Facebook = Bad Relationship

Tonight, as I was rocking Flynne to sleep, I got my phone out to check Facebook as soon as she drifted off to dreamland. My precious daughter was sound a sleep in my arms & here I was looking to see what happened in the last 30 minutes regarding people I hardly even know. It sucks me in more than I'd like to believe and like I've stated before, I'm a control freak, but in this situation I'm the one getting controlled. Which really irks me. While scrolling through the current newsfeed I came across an article about being "hands free" and how all of the social media, cell phones, twitter, Facebook are consuming our lives and pulling us away from the ones we love. Wow! Talk about hitting you square in the face. I take a moment to turn & watch my daughter sleep so innocently not knowing how much our world has changed. I have a thousand thoughts running through my head, why do I have Facebook? What do I even gain from checking it constantly? Does it really help me stay in contact with my closest friends & family who mean the most to me? I gain NOTHING & it does NOT help me stay in contact with my dearest friends & family. So why do I have it? I'm nosey, curious, want to stay connected to people I haven't talked to in 8 years? I don't know the real reason, but I know it's not worth it. I obviously have no self-control when it comes to checking it once a day, or when I'm by myself. Being a full time teacher, wife & mommy is challenging enough & I continue to learn what matters the most. In 5 years, I don't want my daughter to think all mommy does is play on her phone all the time. I want her to know she has my full attention when telling me what happened while I was gone, or when she's babbling & reading me a book. I want her to know that while we are in the car I'll be singing along with her & describing the things we see out the window as we pass by. I want her to know that I'm watching her every move at gymnastics, soccer, or whatever else she is involved in & not playing on my phone. I want her to know that the real way to communicate is face to face, looking each other in the eye, not on the Internet. Most importantly, I want her to know that I'm always here for her whenever she needs me & not preoccupied by other things. Like I've said before, it's the little things that matter because in the end, they are the BIG things. So, tonight, I've posted my last Facebook post, saying bye bye! I know I've done this before, just like Brett Favre, but this time it's for real, seriously! I look forward to my new life of soaking up more quality time with my daughter & husband!

So.Much.Snot.

Flynne has had a cold (sore throat & runny nose) since last Friday. As many of you mommy's with little kids know, when they are stuffy, both of us are miserable. When Flynne was sent home from the hospital at 2 days old, they also sent home a snot sucker. The old fashioned blue bulb is beyond horrible. I personally feel like I have to stretch the nostrils to infinity & beyond to try and get anything out. You squeeze as much air as possible out before sticking it in the nose while hoping to extract all that snot. Maybe some of you are more "skilled" at it than me, good for you! Or, you could be like my cousin, who when trying to clean out her nieces nose, actually blew all of the air in her nose instead of sucking it out. Poor Lydia! My frustrations led me to search Amazon for the "best nasal aspirator". I came across "Nosefrida The Snotsucker". Now, before you freak out let me tell you how awesome this thing is. It is doctor-developed and doctor-recommended and ingeniously simple Swedish design features a tube that is placed against the nostril (not inside). Parents use their own suction to draw mucus out of their child's nose. Disposable filters prevent any bacterial transfer. Nosefrida is easy to clean, dishwasher safe, and BPA and Phthalate free. It is superior to the bulb aspirator, presents no risk or harm to internal nasal structures and is dramatically more efficacious.Sounds absolutely disgusting, right? Well, maybe it is a little odd, but it is always a fun challenge to see just how much can be sucked into the tube. It really works & you can see the results! I recommend squirting some nasal spray first. My husband has yet to try it & I doubt he ever will. As one review on amazon said, "it's one of the most disgusting things I've ever loved".

Cleaning Copper

Two weeks ago my "cleaning fairies" came for a visit. (This is one reason why I am NOT superwoman, because I simply can't do it all anymore). As I was getting ready to run out the door as soon as they came, the one shouted, "hey Erin, you really need to clean the fireplace hood". Ugh. I was waiting for this, but dread the job. It's time consuming, dirty & nearly impossible to do correctly. You may ask, why don't your fairies do this? Well, I pay them too much to take time to work on just this. After my heavy groan the one says, it's a great job for your husband! I nearly laughed out loud knowing he would never in a million years try to tackle this job. That afternoon I turned to my trusty old friend google for "ways to clean a copper fire place hood". The remedies ranged from lemon & vinegar to copper cleaner (duh) to ketchup! WTH...ketchup? Odd, right? Of course I like to be a little different and surprise people with weird things. How cool would it be if I said, you're not going to believe this, I cleaned my copper hood with ketchup! That's all the motivation I needed to start this task I've been putting off for over two years. It took some work, but I did it! Lots of ketchup, paper towels, and rags, but the job is done. I'm not sure I really ever want to eat ketchup again after seeing what it can do. I can't wait until the cleaning fairies come back on Monday & check it out!

Finished Product!

Right side clean. Left side dirty.

Big stuff...Little steps

Last night Flynne, our almost year old daughter, took SIX steps. Both her daddy & I were there to witness the beginning of a walking wild child. We just bought a new video camera and of course it hasn't been charged yet. Hopefully we can get a video tonight! I also decided at 5 o'clock yesterday to turn off the television and turn on Pandora radio to our "toddler radio" of course. Flynne loves listening to music and even babbles along to it, especially to the ABC song! I've discovered that she tends to play more & independently when there is music on in the background. She can be a tv head like her daddy & not want to take her eyes off of it if it's on! She was in rare form last night, dancing, wiggling, "head-banging", and being noisy!

On a teacher note, this week I'm benchmarking 8th graders for reading. Kind of boring, but fun to hear them read & good for them to know I don't just sit at my desk all day drinking Starbucks, like some of my coworkers believe! Anyway, one of the passages they have to read is about jellyfish & has the phrase "they have curly, long tentacles", yep, you guessed it, one of our more energetic, "tough guys" was reading to me and substituted "testicles" for "tentacles"! Ever have a moment where it is so inappropriate to laugh? I swear those are the times that are also the hardest to contain yourself. Poor kid, I finally got it together!

& so it begins...

I've tossed around the idea of starting a blog for quite awhile now, but I just wasn't quite sure it was for me. Why would I want to write about my life? Is it interesting enough to capture someone else's attention? Will anyone take the time to read my ramblings? Who really cares what I or my family does every day? My husband thinks it's a little weird, his response to me telling him I'm starting a blog, "you really think you need write about your life for other people to read". I don't know. I'm searching for an outlet where I can say what's on my mind, share a funny story that happened at school, let the ones I love experience all the great things my daughter does, and mainly, just be creative & use what God gave me. This could range from my sense of humor, my obsessiveness of everything needing to be organized, my type A personality & wanting to always be in control of everything, trying to balance being a fulltime wife, mommy & teacher and most importantly the love I have for my family. Not just my husband, daughter and dog, but my immediate & extended family too! I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I will enjoy writing and expressing myself!