Something that I hate to admit.

Today is March 6.

Spring is in the air (ok, not right now, but last week it was. Right now, it's freezing again. I know that spring is getting closer.)

The kids and I started some new flower beds, that I've been meaning to do since we moved to this house.

(Three and a half years ago.)

I finally cleaned off the front porch.

(There was a dog house with a heat lamp in it for the dogs on the front porch. You know, the first thing people see when they come to my house. Seemed like a good place for it at the time.)

I've completed the "omg must organize the house because it's a new year"

I'm feeling the need to start spring cleaning.

The kids' spring break is only a few weeks away, at the end of this month.

The yard needs to be mowed, another sign that spring is near..

The grass is starting to grow in the pasture, so soon I won't be having to worry about getting hay to the pony and donkey.

Spring is so close, most days I can nearly taste it.

(Again, not today, I'm freezing. Stupid Louisiana weather. Make your mind up.)

Christmas day was 71 days ago.

Seventy one.

Ten weeks ago.

I can't even type what I'm about to say...

My living room Christmas tree...

is still in my living room.

I only have one living room, it's not like I have two, and this is one that people don't usually see. Everyone sees the Christmas tree that is still in my living room.

In March.

My bedroom...

still has boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations piled up.

I have excuses, and I think they're pretty good ones.

The Christmas stuff usually goes in the attic. Our attic access hole thingy is pretty small, and it takes at least two men to get the stuff up there. My husband hasn't been home for any long periods of time this year. The longest was 6 days, but that didn't count, the man had the flu. Other than that, there has been two other days that he's been home.

I've threatened to go buy a shed.

I've threatened to burn all the Christmas stuff. (The husband isn't worried. He knows that's never going to happen.)

I took the decorations off the tree a few days after Christmas. So when my husband came home and had a chance to put the tree in the attic, it would be ready. 

So I have a naked Christmas tree, in my living room, in March.

All my friends think it's just the funniest thing ever, and keep asking when am I going to decorate it for Easter.

I don't even notice the 8 foot tall, 5 foot wide Christmas tree any more. What tree? What are you talking about?

I swear, this stuff is going somewhere before next Christmas.

But I have a feeling, that by the time we put it up... it'll almost be time to get it back out again.

I just want my living room and bed room back. I'm not asking for much, people.

Please tell me I'm not alone...

lazy day

It's going to be a lazy day here in Louisiana. It's cloudy, and lightly raining. Thank goodness, I think the wind has gone away, I've been chasing chairs all over my yard all weekend. It also got up to 80 degrees in my house this weekend several times, because someone (um. me) kept forgetting to call the ac repair man. But, he's on his way now, praying that it will be something minor wrong with it, nothing serious. I fear having to replace the whole unit. 

Oh, forget the "lightly raining," the bottom just fell out. 

"If you don't like the weather in Louisiana, 

wait five minutes, it'll change."

I had a very productive weekend actually. I got the house cleaned, went grocery shopping...

(the rain just quit. See what I mean?)

... and I'm working on teaching Peyton that his toys stay in his room, not all over the house. I don't mind him bringing a few toys out, but when there are 10 of his toys in each room, that's just too much.

Maybe he has too many toys?

Big plans for today: fold clothes and wait on the ac guy. And do some research for a new camera. I'm going to try to sucker my husband into letting me buy a really nice one, I'm going to use the excuse that I need it for the big trip we have planned with the kids in a few months.

I'm so excited, I woke up this morning, and one of my flowering trees bloomed over night I tell you. I would take a picture for you... but you know... that whole, I lost my camera thing ruins that ;)

(and now we're back to the lightly raining.)

My job matters.

Three little people and a husband that's at work the majority of the time = no down time for me. I have to be ready to go, run, do, get this or that 24/7. 

"This is the Jenna show - financed by Joey."

I get tired of trying to clean. It seems pointless at time. I'm constantly washing clothes, but the pile of dirty clothes never gets smaller. It seems like the dishwasher is always running. I'm always picking up toys. 

I spend all day in this house fighting this cycle. 

I get angry.

I cry. 

I throw hissy fits.

(For the record, the kids don't care when I throw hissy fits. It doesn't work. Why do I keep doing it?)

Our yard... oh our poor poor yard. It's sad. Really, really sad. Since I spend all day keeping up with the house, I have no time to keep up with the yard. There are toys every where, some trash, the yard could stand to be mowed... but when am I supposed to do these things, with three kids right behind me tearing it back apart?

My truck... I swear we could live out of it. My poor sweet husband had it detailed for me last week, and I smiled and thanked him, all while thinking "Wow. That was a complete waste of money. The kids will ruin it in a week."

I'm starting to feel like I'm at the end of my rope. I'm getting tire of doing the same things over and over, and, yes, I'm having a pity party.

Today, I read the post "Changing lives one load of laundry at a time" over at Small Notebook. And it was just what I needed.

"       We’re not taking care of stuff, we’re taking care of people.

So the next time it seems like you’re picking something up for the hundredth time or why bother doing the dishes because they’re just going to get dirty again, know your job matters. It’s about more than just the stuff.
In fact, it was never about the stuff in the first place.   "

So now I'm going to end my pity party and go take care of my little people by taking care of my home. 

Who knows, I may even tackle the yard today. 

I'm still here!

Whew, it's been a while, huh? Things have just been crazy busy, with all these little people! I haven't been able to do much with the house, other than the bare minimum cleaning so the CPS doesn't come pick my kids up. But after today, I could call them myself, and beg them to come get these children. The long weekend was nice, in a way. It was laid back, go with the flow, doesn't really matter what time it is... just living. But. Then the kids got bored. And lost their minds, all at the same time, and decided that they needed to get Momma to loose her mind too!

They succeeded. 

But tomorrow, they're all back to school. I love Tuesdays and Thursday when they all go. But I also love Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when it's just me and Peyton. And I love the weekend when they're all home.

Right up until the point where they drive me insane. Then I'm waiting on Tuesday again.

During this spell of doing the bare minimum, the laundry piled up on me. There were three baskets of clean clothes in the living room, and dirty clothes that seemed to be reproducing while I wasn't looking. But yesterday, I sat my children down and explained to them that I had to do the laundry, I was going to fix them all something to drink, lunch would be served at 11:30, made sure that Peyton had a clean diaper, and told them not to bother me until I was done, that it was their fault I couldn't finish the laundry because every time I start, I hear "Mooooom"... and I'm slightly ADD, and forget what I was doing before they called me. 

Yeh. That talk I had with them?
 

They forgot all about it within 10 minutes.

"He pushed me."

"I'm thirsty." (Please remember I fixed drinks for everyone before I started the laundry. When I pointed this out to him, that he had something on the counter, "Oh. I forgot.")

"Mooooom! Peyton just pee-ed in my floor!" (He took the diaper off, put his pants back on, and then let it go.)

"Get out of my room! MOOOOM!"

Some how, I got it all done. Whew.

And now, I promise I'm never going to let it get like that again. I know that the best plan of action is to not take clothes out of the dryer until I'm ready to fold them. I know this. But, it never fails, someone needs something washed, rightnowomghavetohaveit, so I just put what was in the dryer in the basket and... forget about it. 

Oh, laundry, why do you do this to me?

And ya'll, we're having the most lovely weather here in Louisiana. It's heaven. The kids are playing out side, I've had the windows open for the past 72 hours, and I think my most favorite part: I can walk around my house barefooted and my feet not freeze off! I wasn't quite sure that I would survive this winter, a few weeks ago we had snow and ice and UGH, and now it's heaven. This I can live with.

I'll try not to cough on you...

Who's tired of hearing about the flu?!

Oh? You are? Eh. Oh well.

I have more exciting flu news. The flu of 2011 has claimed it's fourth victim in our household now, Jonah. I keep looking at Peyton, "Was that a sniffle? A cough? You feel a little warm..." I'm just waiting. I know it's coming.

We (the kids at least) always get the flu shot, but this year it sneaked up on me, and I completely forgot. I'm seriously writing it down on the calender NOW for NEXT flu season.

I have all sorts of projects that I want to do, but with the kids being sick, Blythe has dental surgery next week, and everything else going on, it just doesn't seem like a good idea to start anything. I have plans that involve paint on the wall, sewing machines, ruffles, and pillows, and to do some flea market hopping... but these all must wait.

ok.

maaaaybe I can manage to paint my bedroom, even with everything else going on... it's really needing it with the new bedding in there.

And oh boy! Let me tell you, I'm having some problems with the curtains in that room. I bought these curtains when I bought the new bedding. They look great with it, it's just lovely... except for with all the sicknesses, I just want to crawl into my bed sometimes in the middle of the day, and NOT be able to tell it's the middle of the day. Well, duh, these are sheers, what do you expect, Jenna? 

While at Target that day, I started to buy some white black-out curtains, but decided to wait and see what I thought after I got the sheers up. Ok, that wasn't really the reason. It was because I had already spent $400 in Target, I needed to get out of there, and quick. I looked at Walmart, and they have black-out curtains, just not in white, and Target does. (Nearest Target is an hour away.) 

So I thought I would buy some plain white canvas-like curtains? Surely they'll block out some light, right?

No. Plain white curtains do not block out light.

At all.

So I now need to order some white black-out curtains. Because during this sickness, I have found myself in Blythe's room on her crappy twin size bed, just to be in the dark in the middle of the day.

Lesson learned: it doesn't matter how pretty it is, if it doesn't function the way you need it to.

(And, yes, still no pictures. The camera is still MIA, and I'm a cheap-o, I just know it'll turn up!)

Send food!

The flu of 2011 has claimed it's third victim in our house (he hasn't even been home in a month, but it found him too) -- my husband. I had to go get him from work. I was starting to feel better before I had to make the drive to go get him, but today I feel like poo again. Blythe still sounds like a seal coughing, but she seems to be feeling fine. The teachers at school keep feeling the need to tell me she's still coughing -- I know this, and I hate it for her, but in the last two weeks she has missed 4 days of school, she has to go. I mean, they say it like I'm the worse mother in the world for sending my poor child to school with a cough. It doesn't help my case any that she's telling them that I'm not giving her her medicine, which is a total lie. 

I have decided that child has one goal in life -- to make me look like a bad parent.

I'm guessing that I'm just going to have to give up hope that my camera will show up, because it's not, and break down and buy a new one. I would love to have a fancy smancy one, but I know that I would just loose it also, or the children would break it. So I do believe I'll just be getting a new cheaper one again. How do you ladies with small children protect those expensive cameras?

Here's to hoping that tomorrow is a better day. I need to go get my sewing machine from my mom's house (she borrowed it about 2 years ago, was going to make a dress for Blythe... that never happened), so I can get started on thinking about this slip cover for the wing back chair. I'm kinda scared of this project.

I just may survive the flu of 2011 after all

The flu hit us hard, and I just now think we're all going to survive it, but you never know, it could come back.

I'm praying it's over, because my poor house... it's been neglected. I have so many projects around the house that are only half finished (and there are clean clothes piled every where. At least they're clean, right?!). I still haven't finished all the derned doors and replacing of the door knobs. I pray that the hardware store will have the rest when I go back to get them, because if not, I will be taking these off and returning them. I don't know why I do business with this small local hardware store, they always let me down.

My bedroom is still slowly coming together. I bought some lovely shabby chic curtains, but I discovered they're not quite right. They're pretty much sheer, which is beautiful and goes great with the style I'm going for, but when you're sick and want to stay in the bed in a dark room all day, they don't work so well. I have two options: 1.) Keep these, because I really do love them, and go buy white black-out curtains (that's like an oxymoron isn't it? white black-out?) I'm just not sure how that's going to look. or 2.) Take the current ones back, and get something heavier. I kept the packages these came in, because I wasn't sure if I could live with them. Yes, I want the house to be pretty, but at the same time, it has to be livable. 

I moved some of the existing furniture in the bedroom around today, even though it will not be with us much longer (I hope.) I moved it because I had a great idea (ok, honestly, the idea came to me while reading over at Nesting Place), our bedroom needs some type of seating! I mean, duh?! Why hadn't I thought of this sooner? And I know exactly what needs to go in there. (This is where I would normally share a picture, BUT, the camera is still MIA.) I have a wonderful wing back chair in my living room. No one ever sits in it because of where it's at, which is the only place it will fit in my crazy little living room, and it would actually get used if I move it to my bedroom. Have you ever tried to take boots off standing up? Hope you have good balance, I don't, I must sit down. Plus it will be a great little reading area. The only problem is that I don't like the fabric. At all. I was planning on have the chair reupholstered, even if I left it in the living room. Then I got to thinking to myself, "Self, you know how to sew, you're fairly decent at it, why don't you just make a slipcover for it?" Low and behold, while looking around at Nesting Place, I found the link to Pink and Polka Dot. It's like the heavens opened up and the angels started singing. I can do this! 

I'm going to have to make a trip to find fabric soon. I need to find whatever I plan to make the slip cover with, and I found three throw pillows in the closet today that I need to make some cute shabby chic covers for. They went with an old bedding set and do not go with what I'm going for. I also need some type of ruffle stuff to add onto the plain white bed skirt. The shabby chic bed skirt was about $60 for a king size. I just couldn't spend that. So I bought a plain white one with the plans of fixin' it up. Now I have to go repossess my sewing machine from my mom, I've got big plans for it.