CHAOS!

Today has been one of those days! I woke up at 8:15 am. Ben goes to school between 9:00-9:15. While normally this is enough time for me to make him breakfast and get him ready, I had to be out the door at the same time for a doctors appointment as well!

I showered and dried my hair. I also had to pack him snacks for the week. Even though I know he needs snacks at the beginning of each week, I somehow wait until the day that they are needed to pack them! I'm running around like crazy...Alex is throwing a fit because he doesn't want to share a blanket on the couch with Ben! I then realized that Ben needs a check written for school lunches! He needed a written excuse for missing yesterday at school! It always seems like I am waiting until the last minute to accomplish EVERYTHING!

I really need order in my life! I suffer from CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)! I love that term! I got it from one of my many organizational books "Sink Reflections." Do you have a house of chaos? I wish I could have a house that stayed spotless every single day! One that I walked into and instantly felt calm and not anxious and overwhelmed! A house that didn't have cheerios under the couch cushions and socks thrown all over the living room! Oh socks...that's a whole other blog topic! lol

It seems like when I clean one room one room perfectly and go to the next, the boys destroy the room that I just organized! It's a vicious cycle! And I can never ever seem to catch up! They are 4 and 5-years-old and we tried everything! But when it comes down to it, I think they have way to many toys! We've packed a lot up and decided to only give them a small selection to play with and then switch them out every 6 months or so. But Alex had a birthday in December and then there was Christmas, so we are overwhelmed with toys again!

I feel like I never have enough time in the day to accomplish everything! Ben's Little Penguin's practice is every Thursday night and now he has the opportunity for another hockey program that is free for Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday! Because it's free, we jumped on the offer, so now he plays 4 days a week! As if I didn't already have enough going on! But it's just 12 weeks, I keep telling myself that!

So back to today....

I'm already late to my doctor's appointment, which is almost an hour away, and I first have to drop Alex off at my mom's. Alex didn't really want to go, but he was ok with it, or so I thought! He ended up falling asleep about 5 minutes away from my parent's house, so he was super crabby when he woke up. As I walked him up to the house, he began to scream: "I don't want to visit!" He stops on the sidewalk and my mom had to come down, pick him up, and carry him into the house! And yes, he's 4-years-old and is now going through the terrible twos! YIKES!

So I'm in a hurry trying to make it to my appointment and am going down back roads. I end up coming to a road that is closed, and that adds about 10 minutes to my travel time! I think the only plus to my day was that I found an empty parking spot at Panera Bread, so I was able to eat lunch there! ;)

Oh and did I mention that I went outside for about a minute earlier today to check on the dog? I came into the house to find Alex's shoe on the couch with his drink upside down inside it! Maybe he's looking for attention? It sort of reminds me of dogs who poop in their owner's shoes when they get mad at them! lol

I guess it's good that it wasn't my UGGs! I guess my day could always be worse! lol

Thank goodness that my husband is off for the next five days! I can always use the extra help! I love how my husband gives me a day to myself to craft and unwind! I see a tub soak in my future! :)

Oh and we are currently almost finished with our bathroom remodel! I have to do a couple finishing touches and then I'll share the before and after with you! I can't wait...it's BEACH THEMED! :)

Do you U Curl?

I am a girly girl. Ok I said it! lol As a teenager I wanted to be a man! I wasn't very girly. I hated the color pink and I played hockey! But as an adult and especially over the past few years I've turned into a girl! lol And now I cannot get enough of the color pink! I think it's because I live in a household with three males!

Here is my latest beauty product purchase. It's the "Infiniti U Curl" by Conair. Basically it's a wand that you wrap your hair around to create a curl! It comes with a glove so you don't burn your hands, but I find the glove very awkward, so I don't use it. And the wand gets hot...up to 400 degrees!

Let me tell you, I absolutely LOVE this iron! Here is a photo of my hair after I used the wand today. Reviews have said that the curl will last all day and even for a couple of days. I wash my hair once a day so I'm not sure how long the curl lasts, but I will say that it lasts all day long! Usually I use hot rollers, but since my hair is getting longer, the curls usually don't last all day. That's why I love this thing!

Oh and I must mention that this is me BEFORE I went to play hockey today! Yes, I do curl my hair and apply makeup before I get all hot and disgusting! lol I mean why bother? But like I said I'm now a girly girl! And that's how I roll! ;)

The size of the curl depends on how much hair you wrap around the wand and where on the wand you place the hair. I recommend this for people with at least shoulder length hair. My hair is shoulder length and at it's shortest layers I sometimes find it difficult to wrap around the iron. Anyway, just wanted to share my latest beauty secret with you! Oh and if you do decide to buy one....price them first. Most places sell them for $39 dollars. I found my at Walmart for $29! So that was awesome!

I had so much fun with my self-portrait today, I also wanted to share another fun photo with you. I know the lighting is really bad, but I love it this way! On the bottom left is a frog mosaic that I made for my bathroom!

But anyway, that's just one of my favorite beauty finds! I have a ton others that I will share with you another time!

My Biggest Loser

In this society I think we over indulge with everything! And when it comes to our pets most of us like to spoil them! And it was no surprise to me when I was in the pet store last week and came across this product.

Since then I've seen it on tv almost daily! My dog Allie was at the vets this past week with a reoccuring foot problem. At her appointment we discovered that she is even heavier than she was this past summer. She weighed 14 pounds this past summer and she now weighs 16 pounds! Because of her extra weight, it may be hard to tell but she is a chihuahua mix!

This is what she looked like when she was about a year old! Here she is with Ben. I think what has happened over the years is that she is consuming all the food that the boys have dropped on the floor as babies and toddlers!

Not to mention some intentional feedings I imagine!

  Here is a photo I took of her tonight! She is pacing by her food dish...crying and whining because today is day two of her diet program! And I can totally relate with how she feels because I am a total beast when I am dieting! I just feel soo badly for her! While we don't usual give her table food, we just always feed her when she wants to eat. Which is a couple of bowls full at a time, a couple times a day. She'll go to her dish and cry or follow you around the house barking at your feet and you know she wants to eat, so we fill her bowl! Well that was a big mistake!

 For a dog of her size, the diet program only allows you to give her two of these packets of food A DAY! That's why I feel soo badly because it is such a small amount compared to what she normally eats. Look how tiny the packet on the left is! And she only can have just two per day! And the packet on the right is the amount of treats she can eat! And she is allowed just one of these treat packets a day! Normally she doesn't like dog biscuits like these, but she's so hungry that she eats them anyways!

So I fed her a one packet around 8 o'clock this morning. And the other packet around 6 o'clock this evening! She had one biscuit around lunchtime and then the other at bed! The program states that 96% of dogs lose weight within the first month! That is IF you follow the plan! Today she was soo consumed with hunger that she manged to climb the boys chair and jump on the couch and steal a graham cracker from Alex's bowl! But I don't blame her, I'm like that too when I am starved! lol ;)

The plan was a little pricey...you get a 5 week supply (for small breeds) for around $44. But if it works, that is what is important...I want her to be around for a very long time! And at this rate her obesity isn't very good for her health!

With this program they are supposed to lose 1% of their body weight per week! I'll have to keep you updated!

Bucket Boy No More!

If you read my last post you know that Ben couldn't skate his first time on the ice. But by the end of his first time he was able to skate just a little!

Yesterday was his second time on the ice however, and he didn't use a bucket! He skated the whole hour and a half on his own! I was sooo proud of him! He did great, and even scored two goals! He still falls alot, but it's amazing that he is doing so well!

 I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but because of my past hockey experience I am helping out with the program! Here I am teaching some kids how to skate! Aren't they soo adorable and tiny?! lol I'm not tall at all, I'm only 5'6", so you can see in comparison of how very little some of them are!

I absolutely LOVE teaching the kids! I think now that I am older, plus I'm a mom, I have a ton of patience and it's soo rewarding too! One little boy fell backwards and hit his head on the ice. I was standing right there and I said: "You're all right!" And he responded in his tiny little voice: "No I'm not!" lol It was the funniest thing ever..it made me laugh! He was ok, he wasn't hurt, and he never cried. 

I totally forgot what a workout hockey is! I was completely drenched with sweat after our last practice! lol  It was sooo gross! I felt like I sweat off five pounds! Hopefully I'll lose a little weight at least!

My Little Pittsburgh Penguin

We had a very busy and exciting weekend! Benjamin, my five-year-old, started "The Little Penguins-Learn To Play Hockey" program! He has never played hockey before, or even ice skated for that matter, but we had the opportunity to participate and went for it!

He was all smiles when he first got his equipment, and even wanted to watch tv while he was wearing it! I'm just loving the little helmet and the itty bitty skates! They are soo adorable!

 Sidney Crosby, who is the captain of our professional hockey team, The Pittsburgh Penguins sponsors the program each year! He is a spokesman for Reebok, so all the children participating got full gear! Through The Pittsburgh Penguins (Sidney Crosby), Dicks Sporting Goods, and Reebok they gave children all over the Pittsburgh area the chance to be able to play hockey at an astonishing price! It only cost $100 and that included all the ice time, full equipment, and 12 weeks of lessons! You cannot beat that! If anyone knows anything about hockey, it can cost up to $1000 just to play for one season! This is the perfect opportunity to see if he really likes the sport and wants to play...and it's easy on pocket! ;)

 So Ben will be playing every Thursday for the next 12 weeks! I just love this profile picture of him! It's soo cute, and he looks so deep in thought. He's probably thinking...what have I gotten myself into?! lol

 Here he when he first got on the ice! You can't really tell, but the boy kneeling behind him is holding him up! lol Poor Ben just couldn't get the hang of just standing on the ice! He wanted to keep moving his feet, which caused him to fall repeatedly! lol

 For those who don't know, this is how they teach kids to skate. The kids that cannot skate or stand up by themselves are given big buckets to push around the ice! At first Ben was hunched over the bucket and by the end of the hour he was standing up straight and even skated a little on his own!

 I played hockey in high school, so luckily I was out on the ice with him and was able to help him skate. It's been about 15 years, and my feet were killing me! Especially since I had to skate backwards most of the time as I was watching Ben skate! lol

 Towards the end of the skate I let Ben hold onto his stick as I skated backwards. I figured it would give him a better idea of actually skating, if he was standing upright doing it himself. Like I said, it worked and hopefully by the end of our next skate, he'll be able to skate on his own!

 Here we are taking a little rest!

 Since I have had experience playing in the past, they will be letting me help out on the ice! I am soo excited! I love hockey soo much and love working with kids! So this will be a good fit for me! So I won't be taking a ton of photos during the program obviously since I will be on the ice. But I will try to have my husband take some.

Just for laughs, I wanted to share a photo from when I played hockey. I was about 17-years-old when this photo was taken! I absolutely fell in love with the sport and hope that Ben does too!

Traveling to games and playing hockey was one of the best memories that I had of childhood!

Christmas...A little late!

I know, I know...it's nearly a whole month after Christmas, but I just had to share these cute photos of the boys, and then I'll be all caught up with my blog! lol

Every year I buy them matching pajamas. It's a tradition...I just love watching them open presents in their matching pajamas! It makes for great photos too!

Here they are waiting at the top of the stairs before they come down and open presents! They get sooo excited waiting!

 Here they are sitting together opening presents. It was a big year for Star Wars!

 I like to take a formal photo around Christmas time, so I have one year to year. This is this year's photo. Here's Alex.

 And here's Ben. I think they turned out really cute!

 And here is our family Christmas photo (Allie our dog included)! It was tough taking a photo myself....it's so hard to get everyone with a nice smile. This isn't perfect, but oh well...I thought it was cute! lol

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas! I wish I was able to send each one of you a holiday card!

Living a chaotic life!

Wow, it has been such a long time since I last blogged! I apologize, and I probably lost many readers, but December is one of the most chaotic months for me!

My photography business is finally picking up, Alex's birthday is on December 12th, and then there is Christmas! There's just a ton of stuff packed into one month! I know I'm behind, but I'd still like to share some photos from December! Here are some photos from Alex's 4th birthday party! As you can see it was "Lego" themed. I was so excited when I found this t-shirt, I thought it would be perfect for him to wear for his party!

 He's very excited that he is now 4!

 I haven't made a themed birthday cake in a few years, but this year I thought I'd try to tackle a Lego Brick cake.

 I made this yellow brick cake and the blue one that you can see behind it. I wasn't super happy with how it turned out, but the kids seemed to love it! I even used one of his little Lego characters to hold one of the candles!

 Here is the table centerpiece. I used a Lego gameboard that I found at a thrift store and a vase that I filled with Lego Bricks. The little boxes were filled with treats and I stamped each child's name on the box. I wish I would have gotten a photo with all the little Lego Man boxes, but the kids snatched them up pretty quickly! lol

 I made these gift bags for each child that were made to look like Lego Bricks. I purchased solid color gift bags and used a hole punch to punch out circles from cardstock and used dimensional stickers to add them to the front. Very inexpensive and very easy.

So that was basically his fourth birthday! He had a great time and got tons and tons of what else...LEGOS! :)

I plan to start updating my blog on a regular basis, just please stick with me. I've gone through a tough time in the last month and I'll share that with you soon. Hope you are staying warm in whatever part of the world you are in! Have a great week!