I'm such a tease!

Okay...I have about 2 seconds to post this before I MUST get in the shower and get ready for the game [GO STATE] so it is only going to be a sneak preview. I'll post the entire story tomorrow!


Before:

And....after:

Isn't she pretty?

Need a little help from my friends!

Happy Saturday Peeps! Can you feel it? Winter is in the air!

You know, I thought I'd have all of this extra time on my hands now that I'm not working full time. Wrong-O Joe! This week was crazy busy and went by in a flash! By the end of the week it was cold and wet and I found myself not wanting to leave the house at all!

I had another one of those weeks where I felt like I got a lot done, yet my house looks like a tornado hit it! It didn't help that on Thursday Paul decided to clean our dryer by taking the vacuum/leaf blower to it. Here's this thing. I ADORE that my husband takes initiative on stuff like this because, well, frankly....I don't. But sometimes it backfires and this was one of those times. After some blood, sweat & tears (mostly by Paul) we decided that the dryer has died. The cause of death is unknown except that it was working fine pre-leaf blower treatment, but now doesn't so much as try to turn on. I'm sure someone out there knows how to fix it (and its probably a $2 part) but we decided to take the $100 to have someone come look at it and apply it to a new set. We got a great deal at Home Depot, so on Wednesday we will be the proud owners of a new washer and dryer! And...in accurate reflection of the nearly reverse roles in our home...Paul is MUCH more excited about it than I am! I do love that man!

But...our dryer saga is not what this blog is about. I know I have a lot of work from home/stay at home mommies that read my blog are friends on Facebook where I will link this blog and I need some advice.

What do you do with a very active 3 year old boy for 8 hours/day? 

Seriously. I don't know!

Here's the thing. I had the whole "working outside the home 8 hours a day, Mommy" thing down. We had schedules and rules and some rules we bent because we were too tired and didn't have enough time with the kids  anyhow. I (sorta) knew what I was doing in that realm.

But, this staying home thing has me sputtering!

This was our first week home and I had decided to treat this one a bit like I would a vacation week. We hung out, watched some movies, ran some errands and had very little structure. Obviously, moving forward, I don't want him spending all day watching SpongeBob and Alvin & the Chipmunks while I clean/paint/organize, etc. I need to learn how to balance getting stuff done around the house and spending some QT with my little man. Now that I'm not working outside of the home I feel a lot more pressure for the house to be clean and organized and for Brock to be learning and doing creative things like he did at daycare.

Wow, this is really a rambling post, isn't it? Sorry for that! If any of you have any advice on schedules, activities, ideas on how to balance working from home with being a stay at home mom, I would LOVE it! I know we will find what works for us but I would love to hear what has worked for you!

For the record, I tried desperately to combine reading, art, creativity and computer lessons by having him spend yesterday morning reading DIY Blogs with me. Yeah. Didn't work!

Its going to be a cold, wet day and we are looking forward to a relaxing one! I have a 1 1/2 hour kickboxing class this morning (that I need desperately!) and Mikki's daughter Kaleigh is coming to spend the night with us (this kids are coming out of their skin with excitement...apparently she's cool and I'm not!) and Maycen has dance...but other than that it will be a day of movies, football, food and cuddling!

Have a great weekend everyone!

And...of course...GO CYCLONES! Big game today after the heart breaker last week (that I'm still not ready to talk about).

Week(end) Recap & Meal Planning Monday!

Wow. Its only been a week since my last blog, but it feels like much longer!


Last week was crazy with a capital 'C' around the Johnson house. It was my first week of unemployment but Paul was out of town Sunday through Friday and Brock was still in FT daycare, so it seemed more like a week of vacation! Do you ever have those days or weeks where you feel like you got a lot done yet, when you look around, it seems like NOTHING got done. Yeah...that's how it felt! I finished a big DIY project that I had been working on (pictures soon!) for a while, got my home office corner of the basement set up to be more conducive to working from home and cleaned out the kids closets. BUT, the house didn't get a good cleaning, only half of the laundry got done and my car still looks like I live in it. Oh well, there's always this week, right? Right.

The kids and I were very happy to have Paul home on Friday afternoon! We even snuck in a little "date" of dinner & drinks with some good friends. It was much needed adult time for me after being home alone with the kids all week!

The weekend was a good one, if not heartbreaking. Paul decided to skip the ISU/NU game on Saturday to stay home with the kids, so I headed up to Ames with my dad & Jackie. I'm not ready to actually talk about the game yet...its still too painful. I will say that I am very excited about the things that are happening in Ames and think that the Cyclones football team is in good hands!

Paul had to go back to work on Sunday and apparently nobody informed my kiddos that when we 'fall' back in time, we get to sleep in an extra hour, so we were up bright and early! Maycen had dance and a birthday party in the afternoon so Brock and I ran some errands. When Paul got home from work we headed to Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's house for what may be the last "cookout" of the year before the snow flies! It was a nice way to end the weekend, and I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in Sally's potato bake!

This is the first week of Brock going to daycare only on Mondays and being home with me the rest of the week. It will be an interesting and exciting change! #1 on our To-Do list is potty training. Wish me luck!

Meal Planning Monday:

Monday: Not sure yet (this 'plan isn't off to a very good start). I teach KB at 5:30 so we might just wing it!

Tuesday: Steaks, veggies & potatoes on the grill.

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner!

Thursday: Some kind of soup...not sure yet.

Friday: Homemade pizza.

Saturday: Sloppy Joe Casserole. Shell pasta, hamburger, spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese in a casserole w/ colby jack shredded cheese on top. Easy peasy!

Sunday: Beef & noodles.

I'm hoping to update you on all of my projects this week! Happy Monday folks! Enjoy these last 2 or 3 days of sunshine and nice temps...I hear there is a chance of flurries next week!

Big changes

I am overcome with the strangest feeling this afternoon because, beginning tomorrow there are some big changes happening in the Johnson house and I'm not quite sure how I feel about them.

Effective tomorrow, I am officially unemployed.

I don't want to go into all of the details of the last 6 months, but lets just say that it really comes as no surprise. As a matter of fact, I sort of recommended it. Weird, right? I'm confident that everything will work out exactly as it should, but after having a full time job since I was 18 years old, the fact that I don't have to get up and go to work tomorrow morning, and its not a vacation day, or a holiday, is strange! To add to the surreal feeling, Paul is out of town this week. This is a complete 180 from the norm for us. Usually I am the one traveling for work. This time it was me packing up my hubby and kissing him on the way out the door! It seems odd, but I'm actually looking forward to a week with just me and the kiddos!

This week Brock will still go to day care full time, which gives me a few days to get some things done around the house and ready to have a home office. I will be doing contract marketing work here and there...and Paul's current set-up is anything but creativity inspiring! The week after that I'll officially be a stay at home/work from home mommy!

Bobbies & the Big Cheese

Since I blogged about my stress over getting rid of Brock's "bobbies" (wow, one little typo could make this post a whole lot more entertaining!) I thought I would update everyone on the progress!

Last Saturday night the Bobby Fairy came to our house. I wish I had taken pictures, but then, our camera stinks so they probably wouldn't have turned out anyway! Just before bedtime, we took his 2 bobbies and tied them with some string and hung them from his bedroom door. He understood that the fairy was coming, but still kept asking for them! After a few short minutes, and surprisingly no tears, he gave in and settled to sleep!

The next morning he came in and woke me up showing me the Spiderman figure the Bobby Fairy left him! He was excited about it at first, but like most other toys, after 10 minutes he was over it (I'm so glad the Bobby fairy was smart enough to get the $5 Spiderman instead of the $20 one that her guilt tried to get her to buy!).

It has surprised me how well he has done! He does ask for them every night, and we remind him that the bobby fairy took them and gave them to other babies that need them. He usually responds with something like "and gave me Spiderman" or "because I'm a big boy"...it makes my heart melt!

I'm wondering if the same thing might work with Maycen. Is there such thing as the Thumb Sucking Fairy? Hmmm....might have to think on that some more!

In other news...we have a celebrity in our house this week!

Yesterday Maycen was selected as "The Big Cheese" for her class. It is an award that is given to a child who made good choices, did their homework and all around had a good week the previous one. After struggling a little with talking when she shouldn't be no idea where she gets THAT Maycen worked really hard last week to listen to her teacher and not have to bring any 'oops' slips home. It was nice to see her rewarded for her good behavior! She does understand that each student only gets to be the Big Cheese once, and there is a lot of school year left...hopefully the good behavior continues!

Meal Planning Monday

Wow, what a weekend! Or more appropriately, what a football game! I can't lie, I'm still basking in the glory of victory. As a Cyclone fan these sorts of wins have been few and far between. To enjoy them in consecutive seasons, well, it really feels like the program is finally moving in the right direction!

Of course, there were another 46 hours and 10 minutes this weekend that did not involve Iowa State beating Texas! That time was spent relaxing, cleaning, playing outside and grocery shopping. My kind of laid back weekend. Good thing too, because the one coming up will be a doozy, packed full of fun events! More on that later in the week!

On this week's menu:
Monday: Left-over chili. We might throw it over some hot dogs or baked potatoes - haven't decided for sure yet.

Tuesday: I'm headed to a reunion dinner with my friends that I graduated with last year, so daddy is on his own. I'm guessing he's headed to Grandma & Grandpa's...or maybe they are coming to our house!

Wednesday: Breakfast for dinner! French toast this week!

Thursday: Cheese-Stuffed Meatloaf. I have been dieing (dying? diing?) to try this recipe from my friend Ananda at The Home Diva. Its finally going to be cold enough!

Friday: Paul & I are going to a friend's annual Halloween party Friday night, so the kiddos will either be at a grandparents house or with a sitter!

Saturday: Papa Murphy's Jack-O-Lantern pizza that I will grab on my way back into town from Ames (Go STATE!) and we will pop in the oven after Trick or Treating! I've never had Papa Murphy's before, but here its good!

Sunday: Paul will be leaving us for a week on Sunday afternoon, so it will be just the kiddos and I. Not sure yet what we'll do. I don't think I can get away with breakfast for dinner every night for a week!

Make it a great Monday friends! After today the weather is going to be drastically cooler and fall is definitely in the air!

You're Welcome!

For the second Saturday in a row, the kids and I made Cinnamon Bun Pancakes for breakfast. Seriously people. Cinnamon. Bun. Pancakes. FROM SCRATCH! The only thing I started with in my bowl was flour. No Bisquick, nothing from the freezer...just flour! And, much like last weekend, the kids devoured them! Brock ate 2!!! That might not seem like a big deal to most people, but this is a kid who typically takes one bite of a meal and says "I'm donnnnne" so to see him eat, no inhale, two pancakes is unheard of!

So this morning, as I stood at my electric skillet (they are THE BEST for making pancakes), I wondered to myself "should I share this recipe with the hundreds dozens five people that read my blog"? My first thought was, of course I should! They're my peeps! I love them and want them to enjoy this cinnamonny, mapley goodness. But then the little devil on the other shoulder said "but you know how you like to have a few things in your arsenal cute little recipe box that are your secret recipes that you impress and dazzle with everytime  you make them." This went on for hours! Okay, I'm being dramatic. It lasted about 45 seconds until it occurred to me its unlikely any of the hundreds dozens five of you will ever actually be at my house for breakfast. Oh yeah, I also got it from another blog so technically I can't claim it as my own miraculous creation anyway!

So, without further delay, I present to you Cinnamon Bun Pancakes! And the best part...since I did find it on one of my favorite blogs How Does She? I can simply provide all of you with a handy little linky. How cool is that? I don't even have to retype the recipe! I love finding recipes on blogs that I can share with my peeps but can just link to and don't have to retype or rewrite, I'm always afraid I'll mistype one little measurement and the whole thing will be off and you'll think "ewww, why does she think this was so great" and...what's that? Oh right. I promised no further delay! Cinnamon Bun Pancakes & Maple Icing Syrup! You're welcome! (Trust me, you WILL thank me)!

Happy Saturday everyone! Go STATE!!!