Wordless Wednesday

Bye Bye Holidays 

Hello New Year! 

Not Me Monday Prayer Request!!!!

So I went to write my weekly Not Me post (as is my Monday custom) wrote it, saved a draft, and went to MckMama's site to grab the Not Me button and read her Not Me's - guess what - no Not Me's but a baby boy with RSV! Some of you may know - we HATE RSV in this family and have had some not so great experiences ourselves so I really hate that the poor Little Guy (Stellan - the Miracle in the button below) is sick! Anyway - I decided to go ahead and post my Not Me's but first - please say a prayer for Stellan and for all the other little RSV babies in the hospital right now. It is RSV season and I remember that feeling of just sitting up in a hospital chair with a tiny baby on my lap - watching her breath in and breath out and breath in and breath out praying with every little puff of air.........

Original Post

Sooooo many this week - so many - here goes 

This week.... I did not

ever let anyone eat cookies for breakfast 

I also NEVER let the Little Buddy fall asleep at nap clutching a quarter that he refused to give up - I mean really - who would do that besides someone that is trying to make the 6:00 news?

No Way that we ever skipped any naps 

I for sure DID not drink two margaritas and then throw up violently - that would be A. stupid and B. a little embarrassing! 

There is no way that I ever shouted at my adorable children telling them that I was going to pack up all the toys and take them to children that need them and would actually be grateful for them. 

I never once thought cuss words in my head while trying to open the packaging on a toy. 

I was never once standing next to a family member that was a close talker......

I am not completely close talker phobic.

I did not decide this week that my husband is the best ever and I am not sure why I deserve him. I  would also NEVER tell him that - are you kidding? Straight to the big guys head that would go. :) 

I did not SO push the importance of the Baby Jesus that the Little Buddy went straight to the chimney - pointed up and said, "Baby Jeshush Mommy?" Ooops - might have to clarify that one for next year. 

I am not hiding toys as fast as I can find them so that a rainy day in March I can bust out a new toy. I am also not bagging up old toys as fast as I can to give them to the Goodwill without letting the children know what generous souls they are - why would I miss that teaching opportunity you ask - not because this is much quicker and easier - no there is no way that I would do that! 

Not me! 

Tired but not for long!

The holidays are over! Hooray - am I an awful person if I say - Hooray! You know what - I will say it again - Hooray!!!!!! Now please don't misunderstand me - I love love love Christmas time - I really do! We did sooooo many cool things and really had a great time. I have some good ideas for how I am going to do next year different (that is if we are still in the States - stay tuned for more posts on the possibility of a blog name change from I Heart Bowheads to Germany or Bust! :) 

Anyway - yes - I digress.... when do I not? 

I am happy to be back and I have not been anywhere! I am happy to be back blogging and checking all of the blogs that I read that I have sadly been ignoring. I am excited to cook and clean and organize and just be a Mom - no part time job, no bows to make or schools to work for - just me - simplifying and taking a big fat deep breath! I will say it again - 

Hooray!!!!!

Not Me Monday

We did NOT have ANOTHER chin busting incident involving a repeat trip to the emergency room, more glue, steri strips, and about a million band aids. 
I did NOT tell the BD that he has to do any heavy disciplining or medicine giving over the next week because there is no way that I am making that baby do anything that he does not want to do after back to back traumatic hair cutting and emergency room experiences during which the Little Buddy screamed, "Daddy, My Daddy" the entire time. 
I do not have hurt feelings that the children have such a good Daddy that they love so much and I do not secretly wish that they loved me a little bit more even though I know how much I am loved - there is not even one little part of me that ever thinks that - nope! 
I did not  doze during the Nutcracker - are you kidding me? What kind of an example would that be for my beautiful girls. 
I did not have an amazing time watching dance recitals, riding the Polar Express, going on a special girls day with my daughters, and cuddling up to watch Frosty. 
I am not tired. 
I am not so in love with me little family that it hurts - just a little bit - that would be crazy right? 
I am NOT wishing you guys the best Christmas ever and there is no way that I am sitting here typing this post instead of getting ready for 10 of my favorite in laws to come over here tonight for our annual Mexican Fiesta night. 
I am not in any way - excited for December 26th to come and my calendar to come screeching to a blank halt. 
I did not push the BD in the middle of the night when I could not go back to sleep so that he would roll over in his good REM sleep slumber because there is no way that I knew that would wake him up and he would put his arm around me. What a terrible thing to mess with someone's sleep like that. 
I am not going on and on in my Not Me post while the BD's Great Aunt D sits out on the couch reading a magazine. Are you kidding me? I would never do that - I should be out there hanging on her every word....
I guess I'll go get started with that! 
H

Waiting for the Nutcracker

With Bated Breath.......

The SMC's first trip to the Nutcracker was huge success and she LOVED it!!!!! (She did turn to Aiyee at the end and say - "that was LONG!" 

:) 

Long time no post!

It is the Holiday Season

We have been sooooo busy! 

Swimming

Christmas Tree Shopping

Christmas at the Zoo with Grandma

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Play with Mimi 

A WEEK of dance recitals
and just generally......

Enjoying the Season!!!!!! 

I do it MYSELF

I had so much time waiting for him to close this door by himself today in the dressing room at swim class that I had plenty of time to whip out the camera, take a picture, sit down, send out a text, open up a pack of crackers for Zoe 

 The cost - 5 minutes of my life..... 

The reward - the smile on his face when he actually did it by himself - Priceless.....

I won an award!

This foreign award (which means the blog invests and believes in the proximity/closeness blogging gives us) was passed on to me by Project Mommyhood!!!! I have to include the following statement as well:
"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.”

Now I can't figure out how to copy and paste the actual award code but I will work on that as well as passing it on to some of my BBF's! 

Holly 

I am not tired
I am not heart broken that my baby is 7.
I did not give a Pug named Penelope a luxurious bubble bath this week. 
I am not hanging up my bow hat for a while. I am not going to concentrate on my family and the holidays and I am not keeping my shop at funky finds open for one more month just for sentimental value. :) 
I never bribed anyone with anything sweet to do anything at all this weekend. 
I am not still rocking that 2 year old to sleep at nap time. 
I have not missed blogging this week and I am not excited at all to turn I Heart Bowheads into a simple family blog versus a bow advertisement. :) 
I am not going to keep doing giveaways just because I like doing giveaways though. 
I am not over the top excited about going to see the Rudolph play tomorrow! 
I am not still head over heals in love with my husband after 12 years and 3 kids - how would that be possible? 
But it is.......
:) 
H 

I Heart These Three

Merrry SITSMAS!

This Holiday Season.......

Keep up with your chores

Watch your loveys as well

Settle all disputes

Lots of rest is also important as you can tell

Try to stay Healthy and filled with Good Cheer

Happy Holidays from us

and Happy New Year! 

It all starts TODAY folks and I am excited about the 200 dollar Target Gift Card grand prize! 

(Also watch for an I Heart Bowheads giveaway!:) 

Not Me Monday

I am NOT ignoring my children to write this post. 
I do NOT ever want to strangle a pug. 
I am NOT in any way stressed out by the 3 million things that I have to do. 
I refuse to be discouraged by the fact that everywhere I go I sell ponytail holders but I have yet to sell one over the internet. 
I did NOT give a woman at church a very un church like downright dirty look as she stood pulling her son out of the nursery (where my beautiful boy was also) and tell the story of how the baby was home with the stomach virus and everyone in the family had been sick now except for the child that was drooling all over the toys next to my son. I did not pick him up and literally jog away from the germs. 
This leads me to my next Not Me 
I am NOT a germaphobe 
I also do not suffer from a mild case of Ranidaphobia
I am not at all curious if any of you know what I am afraid of. 
:) Guesses?

Note To Self

Do NOT hit Self Clean on the oven after cooking a 20 pound turkey. I thought I was going to have to send the BD out for 3 little pint sized smoke protection/oxygen masks. 

Sarah Jessica Parker!!!!!! Explained

I keep forgetting to explain this - 

I went through a little phase shortly after my 3rd was born where I was a touch frazzled - I know that is very difficult to imagine - but with a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a newborn - I suddenly found myself using a variety of exclamations that I had never used before. One of these involved using the name of my Savior (whom I love and serve and really try hard not to use His name in vain) and his Mother and Father. Those three names together do sort of just roll off the tongue - you have to admit. Well - religious ideology not withstanding - I really could not be spouting out those names all the time with Little Pitchers with big ears repeating my every word and for whatever reason at that time in my life - it was a hard habit to break UNTIL I discovered a wonderful new exclamation....

Sarah Jessica Parker

It just rolls off the tongue with the exact same syllabic melody of the other but no offense taken by anyone other than the most die hard of Sex and the City fans and my thinking there was - hey take it as a compliment - a name so melodic and recognizable that it is an actual exclamation? So that is how it was born - instead of J,M, and J - I now shout with alarming regularity - "Sarah Jessica Parker that was loud" or sigh "Sarah Jessica Parker that scared me to death" or groan "Sarah Jessica Parker get out of the toilet".... you see? Watch out - it is very addicting - you could become a SJP exclamation junky just like me in the blink of an eye! 

Morning, Merry SITSmas!, Thanksgiving Recap, Bow Bloggy Business - AKA - Way Too Long of a Title

OK I could not be more excited - The Secret is in the Sauce is having a Merry SITSmas on December 2nd and guess whose name is up there as we speak - yes - us at humble I Heart Bowheads!!!!!!!!! Hooray - Yipppeee - Mucho Excitement - Holy Cow - Sarah Jessica Parker - I need to get making some bows!!!!!!!! 

Anyway - several things to post about today - I am in the blogging weeds. 

 A - Thanksgiving - may more pics to come but I did have to quickly say that it went really really well )as the Little Buddy would say). All 20 people happy, well fed, minimal drama, big fun. A couple of things that I pulled off that I am somewhat proud of and feel the need to share.......

The Homemade Placemats - they turned out cute (I thought) and the table looked really festive!

Crockpot Corner

I highly recommend this! I will post my mashed potato recipe later (speaking of - we did have a potatoe/potato tomatoe/tomato discussion that I failed miserably (I was already hitting the adult beverages mind you) and made my SIL's night I am sure. But anyway - that is neither here nor there - the important things are A. Crockpot Corner worked great - two different family recipes of green bean casserole (yes we have the great canned versus frozen divide amongst our families - we are working very hard to bridge the gap and still live in peace), two crockpots full of mashed potatoes, and a big one of stuffing. Worked out Great and B. I have got to fix those blinds in my kitchen - good grief - I looked at this picture and went - egads! 

Now on to B - some bloggy bow business - if you are a first timer here at I Heart Bowheads - welcome - greetings - happy to have you - very exciting - please follow me - I am 13 followers strong at the moment and follow my followers (read stalk) obsessively so join in the bloggy love I say! 

Sigh - digressing again - sorry - back on point - anyway - I also make hairbows - most specifically - cute baby clips and awesome ponytail holders. The ponytail holders I would say are my specialty. :) I can and do make big girl bows on big girl clips but have found that there are a MILLION Moms out there just like me that make wonderful big fancy bows and I would not dare to compete with their greatness. What I make for my girls (and my neighbors and the soccer team and the pta and so on and so forth) that has been very successful is the ponytail holders. Now - this part of my post is getting long winded - don't go away - don't stop reading - I will stop typing now - wait I am still typing - what is the matter with me.
Long Bow story short - these are some examples of what I make - I have so many cute Christmas ones right now - I can't even get pictures made fast enough - I can make pretty much anything - you name the outfit - I will have a blast making the ponytail holder or bow. 

The best part about me - I am in this for the blog (I should have named it I Heart Blogging) AND to make quality things that my friends can actually afford. 

I do have a shop up at Funky Finds - you can click on it in my sidebar - also - just email me and I will make them for you! I only charge 3 dollars per ponytail holder plus shipping and paypal fees so email away! hollyo1@mac.com

Now - all done with my sales pitch - I am off to see Madagascar II with the fam and then home to put my bow basket together for SITSmas and blog about Thanksgiving. 

:) 

H 

A Flying Leap

Only have a second to post - I have a pressing Uno game to play with the BBG but had to post this picture from the leaf pictures that I took recently. It makes me feel free and is going to be my mantra for the upcoming holiday season. When in doubt - take a leap into something fun! Go ahead say it out loud - it will make you feel good!  If you are tired or stressed or up to your ears in Christmas decorations - don't forget - it is still November - there is plenty of time - let yourself go and...

Take a flying leap into something fun! 

Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving

and all through the house 

Not a creature was stirring - not even a mouse. 

The tables were arranged with obsessive care

In hopes that the relatives would be happy there. 

The children were nestled all snug in their beds 

Battered and traumatized from the many times that Mommy said....

Do not make a mess - don't touch that it's clean! 

The Mommy worked hard to not be too mean. 

and Mamma in her sweat pants 

and Daddy in his hat 

Were never going to get 

Their much deserved nap. 

When from the kitchen there arose such a clatter 

I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter. 

Away to the pantry I flew with a dash. 

Threw open the door and let out a gasp. 

When what to my exhausted eyes should appear 

but a bad little pug with no morals or fear 

Doing the best that she knew how to do 

To hoist her fat self to the top shelf of food. 

She was little and feisty and naught and quick 

I knew in a moment that I never should kick. 

More rapid than eagles my coursers they came 

and suddenly words came out of my mouth much too horrible to name! 

At this point I am not sure that I remember the song

Plus there is still much to do and my rhyme is too long. 

I will gladly exclaim as I turn off the light 

Happy Thanksgiving to all 

and to all a good night!!!!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!! 

:) 

Holly 

Not Me Monday

Ok here are all the things that I did not do this week.......
I DID NOT accidently drop a Pug 
I DID NOT cry when the BBG did her ballet recital piece for the Mommas. It was not to that song about Jesus being the reason for the season and I was not the only Mommy in there boo hooing it up hiding my face in the two little blond heads that were sitting in my lap watching their big sister in awe. 
I DO NOT still rock the Little Buddy to sleep at nap time. He and his Daddy have come to a big boy agreement at bed time and Daddy puts him to bed every night "like a man" but I would never continue to rock him for as long as I feel like during the quiet middle of the day when he wants to be held - nope. 
I am not having a small case of bloggers block at the moment causing me to forget all of the funny, cute, witty, and moving Not Me's that I have been thinking up all week - nope not me - I always have something to say. 
I will not be back later to update my post with some more of the ones I forgot......
Not Me 

'cary Moobie - I 'tect you......

All three kids were upstairs watching Sleeping Beauty. 

The girls cuddled up and the Little Buddy came up and squeezed in between them on the little purple futon saying, 

"cuse me, cuse me giwls (girls) cuse me" 

Then he turns around and looks at me and says very seriously, 

"'cary moobie Mommy, 'cary moobie". 

(You know Maleficent turns into a dragon - it is pretty scary) 

Then he leans back in his little fuzzy firetruck jamas with feet, puts both arms around both girls and says,

 "I's ok giwls, I 'tect you, I 'tect you" 

Translation: It's ok girls, I'll protect, I'll protect you

Oh my little Mommy's heart was so bursting with love....

Go check out a contest

If you are one of the 2 people left that do not read McMama's blog go check her out for a cool Fryday contest - yes I know it is Sunday - playing catch up here. :) If you have not read her story, pour yourself a nice cup of coffee, put the kids down for nap and be prepared for an AMAZING story! 

A funny fellow in a big boy bed Friday Fhoto Fiesta

Sigh - I fear that my little fellow is getting far to big too fast!!!!! 

No more cribs in my house! 

A Thousand Words Thurday

I need no words - only one title....

Trouble In Action 

I believe I am going to coin a new phrase - instead of being caught with your hand in the cookie jar - how about a foot in the toy bin? 

A pug in a pile

Not Me Monday

I am not so behind that this is the first time I have been on my computer or looking at all of my new BFF's blogs! 

I idd not do 3000 loads of laundry today and just get them put away. 

We did not put my baby boy into a big boy bed yesterday. There is no way that I let the crib walk out of this house. I am not finished having babies and I am not at all emotional about how quickly they are all growing up. 

My first grader did NOT jump in the car today after school and say, "Good news Mommy - turns out we are not broken up"

sigh 

My four year old is not having anger management problems. 

I did not finish making birthday party invites for a child of mine's 7 year birthday - no way I have been a Mom that long! 

I am not addicted to my new lip gloss that Stephanie (see secret swap post - I will link her up later) gave me. 

I am not sitting here typing while the BD is in our nice cozy bed with clean sheets waiting for me. 

No way - that would be silly - not me! 

How cute is this?

http://happy-jeannie.blogspot.com/2008/11/and-winners-are.html

My Favorite Things Box......

My favorite things partner Stephanie was WAY more on top of things than I am and I got my swap!!!!!!! Here is the story. Stephanie - you are the best best best and I am wrapping presents as we speak or type or whatever.......

On to the story......

OK - so first I have to say -  was excited about doing this sure but I had NO IDEA that it would be such a thrill for me! I came home, saw that box on my front porch and bam - my day was made!!!!!! Here is my exciting present journey :) 

A box of presents all for me - right smack in the middle of an every day day in November 

Here are all my presents 

First present - My favorite Eye beauty item 

Awesome - me too!!!!!!! 

Favorite locally made chocolate 

YUM! 

This was after all the little hands started pawing through MY chocolate :) 

My favorite home treat 

Sarah Jessica Parker - me too!!!!!!!! 

My favorite body care lotion 

Hooray! 

My favorite Jolly item - how cute is this? 

My favorite item of all time - I am FREAKING out about this one because I LOVE LOVE LOVE these foaming anti bac soaps, Vanilla Bean is my favorite scent of all time AND I have never ever ever tried this. Sigh - can you tell I am really happy? 

My favorite home treat part 2- have I mentioned that I love these? 

My favorite lip beauty product - once again - Sarah Jessica Parker - I am a little freaked out at this point - how does this person know me so well???????? Vanilla - hello- vanilla addict - lip stuff - hello lip stuff addict 

sigh - again 

and finally - to wrap it all up - MORE CHOCOLATE!!!!!! 

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU