Diana Rambles

Thematic Thursday 20: Memorial Day

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Thanks to everyone who linked up to last week's Thematic Thursday.

The submission with the most views last week was Red Angry Bird Lunch by Creative Food. Very clever!

Another submission that caught my eye was Swiss Cheese Bread Dip by Couponing & Cooking. Looks DELISH!

Week 20 Theme: Memorial Day This week's theme is Memorial Day. Please post the direct link to anything you've created, done, or posted that is related to Memorial Day that you want to share with us.. You can post more than one, but it needs to be your content/from your blog. Older posts are OK! No giveaways please. Grab a Thematic Thursday button if you want and please visit/comment on at other participants! Full guidelines on this meme can be found here. I have decided to put this meme on hold over the summer. I do not blog much and I've not done a very good job of keeping up lately. I will reevaluate when school starts up in the fall.

Find other great memes to participate in at Link Rink!

Hey...

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:08:00 +0000

I haven't felt much like posting lately. I've been dealing with some challenging stuff that I just don't feel like sharing. Parenting is certainly bumpy at times!

Gardening is going fine. We *FINALLY* got some rain last night, but today is cool and overcast. We will be back in the 90s in a few days and my plants will be happy. We might not be as happy with camping in that weather, but it should prove to be a relaxing weekend. I'm going to need to get my oldest to water for me when we are gone. Not sure if he's willing to weed for me. LOL!

Last night a very unusual thing happened to us. Around 11pm someone was ringing our doorbell like crazy. The dog started barking which woke my middle child, but the youngest remained asleep. There was a teenaged girl at the front door asking for help. I thought my oldest might have known her, but he didn't. We were worried that she might have been assaulted so we opened our door. She came in right away and asked us to pray for her because she was drunk & high. She was wet (raining), shivering, and very disoriented. She told us her name and her address. My husband & oldest walked her home around the corner. A few minutes after they left some girls (that I saw earlier) came looking for her. I just talked to them via our bedroom window. They didn't seem strung out at all and apologized for bugging us. I think they were worried they got their friend in trouble. The girl's mother was very surprised by her condition when they got her home. She said something about her dad being out looking for her and that he was going to go off on her when he got home. My hubby said that she's been through enough and the woman agreed that they should deal with it in the morning. I get the impression that this might have been the first time that this girl had done something like this, but I really don't know. I hope that she's OK.

We had a hard time settling down and falling asleep. While we know we did the right thing by helping the girl home, we were glad that it wasn't something fishy with it. Such as her acting to get us to open our door and then people coming in to hurt or rob us or something. I feel like we live in a safe area of a safe community, but crime is up around the nation and it gets you wondering. I want to stress to my boys that it's not OK to open the door to strangers, yet we did open the door for this girl. We were able to have a discussion with them about drinking & drugs. My computer is right by a window in the front of our house. I am going to keep a close eye out on neighborhood happenings. We have a few retirees on our street as well as another at home mom. We all keep an eye out for each other. How would you have handled this? The girl wasn't about to stop ringing the door. In fact, when my hubby & son dropped her home she rang her door incessantly until her mom came to the door.

Thematic Thursday 19: Anything Goes

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 17 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day. There were several great links added last week!

The submission with the most views last week was May Flowers Cupcakes by The Seven Year Cottage. So pretty!

Another submission that caught my eye was 21 Tips, Tricks, and Shortcuts for Moms by Repeat Crafter Me. Brilliant suggestions!!

Week 19 Theme: Anything Goes This week's theme is a anything goes. Please post the direct link to anything you've created, done, or posted that you want to share with us.. You can post more than one, but it needs to be your content/from your blog. Older posts are OK! No giveaways please. Grab a Thematic Thursday button if you want and please visit/comment on at other participants! Full guidelines on this meme can be found here.
Upcoming Schedule: 5/24 Memorial Day

Find other great memes to participate in at Link Rink!

Same boring lunch!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:15:00 +0000

It's nearing the end of the school year and I am getting lazy with lunches. My daughter doesn't seem to mind. Here are this week's lunches. Same stuff...different containers. There is a field trip to the zoo on Friday and she doesn't want a bento because the school is providing sack lunches for all students. Yuck...but she will love whatever it is!

linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Mother's Day Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:31:00 +0000

Yesterday was a very nice day. I got all kinds of sweet cards & pictures from my daughter. My kiddos got me a Yonanas. Have you seen it? It's this cool little kitchen appliance that swishes frozen bananas & fruit into "soft serve ice cream". Basically it's just a smasher because you just use the frozen fruit. You can order them online for $50 + $10 shipping, but save yourself some money and use a 20% off coupon from Bed, Bath, 7 Beyond and pick it up for $40. It's fun & whimsical!

We had our annual Mother's Day picnic & photos in the park. My oldest didn't want to go which had me sad, but my husband asked him to reconsider. I know that a 19 year old doesn't want to hang out with his family much, but I am still trying to get used to the new normal of most times it's just the 4 of us. I treasure these photos & time together in the park. The weather was PERFECT! It always amazes me to see how much the kids have grown. I am around them daily so I don't see the growth, but the photos tell the story!

WOW! My younger son has really spurted!! I can stare at this all day!!!

Hope all you moms had a wonderful Mother's Day!!

Garden & More

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sat, 12 May 2012 20:12:00 +0000

I've spend a lot of time on the garden this week. I have everything planted and put a fence up to keep the rabbits out. Now I just make sure I keep things watered and weeded. I hope to see some sprouts next week. When I was looking up gherkin cucumbers, I came across a video series on You Tube. One of the videos showed squash being grown up on a fence. We are HUGE fans of butternut squash so we might attempt growing them out back.

When my son got home from school yesterday I told him not technology until he did his chores & studied Spanish. A few minutes later I found him atop my van with vocab list in hand! Silly kid!

We are having a very laid back Saturday. My daughter actually requested a bento to eat outside.

5/12: Softy turkey & cheese sandwich, green beans, strawberries, Nerds.
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Thematic Thursday 18: Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 10 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!

The submission with the most views last week was Super Simple Mother's Day Cards by Taming the Goblin. Great craft for Mother's Day and beyond!

Another submission that caught my eye was Treasure Boxes for Our Mamas by Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds. A true treasure for moms!

Week 18 Theme: Mother's Day This week's theme is a continuation of Mother's Day. I realize that since most of the participants in this meme are moms, that we might have few link-ups. But you never know! Please post the direct link to anything you've created, done, or posted that you want to share with us that is related to appreciating teachers. You can post more than one, but it needs to be your content/from your blog. Older posts are OK! No giveaways please. Grab a Thematic Thursday button if you want and please visit/comment on at other participants! Full guidelines on this meme can be found here.
Upcoming Schedule: 5/17 Anything Goes, 5/24 Memorial Day

Find other great memes to participate in at Link Rink!

My Summer Hobby

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:47:00 +0000

I've always wanted to grow a vegetable garden and I am FINALLY getting off my duff and doing it. I've turned to a few friends for advice and jumping in full force. I have a 9'x13' space that faces west right outside my front door. When we moved it it was filled with river rock. In fact, the whole house has a mote of river rock around it. Several years ago I dug out all that rock by hand and filled it in with dirt. I got lots of perennials from a friend of mine and filled it up. Those have become very overgrown over the past few summers and just didn't look so pretty. I think I really lost interest in that space when we returned from Alaska in July 2010 and stuff was about 8 feet high.

To prepare my garden this year, I began removing the perennials as they came up. I hand-tilled and removed the rest. Well, at least I hope I did. I worked the dirt and added some compost. Nothing new has sprouted in about a week, so I think I got most of the perennials out. Today I planted some beet (Red Detroit & Chioggia) seeds and peppers. A friend gave me some tomato plants and those are in place with tomato cages around them. I am trying to keep the cost of my garden down, so I am trying to come up with some creative ways to garden. I plan on making a trellis or getting some kind of stakes tomorrow and then planting some green beans. I will also be adding in Gherkin Cucumbers and some squash.

What I am really excited about is an idea that came to me 2 days ago. I was at a friend's house (the one who gave me the tomato transplants & seeds) and I was admiring her lettuce pallet. She stapled landscape fabric over the back (bottom) of the pallet and then filled it in with dirt. I suggested that the fabric be stapled across the bottom of each row of the pallet. She said go for it and sent me home with a pallet. I already had the landscape fabric, so I got it set up right away. I decided to stand it up against our shed in the backyard. This is what it looked like before we added dirt.

Here is what it looked like today after I planted some spinach and spring mix. I marked the type of seeds I planted with the date on the pallet. I will plant more in a week or 2 so that my harvest is spread out.

I still have a lot to learn about gardening, but I am happy with my start and the progress I've made this week. I even got some areas in front of the house weeded today and will be adding some nutrients around some plants out there.
I link to creative memes listed here.

Catch-Up & Ramble

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:21:00 +0000

I was around this weekend, but didn't take the time out to blog. I am guessing no one missed my app of the week review.

Friday was my daughter's turn for snack at school. We searched the internet for some ideas on hands-on snack and came across fruit pizza. We decided to individualize it and make pizza cookies. I got cheap-y oatmeal cookies aka crust, icing that I added red food coloring to (it turned out more pink than red) aka tomato sauce, coconut aka cheese, and M&Ms aka toppings. I spread the sauce on the crust and put it on a little paper plate with the cheese & toppings on the side. The kids had a great time creating their pizzas and everyone wanted me to take a photo of their creation. I didn't think the kids would eat the coconut, but they all put on the cheese and gobbled it up!

We went to a few garage sales this weekend. We picked up a few odds & ends for our trailer. I spent about $5 total, but got 2 items that don't work. WHY DO PEOPLE SELL BROKEN CRAP? I only paid a quarter for an alarm clock for my daughter, but it doesn't keep proper time! I also got a coffee grinder for a buck that doesn't work at all. What gives people? You're so desperate for a little change that you sell crap?! The people selling this lived in nice neighborhoods!! Take a moment and test our your junk before you try selling it. Then disclose that information!!

I've really slowed down with making bentos. My daughter is having school lunch (pizza) on Friday. The rest of the time the lunches I make are boring. My daughter made her own sandwich this morning. What she calls a softy meat & cheese.

5/7: Softy Sandwich- meat & cheese sandwich, strawberries, carrots.
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Thematic Thursday 17: Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Teacher Appreciation Week didn't go to well. I don't think it's because people don't appreciate teachers, it just wasn't a theme.

We did get one great submission of Easy Bath Salts by Suburban Prairie Homemaker. I think it's a wonderful teacher gift and my daughter will enjoy helping me make it for her teacher!

Week 17 Theme: Mother's Day This week's theme is Mother's Day. I realize that since most of the participants in this meme are moms, that we might have few link-ups. But you never know! Please post the direct link to anything you've created, done, or posted that you want to share with us that is related to appreciating teachers. You can post more than one, but it needs to be your content/from your blog. Older posts are OK! No giveaways please. Grab a Thematic Thursday button if you want and please visit/comment on at other participants! Full guidelines on this meme can be found here.
Upcoming Schedule: 5/10 Mother's Day, 5/17 Anything Goes, 5/24 Memorial Day

Find other great memes to participate in at Link Rink!

May Day Bento

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:49:00 +0000

5/1: May Day- PB flower bites w/ food pick stems, peas (grass) and strawberries
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Weekend Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:49:00 +0000

We had a very eventful 3-day weekend. The kids were out of school on Friday and DH took the day off. We went down to Champaign and participated in the Illinois Marathon 5K on Friday evening. It was pretty chilly at the start, but we warmed up quickly and had a great time. I love this family picture! A new favorite.

I am still getting used to the new norm for our family...which is doing things as a family of 4. The oldest (college-aged) is just not interested in being with us much. It's his age, so we don't take it personally...but it does still feel like something is missing. He did venture out to the sidelines of the 5K (which weaved through campus) with friends but he totally missed us. I was happy to finish in under 1 hour. My son did a GREAT job and we will be encouraging him to do cross-country at school next year.

After the race, we headed out camping. Here we are set up!

You can see our friend's trailer behind us. Since it was so cold, there were not many people out at the campground. We spent a lot of time around the fire and in our friend's trailer playing canasta. I was the big loser in our singles & doubles matches. It is always fun to camp with friends!! It was down in the low-40s at night, so we ran our furnace. My daughter & I were snuggled under a down comforter and the guys were in sleeping bags with an extra blanket and everyone stayed warm. It was fun to get away and relax! We took our dog with us and he did great! Our next outing is Memorial Day weekend and we don't think he will fair as well. He does tend to bark when trucks & animals go by and there will be a lot of those for the big holiday weekend. The oldest will be home, so we might just leave the dog home.

Today's bento was inspired by our weekend of camping. It's my attempt of creating a pop-up trailer.

4/30: Pop-up Trailer- PB sandwich trailer shell, PB tortilla canvas, tortilla wheels & food pick hitch, toothpick supports, chow mien noodle ground, peas, strawberries
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

App of the Week: eBay

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:06:00 +0000

If you have a smart phone and you like to use eBay, then I highly recommend the eBay app!

It works just like using eBay on your computer. I was able to win a Tangled t-shirt for my daughter after getting outbid on all others. I got a notification just before the auction ended and I was able to quickly bid and win before time ran out. I was sitting waiting to be served some food the other day and I was able to purchase the first 2 items shown above. Paying with PayPal was quick and easy too! I haven't used the seller's part of this app, but I give 5 stars to the parts I have used!

Thematic Thursday 16: Teacher Appreciation

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up and I need some ideas of what we can make for my daughter's teacher! First, lets look at last week's submissions.

The submission with the most clicks this week was Monster Party by Repeat Crafter Me.

Another great submission was the bunting with letters tutorial from het groene kamertje.

Week 16 Theme: Teacher Appreciation Gifts This week's theme is Teacher Appreciation. Please post the direct link to anything you've created, done, or posted that you want to share with us that is related to appreciating teachers. You can post more than one, but it needs to be your content/from your blog. Older posts are OK! No giveaways please. Grab a Thematic Thursday button if you want and please visit/comment on at least 2-3 other participants! Full guidelines on this meme can be found here.
Upcoming Schedule: 5/3 & 5/10 Mother's Day

Find other great memes to participate in at Link Rink!

Food, food, food!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:03:00 +0000

It's that super crazy busy time of the year where I am so busy that I barely keep my head above water. My daughter is getting the same boring lunch everyday. She doesn't mind because she loves these rolls! I seem to drop into bed exhausted each night and I still feel like I have a TON to do. We are planning on going camping this weekend, but the forecast is for mid 40s and rain. UGH! Not sure if we will go or not. We are anxious to use the pop-up!

Boring Bentos: Hawaiian King Roll with peanut butter, veggie, strawberries. So boring that I missed a photo!

My hubby tried something new for dinner tonight. He crushed pork rinds and mixed them with a beated egg to bread some talapia. Then he fried it in a skillet with a little oil. I was so reluctant to try it. The thought of pork rinds had me gagging, but I have to tell you that it was quite YUMMY!!! I love the crispness!

linked to the following bento meme: What's For Lunch

App of the Week: Draw Something

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 17:00:00 +0000

I have been a fan of Draw Something ever since I got my iPhone, but the updates this week really have me excited!

Draw Something is basically Pictionary. You play head to head with each person getting a chance to guess the other person's drawing. You are provided letter choices, so it's not super hard. You earn coins as you play and you can turn those coins in for more colors to draw with and more bombs to delete letter choices.

The update this week now allows for a message to be attached to your drawing. I took a screenshot of my comment that I sent to a friend. I love how it makes a little talk bubble.

I give this app 5 stars!! If you wanna play against me, my user name is Diana.Drew.Something

Birthday Bento

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Yesterday, my daughter made her bento and wrote Mom with a Happy Birthday pick. It was her first time using the edible marker, so it's a little hard to read.

4/19: Happy Birthday Mom- turkey & cheese sandwich, strawberries, carrots & dip
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Thematic Thursday 15: Birthdays

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

The reason why this week's theme is Birthdays is because today is my birthday! And when someone says it's their birthday, I can't help wanting to sing this clip from the movie 16 Candles.

The submission with the most clicks this week was Hello Kitty Bento 1 by Me (Diana Rambles).

I just love the cinnamon kitty & HK hard boiled egg in the Hello Kitty Bento from Food, Family, Fun.

Week 14 Theme: Birthdays This week's theme is Birthdays. Please post the direct link to anything you've created, done, or posted that you want to share with us that is related to birthdays. You can post more than one, but it needs to be your content/from your blog. Older posts are OK! No giveaways please. Grab a Thematic Thursday button if you want and please visit/comment on at least 2-3 other participants! Full guidelines on this meme can be found here.
Upcoming Schedule: 4/26 Teacher Appreciation, 5/3 Mother's Day

Find other great memes to participate in at Link Rink!

Bagel Face Bento

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:40:00 +0000

4/18: Bagel Face- 1/2 bagel w/ strawberry preserves & cream cheese, cauliflower nose, strawberry eyes, chow mein noodle hair
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Spring Bento

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 14:15:00 +0000

4/17: Spring- PB Butterflies, strawberry flowers, Nerd flowers on grass baran, & pickle (in baggie)
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Hey!

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:56:00 +0000

The weekend seemed to fly by. I was SOOO angry yesterday when I realized that my son missed play practice on Saturday. Sure, he's old enough to remember these things...but as the mom...it's kind of my job to keep the family calendar. We are usually pretty good about remember things! I just linked his calendar to my phone, so hopefully we won't miss a commitment again!

4/16: No Theme- PB&J sandwich, pickle, strawberries, chow mein noodles, jelly beans
linked to the following bento memes: What's For Lunch

App of the Week: GasBuddy

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 21:34:00 +0000

I seem to be too busy or just skip blogging on weekends. I am sure I have TONS to ramble about, but I thought I'd start a more useful feature here at DianaRambles.com. I'm calling it App of the Week. Each weekend I will review on of my favorite (or maybe not so favorite) apps that I use on my Iphone.

On Tuesday morning (as I was finishing up my grocery shopping) my gas light came on. It was a COLD morning and I wasn't dressed warm enough so I decided to put it off. On Wednesday morning I headed to Sams right after I dropped my daughter off. When I pulled in, I noticed that their gas was actually a few cents higher than other area stations. Begrudgingly, I filled up (23.8 gallons) and was off to finish errands. When I told DH about it that afternoon he said there has to be a gas app out there. We found & quickly downloaded the GasBuddy.com app. I have to say I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!

You create a profile and gain points by entering gas prices. Your points can be redeemed for entries in their gas giveaway. I've only had it a few days, but I love entering price changes. I paid $3.78 on Wednesday and today it was down to $3.66. I might have not gotten gas at the cheapest place on Wednesday, but I will from now on. My only problem is that I have to wait til I get to my destination to enter the prices, although I've taught my son how to update prices! LOL!! I give it 5 stars!!

Thematic Thursday 14: Hello Kitty

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:00:00 +0000

I want to thank everyone who linked up over the past two weeks in the Easter Thematic Thursday. So many great submissions!

We had 2 submissions with the most clicks this past week. First was Sock Bunny for Charity by Suburban Prairie Homemaker. What a great project and cause!

The other was Chocolate Easter Nests from Taming the Goblin. Yummy!

Week 14 Theme: Hello Kitty This week's theme is Hello Kitty. Please post the direct link to anything you've created, done, or posted that you want to share with us that is related to Hello Kitty. I did this theme on my Bento Blog Network site and it got the attention of Sanrio, which posted links on their blog. You can post more than one, but it needs to be your content/from your blog. Older posts are OK! No giveaways please. Grab a Thematic Thursday button if you want and please visit/comment on at least 2-3 other participants! Full guidelines on this meme can be found here.
Upcoming Schedule: 4/19 Birthdays, 4/26 Teacher Appreciation, 5/3 Mother's Day

Find other great memes to participate in at Link Rink!

2 Boring Lunches

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:20:00 +0000

I just don't care if the lunch is fab or not! LOL! I'll get back on the fun bandwagon soon, but for now it's more leftovers!

4/10: Boring 1: PB on dinner roll, peas, pineapple, chow noodles

4/11: Boring 2: PB on dinner roll, peas, pineapple, chow noodles, strawberry yogurt raisins
linked to the following bento memes: Bento of the Week, What's For Lunch

Easter Cascarones

noreply@blogger.com (Diana - FreeStyleMama) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 00:54:00 +0000

I've posted about these before, but I thought I'd share detailed instructions on how to make them.

Some of our friends invite everyone over on Easter afternoon for a dessert potluck and egg hunt. This is a different type of egg hunt. We make & hide cascarones, which we smash on each other as we find them. Our friends who host have kids in college, but everyone still loves to participate! A cascarone is an egg that is filled with bird seed.

Step 1: Save empty egg shells. We usually start a few months early. We carefully chip the end off the egg so that the shells can be filled.

Step 2: Decorate the egg shells. We like to write on the eggs with Sharpie (things like Smash on Parker), and then we dye them.

Step 3: Fill the eggs. We use bird seed. People will use rice or confetti, but we like to make sure it's safe for all outside critters.

Step 4: Seal the ends. We use tissue paper applied with watered down glue to cover the ends.

Step 5: Let the ends dry. I set mine out in the garage overnight.

Here is the finished product!!

Final Step: Hide, find, & smash. **awaiting photos from my friends to add**
I link to creative memes listed here.