Colorado Crockers

After considering (and blogging about) the sad state of my wardrobe I decided to shop. My ever supportive husband gave me half of a small windfall that had come his way and being so financed, I was off. Except I wasn't. I first had to do some research to what was even consided fashionable currently. Not only that, but I had to figure out how to make those styles look good on my almost 30 (gulp) and slightly chubby frame. After some research and considerable time web surfing, these are the fashions that are "in" that can be pulled off in my mommy lifestyle. 1.Boots: Tall or the bootie kind. I have tall boots in black, brown and coyboy. What not to wear: Matt told me there is nothing sexy about Uggs. Oh well, might wear them anyways. 2. Funky tights: Worn with tunic style tops or skirts. Pair with ballet flats or boots. What not to wear: beige tights or hose 3. Longer shirts/tunic style tops: Can be flowy or fitted. Hippy-ish. What not to wear:Shirts that just hit the top

With my back being all jacked up (yes, that is the technical medical term) I have been spending a lot of time on my butt. My house is a wreck, but that is another post. Since I can't do anything else, I figured I might as well try my hand at all the things on my list that I wanted to make. Things I have made this week: hoodie towels for each of my girls, cute mama and baby hat set for Amanda's birthday and a sweater dress for Eliana . As you can tell, I have been trolling the crafting blogs as of late. I shouldn't, they just give me all kinds of projects to work on instead of doing thing that need to be done. I would never insult all the REAL seamstress' by referring to myself as one, but all of these have been sewing projects. I like to sew, I just don't like patterns. It might be because they confuse the bejebes out of me and make me say words I don't want my children to repeat, or it might just be my disdain for being told what to do in general. Authorit

MMmmmmm ...brownies Happy Birthday to you... Making Pizza and Fruit kabobs for lunch Addilyn celebrated her second birthday with her friends today. The kids made there own pizzas, fruit kabobs and decorated heart shaped brownies. She is getting teeth and feeling a bit clingy, but everyone still had fun.

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My husband was right, which happens more often than I like to admit. I should have done it. I should have gone to the chiropractor a month ago when my back was sore. But it was only a little sore, you know the type, you wake up in to morning and stretch and wiggle trying to get your spine to play nice with your muscles. Today it happened. I woke up stiff and sore, like usually, and blamed it on 9 months of pregnancy, hauling around a 2 year old and nursing a baby while multi-tasking. I took the 3 girls to church and taught Sunday school, feeling fairly uncomfortable. Annabelle hates the car and I tried to comfort her while driving, twisting in a way that would impress a pretzel. By the time I got home, I couldn't take a deep breath due to the pain. It was the kind of pain that makes labor look preferable. I hobbled inside best I could, barely able to climb the stairs. I grabbed some easy stuff for the girls to eat for lunch, nursed the baby to sleep and limped into a shower turned

Two years ago today, Addilyn Joy Crocker was evicted from her watery home and forced to live in this cold world. She was 6 pounds then, today she is 24 pounds. She was full of spunk and loved to be held and that is still true today. If age was based on attitude, Addilyn turned 2 about 6 months ago. When annabelle showed up, she was no longer the baby and has seemed like a big girl. Nana and Grandpa came up to spend the day with us, we enjoyed breakfast for dinner (Addie's favorite) followed by chocolate cake. Later this week we will have a birthday party with her friends and then next Friday we will celebrate with my family. Poor kid, no one loves her

Superman can fly, Spiderman can climb walls and Batman drives a cool car. My super power? Coupons. Yeah baby, I see your green with jealousy just like the hulk. Ok, the Hulk is not green because he is jealous, he is green because...why IS he green again? Today's deals: Colgate: normally $1.95 on sale for $1. Coupon for 50 cents the doubles to $1= Free Toothpaste Herbal Essence (big bottle): normally $5.95 Clarence for $3.50 coupon for $1 off= $2.50 Paper towels (6 pack): normally $8.00 on sale for $5.99 with $1 coupon= 4.99 or less than a dollar a roll. Mascara: normally $4.80 on sale for 2.88 with a 50 cent coupon that doubles to $1= $1.88 I saved $10 in coupons today, I saved $35 in "card savings" by shopping sales. This is the best way to get stuff to donate to the food pantry because really, who needs 10 tubes of toothpaste sitting around. I think I will make myself a cape to wear to the store, maybe it will inspire others to seek out there inner coupon super hero.

If you are in any way related to me, feel free to skip this post. If you are the type of person who slows down to gawk at a car wreck and reads gossip magazines in the check out line (or buys them!) feel free to enjoy. It randomly hit me last night while reading an article in Redbook that my wardrobe is seriously lacking. Yes, we have discussed this before, but I am talking about ANOTHER area of my wardrobe. I don't own one cute nightie . Not one. Pity my husband, I have become one of those boring wears t-shirt to bed type ladies. Truly , it isn't all my fault. I had some at one time, but managed to "grow" out of them. I am practical and cute little lace and satin things are not. That, and I have yet to find one that caters to lactating women. Come on Victoria, get with the program! Some of us actually USE our breasts for functional purposes instead of entertainment! I have already told Matt that I am buying all new under garments. I have beige nursing bras and s

We are always in a rush. When our babies are tiny, we can't wait for them to sleep through the night, forgetting in our sleep deprived haze how sweet it is to snuggle in the wee hours of the morning with a tiny little one. As they get a little bigger, we want them to walk. While concentrating on how nice it will be not to have a back ache and a babe in arms, we forget that a child who walks is a child who gets into a lot more stuff. Potty training falls into this same category . When the focus is not having to scrape poop of a tiny hiney , we forget that for the next few months we will be visiting every bathroom at every place we go (no pun intended). Not only will we be visiting the potty's , we will be making a mad dash to them trying to get there in 4.3 seconds notice we received before the inevitable puddle on the floor. And I won't even discuss the poop, least the childless who read this decide never to reproduce. Addilyn is potty training and not because I want her

I have been struck lately how quickly my girls are growing. My friend Jen posted a picture of out daughters when they were babies. My other friend Jenny (yes, I have a lot of friends named Jen, you should see all the Amanda's I am friends with!) posts all these pictures of her little boys who don't look so little any more, and they are the same ages as my girls! I was again reminded of how not little Eliana was while shopping. I was hitting the sale racks, buying clothes for her for next year, shopping in the baby to 5T section. As I walked to the front of the store, I noticed the little girl section has some sale racks. Drawn to the "75%" off stickers, I checked it out. The extra small size is 4/5. Elie wears that size. My baby wears clothes from the little girls sections. Oy. How did it happen? I mean, they sell little tiny bras in that section, surely she isn't there yet! I did manage to buy 3 pair of pants and 6 shirts, all for under $2 a piece, which cheered

I used to be cool. Ok , not really really cool, but at least passable so. Not so much anymore. I drive a mini van. My entire wardrobe can be summed up in 2 words: jeans and cotton knit. I have become the yoga pant wearing soccer mom I never wanted to be. Lest I offend anyone, I have nothing against soccer moms, I just didn't want to BE one. I like clothes. I like fashion , trendy things and funky stuff that expresses who I am. What does it mean then that most of my clothing is solid color, functional and disproportionately black and white? Today I was shopping at Target today, like I do every Friday I checked the sale rack. You know I love a good deal. I came across a cardigan I liked in white and a cute sweater in black. I picked them both up, knowing they will match everything I own and would be highly functional. Sigh. I bore even myself. And then I saw it. The fabric is dry clean only, it was not kid friendly and I can't think of one place I am going in the next six month

We go to MOPS every first and third Friday. While MOPS itself doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me, I love the women there. I love Eliana's teacher, Mrs. Bull. Elie isn't really in any Sunday school program and we didn't choose to do preschool this year, so it is nice for her to get some classroom experience. Here is Eliana's picture from today and her telling the story she learned.

I am always looking for creative things to keep my children busy. This winter has been cold so far and with a tiny baby and a total of 3 children, we don't go out much. Here is a fun snack idea: cut an apple into thin slices give children a small cookie cutter. Give them peanut butter and and a knife to "frost" the shape they cut out. Provide rasins, coconut, nuts and, if your a cool mom, maybe even sprinkles to decorate shapes. Enjoy!

Yes, Christmas was a while ago but I have some cute pictures I wanted to share. Why now? Well, my friends, while I am not a great "details person" my husband is worse than I am. This explains why our house looks like it does. It also explains why we couldn't seem to find the card reader for the camera we used to take all our Christmas pictures. Matt just got a new one. Mom, I could hear you sigh just now. You too, Grandma. A family tradition of ours is opening one present on Christmas eve. That present is always new pj's. This year the theme was pink and brown polka dots. Here is Annabelle sporting hers. If this doesn't capture the essence of what it is like to open present on Christmas morning with three small children than I don't know what would.

Warning: these are way to quick and easy to make and are highly addictive. I have pretty much lived on these since that baby was born, not sure if it is because they are so yummy or because I keep telling myself that they are actually a health food. Maybe it is because I am sleep deprived and these live on the counter for easy access. If only I could figure out how to make them without all the sugar. The kids love to help me make these and they love them as much as I do. I am not sure what Matt thinks of them, poor guy never gets a chance to taste one. 1/2 c. butter 1/2 c. milk 2 c. sugar 3 Tbsp. coco powder Bring the above to a boil over med./high heat. Boil for 90 seconds while stirring. Add 1/2 c. crunch peanut butter 3 c. oats (quick cook work better than old fashioned) 1 tsp. vanilla Scoop hot mixture and drop by the spoonful on to waxed paper. Tell children they can't have any until they cool while secretly licking the bowl and spoon while they are not looking. Enjoy!

I made it to church today, the second week in a row, with all 3 girls. Why is this news worthy? Because Matt is gone. I am manning this vessel single handedly . Most of the time it is smooth sailing, but I am ready for the relief crew. I often hear from friends "wow, I don't know how you do it"! Some days I don't have a clue how we make it, but we do. It isn't really like I have a choice, I have yet to find the address to send in my resignation letter. I never wanted to be a single parent, and yet for many days a month, I am just that. At what point do you say "Honey, you know that job, the one that pays all our bills and that your really good at and absolutely LOVE? Yeah, its just not working for me." Matt has been traveling the last 5 years of our marriage. It is getting old, very old. I don't know what to say when Addilyn is laying on the floor, sobbing because she wants her daddy. I want him too. Matt really has no clue what my life looks like,

I am so blessed, I have grown up knowing all my grandparents. Both sets love Jesus, have been married for over 50 years and have good relationships with there kids. Neither set is perfect or claimes to be, but they have been so good to have in my life. It is fun that my children have gotten to know them. The above is Grandma Betty holding Addilyn . My Grandpa had heart surgery. He was doing well but is now in the ICU. My Grandma just fell and broke her hip. It is so hard to watch them get old and fragile . I want to help, to honor who they have been in my life. I want my children to see what it means to help those who can no longer do everything themselves. I want my grandparents to live the rest of there lives in comfort, knowing they have family around them that loves them. And yet. If I could I would move them in with me, but our house is too small and we have too many stairs. If I could I would put them up in a place where they had people to take care of them and they felt comfo

When Matt is out of town, dinner is dismal at the Crocker house. Nothing is more infuriating that spending 45 minutes juggling kids and cooking a meal only to have no one eat it. Then I have to clean up. This is what we ate this last week: Hot dogs, oranges and crackers Taquitos , guac and pears Banana Waffles Eggs and toast, bananas Tacos, guac and chips Not very impressive but all things my kids will eat. Next week Matt will be home and when he is home we eat well. I am making the menu now and it looks much better. I usually base my menu on what is on sale and what sounds good. I try to have a chicken, beef, pork, and pasta meal. In the summer we have one salad meal and in the winter we have a soup meal. At least one meal is meat free. We try to eat seasonal . Here is what it looks like for next week:

Matt's middle brother, Luke, got married a week ago and our girls were the flower girls. Here is the wedding party, don't mind the back of the photographers head that I got. Here is the littlest flower girl. The wedding was right in the middle of nap time but the girls did great. Addilyn did eat her flower on the way down the isle, but, hey it happens! By the end of the day she had also chewed a whole in her dress. Here is the big flower girl. She was into the whole wedding thing and loved the dancing afterwards. Here is the mother of the groom, looking beautiful with her middle granddaughter.

Welcome to an evening at the Crockers. Please keep hands and feet to yourself at all times and get ready for the adventure! Annabelle wakes at 5 (or I wake her) and eats. Dinner for people with teeth at 5:30. "Family clean up time" for about 15 minutes at 6:15. Everybody under 4 feet tall gets naked by 6:30. Bath time! Scrub-a-dub-dub, three girls in a tub, Eliana's favorite bath toy is Annabelle. Baby gets out, lotion and jammied. Next comes Addilyn, Eliana is left to get herself out, dried and into her pj's. Mama feeds baby and puts her to bed while big girls read books on the couch and eat popcorn. Baby down, mama gets Addilyn, brushes teeth, reads a book, prays and puts her to bed. Mama jumps into the shower and Eliana listens for the babies. Speed shower, forget even trying to shave legs. Read books on couch with Eliana until 7:30, talk about our day, brush teeth, pray and off to bed. Mama comes back down and does all things she never had a chance to during the

In case you were wondering (and I know that deep down you were) January's flower is carnation and the stone is Garnet. Also, if you didn't get enough celebrating last month, here are some things to celebrate this month. I didn't make these up, January is... California Dried Plum Digestive Month Book Blitz month Bath Safety Month National Hot tea Month National Cervical Screening Month Oatmeal Month Volunteer Blood Donor Month Soup Month So go put your feet in stirrups, have a cup of tea and some prunes while you enjoy giving blood. Ring in the new year right! Oh, and if that isn't exciting enough, today is JRR Tolken Day, National Chocolate Covered Cherry day and "Remmember You Die" day. Woo Who!

I am a list person. I don't actually follow everything I write down, but I do write it down. Sometimes I think it is my weird way of feeling like I have my life under control. Not only do I make lists for myself, I make them for Matt. Yes, I know that is obnoxious so I don't always give him the lists I make for him. Yesterday I tortured my husband by making him sit down and make a list WITH me. I do it every year. You see, Matt is an amazing big picture person, but details kill him. Annually I make him sit down and write goals. We categorize them by finance, work, personal, spiritual, etc. It kills him to have to be specific. I keep the list every year and we read it together. This significantly brightened Matt's mood, to hear all the things we have accomplished this year. Our debt is reduced, relationships have been formed and baby #3 can be totally checked off the goal list. This year I am resolving to blog every day. The reason for this is 2 fold, neither of which is me

Yes, I know it is no longer December. I am not THAT sleep deprived. Here are some highlights of last month. The family headed out to find a Christmas tree. Elie thought it would be a good idea to walk around the neighborhood and cut down a tree we liked. Matt and I decided that the neighbors might not love that idea. Some day we will be a family that goes into the woods and cuts down a tree together. This is not that year. Next year doesn't look good either. Maybe eventually. Zoo lights is a family tradition. Eliana and Addilyn love it this year. We haven't been to the zoo in forever. Annabelle is in this picture too, she is in the wrap under my jacket where she slept happily the entire time. Dad came with us this year, too. We have the book "The gingerbread Man" and Elie has been on my case to make some ginger bread of our own. To get off the hook of trying to find a yummy, workable GF ginger bread recipe , I told her it was a Christmas thing. Well, Christmas cam