The Simpson Adventure

well that was easy

2012-01-25T13:03:00.000-08:00

Monkey begged to make cookies tonight. Two things I can't say no to when my kids ask are
1. will you read me a book? and
2. can we cook something?
Another great find on Pinterest and what was even better is that they were so easy.
1/2 c. softened butter
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
NUTELLA

Blend the butter together with the sugars, add egg and vanilla. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together and add to creamed mixture. It's going to be rough and flaky. Mix into ball and put in freezer for 20 minutes. Roll out into little balls and flatten into disks. Try to make 'em the same size. Bake in 350 degrees for 15 min. Once cooled go to town with the Nutella.
Yum.

make me some art

2012-01-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

I made this last night. I picked up 3 different colors from Wally World for $.97 each pack of colors and made the flowers. I did this for Bubbie's birthday in the summer too. It's so easy to make a quick decoration. I have 2 decorations for Valentine's Day so when I saw this idea on Pinterest I had to do it. I also like that I can just pitch it too and not store it.

The Pintrest effect

2011-12-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

Pintrest. Some call it 'Crack for crafters.' I call it my new bestie. I love it. But, I don't want to only pin pictures, I want to use these ideas for my home. This idea was the very first thing I saw and "pinned" to my boards. I got the jug for free and the lights half off after Christmas a few days ago. Next I'm going to try out Martha Stewart's best homemade bathtub cleaner that was pinned on someone's board.

it is what it is

2011-12-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

My SIL said it best on her blog. "Please inspire me to blog again." Or something to that effect. That's how I've felt lately so I just don't. I've got tons of pictures to post and I don't like to post without pinning pictures.

Having a family pass to the zoo is the best idea ever. We'll go through there real quick, take our time, do sections, it's just the greatest for kids. Especially with our weather we're having. Well, for us, it's cold now, but it's still nice to go and have a picnic afterwards.

I'm glad they get excited about these. I used to like them when I was younger and we had one as a class pet. Totally didn't mind when it peed on me. Now, I'll just watch my kids pet them.

Jump around

2011-10-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

Our little buddy next door had his birthday party at Pump It Up. An indoor inflatable jumping thingy. So much fun and a great idea. Wear the kids right out!

Treats

2011-10-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

Treats for my 3 kids. We rarely go to the mall anymore. Not sure why, just don't so when we went we stopped for an ice cream treat. Took this with my cell phone. Story of my life and I'm sure you're sick of hearing me talk about how I keep losing my camera. I did it again. Do you know where I put it?

let there be light

2011-10-03T16:53:00.001-07:00

Oy! So, We're back from house sitting. We were gone for a month and I was taking care of an elderly man while the people were on vacation. For a fee we were to move into the house, take care of the father and have a "mini vacation." It was not a mini vacation. It was hell. He was WAY harder than they let on and for your dinner's sake I won't go into details of what we had to do to care for him. Double Oy. He was a full-time job in it's self and then I had to care for my kids and a 2 mo. old that I also care for. Would I do it again? For more money, yes.

I'm back to the comfort of my home. Being gone has made me love my small house even more and love being in it. I did realize that there's just not enough light in my house. The way the windows are positioned I just don't get that bright light in. So, I have to do it my self.

I got this lamp at DI for $1.80. I painted it with some left over paint I had in the garage and found this lampshade at Cost plus. It was $14, but I had a 25% off coupon that I used for it so it was around $10.

I love the turquoise a lot and love the soft light it gives at night and that it brightens up the high vaulted ceiling that the lamps down below just can't reach.

Did I mention it feels good to be back?

birthday pancakes

2011-08-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

I made the s'more's pancakes for my birthday breakfast. They were really good. They tasted like chocolate and marshmallow cream. I like recipes that turn out good and this one is worthy of being written down in my recipe book for future special breakfasts.

Laundry Room

2011-08-16T13:33:00.001-07:00

BEFORE

It's funny how for a woman's birthday they want practical things like a vacuum or a blender that typically impact the whole family and men want a hat or tools. I don't think I can get much more into this house so I didn't want anything to add to the crampness. What I wanted was my laundry room to be re-done. It's falling apart with all of my junk and it makes doing laundry a little less exciting. Not that doing laundry is exciting.

DURING
Once everything was cleared out it looked pretty big. Dirty, but big.

AFTER

This is the completed closet. Thanks to my mom for practical gift of paint shelves, lights and labor. I love it and love how organized it is and it looks so calming and bigger than when it was empty. Weird.

reading rainbow friends

2011-08-02T21:45:00.000-07:00

We go to the children's museum often. And what do my kids want to do while there?
Read books.

flip to the flop

2011-07-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

I love wearing flip flops. I wear them all the time. I wear them out and about and even in the snow. Cold feet do not bother me. I even worn them when I got married. I don't like things covering my feet. They (my feet) say they can't breathe. When I saw these do-it-yourself sandals I kinda got excited. The dollar store sells flip flops and I've got lots of scrap material that I can do this in a cinch. One thing however, I've got cracks deeper than the Grand Canyon in my heels and need to set a goal to take better care of my feet if they're gonna look like these beauties.

Here's the Tut on how to make 'em if you want to try it out too!
HERE

one of those days.

2011-07-27T16:52:00.000-07:00

This is how I feel today. Do you ever have one of those days where you just know it's gonna suck? I wake-up and I just feel it. I know that things are going to go south. Maybe because I foresee it going that way that I make it be that way, but still.
It's one of those days where you only see the bad things happen and can't focus on the good. My daughter decided to get the bread out of the fridge and dumped out all 12 eggs my mom had just given me. Leaving me with no eggs now. Bubs is still tired when he wakes up and is crying at the drop of a pin. We go to the community center and crime has hit there yet again. Every week it's something. Either some thugs, that have no respect for property, set the playground on fire. Next week, every wall was hit with graphic images and gang tagging. The following week we are held in lock down for 2 hours while they search the area for 3 armed gunmen that have fled into the desert behind the pool and this morning a young swim instructor was opening up the pool area and found to ski masked men wandering around. Luckily, she wasn't hurt and got their car plate number. But, see, these are days that I just want to get away from areas like this. I don't want to be near it or see it. And then the other part of me is saying "That doesn't make the problem go away." And that's where my soapbox comes sliding in and I just want to judge and ask why these parents weren't teaching their kids to be respectful and give them activities in their lives that are constructive. "oh, so you like to spray graffiti? Why don't we enroll you in free art class." "You enjoy running from the police? Here's a great cross country team you'd like." I just get frustrated with the world around me and it's just one of those days. Tomorrow I will be back to worrying about my own family and making sure I bring 'em up to be respectful, have pride, care about others and just be kind.

creative light

2011-07-26T09:52:00.000-07:00

Funny how you'll be thinking of something and all the sudden something shows up and gives you a cool idea. Lately, I've been watching a lot of HGTV. I've been wanting to do things to my house, but not pay through the nose. One thing in my house is that it has bad lighting. The windows are in terrible places and it doesn't help that I like warm cozy colors in my decor. One thing I was wanting to change up is the fixture in my kitchen. It's just a plain hanging pendant that gets lost. I want to try this string idea and play it out. I will go for a darker color string, but what a cheap idea to try and if it doesn't look good I won't have regrets.
Here's how to make it HERE

hard at work

2011-07-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

The nugget hard at work.
Working day and night to get the situation under control.
Bike broke down on the freeway and had to call in for a tow.
Good thing there were mechanics on hand.
This is going to be pricey.

Hot S'mo's

2011-07-13T10:06:00.000-07:00

RECIPE

When I saw this it reminded me how much I love s'mores at summertime. I think it's the only time we have them. We had them for a treat on July 4th. The power was out so I had to cook dinner on the grill. I made chicken burgers and watermelon. The kids had never had s'mores so it turned into this whole deal. "Why are we burning the marshmallows?" "It's too sticky" "The chocolate is melting." It's suppose to people! They're suppose to be gooey! I'm going to make these for breakfast before summer is over. I've got marshmallow cream still left over from toppings for hot coco. Click on the recipe to find out how to make the pancakes and the sauce.

It's like riding a bike

2011-07-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Our power always goes out during Monsoon season. On the 4th it was out for 4 hours and it was cooler outside than inside after the rain. We went outside and found a frog and played in the puddles. Both kids found their bikes and started riding. Monkey is tying to learn how to ride her bike without training wheels. Here's the hubster and monkey practicing.

craft itch

2011-07-08T08:27:00.000-07:00

I got the itch to re-do something last night. Monkey had this table in her room for her lamp and radio. It used to be mine, I've had it forever. It was forest green for my green and Burgundy phase. My mom painted it pink to match her room. It looked kinda blah has it started to fade and become lost as I spice up her room once in a while.

I thought about painting it a different color, but I saw that had some cool scrapbooking paper and Mod Podge. While the nuggets napped I worked on the nightstand.

It came out a little bumpy, but you can only tell when you're super close. The design on it hides all of my mistakes. I'd go nuts if I tried to make it perfect. So it is what it is.

my froggy can swim

2011-07-07T20:25:00.000-07:00

Bubs can swim now. He's a fish and I'm so proud of him and so is he. He loves to jump off the edge and swim to the wall which is a good thing just in case he accidentally falls in he knows to go right for the wall. Good job bubs.

July Breakfast

2011-07-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

We had a pancake breakfast at church to celebrate the fourth. We invited our neighbors to come and enjoy breakfast. I put on some crafts for the kids to make. I didn't take any pictures of that since I was the only one manning the activities for the kids. We made Liberty bells' from plastic cups. Tambourine's made from beans and paper plates and some coloring pages for the younger kiddies. It was a nice morning.

we heart the children's museum

2011-06-28T04:27:00.000-07:00

We love the children's museum and would go when there's a discount or a good deal going on. We have a zoo pass and for the Summer both are linking up so if you have a pass to one you can get a pass to the other for $25 until the new year. I thought that was a good deal so I snatched that up. In these pictures we went the day before Father's Day.

In one of the rooms they have set aside for kids 4 and under called Wee World. They were doing an activity in there that day for Father's. They read a book about father's and then the played with scarves and bubbles.

And then at the end they made key chains for their dads. I thought that was pretty cool. They do this every Saturday and they get to make and take something home. This past Saturday they made rainbows!

Monkey with me, oh, wait that's a statue of a dinosaur. That looks way too much like me in the morning,

My sweet bubs. We had swim class today for the third week and he today decides to swim under water back and forth to me and the instructor. He's hated this class everyday and today he totally was a different kid and started swimming. I'll get a video of it tomorrow. Of course, when we got the to car he pooped his swim pants and it was everywhere. Maybe that's why he wasn't whining this time in the pool.

a box! oh thank you!

2011-06-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

It's always the same story. As a kid you get a gift and the box is way better than what's inside, especially when there's peanuts involved. I thought this was a good idea at first and they loved this and played in there for an hour. Then, slowly the peanuts started coming out and man it was not fun to clean-up. But, they had fun and that's all that matters.

works for me

2011-06-25T07:53:00.000-07:00

I love having a peds. doctor for a neighbor. I actually have 2. They're both peds. doctors. It's nice. I can get a second opinion in seconds. Anyway, they have a little boy a year older than Monkey that is a freak of knowledge. They had a Hooked on Phonics Learning to Read package that was just too young for him and they had no use for it. So, they gave it to me and it's just right. It's where Monkey is at with reading level.

We're only on D right now. You can only stand to do a letter a day since it can be so frustrating. She's grasping rhyming a little. The workbook is really cool. It tells you what to teach your child. It will say trace the A with your finger and then color it in the same color as an apple. Then it will say "watch DVD with the sounding out letter A segment." It will give you ideas for visual activities for A and then you have a flashcard activity and it tells you to go online to their website and play games with the letter A.

It takes about 20 minutes total a day and she's really understanding it and wants to do it more than everyday. We tried that and she got overwhelmed and wanted me to do everything for her which lead me to throwing the workbook over the couch and walking away. guh.

symphony under the stars

2011-06-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

In college on Sunday night we used to go to this in the park near the zoo. The city would put on a symphony outside for free in the spring time each weekend. It was nice. We would bring a blanket and some snacks and just enjoy the music. I think I would fall asleep sometimes.

I saw in the paper that they were doing this again so I thought it would be nice to have the kids experience this. So I packed a dinner and a blanket and we sat our blanket way in the back and had our picnic. There was a play ground nearby so they played on that too.

We only stayed for half or it since it was 8pm and bed time is at 8:30 so we didn't get in as much classical music as I thought we would. It was still fun and something different to do with them on a Sunday night instead of just going on a walk.

part two of out to play

2011-06-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

I must have not given good instructions to bubs when I said "smile". I should have said "smile normal". Our neighbor went to Oregon so we're on our own for playing out front for a while. We had a rattlesnake out there a few days ago so it's got me looking everywhere before the kids come out. The bushes have been trimmed and the hole where they were coming through has been plugged. The sweet smell of moth balls lingers out side because Google told me that snakes don't like the smell and it repels them so it smells like a grandma's boudoir.

My child is gifted. I told her that she cannot keep picking all of the flowers in the front yard so this was what she did on the neighbors driveway to make up for not picking the plants clean.

Some people ask me why I bathe my kids every night. They think it's a bit excessive. Would you put a kid this dirty to bed? They play hard from sun up to sun down. Do you have a pet that only belongs outside? I have two and their names are Monkey and Bubbie.
7am outside playing in the backyard making mud pies.
8am "helping" mom water the plants and trees.
9am, naked and doing sidewalk chalk art on the back patio.
10am ruling the forest and something about a gnome and filling up buckets of rocks from my newly landscaped back yard.
11am swim lessons at the parks and rec.
12pm lunch.
1:30pm nap until 4pm.
5pm dinner sometimes outside, nice to wash dinner off with a hose.
6pm to 7:30pm out front playing and eating Popsicles with our buddy.
And this why they take a bath every night.

Did I mention what I do when they're playing in the front?

out to play

2011-06-22T16:38:00.000-07:00

Remember when it was safe to play in your front yard?

Remember when it was safe to walk to the store with your friends?

I would never think to let my ids play in the front yard alone, but I do love going outside in the front drive after dinner and play with the neighbor boy. Every night we meet outside and the kids ride their bikes and eat Popsicles. It's a lot of fun and a little bit of what we were okay to do when we were kids.