St Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Here are the reasons I love St Patrick's Day:
Green is my favorite color.
I'm Irish
It's the one day a year I eat cabbage.

Oh and all the crafts!

This is the craziness that commenced with my NKs (Nanny Kids)

 We made rainbow binoculars to find Leprechauns with. Clearly Rooster (left) mistook me for a leprechaun.

 Rooster and I like to go on shopping trips together, where I entertain myself by putting silly hats on him.

 They both made rainbows and pots of gold. B with his finger prints and Rooster with his little hand.

We made shamrock outlines with our finger prints.

 Then to end it all we turned into leprechauns. 

Mackenzie

P.S. We were supposed to make gold out of rocks but it rained all throughout our St. Patty's Day craftings so we couldn't hunt for rocks.

Enjoy Today

A lot of people struggle with living in the moment, myself included. Even though I'm always telling B to slow down and focus on what he was doing I couldn't seem to follow it myself. Today I tried.


All B wanted to do was snuggle after quiet time so we snuggled because tomorrow he may not want to snuggle and all too soon he'll be grown.

After work, I took the day to explore the property I live on looking for the mysterious kittens under the chicken coop I have yet to find. (Apparently there's more than one chicken coop down the road a ways).

I spent a lot of time with the chicks that are growing far to fast. I picked up and cuddled as many as I could. (One bit me, we're not friends anymore)

I even admired the beauty of the spider webs in the coop. And I hate spiders!

On my walk back I jumped in the puddles because life is to short to not get a little dirty and have as much fun as kids. And although my rain boots are very holey that didn't stop me. A little mud never hurt anyone.

This blog is supposed to be about bettering myself (and telling funny stories) and today I took a step in the right direction. So slow down and do what makes you happy. Feel childish joy.

Mackenzie

Life With Anxiety

Mental illness has been a prevalent topic in these past years. More people are aware of it and the stigma is slowly dissolving. But some people use it out of context. There's the people who are sad and say I'm depressed without knowing what depression is. The same goes for anxiety. Anxiety isn't just the occasional butterflies in your stomach.

But here's what anxiety really is:

Pacing around the room because you think you've done something wrong.

Wanting to puke at the thought of meeting someone new or going some place you aren't familiar with.

Never talking for fear you'll say something wrong and everyone in the whole world will hate you for saying that one sentence.

Sobbing in the middle of the night because everything has finally caught up with you and it's overwhelming.

Hearing thunder or fireworks and having your body shut down out of fear.

Preparing for the panic attack you know is going to happen.

I can't speak for depression because I don't have chronic depression. Sure I have bouts of it where it's like I'm trapped in a black hole of emotions and I'm numb to my surroundings, but it's not chronic and hardly ever happens.

I know you are probably thinking, does she take medicine? Yes, I do. But does Advil or Motrin always take every ounce of pain away...Probably not all the time. I've improved but medicine isn't the end all be all. There's going to be some anxiety left over and I'm okay with that. I don't want to be an emotionless robot. Having anxiety shows me I feel.

Mackenzie

Happy Birthday Dr. Suess

The beginning of March was Dr. Suess's birthday. I celebrated with my nanny kids.

 The little and I made One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

 While the Big painted Cat and The Hat and Thing One and Thing Two.

 We stacked ten apples up on top of our heads and we also drew what we would look like with duck feet.

Most importantly we remembered that we are born to stand out and be ourselves.

Mackenzie

Let Them Grow

I love being a nanny. I do crafts all day. I can sing at the top of my lungs without judgement. I can have dance parties at a moments notice. I can generally be goofy and crazy around them and they love it. The best thing about being a nanny is watching the kids grow. I'm raising children. I'm leaving a lasting imprint on them. Which it's why it's important to do a variety of activities.

 I'm raising artists.

 I'm raising explorers. 

 I raising leprechauns? 

 I'm raising bakers.

 I'm raising gardeners. 

 I'm raising anthropologists.

 I'm raising firefighters.

 I'm raising animal lovers.

But above all I'm raising them with love and kindness.

Mackenzie

RIP Martin

Recently I found out my duck Martin died. Martin was technically not my duck but my landlord's duck but I was devastated all the same. I loved Martin and fed him freeze dried crickets. Martin had a significant other and when I inquired what happened to it I found out it was a random wild duck that just fancied Martin and hung around. Naturally, when I took the boys to Nevins Farm and saw:

which are all adoptable, I wanted to take them all home.

I blame the fisher cats for Martin's death. Which in case you were wondering, fisher cats do not look like cats and instead small bear weasels. And they are not pettable and lovable but vicious little monsters. I honestly thought they were cuter.

Although I am mourning the loss of Martin, there are 100 baby chicks that need love.

Mackenzie

Date Day: February Vacation Edition

The week of February vacation saw a rare thing. Pat and I had three days off together. I was sick but we tried to make the best of it. The first day was the first time I had really been out of the house in quite a while.

Well it was Tsum Tsum Tuesday with the first installment of Star Wars! I have seen two of the Star Wars movies but I love certain characters like Ewoks! I was beyond excited because this was my first actual tsum tsum Tuesday in stores! I literally dragged Pat through the mall at 9:30 in the morning to be there for the opening.

In case you were wondering what I have on my head, it's a ewok scarf.

And an r2d2 bow to top it off.

These were what I came home with. I was second in line and very pleased. I also got a medium Ewok because who could resist! After that it was off to Kane's Donuts for my first time. And I was not disappointed.

I ended the day by finishing my book in bed. How I finish most days.

Mackenzie