BACK TO REALITY…

Yep, I’m back from The Sister’s Trip 2012, and it was AMAZING!!! Probably our best one yet! We went for 5 nights this time instead of 4, which was most likely the main factor for making this one the best. (I never told my husband we extended it a night, I just told him when I’d be back and waited to see if he noticed. He never did! Men…they’re so observant!!!)

We stayed at the Iberostar Grand Hotel Paraiso, the Most. Amazing. Resort. Ever! They upgraded us to beachfront rooms, which were SO CLOSE to the beach you wouldn’t believe it. (Mindy said it was spitting distance. I don’t know where she learned how to spit, but no way could I spit that far!) Each building has it’s own concierge and butler, who did ANYTHING and EVERYTHING for us. On our last night, somehow they knew when we were coming back to our rooms, and they had bubble baths waiting for us with candles lit and rose petals resting on the bubbles. ROSE PETALS!!! I wanted to bring Luis home with me!

Anyway, we sisters had a bit of bad news right before we left, so being together was exactly what we needed. Everything else was just icing on the cake for us. (Lots and lots of icing!)

We’re already counting down the days until The Sister’s Trip 2013!

Karen

SISTER’S TRIP 2012, 2 MORE DAYS!!!

If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, you know that every spring, I take a trip with my sisters to Mexico. It is the one time every year that I can really, truly relax and not take care of ANYONE but ME!!!

Here are our rules:

• No husbands
• No kids
• No makeup
• No diets
• No exercise

It’s heaven!

One thing I may not have mentioned is that every year we buy t-shirts and wear them on the last day and on the airplane home. It started as a joke with the shirts saying “Mom Likes Me Best,” but we got such a huge response from people, we decided to do it every year.

So here is our list of shirts that we have worn:

• Mom Likes Me Best
• What Happens With The Sisters Stays With The Sisters
• Who Needs a Therapist, I Have My Sister
• I’m The Sane Sister
• 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3 (this one was really funny after we dropped #1 off in Dallas and only #2 and #3 were left!)

And this year’s:

• NOT Mom’s Favorite (Hmmm, a little different from our first year!)

We’re looking forward to wearing it, but not too soon, since that means we’re on our way home! So you won’t hear from me next week while I’m basking in the sun. Jealous?

Karen

Monday Madness... Truly, it is!

T minus 40 and 3/4 hours and counting!

School starts on Wednesday morning. I know you've heard me say this before a LOT of posts...

I DO love my children, I really do. With all my lifeblood. With every ounce and fiber of my being.But the time has come.

I've never understood these women who say that being with their children 24/7 is absolutely glorious and wonderful and they would not trade ONE.SINGLE.MINUTE of it for anything.

Honestly? Are they just absolutely CRACKED? Did I miss something while I was standing in the motherhood line? Because I can think of quite a few minutes.

Like the ones that make me pull over to the side of the road, put the car in park, turn off the engine, pull out a magazine and say,"When you all can get it together back there and stop your foolishness, I will turn the car back on and we will go."

Or the ones where you know your child is coming 5 blocks away because they are THAT loud.

Or when they have a total meltdown in public because you won't give them what they want.

Or when they tell your business to the entire PTO (PTA).

Yes, there are many, many minutes I would NOT trade, but at this point in summer vacation, I'm ready for a little quiet. Can I get a witness out there?????

Yours, warming up my version of The Hallelujah Chorus for Wednesday morning,

Melissa

RANDOM THOUGHTS

I don’t know, maybe I have adult ADD. Maybe it’s not just random forgetfulness and disorganization and old age. Maybe, just maybe, I can blame it on something else!

Here’s a sampling of what’s going on in my brain right now:

1. Okay, it’s 75 degrees outside, but for sure, if I bring out some clothes to wear, it will immediately turn cold again, so what’s the point. By the way, what to wear today when the boys are swimming in the indoor pool at the YMCA earning a cub scout badge, cuz it’s going to be really hot in there?
2. Somehow I need to get DH to sew my curtains before my jewelry party that I’m hosting next week.  Hmmm, how to do that?
3. And how to get everyone to really clean the house while I’m out of town this weekend so it looks good for the party?
4. In fact, how to keep them from totally destroying the house?
5. I think our calendar for cub scouts ends at the end of this year.  We still have January through May to plan for. Ugh!
6. How am I going to arrange the furniture for the jewelry party? And exactly what am I serving?
7. When am I packing for my trip to Dallas? Don’t forget to check in tomorrow morning so I’m in Group A.
8. Gotta start planning for Thanksgiving.  When is it again?
9. Don’t forget charity pickup before you leave for Dallas in the morning.
10. Maybe DH can get my laptop fixed while I’m in Dallas. Bwahahahahaha!!!!!!
11. I’m really behind on my Dr. Phil's and Oprah’s.  When, oh when, will I EVER catch up????

It just gets even more boring and crazy from there.  Does everyone have this problem?  (Please say yes!)  Besides organizing my desk, I need to organize my BRAIN!

Hmmm, maybe that’s an idea for our next book…

Karen

WOO HOO! VACATION TIME!!!

Okay, faithful readers, Melissa and I are OFFICIALLY ON VACATION!!!  So you will not see any posts from us until Monday, August 8th, as we will be sunning ourselves on the beach with our families.  (Separate beaches, separate families!)

So let me just take a moment to thank you for reading our little blog here.  We love writing it for you.  If you have any suggestions on topics you’d like to see, let us know.  We’re open to anything (well, almost!).

Enjoy the next week or so.  I  know we will!

Karen

SISTER’S TRIP 2010

My sisters and I went on our 4th vacation, now simply known as The Sister’s Trip, last week to Mexico. We had a few bumps in the road on this trip, however, starting with our connecting flight in Dallas. (Remind me next year to get a direct flight please!)

Everything is going peachy, our 6:00am flight out of St. Louis is uneventful. We get to Dallas, pick up Sister #3 and get on the plane as scheduled. Suddenly we hear an announcement that the pilot doesn’t like this plane and wants to get another one. What? Is there a bug in the cockpit or did a wing fall off? No idea, but we all pile out. Finally, they find us a new plane. (Considering we were flying American and their hub in is Dallas, it seemed to take a really long time to find us a new plane, but whatever.) We all get on, then get an announcement that one of the passengers apparently left his passport on the first plane (really, who takes their passport out and puts it in the seat pocket?), so either they need to find it on that plane, or find his luggage and leave him in Dallas. Seems like a no-brainer, but for some reason, they didn’t know exactly where the first plane was. Hmmm. Okay. A maintenance guy finally finds the plane, and therefore the passport, and brings it to the silly man who left it behind. So you’d think we’d leave then, right? No, because they had started serving first class already, so we had to wait for them to finish. Seriously, I am NOT making this up! I just love American Airlines!

So, three hours late, we finally get to Mexico, in a torrential downpour. (So I guess it didn’t really matter if we got there late, right?) That seemed to be the theme for the next 2 days. Luckily, it was off and on. So when it stopped raining, we’d run out to the beach and lay down on lounge chairs (yes, sometimes wrapped up in towels!), just to be near the ocean. When it would start raining again, we’d run for cover. I know, we had our suits on, but the rain was really cold! Nevertheless, we were together, we were away from home, and we were still having a great time!

Saturday morning, the sun was shining beautifully! We ran out there as early as we could (after room service delivered breakfast and we ate a few bites) and didn’t move unless we had to pee or eat! It was amazing! We had all of Sunday morning out there also before we had to leave.

So all in all, we got a little sun time and a lot of sister time, which is really the point of The Sister’s Trip anyway! Here’s a few pictures of our vacation:

Karen

By the way, every year we have different “sister” shirts on for our trip. This one says “I’m The Sane Sister.”

7 MORE DAYS TILL PARADISE!

For those of you who were not reading this blog last year at this time, you don’t know this, but every year since my dad passed away, my sisters and I have been taking a trip together to Mexico. This will be our 4th year. No kids, no husbands, no responsibilities, nothing but sand, sun and sisters!

I love my family (I’m required to say that!) but it is, by far, the most glorious, relaxing time I spend all year long. Here is our daily schedule:

• Wake up in our separate rooms.
• Have room service deliver breakfast (did I mention we’re in separate rooms?)
• Meet at the beach.
• Read/talk/laugh until we’re hot.
• Take a dip in the ocean until we’re cool.
• Repeat last 2 steps until lunchtime.
• Keep repeating those 2 steps until dinnertime.
• Return to our rooms (still separate!) to shower, relax some more, call home (maybe).
• Meet for dinner.
• Maybe find an after dinner activity, but usually not.
• Return to (separate) rooms and relax even more, until we drift off to a peaceful sleep.
• Repeat entire process for several more days.

Seriously, doesn’t that sound like heaven to you? We stay in separate rooms for a couple of reasons. First of all, we all need time ALONE, which we rarely get at home. But also, we’d probably end up killing each other if we stayed in the same room!

My sisters and I are best, best friends, and we love, love each other. But we know our limits with each other! We’re pretty sure that 4 nights is the maximum amount of time for our vacation (although when it’s time to go home, we’re always tempted to try another night!) and we know ABSOLUTELY we cannot share a room!

I highly recommend a Sister’s Trip, or Brother’s Trip or even a Friend’s Trip for everyone. Pick your favorite people and plan an annual event. You’ll thank me!

Karen

WE’RE BACK, WE’RE REFRESHED, AND WE WANT TO SELL BOOKS!

Melissa and I have survived Spring Break. She was on a cold, windy beach, I was at the chilly parks in Orlando. But hey, we weren’t at home, right? :)

So we’re ready to really kick off our new brand, which, as we’ve been talking about, includes our new website and our new eBook. But it’s more than that. It’s also our new name: The Caregiver Organizer, and soon to come, an expanded line of products.

But our first order of business is to CELEBRATE our kick-off with a BIG SALE!!! So here it is:

SAVE 25% ON THE CAREGIVER ORGANIZER EBOOK! Use coupon code Caregiver25.

NOW ONLY $7.50!!!

SAVE 50% ON FIRST RUN HARDBOUND BOOKS! Use coupon code Caregiver50.

(By The Book: How To Take Care of MY Kids)

NOW ONLY $9.95!!!

These prices won’t last forever, so if you’re a new parent, a parent of small children, or a parent-to-be, check out The Caregiver Organizer. And don’t forget, it makes a GREAT GIFT! Just go to www.TheCaregiverOrganizer.com and use one of the coupon codes above to get your incredible discount.

And please spread the word!

Karen

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

IT’S FINISHED.

DONE.

COMPLETED.

OUR NEW AND IMPROVED WEBSITE IS FINALLY READY!

Check it out at TheCaregiverOrganizer.com.

Well, what do you think? Snazzy? Eye-catching? Colorful? Easy to navigate? Did you look at all the pages? Like the pictures?

One of the really cool things is that our eBook now gives the user the ability to fill it out AND SAVE IT on their own computer. Cool, right?

Soon, we’ll be moving our blog over to the website also, so that everything looks and feels the same. No more Macaroni and Chicken Fingers for us, but don’t worry, we’ll give you plenty of notice! And while we’ll still have fun stories on our blog, we’ll also have more articles that have to do with our books. After all, we started the blog to get more traffic to our book website. We just started having so much fun blogging, we sort-of lost sight of that goal!

So PLEASE, PLEASE give us some feedback on our new website.

Oh, and by the way, Melissa and I have been working so hard on the site and our eBook, and tons of other stuff these past few months, we’re both off for Spring Break vacations, so you’re not going to see us for a little while. There might be a post here and there, but if there is, it’s just ‘cuz we miss ya! Otherwise, we’ll be back, REFRESHED AND READY TO GO on March 22nd!

Karen

EXPERIENCING FOR THE FIRST TIME…AGAIN

It’s an amazing thing, seeing something again, yet experiencing it, seemingly for the first time, through your children’s eyes. I took my boys to Arizona this past weekend to see mountains. (Nothing against my DH, but he doesn’t feel anything is a vacation unless it’s spent at a beach. So, of course, all my kids have seen are beaches!) I’ve been to Phoenix several times before, and I’ve been up to Mount Rushmore and to Colorado, but mountains never to cease to take my breath away. So I was really wondering how they would affect the boys.

I was NOT disappointed! From the moment we could start seeing even the smaller mountains from the airplane, they were mesmerized! (And to take their eyes away from a movie or the PSP is HUGE!) They started snapping pictures immediately. And the bigger the mountains got, the wider their eyes got!

Saturday, we drove up to Sedona. The red mountains up there are just amazing! We hiked a bit, had some lunch, and drove around just to look. We had a truly great day!

On our last day, we hiked up Pinnacle Peak (not sure if I spelled it right, so feel free to correct me!) in Scottsdale. The views from the top were spectacular. And the hike up was not bad at all, probably because the boys kept stopping every few feet wanting a picture of this or that!

All in all, it was a FABULOUS vacation, even though we all missed DH and the dog! I just want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to my friend Mindy and her family for putting us up (or should I say, putting up with us?) and taking us all over, and to my friend Brenda for taking us hiking. I’m so thankful for old friends! (Oops, not old as in OLD, but old as in LONG-TERM! Whew!)

Karen

Monday Minute – The Best Moment Of Our Vacation

As most of you may know, I vacationed with my family in Cancun last week. And as I mentioned in my last vacation post, being with my family in Mexico is WAY different than my annual vacation there with my sisters. WAY, WAY DIFFERENT! But nonetheless, we had fun.

I could go on and on (and believe me, I do!) about how it seems that everyone has their hand out for a tip or about how the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, one of the seven wonders of the world, are totally overshadowed by the vendors selling their wares all throughout the site. (Seriously, what started out as a pleasant “No, Gracias” became an extremely stern “NO, NO, NO! LEAVE US ALONE!”)

But I would rather tell you about the moment during our vacation that made all of that worth it. We were going snorkeling at Isla Mujeres one day. But as we were jumping out of the boat, with fins, masks and snorkels already on, my son Adam turned to me with the bottom lip quivering and chin shaking and scared eyes and said “I don’t want to do this, Mommy.”

I don’t know about you, but the quivering lip gets to me MUCH more than crying.

So I debated whether or not to stay in the boat with him, or to make him go. Normally, I give in to these because they are so rare, but I was SO SURE that he would like this, I told him he had to snorkel with the rest of the family. So after a bit more coaxing and help from one of the tour guides, we jumped in and swam to join the rest of the group.

At this point, I told him to hold my hand, and to put his face under water. He did this, and I swam a little bit to show him some things. We stopped, he looked at me with the most incredible face, and he said “THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!” We snorkeled the rest of the time holding hands.

This is why I became a mother. And this is why nothing that went wrong during our vacation matters one little bit.

Karen

An AWWWW moment from Mexico

As most of you know, my sisters and I went on vacation to Mexico last weekend. Whenever I go out of town without my children, they each give me a stuffed animal to bring with me so I won’t forget them. (Okay, just because I want a little break, does NOT mean I’m going to forget them, but whatever!) So I let the boys pack the animals in my bag and I make sure to take them out as soon as I get to my destination. We wouldn’t want the little guys suffocating, now would we?

So this trip was no exception. Twin1 gave me his Raccoon named Rocky (my suggestion – you know, Rocky Raccoon by the Beatles!) and Twin2 gave me his frog, Ben. Just as I was directed, I took them out when I got to the resort. Well, the housekeeper who gave me my turn-down service each evening may not have spoken English, but she sure understood my animals! Each night, she would put them in different positions on my bed, ready to greet me when I came in the door. Here are two:

When I talked to my boys on Skype each night, I would show them how Rocky and Ben were sitting. They LOVED it!

It was a small, yet warm gesture that she made each evening. To me, she is somebody who shows pride in her work, and wants to make others happy, as she did for me and my boys. And yes, she got a big tip!

Karen

Paradise Postponed

Yep, we had to cancel our trip to Mexico. Darn Swine Flu! If the World Health Organization had not raised the alert level to a 5, we would have still gone. Couldn't they have waited one more day? We were actually hoping that once we were down there, they would close the borders! (Gosh Darn It, we'll just have to stay a while longer!)

Although I'm sure we made the right decision, it's still hard to swallow. I keep looking at the clock this morning, thinking what we'd be doing right now. For instance, we'd be just landing in Dallas, ready to change planes and meet our oldest sister in a few minutes. Who, by the way, may never speak to my other sister and me again! Needless to say, she DID NOT want to cancel the trip.

So we'll talk to the travel agent this morning and try to plan something else for this month, in another part of the world!

And may I add, this is officially a commercial for Traveler's Insurance! We cancelled our trip 12 hours before we were to leave, and will either get all of our money back or be able to use it towards another vacation within the next year. That a GREAT deal for about 100 bucks!

So wish me luck that my sister speaks to me again and we find another destination before school lets out.

Karen

And in case you're wondering, I'm eating everything in sight today and getting a massage. Tomorrow I'll stop wallowing in self-pity!

Paradise Is Only 6 Days Away!

SIX MORE DAYS! SIX MORE DAYS! WOO-HOO!!!!!

In six days, I will be leaving for Mexico with (pay close attention here) my sisters! NO KIDS! NO HUSBAND! NO DOG! NO CAT! JUST ME AND MY SISTERS!

(Are you jealous yet?)

Now don't get me wrong, you all know I LOVE my boys, the two 8 year olds and the 40-something year old. But, can you even imagine 5 days of Mexican sunshine, rolling waves, snoozing on the beach and eating everything in sight? And no "Mommy, watch this..." or "Mommy, he did ______ to me" or "Honey, where's the ________?"

This is the third year in a row that my sisters and I have gone away together. We go to all-inclusive, adults-only (if my kids aren't going to be there, I don't really want to put up with anyone else's kids!), beach-front resorts. Do we spend too much money? YES! Do we eat too much? YES! Do we work out? NO! And most importantly, do we feel guilty for leaving our families? NO, NO, NO!!!

Okay, all kidding aside, I think this is the best thing I do for myself and for my family all year. I come back refreshed, relaxed and a better wife and mommy. And the boys get some great quality time together. It's not going to kill them to have 5 days of constant fast food, TV and Wii. As long as my husband remembers to get them to school, I'm fine with everything else!

Did you read Melissa's post "How Long Does It Take To Do That" back in January? If not, go back and read it. It is SO TRUE. The basic premise of her post is that when the husband travels, he packs and says, "so long honey." When the mom travels, we have to write long and involved notes explaining what needs to be done each day for school and where the sports games are over the weekend. We need to find babysitters for the time between the end of school and the time he gets home. We need to put notes out to remind everyone that the dog and cat need to eat and drink also. We send emails to the teachers so they know that if something isn't done on time, it's NOT OUR FAULT! We need to have neighbors come in to let the dog out, who isn't used to being in the house all day. And other neighbors to ask the husband in the morning at the bus stop if the boys have their backpacks, homework, snack, lunch, etc. We need to do laundry, so they have clothes to wear while we're gone. We need to go grocery shopping, just for the off-chance that they might eat a meal at home. Like frozen pizza or cereal.

(Oh my gosh, as I write this, I'm realizing all the things that I still have to do! Thank goodness a lot of this, like the schedules, are in THE BOOK!)

Anyway, you get the idea. But the main point I want to make is it's all worth it! We all need to take a little time for ourselves. Whether it's a trip to Mexico or just lunch with a girlfriend, you need to take care of YOU. I know, you've heard it before. But are you doing it? I am, and I think I'm a much better person for it.

So take a deep breath and plan something for yourself... by yourself. And think of me in 6 days while I lay on the beach and don't think of anything!

Karen