rachel's continued ramblings

okay, so I’ve kind of been lurking around the ‘what I wore wednesday’ link-up over at the pleated poppy , and I LOVE looking at the cute stuff people put together. I also LOVE the reasoning behind it. it’s basically accountability for putting on decent clothes each day. you know, not the same old sweats (or in my case, jeans and a hoodie). and given my recent closet exposé, I felt like it was good timing to jump in and participate. you’ll have to excuse my terrible photos. I have bad lighting in the only room w/ a big enough mirror to accomplish this, and I haven’t gotten adventurous enough to pull out a tri-pod. but anyway, take this as me, making an effort to look decent, something I SO MUCH want to do! sunday afternoon: I should have taken a picture in the dress I wore to church, but you’ll just have to trust me on that one. it rocked. jeans - old navy black long sweater; pink cami – express black top – thrift store scarf – target shoes – born via ebay necklace – h...

nothing too unusual this week. I’ll also do a ‘this week in pictures’ post when I get to it. first half of the week: sunday, layla had a birthday party at pump it up. I forgot my camera, so she drew a picture for me. the 8x10 of extras: yes, there’s another picture of layla with trucks taped to her feet. also pics of the swing shane made in the trees in the front yard. the other side: a treehouse layla drew. the latter half of the week: some unusual shots at the end, but who says everything has to be just of your kids playing! and that’s week 16! linking up once again!

hopefully this is the final episode. last night, DADDY had a little chat with layla. he basically told her, “you have to do your chores.” I love how stuff like that is more effective coming from him… so this morning, layla was up in plenty of time. she did sleep in her clothes again, and I think we’ll stick with that unless she asks not to at some point, and then we may TRY a night in jammies and see how the morning goes. tuesday is a band morning, so I have to take the little kids with me to drop off shane. (after a freak day in sweatpants, shorts guy is back in shorts. thought you’d like to know.) when we got back to the house, told layla to get busy. she didn’t really say much, but went in and looked at her chart. the first card was ‘get dressed’, so she kind of giggled, and moved it over. the next one was ‘make bed’. she whined and complained and told me that she didn’t want to have to do it. I reminded her that she needed to do it and it wasn’t that hard. she’s done it herself p...

sunday: no pic. layla had a birthday party and I forgot my camera. she drew a POTD for me. monday’s POTD: shane finally got the evil plague that layla and micah had. he came home just after starting school and spent some quality time bonding with his cat and his bed. tuesday’s POTD: my new PL kits arrived in this huge box. layla and micah climbed right in. wednesday’s POTD: something must have smelled good in the fridge. toby climbed right in and I had to drag him out (after I took a picture, of course). thursday’s POTD: dave snapped his fingers and pointed at micah. he tried to do it to, but can’t snap. so he clicked his tongue and finished with this cool pose. friday’s POTD: shane will probably throw a fit when he sees this, but oh well. scooping the dog poop is one of shane’s favorite chores! saturday’s POTD: dave and I went out for a fancy dinner. the food was awesome, but my after dinner coffee is what impressed me the most! check out that spread of coffee ‘accessorie...

ugh. this morning was significantly less great than friday. layla was up in plenty of time today. slept in her clothes again, so at least that was done. after a little bit of groggy couch-sitting time, she told me she was hungry. I said to do her other chores and then she could have breakfast. she had a fit. then I caught her in the kitchen rearranging her chore cards and I had to inform her that she was not allowed to do that. I put them in the order I want her to do them in and she needed to leave them alone. she had a fit. she then sat on the couch and got out her leapster, which she proceeded to play. I started second-guessing myself and decided I needed to get bossy and MAKE her get ready. I took her leapster and told her to get moving on her chores. she had a fit and cried and told me she wished there was no such thing as chores and said that all of her chores, except eating breakfast, were too hard. (you know, highly technical and complicated tasks like brushing her teeth, m...

but the real question remains… what do I REALLY wear? well, I’m ashamed to admit it, but most days, especially in the winter, you can find me in a hoodie. it’s really pathetic, because most of these aren’t even decent hoodies. maybe they were at one time, but they are certainly not now. of course, I’m not downing on a good hoodie. there’s a reason I live in these. I love them. they’re super comfy and warm… it’s like the clothing version of a nice cup of tea… however. it is obvious that I really need to pare down here… EWU sweatshirt (EWU bookstore): yes, I’ve had this since I actually attended EWU. I left EWU in 1999, and I know I’d had it a year or two at that point… ahem. it has holes and stains. and it’s a size large. what was I thinking? I’m 5’1. I swim in it. sorry eagles, it’s got to go. trinity sweatshirt (trinity bookstore): detecting a theme? I think so. this isn’t in terrible shape. it’s presentable. not nice, but can be worn in public without embarrassing anyone. ...

okay, I know you’re super excited about this one! okay, well I am, at least. yes, I have too many shoes. most of them I don’t wear very often, if at all. time to weed through. first picture – dress shoes: red patent t-strap heels (payless): got these shoes to wear with the black dress. they look fabulous and were a ton of fun to wear… for about 5 minutes. they are terribly uncomfortable. I’m keeping them because there might be some function that I could wear them to that I could suffer through for the cuteness factor. oh how I wish I could afford to buy comfortable red patent t-strap heels to replace them! white strappy heels (payless): I actually got married in these shoes. I have kept them to wear with nice dresses in the summer time. haven’t worn them in awhile. if I don’t find myself wearing them this summer, I’m going to get rid of them. so there, they have a deadline. black strappy heels (payless): I’ve had these forever. black dress shoes seem to be something you should ...

I really can’t complain too much here. I’d like more jackets, just because I think they’re cool, but it would be unnecessary, and there are more important things in life. this is probably a boring post. first picture: green corduroy jacket (old navy): this is a jeans-style jacket. it works well for warmer weather, when I just need something light. black windbreaker (fred meyer): this jacket is okay. I’m not in love with it, but it serves a purpose. it’s mostly waterproof, so it works as a sort-of rain jacket if it’s raining when I need to meet the bus or something like that. it’s thin, so good for warmer weather. I bought it a couple years ago on a trip to the oregon coast after FREEZING on the beach. second picture: columbia winter coat (fred meyer): this is a good, warm, winter coat. I’ve had it for awhile, though, and it’s kind of dirty along the bottom and on the ends of the sleeves. washing it doesn’t help. I’m wondering if it could be gotten out at the cleaners? otherwise,...

I have another post up today over at momstart . check it out!

so… you may have gathered that things aren’t going so great around here. my little rant yesterday elicited a LOT of advice. mostly good advice that I probably needed to hear. and so I have channeled my inner nazi-mom, and laid down the law on my flighty, flakey, head-in-the-clouds, getting-quite-defiant middle child. the problem: mornings, bedtimes, and general routine is tough for her. the solution: last night, layla fiddled around a dinner time. she refused to drink her milk ( a BIG issue with her), and so she was excused from the table to go get ready for bed. this basically ends the night for her, and eliminates her right to complete any of her evening chores and thus earn a ticket (tickets are earned by completing all of a set of chores – morning, afternoon, or evening). tickets are good for stuff like tv shows, computer games, video games, going to a friend’s house, etc. I told her to chose the clothes she was going to wear to school the next day and put those on. the rest o...

okay, this is something I’m not very good at. I’m trying to get better. I’ve always had a minimalist approach to dressing. if it doesn’t serve a purpose, why put it on? well, I’m slowly coming to terms with the idea that accessories may serve a purpose, even if they don’t cover a limb. first picture – ‘formal’ bags: tiny black bag (???): I think this bag is fun, but you really have to be traveling light. it’s covered in big black sequins. pink silk bag (farmer’s market): I LOVE this bag. get comments on it every time I carry it. it’s made out of kimono fabric, and lined with green. it’s big enough for a couple things, but not many. red clutch (target): I got this to use with the black dress featured yesterday. it’s tiny, so again, light packing. layla is obsessed with this bag. even if I never use it again, I’ll save it for her to use. second picture – ghosts of purses past: blue hobo bag (old navy): I really love this purse. I love the rainbow stitching, I love the big dumpy s...

so here’s my question: how do you get a routine to BE routine? I like having a routine. I like for things to run like clock-work. I like to have a plan for the day and know what’s coming next. supposedly kids do better with this sort of thing in place. but here’s the deal… NO ONE else in my family appreciates this. therefore, me, implementing any sort of routine, is heinously EXHAUSTING. OMG, it’s so much work. I understand that some work is to be expected. we are dealing with human beings, after all, not robots. but GOOD GRIEF, it never gets any better! I fight and fight and fight with them to get them to do what they are supposed to do when they are supposed to do it, and I eventually give up. because it sucks. because it never seems to improve. because I’m the only one who cares. because just when we seem to have things kind of sort of going somewhat in the direction I want them to go, and something changes. we have a new activity, or there’s a vacation, or even just the weekend,...

okay, I really love this category. I LOVE to get dressed up. I love dress up clothes. I wish we lived in a world where people still got dressed up on a regular basis. sadly, it is the year 2011, and I live in the PNW, where casual friday has evolved into casual EVERYDAY, and we’re still recovering from the grunge era (as evidenced by my obsession with all things hooded). I wish men wore suits and hats and had starched handkerchiefs in their pockets. at any rate, I don’t have nearly as many dress-up clothes as I would like, but sadly, more than I probably need… first picture: dark purple wrap-style dress (express): I cannot even begin to describe how much I love this dress. it has this fabulous satin sash that is pleated all across the front and ties in the back. it has 3/4 sleeves that are slightly flared. I generally wear this with a lace-trimmed black cami under. I think I shrunk it slightly at some point, so it’s a little shorter than I’m comfortable wearing as a proper dress. I...

this is an area that NEEDS help. the ones I have, I keep because they are what I have and I need them. remember the whole being cold all the time thing? yeah. layers. I need layers. I don’t like almost everything of this type that I own. first picture: napoleon wildcats zip-up (NHS football game): dave got me this sweatshirt because I loved it. I did. but it hasn’t really kept it’s shape. the zipper went bumpy and diagonal, the bottom is stretched out, so it’s kinda wide and square. I keep it because of what it is, but I hardly wear it because it doesn’t look good. MOMS club zip-up hoodie (MOMS club order): getting the hoodies was actually my idea. in theory I like this, but it has faded and isn’t exactly wonderful from a fashion perspective. I should keep it for the same reason I keep the MOMS club t-shirt. beige 3/4 sleeve zip-up hoodie (weekenders – via my MIL): I like this, BUT, I don’t like the sleeves. for me, a layer is to keep me warm. if my arms are not warm, I am not war...

here’s what we have for this week. nothing much extra this week, except two 8x10 collage sheets in the middle. first half of the week: the weekly collage sheet of extra pics, numbered, and with the pull-out journaling card stashed under the picture: 2nd collage sheet, entirely devoted to layla’s first t-ball game which was on saturday: second half of the week: I just got this put together today, because I’ve had something else exciting going on that arrived on my doorstep last night: yup! my 2 new project life kits! last week, when becky higgins announced on facebook that there were only 10 of the turquoise editions left and they weren’t making anymore, I jumped on amazon and ordered both kits before it was too late. good thing, too, because when I checked back later that afternoon, the turquoise was all sold out!  I’m super excited. they’re both so pretty and I tore into them right away. my plan is to get two years’ worth of pics into each of them (because I definitely didn’...