Are We There Yet

Happy Valentine's Day DIY- Low-Cost Fun

2012-02-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.

I'm going to have some low-cost DIY fun with the kids.

Breakfast will be red pancakes (will attempt to make them heart-shaped) oatmeal with red sprinkles.

Some crafts after schoolwork.

My daughter woke-up on the wrong side of the bed. She thinks Valentine's Day is a national holiday and should be a no-school-work day! LOL! That is NOT going to happen. She also has her first track practice tonight, which she does not think should occur on Valentine's Day.

So, Yes, she needs to do schoolwork and go to track, but I'm still going to try to make the day fun.

We are all wearing red or pink shirts too. :-)

This evening I have two single friends coming over (one has her two girls with her) and we are going to make heart-shaped cheeseburgers, strawberries dipped in chocolate and some other yummy, fun stuff for all the kids. :-) Please share if you have some craft ideas for children 6-11.

Knott's Berry Farm Fun

2011-12-26T13:56:00.000-08:00

Last week we went to Knott's Berry Farm with my brother's family. Someone I know from my kids track and field was selling tickets for $10 each (adult or child) but they expired 12/30/11. We bought enough for all of us and went the following week.

Parking was about $16 per car but we split the cost.

I hadn't been to Knott's since 5th grade. I went on a school field trip, with my class. There was three cars of people (parents driving) and two arrived and we were waiting for the third one and were allowed to explore the 'outside the park gift shops.' Well, a while passed and I noticed the other kids with me were gone. Long story but they had ALL gone inside without me and I was locked outside the park until about 10 or 11pm, waiting for them. I do not know why I didn't call my dad, probably because the place was 1 1/2 hours away, but I walked around, from the entrance to the cars (to make sure they were there) the whole day and night. I had no money on me for food and the park's intercom system worked two areas 1- outside the park and 2- inside the park. So when I was having them try to locate my teacher and everyone else, they never heard it... and they never did a head check and noticed I was missing!

Finally, when the park was closing they call came outside to leave and saw me. I was trying not to cry and trying to

speak and started choking on my gum and I remember the teacher saying that 'this was nothing to cry about' and to quit it.

and... we all went home. I never got a refund. Not sure my parents ever knew about it. I never got an apology. It was just kind of unspoken in the classroom.

So..... almost 30 years later...I was back at Knott's again. I finally got to experience the fun of it all and (barely) remember things from the last time I'd been INSIDE there, a few years before.

Daeton won't go on any scary rides (he hates loosing his equilibrium, doesn't even like swing sets much) and Kaela went on a few with my brother or his wife that she wouldn't have been able to go on alone or with me (since I couldn't leave Daeton to stand outside of a line alone) so it was great to have extra people there.

When everyone else was in line for the Ferris Wheel Daeton and I bought a GIANT pretzel and ate some, and shared with everyone else when they caught up with us. Normal soft pretzels were $5 and this huge on was $10 and all 7 of us shared it.

We, grungly, dragged the kids to the Merry-Go-'Round, aka, carousel, and they LOVED it! Of, course.

I can't seem to get my words lined up right with the photos but the pictures of the horses coming down the street was a free ride we could go on but we never found it.

I laughed when I took a picture of the batman guy sitting on the bench. He even had bat ears on his hoodie. I need to see if I can find one of those!

The seven of us split a $27 family value pack meal at once of the places inside the park and were all full. It has tacos, burritos, rice, beans and a soda. Not bad considering how high most food items are inside the amusement parks.

Kaela bought a 'Hello Kitty' bow that was a headband. It lights up and has a button to change the frequency of the flashes *yes cute but super annoying.*

The kids did Bumper Cars and I watched. I did not want to be hit in them, since stuff like that hurts my neck (I had surgery on it a few years ago and have a titanium plate in my neck where I had a slipped disc).

Daeton wanted to do the 'shooting gallery' in the midway and, surprising, he did GREAT... I guess all the time he plays with his air-soft gun has payed off. It was an unmanned booth, we inserted $1 bill in a slot for a ton of rounds on the gun, so there were no prizes, but he sure did great.

Since it was right before Christmas the trees and buildings were all lit up. We also saw 'Snoopy on Ice' and it was cute with some EXCELLENT ice skaters.

In the 'craft section' at the end of the park we saw a man painting people's names with animals and other shapes painted inside each letter. He was amazing and the kids were mesmerized.

For myself I bought a 'your name on a grain of rice' necklace.

I had them put Daeton's name on one side and Kaela's name on the other. The capsule that it is in is glass and I don't want to break it so I hung it from my rear-view mirror in my car.

All in all, we had a great day, barely spent any money, had only one melt-down, towards the end, and I'm glad we went.

We Survived Christmas Becker Christmas House in Simi

2011-12-26T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well, we survived Christmas. The kids say they got all they wanted and had a great Christmas.

On Christmas eve we went to The Becker House, aka the Christmas House on Sycamore. It is a normal house that during the year but at Christmas the Beckers deck it out top to bottom with Christmas decorations. Some moving or spinning and singing. We waited an extra 20 minutes for Santa to arrive and Daeton and Kaela got their picture taken with Santa.
Their website seems to be down but you can find them on Facebook by searching ' The Becker Christmas House on Sycamore.' The have been decorated their house for 47 years now. Their son posted on Facebook that his parents are getting 'up there in age' and that he will try to go to 50 years for it and then not sure if it will continue.
I got some great candid shots of the kids when opening their presents.
Can you say EXCITED?

Even some sibling love and them helping each other. Today they have been playing together on the Bop-It Extreme and loving it. Daeton received some snap together model airplanes and has built two and Kaela has been playing with her doll house (I got it from someone on Freecycle, for free) and Jenga blocks.
The crinkling noise of the wrapping paper being ripped or bundled up in a ball really freaked out the cats. Once all the presents were opened and the kids were playing with their toys the cats found places to hide and sleep.

Daeton borrowed my camera and got a picture of Pumpkin sleeping under the Christmas tree.

Field Trip= National Weather Center

2011-12-18T00:42:00.000-08:00

My friend, Carrie, organized a field trip to the National Weather Center in Oxnard last week.
It was a small group. Daeton and Kaela, her son and her mom.
David, the meteorologist there, talked about tornado chasing (and said he'd chased 4 and seen, in person about 6-7). he talked about the weather, natural disasters, showed some slides and a few videos.

Their website is: NOAA

He took is to his desk station where he normally works. There is 4 shifts of people that work there. Most having 4-6 monitors at each desk.

We got to see the current weather conditions, the prediction for Christmas (sunny) and the kids got to ask questions.

Behind the building they have a a setting for field trips with examples of equipment they use to study the weather. I took about 20+ photos but am only posting a few.

Bridge that would show how flash-floods work.

Land & water devises, including buoys in the oceans as well as telling snow levels.

Front of building.

The whole field trip took about two hours. It was educational and informative. Was free. and the kids had fun.

Half-Homemade Apple Dumplings

2011-12-18T00:30:00.000-08:00

Kaela and I tried to create some Country Apple Dumplings that I saw a receipe for. I'd never heard of pouring Moutain Dew soda on top of a crescent so it was interesting, to say the least, to comprehend. We didn't have Mountain Dew at home but used a knock-off brand that was in the fridge from the last time one of the kids were sick.

The recipe called for using store-bought crescent roll dough, apples, butter, sugar, cinnamon and Mountain Dew.
So, we cut and peeled the apples and sliced them small enough to roll up in the crescents.
Brushed on the butter, sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Dumped the soda on them and baked them.

There was a lot of liquid in the mixture (to bake the apples more or make them all moist?) and I was unsure of how they'd taste but the kids loved them.

My oven has been acting weird (the heat sensor is messed up) so they are a little burnt on top and a little doughy on the bottom.

They still tasted great and both kids loved them.

Country Apple Dumplings

Statistics Show... Kids In Sports Are Less Likely To Do Drugs

2011-11-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking football is FINALLY over, right?

No more going to practice 3 times a week.
No more games every Saturday.
No more washing his practice clothes every night and hanging them to dry so the sewn-in-pads won't get messed up in the dryer.
No more having football 5-7 and kickball 7-8:30 on the same night and having tired, grumpy kids the next day.

WHEW!!!!

Anyways.. I can go on and on.

Well, after the championship game on Saturday, which Daeton's team WON, the whole team went to Topper's Pizza. We were there for a few hours and are saying our good-byes and leaving when Daeton sees two boys from football outside by the door and they ask if he is joining baseball with them!

Daeton tells me, "Coach Thompson told us about it."

Kaela wants to sign up for ballet or gymnastics and I told her she had to wait until football was over and track starts in February! So, statistics show that kids in sports are less likely to do drugs. But, can we wait a few weeks? At least? LOL! I know if we are at home too much with all down-time they were either watching tv too much or fighting. But, taxi-mom is tired.

And, yes, yes, yes. I am super proud.

I Bought A X-Box Kinect For $90

2011-11-06T07:57:00.000-08:00

I found a GREAT deal on an Kinect for X-Box this week. Daeton has been waiting since his birthday (in September) for one. The game systems are just so darn expensive. I often sell books and educational games on a few 'used curriculum' chat groups via Yahoo Groups but seldom look on them or read them. Most of them I am no-mail on. For some reason I read one last week and found a homeschool mom selling a brand new Kinect game system for the X-Box for $90 and it included one game.

Timing between her and I was hit and miss so last night was the first time she was home and I was able to go get it. So, I drove to her house about 1/2 hour away and meet her family and picked it up. Her husband explained to Daeton that they bought it for their son but he has the older version of X-Box and it won't work. They were going to buy something to upgrade the whole thing to make it comparable but their their son's X-Box broke and they just decided to sell the Kinect.

I am super happy! The cheapest one I have found, even used, was approximately $150, plus tax so this is a great savings to pay only $90 for it.

Daeton is happy to finally get the game system he has been waiting over a month for. We got home late last night so he woke up early today to play it.

The system takes photos too (shows a camera on the screen and a 3-2-1 countdown). These photos can be uploaded to a PC or Facebook to be shared.

I walked onto the screen, next to Daeton and the X-Box automatically added me in the game as a two-player game. I'm liking this already!

Buzz Lightyear Operation Game for $1 Christmas Shopping!

2011-11-06T07:44:00.000-08:00

I am not one to usually plan ahead and get my Christmas shopping done. I always have the intent to, but often never do it. Mainly because I hate shopping. I just saw this sale and had to buy it. I have a ton of friends and families' children that I buy Christmas presents for.

So, I signed up a 30-day free trial with Shop Runner and clicked on Toys R Us and went to their clearance page. From there I clicked on 'board games' and the Buzz Lightyear Operation game is on sale for $1.

With Shop Runner I got 2-day shipping for free.

I bought two games. Paid $1 each and 15 cents tax.

I'm proud of myself for getting two games, brand new, for $2.15 with out having to leave and go shopping!

Maybe I should have bought 3 or 4? I guess I need to get my Christmas list written.

**** Update on this. I received an email from Toys R Us that said they are out of inventory and are not going to ship them! :-( I printed it, saying the cost was $1 each. I want to take it into their store and see if they have them there and see if they'll give me the games at the price on the sale. Not sure if they will but it is worth trying.

They also sent me an email with a promo code offering $5 off my next online purchase.

Homing Pigeons- Homeschooling With Animals

2011-11-03T23:07:00.000-07:00

My dad has been racing and breeding pigeons for about 20 years now. Daeton has always been fascinated with the pigeons. From when he was an toddler and my dad let him hold an egg, while it hatched, to him bring a box of baby pigeons to 'show and tell' in preschool. Daeton is always quick to show friends the loft when they are at my dad's house too. So, it comes as no surprise, besides that it didn't happen earlier, that Daeton now has his own loft at our house.

It is a small cage that they hooked up to the side of our fence in the back yard. They put a long table in front of it for the birds to be able to sit on. This is so they can hang out by the loft. Once they get a little older and know to go straight in when they get home the table will be removed.

They started with three birds that were a gray/blue color and a few days later my dad gave him three more that were white. All six of them were quiet young. Old enough to be away from the nest but not really knowing how to fly yet. Daeton is learning how to feed and water them, how to let them loose and how to whistle to get them to come in and land. In the first week he lost one pigeon (it just never made it back to the loft). My dad said this was probably due to Daeton letting them out so late in the day. Pigeons can't see good at night and crash into things like power lines or get eaten by owls and hawks.

Right now when they are released they come back in a few hours later. Daeton is teaching them to be used to being in a crate (special one for the birds) too. Last week they were crated a few times for about an hour and released. A few days ago Daeton and my dad crated them, drove them a few blocks away, and released them. They will take the pigeons farther and farther away and get them used to finding their way home.

Taking care of them is a daily job. Daeton has to check their food and water in the morning and release them after they see they have food but before they eat it (so they are trained to come home to eat).

He has names for some of them and was worried today when he thought one was grabbed by a hawk (4 were flying in a circle for a while and we didn't see the fifth). The kids had enrichment classes today but when we got home the fifth one was in the cage.

Loosing them when racing often happens, even under the best circumstances. This will be another life-lesson. Some get lost in races, get eaten or even follow a group and go to someone else's loft. .

We Have Kittens 'Twin Boys'

2011-11-03T22:40:00.001-07:00

Okay, it has been a few weeks and I keep forgetting to post this but we adopted two boy kittens. They are brothers and look like twins. The kids can tell them apart from the markings on their faces. I tell them apart by the tip of their tails.

Cheetah (Daeton's kitten) has a black tip on his tail.

Pumpkin (Kaela's kitten) has a orange tip on his tail. He is also a little bit more orange and this color is showing more the older they get.

We got them at 8-weeks-old. Staci's friend had them. There was a litter of '6-8' (she wasn't sure) and these were the last two. Staci said her friend was going to drop them off at the animal shelter if she couldn't get someone to adopt them and I gave in and said yes. I knew the kids would love them and with two they wouldn't fight so much.

We also still have Jett. She is 3 1/2 years old now.

So, am I a 'crazy cat lady' or do I have to have four or more to meet that criteria? I'm not sure but I KNOW that three is the limit. The litter box is crazy and if it isn't emptied EVERY SINGLE DAY Jett decides it is 'too full' for her and she will poop in the corner of the living room.

All I keep thinking is 'What did I get myself into?????'

But I look at them and they are so cute, love to cuddle and have great personalities.

I am making the appointment with the vet tomorrow to get them both fixed (I was told to do it before 4 months or they might start marking.). The local animal shelter has a voucher for a $20 off and our vet has a voucher too, making it $20 each kitten to fix them.

Lets see if they still love me after I put them both through that surgery.

Yummy Dinner For Mom; Weight Watcher's Smart Ones

2011-11-03T02:24:00.000-07:00

I recently purchased two Smart Ones dinners by Weight Watchers. I'd heard about them and expected to find them in the 'boxed food' section, by the 'just add liquid pasta dinners.' But, to my surprise, they were in the freezer section.
I bought two, Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese (9 Points Plus if you are doing Weight Watchers and 340 calories for the whole bag) and Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo (8 Weight Watcher Points Plus and 300 calories).

Both looked like decent portions, to say the least and the picture on the bags looked good. I waited until the kids had a 'not so healthy dinner' of pizza and the Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese for myself. Only one word can describe it: amazing. Definitely a yummy meal. Better than I can cook. The kids probably would have loved it too and... healthy!! YEAHHHHH!!!! It completely filled me up and I got four food groups in one meal, vegetables, meat, grains and dairy. :-)

I was completely full from the serving but not 'I-can't-move-stuffed.' The flavor the chicken and noodles were well seasoned and a little cheesy while the broccoli tasted fresh and was not soft or mushy from being pre-frozen. The price, per bag, is about $4.00 but I have seen two $1-off-one-bag coupons recently. I mostly shop at Ralph's and Von's so with the coupon being doubled the whole meal was $2.00.

I was going to save the second bag for another occasion when the kids were going to have higher calorie food but decided to eat it the following night for dinner. The Chicken with Broccoli & Cheese was just as good. Again, the chicken was tender and lightly seasoned and the Alfredo sauce on the noodles, chicken and broccoli was yummy. There was some excess liquid at the bottom of the bag after cooking but I can honestly say that is the only complaint I had.

I liked the Chicken Broccoli and cheese the best, of the two but definitely want to try the other ones the store sells. They have a chicken stir-fry variety that looked delicious and about three other variations of rice or noodles with meat to try.

I have started to incorporate a better diet and exercise now in my daily routine and not wait for a New Year's resolution. The Weight Watchers Smart Ones were very low in points for a dinner meal. Something to consider with the holidays coming up. I want to look good for all the Christmas pictures too!

These Smart Ones meals are definitely better than a dry piece of boneless, skinless chicken and a salad that I usually make! My meat cooking skills definitely lack in flavor on most occasions, but I am trying. Next time I buy the Weight Watcher meals I'll cook two. One for the kids to share and one for me.

Disclosure: This post is part of a SocialMoms product evaluation, for which I’ve been selected. I’ve been compensated for my time with 6,000 My SocialMoms Rewards Points. The opinions expressed in this post are mine and don’t necessarily reflect the opinions of SocialMoms or Heinz.

Weather Conditions- High Winds

2011-11-02T01:58:00.001-07:00

1:40 am and I am up. I've been doing computer work and was calling it quits for the night but decided to check on the tarp one last time. It covers the 'car port' frame that is on the side of my house. The last tarp fell apart. It was brittle from the sun.

My dad brought this one over a few days ago but it wasn't completely tied down on all four sides. This tarp wasn't the right one for the frame and was twice as wide as it is. My dad folded it back over a second time and on one side it was weighed down by the brick wall, on the back by my shed and the other side by some angle iron on the ground. I added my refrigerator dolly & lawn mower on that side two days ago, feeling that wind was coming soon.

And, now it has HIT! It started as a warm breeze around 8:45 pm and now is a severe wind advisory!

So, I checked on the tarp about 10pm and it was fine. I checked one more time before bed... It has fully blown off the frame and is barely there. The furniture dolly & lawn mower are the only things keeping it from blowing away.... And that would chaos!

I bunched it up as much as I could. Put the dolly & mower back on it, covering more of it. Put a large folding table on a section of it and put a metal crate on another section. I think it will be fine now!

It is so windy that I can't sleep! I am hearing my gate rattling, trash cans crashing and rolling down the street, and my wind chimes crashing around! I'm glad I decided to wait until the morning to put my trash cans to the curb.

The city is living up to its name tonight, 'Valley of the Winds.'

This below is from www.weather.com on my cell phone:

Local Severe Weather Alert for location

High Wind Warning in effect until 3PM PDT WED

... HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM PDT THIS AFTERNOON... * WINDS... INCREASING TO 25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH. * TIMING... WINDS WILL INCREASE THROUGH MID MORNING AND THEN DIMINISH LATE IN THE DAY. * IMPACTS... DANGEROUS CROSS WINDS ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE AREA... MAKING DRIVING CONDITIONS HAZARDOUS FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. GUSTY WINDS MAY ALSO TOPPLE POWER LINES AND TREES. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A HIGH WIND WARNING MEANS A HAZARDOUS HIGH WIND EVENT IS EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF AT LEAST 40 MPH OR GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR MORE CAN LEAD TO PROPERTY DAMAGE. &&

BLOG Parking Only

2011-10-31T01:27:00.000-07:00

I saw this at at Rancho Park and Rec building in Simi and though it was hysterical. I had no clue the meaning of it but had to take a picture.

What is BLOG Parking?

I asked my sister and she didn't know but really wasn't interested. I knew it had to mean something else but could not fathom what it meant.

Just then an elderly gentleman walked by. He had salt and pepper hair, was in his late 60's (guessing) and had a navy blue coveralls outfit on with the park district name on a stitched on white rectangle. I stopped him and asked him what BLOG Parking meant and he just chuckled and shook his head and pointed to the building in front of him

It really is BLDG Parking, not BLOG, Parking. He said it meant Building Parking, as in parking for people going into that building only.

Ah.. the laugh of the day for me!

Lizard In Garbage Disposal

2011-10-31T01:19:00.000-07:00

I have seen tiny lizards all around the yard the last few months. Smaller than I have every seen a lizard before. Most are blue-bellied alligator lizards. I don't know if the large population of them has to do with an increase of insects, mild summer or something else, but I see more each week then I usually do in a whole year.

One day, a few weeks ago, I was taking out the trash and saw a tiny one and decided to catch it. I brought it inside to show the kids and take a picture of, since I was amazed at how cute and small it was.

So, as I am taking these pictures, one handed, I decided to move over the sink, so that if it falls, it will be a shorter fall and it won't fall all the way to the ground.

Well, it doesn't fall, it jumps. Instead of landing in the sink it falls straight down the hole into the garbage disposal.

I can't think of any way, at all to get it out. Daeton comes to help me and shines a flash light down the hole and verifies that he sees it. I'm afraid if either of us reach and try to grab it, we either would squeeze too hard or not be able to pull our fist out.

On top of all of this, we have to leave the house.

I put a butter knife in the sink, diagonally, so it could have a 'ladder' to climb out and we leave.

We get home from football practice a few hours later and I don't see the lizard (I don't bring this fact up to the kids so that they aren't reminded).

I don't know if it is still down there or got out and is anywhere in the house (not safe with the kittens around).

I don't use the sink at all and we go to bed.

The next morning I am doing something in the kitchen and go to wash my hands in the sink and on the OTHER side of the sink (it has two basins) I see the lizard in a saucer. Alive.

WHOOO HOOOO! I grab it, take it outside to one of the planters, and release it!

Thank you, God! I was really worried that the lizard was going to be stuck there until it died from the elements or lack of food.

Vegetables Growing In The Yard

2011-10-31T01:04:00.000-07:00

I have some plants that I planted a few months ago that are doing very well. I planted some vegetables this year that I knew the kids would eat and enjoy. I have had tomatoes growing in the past and they are easy to take care of, little maintenance and grow fast but the kids only like tomatoes if they are in spaghetti sauce, ketchup or mild salsa, so the idea of me planting a large bounty of tomatoes isn't going to be fruitful for them.

This planter has (right to left) birdhouse gourds (I thought it would be neat to grow, dry out and do some art with them), crocked-neck squash, sweet peas, artichoke (this will be huge when full-grown), and another squash-family plant but I can't remember what it is. I think it is pumpkins or watermelon. We have flowers on it but no vegetable at all. On the very left, not really showing, is night-blooming jasmine (it has been in the planter a few years).

I wanted to 'fill' the planter with plants so that it was all green and pretty and have little dirt showing. Once the cold weather hits most of them will die but the artichoke should be fine.

This sink is a project I've wanted to do for a while but been slacking at. I want to get 3-4 bricks and put them around the bottom of the sink. This will make it surdy yet have it where the hole in the middle will drain out. Right now, just setting it down on the ground, I think the water will back up from the dirt below the planter, and the plant or dirt will get soggy. So, after I get the bricks, I will fill it with dirt and put something in it. I think flowers would be pretty but I also heard that this is a great way to plant potatoes so that they are easily harvested.

Small Area Gardening

2011-10-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

I have a relatively decent sized yard but not much in terms of planting vegetables. I have a few long strip-planters that are really meant for flowers. I love flowers but I'm trying to grow more vegetables and have the kids eat healthier (so we can actually eat what we grow). I've also had gardening on the 'chore list' when Daeton has had negative behavior. Not that he really minds gardening, but I think it is also good for both of them.

Last week I sent Kaela outside and she cut 5-6 small crooked-neck squash (some people call it yellow squash) off of the plant and we ate them 1/2 hour later in our dinner. They tasted great and the kids got a kick out of eating something that had just been growing. We have done this with our fruit trees before and have grown tomato plants often but this squash was a first-time for cooked veggies.

This planter that Daeton is planting seeds in is in the front yard and is a raised one. It was built a few years ago when our next-door-neighbor tried to build the wall we share higher and the city said front walls are only allowed to be 6 feet high. He said the only way that it can be allowed is if something like this was put in, since the 6 feet is technically 6 feet from the ground, so this planter makes the ground higher. :-) Either way, it was a free planter for me since the height of the wall didn't bother me but the neighbor did it without asking or talking to me about it and when I wasn't home.

This next one is in the backyard, on the side of the house. It is HARD compact dirt that needs to be dug up and turned over. Daeton went here on his own and planted seeds. I have only a little bit of an idea of what he planted. So, when plants grow I am going to have to guess... bulbs? Broccoli? Cauliflower? Onions? Lettuce? Flowers? ... he had a plastic grocery bag of seed packages and I'm not sure which ones got opened! I guess I can call it my 'surprise garden.'

Creative Crafty Halloween Fun

2011-10-31T00:33:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to get a bit crafty and creative to have some 'pre-Halloween' fun. Meaning the week or month before Halloween and not just the one night of trick-or-treating.

Last week the kids and I carved mini-pumpkins. I got the idea from a picture on Facebook a friend posted. Her picture looked great. It looks like it was from an online magazine or other website since it was a professional picture with great lighting and invisible background. The pumpkins we carved were a far cry from what I saw on her picture, but the kids were happy with them so I will let it be.

They were simple to make and we had fun doing it. We carved a rectangle in the pumpkin. Inserted 'Dracula fangs' and used round thumb tacks for eyes. Daeton also carved a scar on the side of his. I had bought a pack of the fangs for the goodie-bags for Daeton's birthday (24 fangs for $1) and had some left over so the only cost of this project was the pumpkins that were $2 each at the store.

So, we did those last week but I had to throw them away because they were getting too moldy. So, today our friend, Staci, dropped by with 2 of her 3 kids and we all hung out for the day.

I was on Facebook when she dropped by and showed her a cool recipe that I saw someone else post.

Meal IN A Pumpkin I was telling Staci that I could not visualize the end results by reading the recipe (I'm starting to be able to do that the more and more I cook). She thought it would be a soup but I wasn't sure with so much meat and rice. We decided to make it. Staci said she LOVES pumpkin and squash foods and loved this time of year for the pumpkin pie.

Long story- and three stores later (we got Halloween costumes for two of them too) we had all the ingredients. I started browning the meat while Staci took three of the kids and ran to find pumpkins that we couldn't find. She ended up going to two stores to get them.

By the time she was back, the seasoned meat/rice mixture was ready to go in the pumpkins. I cut the top off, as if I was carving a pumpkin, scooped the guts and seeds out and then we scooped the meat/rice mixture inside. She couldn't find a big enough pumpkin ( I told her we needed one to old over 50 ozs of liquid plus the meat and rice) so we used two pumpkins.

While we were doing this the kids carved their pumpkins that Staci also bought at the store.

Our meat mixture on the stove before the extra liquid was added.

Staci scooping it into the pumpkins.

In the middle of all this we had to run out again. We were expected at my dad's for dinner at 6pm. Staci and her kids came. This pic was the sunset outside of his house. I love the sunsets from his house. He is up, on the top of a hill and they are always amazing.

Pumpkins are 'stuffed' and ready to go in the oven. Recipe said 1 hour.

I couldn't fit two cookie sheets inside my oven so I had to fit both on one sheet. It was HEAVY to lift in/out of the oven.

This is one of the other pumpkins. A kid-carved one, while we were prepping the others for the oven.

JJ and his pumpkin. 'His finger is stuck inside its eye.' (((What a ham))).

I pulled them out to check them. The top of them were done but at the bottom, on the inside, the pumpkin was only warm and not hot. The pumpkin was suppose to be so soft on the inside that it could be scooped out and eaten, with the mix. This was after checking 2 other times. In the end it got late, they had to go home and I had to put them back in the oven. I cooked them 2 1/2 hours to get them where I think they should be, with the whole pumpkin being squishy and not stringy on the inside.

It wasn't done until after my kids were already asleep. Staci is dropping by tomorrow, with her kids, so we all can have this for dinner before trick-or-treating in our neighborhood.

eBay Sales, Garage Sale Finds And Things That Don't Sell

2011-10-17T00:44:00.000-07:00

It has been WAY too long since I have had a lot of auctions on eBay. With my son having football games every Saturday it is hard to go garage sale-ing. I am trying to clean, declutter and purge in the garage. Everything is either in a 'next garage sale to get rid of' pile or on one counter-top, the 'list on eBay' pile. The second pile takes up 1/2 of my counter-top. The first pile is a lot more. I have boxes in my garage on the floor, on the other counter-top and my shed almost completely full of garage sale stuff.

I am planning on having my next garage sale on December 24th or 31st. I have had this two years now the first Saturday after Christmas and the garage sale was a HUGE success. This year, since the first Saturday after Christmas is New Years I might do it the day before Christmas instead.

The last two times I did this (I skipped last year since I didn't have anything to sell) I had four friends helping me for the first few hours of the day. It was THAT busy. There were cars up and down the street and over 20 people in my yard at one time. It was an absolute madhouse! Why? Because no one else is crazy enough to have a garage sale on that day. So, regular garage salers, people with nothing to do and saw it in the paper, and people that saw the signs ALL came to my garage sale since no one else, anywhere around, was having a garage sale. I had customers come from over 30 miles away in both directions.

So, where do I get my stuff and what do I do with it?

First I get things and I try to sell them on eBay if they are a decent size to ship and on Craig's List or Cheapcycle (a knock-off groups of Freecycle that is just starting up) if the items are large and too big or heavy to ship.

I get these items from garage sales (I mostly go to nicer cities that have richer residence) or moving sales, since it is a 'everything must go' attitude at them or church rummage sales (since people don't have their own nostalgic feelings on items they are selling so they usually have lower prices. I also sometimes find things at estate sales or thrift stores.

There is two good times to go to a garage sale. The very beginning of the day, when you find the goldmine items before anyone else, but are paying close to their asking price. If you go at the end of the day, especially on a hot day, they are DONE, don't care, just want to sell everything and not pack it up again. They will give you super cheap prices at this time.

Once I have things I search them on 'completed auctions' on eBay to verify they are worth selling and the approximate cost that the item is going for, sold. Sometimes things look like they'd be a great sell but are worth nothing. These items, as well as the items I tried to sell but didn't, all go into my garage sale pile or to the thrift store as a donation.

The items worth selling get photographed and then listed on eBay. Right now here is my current auctions: Debbzs eBay Auctions

I pay $2.50 a month to Auctiva, an outside listing company, for some extra perks in my listings.

I try to only list items that I think will sell for the minimum of $25.00 for it to be worth my time and so that I can make the most of my sales.

With any sale the cost of the listing, how much eBay collects and how much I have to pay to Paypal makes it where anything smaller in sales isn't worth it.

Something like this, a doggie door that fits into a sliding glass door, I will try to sell on Craig's List & Cheapcycle first, since it will be expensive to ship. However, this particular one, is brand new and already boxed to ship. A friend bought it online two years ago and never used it. So it is ready to ship. So, I will try to sell on Craig's list to save the money on postage and eBay fees, but if I can't sell it, I'll post it on eBay.

Embroidery 101?

2011-10-02T22:16:00.000-07:00

I have not done any embroidery since, well, about Jr High. No, I'm not kidding. I remember having a 'Home Economics' class where 1/2 of the class was cooking and 1/2 of the class was learning different ways to sew, embroider, knit, crochet, etc. That was about 27 years ago!

Can you guess how much I still remember, or for that matter, use?

Zero.

My friend, Kim, taught me how to knit (again) about 5 years ago and I can make a scraggly looking scarf. But we never got further than that, and she moved to Ridgecrest so the lessons sorta ended. I keep telling myself that I should start again, but I tried about 2 months ago and I couldn't figure out how to cast-on. I need to see if I can find it on You-Tube!

I also remember, back in Jr High, making small embroidery squares that we would put cotton under, glue to a lid of a Mason jar and then put the ring on top of it to keep it on. I gave one to my Grandma D. (as we called her) when she was still alive with something like candy inside. I can't remember what happen to the other ones.

So, I saw this website, Clover And Violet, on my friend, Janine's blog, and was fascinated with how EASY it looked and some was vaguely familiar.

Should I go buy the supplies and try to relearn? Do I have time? Ugh! I'm not sure. But I would love to be craft again. These would be great for Christmas too AND I can teach the kids to do them. Hmmmm... I'll have to see if I can find some easy patterns and teach myself and then them how to do them!

:-)

Here is sorta what the ones I remember in Jr High looking like, but we put cotton balls under the fabric to make them soft and rounded. Embroidered Jar Lids I did a search on the internet and most were flat. The puffy ones had pre-cut round cotton to put under. I guess what ever is easier will work.

Saturday's visit to the ER

2011-09-30T02:08:00.000-07:00

Well, in my last post I mentioned Kaela being sick so I wasn't surprised when Daeton got it next. However he got it 100 times worse and 4 times as long.

Kaela got sick Thursday morning. She vomited about five times. Was tired most of the day. Tossed around all night long with stomach pains and cramps and had diarrhea once the next morning. The rest of Friday she had a headache but was better.

Daeton got it Saturday morning. He ended up missing his football game that we were all ready to go to.

He woke up tired. Started making dashes for the bathroom about 8am and I gave him anti-diarrhea medicine. Started vomiting about 10am and didn't stop. Their dad came and took Kaela only for his weekend and left Daeton to stay home.

I took Daeton to Urgent Care about 1pm because he was still having it come out both ends. Daeton was throwing up in the dr office trash can for his whole visit and exam but the doctor said to go buy over-the-counter diarrhea medicine and that was it. I told him Daeton needed anti-nausea medicine or he'd be dehydrated and in the ER. The doctor said, 'You might be right but he isn't there yet so I'm not going to prescribe it for you.' (yes I was pissed).

So, about 6:30pm, when Daeton was still sick and racing for the toilet, I got him dressed and took him to Simi Valley Hospital's Emergency Room (ER). We were very fortunate to arrive to the place being almost empty. Before I even signed Daeton in the triage nurse (that checks in patients) had him in a wheelchair and asked me to check him in with the front desk (they get insurance card, verify address, name, dob, etc) while she started on his vitals. From there they put a id bracket on him and took us to a hospital room (still in the ER).

We waited about 10 minutes and the doctor came in, checked on him and I told him that Daeton'd been vomiting and having diarrhea for about 12 hours by this time and that the Urgent Care doctor had done nothing. The ER doctor wrote up orders and about 30 hour later Daeton had an IV drip to hydrate him and they put the anti-nausea medicine in the IV line. They also gave him (in the line also) some pain medicine for the stomach muscle spasms and pain.

When were were at the ER the doctor called Daeton's pediatrician (that was on call, thankfully) and he said he wanted us to do a follow up call with him on Monday, in his office. I really like the kids' pediatrician and wish he had been the one to be there when we went to Urgent Care.

We were there for over 5 hours. They gave him three full IV bags for 'sugar water' to hydrate him. I'm not sure exactly what it is but that is the layman's term for it. He had stopped vomiting immediately after the anti-nausea medicine had been administered but they still have me two to take home (that devolve under the tongue) and a prescription for five more.

That night he slept for from about 1am until 5am and then tossed around until 6am and woke up saying his hands were hurting him. I called the ER nurse and she couldn't think of anything that would cause his hands to be hurting him. He described it as needles stabbing through his hands. I think it was due to the high amount of fluids in his body and that he was feeling a tightness, like water retention, in his fingers. I heated up the 'rice sock' as we call it and gave it to him and he hugged it with both hands and fell back to sleep. About 1/2 hr later, when the rice sock had cooled off, he was tossing again and in pain. I reheated it and he hugged it and went back to sleep.

He woke up about 8am, went to the bathroom and his fingers were okay and he didn't remember them hurting earlier (he must have been too tired and sleepy).

On Sunday he was tired, very sore- especially from vomiting for so many hours, and had a headache but felt better.

On Monday it was MY turn. I did not vomit at all but did race for the bathroom a few times and then had a headache and was VERY tired. I was okay the first 1/2 of the day but napped from 1-2:30. Got up and took the kids to Daeton's pediatrician appointment. Got home and fell back asleep from about 3:30-8pm. I was up on/off in that time for the kids asking questions or talking to me. Kaela made them both dinner of Hot Pockets. I got them to bed about 9pm and went back to sleep until 8:30 the next morning.

And so, on Tuesday we all were healthy but the days of Daeton not taking his ADHD medicine (from when he was sick) caught up to him and he didn't wake up until 10:30 am, was cranky and grumpy all day and then napped from 2-4:15pm.

I made him go to football but to sit on the sidelines and watch the plays the kids were learning but not practice or exercise at all.

and... now I think we are recovered besides the 101 things of 'catch-up' I need to do.

:-)

Just Grandpa & Me

2011-09-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

My dad came over today to bring Daeton some batteries for a RC plane (Air Hogs) he got for his birthday. I didn't want to take him to get any because Kaela was sick last night and throwing up.
So, my dad came, brought the batteries and played catch with the football with Daeton. My sister stopped by to bring Daeton out for a while, for his birthday, and it just my dad and Kaela were here.
She does not get 'just grandpa and me' time as often as Daeton does with my dad so it was neat that the two of them were here.

He asks her if she wants to go catch some lizards in the back yard and she enthusiastically nodded yes. A while later I went to peek on them and what are they doing????

Taking apart the old, rusty swing set. They stacked up the poles and carried them (with my help) into the front yard and we put them at the curb with a FREE sign. The whole thing was gone before morning.

Get Out And Play; Worldwide Day of Play to turn off the TV and play outside

2011-09-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

My family seems to be running around without stopping most of the week. Enrichment classes, school work, errands, field trips, even violin lessons. But I try to make sure we exercise all the time. There is an old saying about if the parents read in a household than so will the children. Well, the same goes for exercise.

The Clorox 2 Play 2 Day pledge is a perfect intensive for my children to do more outdoors. http://clorox2play2day.com,

Right now my son is in football. This year is his first in www.gcyfl.com. He has practice three times a week, for two hours each time (and yes, the white jersey and padded shorts are full of grass and dirt stains after every practice) and one game a week.

I am on an adult kickball team, playing on the Mercury league for WAKA. We have games once a week and practice every Sunday. Both of my kids help out at practices, running for others, fielding the balls, and we even let them go up to bat.

With these two sports taking up five days a week, my daughter isn't in any active sports but does practice gymnastics and running (track starts in February) and goes on 2-4 mile walks a few times a week.

With busy lives we have a hard time fitting in some down time but I try to schedule or 'undschedule' that as well so we have time to go to the park and play on the jungle gyms.

Exercise is important for everyone in the family. Not just for someone overweight, not just for the kids. For everyone. If the parents are healthy they are setting examples for their children.

In honor of the Clorox2® Play 2Day pledge to play outside I am going to try to reduce any multi-media in our house for the next month.

This will be hard, since my kids DO play on too many games. My son has an X-Box, DSi, iPod and laptop. My daughter has the same, minus the X-Box. All of these are a addiction and attraction to them, especially my son. When we are driving, waiting for an appointment, or not told to go out and play, they are both drawn to these games or the television. NONE of which are that great for them besides being a babysitter. I definately notice a correlation between how many hours of multi-media they have had and their attitudes and behavior.

I am going to do a reward chart for hours of exercise, by the 1/2 hr mark with rewards of outdoor toys. A new Frisbee, balls to play catch with and other items that are attractive and fun in the sporting good section of the stores. Maybe a big reward is a tether-ball pole!

I'd love ideas other people have to make exercise fun for the whole family and what they do together.

“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox2® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, ”click here."

Loose Change From The Car

2011-09-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

We went to Coin Star this week with a tote bag of loose change that has been accumulating in my car (and from the car before this one). This money was mostly loose change from fast food purchases or anything else I paid cash for and got change back that was coins.

Quik Bebe, Reed This!

2011-09-19T10:13:00.001-07:00

"Mom, why is this word spelled wrong?"
Anyone have an answer for this?
I explained that sometimes it is a matter of marketing, like Quik Market. It is eye catching and one less letter to put on any and signs. One letter might seem small but I remember it being discussed in a psychology class I had eons ago.
Another reason is to be different, just like Kaela's name. :-)
It isn't easy for kids to learn to read, write and spell in English.

Fishin' on Labor Day

2011-09-05T18:07:00.001-07:00

Okay, it might be cliche but we are fishing on Labor Day. My sister bought worms yesterday and invited us today to go to the local 'Duck Pond' and go fishing.

So far the kids have all caught one fish each. All are 4-6 inches long. The kids are releasing them after my sister removes the hook.