Roaring 20's Party

Last weekend, we threw a birthday party for two of my newest, yet dearest, friends.  Rob and Dave both celebrate turning a new decade this year. What better way to ring it in than with a theme party: Roaring 20's into their 40's!!

My garage was tranformed into a Speakeasy by my wonderful and talented mother, Candy.  It was nothing short of AMAZING!!   We even made a specialty batch of wine, had a photo opp wall and gambling.  Oh, and did I mention there was a secret entrance too?  You had to enter through the phone booth.  Wouldn't want to rouse any suspicion during prohibition right??

I am pretty sure I haven't had this much fun in a LONG time.  Here are the pictures to help inspire you to throw your next Roaring 20's Bash!!

                                     

Putting It All Out There

I’ve taken a hiatus from blogging.  Mainly because I am fricken busy and its the first thing to put on the back burner.  But also, I have been thinking about the possible long term effects of putting every last detail about my life out onto the interwebs.

Will my kids like to see this?

Do they want their lives documented?

What age should they start telling their own stories?

All these things circle around in my brain.  Most of the time I fall squarely on the side of “Who cares? Everybody in their generation will be on the internet since birth. No one cares what I post.”

Then other times I think, “What if they don’t like it?  What if they want to be private people and I am taking that choice away from them?”

Do NOT misunderstand…I do not have any irrational fears of being targeted by the illusive “bad guys” of the internet you hear urban legends/dateline news stories about.  My concerns are not rooted in fear but in respect- Respect for the people my children are becoming, respect for them to grow up without of scrutiny strangers (ie. my high school classmates, the guys I used to bartend with, or second cousin of my mom’s aunt…etc*).*You guys are great but I’m not sure my children will care about who I used to drink beer in a field with in the 90’s, how I used to stay up til 3 am after closing the bar and counting our tips, or even know what a second cousin is…or is it first cousin once removed?*

What are we parents supposed to do about this “oversharing?”  My children are a huge portion of my life.  If I want to share my authentic self with the people of the world (or the 3 of you who may read this), how do I do that without including them?  My life is so intertwined with them at this point that if I only share kid-free parts of myself it would only involve the kind of wine I am currently drinking, the latest HULU show I’m obsessed with and what meat and produce is on sale at Super One Foods.  Riveting stuff huh?

My answer  to the question of “Should we put it all out there?” :  I don’t fucking know.  The only thing I can do is follow my gut and let it rip.  (If my kids don’t like it as they age, I can at least show them this post to let them know i thought about it…Right?)

I’ll keep posting, sharing and even revive the good ole blog-a-rooney here. I don’t think our story is necessarily extraordinary but maybe that’s exactly the reason to share it.  Yes, we homeschool, yes we have a transgender child, yes we are hippie souls transplanted in the Northwoods but our experiences are strikingly similar to everyone else out in the world just finding their own way.

Most things I post fall into 3 categories-1) It’s cheeky/ironic/funny/sarcastic and sharing it with the tiny humans in my life doesn’t have the same satisfaction as getting “likes” on Facespace, or Twittergram.2) It’s something I feel passionately about- LGBT Rights, Women’s rights, Peaceful Parenting, world peace…Shit, let’s just classify this as being a good human.  I am passionate about that.3) I think others can relate.  After all, what is the point of social media other than to CONNECT right?  I want to see what other people are doing. I hope others want to see what we are doing and find some camaraderie.  It’s a way to get inspired, find validation and even form friendship that otherwise wouldn’t be possible.  That can be pretty life-changing.

My posts may or may not include my kids. They may or may not be frequent.  Sometimes they will be interesting to you and sometimes not.  Hell, I am not sure which direction they will take.

What they will be is authentic.  I promise to share our shit- the pretty stuff AND the not so pretty.  The victories AND struggles.  The super mom AND the zombie.  My invincibility AND my fears.Because no matter how my kids feel about having their childhoods posted, tagged, or shared, at least they will know and see that it was real, and REAL is a powerful place to start.

x

Happy Birthday

Two of my three children have March birthdays so we've had a busy birthday week. Harriet turned 2 on the 17th and Tanna turned 5 on the 22nd. Just to make things more busy, on the 21st we had a pool party to celebrate them and their two cousins who also have March birthdays. 

I love birthdays and try to make the day special for them without going overboard.

Harriet got woken up with cupcakes and cookies for her 2 year old debut then finished the day with her favorite, meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Tanna got to go see a movie with me. (Side note: Cinderella is a beautiful movie)  Then we finished off the day with breakfast for supper (Tanna's choice) and cake.

I can't believe how big these kids are getting!!! I love it and hate it at the same time. Here are pictures of our week.

(Doctors appt and vaccines. Not fun but necessary)

What I Wear

I am by no means a fashionista. I'm a curvy, hippie, stay-at-home mom with an addiction to flannels and cardigans. In an effort to hold myself accountable, I'll be posting pictures of what I wear from time to time. Also, getting dressed each day makes me more productive and ready to go out on a whim. (*side note: I use the term "getting dressed" very loosely. Basically, it's de-slobbing myself to look like an adult human each day)

It's just a win, win. I feel better and look better. 

You may notice a few repeats. . In efforts to cut down in laundry and reduce water usage I've implemented an "only wash it if it's dirty" policy. 

Depending on my daily activities I am sometimes able to re-wear a shirt, sweater or pants 1 or 2 times. It's saving me laundry and wear and tear on clothing pieces. I'm not sure it'll work in hot, sweaty summer months but in the season of "lots of layers" here in the Northwoods it's working out nicely.

Here's what I wore last week:

(Yes, there are only 6 looks. One entire day was spent in PJ's. I'm a work in progress, people. Don't judge!!)