Welcome Back

So today was the first day of school. Ben was off to 6th grade at Meeker MS and Sam was back at Browns Pt. for second grade. I wish our summer had been longer. The two weeks of sunshine just didn't hack it for a "summer" this year. Oh well.

We had our annual "BooHoo ~ WooHoo Breakfast" today. I really enjoy this tradition. We had a few teary moms and dads and I was so glad they had a place to go for some comfort and support. Only one kiddo had to be pried out of mama's arms. It was plain to see it was just as stressful for the mom as the little girl. However, I popped into the classroom not but 5 minutes later and the little girl was happy as a clam. When I told the mom her little girl was doing great, you could just see the tension leave her body. Her little one was going to be okay and so was she.

I'm a big believer in the "village" approach to raising kids. As moms we have all been in a place where all you need is someone to say, "it's okay, you are going to be fine" and the great thing is that they are right.

Happy first day of school to all the moms out there!!

:0)

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Spring break is over.

Bummer.

I so enjoy not having a schedule to deal with. I like the "play it by ear"ness that come with vacation time. There are 12 weeks left of school and then we will be schedule free again.

Today I will be out and about testing kids' English. I actually like this job for 2 reasons: it is easy and it is good money. I make almost twice as much as I do when I sub. Subbing is fun though and I'm actually subbing 4 days this week, only half days though (I'm not crazy)

As far as my spring break cleaning... well let's say I made a pretty good dent. The weekend was really nice and so I took the opportunity to work out in the yard. At the preschool auction this year, I won 2 hours of a landscape architect. I'm very excited, but felt compelled to at least week the back beds before he came. My backyard flowerbeds are a mess. I moved around a lot of plants last summer and when we got all the snow this year, they weren't strong enough to survive. What is a real bummer is that most of the plants that died I have had for a few years and had raised them from 2"pots. Just when there were getting to a nice size, poof, gone. I lost 2 hydrangeas and I'm not looking forward to replacing those. Plants are so spendy if you opt for something of a decent size. Oh well, I guess I will just have to be on the look out for some good deals. I guess I should also wait to see what the landscape guy says as well. It is all very exciting.

On Saturday, we hit the local Fred Meyer along with everyone else in S. King Co. but it was sunny and that is what W. Washingtonians do. I decided I would finally plant the pots on my front steps and I'm so glad I did. Between giving the porch a good cleaning off (pic taken prior to the cleaning) and getting the pots planted my entry way looks happy now.

Happy Monday :0)

We're off to the pumpkin patch

Today is Sam's class trip to the pumpkin patch. This is always a fun trip. The weather should be good, cool but clear, and it hasn't rained much lately so the mucky mud shouldn't be too bad. The farm we are going to is a neat one. In addition to pumpkins, they have a small dairy farm. I always think it would be fun to live on a little farm, but then you start to think about how much work it really is and then the idea is less appealing.
A few years ago on PBS they did a show called Frontier House where they took modern families and plopped them in the Montana wilderness as homesteaders. It was so interesting. Of course the city slickers didn't do too well. I don't think the poor wife ever sat down. She was stuck with a brood of 7 that were less than eager to help. I have a feeling that wouldn't have flown back in the day. Anyway, if you are ever channel surfing and stumble across it or at the library and see it, you should definitely check it out.
Back to the pumpkin patch... One of my favorite parts of the pumpkin patch field trip is all the great pics. There is something about rosy cheeked kids hugging big orange pumpkins that always make for a great photo. Hopefully, the battery in my camerae will last. Well, I better be off. I have to make a couple of "completely disposable lunches" and try and find a pair of boots for Sam.
Happy Wednesday Everyone!!

Mother of the Year

Move over June, I just tried to send Sammie to school with no shoes. Good thing she was paying attention. Here I thought she didn't want to leave because she wanted to give me more hugs and kisses. If this is any indication of my Monday, I'm a little worried :0)

What a Week!!

Today is the first day where things are feeling a little less frantic.
Sam's first day of school was fantastic. She was so excited and not sad or clingy at all (I think it helped a lot that her teacher was one of the co-op moms last year). After school she was jumping up and down and waving when I came to pick her up. Ben was a little more tired. 4th grade is a tough year. He was a little less thrilled to be back at school, but he has a bunch of buddies in his class this year so that makes it a little better. I just love this pic of them. Ben is such a sweet big brother. He was very protective of Sam and wanted to make sure she was alright on her first day.

Part of my PTA duties yesterday was to put together the annual "BooHoo Breakfast". When Ben was in K there wasn't any kind of welcome for the new parents and moms who were sad had to go cry in their cars. This wasn't okay, so I suggested the PTA do a little welcome reception so that parents could meet each other, get any last minute questions answered and a little needed "there, there, your child will be fine and so will you". This was the third year we have done this and every year we get a few more people. Even though the turn out is always less than I expect it to be, the moms and dads who really seem to need it show up and that makes me glad we are there for them.

Of course with any PTA project I seem to be involved with there was a huge amount of baking. I made 3 batches of cookies (white chocolate macadamia, ranger, PB chip) and planned to make some quick breads (pineapple, zucchini, banana) However, the day before school was a little busier than I thought it would be so I made the executive decision to go and buy some stuff from the QFC bakery. Holy Gouging, Batman. That bakery was spendy. Now the QFC is the closest grocery store and they always have good stuff, but they are expensive. This is going to sound bad, but since it wasn't my money I was spending, I was more okay for spending $6 for 9 mini danish. That's right, they don't even sell things by the dozen. I got a couple of tubs of those and then some mini muffins. (I would really like to add muffin making to my baking skills. It seems the ones I make are good for the first 15 minutes and then after that they get hard. If anyone knows of a way to convert quick breads to muffins, let me know) Anyway, that trip just reaffirmed the fact that baking from scratch it sooooo much cheaper and well worth the 15 minutes of effort.

However the dark side of baking is, of course, the resulting baked goods. The PB chip cookies I made didn't make it to the school. The first few sheets were a little more browned than I wanted and since I hate ugly cookies, they stayed home. Now this wouldn't have been a problem, but the last few sheets I reduced the heat and the cooking time and result was pure evil. E-vell. They were soft and chewy and those PB chips just push them over the top. I can't stop eating them. I guess the good news is that I'm almost out of the "good ones" and I won't eat the ugly ones, so now it is just a waiting game. I think I will pack some in the kids lunches today. The practical side would have packed them up and sent them to work with Joji, but they worked their evil magic and convinced me to keep them home with me. Oh this does not bode well for the diet.



Speaking of "the diet", it has taken some hard hits lately. This past weekend we went to the Melting Pot with the Browns. Have you been there??? It is a fondue restaurant and it was a blast!! For our cheese course we had some type of spinach/artichoke cheesy goodness. It was amazing on Granny Smith apples and of course the crusty bread. For dessert we got the S'mores chocolate and we got rice crispy treats to dip. I'm totally doing that at the Christmas party this year. It was sooo good. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world, if instead of the "Cabbage Soup" diet you could go on the "Fondue Diet"? Oh well, I guess a girl can dream.

So that was some of the craziness that has been my life for the past few days. I have barely had time to read the blogs let alone blog myself. However, now that the kids will be gone for 6 1/2 hours a day every day, I should have a little more free time. Although, I'm a little nervous. That is a lot of time to fill. I suppose if I was one of those girls who hits the ground running with "to-do" list in hand it would be a godsend. Unfortunately, I'm a little more of a slow starter. I'm hoping that my testing will start up soon. I just found out I got a $2 an hour raise. That means I now make twice as much an hour testing as I do for subbing. Hmmmmm, have kids one on one asking them to point to the picture of the school bus, or a class of 25 kindergartners. Tough call. Seriously, the subbing is mainly to get some current class time so when I decide to go back to teaching I will have actually taught in this century. As far as going back to the classroom, I don't see myself going back for a while. Maybe if a K job opened up in a couple years at my kid's school I would think about it. I think I'm about 5 years away from seriously considering going back (much to Joji's chagrins). Right now I'm really enjoying the stay at home mom life.

Meet your teacher

We found out yesterday who the kids have and I must say I am happy. Not to sound like an obnoxious mom with perfect kids, but I am very lucky to have "easy kids". They could be in any classroom and do fine. They like school and it comes pretty easy for them. So of course, all of the teacher drama is purely me and I can admit it.

I want a teacher who likes kids (you'd be surprised) is excited about teaching and has good communication with parents. That really isn't a tall order or at least it shouldn't be. I'm happy with who the kids got. Sam got my friend Holly who also was Ben's K teacher. I adore Holly and so does Sam. I don't know Ben's teacher too well yet, but she was always friendly around school and I've heard good things. Ben could really care less, he found out some friends were in his class so he is happy.
Tonight is Meet the Teacher Night. I'm so glad I have nothing to do with this event. I just get to go and say "hi" and then get the heck out of Dodge before the drama (and there is always drama) starts.

This summer zoomed by so quickly. Back to school for the kids means I will start working as well. I've signed up to sub in 2 districts as well as continue testing for the ESL program. Hopefully that will go smoothly. I'm so nervous to sub. I know I have forgotten how much energy it takes to wrangle kids. I think I will try and start with half day sub jobs. I really don't want to work more than 1 or 2 days a week. We shall see. It will definitely be an interesting Fall.

And now for something completely different...



WSU Laura gave me an award. What a sweetie. I found her through another blog's blog roll I read and her blog name caught my eye since I'm a wannabe coug. Anyway, her blog always makes me smile and if you haven't checked it out, you should.
Another sweetie you should check out is Marie. She also passed this award on to me a while back. Marie is always stopping by and checking in. She is fun and creative. She is actually getting a headstart on Christmas stuff. How uber organized is that?? Seriously, she's great. Stop by and say hi.

Last but not least...
The pic of Miss Beadle is from one of my favorite episodes of Little House. It is the one where Laura finds all the fool's gold and dreams about coming into town in a beautiful white carriage and bringing Miss Beadle a huge basket of apples. I love the look on Miss Beadle's face when Nelly then gives her the rotten apple. She shrugs and hucks it over her shoulder. Wasn't Little House the best show? I never missed it and I could not go to bed until Laura jumped in the air during the end credits.

Okay, enough rambling. Gotta get going. There is actually some sun today, so I should run my errands before the rain comes back.
Happy Humpday :0)

One fun weekend

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I did. We didn't do anything special, just worked in the yard. Joji and the kids got me a super sweet camp chair (complete with cup holder)from REI, Sam painted a flower pot with mystery flower growing in it and Ben made me some toaster tweezers (so I won't burn my fingers). We ended up going to my mom's for dinner, which was nice since I didn't have to cook. My brother flew up to surprise my mom so it was nice to have everyone together. It was also nice for the M's to FINALLY get a win. It was breast cancer day at Safeco and so the players used pink bats. I'm must say it is a bit tough to look intimidating holding a pink day-glo bat, but whatever works... Anyway, dinner was good (how can steak and potatoes not be good) and I brought some cookies over for dessert.

They could not be easier to make and the lemon makes the white chocolate a little less sweet.
WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIP LEMON COOKIES

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine, softened

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoon lemon extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 package (12 ounces) white chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment.

Beat margarine and sugars with electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and lemon extract and beat until fluffy. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add gradually to butter mixture and beat well. Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on sheet for 2 minutes, transfer to wire racks to cool.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies

On Saturday was a big local garage sale. I look forward to this sale every year. Last year, my buddy Jessica and her hubby came down and we made a day of it. This year, no Jessica and Bob. It wasn't as fun, but I got some screaming deals.
Of course, Ben had a 9am game. So my mom and I had to do some power shopping. The plan was to hit the "good houses" first and peruse the others and then come back after the game. While at one sale, I spied a very fun hutch at the sale next door. It was priced at $100. I liked, but not $100 liked. When we came back later that day to pick up a rocker my mom had bought, the hutch was still there and marked down to $50. Hmmmmmmmm. I asked if they would take $40 and he said yes!! I was so excited. My dining room has needed a hutch ever since Joji kidnapped my buffet for the tv. I've always wanted a little hutch. I have a million plates and now I have a place to display them. Of course, when I got it home the rest of my day was spent tyring to figure out what to put in it. I threw a few things in there just so it wouldn't look empty, but it definately needs some tweaking. It just makes my dining room look more finished. I have been searching craigslist for hutches for months, but they are all either way too huge or way too expensive. I still can't believe my hutch was only $40. It actually contains wood and is nice and heavy. Joji even liked it (he was concerned it would make the room feel cramped ~ he had been enjoying the emptiness especially when his buddies were over, but it is not deep at all so he gives it the thumbs up)

Now with garage sale season in full swing, I must make sure for everything that comes in at least 2 or better yet 3 things go out. Matt and Holly are having a garage sale in a couple of weeks and they said I could bring over stuff to sell. I'm going to spend the next couple of weeks being ruthless. I'm going to play the "I'm moving" game. If I was moving, is this randome item move worthy? if not adios. I would love to reduce the contents of the house, by 50%. Ambititious, I know, but how great if it actually happened.

Today is another busy one. It is the class picnic for Sammie at a local park that has no covered area or bathrooms. It looks sunny now, so hopefully it will hold out. I'm also going to try and cram some testing in this morning. Holly has agreed to watch Sam. It is just so nice to have a kid swap buddy. It makes life so much easier. She has the kids today and I will be able to take her kids later this week.
Hopefully, I can finish all my testing by Tuesday.
Well, gotta run. Hope everyone has a good Monday :0)

My Super Sweet Staff Appreciation Week

So tomorrow kicks off Staff Appreciation Week and I thought I would share what is happening in our neck of the woods. There are 2 levels of appreciation. What the PTA is doing for the staff and what the room parents and kids are doing for the teachers.
PTA:
Monday: Potluck Breakfast (PTA volunteers to bring in a bunch of baked goods, breakfast casseroles, fruit and juice)
Tuesday: Italian sodas during lunch
Wednesday: Seated Massage with fruit, cheese and crackers
Thursday: Plinko for prizes (basically a raffle for gift certs)
Friday: Car detailing (a group of parents vacuuming and washing cars) as well as dessert buffet.
We also had the kids write a little note of thanks to the staff which are hanging on a bulletin board in the foyer.
Room Parents:
Monday: Wear you teachers favorite color day
Tuesday: Treats for our teachers dog day
Wednesday: Bring flowers for the teacher
Thursday: Make a card for our teacher
Friday: Favorite things for our teacher and a special lunch.
When I was teaching, we got a lunch and something small (which was fine with me) I just think it is so over the top. What is worse, is that there are teachers who actually tell the kids what kind of stuff they want. Yikes.
The budget used to be $1500. I fought to have the budget cut in half. Of course, I then had to chair the committee to prove that it could actually be done for less. I must say I'm pretty proud of our efforts. Most stuff is being donated. Folks are more than happy to help if they are just asked. We are splurging on the massage, but we are getting a deal so I think that is okay. My goal is to come in under 500 bucks. It will be close. So what are other folks doing out there for teacher fest?? I would love to swap horror stories, I mean get new ideas :0)

When it rains it pours...

Oh it has been crazy busy around here. Can I tell you I can not wait for the end of next week. Next week I have my final board meeting as the co-op president (I'm hoping it is fun, should be but you never know), I'm in charge of the week long "Staff Appreciation Fest". Seriously, a whole week?? I have been getting panicked emails from room mothers who weren't aware they were supposed to conduct a week long celebration for their teacher. I only agreed to chair it since I wanted to cut things back (and we did)but it still is a lot. It is sooo over the top, but such is life in BP. And last but certainly not least, I'm working.

I agreed to help with the end of the year assessments for my old district. There are like a million kids that need to be tested. Hopefully, it will go well. It should, it usually does, it is just seems like a pretty daunting task. At least with the testing there will be a nice little paycheck at the end. Joji is much more tolerant of me being busy when they is an actual "payout". Next year, Sam will be in K all day so child care won't be such a headache making it easier to pick up a few more hours here and there. Money is good.

Joji is working today, bummer. He will miss yet another of Ben's games. The season is chugging along. Our last game was against a team that I really wanted to beat. The coach is so whiny and is kind of "win at all costs" kind of guy. I'm so glad Ben wasn't on his team. It ended up a tie, but the coach told his team that they won on a technicality. Whatever. He just bugs me. I don't care for whiny and especially when it comes from 40something dudes. Anyway, another interesting development this season is ump heckling. I have actually had to bite my tongue a couple of times. Now the umps are dads whose training consists of watching the baseball on tv. They do the best they can and of course they are going to make bad calls. At one game, this guy was all over the ump and it was a dad from his own team. I so wanted to say, "He is just a dad, doing the best he can and feel free to put on the gear and do it yourself". Of course, I wimped out, but I think I will sa something next time. Someone has to say something and hopefully it won't end up on Dateline: Sports parents out of control.

Ah yes, if I can just make it through the next couple of weeks. My girlfriend and I are seriously considering joining a local pool. I grew up at this pool and I always wanted to be a "pool mom". They would come down with kids and coolers at 1:00 and sit up on the upper deck smoking, gossiping and soaking up the sun while the lifeguards watched their kids. Ingenious!! Now that Sammie is old enough to be in the pool sans mommy this would be the perfect time. Another plus about this pool is that it is out of the neighborhood, so we can escape the local drama. Totally worth the 15 minute drive to a little poolside Nirvana.

New Digs

Just a quick post today. (It is 5:25 and I'm already running late)
But I did just want to send a quick shout out to Amber over at Shabbee Chick Designs for doing my bloggie revamp. I love it!!
If you are thinking your blog could use a pick me up, she is your gal: nice, creative and super speedy. Seriously, treat yourself and your blog and check her out and tell her Laurie Anne sent you :0)
Okay, so I just had to share my impending day of crazy. (Disclaimer: I am not complaining, I just find it funny how when it rains it pours)
8:15ish Drop off Sammie at the Browns
8:30 Go do some testing at our local highschools (of course I'm out of materials and I need to pick up more before I can test)
11:00 Pick up Sammie as well as Enzo and Lilly. Make a quick stop at the store to pick up stuff for dinner. Just found out that ALL of the DND boys are showing up what and what I had origanally planned (a big Cobb salad) won't be enough food. That is okay, plan B is pork loin and scallopped potatoes, just as easy.
2:00 Volunteer Appreciation Assmebly at Ben's school. I hope I remember to go. I might have to have Joji call and remind me.
4:00ish Enzo and Lily get picked up and DND guys start showing up.
Hopefully, I will be able to get some housework done as well. For some reason it seems a little easier to get stuff done when Enz and Lily are over. They are so good and they keep Sam occupied and since Lily is little I can't be online. It is amazing how much more time I find during the day when I'm not blogging :0)
Okay, so much for my quick post. I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm predicting a very early night for me since tomorrow is Ben's first baseball schrimage and then I'm off to help build shelves at the preschool :0)

Sammie is the big 5

Sammie is now 5. So hard to believe. She is such a little person now and so independent. She doesn't take crap from anyone and will tell you exactly like she sees it. She also has the most amazing self esteem. I love how when she is riding her bike she will yell, "I'm awesome". If only I could bottle this up and save it for when she is older and and feeling a little less awesome. Sam is my little buddy and we have so much fun together. She loves to cook and bake and helps whenever she can. She made the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and will tell anyone who will listen. She is so much fun. I'm glad I have a little girl.

We had a little family party for her on Sunday night and now our house is overrun with My Little Ponies. Sammie got lots of cute stuff and was thrilled. I'm not sure if we will have a kid party or not. Last year we just invited a bunch of friends over for a tea party lunch (no presents) and the kids had a really good time. We might do something like that this year, but she is starting to make the rounds on the birthday circuit and seeing all the presents the kids get so the the "no gift" thing may not an option. Too bad. Birthdays have really gotten out of hand.
It all started when we were invited to a 3rd bday party for a kid in Ben's 2's class. We didn't know them that well, so when it came to the gift I got something I thought a 3 year old would like, a big thing of bubbles and and scooby doo punching balloon. I know Ben would have loved these and the price was right. I will never forget walking into the house and it was already full of every toy you could think of and next to the massive pile of toys was a pile of probably 30 presents, huge presents. I began to panic, but stood by my guns that we had brought an appropriate gift. When the mom opened our gift, she had a funny look on her face and said, "oh, bubbles. That's nice" in that kind of way were you know she was thinking "are you kidding me?" And so it began...
What I find funny is that I have this conversation all the time with other moms who feel pressure to spend a lot of money on birthday gifts so they don't look cheap. What is up with that?? For one birthday I asked the mom what the kid was into and she said gift cards. Okay then. But I gotta tell ya, for the older kids (especially the ones we don't know that well) we are all about the gift cards. The kids around here have EVERYTHING!! It truly borders on obscene. Anyway, as far as Sammie's "party" I'm not sure what we will do. Every weekend this month is already "booked" with stuff so we may end up with a midweek thing, which might actually be fun. I need to take advantage of the midweek stuff while I can. Tacoma has approved free (used to be $275 a month)all day K for everyone. I'm a little torn on this. I would not have sent Sammie to all day, too expensive and NOT worth the money. I was looking forward to the routine of school everyday, but also looking forward to having some Sam and Mom time too.
It is going to be very weird having both kids gone all day everyday. I hope I can handle the "freedom". Six hours of unstructured Laurie time can be dangerous. I'm hoping to use the time to get in shape, organize the running our house, continue to freelance and volunteer at the school. These are the same goals I had when I quit work to stay home 7 years ago, maybe I will actually get to do it.

Mama Hen

When I was younger and planned my life, I figured I wanted 4 kids. You see I was going to get married at 22 and then have kids at 24, 26, 28 and 30. (I grew up in a family with 3 kids and I didn't want to have a "middle" child so 4 kids just made sense) Well, that didn't happen. Ben and Sam came along at 29 and 32. Two kids and Joji was done. I must admit that 2 seems a little small, but the thought of another girl...yeah, not a chance. If Sam had been a boy, I could see us trying for a third. Win, win either way, but 2 girls...no way. So here we are with our little happy family of 4. Sometimes when we are out and I see larger families I get a little envious.
A few times over the past couple of weeks I have had a couple of chances to sit for our good friends who have 2 little kids (4 &1). I must admit it is fun to pretend I'm a mom of 4. It is so interesting how the dynamics of this little group work. Ben takes charge, Sam and Enzo fall in line and Lily keeps me on my toes. Even still, there is a rhythm that sets in and I'm still able to get a few things done. Time flies pretty quickly when I'm watching them. They are such good kids. It is fun to pretend, but also nice to be able to return to the land of just 2 kids. At the end of the day, I got lucky with Ben and Sam, they are pretty amazing kiddos. I wouldn't trade them for anything :0)

Pink Eye and the blue plate special

Ugh. What a past couple of days. We have officially become Chez Pink Eye. Now my kids are usually very healthy. Up until this year, Ben hadn't missed a day of school since Kindergarten. However, for some reason pink eye keeps plaguing our family and it is the gift that keeps on giving. Ben had it pretty bad and he gave it to Sammie. Yesterday at the Dr.'s both kids checked out free and clear. Super, I had already had to cancel some work I was doing due to sick kids and now I can finish up my loose ends. WRONG. Sammie woke up this morning with RED eyes. Now I'm torn, do I play dumb and send her to school? No, I can' t do that. So on the couch she lies watching a little Sprouts so she won't be crying that she is missing school again. I'm scheduled to work in her class tomorrow and I think I'm going to have to try and find someone who can swap. What a pain. I think the worst part of pink eye is that you are kind of forced to stay home, at least you should stay home. I was looking forward to getting out today, but now I guess I will try and get some house stuff done. It is days like these that I'm really glad that I'm not a "real" working mom. I remember when I was teaching and I had to take a sick baby to daycare and pretend I didn't notice he wasn't feeling well. How awful is that? I know there are a lot of working moms out there, I just know it isn't for me right now. I can barely keep my head above water as it is and to throw on another huge responsibility like working, especially teaching, forget about it :0)
It is raining and grey and kind of depressing. A lot of the blogs I read have had a bunch of snow lately. I don't think I could do snow now. I need some sun. We had a really gorgeous day on Saturday. Joji and Sammie got to go out on our friends boat and I got to stay home with Pink eye Ben. I love those clear, sunny days. We can see the Olympic Mountains and they are so pretty. This picture was taken from Sammie's window.

Even though the weekend was kind of a downer due to sickness, there were a couple of bright spots. We got to see our friends the Zimmermans for a little BBQ. We love going up there and trying out Bob's latest cooking adventure. The best part is that it makes Joji want to start dabbling in the world of "outdoor cooking". I'm all for that. I'm trying to convince him that we need to build a covered patio so our BBQ efforts aren't limited to our 5 sunny days a year, hehe.

And speaking of food, I got the cutest new set of dishes. About a month ago, I was at Fred Meyer. (For those of you who have Fred Meyers in your area, you know how dangerous these stores are. They have EVERYTHING and run REALLY good sales) and I always wonder through the housewares isles to look at the plates. Well I saw this really cute set. It was kind of a sky blue and it reminded me of the the Southern Living dishes. They even came with a "bonus". The set included an extra 4 bowls and 4 salad plates. The "bonus" pieces are what sold me. They looked liked someone had piped royal icing around the edges. I thought that was so pretty. However, I didn't get them, because I really didn't need them and they weren't on sale. So on Friday on our way back from the taking Ben to the Dr. we stopped at Freddies to pick up a couple of things. Well wouldn't you know it, those plates were on clearance and not only that, but they were an additional 50% off the clearance price. Woo Hoo!! Joji green lighted the purchase so I got them. They had 3 sets left and I got them all. They were originally $42 a set, marked down to $32 and with the extra 50% I got them for $16. So I got a set of 72 dishes for $48!!! Now I am not going to store 72 dishes in my cabinets, not that I could if I wanted to, so I'm going to pack up the plain bowls and salads and just use the pretty ones. I was a little worried about food looking funny on a blue plate, but this shade of blue is light enough, that it is okay. Scrambled eggs look especially pretty on my new plates.
So anyway, that has been my life for the past few days. Hopefully things will turn around. Princess Pink Eye needs some water so I'm off.
Wishing everyone a happy Wednesday!!

Whirlwind

Busy, busy, busy. Aren't we all this time of year???
Some is fun

(Sammie and Nathan on a windy playdate at the beach)

Some is kinda fun

Another day of baking (My poor kitchen needs a deep clean)

And some, not so much

(Joji and Matt installing a new waterline at our rental house)

Never a dull moment seems to be the theme of our Novembers so far.
It is only Tuesday and the week still has to offer an 8am training meeting on Wednesday, preparing the spread (thankfully, I'm not the only one baking)for the PTA's parent day on Thursday and the DND guys coming for dinner on Friday.
I think Monday the 12th I will schedule myself a nice pedicure apt. I got a gift certificate for Mother's Day and it is time to cash that puppy in!! :0)

Simple pleasures

With today being the first day of November and the season of giving thanks, I thought I would post something I'm grateful for. I was going to post the view from my bedroom window. I feel like I'm in a tree house when I look outside, but I could not find my camera until after the sun went down (of course) So, uninspired, I started strolling around blogland. Sure enough, I found a sweet little post about the simple things we forget to appreciate. Southern Sugar had posted some everyday photos that she loved.
I decided that since I couldn't share my tree house photo, I would share one of my favorite pics of Ben and Sam. I love how Ben is all happy and Sam is still trying to decide if she is happy or sad. I have this picture all over my house. It captures their personalities perfectly and I that's what I love about them.

I love lists :0)

Okay, so it might be a form of "active avoidance", but I am a chronic list maker. I like my lists to be success orientated so I put things on it like "get up" and "shower". Before I can do anything I make a list, of course, I usually lose the list in the process of trying to accomplish the goal which required said list. I don't care, I still make them. I probably make 3 or 4 a day.
I also LOVE to read lists, especially checklists. I love FLYLADY and all of her checklists. (I have them printed off somewhere) Right now we are gearing up for back to school and I am trying to find a couple of lists. I have been searching for "essential back to school clothes", "healthy lunches" and of course, "well stocked pantry" (I always love to see what is in everyone else's pantry).
Anyway, I have not been very successful in my searching lately. Sometime, "Googleland" is just too huge. My girlfriend shared that she had once found a site for the "ultimate mom's lists". I'm just not having any luck. If anyone out there is reading this, and you know of a fun list site, would you please send me the link. I could use a burst of inspiration like only a checklist can provide :0)

Life experinces

A few years ago, I was flipping channels and caught an episode of Dr. Phil. He had on guest who, as a child, had been asked to watch her little brother in the bath. She left the toddler alone in the tub and consequently the toddler was burned because he had turned on the hot water. I think she was 8 when this happened and had not be able to get over it.
Now I'm not a Dr. Phil disciple by any means, but every now then he will make sense. He told his guest that she was not to blame for the accident, because she was not old enough to have the life experience that could foresee that type of danger. Adults forget that they had to learn the stove was hot by touching it even after they were told not to. Relationships between event and consequence are mostly learned through experience.
Today Sammie had a play date with a really neat kiddo. We were watching him while his mom ran some errands. On his mom's return he wanted to show off some of his ball handing skills. Of course the mom chorus of "don't' throw the ball in the house" began and of course, it fell on deaf ears. As they were packing up to leave the little boy wanted one more "super bounce". With all his might he bounced the ball into a picture frame on the wall and it crashed to the ground and broke. I saw the immediate panic on my friends face. We have all been there, you know you have to parent your child in front of someone. Never fun or easy. You don't want to over react or under react. What do you do??? I hope I put my friend at eaze. Accidents happen. Always have, always will. I immediately thought of Dr. Phil. I wasn't mad, what good would that do? We get a new frame,no biggie. However, today is the day that Sammie and Nathan can check off the "why we don't throw balls in the house" on their little life experience checklist :0)