News flash: Kenmore sees the light of day after over 365 days!

For the first time in eight years, I was by myself in my own house for five days. And I loved every minute of it. Now don't get me wrong, I love my family. I enjoy their company...most of the time. But Mama needed some rejuvenation on many levels and she got it. Even though I worked that week, I came home to our little house and pretended to be a woman who had no obligations to anyone but herself. It was divine.

I decided I was going to sew. Some of you know that I had aspirations around this at some point. My hope was when we moved here that's what I would be doing - designing and sewing and hopefully, selling. But we didn't count on being in such a little house. Put four people in this house and there is no room for sewing. Unless you are very organized and efficient at it, which I am neither of those things. So, I hadn't sewn for over a year. The living room look like it had exploded.



I started off easy, deciding to forgo patterns and do a elastic waist skirt for Anna Mae that my sister-in-law, Laurie, turned me onto. Here are the two skirts finished. I haven't got my little monkey to model them for me yet.



The sugar skull fabric is called "Glitter Skull" by Alexander Henry and is a bit longer than the other but both are good for school clothes. Oooh, but now I've got a sewing itch that needs to be scratched. I have got to have a plan so 365 days or more don't pass by me again. Hear me now believe me later: I shall sew before school starts again...somehow.

How could someone not be inspired by such fun fabric? Oh, and five glorious days to yourself, yeah...that did help.


Perfect skirt to start off your school days in the bible belt don't you think?

Red Grammer sings for me and for you...

I came across this song on iTunes looking for some children's music. Isn't this what we all want and deserve? And to those I have witheld that from, hearing this song softens my heart to them. My prayer today is that I can see the beauty in you...whichever "you" that happens to cross my path. I guess that would include myself, huh?

Welcome to the family!

On June 7, 2009, in what seemed a nearly effortless birth thanks to the amazing labor powers of Cindy,my sister in law, Philip Gallagher became the newest member of our family. My brother captured this moment soon after the birth between mama and baby. It touched me so. I thought I'd share it with everyone. Welcome to the family Philip!

Alice in Wonderland Unbirthday Party

We must have been all mad.

I know we were. Mad for a little girl named Anna Mae who turned four on June 16th. On the 13th of June in the late afternoon South Carolina heat we had a Mad Hatter's tea party under the canopy of a beautiful beech tree generously loaned to us by our wonderful friends and neighbors. Here's a little digital scrapbook documenting the occasion...the only thing missing was you...



Make a Smilebox scrapbook

We're all tuckered out now and resting up for the next unbirthday to come along.

The Boys of Summer

Gavin's little league season in Clinton was small town at it's best.
Baseballs, boys, and dirt. What more can an eight year old boy ask for?


Could they be any happier?


Majors here I come!


End of Season Celebration - Gavin with friend, Patrick.

Climbing out of a hole...

(thanks to graham at flickr for the photo)

It's been a while. I've neglected you. Let me tell you where I've been.

It had been sneaking up on me kind of like Swiper from Dora the Explorer. Armed with very little but a snack cake or two (or twenty) I was pretty much defenseless against the strong wave of hopelessness and loneliness that washed over me. If all it took was the incantation used by Dora, "Swiper no swiping! Swiper no swiping!! Swiper no swiping!!!", I would have triumphed over it. But the wave won and put me in a hole. A dash of self pity and a pinch of lethargy kept me there.

So why now? What has changed? Nothing...and everything. Nothing is that I'm still in Clinton and most all of the people I love and laugh with are nine hours from my embrace. Nothing is that I still continue to abuse myself with excess food and despise myself for it. Nothing is that we dance the same dance and know it well.

Everything is that I am starting a job in Columbia in just three days. Everything is that we are buying a house that doesn't feel like home but have very little choice here. Everything is that we are moving in less than a month. Everything is the time I planned to spend with my family and friends in July is gone. Everything and Nothing, that pretty much encompasses it all.

But, as I type these words out, I am reminded of a very simple phrase that has carried me through many a change. "Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today". Acceptance of where I am living, of myself, of my choices, of others, and of what is... that is my goal today. Which is why I am being honest with you. No silly funny post to get a laugh or two. Just a simple embrace of what is and where I am.

I'm not out of that hole entirely. In fact, I can't say for sure that tomorrow I won't find myself a shovel and start digging deeper. But what I do know is that getting it out of the dark and giving it a voice many times takes away its power.
So maybe when I do see that wave sneaking up on me there would be no harm in saying out loud three times strongly, "Swiper no swiping!".

The Great Adventure continued...

The Water Park

We decided to not go to the concert for several reasons:

1. We were clueless as to who Mitchell Musso was (shame on us)
2. Our little kids were clueless as well - If Hand Manny or the Imagination Movers were there we would have all been front and center
3. Water Park, Water Park, Water Park
4. Bedtime, Bedtime, Bedtime

Well, we get in there and panic sets in for me because I'm sure someone's going to drown. This place is ginormous and I can't be everywhere at once! But that's what their more than 100 lifeguards nationally certified by Ellis & Associates were there for and the life jackets that they supply free of charge for the little ones who can't swim. What I should have been worried about is what I would look like after being sprayed and soaked one too many times in the kiddy water park area. Couldn't one adult come up to me and say "Uh, excuse me lady but your mascara has run down your face and you either look like a drunk raccoon or a middle aged mom trying to fit in with her goth kid. Wipe that crap off your face." But no, everyone, including the professor and my kids, all let me walk around like that. It's enough that I had to walk around in a bathing suit but for god's sake a bathing suit and running mascara! I was lookin' pretty and I didn't know it until we got back to our room. Where are the beautiful stand in Moms when you need 'em?



The kids had a blast! It is definitely one adult per young kid kind of waterpark. But once they are strong swimmers you can kick back and relax with a good book and an adult beverage if you want. Our favorite as an entire family experience was the pool with the basketball hoops and obstacle course.


Is it worth the price of Admission?

In a word, yes. Just the suites and the 80,000 sq. ft. Bear Track Landing™ (one of America’s largest indoor waterparks) are enough for a weekend getaway full of fun. But if you have more money to spend there are alternative ways to entertain your kids and yourselves such as:

• Elements™ Spa – Featuring Aveda® products with eight treatment rooms
• Scooops® Kid Spa – Featuring ice cream-themed treatments for tweens
• Northern Lights™ Arcade – Over 100 video games and a ticket redemption center
• Cub Club™ – Daily crafts, activities and bedtime storytelling
• gr8_space™ – Tech Jockey will act as concierge for Internet stations, karaoke staging, movie and musical entertainment
• MagiQuest – The first live action, fantasy adventure game of its kind in resort history (really awesome I must add - we didn't do this but we did observe someone else doing it - very cool)
• Costumes, wand “toppers” and adornments available in retail to add to the Magic of MagiQuest
• Howl In One™– State-of-the-art themed and interactive 18-hole miniature golf course

I'm always looking for ways to make my dollar go farther. As far as stretching it at Great Wolf, your best bet would be to consider bringing in your breakfast and lunch. There are lots of options for dining at the lodge

• Camp Critter Bar & Grille™ – Themed family restaurant and bar
• The Loose Moose Cottage™ – Themed gourmet buffet and food court (we had the opportunity to eat breakfast here - very nice with a room that overlooks the waterpark and kid level buffet for self-serve)
• Pizza Hut Express®
• Dunkin’ Donuts® coffee and sandwich shop
• Bear Paw Sweets & Eats™ – Confectionery café and hot dogs etc.

There is also lots of shopping opportunities with a gift shop, a Magiquest shop, a swimsuit store, customized crocs kiosk and airbrush tattoo kiosk. Gavin's "wolfie" came from the gift shop. Wolfie was in the room when we arrived as part of the VIF event. After tears and negotiations Gavin ended up with the stuffed animal and Anna got the beach ball.

And finally, right before we were leaving for home, Anna decided to be brave enough to stand next to Great Wolf Lodge's mascot, Wiley the Wolf, and get her picture taken. Given that he is a giant wolf dressed in hiking clothes anyone could understand her complete fear of Wiley.



The kids are already begging to go back. And we have decided that we will go again on our own dime. That says a lot for those of you who know the professor. It would be a great place to go with all the cousins too. Hmmm, anyone up for it? Bring your waterproof mascara!

A Great Adventure to Great Wolf Lodge: Part One

Being new to Review Blogging it has not been below me to seek out companies and products to review. I send them an e-mail introducing myself and rarely do I hear back from them. However, when I sent one to Great Wolf Lodge they replied back. Yes, I was just as surprised as you are. After all, I've just been killin' time with these blogs right? Yeah, that's what the Professor thought too. So they invited me and my family to a VIF (very important families) event for the grand opening of the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, North Carolina. I was stoked. Given the fact that I would have to don a swimsuit and I still wanted to go says a lot about this place.

It took us about two hours to get there from the upstate of South Carolina. As we drove up to the lodge we were stopped by security. They needed to verify that we were staying at the hotel because it was officially closed to the public for the Mitchel Musso (best know for his role as Oliver Oken on Disney's Hanna Montana series)concert later that evening. I found myself feeling a little anxious, thinking 'oh my god, what if I'm not on the list?' type of thoughts. Once we gave my name and we were waved on through I found myself feeling a little excited, thinking 'oh my god, I am on that list!" type of thoughts. Just driving into the parking lot told us we were going to be treated as the VIF we had always aspired to be (uh, still waiting on that mom of the year award). I wish I had taken some pictures of the parking lot that day but thanks to Melissa of Spoiled Mommy you can see how fabulous it looked and there's even a picture of the security stop point.

The lodge itself is impressive. As you enter the atrium the outside it is flanked by two enormous sculptures. On one side it is the momma wolf and her cubs and on the other side it is the daddy wolf keeping watch.

The impressive three story grand atrium was full of families excited as we were and lots of staff to help us begin our Great Wolf Lodge adventure. It was gorgeous and the staff very friendly and attentive. Checking in we received our itinerary, room assignments, and wristbands. Who knew jewelry was part of this event? Actually, Great Wolf Lodge uses a technology known as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification). These bracelets or wristbands are encoded with your room information and credit card information. They act as your room key and wallet. When you check in a staff member securely attaches it to your wrist; it can't be taken off without ruining it. Obviously it can get wet...you're at a water park. I did feel a bit like cattle when I went to bed with it on but it was great when I went to get some coffee early the next morning.

All rooms in the Great Wolf Lodge are suites, with 9 different suite configurations. We stayed in one of the Wolf Den Suites. The kids about wet their pants when they walked into the room!
The suite has a faux-cabin that houses a bunk bed and their own 20” flat screen TV. In the main room, adults have a queen bed and full-size sleeper sofa and their own flat screen TV. The kid's cabin really makes it possible for the adults to stay up later than the kids which makes it feel more like a vacation and less like parent prison. This media picture shows the cabin. Thank god they included it because I could barely get my kids to sit still long enough to get a picture. They were literally climbing the wall like it was an in-room rock wall and popping in and out of the window. Finally I convinced them to climb up on the top bunk to get a photo.

We went to a fabulous feast hosted by Radio Disney. All the glorious yummy food you could eat, child size buffets where they could serve themselves and a delicious BBQ buffet for the grown ups. The center pieces on the tables were stacks of various colored cotton candy which Gavin promptly claimed as his. Local Radio Disney personalities were on hand to liven things up. It was too loud for Gavin who tends to have some sensory issues and he spent most of the time with his ears plugged. Anna on the other hand was getting into it. Waving her complimentary Great Wolf towel and howling like a wolf with all the other crazy folks in there! Dippin' Dots and face painting ended that extravaganza. Anna decided to be a magical wolf which in her mind required lots of glitter. She was the first kid to ask for glitter on her face in addition to the wolf face paint. Leave it to my little drama queen.

href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kgkiley/3478002056/" title="gwl10 by missmonkeymae, on Flickr">
We went back to the room to get our swim suits on (ugh -only for the love of my two children would I do this) because the kids were chompin' at the bit to get to the water park. Here's our magical wolf and her daddy in the wolf's den...to be continued...

Wordless Wednesday 05-13-09

These boots were made for splashin'!

Happy Mother's Day

Image via Wikipedia

I'm not in June's camp but I am a mom to two wonderful kids. The very kids who one minute I can love like there's no tomorrow and the next minute loathe their very existence that committing a felony doesn't seem like such a bad option considering the alternative.

And I am a daughter to a wonderfully loving, funny, and very human mom. She is always ready to help in any way she can. If Debbi can't help you she'll fret about it for you til the cows come home. I learned to clean the house with soundtracks playing. Even now if I get the urge to clean (which is far and few between) having Gigi or The Sound of Music playing makes the grind so much more pleasant. Don't you think life in general would be better if we all had a soundtrack as an audio backdrop?

Today, I have on my dining room table a wonderful floral arrangement sent to me from my mom and day. I received a very sweet card from my mother-in-law. Professor P and the kids baked me a chocolate cake which we ate for breakfast..."dad is great he feeds us chocolate cake". Then I was shooed out the door to go shopping in Greenville for a new camera. I am the proud new owner of a Canon PowerShot.



I also participated in a fun mother's day swap organized by Confessions of a Moody Mommy. My gift was sent to me by Neven of Picture Framing.
She sent me two wonderful magazines, yummy chocolates, and fabulous nail polish to get my toes ready for summer!



Then for dinner tonight the professor made yummy fettucine alfredo, garlic bread and salad. After baths we watched home movies of the kids when they were babies. Heavy sigh...big love. It was a great Mother's Day. I felt loved and cared for and that's all any mother can ask for.

Wordless Wednesday 4/29/09

Thanks goodness she's only washing dishes and not watches or laptops!

Menu Plan Monday 4-27-09

(Click on the banner above to see everyone participating)

Suffice it to say the word "plan" and I are much like oil and water. After getting back from Indiana it literally took me two weeks to get back in any kind of domestic groove. Instead I started sending out my resume...I'm much better at the career I get paid for. But that being said, let's focus on progress not perfection shall we? Here's what I've got planned for this week:

Monday: PB & J crepes
Tuesday: Tuna cakes, some veggie or two, and some fruit (strawberries)
Wednesday: Chicken quesadillas, salad, chips and guacamole
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pizza Night
Saturday: God help me if I actually make it til then!

The professor's semester ends this week and God willing he may take over this duty for the Summer. In an effort to maintain my dignity though, I really should continue this one homage to domesticity, don't cha' think?

Did We Survive the "Turnoff Challenge"?

At Unplug Your Kids the challenge was issued and we made the foolhardy to decision to accept. I say foolhardy because how was I to know my back would decide to go out on me only one day later. Ugh. Now this meant no computer time for me. But I did watch more television than planned because I was flat on my back on the couch or bed for a good two days. But we did manage to cut down on our television and computer consumption significantly. Here are some of the things we did instead:

• The kids discovered that magnolia trees are very easy to climb. I spent most of my time yelling "that's high enough"...
  
  
• Painting Imagination boxes. Both the kids were wild about this craft project. Check out Later Betty's Bargains for a review and giveaway.
• Lots of chalk drawings and hopscotch tournaments
  
• Baseball games
• Board game night
• Spring Fairy house construction was in full tilt. We gathered the materials one day and built it another day. Look soon for a post dedicated to this activity. When we built a Fall Fairy House last Fall I contacted Light-Beams Publishing to let them know how much their Fairy House Series and website contributed to our kids' (and grown ups') imagination and creativity.

Well, when Light-Beams Publishing read about Unplug Your Kids Blog Challenge, they contacted me. They want to reward those who were participating in this challenge with the book, Fairy Houses by Tracy Kane. With great generosity, Light-Beams Publishing is offering three copies of this book to those who participated in the challenge. So if you would like an opportunity to win one of three copies here's what you have to do:

1. Show me some Mr. Linky love and give me a link to your post in the Mr. Linky widget below or to those who participated by e-mail if you e-mailed uplugged mom and she publishes what you did, a link to that in the comment section is also fine. In addition I need a way to contact you if you are chosen so make sure I have access to an e-mail addy one way or another. This giveaway closes on May 5th at midnight est. I will announce the winners (that's right there's three books!) on May 6th. It is open worldwide (even though I'm paying for the shipping!).
   

After doing the required entry, here are ways to gain additional entries:

1. Follow me or subscribe to my feed (leave a comment that you did)
   
2. Click the "Tell a Friend" button at the end of the post and tweet about this (with a rt@laterbetty) plus follow me on Twitter. Then leave a comment with your user name and if you tweeted.
   
3. Click the "Tell a Friend" button at the end of the post, choose another social network (our favorites are technorati, kirtsy, stumble upon) and show some love. Then leave a comment with what you did.
4. Leave a relevant comment on my Fall Fairy House post and comment back here that you did.
5. The big one worth 5 entries: Build a Fairy House and blog about it; leave a comment with the link.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else did or didn't do last week!

Spring Break Hoosier Style...Part Deux...

Image via Wikipedia

As I said, we were up for it. Up for what? An Easter Egg hunt, of course. Now, I feel the need to give you a little background for those who don't know how much I abhor egg hunts. I have always choked under the pressure of the hunt. I have a competitive spirit and it usually serves me well. But when it comes to Easter egg hunts I suck. Plus, now that I'm a mom I live empathetically through those little ones who come back basket empty because some quick little sucker was faster then they were. So I suggested the color coded system last year and my dear families got on board. Each child is assigned a color before the hunt and that is the only color they look for. It's a fabulous cooperative event if I say so myself. The bigger kids end up helping the littler ones instead of yanking an egg out of their sweet hands. This year Grandma Cece in addition to the colored eggs hid foiled wrapped eggs (4 per hunter). They looked like baked potatoes but they had money in them instead of sour cream and butter. I myself never participated in such a hunt just your basic jelly beans and peeps were hidden inside my eggs - what few I found that is. Gavin ended up with $35 and Anna $8! I'd say the Easter Bunny was quite generous this year given the economy and all.

The Kiley Cousins had a great time together. Lots of noise ensued after the hunt along with general mayhem. Cousining is a loud activity. The pictures don't do the noise justice. In fact, the pictures (thanks to Aunt Laurie who got some great shots) could imply some idyllic childhood scene instead of the pure chaos that it really was.



The Gallagher Cousins' Easter extravaganza was at Uncle Sean and Aunt Cindy's house. Missing was Papa Tom who was in the hospital fighting an E. coli infection courtesy of his earlier prostate cancer treatment. Everyone had fun but all the adults were keenly aware of his missing presence. It was so good to have our Family Easter at Sean and Cindy's so we could be close to the hospital and take turns visiting. And as always, Sean was able to capture the essence of joy in his photographs. Grandma was a trooper and the Easter Bunny, once again, made Easter a special memory for the cousins.



Easter was a small part of our visit though. I think we broke the record for the number of people visited in the short amount of time. So there is a part trois. Okay, no heavy sighs! I promise no more after that one...really.

Spring Break Hoosier Style...Part 1

Now that we're back and I'm certain no law enforcement officers are going to be showing up at my door any moment, I thought I'd share how things went. Unlike Patrick, I'm not a morning person, so mama didn't leave at four in the morning when the kids are sure to sleep for hours before they wake up somewhere in North Carolina. Oh no, I left at the sane hour of six a.m. (please acknowledge sarcasm when you read it...6 a.m. is not sane in any way) thinking they'd still be sleepy enough to knock off. But the cruel joke was played on me. This was because these kids were wide awake like daddy had secretly fed them double shots of espresso before plopping them in their booster seats and waving buh-bye to momma. Oh yeah. Not only were they wide awake in the car the minute I backed out of the drive way but they managed to start arguing by the time I pulled onto the highway. In the first fifty miles I had to pull the car over two times threatening many things that I could have never followed through with. Thank God I didn't have to blow my own cover! I think the fact that I was willing to pull the car over on the highway not once but twice in less than a hour put the fear of Mama in them. They both got very quiet....wide awake but quiet. Peace ensued. If that had not occurred it goes without saying that felonies would have.

The sun rose and we had a, cough-cough, nutritious breakfast while I continued driving. After ingesting enough carbs to put down an elephant there was serious napping in the back seat of our little Honda Civic . And, being the good safe Mama that I am I took a picture of them while driving. Yeah, that's right, get the award polished for me!

Being from "back in the day" I just gotta say, I love digital cameras! Thanks to them I know I captured the perfect picture without sacrificing anyone's life. Thank you Sony.

After lunch at a playland, I surprised them with the portable DVD player a dear friend had let me borrow for the road trip. It saved the afternoon. You see, there it is again, technology saving our lives. When we travelled as kids we didn't have anything like that to entertain us. We had to, oh - I don't know - read? Please that is so 70's. So I'm driving along and this RV passes me. Now it's not everyday I grab my camera to take a picture of an RV. But it's not every day you see the Blessed Mother airbrushed on the back of one either. Sweet ride, huh?



You'll have to take my word for it that it is Her (after all these years, I'm still capitalizing). I may have risked life and limb to get any closer to that enormous moving vehicle. This sighting came shortly after passing the twenty story high giant cross right next to the Adult XXX Store. I couldn't get a picture of that but jazer at flikr had...


He couldn't capture both in one shot, but imagine the people in the back seat looking back and saying something like, "Oh, man, I can sin and be saved in one exit!". That's how close they are to each other.

Somewhere in Kentucky the kids decided they had had enough of technology. We started actually talking to one another, singing crazy songs, and getting excited about being so close to seeing our family and friends that we had been missing something awful for what seemed too long. We were giddy.



And I've got the picture to prove it once again. Yes, we survived this one too. I have to say no more picture taking while driving occurred after this. So calm down grandparents and husband. We're all safe but not so sound at home now.

But, I did talk on the cell phone every now and then. Hey, a girl's gotta do something in that ten hour drive! I only talked on it while driving if someone called me though. Aunt Laurie called to see if we were ready for an Easter egg hunt in about two hours (we were about two hours away from their house). Hey, running around looking for plastic eggs filled with candy after being stuck in car for ten hours is a great way to stretch those muscles don't cha' think? We were up for it....

...continued in part duex.

National Turnoff Week Challenge!

April 20th through the 26th is Turnoff Week (formerly TV Turnoff Week, but now it applies to all “screens”). Given that cable entered our little house when we moved to the little town and that my daily connection to friends and family seems to be the computer, we've decided to take this challenge on. At the blog, Unplug Your Kids, she is taking this to a whole...'nother...level by issuing her 3rd annual Turnoff Week blog challenge. Any blogger interested in accepting the challenge signs up at her blog, blogs about the challenge and any updates they might want to add, and then reports on the results -the good, the bad, and the ugly (and you know there's gonna be some ugly in my house!).

So what are we going to do with our time? Play more...read more...craft more...hopefully. Any suggestions? Ideas? Would love to have some for both grown ups and kids.

Wordless Wednesday, 04-15-09

Gav and baseball...he's at home there.

Dumpster Diving Clinton Style!

While I was out last night doing our bit for Mother Earth by recycling at Clinton's less than stellar recycling area I came across this little treasure in the metal recylcing bins.



I heard it whisper, "Save me, Kelly. I don't deserve this fate!". So I reached in there and rescued Miss Apple Tin from becoming a can or two of green beans. One woman's trash is another one's treasure. The Thrifty Chicks would be so proud of me!

Clinton Posse comes to Hoosier State

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Homage to Bakerella & her amazing Cake Pops

Forget Wilton cake decorating classes. Kiss Martha Stewart goodbye. I've found some Easter goodness that explodes on the cuteness meter. I want to introduce you to the preciousness that is Cake Pops. Cake Pops by Bakerella, I believe, might be the answer to the Middle East Conflict. It could bring down the barriers between Democrats and Republicans. It will at least make you the hit of any holiday or birthday party. The "awwww factor" with these babies is enormous.

Introducing Bakerella's Easter Cake Pops...(drumroll please)

Can you stand it?

Can you say, "Buh-bye Martha!"

And "Hello Bakerella goodness!"?

By now some of you are thinking, 'I must make these!". Well, you are in luck because she gives you a full tutorial on several different posts. I would recommend reading about her Cupcake Pops first to get a really good idea of the process. Hmmm, I wonder if while I'm visiting family there might be an opportunity for us to try our hand at these babies?

Well, what are you waiting for? Click on all these fabulous links and get your butt over to Bakerella's. She's my cuteness muse these days...Anna's birthday is gonna kick birthday butt.