Stitch Fix #3!

So I missed blogging about fix #2.  I really should hunt up some photos of what I got but realistically....not gonna happen.  But here is fix #3.

And again....I am so so awkward at posing.  blech.  Just look at the clothes.  And I don't have ANY summer shoes....and my kids leave crap on the porch.  Seriously, just look at the clothes.

Liverpool - shorts ($58) - These shorts are AMAZING!  Perfect amount of stretch and a length I like!
Skies are Blue top ($48)  - Never would have pulled this shirt of a rack.  It is off white and very feminine with embroidery.  Not my usual.  It is so comfy and I love it with these shorts.  Sometimes its good to get out of the box.

Skies are Blue ($48) - This shirt is right up my alley.  Exactly something I would grab if out and about shopping

Pixley ($64)  Ok, so I still ahve mixed feelings about this skirt.  It has a really pretty cut out pattern that is not easily visible in the picture.  It is a pretty green color.  But it isn't my favorite piece.  I don't have any shirt to wear with it but will grab something when out shopping with a friend later this month.  It is a great skirt....just not my favorite thing.

Skies are Blue ($44) -  I pulled this dress outta the box and thought no freakin way.  I tend to avoid things that cinch at the waist...And purple, especially THIS purple is never something I'm drawn to) Then I put it on and it skims, it twirls, it is awesome.  I LOVE it!!!!!

So for anyone who is unaware of the awesomeness that is stitch fix this is how it works.  

• Visit stitch fix   and sign up for an acct.  (I get credit, which I REALLY appreciate, if you click thru this link)
• fill out the lengthy survey so they know what you like.
• then when you are ready you pay $20 for a stylist to pick out 5 items to send you.
• You get the items with cards to give you a couple ideas on how to wear (dress up and dress down) each item.  
• You have 3 days to try on the clothes with things in your closet.  If you send things back, they go in a postage paid envelope and into the mail....easy peasy.   
• YOu log back into your acct and pay for those things that you decide to keep.  and leave detailed notes as to what you thought of each item.  
• Then you try to wait a reasonable amount of time to order your next one so your husband doesn't put a clincher on your fun  ;)

Things to note.  If people sign up thru your link you get a $25 credit the first time they order.  AND if you keep all 5 things you get a 25% discount on the total order.  With those 2 handy dandy things I was able to snag all 5 pieces in my fix for $126.50. 

 I might have sent the skirt back but it cost the same amount to keep it.  I did make a note that it wasn't my favorite thing when I checked out.  I do like it.  I just don't love it and it was the priciest item they sent....so it wouldn't have been worth keeping.  My mom however, loves it and she got a really cute denim pencil skirt in hers....we might swap!  ;)

Quarterly Update

Back at the start of the new year, I did a blog post on potential....read it here.  I thought since we are into March now might be a time to revisit the goals I had set....

Here they are....

1. Improve physical fitness with strength training and stretching  (Starting Bikini Body Mommy again on Jan 5th)

• Bikini Body Mommy and I did not hit it off this time.  I REALLY wanted to love her as much as I have in the past.  I did not.  I have since gotten a kettlebell and workouts from a friend.  I like kettlebell.  It makes me feel strong but I haven't fit it in as much as I'd like.  

2. Continue to "eat clean" after a time of detox from holiday junk food (I'm eating a frozen snickers bar as I type this-sigh)

• Well, this hasn't gone particularly well either.  But I'm continually trying to improve.  Easter was horrible.  I ate so much candy despite the fact my mom made really good and healthy food.  I had a serious sugar hangover yesterday (we had easter dinner Saturday night).  So yesterday I started a 21 day no junk food detox....I expect to be fairly grouchy for a few days.....but then feel much better

3. Get debt free!  (This is a HUGE goal for us!)

• YES!  As of last week, we paid off all our loans apart from our mortgage.  It feels SO great to be debt free.  And to know we can do some upgrades we'd like to do around the "homestead" and pay cash straight up to do them.  So thankful!!!

4. Remodel the kitchen!!  (Oh please let this happen!  PLEASE!)

• Since we are in fact out of debt we are progressing on this goal.  We've done some shopping at Menards and are looking at the same ideas.  We are on the same page.  So we are working towards this big project this summer.

5. Break wood in taikwando.  (still have to work through 2 more belts before I get a chance to try.)

• Last weekend we all tested and passed to our purple belts.  We plan to test again in June for red belts at which point we will be starting with board breaking.  I really should get those kettlebells going because I think they will help with this goal as well.

6. Daily Bible study both alone and with the kids.

• This one is hit and miss.  I try to get up early and read alone.  Some days it works and some days it doesn't.  I've done lots of Bible studies with the kids with marginal success and this year we started reading the actual Bible.  We started in Matthew.  We read a section (usually half a chapter) aloud all together and they pick a verse or section of the story to illustrate.  It is going very well.  

7. Improve my calm parenting skills and be a happier mom.  (class starts at the end of January-Woot Woot)

• Class was 4 weeks long and great!  I am so happy to have been able to facilitate it.  And I'm thrilled with the number of parents who participated.  As far as how its going at home.  It all depends on the day.  We are trying....hard.  Some days are just better than others.  :)  (I'm not sure that will ever change)

8. Continue to declutter the house (think I'll try this calendar)

• Totally not using the calendar.  But I have donated or thrown out several garbage bags of stuf.  Any chance I have to declutter something I do.  I wish I could just get it all done in a big swoop but slow and steady is gonna have to do.

9. Have a booth at one craft show with knit and sewn items....with a friend or two.

• not yet.  I was offered one but had to turn it down because I was already double booked for that day....seriously!

10. Keep track of menu plans and good recipes so I can remember them and don't have to reinvent the stinkin wheel every month.

• I'm not keeping track of menu plans very well.  Frankly, we've been chasing our tails so much that they aren't working all that well anyway.  What I am doing differently is when we find a new recipe we really like I write it on a card and put it in my vintage recipe boxes....that way I can find it again.  So that makes me happy!

11.  Less facebook and more facetime (actually real life facetime-not facetime on the ipad-HA!) This one will be harder than I 'd like to admit and I need to make it more concrete....but I gotta work it out.

• Yeah.  Not doing well with this one.  Maybe a little better....but I really just need to turn it off altogether for a while and I just don't wanna.....

12. re-implement and actually use a weekly cleaning schedule.

• HA!  Totally not happening.  Although I know it would be better if we could make it happen cause I've done it before and it was totally great!

So there we have it.  A quarter into the year and things are moving along.  I didn't expect to get them all done right at the start and although I wish I were improving faster on a few of them....I am pleased with the successes we have had.  Potential is still there....Gonna harness it!!!

I think I might be a jet setter now!

So I'm a stay at home, homeschooling mom.  I like to go places and see things but I am not a jet setter.  And then my sister, who lives in Perth Australia, calls and says "Hey I wanna fly you (and mom, and H) to Salt Lake City.  I need to be there for work and we can meet early, hang out, and shop for my wedding dress."  That was about a month ago.  And we did it.  We flew to Utah for 2 days for shopping (and a little sightseeing).

I haven't been in an airport in 10 years.  I hadn't been shopping in a real store for things not on clearance since I was buying maternity clothes....and I haven't been pregnant in 7 years.  But thankfully, I found stitch fix and we squeezed in a shopping trip to buy things to wear on our shopping trip (Yes, I see the humor in that) before we had to catch a plane.  I mean I figure I could have worn something that I had already....but I thought this trip called for something beyond pajama pants and stained t-shirts.



And we had a great trip!!!  Pictures tell the story....

Fresh faced and ready to FLY!

Ok.  So for me travel is about 75% about the food.  We ate at this Brazillian buffet and it was superb!  Just so so good!

Had some pedicure appointments after a day of travel

cute toesies.

Spent some time at Temple Square.  This is the temple.  

Mormon Temple

In the alcove where the statue of Joseph Smith once stood at the Temple (We asked permission before taking these)
PS.  That is a stitch fix sweater and scarf.  The kick butt coral pants are from Old Navy (NOT on clearance-look at me all stylin)

The steps to the temple!  -Raf was already gone  :( 

All 4 of us outside the Temple.  Wish raf could have had more time with us!  (my shirt and sweater are stitch fix-I love that shirt....this is not a great picture)

ready for our second day of shopping/siteseeing

More food!  (I did eat more than these 2 meals....but these are the only ones I remembered to take pictures of before I dug in-HA!)

Less fresh faced on the trip home!  Overnight flights are not for those only pretending to be jet setters.

Thank God for those moving walkways....soooooo tired!

We had such a wonderful trip!  And she did get her dress (which they kindly did the little alteration needed while we had lunch).  But I can't put pictures of the dress online....that would not be cool!  :)  

I am so thankful that we were able to take this little get away!  It was fun from start to finish!!!  And I'm ready to go somewhere again....but its back to real life this week with school and kids with fevers....and I'm back to wearing pajama pants all day!

What. Is. Happening?

There are moments - often fleeting, sometimes not - that I wonder if I will survive the raising of 3 boys and a daughter.  Moments when I feel like I am flailing about in vain and if I can just keep them out of prison (particularly the boys) it will be nothing short of a miracle.  Moments when all the calm parenting techniques we've learned and are truly trying to put into practice just don't fit the bill.....and I scream till I give myself a headache and send them all to their corners , er beds while I calm myself down and they do too.  Moments when the whole great day we just had go up in smoke and ashes....and I just want to curl up into a ball and cry because I don't even have the slightest idea what I'm supposed to do.

Honestly, today this isn't even about L....she was just a wide eyed observant to the "trainwreck to hell" that just occurred in our house (I think I coined that phrase in the midst of it).  

So here is the story.  In short great day...good school, lunch was kinda a mess, play with a friend, much needed rest time, and then a walk in the beautiful sunshine.  The boys rode their bikes so they beat me back to the house.  I walked in to WW3...over a lego.

Apparently, G took A's lego and A HAD to have them back.  Apparently NONE of the approximately 4,367,512 other legos we have were going to work.  It HAD to be those exact ones.  A was relentless.   I calmly told them to work it out.

 I got our "ponderosa" dinner (what we call it when we clean out the fridge and everyone eats whatever from that pile) on the counter, called G in from the bedroom to make his plate and told him he could pick out a movie to watch while they ate.  

At which point M (who has been playing nicely till now and could have joined L in wide eyed observer status) comes in totally bat crap crazy cause G gets to pick a movie and not him. I mean it!

BAT. 

CRAP. 

CRAZY.  

In .02 seconds, the kid went from wide eyed observer to star of the really angry freak show.  

He screams some random nonsense at me in the kitchen while I look at him blankly.  He storms from the kitchen and KICKS the wall.  My head jerks to look because I know there is going to be a shoe size 3 hole in the wall...but there isn't.  There is a two second silence while we just stand there in utter shock (for me) and then we hear the glass shatter.  He kicked the wall SO hard that the pictures on the other side of the wall fell off and shattered.  

Enter psycho mom.  I screamed and sent everyone to their beds.  Except A who had to go to my bed because there was shattered glass all over his bedroom floor.  

Oh, the sobbing.  

Oy, the drama. 

M hates this life.  He doesn't deserve to BE!  We should just make him leave.  

I call my sister (who has had a rough day) and tell her the story cause you know how misery loves company.  I tell her the story...And M hears me tell her that my house is like a "trainwreck to hell."  M thinks I say HE is a train to hell.  Hysteria intensifies.  

I clean up the glass and make my supper and cut them loose on the leftovers on the counter.  As they eat all things settle back into "It's all good" status except for me.  They are laughing and being friendly again which annoys me to no freakin end.  I ignore them all and don't sit at the table because I feel like I've been hit by a truck and their laughter frankly pisses me off.  M starts singing a song about how he kicked a wall and shattered glass.  Psycho mom makes another brief appearance.  

Now the king is home from work (he stayed late) and everyone is going to be all happy....but not me. It effects my outlook on the entire day.  A day worth of success is ruined by 10 minutes of really really bad stuff. All the good, happy feelings are gone.  Luckily for M, he only has to buy a new picture frame and not replace my wall.  

For me, I have to try to figure out what I'm going to do when his foot actually goes through the wall....and wonder if we shouldn't start saving bail money (cause its possible one of us is going to need it). 

 And apparently, I should put all the legos in a box in the attic....since there aren't enough in there to share. 

Stitch Fix!

So a friend of mine uses this service and I decided to try it because of 2 reasons....

1.  I hate my clothes and
2. I also hate shopping and the mall.

My clothes all came from resale or freesale and are just thrown together....many of them need thrown away from wearing them around the house with kids and cooking and animals and life.  Many of them are out of date looking.  Seriously....not good clothes.  (I'm going to be emtying my closet and throwing things away/donating them because if my options are go shopping or go naked- I think I'll dread shopping less....)

But shopping.  the mall.  Ugh.  There is nothing exciting about that....I mean, there are so many people there.  And it smells.  So I ordered a stitch fix.

And. it. is. awesome.

So this is what I got (Please be kind I HATE posing for a camera and I am so awkward!)

This jean jacket is great!  But the sleeves are way too long.  

I LOVE this shirt.  When I saw it in the box I thought "What on earth?" cause never in a million years would I have tried this on in a store. The pattern is fun and I like the colors.  I think a coral skirt/pants would be so great!

However, look how much better it looks when I clothespin a bunch of extra shirt fabric in the back.  So it's also too big.  

Mom totally flipped over this coral sweater.  it is lightweight and a beautiful color, with a really pretty "lace" pattern....but I feel very boxy in it and its, again, just too big.

I love this blue dress.  (And I'm being silly for the little girls in the room).  It is comfy and cute.  However, it has a little damage in one seam....waiting for a response on if I can get a discount on it for damage.  If I can, then it's staying....if I can't, it'll have to go back.  which will make me sad!

one of the cool things I really like about this service is that I get to try the new things on with clothes I already have....and not guess about how it will look with that one scarf or those pants.  I like this dress with this teal scarf.  :)

This skirt is what I flipped over when I opened my box.  And it is absolute perfection.  It is comfy and the perfect length.  It is also a heavier weight so I think it will hold its shape really well.  It will be perfect for travel!  In short.  I am in LOVE!  

Just for fun I threw it on with a light gray button down and scarf I had in my closet.  Not my favorite look but it isn't horrible but I still bet I never wear it this way. (I feel like I should like the button down thing but find that I really do not!)

So now I've ordered and got my fix and tried everything on.  I have 3 business days to stick what I don't want in the envelope they provided and stick it in my mailbox.  I also log on to the website and leave reviews about each item.  Specific ones.  So that they can learn more about me and what I like for my next fix.  (except I'm waiting to hear back about a discount on that dress).  I am also going to change my shirt size in my profile because clearly the size I entered is too large.  

As far as prices.  I paid $20 to order the fix itself.  That $20 goes toward any item that you keep.  Each item I got fell into the $50-$60 range.  If you keep all 5 items you get 25% discount which would have essentially made one item free.  Had they all fit I would have wanted to do that.  :)

Ready for my next fix!!!  If you want to order one, please use this link.  I will get a credit the first time you have a fix shipped.  https://www.stitchfix.com/referral/4663449

Bottomless pit!

The boys are entering that age (they are 11, 9, and 7)where apparently, eating like I do isn't gonna cut it anymore.  A good breakfast, light lunch, and family supper leaves for whiny, hangry (yes I said hangry-it's in the urban dictionary) kids all afternoon.  I'm trying to figure out how to feed them and not spend every single waking hour in the kitchen (cause it doesn't feel like there are very many more I could devote in there).

So today at lunch, (which was sandwiches, chips, and pickles), I asked them what new things they want to have for lunch....I said it seems like what we are having is never quite enough to fill them up so I wanna try having some more filling things so their bellies are full.


G immediately said "biscuits n gravy"  Cool I can do that!

Then A piped in "we should have a buffet."
Me:  "what exactly do you mean, a buffet?"
A: "You know....you put out a bunch of different things and we pick what we want to eat.  Make sure it is all you can eat!"
Me: !?!?!?
Ch
Sigh.  This might be harder than I thought.

I think he might be faking....

Some stomach bug has been slowly cycling through the family the last few weeks....this morning I wake up to this conversation.

A:  Mom I feel horrible.  Wanna hear just how I feel?

me: (sitting down) ok.  tell me how you feel.

A: I feel like someone popped out my eyeballs and put them back in, and my chest hurts.  And it feels like my guts have been scrambled.

me:  Well, that is bad buddy.  I'll message your teacher and cancel drum lessons.

A:  (in a depressed voice)  OK.  Can I have rice for breakfast?  

me:  ??????????????

He is on the couch ALL day.  If he's sick he's going to rest.  all.  day.  long.  Since school work is all sitting down work though, we'll still be doing school.  I just made myself my first small pot of coffee in more than 2 weeks.  I have a feeling I'm going to need it.   

But....I really think he might be faking....