Sunday, January 29, 2012

Camp Runamuk . . . I had an Epiphany . . .

. . . about how to celebrate every holiday between Ephiphany and Mardi Gras all in one day and one meal.  The kids had the day off from school, so we all know what that means . . . Camp Runamuk.  On Friday my type A brain decided we needed to celebrate Ephiphany (that actually takes place on January 6th), Chinese New Year (January 22nd – February 6th), Valentines Day and Mardi Gras. 
I know, I’m smoking crack!
But, as always, it was an adventure.  So, here’s what happens when you celebrate New Mardi Valphany:

Monday, January 23, 2012

Confessions of a Tri Diva - and so the swimming begins!

Today I officially re-started my triathlon training.  Going to “tri” to do three this year.  Ah ha, that was funny, only to me, and since I’m writing this, I can entertain myself!  J
So as I started my training regimen, there are a few things that I have learned about re-starting after being away for several months:

Sunday, January 22, 2012

What do Tom and Jerry, Sharks and Tie-dye have in common?!

They are the crazy things that mommies do for their children’s birthday parties.  The Ego turned 8 yesterday.  But, guess where her bad mommy was?!  In a tent, by herself, at the Girl Scout headquarters in Balboa Park learning how to tent camp!  8 years ago I was in the hospital laboring to have that child and eight years later I was laboring to learn how to create new and different experiences for her!  Because I was going to be a bad mommy and miss the actual day, I delayed her birthday party by a day and asked her what theme she wanted for her birthday.  Her answer . . . Tom and Jerry!  Are you f*#&ing kidding me?!  From all the 400 themes she could have chosen she picks the ONE that requires everything to be mail order and I only had 5 days to get it here.
As I was trying to figure out how I was going to manufacture Tom and Jerry swag in 5 days or less I thought about my friend Tammie who sent me an e-mail a few weeks ago to share with me her family fun.  She had baked a Shark cake for her son's birthday!  This is what Tammie’s cake looked like and it inspired me to think that I could make a Tom and Jerry cake! 
Tammie's family fun lesson learned "make sure you take pictures right after you make the cake in case your 8 month old doggy decides to bite off the fin"!  I HATE when that happens.  I'm so glad to know I'm not the only one it happens to.
Here’s what I learned about thinking that you can do something that’s WAAAAY above your pay grade for your child’s birthday; and, just for giggles, at the end I’ll share how my shenanigans have inspired other mothers to torture themselves as well:

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Stay at home mom . . . vintage style!

One of the memories that my husband has shared with me is that he always loved was when his mom would take him and his sister down to their dad’s office to have lunch.  So, in honor of the 60’s and Martin Luther King Jr. day yesterday, I decided I’d try to have an old fashioned stay at home mom day for my husband.  Complete with doing the laundry and having dinner on the table when he got home. 
And where did this whole “vintage” thing come from?!  Well, this morning one of my fellow Rotarians (who is 33) talked about her “vintage 1970’s watch”.  I point that out because apparently having been born in the 70’s, I’m vintage!  Not even going to mention what that makes my husband who’s much older than me!  I think he’d say he’s a “classic”. 
Here’s what I learned about being a stay at home mom “vintage style”:

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr.

Before I get to MLK Day, I forgot to mention yesterday one of the most important lessons I learned about cleaning our house:
When de-childproofing the house, remember not to shut the pantry door when removing the childproof implement.  The door handle may fall off with you inside!  Yep, locked myself in.  Thankfully I was on the phone at the time and therefore could have had someone rescue me; but, alas, I did figure out how to work the mechanism before that had to happen.  Not one of my prouder blonde moments!
Anyway, today, in my quest for family fun, I decided to schlep the family down to the Martin Luther King Jr. parade in downtown San Diego. 
Here’s what we learned:

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic . . .

This is what my husband calls my attempts to spring clean our house.  And, he’s right!  It’s mid-January and I’m sure you all were thinking I had given up on my blog.  Nope, I’ve just been buried under a huge pile of Dugdale sh*t that came out of our house.  For the better part of the last two weeks I have been cleaning every single drawer, cabinet, closet, children’s hiding place, and I’m still not done.  BUT, those parts that I have finished, look FANTASTIC and now I feel like I’m ready to start the year fresh.  I have fun plans for the blog and for family fun, and now that I’m organized and know where all the crayons and craft supplies are, watch out my friends . . . Family Fun 2012 is going to be underway beginning Monday!
But, before we get to that, here’s what I learned about cleaning your “literal” house (i.e. your actual house) so that you can clean out your “proverbial” house (i.e. your cluttered mind):

Thursday, January 5, 2012

It's Thursday . . . do you have your formal wear?!

For the New Year I kept vacillating between blogging every day even if I don’t have much to say and only blogging when I had something funny to say or contribute to the lives of those crazy enough to follow my adventures.  As you can see, I’ve chosen the latter.  I know that I’m again sh*tting on all the social media etiquette and “rules” with my refusal to blog every day, but I'm a quasi stay at home mom of three kids.  Give me a f*#&ing break!  Those rules were invented by college kids whose primary responsiblity was where to buy their Ramen noodles that week.  Oh, I mean . . . (I just pissed someone off again, didn't I?!) :-) 
Oh, before I go any further, I’ll just share something that all you mommies of older kids can relate to  . . . in the last 2 days I have been informed by the 9 year-old Superego that
1)      She does not believe in Santa Clause;
2)      She no longer eats kids meals at fast food restaurants because “they are for babies” and
3)      She needs to shower every morning, wear deodorant and curl her hair before going to school.
Where the f*&# did my baby go, and who authorized these New Year's resolutions?!
Ok, back to the post . . . Needless to say, I’ve been slacking with family fun creativity in 2012.  But tonight, I was so excited and surprised with the family fun that the Superego and the Ego came up with.  They made dinner with daddy and decided that they wanted dinner to be a formal night . . . cloth napkins, tablecloth, place cards and all!  Daddy even tucked in his shirt and wore a sport jacket!
Here's what we learned about family fun formal night: