An open letter to the makers of kids stuff

Dear Maker of Kid Stuff:

I know we have never met formally, but over the last several months you have been a serious thorn in my side.

Lets start this discussion with a terrible event that occurred about 4 months ago. My kids begged and pleaded and begged some more for these text messengers. With all the lovely fundraisers that happen at school with the promises of big winnings (junky toys and the like) if you sell the most wrapping paper or chocolate bars, my boys had seen these text messengers often. Not being good sales people (and having parents that won't take the junk to work and sell for them) they kept falling short of being the "big winner" at school. Maybe you could say it was our parental guilt for not having helped them sell a ton of this junk to our friends, neighbors, relatives and co-workers that caused the moment of weakness, but we all piled in the car one evening and drove to our closest Toys-R-Us store and picked out the text messengers for a small price of $25.00. These are the junkiest and most cheaply made things I have ever spent $25 bucks on (and when I say "I" I really mean my innocent kids; my husband and I only agreed to let them buy them if they spent their saved up allowance! More parental guilt now.) These text messengers only work if you are standing within 4 feet of the other unit and both units are pointed at each other. Seriously? Seriously. I would have expected this from a dollar store item, but not a well known toy store.

More recently, we allowed the boys to once again use their hard earned allowance money to buy a digital camera. These cameras proudly advertised on the packaging how you could take up to 152 pictures and then play games with your photos and make jigsaw puzzles from these photos. Guess what you Makers of Kid Stuff, you can, more accurately, only take about 100 photos and that is if you set the resolution to "Lo", which translates to fuzzy, crappy pictures that are not worth saving. For the better resolution (and I use that term very loosely) you can only get 20 pictures before you must download to the computer. These cameras were only $12 dollars, but still, my kids expected so much more for what they paid for. I guess you Makers of Kid Stuff might say it is a lesson well learned, but you didn't have to see their sad little faces when the cameras did not live up to their expectations. We bought these cameras just before a camping trip and they couldn't even use them. Highly disappointing for us all! Again I tell you, that we would have expected this poor quality from a dollar store item.

How can you sleep at night knowing that there are thousands of children highly disappointed in the product you so sloppily make and advertise gearing it towards young children. I am sick of being the "bad guy" always telling my kids "no" because they don't understand that this stuff is junk and the ol' saying "You get what you pay for" doesn't necessarily apply here. The kids are spending a decent amount of money (especially for a kid who only gets $3-$4 a week in allowance) and getting junk that doesn't live up to it's colorful advertising.

So, I would appreciate you either making the product more worth the amount spent (for example, making the text messengers $5 bucks instead of $25 and those cameras were really worth more like $5 also, not $12) or improve the quality of the product for the amount of money charged!

Thank you for your time, of which you must have a lot because you certainly aren't spending the time in making good, quality items for children.

Sincerely,
A mom who is fed up

Friday Recipe - Our 4th of July menu

With the 4th of July being only week away, I thought I would post about our 4th of July menu along with some decorating ideas. There are no pictures here, but I promise after the big shindig I will have pictures to post!

First let's start with the menu:

Grilled hamburgers (with all the fixins - lettuce, tomato slices, sliced onions, pickles, etc)
Marinated cucumber slices
Calico Beans
Cornbread
Cole Slaw
Potato Salad
Frog Eye Salad
Patriotic Cupcakes
Sparkling punch
Watermelon Pops (I've never tried these before, but they look too cute not to try them out!)
I always have some bags of chips on hand to go with the burgers too.

Now on to the decorations:

I took empty cans (from beans and other miscellaneous food items) and covered them with scrapbook paper and ribbon to hold utensils and other items that will be on the table. I will be wrapping up red, white and blue napkins with utensils and standing them in one of my taller decorated cans.

From here, I got the idea to make personalized cups for us. I used 12 oz cups we already had that are red. I embellished them with ribbon and stars and wrote names of the people I know will be here that day! I think they turned out pretty cute!

Oh and I bought some glow-in-the-dark paint and the kids and I are going to make shirts with stars on them this weekend (Thanks to my good friend at Lions, Tigers and Boys, Oh My! for the idea!)

I can't wait to post pictures next weekend!

The Lazy Days of Summer

The kids had all disappeared outside the other day. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too cold. Sunshine bright overhead. I went looking for them and through the window I spotted them.

Each one in the tree. The boys had taken their journals out there to write. I thought it was really cool and made me wish my fat butt would fit in the tree and I could sit there and write too.

I feel so special

I got off work a little early to take my sister to the airport. My sister had our car yesterday so she, Mr. Man and Lady Bug picked me up from work about an hour before I normally leave the office. We laughed all the way to the airport, in horrible traffic, but hardly noticing the traffic because we were having so much fun!

After hugs and kisses we watched her go inside the terminal and I got weepy.

THEN, back at home as we are pulling in our driveway I notice my big blue planter is missing from the front of the house but before I can ask Mr. Man if he knows where it is Lady Bug is inside the house screaming with excitement! There was a new outfit (complete with new shoes too) for her. I get inside and notice that our table is all set for dinner. There is our red "You are special today" plate sitting in the middle of the table covered in chocolate dipped strawberries and a note that says:

Thanks so much for your hospitality! Your house is so cute and comfortable!

There is chicken marinating in the refrigerator for grilling tonight and I also made a salad.

Enjoy and I will talk to you soon. Love you!

I cried. She is so sweet to do have done all that. But just then, Mr. Man goes out to start up the grill and he hollers for me to come quickly. She planted flowers for me on my deck. Last week, I mentioned to her that I wanted to plant flowers and was hoping to do it in my time off last week, but we just never got around to it. I cried again.

Monday morning miscellaneous

My sister will be heading home this evening. I am so sad to see her go, but I suppose it will be good to get back to our regular routine. Our visit has been a whole lot of fun, although we didn't do anything all that spectacular it was just plain fun to visit and laugh and eat and watch movies!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, last night Lady Bug is writing on a piece of paper and she hands it to Lefty and asks him what it says. Here is what she wrote:

HeaHRALReaL

Lefty - sort of laughing: "It says He-a-Hurl-Real"

Lady Bug: "Noooooooo it doesn't say that. Look at it closer."

Lefty: "I don't know what that says. Go ask mom."

Lady Bug - in a very annoyed tone of voice: "Mom doesn't know how to read."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We still only have one car. Our van, apparently, is fixable but a costly fix. The van is older and I am not sure I want to sink a bunch of money into it and then have something else break next week. So we did a little car shopping last week, but not much since we had out of town company. It seemed a little rude to drag her all over to look at cars with us. Although she probably would have gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My boys are camping this week with some cousins and grandma & grandpa. They should have fun. Lefty is feeling very nervous because he still has nights where he wets the bed. I sent him with some pull-ups and lots of extra clothes. He was almost in tears this morning, which makes me feel like the worst mom E.V.E.R. My MIL was re-assuring Lefty this morning that it would all be ok and not to worry. At home, we have been setting his alarm clock for 2:00 am so he will wake up to go potty. This has helped -- but obviously when camping in a tent the alarm clock was not an option (plus I would feel rude asking grandma to get up at 2 every morning to take him to the potty.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were trying to save some money on daycare costs this summer so the boys will be doing a lot of camping out or overnight visits with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., which will be fun for them....lonesome for momma! This week, the boys will only be gone until Wednesday though. Then on Thursday and Friday my MIL will watch them during the day, but they will be home at nights with us!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is my first full day back at work since last Wednesday's half day. I am sort of ready and sort wish I had more time off.

Friday Recipe - Carrot slaw with a twist

I always disliked carrot slaw (sometimes called carrot raisin salad) until my aunt made it for a party several years ago. It was SO yummy. I asked how she made it and she said she put in some granny smith apple. Ever since then, I make mine this way. Recently, I saw a magazine recipe that added jicama to carrot salad. I used my regular recipe and then added in some jicama - It is so yummy!

Carrot Slaw

INGREDIENTS:
3 T lemon juice
3 T mayonnaise
1/4 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 lrg carrots, peeled and shredded (about 3 cups)
1 lrg Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and shredded (about 1 cup)
1/3 c dark raisins
1/2 lb jicama, peeled and shredded

Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate until chilled.

** You can make this lower in calories by using low-fat mayo.**

It's like a vacation

Since leaving work yesterday at noon, I haven't done much of anything. I feel like I am on a vacation!

I picked my sis up at the airport, then we went to lunch. Then we went to a movie, did a little shopping, came home to lay around and do nothing. Then this morning we slept in and are getting ready to go eat brunch somewhere and probably go walk around our downtown area.

Good times! I love just relaxing! (Bad news, my boss asked me to come in for an hour or so this afternoon...Boo!!Hoo!!!)

Who Am I?

Lions, Tigers and Boys, Oh My! posted a whole bunch of "Who Am I?" answers on her blog and then asked "who are you?" Since the kids are gone and therefore I lack any real funny stories to share and frankly, I have not had enough coffee this morning to think of anything worthwhile I decided to play along with her!

I am Mom Is In The Fishbowl

I am a mom that works full time, but make it my daily goal to cook good food for the family and make sure I use every opportunity to help my kids be the best they can be

I am not skinny and toned

I know how to multi-task

I think I want to take a photography class

I don't think I realized how much I would want to shelter my kids from in this big, ugly world. Sometimes I wish I could keep them inside and never let them out!

I want to experience Love everyday

I have an obsession with reading. I have to read in the morning and at night. I even read on my lunch hour at work sometimes.

I like the way my life has turned out so far. Have there been ups and downs? Of course. Have I experienced hardships? Of course. But all-in-all, I am quite content with my life.

I dislike the fact that there is so much wicked in this world

I hate snakes, mice and cleaning toilets

I dream of growing old with my husband

I fear what this world is becoming

I am annoyed when no one else in my home seems bothered by the messes they create and leave behind

I crave Mexican food at least twice a week

I usually wake up early and get some "mommy/me time"

I search for recipes and craft ideas online and in magazines daily (yes, daily!)

I hide my nail polish and makeup from the 4 year old princess living in my house!

I wonder what path my children will choose. Will they be doctors, lawyers or garbage collectors?

I know I can always count on my husband, my mom and my sisters when I need shoulders to cry on.

I just can't help kissing on my kids

I regret not being a better person

I love taking care of my family

I can be perfectly content sitting, reading a book and drinking coffee (or iced tea)

I can't live without flip-flops

I try to not worry about the kids when they aren't sitting right next to me, but this world is big and scary and full of bad things

I enjoy when I get to go out with just "the girls" and have adult conversation without little kids under foot!

I don't care that my husband has put on a little weight, it makes me feel better about my weight gain (and trust me, his weight gain is no where close to my weight gain!! trust me. He still is considered "thin"!)

I always read

I never want to lose my husband or kids before I die

I'd rather be laying on a beach enjoying the sun and having zero cares in the world!

I rely on my husband for a lot

I believe in my kids. I know they can and will do anything their hearts desire as they grow up

I dance ~ um, no I don't. We didn't have a wedding dance for my fear of looking like a total idiot in front of people! Thankyouverymuch!

I sing horribly, but that doesn't stop me from annoying my family with little songs all the time

I argue about silly things sometimes. Then I later look back and wonder why I was so upset about something so insignificant!

I write letters and notes to my kids a lot

I win when I make my family happy

I lose my mind when my family can not seem to get out the door in a timely fashion!

I wish I had more time with family (close relatives and distant ones too) and more flip-flops

I listen to my boys argue and it makes me sad. I wish they would realize now how important family bonds are.

I don't understand vehicles at all. I can put gas in them and that's about it!

I'm scared of snakes and mice

I forget everything ~ if it isn't written on a sticky-note or in my Daytimer then forget it. I won't remember

I am happy when I spend time with family

Weekend in Review

We had a lot happen over the weekend:

Friday, my husband spent his day off at his sister's house. She moved to Virginia and the house is on the market, but vacant. Well, her 19 year old son was living there until this past week and now he has moved to Virginia also. Just imagine a 19 year old boy, living rent-free in this house for a little over a month. There were to-go containers and clothes everywhere. The garbage disposer had CHICKEN bones stuck inside it causing the dishwasher to back up! The lawn was knee high (he claimed he never got a chance to mow because of all the rain we have had, but...well, let's just say my lawn isn't knee-high!!!!

Mr. Man and the boys spent Friday cleaning bathrooms, cleaning out the garbage disposer and making sure the dishwasher would run, mowing and boxing it up all the clothes. My SIL told us to donate all the things we found in the house. I ended up calling her to tell that he boxed it all up and brought it to our house and as I went through it I realized there were things in these boxes she may want. Several Tupperware storage items, some Pampered Chef items, some nice chrome bathroom organizers. We even have a snowboard in our garage! She is coming here in late June for a wedding so she said she'll go through all the stuff when she is here.

There was also a nice couch and recliner that my SIL tried to sell on Craigslist. She had people offer way less then her asking price, or she had people say they'd come get it and never show. So she ended up leaving it behind. She told us to take it if we wanted it or donate it somewhere. It is a beautiful couch! The couch we had in our TV room was probably 10-15 years old!! When you sat on it you sunk to the bottom! It was bad! So, we got my SIL's couch and recliner home Friday afternoon, with the help of our nephew and his truck. We took our old one to the curb, put a sign on it "FREE" and within 10 minutes someone had taken it. I almost felt guilty, like they would realize why it was FREE and want to bring it back to me!

Ok, so now back to the weekend review. So that was Friday.

Saturday, I had a hair appointment at 10:30 (you should have seen these awful roots and grays!!!) but since we still have only one car, Mr. Man asked me to drop him and the kids off downtown. Disney was doing a promotion for Jim Carrey's movie coming out in November A Christmas Carol - which, by the way, my kids say looks awesome - So I took them downtown to wait in the line for an hour and a half just to get in to see this promo deal, then they walked around bookstores and stuff until I was done getting, colored, highlighted and cut!! After I was done I headed downtown to meet them for lunch. Then we just took a drive, looking at really nothing in particular, and got home about 3:00 or 4:00. We just relaxed the rest of the night.

Sunday, we went to church, then home to grill the chicken I found shoved in the freezer for lunch. Then the boys headed across the street to swim at the neighbors house. I spent the afternoon doing laundry and packing for the kids to be able to go spend the week with their aunt. We headed to their aunt's house about 5:30 and she lives about an hour north of us. We hung out with my SIL and her family for awhile then Mr. Man and I headed home, getting home about 10:00.

It is a little lonely in this house this morning, but the dog is making up for the kids not being here. She is pacing and whining and wants to be on top of me all of the time! (she doesn't like it when the kids aren't here) Oh well. I know the kids will have blast fishing and boating with their aunt and cousins, even some second cousins will be there! One of my sister's will be flying in on Wednesday, so that will be fun! She and I will get Wednesday afternoon and Thursday by ourselves, then we'll head to my SIL's to pick up the kids on Friday. Exciting week ahead!

My family just might starve this week

I have no menu figured out for this week. EEEK! Today is technically shopping day and I don't have a list yet, nor do I have my menu figured out!

UGHT-OH!!!!

Well, I have enough dog food to get us through a few days -- I am kidding of course!

If I get my act together soon enough I will post my menu! {don't anyone hold their breath waiting though!}

Friday Recipe - Triple Berry Pie

I recently found this recipe on Skip To My Lou and since it looked so easy and yummy I tried it. Oh. My. Goodness. This was SO yummy.

I am listing here the way I made it - I am not a fan of bluebrries in pie so I used blackberries:

Triple Berry Pie
INGREDIENTS:
2 (9") pie crusts (I used the refrigerated, pre-made kind)
2 cups fresh blackberries rinsed and drained
2 cup fresh raspberries rinsed and drained
2 cups fresh strawberries rinsed, stemmed and halved
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
1 large egg lightly beatenA

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Press 1 pie crust into a lightly greased pie pan. In large bowl, combine blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. In small bowl, combine cornstarch and 1/4 cup water and stir until smooth and then add in 3/4 cup of the sugar. Pour cornstarch, sugar and water mixture over the berries and toss. Let stand 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour berries into pie shell and place remaining pie shell over the top and crimp edges together. Brush top of pie with beaten egg and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar. Cut slits or pattern in the top of pie to vent. Bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes (I had to do mine more at 50-55 minutes) until crust is lightly browned. If edges brown too quickly tent pie with foil.

***I made this recipe a second time after the first one because it was such a hit. The second time I used frozen fruit. I let it sit out and thaw for about 30-40 minutes then drained it. Then I added in the cornstarch/sugar mixture and let it sit again for 20 minutes. Then followed the recipe as listed above. It was equally as tasty with the frozen fruit. ***

I've turned into my mom...

Yep. I've turned into my mom. I went to the kitchen this morning and caught a glimpse of my reflection in the sliding glass door. I realized I look just like my mom. THEN, to top it off, I headed straight for the coffee pot to make my morning coffee (just like my mom). As I was pouring water in the brewer, the sound of the water pouring reminded me of days from when I was young, laying in bed and would hear my mom starting her morning coffee.

I started studying myself. I looked at my hands. Yep, my moms. I went to the bathroom mirror to look at my eyes. Yep, my moms. Sometimes when I laugh I can hear my mom's laugh.

After my coffee brewed, I poured a cup and headed to the couch to read a little bit before everyone got up. I am certain I was sitting just like my mom does when she reads. When Spirit got up and came to see me, I thought to myself "What he is seeing right now, is what I saw of my mom when I was 8".

Then as the rest of the family starting getting up and moving around, I could hear myself talking. It wasn't so much the sound of my voice as much as it was what I was saying. I am almost certain my mom said the very same things to me when I was 8. It was weird. Like I was having some sort of out of body experience or something!

This is not a complaint by any means. My mom is a classy lady. Even at 71 years old I think she dresses more fashionable than I do!

One quality she has that I don't ... she ALWAYS roots for the underdog. I don't. Most of the time the thought doesn't cross my mind. But she will always remind me that the underdog needs us! She also has a knack for knowing when to call me. I'm not sure I have that knack. Maybe it is her "mom instinct" telling her to call me and I don't quite have that mommy-instinct yet.

I knew the day would come when I would realize I am my mom and I'm glad the day is today.

Random Thoughts

The kids couldn't have been more excited for school to end and summer break to begin.... yet they have played "school" non stop. What is up with that? Spirit is the teacher and Lefty and Lady Bug are students. Lady Bug spends a lot of time putting herself in timeout, while the "teacher" gets mad at her for doing so!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The school had a really cool summer reading program that the kids could sign up for, it wasn't mandatory and the parents had to sign an agreement accepting these books and workbooks. We agreed to participate so each boy got two large books and two workbooks to go with each book. The program encourages the kids to read part of the book and then do the workbook that follows up the stories. It is a cool workbook, it has some spelling words taken from the story, some reading comprehension questions, then some grammar questions ("Are these words using short vowels or long vowels?", "Are these sentences punctuated correctly?", etc.), then it also has some writing pages ("Write a letter to someone telling them about the story you just read.") The boys are so excited!This is their first full day out of school and they are home working in their workbooks. Think they will still be interested in it in a few weeks? Time will tell!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are still down to one car. My van still isn't working. Yesterday we had a little scare...Mr. Man's Jeep decided not to start. He had come to have lunch with me, when we go to leave the restaurant, it won't start. It won't make any noise like it is even thinking about starting. So we get someone to jump us. The battery won't hold a charge. So the guy took Mr. Man to the auto parts store to get a new battery. Thankfully the new battery was all the Jeep needed (at $100....I had no idea car batteries were so expensive!).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I live very far from my family. Today is one of those days I wish I was closer. One of my sisters is being forced to make a decision that will impact her family greatly and she is torn on what to do. I can't make the decision for her, but boy do I wish I could be there to hold her hand while she makes the decision.


This was such a boring post. If you made this far you deserve chocolate!

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of school for the boys. They are super excited! Here are some things we did to celebrate!

First off, we got each of the teachers a gift card to the movies (good for 2 tickets and $10 at the concession) as a thank you for all the hard work this year. Plus, we made all the teachers and office staff these little gumball tins. I was inspired by the idea here . I went to the craft store and couldn't find any cute little jars or tins or anything for less than $1.50 a piece. I just didn't think I should spend that kind of money, just as I was about to give up I found 20 little tins in the clearance bin for $0.29 each. SCORE!!! I bought all 20, figuring that what I didn't use for the gumballs I could use for something else later! I made some little tags to attach to the top of the tin (I stole Everything Is Pink's idea for the tag. I loved what she put on it!) and then we had the kids deliver them! I found a big container of gumballs at Walmart for $6.00. Overall, this was an inexpensive gift and it let the staff know how much we appreciate their hard work!

I have seen several of those "end of school t-shirts" all over the Internet and so I decided to make one for each of my boys. I bought an off-brand Iron-on Transfer package of 4 sheets of transfer paper and then just typed up something in Microsoft Word. Then I also bought some balck iron-on letters to put their name on the back of the shirt. They came out really, super-duper cute! Here is the final product! The boys had all their friends sign the shirts with sharpie markers.

HERE IS WHAT THE SHIRTS LOOKED LIKE BEFORE THEY WERE SIGNED
(The front of the shirt says "Thank you [teacher's name] for a GREAT year!" and the back says "Look out 3rd grade [or in Lefty's case 2nd grade] here I come!")

AFTER SIGNING:

Now it is officially summer vacation. Yippee! I know the time will fly by and soon we'll talking about back-to-school stuff again!

Not a good night for Lady Bug

Lady Bug did two somewhat funny things last night:

FIRST- A teenage girl came to my front door selling cookbooks. I was busy talking with her and the kids were inside doing their own thing. When I stepped inside to grab my wallet (You know I couldn't pass up a cheap cookbook!), I noticed Lady Bug standing in the hall with a rag wiping the wall. I asked what happened and she said "The pencil accidentally wrote on the wall." without investigating further I said that I would help her when I was done paying for the cookbook. When I settled up for the cookbook and came back inside I headed over to Lady Bug. I saw a beautifully drawn butterfly (her newest favorite thing to draw), then her name scrawled out and then a lovely flower. I asked Lady Bug again what happened and she said the same thing, that the pencil accidentally wrote on the wall. I sent her to her room before she saw me laughing. I thought it was hysterical to blame a "magic pencil" who just happened to write Lady Bug's name on the wall. AMAZING!! (Almost as amazing as when I was 4 or 5 and carved my name in the door frame and tried claiming innocence on the whole thing! I had to confess this in here before my sisters ratted me out!) I talked to Lady Bug about writing ONLY on paper, etc, etc, etc, then I made her help me clean the wall. It all came off fairly easily, which was good. [I tried to get a picture of it before we cleaned it off, but the pencil marks were a little too light and it was too hard to see...]

THEN- About an hour after the first incident, she was in the bathroom hollering for me to come help her. (she still needs help wiping after she goes #2...) Mr. Man was right there so he went in to help her, but he comes right back out saying that she needs me. She needs me really bad and I better hurry. So I am figuring she must have pooped all over the floor or something. When I get in the bathroom, she is standing in front of the toilet, toilet seat raised (like the boys do), her pants are around her ankles and she has pee all over the toilet, floor and her clothes. I asked what happened and she said "The pee just came out all over the floor." I asked her if she was having trouble getting her pants down. "No." THEN, it dawns on me that she must have been trying to stand up to pee like the boys do. When I ask her if this is the case she started to cry and told me yes. I don't know why that one made me laugh, but I found it funny. Well, it wasn't funny that I had to wash the floors and her and the clothes, but it was kinda funny seeing her standing there with the toilet seat up! AND she has no idea that I was laughing, I kept it in until I was in the laundry room by myself!

This week's meal plan- June 6

I have mentioned before that a friend of mine was/is trying to start planning her meals weekly and for a few weeks I posted my meal plan and then I just got lazy and stopped posting it. She asked me today if I would post it again so here it is:

SATURDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal and juice or milk
Lunch - Chicken nuggets/french fries/applesauce
Dinner - Tortilla soup/Very Berry Pie

SUNDAY:
Breakfast - Cinnamon toast/juice or milk
Lunch - Sloppy Joes/french fries/carrot sticks w/ranch dressing
Dinner - Hawaiian meatballs/steamed rice/cheesy broccoli

MONDAY:
Breakfast - Pancakes/Bacon
Lunch - Sandwich/chips/fruit
Dinner - Burritos

TUESDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal/juice or milk
Lunch - Sandwich/chips/fruit/pudding cup
Dinner - Spaghetti/garlic bread/Caesar salad

WEDNESDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal/juice or milk
Lunch - Left overs
Dinner - Mac-n-cheese/peas

THURSDAY:
Breakfast - Eggs/toast/hashbrowns/juice
Lunch - Grilled cheese sandwiches/pudding cups/chips
Dinner - Grilled BBQ chicken/garden salad/roasted potatoes

FRIDAY:
Breakfast - Cereal/juice or milk
Lunch - left overs
Dinner - Homemade pizza (we are trying this pizza dough recipe)

In a big funk

After work yesterday I pulled into the driveway (driving my husband's Jeep since my van STILL isn't working) and my neighbor came running over to me. First of all, she was wondering if we were doing ok (she implied she thought my husband and I had split up or something since my van hadn't been out front all week!) so I explained the situation. THEN, she told me to be prepared when Mr. Man got home with the boys because Spirit and one of her boys got into trouble at school together. "They were saying inappropriate words." Just about then Mr. Man rounded the corner with boys in tow and he looked a.n.g.r.y.

As I followed them into the house he had Spirit explain to me what happened. Apparently Spirit and his little friends were playing in the dirt making the dirt into shapes of butts, penises and vaginas. Ms. E, director of the after school program, was not thrilled with these boys doing this. I know lots and lots of people teach their children the proper names for bodily parts, I never have really addressed it and I let the kids name them. It isn't necessarily that I don't want them to know the proper names, but I personally do not want my small child referencing them that way. I don't know. It just sounds vulgar coming out of a 3 year old's mouth. THAT IS MY OPINION. And I realize my opinion is somewhat silly.

Sooooo, anyway, when I found out that was the "inappropriate words" they were saying I was slightly relieved. Spirit has been in trouble before when he and some classmates wrote curse words in Spirit's spiral notebook, so I expected the worst.

So we had to think of a punishment for Spirit and Mr. Man and I could not agree. My thing was Spirit did not say a "bad word", he named a body part. I told Mr. Man I would prefer Spirit not use that word, but it isn't a "bad word". He was so upset that he thought 10 days of grounding from outdoors and video games and strict confinement to his room was an appropriate sentence. I thought that was too much. We finally sent Spirit to bed and told him we would let him know his punishment in the morning.

After sleeping on it and discussing it more this morning, we decided 5 days of grounding from outside and no video games would be sufficient. Spirit is accepting the punishment like a man. He isn't thrilled, but he is dealing with it anyway.

So, I am driving into work and somewhat wishing I wasn't a parent. Parenting is hard work. All I could think was, if I do the wrong thing now he is screwed up for life. There is no comfort in that. None.

Ok, so already feeling bad about myself (not to mention my sweet daughter telling me this morning that the rolls of fat over the top of my pants looks like a donut...nice) I get into work and get totally chewed out for something that is beyond my control. When your boss keeps 2 calendars, a desk one and an electronic one, and he randomly updates them and never updates the one I decide to rely on (for instance, once I thought he must not update the electronic one as often, so I started fully relying on the desk one, now apparently, he is updating his electronic one and not the desk one...) it is extremely difficult to schedule things and inevitably things are going to get crossed and/or double booked. How is that my fault. He sets 90% of his own appointments, if he wants my help with the other 10% he needs to be consistent with the calendaring process. I guess, I just don't understand why people need to be so condescending. I am not an idiot, so don't talk to me like I am.

Pepperoni Baked Ziti

I tried this recipe this week and it was so tasty. I found it on Recipeezaar.

Click here for the recipe.

I added more mozzarella than listed because we are total cheese lovers in my house! The kids really snarfed it up, although I was babysitting my friend's two kids and they weren't fans of the pepperoni in it, but ate the noodles out of it. My kids loved the pepperonis in it. I have eaten the left overs for lunch two days in a row and it warms up nicely.

EIGHT - a meme

My dear friend over at Rainy Day in May tagged for this meme:

The rules are that I have to tag the person who tagged me, complete a list or 8, and then tag 8 other people (and let them know I tagged them). So here goes nothing:

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. The kids being out of school for the summer
2. Taking some family trips together this summer
3. Seeing my sister in June
4. Seeing my mom this fall
5. Making my own pickles (my MIL is going to teach me)
6. Learning to make my own jam from fresh fruit
7. Finally finishing up the final season of Six Feet Under
8. Volunteering

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Ran errands
2. Drove past my broken down van (which is still in front of Lady Bug's preschool) and had evil thoughts of pushing it off a cliff
3. Ate lunch with a friend
4. Made a hair appointment
5. Laundry
6. Dishes
7. Cooked a wonderful meal for my family
8. Met with the school principal about Coffee-n-Kleenex (click on the link then scroll down almost to the end of the post to read about this)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Read more
2. Go back to school
3. Take more trips
4. Work less hours, but make more money (just bein' honest!)
5. Spend more time with family (my sisters and my mom)
6. Travel out of the country
7. Sew
8. Do more for my kids

8 Shows I Watch:
1. CSI Miami
2. CSI New York
3. NCIS
4. Criminal Minds
5. Yo Momma (hey don't judge me for this!)
6. News
7.
8.

8 Favorite Fruits:
1. Raspberries
2. Strawberries
3. Peaches
4. Cherries
5. Kiwi
6. Bananas
7. Green apples
8. Black berries

8 Places I'd Like to Travel:
1. Italy
2. New Zealand
3. Oregon
4. New York
5. Seattle, WA
6. Alaska
7. Virginia
8. Washington DC

8 Places I've Lived:
1. Northglenn, CO
2. Arvada, CO
3. Thornton, CO
4. Brighton, CO
5. Denver, CO
6. Aurora, CO
7. Prescott, AZ
8. Portland, OR

8 People I've Tagged:
1. The Fam Five
2. Lions, Tigers, and Boys, Oh my!
3. Pixie Dusted
4. A Mom's Life
5. 2 Little Irish Boys
6. Oikology
7. Rural Chaos
8. Our Piece of Quiet

25 Summer Activity Ideas

Last year I started to keep a list of some ideas for when the kids said they were bored. I wanted this list to be things they could do with little supervision. I mean, going to the swimming pool or library require me to leave the house too and there are just times that isn't the most convenient thing to do when they are bored! Some of these things on this list require adult help but at least I can still be home to monitor laundry or cook dinner while they entertain themselves for a few minutes!

Here are some ideas I have on that list and I plan to use this list over the summer break:

1. Digital camera scavenger hunt. Have the kids take a digital camera (we happen to have an old one that takes "ok" pictures, but it doesn't like to download them anymore so we gave it to the boys) and search for things on the list. Make this is as easy or complex as you want. My boys are 7 and 8 and then Lady Bug is 4, so I tried to go somewhere in the middle so the boys would have fun, but it wouldn't be too hard for a 4 year old. (some of the things on our scavenger hunt list last year were: Rolly-polly, 2 small worms, a large rock, a crayon, a clean bedroom (mom's doesn't count!), a Lego, a squirrel, an orange flower, a yellow dandelion, a red car...etc) Have the kids go in the yard (or take them to a park, whatever your parameters might be) and let them use the digital camera to find the items, then they bring you the camera when they complete the list! Hey, this should kill 30-45 minutes at least right???


2. Wash my car (or dad's)


3. Wash your bikes


4. Sidewalk Paint - My kids think this is the coolest stuff. Cornstarch is fairly cheap and it only takes a few drops of food coloring. The colors are vibrant on the sidewalk and it cleans up easily! I bought a pack of sponge paint brushes for $1.00 at the craft store. We wash and re-use them so this activity is overall a fairly cheap one.


5. Sidewalk chalk - This is fun too. The kids enjoy making it!! The hardest part is waiting for it to dry.


6. Set up the tent indoors and have an indoor camp-"out"


7. Build a fort using blankets and/or sheets


8. Play "Dance Freeze". Turn on some music, the kids dance and dance until someone stops the music. They must freeze as soon as the music stops or they are "out". Then start the music again and dance and dance until someone stops the music.


9. Have a Balloon Race. This is fun if you have neighborhood kids over because more kids are better. Take some Dollar Store toys, whistles or even coins, anything small but rewarding to the kids. Put it inside a balloon, blow up the balloon and tie it closed. You will need one balloon per child. Have the kids stand at one end of the room and the balloons on another. When you say go the kids run to a balloon, they sit, stand, jump, kick or whatever it takes to pop the balloon. Then they get to keep the prize. Last year our sitter did this and she put money in the balloons, then took them to the Dollar Tree to buy something with the money. The kids thought it was the coolest thing E.V.E.R.!


10. Another super fun balloon game: Wits and Consequences. Write some simple questions on strips of paper and, like the toys in the Balloon Race game, insert the strips into the balloon, blow up balloon and tie shut. Do the same thing with some simple "to-do's" such as rub your tummy while patting your head. Or do a cartwheel. Label the "question" balloons "WITS" and the to-do's "CONSEQUENCES". Have the first child draw a "Wits" balloon, pop it and then answer the question. If they answer incorrectly they must choose a "consequences" balloon, pop it and follow the instructions. If they do THAT correctly they get back in the game. If they don't then they are OUT. If they answer the question correctly the first time, they are still in the game and DO NOT have to pick a consequences balloon!


11. Make Sponge Balls. Go here and check out the instructions. Martha Stewart suggests a game of tag with these, but I am worried my boys would be throwing too hard, but these still look like a ton of fun and I'm sure you can have some serious fun with these. Dollar Tree has packs of sponges so these balls would be cheap to make!


12. Pull out the craft box- I have a box full of scraps (paper and fabric and ribbon) and odds-n-ends, some noodles (left over from a recipe where I didn't use the whole bog but it wasn't enough for another meal), googly eyes, etc. I pull out this box and let the kids create stuff. Now that the boys are a little older they can usually come up with something on their own, Lady Bug needs some help getting started. We have made bugs with paper and pipe cleaners, sock puppets, pet rocks with paint and googly eyes, little animals with pon-poms and google eyes...you get the idea. So let them take the box to a nice covered work area and create away.


13. Wash toys. Fill up a bucket with soapy water outside and let the kids wash all the washable toys, cars, etc. They can wash and rinse and let them sit in the sun to dry. Lady Bug likes to wash some of her dolls --"give the dollies a bath"-- so that is pretty fun for her too!


14. Make your own bubbles. Go here for some bubble recipes and fun ideas.


15. This Treasure Ball idea sounds fun!


16. Summer Fun Journal. I thought it would be fun for the kids to keep a journal of what they do all summer - we do have some day trips and longer road trips planned. I would like to encourage the reading and writing throughout the summer.


17. This sun-faded paper art from Martha Stewart sounds fun to do.


18. Have a picnic in the backyard. Let the kids make the sandwiches and gather all the items and then we can all sit down outside to eat together.


19. Make ice cream in a Ziplock bag. I haven't tried this recipe yet, but it sounds fun.


20. Make whipped butter. There are lots of different recipes for making your own butter, but here is one I have tried. It took an hour to make it. The whipping part took a long time. But the kids all took turns holding the mixer and spinning the bowl. They had fun making it.


21. Play with File folder games. I have made some of these for Lady Bug but I think you could easily make math or spelling ones for older kids so they don't lose what they learned in school. Here is a good link to get you started.


22. Make homemade playdough and then play with the playdough.


23. Make cornstarch clay and then create some critters to paint.


24. Have the kids make this Horseshoe Game to play.


25. Make your own t-shirt. Give the kids some Sharpie markers or fabric pens and let them design their own shirt. If you have embroidery hoops you can put a section of the shirt in the hoop and pull tight to make it easier to draw on. You can still color on shirts without the hoops, the hoops just make it a little easier, but it certainly isn't necessary.

So there ya go, hope you get some good ideas from this list! Happy summer!

Head over to We Are THAT Family or to Mom Advice for more summer tips and ideas!

What time of year is it?

OR maybe the title should be "Where on earth do I live?"

Where I live we don't get tons of rain. June usually bring some afternoon showers, but no monsoons or anything. But lately we just keep getting rain and rain and more rain. I am over it. Seriously, over IT!

Anyway, I have been a busy little beaver, preparing the teacher gifts for the end of school, making a banner for our back fence, making t-shirts for the boys to wear the last day of school for their friends to sign.

I also have scheduled a meeting to meet with the principal tomorrow morning to discuss an event next school year that I am coordinating. Ever heard of Coffee & Kleenex? The school Spirit went to for kindergarten had this event for all parents (but it is definitely geared more towards the kindergarten parents) and I appreciated it so much! You drop your child off in their classroom. You leave and go get a cup of coffee and a muffin. Shed some tears of "My baby is growing up!" and commiserate with other teary parents. Then you go back and peek in on your child! It all works out great! This new school we are going to doesn't do that sort of thing and happened to talk to one of the kindergarten teachers about it and she said she wished the school would do something like that. I volunteered! I hope I don't regret it! I have already filled out an application for Costco to see if I can get free or discounted muffins, the girl at the counter said they get lots of applications for that and it is first come first serve so it is best to get in early.

Our summer is going to be so packed for the kids that I have a huge calendar to keep track of all the places they get to go and on which days! Unfortunately, I still have to work and so does my husband so just the kids have a packed summer and we will hardly see the sunlight (just kidding, work schedule isn't quite that bad!) The kids are almost out of school, just one more week. They get out next Tuesday at 10:30 am!

Oh, and just a random side note, my stupid van broke down, again, this morning. I pulled up to Lady Bug's school and when I came back out it wouldn't start! Mr. Man came to get me and I just left the van sitting there. I tried kicking it a few times, but that didn't help! It is pouring rain and the stupid van dies. IRGH. I hate vehicle troubles!

You're kidding me, right?

Spirit has always been our "early riser". From newborn age he was always getting up before the sun. I can remember many days getting up with little one at 5:00 am. Little booger is usually still the first one awake. We have a rule that he can not get out of bed until the clock reads 6:30 (during the week) and if it is a weekend then he can't get out of bed until 7:00 am. He usually does pretty good, but yesterday morning he came strolling into our room at 5:45 am. Mr. Man let him get into our bed with us. and he wiggled. and wiggled. and wiggled some more. After about 10 minutes Mr. Man told him to lay still and go back to sleep. He laid still for about 3 or 4 minutes and then wiggle, wiggle, wiggle and started knocking on our headboard. Mr. Man got a little angry and told him if he couldn't lay still then he needed to go back to his bed. He drifted off to sleep and at 7:30 we needed to get up and get ready for church. He came downstairs with us and curled up on the couch. This is the conversation I overheard next:

Mr. Man to Spirit: "Why do you look so mad?"

Spirit: "Because you woke me up!"

Mr. Man (bursting into laughter):"You are kidding right? You are mad because I woke you up? Seriously?"

Spirit: "Well, you did wake me up. I'm tired!"

Aren't we all???