April 26, 2017

{I'm Aware He's Not a Baby}

Trust me people, I am well aware of the fact that Owen is no longer a baby. I'm made more aware of this fact every single day. When he makes his own bowl of cereal, when he gets himself up and packs his own lunch, when he's outside playing with the neighborhood kids.
I see it every single time he tells me he doesn't need me to do something for him, or to help him do something.

April 21, 2017

{So I Guess We're a Harley Family Now}

You guys. *Sigh* For the fifteen years I have known and been in a relationship with my husband, he has never been a Harley Davidson fan. Not once did I ever hear him say oh I'd really like to have a Harley. In fact, it has always been the opposite. He has always said that he doesn't like them and he had no desire to own one. When we first got together, I thought he was kind of nuts. Pretty much every male in my family has owned a Harley at some point in their life. All one of my uncle rides is Harley's. So to have someone telling me that they're junk, was kind of confusing lol. But he converted me. We had a concours and that was what I liked. I got used to it. We went through two of them.

Goldie and the KLR

April 19, 2017

{My Husband Took Me Hiking & I Almost Died!}

You. Guys. Ugh.

When it starts getting nice out, my husband suddenly starts getting these ideas in his head. He wakes up one morning and says today is the day we go on an adventure, and then he drags me along with him...because he hates me (OK...not really but whatever). Friday, my dear friends, was one of those days. One of those days when he looked at me thirty minutes after getting out of bed (me getting out of bed, he woke up at four in the morning because #nightshifter), and says Do you want to take the kids to Starved Rock today? Which of course I say yes to because saying no would mean that I'm the party pooper.

April 17, 2017

{Happy Easter!}

I hope everyone had an amazing Easter! Mine was pretty mellow.

I filled the Easter baskets the night before (obviously) and hid a few eggs through the house for Owen to hunt. I know I already made posts about what each kid got, so I won't go down the list again. But everyone was pretty happy with what they got so it doesn't really matter. I know we added a few things after I made that post to Owen's basket. Of course I forgot to put those things in his basket so I had to play it off like the bunny dropped them in my room.

April 14, 2017

{Today Was a Good Day}

As some might know, a month or so ago, our furnace took a big ol' crap. It hasn't been insanely cold so we've just been heating the main rooms with space heaters. Not good for the long run but it was working in a pinch. We had been planning on getting a new furnace for a while and upgrading ours to include central air. But it seemed like every time we saved up the money or had extra money, something would come up and that would put it on the back burner. Plus, we had all the window units so to be honest, I wasn't too eager to get central air. I mean, it's nice and all, I grew up with it. But it certainly wasn't a priority for me (clearly or we would have had it by now).

But since the furnace finally just pooped out on us, the house sort of decided for us that it was time to take the leap. So that's what we did today. D's grandma has used the same man/company to do her HVAC for years and so we called him up. He gave us an estimate (and the family discount ;) ) and said he could do it the next day (today). His guys were here by 10am and had it all done around 5pm. We got a digital thermostat (which is pretty common at this point right? Lol) and we instantly felt the temperature in the house change when they tested out the air. I think it's going to do the job just fine this summer. There's also a built in dehumidifier so it's going to cut down on allergies quite a bit (mainly for D because he gets them something awful!). So that was exciting today!

While the guys were here doing all that, I took Owen and Dawn to see Boss Baby.


It was a super cute movie. Owen really liked it, which says something because the kid refuses to like anything that doesn't have a ridiculous amount of fighting in it (boys...am I right?). If you're on the fence about seeing it, go. You won't regret it :).

In the evening we went for ice cream at our favorite local place. Well actually, I was taking  a bath and D took Dawn and Owen to get ice cream. When I got out of the tub, I went to get some too and Owen got more lol.

So in all I think today was a pretty good day. Not stressful at all even though there were people in and out of my house all day.

How was your Thursday? I hope you're having  a great week!

-Kristin

April 12, 2017

{What's in My 9 Year Old Son's Easter Basket?}

Oh lordy you guys. If you have a nine year old boy, you know my struggle right now. He is at that age where he doesn't really want toys but he also isn't old enough to just give him cash or a gift card. He still plays with his action figures and TMNT toys but he has so many of them that I don't really want to buy more to just clog up his room with. He is a little gamer in training (thanks for that by the way husband) too so he enjoys things for his PS4 more than anything else.

April 10, 2017

{What's In My Teenage Son's Easter Basket?}

I don't know about any of you, but it's becoming increasingly difficult for me to find things to put in this kids Easter basket. He's not a big candy eater and obviously doesn't play with toys anymore. His main source of entertainment these days is his phone, his friends, and guns. Yeah. So that doesn't leave a whole lot of options for things to fill an Easter basket with.

April 7, 2017

{What's In My Teen Daughters Easter Basket?}


How is it already time for Easter posts? I feel like I was just making posts about stocking stuffers and what we what Santa was bringing. Now we're on to the Easter bunny.

Surprisingly it's a week away and I'm only 1/3 of the way done. I've got Dawn finished. She was easy thanks to Targets dollar spot. I was pretty happy to get her over with too because usually I go way over board. I've always had issues with over buying for her (which isn't surprising, there are so many more cute things for girls than boys it seems). Gaige is going to be pretty easy this year too, all he wants is money. Owen is going to be an issue. He refuses to tell me anything that he might want, so I'm on my own for ideas.

April 5, 2017

{She Is So Entitled!}

A couple days ago I blogged about how Dawn had been caught stealing from me, and how I had found this post talking about how a mom had cured her own daughter of an entitled attitude. When I read this, I figured it was worth a shot. It certainly couldn't hurt right?

Of course I have to deal with school, so she will have access to the people she swears are her friends (though she doesn't talk to anyone out of school so I don't know how good of friends they actually are..). But at home she has access to nothing.

Yesterday (Friday) I did all of her laundry (the laundry she is supposed to do but doesn't) and went through it to choose three pairs of jeans, three shirts, and undergarments. She normally keeps her hygiene products in her room so I brought down her deodorant, hair brush, and one hair tie. That's all she will be allowed to have (other than tooth brush/paste, shampoo/conditioner). Dressing will take place in the bathroom.

Sleeping will be in the living room. Normally when I go this route, she has her nice comfy bed to sleep in, but her room is empty. This time, she has nothing.

She will be allowed to do her homework on the old laptop instead of the new chrome book we purchased for them. Of course, even this will be done sitting next to an adult. Especially after today.

I got a headache and went to take a nap this afternoon, leaving her to do her homework on the laptop. I figured that it wouldn't be an issue. I'd explained to her that how long she was grounded and without her things depended solely on her ability to follow the rules. She understood. She wasn't happy, but she understood. When I got up a couple hours later and went to check her internet history to make sure she was doing what she was supposed to (she is a supervised user and can't delete her history) I found that she had been playing a game, and not only playing a game, but had tried to find a way to get around my having blocked the game she was playing (moviestarplanet...don't let your kids play that shit). Upon doing so had downloaded a virus. A nasty one. So nasty that I had to completely wipe the laptop and start from scratch on it. I was no pleased. So now her homework has to be done with adult sitting next to her so she can be monitored.

This is just day one of the whole process. Each week she can go without getting in trouble at home or school she will earn back one item. Be it the use of her bed, her makeup, the ability to get on the computer without an adult, ect.

She thinks I'm horrible for doing this. I think I'd be even more horrible if I sent her into the world thinking everyone owes her something.

So here we go people. I'm sure I'll be back to let you know how it goes. I'm sure it won't be easy. I know there are going to be tantrums. I know there is going to be fighting because she wants her freedom back. But she needs to learn. And if having to sleep on the couch for the next month or so helps her to learn, then it's worth it.


-Kristin

April 3, 2017

{I Caught My Daughter Stealing}

Dawn has gotten to the point of entitlement where she is now taking things that don't belong to her, just because she wants them. For years she has done things just because she wanted to with no regard for rules. But this is something new. Or at least something I've never noticed her doing before. Not to this scale anyway. Sure she would swipe a DS from the boys when she was grounded from hers, but I've never known her to actually steal from an adult before. Until now.