Weekly Totals of Chaos

Where have I been, you ask? At home, on the computer, studying and working. You know that thing that happens when you're too busy getting stuff done to look up? That's time..... ticking away (not to mention what those silly kids have been up to for the last 30 minutes!) I have searched the entire house and haven't found any plans for mutiny yet, so maybe I'm still good. What do you think? Throw in the added chaos of half term and you have a potion to make time disappear instantly.

Let's count the facts:

• Time outs- 4 (a major unexpected win!)
• Items removed from the cupboards without prior approval - 3 (did I tell you that the little one has worked out how to remove my pipe cleaner lock? No? Well, it didn't take him long at all to work that one out)
• Showers for the kids- 1.5 (oops! I need to get on that tomorrow!)
• Showers for myself - 1 (I know it's just sad but don't judge me)
• Nighttime hours spent studying - 12 (I was up until 6:30 am Tues night/Wed morning)
• Daytime hours spent studying - 5
• Hours spent doing crafts/colouring - 4 (ugh :/ bad mommy )
• Hours spent cleaning/doing housework - too many to count! But does it look like it? Not really!

Total: Not too shabby but definitely room for improvement

The kids were adorable today. Lynnea got Brannon all dressed after I helped her solve the crisis of "Brannon freaking out and not letting her put his shirt on". He doesn't really like the shirt going over his head  but he puts up with it when I do it too quickly for him to realise what's happening. I can only imagine little 5-year-old hands don't have the speed or surprise effect that mine do. We opted for a button up shirt instead. Brannon is a broccoli monster. Seriously. He eats it like it's candy. And guess what we had with dinner? Yep! He spent the entirety of the meal stealing the broccoli off of sister's plate and giggling like crazy. Lynnea likes broccoli too but she let him get away with it and at one point, they were sitting next to each other eating their 'tiny trees'. I love days like this where no one really gets upset with each other and there isn't dissension in the ranks. That wasn't the case yesterday.... or was it the day before? Whatever day it was, Lynnea had a complete meltdown because I wouldn't get her more cereal even though she had over half of an uneaten bowl of the stuff sitting directly in front of her. That timeout took 20 minutes before she gave up and sat down for the 5 required minutes. Maybe that's why she was so good today. Goodness I hope so! Nothing tests your patience like being hit, kicked, and screamed at by a deceptively strong little girl. Or having to rock both of them to sleep at the same time for an hour before we all finally passed out from sheer exhaustion. It's comforting to think that somewhere in the world, another parent is doing the exact same thing. Otherwise I'd probably go completely crazy! You know, instead of just the partially crazy I already am. 

I'd love to hear your stories! To have your adenture featured on my blog, email your story to me at jennealrussell@gmail.com  and try not to pull out too much hair today ;)

Up All Night To Get.... Tired

On the 8th of January, I took a giant leap of faith and started my own independent online Younique business, Younique by Jenneal. It has been a whirlwind of amazing-ness and is going better than I ever dreamed possible! But with that, comes a new world of challenges!

As you know, my uni classes have been taking up a LOT of my time but somehow I've managed to fit it all in and I've learned that thing you call 'sleep' is highly overrated. Brannon agrees with me too! He has been sick for the past week-- coughing, slight fever, sleeping a lot IN THE DAY, etc--- so when midnight hit and I started getting ready for bed, he woke up. Every. Single, Day. In a 7 day period, I got 16 cumulative hours of sleep but I did get loads done!!! I found that the middle of the night seems to be prime time for business, in the states, because that's when everybody is awake. Needless to say, I managed to make a whole lot of sales last week. Good for business. Bad for not getting sick. Brannon and hubby have kindly passed on their germs to me so I am now coughing away as I write this. You'd think I'd be asleep right now, but no. There's too much to do and I am too excited to meet my February goals! To be honest, I wouldn't even call it selling because all I do is post some selfies, interact with people on Twitter, and have online parties. It is too much fun to be considered work. I also REALLY love makeup in general, but this makeup is by far and away the best which is why I went from just buying it, to becoming part of a wonderful, supportive team. (Side note, guess who just woke up at 1:40 am?)

Speaking of Brannon, he has been a little terror this week! He learned how to get past my pipe cleaner cupboard security and I found him with his hands literally in the peanut butter jar, grinning ear to ear! So, I have had to revamp the design and it's now an interwoven mess that takes me ages to open myself. I guess that could be good if ever I was inclined to do some late night snacking because it's just not worth the effort. Lynnea has also been up to mischief. My mother taught her how to use the little sink plug to fill up the bathroom sink (thanks for that, mother!) and today, I came down just in time to turn off the tap before the water overflowed and turned our bathroom into a miniature lake.There is never a dull moment at our house and I have a feeling that there won't be for another....oh..... 16 years at least!