Saturday, February 27, 2010

Free Weekends

Seems like every time I think we are going to have a free weekend with nothing to do, something always comes up. This past Thursday night our weekend was completely free of everything until I came home and had a message from a friend.

I returned her call to find out we were invited over for nachos Friday night and to hang out with a group of our friends. Of course, we were going to go. Seems like all of us don't get together enough so when the opportunity arises we take hold of it.

Then Friday morning when walking my daughter to her classroom at school, we are stopped by the mom of one of the girls in my daughter's class. They had invited my daughter to a Build-a-Bear birthday party but since we hadn't RSVP'd the mom was wondering if my daughter was going to be able to go.

We hadn't quite decided yet and I thought I still had some time. When I got home and looked again at the invite I realized the party was Sunday, just two days away. Guess that is why she was wondering if anyone was coming. Apparently she hadn't heard from any of the five kids invited. So after talking with my hubby when he got home from work Friday night, our Sunday now had something planned for it too.

That left us with our Saturday free. Well, that didn't happen either. We ended up doing a bit of grocery shopping in the morning and then in the afternoon I went to spend some time with my mom. I have so much I need to do around my house and I keep thinking I will get a lot of it done on the weekends but it doesn't get done. Seems like the weekends come and go yet my to do list doesn't get any smaller. Guess that is just how it goes!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Dressing For The Weather

Last weekend we went up to Wal-mart to get a few things and saw some people who in our opinion were not dressed appropriately for the weather. Now maybe it was just us but we didn't think that our 39 degrees we were having that day was a heat wave that made it warm enough for summery type apparel.

On the way to Wal-mart we drove past someone jogging who was wearing shorts. Obviously they were going to get warm from jogging but shorts? Not quite sure they would get THAT warm?

Once we got to Wal-mart we saw someone else wearing shorts. Now this person was not jogging so maybe it was laundry day? We also saw someone wearing a pair of flip-flops. Now I don't know about you but my toes would have been FROZEN if I had been wearing flip-flops. I guess without actually asking someone you will never know why people wear a particular item of clothing/shoes. Just makes you wonder though when you see things like this.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Thinking Baby

I'm thinking..........


When the heck will Spring be here?

Deoderant

My 6 year old has apparently decided she wants to wear deodorant. I haven't decided yet if I will be buying her her own yet or not.

Yesterday and today she has wanted to wear deodorant to school. I think it is because she knows I put it on everyday. It is so funny how kids want to do what you do!

I remember back when she was like 2 or 3 years old. She would take the deodorant out of the drawer in the bathroom, lift her shirt, and rub it on her tummy. This was her equivalent to rubbing it under her arms. Too cute!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Really Early Phone Call

Last night my little guy didn't want to go to bed. We were up extra late and then he turned around and woke up at about 5:30am. As I crawled out of bed to get him I was thinking uugghh......I'm tired! I got him rocked back to sleep pretty quickly though. Thank goodness!

Of course, now I was awake yet still sleepy. Know that feeling? I got my cell phone so I could set the alarm since hubby was leaving early today for work, went to the bathroom, and was getting ready to crawl back in bed for a few more hours when the phone rang. Who in the heck would be calling at about 5:55am? Seriously?

When I was rocking my son, the phone had rang once but that was all. Good thing I hadn't got up to get it since it only rang the one time. The second time it rang enough to have the answering machine pick up. I looked at the caller ID on the phone in my room and it was a toll free number. I went ahead and just climbed back into bed since luckily the phone ringing hadn't woke my son back up. I would NOT have been happy if it had!

I had two thoughts about this early morning call. One was, surely that isn't a telemarketer calling at this hour of the morning? If so, I thought about complaining to them. I also had a feeling it was the automated system from the school calling to let us know school had been canceled. One of my thoughts was correct. It was the school calling.

When hubby was about to leave he let me know that he had seen our school district on the lists of closings. I listened to the message on the machine when I got up and it was from the school. We had practically a whole day yesterday of rain, freezing rain/sleet, and snow so I had a feeling they might close the schools but I wasn't sure. So at least our early morning caller was a legitimate call that was necessary.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Jello Cake Recipe

My previous post talked about tacos and jello cake. Erica commented wanting to know what jello cake was so I decided, hmmm.....the jello cake recipe can be my topic for today's post. Thanks Erica!

First you bake a cake per the directions on the box or if you are your own Betty Crocker, you can make one from scratch. I myself, go the easy route and buy whatever mix is on sale. A white cake mix or a yellow cake mix work best for a jello cake.

After the cake has cooled you poke holes all over it with a toothpick, make a package of jello, and pour a generous amount all over the cake. The toothpick holes allow for the jello to be absorbed into the cake. You then top with cool whip, chill in the fridge for a bit, and enjoy! That is a simple jello cake recipe.

Variations can be done though depending on the type of jello you like and if you want to add fruit or pudding too. My friend makes hers by using the recipe above but before putting on the cool whip, she slices up bananas and strawberries onto the top of the cake after the jello is poured on. She then makes vanilla pudding and spreads it on top of the bananas and strawberries. After that she spreads the cool whip. It is SO SO SO good!

You could easily do cherry jello, raspberry jello, peach, or orange jello. Heck, even blue raspberry jello! Cherries, raspberries, peaches, oranges, blueberries, or whatever your favorite fruit is......there are so many variations to try! Now go to the store, buy what you need, and get baking! You know you wanna!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Tacos And Jello Cake

Tacos and jello cake......mmm mmm good! That was our supper and dessert tonight. My best friend was having some computer problems so we went over to her house so my hubby could try and get the computer working better. The payment she and her hubby paid my hubby for computer work was tacos and strawberry banana jello cake. I got the benefit of supper and dessert just for being the wife of the "computer guy." Yay me! Everything tasted fantastic and none of us were left hungry. That is for sure! Hubby got the computer running better too so A+'s all around. Good job hubby! Keep up the good work!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Horrible Memory

Ever thought of a good topic to blog about but didn't post right away and then by the time you went to post about it you couldn't remember what it was you were going to write about? Well, I'll be darned if that didn't happen to me!

Last night I came up with a great topic. I think it would have been fun to write about and I'm pretty sure you would have enjoyed reading it but I cannot think of what the heck it was! Isn't that crazy? I know I had something good in mind but it has left my mind and I don't know if it plans to come back or not. I have a horrible memory sometimes.

Sooooo............if I happen to think of what it was then I'll try and post it right away. If it never comes to my mind again then I guess it just wasn't meant for me to write about or for you to read.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Good Housekeeping Tip

Always keep several get well cards on the mantle... so if unexpected guests arrive, they will think you've been sick and unable to clean.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

27 Kids

As if a kindergarten class of 26 was not big enough, today when I picked my daughter up from school she told me that a new girl was going to be starting school tomorrow at her school and be in her class. Isn't that just crazy? That makes a kindergarten class of 27! It is chaotic enough in there with the current 26, let alone adding yet another young person for one, yes ONE, teacher to teach and look after.

I've been in my daughter's class when I walk her in for school in the mornings and I've also been there for a few holiday parties. It's unreal how crazy it is! I was there last week and went with the class for music. I don't even know why they bothered because over half the class was doing their own thing. The music teacher had no control over the class. In my opinion, she didn't even seem to try and gain any sort of control.

My hubby and I just hope that the 1st grade classes will not be this large but unfortunately we think they will be. Luckily our daughter is super duper smart so we don't worry too much about her not learning. Hopefully the chaos of the classroom is not affecting any of the kids who do need help.

Monday, February 15, 2010

The World

To the world you might just be one person, but to one person you just might be the world!

Friends

Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Happy Valentine's Day

♥ Happy Valentine's Day to all my blog readers! Hope your day was filled with love and romance from your someone special! ♥

Rude Cashiers

Don't you just love it when the cashier at the grocery store is rude? The girl who checked us out tonight wasn't necessarily rude but she definitely wasn't very friendly either. For being someone dealing with customers I think she should have been a bit more pleasant. That's my opinion anyway.

I think she was a bit annoyed with us because we noticed one of the bottles of juice we got didn't ring up correctly so she had to call someone to check on it. I told her what price it was suppose to be. She said it was probably just select choices so my husband said something like, "Well, then we don't select that one." I thought the bottle of juice that rang up wrong was a different brand from the other two bottles we picked but once someone came to go check on the price, I realized all three bottles we had were indeed the same brand so I thought maybe my daughter had picked up the wrong kind from the shelf. We had told her she could pick the flavor. We then just told the girl to take it off. We decided not to get that one.

After the person who was going to check the price walked away my hubby said he was pretty sure that was the one that was suppose to be on sale. Oh well. Guess we weren't meant to buy it. I just get annoyed when the cashiers get annoyed with you for wanting the correct price. All those differences add up you know? We pick a lot of the items we are buying because of the price they are suppose to be selling for so when they don't ring up for that price, by george, we're gonna say something!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Repeat That Please

This morning my daughter was writing names on the calendar for people's birthdays. She was also adding our dog's name for her birthday too. She had asked daddy how to spell our dog's name. It's a pretty long one. Daddy told her, "A-N-N-A-B-E-L-L-E." A few seconds later I heard my daughter say, "Can you repeat that please. I got A." Apparently daddy was spelling too fast or she wasn't ready. It was just one of those cute moments so I wanted to write about it!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Littering

What goes through someone's mind when they are throwing trash on the ground? I ask this question because today when we were driving home, as we turned the corner at an intersection with a light, I saw this woman who was sitting at the red light open her car door and throw trash on the road. It wasn't just a tiny piece of paper or anything small like that either. It looked like a wadded up McDonald's bag or something similar. I couldn't believe what I saw!

Seriously, what would it have hurt for her to keep that trash in her car until she got home or got to where ever it was she was going and then put it in a trash can? I'm the type of person who does my best to never be a litter bug so I think that is why this bothered me so much. Heck, yesterday as we were leaving to go to our daughter's teacher conference meeting, I was opening a Hershey kiss and dropped part of the little white paper that sticks out of the top of it. You know, that teeny tiny little strip? I could have left it on my driveway to blow down the road when the wind blew but no, I didn't. I knelt down and picked it up. Every little bit of trash adds up! I think everyone needs to remember this!

After seeing this and discussing it in the truck with my hubby, I was sure to remind my daughter that we don't throw trash on the ground. We put it in a trash can!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Concentrate On This Sentence

I received this in an e-mail and wanted to post it on my blog for you to read.

'To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.' When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence....

'The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.'

Monday, February 8, 2010

Late Night Snack

I had both kids in bed sleeping and was sitting on the couch enjoying the quietness while crocheting some dish scrubbies when I decided I was hungry. My late night snack choice was to have a bowl of crackers with milk. I remember going to my great grandparent's farm years ago and eating crackers with milk. Some other family members would eat cornbread and milk too but I don't think I ever tried that. Now some of you are probably thinking, "Ewww, crackers with milk?" Hey, everybody has different tastes. If you have never tried it you should do so at least once. You never know, you just might like it!

No Snow Day

Last night my hubby went out to take the trash to the curb since today was trash day. When he opened the door is when we both realized it was snowing and had been for a bit. Neither of us had even realized it since we hadn't been out since earlier in the day when we ran our errands. Our trucks were already covered white and it was still coming down. We watched the news to get the weather and were under the assumption that lots more snow was on its way overnight. I figured there would be a snow day from school for my daughter today but there wasn't because we didn't get as much snow as was expected. I'm ok with that because we have had our fair share of snow this winter already even though I wouldn't have minded if my daughter got to stay home all day either. Call me crazy but I don't mind being with my kids a lot! Don't get me wrong though, I also do enjoy some time away but not a whole lot of time away.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Missed A Day

So I had been doing really well again with keeping up with my blog for the month of February. I think I had actually posted a blog a day for the entire month. Well, that is up until yesterday. Ooops! My day yesterday was so full that I didn't really have a whole lot of computer time.

I spent the day out with a few friends of mine. One of them is turning 40 so another friend and I took her out to lunch then shopping. After that we ended up back at my friend's house for a surprise party then all went out for a few hours. It was a whole lot of fun! Hubby and I don't go out often so we really enjoy ourselves when we can get away.

Maybe if you all are lucky I'll find the time to post again later today and make up for the read you didn't get yesterday. Just have to wait and see!

Friday, February 5, 2010

Gas Pump Questions

Seriously, why when you go to the gas station does the pump have to have you answer so many questions before you can even get gas for your vehicle? I stopped this morning to get some gas and had to do this. Here it is snowing and cold outside. Before I could even pump my gas I had to enter my zip code. Then it wanted to know if I wanted a car wash. I realize the zip code question is probably so they can see where people are from when they stop in to purchase gas but how do they know people really put in their real zip code? What if someone just typed in something just because? Granted most people probably do put in the correct one but I still don't know how accurate their "zip code survey" truly is. As far as the car wash question goes, if I want a car wash I'll buy one. I don't think it should ask everyone that before they can even pump their gas. I realize that these are both simple little questions that took all of a few seconds to hit the answer to but dog gone it, when it is cold and snowy outside those few seconds feel like WAY longer!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Cute Comment

Last night on the drive to my grandparent's house my 6 year old daughter made a cute comment that I think will bring a smile to your face when you read it. She had been looking around while we were driving and then asked something like, "How are the birds able to sit on there?" She was referring to them sitting on the power lines. My answer to her was, "because they are covered with plastic." Her next response was the cute comment. She said, "I didn't know birds were covered with plastic." My hubby and I couldn't help but giggle and smile. Obviously I was meaning the power lines were covered with plastic not the bird so we explained that to her. Actually I guess it isn't even really plastic on them but they are coated with something. Anyway, just wanted to share that cute comment with you all. Hope it made ya smile!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Touching The Picture

It is so cute in the mornings when my little boy wakes up. A while ago I put together a little puzzle of dalmatians and firetrucks. I glued it all together and trimmed the edge with some lace to match. It is hung up on his bedroom door. Each morning after getting him out of his crib when he wakes up he likes to touch it and smile as we walk out of his room. Just makes me smile to watch him do this. Hope it made you smile to read about it and think about him doing it!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Items Ringing Up Wrong

Ever go to the store to purchase things, get home, look at your receipt, realize some of the items you bought didn't ring up right, and you were overcharged? By the time you've driven home there is really nothing to do about it. It wouldn't be worth it to hop back in the car to drive all the way back to the store. Well, this has happened to us SO many times especially when we shop at Hyvee. On occasion it happens at Wal-mart. When we shop at these two stores now I do my best to watch as EVERYTHING is rung up. Too many times of being overcharged for things has made us keep a close eye now. I realize that it is usually just small amounts of change here and there as the difference but all of those small amounts add up to a bigger amount eventually you know? Now a days every little bit counts.

Well, tonight I have realized I will need to be sure to watch when my items are rung up at Hobby Lobby as well as Hyvee and Wal-mart. I had to go to Hobby Lobby tonight to get a skein of yarn. I have been looking for something else small for my daughter to put in her Valentine treat bags for her classmates. While there I saw that their Valentine items were 40% off. They had bags of heart shaped erasers that contained 40 erasers. This was just what I had been looking for. Everything else I had found only contained 12 or less items making me have to purchase at least 3 bags or more in order to have enough for a class of 26. The bags of 40 erasers was a way better deal.

So we go up to the register to check out. I hand the girl my skein of yarn with this week's 40% off any one regular priced item and I tell her that I thought the erasers were on sale as well. She gave me my total and I paid. While walking to put away our cart I'm thinking, "My total doesn't sound quite right?" I was thinking that it would be less than that with both of my items being 40% off so I get my receipt back out of my purse. Sure enough, she had only given me 30% off of the Valentine erasers.

We went back and stood in line so I could get the difference back. Now I know, you are probably thinking, "Why waste the time doing that? It couldn't have been that much of a difference?" Yes, you're right. It wasn't very much but........it's the idea that it should be a certain price and I didn't get it for that price. All of those little amounts add up eventually. Instead of the cashier just ringing up the difference and giving me the change back I was due, I actually had to go through the hassle of returning the erasers, waiting for a manager to sign off on the return, got my bank card credited back, and then had to repurchase the erasers again at the correct price. I found it a bit ridiculous really. Here I am holding my little boy, my daughter is obviously ready to go, and they have this long drawn out process of refunding me my extra percentage off. Something similar to this happened to my mom at Wal-mart not long ago and it was not nearly as much of a pain as it was for me at Hobby Lobby tonight.

I'm sure the cashier probably thought it stupid of me to go through all that for some change but I don't care. It was more the principle of it than anything I think. If you are going to have a sale price then give your customers the sale price especially when that sale price is plastered ALL over the shelves right near the check-outs. Yes, all the Valentine items were right where you could see them from the check-out lines but yet my cashier gave me the wrong discount. Go figure!

Monday, February 1, 2010

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE JANUARY SALES DRAWING IS ........thepolkadottotspot! Congratulations! thepolkadottotspot just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of February any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the February sales will be drawn on March 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!