Monday Thrive September 18

1) I am thinking I should just change the name of this weekly post to Monday Tantrums! Why is it Monday is just full of tantrums? They start as soon as he wakes up until bedtime. I know the weekends are different than during the week. Art is home, our schedule isn't the same, but good lord it can get bonkers on Monday. It usually starts with G waking up upset his da da went to work. He will be bawling saying oh no my da da gone to work noooo noooo. It is very sad! He loves having Art home. 


2) I am still raising money towards the birthday boxes for foster children. I would love your help if you can help me reach my goal!

I wrote a whole blog post about it here. Thank you to those of you who have donated. You can make a donation HERE. 

Adriana use to talk to me about becoming a foster parent. Foster children were always so special to her. Her goal was to become a foster parent once she was 40. Help me honor her memory by raising money to provide these children with a birthday memory they can cherish during a difficult time.


3) It's been a year ago since my dad had open heart surgery.  I remember where I was driving when I answered my sisters call telling me my dad would have open heart surgery.  We were all so upset. On the one year anniversary of that day those feelings came flooding back. It was so scary and so out of the blue! He seemed so healthy until a couple days before. Thankfully it's a year later and he is doing well! 

That same day Adriana had come over to the house for the afternoon. I can remember what we talk about, sitting out back with her, drinking coffee like normal, and her being sad we were going to be gone so long. The past few days have been a lot of emotion. I am so thankful my dad is doing well. I was able to spend 2 months with him last summer and a month with him this summer. I miss my friend so much! Sometimes I can't believe she is actually gone. We won't ever sit out back at my house and laugh about nonsense. 

4) Over the past few weeks I have put a lot of thought into my future with selling BeautyCounter. I have decided at the end of September I will no longer be selling BeautyCounter. I LOVE their products, believe in the company and will continue to use the products.

If you would like to order products October 1 forward Christi-An Bowler is fabulous! She posts on FB and IG often about sales, product tips, new items etc.  If you are a Band of Beauty Member your membership will be moved to Christi-An automatically.  Thank you again for your support over the past year.

5) Happy Birthday to my dad! Today is his birthday! I wish I was in ND to celebrate with him. 

Monday Thrive - August 21

I am trying to get us back into our routine after a couple months of craziness. G went to school every day for a month, then we were gone for a month and now we are trying to find our new groove. I thought I would share some of my traveling tips with a toddler and eating paleo in today's post. 

1) Last year in September I wrote a post about Traveling with a Toddler. I didn't want to be a traveling Gypsy this year, so I wanted to come up with a different way to bring a car seat. Two days before we left I ordered a luggage cart you can find HERE. I wasn't sure if I was going to use it or if I would use my Bob Stroller. I figured if I decided to use my Bob I would return the luggage cart. It was moments before our shuttle picked us up that I decided to leave the Bob at home and use the cart. Best decision!!!! 

I was traveling alone with G. I needed to have my hands free as much as possible. When we got to San Francisco Airport I told G the cart was too heavy and I needed help pulling it. He was really nervous about riding in it. I threw our carry on bags in there, pulled the luggage cart with car seat and my suitcase. I had him right beside me, so I could grab him if necessary. I had looked at the car seat carts which ran $50-$100. I looked at them numerous times online. I just thought they looked like a luggage cart and the they were marking them up because parents buy all this crap we think we need for kids. I am glad I went with a cheaper version. This will work great for us while we travel. We have 2 more trips coming up this year. I also like to bring our car seat on the plane. 

On our flight home G wasn't scared to ride in the car seat. We had an episode of a tantrum in the Denver Airport. I strapped him in there while he was whaling and got to our gate. 

2) Just buy your kid their own tablet! It's a life saver for traveling. We ended up buying him an Amazon Fire Tablet. I am still not sure I am happy with this purchase. I kind of wish we would have just spent the extra money and bought him an Ipad mini. You can download YouTube Kids on the Fire. G loves YouTube kids. If you are only going to let them use it for traveling this is no big deal then. 

I was able to download shows from Amazon Prime and Netflix. Just a helpful tip download the shows the day before you leave. I downloaded some of them and they expired before he could even watch them. Thankfully we realized this on the 1 hour flight. I had some new toy firemen I was able to pull out and save the day. Rookie mistake for downloading shows. :::eyeroll:::

I downloaded a bunch of podcasts for myself. These saved my sanity for the 3 hour flight. You go through a magazine way too fast! I downloaded a bunch of different ones. Jen Hatmaker has a new podcast I just love! I listened to some Dave Ramsey to help me stay on budget and My Favorite Murder. Those girls on My Favorite Murder are crazy. I can only listen to that podcast a little or become paranoid about being murdered. It's very unlikely I will be murdered on a plane, so I felt it was safe to listen on there. I had to then listen to Jen Hatmaker before I got off the plane. lol

3) Pack lots of snacks for everyone!!!! On the way to ND I packed some paleo pizza. Thankfully I packed 3 pieces. G ate one, I dropped one and I got to eat one. I packed the Kids RX bars. I love these! They are the perfect size! I packed G some of his favorite snacks - crackers, pouches, fruit leather, nuts. I usually pack a big bag of nuts. Both of really like them. 

I always pack a reusable water bottle for both G & me in our carry on bags. Once we are through security I find a place to fill them up. This saves you about $5-10 bucks. It's ridiculous what they charge for water in the airport. I did end up buying us a soda water on the plane to share. G was very excited about the juice. He thinks soda water is juice and I am just going to let him continue thinking that. =)  

You can usually find a salad in the airport. I have gotten a side salad from McDonald's skipping the dressing. Quizno's had a salad that I just had them skip the dressing that seemed to be paleo approved. I do the best I can when I am traveling. If I end up with a little sugar in a dressing I let it go. I can't eat dairy at all, so I always skip anything that might have dairy. 

4) Dress in comfortable clothes and layers! Why is take off so hot and when you are in the sky it is so cold? I am usually sitting in the airplane sweating like crazy before we take off. Then we get in the sky and I am shivering because it is so cold.  I wore some looser fitting boyfriend jeans, tshirt, jacket and converse. I need something that I don't need to be adjusting and tugging on. 

I dress G in usually one of his favorite shirts. It helps getting dressed early in the AM. It also can be a conversation we can have while waiting. What is on your shirt, what color is that, etc? I also put on easy shoes for him. As soon as he is strapped in his seat I take his shoes off and put them in one of the bags. He is known for kicking his shoes off right away. I just take them off, so they don't get lost. 

5) I packed a rollerball with lavender this year! This was a great thing. I would roll some on the bottom of G's feet and the back of my neck. It really helped us stay relaxed. Early mornings, cramped space, and long travel days do not mix well with a toddler. Thankfully he slept for 3 hours on the first flight. Then we had a FOUR hour layover. It was either a four hour layover or an over night layover. I picked the 4 hour one! While I love Frontier's prices I do not like their flying times 90% of the time. We also don't have many options that fly into ND. 

When we would get on the plane I would roll some lavender on us. When we got to Denver I had him run as much as possible. We went up and down the moving walk ways. Up and down the escalators. He walked around looking at different planes. Whatever we could do to get out some energy. Using the tablet is not an option once we have landed. I will give him toys to play with while we watch planes. 

G really did well! He has been on planes often, so he knows the drill. It is getting easier now that is older too. A lot less to pack. No diapers or bottles. Smaller toys. 

I hope everyone has a fabulous Monday! 

Traveling with a Toddler

I have traveled a lot with G alone on quick trips. I was a little nervous to make a 4+ hour flight alone. We had a 3 hour layover in the middle of the flight. I was mostly nervous how I would manage all of our stuff on and off the plane. I had a car seat, stroller, and 2 bags. I had plan to just take 1 bag on the way home, but G insisted we had to take his blankie. I shoved it in his little back pack to avoid getting it drug through the airport. Once we got off the plane he wanted me once my hands were free. 

It worked really good to just take one bag. The flight attendants and passengers were really nice about helping us too. I would wait until almost everyone got off the plane before I even attempted to get off. I had to wait for the stroller anyhow, so it made sense to just wait. 

Look who I ran into at the Bismarck airport! It's Josh!!!

Watching the planes! 

Playing with his farm animals. 

I pack a lot of new toys for G to play with on and off the plane. He loves opening new things to play with. On the way home I packed too much. He ended up sleeping for an entire flight. It worked out great! I think later flights are the best. Toys and snacks are the way to travel with a toddler. 

Just a little excited to go home to see Da Da! 

Here is my gypsy cart! It REALLY worked fabulous! For one person this works. The Bob stroller is a beast! It hauls everything so nicely. When I needed to push G I just set him in the car seat and away we would go. If he wanted to walk I set my bag in the car seat, so I could hold his hand. I was so glad I decided to take the Bob with us. It worked great on the farm too. 

Throw Back Clothing

My mom kept some boxes of clothes from when we were growing up. I went through the boxes to find some stuff for George to wear. It was funny to see him in clothes I remember Bill wearing. Thankfully George could careless what he wears, so I can put him in any of these things. 

George wanted milk in the picture above. I told him if he smiled I would go get him some. This was the cheesy smile he gave me. Such a character. 

Wordless Wednesday

OOTD

Entire outfit is from Old Navy

I recently bought the jacket and shoes. I love the shoes. They are super comfy and easy to slip on. The earrings I found online for $3. They are knock offs, but for $3 they are fabulous!

Leopard Skirt is from 2 Sunday's ago. Our first time back at church. 

You can tell how much Bing Bong has grown from 2 weeks to 3 weeks.

Luckily my weight has bounced right back to below I started. I am down 8 pounds from when I first got pregnant. I am able to wear my pants and some of my skirts. My body changed being pregnant. I knew it was going to change, so I wasn't surprised. I can't wear my tops. I guess with nursing my top is just going to be larger. Eventually it will go back to normal. I hope so, because I have a ton of tops. 

Bedtime Friend

You have seen the black & white swimsuit in a previous post. The swimsuit is a family joke. It travels back and forth between North Dakota and California. This year Art was the lucky person to receive the swimsuit as a Christmas gift.

Art and I like to play pranks on each other. Lately we have been going through a lot of stuff, so I thought he could use a good laugh. I picked up the swimsuit, grab the coconut head and his hat. I made a little person and covered it up with the blankets. When he came to bed below is what he found!

Airport Transportation

One year I flew home from CA to MI to see my family for the holidays. Every time I fly home there is an issue with picking me up from the airport. Normally they are running late, trying to figure out who is going to take time off work, Lacey hanging out of the car with a HUGE sign screaming BECKY & the airport police telling her to get back into the car or she will get arrested, running over a raccoon and totaling a car, or picking me up in a large flat bed truck.

My dad came to pick me up one day in his big work truck. He had to strap my suitcases to the back of the truck. I pulled up behind this truck recently at a red light and made me think of all the various ways I have been picked up from the airport. 

I think the raccoon story is probably the best. The North Dakota airport actually kicked me up because they were closing. I had 10 minutes to either rent a car, get a cab, or wait outside for my family to pick me up. I took a cab to the nearest restaurant. My sister was coming to pick me up and she hit a HUGE raccoon. It caused major damage under her car. She had to call my parents around midnight, woke them up to come pick her up and then pick me up at the airport. 

Hunka, Hunka!

We are 3 blessed women with this amazing men in our lives......

Check out the Fischer women hunks.....

New Year - New Hairdos

I decided that for 2012 I would go back to my natural hair color. Well what exactly is my natural hair color?  I a brunette, but a blonde at heart. lol

I bought the hair dye on December 26. Every day I would say no, let's do it tomorrow. Finally it was the last night at my parents NYE and I had to do it. So we pulled out the dye and got to work.

First I had to borrow an old shirt from my dad. The sad look is because the blonde hair was going away.

We had about a 1/3 of the bottle left. My dad says HEY do my hair next.  Mom had the gloves on, so she got to work on my dads hair. He has a little gray and decided he wanted it covered up.

Then my mom tells me she wants her done too. She went to get her hair dye and I start doing hers.

By this time 50% of the household is getting their hair dyed.

Lacey & Cliff were the supervisors.

Dad tried to put on his glasses....that didn't work very well because he got dye all over them. He told us if he had known he couldn't wear his glasses for 10-15 minutes while his hair dyed.  Ummmm little did he know that it was going to be 45 minutes NOT 10-15 minutes. Ugh then he really wasn't happy.  He pulled up a chair right next to the tv, so he could see what was on.

Here is where I found the boys.....chilling and counting down the time until 2012.

Finally results!

I am still getting use to this brown hair. Unfortunately it is washing out rather quickly from all those years of bleaching. I think I might have the husband dye it for me this weekend. Please say a prayer for us!

Happy New Year!

Fun with the Fam

The other night Lacey, my mom and me decided to play Dance 2 on Wii.  Where were the boys? One was alseep on the couch, the other on the laptop and my dad was watching who got the highest score.  I always wondered why I am so competitive....well I learned this week. My dad rubs it in the others face when someone beats the other kid. No wonder I always have to be #1. lol

I'll Be Home for Christmas

A couple weeks ago I found Christmas music on my ipod. I LOVE Christmas music!!!! I think we should play it all year! When the radio station starts playing it all day it is the happiest day!!!

I'll be home for Christmas started playing at first I was a little sad because Christmas just isn't the same when I'm not home with my family! Then I realized I WILL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR!!!! I almost started dancing right there on the Bart train!

The last time I was home for Christmas was 2005. The first year I wasn't home for Christmas was 2006. I decided to stay in CA and spend Christmas with my boyfriend and 2007 & 2008 we went to my parents for Thanksgiving.  My parents and sister came to visit for 2008-2010 for Christmas.

Even though they came to visit it isn't the same! I don't have the childhood stockings or our childhood ornaments. My parents house looks like a snowman threw up. Snowmen EVERYWHERE!!!!

I'm soooo excited to spend 10 days with them! Christmas Eve we will eat homemade pizza for lunch. This has been a tradition forever with just our immediate family! Christmas Eve we use to go to my dads mom & eat the big dinner.  Opening presents is done in age order one by one! That way everyone knows what everyone received.

This year we might not follow all the traditions. We will have pizza on Christmas Eve. Mom and I will cook a big meal on Christmas Day. I will try to stay inside the house as much as possible with some tea. I try to avoid the cold in ND. I plan to try to convince my dad to pick me up by the door and drop me off next to a door to avoid the cold. I will pack snacks to bribe him! Dad is always asking for snicky snacks.

 

Every couple days I send my mom & sister a text with the count down! Part of the entire excitement is the countdown & the anticipation of seeing my family!

Only 26 More Days!!!!

What I Miss Today......

I can't believe the words are being typed at this moment.....15+ yrs ago I would DENY I would ever utter such ideas. Today I miss North Dakota. I miss my family, the slow pace of life, the fact you can drive 10 miles and see ONE car on the road. My dad use to talk about how he missed the North Dakota plains when we lived in MI. I use to think he was nuts. Today I feel like my dad and miss those things.

Career Change?

New career path for Fausha....possible bull fighter?

These steers don't look interested at ALL. Hey buddy just give me some feed and stop messing around.

My Fausha's New Look

Above is a picture of how my dad dresses daily. Below are 2 new pictures I receievd from my mom stating "Dad has a new look".

I think this is the FIRST time I have saw my dad in shorts and maybe the 3rd time with tenny shoes. This look is NOT working.

Above is a picture of my parents yard. I love the wheel barrow tipped over wtih the flowers. Very cute!

Famous Swimsuit!

My mom sent me an email to let me know she had mailed a package. I was sooo excited! I LOVE packages. I came home and it was sitting on the table. I opened the box and inside was another box wrapped in spiderman paper. I took it back to the bedroom to open it with Art. Inside I found the adorable "P" napkins, 2 red All American Town Beulah, North Dakota tshirts and this LOVELY ruffled swimsuit. Art and I just busted up laughing!

This swimsuit has become quit famous over the past year or two. My mom mailed this thing to me to see if I wanted it about a yr or two ago. I called her and said have you ever seen me wear something like this? Ummm no thanks. I held on to it why I am not sure. Art had a great idea and wrapped it up for my mom for Christmas. We told her she had to take it back home because it was a gift.

When my parents left at Christmas we found the swimsuit hanging in the closet. I couldn't believe she left the gift her darling son in law gave her for Christmas....it had to be an accident. When we finally got around to mailing the last of the family's Christmas boxes in April we threw the swimsuit in. I received a phone call as soon as the package arrived with my parents laughing.

I think we might have to mail something to Beulah. =)

My Fausha!

I have to share a story about my dad aka Fausha. People who don't know my dad might not find this funny, but if you know him you will get this humor.

I called my dad the other night. I was feeling a little blue and needed some laughs. 90% of the time I end up laughing hysterically at him. This night was no different...I laughed so hard I was crying. We were chit chatting and out of the blue my dad says HEY we pulled out the water bed...do you want it? WHAT? You still have the water bed? Now I didn't even know my parents had kept their water bed from the past 15+ yrs. The fact they stored it in the basement during the move to Michigan for 10 yrs. He asked me if I wanted it for our spare room and if so he should ship it to my house. LOL

I do NOT want a 1985 water bed...or any water bed for that matter. Dad informed me it was still in great shape. Thanks Dad but we already have a bed in our spare room. I asked dad why he didn't want to keep the water bed? Dad LOVED the fact the bed had a thermostat and could heat it up past 80. He would turn the heat up so high that my mom swore the water was boiling. There was mom in summer pjs in the middle of a North Dakota winter laying on top of the blankets. You would see my dad covered up with 2-3 quilts with a big smile on his face. LOL

I then start talking to my mom. Dad forgot to mention the best part of the story. The water bed was sitting on the front yard! I was laughing so hard I was crying. Art actually came and shut the bedroom door at this point because he couldn't hear the tv. Dad informed mom he would be keeping EVERY part of the water bed. The wood frame he could use for scrap wood. He also was going to save the liner to cover things up. Leave it up to my dad to use every single piece!

Mom was a little worried the water bed would still be on the front yard for the 4th of July party on Sunday. I received a text message last night stating the water bed has LEFT the front yard.

North Dakota

End of one chapter beginning of another

Yesterday was my last day at my job. I liked my last job, but I felt it wasn't a challenge anymore. In 3 months I felt I was able to get everything organized and running smoothly. I couldn't see myeslf there for years to come. I think they are a great company, offer a great service and have awesome employees. My boss was so incredible. I thanked her yesterday numerous times. I said I just feel worth while again by a boss. Something I haven't felt in years. My boss said I hope you don't ever take abuse in the future like you had in the past. She gave me some very encouraging and caring words before I left. She tried to convince me to stay and I thought it was very sweet. When I left she said if you ever need a job I will hire you in a second.

Monday I start at the new company. I am so very excited. I sent this new company my resume back in May. They contacted me in July and I interviewed with them 3 times. When they called to offer me the job I was jumping up and down. I am sooo very excited. I will be taking Bart to work each day. This past Saturday Art and I made a trail run. I set up my Bart ezrider card today for fare and parking fees.

I am excited to be traveling to the city. I ordered myself a wool coat. I haven't bought a new coat in about 7 yrs. I don't even have a winter coat anymore. I left my coat at my parents house in North Dakota. When I fly in I will have them bring the coat with them and I will hang it in the closet before I leave. The city is VERY cold in the winter. Wool coat and scarves here I come!!!!