Thursday, May 26, 2011

I know I do!

I don't do this every week, but this week's questions are fantastic! So I am joining in the linky party with Impulsive Addict, Janette, Mamarazzi, and Seriously Shawn for their "We Wanna Know Wednesday." (Yes I know, it's Thursday)


This week's questions:
{1} What must you do before you go to bed at night?
{2} What is one thing you must snack on at the theater?
{3} Before going on vacation what must you do?
{4} What is one thing you must do every day?
{5} Is there something you do that must be done in a particular order?

My answers:
{1} What must you do before you go to bed at night?
I make sure there is a clear shot from each bed in my house, to the front door. It was pointed out to me a while ago, and I think it stems back from my childhood, but I HAVE to have a clear shot to go from my bed, to the crib, then to the front door. And of course I check my kids bedrooms too. If there is a mess in their room I will push everything to one side to make sure the path is clear.

{2} What is one thing you must snack on at the theater?
I don't really have a must have snack for the theater. Usually a piece of mint gum does the trick for me. I can't bring myself to spend half a month's salary on the stuff they sell, and I don't like the idea of sneaking food in...

{3} Before going on vacation what must you do?
Oh how Joe teases me about this one! I must make a packing list. And I mean DETAILED. I will pair up outfits for my kids and roll them up together so that we aren't left on the last day with a red shirt and green shorts, and I will also pack the bags in such a way that you can just remove a layer for the day (so I don't pack all the underwear in one area, there is a pair of underwear and socks packaged in with the rest of the outfit). I also mentally go through the trip and try to picture all the different stuff we will need (like for camping I ALWAYS forget to bring a hammer to get the tent staked down...). I also insist on packing the car myself. Which is funny, since Joe used to pack UPS trucks for a living and is REALLY good and making things fit.

{4} What is one thing you must do every day?
Besides the expected "brush your teeth and eat" stuff, I think the one thing I MUST do everyday is probably check my social media outlets... Though not necessarily for the reasons one might expect. At least not lately. I just opened up an Etsy shop, and am excited to see my jewelry selling, so I check my Facebook page, my Etsy shop, my business email (okay, my personal email too), and my website for traffic and sales. It thrills me to no end to see other people who like my creations! (That, and spending my day with children makes me a little nuts and I crave adult interaction- which is quite often found online...)

{5} Is there something you do that must be done in a particular order?
Wow - this one proved to be really hard! I wanna say yes- there are tons of things I do that have to be done a specific way in a specific order, but nothing comes to mind off the top of my head... so I will stick with the order of my shower habits... To be vague cause no one needs all the details, I always wash hair first, then wash body, shave anything needing shaving, possibly attack rough body parts with sugar scrubs or pumice stones (or both), and then I do one final rinse before drying off (top to bottom) while in the shower (don't wanna get the floor wet), and finally exiting the shower (left leg first).

And there ya have it! The inside details of me! Come join the fun! (And in case you didn't get the memo, go check out my websites!!!)

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Shenanigans and other such fun stuff

Oh, how I love my kids! They really are fun. I figure it's been a while- I really ought to catch you up on some of the good (and not-so-good) times we have had recently...

I got a bit of a crafty bug a few weeks back, and decided to make the girls some cute summer flip flops. I got 4 handkerchiefs in 4 different shades of pink and purple, then I bought them cheap little flip flops... combined them and got THESE:
and of course, a picture of my willing guinea pig trying them on...


Matthew got bored at breakfast the other day. When I went to check on him, I found this:


A very common and equally frustrating practice these days is when Lacey decides to make herself something to drink. Usually it's chocolate milk. And of course, she doesn't put ANYTHING back when she is done making said drink. The main reason it's frustrating?
Yup... Matthew LOVES eating the Ovaltine powder.


The kids LOVE playing with my latest acquisition.


This kid has no concept of "OFF LIMITS"... he even opened it up to push the buttons. Little stinker!


The other day I was talking with a friend in the front room when I look down the hall to find my son showing off his latest talent. He sure loves to draw!
and this is what happens when you have to clean up the (thank goodness) washable marker...


Lately my daughters have found a new love for the movie, "Pete's Dragon." Which is fine with me! I love the music- and the story... talk about good childhood memories! Until I gave my kids a bath a found THIS on Lacey!
look familiar?


For Christmas this last year my Sister In Law gave us a gift card to the local zoo good for an annual pass... we have already used it once, and am looking forward to many trips this Spring and Summer. A few of the better pictures from this trip:

Look at that! We are ALL smiling!

We spent some time in an art exhibit. The girls got bored... so they sat down to rest...

Matthew got loose for a few minutes. Lilia managed to catch him.

Hopefully things are well with you, too!

Strawberries!


So one of the best things a bout my local Walmart is their inability to properly stock certain fruits. More specifically, raspberries and strawberries. A few times a year they find themselves inundated with excess berries, so to get rid of them they sell them SUPER cheap. As in .99 cheap. so instead of paying upwards of 2.00 per clamshell of raspberries or strawberries, you can get them for a dollar! And of course, I do. And then I make them into some of the yummy canned goods I love so much.

Sure enough- this last week Walmart had bunches of strawberries to off load, and boy did I help them out! Over the course of three days I bought 15 clamshells of berries and proceeded to cook them up in all sorts of fun ways!

I also, helped a friend of mine with her 9 (or was it 12?) clamshells as well... She chose to turn hers into strawberry jam to be sold at a bake sale for her daughter's soccer team (all you local yocal's out there, I think she still has some for sale... you know- in case you wanna help out a bit).

I then went on to make some strawberry/blueberry jam, and a couple batches of freezer jam, two batches of strawberry ice cream base (to be turned into ice cream at a later date), and 3 batches of strawberry lemonade concentrate... YUM!

A picture of just some of the goods I made... :D
When I had finished all this, I then went on to buy my mother 5 clamshells of strawberries and proceeded to freeze them for her to use in smoothies, and other such goodies.
I still had enough strawberries left over to make some strawberry shortcake for dessert one night. One of my family's favorite desserts...

Oh how I love Spring! Bring on the berries!