I'm Going to be a Pinterest Mom

This is the year I’m going to shine brighter than all the other moms out there. I am going to be the mom that all the other mom’s talk about, strive to be, dare to out-do. I’m going to be THAT mom, the Pinterest mom.

I will finally have three kids in school (Stella only half day) and it is my time to be brilliant. There will be nasty, snarky posts about me, sideways glances in the school yard, but I don’t care. Creativity will be mine!!

I’m going to make the snazziest lunches, a little bit of this, a little bit of that healthy and delicious. My kids will eat the rainbow at lunch alone. There will also be heartfelt notes in each lunchbox, everyday. I may even make my husband write some too.

Look at the balance in these meals!

There are going to be epic dinners and after school snacks, maybe a couple of fancy desserts a week. I’ll have plenty of time to go to the grocery store and prepare my feasts.

 

Who wouldn't want this dinner presented to them?

My girls are going to go to school with fancy hairdos everyday and carefully put together outfits. Polyvore’s not going to have anything on me. Moms will be trolling my Instagram feed for outfit inspiration. I’m even going to sew some fantastic ensembles.

So pulled together

Organization:  a place for everything and everything in its place. My house is going to be spotless. A chore chart will be posted and adhered to; everyone will know what his or her job is.

 

A week's worth of recycling in one cereal box, my grandfather would be so proud!

After school starts, Halloween is just around the corner along with the “Holiday Season”. The snazz will be happening at the Kraus House this year, I’m giving advance warning. We’re talking decorations up the wazoo. If I pinned it, it will be!

 

Stunning addition to any door

Everyone wants to be fruit for Halloween

Birthday parties will be like society galas with themes, themes, themes. Keep your fingers crossed for an invitation, the social events of the season.

 

Party time!!

Who am I kidding? This is never going to happen. Lunches? Maizie INSISTS on getting school lunch salad everyday and she has the same snack the entire year. I may have to get somewhat creative with Stella (she’s a bit of a diva) and Teddy eats anything (especially if I put it in a thermos), leftovers it is.

I have been trying for years to plan meals in advance, it hasn’t happened. I’m a look in the fridge/freezer and figure out what can be cooked the fastest kind of girl. And when it comes to baking, well that’s Ted’s job and we won’t discuss it any further.

I’m lucky Maizie even gets her hair brushed before we leave the house in the morning and she’s not big on fancy hairdos. Stella on the other hand has started doing her own hair (at 5 years old). I suppose I should really help her out in that department, but she does a pretty good job. As for clothes, Maizie doesn’t like to get too adventurous in the wardrobe department Stella’s whole motto is “Flair or Nothing”. (You should check Instagram for Stella’s creations.) I do want to sew more; I’ll have to find my sewing machine first.

Organization and cleaning, face it Ted, it’s NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN. I try but the shiny things take over and I lose focus. I really do plan on trying to stay organized since my scatterbrain “condition” seems to get worse with age.

Holiday decorations? My kids have to nag me until I can’t stand it in order to drag them out and then I let them do it. Well, I do take control of the mantel. Last year Stella asked for two straight weeks for me to put the Halloween wreath on the door and I don’t even think I own and Thanksgiving decorations.

Birthday parties? I’ll have them at a place so I don’t have to do any of that. I’ll pay someone else to decorate and create a theme. I will admit I have a tendency to go overboard with the favors.

There will probably still be sideways glances and comments, but they’ll be more like, “Wow, she is a slacker.”

Maybe this school year I can find a happy medium?

Disclaimer: None of these photos are from Pinterest, I took them all.

Not Fair!!!

Things that I find not fair...

 (In the Kraus House)

Stella (or another Kraus kid, but let’s face it, it’s usually Stella) wakes up in the middle of the night because she has a bad dream. She tries to sleep on the couch because I desperately do not want her in my bed, but she “can’t fall asleep”. So after the third time waking me up I let her into my bed where I am kicked the entire night. She ends up sleeping soundly (like I was) and I end up beaten to pulp with a banging headache.

I charge my tablet so I don’t have to be planted in front of the computer all day, but when I go to use it there is not more “juice” left on it because someone was playing some pet salon game or watching Peppa Pig in Espanol all morning.

We don’t have a dishwasher so we wash the dishes by hand. Whatever, it’s been like that for 11 years, we’ve gotten used to it. When Ted does the dishes he sends the kids on search and destroy missions and they return with every dirty dish in the house. It doesn’t work out that way when I do them. When I finish, I always find at least one fork or cup that didn’t get cleaned.

Ted decides he’s going to cut out his nightly bowl (vat) of cereal and within a week he’s down 5 pounds. While I eat healthy food in normal portions and by 8:35PM I’m ready to chew off my own foot, how much do I lose in a week? Point four pounds, that’s .4.

Ted decides he’s going to lift ONE weight while he’s watching TV at night. Within a week and a half his upper body looks like he “picks things up and puts them down” while I have done triceps dips for the equivalent of 48 hours and I could still knock myself out if I wave too fast.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Here are a few of my favorite food items. Some may not be the healthiest around, but once I start I can’t stop.

Polar Diet Dry Orange soda, I can drink this by the case load. It is my second favorite soda (Diet Dr Pepper always comes in first) and it had been on sale quite a bit lately, I’m a sucker for a bargain.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Edamame, I was going to get espresso beans but I had the forethought to know the rate I would eat them and knew I would need to sleep. I convinced myself that edamame would give me a smidge more nutrition as well.

Trader Jose’s Fresh Salsa is gone in one sitting. Most of the time I don’t eat it with chips, I use celery (excellent to scoop) or cucumber slices. By the time I finish, you can smell the garlic coming through my skin and Stella continually tells me to brush my teeth. I don’t care! It’s fantabulous.

Town House Pita Chips, I tried these tasty treats and devoured the box by myself. I have an issue with chips and certain kinds of crackers. I try not to bring them into the house for the very reason that I will eat the entire bag/box in one sitting. This box got eaten with the Trader Joe Salsa (double delicious whammy). If you want some chips around here, get them as soon as it’s opened or you will not get any.

Trader Joe’s Mini Pearl Grape Tomatoes, I eat these like candy (my kids do too). I will buy them to roast or put into salads but by the next day there will only be about four left. What are you going to do with four grape tomatoes? Shove them in your mouth of course. (If a kid is coming they will all go in at once.)

Throwin' Back

Five Years Ago...

At the Hasbro playground at Roger Williams Park

Mystery Ride

Monday we took the kids on a mystery ride. The night before we didn’t tell them where we were going, just that we were going somewhere and it would take a little while to get there and they had never been there before. Oh the anticipation, Stella fell asleep, Maizie eventually fell asleep, but Teddy is another story. He gets himself so excited and amped up, he can’t sleep. He had even taken Benadryl for his allergies before he went to bed, but nope he was up wandering the house.

They all got up, ate a hearty breakfast and got dressed and were ready to go, so many questions. Maizie packed her “secret bag” full of stuff she might need. Whatever, you want to bring it, throw it in the trunk. I also packed a bag of snacks and drinks because I knew once we got to stop number two they would want/need it. Once they saw that, they could barely contain themselves.

 

Pancake muffins with a side of fruit bon appetite

We pile in the car and we’re off to destination number one, The Fantastic Umbrella Factory. (I have always wanted to go there but just never got there. When I saw that the weather was going to be absolutely beautiful, I told Ted my idea. All systems go!)

 

On our way

As we were walking through the gardens Ted told the girls that there might be fairies living there. I thought they might pass out. The hunt was on, come out come out wherever you are!

 

Disappointed she can't find a fairy

Smelling and hunting

I thought this was cool

They checked out all the flowers and fauna (and found a furry chicken). They saw a “fairy house” and heard a ruckus, but didn’t actually see a fairy. Better luck next time ladies.

 

The furry chicken

OMG!!! There were fairies there!!

More fairies!!!

We went into all the shops. Maizie got a mood ring and Teddy and Stella got bracelets. Ted also got a new ring. I saw several bracelets that I liked, but they wouldn’t last the grips of the girls, so I passed.

We filled up our cones to feed the goats and headed over to the animals, those emus can move fast. Most of the goats I have encountered come running when they see people with food, not these guys. The goats were lying on the ground and I had to throw food at them to get up, only one bothered. The emu was the one who ate the cone (these obviously were NOT tin can eating goats).

 

Feeding the goat once he decided to get up.

The emu (with giant toes)

We finished up and went to our second destination, the kids’ playground at Ninigret Park. My kids love playgrounds. We pull in and Stella yells, “Yes, they have a zip line!” We were the only ones there, it was fantastic.

 

A Zip Line

Time for snacks and a beverage (I knew it would come in handy). They played some more. Before we went to our third stop, the kids had to use the bathroom. They only have port-a-potties. I must say, they were impeccably clean. Stella even said it smelled like Skittles. (I may never eat them again.)

 

Snack time

Last stop was Wickford to see Auntie Rey and a spot of lunch; we knew Stella was going downhill when she didn’t want to eat anything. (She was a ticking time bomb.) We ate and stopped at Auntie Rey’s to grab some freeze pops before we walked down to the water to check out the lobsters and skip rocks.

 

Waiting for it to buzz

This is when we knew she was going down the tubes

Daddy and Maizie

Strolling to see the lobsters

The view where they skipped rocks

On the way back I stopped in Lulubelle’s and that’s when Stella announced it…the headache! Time to go; the downhill slide happens fast with that one. At least she waited until the end of the day to get sick.

Our first mystery ride was a smashing success! I hope the next one is as successful.