I'm an AUNT!!!

I now have a niece! Her name is Brooklyn. At birth she weighed 7 lbs 9 oz and was 19 inches long. I do believe that she is the most beautiful baby ever :-) and I have proof:

In this picture, I tried to give her a mohawk, but her hair wasn't acting right lol.

I'm in love! 

Elisabeth Arona

Only so much I can take...

There's only so much a girl can take, honestly, this is a fact. So far since this grand idea to leave me with three kids, a dad, and a house to take care of I've been taking a turn for the worst. My natural knack for drama has only reached it's peak, my personal image has crashed and burned, my self-esteem has taken a beating, and my resolve to be the best fake mom ever has strengthened.
So, this song (Everything Falls) has become my song of the day and soon may become my go-to song for when I want to scream and jump off of a rooftop (I did tell you the thing about only becoming more dramatic, right?)
So I'm going to give you a few examples of the above problems that I'm having.
Dramatic
The other day I burst into tears because my dad told me to calm down, I also called him yesterday and declared it to be the worst day of my life-I've been saying that waaaay more lately than I'd like. I updated my facebook status saying "My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes" which is a quote from Anne of Green Gables (movie.)
Personal Image
I walked around the house with the same hairstyle for a week, and only changed headbands to make it look as if I did it. Yesterday I spilled black beans everywhere (including on my shirt) and went to midweek church service just like that. I really felt everyone should have been grateful that at least I took the beans off and only had mud-like smudges on my pink and white striped shirt. To give it uniformity I was going to smudge all over the shirt, but I didn't have time--TRUE STORY! Since in "normal life" I can never find my shoes, and definitely in crazy life I can't find them I've been wearing the same sandals every day for over a week except for Sunday.
Self-esteem
While logically I know that I should be proud of myself, I see sooo many problems with everything I do. It puts me on the defense a lot. My dad joked this morning that my mom stayed up (after waking up at 4:50 AM) until he leaves out the door (at 5:20 AM.) I was so sleepy that the only retort I could come up with was "better go find the mommyloo then!" and a kiss on the cheek. Sorry dad. After I finally washed and restyled my hair yesterday someone at church KEPT saying (they think I'm hard of hearing too?!) that I must've stuck my finger in an electric socket. I was not amused, but I was resigned. The girls haven't once said "Momma doesn't..." or mentioned her in that way, so I'm grateful, but there have definitely been other such statements, all of which sting. To make matters worse, someone told me yesterday I should grow a backbone and tell everyone I refuse to do this any longer. I think that being that way would come back and bite me later when there's something really really want to do (like my mom wants to be with her firstborn when she has her first child.)
Resolve
The house may look more lived-in that it has in quite awhile, but it won't be for lack of trying, or for lack of calling out orders lol.

So I repeat (or retype) there is only so much a girl can take before she starts fasting and praying that her sister hurries and goes into labor so she can have her life back. I know, how selfish, but the selfishness has been saved as the topic for another post.

Elisabeth Arona

Tempting Tuesday-Mom temptations

Are there any moms out there? Well, for a bit at least I'm joining your world...the world where whenever someone wants to talk all you can talk about is things that the kids did this week (because those are the only people you've been around...) The world where you really think the baby should be punished for something he/she did, but it's just too darn cute sometimes, so you just clean up the mess...The world where you try to write in your blog, but the kids keep asking you questions and at this moment the baby either keeps pressing the power button or holding onto your fingers as you attempt to type. This world takes some getting use to!

Sooo for my Tempting Tuesday these are the things that tempt me:

1. Naptime. I get excited at naptime now! The house is so peaceful and sleepy :-)
2. Quiet. I really don't know what this is anymore, but I have a faint memory...
3. Leaving the house. Since there aren't many cars, I rarely get to leave the house unless it's to run errands and then I have to rush back. Please don't leave your car anywhere near my house or I just may take off in it!
4. Another me. If someone offered me the chance to have a second me right now to do all the things I don't feel like doing (changing diarrhea diapers, putting a reluctant baby down for nap, or overseeing piano practice) I have to admit I'd be tempted to take them up on it.


Elisabeth Arona

Week in pictures

The Week in Pictures

Illustration for Ingrid

Burn marks from hot oil splattering on my neck while cooking too early in the morning

At Stone mountain with the kids wearing the shirt that a friend gave me over the weekend (I totally love it.)



Elisabeth Arona

Weekday Wacky

In life there are always priceless moments :-) Here are a few from my week.

1. The roach. At about 2 AM there was a giant roach in the bathroom...I am deathly afraid of roaches. If I'd seen this on a movie it would've been hilarious, but since it was me it wasn't so funny at the time. I quickly climbed up on the toilet and stayed there squealing (remember it's 2 AM) and wishing I had my cellphone to call for help. Since the only thing I could find handy was some air freshener (and I've heard how bad it is for humans) I sprayed that bug down with it, but alas it didn't work. Was that a slight limp I noticed? May it was getting sick, but it'd still be a good few hours at least before the thing died and I wasn't staying up on the toilet keeping vigil for THAT long! Ironically my little sister had taken a world history book into the bathroom and left it on the floor-go figure. The bug at one point crawled into the book and I thought about jumping on top of it, but I wasn't brave enough to hear the crunch...so when it wandered back out I gingerly snapped it up and at the right moment dropped it with a loud bang onto the roach.,..,and the roach is no more. My dad was hereby forced to remove the bug from the book--and floor-the next morning after I cooked him breakfast.

2. Suck it up. Yes, I took a moment to complain about my life at this moment to someone who asked, and they told me to suck it up. At the moment I swear tears possibly sprang to my eyes, because I was feeling especially sulky at the moment, but now I just laugh because someone actually THOUGHT that that was a great way to encourage me. People make life interesting, am I right?

ManMan sitting on the counter while I chopped potatoes

3. Toilet water. ManMan, the baby I watch during the day (about 14 mos) somehow wandered from my watchful eye and I found him vigorously "cleaning" the toilet-bowl with the lil brush in hand. His shirt was soaked. Since I was so busy cleaning him up I forgot about the bathroom, and later my dad addressed me about it--I had to assure him it was "just toilet water". I do hope that that's the last time I'll have to use that phrase.

Unfortunately I have tons more, but I will stop here lest I get carried away. I hope I at least brought a tiny smile to your face...because if I didn't I may have to tell you about the baby and the hot pink marker...

Elisabeth Arona

Homeschooling Help

My oldest sister is having a baby. I know you're thinking "aaaaand...?" so let me explain why this is significant. She and her husband are the first among their brother's and sisters to get married, my sister is the first to get married out of all the grandchildren, and now she'll have the first grandbaby (on her hubs side and hers), great grandbaby, and niece/nephew! My mom is going to be a grandmother for the first time, enough said. She has decided to go stay with my sister for the remaining three weeks of her pregnancy leaving me to keep the house. This will consist of waking up at 5 AM to cook my dad breakfast every week morning, supervising my two little sister's home schooling, cooking dinner every day, and even babysitting the little boy (about eighteen months old) that Mom normally babysits. Whew. Yes, I'm tired already, but in my effort to be a great "mommy" I have trolled the web looking for resources, especially for school. You will get to benefit from the fruits of my labors. Most of these sites are great for any kids, not just home-schooled ones.

This site is great because you can decide how you want your worksheets more or less. I use most of the sites for math, but other subjects can be found on most of these too.
Kid Zone is a great place to find cool kiddie worksheets. They're cute, and there are lots of subject to pick from! 
The Homeschoolmom site has all sorts of resources that will get you out of the house, from piano lessons, to art classes, and you can pick out your state. Now the home school kids that we know are going to a home school skate night with us at the rink in the near future!

Enjoy!

Elisabeth Arona

Happy September everyone!

I'm sorry I haven't been around. While I was out of state I thought I'd still be able to post, but it just wasn't possible; I was much too busy and then I got sick...I'll update you right here.

Here I am the day of the wedding when the bride (and my close friend) is about to leave for her honeymoon. It's shocking that we didn't have huge bags under our eyes and crazy hair after all the hours of sleep we missed and the prep work we did!

To see her like this ^ is the whole reason I went. *sniff*

After the wedding the guys decided I should get out and get have some fun after chaperoning and working all week. So sweet.

My friend's little sister Gracie hung with the guys and me

And her big ol' younger brother was my chauffeur after she left-I paid him back by helping with his college homework :-)

All in all I felt so at home that I really didn't want to leave...but leave I did, and I am now home about to leave again to take my mom to stay with my pregnant sister until the first grandbaby comes along (in about a month.) In all the flurry the bride and I both caught something and while she was hoarse on her wedding day, it didn't hit me until a few days later and I'm still recovering from my friends making fun of me. They claimed that it was a relieve to finally have me silent...but we all know how they really felt.

Elisabeth Arona