to ink or not to ink?

I have tossed the idea of getting a small tattoo around for quite some time. A few years ago, I was almost ready to pull the trigger but didn't. Now I am thinking of it again. Do you have a tattoo? Are you happy about it or regretful?

I'm thinking of getting something very small on the top of my foot, right by where flipflop straps would be. Maybe my kids names, birthdays or maybe a Jesus fish. I don't want to just get something for the sake of getting something--I want it to mean something, you know?

Tell me your tattoo stories!

P.S. I almost got my nose pierced a few years ago and still wish I had gone through with it. Maybe when I turn 35! :)

itunes users, beware!

iTunes got hacked and our information was likely some that was taken. We have over $6,000 in fraudulent charges on our credit card that is now being dealt with. A salesperson from a store in Las Vegas called OUR HOME NUMBER this afternoon to see if an order with our name, address and phone number on it was legit. I am so irritated and freaked out right now! How creepy is this?

this photo is not staged

This is what I found when I went in to check on Pibs last night:

day one of a schedule

Yes, I have been a stay at home mom for almost 6 years now and am just now trying a daily schedule. Last week I had a raincloud over my head all week about being a mom and I was just miserable. After I got tired of feeling angry and chaotic all the time I hit google for some help.

I found a GREAT blog (http://blog.wantingwhatyouhave.com/)--it is full of great organization info and very well-written. It has tons of other great stuff--I highly recommend you check it out.

Anyway, being an inconsistent and unscheduled person, I took a stab at a daily schedule. Today was our first day trying it out and I must say, it was a success! We certainly didn't keep to it perfectly but it gave us a guideline for the day. I think it was better for the kids to know what to expect and it kept me focused on what I need to be doing. I didn't have to do as much disciplining as usual and Ethan didn't complain nearly as much.

I posted a copy of the schedule in the kitchen so that Jay knows the plan as well. It is helpful because I am often working in the evenings so he has to go it alone.

Here it is, in case you want to make one of your own!

Daily Schedule
8:00 Everybody up! Get dressed and brush teeth.
8:15 Breakfast at counter
9:00 Leave for gym
11:00 Home from gym
11:15 Mom makes lunch
11:30 Lunch at table
12:00 Play time in basement
1:00 Quiet time
2:30 1:1 with Ethan
3:00 Wake up Pibs, have snack
4:00 Tidy up main floor
4:30 Mom makes dinner
5:00 Dinner at table
5:30 Mom cleans up kitchen
6:00 Play time outside or in basement
7:45 Snack at counter
8:00 Brush teeth, put on jammies, read books
8:30 Lights out!

a night in the life of pibs

Jay and I play a game each night called "Where will we find Pibs tonight?". I've found her under her bed several times, on her changing table and lately, she loves her closet.

She clears everything out (which is a whole other issue), brings her blankets, bear and water cup and closes the doors. It gets super hot but that doesn't seem to bother her.

We used to move her back into her bed but that kicked off several nights of 2 AM party time. Now we just leave her where she lies--like a golf ball! :)

The other problem was the mess she made for us to clean up every day. So now all this stuff is in piles in the hallway, which is a temporary but very effective solution. :)

loss of imagination is tragic at age 5

We have a bit of a problem in our house. It's a result of too much TV/movies/Wii/etc. Ethan has forgotten how to play and use his imagination and as you can imagine, I am sinking under the weight of the guilt. I know this is mostly my fault--being at home all day with a highly curious and talkative kid wears me down and many times it is easier to just point him to the nearest electronic. It also doesn't help that now I have two crazy kids trying to kill each other all day and said electronics really lower the intensity level of life.

He just had a gigantic meltdown due to never getting what he wants (HA!) so I have taken all electronics away. Now I'm screwed because I don't know what to do all day. Help me readers!

What do you do with your kids? Do you play with them all day? Do you provide activities for them and let them loose? I admit, I am not much of a playing mom. I don't enjoy it and I'm not good at it. I will read to you and do crafts and you can always count on me to get my hair wet at the pool but I will not build legos with you and I will not play cars. So where does this leave me?

The irony of all this is that I regularly watch TV while using the computer. I am just as guilty of overusing electronics as Ethan is. I told him that I would try to cut way down on my consumption as well, that we could do it together. That seemed to help a little.

BTW, we have a finished basement full of toys and that is still not enticing enough for them to play. They much prefer to be within a two foot radius of me all day and it is making me bananas! I need to get this playing situation ironed out so I can restore order in this house!

it's just dreadful

I have a summer cold. For some reason, summer colds are so much worse than winter colds. Why is that? The coughing is by far the worst part. I wouldn't mind the stuffiness and lethargy so much if I wasn't wetting my pants every five seconds from coughing. That's one of the things they don't make clear to you about having kids. I have apologized to my mom for ridiculing her for this very problem before I had kids. :)

I have spent the majority of this morning in bed. Ethan is at Gummie's house and Pibs is spending quality time with PBS Kids. I need to get better because we are going camping this weekend and if I don't quit coughing so much they will kick me out of the campground!

On a unrelated note, I am starting to feel harassed by the other Rachel Olsons out there. From what I can tell, there are at least three that apparently can't remember their email address and just put mine down. Ladies, I have had this address for 8 years! It is 2010--getting your email address wrong is unacceptable. We've all been doing this email thing for a while now. I get job application confirmations, library overdue notices, invitations to join Facebook to look at pictures, online purchase confirmations and of course, the very personal family emails about Grandpa's surgery and how cute little Pookie is. All this is annoying but bearable. However, my nemisis(es?) have upped the ante. Now I am getting tons of unsolicted ad emails. All of them are addressed to rachel.olson@gmail.com which no one would use to get a hold of me. I have created a filter in gmail to try to prevent these from even coming to my inbox so we'll see how it goes. I have tried to contact the correct person many times--they either don't get my messages or don't care. So I'm done. All their crap is getting deleted and it can be their problem figuring out why they didn't get their mail. I am not the Postmaster General of gmail! But seriously, do you think it is crazy that a person would give the wrong email address out multiple times? Wouldn't they eventually figure out that they got it wrong and try to correct it? Especially when applying for a job? It befuddles me.