Pinkie and The Bean

Long time no see.

2013-06-19T14:17:00.001-04:00

It’s been a long time since we’ve posted here. We’ve been through some ups and some downs along the way. Sometimes you just don’t want to share and other days you want to shout things from the rooftops. I’ve been in a non-sharing mode, I suppose.

But while I have not been inspired, it does not mean that there haven’t been inspiring things that have happened along the way.

Bean attended a Girl Scout Princess Party and now wants to be a Girl Scout. Not sure if she realizes that doesn’t make her a princess or not...

We started enjoying the warmer weather.

I turned my hair pink.

Bean turned her hair pink.

Hubz and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary at Callaway Gardens.

We saw foxes!

One of the best pictures of Bean was ever taken.

We made teacher gifts.

Bean graduated from Pre-K.

And she danced in her first ballet recital.

So we had a lot going on. While some of it was very stressful, it all made memories.

I’m still not sure if I want to continue this blog, revamp it, or stop altogether. I guess I need to find my next passion and see what happens. I would still like to spruce up the design of this blog but I am so afraid of losing everything. I have reached out to some people but haven’t had much luck.

Maybe inspiration will strike and get me out of this funk. I sure hope so.

Summer is supposed to be relaxing. Soon we will have to start gearing up for the first day of real, honest-to-gosh school at a real honest-to-gosh school. This is mindboggling because, as I have said a million and one times already, Bean is still my baby and in my mind she is still a little infant.

Anyhoo...right now we are just trying to remember to slow down and enjoy each day.

Pinterest Projects - Bunny Eggs

2013-03-26T10:03:00.000-04:00

This year Bean's class will have an Easter party and egg hunt. All the students had to bring in filled eggs for the egg hunt. I found this adorable idea one day on Pinterest and thought it would be a great activity for us to do.

Look at how cute those ribbon eggs are. These are the creation of Christina from I Gotta Create!

I pulled together my supplies but realized I didn't have any wired ribbon that would work. Everything I had was either really wide or for a different holiday. Christina also made these chenille eared ones and I had some pink chenille that I thought would work. But nope, the chenille I had was too fat to go through the holes in the eggs.

What we did have on hand was plain old white pipe cleaners. Fine. Not as flashy but fine. Whatever. (Can you notice the slightest crafting disappointment there?)

We cut the pipe cleaners in half and ran them through the holes. Hubz actually helped us and this was his job. Bean had said that she wanted us to do this "as a family". Hubz put on a smile and started making bunny ears. Isn't he a good Daddy?

I hot glued on the eyes and the tails. My fingers are still recovering. They'll be fine as soon as the crusty wears off.

Bean made the bunny faces. She is getting to be a pro at making faces on our crafts.

So here's our version of the bunny eggs.

Look at that one being all cheeky!

Some of them needed some added washi tape to help keep their pants up.

They didn't turn out as crafty cute as the ones Christina made but Bean was very proud of them. She thought the bunny ears and tails were the cutest.

Update on the charity walk that wasn't.

2013-03-26T09:38:00.001-04:00

Last week I shared that I would be participating in a weekend charity walk for breast cancer survivors. Sadly, our walk did not happen. I got up Saturday morning to thunder and lightening. I was hoping that it would blow over by the time the walk started. It rained on me the whole way there but as soon as I pulled into the parking lot it stopped.

I thought that would be a good sign. But as soon as my team captain arrived and I met up with her, the bottom dropped out again. Within 3 minutes we were soaked to the bone. But walking in cold rain is nothing compared to battling breast cancer so none of us really thought we should complain.

We were still ready and willing to walk...then the lightening started. It was a little scary to be outside holding umbrellas with lightening all around. The event coordinators checked the radar and told us that they were calling the walk. They didn't think it was safe for everyone to be out in the elements like that.

Hopefully it will be rescheduled and we can still participate. My friend Tracy and I still want to do it so even if it isn't rescheduled, maybe she and I can do it on our own. That's the plan.

I would like to say thanks and send out big hugs to everyone that donated to the effort. I was able to reach my goal of raising $400! Thank you all so much.

And as I promised, here are a couple of pictures taken during heavy rains.

The first one is me waiting to check in at walker registration.

This one is of my good friend Barbie that I haven't seen in forever and a day, me, and then my friend and team captain, Tracy.

Even though it was soggy, freezing and gloomy, we had a great time catching up with each other. Thanks again to everyone that supported us. You guys rock! And thanks Doc for the breakfast!

Walk...maybe crawl...for charity.

2013-03-22T13:02:00.001-04:00

I'm not really sure I know what I've gotten myself into but tomorrow I will be participating in a local Breast Cancer 1-Day Walk. I joined my "longest" (we don't say oldest around here) friend, Tracy and her group, and have almost reached my goal of raising $400! Woot woot to me!

This is really a 3.7 mile walk around Lake Peachtree which is a very pretty area here. 3.7 miles probably doesn't sound like a lot to most of you.

Most of you probably don't need a nap after doing 3 loads of clothes either. Well, to be honest, I can take a nap any time, with or without housework involved. But to say that I am on the low-end of the physically fit spectrum would be the most truthful thing you might say this year.

I don't work out. I don't exercise. Frankly, those two words make me feel like napping.

Just look at this picture from a past walk.

Those chicks look like they mean business! They are almost running. Sheesh. You see the chicks way in the back? That will be me.

So I am hoping that I don't embarrass myself, my team or my family name. I also hope I don't sprain anything, break anything, fall into the lake or find myself in the back of an ambulance or hearse at any point tomorrow. I did buy new running shoes and have already had the talk with them that they probably will not live up to their true potential having been unlucky enough for me to purchase them. I haven't bought new running shoes in 7 years. Did I mention I don't exercise much? Yeah, so maybe at least I will look cute on my way around the lake.

If you would like to read more about the walk or even possibly be so generous as to donate, please take a look at my walker page. Hopefully I can post some pictures if I make it back alive.

Does this look like a happy kid to you?

2013-03-14T09:04:00.000-04:00

Does this look like a happy kid to you?

I think it does.

Dr. Seuss stealing my thunder.

2013-03-13T09:03:00.000-04:00

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I recently celebrated my birthday. You know who else was cool enough to be born in March?

Dr. Seuss.

That's right. All the cool people are born in March. Except Bean. She's a January baby and that's pretty cool, too.

Bean's school, just like all the other preschools all over the country usually spend the first week of March celebrating Dr. Seuss and his work.

Part of these celebrations at Bean's school include Wacky Tacky Day. They can go to school dressed well...wacky and/or tacky.

Bean was able to do wacky and tacky very well this year. See.

I also stole this idea from Pinterest and made her some Cat in the Hat hair clips. Can you see them in the picture above?

We do wacky and tacky like a boss!

My child is different and I think that's cool.

2013-03-12T09:52:00.000-04:00

I know we are all different. That's what makes us all so cool.

And truthfully, any 5 year-old at any given time could honestly be thought of as "different".

Bean is definitely "different". How do I know she's different?

Let me show you one way.

She likes to remove the hoodie from her coat and wear it all by itself, all snapped up.

No, really, that's not bad in the least. I think it's kind of cute.

And it's a toned down version of the outfits she usually puts together.

But at 5, these types of things are cute. At 10, they start to stand out. At 15, these types of things could be the reason she might be picked on at school or ostracized by classmates.

Why is it that we think these displays of individuality at an early age are so precious but grow to hate them when a child gets older? I'm celebrating the fact that my child looks at clothing in a different way than I do now but if she continues to do this as she gets older, how will I react? Will I have patience for it? Will I have the words to soothe her when she comes home from school upset that someone made fun of her? Should I try to "nip it in the bud" now and make her conform to normal ways of thinking already?

Really, I'm not concerned about it at all. But I did wonder why we think toddlers who show their individual spirit are so cute but those same kids who show their individuality at an older age are made to feel "not normal" or "freaks" later on in life. Why is it cute at 5 but freaky at 15?

It shouldn't be that way. People should be able to feel comfortable at any age when they decide to show their own true spirit.

I hope I can remember writing this in 10 years when Bean might be going through a tough time feeling like she doesn't fit in or maybe she'll have a friend that feels this way.

Bean, I celebrate you today and tomorrow for the things that make you who you are. For the things that make you different than that kid sitting next to you. For the things that make you MY Bean. I love them all and I think everything about them and you are cool beyond belief.

Again? Really?

2013-03-11T11:36:00.000-04:00

So...Friday was my birthday. Yes, that's right. Another year older. How many years you might ask? Hush your mouth, I might say.

What did I get for my birthday? Two days of absolute nastiness spent between the couch, the bed and the bathroom. I will spare you all the gory details but no, it wasn't fun. It still isn't completely gone and I'm still not having fun with it.

This makes me think back to actually how long one of the three of us in our household has been sick. Someone has had something to deal with since Christmas Eve.

Frankly, I'm a little sick of being sick. I know, I know. There are folks out there that have it worse than we do. We should be grateful. I know. Believe me, I know.

But I'm ready to call in those two English women that used to go around and look at people's homes and show them all the funk they had growing that they couldn't see. I'm wondering if we don't have something like that going on. Do they make Lysol bombs? Probably not but they should and I should totally get royalties on that idea.

And now Hubz comes home Friday night talking about some "super virus", CRE, that is going around the country's hospitals and there is no cure for it. Hubz works in some local Atlanta hospitals doing cabling installation. He is all over these hospitals in areas you wouldn't think they'd allow regular joes to be. So at any given time he could have come home with this super virus or any other creepy, crawly disease and we'd never know. How gross is that? So now we have a new system for his delousing when he comes home from a day at a hospital. Our pediatrician was nice enough to give us some tips on this subject, too.

If you have any tips on how to battle the sickies or how you handle the spread throughout your house, please share them below. I'd love any help I could get to finally get us all well.

Getting back to ourselves.

2013-03-04T08:30:00.000-05:00

The Beanster and I have been quite sick lately. Especially the Bean.

Last week her school called and said that she had woken up from her nap shivering and complaining with her throat. By the time I got there she had gotten sick. She was pitiful. I finally got her in to a doctor and by then her temp was 104.3. After various tests it was determined she didn't have strep or the flu. They weren't quite sure what she had. They sent samples off and still the next day it was inconclusive. They did find bacteria in her blood which could have gotten in from her last ear infection. So she has been on antibiotics all week and she missed 3 days of school.

The day before all of this started I went to the doctor and found out I had bronchitis and sinusitis. So we have just been sharing the love and the germs around here I guess.

Pay It Forward

2013-02-18T09:00:00.000-05:00

Firstly, I wanted to share a blog I've just found and where the idea of today's post came from. Please take a minute to visit Amy at Clippie Dips. She has a wonderful blog and it has probably one of the brightest, cutest layouts I've seen. I really love all the colors and it's causing me to think about overhauling my layout.
I found Amy's blog from one of the many linky parties I like to visit. She posted a tutorial on making her DIY Project Board. Isn't that a great idea?

Now onto the real reason for my post. Amy wrote about Pay It Forward. I emailed her and was one of the commenters she picked to join in.

Source

Details:

The first 5 people to comment and leave their email and blog address will receive from me, sometime in the calendar year, a small gift - a handmade card, a hair clip, some stolen idea from another blogger - something handmade by me - as a surprise in the mail.

There will be no warning but once I know that the recipient has indeed received their gift in the mail, I will blog about the gift I sent and count down the five surprises with all my blog readers.

The catch:

Those five people will then have to make the same offer on their blog.

That's called Pay it Forward. What a neat idea, huh?

Thanks Amy for turning me onto this wonderful idea.

Pinspiring Projects: Valentine's Shirt

2013-02-15T15:14:00.001-05:00

Pinterest, as I'm sure some of you already know, is an addictive time-suck of gigantic proportions. Hubz always rolls his eyes when I say "I found this on Pinterest" or "today on Pinterest". He knows the rest of the sentence is probably gonna cost him either money or time. Such is life, huh?

So...I found this on Pinterest. Hazel and Company shared a tutorial on making a very cute Valentine's Day shirt. Hazel calls this her Polka Dotty Heart Top. Look at how cute it is. I knew Bean would love one of her own so...I totally copycatted Hazel's idea!

I folded my freezer paper in half and cut half a heart out making a full heart once you open up the paper. Those were skillz I learned straight outta First Grade, yo! About time they came in handy. Then I ironed the freezer paper down and Bean set off putting down her paint dots.

She did a great job and filled the heart space up completely.

She wore it to her class Valentine's Day party. I thought she made a very pretty Valentine!

So thank you, Hazel, for such a cute and easy idea. I hope you all enjoyed your Valentine's Day.

The Bean Interview - 5th Birthday

2013-02-06T12:17:00.001-05:00

I am totally stealing today's blog post from a couple of other blogs but I honestly do not remember who I'm stealing this from. So if I lifted this idea off of you, let me know and I'll gladly give you credit. I'm not sure if theft by forgetfulness is an actual acceptable defense but that's what I'm going with.

The general idea is to ask your child the same set of questions on every birthday until they head off to college. As you can see, since I'm starting this tradition on her 5th birthday, I've been a little slack in my job as an interviewer. Hey, can I help if I didn't steal someone else's original idea sooner?

So here we go!

The Bean Interview on Her 5th (or a little bit later) Birthday!

1. What is your name? Bean.

2. If you could change your name, what new name would you choose? Savannah (her cousin)

3. How old are you? 5.

4. When is your birthday? Sunday. (Her party was on a Sunday.)

5. What is your favorite color? Pink.

6. What is your favorite song? Princess. (She has princess songs on her LeapPad.)

7. What is your favorite food? Carrots and corn.

8. What food do you dislike the most? Broccoli

9. What is your favorite place to eat? Cracker Bell. (Cracker Barrel)

10. Who is your best friend? Xandry.

11. What is your favorite book? The bird book. The princess book. And the bunny book.

12. What is your favorite toy? Snowglobe. And the Cinderella doll, too.

13. What is your favorite movie? Brave

14. How do you like to spend your time? With Mommy and Daddy. (Ain't she precious!)

15. What is your Mommy’s name? Mommy.

16. How old is Mommy? .Too old. (Precious my butt!)

17. What does Mommy do during the day? She works. And she eats lunch. And takes phone calls and works on papers.

18. What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Spending time together. (Huh? Whad'ja say? These "too old" ears can't hear you.)

19. What is your Daddy’s name? Daddy.

20. How old is Daddy? 100. (Ha! That's what he gets for snickering at her earlier answer.)

21. What does Daddy do during the day? He works, too.

22. What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play together.

23. What is your favorite thing that happened last year? The park. (So the bar is set really low for this year!)

24. What are you looking forward to doing this year? Well...to play.

25. Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Florida.

26. What will your job be when you grow up? A mermaid.

27. Where do you want to live when you grow up? In a house.

28. Do you want to get married someday? No.

Beanism - Smile when you don't want to

2013-02-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

The other day as I picked Bean up from school, a little boy ran up to me and said "Bean is my girlfriend!"

I thought "Kid, if you value your life...".

I looked over at Bean and she had a silly smirk on her face. Then she gets a mean mug on and looks at me and says "No, Mommy! I'm not anyone's girlfriend!"

So I just smiled at the little boy and thought "See there Stud Muffin!"

When we got in the car, Bean said "Mommy, I'm not anyone's girlfriend. But sometimes when I'm mad I still have a smile on my face."

I guess that's a good thing. Grace under pressure.

But Stud Muffin better watch out!

Bean's Birthday Art

2013-01-23T09:13:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of Bean creating her birthday masterpiece.

At one point our horse had 5 legs. I had to do an amputation but everything turned out okay.

We took a break for presents.

Bean took this picture herself:

2013 Goodreads Challenge

2013-01-22T09:05:00.000-05:00

2013 Reading Challenge

April has read 1 book toward her goal of 75 books.

hide

1 of 75 (1%)

view books

I decided to join in the Goodreads 2013 Reading Challenge. I have to read 75 books this year. That used to be something I could easily do but now with the time constraints I find that I have with being a wife and mom, it's harder and harder to be able to sit down and read. When I do, I usually fall asleep.

I am 1 book down, 74 more to go. Wish me luck. If you are on Goodreads, feel free to friend me.

I'll try to update this list as I go along unless I get really behind and then I'll just hope that you all forget about this post and won't hold me accountable. :)

1. Odd Interlude by Dean Koontz. (My Goodreads has Odd Apocalypse but it should be Odd Interlude and I cannot figure out how I can change it. I'll leave it to be honest on my numbers though.)

DIY Art Party Paint Can Favors

2013-01-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had Bean's 5th Birthday party. (Excuse the sobs.) Bean decided to have an art party this year. Okay, okay, I decided we'd do an art party. I knew Bean would love it and I thought it would be something different than Monkey Cheese's or whatever.

I found a local art studio that offers birthday parties. Kids can come in and learn to paint a picture on a canvas and then they get to "bedazzle" their work.

Since it was going to be an art party, I wanted the goodie bags to go with the theme. Some of you long time readers might remember my past rant about goodie bags. I am learning though that they don't have to be a bag of plastic trinkets or sugarey candies. I think this year's incarnation is a good example of that.

If you're going to have an art or paint party, what do you think of? Massive amounts of mess? Okay, right. What's the next thing you think of? Let me just give you the answer, okay? PAINT CANS.

I found these clear ones at OrientalTrading.com. They are 5" tall.

We wanted them to be colorful so we picked several colors of construction paper and cut it to fit inside the can.

(Can you see my little helper in the background?)

After the pieces were cut to size, Bean would roll them up and place them inside the cans.

(Do you also see the lasting effects of a green lollipop on her face? Even helpers need a pick me up, I guess.)

Then it was time to fill the cans with our goodies. We wanted to give out art supplies so that our friends could have something they can use over and over, at least for a little while. We looked at several stores and either couldn't find anything we wanted to go along with our theme or the cost was too much. Finally, Hubz saved the day while at Wal-Mart. I had been looking at some Crayola products and the cost was over a $1.00 per box. I love Crayola products and we have plenty of them. But we were throwing this party on a budget so we had to be careful on the cost of the goodies. Hubz found some boxes of Rose Art crayons and chalk that were much less than the Crayolas. I've seen RoseArt around for some time but frankly, I consider Crayola to be the best. But let's face it, by the time you get these crayons in the hands of a 4 or 5 year old, or by the time they are shoved up someone's nose, or ingested by the dog, does it really matter? I can tell you from my own personal experience that the doctor will not give you back your crayon after he extracts it from your nose. Sanitary concerns or some mumbo-jumbo like that.

Once we got everything home though we realized the boxes of chalk were too wide for the cans. We decided on just putting a few pieces of chalk in the cans instead. For the girls, Bean also picked out some stickers and a lip gloss ring. For the boys, we chose Matchbox cars and sticky frogs. And of course, a goodie bag wouldn't be complete without some kind of candy so everyone also got a few Hershey Kisses.

Once the cans were filled and the tops put on, I cut some ribbon and tied it to the handle and made pretty curls.

The labels were made using some pre-made scalloped labels found in a kit called Multi-Brights from Lilly Bimble and clip art from Creative Kids by Miss Pickle's through the MyGrafico.com site. I uploaded the labels to PicMonkey.com and added in the names and clip art.

***Update*** The Creative Kids by Miss Pickle's is no longer on the MyGraffico site but you can purchase the clipart on Miss Pickle's Etsy store. She now has a Bright version and a Pastel version.

I printed these labels on full sheet mailing labels. I'm not sure if that's how the professionals do it or if they use actual sticker paper but I will say that using the labels made made taking them off a lot easier. They did not try to stick to the cans at all.

For the finishing touch, we added a paint brush also found at OrientialTrading.com. These were stuck on the cans with 3D Glue Dots. I can't say that those dots are easy to remove later on though so just be prepared for a fight if you ever want to take the little suckers off.

Bean loved them once they were all done. I loved how colorful they all turned out and they were a big hit at the party. A couple of moms asked me if the art studio put them together for me. They were a little surprised to find that we had made them ourselves. We are available for hire in the future! Just putting that out there.

I will be linking to the following linky parties:

Take-A-Look Tuesday @Sugar Bee Crafts

Mums Make Lists

Too Cute Tuesday @Funky Polkadot Giraffe

Whatever You Want Wednesdays @Free Pretty Things for You

Show Off Your Stuff @Fireflies and Jellybeans

Hooking Up with HOH @House of Hepworths

A Crafty Soiree @Yesterday on Tuesday

The Artsy Girl Connection

Things I've Done @Bear Rabbit Bear

Share It Friday @Melomomma

Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons

Mop it Up Mondays @I Should Be Mopping the Floor

Motivate Me Mondays @Keeping It Simple

Happy 5th Birthday!

2013-01-15T21:17:00.000-05:00

Today you're five.

Five!

That's crazy.

Yes, this will be another "just yesterday" post. Yes, I know what you're going to say..."Oh Mommy!"

But it was just yesterday that they lifted your beautiful little face over the curtain so that I could see you for the very first time. Bless that sweet nurse that cleaned you off first before introducing us or I might not have thought you were so cute. Probably but we'll never know and I'm fine with that.

It's been five years ago that I was lying in a hospital bed pretty out of it while Daddy got his first taste of "on the job parenting". We should both thank Daddy for being such a great guy to take excellent care of both of us.

It's been five years ago when we had a room full of people, people that we love, that were standing around staring at you and laughing at Mommy being pretty out of it, when one of them spoke up and asked "okay, what have y'all decided to name her?"

And it's been five years since Daddy spoke up and made the decision to call you "Bean". Not really but he made the final call and it was a great one.

In a couple of days it will be five years ago when Mommy was left all alone with you and you decided to pee all over the hospital bed, the side table and Mommy and Mommy's gaping open, astonished mouth. Mommy had no idea baby girls could "shoot for the stars" like that. Way to go, girl!

And it will also be five years ago when we brought you home, with snow on the ground for the first time in forever, and started our lives together.

Every day of the past five years has been a blessing and a delight. Every day we've been grateful for you. Every day you have been a walking prayer answered. Every day I have been proud to be your Mommy.

Bean, thank you for the past five years. We've taught you things but I think you've taught us a lot more.

I pray the Good Lord above gives us many, many more years to learn together.

Happy 5th Birthday, Bean!

Christmas in Review

2013-01-08T09:53:00.000-05:00

I'm sure we are all tired of hearing about Christmas by now but I wanted to post up some pics from our Christmas morning.

Our tree was beautiful. Of course, I think all Christmas trees are beautiful. Even the ones decorated with Florida Gators ornaments. :)

Bean loved all of her presents. She experienced her first movie theater outing in 2012 and so she's been asking for a Merida doll ever since.

Side Note: I found this doll hanging upside down from Bean's easel yesterday. Gingers are never treated fairly. Frankly, we are getting a little tired of it.

Opening presents is really hard work. Thank goodness Christmas is only once a year so that we can save our energy.

Another princess doll. I'm still waiting on my "Thanks for Keeping Us in Business Through this Hard Economy" note from Disney.

And the old adage that sometimes the simplest gifts are the best must have been true when Bean opened a box of crayons. Or maybe it was the fact that the tag said "From Ollie". Ollie is our beagle and Bean was surprised that he had found the time to go shopping!

I hope you all had a very special Christmas, too.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

2012-12-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

Our family would like to wish your family

Merry Christmas

and

Happy Holidays

May Santa fill your hearts and stockings with love!

On Dancer!

2012-12-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

On Friday, we attended Bean's Christmas Program at her preschool. (The experience we had at our school was quite different than the hell on Earth another set of parents experienced at their school the same day and that is not lost on me.)

But since Halloween, we've been listening to Bean sing Christmas carols and recently, she's been showing us her dance moves, too.

Her class sang Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer, regular and Spanishized, and she got to be Dancer. I thought that was pretty good casting myself.

We were wondering how this would all shake out because last year at the same program, during the first few opening notes of the first song, Bean dashed off stage and ran to us and stayed there for the remainder of the show. She was Dasher that year in name only.

But this year she did a wonderful job. She enjoyed herself and her smile was huge when she finally found Daddy and Mommy in the audience.

And might I add that with the wonderful use of the antlers by her teacher, you couldn't (hardly) notice the self-inflicted haircut! Thanks, Teach!

She's Such a Cut-up!

2012-12-18T12:43:00.000-05:00

Thursday evening in preparation for her big Christmas Program show, I took her to get her hair trimmed. We had been trying to get her in to see either my sister-in-law or our close friend, both of whom usually cut Bean's hair but with me only remembering that she needed a haircut at usually 9pm each night, we hadn't hooked up with either of these fine ladies.

So I swung by a Great Clips and that was fine for a bang trim. She looked cute and the best part, she could see again without having to sweep aside her hair ala Justin Bieber. We were all set for the next day.

Or so I thought.

That night, Bean took a shower in our bedroom and I thought Hubz was watching her. I thought wrong.

Hubz was watching the inside of his own eyelids after falling asleep on the bed during a football game.

Somehow Bean found a small pair of scissors I keep in the bathroom, not sure how she climbed her way up to them though.

And she created this...

I asked her upon discovery of this most heinous of hair-dos why she did it. She told me she did not like the way the "other girl" cut her hair. And THIS is so much better????

If I had known she was capable of this, I would have saved the $11 at Great Clips.

What can you do to fix it was my first thought? I wanted to get my sister-in-law on the phone or on the way to our house to fix this...this...experiment...but wound up sending Bean off to bed while I sobbed.

How do you fix that? I don't think it's fixable.

Wait...

...I found a bow....

There! Fixed it!

A Nation's Heartbreak

2012-12-17T11:47:00.001-05:00

On Friday, December 15, 2012, our nation experienced a tragedy none of us would ever have fathomed. A young man who I will not give the benefit of naming here walked into an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut and killed 20 innocent children and 6 adults. This is to me, not only as a mother, but as a human being, unimaginable.

In my opinion, calling him a "man" is giving him a lot of credit. What kind of man kills 6 year-olds? That is no man for sure. But I have to stop and realize that he was someone's child as well. I have to remind myself that at one time, he was someone's joy and blessing. What happened to him then to cause it to go so horribly wrong? I have no idea. We may never know what happened to cause this, and even if we do find out, it won't bring these 26 people back to us.

Why does this keep happening in our country? I don't have the answers to that. All I do know is that something has to be fixed. Either we need to realize that we do have people in this country that are victims of mental illnesses and that they cannot afford the proper care that they require so we need to work on the healthcare system; or we need to start protecting our schools to keep this from happening in the future; or we need to add in some regulations to our gun laws to make it harder to obtain firearms.

Which one would you be willing to work on?

I personally know parents that have children who are prisoners to mental illnesses that can't afford the treatments they need. I also personally believe that an amendment that was written in 1791 needs to be revisited and applied to the world as we know it in 2012. I firmly believe that no citizen should own an assault rifle. My husband and his family would not agree with me. But I believe only the police and the military should have access to those kinds of weapons.

Nevertheless, none of this changes the situation. On Friday, we lost 26 wonderful souls. No, I didn't know a single one of them but I am sure from what I have read about them that my assessment is not written in vain. We need to remember these people, we need to grieve for them and pray for their families.

We need to pray for us, as well.

Picture Book - Set Dressing and Baby Cows

2012-12-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here are a couple of submissions to our Picture Book posts.

Bean wanted her picture taken on this stool at Hobby Lobby.

She got to meet Baby Cow at a friend's birthday party.

Our Advent Calendar - 2012

2012-12-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Last year for our advent calendar, we opened a new Christmas book each day. That was a fabulous idea but I did not want 24 more Christmas books this year. I'm still finding books I can't remember ever reading.

This idea was found on Pinterest and is an original from Martha Stewart.

http://www.marthastewart.com/270492/baby-sock-advent-calendar

Martha used baby socks and I'm sure all were brand-spanking-new, too. Well, I'm no Martha!

Yes, I used some socks that we have actually had on our feet. But they are clean. It's not like I just took it off my foot and said "hey, you know this would look (and smell) real purty hanging on the fireplace". I only say that about my underroos!

We also threw in some baby mittens in our version. Take that, Martha!

Bean had fun putting the Hershey Kisses into the socks and mittens while I punched out the advent numbers. I found these by Living Locurto and printed them out.

We had already painted our clothespins white and had some red ribbon on hand. We hung the socks and mittens up under our mantle. This really turned out so cute and Bean loves it.

Thanks again, Martha, for the inspiration!

Bean and Santa

2012-12-03T13:24:00.000-05:00

This weekend we did something completely new for us. We received a flyer for a new pottery business in our town that was offering a chance to make a plate with Santa. Basically, you go in and choose what size plate you want to make, then your child has their hand painted and stamped onto the plate. Then Santa's hand gets painted and stamped next to your child's. The plate is finished up with "Santa and Me" and the year and some decorative flourishes.

Bean loved having her hand painted up and she also chose a reindeer to paint all by herself. It was fun watching her concentrate and look so serious while painting.

She also got to spend a few minutes with the Big Guy himself and have her picture taken. Here she is giving Santa the picture and candy cane she made for him the night before.

I loved this because it was in an intimate setting and she really got to spend as much time talking to him as she wanted. She even got to go back up because she forgot to tell him something. There were no long lines, no pushing or shoving. It was just a sweet setting. I am really glad we heard about this.

We get to view our pictures soon and pick up our plate and little reindeer in about two weeks. We can't wait to see how they turned out.