A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, Lionel Turns 4!

 

In A Few Hours, It Will Be A New Day

In the last 24 hours I have had a visit to the ER with my son for a potentially broken nose (all is well), baked 48 cupcakes (12 of which burned on the bottom), went to the market to pick up an “end of the school -year” party platter for my sister because her kids are sick again (be well soon Nay, we missed you at the picnic), went back to the market again (this time WITH my purse). Took the party platter, cupcakes, and husband to my son’s end of the year picnic, opened the door to the school, and promptly spilled half the cupcakes all over the school’s main lobby, 19 cupcakes survived.

So… how was your day?

The Blarg of a Pirate

This past weekend my nephew turned 4. He requested I make cupcakes and a cake for his birthday. To celebrate, we set sail on the mighty Potomac and became Pirates for the day!

Pirates in training learned sea shanties and how to give their best AHOY MATEY! Once their ship was back at port, the wee pirates were lead on a treasure chest hunt.

After seizing another pirate's ship and boarding it, the young pirates feasted their eyes on the tastiest pirate booty they could have ever dreamed of.

We ate treasure chest box lunches, scavenged for gold coins on the main deck, sang the ye old birthday song, and dove deep in to the treasure chest full of moist golden cake and rich fudgy frosting!

Audience Participation Optional

We took Lionel to see Godspell tonight.  My best friend Ceci, and I loved Godspell when we were younger. Not so much  for its award winning qualities, mostly for its campy songs and their ability to annoy my future husband on  long road trips. I saw a flyer  for a local production earlier this week and we all made a date, me, Ceci, Carlton and Lionel.  It's never too soon to spread the good word in the form of song and dance! Lionel did great through the whole show until they started singing “By my side.” The girls were singing the lyrics “where are you going” as Jesus was walking off the stage and into the audience. Lionel stood up and exclaimed “Where is he going?” at least the people sitting around us found it humorous.

The merry go round of Life.

Eight years later, we're still hanging on and holding tight! Happy Anniversary Carlton. I'm still enjoying this ride we call life and all the ups and downs.

Laissez les bons temps rouler

So here we are on Fat Tuesday! While Carnival season has been going on globally for the last 3 months, it all comes to a head tonight once the clock strikes midnight. One second we are partying and tossing beads around a mere second later it is lent. Have you ever given up anything for lent? If so I'd like to know what and how long it lasted. I personally have never given anything up for lent. However this year I am going to give it a try, it's 40 days, you'd think I could do it, right? So here goes, I'm not sure if my sacrifice counts or not but this year for lent I am giving up being lazy! I know, I know, but seriously people I am one lazy person when it comes to exercise and doing good for myself. Is there anyone out there that would like to give up being lazy with me? Perhaps, you will park further from the store, or take the stairs. How about actually making yourself a healthful meal instead of your standard # 5 on the value menu? I'm talking baby steps here people, baby steps. Here's the way I see it, giving up being lazy is a wonderful sacrifice for my health, and I'm willing to go for it!

Knowing that being more healthy was on the back burner and was going to move up front this month, I decided to have a Mardi Gras party, just kidding, I needed an excuse to decorate and throw a party so I did! Here’s a look at how I decorated and a few of our menu options.

When you walked in to the front door I had a dozen, green, gold and purple balloons floating on the ceiling, on each balloon was tied several lengths of curling ribbon, I didn't get a picture of this however it was pretty neat looking because it really lent to the feel of Mardi Gras and all the festivities; it was fun to walk through the sea of ribbons too! One of my favorite decorations is the chalk board (there is more about it, in a post coming up) It's got a pretty cute crown and on it is the phrase "Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler", let the good times roll.

Ok, so maybe they are all my favorites because I love, love, love this bouquet of fresh flowers! I'm talking love!

I went to the store a couple days before the party to look for tulips in purple and yellow and I was just going to plunk them down in a simple country pitcher. Then I stumbled upon these beauties, can you believe that this whole arrangement is only 2 bundles of flowers! It is as if they were delivered to the store just for me! As soon as I saw them I knew exactly what to do with them. When I got home I got out my trifle bowl and started the magic. A few minutes later and -voila- I had a flower arrangement that I could NEVER afford if I walked in to florist, even if it was half priced! I'll be so sad to see it go; I love fresh flowers in the house, but hardly ever treat myself to them.

Another fun project I took on for this celebration was creating a mantel piece. I hit up the craft stores after Christmas and hit the jackpot in a Michaels store in Fredericksburg. They had all their floral picks on sale for about a nickel each, how could I resist? This is what I came up with, and it got rave reviews.

In another project I made a wreath using a 99 cent eBay doll, left over ribbon from the holidays, a grapevine wreath and more floral picks from Michaels.

I used up the extra ornaments and floral picks I had left over in a glass bowl I keep on the bottom the half moon table in our foyer.

So there you have it, that's how we got festive up in here!

Our Mardi Gras revelers got to partake in my tasty Forgotten Jambalaya, from Taste of Home and assorted sweets! King Cake from Haydel's bakery Who Dat? you may ask, why they are only "the official bakery of the New Orleans Saints" dats who. And my home made Humming Bird Cake. Some people say it gets its name because it's sweet like nectar, others say it's because it's so good it'll make ya hum! I'll let you bake one up and be the judge.

Everybody Loves Raymond

Whenever we tell anyone we live across the street from my parents there is no question that an "Everybody Loves Raymond" comment comes into play. It's not hard living across the street from them, it's like having really awesome neighbors that happen to share my DNA.
Last week Carlton was out of town on a business trip to San Fransisco; he was gone for 3 days and was missed a lot because, everybody loves Raymond Carlton. Being the good Papa he is, he took the red eye  from San Fransisco and arrived home at 8:30 am on Saturday morning. Because Carlton was just as excited to be home as Stink Butt was to have him home, he promptly plopped his suitcase down on the floor in the foyer and pulled out the souvenirs from San Fransisco's China Town (check out the link to see the cool out fit Stink Butt got!)
Here's how the week following his arrival went; Monday through Wednesday the Suitcase stayed next to the door.

At some point on Wednesday the suitcase became erect and moved next to the bottom of the stairs.

On Friday I vacuumed and moved the Suitcase to the landing of the stairs.

If you have any doubt that I will move the suitcase to the bedroom and unpack it, I leave you with this clip. And yes, Everybody does love Carlton, especially me!

It's That Easy

Totally cute and super easy way to share the love!

1. Find one of those silicone muffin "tins" in the shape of hearts I got mine out of the dollar spot at target a couple years ago.
2. Plop a slice and bake cookie in each cup.
   
   
   
3. Bake as directed. Cookies will appear to be fat and fluffy in the oven; as soon as they come out they will sink and leave a nice little cup to fill. I filled mine with Caramel sauce, raspberry jam or a tiny scoop of ice cream would work well too.
4. Top with a squirt of whipped cream or a dollop of cool whip. Get ready to share the love, even if it's only with me, myself, and I!
   
   
   
   
   

I Love You a Bushel and a Peck

As I said before, I decided to start writing this blog because I had been reading so many and I figured, hey, I can do that. Not too bad so far. I really enjoy the blogs about home decor and how to repurpose things and how to decorate on the cheap. Since we only moved in to our new home four months ago, I am trying to be very budget-friendly in my holiday decorating. Over the next few posts I will show you how I have decorated for Valentine’s Day.

To start, I am showing off our mantle. I have never had a mantle before so I had no idea where to begin decorating it. I really enjoyed what I did for Christmas, but you'll see that down the road. I have not found anything I want to keep up there permanently only because I like the idea of changing it up.

I really like this idea from over at Decor Adventures a totally cute and simple bulletin board. Hmmm, maybe it's because I've spent so many years in the schools. I enjoy how she changes it up for the different seasons, yet it is super easy and simple. I would enjoy something like that above my mantle because it would give me decorating freedom and it would use up all the space from having nine foot ceilings.

Anyhow, back to my craftiness. I had no idea how to decorate my mantle for Valentine’s Day. I wanted something, pretty, simple and not all hearts and flowers. I knew I wanted to make some sort of wreath. So I came up with this "rag wreath".

I used one of my husband’s shirts out of the good will box and started cutting. I also wanted to use an empty picture frame. I had seen an empty frame used before on another blog; however theirs was way bigger and much cooler.

Once I had finished making the wreath it turned out a lot darker because of all the folds in it. The fabric is a nice cranberry red, but almost looks black because of all the shadows. I played around with placement for a while and almost gave up.

The mantle was looking so silly, like I had no clue what I was doing, oh yeah, that's because I didn't! So I walked away from it for a while and sat down in front of my computer to find inspiration out in blogland, and there it was right in front of me! Next to my computer sits a large basket of folk art fruit. The apple caught my eye, it's a quilted pattern in two shades of red.

The darker color in the apple was a perfect complement to the red in the wreath! So I dusted it off and took it over to the mantle, I liked where this was going. Then I printed the phrase "you’re the apple of my eye" in a nice font, taped it to the underside of the glass in the empty frame and traced it with a dry erase marker. Looking good! I already had the candles (LED, no flames here) wrapped in extra fabric from the wreath project on the mantle too; however it was still looking sparse, good but sparse. I started looking around the house for red things to fill in the space, didn't like it. Then in a stroke of genius I remembered on a very top shelf in one of my cabinets I tossed a bunch of faux green apples- score! And there you have it: my" You're the apple of my eye" Valentine’s Day mantle.

Take Two And Call Me In The Morning

We spent Friday afternoon at the Doctors. Stink Butt had not been on his game for the last couple of days. I thought perhaps it was because Papa was out of town and he missed him. His teachers even commented on his behavior Thursday after class.

He had been coughing but nothing that I was concerned about. He took a nap as soon as we got home from school which is something he NEVER does (at least not willingly) and even went to bed early. When he woke up with boogies and complaining about his eye hurting I made the appointment. By the time he woke up from Friday's nap his whole eye was red, swollen and gunky. Yuck-to-the-O!

Glad that once again I trusted myself, and made the appointment in the morning when I did. I always second guess myself. When am I gonna realize that I'm "that good" and to just go with it.  We walked away with two prescriptions, one for his eyes and an antibiotic to clear up the gunk.

The point of this lovely story is because I wonder if anyone else out there in mommyland has trouble remembering when if medicine has been given and how many more days there are to give it. So I made this handy little chart to help me, and thought y'all out there may find it helpful too! I modified it a bit in case there is more than one child in the house or worse more then one child at a time on medication  in the house!   I chose to make it for ten days because in this household 10 days worth is typically what we get in antibiotic rations. This may also be helpful for those of you that have care-givers in the home such as a nanny or grandparent. I find it helpful because sometimes my husband takes care of Stink Butt in the morning and we may not have communicated if medicine was given or vice-versa in the evenings, so it's handy to look at the chart.

Be well, my friends!

Happy Chinese New Year

Here's what we're doing tonight: Kumquat Thumbprints brought to you by KJ over at Let's Go Fly a Kite. I'm pretty sure the boys are gonna give it a thumbs up!



Update: While we were busy making Kumquat thumbprint art, Papa was busy in San Fransisco on a business trip.  Stink Butt was lucky enough to reap the benefits of  Papa staying in  San Fransisco's China Town during Chinese New Year.

What Kind of Glass Does a Snowman Drink From?

A Frosted One!

oooooooooooooooooooooohh, We'll be here all night! Only because the roads are icy and it is slick out there!  Seriously though, where ever you are, have you had enough of this snow? I think our Frosty Friend out front has, I'm pretty sure he's been hitting the frosted mugs a bit much judging from his sloshy disposition.

Maybe you too are feeling the cabin fever; if you are from my neck of the woods, your kids have been home for SEVEN DAYS STRAIGHT due to snow and previously scheduled school holidays. Maybe you might want to hit the frosty mugs by this point? Maybe you already are? How about stirring up one of these concoctions. If you can't beat 'em join 'em! The frothy snowman or perhaps a sip or two of the blizzard cocktail. If you are anything like me, you don't drink and nothing beats a nice hot cup of my FAVORITE recipe for home made hot chocolate! I make at least one batch a season and this year I am already on my second batch. A toast to my friends: Stay warm, stay safe, shut the door on Winter, and open the windows for Spring. Cheers!

Seek And Ye Shall Find

My husband found me 10 years ago; since then he seems to loose everything. Aside from loosing his mind every once in a while, the thing he lost that stands out the most to me is his wallet a few years ago. Keep in mind he "misplaces" it often and it is always were he left it. This incident, however was THE BIG ONE. We looked forEVER, called local businesses that he had been to, delved deep in to the cushions of the couch and car seats. Finally, we cut our losses after two days and called the bank and credit cards companies, cancelling everything. The worst part of that whole ordeal was that it was right after Christmas and his birthday so he had TONS of gift cards waiting to be traded in for the goods.

Being the good wife I am I consoled him with a "there, there" and we cut our losses. Seriously, what's the point of dwelling on his our misfortune? I had bills to pay, and laundry to do. And that is exactly where I found it, at the bottom of our laundry hamper, his wallet. It was just misplaced after all.

That was a good story, a happy ending, most of the time with his luck it is. He does misplace things alot. Most often it is a frantic rush to find his parking pass or badge for work in the wee hours of the morning. However today was special, today it was his parking pass and... his beloved class ring! We tore the house apart this morning, standard procedure, looking under furniture, table tops, couch cushions. Much to my dismay he started this treasure hunt by ripping off and shaking out the covers of the bed, mind you while I was still sleeping in it! Talk about a rude awakening. So we searched and searched until he was officially late for work, his finger naked and exposed.

It was not until a couple hours later that I flashed back to last week when I got an email in my inbox from a mom in the neighborhood mom's group requesting the use of a metal detector. Long story short, woman lost her engagement ring in awful snow we had last week, and my dad used to be in a metal detecting club. They meet, he searches, she's happy. He finds the ring she accidentally knocked off her hand when shaking snow out of the sleeve of her coat.

So I gave my dad a call, it went something like this "Hi Dad, got a second? Have you put that metal detector away? I think Carlton lost his ring helping you in the yard yesterday." To which he replied "Your kidding me, yada, yada, yada, I'll go out and look when I get home." When he got home I watched him in his yard (he lives across the street) swing his detector a couple times, take a couple of scoops out of the snow, but no cigar ring. He traced Carlton's tracks back towards the street, which isn't hard to do considering he wears a size ginormous 14 boot and there is still half a foot of snow on the ground. My dad then hovered over where the trash cans go, since Carlton pulled them to the curb last night. Still no luck. My dad then crossed the street into our yard and hovered around a bit until he bumped into our snowman. As my dad swiped his detector across the base of him you hear beep beeP beEP bEEP BEEP BEEP and then a sure sign of finding something, my dad's head cocked up to the side just a little bit to reveal a big ol' grin emerging across his face. He has found gold, in the form of a George Mason University school of Information Technology class ring. Success in the snow!

Stink Butt was so excited and impressed that Pop found something in the snow he decided to give it the old college try too!

note: If there is a lesson to be learned here, do one of two things. Take off your rings in cold weather, as your hands shrink  and your ring will then become to big and loose or wear gloves.

Oh and Carlton, it might be helpful if the place you leave your wallet, badge, parking pass, etc. is the same place everyday. Then again, organized people are just too lazy to look for things.

A Tisket A Tasket, a Homemade Princess Basket

So I figure it is about time I get crafty up in here. Stink Butt attended a birthday party this morning for a little princess in the neighborhood.  I have a super hard time trying to figure out what to get someone for a gift. I don't wanna just buy something, because I am supposed to, I like to put thought into it.  I asked the Queen of the household what her little princess would enjoy and she said anything princess so, here we go. An Original One of  Kind Pretty Princess Basket(PPB) ooooooooo ahhhhhhhhhh. Please...calm yourself.

In my first attempt to bring you a picture tutorial, I bring you:

HOW TO MAKE A THEME GIFT BASKET

The first thing you need to do is choose your theme, my favorites are Movie Night, Baby Shower, Baseball, Spa and now the PPB.  Next collect the goods. I did all of my shopping for the PPB at the dollar store and TJMAXX - holla!

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen ( if you're out there) You too can make a PPB for a mere 19.00, tax not included.

Here is a break down of my gift allowance:

Item	Store	Price
Princess dress up kit ( includes: frilly skirt, shoes, handbag, crown, princess wand, and necklace)	TJMAXX	$8.oo
8 pack of smelly goodness assorted bath gels and soaps	TJMAXX	$2.oo
Everything else came from the dollar store.
white heart basket	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
pink comb	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
ball of hair bands in princess colors	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
pack of two bath poofs white and pink	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
6 pack of sparkly heart hair clips	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
grape flavored lip balm ( yum)	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
3 pack of head bands again, princess colors	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
princess balloon on stick	DOLLAR TREE	$1.oo
TOTAL:		$19.oo

To make your basket look like you just walked out of some fancy schmancy boutique pay attention to what you are putting in it. Had I just picked up random stuff it would have looked like I just filled stuff up at the dollar store, but with a little thoughtful planning it will look really jazzy!  I always pick a color theme first; this time it was princess pinks and purples, so everything I got was in those color families.  But that doesn't mean if it is the right color get it.  A purple cheese grater would look pretty silly in a PPB. I chose to combine dress up and bath time.  So that's what the PPB got.

Now that you are home with your swag, you can begin by having a nice big space to work on.  Aside from the stuff I just bought here is my list of handy supplies you will want on hand.

block of Styrofoam for basket filler	assorted ribbons	tissue paper
shredded paper	Shrink Wrap	clothes pins
pipe cleaners	wood skewers/chopsticks	double stick tape

All of which I have on hand for crafting, of course.

step one

Line the basket with foil tissue using double stick tape when needed to keep tissue in place. (This is not a step I typically do, however because the basket I chose has big holes in it I did it this way to hide the Styrofoam and filler.)

step two

Add Styrofoam filler.  This step is only nessesary depending on the size of items you are putting in the basket. Since my items are small I needed to beef it up so that the basket looks fuller. The items alone would look like a pretty chintzy gift, however with the Styrofoam in the basket, it looks like the basket is filled to the brim with the good stuff!

step three

Product placement. It is good to put taller products in the back to add height and to cram in as much as possible, when you start you will think "gosh, I don't have enough." By the time you are almost done, you will be wondering where to put the stuff.  In this particular basket I used chopsticks to give height to the hair clips and lip balm. I just taped a stick to the back of each package and jab it in the Styrofoam (another good reason to have styrofoam in the bottom of the basket) at different heights till I like what I see.

step four

By this time I've made a big mess. I clean my work area and make sure there wasn't any loot I left out.

Here comes the hard part, laying out your shrink wrap. It likes to static cling to everything and is big and kind of flimsy. Do not let this discourage you, you can do it!

Place the finished basket on top of the shrink wrap and carefully gather the four corners and bring them up to the top. I normally do not use a balloon on a stick, but it turned out to be very helpful. I was able to clothes pin the wrap to the stick while I was smoothing and taping it down.  Once you like the job you've done use ribbon , twist tie or pipe cleaner to tie the shrink wrap at the top. Carefully smooth and  double stick tape the wrap to the basket making sure it overlaps itself or there will be holes in the finished, heated shrink wrap.

step five

Now that you have it wrapped and taped it to your liking, you can start to heat this puppy up! Using your hair dryer blow air onto the shrink wrap starting at the bottom of the basket. Be cautious not to get the dryer too close or to stay in one place to long as you will burn a hole in the wrap. You will notice that it gets wrinkly and doesn't look very good.  Not to worry that just means that you have not heated it enough, keep swiping you hair dryer back and forth over the wrinkled parts and they will iron out, so to speak , nice and neat. Be sure NOT to heat the top of your basket  above where you tied it up,or you will not have a nice pretty poof of wrap at the top.

step six

Tie a pretty bow or curling ribbon at the top.

step seven

This step is most important!  Stand back and give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done! Don't forget to think about that special someone you made your Original One Of a Kind Basket for!

So there you have it an awesome homemade gift basket  that looks like it came from the fancy schmancy boutique for under 20 bucks!  But wait that's not all..... it only took 30 minutes to make! I wish I could say the same about writing this blog! Enjoy, my friends and remember, the goal is to make a basket, not become a basket case!

Patty Cake Patty Cake

I bake, it's what I do. I never really started baking until I had my own home; as a matter of fact, I really did not become domestic until I had my own home, but that's besides the point.  Today I am baking a cake. It's my brother-in-law's birthday. Around here I like to call him Brother John, again besides the point.

My baking really took off when I decided to host, what has now become an annual event, my holiday cookie exchange. Every year  I ask friends to join me in rolling up their sleeves and rolling out the dough, more on that at the end of the year.

So this weekend we are celebrating Brother John's birthday. I always asked the birthday boy/girl what kind of cake they want. Brother John requested my Coconut Cake.

Hmmm, maybe he is inspired by all this snow we have, the cake is frosted in seven minute frosting (I use corn syrup) ,mounds of white fluffy goodness.  Or in my opinion, he is thinking of summer time, because while the cake bakes the smell of coconut and vanilla waft through the air and the warmth of the oven whisk you off to daydream-land, where you are sitting on a sun kissed beach, and you'll find a tube of banana boat in each beachbag speckling the shoreline. Then you're back to reality as the kitchen timer goes off; cakes are done!

I love to bake cakes for people, it's my little way of thinking of them and what they bring to my life. To me it's a big ol' hug around the neck, which I'm sure Brother John approves of - we're not really the huggy huggy type! So a hug delivered by way of fork it is!  Now don't get me wrong I gladly accept the hug of a store bought cake too, but there is just something special about homemade. The time it takes, the effort put in to it, the memories it makes - good stuff!

This past year my son requested a pink cake, for weeks all he could talk about was "my pink birthday cake." You want pink, you got it! Good thing I'm crafty like that, here is the perfect way you give Stink Butt the cake he wanted with out  having to explain why my 3 year old boy is eating a pink birthday cake. A Monster!

The cake itself was inedible lemon flavored box mix doctored up and store bought cherry frosting, because it was pink already. GASP for the love of God ,what was I thinking? Oh, I was following my golden rule "work smart, not hard" my Dad taught me that. Big mistake, the cake itself was not bad, but the frosting made it every little sugar junky's dream-bleh. I've learned my lesson. From now on I will make my own frosting or at least forbid cherry flavored, canned  frosting to cross the threshholds of this home. The best part was the guts of this cake, if you're gonna make a monster cake, ya gotta go all the way. I don't have good pictures of the inside of Stink Butt's cake, but here is one:

This is a how-to guide if you're feeling up to it. Pretty cool huh? So not only did he get the PINK cake he wanted in the form of a fun loving monster, but he got a pretty cool surprise inside! Because, let's be honest, aren't all monsters a swirly sea of colors inside?  So too bad for Brother John, that he did not request a swirly sea of  colors cake.  He'll just have to savor the taste of the tropics as he hoists a big ol' fork full of  boring white cake with coconut cream filling and toasted coconut sprinkled atop white fluffy goodness, as he devoures his coconut cake; Happy Birthday, Brother John.

How do you roll in your household? Are you the queen of slice and bake? Are you a "from scratch" girl? Or is the last ingredient to your cake or cookies paper or plastic at the check out stand?  Baking is easy, if you can read you can bake. As I mentioned earlier "work smart not hard." If you want to bake or think you are not a good baker this is where I started, you can't go wrong, The Cake Mix Doctor. I  picked it up at Costco and I haven't looked back. I do stray from time to time, but more often then not the recipe is from this book.  Every single recipe in this book starts from a box mix-LOVE IT! So it fits well with my golden rule!  Try it out and bake up a big ol' hug by the fork full for someone you love!

A Gift Wrapped In White

SNOW DAY
(part one)

You belong to one of two parties, the first: Snow days are a gift of free time. The second: Snow and snow days are a pain in the butt. Which are you? This is the second snow day we have had this school year, yet there isn't even enough to go play (10am). I've been bitter towards  the snow this year, apparently it decided to take a winter vacation this year and head south, like so many northerners that fall under the "snow is a pain in the butt" party.

My husband's family came to visit from Memphis TN this Christmas. I wanted so badly for it to snow while they were here, a true White Christmas.  We got a couple flakes (none of which were in the family) and alot of cold wetness. Last year we got the mother load! While it was fun on so many levels, after the 7th day, I changed parties and hopped in to the "snow is a pain in the butt" line.  When I was in the schools, I loved a good snow day, especially  those that were bogus, the kind where I could sleep in, then get in my car and run the roads and shop! I live on an emergency snow route. That being said, my street always gets cleared quickly and I'm on my way!

Although today is still a normal work day for me, the kids will be coming soon, and it's still a snow day! We've gotta do something fun, something special. I'm thinking some snowy art work and cinnamon buns. What do you do on snow days? Do you get snow days? What party do you belong to?

This is my Nephew in Memphis, enjoying all the snow down south!

Pain in the Butt Day
(part 2)

OK, OK, I spoke way to soon. I knew we were gonna get it, but still instant gratification, please! It's now almost 7pm and it is still snowing. I can not even open my front door! We live on a hill and the wind just picks up the snow and plops it right down on my door step. This is all news to me as it is our first real snow in the new  house. On the plus side I am inside with the embers of the fire glowing! Honey Dearest and Stink Butt are outside building their first real snowman of the season.

We did manage to get a few crafts in this afternoon. The boys painted on blue card stock with white paint, very exciting I know, but what do you expect for a 3 year old?  I made them snowflake quesadillas- talk about fancy! Then after nap time we baked some cookies.

We are expecting an overnight guest, hopefully any time now. Got a call from my Aunt that lives an hour and a half away saying that my Uncle would like to crash for the night if I'll have him. He works 20 minutes from us, left at 4:30 and is still not here!(7:15pm)  Does that give you an inclination how bad it is here?  Could you imagine having to drive I95 to get home on a day like this? So once again I find myself hopping in to the other party line, snow is a pain in the butt. On the positive side, I am very pleased that we could provide shelter in the storm, for my Uncle and it's always a good time when he is around.

It's bad out there. If you can stay home, let the snow people do their thing. Try to stay positive, and be thankful. Living on the emergency route I mentioned before I have heard the sirens more then I would like to tonight. This afternoon when Stink Butt heard them he exclaimed "Mommy- there's an emergency!" he then paused for a moment, and said "I hope everyone will be OK". It may not have been enough to melt the snow, but it sure did melt my heart.

update: after sitting in traffic for 5 plus hours and being 1.5 miles away from my house at 9:30 pm my uncle decided he had had enough of the traffic here, found a break in the median, turned around and headed south on 495. He got home safely by 11:30pm, 75 miles away.



Photo Taken By Flickr user Edward Hoover

Wouldn't You Like Know

Two years ago I was asked to list 25 random facts about myself on Facebook. A lot of it is still true. My goal is to get 25 random facts about my readers in the comments section. Come on, you know there is something weird unique about you, spill it!

25 Random Things.

1. I want to have Steven Tyler  over for dinner.
        (may I add this is pre-American Idol days)
2. I will stop whatever I am doing if Steel Magnolias is on.
3. I like my blankets to have texture.
4. I HATE HATE HATE stray pieces of hair- gross!
5. That goes for stray lint and dust bunnies too.
6. I don’t like to cook for less than three people.
7. My best friend will look at this and find that it is grammatically incorrect.
8. I want my son to have a little brother or sister or two
9. I’d like to own a B& B one day because I like people but not enough for them to stick around.
10. I want to meet Morgan Freeman and Dixie Carter (that's not gonna happen, anytime soon) but not at the same time.
11. I dance around during the day while doing chores to get some exercise
12. I detest Bicyclist that insists on riding on the street when there is a bike path RIGHT OVER THERE!
13. It annoys me when people push on to an elevator when I am trying to get off. DUH, you will have more room once I am out of the way.
14. Sometimes I just want cake.
15. My husband has kicked off 2 of my toe nails (they never grew back nicely)
16. Despite being an AWFUL student I loved teaching.
17. My husband’s childhood photos look exactly like my first grade school crush.
18. I hate reading books but read 3-4 magazines a week.
19. I went to the gym 100 times in 2008!
20. There are sapphires in my engagement ring that no one can see.
21. Two “Elvis Presley” came to my rehearsal dinner.
22. 90% of my friends are in education.
23. My sister and I are the ONLY two people in our family with OUR red hair
24. If I was born a boy my name would have been Matthew (I used it for my son’s middle name)
25. I want to make a Christmas song album and have the cover art be me as a smokey jazz singer in a red dress with one of those old school crome microphones!
26. I know it is only supposed to be 25 random things, But I have a random thing about the number 26!

Love Is In The Air

How long can I use my son as an excuse?  I often feel that people think I go over the top in preparation for holidays and celebrations. Sometimes I hear myself say "It's for the kids, the kids like it, it's fun". But secretly I'm the kid! It's for me, I like it, it's FUN!  I think it is because my life has revolved around the schools. Most people stopped being in a school (grade school) in their late teens. I on the other hand went back after a few years of higher education and became a Special Education assistant in the elementary schools. I loved the excitement of when holidays rolled around.  Each month there was a new calendar display;White snowflakes in January, Pretty little cherubs with tiny bows and arrows in February, and  perhaps four leaf clovers in March, whatever it was it was exciting. The trill of kids all excited about wearing pajamas to school or worrying about being pinched if they didn't wear green, love notes in a shoebox adorned with construction paper, love it! Does anyone out there remember those lifesaver lollipops you'd get in your valentine mailbox, the red ones with the creamy white swirls through them-yum! I always find it odd when speaking with an adult  from the "real world" about a Holiday when their response is "ohh, I didn't know it was Sinterklaas day... and you leave your shoes out, huh". We forget about all the fun stuff and things to look forward to as adults.

I just took down the last of my Christmas decorations outside today. It only took about an hour but it was a nice hour to myself, reflecting on what a wonderful Christmas our first Christmas in our new home was. The walls were bursting with family and friends, food galore and lots of fun! To think that Christmas is a mere 11 months away excites me all over again.  Although, I have plenty of other holidays and celebrations to think about until then.

First up I hear the little voice of a tiny cherub calling out to me. Hearts, Kisses, Red, Pink and White.  I'm already inspired to decorate let's just see what this St. Valentine guy has to offer. Stay tuned, Love Is In The Air!

Lacing up my shoes.

Welcome to my blog. The last time I decided to try something I had never done before, I chose to run my first 5K. Since then I have run  three. To those of you that don't know me, big stinkin' deal oooooooo a 5K. For those that do, yes, I own running shoes and use them for what they are intended for ... occasionally. This is me right before my first race, very nervous. I have the same feeling/ look on my face as I type this first blog as I did at the starting line for my first race. Can I do it? Will I finish before the last person? Will I  be the last person to finish?Although the thoughts are similar this time they go "Do I really have anything good to write about? Am I crafty enough? Will people relate to me? Should I forget this whole thing hit publish now?"

I've been thinking for months about starting my own blog. I really enjoy reading blogs and the more I do the more I think, umm I could do that. People wanna hear what I have to say. I'm crafty, I want to show my craftiness off to the world.  Ehh, what else do I have to do?  If you choose to continue checking back with me once in a while you'll be reading about the good things in life, family, crafting, baking, maybe a little  bit of exercise and the life of a stay at home mom extraordinaire. I'm starting this blog, just about the same way I started that first 5K. Let's hope I make it to the finish line, and that you'll be there to cheer me on along the way.

On your mark, get set GO!

 I finished... before someone else!