What I did on my summer vacation

Guys.

I have not been rocking this return-to-stay-at-home-mom thing.

It's been a little difficult.  Or a lot, maybe.

We have had far too many fights and far too many television shows and far too many instances where Mama looses her cool.

A couple of days ago I told my children they were fighting over something stupid.  My son had a quick intake of breath to show me I had used a 'bad word' and before he could say anything I said "Yes!  I know I said 'stupid' because IT IS STUPID!"

Ever since then he's been using the word sporadically then turning to me and saying "Well YOU said it."

That I did you little heathen.  That I did.  (Although to be fair to myself - IT WAS TOTALLY STUPID.)

I mean, yeah, we've been able to do a few things.  We went to the aquarium with their grandmother, we went swimming, we went hiking and fishing, we had a birthday party, we went to the fair (THE fair - the Meade County Fair, obvs.), we went swimming again.  We even made it to Abraham Lincoln's birthplace.

But dear lord the fighting.  And screaming.  And fighting.  And whining.  And arguing.  And whining.

I know it's my fault.  I went from a couple of months of being able to pee alone and also having two whole days of the week all by myself to being completely immersed in mom-ness.  And honestly, summers do not showcase my best qualities as a Mama.  The days stretch out without me being able to fill them.  The kids don't play together unless I am there to keep them from smacking each other, and even then lots of time board games end in someone stomping off or someone else ripping up the pieces.  Tempers are short all around, all the time and I don't know why.  (Probably a lack of drugs, I'm just guessing.)

I don't know how to teach them to be friends.  I want to play with them, but I also try to keep a bit of distance because I don't want them to rely solely on me for entertainment.  As it is I have to force them to do something other than watch TV.

But I try to balance keeping the house from looking like life exploded in it with being a good, fun, mom, with trying to make jewelry and handknits to sell.  (I'm going to set up at a festival in September with my sister.  Not exactly prepared for it yet.  Also I have an Etsy shop.  Want something?)

So far nothing is balanced and we all just fell flat on our faces.  Maybe that's normal.  Maybe not.  But I can only try to do better.  I've got three weekdays left before I go back to work.  Time to peel the kids away from their screens and do something.

Mama is going to be fun if it kills her.  (Pass the drugs.)  (I'm just kidding.)  (I don't know why I felt the need to clarify, but I did.)

Let's look at some photos, shall we?

I had plenty of all-day TV days as a kid and LOOK AT HOW FANTASTIC I AM

I'm off of work for the month of July because things kind of slow down a bit at colleges in the summer.  And by 'a bit' I mean a ridiculously large amount.

I worked at WKU for a few years in the Career Services office.  I loved it.  I loved working with students and I loved being on campus and I loved what I did.  That's one of the reasons I'm excited to be back at a college.

But summers are slow, so I understand why I have to take a break.  However, I'll miss my coworkers and our discussions and I'll miss leaving the house and feeling like I contribute to something I strongly believe in.  (I know - I strongly believe in contributing to the growth and development of my children as well.  But it's different.)

I'll also miss the paycheck.

I'll be back to spending my days with my babies (who really aren't babies anymore but will forever be 'my babies.').  I think - I hope - that it will be easier this summer than in the past.  I feel more relaxed myself, and less likely to have a panic attack at the thought of taking both children to the pool by myself.  Or out in public by myself.

Plus Adele is older now and a bit more reasonable.  I think we might actually be able to do things this year.  Or at least not spend the days staring blankly at each other waiting for one of us to think of something fun to do.  My suggestions are always "Go read!  Go play outside!  Go take a nap!" Adele's are "Eat Candy!  Watch Frozen again! Play babies! Kick Sebastian!" and Sebastian's are "Watch TV!  Play video games!  Draw! Hide from Adele!"

Maybe if we can keep the fighting to a minimum we'll have some fun. So I'm looking forward to this time.  I probably will not have a craft a day or scheduled hourly activities and we will most likely have a couple of all-day TV days because Mama is tired.  But I think everyone will survive.

Scenes from a long weekend

This weekend was nice.  Like capital N nice.  (So I guess Nice?)

We had dinner with friends and frogs and worms and tick bites (okay, that wasn't Nice) and soccer games and setting up the pool in the yard for the first time this year and sunburns (just me) and a walk to a downtown festival and face paint and $4 bratwurst and margaritas and more visits with friends and sewing and knitting and digging in the dirt and fishing for the boys and craft supply shopping for the girls and hamburgers two days in a row and a trip to Caneyville to see my sister's farm and fun with family and cows and chickens and geodes bigger than your head and entirely too much dessert and beer and more margaritas and and and ...

I want more like it.

Homemade Friday: More sewing from Weekend Sewing

 Today was rough.  Like ROUGH rough. 

Sebastian has been going to Bible School all week, which I'm a little unsure about anyway, mostly because he comes home grumpy and doesn't seem like he's actually having fun.  But whatever.  We signed up.  So he went.

Today was the last day and they wanted the parents to go to a mass in the gym of the church school.  I had hoped that my mom would be off work so she could watch Adele, but no such luck.  And Chris couldn't get off work to go with me, so I was left on my own to wrangle (or wrestle, if we're being more specific) Adele.

The highlight was when the priest stopped mass to mention the fact that my phone had gone flying.  Into another kid's head.

So.  Good times, is what I'm saying.

And then I was set free and able to take my little hellion back home, where she continued her reign of terror.  And then I had to go back for a ridiculously long end-of-the-week 'program' where the kids sung songs and there was a 15-minute long slideshow and where my daughter tried to kick the old woman sitting in front of me and threw a piece of gum on the floor and IT WOULDN'T END.

And then it finally did.

And then we went home and she went to sleep, but her brother woke her up and she started screaming.  I rocked her, then put her back in bed.

And she screamed again.  So I rocked her again.  It didn't work.

So this is going to be quite short on the description.

Adele's dress is the Flower Girl Dress from Weekend Sewing.  It was easy (No Zippers!) and would have been even easier if I had measured her before sewing and realized that the bodice was entirely too small, so small that I couldn't even put it on her.  I was finished, all but the straps and hem, but I had to take it all apart and make the bodice seams smaller so that I could at least put it on her.

It's probably only going to fit for about three weeks.  Luckily I've already cut out another one:

But it's so adorable and the fabric is so sweet that I don't care.  It's actually a toss up between the bicycle and rainbow fabric for the one that is the most full of awesome.  The rainbow fabric I bought from Hancocks years ago, either before Adele was born or when she was little bitty.  I got the red fabric from ... well, I don't actually remember.  But I googled 'red bicycle fabric' and found it that way, if you are so inclined.  I do know that I paid more for it than I usually do.  I'm a clearance bin kind of girl.  But I couldn't resist it.

And speaking of clearance bin fabric:

This dress is also from Weekend Sewing, the Trapeze Sundress.  This one was also super easy and quick.  The dress is the perfect summer dress.  It's light, has large straps to cover the bra, and, most importantly, it has pockets.  But I also think I can get a lot of use out of it in fall and winter with leggings and a sweater or long-sleeve shirt.

I don't remember where I got this fabric from, but I do know it was cheap.  Here's a close up because I accidentally took a photo when I was trying to work the self-timer:

I think I should have made a smaller size because it bunches in the middle of the top.  But I'm horrible at measuring so this is what I got.  But I see many, many more of these in my future, so I can tweak it as needed.

Seriously - if you like to sew - buy Weekend Sewing.  I've already started on the Everything Tote. 

And the Smocked Sundress.  And the Kimono Dress.