Rock Menagerie

I played the role of good mom today and we finally painted the rocks we found in the creek a while back. It's a super muggy hot day today and everyone's been a tad grouchy so I thought it would be a good tension breaker as well as some weekend fun. The drawback of having school Monday through Thursday is that the kids have an extra day to fight with each other so I was glad that I still had that project up my sleeves to occupy them. They are usually pretty good but on days like today even I feel like kicking the dog. They had so much fun and I did to. Do you know how long it's been since I painted a rock- too long!

Here's their finished masterpieces-

Jimvinci painted a one of a kind rare tortoise and faux log with lady bug that he calls simply "Orange stripe"

Ashmonet captured an impressionistic look at a panda and a rock with a few painted pebbles that she calls "Rainbow"

Mackcoso painted an abstract view of a sea lion on the beach called "Fonzie"

And I couldn't resist and had to paint a pig, a panda, and a lady bug that I call "trying to recapture my youth in 45 min."

2 down, 2 to go

We successfully sent 2 kids to school today, hooray! Now for Mary and Kaci to gain a few years and we can ship them off too ;0) . My kids were so ready for school and not so much excited about going in general but relieved that they actually got out of the house and away from me I think. Mary had a hard time letting Jeremy go this morning. Her go to guy, chef, playmate, and go-fer is gone. Now she's going to have to do things for herself which will be a big change for her. I don't know how she'll do when she finds out Ashy will be gone starting next week.

I asked Jeremy how his day went and he was so excited about the bug hunt they went on and that they had chicken sandwiches for lunch. He's a little fuzzy about the educational details but I know they did learn. Last year every time I asked how his day went and what he learned he would give me the run down on what they had for lunch so I didn't expect too much.

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Today was the Kindergarten orientation and next week is testing so Ashlyn's first official school day isn't until she tests on the 7th. We treated it like the first day of school though so she wore her first day outfit and packed her backpack even though she didn't bring it. I asked her if she would like some pictures of her teacher and classroom so I gave her the camera and let her take a few. It's fun to see photos from her perspective. I do have a "chest" shot of her teacher that I assume she meant to be a portrait so we'll be deleting that one. Her teacher was Jeremy's kindergarten teacher so Ashlyn was very comfortable there. Once again I'll be the one who secretly wants them to cry and miss me so much that they want me to sit with them the entire time, but thankfully they've both just embraced school and been so happy to finally be old enough to go.

Mrs. Pearl E. White

The tooth fairy visited Jeremy last night and he was super excited when he woke up. He was laughing as he told me about the note she left him and the bundle of quarters she must have packed on her back because it was tied up with dental floss. Jeremy's tooth is apparently her new mailbox.

It's not as exciting as the visit of 2000 where the tooth fairy got in a rough and tumble match with my little sister Brittany while she was sleeping and had such a hard time getting her tooth out from under her pillow that she lost her wand and left it behind. I wonder if Brittany still has it? Who knows, Ashlyn is a very wiggly sleeper so the tooth fairy better prepare and make an extra wand or two just in case. I have a feeling she'll be losing another wand in the great scuffle of 08'. I love this age!

A little recap and marshmallow madness

I feel like I should throw on a Faith Hill wig circa early 90's and sing "Just Breathe" at the top of my lungs and then flop in a nice big comfy chair and veg my life away. I'm home now and I can finally take a big deep breath and just relax for the rest of the year. Wish full thinking I know.

I've successfully reunited with all my family on every side and it's been a fun summer. It's nice to be home and settled though.

The kids and I had a great time at Bully Creek and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The only dirty yuck that was there were the mosquitoes and the flip-flop paste, oh and the bull frogs that came out at dusk. Jeremy loved the entire weekend and came home with at least 9 skeeter bites on each leg after being sprayed and several war wounds. One thing I've learned since having a boy and a husband is that it's not fun until you or someone else loses some flesh. So not a girl thing at all!

Ashlyn had a blast playing with Brittany so I didn't see very much of her all weekend. Mary was all about the dogs and followed every dog she saw which led to her disappearance after dark one night. I called Cody and joked that I lost her but still had the other 3 and 75% is still a "passing" grade. Wasn't funny when we were yelling her name and looking for her with flashlights for 20 min. though. Kaci was just a little bundle of go and more go. She ran and ran until she got distracted by the "dog dog" and then she chased them for a while. It was really exhausting doing it by myself. I'm convinced that's why it takes two to make a baby, because it takes two to chase them down all day at a family reunion later on as well. It was so good to see my family again and see how well everyone is doing. I only wish more people would have shown up, I missed seeing the rest of them too!

Last night I got a hankering (is that still a word??) for homemade marshmallows so that's what I made. I finished after 11 last night but they are so good they were well worth it. I made strawberry and peppermint. I'll have to make my drink of choice- a "blue lady" for the peppermint ones, yum! Ashlyn was such a great helper. We have marshmallow dust and jars of marshmallows everywhere! I got the recipe here, brownie points, very good.

Jeremy lost his first big front tooth today and is super excited. He had worked on getting it out all weekend until his gums were literally purple so he could get the $5 that Aunt Val promised him if he could pull it out on Saturday. It looked extremely loose then and was sticking out like mater. He didn't have any luck after trying all day so Val gave him the $ anyway for all his effort. It was so loose today all he had to do was push it to one side and it fell out. I don't know what it is about loose teeth but they gross me out so I just let him take care of all the wiggling and pulling. I'm in no hurry and I'm definitely not going to touch it. Well that's the recap and believe it or not that's the condensed readers digest version.

Family time

The kids and I are headed down to Bully Creek Reservoir today for a family reunion that my dad helped to organize. I'm still not exactly sure what part of the family or how reunited we'll really be but it must be a bigger deal than I thought because people are flying in to be there. I didn't decide to go until yesterday afternoon so I have a ton of packing to do.

We are staying at my grandma's house (my dad's mom) with a few of my aunts and uncles that I haven't visited with in a while. We're only staying tonight and leaving Saturday evening. It feels like I'm packing for a year and we'll only be gone for 24 hrs. When you have a baby it feels like you're always packing to heavy and even then I always forget something. Wish me luck, it's another dirty stinky rattlesnake infested tick ridden fishy smelling mud on your flip flops fly in your food type of weekend, YUCKKK!

Back to School Giveaways

While surfing tonight I found a few giveaways that I thought were fun for back to school. Who doesn't love a good giveaway, and they are so girly and pink to boot, I wish everyone luck!

The first one is from Momagenda on Life from my laptop and they are giving away a Kitchen Folio and a Momagenda daily planner from their site. When you have four little kids with a couple in school any form of organization is a good thing and I definitely think these are good things. My biggest tip for back to school organization is to start the kids in their school routine at least a week before school starts. That way you won't have any trouble with tired kids or cranky kids on the first day (or cranky mom either). It also doesn't hurt to make a ton of waffles and freeze them ahead for quick breakfasts.

The second one is on the Two Moms in a Blog site from Koo Koo Bear Kids , here is your chance to send your little princess to school with a personally monogrammed Funky Plaid lunch box of her own - or keep it for yourself. This is just the cutest lunch box, I can totally see Ashlyn packing this to kindergarden! After checking out their site I also fell in love with the kids playroom kitchen. AAwwwhhhh, girly stuff!

Found treasures

I was going through my pictures earlier today and found some pictures from Joseph that I forgot to post. Before we left mom needed to pick-up something for grandma at Bi-Mart and I found this adorable little cricket appetizer tray for only $2.25! He looks so cute with my baguette bread all lined up ready for spinach dip. MMMmmm spinach dip- He has a good home here. I also nabbed this great pedestal bowl thingy (that's the technical term) at my great grandma's garage sale. It was only a $1 but she wouldn't let me pay her, she's so cute. I also got a cable knit sweater and I couldn't bring myself to tell her I'm going to cut it up to make baby booties. Maybe I should have so she would let me pay.

Here's a picture of Grandma and I right before we left. There's absolutely no family resemblance and I'm pretty sure she used to be a real strawberry blond (good thing she doesn't have a computer or she'd slap me for that one) but I swear we are related.

I told them that I wanted a picture of them before we left and they just had to keep nibbling on those junior mints so this is the picture I ended up getting. *Mom I swear they all look like this*
Too funny, good times, I'm glad I was the one behind the camera!

Detoxing

I'm home from my long weekend and it was fun. Grandma had a little different idea about a getaway than I did and was cracking me up all weekend. At about 11 she would say "Well girls, we better get to bed so we can get up in the morning". She was kind of missing the point but we ended up staying up until 3:30 or so anyway and she was a trooper and tried to stay up with us.

Grandma had quite a bit of get up and go this weekend so I ended up visiting more than sewing but it's been so long since I've stayed at Grandma's that I was totally fine with that to. I had a chance to really get to know my family on a totally relaxed level and we were being very relaxed, maybe a little too much LOL! We ate a bunch of junk food, I gained 8 pounds in 3 days if that tells you anything, I can't believe I'm admitting that!

I'm sure every one's getting tired of this Amy Butler fabric but I finally finished the real project I intended to use it for. When Ashlyn tried it on after I got home I realized how much adjusting I'm going to have to do but as soon as I tweak it she'll be ready to wear it to school. All I managed to finish was this outfit and a burp cloth but I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to visit with my family without the kids and just kick back and relax for 4 days. I'm VERY aware that I'm home now :o) .

I'm outa here!

It's getaway time and I'm leaving this afternoon-YEAHHH! No kids, no worries, and only one meal to fix all weekend. Just mom, grandma, and I crafting away in our p.j.'s and staying up until the crack of dawn doing girly stuff. I plan on sewing until I can't sew anymore and then we can take a break and head down town. There's a couple of really great shops that have the coolest stuff. I plan on making a run to Simply Sandy's to get some shabby cast iron handles. I'm not sure what I'm going to make with them yet but you can never have enough cast iron I say. I hoping to come back with several projects completed and a few things for the Etsy store I'm thinking about starting. I need an outlet for all the stuff I make. I'm running out of crannies for storing my creations!

Today is the last day for soccer and I'm a little sad I'm going to miss their last games so I helped the kids do a gumball project. I got the idea from Hilary Shirley's blog, she's so creative and this is such a cute idea. Jeremy got to hand his out last night and the kids loved them. For the coaches I filled cute midget mason jars with gumballs and tied a tag around the top. So fun, thanks Hilary! Ashlyn gets to pass hers out tonight and because Cody is the coach he's also planning root beer/orange/sprite floats.


Grandma doesn't have a computer so I'll be blog-less all weekend but I'm sure I'll have at least one juicy story and some pictures when I return on Monday. My grandma is soooo colorful so it should be a fun time (or funny at least).

I'm expecting!!

I am so excited- my friend and I are both expecting at the same time. Not like you think though, I just ordered a new toy today and so did she. I bought a Silhouette Digital Craft Cutter and it will be coming in the next 45 days! I've been eyeballing scrapbooking cutters for a few years now but couldn't commit to a single one because the ones that I could afford only used cartridges for fonts and you would have to spend over $50 on each font and the cutters that used your computer fonts were in a price range that I couldn't afford.

This cutter is in a much better price range and hooks up to my computer so I can use all my fonts and dingbats. It says it will cut patterned paper, cardstock, iron-on transfer paper, magnetic paper, vinyl, wood paper, vellum, and sticker paper. We shall see! I'm so excited about being able to cut my own vinyl. That alone makes it worth it's weight in gold not to mention all the church bulletin boards, scrapbooking, and everything else I will be able to do with it. Guess what everyone's getting for Christmas this year ;p !

Cuteness

One of my favorite things about back to school shopping is shoe shopping. Maybe it's the girl in me or maybe it's the Musgrove gene, my dad loves shoes and has more pairs than my mom by far (sorry to out you dad but you know it's true). I LOVE shoes. I have a million pair and it spills over to the rest of the family. I buy shoes when ever I see a great deal which happens to be most of the time.

Yesterday I had a chance to take the girls and some friends to a family friends house where she had boxes and boxes of boutique shoes she was trying to get rid of. I was happy to help and left with four of the cutest pairs of school shoes. I would have adopted at least 2 more pair but I couldn't have explained the extras to Cody :o). It was hard enough justifying the ones I bought because 2 were for Mary and she's not going to school. It was hard leaving the rest behind. I feel like I should have bought the pair I adored but they were just a smidge to tight for Kaci, I should have just crammed them on her anyway they were that cute! Ahhh well, there's always another sale.

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I thought I would share the basket I finished. It was extremely difficult to sew only because I can't read. O.k., I can read but I hate to admit it because the mistakes I made were really stupid ones. I didn't buy enough interfacing because I thought the basket was going to turn out much much smaller so there are strips under the handle that don't have any support at all and I had to modify a few things so needless to say it was a learning basket. The next time I make it I will tweak the tutorial a bit and actually read the measurements instead of thinking I'm Mrs. Fancy Pants that can eyeball everything to perfection. When will I learn???

Please save me!

*Rant*


I hate to type this post because I'm really afraid that some of the sound that is pounding my house right now is going to float through cyberspace by osmosis and end up in your computer and then you'll be accosted with the very thing that is plaguing me right now. It's the annual "Grass Roots" festival down town and every inhabitant of our charming little town is donning his or her best tube top and daisy dukes or sleeveless shirt and cut-offs with their mullets freshly greased walking, with a frosty bottle, to the middle of Main street for a 3 day long dance/karaoke-a-thon.

They set up a few tables for vendors but it's really just a very bad yard sale with 3 tables dotted through out the park- Classy! Day one is done thank goodness but I'm smack in the middle of day two and I really don't think I can take it anymore. I woke up to it this morning and it's still going on as I speak. If I have to hear the badonka-donk song one more time I truly think it will bring tears to my eyes and some one will have to peel me out of my shower stall. I'll be the one rocking back and forth in the fetal position chanting "make it stop, make it stop" over and over. Cody's been gone and hasn't had the pleasure of this grand event and he managed to take my camera again so I thought I'd grace you with a rough sketch of the event, sparing all the gruesome details for every one's benefit.

A. My home- the target of the redneck attack.

B. The frickin' speakers that are literally in the street aimed directly at the front of my house.

C. The slurring microphone wielder that should be slapped until his ancestors are dizzy and then reminded that "ain't" isn't a word and not everyone loves Cotton Eye Joe and other various country songs especially at decibels so loud that the whales in New Zealand are beaching themselves as I type.

D. The "Vendors" in the park by the library.

E. Our Mobil neighbors. One of the many reasons we need to move again.

F. The gazebo where the morning attacks are hailing from.

G. The next contestants for "So you think you can Dance, Redneck Edition".

H. Every contestant must have fuel-a.k.a Coors light or Bud or what ever frosty can that was on sale at the Boars Head Market and littered all over the sidewalk in front of my house. That looks so cute Sunday morning when we're loading up for church.

I did make a cute basket from the tutorial I shared a few posts down and I was going to be nice and positive and post a picture of it but with all that's going on outside and the fact that I don't have a camera I'll have to save that for when the festivities are over and I'm completely over my migraine. *Rant over*

Piece of mind

Once again you'll have to humor me and read a double post but I have to write this one down for posterity. It's been a busy day today and Jeremy had a soccer game that was out of town so by the time we got home I was ready to put them to bed. I forgot I promised them a snack so I popped some popcorn and told them that as long as they didn't fight they could stay up and finish their snack.

Well they were bickering and tattling and I just felt like throwing in the towel because I knew they were going to go to bed soon anyway so I laid down on the couch and pretended to sleep. Mary thought that was a funny game and came over to wake me up. She pulled my eyelids "Open you eyebrows mom" and shook me. I still didn't come to so she proceeded to tell me "You're not sad, wake up". Still no response so in her little mind she did the next best thing, because when your mom won't wake up it's an emergency, she decided it was time for a little mouth to mouth resuscitation. One quick puff and I was alive! I had my eyes closed so I didn't see it coming and let me tell you I "revived" extremely quickly. That little nut, at least I know that if I'm ever in dire straits Mary knows what to do. Kids are great.

A turtle.

The summer is just flying by which is kind of bitter sweet. On one hand it means the kids are going to be in school very soon which will be a good thing and on the other hand it means that we are running out of time to really do anything as a family before school starts. We had planned on going to the coast this summer but with Cody's work schedule we couldn't work it in. I just feel like I didn't get a chance to go anywhere. Really we did a lot together this summer and I had the chance to go by myself anywhere I wanted and did several times. I think I just have that "we could have" or the "we should have" feeling even though we had a blast and the kids are loving everything about the last 2 1/2 months. We still have 2 trips to make before school starts so I have the feeling I'm going to be so glad to stay home by the time it's over. I'm such a girl- wishy washy and feeling like I should be regretting something.

I did go to the store last night and found several fabrics that I actually liked for $1 a yard. I got some silky p.j.'s material for Mary, some great sea foam green sheer for Halloween costumes, some black alphabet knit that will make some cute doll bodies or whatever the heck I feel like at the time, some sheer fabric that is totally gymboree wildflower fields inspired, and a bunch of lining fabric to make those baskets I posted about. I feel a little more prepared for my sewing getaway next week but I really want to make a basket before I go to prime the mojo pump. If you're wondering where the turtle in my title fits in- it doesn't. I asked Mary what a good title would be and that's what she came up with. I thought it was catchy and the picture is just so stinking cute ;o). Have a great summer, what's left of it anyway!

Happy Happy Birthday Mary Dear!

Since I can't sleep yet again and I've been staring at the computer screen for hours (thank goodness Cody is coming home tomorrow or my eyes might dry up and fall out) it's now past midnight which means it's Mary's Birthday today. I can't believe my cute little 9 lb ham is now a full fledged 3 yr. old. When we brought her home from the hospital it took her 6 days before we even heard a peep out of her, she was so laid back and calm. Now she's a lot more lively and fiercely independent and super hilarious. I can't wait until we get high speed internet so I can add a video of her singing "Champion" from chicken little, it melts my heart. She loves people and is the most outgoing girl. She has more acquaintances than I do that's for sure. Although two is my absolute favorite age I think with Mary she just gets cuter and cuter the older she gets if that's even possible. We'll see if I sing a different tune by the time she turns 13 :0). Happy Birthday Posa!

*Picture credits go to the Sew Mama Sew blog* I haven't made one (yet).

While I was surfing tonight looking for projects- I need more projects to do like I need a walking talking poke in the eye-but I found the cutest bagsket. I think I'm going to try to make a few basket style ones for the girls room, not so much the purse version. How cute would it be to have a few of these in coordinating fabrics in varying sizes sprinkled throughout their bedroom?? Very cute! I can just see the costume jewelry and littlest pet shops in their new homes already.

Here's the link to the tutorial, excellent instructions and great pictures I might add.

http://foofanagle.wordpress.com/2007/06/26/bagsket-tutorial/

Karaoke, a lullaby anyone?

I'm back from my short blog break and it's past 1 a.m. and I can't get to sleep. What is it about trying to go to bed when your second half is gone? I can sleep just fine by myself anywhere else but my own bed. I'm such a baby, really, and this house still kind of freaks me out with it's creaks and cold wood floors and recycled everything. I would sleep on the couch with the t.v. on for company but then I can hear Jack rabbit who is totally nocturnal playing all night and it sounds like someone breaking in. I need a big burly dog or better yet a big burly Cody.
Anyway my week has been just fine and not as stressful as I thought. I ditched a bunch of projects and the ones I decided to do I was able to finish really quickly. I really just decided that I put way too much on my plate this week and I'll do as much as I feel like I can handle and that's good enough. It's so freeing to just say "no" every once in awhile. I still can't say no really so I say maybe instead but if you ask Brittany that means it really won't happen, smart chica. I'm focusing on Mary's birthday and even though I can't make a graham cracker horse barn and cupcake fillies (yes I was really going to do that) she's going to love it. I'm also trying to wrap my brain around getting school supplies and clothes rounded up before school starts. I just need to do some shoe shopping and get a few layering t's for both kids now but I was really stressing about it yesterday and today (p.s. I have a great Children's place online code for 25% off if anyone is interested). I'm going to Boise on Saturday for my itty bitty brother's baptism so maybe I can squeeze some shopping in and finish. I can't believe school starts in 3 weeks. Let me re-phrase that: Hallelujah and hip hip hooray!