Hugo's Robot Birthday at the Aquatic Life Center!

Because Sharks and Robots go hand in hand!
Well - here is me blogging about our adventures in birthday partying on a budget - and with almost no time or energy.
Ya see - I am sooo so so tired. But literally for the last three birthdays - the day ( august 1st ) has come and nearly gone before I realized - "Oh crap! I forgot his birthday!!! Again!!!" Luckily - he has been too young to remember. But this year - I am making up for it!!!!Even if I am 8 months into the most painful, exhausting, difficult pregnancy ever >_<! 
So - it went like this.
First off - I found Meri Meri robot decor - on half price - and bought it all up - months ago.
Then - I created some pinterest boards to inspire me when I was like "why am I doing this???"
Then I thought - I should *DO* as little as possible right? So - I rented the class room at the local Aquarium Marine life place place ( for $40! For the day! )  - so the kids would be entertained by touch tanks, aquariums and helpful volunteers - while I sat around resting my sciatica.

 Also  - I researched where to buy premade cup cakes. Um. No. Our local place charges a ton for what i can tell are not pretty and very poorly made cup cakes.

Lucky me again! My daughter has mad skills - so I set her up to make and decorate them herself. We got some royal icing premade toppers - ( Sea Life because... Hugo  ) and bam. They are gorgeous. And I did nothing.

Awww ! look at her capable little hands!

So next up - catering. Every time I have thrown a party I have spent way way too much on foods and it is exhausting transporting it. So yeah. Guess what? What if I ask every one to bring a robot themed snack INSTEAD of a present - since he is 4 and is the sort of chap who would be CRAZY overwhelmed by his party to begin with - and throwing unwrapping and all that into the mix... could only lead to a unnecessary meltdown  (  for him and me ) ! Success. It was a beautiful spread. Simple and perfect!
One mama had her kids decorate all those bags with robots and filled them with popcorn - another mum brought chex mix labeled "nuts and bolts" SOOO cute! It was marvelous.

For party favors - I did not spend a fortune on gift bags (  that would likely be abondoned anyway  ) this year. Nope ! Me and my little big sister set to making Robot Antenna  head bands and then threw some glowsticks in a cup and added the 3D glasses that came with the Meri Meri decor set on the table - and walked away!

Also - I cut up the cute packaging from the set and taped them onto tiny (  cheap  ) water bottles - so the little Robots would have something to drink that wouldn't cross their wirings ^_^ ! And they did drink every last one :D

And the head bands were kind of too cute. And everyone loved them. And they were crazy cheap and easy.

 

All in all! A great great success! And - even the newly 4 year old Hugo managed to enjoy his day - without a tear... his mama... maybe not quite so much - but hex. I am 4 weeks away from having a new baby come outta my guts. I deserve a little slack. :D

Homeschool & Homemaking Schedule ( for the manic pixie dream girl SAHM)

Oh organizing my schedule. Nope nope nope. I was not going to do it. After all - my littles are so happy and we are all so peaceful and life is for spontaneity!
And then I got pregnant.
And then I got tired.
And then... I got grouchy.
It takes an awful lot of patience to live without any sense of order. Apparently - I was quite the saint pre pregnancy - because now ... I am a mean old troll.
Also... little by little - they started watching a lot of movies. Like - we are talking hours of Netflix. And the more movies they watched - the more difficult they were when they weren't watching them. And then the snottiness from the 8 year old and the tantrums from the 3 year old and the ragey pregnant me where just normal.
It was like - super sad.
Except for the part where we devised a plan so brilliant - it just might work.
We concocted a Schedule! Dun Dun Duuuuuh!
I consulted mothers of pure awesomeness who advised me on various things chore and schedule wise.
It took us hours and days to map it all out - me and my mister. But what we came up with was that there  must be something very visible and we need to utilize those smart phone calendars to play loud alerts on the hours tolling the scheduled thing to do next (or we will just forget). And there needs to be a bunch of other things to do besides movies. Like chores. And I need to be more disciplined about meal times and outings (cuz money) and now that we have discovered our little girl has a learning disability - we need to dedicate more time to the new approach needed for homeschool.
And here it is! In all it's awesome Majesty. Bask in it's simplicity.

So I spent hours looking through mommy blogs trying to find someone elses schedule to launch from. But - none of them encompassed the whole picture. They would be meticulously  detailed about lesson time, quiet time, nap time, food time - but really - what about showers? Bed time? The classes to ferry kids to and from  that change from day to day? Doctors appointment's? Like - all the times!
So - firstly we have the column of daily routine the morning and evening will likely be the same every day and I put in a bit about lunch - on the days we'd be home. Huzzah!

And each thing I put in my iphone calendar alert - so the alarm goes off to remind me that in 15 I am suppose to start dinner or get the kids prepped for bed.  So - as flighty and distracted as I am - I am still watching my own back! Then I threw in the stuff we have to leave the house for, then the things that  have to be done to run the house smoothly. Like for realz. Everything you see here - is now also on my phone calendar - set with a LOUD alerts. This is prolly the only reason why this is working at all. And... I loves it ^_^ 

CHORES.
OMgolly. The chore schedules I found online had like - mopping and bathroom cleaning and vacuuming and dusting (like dusting?- more then every other month? Who does that?)  happening multiple times a week... um - yeah. We don't clean our bathroom more than once a week. I mean - we spot clean as needed (3yo boy aim) - but like mirrors ? No.  These schedules would make cleaning a 40 hour work week all on its own! Ain't nobody got time for that! I just threw in what has to happen daily - like dinner clean up and then made sure time was set aside for showers and laundry to alternate days ( cuz with a lazy water heater - that was a cluster chuck and source of stress in even our most peaceful times of chaotic living) Then we threw in the needed rest of the chores - watering the yard, vaccuuming, picking up. And Saturday can be project day - if no other errands are in order - for things like weeding and more once a month kinda things. I put those post-its in the upper left hand corner of the Schedg for just such an oddity ;)
So then we made these signs in each room to remind everyone what needs to be done and the process! I don't have to nag! I just have to point at that sign on the wall!

( um - we need to correct that - it is suppose to say "laundry BIN" not "bid" )

 And here we even set up whose job is whose - so even 3 year old has work he can feel proud of!

 We actually bought 7th Gen detergent pods JUST so the kids could do their own laundry.

Then we are left with how to get the 8 year old on board with the chores. Well - remember when I said the movies had taken over? Well - we cut them off cold turkey. After a week of no movies - my 8 year old finally had currency I could play on.  I came up with the idea that for each chore - she is awarded movie minutes. For instance ~ cleaning the bathroom is 30 movie minutes. When she has finished the chore - she has a jar full of popsicle sticks with the amount of minutes represented in sequins and she can take the amount she has earned and put it in the "Earned" jar. She can then redeem those minutes during free time and enjoy as many minutes of movies as she has accumulated - yo! ( moderated by a timer - of course - so again - no nagging) Yeah. She couldn't wait to clean the living room!

 She still has work that is only for the good of the household. She will make the occasional meal and water the yard and unload groceries - as she always has - because we must all do our part - and we will still give her treats and privileges for nothing - because we are family ( Daaaw)

And finally - bed time. These guys have been going to bed whenever and watching movies to get to sleep for sooo long. So - we made this happen all fancy style. The girl has an alarm telling her it is time to prep for bed. And she that's that. No more nagging from me! Just pointing to the list on the wall.

We put the boy down at 7:30 with a story and come in and read to her at 8:00. lights out at 8:30. And yo. It is working.
The whole blooming thing is working! My kids are so much happier! They are nicer to each other! It's like how it was in the good old days! But... with order!
And you may have noticed - we have scheduled cuddles and GoTs for after 9:00 - for just me and the mister. Also - we have an after noon meeting/date every Saturday now - to discuss family business if needed - or just hang out and enjoy each others awesomeness. During our "date" time - we utilize those movies with the littles! And Huzzah! We win again! 
So - if you are like me - and all the other kinds of schedules didn't work - maybe this one will help? Or maybe just - take courage? You will figure something out?

A Long Expected Party

My dear dear friend and her ever so dear children celebrated the boy childs birthday by arranging an adventure in the woods today! It was stunning. She is a ridiculously talented seamstress - and as she was busy building elven cloaks of Lothlorien - I was allowed to create a woodland picnic! And sooo - I am sharing a bit of the process and frankly - a fantastic party idea!
So here is the basket built

I wasn't able to make it to the super fancy foods market - or bake anything particularly special ... but I think it turned out quite well using just the local health food stores selections - (and I had such a marvelous time doing it!)^_^
Here are the contents,
~4 sorts of fancy cheeses sliced I sliced ahead (except the brie) and wrapped in parchment with string
~A half loaf of seed bread
~Some seasonal fruits
~teeny purple carrots
~An heirloom tomato (because... Hobbits)
~Dates with Almonds
~A cured Salami
~And a bottle of lavender soda disguised as an elfish flower wine
I threw in a small cutting board and some knifes as well as a homemade candle and tiny snail homemade holder with matches. Of course enamel cups for the dear things ~

And of course the best part - the birthday boy (nearly a young man now) so handsome in his Elven cloak -

The four with their viddles ~

They even endured occasional interruptions from a wood sprite (whose mama forgot to bring a change of clothes :3 )

and then here are the fairie folk girls - look at thems!!! ^_^ !!! The maiden fair and the dryad of the creek.

Aw!

Easter Fairies!!!

Oh dear. I mentioned to Tildepan that perhaps the Fairies might skip Easter ~ being that we get to go to church for Pascha this year! ... um... she assured me I don't need to worry. 8 Year old angelic girl child has faith in the fairies. Even if they cannot create an egg hunt outside - they might hide things in the house! In fact - anything is possible with Fairies!
Barnacles ~ I say. I am done for. I totally forgot to get anything for her. Sooo luckly she is staying with friends near Church for Holy Week. Even though I am crazy exhausted (oh the most annoyingly difficult pregnancy ever) I have an idea! She has been begging for a garden - but I have told her not until next year - I am too too too way too tired. She has resigned to her gardenless life gracefullly - so - what better gift from the Fairies??? And here is what I came up with.
A Scavenger hunt ~ She first saw the little egg shaped clue on her door - then she saw the basket on the desk~ the clue lead her to her bunk - then the next clue lead to her brothers crane - and the next clue lead out side - to her very own container garden! She will plant her carrots and sunflowers tomorrow! Happy Easter ! PS - along the way she found little gifts for her brother - of course - he was more excited to just be home and running wild again ~
***PS*** I am so tired I totally forgot to mention my amazing husband who straight up did all the hard stuff with a light heart and a smile! He put the drainage holes in the box and put the wheels on. He did all the heavy lifting and went to 3 stores with me helping me find the cheapest best quality soil we could. This would not have happened without him. He supports the cause. He keeps the magic alive!

Ta da!!!

Modeling beewax - and why it is the best.

So - there I was at Big Lots. I saw this super rad set of wooden castle blocks for crazy cheap. I had to have it - being the quality toy junky that I am - so - I did. I haves it.
Today Tilde and Papa went off to the Archery Range for a work party - so it was just me and the boy! So yeah! We did some finger games, some nursery rhymes and general circle stuffs - but... we were getting bored. I actually am not morning sick or really tired - so -  it would be actual child abuse to put him in front of a movie. Then I remembered my impulse wooden castle blocks purchase :D ! Oh yeah. We are buildin' some towers and knockin' 'em down and he asked " Hey! Wheres the guys?" Like - yeah! There are no "guys"?! So - I figure I'll felt something up right quick - but dude. These blocks are super small... felting sturdy "guys" was not happening. This sounds like a job for modeling bees wax. So we pulled out our materials and got to work. Here's what me and the Hugo made ^_^!

This is the boy hard at work on his "Cwockadiywil"

And here are the Gardens- you can see the Croc in the "stream" .And since Tilde was away - I got to be the fabricator - so i made a horsy and a kitty ^_^ !

Here we have the throne room... ummmm ... mama might be a George RR Martin fan... and that might be an Iron Throne.

The queen is in her chamber eating milk and honey! And look at the little baby Hugo made - he is such a sweet heart <3 br="">

And of course - all castles need a cat on the battlements!

And then when sister came home!

Look! They are playing together! So much awesome!
So yes. You SHOULD spend that much on beeswax. It is the best.