AVON Calling...

So, I took the plunge...I am now selling AVON!

It's something I've thought about for awhile and not only because AVON has great products, but I can get the discount and hopefully earn some extra money. AVON is less expensive than a lot of the products out there and again, they have great products; not only make-up and skin care, but clothes, shoes, home products and fabulous kid items. So, it's a win-win situation all around.

You can check out my website at www.youravon.com/michelemerritt

You can even order from my website AND have your purchase shipped directly to your home. How cool is that?

You should really check out the current book; there are some awesome sales (Buy one Get one free)! Who doesn't like something free?

Keep checking back; I am going to be having a fun giveaway with purchase in a few weeks... again, who doesn't like free stuff?

Side note, I want to make a button for my side-bar to link right to my AVON web page. Does anyone know how to do that who can walk me through it? I'd really appreciate it...and who knows, there may be something in it for you!

Now, go shopping!!

Why are Mondays so long?

But...what is better than coming home after a long Monday back at work?

Yep, coming home to happy, healthy (and beautiful) children; not that I'm biased or anything...

Mommy Confessions: I've created monsters

It’s time to confess again! As moms we all have something we want to get off our chests and as such The Mommy Confessions have been created? Do you have a confession, well go ahead and get it of your chest then head over to Life Starring Ellie and Eve to see what other mommy's are confessing.

So, my mommy confession for this week?


I have created monsters.


What does that mean you ask? Well, Allison and Preston love to play board games. They each get a new one every Christmas and sometimes for their birthdays. We have tons, from Chutes and Ladders to Guess Who. We also have many different card games from UNO to Go Fish. Through the years, I have occasionally been known (but not by the kids) to "miscount" so that I land on a chute rather than a ladder or "forget" to take my $2.00 for passing GO on Jr. Monopoly, just so the kids can win a time or two. Ok, well, I don't cheat all the time, just sometimes....maybe when I want the game to be done or want to give the kids a chance to catch up or get way ahead.

Well, when I don't cheat to lose and accidentally win, my kids throw huge temper tantrums. I'm trying to teach them to be a graceful loser and not a spoiled sport, but it's too late; they've already turned into the kicking-screaming-crying-refusing to clean up the game-monster that comes out when a child this age loses an ever so important board game against poor old mom.


I just want to say to them "Well, geez, act your age, would you"!

Who's Who?

So, I know I did this once before...but I went through my pictures and found a picture of each of my three children at exactly 4 1/2 months old (since that's only as old as Mason is). I wanted to see who Mason looked more like. Well, I can't decide because he looks like both of them! I put the picture of Mason in the middle so you could see two of them together.

For the record, I do not remember Preston looking like Allison when he was younger, so, it's very weird to me that Mason looks like both of them.

What do you think?

Dinnertime Naptime?

Mason is loving eating baby food. He's much more satisfied having a jar of that in the evening rather than nursing every 2-3 hours. So, we've been sticking to this schedule. We've gotten into a great routine; I usually feed him while dinner is cooking so he is happy and content while the rest of us sit and eat.

One particular day last week, he was kind of cranky...between bites, he was upset. So, I was trying to shovel the food in quickly. Well, after a few minutes, I got frustrated and stuck his pacifier in his mouth. I got up to go check on dinner...this is what I found when I came back into the dining room....

Obviously he wasn't hungry anymore. So, I slid the high chair over to the corner and left him there while the rest of us ate dinner.

Of course I reclined the high chair, too, to make it more comfortable for peanut.

It doesn't make me a bad mom for photographing it, does it??

Swimming

Did I tell you that my kids were going to take Swimming lessons this summer? Well, neither were very happy about the idea; they are both a little afraid of the water, and I'm not sure why.

Allison doesn't like to get her face wet and Preston was almost swimming last year when we used to go to the YMCA regularly. But, I did this for them; at their ages, they really should know how to swim. I don't want to be a frantic mess anytime we are around water. I remember taking swim lessons around the time I as 5 or 6; they just really need to do this.

Either way, both of them actually are enjoying their classes so far. They are taking separate classes (I thought that was best) on Saturday mornings at the YMCA. They have both had 2 lessons so far.

They are definitely more excited about it now that they:
A)know they can touch when in the water and
B) know that no one is going to let them drown.

Here are some photos of the first two lessons:

Of course, I had to throw a couple of Mason in...since he's not yet old enough for swim lessons:







This week, we told the kids if they tried their best during swim lessons, we would let them climb the rock wall at the YMCA after class. Big, bad Preston was "going to climb all the way to the top" until he got half-way up, got scared and quit...





I told Preston and David that Allison was going to climb right up to the top...David said "No Way". He thought she'd get scared and quit, too...let's see who was right, shall we?

There are just some things that Allison does way better than Preston, and vice-versa. She's afraid of water, but not of heights. She's not afraid of bugs, like Preston...but mama knows her girl! I was so proud!

You would think that David would be a little happier being with his family on the weekend...wouldn't you?

Sometimes, Mason just gets sick of his older siblings, too....

"What's the matter, baby boy?" My little mother hen.....

Until next time....

Blogging Hiatus

I know; I've been missing...I know, I've not blogged in quite a while. It's not like I am busy or anything; you know, I only have 3 kids and a full-time job to keep me preoccupied.

I haven't felt like blogging much lately. I haven't felt like doing anything much lately. I've been stressed out, sad, depressed, tired and cranky....all over the past week, not all at once.

I am missing my husband, even though he was super cranky when he was home last weekend because he got no rest; everyone needed work done. But, nevertheless, I miss him being a bump on a log around "helping" me with the kids and discipline and cooking dinner and changing diapers and holding Mason so I can go potty and giving baths and letting the dogs out and taking out the trash. Phew...I'm tired of just thinking of my evenings.

Allison and Preston have been fighting and at each other's throats horribly lately. I know it's because they are together all day, every day, and they just plain get sick of each other; that's how I feel when I'm with them all day, every day, too. Ha! I sure hope I'm not the only one who feels this way about their kids; I don't feel this way all the time. I'm just tired of the constant arguing and fighting and tattling. (When I say fight, I mean argue and pinch and push and swat, not like fist-fighting).

This past weekend, David was better; he came home a little early, plus I had Friday off for the holiday, so we got to spend a lot more time together and relax, even though we still had a few things to do. Luckily, this weekend was the first weekend in a long time that we didn't have any real plans, mostly errands, so we were able to sit and relax, as boring as it was, it was nice to not have to go anywhere and do anything. We did have a cookout on Friday, thanks Jackie!, and got to go out and see the Sylvania fireworks, so at least the kids were able to see some, because we sure were not going to fight traffic to go downtown to see the big ones.

We also went to the drive-in on Thursday night to see Transformers 2; it wasn't as much fun as I remember the drive-in, but at least we got to see the movie before it came on DVD.

Next weekend is busy already, again, and my husband just called; he just got back to his hotel room in PA.

God I hate this, bring him back soon, and safely.

It's so lonely, having a husband who is 5 1/2 hours away for 5 nights a week; then we have to rush to get everything done when he's home plus try to squeeze some family time in there; I should be thankful that he's working again, but now I'm thinking: "What's wrong with unemployment?". I can't stand him being gone.

As I sit here, at 10 o'clock pm, my kids have been in bed for over an hour, but yet, I can still hear that Allison and Preston are still up, which means that tomorrow morning, neither one will wake up and it will be a miserable, rushed, late morning; it's a good thing my bosses at work know what I'm going through and are a bit sympathetic so I don't get fired for being 5 minutes late every morning, or even later. I have half a mind to just call off tomorrow so I can sleep in late and stay home one more day; plus it will save me an entire day of childcare. I know I can't do that, though, I mean, I could, but I'd rather keep my last few vacation days for something really important like family time.

So, I know this post is all over the place, and pretty random, but it's kind of hard to come back to blogging after not for over a week; I promise to try to keep up this week.

Until next time (sooner than later, I hope).