You are crazy," 
said the over teased, over frosted hair wearing 50+ year old woman who wore the same outfit that day as she did 30 years ago.

"I bet you're busy." 
said the check out girl at Kroger who just finished telling me how she works two full time jobs. 


"WOW." 
said the little old, but still with it, man at church.


"You know how that happens, right?" 
said the kind receptionist at the pediatrician's office.

I always answer, "yes."  Then I let out a little snicker, shrug my shoulders and go on my merry little way. Did I really ask them to begin with?  Was I looking for an opinion?  Do I care what they think?  Would I change my life in anyway to avoid the constant snide remarks -- I don't think so.  

They are mine, on loan from God.  He is an amazing Lord to trust someone like me with such a precious gift.  I don't think I do my best everyday, but I will continue to try me hardest as long as I have the job.  

So thank you interesting people of the South for letting me know what you think of my career choice - your compassion is amazing (sarcasm).  But.........

There are just some days you can leave your opinion at home. Because no matter what you say, or how hard the job may be that day --- I choose to give you the extra grace that I being a mom of four has taught me to have. 

Family Fall Day in all HIS Glory

There are six of us here.  That is alot of people.  And while I try to keep the kids scheduled life to a minimum, it seems to be as they get older we spend less time as a group of six.  Sure we eat dinner together every night but after that, we all shoot off to different worlds.

So God gave us this beautiful day last Sunday.  

We has also allowed us to live near a gorgeous mountain with the most perfect 

hiking trails.  

So Mikey Boy and I decided our family's worship would be in the woods - - together!  It would be quiet, serene, peaceful, as close to God as we could get.  I was soooooo excited!  

Then, the princess screamed like a banshee the first two miles unless we ran with her on our back (in the backpack).

The architect argued with the leader about how many actual civil war ditches he saw, how many leaves were on the trees, how many trees had fallen in the woods, how much more he knew about hunting than the leader, how he knows how blue the sky is.......

well, you get the idea.  

The leader - well, he is the shortest so his legs were tired quicker, but generally he was happy.  He talked and talked about what he wanted to be when he grew up.  He was dreaming and I found that Glorious.  

Then the Artist, the sweet artist.  She growled at us the first half, upset she would miss social hour at church.  But after we turned the 2 mile mark she two seemed to enjoy what God had given her -- a beautiful place to live and a family. (that is a real smile!)

So while the morning started off hard, we fought to stay together -- to stay on course, as a family of 6.  And in the end, it was worth it because I got to go home with this memory