Life Lessons with 4 Peas

Team Color Beanie's

2011-01-24T12:36:00.003-07:00

Remember the post where I mentioned all the newsboy caps I've been crocheting? See here if you missed it.
I've been doing a ton of them. They're easy, I can do it while watching TV with the hubs, or at bboys with Hurricane or....well the point is, I can take em anywhere! So one day while visiting my parents, I went on a covert op...Papa Pirate's bday was coming up, and Papa's and Memah's are hard people to buy for. So I thought I'd make him a newsboy cap. I sneakily had DH give his Huskers hat to daddy-o and then proceeded to interrogate him to see if he liked it haha. What I found out...or sensed I found out was that he liked the warmth but wasn't too keen on the brim part so...a beanie was born. We're Fins fans to the death, yes they've never shown us a superbowl, but I'm an underdog kinda girl...apparently Papa Pirate is too, cuz well, we like the Dolphins always and forever. So I took the Fins colors and came up with this....

What do you do when your model is not cooperating cuz he wants to watch Rudy? It's an adult hat, but my DH was NOT gonna be caught DEAD in those colors...he's a Steeler fan through and through. I call him fairweather but hey....where was I again?

oh yeah,You take the hat off and place it on the boring table and get the shot...whatever.

Anyway...here's the pattern... my disclaimer is this...

I'm new to crochet. This is my first shot at pattern writing, I'm in NO way a pro, so be kind :) Last thing I ask is that you link back to me in anything you may publish...spread the love, give credit where credit is due. Thanks friends!

Here we go...

I used a size K needle and bulky yarn (ideally)

I had to get creative on this hat, cuz the aqua and orange only came in really thin yarn...like baby yarn (worsted weight) so I used three strands of that as one string and it gave me the bulk I needed to match up to the bulky weight of the white yarn. Hope that opens up your options on color!

Round 1: Chain 3...Slip Stitch (SS) to join in a loop.

Round 2: DC 9x in loop join with a SS. (you should have 9 stitches here)

Rnd 3: Chain 2, do 2 DC in Each Stitch (18), SS to join.

Rnd 4: Chain 2, DC in next stitch, 2 DC in following stitch. Follow pattern around, 2DC every other stitch. SS to join (18)

Rnd 5: Chain 2, DC in next two stitches, 2DC in third stitch. Follow pattern around, 2DC in every third Stitch. SS to join (27)

Rnd 6: Chain 2, DC in next three stitches, 2DC in fourth stitch. Follow pattern around, 2DC in every fourth stitch. SS to join (36)

Rnd 7: Chain 2, DC in next four stitches, 2DC in fifth stitch, follow pattern around, 2DC every 5th stitch. SS to join. (45)

Rnd 8: Chain 2, DC 22 stitches, 2DC in 23rd stitch. DC next stitches to your last one in the round, 2DC in last stitch of the round, SS to join (47) Tie off and weave

Rnd 9: Chain 1 with new color. (Mine was Orange) Now we're gonna Half Double Crochet this round (HDC) if you don't know what that is, click here for a utube tutorial. So HDC the round, SS to join. Tie off and weave the ends. (47)

Rnd 10: Chain 1 with a third color (here mine's white). SC the round. SS to join, tie off and weave. (47)

Rnd 11: Chain 1 in your second color (Remember mine was Orange) HDC the round, SS to join, tie off and weave.

Rnd 12: Chain 1 in your original color, SC the round SS to join tie off and weave.

That's it your done!

Why tie off and weave so many times you ask? Well, this is the "cleanest" way to change the colors. I've left them attached before but then my colors get skewompus at the change of colors. I'll show you what I mean...

See where the smaller white stitch is? That's where I am changing colors. See how seamless that is? In the past, I would have had orange stitches in the white row and white stitches in the orange row! If someone knows a better way to do this...easier than tying off each change, I'm open to suggestion! Like I said, I'm new at this!

Anyway, that's my daddy-o's Team colors beanie! Hope you enjoy! And if you make it, I'd love for you to comment pics to this post! Love to see whatcha got!

I'm a linkin fool! Today I linked up to....

Sumo's Sweet Stuff...Market yourself Mondays
Ninth Street Notions
Keeping it Simple
Tootsie Wootsie
Making the World Cuter

Artisan Truffles

2011-01-22T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all my three followers!
If your close enough to me, in the past few years you have been privy enough to receive my yummy chocolate truffles at Christmas time.
I'm VERY proud of these! a) cuz it took me about three years to dial into the "right" recipe. b) they are super yummy, and c) I've gotten VERY good feed back!
So for all these reasons, I've decided to give it a go and list them for Valentines Day!!
To tempt your tastebuds, follow me...

Mmmmmm. yummm.....Amaretto Goodness

ohhhhh. Are you serious? Is that your tummy growling?

No way?? Did you just salivate on your keyboard?

Thats a few I have to offer!

Check out my listing...

etsy

ksl

Easy Peasy Headband

2011-01-20T21:12:00.002-07:00

I LOVE those headwraps. Thats why I learned to crochet. The funny part about that is... I have yet to make one!!! I've been soooooooo busy with newsboy caps....
I made em for the kids...

Then for Hurricanes BBoys....

Then for cheap homemade Christmas Presents...

Ooops couldn't find that pic arghhhhh

Anyway, I'm just about hatted out. But I'm not good at just sitting somewhere...I'm a great multi-tasker. Take now for instance, I'm watching Glee, waiting on the dipes to dry, and blogging :) Well, when we were out in California, my multitasking options were limited. So I pulled out my crochet. Hmmmm I thought, I could attempt to make one of those headbands but um, a) my hair is now short, b) I've made it through half the winter without one, and c) I couldn't find a pattern... hee hee. I closed my eyes and thought...if I were a long piece of yarn, just waiting to take shape, what would I want to shape into? Something pretty, frilly, fun, useful...something that still goes on the head, but not as bulky as the wrap...

ta-daaaaaaa

This was perfect! It was SUPER DUPER EASY, and I love that it's kind of intricate and mythical princess-y. Wanna see another pic?

There we go from a little more head on approach. I'm a dork.

And a new angle, same freakshow look on my face.

and another take...this is my ode to Napoleon Dynamite...the part where Uncle Rico is getting pics for his business card...oh yeah. That one! Tell me you aren't quoting a little ND now!!!

I know what your thinking right now....gawrsh mama, you're so talented! How ever did you come up with this? I didn't. I copied. Here's the link to my pattern. Hope I inspired you to pull out the yarn and needles!

I linked up to:

Look ma...

2011-01-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

Just a quicky...
My lil man. Just thinking about him brings a smile to my face. I speak in a softer voice and my eyes well up with tears when I speak about that little boy. He has me WRAPPED TIGHT around that little 7 month old pinky. I know. I admit it. He's my favorite Ocean...not my favorite SON (DH!!) anyway. My little baby is growing up. As much as I don't want him to, he has braisenly proven this to me in two ways this week... well three, but one he didn't do I did.
1) He was moved to his very own room (I need to blog pics cuz I'm really proud of his room)
2) He slept through the night.
3) this....sniff sniff...

Next thing I know he'll be suitin up for homecoming game sniff sniff wahhhhhhhh!!!!

Sonoma Surprise

2011-01-07T09:06:00.000-07:00

Christmas was good to us.
Ya know as you get older, your Christmas wish list diminishes in proportion with your Christmas Gift list growing. I like to think it's because I'm maturing and learning the true meaning of Christmas is giving not getting hee hee. That said, the best gifts given are the truly unexpected completely thoughtful gifts.

We went to Cali for Christmas, to visit the inlaws... On Christmas morning, we were presented with a seemingly benign piece of paper entitling us to one night away from the kiddos AND dinner to boot!!! Thursday morning, we kissed the children and patted them on their little heads then took off before my inlaws rethought their gift :) The first forty-five minutes of our drive I don't think we said a word. I think we were just drinking in the silence, and maybe secretly waiting for the phone call saying, PSYCH! We need you back here! Imagine our mild surprise when we pulled off to our hotel in Sonoma...with no calls :)
First stop was our hotel; Doubletree, compliments of DH's travels; we left ten minutes later loaded with maps, and lots and lots of buy one get one coupons. (I'd highly recommend this tactic). Then headed out to get in what we could before they closed cuz ahem, we didn't take into accord winter hours and we blew into town at like three.
Down the 101, to 16 over to wine mecca. We drive through this little town square, through what seemed to be a neighborhood and just as DH and I were thinking Penny (GPS) had screwed us, we run smack dab into Sebastiani.

After a lil wine tasting, some picture taking, a few of my favorite things...we headed on down the road (literally) to our next venture.
By this time it's like four, we are RACING against the clock. So we had to make a choice where to go where to go?
We ended up here...
Ravenswood
This place was FUH-REAK-UN AWESOME! I felt like we were guests arriving in a friends home. Not only did they walk us gently through our flight, they gave us tips along the way. Then, as they were cleaning up (cuz by this time they were closed) all the tasting room dudes poured a glass. HOW cool is that? We chit chatted with em, bought a few bottles, and walked out wishing we didnt have to! They were that cool!

One of the entry doors, you cant really tell, but the windows have their emblem etched into it, which is three ravens holding each others claws. It's really cool!

I'm experimenting with my photo taking these days, I ended up with this pic at Ravenswood. I know it doesn't say anything about the winery, but isn't it cool?
We ended up in the parking lot a little buzzed, newest members of a wine club and two bottles heavier!
Day one of our impromptu trip was a success!
The next morning, we didn't have much time but I still wanted to get up to a few wineries...and more pics hee hee!
Alot of people had talked about Ledson. Then the pics in the visitors guide really intrigued me. So that was first on our agenda. We pulled up and DH was convinced we were trying to enter someones house.
It looked like a castle... really

There's no creativity in this pic, but you can see that it looks castle like. I have to admit, DH had me second guessing myself, maybe we were about to enter on some unassuming family eating their breakfast. We tread lightly up the steps and almost tiptoed inside just in case we needed to make a quick get away. But we were greeted quickly and ushered into the tasting room. Nevermind it was all of 1030...bring on the wine! And the grounds....

To me this picture captures the epitome of the romance of a vinyard anyway. The rows of grapes, the italian villa in the background. This was my favorite part of Ledson, rather than the the grandeur of the castle house, and to be honest, this was my least favorite vineyard. They were kinda hoity toity. I took a few more pics, and we headed down the road.
Kunde...we didn't spend much time didn't even do a tasting here, but got some cool pics. This one would be a great place for a picnic.

I have grand plans for this pic.

Isnt this cool????

In looking through the guide, there was a winery and olive press that really piqued my interest, so that was the last stop on our tour, and a great way to end our tour too.

Jacuzzi Family Vineyard...where to start. The main house is modeled after the familys villa in Italy, so I appreciated that. Second they have an olive oil tasting room AND a wine tasting room. Plus they have other stuff you could make a small lunch out of, and plethora of picnic options!

We started in the olive oil area... amongst the choices, new evoo, (smooth clean crisp, highly recommended) Blood Orange OO was a good choice. Then of course Basil Parmesan and Roasted Garlic and Rosemary are both good savory choices. Mmmmm yummy! Onto the other tasting room....

First off, we had the best tasting expert (IDK what the real term for these diamonds in the rough are, but I thought my title was appropriate...albeit made up) anyway, she was FANTABULOUS! She walked us through our flight, taught us alot...cuz we're still novices...aint no shame in it! She was patient with our questions and just fun to be with! I would have invited her to dinner she was so cool! (and a breath of fresh air after our Ledson experience) now for the encore...this little beaut in a chocolate cup...

this is a late harvest Aleatico if you are into sweet wines, this is DIVINE! And the label is cool! We saved the bottle, I thought it would be cool to add a little stopper to it and fill it with olive oil... I just love the bottle!

Oh it was good!!! I'm thinking I'll join this wine club too!

And the grounds...they were beautiful! Here are a few pics I have plans for...

Cool Right??

What a great way to end our tasting!

We bid farewell to Sonoma and headed back to reality...much refreshed and a little buzzed...well I was anyway. IF you're planning a trip, I'd recommend checking with your hotel, getting a visitors guide, and some BOGO's then finding a little place to have coffee or lunch and map out your trip. For us, it think the better way to do it was to head north of our hotel, then loop south. We it passed most of them on the main little highway. Also, if you get down there, you go through a little town before you hit Jacuzzi (so town north of) there are some great photo ops on the windy road through the town! SO take it slow and stop if you see something cuz I missed this awesome staircase that I am still kicking myself about!!!!

Tune in next time, I had some crafty things I did, and haven't posted yet. I'll get em up, but wanted to share somethin a little different!

My First Distressing Project

2010-12-27T17:23:00.004-07:00

I love the change of seasons.
It's winter. Cold, Wet, Snowy. I'm stuck in the house alot more. I think this is by design, cuz I don't know that any of my indoor projects would get done I weren't forced to look at them day in and day out. My poor hubby's Honey DO list doubled, tripled in the month we went from playing outside to being inside all day!
What I've learned is, with DH working so much, I have two choices...lower my standards, OR learn to do it myself. Gee I wonder what I'll choose :)
A while ago, I had seen these beautiful end tables, and they were like, well, Martha Stewart expensive, and lets face it, I'm Martha Stewart taste, Marge Simpson budget. Not to mention, my inner artist said you can make those. What did I do? What I normally do, took a picture for reference and went to work...
First stop, KSL. Was able to unload an UGGGGLLLYYY set of (well made) tables off a starving college student for about 20 bucks. Then off to Home Depot I went. A little black paint, and one of those sample size bottles of this great light robins egg blue color.
I cleaned off the tables, a light sand and we were ready. I rolled the black paint on first. Then the real work started. I've never distressed before, so it was really a work of experimental proportions. I started by dry brushing the blue on a door...which was my test piece. In hind sight not the best idea for a test piece but, well now I know. Dry brush wasnt achieving my desired effect, so then I brushed it off with cheese cloth. Still not the look I was going for. Then in looking for inspiration in my paint bucket my eyes brushed past a gallon of glaze. "Hmm" I thought..."can always repaint it and start over right?" off I went. I mixed the glaze n the blue paint half and half. And I came up with this

The door on my left was my test door hee hee. I like the mismatch of the paint, I did it on purpose. I think it adds to the mod podge of the paint. So there :)
Then I thought ok, I want a little more black to pop through. So I did 3/4 glaze, 1/4 paint and voila, the rest of the table was born. To add just a bit more to it, I did a dry brush on the whole table.

Distressed enough?

In case your worndering, I painted the inside too.

Then, remember how I said I liked the mod podge look of the mismatched doors? I thought it would tie This in...

I found these beaded beauties at Hob Lob, but knew DH would NOT want them on HIS table, so he got the ahem (boring) normal pulls.

See? Mismatched, so dont you think that just pulls it together?

Project one tackled for $25...Whats next?

I joined a linky linky!!!

Christmas Day

2010-12-25T23:38:00.001-07:00

I would venture to guess that today is one of the most blogged days. Personally I'm proud of myself...I stayed mostly disconnected today. But then the kids went to bed and I thought, I better join the ranks and post my own blog for the day! So here goes.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I think as a present to all of you three that look, I will spare you my antics with words, and just post the pics...

Ocean eating his book

DH's GQ pose...with the liquor

I much prefer this pose

No I didn't put the kids in jail, just thought about it...

Ocean and Papa

This is just a great pic of Rain.

Mmmmm Cookies for breakfast, it MUST be Christmas.

I don't know exactly what this face is but ok...

Ohhhhh look it's the girl behind the camera!

My cute lil fam.

Happy Christmas to all of you. May next year bring you many laughs, few tears, and great memories.

Love,

Ash

2010-12-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

It’s been a couple days no?? And I was on such a role.

Til DH got home. That tends to happen.

Anyway, we’ve been BUSY. Tis the season right? Season to shop, season to cook, to eat, to party, but most of all to spend time with family. A couple of years ago, we got a “gift” in the form of a company transfer out of state, away from family. Some of you are saying what kind of gift is that, that’s hell, others are saying wish that would happen to me, I need a good excuse to move away. It was a gift because we really got to cement our little family and become a separate entity from our big families we came from. We got to create some memories, and start some traditions that otherwise would not have been created. I highly recommend moving away from your family for a bit. . Ok, on to why I told you that anyway.

A couple years ago, what began as an innocent little family activity quickly got a dose of my and DH’s competitive edge and became the great Gingerbread Faceoff. We posted pics on FaceBook, and had our friends vote on the best house. That was three years ago.

We’ve gotten bigger and better and smarter....and more COMPETITIVE!

The parameters were:

Houses and frosting provided

$10 max on decorations

We have to finish at the same time

No disclosing the teams til afterwards...

We took the kids to the Dollar Store(told you I love that place) and had a hay day...then came home and got to work.

For the record, royal icing is the best for this, and we doubled the sugar, but left the eggs per the recipe. Then beat it til the frosting is stiff. This has taken three years of RnD by the way.

So welcome welcome, come on in, grab a cuppa java, and a seat. Get comfy and enjoy!

This is Nightmare Before Christmas...we had this ingenious idea to theme the house. Wonder whose house this one was...

This one reminds me of a little cabin fit for Jos Jos...

Surprise surprise on this one!

Well if Rain is that one...guess who this one is hee hee.

Where are the other Forces you ask? Tornado was the team saboteur for each team, he just ate all the candy. Ocean cheered from the sidelines...swing that is.

But after we posted pics to FB, I go back in the kitchen to find this...

"DH" I yell disgustedly...nope that would be Rain...guess Tornado wasn't the only saboteur!

After the votes came in, and it was a close one, Swedish Fish Cabin won...DOH! That makes three years in a row DH won. I'm currently accepting applications for my creative team for next year :)

See my FB for more pics!

Thanks and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Day Eight...The Nutcracker Suite, BBoys Style

2010-12-16T22:01:00.002-07:00

Hurricane, my lil golfin fool stopped short in front of a gargantuan screen tv at Best Buy last summer. I mean I almost ran over him he stopped so fast and hard. My first thought was, his FATHER has put him up to this...no WAY I'm putting this monstrosity in my house ANYWHERE. I quickly learned that he stopped not because of the TV but what was on it...good ol MJ's This is It DVD. He. was. mesmerized.
DH and I took the opportunity to let him know about the legend he'd never get to experience. But the seed was planted. He started dancing everywhere. One day I pulled up breakdance on you tube, and then I created a monster cuz he just wanted to watch. Most kids would grow bored, not Hurricane man, he kept askin for more, THEN he started watching and REPEATING.
I got him into bboys in October.
Saturday, he had his first performance...I posted it on UTube... don't mind my editing...I a)didn't think you wanted to lay your head down to watch cuz I recorded it long ways I guess, and b) thought you might bore before the best part, his freestyle. oh and c) have never used iMovie before, as is blatantly obvious in this vid...
Ok there's my disclaimer, here's my link....

The lil dude with the mad moves is mine...yup I'm a proud mama!

Aren't little kids the best, you can hear me laughin my butt off cuz they just not gettn it but that's the best part isn't it?
Hope that gave you a little holiday cheer!

Day Seven...Earrings to Match

2010-12-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

I'm working on a theme...something along the lines of Sales Rack Saturday...no I never really shop on Saturdays, but by the time I get to it to personalize it, it's usually Saturday!
Ok, so remember my dress from yesterday, I went to bed feeling like it just. wasn't. done. Til I had an ingenious idea...so look for that one to pop up in the next little bit. I know I said I'd get tut's up for the rosettes and the satin flowers, I will I will. But in the mean time, I wanted to give you another idea...
I'm a silver girl. Maybe it's the age, maybe its what I grew up with, I just couldn't tell ya. But I definitely choose silver over gold most days. Problem is, either I'm in the majority in my preference, or gold is making a comeback in a big way. Whatever the case is, I've been hitting a yellow toned wall when it comes to jewelry shopping lately. I am loving the big HUGE chandelier earrings that are about half as big as your head. Their gaudy, and intricate, and all the girls on Jerseylicious wear them so they've gotta be cool right? Not to mention, with my short hair these days, I can really show those babies off!
I've been looking....
and looking.... and
LOOKING! They're all freakin gold!
So I broke down...

Look how pretty...see what I mean about intricate? Ornate? BUT GOLD!!!
Then I had an epiphany, I paint everything else why stop at jewelry.
Spray paint oh spray paint wherefore are thou spraypaint?
You got it....

Wow, spraypaint finally gives these gems their due respect hee hee. Then, because I'm me, I lightly sprayed adhesive and then added turquoise glitter. Then I broke out my jewelry glue and some cutesy jewels I found in my scrapbooking box. Glued the "jewels" to the middle of each circle and....

Voila~

Instant appeal to all my silver lovin comrades!

Just remember...spraypaint...discover the possibility :)

See ya tomorrow!

Day SIx!!! Party Dress Glamified

2010-12-14T23:56:00.001-07:00

Awww I'm so proud of myself!
Ok. Remember yesterday I mentioned that I had a Christmas Party to go to today, and I was battling the age old "I have nothing to wear" fight? K let me amend that to, I have nothing to wear with these fab boots I got from JUST FAB. Sure, feed the addiction right?

I was at my favorite upscale french boutique... Jaque Penet (Penney's) and happened upon this little dress on the 70 off rack.

Cute right? It was the color I wanted, but it was pretty boring. Some would accessorize with a scarf but not me....
I thought why not try my hand at those little rosettes I LOVE!!! So...

These....became....

These...

And because it's not totally an Ashleigh creation with out a little bling...

We got this! With my bling in the middle.

Maybe I should apologize for these pics...all taken on my iPhone.

If I were cool, I'd retake some on my D60 but it's 11:46 PM and Ocean is in his bed crying so...

Ok onward...I laid em out on the top and they were ok...but really wanted something on the bottom...

So took half from the top and placed them on the bottom portion opposite side. Still needed something.

Yeah those work. If you haven't made these. EASY PEASY! Tut to come! Ahem notice the bling hee hee!

K Place, replace place n pin.

Yup, I got what I was looking for, so out came the needle and thread. I debated for a split second putting them on alligator clips for easy removal but decided that may be on the wee bit tacky side and just sewed them on.

Tadah!!!

This is the "lapel" part

And these are the bottom...not a good picture my gawsh!

Me, iPhone in hand, trying to get my Ashified Dress. Not an easy feat. but you get the idea!

Hope you like! I did!

Tomorrow...tuts on the rosettes, the satin flowers, and my way cute earrings I made to complete the outfit!!

Stay tuned!

Linked up to:
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Operation Christmas Spirit Day Five...Coffee Filter Tree

2010-12-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ok really, I'm usually fairly original. Problem is, I have looked at too many fun things I've wanted to try my hand at.
Enter the naptime craft I worked on today...
First let me give credit where credit is due...inspiration for my craft today came from here.
Now that that little piece of housekeeping is out of the way, lemme show you what I did!
First off, I'm making a Coffee Filter Tree. I happen to have a ahem few filters on hand. Largely due to them a)being super cheap at Sams Club and b) not being used since I've been using the reuseable filter our new Grind and Brew came with. But as for supplies, that's where I stopped. I knew I wanted to attempt this project and so when I hit up my local Dollar Tree last week, I hooked it up with some styro forms...which I was excited about cuz I wasn't looking forward to getting them at Michaels. But then I needed some inspiration for the base. My inspiration used candle sticks, of which there were NONE at Dollar Tree. NONE! I had to get creative. I ended up with mini glass vases, and some clear stone marble thingy's. As for a topper, inspiration used a really cute orny, of which I had to improvise too. I started out with a little glass angel I found at Dollar Tree, but then on my trip to Wally this morning I found an even better orny...for a BUCK!
While we're on wally...did you know they have the cutest color 2 foot pre lit trees! I told the kids they'd have to wait to get room trees till next year so I could hit the sales, but at 8$ I got em all a tree...I'm sure we'll be posting that shortly!
Anyway, lets fast forward to naptime shall we?

Here was my start...my $1 form, straight pins, and coffee filters...um dusted with silver spray paint cuz it's my new BFF.
I have to admit, this took a few tries. I actually took the first three rows out cuz I didn't like the way we were going.
But basically I took three filters folded em in half, then fan folded them. See here...

Now pinch at the bottom and pin to your form. Some of them took two pins. Now...and this is important...FLUFF. Fluff now cuz if you wait til later you'll realize you've done TOO MUCH WORK!

So fluff. Then repeat. Just add till you get full enough. Now take a second and set it down. Are you even? if not, crunch your paper here, fluff a little there. Pin over here. Whatever makes you happy!

When I hit the top, I took my $1 walmart find, turned it upside down and stuffed it INTO the styro. Then I glued it with E6000. Not my handy dandy hot glue...because it didn't work, in case your wondering. E6000 worked well though...even though my thumb and forfinger are fused for all eternity :)

While I was waiting for my glue to dry, I turned my attentions to my base. What oh what was I going to do? I needed a little sparkle. For a moment I thought about how I could get a lone light bulb in there, but then I eyed my left over sparkle balls from my megaphone tree and the light popped on! I mixed those with the marble rock thingy's and voila! Still would like a light in there, but maybe next year.

K ya ready for the next part...how to attach the tree to it's base...Enter a piece of white felt and my crazy glue again. I pinned the felt to the bottom of my form, then glued the felt to the rim of my vase.

For this...

I love the way it all turned out! I thought about adding more filter poufs to the bottom but that would cover up my pretty base.
Dont you think that would make a nice centerpiece for a wedding reception too? Just sayin...
K well stay tuned tomorrow...I have a Christmas Party to attend and am running into the age old dilemma...."I don't have anything to wear" Wonder where I'll get inspired?
See ya!

Operation Christmas Spirit Day Four...Projects n PJ's

2010-12-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday. For most of us (well those with small children) it means a morning of chaos as you get everyone dressed, fed, beautified, unwrinkled, and smiled so you can go have a good day at church DAMN IT! And listen to a wonderful sermon on how to be more Christlike all while wondering if your kids will show permanent damage from the harm you caused them this morning trying to get ready.
I love God. I love what He has done for me. I participate in Bible Study, small group and MOPS...but I draw the line at sunday mornings by myself. So to make me feel better about it, I created Projects n PJ's. Its a little something I do with the kiddos, some together time without the TV. And because if you've ever really been into your project you know that mode you get into where you plum forget to get out of your PJ's (for three days) because you are so engrossed in your Project. Hence Projects n PJ's.
Now that you know what it is...here's what we did!
In playing around in
craft linky party, I happened upon this cutesy little project. (Note here, I looked at a ton that night and cant seem to find you inspirational post...so if it was you, email me so I can give you credit!)

I have to admit, at first I was going to do this one on my own, til I tried to come up with a (useable) craft for PnP day. Then I thought, this isn't too hard, I'll let the kids do it!!! So here we go...

Awww cute right? Don't these children look the epitome of angelic cherubums? How could you NOT take these well behaved children to church on Sunday morning?? Little do you know this pic was all Tornado's attention span could handle. He was down shortly thereafter.
By the way, do you SEE that GLASS table top I'm calling a family dinner table? Yeah I have big plans for that bad boy once the holidays are over...stay tuned.

Hurricane on the other hand did better than I thought. Love the tongue dude!

So notice the way they're all lined up...I kept trying to explain they needed a little space between them. He didn't get it.

Hurricane peeking in the bowl. He wants to know where the marshmallows are. That would be fun huh? Once he found out there were no marshmallows he was off again.

But Hurricane just kept on going....

and going....

and GOING! I don't think I've held his attention this long in...well... a really. long. time.
What was my little Ocean doing all this time?

Isn't he cute? DH calls him my favorite, or my golden child, but how can you not love someone so happy! With such an adoreable smile! Love you bug!

Tornado wanted to jump in on the action again for 2.5 seconds!
All that hard work paid off....

Hurricane with his work...even though Tornado tried to snake in!

And Tornado with his work...well mommy's work but...

That's it for today! Think I got the kiddos into the mood, and I'm there! I'm lovin doing all these fun things! Wait till you see what I have in store tomorrow!

Dollar Tree Specials... Day Three in OCS!!

2010-12-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

Your gonna laugh! First off, I had forgotten just how much I love the Dollar Store. They just opened a new one a lil closer to home, and I went in and fell in love all over again! I need to go back cuz I've gotten some more ideas. Not to mention Road Trip is fast approaching and I need new gear for my Boredom Buster Box. Todays naptime project was an ALL nap time affair. Normally I settle in with a piping hot Peppermint Mocha, and chill for a few but not today, it was all business. Lemme show you why!

First off this is what we started with...my lovely little boys were running around the house the other day screaming into this beauty. I took it away and set it on the counter...til yesterday or so I looked at it, getting in my christmas mood, and said A-Ha! As a pretty little picture set in my mind!
I sanded it just a little to rough up the edges and then found my handy dandy silver spray paint, yes I bought some more on my trip to Michaels to find little shiny something or others to attach to the megaphone...ok tangent...paint.
While paint was drying I turned my attentions to these...

Michaels...my new favorite craft store, for this sorta stuff anyway...these were .99 with 50% off, yup .49. I bought. ALOT.
I took my wire cutters...from my jewelry making stuff mind you cuz they were easier to handle but now I thinking that wasn't such a great idea cuz I don't think they're gonna cut my jewelry stuff now! Whatever...it produced this...

Lots and lots of shiny balls!
So I set to work...

Row one...doesn't it look like a Birthday Hat...hmmmm that gives me an idea...ok anyway, I just started gluing away...

Here's my gluesticks. Surely I won't need all of these, I just brought them up so I'd have them for the next project. I used EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. I'm kind of embarrased to admit that.
Ya know that song Dory sings on Finding Nemo? Swimming Swimming Just keep swimming...that was me singing Gluing Gluing just keep gluing....glu who who who who who just keep gluing. You get the picture...for two and a half hours I glued. But it was worth it cuz...ta da....I finally finished.
As for the other part it was quick and easy...
I saw a blog the other day where she spraypainted a plastic santa she bought at Dollar Tree. I kid you not when I tell you I found this santa...so this was not my genius but hers!

Santa before...kinda boring and plain.

Santa after! Silver spraypaint then after that dried a spritzed brown spraypaint on him. The only think I noticed is that when I picked santa up I ended up all silvery, so might I suggest a clear coat to set him? or maybe rough him up a bit with sandpaper before spray painting him! She was right though, painting Santa really brought out his detail!

Here they are upclose! See what I mean about the detail? As for the tree, there is no pattern so stop trying to look for one you Obsessive Compulsive people! I did that on purpose to drive you nuts! Actually I did that cuz I kept making patterns but was trying so hard to be random!

Operation Christmas Spirit Day Two...a wreath...Surprise

2010-12-10T22:10:00.000-07:00

It's sort of a joke around my house. It goes something like this...
Me: Hi Hunny, you'll never guess what I made today!!!
DH: A wreath?
Shoot, foiled again. He teases that we moved into this house because there were so many places to put wreaths. Not entirely true, just an added benefit.
So, for my newest wreath....
Last year my theme was the silver/aqua snowflake theme. This worked well cuz I could double alot of the stuff for January. I never did get around to a wreath though. Because I am still throwing a tantrum for not getting a new theme this year, I wanted to do SOMETHING new, but with minimal cost.

Enter too many tree decorations, silver spray paint, glitter mod podge, and a wreath I bought in a pack at Hob Lob.

This was the beginning, see the twigs in the middle? I um...picked them up in my yard(pruned them from the ugly bush in the front shh don't tell hubby! He told me no!), thinking I would need to add to the wreath.

Turns out the wreath was just fine without them. Maybe I'll stick em in the tree so I can feel good about um...picking them up.

Enter spray paint...an entire little can. Note to self, pick up more silver spray next time your at Michaels.

I like all things sparkly. I had a fab idea to spray adhesive to the wreath then add my own glitter. In theory it would have worked, if only I knew where my spray adhesive was. Waiting shyly on the sidelines was glittery mod podge. "ok" I thought, we'll give it a whirl. Working in sections I mod podged the branches then glittered them. I think the floor got more than the wreath. Argh.

Ok paint's dry, glitter is on, time to take it upstairs so my fingers can thaw out and start working :)

I laid everything out first, as I'm waiting for the glue gun to warm up, lets take a trip around the circle shall we? Snowflake ornaments, Target a few years ago, 30 for like 2.50. Disco balls, Icesicle, Tree orny's Target a few years ago...2.50 for a big tub. Ribbon, Dollar Tree (they have some nice ribbon this year) lets see...$1. Stars in the middle...I picked these dandys up from Tai Pan for like a buck for 10. I loved em so much I bought three boxes worth. I can never fit all of them on the tree with my 5 bzillion other ornys, so, this looked like a nice place for them to land. I had ideas to put Merry Christmas signs or wrapped packages, but thought better of it so when I'm lazy and leave it up till Valentines day, it looks like it belongs there...unlike my Halloween wreath I took down YESTERDAY!!

Ok Glue guns ready to go...

And our final product. No that's not it's resting place silly goose, I just didn't know where else to put it.

Which brings me to my next dilemma, where do I put it? Thought about outside but experience has taught me hot glue and cold temps do not mix. So now I don't know where it's going. But I have two months to figure it out!

And that was day two for Operation Boost my Christmas Spirit! I can say I think it's starting to work! Wait till you see what I have to show you tomorrow!

Italian Holiday

2010-12-09T23:20:00.001-07:00

Well hello there.
I think my resolution LAST year was to publish more...guess what my resolution NEXT year will be?
Yup you guessed it! If only I could stay off stupid FaceBook!
Onto my post!
Lemme check my calendar. December 9th? Are you KIDDING me? Where'd THAT year go? Oh yeah, to having a baby. Regroup.... Christmas is well, days away...and I am having a hard time getting up and going decor wise. Is this because I'm a) overwhelmed cuz DH isn't here to help b) under excited (throwing a tantrum) because I didn't pull out a new themed tree this year or c) unmotivated cuz we're going to the fams for Christmas. Whatever the case is, I decided I needed to get my heiny in gear. So I launched operation Christmas Spirit. (Insert the song "where are you Christmas" here)
I finally did pull stuff out this week, and wanted to show you my one entirely decorated, wholesomely gaudy Italian tree.
Why Italian you ask? Because, I'm obsessed. Being one connoisseur of food, pasta in particular, I have been drawn to Italy. It encompasses all we as Americans don't "get" when it comes to dining; The cooking is part of the experience, dinner is designed to last all night, and friends, like wine are to be enjoyed slowly :) I've become so obsessed, my kitchen decor is..surprise Tuscan. Anyway, when I did an Italian Holiday theme a couple years ago, as a not so subtle hint to my DH, I didn't just want to throw my decorations away. Fast forward a year or five to this year when I was putting up a little three foot tree in the kitchen wondering how I was going to decorate this little beauty when what to my wondering eyes should I trip over but my box labeled Italian Holiday. Drum Roll please.....

This is what you see when you walk into my kitchen! Awwww Cute-uh!

The gold leaves came from Michaels...50% off, yes they still have them five years later.

Purple ribbon courtesy of the Dollar Store

Ornaments, plastic...Thank God with my forces of nature, or they'd be broke already. Day after Christmas sale at Target.

Tile I made at MOPS...free

Stacking boxes...stolen from my sister...not really, she gave em to me geez! FREE!

Tell me this isnt the bomb? It came off a Williams Sonoma package I received last year!

Ode to my mom, since wine ornaments don't come in the shape of a box. Day after sale at HobLob...25 cents!

Ok, really? You can't have a Christmas tree in your kitchen without a nod to Starbucks (or as I so lovingly refer; Fivebux; original? No. True? Yes.) Ok so I paid full price for these dumb things. In hind site it would a been cute to collect my coffee cups from there and glitz em up and make a tree....ohhhhhhh idea for next year!!!

So that's my Operation Christmas Spirit Day one. Lets see what tomorrow brings!

Need some more decorating ideas??

Check these guys, they're both hosting Christmas Tree Parties

Hooked on Houses

Thrifty Decor Chick

My Mother

2010-09-29T06:58:00.000-06:00

I haven't been on for a bit. I have been watching soaps and eating Bon Bons. Anyway, I have anew toy, my iPhone 4 and not only can I take pics and video to blog with, I can NOW blog from my phone! You guys may be seeing me more than you ever wanted to!

God I love this phone!

So onto it...

My mother has always been a little unconventional as a grandma...in fact I'm surprised more of my blog entries don't share this title...anyway,she teaches my children its ok to eat their boogers, the best wine comes from a box, and the newest talent, how to win a crowd over telling age appropriate jokes.

And just cuz she didn't want me to, I blogged it hee hee!

Love you mom!!!

Damn You Elusive iHound

2010-09-16T22:38:00.000-06:00

So this is a shorty, really to blow off steam.

My DH bought me an iPod Touch for Mothers Day, this was after years and years of heckling and teasing him cuz he got his iPod years ago while I've been using the "dino-pod" we're talking 2nd generation here! The things huge. Any way he buys this for me and I love it, of course, and now I see the great draw to the iPhone.
Fathers Day DH gets yup an iPhone.
2weeks later, Tornado throws my BB Curve in my sisters pool...guess who got an iPhone 4....neener neener neener. Whoa off on a tangent...
Ok.
So.....I loaded some games on the Touch so I could keep the kids (Hurricane) busy while at the store and in times of desperation.
DH and I take the boys to the park, and Hurricane is sitting on the spiderweb part (his usual hangout) when out comes my bright pink covered Touch. That stink pot has brought it to the park! I take it from him promptly and put it in my back pocket.
Fast forward to the next day when I start thinking gee its been a while since I saw my Touch.
Then I start tearing the house down, retracing steps all that jazz... I walked back to the park, yeah no such luck . All the while feeling terrible b/c well it was a gift number one, and number two that's a lot of money and number three DH was already feeling bad about the Touch cuz once I got my iPhone, the Touch wasn't used that often.
IT's been driving me nuts. I THINK i vaguely remember taking it out of my pocket when I went to the bathroom, cuz I was thinking yeah don't want that to go in the water. So it may be here at home but I cant find it anywhere!!!
So I google "lost my iPod Touch" and find out theres and app called iHound. I read some reviews and it seems to me that it will track it using its individualized serial number. So I buy the app. Yay I see a glimmer of hope!!!
Yeah no, the damn thing only works if you have it installed prior to losing it.
Damn you stupid app. Lift me up give me hope then crush all my hopes and dreams!!
Whhhhaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh....sniff sniff what now???

A New Recipe

2010-07-05T08:42:00.000-06:00

Remember when I abstained from meat for a Bible Study? Then I went back on meat and promptly went off again? Well, I'm happy to report that since September of last year, I have been off the meat and thoroughly enjoyed it!
That said, my lovely aunti and cousins piqued my interest with a new book called "Eat to Live" by Daniel Fuhrman they thoughtfully loaded that and the "China Study" on my new IPOD Touch and I was instantly hooked, so I bought the book. Wow readers...it's amazing what the book has to say about our American diet. Dr Fuhrman markets the book as a diet book, but I was more interested in the long term effects our mass consumption of animal products is doing to our quality of life. So now, I am excited to start cutting some of the other animal product out of my diet, and my home. That combined with my push to cut back on the refined sugars, I have been experimenting with my baking again. We all know I have a sweet tooth, but I think we can replace all these things with good for our bodies things and be better off for it.
SOOOOOO I played.
My inlaws were back in town on their way back west. They bring with them a rectangular tupperware we've lovingly dubbed "the suitcase" in it come baked goodies from the last place they were. So we got goodies from Unca Jos Jos and Aunti DD then we made goodies for back east, East made goodies for us...and the circle continues. It was my turn to make goodies for Jos Jos and DD! I had planned to make my "Move over Smiths Orange Cranberry Cookies" however, because I HAVE been reading "Eat to Live" I wondered what would happen if it went vegan. I would have taken pictures, but the results were eaten. So guess they were good!
Here's the recipe! Enjoy!

McMommy'sVegan Orange Cranberry Cookies
You need:
2/3 c Vegetable Oil of some sort...Canola's best but....
1/2 c Evaporated Cane Juice or white sugar
1/2 c Brown sugar...haven't found a non refined replacement for this yet
Egg substitute for one egg, I used 2T applesauce
2T grated orange zest
1/4 c fresh OJ
3/4c ground oats
1c ground almonds (or whole wheat flour if you don't have almonds on hand)
1c whole wheat flour
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
1t vanilla
2c craisens

Now what to do??
Heat oven to 375

In a separate bowl (like one that doesn't go on your mixer), mix oats, almonds, flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

Cream your oil, egg replacement and sugars together.
Add your orange juice, and zest to the liquid mix.
Ok time for the flour...mix it in slowly unless you want a huge dust cloud to settle over your kitchen cabinets, the counter, the floor, you, and the dog.
Now your mixed, take a taste. does it have enough sweet? If not, add a little OJ. If your too runny, add more oats....did I mention I grind the oats? It works better. I just do it in the blender or food processor, try it, it's better!
Ok, we good? Good deal, now add the craisens. I recommend you lock your mixer before adding the craisens, otherwise the mixer arm goes nuts.
Ok that was fun.
Now time to lay it out on the cookie sheet. I don't know why, but these cookies work best if you roll them in balls. So take the time, that or a cookie scoop from Pampered Chef. You'll be glad you did.
Bake for 10 minutes. They should be a little golden on top.
Cool and eat.
MMMMM yummy, and good for you too!

Well guys, next time I make these, I will definitely take pictures to add. But until then trust me, they're GOO-OO-OD!

Til next time...

The Evolution of a Game

2010-06-23T22:52:00.000-06:00

Remember when...wow I'm getting old...those two words seem to pepper my monologues these days!
Anyway, remember when you would play slug bug...in the car, at home, in the neighborhood. Whatever. They objective of the game was to beat up the person nearest you without any of the repercussion of parental interference or being pummeled yourself, but you could only pummel the weak and weary unfortunate being if a slugbug was in sight. Now this was great when say you were at a stop light and said bug was stopped with you. You had at least 45 seconds of unadulterated beat up time hee hee!
Anyway. The game, like many things, has evolved over the years. I admit, I haven't really played this road game with the kids. I don't really have a good answer other than I much prefer the state game or the ABC game. Or naptime :) but I guess my time has come!
DH asked me a week or so ago if I had been privy to slugbug on steroids with Rain yet. I smirked a little and said no, to which he launched into a dissertation of this new fave of Rain's. I secretly congratulated myself on being so sneaky as to have avoided playing in Slugbug Grows Up...but I should have known it was only a matter of time. Yesterday on the way home, I was slugged by Rain as she cried out BINGO! Ok now I quickly checked for the Seniors Center or farmers dogs (you know there was a farmer had a dog...) nope neither one in sight! So I look at her and ask incredulously,
"what the...?"
"Bingo is a yellow vehicle mom! Oh and there's using it more than once."
(Damn she outsmarted me cuz we were pulling alongside a school bus! I was gonna make sure we were stopped at the same time!)
Ok. Ok fine....I'm putting my game face on when she smacks me again. I quickly look around for the "Bingo" until she says Jeepers.
"Wha Wha?"
" Jeepers mom...a jeep." (Like huuuuhhhhhllloooo)
Ok, so now we have Bingo's, SlugBug, and Jeepers. Ok. Well now that I was getting the hang of the game, we pulled into the neighborhood.
"Not to worry" I assure myself. "There's always tomorrow."
So fast forward to this morning, we are zipping down the road, singing mamma mia at the top of our lungs and I'm winning the Slugbug on Steroids game! I'm successfully bruising poor Rains leg and the competitive side in me is jumping for joy! We're almost at school and I see a bus
"Bingo" I shriek in delight! Start doing the Cabbage Patch victory dance until she smacks me as an ugly green Element goes by.
"CUBE!" She shouts! then jumps out of the car says "Love you mom!" and slams the door.
Dang outsmarted by the child again. Wonder what mystery car she'll pull tomorrow!?

Carseat Catastrophes

2010-06-01T15:41:00.002-06:00

Who knew it would be this hard?
I gave our last baby seat away to my best B...hers had issues and we were done FOREVER with ours so... skip ahead a few years to present day. We find ourselves in need of yet ANOTHER baby carrier. After procrastinating it as long as I could...Ocean was five days old...I ordered a cute one on Walmart.com...it looked light blue and chocolate online. When we got our eagerly anticipated infanct seat, it was turquoise. Yeah, not gonna work. So we load all the kids up and make it our outing one day to take said carseat back. Then over to Target to get this cute owl one I saw, that apparently only comes in a travel system with a stroller. And I need another stroller about as much as I need a hole in my head.
So back to Wally...nope nuttn there either. I know what your saying by now...wow, she's picky. mmmm not really. I just wasn't gonna, well ok maybe. That was the end of that shopping trip with three little people and two tired parents.
Onto the next day, which happened to be Memorial Day. We were going to attempt our first family day-outing at Gram's house for a family BBQ. I had gotten smart and looked online for carseats. I had found one at Babies R Us and had called the store, had it put on hold for us, the whole nine yards...went and got said carseat and...
My review is as follows....

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

The Baby Trend Flex Loc Infant Car Seat in All Star will accommodate infants between 5 and 30 lbs. and a height of 30 in. or less. This car seat boasts a 5 pt safety restraint system with an easy one-handed harness adjustment and a push button release, so no harness rethreading is required, minimi...

Love the seat HATE the harness

By McMommyShopsAlot from Utah on 6/1/2010

Pros: Stylish, Sturdy, Safe
Cons: Poor harness, Hard to Install, Uncomfortable
Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children

We chose this seat for our fourth child because the color scheme was right with what we did in his room. Loved the scheme, loved the base...it was heavy and sturdy. The base didn't take a seatbelt, it had these industrial hooks that you mounted on the anchors in your car (assuming you have said anchors). But where the seat got me was the harness. You have to press together the two plastic hooks that are then inserted into the clip at the crotch. This is NO EASY FEAT even on a newborn. Let alone a child that squirms! So your trying to hold the two pieces together, get it into the clip AND hold baby's legs out of the way so you don't pinch them. AND I"M NO ROOKIE! this is number four! We took it back with in the first 24 hours of purchase.
I would NOT recommend this product or any of the baby trend seats until they change their harness system!

(legalese)

No really, we returned it this morning! Day three of carseat catastrophe!

So, we're in a hurry cuz Hurricane is at school, so we have a clock to beat there, at this point I'm desperate! Baby has been in a convertible seat that is ok, but he's not very snug in there and its big and bulky and blah blah blah. I just want a dumb seat is it really all that much to ask? Maybe so.

Nothing at Babies R Us, we run to Burlington and "laaaaaaaaaa" angel songs, highlight on the seat...we find a seat for SUPER CHEAP and while it doesn't match our decor, I'm going to recover it and won't feel the least bit bad about spending that money cuz, well we only spent a little on the seat! So there. Catastrophe solved, new project added to my long list of projects and we are all happy again!

I'll post pics of the cover whenever that happens haha!

Introducing our newest Force of Nature!

2010-05-24T16:41:00.001-06:00

I struggle today to write. My usual quirkiness is off... and I don't know how deep to go. I have been writing, and re-writing this post all day, which tells me its not right. So, today I am just going to include pictures because thats what you want to see. Then as inspiration hits, I will post my Ocean's birth story.

My beautiful Ocean in his first 48 hours!
May 22, 2010
550 am
9lbs 7oz
Make sure and hit play before you scroll down to the slideshow...the music is sweet!!!

Michelle Featherstone - Sweet Baby

Found at abmp3 search engine

Wash Day

2010-02-17T08:29:00.002-07:00

Do you remember that movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"? Remember how the dad thought windex could fix ANY and EVERY thing from zits to head colds? Well just remember that little tidbit, as it may become a parallel here.

I opened my washer this morning to find that I had washed my bright whites with a Dark Chocolate Dove bar. Mmm Hmm. Now the sad part is I cant even blame the kids cuz who, in this family eats dark chocolate? Yeah that would be me. So now what? DH has a really cute shirt in there, and my only white coat I have is in there! (Hence the way chocolate found its way into my washer in the first place). All of the sudden two pieces of advice come shouting their way out from the depths of my racing mind.

1) its ruined anyway, whats the big deal if you try a few creative ways to get the stain out

2) Dawn fixes everything.

In our six month stint at my beautiful grandmas house, I learned the aforementioned bits of advice. She uses Dawn on EVERYTHING!!! Canning, need to wash the fruits before canning them? Soak em in a Dawn bath. Oil stain on the cement? Dawn. Stains on clothes...you guessed it, Dawn.

So I set to scrubbing everything with Dawn. Then, because I am trying to move towards more natural cleaning products, I pasted them with baking soda and let everything sit for a bit.

"Well here goes nothing" I thought as I loaded up my washer with water, soap, chocolate stained clothing and a large dose of hope.

Forty-five minutes later, I was rewarded with.......

Beautiful, wearable, salvaged clothes!!!

SO, the object lesson for today?

a) Dark chocolate + white clothes+ washing machine= DISASTER

b) Dawn+Baking Soda+ stained clothing= SAVED!!

See ya next time!

Loves!

Hurricane strikes again

2010-02-07T16:55:00.005-07:00

He's just a babe, and I had to share this pic with you...this is with my newest toy, my new AF-Nikkor 1:8 lens! The best thing for portraits. See how it hones in on your subject and blurs everything around. LOVE IT!!! Just a shameless plug for Nikon and it's products!!! Anyway, on to the blog...

Oh my what to do with that second child of mine? Is it the age, or is it him?

HE has been in his share of trouble these days. He drives me up the wall most days, but for everytime I have to restrain myself from wrapping my hands around his little neck and choking him, I am somehow rewarded with his crazy antics. Here are two for your pleasure....

My parents rented a condo last weekend, and we all headed up to stargaze...it was Sundance Film Festival....eat, drink, play games, and just have a plain ole good time. The weekend was, well interesting...but had potential. After and event filled Saturday, we were packing up on Sunday, when Hurricane goes out to daddy to get his shoes on. Well my DH being him said "Hurricane, whaddya say we ditch mommy and Tornado, we'll head down to Main Street and pick up some chicks" Hurricane sits with that for a while as his little brain wraps around what has just been said. Then he comes running to me and says, "Mommy, we're gonna hit you and Tornado and go pick up chickens!" It was good for a laugh....

Speaking of chicken. My child has a fascination with chicken. Everytime he eats something these days he says "mmm good, tastes like chicken"

So here we go...we're doing school the other day, and we decide to have a little snack, popscicles work, we're dreaming of warmer weather right?

"Hurricane, how many popsicles do you have?"

"One"

"Good job buddy. What color is it?"

"Mmmmm boo (blue) "

Good job buddy! You're getting so smart!"

"Mom?"

"Mmm hmm"

"What does my popasicle taste like?"

"I don't know buddy, I think it tastes like Blueberry doesnt it?"

"No mom....it tastes like....(yup you guessed it) CHICKEN!"

that kid! Here he is offering his blue popsicle for my tasting cuz, duh it tastes like chicken mom!

My oldest gets older and Superbowl Sunday

2010-02-07T16:32:00.004-07:00

Awwww where to start!

I have lots to put up, so I will group them and then do two entries hows that?

Well, nine years ago today, I became a mommy for the first time to my sweet little girl. She was everything that I had wanted/wished for and hoped for, wrapped into an eight pound bundle of yellow blankets and a yellow ducky pajama...we didnt find out what kind of baby we were having, so I think I had two pink outfits for her!

She has taught me alot about life, about parenting, and about how VASTLY different a child can be from their parent...in spite of looking just like me!

She amazes me every day! She is smart, beautiful, thoughtful, and mostly diplomatic. She is a fabulous older sister to her brothers and they ADORE her. I am learning each day that my interests are not neccesarily hers, and thats ok. She gets to be the only girl in a family FULL of boys, and she has taken that in her stride, flawlessy. Happy Birthday baby girl, I'm interested to see what the next nine years will bring!

Onto our next subject for this entry.....SUPERBOWL SUNDAY!

I haven't seen much of my DH these days. He works alot. Needless to say, we are not taking our time together lightly these days. So much so that we have become quite reclusive...just ask M&M and our family...they think they saw us more when we lived in another state!

Anyway, today was no exception. Despite quite a few invites, we ended up chillin at home. Trust me though, we were NOT missing out on any of the hype! We had our share of food, share of joy and share of laughs....the Doritos shock collar commercial has to be a fave!

The best part was this...we got to veg on blankets, in sweats, and gorge ourselves with no witnesses (haha!) All in the comfort of our bedroom!

Now that's what I call a SUPERbowl!

Until next time!