Dance Recital, Laundry, and Christmas Walk.

This has been an amazingly productive weekend! Friday night was Ardyn's First Holiday Dance Recital and it was awesome. She did SO well and our favorite part was the moment that she discovered that there was a stage "set" behind her. Normally all the decorations are up at Dress Rehearsal, but there was an incident at the school the night before Rehearsal and they were unable to get in and decorate the stage. So the first time Ardyn saw the candy themed decorations was the moment she was dancing ON stage. She didn't notice them when they walked out, but after she made a turn she caught the giant candy castle that was all sparkly behind her, and she stopped mid dance and pointed at it, and then looked at her "assistant teacher" and also the crowd with a look on her face like "DID YOU seeeeee that?!?!" It was hysterical and I hope they caught it on the DVD, but with our luck they were panning to someone else at that moment :)

She did beautifully and she also really was in good spirits because I finally DID get her to take a nap that day, which really made it a better experience than the spring recital when she was so excited that she didn't sleep at all. She was even more excited when she started to hear the song that she danced to on the radio.

I was able to do her hair myself this year and found my inspiration and photo tutorials on girlyhairdos.com which I highly recommend. Very nice and fun ideas. Grandma Susan and Grandpa Bob got her an adorable little nosegay style bouquet that she adored, and Kyle and Liz brought her a dozen red roses which matched her costume as well. Grandma Deb and Grandpa Dave brought her a beautiful ballerina ornament for the Christmas Tree. She was thrilled.

Marek spent the evening with Monica and a few of her girlfriends, and when we got home we all ate a late supper and went to bed. I was thrilled that the kids slept in for the first time since the time change, and we didn't get up until 9:45 on Saturday. Then the kids and I got ready to head to Princeton for the Annual Christmas Walk. Our Church hosts the Christkindl Markt and there are fun activities for the kids like decorating miniature gingerbread houses made of graham crackers and frosting. I wasn't able to work the Christkindl Markt this year (last year I was working all day) so Ardyn and I made soft pretzels to donate ahead of time and I was also able to go help make some gingerbread houses the week before. I took the kids for the first time this year, and Ardyn made a gingerbread house while Marek and I visited and saw Father Christmas.

We also did lots of other fun things, like riding the Christmas Train, visiting Santa and sitting on his lap, Taking a stroll through the Clark House for the PJWC Vendor Fair, Meeting the "reindeer" named Grace, Listening to Carolers and the Hand Bell Players, Riding the Horse Drawn Carriage, and Lunch at McDonald's with Lisa and Hallie. It was so much fun, and the kids really had a great time.  Evan had a gig that night that was a ways away, so we were on our own. I rearranged the living room to make room for the Christmas Tree this week, and hit the laundry HEAVILY. I have nearly caught up, which hasn't happened for close to a year. No joke. I am working diligently to get the kids helping to put the laundry away, and also hoping to implement the "socks in the mesh lingerie bags" to keep it all separate. I also liked the tip from the mom who takes her laundry to the basement EVERY NIGHT and sorts it before bed, so that she can start a load here and there when she gets a full bin of some type. First I have to get caught up and get the laundry room picked up. I am nearly there. Nearly.

The worst part is all these random socks and washcloths and things that come out of the laundry when you are trying to catch up. And then I have a bunch of random stuff that I need to put away. I also have a sudden shortage of kid hangers.

Tomorrow is Monday already. But it doesn't matter much around here because we don't have any plans. Probably just work around here, the kitchen is my next task to tackle. I have a ton of dishes to do. And I need to check the animals and refresh their feed and water. I haven't been able to do that all weekend, but they generally are good for about three days, especially with their heated waterers. I would prefer to check them all daily, and hopefully that will happen more regularly. The hens have ceased laying in the cool dark shorter days, so there aren't really eggs to be gathered daily now.

Another bit of good news, Marek is back in Cloth. I got tired of buying diapers or pull ups and I decided that part of the difficulty we are having potty training is because the disposable diapers make it difficult for him to feel he is wet. Just one day in cloth and he is already telling me every time he pees, which will help immensely. It sure did with Ardyn.

I am watching the episode of How I Met Your Mother where Ted gets all drunk and gets a tattoo.... a butterfly tramp stamp. Hysterical.

I took a nap this afternoon and now I am NOT tired and it is 11pm but feels like 8pm. This does not bode well for my tomorrow morning. Although the kids didn't get to bed till 10, so maybe I can get lucky enough to sleep till like 8 or NINE. :)

Evan brought home Subway for supper tonight and brought me some pretty fall flowers.And that. Is all.

Playdate at the laundromat

I am thinking that the next step for me is to get a real cast on this leg tomorrow, and then start on laundry. We had laundry mountain BEFORE I was declared broken, because I had been in an aircast for a week and didn't do laundry. Now it's pretty ugly. :)

I am thinking that the way to go is to have Evan load up the laundry and take me and the laundry and perhaps Ardyn (who is a helper at heart) to the laundromat this Thursday. I can wheel around on my knee scooter and Ardyn can help me put clothes in and out of the machines like she does at home. Then I can sit and fold and hang while we wait. The more machines means more clothes done at a time. And then I thought, maybe I should have a laundromat playdate and see if any of my SAHM friends want to bring their kiddos and we can fold laundry. But then I thought, do I really want my friends folding my granny panties? lol. So, maybe it would be better to ask my mom and do it in the afternoon. I was originally considering the Wyanet laundromat, but then I started to think, Princeton has more folding counters, bigger machines, and tell me friends, which laundromat has rolling laundry baskets, like we used to use in the 80's? Inquiring minds need to know. You know the ones that are on wheels but at waist level, and then have a bar across the top to hang clothes that are clean?

So anyway. Today we had a delicious lunch, thanks to Andrea Wiggim. Marek was super excited at lunchtime :) a far cry from his nuked hot dog in front of the TV yesterday. Ardyn came home and went from sweet to evil in about 20 minutes. Once the fighting started, I declared it naptime. It took me forever to get them to sleep because they kept getting out of bed, getting into each other's bunks, there was biting and fighting and whining and crying. Now they are asleep. I am considering a nap myself, but not sure. I have to shower and get dressed to go to Mom's night out tonight, and that takes FOREVER with one leg... so while a nap sounds good, it probably isn't the best idea. With the exception of lunchtime and putting everyone to bed and when I got myself and Marek dressed, I have had my leg up alllll day. Pretty proud of myself. I can feel how much the swelling has gone down because my ankle has all sorts of room inside this soft cast to wiggle now. :)

Well, that's all I can dream up right now, perhaps I will head for the bathroom and get cleaned up :)

Stuck on a Plane for 4 hours, with no Air Conditioning? I don't think so.

I have decided that no laundry is worth wading through the basement to do tonight. Did I mention we had a storm? Oh yeah. I know it wasn't like a Katrina type storm with Katrina type flooding, but all the same, it was not pretty. 3 inches in 35 minutes. The lights were surging and flickering and we ended up turning things off to protect them. I was baking Chocolate Chip cookies for tomorrow's playdate and I was in the kitchen. I said to Evan "It's raining SO HARD that it actually sounds like it's raining ON the back porch" (Which is right off the kitchen.) I opened the door to the porch to peek out and OMG it WAS Raining on the back porch. Through the ceiling. Yep. We've been here 10 years and the ceiling on the back porch had never so much as dripped, and it was POURING through the beadboard like you wouldn't believe. (That roof is flat and it is an addition, and it will be peaked this summer/fall I believe. What a mess!)

The basement was taking on water, quickly than I think we have ever had, and it was seeping through the floor and the foundation, so quickly that it was actually AUDIBLE and the water was running down the floor drains within minutes.

The front yard was completely standing water, and it was just unbelievable. This weather, I tell you what... is something else. It scares me because I just keep thinking that "the end is near" and by the end I mean like we screwed up and ruined the earth with all our disposable products and smog and now global warming is increasing so quickly that the effects are irreversible and the weather is measurably worse and more unpredictable and violent each season. Soon I see no fall and spring. Soon I see Drought or Flooding or Ice Age. It makes me panic, so as soon as I explain how much I hate talking or thinking about doomsday, I will change the subject. And don't tell me that God will save me. I believe that, but the actual "dying" part will still suck, and it would still break my heart into a thousand pieces if I had to see the world end. Especially now that I have children to protect. (drama!)

So. Not doing laundry. Another reason to not do laundry? Mine is all clean :) Diapers are all clean. Towels are clean. And then there's that little fact that I have THREE LOADS of laundry to fold and put away right now, and they slept with me on my bed last night, and stared at me all day today, and I am going to HAVE to take care of them tonight. Plus there is another one in the dryer that I need to get to, so as soon as I find my waders and my headlamp, I will head down there with my laundry basket in a life raft and swim it up the stairs. (drama!) Since my bed is full of laundry, I am blogging on the floor of my bedroom. The weather channel is on and cycling through it's "local on the 8's" and I am really going to have to get motivated soon.

Tomorrow is a VERY Busy day. I have cleaning people coming (yes, I have them. yes I know I don't have a full time job outside of the home. yes, I know you hate me for that. Get over it, that's a whole different blog post.) and so I have to have everything picked up, which everyone knows is the greatest challenge with two lil kids running around. The weather may be unpredictable, but you can be sure that there are two tornadoes in this house every day! (double drama!) I did get Marek's bedroom cleaned and reorganized, which was a MAJOR ordeal because it involved re-arranging. That was so major because that room has a bit of an odd layout (it's completely square) but there is no closet so there is a big armoire in there, and then there's the whole "Two windows and one door" issue, so it has limited places where the crib can go. I re-arranged it like FIVE TIMES (no exxageration) before I decided, fuck it, I am going to put Marek in a toddler bed. Yep. Just like that. I was home during the weekday with the kids, and I took the whole crib apart BY MYSELF and then carried it to the 120 degree attic BY MYSELF and then carried the toddler bed down from the 120 degree attic BY MYSELF and got everything arranged. I went through the entire cube unit and all of Marek's dressers, changing table, and armoire drawers. I sorted through diapers and covers and wool. I packed away crib bedding, bumpers, receiving and baby blankets, burp rags and bibs, bottles... you name it. I organized all the clothes into categories in the armoire. I organized shoes, packing away too small ones and sorting bigger sizes into clear drawers with labels. the entire cube unit was converted from diapers to TOYS so that there was a place for his books and his bigger trucks. He really really really loves trucks. He really loves Usborne's books about Trucks. He is also really into the Shake n Go Racers. My sister got him two for Christmas, and my mom got Marek and Ardyn one Diego Shake n Go for Christmas too. Then last night Liz dropped off a #88 car that isn't a shake and go but is very similar. he loves them. He is really getting into "shaking" them himself now, and I have been stalking eBay auctions for a used Shake n Go track for him in the future. After all this sorting and reorganizing, I had to get three more totes to pack stuff in before we take it to the attic- too bad two of those totes were used in an emergency to catch water in the back porch. Ugh.

So anyway, it took me all day on Tuesday and a good portion of today to get his room all straightened around. It has been gone through with a fine tooth comb, so that makes me happy. Ardyn's closet needs some attention next. Lots of outgrown shoes and jeans to pack up for her. If anyone has some 3T girls jeans they want to part with, let me know. I have one pair for her, and would like another two pair before fall. I like those with the waists that adjust inside with the elastic and buttons (Old Navy, Osh Kosk, Etc.)

I also have this dilema of dust jackets. LOTS of my kids' books are hardbacks with dust jackets. Um. Why do kids' books need dust jackets. I dunno. I take them all of before I give them the books. SO I have this stack of them that I keep moving and shuffling around.... should I just throw them out? I guess I was just going to keep them, but today that suddenly seemed stupid. Thoughts? WWYD?

Today we brought the pink pony down for Marek to try out before bed. It had been in the attic since Ardyn outgrew it, and he LOVES it. Especially all the noises it makes. It plays Camptown Races too, which I just love.

I just heard on the news that an airline had issues with a plane that had no Air Conditioning and passengers sat on the plane for FOUR HOURS while temperatures inside the plane climbed to over 100 degrees. The six hour flight became a 12 hour flight. Oh HELL no. I am all about security and safety, but this crap with keeping people on planes for hours is getting RIDICULOUS. There has GOT to be something to do! If you want to prevent violence, then don't leave people on planes while you try to pull your head out of your ass and figure out what is wrong?! Jeez! Am I completely crazy? Can you imagine if you had your children on that plane for 4 extra hours? What if you were pregnant? Or elderly? Or just plain NORMAL?! That's ridiculous. Uncalled for, and in lots of cases, I would classify that as being held against my will.

Well, I seriously should get going. Although I did want to say that Marek's jump to a toddler bed went well, and he has been sleeping great. Longest naptimes he has had in about two weeks, and slept for 13 hours last night no problem.

Today.... and a Review: Family Tools PEGS system

I love typing when a 1 year old is trying to jam the tines of a fork into the keyboard on my laptop. Fun times. It's kinda like our own version of 5-finger fillet (where you stab the knife on the table between your fingers. Ick.)

It's a little dreary outside, but not really. Basically it's nice, but not sunny. It's only 10:30 though, so that could still change. Yesterday was SUCH a busy day. It was fun, but today I am sore and tired and did I mention SORE?!

We headed to Princeton for lunch at Pizza Hut with my friend Dorene. We used to run the Princeton Computer User group together. But now we both have other interests and commitments and it seems that the group itself is slowing and potentially disbanding. But I still love Dorene and was happy to see her and eat with her. We talked horses and all sorts of other things.
Then we met my friend Stacey to take pics of her tutus and hair clips and dresses, which she sells at Guys and Gals Salon. I had just recently created a Facebook page for Guys and Gals, and Stacey wanted one for Bows by Stacey, so last night I set to work on that. It turned out GREAT (check it out and see what you think!) The fun part about this is that instead of being paid to do things like this, my friends and I swap services. So I get things like free tans, free haircuts, and free bows for doing a little work for my friends to help them out. I don't have any problems promoting their little businesses, because they both do AWESOME work and they re so nice.
Everything Stacey makes is so durable and she has impeccable taste and an eye for color. Kelly is the most awesome hairdresser! She is the only person on the planet that I trust to say "do whatever you want" and it always turns out FABULOUS. I have never been disappointed in a color or cut she has given me.
So after working on Stacey's Facebook photos, the kids and I came home and started working in the yard. Elizabeth and Kelsea and Jadeyn stopped over for a while and the kids played while EK and I chatted. I started dumping all the bags of my square foot garden "soil-less" mixture into the bed. Evan recently started the garden for me, after what seemed like FOREVER of planning and waiting for it. The soil-less mixture consists of 1/3 Peat Moss, 1/3 Vermiculite, and 1/3 compost. Then the compost itself is made up of three "thirds" of different types of compost. I have Mushroom Compost, Manure, and Compost. So that was alot of work to carry, open, pour, and mix 10 cubic feet of planting medium. Ardyn helped by watering it down for me and then I would stir, then she would mist, and I would stir. It went surprisingly well. I did a few things differently than the SFG book recommends, but I wasn't about to mix it on a tarp and drag it over to it's location. Duh. So I just dumped and mixed it in the box, and it turned out great. I would say the consistency is very similar to Jiffy Mix, with compost added :)
Then we watered all our containers and our steppables that we have planted, and Ardyn helped me to plant two windowboxes. I had planned on hanging them under the kitchen windows, and I would be able to see them and enjoy them from the kitchen sink, as well as open the windows and just water them with the sink sprayer.... but I realized late last night that the Pussy Willow Tree is covering half of one of the windows. Doh! So I am not sure what to do about that. It gets trimmed each year, and it hasn't been trimmed this season yet, but I am not sure we can trim it back THAT much without it looking ridiculous, and the last thing I want to do is draw attention to it with a gorgeous flower box!
It's funny, but I feel like we have a sort of "compound" inside our fence. The front yard has everything inside the fence, because then I can work on things with the kids in close proximity, and safe. Inside the fence is the patio furniture, the sandbox, and all their toys, and also the clothesline, the SFGarden, and my composter. It's a little silly to most people I suppose. But it has to be close or I would never be able to get any of these things done with kids around. I have tried to make naptime be the time in which I work on flower beds OUTSIDE of the fence, and it worked well so far, except that the past week and a half I have had so much sinus and allergy stuff going on that all I have wanted to do is nap with them. So I have a ton to do on the east and west sides of the house but haven't gotten to it. I did get all the dead stuff out of the back side and the northwest corner, and filled all that with new mulch, before the sinus crap really started in. That's good. I also got landscape barrier laid on the west side, and Evan mulched it, but there is nothing planted there. I don't even want to think about the status of the pond and the east side of the house.

I do have a good handle on laundry these days, because I got rid of my mesh laundry sorters (I have always hated those stupid things, they fall apart and don't hold enough for this family) and replaced them with white hampers. I saw that they now make "sorting hampers" but they are only $1 less than a regular hamper, and they are much smaller, too small for us. So a couple of weeks ago I bought EIGHT hampers, all rectangular, and labeled each one (sharpie marker on colored index cards, adhered with clear packing tape) and they are working AWESOME. They work great for sorting, and when the load is clean, I can carry it up in it's designated sorting hamper, fold it, and put it away. Of course as I say this I have a hamper of diapers to sort and fold, a hamper of towels and rags to fold, and two baskets of kid clothes to put away. But I do have a good handle on laundry these days. :)
Another thing we have been doing is called P.E.G.S. When at the Hearts at Home Conference, we saw a booth for the Family Tools PEGS system and I was instantly intrigued. For some reason I couldn't get them to give me a PRICE on anything, and a friend said later that perhaps the people working the booth at the time didn't KNOW the price. Well, I found out later that my friend Sarah had purchased one, and she recently started using hers and raved about it. I decided to check it out and we got one too, and I also got the Choose a Chore and the Pick a Privlege Jars also. PEGS stands for Practical Encouragement and Guidance System. Basically you get several sheets of round circular "chips" that have holes in the top, and hang on the pegboard. (which is included in the kit)
There are circles for various chores, including basic things like making beds, brushing teeth and hair, and getting dressed. Because we bought the two-child system, we received duplicates of all these chips. There are then blank chips to make your own chores/responsibilities. You receive "clock" chips which you can customize to have things done by specific times. For example, I have made a "naptime" and a "bedtime" chip, and really no matter what time nap and bedtimes turn out to be, the chips will continue to work for me.

There are also jobs that are considered "household" jobs, and you get one of each of those chips, so that the jobs can be assigned and rotated between siblings as necessary. Things like getting the mail, taking out the trash, recycling, taking care of pets, shaking rugs, setting the table, etc.

Then there are "A B and C" chips. A is for Attitude. B is for Behavior. C is fo Communication. There are Red "NO" chips that are circles with a slash through them, and then there are green "Good" chips. I can use these chips to show how their ABC's have been throughout the day.

Now, let me start by saying that I haven't read the manual yet. Typical me. Start the process however I damn well feel like it. Basically I haven't had the moment's peace to sit down and read it. It's in my "to read" stack. (ugh.) So there are many ways to approach this, some probably better than mine.

For us, I use it to show Ardyn that there are things we are expected to do on a daily basis, WITHOUT ARGUING and WHINING. It's working. She does not cry when I brush her hair. Because she knows that it has to be done. It's routine. The chip is on the board. I had been trying to discuss this with her for MONTHS and it never got through to her that you just have to brush your hair every day. When the board went up.... it was instant. She has learned and added lots of new chores. She sets the table. She picks up her toys. She puts her own shoes away and hangs her coat on the hook designated with her initial. She makes her bed. She puts all her dirty clothes in the hamper. Many of these things happen without prompting. Putting dirty clothes in the hamper and putting shoes in her closet shoe-holder are becoming natural to her, and she automatically does them, most of the time without even being asked or reminded. Sometimes she reminds ME!
It has also made "naptime" or quiet time much nicer, because she knows that she has to first go potty, then climb into her bed. She flips the chips and there are NO arguments. Bedtime is great too.

Now, about the ABC's. Basically if she gets into behavior that starts to head towards a time out, we warn with "do you want a red X?" and she does NOT want one on her pegboard. If she gets a time out, she gets a red X first, in the appropriate ABC category, and then she sits in time out. When she is done with time out, she is very very upset and generally wants to "get that red X off the board" as soon as possible. This is where the "choose a chore" jar comes into play. She picks a chore disk from the jar, and we hang it next to the Red X. (it's not really an X, but that's what we call it.) If the chore can be completed immediately, she usually does. If not, we leave it up there with the Red X until the chore is completed. When the chore is done, we replace the red X with a green circle to show that she has corrected her bad behavior with a chore. These are "additional chores" and she has recently done chores like "disinfect all the doorknobs" and "clean the fronts and tops of the washer and dryer." Another one that was my favorite was "check and fill all hand soap dispensers" which came at just the right time as ours were all empty! She of course feels very important and enjoys it. You should have seen the grin on her face while we filled the soap pumps and she returned them to their designated sink spots. Thrilled. (and mom was thrilled too!)


It helps me to instill responsibility in her. It helps her to realize that she has things that she needs to do in order to be a part of this family and help things run smoothly at home. And it really does take a load off me when I don't have to run around gathering up shoes and coats and toys all day long. She is a big help.

The pick a privlege jar is important, and I feel badly that we haven't used it enough yet. It's got things like "go for ice cream" or "watch a movie" or "paint or color" or "get out the playdoh." These are things that we might do now and then, and it's easy to use them as rewards because she enjoys them so much. There are things like "go for a walk" or "ride your bike" and these are all things she loves to do.

So, the Family Tools system is pretty cool. :) I am loving it. Ardyn calls it the "Keep Mommy Happy Game." And I NEVER said that to her. That's entirely her name for it. LOL.

That's all for now friends. I am sore from all that lifting and squatting and mixing of dirt yesterday. Oy. Off to get a few things done today I guess!

Let the Games Begin!

Well, the soap came today! YAY! 2 three pound bags of Charlie's Natural Soap, which will do a grand total of 160 loads of laundry. That's alot! It only takes 1 tablespoon per load, which is refreshing. So today I have been washing mamma pads, diapers, wipes, and inserts, and this afternoon we will put our first ever cloth diaper on the Beeb! YAY! Pretty darn exciting! Friday night we also got all of Ardyn's new shelves assembled and moved into her room, where I was able to put all her toys on the shelves. Lisa came over for a bit and we crocheted and talked for a few hours, which was great because not only do I NOT have to be productive in housework, but I can also spend time with a friend AND get crochet done. Lisa made Ardyn her favorite blanket (okay MY favorite blanket) and we just love it. We love it so much we won't send it to daycare. We love it so much that we have already planned to make her big girl room in coordinating colors.

Tomorrow we have a reunion for my paternal grandma's family. Looking forward to that, lots of people who I haven't seen in years, some who I haven't seen since I was pregnant, therefore LOTS of people who haven't seen Ardyn yet. Should be fun. My grandparents 60th anniversary is also later this week.

So Friday I got my first ever "full" paycheck at work since being back from Maternity Leave. Once I have taxes and health insurance premiums for both Ardyn and I taken out of my check, and pay for daycare, and a tank of gas each week for my trip to work and back, I bring home exactly $40 a week. Um. Yes. That's the honest to god truth. So although I won't elaborate here and now, in the coming months something will change. Evan and I have been discussing and as sure as my name is Meagan... something will be changing.

I have to admit that I was beyond frustrated. As a person who thoroughly enjoys her job, and likes her employer and co-workers as much as I do, I was so so so excited to be back to work. I knew I would be bringing home less money, but I never imagined. I never ever ever imagined it would be this bad. I almost cried. And I do not cry. Luckily my friend CB came to the rescue and helped me rationalize that the world is not over and I have many many options available to me.

In the meantime, I have two fabulous scrapbooking/creative events that I plan on attending in the next two months. I look forward to them so wholeheartedly. The Beeb has been napping wonderfully today. We recently brought out the excersaucer, and she loves that thing. She isn't "spinning" around in it yet, but she loves being sitting all tall and playing with toys. She watched me do lots of laundry already today.

Thinking we are taking hot wings to the reunion tomorrow. It's gonna be so much easier to just go buy a few bags of wings and toss them into the crock pot. That way I can spend the day concentrating on diapers, laundry, housework, and putting away Christmas Decorations (Which suddenly looks much less important than lots of other things I would rather do today.)

Evan is taking a nap on the couch. I made myself some velveeta cheese and shells with tuna, and told myself that has to be low in cholesterol, right? Hmm. I rounded up hangers, which is one of the jobs that I hate the most in this world, right up there next to cramming clothes into my closet and saying "I NEED To get rid of some clothes!"

I am so caught up on laundry, I was even telling Lisa last night about the red hamper. The red hamper is a laundry sorting bin where I put all the red clothes. I also put all the tie dye t-shirts in there. Since I am such a hippie, we have about 5 or 6 tie dye shirts. Well, that is always the last thing to get washed. Sometimes it never gets washed. Apparently, it hadn't been washed in a LONG while. I knew this, and in the back of my mind kept telling myself how my goal when cleaning and upgrading things in the laundry room, was to get those damn red and tie dye shirts washed. So when I got done with all the sheets/blankets/towels/jeans/FOUR LOADS of darks/TWO loads of whites/Ardyn's clothes/Dog Towels... I pulled out the red hamper. And inside, I found two tie-dyed shirts that we had never worn... because when we got them I tossed them in the red hamper to be washed first. Yeah. Well. I knew the red hamper hadn't been washed since before I started to wear maternity clothes. So I figured maybe almost a year that hamper hadn't been touched. Well. When I got out those two t-shirts that had yet to be washed or worn, they were from the Strut Your Mutt Dog Walk - Circa September 2006. I know this because I distinctly remember that the dog walk happened the same weekend as my miscarraige, and I was convinced that I needed to go to the walk because it would make me feel better. When we got home I think I slept for like 3 hours I was so exhausted and was bleeding pretty heavily. So we never wore or washed those shirts. So some in the red hamper had been there since September 2006 at least. But I do have pictures of me wearing SOME of the clothes in October and November- of 2006. Ugh. So now, the red hamper is clean and I have discovered like this entirely new wardrobe of red and tie-dye.

Okay, enough of revealing deep dark hamper secrets. You get my drift. Have a great weekend!