roar

lions and tigers and .... oh man good thing we only have two! we were seen around town with these cuties tonight.. they thought getting candy at the door was wierd and every time we would go somewhere they felt they had to reach into their little buckets and surrender something they had. they were so cute!

don't sweat the small stuff...

Where to begin.. Life has been a constant changing balance beam for me these days. My mind is filled with lists of things to be done and forever remembering where I need to be at any given moment. Sitting down is rare and when I do it's hard to shut off my brain anyways so I may as well check something off my list.

In the midst of all of that I am enjoying Noah and Ari more than ever these days. They are so fun and they are growing up so fast. I feel like I want to write it all down each day as it all happens so I won't forget.. all the little things too you know?

Like the day before yesterday they had just gotten up and were playing and snacking on cheerios like they do every morning. They had pulled up their little plush chairs to the little table in the living room and were making various car noises: filling their dump trucks with cheerios, making tunnels with placemats and drinking milk. They have these monster trucks where the top comes off and you can snap it on only one way.. these have often been a source of frustration although still remaining a favorite toy. I was sitting on the couch just taking it all in when all of a sudden Noah asks Ari for "help" and hands him the truck. Ari takes it and tries the top one way and when it doesn't work he turns it around and tries the other way and it works. He then proclaims "did it!" which means "I did it" and he then hands it over to Noah and Noah says "Thanks".

I was blown away by such a big boy moment. I was happy I had sat long enough to witness it. It's a good reminder to me to remember moments like these.

Dave starts school again on Monday and will go for 9 weeks. It's always a different transition for us when he starts and what seemed daunting at the beginning of this week has turned into a blessing. He found some people to ride with which requires no driving on his part and the burden of him having to drive alone all week has been lifted and we both feel lighter.

I am full blown all in to rehearsals and it's only 4 weeks away!!!! How can that be. Hopefully you have all bought tickets… It's going to be an amazing show. I love Marmee and am really learning so much from her. It's been fun to venture out into this area and do something different.

Norwex is still going good. I actually have two parties next week.. It's a great time for them too with Christmas coming up. Hopefully they both go well.

Not much else I can fill you in on. My cleaning lady (remember the present from dave) has been blowing me away. Yesterday I came home to not only a sparkly clean house but she organized my chaotic pantry into a beautiful masterpiece. It was breathtaking. I feel full and blessed beyond what I can say. It's the small stuff lately that is the big stuff for me and it helps me remember how much I have to be grateful for!

friday funny

yes i know i have been MIA lately. just so much going on and my brain has a hard time putting things together. so to give you a little something for the weekend i decided a friday funny was in order.
i LOVE my job.. my space, my co-workers.. everything about it. we get alot done each day but we also spend a lot of time laughing and just generally having fun. i sit beside the most fabulous mentor or all things SAA related (School Administrative Assistant) she basically excels in all aspects of her job and I love being able to glean from her. Anyways.. a couple weeks back another co-worker of ours hmm lets call her M went away for a girls getaway with her sisters to grand forks. naturally on her first day back she was over at our desk and we asked her how her time was, what did the do.. shopping, talking, eating you know all the best things to do on a getaway. we asked where they ate and of course i chimed in.. "you must have had q-doba's right?" (cause of course that is my fave). she looked up from thumbing through files and said "Cute Oma's?"
oh my word.. luckily we were able to remain on our chairs and see through the tears in our eyes as we laughed so hard. seriously cute oma's? i LOVE that!
for those of you who do not have any sort of german background. Oma means grandma here.. and yea although Cute Oma's would surely have some amazing perogies or borscht she certainly would not be serving the best queso or burritos this side of mexico.
now as i have wrote this out i realize you probably had to be there.. but i don't care cause it's a wonder i have been able to type as i still chuckle to myself and it just reiterates the fact that work is a great place to be.
i actually had another funny from today but maybe i will leave you with this one and it will make you come back for more ECS friday funnies. we are full of them!

pinching...

some days i just have to pinch myself to remind myself that this is my life. all mine. this messy, beautiful, chaotic, overwhelming stuff is all mine. especially thankful for these guys. they too are all mine and i pinch myself daily to make sure none of it is a dream.

Free Shipping.

So after that response on my Norwex post.. I am offering free shipping to anyone who wants to place an order by tomorrow. Please let me know how I can contact you and I will get you some goodies!! Ready, Set.. Go!!

how cleaning changed my life....

I know some of you have been interested to hear about my new business venture. I am a consultant with a great company called Norwex Enviro Products. Norwex sells cleaning products and personal care products. The cleaning products are chemical free. I was easily sold on Norwex for the main reasons it fits my life. I save time - tons of time. For the tons of different products I used to have to clean I now have one cloth. I can clean as I go and don't have to worry about my kids breathing in all kinds of nasty chemicals. The products really work so I don't have to spend time just smearing the dirt and dust around. I also am saving money. Norwex is an investment but now I don't need to go out and buy paper towel each week and a bottle of this or that every so often. I have what I need and as long as I take care of it.. I can expect to get years out of my cloths. I am also helping to do my part to save the environment. I am putting less toxic chemicals into the air, garbage and into the water. And the best reason I am now providing a safe and healthy environement for my family. Store bought cleaners can range from irratant to fatal.. why would I want to do that to my family. Do you know what is in some of the stuff we use to clean our tubs? The same place my kids sit and play in the bath. Or what is in those nasty Mr. Clean magic erasers? Or in windex? There is a distinct connection between the increase in chemical use in our homes and schools with the increase of asthma, cancer and allergies.
There is so many products I love and it would take me too long to tell you all of them.. (so you must get to a Norwex party!) Here are my faves:
1.) Norwex is known for it's microfibre.. yes i know microfibre is everywhere but if you compare a cheap cloth to one of our cloths you can easily tell the difference. To be cosidered microfibre the cloth has to be 1/6th of a human hair. Our cloths are 1/100th and when combined with the right knitting process it creates an extremely effective cleaning material. As if that were not enough Norwex has developed a unique techlogy that combines an atinbacterial silver based agent with our microfibre. This then destroys the bacteria picked up by the cloth. It is proven effective on strains of bacteria, yeast and viruses. So that brings me to the Antibac Enviro cloth.. used wet or dry to clean all surfaces. All you need is water. It prevents the cross contaminatio of germs from one surface to the other. It removes dust, dirt, grime and grease from all washable surfaces. I use mine for everything from dusting my furniture, to cleaning my counter tops, my stove, my windows, bathtubs, tile... The best part is that I can use it for days and just clean as I go.
2.) The Antibac Window Cloth - this allows to me to polish and clean windows, mirrors and shiney surfaces with water alone. It leaves a streak free shine and best of all I don't have to breathe in nasty things like windex. You need to see what it does to my faucets.. never been so shiney.
3.) my must have number one the one thing that changed my life was the mop! i have never found a mop that worked.. I hate using a broom (it's disgusting how much you are just smearing around) I mean really have you looked at your mop or broom and wondered how something so dirty can make things clean.. yea it doesn't. I know have the telescopic handle (which is great for cleaning up high and hard to reach places), the Antibacterial dry mop and the Antibacterial wet mop. All made from the highest grade of microfibre, with the silver agent right in. All I do now is use my dry mop which picks up everthing and then use only water on my wet mop and in 10 minutes my whole main floor is spic and span!
I could go on and on.. the antibac face cloths, the kitchen cloth, the micropad (like the magic eraser without the fatal chemicals), the spirisponge, the fresh wash, the bath mat, the antibac hair turban, the dusting mitt, the shea butter and all the organic personal care products, the magnet ball, and odour eliminator, the dishwasher detergent makes everything so sparkley and clean. The cleaning paste makes cleaning my ceramic stove a dream.
Did you know your mattress currently has about 2 million dust mites living there. Did you know that one dust mite produces about 50 fecal pellets daily and that your pillow is made up of 10% of dust mite feaces. Did you know Norwex carries a product called the Mattress Cleaner which is designed to elimiate dust mites and all organic material on your matrress, sofa, bedding, your kid stuffed animals. I know many people who have lived with severe allergies for years and have had their lives changed once they used this to kill that matter that lives in our stuff.
The Laundry Detergent is filler free and best of all you use basically nothing and a bag lasts you a long time. Our Dryer balls replace fabric softener (which I hope you know is so bad for you!) They drastically cut down on dryer time which is also helping to save on money.
So there you go a quick run down on chemical free cleaning. I know it sounds too good to be true and thats what I thought too. You owe it to your family to try it out. Let me know if you want to host a party or just order some product. Or if you are interested in selling Norwex yourself. Its a great way to give back.
And now for the moment you all were waiting for

.. the winner of the Norwex draw who will receive one of my favorite producs the Anitbac Microfibre Dusting Mitt is... Holly! Congrats to you.. I will get you your prize on Tuesday at rehersal. And maybe this will inspire you to have a party :)