designergirl007

It's a "stache" of Mayonnaise.

Heather Greenwood — 2013-01-29T17:16:18-08:00

This is what my kids do with their left over condiments from their lunch.

Holy Smokes!

Heather Greenwood — 2013-01-29T16:55:31-08:00

Well, today is another awesomely blessed day in our household. Yes, what an amazing day it is. It is only 2pm and I am praising the Lord for my house not burning down....

No, there wasn't an out of control grass fire burning its way across the hills headed straight for our home. And it wasn't due to an out of control bonfire party in the backyard like we got distracted roasting s'mores and listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd and woops fire jumped the fire pit.... No, nothing like that. It was just another day with my lively boys.

Yep, I was shocked awake from a blissful slumber this morning by a little almost 3 year old saying, "Momma! Up Time!!!!" Really? Up time already? Didn't I just go to sleep? This must be a bad dream, I'll just ignore it. But again, only louder in my right ear I hear, "Momma! Up Time!" I tilt my head to the right and there is a big smile from a green eyed little boy anxiously waiting for me to get up as he pulls all the covers off me and starts moving my leg for me. Geesh! I am going to remember this when their teenagers.

Up Time has happened and if Momma's up so is everyone else. I do the rounds, let the dog out, wake up the other kiddo's. Who knew when I woke them up I would be uncaging the beasts. I mean, whoo! Immediately it was "I want to wear red shoes." "No, I wear red shoes." Mom, these shoes don't fit." "I don't want eggs I want crunch." and so on. Needless say this was an 8 armed beast that needed wrangling. Short of burning all the shoes just to keep them quiet. I sat down and said, "Look, you wear these shoes.. they have red on them. You wear these shoes they light up red. And you... I don't care if your shoes don't fit we just bought them yesterday so you should have decided that at the store sometime between when you said, "Oh I have to have them" and "They fit perfectly." No more arguing. And so it went on, one thing after another. They try to unleash their whining and frustration and we'd wrangle it in by solving the problem or sitting them in time out. Eventually, the morning ended - another reason to praise the Lord today. On to a better afternoon.

Now, these kids keep me on my toes. Yes, in the past 2 years we have dealt with one of the twins eating a light bulb, trying to super glue his fingers, writing on walls, using a sharpie on a piece of artwork, breaking numerous things, at least 4 emergency room visits. But surely these two sweeties wouldn't cause that much trouble.....

(yep. One day I look in my closet and they through everything on the ground to hang upside down like monkey's on the clothes bar.)

Heather Greenwood — 2011-08-07T15:16:08-07:00

I came across this blog today and just adore it! She is really creative and my likes and her likes are well aligned. I could hang out on her blog all day reading all the goodies on there. I did see this cool poster and yes, I did order it on etsy (Oh how I love etsy!) It will go perfect for the boys! Enjoy and check it out!

http://imaradmom.com/?cat=15

The Fam on the Farm.

Heather Greenwood — 2011-07-23T14:30:56-07:00

Well we just got back from the hot, stifling, humidity drenched, heat in Kansas. Boy was it hot.

The first day we were there Jack wanted to head to town to play with his cousins. I said I would take him in and as we were pulling out of my parents driveway he looked at the fields of corn and asked why they weren't picking the corn. I told him it was because it wasn't ready yet. This led him to say, "Boy, it sure is going to take them a long time to pick all those pieces of corn."

Okay, let me stop right here. I grew up on a farm so I guess I take this for granted, you know, how food actually get to the magic store of Walmart. How corn is harvested and what corn us used for. Not to mention the difference between field corn and sweet corn. I realized at this moment that this is something my son had not been around or educated on. There was a missing link, but we were about to connect it all. Now, back to the story...

I told him people didn't go out and pick each ear of corn there was a machine called a combine that harvested the corn. I realize there were a lot of words in that sentence he may not understand so I explained further. He hung on every word then followed by asking "Is it really important to learn to ride a bike?" Okay, random. I tell him yes it is important and how it will improve his little life and provide all these important life skills like balance, confidence, toughness, how to do his taxes and pay his mortgage someday. Okay the last two maybe not but I was emphasizing that he needed to learn and not give up being able to ride without training wheels.

As we were entering town he noticed a field with a different crop. He asked what that field was and I said "Soybeans." He got all excited and said , "Oh!! Like Edamame!" I was thinking... are you kidding me? Oh how I have failed as a parent first the corn, then the bike conversation and now edamame. What is wrong with this picture - he needed an appreciation of farm life. I said, "Well, yes, I guess edamame is one of the products from soybeans but they are used for much more. I again explained. After dropping him off at his cousins I drove home and put the educational plan in place...

I got home, marched inside and asked my dad what he was doing the following days. I said I need you and Ross to take Jack to the sale barn. I want him to see how it works. I want him to see how cattle are sold and then I would like you to go eat at the sale barn restaurant - have a burger - it's full circle. :-)

Now, I live in an area where poultry is king. We see chicken and turkey trucks all the time, it is a norm. Ever since he was in preschool he would ask - where are they takin those chickens? I would simply say, "To the plant where they will slaughter them and make them into chicken nuggets." Sorry folks, I'm not trying to be politically correct just honest.

Long story short, they went to the sale barn. I gave him a simple rule - don't raise your hand. I didn't want to come home with a herd of cattle. LOL. I don't think our POA would appreciate that much. He enjoyed it, learned some and the links were falling in place for his learning curve of farm life.

Here are some of the pictures from our trip back to KS. Fun times, relaxing and great to see family.
This is the perfect summer picture.Kids having fun riding their bikes after a cool dive on the slip-N-slide.

On those hot humid evenings the best place to find these boys was on the porch eating popsicles.

The best way to stay cool on a hot day is nothing else than the ole faithful slip-N-slide.

One of my nephews - what a cutie!

My niece. She is super cute and quite the athlete. We caught a t-ball game of hers and it was a lot of fun. We don't get to see their sports that often so when we are back and get to it is a real treat!

Jackson was upset in this picture but it only lasted a short time because grandma and grandpa were making homemade vanilla ice cream and it was almost done! He loves playing with his cousins. Loves it so much he stayed for an extra week!

Friends of my family, the Stadlers, brought some of the best sweet corn we have ever had. It was so sweet and we didn't hear any complaints from the twins - especially Jake. Josh was eating the cob and all - I had to cut him off - who knew what that would do to his little tummy. We all loved it! Yum-O

Josh was wanting to climb a tree after he saw my niece climb one. Maybe in a few years... Josh always has some sort of food on his face. Is it a sign of a good eater or a messy kid? TBD.

After sitting outside helping make or "watch" the ice cream as it was made. It was super hot but I am trying to smile as I came inside to the cool air. Ahhh...

One of my favorite things - watching storms roll in....

and then the ice cream was done.... It was the first time the twins had ice cream like this and I think they would have eaten the whole thing if we would have let them.

I love this look. It was like.. "Really, you're going to give me a bowl when I have all this in front of me? I don't think so...."

Yum-O! it was worth the wait...

"I will not take my eyes off the spoon of ice cream... I will not take my eyes off the spoon of ice cream.."

And then the trip was over. I didn't get pictures of my older nephews, they are teenagers and growing up so fast. It is fun to see them taller than their mom now, and hear about their activities and what's going on with them. They're a lot of fun to hang out with. It went really fast but we will be back to visit soon and hopefully it will be cooler and Jack can see how the corn is harvested.

A Pretty Typical Day in Photos.

Heather Greenwood — 2011-07-05T10:30:34-07:00

I was reading a blog about a year ago and the writer of the blog had taken a photo every hour for something like 8 hours. I thought that was an interesting idea and kept it tucked away in my mind. Last week. I decided it was time to try it. So, with camera charged and cell phone alarms set every hour (to help remind me) I started the project and here is how it turned out. There are a few photos in some areas...

Morning Wake Up.

I love this time of the morning. The boys are usually laughing and playing in their cribs.

After we all have breakfast, we head outside before it gets too hot.

We swing, play in the water, and roam around the yard. We check the garden to see what we might find. This day we had blackberries and they weren't sprinkled with sugar - Jack wasn't sure he liked them this way.

Next, we all head back inside to get cleaned up from the yard.

Bath time. Josh is having a ball and Jake is giving him his typical look. LOL! Jack was spraying them with a bubble gun.

After the bath, we start herding the grasshoppers. They try to escape but they don't realize we can still see them. Time to get dressed!

The twins were dressed and they laid down for their nap. Jack and I clean up the toy area and pick up the house.

We review some school work to keep everything top of mind. :)

After some work, Jack wanted breakfast for lunch. He ate some bacon and around lunchtime he gets TV time. This kid could eat his weight in bacon.

The twins wake up and it's time for lunch.

While the twins eat. Jackson plays on the computer. I love the cheat sheet he has to the left.

After they eat they decide to rearrange. They begin moving furniture and crawling on everything.

Off to swim lessons.

Back home after swim lessons for a sweet snack - Peaches!

I sit to take a minute to rest.

I follow the boys into the bedroom. They like to play on the bed - they decide to wrestle...

and wrestle...

until it ends like this...

Jake has had enough...

and Josh, well... is just Josh.

After the wrestling match the photos stopped. Ross and I went to dinner with friends and the kids hung out with Meme. This is a rough idea of a day in our life....

Osm Da (Awesome Day)

Heather Greenwood — 2011-07-01T08:03:01-07:00

Yesterday afternoon the babies were wild crying banshees. Jackson invited them into his room (this is always a mistake). We all went in there and the fighting quickly ensued over the light sabers. I don't understand the fascination with boys and light sabers. The next thing I knew the twins were battling it out for the blue light saber and Jake went in to take a bite out of Josh's head. Josh screamed a loud battle cry to warm of the impending bite out of his mellon and Jack was standing yelling/upset "get out of here you crying babies!" I was doing what any other sane mom would be doing... sitting on the bean bag video taping it all.

After they were all looking at me like, "why isn't she doing something." I put the camera down, broke up the light saber war and calmed the eldest son down, gently reminding him he was in fact the one that "invited" them in his room. The twins world was in a fit now and everything made them upset. Mom decision #1 - if they can't be consoled, let's try a nap... and of course with the fan blowing, blankets snuggled around their arms and soothing music they were calm and on the way to dream land. It sounds like paradise to me. Someone please give me a blanket, turn on a fan and play some soft music in a quiet room, the word paradise comes to my mind. If I believed in reincarnation, I would want to come back as one of my children. You know, the peaceful sleepin', happy dreamin' relaxed in a cool quite room, no worries droolin' toddler twins we call Jake and Josh.

With the toddlers asleep, now to settle Jack down. To spend our time together I said, "Let's play a board game." The excitement lit up in his little eyes (he is my child when it comes to board games. I love em) He went to his closet and looked up at the boxes of games. I wondered which brightly colored box would call his name, I was hoping it wasn't Twister. Would it be Cariboo? Checkers? Go Fish? The curiosity is almost too much for you I know...

He called me over and said, "That one! That's the one I want to play."

I looked up and the box that captured his attention and its name was called "UpWords" it is Scrabble but you can build on the letters. I looked at him and said, "You know you have to spell words with this game." (he's 6 and just finished kindergarten)

He said, "yep, now let's play"

We sat on his bed, chose our tiles and set up the board game. He said he would go first. I said, "Now, you use the letters you have to spell a word and put it on the board."

Side note: I chose my letters and I had gone to check on the twins (this is when Jack chose his tiles). Miraculously, his first 7 letters spelled the word "Jackson." I know, what are the chances... :)

I laughed and said, "Hmmm isn't that something." He grinned the biggest grin and said, "Okay, I won't do that again." as he laughed.

I played the word "sad."

He played the word "bune." I said, "What word is that?" He said, "Bunny." I realized this was going to be a game of phonics. His words were going to be spelled how they sounded. I played along and played my next word.

His next word was "osm." Again, I said what is that? He said, "Awesome." I see how he got it so, okay we went on. You get the picture. This game board was too funny but I was proud of him sounding out the words he wanted to play.

Finally, he asked what is the score. I said, "Oh, I think you are about 47 and I am about 23." We went on and when the game was almost over he asked the score again. Again, I said he was ahead. As we finished the game he said, "Oh ya, I forgot to tell you, the winner gets a chocolate milkshake, a massage and TV time." He obviously knew his position and decided to monopolize on it.

I laughed and said,"So are you the winner I guess." He said, "Yep!" Usually I disregard his crazy little rewards when he comes up with them but I gave in. I made a chocolate milk shake, turned TV on for a bit and rubbed his feet and rubbed his back until he said "Over to the left a little." Sorry little man, you can take this only so far, I am not a masseuse. ;)

Like I said, If I believed in reincarnation I think I'd like to be reincarnated as one of my children. Especially the chocolate milk shake drinkin', massage getting, TV watchin' not a care in the world child we like to call Jack.

wht an osm da!

Heather Greenwood — 2011-06-29T14:31:10-07:00

Today I had to search "How to get permanent marker off a toddler." Yep. Josh found a marker in the 2 minutes it took me to change Jake's diaper, and wrote all over his tummy (and no, he isn't an artistic genius and didn't create a cool tattoo patten that said something awesome like "My mom Rocks" I know... disappointing...), then he marked on our ottoman. Hmmm. Life of toddlers - never a dull moment.

Art in the Rock

Heather Greenwood — 2011-06-29T14:19:37-07:00

The past weekend we ventured down the road to Little Rock, Arkansas to the ATA World Taekwando Championship. Our son Jack was competing in his first tournament so we made a weekend of it. My mom was gracious enough to watch the twins, which made the weekend a little easier. If we had to push the double stroller through those narrow crowd filled isles at the tournament I'm afraid to everyone's chi might have been tested.

We stayed in the River Market area which worked perfect and was so fun and relaxing. We walked everywhere, took a trolley ride, saw some sites, visited some shops, visited friends, went to the tournament and yes, Jack went swimming at the hotel about 100 times. Other than the tournament I think swimming was his favorite thing - kids are funny.

I'm going to tell on my brother. When he was little he wrestled. I'm not going to lie, it is not my favorite sport and it could very well be because my little brother made it traumatic for me. (Notice how it's all about me) He was little, I have no idea what age but he was probably around 6 or 7 I am guessing. They'd call his name at the tournament and he'd cry. He didn't want to get on the mat and wrestle. Honestly, I can't blame him a bit. I'd watch my parents try to console his fears or highly recommend he go out there and try it. It was 9 out of 10 times to no avail. So, when Jack was going to this tournament those flashbacks entered my mind.

The night before his big competition as a "Tiny Tiger" I asked Jack if he was excited. He actually used this word - he said he was frightened. I encouraged him and knew how nervous he must be. The next day, he didn't say much, didn't eat much, but practiced and got out there and did his forms. We were so proud and he did great. See below.... yep, and he received 2 trophies!

I think I can stop watching those Dr. Phil episodes now, the traumatic years of watching my brother wrestle are now behind me - no more therapy needed. I am totally kidding - I don't watch Dr. Phil but it could save me on devouring tubs of ice cream because of anxiety - you are dead to me Blue Bell ice cream... do you hear me. Don't rear your tasty, sweet little head in my freezer any more. ;)

He competed in weapons and traditional forms.

Jack brought home 2 nice trophies and I brought home this...

Certain things make me happy and going through art galleries is one of them. I picked up this little beauty at a gallery at the River Market. I had been looking for a little something with fruit for my kitchen and when I saw this I knew it would be perfect. I bonded with it and brought it home. It is by an Arkansas artist and I adore it. It makes me smile. It brightens my day.

That was my weekend of art in the Rock, not only visiting galleries and seeing amazing art but watching the art of taekwondo. I tell you, those athletes are amazing! If you haven't been to a tournament you should go. You would enjoy it the extreme competition was so exciting and the team competition on the inauguration night makes you channel you inner jackie chan. And even though you watch those competitors do those extreme moves and you get in the groove and are feeling really cool - don't try to replicate them, especially if someone is video taping you... it will be a big let down when you think you "nailed" that move only to see the "reality" of it all - your kicks and punches just look like your a crazy person swatting flies. Let the pro's handle it or sign up for lessons...

We loved the weekend in the Rock and can't wait to go back!

Mom-versations.

Heather Greenwood — 2011-06-29T07:59:23-07:00

So yesterday this happened...

You walk by a mirror and see red on your face and wonder how you cut yourself, only to go to wipe it off and realize it is a blob of dried jello. How long have you been walking around like this?

This is a daily to-do item and yes, sometimes it does not get checked off.

Your daily to-do list includes the word "shower."

Yes, I'm a Mom and cleaning is my game.

You are feeling pretty good about the accomplishment of getting your kitchen cleaned up first thing in the morning, only to walk into your living room to find 2 boxes of Chex cereal that have been dumped onto your floor making it look like a sand box.

Oh my, I know what you're thinking how could this one time cool chick turn into this much of a nerd. Well, maybe I wasn't so cool to begin with but the cool factor diminishes with age. I guess you trade it in for wisdom, which doesn't seem too bad. :)

Now, yesterday was a great day. It was filled with adult conversations (a true luxury) and even though "shower" didn't get checked off the to-do list I felt like I accomplished a lot. One of the most interesting things, when I looked back at the day, was I had great "mom-versations. I had a talk with a mom, who I don't get to see very often and we talked about homeschooling. She home schooled her kids and I had a lot of questions for her. She was gracious, as always, and answered them and gave me her opinion. It was interesting and she brought up ideas I had never thought about. She is a confident mom that loves education and inspiring her kids to learn.

Have you found when you talk to people and you listen, really listen and don't try to think of the next thing you're going to say how much you can learn. I learn a lot and get inspired a ton by being around other people and especially moms who talk about their experiences, what works and what road blocks they've had.

Then, in the afternoon I saw another mom friend who is super organized and she was telling me about a friend of hers who has some great organization ideas and house keeping tips. Inspiring. This got me to thinking about other friends of mine who happen to be moms...

I have mom friends that have special needs kids who are strong and organized and incredibly caring, I have mom friends who fish with their kids, teach them about bugs, spiders, camp fires and whose kids have the best sense of humor. I have a friend that I visited years ago in Kansas City, before I even had kids, that made a mark on me and she probably didn't even know it. I was at her house and her daughter dropped something and it rolled under a chair. My instinct was to get it for her but my friend, politely said, "No, L can get it." Then, the mom walked her through the steps to bend down, reach under the chair and retrieve the toy. I remember thinking, "That was amazing! When I have kids I want to teach them instead of doing for them all the time." That has stayed with me since and inspired me to teach my kids independence.

I could go on and on about the mom's I know and how they influence me everyday. I love hearing their stories, struggles, and ideas. I have another mom friend who is about to have her second child. She is incredibly creative. Just being around her inspires me. She makes me see things differently and gets my creative juices flowing. She is a great mom who I can't wait to see her on this new journey with her son and new son or daughter.

The best things about all the moms I know, including my own mom, is I have them in my life. They are amazing women who manage multiple things on a daily basis and through it all 98% of the time have a smile on their face. They make it through challenges and sing songs of praise when things are good. I love having all these moms to pull ideas and inspiration from. I challenge you to learn from those around you and listen, you never know what you'll learn that could help you with your day. Yesterday, I think I learned a label maker just might be the ticket to a more organized life, along with making sure my face is clean after feeding my children jello and teaching my children sandboxes are for outside as I lock the pantry and put the cereal boxes on the top shelf. :)

I will see what today holds. The kids are home and we have a full day ahead. I am not sure what adventure lies ahead but I am ready for what comes at me and I am sure it will include a lot of laughter no matter what it is.

Backyard Adventures.

Heather Greenwood — 2011-06-27T09:06:15-07:00

It's been a long time coming, this post. We doing spring projects and this post is about a spring project that has taken 2 years but has been worth it. I don't know about you but spring not only brings about blooming flowers and the trees renewing their leaves but it makes me want to dig in the dirt, get muddy and be able to wipe sweat off my brow. I like to work outside and I really like seeing the accomplishments of hard work.

We had an area on the East side of our house that was basically unusable. It has a very small covered area but you couldn't really sit any chairs in the area because of the walkways. There was a long narrow grassy area as well. Now, those are the negatives. The positive about this area is it is shady in the afternoon. Shade is a commodity in a house without large trees.

Okay, so I said I like to work outside, which I do. However, somethings are beyond my expertise and time. So, we had help with the first phase of this little project. We sectioned off the "lounge" area with a wall and rock slab....

Beginning the wall...

making progress...

complete. Ahhh. nice!

Next, I wanted a large table. Large like 14 or more people could sit around it. So, my husband and his friend Kyle went to work.

Let's run this down. Last year we added the brick wall and rock slab as well as built the ginormous table. This year - we accessorized. Woo Hoo! And the result - our own little entertaining oasis...

We have landscaped the wall, added a chair and the lounger and landscaped the back fence area. Now, this previously unusable area is a relaxing place to enjoy the evenings. The final area - the small covered patio was the last piece of the puzzle. We found a bar from Hayneedle, this is what it looked like when we purchased it...

I am not a fan of light oak, especially since the other outdoor furniture is darker. So, we sanded, stained and sealed this usually "indoor" bar with a sealer used on boats to keep them waterproof and it was then ready to go outside. I still need to add a few accessories to this area but that may be next year. :)

Here is the finished bar in its area. Doesn't the darker bar look better. I think so. :)

Oh, and the table. I can't forget the fabulous table... I love the table...

Our backyard is a joy. We are blessed to have an area to relax and the kids love being outside. While I'm at it here is our other passion for outside - our garden.

Raspberry and blackberry section of the yard. Yum-O! I didn't even get any raspberries in the house. I'd pick them and twins would eat them all.

We just planted some grapes this year in the back corner. We'll see what happens - grapes would be great!

snap peas were at this stage a couple weeks ago.

The snap peas and okra are in the opposite back corner of the yard from the grapes. We needed more garden space so we tilled up this area and made it a garden space as well.

All these photos were taken about a month ago...

These are potato bags. This is the first year I am trying these out.

This is the handy gardening table Ross built me. You should see this area now, it is overflowing with plants and is one of my favorite places. I have cabbage, eggplant, onions, basil, lavender and dill.

This was taken right after we planted and before it flooded. It is hard to see but we have an arch made out of hog wire where we planted our cucumbers. We have multiple tomato plants, a bean tower, onions, and a watermelon trellis. There are also some peppers. Unfortunately, this garden is taking a lot of love. All the rain we had earlier this spring really hurt the growth but I think it will pull through.

This is the twins favorite area. The strawberry patch. They ate more strawberries than I could bring in. Josh would just squat by the garden and pick berries. His cheeks would be full and red juice would stain his shirt and run down his mouth. Oh the sweet days of summer.

I hope you all enjoy the summer. Stay cool and have fun!