Family BLT

Hey, remember me?

2011-09-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

I'm back in the blogging saddle! After a bunch of life changes, I've come to a few conclusions!

I need a creative outlet! I need to share them with the world--Like Evita--You must love me :) hahaha, but seriously...
plus I figured I should try to blog more before my 3 little BLTs were full grown sub sandwiches!

I hope you'll come to my new hang out--had to change things up for a variety of reasons...

http://swimconfessions.blogspot.com/

High on School

2010-08-18T08:42:00.000-07:00

Life is so full of decisions about education. Wanting your offspring to get the best possible mix of education and extra-curriculars can be a complex challenge. (As in, life's surprises of financial stress take a big toll on the ol' college fund)

Gman grew up in the charter school system. I really enjoyed the class size and structure the schools provided. This year, the first year of high school, I thought it was time for a change. A big public school with all the bells and whistles--a gifted program, competitive sports teams and the added bonus of being only a few blocks from our house...

Ohhh the excitement, when he was accepted to the program, talked excitedly about playing sports, and walked to and from school. Ohhh the disappointment, when he hated his classes, decided he didn't care about sports, and walked with evident disdain in his step...

After a lot of prayer, discussion, and even some tears, we have decided to return to his old charter school. It's a place that just feels like home. He loves the teachers and staff. I don't love that he needs to be driven, but 16 is right around the corner (With an entirely new set of worries...)

Here's to hoping for the right decision.

In Style

2010-08-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

right now?!
I don't really know? I am not-so-hip :P
There are the things I think should come back in style...

Perms!

Yes, tight, little, spiral perms! A la twisted sister...

my hair was so like this in 1985...

I'd get one again in a minute

Overalls

Yup! Just call me farmer shell!

I had a pair of Guess ones back.in.the.day

{I toooootally searched all over google for a pic like the ones I had, no such luck}

Hi-tops!

Booyah! These I never had...

Don't they rock though?

What about you? What do you wish would come back in style?

I can't possibly be alone in my lurve for those tight little chemically induced curls...

s:)

This week!

2010-08-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

is h-a-r-d

Gman started high school...crazy talk....crazy hard talk
it's a brand new school, he hardly knows anyone
my heart hurts for him as I think of him getting through all those obstacles of the first week

all of us are trying to get into a routine...crazy hard
the ladies have decided sleep is overrated....really? really?!

I think I have a failed root canal...ouchie hard
who knew that could happen? Dr. google told me so
I am definitely paying the dentist's greens fees...

LB has almost potty trained herself..how is that hard?
nap time wake-up/her alone in her room behind the gate=her changing herself
yesterday she made a mess--a pooptastic mess
(enough said right?)

how is your week? here's to hoping the hard parts are OVAH!

Zaaa, Zaaau, Zaaaa-uuumbaaa

2010-08-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday

I took my first Zumba class. It pretty much went like this

4:30...This should be interesting, gonna get my Latin groove on...

4:45...phew, she shakes her booty a lot...how goofy do I look right now...

4:50...this is actually clearing my head and making me sweat...

5:00...I am really getting a workout...I think I may be starting to smell...

5:10...no wonder this is clearing my head, it is crazy hard!...

5:15...how long is this class, whose idea was it to take this anyway...

5:20...is this seriously a 'cool-down' song that is by my hs boyfriend's fav band?! wait this is a cool down song--thank you Jesus...

5:25....same time next week!?...

Puddle Jumpers

2010-08-05T22:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the last itty bitty sports for the little blts and can you tell how ex.ci.ted they were!?

I really love this pic--cah-racks me up :)

We played ball for a bit

then something else caught their eye...

they had so.much.fun...

this guys parents were none too pleased with it

but how can ya resist these kind of puddles?!

it was one BIG puddle!

and it's some serious bid-ness

that eventually tuckers you out

but still SOOooo much fun!

Are you a puddle jumper? What's making you smile this week?

s:)

that darn journal

2010-08-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

So I've had some blogger's block lately...

I'm going to finish up my journal posts and try to get more bliggity bloggity juices a flowin'

--My Most Luxurious Purchase--

Does a house count? I'm on my fourth one? This one is the best by far! Or maybe my schmany video camera? Which I can't find a picture of to save my life, here is one from google images...

and I adore this mac I'm typing away on...

--My Best Feature--

I am going to pick my perennial goofiness

--What Have I Gained--

I love blogging! Doing this challenge was fun and inspiring--especially meeting the other bloggers that signed up at prenda le stelle--that was groovy! Shouts all around to those of ya that did it on time :)

Hope you're having a great week!

s:)

A crazy little thing called...

2010-07-29T21:57:00.000-07:00

a blog!

I.a.m.way.too.far.behind!

the next post was supposed to be about what's in my purse! you really don't want to know--trust.moi.

besides my phone, there is a diaper, crumbs, lots of crumbs oh and a wallet

the best part is the outside says

'not all bad girls wear black'

next post

the next post was/is plans for the next week...

I worked and worked for 2 weeks straight and now I just want to veg with the kiddos.

my big (baby) boy has gone camping where there is no cell coverage--I think it is harder on me than him...

I'm going to hang with some friends tomorrow---sah-weet

but really I need some solid sleep, a lot of it

next post

my most surprising moment?

I'd have to go with being preggers! All three of mine were shockers!

don't they look surprised that I'm their mom?!

next post

what am I good at?

{this is the way to journal--all at once-muahahaha}

making bee-you-tee-fulllll little sandwiches

I'm the blessed at being their mama.

I want to be good at:

generosity of spirit and forgiveness

learning groovy tricks at photography, crafting, sewing

finding time to create!

oh and I like to crack a joke or three pretty regularly ;)

that's enough for tonight dear blogosphere, I've missed you

s:)

Jammin through

2010-07-24T22:19:00.001-07:00

the journal! I am kinda sorta behind on this challenge I've tried to put on my self and who likes that? Not me!

What would I do with millions? Let's say it's 10 mil after taxes mmkay!?

Give 1 million to church
pay off our house and buy a vacation house or two or three :P -total 1 million
put 1 million away for the little sandwich kids schooling
take my entire family to the Galapagos and 10 other groovy trips-1 million
invest-2 million
adopt or sponsor some children from 3rd world countries-1 million
invest some more-2 million
Buy a car, house decor, sports stuff for the hubs, junk for the kids-$500k
anonymously send 50 peeps I like cashiers checks for $10k--total $500k

so there you go...

It's fun to dream isn't it!?

Featured! Yowza!

2010-07-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

I can't even tell you the lack of sleep I'm typing on, but I.am.so.ex.ci.ted I just have to tell you this!
This sandwich kitchen was featured on not one but two really awesomesauce blogs!

Here on Better After-yeehaw!

This is a great blog for lots of creativity and neat-o projects

...And...

Here on one of my fav-or-eeet daily reads

A soft place to land!

Kimba's bloggity blog was one of my first daily reads! Crazy to see my lil corner of the blogosphere on her page!
These two features brightened my blog wayyyyy more than I can describe and I am so thankful for all the peeps that came to visit! Shout outs all around!Happy weekend, I'm hoping to find a moment to catch up in the next week, when I'm not quite so busy!
s:)

Celebrity Cah-rush!

2010-07-21T23:42:00.001-07:00

My tha-ree crushes! Ya reeeealleeeee wanna know???

ok ok ok...

Steve Nash! Swoon!

Matthew McConaughey

I have to say that I've never been the celebrity crush type! I love the Suns and the person Steve Nash is off the court. The hubs suggested Mr. McConaughey--who is not too bad...

Really though, I need my celebrity crush to mean something more to me, I have to like them for some kind of depth maybe? I don't know, I'm mostly typing while I try to think of another person...

how

about

Bono!

he's a righteous dude :)

by the way--random thought--if you're not watching Modern Family, you should be! We're watching an old one right now

s:)

16 tons and what do you get?

2010-07-21T23:15:00.002-07:00

another day older and deeper in debt!

Today's challenge is your biggest hurdle...

{sidebar: yes, I'm behind--please forgive--I had to actually go.to.work. this week and last--yikes! I realize a lot of you work all the time--I'm so impressed that you juggle bloggity fun and work and whatnot! My job comes with sensitive personalities and long, exhausting hours--hello no time to blog or blog stalk at work--harrumph!}

Onto the task at hand,

I'm puzzled by this and how to deal with it. Doesn't every event seem catastrophic when it's there staring you in the face? I think of some challenges...

being a single parent at a young age, which ended up being a great

bonding and maturing experience

losing family members, which made it easier to empathize with other's losses

having a child with a developmental delay, which made me feel helpless and more determined to learn and help her grow

Here's a really good one--having my 14 yr old be 2 inches taller than I--already-yikes!

(the last pic where I'm taller--dontchoo ask about my heels!)

In all seriousness, I think this year has been a valley for me--I have struggled internally with different things, our family has struggled financially, and I find myself emotional over the silliest things. Luckily, I have faith and friends to get me through

Yeehaw! Here's to bigger, better, brighter blogging!

s:)

20

2010-07-21T22:25:00.000-07:00

The Mission in making memories today is a list of 20 things I like...

20--yippee! That's a great length! Here goes--in random order:

1. my Family that was completed with help from

2. this guy
3. clean sheets

4. even though these lovelies like to play on them
5. which is why i drink lots of coffee
6. and eat chocolate, with

7. old friends
8. who know your dirt and heart you anyway and
9. new friends-you are so fun
10. traveling to cool places

11. like this happy place or

12. a quiet place where I can think about
13. puppets, particularly the muppets! They were in some great

14. movies! My entertainment passion also
15. extends to musicals
16. and paint! random I know :P
17. I also seem to be addicted to random blogs
18. especially crafty/home decor ones

19. Celebrating this Holiday is awesomesauce
20. especially when you remember HE is the reason...

What's your favorite thing right now?!

s:)

The Case of Collections

2010-07-18T23:12:00.001-07:00

As I think of today direction in diary writing, I am befuddled...where to begin...you see I come from a healthy family of stuff lovers...many a collection has graced my bookshelves and dressers through the years...

I used to collect pez dispensers, well technically I still have them--though mine don't look so coolio as they are all packed in boxes (how long does it take to feel settled on a new house?)

(apartment therapy)

I've also collected many a movie poster, once again something that is just in the box--boo.

My family would say I collect junky furniture, but I consider it all antiques-in-training...that and fun stuff to have around the house!

I'd have to say they main thing I collect right now seems to blogs! So many great ideas out there, so many delovely and delightful pictures! I need more hours in the day or I need to learn to not sleep...

I have to be up early though, so off to sleep I go

cya tomorrow blogland

s:)

The first thing about Pet Peeves...

2010-07-18T08:24:00.000-07:00

Is you don't commit your own peeve--sheesh!

My numero uno peeveable is being late. Ugh, makes me batty! Yet, here I am late with this post! Forgive me peeps, I have been a worker bee all week--which prevents me from letting the ol' bank account from growing cobwebs--which, I totally think should count as a peeve--not nobody, not no how wants cobwebs where the money should be!

Other things that drive me nuts:

slloooowww walkers--I have to hold myself back from bopping slow walkers in the back of the head...
noisy noisy toys--my mamasita bought my kiddos a remote controlled car this week (I'd show you but that would mean I'd have to reveal my...)
messy messy house--boy howdy is is skeeeerreeee in here (hence the reason for no pics in this post and I bet blogs with no pics peeves all of ya!--yikes)

Oh and it should be noted that the remote car is super duper fun, I just figured out how to drive it in a circle! The hubs was so helpful by naming 20 things that bug me, but if I typed all those out, y'all would run screaming in fear out of blogger--and we can't have that can we?

More peeves to peruse at prenda le stelle

s:)

Who me?!

2010-07-16T09:10:00.001-07:00

A bad habit?! I have a baaa-aaad habit?! Oh my! Not me!

Today's post is all about ~~denial~~ bad habits...

Now, we practice ~~drama~~ transparency here at the BLT house, we lay all our stuff out on the table, so I consulted with my fay-vor-eeet boys and asked them my ~~bad habits~~ things to work on...

the votes are in, the results are calculated, the time has arrived, the big reveal is here...

the superficial--staying up toooooo late

the down-n-dirty--being too hard on myself--being a perfectionist about wayyy to much

oh and procrastinating, like putting off this post until the nth hour...(the voting from the hubs weighed in heavily on this one)

Who can have a post with no pictures! Not me, that's who!

These are my best 'habits'

don't forget to habitually check prenda le stelle for more bad habits

s:)

Bucket List

2010-07-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

Today's challenge in the chatty chain of posts is the top five things on your 'bucket list.'

1. Travel! Namely take my parents on an awesomesauce vacation and see

the Great Wall

2. See all my babies grow up, get married, and make me grandbabies

3. Turn doing what I love into my own business

4. Raise my children to love

5. Learn something new every year--I better light a twenty-ten fire! Ouuuuch!

Dontchooo forget the other lovely bloggers at prenda le stelle--go see how they're filling their buckets!

s:)

ps--I must be super hormonal, I got choked up today looking at these and at this!

If you don't read those two blogs, you are seriously missing out!

Where I (a)muse myself

2010-07-14T08:16:00.001-07:00

Todays post in the month long daily record is all about where I blog, as in location, because my mind races around with ideas as I play taxi to the Gman and build fisher price cities with the little ladies...

(I apologize that I don't have pics of me actually sitting here--I am working this week and short on time)

I usually sit here at the counter...

right across from me, I see this vintage framed pic that makes me laugh all.the.time...it's a good muse. Almost as good as my favorite ~~parts~~ peeps of this sandwich family :)

I also blog on the couch, while I'm supposed to be watching a movie with the hubster--much to his frustration, when I look up and continually ask--what happened? :)

prenda le stelle has all sorts of blogging locales today!

s:)

idyllic ageism?

2010-07-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Today's writing assignment is 'What is the ideal age?'

I have no insight for this really, I think so many ages have value

School starts at 5? Driving starts at 16? Voting at 18? Adult beverages at 21?

Reduced insurance rates and rental cars at 25--maybe I should go with 25, it's kind of a big deal :)

My girls are at such fun ages right now--3 and 1. My son is rockin' the teen thing. hmmmm.

I'm in my thirties, which are quite groovy! I think every age is the best you can make it. Yes in fact, this is a cop out post...

(we both, the emster and me, wore this dress when we were 3)

feel free to check out prenda le stelle for more ageist advice :)

s:)

Photo Phun

2010-07-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

My friend Vanessa just won a contest at In a Yellow House! For an awesomesauce photo she took on one of her groovy trips! In a Yellow House is having a little contest for your best shot. I thought I'd enter on a whim, even though I haven't had my camera very long...

this is my entry--I let the boy blts pick...

Here are the runner's up

(just for kicks)

Sports and Such

2010-07-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

We did T-ball at the Y this weekend, it was pretty entertaining...

Do these look like the faces of focused athletes?

she kept the ball by her ear almost the whole time

Emster was back to soccer...

LB brought a favorite teammate to play short stop

I can't decide if this pic is very funny or very sad--you decide

how does this thing work?

forget the bases, it's the newest headwear

she didn't want to run (or even play for that matter), until daddy lent a hand...

then she loved it!

LB was concerned about ball placement...

eventually, she was ready to take her ball and go home
not sure if they are getting much out of the class, but the photo-ops are fun!
s:)

give my regrets to broadway

2010-07-12T08:56:00.002-07:00

I regret not being a Broadway star. Hello lack of singing ability (though I'm a rock star in the car :P)

Yessirreeee, today's journal post is all about regrets. hhmmmmm...

I don't think of myself as having many regrets--doesn't really seem to have any benefit, right? I suppose I try to pre-regret things--like, I tell myself, if you don't do this or that, you'll regret it later--what a great motivator, right?
Really doesn't everything happen for a reason? I mean some of my past decisions were not exactly wise ones and I had some great lessons to learn from certain actions I took, but that really doesn't translate to 'regret' for me. Seems like too negative of a word.
It was a really long weekend, I almost turned into a pumpkin Saturday night, so I am feeling a wee bit tired. Until tomorrow peeps, I am excited to show you pics of the little ladies at their itty bitty sports and Saturday swim...

Don't forget to check out prenda le stelle for other regrets :)

humble abode & a mural

2010-07-11T08:18:00.002-07:00

today's daily diary dish is all about where this sandwich family lives...

this is kinda a funny post to me, as I'm all over lots of posts about our house. Go ahead and click around on that sidebar, I'll wait...

I think I need to work up some kind of tour--ya know with a big umbrella that peeps can follow around? I'm trying to think if I have something cool (and more importantly, finished to show you?) I have a million and a half unfinished projects around these parts...

how about this instead--I talked about the things I miss from my old house (the pool is a big one right now), but here is one thing I have yet to bloggity blog up!
I painted this mural--totally free hand--at the old house. One of my kiddos (who wishes to remain nameless) was a huge fan of spongebob!

so I painted this huge mural

Gary the snail has a special place in my heart :)

all those characters are so funny, even to an adult--they made me laugh

so there you have it! something from my house for this post. I loved painting it, except if I did it again, I think I'd get a projector and skip the 'free-hand' part. Much simpler. Whatcha think?

Hope your weekend is groovalicious!

s:)

You have nothing to fear

2010-07-10T08:33:00.006-07:00

but journaling itself!
Seriously! Today's post is about fear...
The things I am afraid of...

(sidebar: some of the journal peeps are making these very creative collage type things. Perhaps in PhotoShop, I dunno--I need me some of them skillz)

If they are things I'm afraid of, do I really want to post pics---ay yi yi! So that is my gratuitous photo for the post :)

Some things I am afraid of:

Serious-
-my children being ill. Although, I really felt a sense of calmness when Emster was in the hospital recently. (power of prayer there peeps)

-any of my loved ones getting hurt. I am an incredibly protective person. I don't like it when peeps mess with MY peeps. I've gotten into trouble for it occasionally.

-losing my children in a big place, especially my little ladies, but I don't even like my teenager to be out of my sight

-not reaching my full potential-ugh

Not.so.serious-

-the dark--me no likey
-scorpions--'nuff said--we had them at our old house
--sharks in the swimming pool--completely irrational, but as a child I believed a shark lived behind the pool light. I still ~~hate~~ greatly dislike to swim alone...

funny fears (I could have)
-clinophobia-Fear of going to bed--yup, doesn't apply to me, I love me my pillow time, though it is often I don't sleep well--perhaps something is going on here hhmmmm
-oenophobia-fear of vino--definitely doesn't apply to me hehehe

oh and I do.not.like.not.even.one.little.bit scary movies. Not no way, not no how.

Interested in more scary talk? Clickity click over to prenda le stelle!

s:)

Tying the knot

2010-07-09T07:57:00.000-07:00

Today's journey in journalling is all about weddings!
Oh how I love thee! I need someone getting married to let me plan it for them, mmkay?! I love everything about them--does it make me a big baby that I cry at every.single.one?
I already gabbed on about the blt wedding that was just about 15 months ago, but here are black and white shots I likey.

forget a limo, trolleys are the thing!

could he be anymore handsome, I am such a proud mama

check that backdrop, we made it!

and one in color, for good measure :)

random wedding deets: it was a movie theme--seriously, it rocked

my favorite things were the photobooth and the candy buffet--it doesn't get much better than goofy pics and sugar overload!

we (read I) did a lot of diy projects to save dough rei me--you can read about some if you click wedding on the side bar

we had over 225 guests on what many peeps spend on a 100-150 guest budget!

Now you want me to plan your wedding, right?! right?!

Go check out prenda le stelle for more wedded fun!

s:)

Romancing the Journal

2010-07-08T09:04:00.004-07:00

Today's post is all about romance! What do I think about it. Peeps, I have tha-ree kids!? What the heck is romance, when you have three? One is a Teen! The other two are less than 2 years apart!
While it is true that somehow they came to be....I don't have much time in my life for mushy stuff. Unless we're talking diapers. And who blogs about that?!
Anywho, I don't really consider myself a 'romantic' persay, though I don't think the hubs thinks I'm all that logical either :) I am woman.figure.me.out. Romance makes me think of feeling really connected to the other person. Ya know that whole intimacy thing...

romance is a green vintage dress and a red tie :)

I do think certain places are really romantic. I talked about Hawaii just the other day--love that place. We had so.much.fun there.

romance is laughing together at the same silliness

romance is babies--as children are the exclamation point of love--and ya know they had to get here somehow ~wink~

Romance is holding hands, through the good and bad (and while hoping you remember your I dos and I wills)

but still Romance is still

an awesomesauce vintage green dress and a red tie :)

s:)

Don't forget to check out Prenda Le Stelle to be romanced some more!

Featured! Seriously!

2010-07-07T22:12:00.000-07:00

Here I am on a happy hump day going through my blogger recent posts and what to my wondering eyes should appear!? My post on the cabinet/towel rack featured on Remodelaholic! I know, crazy right! I always see tons of creative things over there, I was literally running through the house to share the news--um, hello a) the little (female) blts are sleeping and b) the male blts are talking dribbling skills and basketball nonsense (like what's going to happen to the Suns now that Stat is leaving--punk).

Anywho, I cannot tell you how honored I feel! Thanks a caboodle and then some! Now get your hineys over there and check out the multitudes of creative juices!

s:)

Awarded!

2010-07-07T15:21:00.001-07:00

One of my newest blog friends, Stacie at Pullups and Pedicures (dontcha just love the name--toooo cahute) gave me an award today. Yowza! Thank ye kindly sister! Now I have to sound interesting and write about it, umkay...I think I'm much more interesting with a can of paint in my hand :)

Here are the deets:

1. Thank and link to the person who gave you the award.

2. Share 10 things about yourself.

3. Pass the Award along to 10 bloggers who you think are somethin’ special!

4. Contact the bloggers that you picked to let them know about the Award.

Let's get down to the dirty, shall we?

uno--favorite thing: I have three really groovy offspring, like y'all didn't know that al-read-eeeee

dos--favorite pastime: I love love love to paint, I'd like to take an art class. Any local bloggers know of any or interested?! Oh and a photography class!?

tres--favorite ex job: I used to do a little acting. Not much really, a few commercials here and there, I'd like to dabble in it again--my numero uno keeps me so very busy though.

quatro--current chin scar: I was in a serious car accident about 10 years ago, I don't think my head has been the same since. I have no memory of the days before or after--creepy, eh?! It would have been worse if I hadn't worn the trusty belt...Wear your seat-belts peeps!

cinco-current living: A new house! I confess to a messy house, my car is worse-oof--at least I can laugh about it (while blaming the offspring) and I can snack on lint-covered cheerios at home and on-the-go :)

sies--current dream trip: China... I love to travel

siete--current dream job: party planner!

ocho-current craving (besides a nap): coke zero!

nueve--current daydream: being in Disneyland!

diez-ending confession: I don't speak Spanish :D

Phew! Now onto giving out the award. Sorry all cash prizes remain in my possession :P

Now go read these other fun and fancy blogs! These are some interesting women that I am lucky to know!

s:)

Sense-Action-All

2010-07-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

Today's assignment in el challenge-o: Ahhh the five senses!

I cannot address my secret sense, or I'd have to kill ya--maybe with my mind, who knows...

I haven't got much to say about the regular ones, not my extra special sense or maybe it's just mom-sense :) Here's what we're up to and it kinda hits on the topic at hand.

Sight

Touch

you would dddiiiiieeee if you could see LB slam down that egg! Hee-layer-eee-usss!

Hear

Smell

Taste

They are delish! Now don't make me stare you down with my third eye, go check out the other sensible peeps at prenda le stelle

s:)

I laugh in the face of cooking

2010-07-06T08:26:00.007-07:00

Today's assignment in the month o' journal posts is a favorite recipe. Umkay. I tell ya what peeps, I am not much of a cook. Luckily, the hubs and the offspring don't know enough about all of you out there with your schmancy food creating abilities.
I like to bake, but cookies are easy and I'm a cake-in-a-box kinda girl. My friend Vanessa (also doing this month o' posts) is taking a cake decorating class which I think is way coolio. Let's all ooh and ahhh at Nessa's soon to be awesome skills. :) She'll probably come up with something groovy for this post. I digress.

Here is an easy peasy dessert that is popular with your favorite sandwich family:

Oreos And...

1 package of Oreos

1 tub of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream (get the green, it tastes better, I promise)

1 tub of Cool Whip

Hershey's Syrup

Set Ice cream on the counter (seriously, this is a step!)
Count out 30-35 cookies (Not more than 35, or else you won't have any extra to eat while it's setting--hello, priorities!)
Crush the counted cookies--in a bag with a rolling pin (my fav aggression releaser) or in the blender if you want them finely crushed
Cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish with Oreo mixture
Spoon Ice Cream onto Oreo Crust (it is so much easier now that it's soft, right?!)
Smooth out the ice cream
Spoon Cool Whip onto ice cream
Drizzle, Draw or Diagram something with the Hershey's Syrup on top of the Cool Whip
Stick that Baby in the fridge for a few hours, or 30 minutes if you're impatient like me :)
Enjoy!
I should have made one and taken pictures! Blurg. Here is a pic of our wedding cake for no reason at all, besides the fact that it is supah-kewl!

(Nessa--learn how to make that, k?!)

To read the other, and probably real, recipes go check out Prenda Le Stelle

Happy Day!

s:)

Fav Vacay!

2010-07-05T15:42:00.001-07:00

The next challenge in the 30 day epic journal event is your favorite Vay-ka-shun! Oooh! I like this one! I am a dirty cheater and I'm combining two vacations into one--they're both in the same place so does that count? Donchooo gimme that look through your screen! I'll cheat on the journal if I wanna.

Anywho, my favorite vacation is to Hawaii. I've actually been three times, two of which were on cruises. I can't tell you how gah-reat they were and each had a big impact on my life. Since there is only so much screen space 'round these parts (um, and because I don't have pics of the first time on the ol' puter), we'll only cover two of the three excellent trips.

When I was first dating the hubster, we went to Hawaii. Seriously, we were dating for less than two months (aaacckk), we had a great time. Now we look back on it like our pre-kids-real-life-wedding honeymoon.

Then in 2007, my rockin' parents took our entire family on a cruise for Christmas. It.was.more.fun.than.I.can.describe.

(this was our Christmas card that we mailed from the island)

You weren't supposed to go out this far, the surf would come up unexpectedly and was crazy strong--we didn't see the sign until after-meep!)

my big bro-insert your own caption :)

my Grandma, she isn't with us anymore, my youngest is named after her. My youngest was also conceived on this trip--shhhhh-hehehehehe

We went on lots of excursions, ate excellent food, drank, and were very merry! Spending time on a beautiful boat, with your awesome fam, on your favorite holiday. Seriously, how much more spectacular can it be?!

This was all of us on Christmas Day. Don't you be hatin' on those red shirts. We made quite the impact moving around the ship as a group. It was really great :)

We are all spread out, so getting to spend time together is extra extra special! And heck, we were in a tropical paradise--unbeatable!
And that peeps is the reader's digest version of my favorite vacay.
s:)

America's Birthday!

2010-07-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was not super eventful for us. We are inches from all being healthy, but decided to not venture out with the crowds.

(the berries are like candy-delish!)

The little ladies and I did make a cake and decorate it, while we did, I tried to work in a little lesson about our flag and what it means to live in this great country.

Emster, was a little into it, she liked that we were having a birthday party, she likes things being 10, so you can guess how old the USA was yesterday :)

LB, on the other hand, was resident taste-tester.

Cool-whip was great, easily spread 'frosting'

It was tasty (and confetti on the inside)

We also put up a flag. The wind was perfect for it.

this is my fav shot of the day, so sahweeeeet!

What about you? How was your fourth? See any good fireworks?

s:)

Uh, music?

2010-07-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Day four of the challenge is 10 songs everyone should hear.

Oof! I am a music lover but not by any means at all a music knower. It's one of those things I just don't seem to have the brain space for. I love to listen, but never.ever.ever.eeevvvvvveeeerrrrrr can remember names of bands and such.

In checking my itunes for inspiration, my most often listened to songs are Christmas! Ha! I adore Christmas music. And, I direct the puppet ministry at our church, where my favorite part of the year is our Christmas show...so...My top 25 songs are all Christmas.

Next, I'm turning to the hubs--he's a music lover, but most of his stuff is not my style :) He did help some with my list, this may be the only time you ever hear from him 'round these parts--so wave hulloooooo!

Ohhh the pressure to come up with 10 songs! Here goes nothin'!!!

Mary Did You Know by Go Fish (my #1 played song--I'll do a post on it sometime-it is amazing)
Feed One by Amy Roth (another puppet song)
Amazing Grace
Jesus Loves Me
Star-Spangled Banner
Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2 (maybe any and every U2 song should be on this list)
'Round Here by Counting Crows
The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel
Sgt. Pepper's by the Beatles
Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash.

Phew, I'm glad this post is done! This was a hard one! Happy Fourth of July peeps! I'm so thankful for the people that serve and protect our groovy country. The little blt's and I are working on a dessert, I'm hoping to share it with ya later today!

s:)

In the name of Love

2010-07-03T20:55:00.001-07:00

Pride!
Day 3 of the challenge is what you're the most proud of...Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. Here is where I find the most positive feedback in my life:

and the pee-esss de ray-ziz-tance

seriously! could they be any more awesomesauce?!
s:)

A Day in the Life

2010-07-02T23:06:00.002-07:00

Today's journal assignment is a peek into the psycho, a glimpse at the goofy, a crack at the crazy of your favorite sandwich family!

So here goes nothin'

Wake eat play eat drive eat sleep. Wow that was exciting. contain.yourselves.please :)

Oh let's start today with a story eh?!

LB is a lover of yogurt. Well, she is a lover of food, but yogurt is definitely in her fav five. Also in her top picks of things to do is undressing herself. This morning, while eating-- in her birthday suit--she decided to cover herself from head.to.toe with her strawberry yogurt. Oh and the fun doesn't end there, she stands up in her chair (she's been anti-highchair lately) and begins to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while waving her arms triumphantly in the air. It was glorious. And messy, very messy. No I have didn't take a pic, for fear of suspicious Wally World employees :)

Definitely the highlight of my morning.

Here is our day in pictures. with a caveat--poor Gman has the flu, otherwise he'd be hiding his face in some of these shots.

(her second yogurt was eaten in her chair)

Insert the hubs here-he didn't want his pic taken

nitey nite blogosphere, there's some movie or another on

s:)

Wanna see other days in the life? Go check out Prenda Le Stelle

A challenge: 30 day Journal.

2010-07-01T23:47:00.000-07:00

My pal Jilllian has had a lot of success with her blog and now she is hosting a little journal challenge for the next 30 days. Oof, that's a lot of posts, but if some friends can do it, I might as well give it the old college try...

Day 1 is an intro post, so here is a bit about me-

Deets:

I'm hitched. I'm a parent. I like to go to the sound of my own drum :)

Is that enough? hmmmm...

I like opposites:
I am reallleeeeee friendly--I talk peeps up in the line at Target, but I think of myself as only having a very few close friends.
I started out as a young mom and now I consider myself a young-at-heart-mom.
I have a much older (way cool) brother but we both think of ourselves as practically only children.
I have a very colorful personality but I wear a lot of black.
I love Jesus, but am not what many would consider a 'traditional' Christian.

Something cool about me:
I work in a wild gypsy industry full of personality called film production. I started out acting and moved to the other side of the camera. I wonder about that choice sometimes.

Something boring about me:
because of said industry I have a tendency to analyze television and movies in terms of production value--lighting, shooting style, editing etc. Some peeps have been known to refuse to watch movies with me, but I try to reign it in :)

Something new:
I have a new house! Yowza, lotsa posts 'round these parts to be found about that! Making this house into home is exciting and challenging at the same time, mostly fun though! Painting and decorating is something I could blog about all.day.long--hope you don't mind :P

Something old:
I've lived in AZ for almost 30 years and while it is still practically 100 outside, I'm wearing holey pants with a cracker jacks pattern on them because I'm cold and kewl :)

The best for last:
My kids are awesomesauce!

s:)

Accessorizing the Cabinet

2010-06-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

ok peeps! I haven't been able to post much, ever since Emster was sick, she was good enough to share it with the rest of us (I'm still recovering and WiPeD), but I'm trying to play catch-up. Now down to business!
You've seen the new bathroom cabinet...Now let's make it a little purty, shall we?

I actually ~~need~~ would love your feedback or else I might ~~lose my mind with obsessing~~ need to start over...

First, I kinda had my heart set on some bird cages and this little birdie I found when I shopped my house

Cute, eh?! The heavier bird cage is from GW (50cents!) that I spray-painted and the birdcage is from HobLob on Clearance!

Dontcha just love it? Lookie at how much it was!

I snatched her up, not knowing what to do with her until now. (Um, yah I was just spray painting, not that my nails EVER look any different)

So I thought it would all work, until I took the pic...

meh, not much impact, eh?

So then I shopped the house some more...

Love these see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil monkeys...

but they just turned into a big dark nothing (eek, not The Nothing!)

and this just ugh,

so then I had these just sitting in a box from the move so I tried them out...

The level isn't so great, I'm working on that...

Here is where we are at now (not much change, I know I know...)

Whatcha think?

Which of the three do you like the best? Or do you think I should go in a completely different direction? I'd love some glass jars of cotton balls and whatnot, but I'm not sure...

s:)

A New Cabinet!

2010-06-29T13:52:00.021-07:00

Two things I'm a sucker for: old furniture and rummage sales. And what goes together better than old furniture from a rummage sale! (Maybe ice cream and peanuts :D )

Anywho, I go this ugly old cabinet at a sale for like $3! Seriously! And I am a seriously bad blogger for not being able to find a decent before picture. (side note: how do you organize your photos? Mine are a crazy mess!) Here is what it is in much better condition than I got

(I took that one after paint--woooops!)

and they sell for A LOT more than you think, way more than three buckeroos!

Mine was stained much darker and was in really really sad shape with water damage and the like. The top was coming off and it had no back. Although, I'm kinda thinkin' it never had a back since it housed a radio?

Here's my only before pic that I can find

yes.i.am.a.lame.blogger :)

Here is what happened next:

sand, sand, sand--the top did NOT sand well, but that's ok--you'll see why soon

prime, prime, prime (with my good friend Mr. Zinsser-oil based primer)

paint, paint, paint-with the same white that I used for the trim in my house--because I still have some left

dontcha love these details! Did I mention it was only tha-ree greenbacks?!

btw, yes I am a rule-breaker and no I do not remove the doors or hardware when I paint-neener neener neener :D

back to our regularly scheduled steps

sand sand sand again--but only in selective areas--gotta bring back some of that old character

glaze, glaze, glaze-to make it look really old a worn

uh-oh, too much glaze!

No worries, this stuff is moveable for a good 20 minutes, even in the AZ heat, just wipe off the extra or get a wet rag and scrub-a-dub-dub

Then realize that you have no floor space in your oddly shaped master bath! oof!

Pout a little because you really need storage space in your oddly shaped master bath.

Call your handy Pops to come to your rescue, even though he shakes his head when you tell him what you want. Luckily, he helps you do it anyway!

Hang your cabinet on the wall of your oddly shaped master bath!

then realize you must.go.shopping.to.accessorize your new cabinet!

It's also going to be our towel rack above the bathtub. Oh and I need new knobs--waiting for some 50% action at the HobLob! Do you love it? I lurve it!

I'm thinking of doing a little tutorial of how we hung it and of course a post on the accessories! I can't decide yet what to put on there though...I think I hear Goodwill calling my name...

I'm also linking to some par-tays:

all things related

anti-procrastination tuesdays

blue cricket designs

bobby pins and boardwalk

the thrifty home

fireflies and jellybeans

house of hepworths

shabby chic cottage-transformation thursdays

under the table and dreaming

thrifty decor chick

miss mustard seed

infarrantly creative

Go check out all the creative projects! Sooooo much gah-reat stuff out there!

s:)

A Tale of Two Hospitals

2010-06-27T11:34:00.003-07:00

WarninG: this is a long post with very few pictures

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

In the last two days I have spent some time in two hospital emergency rooms. One with several people near and dear to my heart and the other with complete strangers.

I have to give you some back story. My husband had an interview on Friday morning and I had to work (my work is freelance and sparse, so I do not typically have my offspring with a sitter). A family friend was supposed to watch the little blt's as Gman was on a week-long hike and my parents went on vacay. Family friend=sick. I went down the list of other peeps I thought could watch my girls and every.single.one said no for different reasons. :( I had a total pity party for myself Thursday night as my husband cancelled his interview to stay home. total.pity.party. I'm a big baby sometimes :)
My 3yo got out of bed several times that night, complaining of stomach pain. Back to bed she went, remember the pity party was going on, plus I figured she just wanted to stay up. I went off to work Friday and during the day the hubs and I talked back and forth about her tummy. I still said-don't worry about it she just ate something, give her gatorade and keep her hydrated. After her nap she cried for 45 minutes straight, so off to the doc he took her. At this point, she's running a good strong fever and I'm thinking well I guess she has a little bug. (More back story is my hubs likes to go to the doc--I do not like the doc not.one.bit. it's not a trust thing, I just hate the waiting room wait). I'm working away when he sends me a text that they're on their way to the Emergency Room! Wha? I leave work (which is practically unheard of in my industry/department--I work in film production) and meet them at the hospital--I actually beat them there--hello Maria Andretti :).
We are immediately put into a room and then the waiting begins...

You know they take the rule things out approach--is it a UTI? Is it bad food? Is it (worst case scenario) appendicitis? They think it's her appendix-oof! First though, she needs to pee in a cup. She won't pee in the cup. So....they have to do a catheter. I won't tell you how that went here. It was awful.awful.awful. Then they need blood and want to put in an IV. In both of these situations, I am holding her ~~down~~ still so they can do it safely and hopefully quickly. The IV didn't go so well and she started crying that she had to go potty (remember we just finished the catheter) all of a sudden--she goes! All over herself and me. Good times. (I am now the proud owner of some spiffy green scrubs they were good enough to give me). Fast forward several hours, that passed at a glacial pace, and we did an ultrasound and a CT scan and the doc tells us he thinks it may have ruptured! Ruptured! I don't like that word. While we are going through this time, LB's godparents took her for us (though she was charming the staff with her destructo antics) and our pastor came and prayed with us for NO rupture :).
Close to midnight the CTscan comes back clear--yippee skippee--and a very distinguished surgeon (no Grey's Anatomy here--though the ER peeps were dapper) visits us and says he doesn't think it is her appendix. Let's all have a collective sigh of relief shall we?!
They can't be sure though. She is going to spend the night and they keep the surgery scheduled just in case.
The next 12 hours are relatively uneventful, she has a viral infection in her lymph nodes--did you know there are lymph nodes in your stomach? I didn't. I sleep a few hours with LB. The hubs stays with Emster. I go to work after seeing the doctor again in the morning, knowing that if tests come back clean she is cleared to come home. Again, LB is hanging with her Godmother and many friends continue to lift us up in prayer through fb and my lovely friend Jenn who got the word out to some other peeps I know.

Now onto the next part of our story. It is the last shoot day at the University of Phoenix stadium for a commercial for the University. Good crew that worked hard. We are loading the truck at the end of the day, when a minivan pulls up about 30 feet from us.
An older woman gets out and goes around to the side where she stands for a long time. Eventually, I walk over to see if she needs something? A young man inside asks for some water. We have water aplenty and one of the guys brings some over.
Her other grandson has just had a grand mal seizure. Both of the boys are special needs. She doesn't want to call 911, but hello people it was at least 115 degrees on that blacktop! The young man seizing, Brian, is just getting worse. Finally 911 is called and the security from the stadium try to lend a hand. The firefighters and paramedics arrive and everyone goes home except for me. Everyone is shaken up (even me, this sick peeps thing makes my heart hurt). I realized that the Grandma, all by herself, has these two grandsons and a car here in the parking lot. She is going to ride in the ambulance, so I offer to drive her other grandson, Aaron to the hospital. Things move very quickly (in a way those firefighters have a clown car--they fit so many of them in there, they just kept coming out to help move this kid into the ambulance) and off they go. I drive Aaron, whom is shaking like a leaf and trying to call the rest of his family from my cell phone, to the hospital. Where the waiting begins again...

The two of us sit in the waiting room (have I mentioned that I hate to wait!), as they don't want him to come back into the ER. He is visibly upset and I try to talk to him about his interests. He is still hoping to talk to his mom so she can come down there. She is probably busy though he tells me (wha?! um, hello your other kid is here lady). We wait for what seems like a long time--seriously, is every hospital a time warp?! Eventually, we are permitted into the back and he gets to see his Grandma and his brother. The security guy doesn't want me there, especially when he finds out I'm just some random driver and not family. I wished them luck and left them with my phone number so they can call me if they need a ride (back to their van).

My heart went out to this woman. She cares, all by herself, for these boys. I was blessed to have the chance to help her out. On a certain level, seeing her in the hospital had a deeper impact on me than having my own daughter in another hospital. Here I was feeling sorry for myself on Thursday, when I was suddenly surrounded by love and support on Friday. Then, not even 24 hours later, I am trying to support a total stranger. Funny how life brings things full circle--God just sneaks those ones in there on ya, doesn't he?

I am so thankful for friends and family that step up to the plate when needed.
I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve others.
I pray that young man was ok and I hope you and yours are well also.
Finally, Em is much better, she is kicking me through a pillow as I type this so I will go play with her. Have a lovely Sunday peeps!
***I'm linking this to the Inspired Room, as this experience has inspired my (more positive) attitude all week.
s:)

Excitement all around!

2010-06-26T23:09:00.001-07:00

I've been missing this little bloggy screen peeps! I've had a busy week and the last 24 hours have been especially crazy. I'm going to write all about that tomorrow, but this post could.not.wait!

I posted over at a fun blog called along for the ride last week. And you'll never believe it! My kitchen re-do was featured! Yowza and a half! Laura hosts a Saturday is Crafty day party--you should go check it out! (she is also doing this coolio 90 day challenge, I want to try it). There are so many creative things out there peeps, go on, click it and check it!

Big thankful shout-out to Laura! :)

Oh and I've been totally rearranging the kitchen shelves and taking pics so I can compare looks--is that a little too obsessive?! Ya wanna see the pics?
s:)

(pee to the ess-can ya tell me how to post someone's button?)

It's a Wednesday thing

2010-06-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

I've seen this done a few times, called 'Wordless Wednesday.' Where peeps put pictures up of what's going on in their lives. Here is what I'm up to the next few days and why I won't have much time for blogging... (and yes I realize this is 50 words!)

and picture whatever you like for

someone's EGO!

s:)

Blog Buddies

2010-06-22T21:22:00.003-07:00

Today I just feel like throwin' some stuff out there...

Isn't it funny how when you get to know peeps online--either through a message board or by reading their blog, you feel like you totally know them? Even if they live half the country away?! I love the glimpse you get into their lives, I'd like to be able have a cup of coffee and laugh until I cry with some of the women whose blogs I read. Of course, they haven't got even an eensy teensy clue who I am but hey, don't they know I like a hot latte and a honey bran muffin early in the morning!? A few of my closer to home friends are doing these get to know you posts, I have really enjoyed reading them. Here are some random factoids about me

I wanted to be a ventriloquist when I was a kid--funny because I currently direct a puppet ministry! I love puppeteering, it's amazing the personality people have within, that comes out when they are hidden behind a curtain.
I don't eat butter (as a spread)--I got sick on it as a kid, after eating loads of bread and butter.
I love to paint. Walls, pictures, myself :)--it really doesn't matter the color. I don't like white walls, you might think my house has toooo much color, but I think it reflects the varied and colorful nature of the desert where I live. You don't think the desert is colorful, come for a visit and I'll show ya!
I can't cook, but I love to eat--wow there's news all around :)
my 3 year old takes really good pictures, I might devote a few posts to her shots--

I just love this shot she took--fingerprints and all

I find my kids to be hee-lair-ee-oussss! Here are some of the things going on around here

cooking fabulous flapjacks

how she decided to wear her jammies

this is just an old pic I adore!

I realize that I'm at a crossroads of sorts in my life right now. Choices challenge me as a look around my pretty new house. Projects? Purging? (un)Packing? Praying? A good friend recently told me I need to ListeN more and TalK less (I think she meant whine less, but who's counting). Kind of on that same grateful track we talked about the other day. I think a good P for me would be purposeful. What is your letter of the day? (Yes I watch a lot of Sesame Street!)

When life gives you lemons...

2010-06-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

The bean decided she'd had enough of this life and moved into the coat closet

she had not only a stash of food, but i later found a bunch of single shoes, she had them all lined up in the back

Our neighbors have a lemon tree that keeps dropping into our yard.

So we picked a bunch to make lemonade.

Broke out the brand new juicer and juiced and juiced and juiced...

the recipe called for six lemons to make one cup of juice.

We used all these and barely got a cup. I'm apparently inept at juicing :)

(it's 105 here and she wears a sweatshirt-wacky)

we stirred it up a bit

then we tasted it

notsomuch (which is interesting because she ate a whole lemon slice not long ago)

Next it was cupcake time!

bang bang bang on the egg baby! bang bang!

cupcake papers are serious business

I hate to wait! She didn't like that they had to go into the oven

s:)

On my mind right now

2010-06-21T13:57:00.001-07:00

We are watching the Dark Knight. The boy blts have seen it several times. Me? I'm not big on scary or intense movies. I can hardly watch. Movies with endings you can't predict or where peeps get hurt, they make my heart hurt. I'm a little wonky that way.
I dont think they like it when I surf for a few minutes...then ask them what just happened? It makes it bearable to me. I don;t think I like this movie. Don't shake your bloggy heads at me, I know Heath Ledger was a great actor. It's just how I'm made. Yea God for oddballs :)

Anywho, my folks have gone off to China on vacation. I miss them. Hmmm. Makes me feel like a kid again. They left me this.

Doesn't that look yummy. I didn't want to share it with the boys, I know it was their turn to pick the movie, it's just so hard to watch.

Look at what my LB wore to church. Couldyounotjustdie.

seriously i can hardly watch this movie. well shot and directed, but so much emotion. i'm too involved too easily--story of my life :)

I could do an entire blog post about this dress! meep!

My girls are in bed and the boys are involved in the tube. I start to reflect on everything going on around me...
It's been quite a year here at the blt house. I think I need to work on being more grateful. I've been a little bit ungrateful lately I think. cranky-crankmeister. and not sleeping--too much worry. do you ever feel so overwhelmed about your decisions? I worry about my kiddos. giving the right opportunities while encouraging them to be independent. You pray, you analyze, you discuss (repeatedly). eat sleep repeat.

what a manic post, eh? how are you doing?

Soccer Extraordinaires

2010-06-20T21:54:00.007-07:00

Watch out Mia Hamm and Brandi Chastain! Here come the blt girls!

We signed up for a local sports class.

It was already hot at 9a, but I was determined they'd have fun.

can you sense the enthusiasm?!

Usually LB is very active (in case you hadn't heard), but after being sick all week- even she wasn't interested.

The stretches went ok

such a good way to touch your toes dontcha think!?

as soon as the kicking started, all interest was lost

until it was time to clean up!

Next week -- basketball!

Settling Dust

2010-06-17T23:15:00.000-07:00

What a day! What a week really...

We have a sick house around these parts. My little one has croup. Who knew croup was a thing kids still got?! Seriously, didn't it go out with the Little House on the Prairie books? Love those books by the way.

Here is our week in pictures :)

The bean took a long nap so we had a little tea party

Soft focus, but so sweet

she asked me to take a picture of her elbow

that is my favorite hat

When the bean finally got up, she was her usual self.

I found her trying to change her baby's diaper.

Hope your weekend is restful and fab!

s:)

A Kitchen-revealed!

2010-06-16T23:18:00.004-07:00

Yowza! Are we really here?! What the heck will I blog about after this? When last we were together we had the hilarity of the kitchen ticker tape parade and some lighting installation.

Now the kitchen is where it is at! Well, there is ~~forever~~ stuff left to do, but I thought you'd like to see it just the same. Plus there are some places I'd like to hear your input.

Here.we.go--wheeeee

Before

After

Want to come in for a closer look? Here's a little tour:

(Here the pendants are turned off so you can see the pretty color)

What do you think of the open shelving?

What do you think of the globes? They were totally ~~copied from~~ inspired by Meg over at Whatever. If you don't read it already, you should totally check out her blog--it's awesomesauce. I need more globes.

Here are the new cabinets.

The counter and my lovely faucet--oh and I grew those callas--how crazeeee is that--I can grow nothing! Hopefully, they keep growing--cross your tootsies!

What do you think? (of my stinker, er thinker?!)

Here are a few things I'm still mulling over:

--is there a better way to tie the old cabinets with the new?

maybe get the same hardware?

--I need to do more accessorizing. I'm just not a matchy-matchy dishes peep, but is it too cluttered?

Still on the wish list:

--apron front sink (oh how I lurve thee)

--slate or other Matte counters (ya know, like chem lab--I didn't like chemistry, not no way, no how! Maybe I should say like physics lab, love me some of that!)

--new appliances-not sure what kind-though I had a brief love affair with a red stove

--new coolio, maybe retro stools

A big bloggy shout-out to Edie at life in grace! Her kitchen was such great inspiration. Here's something funny, the kitchen matches my dishes! Check it out

The turquoises almost match! If you are a lover of turquoise, you know that is seldom true. Is it true with most colors though?

Phew! Long post!

I hope you've enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed the kitchen transformation journey. You can see all the steps in the handi-sidebar under kitchen :)

s:)

I'm also linking this up to House of Hepworths, funky junk interiors and along for the ride! And just added to Thrifty Decor Chick! Go check out those sites for lots of creative juices flowing! This is my first linky, so wish me luck!

***I'm changing it up again, I think it looks a little 'cleaner' but I'm still interested in your feedback***

Ticker Tape Parade and Baby Proofing

2010-06-15T22:00:00.001-07:00

In celebration of all the kitchen posts, I thought I'd share a nice story about my youngest--one we affectionately refer to as LB or the Wild Child, she.has.so.much.energy!

I am big on baby proofing. When friends talk about their little ones learning to walk, I always remind them that they need to make sure their houses are on baby-lock-down. I offer my suggestions as the mom of a teenager and two little ones, based on my sooooo worldly experience. :)

Well, I have a confession to make. I am a terrible baby-proofer! Our new house is not.done.at.all--Yowza! Really though, my girls are 3 & 1/2 and 20 months, so couldn't I relax a little? I can reason with them right? Or move things constantly out of one-in-particular's reach (she has seriously long arms) Anywho, all my cleaners and meds are definitely out of reach--don't worry your pretty little bloggy heads. Here is where I learned my baby-proofing lesson...

When we had peeps in to finish up the kitchen, I was going back and forth, keeping the girls busy and making sure the work was going smoothly. I left the girls in my bedroom for a few seconds ~~minute~~ second, while I discussed light placement. I didn't want them perfectly spaced out, I'm weird like that.

It was exciting! The kitchen was almost finished! The lights were the last BIG thing to put in. I had three garage sales to pay for these lights. I had debated their custom length for a week and then worried about picking the wrong thing while they were being made.

My delovely lights, they needed to be perfectly placed. Well, while my excitement was building--my LB must have sensed my budding happiness. She came running out of the master bathroom and gave me my very own ticker tape parade! She had crowned me the champion of kitchen-fixer-upping!
Yes, yes she did, she showered me and she showered the guys working in my kitchen. Sweet, huh?! What did she use to create said parade? Why, a full box of tampax of course! Fling, fling they rolled around my lovely bamboo floor. Then, she sat down in the middle of the kitchen with the directions and 'read' them like a book...

Word to the wise--Always baby-proof...

Kitchen Re-do part 7-almost done

2010-06-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry to leave ya hanging last time! I forgot to take a pic of what I chose--bad, bad blogger.
The last piece of the re-do was the new lighting. We replaced the ugly old track lighting with recessed cans and some pendant lighting. Oh my pendant lights--my new crush...
At first, we were going to do this ourselves. I bought the nifty circle cutter from Lowe's and their multi-pack of recessed-can lights. Well, the hubs doesn't know much about those things, my Pops was a busy bee, and our other possible help just didn't work out.
Anywho, we hired someone...they did a really nice job of cutting, patching and (besides the installation) putting in new switches for me. Yes, I will spare you the pic of the switches :)

Here are some pics of the process:

you see where the light bulb goes? I had it specially wired (ahem-extra dough) to take the greenest of green light bulbs--don't they look fun-kay?!

Supposedly, they last nine years--which I'm not buying into, but I am one of those peeps that really.likes.lights.ON. So it works for me to be using a green version if I'm using power :).

Here's a good sample of the lovely blue color that they are and here is how they look lit

-though in person, they still look turquoise blue when lit. As a new blogger, I am always uncertain of how many pics to post. Do you want to see more? I have a TON of random detail shots...Maybe if you ever decide to re-do your kitchen in 10 steps or less :)

Tomorrow, I have this great story about what happened while these lights were going in-seriously, it's worth coming back for...

until next time!

s:)

oh and after that--finally the big reveal--if I can clean the place up enough!

Kitchen Re-do part 6

2010-06-13T22:45:00.000-07:00

When last we were together here at the BLT we left off with a kitchen at 80% or so...
The counter was in, old (ho-hum) appliances long installed, kitchen cabinets painted...
The kitchen cabinets should have been done right? I had carefully chosen the shades of blue, looking forward to my retro kitchen.
I love the open cabinet look, but I wasn't sure it was the thing for our mess stuff different dishes. Here's an image from Apartment Therapy.

Then to add to my uncertainty, I didn't like the upper white color on the cabinets. It was wayyyyy different than the white of the new cabinets.

Can you see how totally different they are--ugh! What to do? What to do?

So, I impulsively decided that maybe painting the upper cabinets blue would be good...

(crazy talk-since the lovely bamboo was already in and I'm a mess-say painter-yikes)

I started carefully painting

the outside of one section blue and the outside of one section white (blue inside)

and the inside became the former white-ish color....

What do you think?

I wasn't quite sure it was working still...

Indecision at dinner time with offspring-never a good plan...

I finally made up my mind. What do you think I chose?

s:)

A bountiful weekend

2010-06-11T22:48:00.000-07:00

Once again, we are participating in the local food co-op, Bountiful Baskets. I insist on picking mine up in a basket--it just makes the whole thing sweeter and more fun. Of course, last week we were having our garage sale, so my husband had to pick it up. What a good hubster, slinging his arm through my a-dor-a-bull basket! Such fun times!

Would ya check out that bounty!

Hope your weekend is entertaining!

s:)

Kitchen Re-do 5!

2010-06-10T21:54:00.001-07:00

Yowza hard to believe there is this much to write! I actually have a bunch more photos of all the work, so really I'm taking it easy on ya!

So we had to live with the cabinets in and wait on the countertops (read NO sink-oi!).

You see, the granite has to be templated and then made/cut/quarried-I haven't a clue? But you have to wait...which was not.so.fun. You really depend on your kitchen sink a lot!
When they finally brought the granite, it was in two ginormous pieces and one small side piece. Remember how we basically doubled the size of the island--ahhh tahrue wove (points for knowing the movie!)

Well they brought that granite in, first they installed the small side piece.
Then they went to work on the big dogs. And guess what?

They made.it.wrong. and whoda thunk--it didn't fit.

(see that big goofy gap--they actually tried to fill it at first--goobers!)

soooo, they went back to the (literal) drawing board. And we went back to having no sink...

Finally a week later, after many dirty bathtub dishes, we had a counter! joyful hipster dancing abounds!

We also had a sink! Of course, my boyfriend went in--along with his posse of necessary sink jewelry.

(ugh this is one thing I'm not crazy about, but I had to give the hubs at least a few of the things he wanted!)

It really is all coming together nicely at this point, dontcha think?! I really love the faucet! I could do a photo shoot/blog session all about him:) What'd I tell ya--you'd get kitchen info and a lullabye :)
Are you ready for the cabinet conundrum and adventures in lighting? I might like my lights even more than mr. faucet (sshhhhh!)

Kitchen Re-do 4

2010-06-09T22:15:00.000-07:00

So where are we at!? Are ya still with me and the infamous re-do?
So I painted the bottom cabinets blue and the top cabinets a white with a blue undertone (it was actually the lightest shade of the turquoise blue I chose. Nice, huh?
PIC?
Then the new cabinets arrived. We purchased the cabinets for the island and a new side pantry. There were a lot of white cabinets, as we added small ones to the other side of the island--hello more storage-I love you!

We went with a white glazed cabinet. That looks pretty white here, but in person there is a definite creamy tone to the white.

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Anyone? Anyone?

Um creamy does not work for my vision here peeps!

Anywho, here is a close-up so you can be part of my conundrum

The 'glazing' makes it even creamier (the dude at the showroom totally talked me into this, I'm still not sold on this by any means, but what can you do after the fact?!--that being said, I do like my kitchen more all the time)

So, there I was with these creamy white cabinets and retro turquoise cabinets on the other wall. I wasn't quite sure how to pull it all together.

I think the hardware helps some? What do you think?

Don't mind the surrounding mess :)

I think I need more hardware for the blue drawers and cabinets to really tie it all together, but that will have to wait. Up next, the countertop and sink adventure. If you're not snoozing--hello this is my gift to you--insomnia no more!

s:)

More Kitchen Re-do (part 3)

2010-06-08T22:33:00.001-07:00

Ah the time I wasted perused wasted looking at kitchens online! Oh Lord! So many wonderful things to look at. Then I found great inspiration in a blog I read regularly, Life in Grace! Go check Edie out--she has awesome taste, photos and ideas about all sorts of stuff! Well she had an awesome kitchen in her old house that I just adored!

I already loved turquoise and dontcha know it is like totally the color of 20-10! Who knew I was that cool?!

So I went for it! Here we have the next set o' pics!

You'll see a lot of pics from this 'spot' it's kinda my stop-frame-animation of the changes

It looks brighter in the pics, though, I don't think I'd mind--I adore turquoise blue!

Is anyone interested in more info on painting the cabinets? There are so many tutorials out there, I'm not sure I have much to add?

Oh and if you want to see more of all things turquoise check out

House of Turquoise!

Tomorrow--onto the white cabinets!

s:)

Kitchen re-do part 2

2010-06-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

So we have taken out the island, moved the cabinets over and of course already painted the walls. The wood floor went in--pause for loving the loverly bamboo--

aahhhh

Oh wait, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Next I painted the old cabinets. Can I tell you how much inspiration there is out in blogland and via google for white kitchens. Oh, swoon! White kitchens are classic to me and are so flexible with any decorating style you like.

Granted there are many 'shades' of white and styles of cabinets, but in general, white kitchens pretty much rock in any shape or form for me.

Now here is where I make no sense. The more I looked and looked and looked at white kitchens, the harder time I was having deciding how to paint the existing cabinets.

I really consider myself a retro/vintage/eclectic decorator with a dose of shabby chic cottage mixed in. Does that make any sense at all? Given my aforementioned adoration for white cabinets, it seems like I should have simply color matched out new cabinets into my favorite paint brand...

Well, I just couldn't do it. I love multi-colored kitchens so that was my newest source of inspiration.

(forgive me for not noting where the pics are from--if you happen to know where I stole them from, please let me know and I'll be sure to add it)

I had planned on showing you the next 'completed phase' in this post, but I succumbed to the movie watching pressure from the rest of the blts and now it is late. So until tomorrow!

s:)

kitchen re-do time

2010-06-06T22:30:00.002-07:00

So I've been putting if off long enough! It is time to go over the kitchen re-do! It's not finished (maybe never?), but I thought we'd go through it all together, shall we? Here are some pics of how we started...

can you see my editing efforts?

Really it all started with the island

The sink had leaked and it had bunches of icky mold - gah-ross!

So, we decided to rip it out and the redo snowballed from there (granted budget issues stopped the full on kitchen makeover avalanche)

We got some new and painted some of the old

Reminds me of an old girl scout song

buy new cabs, but paint the o-oollddd

One is one color and the other's bold

Anyone? Anyone?

chirp, chirp

Ok, I'm a wee bit off-track

So we took out the island

Yucky, messy, but fun destructo times were had by all!

Then we CAREFULLY moved the other cabinets

That went pretty smoothly!

oh, and we took out this green countertop

so there you have our 'first' steps.

Granted, much time was spent deciding how to paint the old cabinets and what new cabinets we could afford loved.

It is amazing how many things you can lust after for your kitchen!

s:)

Loyalty

2010-06-05T22:46:00.002-07:00

Somebody asked me how I define loyalty recently.

When I was eight years old, I had the most wonderful best friend. We bonded over project potential, a program for 'gifted kids' - it was my job to show her how to get to the room when she was a new student, so I suggested we eat lunch together.

Well one lunch stretched into a whole year and a lifetime of friendship. Each day the whole class was seated at a long table, the table was labeled with a paper cone that bore our teacher's name. One spring day, I remember it was spring and not too hot to play outside yet. We all looked to getting the four-square court first.

Another girl was teasing my friend, offending her in my third-grader sensibility. So I did what any good third grade best friend would do. I took that paper cone a stuck it in the offender's food. Stuck it ReaL gooood! Let me back-track by sharing that I was quite the goody-goody, talkative but mostly liked by my teachers and rarely, if ever, in trouble. Well that all came to a screeching halt! Oooh, they don't like it when you make a mess in the cafeteria! No matter whose honor you are defending. I spent the rest of the lunch hour facing the wall all.by.myself. a difficult task for a social creature such as myself.

Ahh, to recognize loyalty in the face of diversity, or at least in the face of the gray-haired lunch monitor. I am her loyal friend and she is mine. I'd step in front of a train for her, heck I'll take it one step further--I'd give her a kidney.
I guess I define loyalty by being willing to get messy, to go through the thick of it all with someone. Messy makes it worthwhile. Messy makes it fun. Messy makes me, ME!
Who are you loyal to? What have you and your best friend bonded over?

How to: garage sale

2010-06-05T10:35:00.000-07:00

Dear garage sales,

Oh how I love thee! Your dusty junk calls to me!

Having my own, or going out alone.

Sometimes there's the wheel and deal, oh how to feel!

Some take advantage-that- I don't like to manage!

Getting rid of stuff, feels good, sure enough!

going in the heat, isn't very neat!

I cannot seem to stop, such fun to shop shop shop.

Yes, we will meet again-next weekend!

We had a sale this weekend. Here are my random important tips for how to have a garage sale...

Have lots of signage! Feel good about said signage, until house at the corner has a sale too and steals all your business!

Have lots of table and organized stuff!

Have a free pile (feel free to move stuff into your free pile as the 2nd day drags on continues.)

(do not be offended when one person takes ALL of the free items, while you were hoping your generosity of spirit would bring warm fuzzies to ALL shoppers!)

Yes, we even had free water! No over-heating allowed :)

Have something really old with the ORIGINAL receipt from 1948!

Have at least one creepy cool item

creepy or cool, you decide!?

Be prepared to negotiate

Have a cord for testing (or for plugging in your laptop)

and the all important price stickers!

unless of course your mother doesn't use them, then leave them sitting in the garage.ahem...

We were making some moolah, until I junked up the new house some more with stuff from the above mentioned neighbor's sale...

Is it really a sickness? Perhaps! Happy weekend to you!

s:)

Scrambled Eggs

2010-06-03T22:44:00.001-07:00

We did a little cooking together. Eggs seem easy enough. 4 eggs, 2 forks, 1 chair, 1 spatula and 1 skillet

It started out well enough. Until the fork fell in!

Waiting for them to cook...

Was not as fun as the scrambling

They were still mighty tasty!

And eggs-actly what we needed! Aww, come on! I had to slip one in there!

Did it crack you up?!

s:)

In Progress

2010-06-02T19:50:00.002-07:00

Here are some of the things I'm working on at the BLT abode...

Why in the world I didn't finish everything before we got to triple digits is beyond me! Wish me luck!

Potty Talk

2010-06-01T22:14:00.000-07:00

Have you ever moved into your house and not really known where everything was?

Not really sure where you were storing your extra supplies?

Not really worried about it because you figure, you'll sort it all out eventually?

Then, had 'eventually' not really happen because you were so busy with other parts of your life?

Or been so busy thinking about the parts of your life that you went into the bathroom and sat down without looking around?

And then when you did look around, did you ever realize that there wasn't even one teeny tiny bit of toilet paper left on the roll?

And then was it too late? Had you already gone?

Were you stuck with only your children at home? Did you debate calling out to them because they were FinallY playing nicely together in the other room?

Weighing the option of just drying seems like a decent possibility for a few moments... Then did you hunt around for something anything to use in the itty bitty powder room? Find not even one thing?

Did you finally give in and call out to your three-year-old?

Never happen to you? Nope, not to me today either.

p.s. my 1 1/2 yr old went in the potty twice today!

Memory All Weekend!

2010-05-31T21:57:00.000-07:00

First a big shout out to all the peeps and their families that serve in our country and abroad Woot to my pops and bro, both were Navy guys! Go Navy!

This weekend was awesomesauce! Friends that I have known for 25 years were in town and we had a great time eating, telling stories, laughing until we cried, eating and laughing some more.

Hard to believe the stories we reminisce over, while we watch our respective kiddos run around.

I'm not sure they're even paying us any mind

this one is like her brother...

doesn't like getting her picture taken

at least you can sneak them in there

(sorry so many of these are soft--I was trying to be sneaky=fail)

Isn't he a good big bro?!

He doesn't like being on the blog--doesn't that make posting his pic even better?!

All in all, we had such a great time visiting!

I can't express how thankful and blessed I feel to have friends that remember the name of my high school English teacher (she was awful), the topics of our respective research papers, how we got through Calculus, AP History, and all the drama of grade school, jr. high and high school. Love you guys!

Death of a coconut-man

2010-05-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Meet Willy

He was a dreamy coconut, a tough nut to crack.

Set with determination to open him up we started with some scissors to poke a juice-draining hole

when that didn't work, we broke out a knife

which turned totally scary when the teenager made a loud noise!

(I was pounding with the knife when he popped it-the stinker!)

Then out came the big dogs--the drill!

and then we had lift-off! (note make 2 holes for air flow!)

Willy isn't happy, he's got a premonition of what's to come after the draining

Into the bag we go!

Then out to the pavement

Willy was not having a good day at the office

After a little 'throw-down'

we had fresh coconut!

Don't cry for Willy, he was a dreamer...

Disclaimer: A coconut was in fact destroyed for this post and there is more than one way to crack a coconut.

Farmer's Market!

2010-05-26T23:14:00.002-07:00

As the sun was setting this evening, we went to a farmer's market.

It was a fine farming time! Lots of interesting vendors and groovy foods and such.

We even ran into Jaye and her hubs! What's funny is she posted about this too--there is some good ol' zen blogging synergy going on in the blogosphere!

Here are some pics of the stuff we saw.

Did you know brussel sprouts grew like this?

these onions were crazy huge!

Hello radishes, you look ravishing!

The farmer told us those banana squash were 'on the small side'

I think those are pumpkins of some kind?

I really wanted to buy some eggs, but we didn't...

We bought

and these!

these are the flowers of garlic!

How crazy cool is that!

Now the girls on the other hand thought that the fountain was cool

and the chocolate covered strawberries!

All in all we had a good time!

Coming up next an epic post about a coconut!

Fan-tastic!

2010-05-25T23:28:00.000-07:00

I adore the Suns! Love them! When I was preggers with the Emster, I did a Suns job and got the players to rub my protruding belly--such luck! So of course, the whole family had to get decked out in support of our team!

How cah-ute are my ladies!?

We did a bunch of running around.

the hug

followed by

the inevitable...

push!

The Emster is quite impish here!

The real thing though?!

Gooooooo Suns!

s:)

Another Tree!

2010-05-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to finish the kitchen! Really I am! My whole day was sucked up by a visit to the pedi with the little blt's. So not much has been going on around our humble abode.

We did plant a tree in the backyard.

It's actually very sad, there is nada going on back there...there was this awful fountain turned cess-pool that we took out.

I actually wanted to rent a jack-hammer and diy it, until the guys, we paid a bucket of money, started on it--phew was it crazy hard work. There was a ton of random cement poured all around the back yard and side that we took out for safety (wild kiddos+cement edges=bad idea).

Then, we just had the barren wasteland.

Our neighborhood used to be a citrus grove and ranch, so everyone is required to plant citrus. I love citrus trees, tasty grapefruit and orange juice. Lots of lemonade making with the stuff life gives ya :)

I find the cross-pollinated types exciting--enter in the tangelo tree!

We bought Tammy at--shocker--Lowe's (did you know they guarantee their plant for a year!--groovy for my aphid thumb), and put her in the ground quickly.

Of course we had help from our little planter!

Tammy went in much easier that our first tree planting adventure with Ashley!

Here she is all planted and ready to grow:

And here is the wide shot of the back yard...

Just keepin' it real here folks! :)

And one parting thought! Gooooooo Suns!

Landscaping part deux

2010-05-23T21:59:00.001-07:00

This part will probably not be any more informative than the last. I do have one groovy link for ya...

I am all about xeriscape! Low water usage (keep that desert alive!), predominantly native to the area etc... Here is an awesome search engine where you can search by type of plant, water usage, flower color, evergreen, etc. Note: end real info here

Cactus isn't allowed in our neighborhood, except as an 'accent'-um hello, this giant 100 year old saguaro is my accent. Anywho, I had all sorts of ideas about what to buy and make our yard a thing to be admired by all--haaaaa. Then, we had a run-in with a cactus, literally. The little blt's weren't interested in reading every.single.tag. on the plants at Lowes...so we just bought plants on clearance! Hello half off, I lurve you! They are primarily xeriscape too. Here is our planting adventure in pictures...

All the usual suspects...

One was very serious about developing her plant-handling skills

While the other was only interested in water 'handling'

until it handled her

when her sister dumped a bucket of water on her head!

water was the name of the game. water+dirt=crazeee fun

This time I let the hubs do most of the digging (hello hard work) while I obsessed over rearranging the river rock in our front yard--OCD, much?! And there is definitely noooo cactus. Happy week to you and yours!

s:)

Landscapin'

2010-05-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

I have a lot to say about landscaping, mostly not informative, but a lot nonetheless...

First, we started off by heading to our favorite home improvement store (read: coupon in hand) Lowe's on Friday evening. We needed more trees and such to beautify our barren yard. The youngest BLT's were along for the shopping adventure. Of course, the 3 yr old has no interest in staying in the cart and therefore neither does her little, very active sister. Something came over me and I thought, heck I'll let them each out to look at the pretty flowers. Of course, one was interested in the trees and the other wanted to check out the flowers. The outdoor area there is big! Many aisles to run down and possible packs of flowers to grab. Did I mention that the trees are kept in these little bins with a rope across them to keep them together? Well on a breezy day like Friday, those trees get to movin' and swayin' and a fallin'! While I'm trying to make sure the trees are standing up and off of the three year old Emster, my other eyeball is straining to peripherally watch the wild child LB...

Suddenly, the hubs ran inside for a minute (can you say bad time for a full bladder?!)

Think Shelly think....

Hey girls, let's go pick out a thing of flowers for each of you to plant?

Yippee, if for a moment we're all on the same page--notice the for a moment part...

Each of the ladies chooses a thing of flowers then another, different thing of flowers. LB suddenly throws (yes there was dirt all over the ground) her pot on the ground and runs around to the other side of the aisle. Before I can catch up with her, she grabs a

CACTUS! A Cactus kinda like this!

with itty bitty spines!

My little bean had like 300 little spines all over her hands! Oi vey!

I scoop them both up and run to the ladies room, with the non-cacti-covered one, screaming-I don't have to go potty! Yup no one is looking at us at this point...

We ended up going home to try to get the cactus spines out.

That was a stress-free car ride...

I attacked each hand with tape to hopefully pull them all out and wrapped the other hand with tape-in-waiting.

Half a tape roll and a good bath soak later...I **think** I got them all out.

The worst of it all? When she cried the loudest and hardest?

When her hand was taped and she couldn't move it of course! The spines didn't even bother her! She's a wild, infectious, lovely, adorable child :)

coming up next, the stuff we actually planted...

A Bounty!

2010-05-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

I've heard quite a bit of buzz about a program called bountiful baskets lately. My friends Jaye and Christina have been participating for enough time to make me hungry over their baskets of fresh fruits and veggies! I finally got myself a ticket on the bountiful basket train! Here is all the stuff we got this week!

Doesn't it look delish!?

There were two bread add-ons, one 9 grain and one ciabatta. We got both of those and the bread is supah fresh! One loaf had some mold on it, odd, but we figure it must be because it was put in the bag while still moist.

Some of it has to ripen up a bit

but the strawberries are calling my name. We are sharing our basket with family, but what they don't know won't hurt 'em :)

The rest of our weekend is all about the outside of our new house. I find the whole landscaping thing a little overwhelming. I can visualize things inside the home much better than outside. That and ya think the plants look nice and big at the store and then they're in your ground, like the runt of the bush litter...

Oh and keeping the kiddos occupied while digging is an interesting feat--more on that tomorrow (I took a gazillion and fifty pictures and need to sift through them all)

Down with Bugs!

2010-05-21T22:08:00.004-07:00

Do you have any bug problems at your house? I suppose everyone has some bugs, right? I don't remember many bugs in the house I grew up in or in the first home I owned.

In our soon to be ex-house, we had these

(seriously, who volunteers to be the 'hand model' for this shot-psycho)

I have a great disdain for scorpions. I was stung by one three days before Christmas! I took out all my holiday stress stomped that stinker gooood!

Anywho, I don't really like pesticides. Since my dislike for scorps (as the hubs calls them, like they're pals or something?!) outweighs my dislike for pesticides, enter in a new solution...

Diatomaceous earth!

You get the food grade (important if you have kids or pets) and sprinkle it all around the outside of your house. Apparently, it either cuts and dries them out or gets 'em from the inside out if they eat it. muahahaha (suddenly I'm a sadist?)

Your house looks pretty goofy--like it was doing cocaine or nuclear winter has hit...

but supposedly it works.

We've put it all around our new house, but we don't seem to have scorps here (there's enough distance for the nickname now I guess).

I'm just so paranoid with the little chicas running around in their bare tootsies!

We do in fact have some ants. I put borax on their trail-twice-...

I'm not sure if it's working, we'll see.

Have you got any tips for fixing what bugs ya? Care to share?

s:)

Digging for treasure!

2010-05-21T07:07:00.009-07:00

Do you remember how I told you the HOA where I live was on us about our landscaping? Well we decided to git 'er dun!
I am really interested in doing xeriscape style and I'm usually all over doing lots of web research, but we threw all caution to the wind at Lowe's! We bought this tree!

check out that groovy price tag-$29.98!

I had priced trees a few years ago at a local nursery and boy-howdy were they pricey! I understand that this is because they come out and plant them for you! Well, heck I am all about DIY, so I thought we could dig our own hole and plant our own tree...

At first I let the men-folk do the work.

They are much neater than I, they cleared away the rocks and such...

We have some crazy hard dirt here in AZ, it was taking forevah!

Then someone had the crazy ingenious idea to water the dirt to soften it up

Then I got in on the act! Digging is some hard work I tell ya!

Water=lots of mud and only a wee bit easier digging...

I think the hubs and I dug for two hours--darn guidelines about the hole being 2 1/2 times the size of the pot and as deep as the whole rootball! Sheesh!

Finally we were ready to put her in

We used this stuff to welcome her to her new home

Please welcome our newest addition...dun, dun duuuuunnnn,

Ashley!

Why, yes we named our tree! Don't your's have names?

She seems to be adjusting nicely and is enjoying her little rock circle.

Aren't her leaves lovely!

She's going to be very big and give beautiful shade!

Oh and here is all the treasure we dug up!

It's hard to tell but there's silicone, cement-with rebar, roof tiles, piping and various random 'construction' items there!

s:)

Grocery Gas

2010-05-20T07:26:00.000-07:00

I was waiting for a prescription at the pharmacy the other night. It was taking a looooonnnnngggg time -- there was a problem with our insurance, ahhhh the joys of being on COBRA.

I walked around, perused the latest People and found myself back in the line, only to be turned away. I figured I'd wait nearby--put the pressure on to finish right :)

The only place to sit was one of those blood pressure machines. Being the stressed out mom I am, I figure it's about time I did a heart check. I put my arm in the crazy squeezer cuff and pushed the button to get it to work. That thing made pressure proud and squeezed on tight. The squeezing woke up something in my belly and all of a sudden a bubble was squeezed out! We're talking TooTage here peeps! One, Two and Three toots--with SounD attached! I couldn't do the toot and run because the squeezer was holding me hostage with it's nuclear squa-eezing power! Yikes! The peeps in line were suddenly very interested in my results or something!

Luckily, my blood pressure was normal :) and I'm looking for a new pharmacy...

At first I didn't consider this blog-worthy, with the whole public forum and all, but then after some other feedback, I thought why not!? It's an amusing story to remember, right--my grandchildren's grandchildren need to know?!

I want this!

2010-05-18T22:57:00.000-07:00

I die die die when I see this Liberty of London stuff at Tarjay! I really want these storage things.

What's funny, is I saw them there around Easter and then poof they were gone. In fact, all the stuff is on clearance at my Target. Yet, the website shows they aren't out yet-random? The real issue is that I cannot find them and I want them now now now!

Alas, perhaps I will wait and then kick myself over them later.

Though really I'd settle for one of these from Amy Butler.

I'll take this one--

Isn't is delovely, delightful, and delicious?!

Let's look again shall we?

le sigh

This one is nice too!

They'd look really great in my house...

Maybe, I could just go visit Amy and roll around in all her beautiful fabric. She doesn't know that we're bffs. Go look at her shop! You'll die along with me.

ps-this post was really about the Target crates--to buy or not to buy--thoughts? I might just pony up and get them, but then again--I always second guess internet purchases.

14!

2010-05-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

May 18th, 1996. 5:52am, 7lbs 6.5oz...

I cannot believe it has been 14 years!

(he doesn't like this old pic--how could I post it-sheesh, mom)

Dear Gary,

You are such an awesome kid! You have an incredible sense of humor! I'm sure sometimes much to your teachers' chagrin!

It's a good thing you get straight A's!

You're an awesome big brother, always playing with your sisters-

and showing them new things!

Your passion for basketball is intense!

I am so proud to be your mom!

I love that I'm not the only one that opens their mouth in pictures! I love that you will ALWAYS be my baby boy, even though you've got at least 2 inches on me now! I love you! I hope your 14th birthday is great!

Love, mom!

On my mind

2010-05-16T23:36:00.000-07:00

Today I got to enjoy all of these!

I got to squeeze this little guy, who is actually getting big and round!

(that's my pediatrician, isn't she rockin'!?)

And I talked to her

Her little girl sang me a lively little song.

Then these peeps sang to me too!

and I got to visit with this awesomesauce guy

(he's my big bro)

It was a great and blessed birthday!

s:)

Wrapping up wonderful

2010-05-13T23:01:00.001-07:00

I worked with someone this week that really liked to use the word-Wonderful. Everything was wundurfel, wonderful, Wonderful!... It was an interesting experience with that word all week..It was said when things were good, bad and indifferent.

Do you ever overuse a word?

I really like words.

Words like juxtaposition, dichotomy, and pithy

(sing it with me now--one of these things is not like the other)

When the hubs and I have differing view points (which happens all.the.time hardly ever)-I tell him it's justaposition :)

We make our dichotomy work while still keeping things pithy-hehehe

Anywho (another great word) this post was meant to be about my week shooting--but my Mama taught me when you can't say anything nice, don't say...

I like to talk though, I like to make up words and phrases when the need arises-

I made up a word in college--mmrmph--the number of m's can be increased depending on your attitude. It's a great sorta frustrated, sorta pouty word that has many levels and colors of meaning.

try it while you drive...Mrmph on those slow drivers!

Mrmph on wonderful! Mmrmph on long hours and little appreciation! Mmrmph on being mrmph-y!

Feel free to spread mrmph around.

Hope you're having a great, non-mrmphing week! Happy Friday!

s:)

Things I will miss

2010-05-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

about our old house...

Easy choice: The pool. This shot is before we got the fence around it. Love a FenceD pool, couldn't without that safety net...

we had some great times in that pool, dang they're 'spensive to maintain though.

We'll eventually save our pennies for one I suppose (at least the hubs thinks so)

Random stuff:

The butterfly wall:

Not sure if you can tell from the pic, but these covered almost the entire wall!

The bathroom signs (names blurred to protect the innocent)

This was made to keep the 1 1/2 year old out while her big sister was going--barring the fact that she can't read :) We all tried to take it very seriously, it did come down from the bathroom commissioner, you know.

A Big one:

The growth chart. I got a little tear taking this bad boy down. I moved the chart of course, but the marker on the wall can't come with...

please note that it took my oldest less than four months to go from the same height as me to a full inch of the beginning of looking down on me-yikes!

One last thing I'll miss coming up in another post. So much blood sweat and tears went into it, it gets it's own post.

Kitchen sneak-peek

2010-05-10T23:14:00.002-07:00

Lookie, Lookie, I adoree!

These are the new cabinets in our kitchen! I heart them so much!

I agonized over to glaze or not to glaze...

Then, I agonized over the hardware...

I have agonized all about this kitchen.

I didn't really agonize over my faucet, ode to my love for it :) Alas, I couldn't afford to being home his walter filtering brother. Someday we will be a family...

Really though, it's all coming together...if I ever finish painting the cabinets that came with the house!

s:)

Purge

2010-05-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Don't hate me for the embarassing photos to follow...

We are a family of pack-rats. Like.really.a.lot.lot.lot

We tend to fight the urge to purge around here. When you move though, the game changes. We are working at still getting rid of stuff (packing note: purge first, pack second!)

would you believe this is better-we've filled up our trash cans and our neighbors' cans (ssshhhh, we're reverse dumpster divers!)

We've actually already had two garage sales and I think we're ready for a third! Yowza! The best part is that it's going to pay for the lighting in my kitchen! Wait until you see how gah-reat the lights are. I like them really.a.lot.lot.lot. :)

I have to actually work all week, so my posts will be a little curtailed--so if you're still reading after those awful pics, I'll see ya on the flip side!

s:)
ps-really sorry for exposing you to the downfall of too much stuff between two parents and three punky kids

My weekend

2010-05-07T23:10:00.002-07:00

You know you wish you were me

Maybe on Monday I'll show you the trash pile in our old house, then you'll never come 'round these parts again!
s:)

Digging Ditches

2010-05-06T22:52:00.001-07:00

Remember when grown-ups told you that you better get an education or you'd be doing just that! (For me it was right after being warned that my face would freeze that way-I was a child of many faces :p) Well, I didn't graduate from ASU summa cum laude digger for nothin'!

In our neighborhood, one must have a certain percentage of plants in their front yard (Gestapo HOA is already after me!) so we are putting in a watering system. There was 'supposedly' a tube under the driveway, but no dice. My dad and I dug and dug and dug--over two feet down and four feet across--and I tell you what--it's hard work!!!

This lovely pipeline ditch was actually dug by our watering guy--whom really deserves a post of his own. One very odd duck interesting fella
s:)

Life without

2010-05-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

a Kitchen, is nuts. NUTS. Pardon me while I scream

You never realize how much you depend on your kitchen sink man! Then to top it off, we are apparently missing the all important 'back-flow' valve which means if we drink water from the other taps, there is some sewer-water possibility! Gah-ross!

So, we're not drinking it, but I'm still showering and brushing my teeth here peeps. Yikes...

Did I mention no kitchen? Well, there is a fridge and such--but only partial countertops and still boxes everywhere. Did I mention sewer water here?

Have you ever tried to wash up a kid with water that was possibly tainted?

It's not so hard when one is washing this one

(do you see a speck of yogurt there?!)

but then there is that other punky kid

she insists on the bowl and the yogurt container ;p

I have pitchers of water around the house for our usage and I tell ya, she tries to use her daily stipend and then everyone else's as well. Yup, I'm the water police around here.

p.s. the valve is getting replaced tomorrow-phew!

My new boyfriend

2010-05-05T06:56:00.001-07:00

The ups lady brought him. I love her and this new guy on the block.

He is my splurge for the new kitchen. Isn't he beautiful? He's from Rohl.

I almost got this one

Oh bridge faucet how I lust after you, but I decided t liked the idea of one handle.

So this is my new lover

but is satin nickel.

(le sigh)

I may let you come over and love him or perhaps no one will be allowed to touch the sink, I'm undecided...

s:)