Saturday, March 23, 2013

Quick Takes Vol. 14

Jen, I really could have used the reverse order this week :)

1. Let's pinpoint the cause of this week's tardiness...
I'm getting pretty fancy with Picasa.

...all right I give up.  It definitely wasn't related to crocheting leprechaun pots for our leprechaun trap though.  Definitely not.

2. Last Friday, I decided to try introducing the girls to stations of the cross.  I took a page from Lacy and downloaded the Holy Heroes CD from Amazon and printed out coloring pages to work on while we listened.  It went pretty well other than Ava asking every 2 minutes or so "Where did Jesus go pee pee when he was on the cross??"

3. After another trip to the pediatrician who is urging me to take my children to the dentist before age 1, I finally relented and took both girls for their first checkup.



Ava did an awesome job.  Clare refused to open her mouth.

I'm definitely right about the whole "it's pointless to take young children to the dentist" thing.

4. We got a globe this week, and I am stoked.  I am such a geography nerd.


The girls seem fascinated with it so far and it's hilarious to hear Ava randomly asking things like "hey mom, where is Ethiopia again??"

5. Stephen finished his first rosary, and it is AWESOME.


Tell him to open an Etsy shop already!!  The man's got talent.

6. Thank you Aggie Catholic for this one...I'm a little bit worried that whoever wrote this song has hidden cameras around my apartment and wrote this about my life.




7. Conversation this week with Haley:

Haley: you should be asleep.....and in the morning we will be there with creeps for seven years stoke....that is so perfect!!!
 Me: wait...what???
 Mom: we will come in the morning and bring a seven year supply of crepes...and babysit for three years...or more....and......let you blog all day!!!!!!!!!!!!!![I wish}


Ahhh...the girl knows me so well.  Crepes and uninterrupted blogging time...what more could a mom ask for.  Someday...


Have a great weekend everyone...and go check out Jen's place for the rest!!!

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Liebsters and 5 Things and TMI...oh my!

First things first - THANK YOU Jessie, Erika, Rosie, Brooke, and Heather - for nominating me for Liebsters and/or 5 things. You are all awesome and I'm a total loser for taking so long to finish these.

Since it has taken an embarrassing amount of time to finish these questions, I'm going to stick with 5 random facts about me instead of 11.  Come in!! And know me better, man!!

There is no end to these types of photos of me.

1. I am a nerdy former homeschooler.

Ok I went to a Catholic school until 3rd grade.  Then I was homeschooled.

2. As such, I started taking classes at a local community college when I was 12, started college full time at age 15, and graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science when I was 19.

Not kidding about the nerd thing.

3. I have fainting diseases...

...whatever that means.  

I, along with my sisters, mom, and grandma, pass out regularly due to pain, disturbing images, bad smells, claustrophobia, paper mache (ok that one is all Haley)...the whole lot of us are delicate little butterflies.  Here's to hoping my girls have NOT inherited this gene.

However, I alone have inherited the added bonus of seizure like behavior when I pass out - that's right, I get the whole "losing control of bodily functions" package.  Which leads me to my next point...

4. I once passed out on an airplane and peed my pants.

I was 17, and flying alone across the country, still had a connecting flight to make after it happened, and no change of clothes in my carry on bag.

It was awesome.

5.  I kind of drive like your grandma.

I have never gotten a speeding ticket.  Let me also clarify that I have never been pulled over for speeding :)


So....wow.  I don't think I realized how many questions these were until I sat down and copied them into blogger.  Not going to lie, I think I might know myself a little better after answering these questions.  It's intense.


Questions from Jessie Pope:


1. What's your favorite TV show ever?
I'm a little ashamed to admit it's probably Covert Affairs at the moment.  Don't judge me.

2. Who do you think is the most attractive actor from the classic era of film? I'm thinking 1960's and before? (I'm not supposed to answer my own questions but PAUL NEWMAN.)


Stephen was reading over my shoulder and agreed about Paul Newman.  Who am I to disagree with Stephen and Jessie Pope??

3. When you were a kid planning your life out, is there something you always thought you'd have done by now that you haven't done yet? 


I don't think so...my life looks very different than I imagined when I was younger, but mainly I always wanted to be a mom, and I am.  Boooooring answer, sorry :)

4. What's your favorite holiday and why?


Christmas, but strangely enough I think July 4th is second.  Please don't think I'm a heathen.

5. Do you have a go-to meal that you make allll the time? What is it?


Does ordering pizza count??  Because...we order pizza way way way more than I'd like to admit.
And after that, crepes.

6. Playing of Chalayn's question: Beach Boys or Beatles?


I like them both, but I'm gonna have to go with the Beatles.

7. Do you have a book you've read more than once or twice? Which book?


I've read a few books twice but I don't think I've read any more than that.

8. If the rain or snow has you stuck inside, what's one way you try and beat the cabin fever?


If it were just me, I don't think I would ever get cabin fever.  Did you ever see the cabin fever episode of Mythbusters??  I'm totally just like Jamie.  It's probably because my name is Jamie too.

But when I'm stuck inside with the kids...gahhhhhh!!!
Cry a lot, browse Pinterest, and drink?? 
Just kidding.
Kind of.

9. If you have a garden: what do you grow? If you had a garden: what would you grow?


I have no garden.  If I had a garden, I would grow ALL THE THINGS!!!!
I'm thinking about starting an indoor herb garden, though.

10. In your opinion, which is the best Disney/Pixar collaboration? (Monster, Inc., definitely.)


True story - Monsters Inc. makes me cry now that I have children.  I'm kind of a sucker for the original Toy Story.

11. Are you a Kindle fan or an advocate for hard copies of books? Or both?


Both.  I like real books but the instant gratification and cheap prices of Kindle books is soooo...addicting...


Questions from Erika:


1. Best trip ever:


WOW this is a hard question.  It's kind of like asking me to pick my favorite child...I love all of my travels in different ways hahaha.  My honeymoon was probably the most relaxing though.  We rent a cabin in the Smokey Mountains.

2. Favorite saint and why:


I'm woefully inadequate in my knowledge of saints, but I chose Martha as my confirmation saint because we are most definitely kindred spirits.  I can be a real type A, and I think my greatest struggle in my adult life has been to tear myself away from the things that need to be done, and the things I think should be done, and just be present with my loved ones.

3. Fav recipe:


Right now it is most definitely crepes.  Is everyone sick of me talking about crepes yet??  Ummm...I unashamedly love crepes.

I use this recipe and spread the Nutella reeeeal thick and top with whipped cream and sliced strawberries :)

4. Your wedding colors and flowers (potential, if you're not married yet):


Brown and white - and chocolate roses!!

5. Article of clothing that you can't live without:


Right now it would definitely be my Gap Jeggings :)

6. Favorite blog for your morning coffee read:


I just started typing out a narration of my morning coffee...
Let's just say I haven't really read any blogs this entire Lent since we gave up TV.
Really looking forward to Super Why helping me to reclaim my morning coffee blog time :)

7. Polka dots or stripes?


Ok your questions are way harder than Jessies.  Seriously.
I think stripes...probably.  Maybe.  Sometimes.

8. Top favorite mass song:


I love the "taste and see" responsorial psalm because it reminds me of our wedding :)

9. If you could meet anyone, who would it be:


I once told Stephen if I could meet anyone in the world it would be Stacy London, and he chastized me for not picking the Pope.
I don't think it would still be Stacy London, but I still don't think it would be the Pope.  That would be way too intimidating.

10. Most essential beauty item:


I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo -
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooove Origins skin care.  I've tried several face wash/lotion combos and they are all fabulous. 

11. Why you started blogging:


I was an internet lurker for a while, reading blogs but never commenting and all that....when I started talking about blogger people in conversations as if I knew them in real life I knew it was time to stop being so creepy and start my own blog and interact with people.  

Also Stephen kept telling me to do it.  Probably because he was concerned about my creepy stalking.


Questions from Rosie:


1.  If you had to choose only ONE animal (cow, pig, chicken, other) whose meat/products you could eat for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?


Wait so if I pick chicken that means no milk??  That means no...butter????

I guess that means I'm picking the cow.

2.  What is your favorite article of clothing, the one you would seriously miss if it were gone?


I have this scarf from Loft that I absolutely love...pretty, shiny colors!!  I can't seem to find a pic of me wearing it at the moment...

3.  Which one of your children do you love the most?


Not playing favorites, but Emeric wins the best baby award hands down.

3.  What do you tell your kids about Santa/the Easter Bunny/the tooth fairy/other secular(ized) characters?


We decided not to do them.  Then last year I asked Ava whose birthday we celebrate on Christmas, and she said Santa.  ??????

I have nothing against integrating secular characters into religious holidays, it's mostly just that Stephen and I don't really have a lot of memories of believing in Santa (he's too logical/skeptical and my brother spilled the beans to me before I was old enough to remember...) so I think we're slightly nervous about scarring our children with our horrific lies since we don't have the experience of having to find out the truth when we are at an age where we really remember it or are affected by it.

And as for the other characters, I'm guessing our tactic will be to mention them so as to integrate our children into American culture and not give people any more reasons to think they are weirdo homeschoolers but not go out of our way to overtly deceive them or let them believe these mythical creatures exist once they are at an age to really know better.  I feel like right now they are still constructing their view of reality, and it's not weird to talk about leprechauns and fairies because they just take it as -"ok, there are leprechauns and fairies out there. cool. whatever." But I'm assuming Ava will at some point be alarmed when I start talking about these things because she will realize they are inconsistent with reality and start asking more questions, at which point we would most definitely inform her that they are not real.

Wow that was kind of a novel.

4.  How many pairs of shoes do you own?


I own:
A pair of black flats for everyday wear in cold weather
Woven sperries for everyday wear in warm weather
Thong sandals for summer 
Sneakers for running

I also have some nude peep toe (wow...that's what they are, but did I really just write "nude peep toe"?!) heels that absolutely do not fit and are absolutely inappropriate for winter and yet I wear them to church every week of the year because if you haven't guessed yet - I'm so not a shoe person.

Somebody stage an intervention and take me shopping, please???

5.  What is your favorite thing about where you live?


At the risk of sounding like a nut job...I feel pretty safe here.  We live above the leasing office in an apartment building that screens everyone who enters.  Even the poor pizza guy that is practically part of our family by now.  Coming from the boonies to a more urban(ish) area I still feel a little terrified to be raising my kids in a place where neighbors barely know each other and I'm a little freaked out about being on my own in a house all day with the kids.

6.  How did you choose your children's names?


Ava Marie - We both liked the name Ava...we picked Marie in honor of the blessed mother and to be a play on "Ave Maria" (and Ava is actually a PRINCESS saint name...which must be why she is so obsessed with princesses.  It's definitely not related to the amount of Disney we've let her watch.  Definitely not.)

Clare Anne - Stephen had heard the name "Anne Clare" somewhere and liked it but I thought it would be too confusing because his sister's name is Anne.  So we changed it to Clare Anne, also both awesome saint names :)


Emeric Stephen - This is weird but Stephen and I are computer science people so we see patterns in everything and we thought we should look for an "E" name and start naming children on every other letter.  We found saint Emeric - the son of St. Stephen of Hungary - and thought it would be funny since our Emeric would be the son of Stephen who is always hungry.  Ok I'm the only one who thought that was funny.  And Stephen's middle name is his father's first name and so we continued that trend.

7.  Can we all agree that it's obnoxious when parents make up new spellings for names?  Like Madisyn and Abagayle and McKinzEe?


Hahaha whatever floats your boat I guess??  Just don't get mad when I spell it wrong :)

8.  Have you watched Toddlers and Tiaras?  Are you as intrigued by it as I am?  Give me your thoughts, please.


I am highly disturbed.  I don't think I've ever seen an entire episode, it gives me the heebeeejeebies...however you spell that...

9.  How many crucifixes/icons/saint statues do you have in your house?  Do you wish you had more/less?


5 crucifixes, 1 statue of the Blessed Mother, I think that's it.  Yeah I definitely wish we had more...

10.  What is one thing about your life right now that makes you ecstaticly happy?

That my 4 month old sleeps reasonably well.  I am eeeee-lated :)


Questions from Brooke:


1. Do you subscribe to any magazines, and if so what are they?


I'm kind of proud of the fact that I have gotten free subscriptions to Family Fun, Martha Stewart Living, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Parenting, and I know I'm forgetting some others...but the point is I don't pay for subscriptions because as much as I love the idea of magazines I rarely make time to sit and read them.

I wish I had a subscription to Cook's Illustrated, but sadly that is not a subscription you can get free with ninja couponing skills :)  One of these days I'll get over it and fork over the cash.

2. Best dessert you ever had?



Is anyone going to smack me if I say crepes again??

3. If money didn't matter what is the one thing you would splurge on right now?


Probably a shopping spree with Stacy London :)  Will someone please nominate me for the show already!!!

4. Dream vacay? DISH!



When Stephen and I got married, I desperately wanted to honeymoon in Bora Bora in one of those huts over the water.  It wasn't doable then, but I made him promise we would go someday, like on our 10th anniversary or something.  Insert snort laugh here.  But seriously...I'm going someday...OR ELSE.

5. Share something that made you smile or LaughOutLoud today.


Ava singing "Ice Ice Baby Emeric"...

6. If there was one thing that you could learn how to do what would it be?


Learn to sew!!

7. What are your hobbies?



The hobbies I indulge most at the moment are reading, cooking and baking, and (very poor) crocheting...

8. Summer plans?


Those depend a lot on whether or not we stay in this apartment or find a home to rent...I have visions of the kids splashing outside in a backyard pool or sprinkler while I lounge with a glass of lemonade...but that's about the pinnacle of my summer ambitions thus far.  If we're still in this apartment it's going to be even less glamorous than that :)

9. Do you hit the "snooze" button in the morning and if so how many times?


My alarm is 2 little girls standing at the baby gate guarding our bedroom door whispering "good morning mommy!!"  Really not a bad way to wake up...just wish it was not at 6am.

My attempts to hit the snooze button (aka "go play quietly for a few minutes...") result in loud protests of "WE ARE HUNGRY WE ARE HUNGRY WE ARE HUNGRY!!!"  

10. If your day had a soundtrack what would be the top 3 songs?



Hmmmm...I was just trying to google songs about poop, and came across this article. Hahaahahaahahahaahah...

Ok I give up, I just know they should definitely be about poop.



You know what, I am just going to post this right now - I will update later with who I am tagging :)

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Five Favorites - The EASTER EDITION


Ya'll...Sunday is PALM SUNDAY.
That means I can start getting ready for Easter, right??

Be back later with Liebsters...PROMISE!! :)


1. Vintage Easter Prints






How cute are these!!!  And best of all, totally free download.


2. Eco Friendly Eggs



These babies are made from 100% renewable content, BPA free, fully compostable, and MADE IN USA.  Win, win, win, and win!!  It looks like they only sell them in large quantities, so find an eco-friendly buddy or two to split an order with you (Hey Rosie... :)


3. Adorable Skirts



It looks like they are out of stock on this skirt, but I absolutely love the style for spring - especially paired with a crisp white button down.  Let me know if you find or know of something similar!!


4. Watercolor Eggs


I love the look of watercolor eggs.  There are lots of different ways to achieve this look, just search Pinterest!!


5. This...


...is cute and I want it on my Easter table.


Go see Hallie for more!!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Quick Takes Lucky #13

Time for my fav Friday ritual!!

1. What could I possibly talk about first besides POPE FRANCIS!!  We live near a really amazing Franciscan Friary that decided to host a "Papal Election Party".  When the white smoke appeared, everyone was invited to come watch the announcement together on the big screen with them.  I had some errands to run and had gotten the girls all ready to go while we were waiting for the smoke.  I sat down to nurse Emeric in front of the TV before we left (a rare exception to our Lenten Resolutions...) and told the girls if the smoke was black we would go shopping and if it was white we got to go to the POPE PARTY!!

I think this picture was taken right after the name "Francis" was announced :)

If we hadn't been all ready go out anyway, I don't think we would have gone...but I'm so glad we did.  The little dance party the girls and I had at home was fun, but the joy of sharing the news with a roomful of Catholic friends was unmatched.  And you can imagine the way the room erupted in cheers and looks of disbelief when the name Francis was announced - since you know, the party was held at a Franciscan Friary and all - I'm still giddy!!

2. I wasn't sure if the girls would really grasp all that was going on, but I figured I should at least try to give them an overview.  Wednesday morning we held our own election so they could get a handle on what "voting" means - Clare won, in case you were wondering.  Then Ava got a little disgruntled and said she wanted to be Pope.  Then I explained that among other things, she had to be much older and a man.  So she declared herself to be the "Princess Pope".  Go for it, girl.

Much to my surprise, they were completely interested in the whole thing.  Clare is still randomly running up to me shouting "SO EXCITED!! WE HAS A POKE!!!"

That is not a typo, she really can't say Pope.

And Ava might have told Stephen we were going to a "poop party" when we called him on the way out the door.

But anyway, they kinda get it.

3. Because there are clearly not enough pictures in this post, and because Jen got to do it, here is Jamie in Argentina:

Wine tasting in Argentina, because I want Jen to think I'm cool too.

I also found this picture:

I appear to have taken a picture of myself with a happy meal...in Argentina.
Youth really is wasted on the young, isn't it?

4. I got to finally meet Rosie in person last weekend and Meg was there to hang out too - need I say AWESOME?!!  How did we not get a picture of the three babies together??  (Could it have something to do with the fact that there were 7 children under the age of 4 we were trying to keep track of??)  While Ava has been chattering away this week about her new friends, Clare mainly has one comment about the whole thing: "I ate chalk.  The blue."

She also might have been chewing the pole to their bird house.

On a completely unrelated note, anyone know anything about Pica???

5. Remember my little tab problem?  Stephen sent me the link for this awesome new Chrome Extension called OneTab - and while it's pretty amazing, I also feel like it's kind of an enabler.  Jury is still out on this one.

6. I AM getting those 5 things/Liebsters done tomorow.  Seriously.  I am REALLY excited to do them, I just realized that unless I am given a deadline - nothing gets done.  So I have given myself a deadline. It's tomorrow.  Watch out world.

7. My friend's husband was in a very serious ATV accident this week - prayers for their family right now would be most appreciated.


That's all I've got.  Go see Jen for lots more!!!

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Five Favorites

Linking up with Hallie again for Five Favorites!!

1. Gap jeggings

Source: gap.com via jamiegewand on Pinterest


After 3.5 years, I feel like I'm finally starting to nail my mom style routine - jeggings and an oversized top.  Rocket science, I tell ya.  My first and only pair of skinny jegging type jeans were from the Gap, and I loved them til the knees wore out.  (Aaaand I'm still loving them :)  I just bought another pair and they are also excellent.

**UPDATE: I would like to clarify I'm not being a snob about mass producing chain stores...I meant that ideally I would prefer to thrift clothes or buy made in USA but J-Brand wasn't in the budget this time :)
I am not a huge fan of buying things from mass producing chain stores, but in the "Under $100 and Not Made in USA" category these are a clear winner - I can move around very very very comfortably in these and they have an excellent rise in the back.  I have tried on a lot of skinny jeans and jeggings, and these are the best.  I promise.  The key is the 98% cotton 2% spandex ratio - that's solid jegging gold right there.  (Not all Gap jeggings have that ratio, so definitely check before you buy)

2. Origins GinZing eye cream.



This stuff makes me look like I'm 25 again!!!

(I'm 26 now...why do you ask??)

(And we won't mention the fact that my children are all sleeping through the night at the moment.)

Seriously though, it makes me feel better about my crinkly tired mom eyes.  Maybe it's a placebo effect.  A very, very, expensive placebo effect.  But it lasts forever and ever and ever (like, a year or two) so it's really not that bad.

3. Paper straws



I'm way late to the paper straw party, but better late than never right??

Actually at first I thought it was a stupid waste of money to buy fancy paper straws but then I got over it and realized it's the little thrills in life that put huge smiles on my girls faces and make our days more fun :)

4. Kumon Books



On days I don't have time to Pinterest or just don't feel like fighting with my extremely insolent printer, I've been relying on Kumon.  Ava is obsessed with the maze books but everything we've tried from them so far has been great.  Because I'm rarely organized enough to print out educational materials for my children the night before, having some Kumon books on hand has been a life saver.  (And hey - I figured out how to pin this and then embed it so it's not an affilliate link or anything, but Kumon I will happily accept free products in exchange for this endorsement!!!!)

5. THE POPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Hate to be unoriginal here, but how could I NOT say it??!  Habemus Papam!!!!!!!


Go check out Hallie's place for all the rest!!!

Friday, March 8, 2013

Quick Takes #12 - The friends, procrastination, and naughty children edition

1.  I am suuuuuuuuper happy I got to meet Meg this week!!!  And I got to witness firsthand her amazing speaker/storytelling skills.  She had my girls sitting on her lap, hanging on her every word, completely captivated by - bible princess stories.  It's true.  And if you think my children naturally sit and quietly listen rapt with attention to these kinds of things, see takes #3 and 4.  If you've never read her blog, you should.  And if you are looking for a completely awesome speaker, she's your woman.

I definitely did not get Meg's permission to post this photo.
But just LOOK at how fascinated the girls are by her story!!

2. Also in blog-friends-turned-real-life-friends news, I'm ridiculously excited to get to meet Rosie this weekend!!!  And Rosie, please don't read takes 3 and 4.  I don't want you to have second thoughts about hanging out.  It's kind of mind boggling that we have 7 children under the age of 4 between us, and I just realized how outnumbered us adults are going to be.  I really hope they don't realize this and stage a mutiny.

3. I am so happy to see Jen is considering reversing the order of the Quick Takes linky list for the procrastinators of the blogging world.  Just in case anyone needs a refresher on why I can never seem to pull my posts together on time:

One million billion mom points to me for keeping a straight face this time.

4. And if you're still not ready to give me a pass for being chronically late to link ups:

I came out of the bathroom to this today.
They were trying to barricade "mean mommy" into the bedroom.
MAYBE MOMMY WOULDN'T BE SO DISGRUNTLED
IF YA'LL DIDN'T POUR YOGURT IN EACH OTHER'S HAIR!!!

5. Our CSA started this week!!


Which means I WILL master the art of the sweet potato fry this year.  Any helpful hints on getting them nice and crispy??

6. Emeric weighed in at a whopping 15lbs 5oz at his 4 month check up, which places him solidly into the "average" category.  After two scrawny girls I'm pretty excited about that.

He's got nothin' on mom at 4 months, though.

7. I've been trying to read through my feed list from the past 3 weeks or so alphabetically.  I've been at it a few days, and so far I'm on "B". If I all of a sudden comment bomb you, this is why.


Now off to Jen's place for the rest!!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Piles

I had the brilliant idea to double dip my Thursday post since I took so many pictures of different kinds of piles...then I saw that Dwija definitely already did this.  Hey, great minds think alike right??

So I'm linking up for Theme Thursday and {pretty, happy, funny, real} this week - because it's just not a link up until Jamie crashes the party at the 11th hour.

My Thursday mission is now to: "Capture piles in the context of contentment in everyday life".

Buckle your seat belts, kids.


{pretty}

Late night snickerdoodle snack

{happy}


Girls artwork I'm saving

{funny}

Trying to take a picture of a pile of children.
This is about how well that went.
Really glad I didn't add Emeric to the mix.

{real}

This is the "see we really do have a messy house
sometimes but hopefully not so messy that you want
to call the health department on us" shot.


Thank you Clan-Donaldson and Like Mother, Like Daughter for hosting!!!

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Five Favorites!!!!!




And five exclamation points.  Come on...everybody's doing it!!


1. Bringing up Bebe




I'm completely fascinated with the topic of parenting in different cultures at the moment and I think my favorite takeaway from this book was the idea of "food education".  I generally just throw PBJ's at my kids for lunch and beg them to take a bite of something green at some point during the day, but since reading this I've been trying to think of meal time as an opportunity to educate and engage the girls palates.  See?  Reading this book makes you instantly fancy.


2. Skipper Skimmers in "That's a croc in flambe"



Cute, cute, cute and made in America!!  And the few sizes they have left are on sale - NOBODY BUY OUT THE 7'S BEFORE I GET A CHANCE!!

3. GoodReads

A huge thank you Meg for introducing me to goodreads!!  I'll be honest - I don't really know what I'm doing yet but it looks like fun so far.  Definitely a better way to keep track of books I'm interested in than my Amazon Wishlist...


4. Cute Notebooks





Isn't this the cutest notebook??  And it's from Noonday, so it's helping people too.  Total win.


5. NUTELLA CREPES

I saved the best for last.

 I just can't get enough of these puppies right now.  I think I make them an average of twice a day, and I'm not even ashamed.  Here's the recipe I use - very quick and simple.


Thank you Hallie for hosting!! This was a GREAT idea!!


(Note: I just signed up for Amazon Affiliates, because I wasn't sure about taking a random photo from Amazon and putting it on my blog and I figured if Amazon Affiliates gives you the actual code to do it, it must be ok??  I feel like a total blogging dunce right now and some time soon when I get the chance I'm going to sit down and figure out what this disclosure policy stuff even means - but for now, since I don't want the internet police coming after me, I just wanted to give you a heads up that any Amazon links in this post are affiliate links so I get compensated if you buy stuff using those links...And if anyone wants to sit down and explain this all to me I would be eternally grateful.)

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Valentine's Day Link Up

I hope Ana is handing out honorary awards for last person to link up.

I made something.  But first, let me tell you all the things I was GOING to make.

I dreamed great dreams.  My original idea was to turn a pair of boot cut jeans into skinnies.  But then I realized I don't sew or own a sewing machine and probably "I took these jeans to the tailor.  The end." probably wouldn't make a really good blog post.

Then I was going to make this:







Stephen had already built a pallet sign with leftover wood from the girls platform beds!  And so I reached for the can of wood stain and my very wonderful husband said HEY - are you trying to kill us all??

Apparently you need to have the windows open for this sort of thing - not a great idea in a tiny apartment in the middle of winter.

Then I got the great idea to take it to NC and do it at our family's house since we could leave it outdoors there!  And so we brought it along - and completely forgot about it!

Then I remembered I bought a crochet pattern for little girl slippers on Etsy back when I was nesting.



I suppose they resemble slippers, but these two were approximately attempt 8 and 9 and they were sort of ok but I just couldn't figure out how to make them higher in the back so they would stay on the girls feet.  Starting to realize I need to downsize my ambitions...

Then I thought of these mugs I bought at Goodwill last year and the ceramic pen sitting in my craft drawer waiting to be used.  (Side note...bought the pen at Michael's for about 4 bucks without a coupon...)  My mom and sisters were visiting and they all decorated very cute mugs and I...did mine over and over and over at least 400 times and then gave up because I am...how do you say it...oh yes, TYPE A.

I repeated that whole scenario - drawing and redrawing on my mug, washing it off...and then I realized there are 18 hours left to link up and Meg is coming over tomorrow and I should probably go clean the toilets or something so I just stopped.

Here's what I got:


Remind me to add "handwriting skills" to my New Years Resolutions list


Maybe not as glorious as all the awesome ones I see on Pinterest and Etsy and it's hardly original, but hey - it's better than a plain white mug right?

Thanks Ana for pushing me to to my full mug-creating potential!!  I actually had a lot of fun despite the setbacks - once again channeling my inner Gretchen Ruben and trying to enjoy the fun of failure.  Why do I put fun craft stuff on the back burner so often?

Oh yes, now I remember

I kid you not, as I wrote those words I turned around to this sight.  A little dab of peanut butter on the corner of each of our chairs.  Ava said "look mom, it's funny!!"

I said Ava, that is not funny.  Not funny at all.

Then, not my finest mom moment, I giggled a little at the sheer absurdity of it all.

And Ava said "See mom?  It IS funny!!"


.....

Ok it's a little funny.

I'm gonna go pour myself a rather large cup of coffee in my awesome mug now.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Quick Takes Volume 11

Taking the Quick Takes night shift...

1. After I post the pic of me with THE MUG last week, I started worrying that I might look like a creepy Jennifer Fulwiler stalker.  So I tried to come up with a way to make myself not seem so stalkerish and I decided to start...drumroll please...a quirky mug collection.  Not only does it redeem my unhealthy obsession with THE MUG, but Gretchen Ruben tells me that cultivating a collection will make me a happier and more well rounded person.  Or something like that.  Win-win.

2. I have already decided the next quirky mug I would like to add to my collection.


Go here to find out how awesome Jimmy Akin is, and then go here to buy your way into the fan club.

3. Another order of business - I realized when I was looking at my list of "Popular Posts" last week that Stephenisms was #1 on the list but didn't have a picture.  And that is the story of why I decided to dress our cat in a taco costume.

Full credit goes to Stephen for engineering this costume.

If anyone is in need of a good Taco Cat picture, I hereby release this picture into the public domain.
You're welcome.

4.  Because I am a chronic over-sharer, I am super excited that Jessie Pope gave me a Liebster Award!!!

I can't say Jessie without saying Pope.
Not really helping my "I'm not a stalker" case, I know.
Keep your eyeballs peeled for that post if you're curious to know more about the secret and very mysterious life of Jamie...

5. At 4 months old, Emeric already has a distinct preference in his dolly ladies.

He always goes for the Brunette.
I noticed this week that he seemed to really like this little brown-haired princess doll, so I decided to do some very scientific research and offered him dolls of two different hair colors at random points throughout the day and he always chose the brunette.  As you can see, two of the dolls in the picture are identical except for hair color so this study is totally rock solid.

6. I started reading "Bringing Up Bebe" on my Kindle app during my 4 hour stint at the ER this weekend and have now renewed my vows to give my children a good food education.

French people eat Nutella too, but probably not like this.
Anyway, I recently discovered the French Foodie Baby Blog, and I'm completely fascinated.  I don't think I'll ever be feeding the girls cod and brussels sprouts in garlic creme, but the PBJ rut we'll fallen into lately has got to go.

7.  I know nobody needs to hear this again, but thank goodness it's March.  I'm sorry for being so unresponsive with blogging stuff lately - I'll be back soon!!  I think I'm almost healthy again.  I think.


Go see Jen for the rest - there's pleeeenty of takes to read by now :)