Budget Betty Draper (Look for Less)

I love a good theme ike nothing else. I love coming up with costumes and searching for just the right items. So, imagine my excitement when we were invited to a Mad Men themed party! We went to Florida last week so I was able to hit the stores and thrift shops to find the details to complete my Betty Draper outfit! To go completely vintage would have cost a fortune, but I think I did an alright job without breaking the bank!
Here was my inspiration...

 And here's what I came up with... my dress is actually the pink flowered version of this dress, but I couldn't find a photo of it anywhere!

 Breakdown: Dress (Taylor Dresses): Originally $130, I for $28, Shoes (Madden Girl, from Endless.com, which has since merged with Amazon.com): $20, Hat (Jeanne Simmons Accessories): $36, admittedly more than I wanted to spend, but I loooove it, Earrings & bracelet (similar yard sale finds) $1.50 and $1.00 respectively, Necklace (Kohls): $4.00, Gloves (CVS spa gloves): $2.50.

Ta-da! So, how do you think I did?

Laughable Moments AKA "$hit My Kid Says"

Viv is Unimpressed

The other day our darling daughter approached me and asked “What did people even TALK about before I came out of your belly?” [insert guffawing mama here] This led me to think about so many of the funny conversations she’s had with Mike and I. While there was certainly never a loss for topics before she “came out of my belly.” She certainly has brought a whole new level of unintentional humor into our home :)

Here are some of my faves, which, thanks to Facebook, I had a running record of! I knew all those status updates would come in handy one day!

Viv: "Daddy, I have to tell you something."

Mike: "What?"

Viv: "You're a boy, so you have a penis!"

Mike: "Um. thanks for letting me know…"

Viv: "You are VERY welcome!"

"My foots are dancin'!"

Viv: "What does 'car' start with?"

Me: "It starts with a 'C'"

Viv: "NO! It starts with a KEY!"

(Discussing preschool that day)

Me: "did you make sure to share?"

Viv: "Why, what did you hear?

Me: "Um, *should* I have heard something?"

Viv: "uhhhhh... no?”

Viv: "Thank you for the grape juice, mommy."
Me: "Thank You for having such good manners."
Viv: "Don't thank me, thank daddy."

(When asked about her art at the pretend art show we set up):

"Look at all the arts you see'd! If you believe what you believed, then you will see all the dance."

Viv: "I'm Princess Ariel!

Me: "Oh, whatch'ya doing Ariel?

Viv: "Nothing, just sittin' on my clam!"

Viv: "You have to say 'excuse me' when you toot?"

Me: "Yes, you do."

Viv: "Aaaand when you burp?"

Me: "Yes, and a variety of other things."

Viv: "And a variety of cake!"

Me: "Um..."

Viv: "Daddy's pooping"

Me: "Oh yeah?"
Viv: "Yeah, that means he's in the bathroom, so don't try to talk to him, okay? He wants privacy, and the door shut."
Me: "Is that what daddy says to you?"
Viv: "Yeah, a LOT”

After Viv asked me to "make her a word" with the alphabet chicken nuggets: 

Viv: What'sit say?

Me: Lets sound it out together..

"Puh" "Iiih" "Nnn" "Kuh"

Me: What does it spell?

Viv: INDIGO!"

Viv: "what's that?" 

Me: "a new toilet brush" 

Viv: "what's it do?" 

Me: "It cleans the potty!" 

Viv: "I thought daddy cleans the potty?"

Viv, pointing at a funnel at the Pick and Shovel: "haaaaaat!!"

Me: "That's called a funnel honey."

Viv(skeptically): "Well who's it fun for?"

"It's called a Christmas tree skirt so people know the tree's a lady."

(Looking at one of our photo albums):

"Is that the day I hatched out of your belly?"

(While playing office):

"Well mommy, we did it again... there's no business like work business. And at the end of the day, we get a sticker."

("Reading" a book to me):

"You should always put away toilet paper. There once was a girl who wanted to put away toilet paper. Her daddy said 'okay.' And then her mommy said 'alright.' So she did. And then there was a thing with feetsies that crawled BACK to the house. It was a baby. It growed to a big girl and lost aaaalll it's energy. And then lost her bones. She couldn't stand. She couldn't sit. She couldn't do anything without her bones. Her daddy said 'What happened to your bones? They were orange when I saw them in the sky.' She found her bones at a museum with a kookie slide. Oh wait, I skipped a page. So she found her bones and then she looked for her dream where she was princess. The end."

Viv: "When I hatched out of my egg, was I little?
Me: "What? Honey, remember we talked about how people-babies grow in their mommy's tummies until they are ready to be born."
Viv: "Oh. And *then* they hatch out of their eggs?"

Me: "Viv, Cinderella;s stepsisters are named Drizella and.... what is the name of the other one?"
Viv: "Latisha"

Viv: "How's the apples get mashed?" (applesauce)
Me: "It gets cooked and mashed in the kitchen at an applesauce factory."
Viv: "Who mashes up the milk?"
Me: "No one honey, milk comes from cows."
Viv: "It comes from a COW?! Does he mash it up, like, in his bum?!"

(As I arrived home):

Viv: "Hi mommy, can we play?"

Me: "What should we play?"

Viv: "Castle!"

Me: "Okay, I just need to change into some sweatpants or something first."

Viv: "How about something more princessy?"

Me: "What, like Lululemon?"

Viv: "is she a princess?"

Viv: "Why those boys have that doggie?"

Me: "Well, I think they own him honey."

Viv: "What's 'own' mean?"

Me: "You know how we have kitty cat? Well, that means they have doggie."

Viv: "AND we have a daddy!"

"What's a 'tough noogies'?"

Ahhh, I look forward to many more smile-worthy moments :)

Follow Friday

What blogs do you follow? Here's what I've been reading...

If you're not already following The Frugal Fowler Project you really should be!

Nie Nie Dialogues. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be inspired.

Not Your Gal Friday

Our Ash Grove I stumbled upon this NEK blog one day... it's very sweet.

Wore Out- A Burlingtonian Style Blog

8 "Facts" We Learned From Our Preschooler This Week

8 "Facts" We Learned From Our Preschooler This Week

1. FACT: "Only girls can go to cheese parties." We're not sure what a cheese party is, but I'm sad Mike will not be able to attend.Also, imitation cheddar is unacceptable, so don't even try.

2. FACT: Boobs are made of feathers. "That's how come they are kind of like pillows."

3. FACT: A Yoga mat is actually just a "fashiony runway" and a "royal princess carpet." Don't question her on this, she will demonstrate how to properly walk like a "fashiony" person, and will insist you follow suit.

4. FACT: The Easter Bunny, like many celebrities before him, has decided to re-brand himself with a one- name moniker. Instead of Peter Cottontail, this season he'll  be "Just Cottontail."

5. FACT: Mike's job is to "write about boy things."

6. FACT: China is "on the other side of the lake shaped like a ballerina."

7. FACT: Clearly, "You can wear a tutu, sunglasses, patent-leather shoes an no undies" is practically word for word the same thing as "Go put on something comfy for mommy and me yoga." Yes, if you're Paris Hilton. However, this "fact" is highly contested in our household, lol.

8. FACT:  It is possible to remember the precise location you lost a sticker in a department store 6 states away, a boo-boo from a year and a half ago, and every word of every line from 'Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses,' but impossible to remember what your mom asked you to do 3 seconds prior. According to preschooler law, all requests to do something must be repeated at least 6 times and submitted in writing with a cookie bribe 24 hours in advance.

:-) Ahhh, she teaches us so much! :)

Ready for Easter...

'Cause this is how we roll here in The Derb'

Some days don't turn out to be what you planned but sometimes they turn out to be what you needed. 

This crappy photo of Mommy brought to you in full by the letters V-I-V-I.

Parenting Post-Newtown

I've been really hesitant to put my feelings about something that's been on my mind into writing for fear of being judged. But, someone who I consider to be one of the wisest and kindest people I know said to me today "a blog is your experience thoughts and feelings it is unedited. Let. It. Out." She's right, as usual :-) so here goes nothing.

I'm going to bare my soul here a little, in hopes that writing this will not only help me (in the very least) organize my thoughts a little, but also because I want... no, NEED to know that I am not alone in feeling this way. And more importantly, need to know how others are dealing with this.

I've been struggling a lot with my emotions surrounding the tragic incident in Newtown this December. It has shaken me in such a way that to be quite honest, I haven't completely felt like myself since then.

It was suggested to me that perhaps I'm taking the whole thing a bit "personally" considering it was "not my town" and "not my kids." But am I really? Aren't all of our towns just like Newtown? On any given day, this could have been any town, any school. Don't get me wrong, I'm not living each day with the fear that something similar will happen here, but I am struggling with how to move on from such horror.

What has affected me the most, I suppose, is trying to find normalcy in parenting now. Sometimes I look around and wonder how people are going on like nothing has changed, because for me, it has changed. I look at my daughter and feel gut-wrenching pain for the parents of those sweet children! Babies... they were really just babies!

Believe me, I know that children need rules and boundaries. I know that children need to hear the word "no." While we haven't changed our rules or stopped having consequences for behavior, my heart breaks punishing my daughter if she has broken a rule now. All I really want to do is hug her and make every second count.

I want to cry each time I tell her "no" to something, because I know that those parents would do anything to be able to tell their sweet children "yes" just one more time.

I feel waves of guilt spending any time alone (even when i really need it) or even going to work, when all my daughter wants is to be with her mama and daddy. I walk out the door and panic.I am torn between my desire to provide for my family, and to show my daughter that as a woman she can have kids and a career and be a strong, passionate role model, and my heartache over not being with her making every second matter.

Am I alone in this? Am I the only one struggling with post-Newtown parenting fears and guilt? How do you move past this?

On a separate but similar note, I also find the idea of  Newtown "Conspiracy Theorists" to be ABHORRENT. How DARE people dishonor the memory of those who lost their lives by insinuating that the whole thing was a fake?! Disgusting. For awhile I felt annoyed and angered by these people, and still am... but now I also feel sadness for them. Why? Because part of me wonders if they search for any reason to question the validity of tragedy in order to protect themselves from having to feel anything.

Anyway, I don't know if anyone ever even reads this, and I guess it doesn't really matter. But if you are, thank you. Getting this all out "on paper." helped me breathe a little easier, if even for only a little while.

Mango, Pineapple, Banana Green 'Thickie'

So, I did try an entire week of the 'Green Thickie' Challenge (which you can red more about HERE), and I have to say that I am pretty impressed! In the 7 days that I consistently drank the smoothies for breakfast, I lost almost 3 pounds!
The only downfall was the morning prep time!  After a few days I decided to create a bunch of pre-made smoothie packs, with all the fruit and igredients pre-measured and ready for blending.
I've been trying a lot of different combinations and ingredients including beans, applesauce, nuts, cottage cheese, and various yogurts. I've come to the conclusion that the combo that fills me up AND has the best taste, is the oatmeal and Greek yogurt mix. The others were good (although you  need to make sure you drain the beans really, really, reeeeeally well), but I think this pair will be my go-to.
I went into this week really wanting to experiment with some pomegranate, but after wandering around the produce department for more than 20 minutes without being able to locate either the  pomegranate or someone to ask (and truthfully I as almost to the point here I wanted to throw my basket and yell "WHERE ARE THE FUCKING POMEGRANATES!!?") Sooo, I took that as a sign and went with manbgo instead ;-)

• 1/2 Oikos - Greek Nonfat Yogurt Plain- 60 cal
• 2/3 Cup- Frozen mango- 62 cal
• 1/4 Cup (dry measurement)- Quick Oats- 90 cal
• 1/8 Cup- Frozen pineapple- 35 Cal
• 1/2 Med. Banana- 53 Cal
• 1.5 Cups- Raw baby spinach- 10 Cal

KIddo Craft: Melted Crayon Madness With My Little Lady

Have I mentioned how much I love doing artsy-craftsy projects with my little lady? Well, I do. In fact, you could say I *luff* it even..We have an abundance of crayons (and were inspired by the Sofia the First episode 'A Royal Mess), so I decided today's craft would be the 'ol wax paper-and-crayon "stained glass. My husband claims to never have done this, and I'm kind of in awe. I thought it was a childhood rite of passage to have to iron leaves and crayon shavings between two pieces of wax paper! But, I digress...

You know I remember this being MUCH less messy to do as a kid... :)