This Full House Archive

Author: Liz@ThisFullHouse

  • Happy Belated National Coffee Day: Will
    Vlog for Cawfee

    Liz's Cawfee #FoamAtHome

    {sponsored post & giveaway}

    It’s no secret: I like coffee (A LOT!) and most of my friends (both online and IRL) know NOT to ask me ANYTHING, unless I’ve had my first cup of coffee (or cawfee, if you’re from Jersey).

    Or if you happen to be one of my teens and are attempting to take full advantage of my total incoherency:  then, for the love of all things ending in macchiato, ASK AWAY…MY FRIEND!

    There are worse things, don’t judge.

    Aaaaanyway, In celebration of National Coffee Day (what, it was 9/29, did you miss it too?!?) I’ve partnered with my good friends at TheMotherhood.com and Gevalia and we’ve got some really cool stuff to share with ALL of my fellow coffee lovers, especially if you’ve ever started your day(s), like this:

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  • Confessions of a Professional Over-sharer

    My husband, Garth (not his real name) and I recently bumped into friends of ours at the market, literally — the deli counter can be a very dangerous place, especially on a Sunday night — which, by the way, some folks consider to be a perfectly acceptable "date night" and typically a pretty good indication that these same folks also happen to be parents of older kids.

    Parental Unit #1:  I'm going to head out to the store and pick up a few things.

    Parental Unit #2:  WAIT, I'll go with you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Personally, we prefer to cruise the aisles at either Lowes or Home Depot.

    Aaaaanyway, the wife and I started chatting.

    I mean, our "friend's wife".  

    I don't have a wife.

    Although, I feel it safe to say that we could ALL use an extra wife, or twenty, right about now, am I right?!?

    Soooooooo, we were chatting about our kids (because, but of course!) when her husband comes up to me and says:

    "So, you gonna blog this too?!?"

    I still truly believe it as a moment of innocent teasing.

    This is the same guy who honks his horn every time he drives past our house, several times a day and, no matter where I am or what I am doing, I holler: 

    "Heeeeeeeey, Wayne (not his real name, either!)"

    Still, I can't help but wonder:  in the age of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram, are people IRL (who also happen to be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and/or Instagram) still a little leary about my blogging?

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  • Hard to Digest Moments: Watching movies
    with your teens.

    Liz and Glen's Hard to Digest Moment

    I am honored to be able to partner with Kellogg’s as a Champion of #GreatStarts blogger, with many thanks for their sponsoring this blog post and allowing me to share our stories with families (like mine) and (hopefully) help get each day off to a great start.

    Have you seen the latest Kellogg’s commercials? How’d That Happen and Tweezers are part of the Rice Krispies “hard to digest” campaign, showcasing awkward moments between parents and kids.

    When our little ones get smart enough to ask questions that we’re just so NOT ready to answer…yet…and, I’m sorry to say, the conversations don’t get ANY easier once your kids get older (whenever they actually decide to talk to you, I mean).

    So, when my friends at Kellogg’s challenged me to capture our own version of a “hard to digest” moment and then encouraged me to create a humorous video about it…*snort*… it was like giving a kid the keys to a virtual candy store.

    This time, I asked my 14 year-old son to help and he said yes (cue choir of angels, singing):

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  • Soooooo, I showed a tired old table a little love and now I’m ready for a nap.

    Now that we're a couple of weeks into the new school year (gosh, but how I love September!) I feel it safe to say that the kids seem to be adjusting rather nicely to their schedules and by nicely I mean:

    • They have gotten up on time
    • Remembered to get dressed
    • Eat breakfast
    • Aaaaaand, to open the storm door BEFORE trying to exit the house

    The fact that their mother (that would be me) still seems to be going through some freaked-out and totally irrational form of latent-nesting, not so much.

    My son started his freshman year in high school and his middle sister will most likely be settled into her college dorm room, this time next year (please excuse me while I take a moment to collect myself, because….MY BAYYYYYBEEEEE!!!!….okay, I'm much better now, thanks).

    My youngest will also be a teenager by then (this would be a good time to get a beverage, a snack, or something, because….MY BAYYYYYBEEEEEZ!!!!….ugh, moving on), don't you think it's sort of weird for me to be all, like….oh hey guys, where you going, come on in, sit down and stay a while….g'head and make yourselves comfy-cozy, m'kay?!?

    Fixing up stuff so they actually….you know….want to hang around, just a little while longer….pleeeeeeeease?!?!?!?

    For example:  this weekend, I was going through the garage (I hate it when they don't reload the toilet paper roll and won't miss that one bit!) and I came across this tired old table.


    Tired old table

    Poor tired old table, I know how you feel 🙁

    Because no table should look this sad (or tired) and I didn't have the heart to throw it out, so I decided to transform it into a cozy tableau of cottage-style comfort that is totally nap-worthy!

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  • Linky love bytes…

    Feel free to grab a beverage and visit with some of my favorite reads! Not for nuhthin, but g’head, I’ll wait and keep the porch light on for yuhs, just in case 🙂

    100 Routes Across America
    Made her snort soda outta her nose at an airport once.

    A Madison Mom
    She’s from Jersey, love huh.

    A Mommy Story
    She is one of the regulars.

    As Cape Cod Turns
    Mermaid sisters, separated at birth.

    Because I Said so
    I accidentally drowned her iPhone once, but she’s over it (I think!)

    Busy Mom
    Co-founder of SaveHer, NO CAPES!

    Complicated Mama
    Got us lost going to Girl Gone Travel‘s house, I think we know where Jimmy Hoffa’s buried!

    Deepest Worth
    She writes way gooder than me.

    Domestic Psychology
    Also, another one of the regulars.

    Enjoying This Life
    We’ll always have Madonna at the wax museum.

    From Tracie
    She has a real gift for writing, you’re welcome.

    Girl Gone Travel
    I’m living vicariously through Carol’s Instagram feed.

    Good Day, Regular People
    She’s funny, and pretty, and smart, and did I mention funny?!?

    Headless Mom
    She’s got teens, enough said!

    Houseful of Nicholes
    Girl can work a catwalk.

    Jenrab
    She knows how much I hate the dark and refused to allow me to sleep on the couch, by myself, once.

    Just Another Mom Blog
    Her rendition of “the Ellen dance” is the best, next to Momo‘s, EVUH!!!

    KateSpot
    A fellow #dork from way back when blogging was still in diapers.

    Life in the Bat Cave
    Also admits to being born and raised in Jersey, she’s super-awesome!

    Life with Roozle
    Got a little girl crush going on for Casey, she rules.

    Melisa (with one S!)
    We’ve slept together, quite a few times, fell down her stairs once and broke my toe, first time I’d ever broken a bone [knocking on wood until knuckles bleed].

    Mom to the Screaming Masses
    Yet another regular, her arms are absolutely AMAZING!

    MomAdvice
    She was my first blogger crush, she’s pretty famous now.

    Mommy Knows
    She’s got lens, and she knows how to use it.

    Mommy Needs Coffee
    Blessing hearts and taking names since 2003.

    Mommy Niri
    She’s wicked-smaht, for real.

    Momofali
    Wow, just wow.

    Moody Mama
    Love me some moody, long time.

    Mrs. Flinger
    Until recently, I thought it was her real name, because I’m quick like that.

    So Tabulous
    I mean wow, she’s got blue hair, bet she hasn’t heard THAT in a while.

    SoCal Mom
    We did Disney Land, together.

    Stop, Drop and Blog
    One hot momma, good thing she’s married to a fireman.

    Suburban Correspondent
    Kids, vomit and mice, it’s like we’re living in the same house!

    The Martha Project
    She’s real crafty, but a wee bit freakish about Halloween!

    The Next Kid Thing
    I kid you not, she knows a thing or two about kids!

    Thin Spiral Notebook
    It’s Tahr-ruh, dammit.

    Travels With Lizabeth
    If it wasn’t for her asking if I knew what a weblog was, you wouldn’t be here.

    Triple Venti
    He’s a little bit Starbucks, I run on DD; it’s okay, we hugged it out.

    Two Teens and Their Mama
    She’s a mom of boys AND brand new to blogging, welcome to the hood Lana!

    Blogging 101

    Crafters & DIY-ers

    Foodie Friends

    It Takes a Community

    News-worthy

    Techies

  • Evolution of Filling Out Back-to-School Forms

    This vlog was actually inspired by a recent conversation on Facebook (beeeeeecause, I get my best ideas from you guys!!!) and dedicated to anyone who's ever had to sit down and fill out eleventy-hundred back-to-school forms:

     

    For those of you who are new to this rite of passage:  this is what having had 4 kids, attending 4 different schools (sometimes at the same time, even) in 13 years will do to you, just so you know.

    Aaaaaand, you're welcome 🙂

    © 2003 – 2013 This Full House With a fan page on Facebook and everything!

  • Dealing with mean girls (and boys) from a teenager’s point of view.

    2 days into the new school year and my youngest has already had to deal with 7th grade (a.k.a. the birthing ground for mean) girls, who seem to be prepping themselves to be catty women when they grow up (if ever), and it’s breaking my heart.

    Unfortunately, it’s easy for us parents to say things like, “they’re just jealous” and “because the new boy talked to you at lunch, first” or “they see you as a threat” because we’ve ALL been there, right?!?

    Aaaaaand, therein lies the rub.

    You see, my kids have a real hard time understanding (or even believing) that their parents may or may not have dealt with mean behavior, at some point in our lives, and that at least one other person in the bathroom/class room/gym/hallway/lunchroom imagined it to be really funny, at the time, too.

    In this case, calling your name out loud, turning their backs and then giggling their little fool heads off or just walking into a room…

    [cue: giggling little fools]

    …then casually glancing down at yourself, wondering if you’ve mistakenly put your pants on backwards or something and, well, as if being 12 years-old wasn’t difficult enough, right?!?

    So, having lived through a couple of mean moments (or twenty) of their own (dammit), I asked my two oldest girls (they are 19 and 17) and my son (he’s 14) for their thoughts on dealing with mean girls (or boys) from a teen’s point of view.

    Because I am very open-minded, not to mention they are MUCH smarter than me, like that! 

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  • How we can help Kellogg’s & Scholastic give families free books!

    1st day of school 2013

    Disclosure: As a Champion of #GreatStarts blogger, I am honored to partner with Kellogg’s in helping families (like mine) achieve great starts to their days. I am being compensated for my services for the length of the program.

    It’s the first day of school, here in Jersey (I know, it is kinda late, but the kids seemed okay wit-it!) which means my crew was up and ready to get out of the house by…wait…for…it…6:30, this morning.

    Aaaaaand, I couldn’t help but get all caught up in the tide of nervous energy flowing throughout the house.  

    I was showered, dressed, baked a loaf of pumpkin bread, and then a batch of pumpkin cookies (for good measure), rounding out the morning with 3 loads of laundry washed and folded by…get…this…before lunchtime!!!

    Okay, I lied:  the laundry isn’t folded…YET!!!…which means I should be crashing anytime now and when the kids get home.

    Before that happens, I want to tell you about how we’ve partnered with my friends at Kellogg’s and the equally awesome folks at Scholastic to help give families free books!

    On second thought, I’ll let my celebrity dad-friend and children’s book author Taye Diggs explain it (seriously, we spoke on the phone and everything!)  Why?!?  Well, I love his voice and he’s way prettier to look at:

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  • So, what’s with the Susie Homemaker thing?!?!?

    Cinderella's Castle

    Proof that I used to bake, for real:  my oldest daughters 3rd birthday Cinderella's castle cake, I'm just as surprised as you are!

    My husband came home last night to find a few disturbing signs:

    • Furniture and/or rooms moved around (again)
    • New doorknobs on the bathroom, the pantry (formerly known as the linen closet) and the girls' bedroom door
    • And me cooking; furiously whisking up a honey mustard glaze, with every other burner firing on the stove.

    In the past, this sort of behavior usually meant one of three things:  someone is sick, dying or having a baby.

    Although I have ZERO intentions of becoming "the oldest pregnant blogger" and shut your mouth for even thinking it [shiver] in this case, having experienced the other two (in just one weekend) I seem to have gone into some freaked-out and totally irrational form of nesting.

    Aaaaaand, if you've ever experienced any of those things (especially, at the same time) I feel it safe to say we ALL deal differently with suckage (of which, cancer sucks hairy donkey balls).

    Some folks scream, cry or beat the hell out of drywall, like it owes you money AND yes I have done ALL of those things.

    Because, IMHO, internalizing that shit is toxic.

    I also clean house (figuratively and literally) while simultaneously attempting to mentally and physically purge myself of…you know…suckage.

    Lately, however, I've been internalizing a lot of shit: which means the house is very, very clean AND organized.  

    Aaaaaand, while cleaning out the girls' closet (for the eleventy-hundrendth time) I found a couple of old photo albums, then I lost my shit.


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  • Because, I’m Awesome, My Husband Said So!

    I've been blogging for nearly a decade (because 10 years doesn't sound nearly as great as all the gray hairs I've managed to nurture, along the way, YO!) and I've seen lots of good things happen to some pretty terrific people.

    Some really craptastic stuff too, dammit.

    Focusing on the great, the thing I love MOST about blogging communities?  There is almost always someone ready to lift you up and out of [enter whatever has you in a funk, right at this particular moment, right here] by the very simple act of typing three little words:

    "I get it."

    Then again, there are times when the suckage starts to run REAL deep and, well, the damned gerbil refuses to slow down long enough for me to get the words out of my head.

    Never mind, having to worry about good grammar, proper punctuation and my terrible habit of using pretend words.

    See: craptastic.  See also: suckage.

    Besides, there is almost always SOMEONE ELSE who is most probably wading their way through some really craptastic suckage…worse even, dammit…and that someone may be reading this very blog post, right now, thinking:  

    "Duuuuuuuuude, you have NO idea."

    Sooooooo, I try to blog about stuff that perhaps help make OTHER folks (yes, maybe even YOU!) feel a little better about themselves. 

    Today is NOT one of those days.

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