Ummm, Let's Don't Repeat that in Public

Do you remember this cute little notebook purse?

It has finally gone to it's intended recipient, I hope she enjoys it. As it was being made, Carly was helping pick out the flower, colors, ribbon, paper, etc. She was very excited to be making this for her best friend. She was talking about how Avery could take it to school and use it for her vocabulary words and how the other students would like it. I told her that because we had cut the corners off the notebook, Avery couldn't use it for school and would have to use it as maybe a diary. Carly then started talking about how fun it was to make a diary for Avery. Except, she said, 'I think Avery will love her diarrhea. This is such a cute diarrhea. I wish I had a diarrhea like this.' I told her that it was a diary not a diarrhea and gently reminded her about diarrhea. I figured that was that, but when I got out the present to give to Avery, Carly immediately said, 'Don't forget to give Avery her diarrhea!'

Love that kid!

Halloween Crafting on the Cheap

I have been on a crafting jag. But (sigh), just like everyone else, I don't have a lot of money to spend on such foolishness. So I blog hop and find all these cute ideas. This is the latest one to go around the blogs. Check out any of the ones listed on my side bar for their version.

Total cost: less than $2.00 and the best part; time was less than 20 minutes.

The frame came from the Dollar Tree and the paper from the Dollar-ish part of Target.

I printed the B on the paper (too hard to cut out), cut out the Os and glued them on the paper(could have printed them too, just didn't think about it until afterward), taped them all inside the frame and Ta-Da!

Most of the Crafty Ones change out their letters for each holiday;

Christmas-JOY, Valentine's Day-XOX, 4th of July-USA, etc.

Coree is on the hunt for a four slot picture frame. It will give her more options; just a few we came up with; Winter-SNOW, February-LOVE, March-LUCK, Easter-EGG/HOP, Spring-GROW, July-FLAG, Summer-PLAY, Autumn-FALL, Christmas-HO HO/NOEL. The ones with only three letters would leave a spot for an embellishment or my favorite, an exclamation mark!

There is also another idea in blogland. Use all different shapes and sizes of frames, spray paint them all the same and use the same insert idea. Then the words you could use would be limitless.

Cheap Craft #2

My wonderful sister bought me a hanging terracotta plate right after I got married.

Not this plate, but it was just as bright, same fishy theme and not my style.

I have held on to it for nearly 14 years. I have seen a lot of re-purposing on blogs lately and went into the attic to see what I had that I could change into something I would use and there it was.

Well. what do you think?

The colors are a little off because of the nighttime photo. The color that looks like yellow green is actually the same color as the spider web paper above.

Yes, it is the same Target paper. I had the paint. I always have the paint.

What I wasn't going to show you was this.....

how about my sexy model-thanks, Deein my excited rush to complete this fun craft, I neglected to check where the hanger was before I starting Mod Podging like a fool. I rationalize my mistake this way: If I would have hung it on the front door as planned, the hook would have fallen and broken my adorable, if I don't say so myself, plate to pieces. Now it will be safe and sound in a plate rack.

Cost for this project: less than $1.00.

And I still have paper left from that pack.

Well, I must go. Lots more crap goodies up there to re-purpose.

I just might get it cleaned out after all.

Animal Day at Our House

Last weekend, I finally got up the nerve (click here to relive the horror) to go out and weed the front flower beds. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm with a nice breeze.

We found lots of fun animals just hanging out.......

like this Eastern Box Turtle. We put him in a cardboard box, so that the girls could have a look at him when he wasn't all boxed up in his shell. I didn't know they had red eyes, a little disturbing I think. We found this HUGE caterpillar.

(Note the somewhat apprehensive look on the nature girl's face.)It is a Imperial moth caterpillarLeighton also had to learn a few life lessons......

Not all eggs hatch.

We found these in the paper box under the mailbox.

The food chain exists.

This is a Blue-tailed Skink eating what looks to be a cricket.

Leighton was enthralled.Not everyone gets along.

The neighbor's puppy has pretty much become our puppy, much to the cat's chagrin.

He tries to make friends and play, but she just hisses and swats.

He tries and tries, but she is not giving in.Where is Carly, you ask?

She came outside for each new discovery, then went right back inside.

She is definitely MY KID.

The Meanest Baby in the World

Okay, maybe not the meanest baby in the world; but definitely the meanest baby in my world.

This horrible noise, is all because I am trying to feed her applesauce. She likes applesauce and is hungry. She just wants to feed herself.

Any one want a 14 month old? She comes with lots of cute accessories....

Oh, I almost forgot, she goes from the above screaming 'demon child' to a smiling and happy 'angel baby' the second she gets what she wants.

Happy Birthday, Robb!

Happy 9th birthday to the cutest coolest boy scout, ever!

Sorry about that, I forgot that tween boys don't like to be called cute by their aunts, no matter how cute the boy happens to be.

Hope you had a wonderful day, and you got to play Wii until your eyeballs fell out or your hands fell off!

3rd Grade Ag Day

Yesterday was 3rd Grade Animal Agriculture Field Day for the entire county.

Carly was very excited for this field trip, she was given a t-shirt and got to ride the bus.

(My children feel that they are deprived, because their parents will not let them ride the bus. I rode the bus. I know what happens on the bus. My children will not ride the bus.)

We got to see llamas. Did you know that llamas hum? I had no idea.

There were calves. They were so cute.And we even got to see a different kind of animal.

'The Fish', Greg Fishel, our local meteorologist. This man brought his sheep to show the children how the wool is sheared...then carded...then spun into wool yarn. To think that Dee would think I would enjoy carding and making wool yarn,

makes me question; Does he even know me at all??

This woman brought her goats to talk to the children about how beneficial they can be. They provide milk, poo, and eat poison ivy.

She also mentioned that they only had teeth on top.

She joked they were unlike her who was missing several teeth.
Carly has a thing about missing teeth and will stop people in the grocery store, or anywhere else. She asks tells them they are missing teeth, they need to go to the dentist and then asks them if the tooth fairy came.

You guessed it, Carly's hand shoots up. I cringe, but can't get to her or get her attention. I cross my fingers that the woman will not call on her. Of course, no such luck. I brace for embarrassment.

Carly holds up a stick and says, "I found a stick."

Whew! I let out my breath, she only made a completely random statement.

We had a commotion with some yellow jackets and in the confusion, Carly ended up with my camera. This was Ag Day from her perspective.

Of course, she got close ups of her friends.

They were only so sweet to pose.

This poor woman got a close up of her arm and her umm.... Sorry about that!

She did get a couple of artsy photos.

I really like this one and thought about having it framed for her room.

I though Ag Day was fun, but really felt for the teachers that do it every year.

Once is great, can't say I will be that excited when Leighton's turn comes around, and Jensyn might have to convince Dee to go. Maybe then, he can show them how to properly shear a sheep.

Random Jensyn

I don't have enough to make a whole post, so I hope you don't mind leftovers, refrigerator surprise or whatever your mom used to call it when she used up the last of everything for dinner.


Jensyn is full on walking, now.
She walks outside.
Yes, we are in the south and we are rednecks.

I do require shoes for walking on the road.

I know, how cosmopolitan of me. But, back to the redneck....

Jensyn loves the four wheeler. Leighton is very careful, but still way too fast.

That's my girl! If you're not first, you're last! Jensyn loves every minute of it.

When Leighton stops, Jensyn rocks forward and back trying to make it go. Her favorite inside game is ....Baby in a Basket

We're not exactly sure on the rules or the point, but she seems to like it.

She also likes the 'Real Baby as a Play Baby' game.The girls dress her up in their doll things, give her the doll toys and put her in the doll stroller.

She likes this, but is not too impressed with the doll passie.

That is all I've got, and I'm sorry but there is no dessert.

The Magical M&M

As a mom, I have found that the candy I grew up on is **magical.** It can soothe a crying toddler, potty train a two year old, and make a three year old behave while I do an important task something for myself.

M&M's can teach a child their colors, numbers, to share and to hurry. (Contrary to popular marketing slogans, those wondrous orbs of chocolate will melt in your hand. Especially if said hand belongs to a child.)

M&M's have taught my children to count, gotta make sure they get their fair share. They have even started to divide, your friends like M&Ms too.

The latest things that M&Ms have taught my children are as follows:

Carly has learned to read all the words. We start with a small pile of M&Ms at the beginning of a book. If she skips, not misreads, but just plain skips a word, I take an M&M away. At the end of the book, she gets what is left. This skipping words thing has been ongoing for quite awhile. I have scolded, huffed, pleaded and yelled, all to no avail. I bring out the M&Ms and BAM! she is reading like a champ.

Leighton has learned to.....ahem, this one is a little more personal......wipe. She just can't seem to remember to wipe after using the bathroom. I have scolded, huffed, pleaded and yelled (notice a pattern?) all to no avail. I promised her one, yes one, M&M for each time she wipes. So far, so good. She has even remembered to wipe at school. (Yes, she is on the honor system.)

Jensyn has learned to sign. She is much more apt to remember any sign if she repeats it over and over. If she uses a new sign, we practically throw a party. I dance around clapping and yelling 'Good girl, YAY Jensyn!' If she signs it a second time I reward her with an M&M.

I can already hear it; 'You are bribing your children for good behavior. You are teaching them that you should only be good, do what's right or what you are asked if you will be rewarded for it.'

To you I say, it's true. But, who do you know that goes to work and doesn't expect to get paid? Who volunteers their time to a worthless cause that doesn't make them feel good inside? Who uses their manners when no one is around to notice? We all do the things we do because we are rewarded in some way.
As my mother would say,

I prefer my reward in chocolate!

Our Newest Additions

Blue.Honey.Did you really think that we would be stupid irresponsible enough to get puppies right now?
These puppies belong to the around the corner neighbor. The puppies seem to run free escape a lot. The first three times either us or another of our neighbors took them home. We have since come to realization that we are the only ones who care.

The girls have really enjoyed playing with the puppies. The one Leighton calls Honey (no idea what his real name is and 'his spots look like honey.') loves to be held just like a baby. While she is holding him, he lays his head across her arm and tries to go to sleep. When she tries to put him down, he whines or hesitates to put his legs down.

Carly is not too keen on them. She has always been a little leary of small dogs, with puppies as no exception. This is about as close as she wants to get. Jensyn likes the puppies.
And they like her.

FYI: Yes, she has tons of clothes, no need to send aid. As I have said before, we are in the south (HOT) and we are rednecks. We came home from school today to 'Honey' on the back porch eating Gus' dog food and drinking his water. Haven't seen Blue (real name) for a couple of days. Hoping for the best and keeping an eye out for the worst. (We live off of a moderately busy road, off of a really busy road.)

Leighton's First Day of Kindergarten

She picked out her outfit, tights, and shoes. And the backpack.
We got to the school. The wonderful PTO had set up a Kleenex & Coffee station for the parents.
We got to the 'Red Hall' and the door to the classroom.
And she went in to see Mrs. Amy Cook. I walked out and that's the end.
No tears, no crying, no pleading......
until she got home. She came in the door, (Dee picked her up) she got her snack ready for tomorrow, was told to pick one snack only, and she lost it.

She laid on the couch and cried for twenty minutes. She used to do this when she go home from preschool. She would eventually tell me what was really the issue, but much later.
Dee pressed her all evening to tell him what was wrong, but she would either start crying again, or change the subject.


As I laid her down to bed, she finally let me know what she was upset about. She had to go to the bathroom and it wasn't 'time' to go. She was afraid to ask to go, so she held it. She was concerned she was going to wet her pants. We talked about how it's okay and Mrs. Cook will let her go and if she doesn't MOMMY will go talk to her. (You know I am quite the Momma Bear. Mess with me, whatever. Mess with my kids, RROOOAARR!)


She is very happy to go back tomorrow. Mrs. Cook has made her the line leader for the week. Mrs. Cook said it would be nice to have a student who knew her way around the school to be the line leader. Leighton loves to be helpful so she is in heaven. She did say that the circle time was boring. How do you explain to a five year old that not everyone reads at a second grade level, knows some of her addition math facts, and can name nearly all of the continents on the first day of kindergarten? (By the way, none of the previous is of my doing. She is VERY observant.)