How Do You Clean Chapstick Off Your Sofa?

Somebody throw some ice on me, because I am boiling right now.  It's a wonder I don't watch my boys like hawks knowing all the myriad naughty things they can be doing in just a few seconds of time.  I blame my first child - she is just too sweet and innocent and well-behaved.  I have been permanently spoiled.  Her teacher called me yesterday and actually joked with me about wanting to take her home if I ever wanted to get rid of her!  Ha!  Take my boys, not my daughter!  OK, I am just kidding, my boys are truly awesome little dudes - super adorable and intensely loving - they are just boys.  Ya know - boys will be boys?  Well, to what extent can we just keep saying that excuse?  When do we say, NO, that's not OK, even for a boy?  Again, I am spoiled by my easy first child and am under a cute little boy mind control as well....so, somebody please throw some ice on me to not only stop my anger, but wake me up from this hazy outlook!
Here's the latest - I walked downstairs to water some seeds that I am growing indoors for our garden.  It literally took me 5 minutes to complete this task and come back upstairs. In that time, my youngest - my 2 1/2 yr old - decided it would be a good idea to open a tube of Grape Craze Chapstick, unscrew the entire stick of waxy goodness and then proceed to pull it into pieces and rub the purple goo all over our sofa, (which incidentally still does not have the freshly washed cover on it yet)  OMG!  I walked up the stairs and into the den where I saw him sitting in front of his masterpiece and looking like he knew what he did was wrong ( as soon as he saw MY face)  How do you clean this? I have no idea....
The irony of it all is that I was just talking with my girlfriend last night, while sitting on this very sofa, about taking a step back when your kids do these 'kids things' and how to not get too upset.  She had mentioned a certain little daughter of hers cutting a hole in her new furniture because she wanted to see if her Mom could mend it with that Magic Mender 'as seen on TV' product.  Too funny.  In hindsight she doesn't care - its just a piece of furniture, but at the time she was really angry, but she took a step back and didn't go completely ballistic on her daughter.  So, as I walked up those stairs and saw the mess, I told him he made a big No - No and proceeded to clean up what I could.  He immediately apologized - "I sorry Mommy" in that sweet little high-pitched voice with those big baby blue eyes, and what did I do?
Nothing. 
It's just a sofa and boys will be boys.

To be clear though, I am still boiling.  I hope no one gets in my path for the next few hours....

Seeking Balance in Life...

I actually had time to read a few articles in the paper yesterday (no, they weren't about Libya or Japan).  Usually, a common site on my kitchen floor is the past couple days worth of newspapers still wrapped up in their signature blue plastic bag, sadly waiting for me to pull them out and immediately recycle them. 
Oh well.
Anyway, my favorite columnist and blogger at the Hartford Courant spoke to me with his article called 'Seeking Balance In Life Has Us Out Of Whack'.  I have been contemplating this thought for a few weeks now (more than usual because of my new business) and was happy to hear his thoughts on the matter.  I know my friends, Colleen and my Aunt Pam will appreciate this article because it mentions the hardships of having kids on travelling teams.  Check out the column - it's short and sweet - at www.courant.com/tooshea
Check out his other articles too - he tells it like it is.

That Dreaded Day...

OK, we all know it is coming at some point, that day when your kids start to surpass your knowledge of certain things - how to play a game, say a slang phrase or look cool in school.  At 36 years old, I was so sure that that day was waaaaaaaaaay far away.  Ya'll know what I am talking about - I still feel like the exact same person that walked into her first college class.   The same person that met her husband at age 20 in the basement of a fraternity house drinking cheap beer for a measly 5 bucks all night long.
Yeah, the same person that just got up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning; made breakfast for her family of 5, unloaded the dishwasher, did the dishes, drank a pot of coffee, folded the laundry, worked at her new business and it is still only 9 am.  Wow. 
But, this particular morning is a little different.  A certain young 6 year old, that doesn't spend much time playing video games was just overheard telling her father -in that 16 year old girl voice- how to play an I-Spy game on her little brothers Leapster.  Of course, I was in the other room taking care of my housewife duties when I heard this and immediately walked into the den to point and laugh at my husband who tried desperately to explain that he knew how to play the game and was just being nice to the kids.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I am still LMAO. 
Honestly, I have to admit that I had no idea how to play the game my kids were playing and that I am just as lame as my husband.  Yup - I may have childishly pointed and laughed at him for being told how to do something by his kids, but it was just an infantile defense mechanism of mine (I am the second and last child, ya know).  I know, very well, that today is that dreaded day when my husband and I start to realize that we may not be as cool as we think we are and that our kids are growing up and becoming their own little entities.  We may still know more than them right now, but from now on, my husband and I are forever tainted.  We were just served by our 6 year old and there is no going back.....

Cheater's Guide to a Clean House - Parenting.com

OK - even with just two agreeable comments about how hard it is to work from home with (or even without) kids, I am now determined to find an answer. SO, here's a breakdown of what most people have to do on a daily basis: clean and dress themselves and their children, feed themselves and children, clean the home (including dishes, tidying, laundry, occasionally vacuuming and bathrooms) and make some sort of family dinner (atleast I try to). Oh - and work at your job, yes, that too. Of course, you really need to add in there that you need to play with and enrich your children as well......:-)
So, here's my first tackle: cleaning. I am a notoriously poor housework housewife. I loathe my inner housewife duties. I hate the word housewife, too. Let's just call me (and whomever agrees) a structural manager. Anyway, I don't like to clean - never have. I still shiver when I hear Elvis Presley or Frankie Valli because that is what my mother would blast when it was time for my sister and I to help clean the house. So, with three young kids, I am pretty much screwed. No matter how many times you tell them to eat over their dish or to wipe their hands on their napkins (instead of under the table or on the furniture) there are a multitude of crumbs and smears everywhere they go..... It's like a trail of evidence....
Just this morning, my youngest decided to put Chapstick on the sofa - of course, I just washed the cover and FORGOT to put it back on. Great. Excellent.
So, with my hatred of cleaning part explained - here is a small light at the end of the tunnel - an idea to try:

Cheater's Guide to a Clean House - Parenting.com

We'll see how long this lasts....

How Do You Work From Home?

Seriously? How does anyone work from home without being interrupted, being distracted or feeling guilty around your small children?  Really?  I am currently typing this with a 4 year-old on my shoulders and a 2 year-old banging his grocery cart against my computer tower.  I can't believe I haven't made a spelling error yet...
Oops - there goes a crayon under my desk....oh, now it is being used to draw lines all over the desk.  Hmmm, somehow I just don't care. :-)
Actually, my boys are pretty fun to be around, but just like a cat jumps on your newspaper as soon as you open it up, your kids sense when you want to get a few minutes of work done and they climb on your lap as well.  It's almost uncanny.

Guess I haven't much more to say today, but gotta go - gotta go play with my kids.  They are, after all, the reason why I have this business.

West Coast Style

My friend came over today to pick out fabrics for her niece who is (as we blog) in the midst of giving birth to her very first baby many, many miles away!   As she walked out the door, we noticed the emerging daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and crocuses pushing up through the frozen ground.  Signs of spring!  Newborn babies, sweet little budding flowers, fledgling birds, and oh yes, allergies (but that's another whole blog to rant about).  I am so excited about the birds coming back to my yard and perusing the garden I create for them - the spring bulbs, the climbing vines, the roses, the veggies, the ornamental grasses, the foxglove, the lupine, the irises, the lilies (ohhhh the lilies - I am my grandmother's granddaughter) and even the Cascade hops that my husband - the amateur beer brewer - wants to harvest and make an IPA.  Gotta love that.  But, back to the birds - I can't wait to have them back.  Can you tell I missed them this winter?  Check out this grouping of fabrics in the pic.
This is an order I just sent out to a friend on the west coast - I love these fabrics together - the birds, the blues, the mod look of it all.  It was really hard to let go of this one, but it went to an important customer ( a returning customer and a friend! )  Hope her friend likes it as well!  I also hope she loves the birds as much as I do.  Happy Spring.

What thu?

Seriously, I am so technologically inept - I am amazed that this is working (atleast I hope it is). My friends are all laughing at me - they couldn't believe it when I actually got a cellphone ( like, 2 years ago, even though it's still just a tracphone)  As I try to get my creative business out there in this computer world, with all these electronic devices that I have no knowledge of (when people discuss apps for their iphones, all I hear is the wa wa wa wa from the adults in Charlie Brown specials) it poses quite a challenge.  So, maybe I took on a little too much today by creating a Facebook page and a Blog for my new little business.  Ya think?
Well, if ya got any advice or wanna point yer finger at me and laugh, let's do it - atleast we'll be laughing.
I think I just tried to like myself on facebook...is that possible?

These Little Fingers...

These three little sets of fingers are why I am here writing down this silly information and my personal reflections.  I would never have started this business if it weren't for them...wanting something better, something softer, something stronger and (let's face it) something more adorable for them!
Funny thing - lots of other parents feel the same way :-)

I'm sure there are lots of little fingers out there that have made the same impact as mine have.  Agree?  Maybe I can make you something for your favorite little fingers or someone else you know.... they are very special, aren't they?