Equation for disaster......

Target+hungry kids+ rain= bad idea.

Well....I am looking forward to MIL coming and taking over the homestead and watching the kids so I can run the rest of my errands in the pouring rain SANS kids. Should be much more productive and hoping to grab a mani/pedi on the way home. Lord knows after this crappy week of illness, whining, lack of sleep and NON listening children I DESERVE IT!!!

"Here comes the rain again...."

Invoking Eurythmics....Could it be crappier out? I have tons of errands to run today to prepare for chaperoning Kindergarten field trip tomorrow and trek to KY for the weekend. Can't wait to head out in the weather!! :(

Can't believe I am a field trip chaperone. Seriously....how old am I? Feeling the Grim Reaper growing ever closer......remembering the days of my youth and how much I enjoyed a field trip and as I grew older prayed to God my parents would NOT chaperone. Now, I am enjoying the happiness that my daughter feels for the opportunity to have her mom on her trip, and thinking I should relish every second as I know the days of her wanting me on school trips will someday come to a close as well.....

Domestic accomplishments thus far....dinner made, house picked up, laundry going in washing machine, kids fed, now off to shower....hopefully errands will go seamlessly in torrential downpour later this morning..... To be continued!

TGIF....now somebody come rescue me!

Okay.....here is what is happing here at the moment: Domestic Goddess has a 4 year old with strep and a high fever crying and clinging to me, a two year old begging to go potty and get his gummy worm, 6 year old asking me to remove tag from shirt of third outfit change today, cell phone is ringing off the hook.....HELP!!!!

E has strep. Again. We seriously just finished antibiotics on MONDAY. Really? Again? It is probably the most beautiful day of the year, husband coming home early for planned trip into downtown Chicago that is no longer going to happen. BUMMER. Big Bummer!

H has decided to finally show interest in potty training. I should be stoked about this right? Humm....well, not so easy when you have a demanding sick child clinging to you. Purchased more gummy worms as bribery for potty use. Told N and E if they could get H on the potty, they could have one too. Seems to be working rather well! I should write a book on potty training your youngest child......

Tomorrow is big fairy and pirate birthday extravaganza at the G home. Totally psyched to see my boys running around like hooligan pirates, and my beautiful N in a fairy costume having a blast on a beautiful warm Chicagoland day! More excited to use Nikon D90 again and take photos!! Of course, there is always the fun of drinking Sangria with my best friends that is appealing too!! :)

Domestic Goddess out to serve very late lunch to starving hooligans.....

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down....

Ugh. 41 and rain. Not so fun. Desire to do anything, much less anything domestic is totally gone. Had a fantastic weekend love affair with my new Nikon D90 and took some amazing pictures of the kids at the Morton Arboretum. Had two fun evenings with two favorite families of ours and the kids are worn out as a result of this...crabbiness levels have peaked to an all new high today and my patience is at a negative 10.

Domestic accomplishments of the weekend included hemming designer jeans leaving the original hem. It took 2 hours, but I dusted off the old sewing machine and did a pretty good job if I don't say so myself....of course, I had to enlist in the help of the family engineer...it was a two person job. Maybe paying the alterations people would not have been such a waste of money....?

Thoughts of the day.....I am ready for warmer weather..... I am ready to have some sort of color to my skin other than opaque....I am ready to use the gas grill to simplify dinner.....I am ready to not get up at 5:30 am and rush off to school by 7:15.....

Rumor has it, snow is in the forecast for tonight. Reply to this..... WTF? It is spring, isn't it? Done, done, done with snow.....wanting to have a snow suit/jacket burning ceremony. A huge bonfire that I can dance around while I watch our snow gear light up in flames and we give it the old middle finger by roasting marshmallows and basking in the humidity of a summer evening.

Ugh....Mt. Laundry beckons as does the bacteria-laden petri dish bathrooms. Jeans off, Juicy Couture sweats on....domestic goddess will clean in goddess attire!

Love Affair with my Nikon....

It's true....I am head over heels in love with my new camera. I can't wait to go shoot at the Morton Arboretum tomorrow. All things domestic in this home (besides meeting the basic needs of the family) have ceased. I have been studying books and manuals and am beyond excited to "break er' in!"

Fortunately the weather looks as though it will cooperate....and the house can't get any dirtier than it is....really. So stasis is a good thing at this point.

Was on time for school/coffee with friends this morning (yeah me and my resolutions!) and am sorely looking forward to Mexican and margaritas with the family tonight at Front Street Cantina after listening to E whine incessantly all day long...

off to attempt some laundry and stepping away from the computer and camera.....is it possible?!

The Domestic Goddess tackles the hovel.....

Okay, enough is enough....my home has officially reached hovel status. As a self proclaimed Domestic Goddess, I am ashamed, embarrassed and at this point- totally overwhelmed.

If anybody came to visit me right now, I would have to claim that the Somalian pirates raided my home ....there is dust everywhere, piles of ...piles everywhere, my floor needs to be vacuumed and washed, the bathrooms are a disaster, and by the looks of my laundry room, global warming ceased and Mt. Laundry regenerated its mountainous glaciers that I now must hike once more.....

Add to that, it is gorgeous outside....first warm day in, I don't know- FOREVER and the sun is shining, my windows are all open, I have short sleeves on revealing my pasty snow white arms and I am a prisoner of my home. This sucks.

Interested to see how much I accomplish as it is almost 12:30 and E's soccer practice is at 5:30. Do I stay up all night? How did June Cleaver and Harriet Nelson do it and manage to look so fresh and in such high spirits in the morning......

Do Domestic Goddesses have cleaning services?

To be continued............

Wine....my friend

Okay, the rest of my day was crap. Domestic goddess, I am not....

Update: Laundry, still wet in washer, still same load in dryer. Will attempt to finish said laundry after kids retire for the evening.....

Showered, yes, but drove to pick up E from preschool with crazy, wet, messy hair. June would be disappointed in my appearance. Makeup- check, Dressed cute- check. Hair- check minus.....

Picked up both N and E from school on time...no lateness. There's a positive!

Met a friend for lunch ON TIME....also a positive. Children aka hooligans, misbehaved entire lunch. Gritted teeth and practiced Serenity prayer many, many times......

Masochist that I am, decided to run errands in Naperville and behavior of children included but was not limited to: spinning clothes racks, hiding from me, screaming, fighting, pulling hair and over-all noisiness... Whose kids are these anyway? (is there a lower amount than check - ?)

On time for ballet, reheating amazing chicken and wild rice soup that I made and froze a few weeks ago so healthy dinner is almost accomplished.... Two checks.

All in all, domestic goddess is haggard, bedraggled and worn down.....wine consumption commences immediately....

Resolution Rewind.....

Day one of resolution rewind....

Thus far, I managed to get up on time, albeit I have not showered yet...accomplishing this at precisely 9:00 when I return from taking N to kindy.

Have fed children nutritious breakfast of Organic Flax/Omega 3 Van's Waffles and blackberries with a side of yogurt. Actually ate some myself!! Say it isn't so! Definitely worthy of a domestic goddess!

One load of laundry in the dryer (tossing to remove wrinkles from sitting all night) and one new load going in washer...somewhat surprised by this myself at this juncture! June Cleaver would be proud!

Got out the door and managed to get E to preschool on time, even though I sat behind a train, and later,various construction equipment at the corner of Renwick and Route 59. Took said opportunity to discuss oil cars heading to Exxon refinery where daddy does work and also answered many questions about construction vehicles and their purpose....turned what would usually be total irritation and stress of lateness into a learning experience! Domestic goddess for sure!

What will the rest of the day hold? To be continued..... off to break up fight between a 6 and 2.5 year old.

New Year's Resolution?

Is it too late to start doing what I resolved to do in January?

#1. Will force myself to get up before the kids so I can actually shower every day. I know that some people are into the grunge look....I however do not sport crack whore eye makeup and greasy ponytail very well. A domestic goddess (ie-June Cleaver) was dressed, pressed and primped before Wally and the Beave were up for their delicious homemade breakfast. There will be no more Fiber One Poptarts in the car......

#2. Will do at least one load of laundry every day to cut down on Mt. Laundry expeditions Tuesday afternoons...I am not cut out for all day folding...or washing for that matter. My laundry room has no window and although I love my HE front loading washer and dryer I can't stand the asylum white plain walls and darkness provided by my halogen earth friendly ONE light bulb fixture.....

#3. WILL BE ON TIME..... (repeat....repeat....this is your mantra)

The Birds...

First blog entry....not sure how one starts a "blog" but here goes... :-)

Today when I woke up I was reminded of Easter 2007. Something about the weather, the smell of the air, sound of all the birds....I don't know. For those friends of mine that have recently come back into my life via Facebook, that Easter will FOREVER remain the craziest. Hands down.

Easter itself was rather uneventful as they usually are....Church, egg hunts, candy induced high followed by the crash and coma that follows from the consumption of a plethora of candy by toddlers. Upon our return from Kentucky we were met with a few surprises....

Surprise #1. The refrigerator door was left cracked open and all the food was spoiled. Yep! Nothing like coming home to a spoiled fridge full of hundreds of dollars of food and condiments....everybody's dream! Perfect way to start the week right? SUPER easy for me to replace everything...especially since at that time N was 4, E was 2.5 and H was 4 months old. Grocery shopping with all three was clearly a nightmare from hell... Can you say walking advertisement for birth control?

Surprise #2. A sparrow built a nest in wreath on my front door. Not only that, but she and her mate were evidently sleeping when I inadvertently opened the door to collect a package. What happened next you ask? Yes, at 1:30 am they flew in the house. Two birds...flying around my foyer (with a very high vaulted ceiling) crapping everywhere and landing on my light fixtures. My husband suggested leaving them until morning. Seriously...?! There was no way in hell I was going to bed and leaving the feathered freaks flying around only to swoop my head in the morning...they were dive bombing us, swooping like a couple of WW2 bombers. I am completely OCD and although I love nature...this was too much.

We tried everything to get them out. What the neighbors saw, I am sure they still laugh about. The front door was wide open,middle of the night, the lights were on, we tossed nerf balls at them, stuffed animals, toilet paper rolls and even used a long handled duster to scare them out...to no avail. Finally the domestic goddess that I am had an idea....

We opened ONE bedroom door upstairs and closed all the rest. We shut off all the lights in the house except for that one. Commence nerf throwing! The birds flew right in the bedroom (with only 9 foot ceiling) and we shut the door. What happened then is still a mystery to me as my husband went in with a sheet. I heard lots of jumping and cussing and moments later he came out with a bird flapping and flopping around in a sheet. Open front door....release. Again he enters the bedroom sheet in tow. Thud, jump, cuss...door opens and bird #2 flopping in bag. Open front door....release.

Seriously one of the funniest things I have ever experienced, albeit disgusting as I cleaned sparrow poop off or many, many things in my home for the next week! Yuck! Domestic Goddess' plan saved the day...