Saturday, December 29, 2012

Homemade Macaroni And Cheese

Do you like homemade macaroni and cheese? You know the kind you make with elbow macaroni noodles and the REAL Velveeta cheese? Mmm! Mmm! Good!

Well, I do! Tonight I was sitting and enjoying a bowl of it when my daughter came up to me. She asked me if it was the macaroni and cheese from my grandma's house. We had been there for a big family gathering today which included a BIG meal. Gotta love grandma's cooking!

I told my daughter that yes, the macaroni and cheese was from my grandma's house. I love it when grandma sends home the leftovers. My daughter smiled and her eyes lit up when she told me how good she thought it was because it was SO cheesy.

She started to ask me a question which began with, "Can I have some?" As I started to shake my head yes, thinking she was going to ask if she could have some macaroni and cheese, she finished her question with, "of yours?"

Ummmm......no! Get your own macaroni and cheese, which of course she did. We both enjoyed a nice bowl of it for a late night snack! I followed mine up with a snickerdoodle cookie my aunt made. Hmmmm......and then I wonder why my jeans don't fit like they use to? Lol. Couldn't be all the pasta and sugar could it? Naw! They must just be shrinking in the wash!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Sleep Deprived

Last night hubby and I didn't get to bed until after midnight. Since our son had taken an evening nap, he did not want to fall asleep last night. He came into our room a few times after we had tucked him into his own bed. This made it between 1am and 2am before I was able to soundly fall asleep.

Then at just before 5:30am the home phone was ringing. I knew who it was. It was the school district calling to let us know school was cancelled due to the winter weather of rain, sleet, and snow that had moved through our area.

Knowing school was out, I turned off my alarm clock and climbed back into bed, thinking I might be able to sleep in late. Yeah, that didn't happen!

At about the time I would have normally gotten up, I felt someone tapping on me. It was our daughter. She was letting me know she didn't have school and that it had snowed. Of course, both of which I already knew!

I tried to fall back asleep but not long after our daughter had woke me up, the doorbell rang. It was the postman delivering a package we were expecting. Hubby got the door. By this point, I had given up on trying to sleep in so I just got up not long after the postman had been here.

So now I feel a bit sleep deprived after being woke up so many different times and not even getting to sleep in. I think I got up just about a half hour later than on a normal day BUT didn't necessarily sleep an extra half hour.

With all the snow outside and no plans to go anywhere today, maybe later I'll be able to get a nap in. I'm thinking it is going to be a stay in my pj day too. I can picture myself sitting on the couch, comfy in my pj's, sipping on some hot cocoa while watching a tid bit of television. Anyone else think that sounds like a good idea?

Monday, December 17, 2012

New Brown Hat

Today while out shopping for some Christmas presents, I bought my son a brown foam hat that is similar to the hat Woody from the Toy Story movies wears. He is going through another phase of LOVING the Toy Story movies and characters again.

Ever since buying that hat, my son has been wearing it practically every minute he can! I walked past his room tonight and he was in there playing with his new hat on.

He then came out into the living room with his hat on and also a pair of gloves. Add the fact that he was also in his pj's and you have a CUTE little 4 year old boy! Mommy HAD to have a picture!

When I told my son I wanted a picture while running to his room he said, "No. Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" He then came back carrying his pirate Halloween costume. He wanted a picture in it.

I got the picture I wanted plus quite a few more. Daddy got some pictures too because my son kept wanting more and more pictures taken. He then had to look at them on the camera. Too funny!

I'm guessing the little guy will probably want to sleep with his new hat. I've got to say, it's one of the best dollars I've spent. Yep, only paid a dollar for that new brown foam hat at The Dollar Tree! What a deal I got! :-)

Room Needs Cleaning

My son was being very hopeful tonight. He was in his room and out of no where he called out, "Daddy, I want you to clean my room for me."

Yep, you guessed it! Daddy didn't want THAT job! LOL!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

New Bed

Isn't it funny and cute how kids can be SO proud of some of the things they do? My son is good at doing this.

A few weeks ago, he came into the living room very proudly and announced, "I moved my bed!" When I asked him why, his reply to me was, "Because I need to do it like that."

He then took his sister to see it and from his room I heard him comment to her about his "new" bed.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Decorating For Christmas

Last night we put up our brand spanking new Christmas tree that I stood out in the cold for Thanksgiving evening.

Now, I had no plans of standing outside to wait to get into ANY stores for the black Friday deals BUT hubby's sister and mom were going so I decided to tag along since the store they were going to had a pre-lit 6 foot tree for $30.00. Hubby and I had just recently been discussing that we needed a new tree so off shopping I went! Target was the lucky store who got some of our money!

Tonight we got out the rest of the Christmas items and the kids hung all the ornaments on the new tree. I put out some other decorations and ta da, our home is decorated.

Across the tv stand, I put the photos of our kids with Santa. Our son noticed them, walked over to one of them, and said, "Mommy, that looks like me." Awww....kids can say some cute things sometimes!

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Banana Bread

While out and about with my mom this evening, hubby baked banana bread. Yes, you read that right. My HUBBY baked!

When I got home, after getting into my pj's, I went into the kitchen, cut a slice of banana bread onto a plate, grabbed a fork, and got comfy on the loveseat to enjoy it while watching some television.

Apparently my son must like banana bread too because I had no longer sat down when he joined me. He was picking at my slice of bread and I was shooing his hands away. Next thing you know, he went into the kitchen and came back with a fork. While helping himself to a bite of my banana bread, he told me, "I'll eat with you."

Clean Car

My son likes to play with my daughter's Barbie car and jeep. He puts a Barbie or two in them and then races around the house really fast.

This morning he was racing around with the car and sneezed on it which of course GROSSED my daughter out completely. After he sneezed he wiped off the car and proudly announced he cleaned it and it was "good as new."

As you can probably guess, I don't think my daughter agreed with him. :-)

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Needing Sister

This morning I was sitting on the loveseat in the living room when my son woke up. I had heard him get out of bed and was waiting for him to come out of his room. He came to the doorway of his room and peeked ever so slowly around the corner until I acknowledged he was there. Once I had said good morning to him he came running over to me.

One of the first things he asked was where his sister was. When I told him she was at school his response was, "What? I need her." He was sad but quickly got over it. I think it dawned on him that sister wasn't home which meant he could go into her room, which he immediately did to get some of her toys to play with.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Stickers

My son loves to put stickers on pieces of paper. This morning he found the leftover puppy stickers from my daughter's birthday party on the dining room table so I told him he could have them.

When I gave them to him, the thought of what he ended up doing with them had not crossed my mind. A few minutes after walking away with the sheet of puppy stickers, he proudly came up to me and said, "I put them everywhere!"

I followed him into the hallway and he had put them EVERYWHERE! He had them stuck on walls, door frames, and even on one of the toys in his room. Thankfully he bragged about what he had done right after doing so before they got TOO stuck on and also bragged about it before he had put ALL the stickers everywhere.

We went around and gathered all the stickers so he could put them onto a piece of paper. After doing so, he wanted to take them off the paper and put them back on the sticker sheet. Boy does he love stickers!

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Words Of Encouragement

When my hubby has some free time to sit and relax, one of the things he enjoys doing sometimes is playing games on his computer. Both of our kids enjoy sitting watching daddy do this.

This rainy Sunday morning, we are all having a lazy day, still lounging around in our pj's. Hubby sat down to play a game online and yep, you guessed it. Both of our kids got their front row seats to watch.

I heard our son giving daddy some words of encouragement as he was playing. I heard our son saying, "Wow! Awesome! Good job daddy!" Bet that made daddy feel good!

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Out Of My Room

This morning when my son woke up but before he got out of his bed, he wanted his sister to come in his room. She went in there and before they came out into the living room, she had taken one of my son's blankets and wrapped it around him like a cape.

He was walking around the house with it still on when he ventured into my room. From the living room, I called to him to get out of my room but he didn't come out. After a few more times of telling him to get out of my room, I hear this little 4 year old voice say, "You can't get me! I've got super powers!"

Apparently his blanket cape gave him super powers I was unaware of! Lol.

Coffee

Growing up I remember staying the night at my grandparent's house. Grandpa and grandma would be drinking coffee with breakfast. Grandpa would ask me if I wanted some coffee too.

Of course, I said no. I didn't like coffee. Then grandpa would jokingly tell me, "It will put hair on your chest." To which I would reply, "Grandpa, I don't want hair on my chest!" Then grandpa would just sit there giggling with a HUGE grin.

It is so fun today to tell this story and bring back that memory especially when my daughter is there to hear it too. Grandpa still does his giggle and grin. :-)

Now as a grown up, I still don't like the taste of coffee and still don't want hair on my chest BUT mmmmm, the smell of coffee is great!

My hubby used to drink energy drinks to help wake him up some days but now has started drinking coffee more often to get his caffeine fix. The aroma of it in our house in the mornings is wonderful! I joked with him the other day that he was getting old though. Lol. He gets up on some mornings now and sits around drinking coffee like his dad and my grandparents do.

I don't think he considers himself OLD yet, but does realize we are not spring chickens anymore and are getting closer to that OLD age label. We may not want to get closer BUT alas it is part of life.

I guess this morning I would get classified in that getting old category with him because I'm sitting here typing this blog post with a hot cup of coffee myself. Yes, I know I said I don't like the taste of it, but the warmness of the coffee sure does soothe a sore throat which unfortunately I have at the moment. 

Hubby puts sugar and creamer in his coffee but says he is going to try to get to a time when he can just drink it black since each cup he currently makes never tastes quite the same. He says he doesn't always measure out the creamer and sugar the same each time.

My coffee is doctored up with lots of sugar, honey, and creamer. Gotta try and disguise that gross coffee taste that I don't like! Do tell what you like in your coffee!

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Staying Up Too Late

My husband frequently comments that we shouldn't stay up so late. I agree but alas we always do. Once we finally have the kids tucked away sleeping, it is just so nice to sit and enjoy the quiet.

Before we know it, it's after 11pm, sometimes even closer to midnight and on occasion later than that! Then the next morning when the alarms go off, neither of us want to get out of bed.

Of course, once I do get up and get around, I'm up for the day. It usually doesn't take me too long to wake up and get my day started but sometimes since I stay up too late, I sure do have a hard time initially getting that first foot out of bed!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Our Tree

The other day my son looked at the tree in our front yard and was a bit upset. I believe his exact words were, "It's ruined."

Now the reason he thinks it is ruined is because all the leaves have already fallen off of it! Too funny and too cute! It is so fun to listen to him talk now a days. You just never know what he's gonna say next!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Good As New

My son came to me a bit ago with his pillow from his bed. He had the pillowcase off and was wanting a new pillow.

I told him I would get him a new pillowcase. After I put a fresh, clean, yellow pillowcase on his pillow I gave it to him and told him to put it back on his bed.

As he was walking back to his room, he stopped, turned around, held his pillow, and said, "It's as good as new."

I thought it was so cute. Kids can say some cute things, especially when they are still young like he is.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Failed Resolution

Clearly I have been failing to keep up with one of my New Year's resolutions. :-(

Those of you who read my blog on a regular basis can probably guess which resolution I am referring to. It's the one where I was going to post a new blog post everyday this year.

Obviously that has NOT been what I have been doing. I missed 3 days last month and now I've already missed one day for this month. Shame on me, I know!

After a 3 day craft show this past weekend that was super busy, this week I am one, just plain tuckered out, and two, even though I'm tired, I am busily working on more items for another 3 day craft show this coming weekend.

Yes, you read that right. I signed up for two, 3 day craft shows for back to back weekends. What was I thinking? Well, both of these shows have been going on for a number of years so both have LOTS of traffic so they are not shows I want to miss.

I still have some items left from last weekend but really do need to get more made as I have no where near what I started last weekend's craft show with. Today I was able to get 14 hand towels made and got a good start to some nylon netting dish scrubbies.

I never have as much as I'd like to have complete before doing craft shows but hey, I do what I can. That "L" word called life always seem to throw something my way when I'm trying to crochet. That's to be expected though so I just work with what I have.

So instead of a New Year's resolution to blog once a day, I think I'm going to change my resolution to be that by the end of 2012 I will have blogged 366 times. That will be one post for each day of the year and of course since it is leap year, that adds an extra day thus the 366 posts not 365. I'm allowed to change my resolution right?

Well, even if I'm not allowed to change my resolution, I'm going to anyway! You can just call me a rule breaker! Even though I most likely won't be blogging EVERYDAY, I will be blogging so please do stop back by to see what I've got for you to read! In order to have 366 blog posts by the end of the year though, that means some days there will be more than one post to read! So stay tuned!

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Feet Up Again

Yay! Day 2 of the 3 day craft show I'm participating in this weekend is behind me now and I'm currently home with my feet up on the foot stool again!

Today was another long but successful day so I really can't complain. Tomorrow is the shortest of the 3 days so it shouldn't be too bad. I plan to start it off by hopefully sleeping in a bit.

With it being the last day of the show, I don't look for it to be quite as busy but I could be wrong. My thought is that the shortest day of the show will feel like the longest though if it isn't very busy. Only time will tell!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Feet Up

Awww.....it feels so good to be sitting on my loveseat with my shoes off and my feet up on the footstool.

Today was day 1 of a 3 day craft show I'm participating in this weekend. It can be a lot of work to initially get your booth set up but usually the reward of sales in the end makes it all worth it!

I'm definitely glad day one is over though. One down, two to go. Wish me luck!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

New Business Cards

Awhile back I purchased a package of paper for a great price to print my own business cards on. The paper was already perforated so once you printed your business cards, they just pulled right apart. Easy peasy right? Or so one would think!

So with Fall craft shows coming up, the other night I started working on my business card design so I'd have them to hand out at the shows I'm going to be participating in.

Well, after a few trial and errors, with some printing out right and some not, I enlisted the help of my hubby. Between the two of us, we FINALLY came up with a design that worked! Yay!

I used the cute doggie avatar that you see here on my blog, on my Etsy shop, and on my MadeItMySelf shop. It is just such a CUTE picture that I can't bring myself to change my avatars so why not use that same cute picture on my business cards!

I'm looking forward to passing them out at the craft shows and mailing them out with my Etsy orders! Between all the ones that didn't work quite right and all the ones that printed nicely, I now have like 290 business cards. I think I have plenty, don't you?

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Thomas The Train Treasury

My daughter and I have a New Year's resolution to make a treasury a day this year on Etsy. So far, except for a few occasions, one of us has made one each day and on the days we missed, two were made the next day.

A lot of times I am the one who makes the treasuries but on occasion my daughter still shows interest and either helps or does all the picks. Just kind of depends on what mood she is in and what else is going on.

Tonight I thought it would be fun to let my son who is 3, almost 4, help me make a treasury. Knowing he is really liking Thomas The Train here lately, I decided the theme for today's treasury would be Thomas The Train. My son picked out each of the featured items.

I think he really enjoyed picking out all the Thomas The Train items. Once the treasury was finished, he wanted to make another one with one of the other trains from the Thomas The Train collection. It was really cute. Maybe tomorrow he and I will make another train treasury!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Working On The Car

Tonight hubby was out in the garage working on one of my displays for my upcoming craft shows. Our son decided to go out in the garage with him.

In our garage we have an old car that hubby is restoring. The two of them left the door open that goes from the kitchen to the garage so a little while after our son joined daddy in the garage I hear our son's little voice say, "I'm going to work on the car."

Right after that I hear, BANG, BANG, BANG, then my hubby saying, "Don't hit my car with a hammer." I think the little guy thought he was helping, just not the way daddy wanted. It was one of those moments that we'll have fun telling to our friends and family.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Early Bedtime

My hubby and I often say we are going to put our kids to bed early, especially when they have been misbehaving, but we rarely follow through with it.

Well, tonight we did! After they were both in bed, I was sitting on the love seat enjoying the "kid free zone" and having a little snack.

Right about the time my hubby was walking through the living room and into the hallway, our son started hollering out from his room, "Mommy!" Hubby stopped in our son's doorway and told him to go to sleep.

To which our son replied, "You're not mommy. You're daddy."

It was one of those cute moments that brings a smile to your face. Gotta love what kids can say sometimes don't ya?

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Feeding The Fish, Buffalo, And Elk

Today was a busy day for us. It started out with a trip to the grocery store then hubby got called into work for about 4 hours.

As soon as he got home, he quickly changed clothes and out the door we went. We were meeting a friend and her kids at the marina at one of our local lakes to feed the fish.

After feeding the fish, we headed over to another one of our local lakes to feed the buffalo and elk carrots. I think we all had a lot of fun with this outing and the weather today was PERFECT for it!

Once all of us ran out of carrots at the second lake, we parted ways with our friend and her kids. They headed home to their house and we headed home to our house to meet my mom. She was coming over so my hubby and I could help her with one of her displays for the upcoming craft show she and I have booths for.

I also made one of our favorite meals for supper tonight, shrimp alfredo, made from scratch. Mmm! Mmm! Good! Now we're going to be getting our kids to bed and enjoying the quietness after such a long, busy day. Going to enjoy kicking my feet up and doing some crocheting.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

I'm A .....

Tonight my daughter left her purple headband with a purple flower on it out on my hubby's desk. Hubby, my daughter, and myself were busy pricing my items for an upcoming craft show I'm doing.

Out of the blue, my son goes over to the desk, gets the purple headband, puts it on, and says, "I'm a girl." Oh my goodness! It was SO funny! I'm sure it is probably one of those moments that you had to be there to really know how funny it was though.

Another funny thing about it is my daughter pretty much immediately asked me if I was going to blog about it. Yep, I was! She knows me too well! :-)

Friday, September 21, 2012

Birthday Treats With The Class

This afternoon my son and I walked to my daughter's school to have birthday treats with my daughter and her class. The school is now involved in some sort of program that promotes healthy eating so the treat we took couldn't be anything sweet like cookies or cupcakes. :-(

I debated back and forth before finally deciding upon taking cheese squares and pretzels for my daughter to share with her class. I also took a big jug of Sunny Delight for the kids to drink. My daughter really liked the idea I came up with. Her class seemed to enjoy it as well. Yay!

I was SO glad to have gotten to go to the school this year for my daughter's birthday. Last year I didn't get to share the experience of her celebrating her birthday with her class and was upset about it. I'm the type of mommy who enjoys these types of moments. We only get so many of them!


Thursday, September 20, 2012

Sending Sick Kids To School

This morning my hubby had to leave extra early for work so I was the one who took my daughter to school. Since it was a nice morning, we walked of course.

After walking my daughter to her class, my son and I started on the walk back home. When we reached the edge of the sidewalk to cross the street where the crossing guard was, we walked past a mom who was talking to her daughter. They were headed TO the school.

This mom was basically telling her daughter to go to school and try to hang in there until at least 1pm or so then if she still couldn't do it, she'd come pick her up.

As we walked across the street, I commented to the crossing guard, who is also the school's gym teacher. We were both basically floored that this mom was telling her kid this. The gym teacher said that the girl would probably be bugging to go see the nurse all day. I said that depending on what was wrong with her, she might get others kids sick too.

It's crazy that parents send their kids to school KNOWING they don't feel well! Really? Just keep them home especially if you know they are feeling bad enough that you tell them you'll come get them early. Obviously they need to just stay home to begin with if that is your plan. Why make them suffer through part of the day at school possibly passing along whatever ails them to other kids or teachers?

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Falling Behind

Life has been so busy lately that I'm falling behind on my New Year's resolution to blog daily. Now I'm two days short! Yikes!

Yesterday I thought about blogging at different times during the day but kept thinking I would do it later. Well, by the time later came, I was just tired and ready for beddy by!

I've been trying to get in as much crochet time as possible as I have two three day craft shows in the coming weeks that are on back to back weekends so I need A LOT of items in order to fill my tables for both shows.

On top of that, our daughter's birthday and our son's birthday are this time of the year too so that adds to my things to do list. Not to mention, just everyday life in general things like housecleaning, laundry, and being a mommy and wife. Busy! Busy! Busy!

I do plan to do more than one blog post a day at some point to catch up on the days I've missed. I know that means that in all actuality I won't have blogged DAILY, but I do plan to still have blogged 366 times for the year of 2012! So stay tuned to keep reading! :-)

Monday, September 17, 2012

Crazy Weekend

Wow! What a crazy, busy, full, and did I mention BUSY weekend we had!

After waking up earlier than planned on Saturday, we were pretty much none stop on the go, busy with SOMETHING basically ALL weekend.

Saturday morning I did my online things first thing since I knew the rest of my Saturday was going to be busy. Didn't want to miss making my daily treasury or miss writing my daily blog post.

After that, I had to finish getting things ready for our daughter's birthday party which included decorating her cake that daddy had baked the night before. Thankfully this year the cake was EASY to decorate. Just took two colors and neither had to be made because the cake shape was a puppy paw and our daughter wanted brown and white so I just used white and chocolate frosting. Easy peasy!

After we got everything ready for the party, the guests started to arrive. When the party was over we went out to supper with hubby's parents and our niece who came in town with them then sat around visiting the rest of Saturday evening.

Sunday I spent the morning and part of the afternoon out with my mom and my mother in law. After that my hubby, the kids, and I went to my grandparent's house for a bit then off to Wal-mart to pick up a few things.

Sunday evening was spent canning pickles. What an experience THAT was! I'll have to blog about it sometime soon. Maybe I'll even include photos of the finished jars of pickles.

With all that we had going on, last night I was ready for bed and just didn't get around to writing a blog post for yesterday.

To make up for my missing blog post, since I do have that New Year's resolution to blog daily, I plan to write two blog posts one of the days this week. I'm thinking I might blog about two fellow Etsians tomorrow but you'll just have to wait and see, or should I say read? :-)

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Wanted To Sleep In

So I had hoped to have slept in this morning but alas that did not happen. There was no one to blame but myself either. Grrr...

Yesterday morning I had to be up earlier than usual as I had to be somewhere so I set my alarm for an earlier time. Last night when I went to bed I was thinking I had disabled my morning alarm which I usually do after it goes off on Fridays unless we have somewhere to be early on a Saturday morning.

Well, yep, you guessed it. I only THOUGHT that I had disabled the earlier than usual alarm setting yesterday morning because bright and early at 7:45am this morning it was ringing!

I was snoozing and dreaming away when it went off too! *sigh* Maybe I'll get to sleep in tomorrow. I know for SURE that I disabled the alarm this morning!

Friday, September 14, 2012

Busy Day

Oh my goodness was today a busy day for me!

Got up and went to work then to my grandparent's house for lunch! Boy, was lunch tasty!

After that I had to go to the doctor's office then headed back home.

Once my daughter was out of school and hubby was home from work, we started decorating for my daughter's birthday party tomorrow. We didn't get everything completely done before it was time to go up to my daughter's school for the back to school picnic night.

The teacher talked about what the kids are learning in class then we went to the book fair in the gym. I got both my daughter and my son a book then we went to have supper in the school cafeteria.

PTA was sponsoring the evening. They had hot dogs, chips, bananas, grapes, and cookies to choose from with water and lemonade for the drinks.

After we ate, there was still time to go to the gym so my daughter could have her face painted and my son could get a tattoo then we headed outside for the last part of the school event so the kids could jump in the bounce house and play on the playground.

Once we were done with the back to school picnic, we went over to Wal-mart to get the last of what we needed for the party along with some other things we didn't really need but wanted. Lol.

Shopping took awhile. I think we were all getting tired and ready to go home by the time we paid for our items we purchased from Wal-mart.

Once back home, we began to work on getting more things ready for our daughter's party.

Now that I've made my treasury for the day and I'm writing this blog post as my blog post for the day, I can FINALLY go to bed! I'm tired! It's been a long day and I'm nearly falling asleep while sitting here typing this.

Thursday, September 13, 2012

My Seventeenth Featured Etsian

Minutes after making a treasury I refreshed the page and already had a comment. This comment was left by a shop who was not a featured shop in my treasury so I decided to shine the spotlight on the shop owner who took time to not only look at my treasury but also comment on it even when they were not in it.

My seventeenth featured Etsian is Desi from SGArtworks. Her shop can be found here, full of vintage and handmade affordable jewelry, photography, earrings, wire rings, bead rings, wire bracelets, necklaces, vintage collectibles, paintings, prints, and a few supplies ~ unique, chic, modern, unusual, artisan crafted, moderately priced, and mostly one-of-a-kind.

Desi is a self-taught jewelry designer since 1983 who admires creativity of all kinds. Art is her passion and creating things never seen before is what she loves to do. Only quality products are used and some are bought straight from supply shops on etsy.com. Isn't that great that she is helping support her fellow Etsians?

She always try to make her customers feel special so if you have a special request, please don't hesitate to ask her. She also loves to work with small groups and organizations, weddings and bridesmaid jewelry, showers and party favor jewelry gifts. 

Of course my FAVORITE color is blue so that is why I chose the items in the photos for this blog post but don't let that fool you. Desi's shop has MANY other colors of items too so go have a look why don't ya? Who knows? Maybe you'll find something you just CAN'T live without!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Fresh Fruit

Mmmm! Mmmm! Good! Don't you just LOVE fresh fruit! I know my family and I do! It's so yummy tasting and so healthy for you!

On our Labor Day weekend trip we stopped at a roadside stand to purchase a musk melon and a super huge watermelon. Both for really great prices!

We ate the musk melon up within a few days of buying it. Boy howdy, was it GOOD! We wish we would have purchased more than one now.

As for the watermelon, we waited a bit longer before cutting into it. It was good too but not quite as good as the musk melon was.

I love it when we are able to find fresh fruit for reasonable and affordable prices. It just doesn't happen too often now a days thus making it a bit harder to eat healthier. 

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Homemade Banana Bread

Just got done drinking a large glass of milk and eating a warm piece of homemade banana bread that my hubby baked. Yes, you read that right. My HUBBY baked banana bread! Got myself my very own Betty Crocker and I'm not sharing him!

We buy bananas frequently but seem to hardly ever get them all ate before they ripen too much, no matter how green they are when we purchase them.

Well, this time hubby decided to not throw the over ripened bananas away. He looked up a recipe online and got to baking.

Mmm! Mmm! Good! So glad he decided to bake! Banana bread is one of my FAVORITES! Pumpkin bread and zucchini bread are high on my list too. Wonder if I can get him to bake either of those?

Monday, September 10, 2012

Toy Phases

Isn't it funny how kids go through phases of what they like and don't like?

My son started out liking Disney Cars Lightning McQueen and all his "friends", especially Mater.

Then he went through the phase of really liking the Toy Story characters especially Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

Now he is really getting into Thomas The Train. All of these phases in just a short time too! He's only 3, almost 4 years old!

He still plays with his Lightning McQueen and Mater cars quite often but doesn't really play with his Toy Story toys too much anymore. That might change though since he is about to have a Toy Story birthday so I imagine he'll get some new Toy Story toys as presents.

He doesn't really have any Thomas The Train toys yet. Key word is YET. I'm sure he'll end up with some soon!

He'll play with them for a bit then it will be on to the next toy phase. Hmmm...wonder what it will be? Only time will tell!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Purple Cauliflower

Both of my kids like to eat veggies and dip. My son likes carrots, cucumbers, and his favorite veggie with dip at the moment is broccoli. My daughter on the other hand usually just likes carrots and on occasion she'll eat cucumbers with dip too. She'd turn up her nose if you mentioned cauliflower or broccoli.

The other day hubby stopped in at the store and they had purple cauliflower for a reasonable price so he picked up a head of it. When we mentioned it to our daughter, once again that little nose of hers turned up. She didn't think it sounded good.

Well, tonight, hubby cut up that head of purple cauliflower and had some ranch dressing to dip it in. My daughter decided she would go ahead and try it. Lo and behold, she liked it!

Hubby and I think she liked it well, because it was purple. Purple happens to be one of my daughter's favorite colors so it is pretty obvious that is why she liked the purple cauliflower considering she won't eat regular white cauliflower. Hubby said the purple one tastes the same as the white one too so we're pretty sure it WAS the color that made her taste buds all of a sudden like it. I wasn't really hungry at the time so I haven't tasted it yet.

Hey! Whatever works and gets her to eat more veggies is fine by me! Unfortunately fresh fruit and veggies can cost SO much now a days that sometimes you just can't always afford to purchase them. We do as often as we can though since they are such a healthy food choice!

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Technology

Isn't is just CRAZY how much a lot of us depend upon the internet and our cell phones now a days?

What would we have done if we had lived back in the day when these two things didn't even exist? Well, I guess we would have managed but to even think about not having them is just mind boggling huh?

I bet that the first thing that most of us do when we get up is either check our e-mail or our phones for new messages. Go ahead! Admit it! I'm right aren't I? I'll admit that on some days I'm guilty of this too!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Still Missing The Train

This morning we stopped in at the car rental place to see if they happened to have found our son's new train that has been misplaced. We've been searching and searching and just cannot find it anywhere.

The only other place we could think of that the train could be was still in the car we had rented. Well, it wasn't in the lost and found cabinet at the car rental place and it wasn't in the car either. The guy working there was nice enough to unlock the car so we could have a look around in it. No train to be found.

Soooooo, I think we're going to add the train to the list of "we don't know where it went items" which is starting to become quite a long list thanks to our little guy! Gotta love little boys don't ya?

Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Missing Train

Tonight, right before heading out the door, we realized that our son might have left his brand new train that he got on our Labor Day weekend trip in the rental car we took back yesterday morning. We have searched the house more than once and have yet to find the train. If it is in our house then it is hiding really well!

We tried to call the rental company tonight but all we got was an automated system. We're going to stop in the morning while we are out and see if they happened to have found our son's train when they cleaned out the car to get it ready for the next person to rent.

We're hoping they found it and set it aside in a lost and found box but we won't know until in the morning when we stop in. Don't you just love it when kids misplace/lose their things, especially when they are brand new?


Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Returned The Car

This past week we rented a car for our Labor Day weekend mini vacation. We picked the car up last Wednesday and returned it this morning.

It was the 2012 Dodge Charger with a hemi that I had posted about driving last week.

I think hubby was sad to have to return it. He REALLY wants one now and felt so strange having to drive his work van again after cruising the highways and interstates this past weekend in the Charger while on our trip.

Since I really liked the car as well, I think we will wait a year or two and maybe try to purchase a used one so it won't cost SO much.

The Dodge Chargers are super nice but they also have a super big price tag attached to them! Right now our checkbook can't handle that super big price tag! Sure wish it could though!

Monday, September 3, 2012

The Crazy Train

Tonight while driving back home from a weekend trip we took, our son asked where we were going.

My hubby, trying to be funny replied back to him, "Crazy."

To which our son asked another question: "Can I go too?"

So hubby told him, "Hop aboard the crazy train!"

It was so cute and funny I just had to blog about it. Yes, I know it would have been cuter if I had recorded our son's little voice and posted that but I didn't so you'll just have to imagine it!

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

2012 Dodge Charger

Hubby and I got to drive a 2012 Dodge Charger today. It was a four door black one with tan/black interior. What a COOL car!

Of course now hubby wants one! I wouldn't mind having one if the price tag attached to it had a smaller number on it!

What car would you want if you could get a new one?

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Quiet In The Library

About a week or so ago when running another errand, hubby and our daughter stopped in at the public library to get a library card. Our daughter checked out two books and had them read lickety split!

Tonight when out to do some shopping all four of us stopped in at the library to return the books and to let our daughter check out some new ones.

We found out that the library is NOT the place to take our son. He didn't quite understand that you are suppose to be quiet in the library. Thankfully there weren't TOO many people there when we were so I don't think it was a MAJOR problem. We did find an area that had a few toys that kept him occupied and quiet.

Not sure how often we'll be taking our son along for library trips but at least we know the toys are there if we do end up taking him. I'm sure at some point he'll grasp on to the concept of having to whisper while in the library but I'm also sure it is going to take a few more times going before that concept FULLY sinks in.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Come And Find Me

Nearly every morning when my son wakes up, from his crib you will hear him yell, "Mommy, come and find me!"

It is so funny when he says this because he still sleeps in a crib so ummmm, there really isn't any place for the little guy to hide?

Well, believe it or not, he DOES have a hiding place. After hearing him yell, I go into his room and still in his crib, he is hiding in about the only possible hiding place there is, under his blanket. This morning he was under his crib sheet.

Once in his room, I'll start asking questions like where he's at, where could he have gone, and where could he be. After doing this for a minute or so, I'll say something about having to eat breakfast by myself and he'll pop out from under his blanket.

After he does that, I usually say, "There he is!" to which I get a lot of giggles and smiles. What a way to start the day!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Quote For The Day- 8/26/2012

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
Aristotle

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Quote For The Day- 8/25/2012

A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts, and inspires.
Hedy Lamarr

Friday, August 24, 2012

Surprise Party

Tonight we had a surprise party for one of our friends. It was just a little get together with only a small group of people but the birthday guy was definitely surprised.

It was one of our friend's hubby's birthday coming up next week and she wanted to throw him a big surprise party but ended up just doing a little one because she thought he'd enjoy it more with fewer people.

Our friend told her hubby that we were coming over for supper. I think she made it sound like it would be a play date for our daughters who are practically the same age.

Their nephew and his family had stopped by. The birthday guy had commented that the nephew and his family should stay for supper too but he figured they probably already had plans. Little did he know their plans were to stay.

Our friend had already planned to pretend she forgot something at the store to get her hubby out of the house but it turns out, she really DID forget something so off to the store he went. Great how that worked out, huh?

While he was at the store we arrived and got some streamers hung up and some balloons blown up. There were also a few birthday signs hung on the front of the house that he would see as soon as he pulled in the driveway.

I didn't see his face when he got back, but apparently he was smiling. He didn't have a clue as to what was going on so it was definitely a surprise! I think he enjoyed the evening!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Following The Rules

This morning I walked my daughter to school. We had already made it as far as the sidewalk that goes around the front circle drive of the school when my daughter gasped out loud. I looked at her and she told me we needed to go back home.

I asked her why, trying to figure out what she could have forgotten? Upset, she preceded to tell me that she forgot to spit out her gum. Really? She thought I'd want to walk all the way back home just so she could spit out her gum? Ummm.....no.

I told her she could just throw it away as soon as we got inside the school. To which, again upset, she said, "But there's the principal and I'll have to say good morning to him."

I assured her she would be fine. She was still with me so it would be ok to throw the gum away when we got inside. I don't think she was upset or worried about it after that.

We reached her classroom and when peeking in to see if she went straight to a trash can, I saw the teacher and told her what had happened. I think she thought it was cute.

Apparently the teacher had told the class that the classroom was a no gum zone so the teacher thought that was why my daughter was so worried about spitting out her gum before getting to school. I told her no, I didn't think that was why. I think my daughter just knew in general that you shouldn't chew gum at school.

The next thing the teacher told me made me feel so proud of my daughter! The teacher said that at school my daughter is a real stickler to the rules. I told her I was glad to hear that and that it made me proud because at home my daughter has a hard time following the rules.

Isn't it funny how your kids can be two TOTALLY different kids? One way with you and another with other authority figures? It sure does make me feel like my hubby and I are doing something right though to hear how well our daughter is following the rules when we are not around.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Pizza Pizza

Tonight we were at my mom's house and she offered to get pizza for supper.

Of course I thought it was a good idea for a few reasons.

One, pizza did sound good and two, that meant I didn't have to cook tonight. Yay!

Got to love moms!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Surprising The Kids

Today we gave our kids a little surprise. I think they both enjoyed it a lot!

I had called the mom of one of our daughter's classmates to set up a play date/picnic at the park for today but didn't tell our daughter.

We packed up our lunch stuff and headed to the park without telling the kids where we were going.

The kids were excited when we got to the park and I think our daughter was happy to see her friend from school there too. Our son didn't pay too much attention to our daughter's friend. He was too busy running around playing.

It was a GREAT day to be at the park too. We went around 12 noon and the weather was just PERFECT! Not too hot, not too cool. It was just right! We couldn't have asked for better weather!

Friday, August 17, 2012

She Likes Third Grade

So, as of now, my daughter must really be liking third grade. Granted this is just the first week so only time will tell if this will change or not.

The reason why I think she must really be liking school this year is because the girl is getting up BEFORE the alarm even goes off. I'm not talking just a few minutes before either.

The first day of school she woke up a bit after the alarm. Of course, for the first day of school, I think she was kind of excited, yet kind of still wishing it was summer vacation. Then yesterday for the second day of school, she was up about 10 to 15 minutes before the alarm.

Today my daughter was up WELL before the alarm! She was up about 35 minutes early! I'm thrilled she is enjoying school so much this year and that eager to get up, get ready, and get there, but I'm not thrilled about not even getting to sleep until my alarm goes off.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Rain, Rain, Don't Go Away

This has been an extremely dry, hot summer so any rain we get is very much needed! When it does rain, we don't sing the rain, rain, go away song. It's more like rain, rain, don't go away!

Today we had a little rain shower come through but it didn't rain long enough to really do much good. It basically rained just enough to tease the plants.

Now a few hours East of us got some good, strong thunderstorms. They got strong enough storms that the power went out for a bit.

Wish we had gotten a bit more rain, but glad we didn't have any severe storms. Who knows when our next chance of rain will be. Guess if I watched the news or checked the weather online I might know, huh? Lol.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

First Day Of Third Grade

Today was my daughter's first day of third grade. I think she was a bit more excited for it than she let on, especially after she got on her new shirt, shorts, shoes, and bobby pins I made for her hair.

She was all decked out in pink, black, white, and gray this morning. She looked really nice with an added touch of pretty due to her freshly painted pink fingernails and her ear lobes wearing her cute little pink flower clip on earrings.

After I picked her up from school, I asked how the first day was. She said it was good. Let's hope this good lasts and she stays liking school all year long. Last year there was a time when she just didn't like it at all and we got a bit concerned.

Once the year got going last year though, she did end up liking school a bit more so yay! Last year was the first time she ever disliked school. I'm sure that won't be the only time but let's hope the next time she dislikes school will not be in the near future!

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Loving The Weather

So after having quite a few three digits days this summer, I am totally enjoying the cooler weather our area is experiencing right now!

Compared to those HOT days, our recent days feel down right chilly! I've even had to break out my house slippers to help keep my toes warm, especially first thing in the morning.

Last night while sleeping, I woke up and could have used another blanket. Hubby had the fans on and the windows open so the combination of cooler weather and fans on made our room cold to me! Of course, I think hubby was just right.

Tomorrow is suppose to be a bit warmer but not warm enough to have to turn the air conditioning back on. Thank goodness too because without the air conditioning running, our electric bill should have smaller numbers on it next time it comes!

Monday, August 13, 2012

Quote For The Day- 8/13/2012

Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.
Denis Waitley

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Not Water People

Hubby and I both know how to swim but neither one of us are really big water people. When it comes to going to the pool or the lake, we both could really care less if we go or not go. Hubby likes the water a bit more than I do but still isn't overly fond of it.

Of course, BOTH of our kids LOVE to play in the water so sometimes whether hubby and I want to or not, we have to get in.

Today is one of those times. Our friend's daughter is having her birthday party today and yep, you guessed it. It's a pool party!

I'm not sure about hubby but I know I'm not necessarily looking forward to having to get in the pool today but I know the kids will really enjoy it so that makes it all worth it!

Friday, August 10, 2012

Tiny Spider

This summer it seems like we haven't seen as many spiders as we normally do. We think it has something to do with how hot it has been? This may not be the case but that's what we think.

Well, this week our weather has been quite a bit cooler so we think the spiders are coming out of hiding. I saw a smaller one yesterday and then today I noticed one up on the wall by the ceiling in the dining room. I told my son to go sit on the couch and my daughter immediately ran over there too.

I had to be brave as hubby was at work so I got the spider. Of course, the fact that I do not like spiders did NOT help the situation.

My daughter hadn't seen the spider before I got it because she was too busy racing out of the room to see it. As I walked past her after getting the spider, she asked me about the size of it.

I told her it was a pretty good sized one considering I don't like spiders. She then proceeded to tell me that it was a tiny one. Yeah, if it was so tiny then maybe she shouldn't have run away so fast? Lol.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

My Sixteenth Featured Etsian

My sixteenth featured Etsian is Linda Talbott, from Dreams And Echoes by Raedawn. Her shop can be found here. I chose to feature Linda in this blog post for a few reasons.

One, not only does she have some great items listed in her shop but two, I just LOVE how she takes the time to comment on the discussion threads about other people's listings. She also takes the time to comment on other people's treasuries as well. So many of us just post and run a lot of the times, myself being guilty of this as well, but Linda takes time to comment. Kudos to her!

All of Linda's artwork and jewelry is one-of-a-kind, and she hopes you’ll enjoy the diversity of her creations. In her visual art she uses mixed media as well as colored pencils.


In her jewelry, she uses semi-precious beads, glass, bone, lampwork, and whatever other types of beads speak to her. She uses symmetry and asymmetry in her jewelry. All silver is sterling, unless otherwise stated.


Be sure to take the time to go check out Linda's other items in her shop! Maybe start your Christmas shopping early or even better, buy something for yourself!

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Quote For The Day- 8/8/2012

If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success.
John D. Rockefeller

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

My Fifteenth Featured Etsian

I found my fifteenth featured Etsian, Mitzy Tompkins from VicDesigns, by browsing my purchases on Etsy again so I can vouch that the die cut butterfly and Easter bunny tags found in this shop are absolutely wonderful. They make for PERFECT thank you notes to send out with my orders! I'd definitely buy more! They are the ones in the photos in this blog post. Don't they look great?


Mitzy's shop specializes in handmade paper goods. She creates all of her items. All of the materials that she uses are high quality and acid free. She provides items to help you treasure your most important memories. Mitzy also makes custom invitations and cards. She works in a smoke and pet free environment.

Mitzy started scrapbooking 8 years ago for her family and friends. She has a great passion for scrapbooking and loves to create handmade pages. All of her pre-made pages are unique and one of a kind. She hopes you enjoy them as much as she enjoys creating them.


She also has three pack greeting cards. They are for all occasions. If you don't see anything that you are looking for, just convo her. She takes custom orders. Go check out Mitzy's shop here and see if you find anything you just HAVE to have!

Monday, August 6, 2012

My Fourteenth Featured Etsian

I enjoy featuring fellow Etsians on my blog but sometimes I just don't know who I want to feature. Tonight I decided to take a browse through my purchases I have made on Etsy. That is where I decided who to shine the spotlight upon for this blog post.


Meet my fourteenth featured Etsian, Miriam Cletcher, from the Etsy shop gordon4aday. As you can see from the photos in this blog post, Miriam makes Ken and Barbie clothes but don't think that is all she makes. She also makes clothes for various other dolls as well.

I can tell you that the Barbie dresses are FANTASTIC! I couldn't decide upon which ones to buy for my daughter for Christmas last year so I ended up buying five, yes FIVE dresses. This year I just might have to get my daughter some outfits for her Ken dolls.

Miriam has been sewing for 15 or so years. When she had her first daughter she wanted to make clothes for her to play with and she was having so much fun that she just kept making them for others to enjoy as well. She really doesn't make them for the money, just the joy it brings others.


She stands behind her work 100% and will always fix, replace, or refund any items with no questions asked. No one smokes in her home and she never buys old or overstock material.

She treats all the clothes as if they were for her daughter. All Miriam's items are kid friendly unless clearly marked otherwise! She tries to add new items each week so be sure to go check out her shop here.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Screaming In The Shower

So everyone has probably heard of singing in the shower right? Well, have you ever heard of screaming in the shower? If not, keep reading and then you can say you have!

Tonight after being outside, my daughter wanted to wash off her feet. Instead of just letting her wash her feet, I had her go ahead and take a full shower.

Not long after she had been in the shower, I hear screaming coming from the bathroom. I knew what this type of scream was too. It was the "there's a bug or spider" scream.

I went to the door and of course it was locked so I had to unlock it. In the meantime, she screamed again. Once I got in the bathroom, she was telling me to get it.

Of course, she didn't say what to get or where it was so I'm standing there trying to figure this out. Well, I found what I was suppose to get when I opened the shower curtain. At the end of the bathtub was a small spider.

I had her step out of the shower and I washed the spider down the drain. Easy peasy! She totally could have done that. I told her the spider can't get her if it is being drowned by water and being washed down the drain.

I told her next time she needed to use her words too instead of just screaming and tell me exactly what was going on. She is usually a tomboy about most everything but when it comes to bugs, she is ALL girl!

Well, there ya go! Now you can say you have heard of screaming in the shower! You're welcome! :-)

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Decorating Socks


Take some plain ol' socks, one pair for each member of the family, as seen in the photo above, and a variety of colors of Sharpie markers. Add in some quality family coloring time, and you get decorated socks as seen in the photo below.


Today my daughter had the idea of decorating a pair of socks so we decided to make it a family event. Hubby, my daughter, my son, and myself all took a pair of our socks and commenced to coloring.

Some may think it was a waste of socks but we don't. I think we all enjoyed coloring them, especially my daughter. Of course, it was her idea so you know she enjoyed it!

My son had fun with it at first but then got interested in watching a movie on tv. Hubby, well, he isn't as artsy fartsy as my daughter and I but he was still a good sport and participated.

It's always nice to have some fun, quality family time. We should all do our best to make more time to do things with our families!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Quote For The Day- 8/2/2012

If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.
Jim Rohn

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Saddened By A TV Show

I can't remember if I ever posted about the first time my daughter saw the cartoon movie The Fox And The Hound? Even if I have, I'm going to start this blog post off with that story to lead into one about my son that happened today.

It's been quite a few years ago since my daughter saw The Fox And The Hound for the first time. If you've ever seen the movie then you might remember the part of the movie where the woman takes the fox out into the woods and lets him go.

When this part of the movie was on, my daughter who was still fairly young, looked at me with tears in her eyes. She was obviously saddened by this part of the movie.

Today my son was saddened by something we watched on tv. He and I were watching a television show about a woman who was lost in The Grand Canyon for weeks before finally being found. Part of the time when she was lost she had her dog with her until it ran off.

At the end when the woman was finally found, my son wanted them to find her dog too. He was so upset that the dog was still missing, that he curled up in my arms and was crying. Thankfully they had found her dog too and showed it just minutes after showing the woman being rescued because I'm not sure how long he would have stayed that upset.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Health Message

Just a little funny I had e-mailed to me. :-)


As I was lying in bed pondering the problems of the world,
I rapidly realized that I don't really give a rat's hiney.
It's the tortoise life for me!

1. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal.
2. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water, and is fat.
3. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years.
4. A tortoise doesn't run and does nothing, yet it lives for 450 years.

And you tell me to exercise?? I don't think so.

I'm retired. Go around me.


Monday, July 30, 2012

Letting Go

At some point, as a parent, you have to let go of your children and let them venture off to do new things and have new experiences. Well, this week was my week to let our daughter go. She is staying with my hubby's parents for the week.

I didn't want her to go but unfortunately even though I wasn't ready to let her go, I didn't really have a choice. They made me do it. Once the idea of staying with grandpa and grandma was in her head and they told her all the fun things they could do, places they could go, if she stayed with them, I didn't really have a choice but to say yes, she could go, whether I wanted her to or not. If I'd said no, I was the bad guy, the mean mommy, and she would have been mad at me and of course, I didn't want that.

Right now I'm a bit upset over it all and really miss not having her here. This is only the third time I've ever been away from her overnight. The other times were some time ago. Twice when I was in the hospital and once when she stayed at the hotel when hubby's parents were in town visiting.

Being away from her while I was in the hospital wasn't too hard. I missed her but I don't think it bothered me as much because, well, I didn't really have a say so in being away from her. It was out of my control. I had to be away.

When she stayed at the hotel with hubby's parents while they were in town visiting, that wasn't too bad either but she was also only gone basically long enough to sleep and then they came back. Plus, they were right here in town, close to our house, not hundreds of miles away in a completely different city and state.

To make it worse, some of the things hubby's parents are going to do with our daughter this week are things that we wanted to do with her like go shopping, go see a movie, and take her to their local zoo. I know we can still do those things but it might not be as fun or mean as much to her if she's already done them. I'm sure we'll be able to do other things with her to make some memories too though.

While she is staying with them, I think they also plan to take her places that I would prefer she DIDN'T go, and I think they know this, but they will still probably take her there anyway. What can I do though? Nothing really.

Our son was extremely upset when we left sister at their grandpa and grandma's house. He was crying so hard that hubby stopped to talk with him. My hubby even thought about going back to get our daughter, that's how upset our son was. Even though our kids don't always get along, our son LOVES his big sister SO much!

Some might think I'm being crazy and selfish about this whole ordeal but no one but me understands how I feel about my kids. I'm a different kind of mom who would rather have my kids close to me so I know what they are doing and that they are safe.

Yes, I sometimes complain about my kids and their behavior. What parent doesn't at one point or another? And yes, I enjoy an occasional date night out with hubby or a day out and about with my mom to get a little kid free time, but overall at the end of the day, I want my kids here with me when it's time for bed so I can tuck them in and say I love you.

Don't get me wrong, I want our children to have a good relationship with their grandparents. I have a wonderful one with mine. I'm just upset that I was forced to let go before I was ready. It would have been hard for me regardless of when it happened, but not getting to decide the timing on my own, made it THAT much harder.

Yes, I'm an adult and it's crazy that our daughter is handling this better than mommy. Yes, I will eventually get over it because it isn't the end of the world. Yes, there are MANY other things in life that CAN and probably WILL be harder to handle than this. I realize all these things but still can't help but miss our little girl! This week CANNOT get over soon enough for me!




Saturday, July 28, 2012

Where's Daddy?

Yesterday hubby went downstairs to do some laundry. Yes, you read that right! My hubby does laundry! I'm a very lucky woman and I know this!

Hubby carries down all the dirty laundry to the basement. He washes and dries it, then carries it back upstairs. I then fold and put it away although sometimes hubby helps with this part too. No, I will not trade him or rent him out! I'm keeping this guy all to myself!

Sooooo, back to how this blog post started. Hubby went downstairs to do some laundry yesterday and my son was trying to find daddy. I told him he went downstairs. He wanted to go get him but I told him to just wait, he'd be back soon.

Daddy came back up but a bit later he went back downstairs again. When my son noticed he was gone he wanted to know where daddy was. When I told him he had gone back downstairs he said, "Again?"

It is so cute to hear the little people talk! Some of the things they say are really adorable that you wish you had a tape recorder going at the time. It would really be cute and fun to share with others or even just listen to it again yourself at a later time.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Air Conditioning

This past week was a bit hectic for us. Hubby was out of town leaving me to play both mommy and daddy, while he was working long hours in a warehouse with no air conditioning. He took a picture of the thermometer in the warehouse and it read 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Wowsers! That's HOT!

I know I'm glad hubby is back home now and I'm sure he is glad to be back home too where he has air conditioning! Can you imagine NOT having it when temperatures climb so high? 


Thursday, July 26, 2012

Quote For The Day- 7/26/2012

I've worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down.
Mia Hamm

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Getting Up Early

So last week we were preparing for my grandparent's anniversary party which made last Friday a shopping day so that meant we had to get up a bit earlier than we normally would have. Being that it is summer now, the kids and I have been taking advantage of not having to be up early to get my daughter off to school. We've been sleeping in a bit nearly everyday lately!

Since we needed to get up earlier on Friday, that meant putting the kids to bed earlier on Thursday evening, which back fired on us because Friday morning our son was up earlier than we wanted to be up.

From his room, we hear our son's little voice yell, "The potty is here!" Hubby got up to go get him and I looked at the clock. It was just after 7am!

After my son was finished using the bathroom, he came in my room and said, "I got out of my room. It's morning. Get up!"

Yeah, hubby and I were NOT ready to get up yet but alas we did. Kind of had no choice. I walked into the living room and hubby was lying on the couch. I looked at my son and said something like, "When I said you had to get up early, I didn't mean this early."

So that afternoon, after all the shopping was finished and we were back home, our son had a nap. He definitely needed it after getting up SO early! I could have taken a long nap too but didn't. I did I think catch a short little power nap though while lying down with him until he fell asleep.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Quote For The Day- 7/23/2012

I don't believe you have to be better than everybody else. I believe you have to be better than you ever thought you could be.
Ken Venturi

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Relaxing

Yesterday we celebrated my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. We had a meal and then a delicious cake for dessert. Lots of planning and work went into the event. I think my grandparents really enjoyed it although my grandpa was feeling a bit under the weather. We're still not sure what was making him not feel good but hopefully he'll get some rest and be up to par again, feeling like himself soon.

I counted the names in the guest book and I believe we had at least 54 people attend the anniversary party. We definitely had enough food. Better to have too much than not enough. After we cleaned up the church where we had the party, we loaded up everyone's vehicles and went to one of my aunt's houses to continue to visit and hang out for awhile.

Our day yesterday began with getting up early and getting home VERY late so today the kids and I are just sitting around the house relaxing in our pj's. Hubby went to a movie with one of my brothers so in a way he's relaxing too. None of us are probably going to do much of anything today. After yesterday, we deserve a day of relaxation!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

My Thirteenth Featured Etsian

Meet Donna, from the Etsy shop mystuff2! Her shop can be found here. She sells bookmarks, greeting cards, and gift tags. I chose her to be my thirteenth featured Etsian for two reasons:

1.She is just one of the sweetest, and I mean SWEETEST people I've met on Etsy. I'm betting that those of you who know her would totally agree!

2. The items sold in her shop are just fantastic! If you've purchased her items before then you know what I mean by fantastic. If you haven't purchased from her then you are missing out!


The bookmarks found in Donna's shop are just the right size, well made, and would make for a GREAT stocking stuffer idea for anyone you know who likes to read. If you don't stuff stockings, pair up one of Donna's bookmarks with a book as a gift for that avid reader you know.


The greeting cards in Donna's shop come blank inside leaving the option open for you to use for numerous occasions from thank you cards, get well cards, or simply just to say hello cards, to name just a few.


The gift tags that Donna makes are probably one of my most favorite items found in Donna's shop. These little gift tags not only would work for a gift tag for a gift, a thank you card for your Etsy buyers, but from personal experience, they make for AWESOME little lunch box notes. I've used them to send notes in my grade school daughter's lunch. The pretty flower ones and animal ones were a hit with my daughter.

Don't think that the pictures in this blog post are the only designs that Donna has to offer. Go check out her shop for more wonderful designs!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

60th Anniversary

This month my grandparents will be celebrating being married for 60 years! Can you imagine being with someone for THAT long? That's a whole lotta years!

My hubby and I have been married for 15 years and I look forward to being able to celebrate 60 years with him! I can only hope we'll still be just as happy after all those years like my grandparents seem to be.

My grandparents are so sweet and cute together even after all this time. Definitely true love right there! They were married and not long after, grandpa went overseas. How hard would THAT have been?

This week there is a lot of party preparations going on as we will be celebrating their anniversary this weekend. It's a lot of work putting together such a big event but well worth it in the end. We know that everyone will enjoy helping my grandparents celebrate this wonderful occasion.

I'm sure that lots of fun memories will be talked about especially after everyone gets to looking at the old photos we'll have displayed about. It will be a great time to reminisce. I'm looking forward to it!

Monday, July 16, 2012

My Twelfth Featured Etsian

I found my twelfth featured Etsian, Harriet, on one of our daily treasuries we have been making this year. The shop owner of the Etsy shop HarrietDamave, which sells unique contemporary hand painted delft porcelain, took the time to leave a comment on our treasury when she was not even one of the featured shops at the time.


All items in this shop are hand formed and hand painted in the traditional Dutch Delft technique using cobalt oxide and transparent porcelain glaze or tin glaze in Harriet's home studio in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.



I love the items listed in this shop! Well, because as you can see by the pictures posted in this blog, they are blue! Any of you who read my blog on a regular basis quite possibly know that my all time FAVORITE color is blue so I really enjoyed browsing this shop!


These photos are just a few of the wonderful items made by this talented Etsian! If you want more color than just blue and white though, be sure to check out her other shop, houseofharriet.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

All Dressed Up

Today my daughter wanted me to wear a dress and wear my hair down. Normally I don't do this unless I'm going somewhere special or it's date night with hubby but I thought, eh, why not!

My daughter also wanted me to wear one of her flower hair clips because she said it matched my dress. I personally thought the flower a bit big for my taste, but I wore it.

I sure did feel pretty today! A girl needs that every once in awhile!

Got Home Later Than I Thought

Well dear readers. I've been doing SO well with my New Year's resolution to post on my blog daily this year but alas I didn't post yesterday.

Last night we went to our friend's daughter's 12th birthday party with all intentions of just staying for a few hours and then coming home. Ummm.....that didn't happen!

I was going to blog and make my daily treasury when we got back but we ended up getting home later than I thought we would so by the time we got home and baths/showers were taken, we called it a night.

It was a lot of fun sitting around relaxing and chatting with friends that we don't see all too often. So I missed a day of blogging and treasury making. No big deal. I'll post two blog posts today and make two treasuries today to make up for it! All is good!

So stay tuned for another read later tonight! :-)

Friday, July 13, 2012

Getting Your Teeth Cleaned

Isn't it funny how before you go to the dentist to have your teeth cleaned you do at least one of these:

brush them

floss them

use mouthwash

Ummm....isn't that why you are going to the dentist? To have your teeth cleaned? So why do so many of us do part of it for them before we even go? Well, I know the answer to that. It's so our mouths aren't all gross but still, isn't it funny?

If only we did ALL three things everyday then that dental cleaning would REALLY be a breeze!

I know I brush my teeth on a daily basis more than once a day and use mouthwash at times but I am definitely guilty of not flossing as often as I should. How about you?

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Getting My Hair "Fixed"

My daughter likes to "fix" my hair. She will get all kinds of hair accessories, mostly hair clips, and a comb or brush then she's ready to give me a new hair style.

My son has the monkey see monkey do thing going on so of course when my daughter is "fixing" my hair he wants to do the same thing.

Sometimes he wants to "fix" my hair even when my daughter isn't. This was the case a little over a week ago. He asked if he could and when I told him yes, he was off to get the comb from the bathroom drawer. He doesn't care about all the hair accessories like his sister does. Lol.

So I'm sitting there and as he twists my head around telling daddy to look at my hair, my son looks at me and says, "You real pretty." Awww, how cute is that?

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

My Eleventh Featured Etsian

Some time ago, I posted a blog post about how I enjoy featuring fellow Etsians on my blog and wrote that if you had an Etsy shop and wanted to be featured, to let me know.

Well, my eleventh featured Etsian let me know! The spotlight for this blog post is shining upon Heather, the shop owner of spunkysensations on Etsy.


She would like to think that she is a jack of all trades! She is really enjoying promoting small Etsy businesses! That is who she is and what she loves. Check out her Etsy shop here and her blog here while you are floating around in cyber space!


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The Adult Feud

I was watching the television game show called The Family Feud tonight and have decided it really should not be called that. It should be called The Adult Feud!

Here's why I think this. One of the questions asked of 100 people on tonight's episode was- Name a large animal that has a large package. Really? On a game show called The FAMILY Feud? Like children need to hear things like this! I know I don't want my kids hearing it so they will not be watching this show anymore!

This isn't the first time I've watched this game show and heard things that I felt inappropriate for children. If you read my blog posts on a regular basis then you might have seen my other post about this show. If not, it can be found here.

This show may have contestants who are family members but it really is not a show for the WHOLE family to watch. It is at times not too kid friendly!


Monday, July 9, 2012

Quote For The Day- 7/9/2012

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.
Norman Vincent Peale

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Cooler Weather

We had cooler weather in our area today if you can really call it cooler? After having triple digits this past week, low 90 degree temperatures sure felt cooler!

Tomorrow our high temperature is suppose to be 89 degrees. Wow! We'll be back in the 80's! Hooray!

Hubby and I are BOTH already waiting for Fall to arrive! If I'm on board with being done with summer already, and it's only the beginning of July, then you KNOW it has been HOT here!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Helpful Daughter

Since I blogged about my son yesterday, I decided I wanted to blog about my daughter today. She'll be thrilled to know this as she LOVES it when I blog about her.

She likes to be helpful at times and then other days she wants to be lazy. I never really know which to expect from her but that is pretty typical with kids, huh?

One time in particular that I remember her wanting to be helpful was about a month and a half ago. She wanted to help get her little brother dressed. I heard her in his room going through his drawers trying to find something for him to wear.

She came to me holding a pair of his summer pajama shorts. I told her his shorts were in one drawer and his shirts were hanging in his closet. She said, "Oh." She then went and picked out an outfit for him to wear.

She took him to my room to help him get dressed. Next thing I know I hear this strange noise, almost like rustling paper. I look in and see her with a diaper in her hand. She was planning on changing his diaper too! I told her I'd change his diaper but she could still help him get dressed.

Hmmm..wonder what made her want to be so helpful she'd even change a diaper? She must have wanted something? Although, I really don't remember if she did or didn't? More than likely she didn't. She usually gets in a helpful mood sometimes just because. It's nice! Wish she was that helpful ALL the time!

Friday, July 6, 2012

Knock Knock

So anyone with kids, grandkids, or someone who has just been around kids knows they can say some cute, adorable things at times along with doing cute, adorable things as well. Of course you know they have those NOT so cute, adorable moments too but we won't discuss THOSE right now.

I thought I'd write about something my son did some time ago that I thought was cute, adorable, and funny all at the same time.

My hubby was in the bathroom, door shut and locked, when our 3 year old son goes to the door and knocks LOUDLY, then yells, "It's me!"

To which daddy tells him, "Shhhh." I think this was for a few reasons. I think our daughter was already in bed AND he didn't need to be yelling. Only thing was, I also think daddy was wanting him to be quiet and go away from the door. Our son translated the "Shhhh" as to mean he needed to whisper.

Next thing our 3 year old did was whisper over and over again until daddy was finished, "Open the door please. It's me. Open the door please."

Once daddy opened the door, our son told him, "I knocked knocked on the door like this." Then he preceded to knock on the door again. Gotta LOVE those toddler years don't ya?

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Pretzels


Bags of pretzels make for a good, quick snack. I don't like the regular salted pretzels too much but do have a few other favorites. One of the better brands of pretzels that I do like are the Hy-vee butter braided pretzels BUT my all time FAVORITE type of pretzel would have to be the Rold Gold Cheddar pretzels. At $3.00 to $4.00 a bag though, unfortunately my checkbook doesn't let me buy my FAVORITE pretzels too often.

So the other day when we were in Hy-vee picking up a few other groceries and hubby wanted to go down the chip aisle, you can bet I snatched up a bag of cheddar pretzels QUICKLY when I saw they were on sale for the AMAZING price of $1.88 a  bag! I probably should have bought more than one bag at that price but I didn't. Oh well. I'm definitely enjoying snacking on the bag I did purchase though.

If you've never tried cheddar pretzels, you should! Who knows? Maybe you'll love them as much as I do, maybe you won't. You'll never know if you don't taste them for yourself!

And that my dear readers is your try it before you buy it review for today! Now get to the grocery store already and get your own bag of cheddar pretzels! Hopefully they'll be on sale for you too!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy 4th Of July

Happy 4th Of July everyone!

Today is another scorcher of a day here in our neck of the woods. Temperature is suppose to reach a whopping 102 degrees! Can you say HOT?

Hope everyone has a safe, fun, cool day! We're staying cool right now sitting around in the air conditioning! 


Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Too HOT!

I don't like the winter months much because, well frankly, I don't like the cold. I'm a big baby when it comes to cold, snowy, wintery, freezing weather. I'll admit it any day!

So when it's cold outside, I'm wanting warmer weather. When spring arrived this year I was glad! I think spring and fall are my favorite seasons. Not too hot and not too cold. Pretty much just right!

Now that it is summer and going to be in the triple digits for like a week, well, I'm not so glad that the weather is warmer.

I wanted warm weather, not HOT! Triple digits is too HOT! It is currently after 11pm and yet our temperature is STILL 91 degrees! Crazy! Crazy!

I went outside earlier and wasn't even out there but a short time. I wasn't even doing anything but standing outside and yet I still had sweat rolling off of me. You know it's too hot if I'm sweating like that! I'm usually the last one in our family to be hot so I know my hubby and kids were hot too.

So during the winter I was waiting for spring and summer. Now I'm waiting for fall!


Monday, July 2, 2012

Actually

My son had crayons and paper. He was sitting on the floor drawing pictures. He was trying to trace around his hand.

I got down on the floor with him and he traced my hand. He was going to trace my hand again but then changed his mind. He wanted me to trace his.

It was too cute the way he let me know he wanted his hand traced. He's just three years old and used one of the biggest words I think I've heard him use before so I just had to smile. He said, "Actually, you do mine."

Actually. Just picture a 3 year old voice using that word. It was adorable!