if you were a fly on the wall.

this is what you'd see and hear if you were with me today.......at home and out and about.

• a couch covered in scrapbook supplies. some in a pile, some on the spongebob tv tray, and some piled high on the sidetable. the aftermath of a mini-album session last night while watching Fred Claus with the kiddos.
• a chocolate fudge cake cooled and covered on the kitchen counter that is waiting to be turned into Bakerella's cake balls. i'm making half the batch with peppermint extract added in and hope that they taste like peppermint patties----which i have a killer recipe for. i'll have to type it out for you soon.
• "get your teeth brushed, find your socks, you can't wear two different shoes, where's the detangler so i can brush your hair, did you really brush your teeth that fast? go brush 'em again." "wrong feet, emma. get your coat on ashlyn (as she tried to walk out the door with short sleeves with 30 degree temperatures outside)." i always feel like a drill sergeant 10 minutes before it's time to walk out the door.
  
• school's out today, but i still have to work my part-time job, so we had a 6 year old in full sensory meltdown as she was dropped off at daycare today. lots of kids, lots of noise, a change in routine.....it all equals a kid that's overwhelmed and isn't able to process it all. and me, near tears as i once again realize that i can't shelter her from sensory overload, and i can't wave a magic wand and make it go away. having a special needs kid is hard.
• 3 year old giggling as she takes off with her sisters beloved dry erase markers and locks herself in her room to tease, as she rubs her eyes with her fists saying "ashie. crybaby. ashie crybaby." giggle, giggle, giggle. it really is as funny as it sounds, and it's hard to hide my amusement when i try to discipline her.
  
• a mini-album sprawled out on the table waiting for just the right light so it can be photographed. it's staged on top of a few layers of sheer curtains that are draped over 2, 12pks. of coke stacked tall. kinda comical, the whole set-up.
  
• 5 loads of laundry clean waiting to be folding and spilling out everywhere. 2 piled in front of the deep freeze, 2 on top, 1 spilling out of the dryer into a basket----the after effects of rushing to get out the door after the furance repairman left $77.00 richer just to tell me he can't figure out what the problem is since the problem isn't happening right now. why is that? it's some sort of phenomenon. you're sick, you call the doctor, go in for the appointment and magically the repetitive hacking cough stops 10 minutes before you get there. or in this case, the heat pump is hissing and squealing and making all sorts of racket, but when the repairman gets there, it's on its best behaviour. crazy how that works.
• sheets stripped from the bed and piled in the hallway from a wet bed. do they make overnight diapers, like they make overnight maxi pads? seriously. i can't handle doing sheets every day----or even every other day from diapers leaking. and we don't buy the cheap ones. heh. maybe that's what i need to start buying. or go back to putting a diaper on, then pj bottoms, then another diaper overtop. but double diapering can get expensive, real quick.

ahhhhhhhhhh, it's a beautiful life.
(today's giveaway is in the post below...)