31 Days of Crafting: Semi-Fail

Week 1 went very well I think. Then it all started to go downhill. I guess I'm saying that because I didn't follow the "plan" to the T. I won't say I have a fear of commitment but rather a lack of follow through. I had very good intentions and all in all I would have to say that I was successful since my ultimate goal was just to spend more time with my kids.  I have let them cook with me several times. Lots of egg cracking followed by a lot of picking out egg shells. But that's to be expected. They got the hang of it pretty quickly I guess. My kids were super excited to help me cook and that really showed me that it doesn't matter what I'm doing with them as long as it's quality time. QUALITY not QUANTITY! 

I just have to remember to keep working on it. It's so easy to come home and just want to lay around after working all day. And lately I've been hitting the gym so I can look like this: 

Oops wrong picture!! More like this:

So with all the working and working out that leaves less time at home. But I am still making an effort to let the kids help me more and not try to do anything myself. I'm sure that has nothing to do with my anal personality (I can hear my mother laughing now). I also bought the kids some school workbooks so they can work on their education. Since they are 4 years old we're way behind on them being the next Sheldon Coopers of the world. No kids of mine are going to take 4 years to finish high school!! They will be in med school by the time they are 14 like Doogie Howser. 

Seriously though I am not that crazy. If they are brilliant enough to do that then great, I'm just hoping they are smart enough to put money away for me to stay in the top of the line nursing home where I can scream obscenities at random strangers and get away with it. One of the things that we did was take cards to a senior living facility and one of the residents just randomly started cursing. Not at anyone just saying words. Random but true. Sometimes that old people are just plain crazy. 

So although July was a flop in the sense that I barely did any of the things on the list I did make a much bigger effort to spend quality time with my kiddos and I think we all had a fun month. In that sense I believe it was a success.

31 Days of Crafting: Week 1

This is hard! Not because I don't like spending time with my kids because I do. But mainly because I think I was trying to be too "crafty" with it. The ultimate goal was just to spend more time with them minus the TV. Even though we do watch a lot of Big Bang Theory which I believe is educational and musical since my son loves to sing the theme song. Anyway back to my crafting dilemma. So it started out fine:


July 1: Bath Paints 
This went well the kids had fun and made a huge mess but that was kinda the point. Who knew that shaving cream and a little blue food coloring could stain grout?? Well I do....now. Oh well at least it looks pretty. Oh and next time I won't be using a men's shaving cream. The bathroom and my bedroom smelled very masculine. That smell is fine in small doses. You would have thought I filled a Febreeze bottle and started spraying around my room with cologne. Ugh it was awful. The point was to have fun and the kids did. I also realized that they were very nervous in the beginning to make a mess because they have a mother like me. They kept asking if they could put it here or there. They eased up after a few minutes when they realized I wasn't going to go all "wire hanger" crazy on them. 


July 2: Giant Bubbles
FAIL!!! No bubbles actually resulted from this method. At least not for us. And since these are children they have no patience to keep trying. So they just blew regular sized bubbles and all was right in the world again! YAY!!


July 3: Fireworks
My husband wanted to get some fireworks and since he is the King of his Castle....wait that's not right. Oh now I remember, since I wanted fireworks too it was to be done! Yep that's how it works in my house. If not there tends to be yelling. So we got fireworks and the kids played with sparklers and those little paper poppers you throw on the ground. That's crafty right? Well either way we were together.


July 4: Fizz Explosion
Baking Soda + Food Coloring + Vinegar = Stained Patio. Who cares, we're renting. Hmmm....may not be the best attitude. But the kids had fun making the cups overflow with pink and blue foamy fizz. 


July 5: NO CRAFTING
Aaaaahhh the horror. But I worked all day then I went to see a movie with my girlfriends. Hey sometimes you need to get out and have a drink and eat some fried pickles and watch Channing Tatum shake his thang!! Good times. 


July 6: Pizza and Ice Cream Sundae party
I feel like since we were together and they were having fun it was all good. The kids got to watch Madagascar and play with toys while I played Jenga and was AWESOME!! Ooops, I keep forgetting this isn't about me. Sorry hard habit to break - Only Child Syndrome! 


July 7: Random Acts of Kindness: Card Marking for Senior Home
I LOVED THIS!!! The kids went crazy decorating their cards but they got overly focused on their first and had a hard time moving on so that we could get all 16 done. Thanks to my friend Traci and her son we were able to finish them and deliver them by lunch time. It was good in many ways. 1st - It taught the kids to do things for others. 2nd - Traci worked to get over her fear of old people. And 3rd - I got to hear a crazy old lady with Alzheimer's start randomly cursing when my kids tried to hand her a card. Priceless. Why because for once my kids weren't hearing it come out of my mouth.


July 8: Cleaning disguised as Crafting (GENIUS!!)
The house was a mess, what else is new?? So we cleaned the house and then kids helped by putting the DVD's back in the right cases and also wiping down the dusty entertainment center. Now I have to say my daughter enjoyed this more because she's OCD and loves to clean. I've had to cut her off when it comes to the Clorox wipes. My son only joined in when we used the male weakness: "I bet you can't do this" Works every time. And wives it works on the hubsters too. But use it sparingly so they don't catch on. 


July 9: Get Well Soon Cards for Pappas
My grandfather (who I call Pappas - no one knows why) had to have a Pacemaker put in last Friday and so the kids got yet another chance to use the glitter pens they love so much. Elijah had fun making Spiderman and the Black Spiderman. I was actually pretty impressed because he used a white crayon to make a web shooting from his hand to a building. My little smarty pants! Oh and of course the kids always make me sing the SpiderPig song. Maddy on the other hand wanted her card to say Thank You. I tried to convince her to write Get Well Soon but after a couple tries I let it go because hey at least she's using her manners! Maybe it's a "Thank You for getting a Pacemaker" card. It's her card she makes the tough choices on what direction to go in with it.


July 10: Sweet Tooth Tuesday a.k.a. Marshallow Decorating 
This was basically an excuse to stuff marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate and sprinkles in my mouth at once. And let me tell you after eating great all that day and going to the gym TWICE, I earned it. Ok, maybe not the best way of thinking but it was true. Elijah doesn't like marshmallows - WEIRD KID!! So he substituted strawberries instead. So technically I guess it counts as healthy, ya know, in some alternate universe where Carrabba's bread helps you get a six pack. Oh if only I could find a worm hole to that wonderful place. 


So that's what we've been up to so far. And although I plan to try out a few more of the ideas from my "Game Plan" I still think that the kids and I are having fun spending time together without following the plan. That's what I really wanted to get out of all of this and so far so good.