Ever heard of Euless?

Winners!

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:02:00 +0000

Ok, first of all, I feel the need to give a giant raspberry to all.

Pththththththththththttththth!

Seriously, guys! I know I don't have a lot of readers, but only two of you even tried this contest?!?!?!? What is up with that! I was really hoping for some great names to wow my hubby with.

Well, since only two people entered, and I didn't want to be accused of nepotism, and since I wouldn't even have to pay for postage if I send one to Happy Mom (and I had all the stuff to make two), both of you guys are winners!

Thanks for playing along. At least I know two of you wanted to play with me!

My new goal

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 22:02:00 +0000

Oh yah. I'd love for that to be about me!

100th post!

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

Whew! We made it guys! Thanks for sticking around with me. I know my blog following is tiny, but hey, it's fun to have a place to spill your guts and people actually still talk to you.

As apposed to if I was to talk this way in the real world, where people would at best meet me with blank stares and at worst start talking very slowly about "special places" to put someone like me.

I've totally wanted to do a 100th post contest for a while. Especially after InkMom's (which was so fun!). Of course, I don't have something near as tricky to figure out. I've been racking my brain for what to do, and finally decided on a name contest.

See, in case you didn't recall, I'm having a baby sometime in the next 2 months. We're hoping for full term here, but there is some precedence for early. Like, maybe born new years eve early.

But I digress. For the first time, we did not find out the gender of this little one. It's driving my hubby crazy, but the gender wasn't even written down on my chart, so at this point we can't even ask. We also don't have names picked out.

Well, let me clarify that. I have a girl's name I LOVE, and a boys name I really like. Hubby just can't agree with me. He also can't come up with anything he likes better.

So here's the contest: Submit two baby names (1 boy and 1 girl). You also must do an ounce of research and figure out what the names actually mean ('cause that's important to me) Also, your best idea for a "blog name" since we're attempting to keep things private around here. I'll draw a name out of a hat for the winner (and hopefully can convince Hubby of some great name ideas!)

Oh, and the prize.
Last year, I posted instructions for how to make this: (sorry Paily, I know you already have one!) I am giving away one put together mini muffin tin advent calendar (which would be all the squares already assembled, a cute little bag to hold them, and a ribbon to hang it up with) This does NOT include the actual tin, since I'm cheap and don't want to spend that much to ship the puppy!

It's really cute (cuter in person than my lousy camera skills show). And fun, and the kids love the whole thing. You know you want one.

Contest runs until 10 ish on Monday November 23 . . . . .(or just before I go to bed), and I'll announce the winner the next day. That way if I actually remember to ship it, it can get to you in time to be actually used for THIS Christmas.

Unless of course I end up going into labor or some crazy thing. Then you guys are going to have to wait.

Tell me what I want . . .

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:23:00 +0000

Being married is an awesome, strange experience. I love my Hubby - he's the best. But there are times that the whole blending traditions thing gets a little strange.

Growing up Christmas was a big deal. We had traditions for EVERYTHING - special plates and cups for Christmas eve, and again for Christmas morning, certain foods at certain times, the treat jar, Mom crying as she told stories, everything was done each and every year. But presents themselves were almost secondary. We tried for thoughtful, often homemade (all though at times the result was just silly and cheap!). The spending time together and remembering all the traditions was more important than the what.

Hubby's family is pretty much opposite. Growing up they would go as a family to the mall, where mom and dad would hand each kid a BUNDLE of cash and they'd go their separate ways. It apparently wasn't uncommon for them to spend $75-$100 on each present. But the only tradition they have is they usually watch Ben Hur Christmas Eve.

I know. I think it's a strange tradition too, but it works for them.

Getting used to that whole "spend a ton of money on everyone" from that side of the family is still a work in progress. We don't spend that much on them, but they do tend to shower us with stuff.

A few years ago they asked us to start wish lists. It was originally just for the kids, but then Grandma and Grandpa asked for lists for me and Hubby. It's kind of fun. I try to have a big variety of price ranges, needs, and just silly stuff on it. I keep a file with ideas running all year long, and we've gotten some very fun things.

Hubby's Dad called today. They had received our wish lists, but he has a better idea for a present for me. (which, if I pick, I'm supposed to act very surprised and like we've never discussed this whole process). But it's pricey - REALLY pricey, and I don't think I'd get anything else on my list if I chose it.

What is it you ask? It's a Cricut.

Now, Cricuts have to be one of the coolest things on the planet. The possibilities of craftiness are endless. But they cost way too much for me to have ever really considered getting one. And on my wish list are a several things I need, and several more that I want (Memory mixer upgrade anyone!?).

I don't know which to choose. Really, I'm so torn here. I've already come up with 5 projects I could actually finish if I had one, and a dozen more ideas to start. But the wish list (that sander so I can refinish some furniture, speakers for my mp3 player, all of those books) . . . .

So, help me decide. If you were in my shoes, which would you choose. Help my indecisive pregnant brain function here please!

I think I might be crazy . . .

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:42:00 +0000

in more ways than just one. I have such great ideas, but this one is scaring me a tad.

So here's the story: I won a blog contest about a month ago - a $25 cert to Crafty Moms, home of the most awesome binky clips I've ever seen (and only $3!). They also have these really cute tutus. Well, Girly-Lou had been asking for a tutu for a few weeks, but I was too lazy to go to Joann's and buy the fabric to put it together. So I picked one out. Originally I was thinking birthday present. However, the color I picked was on back order and wouldn't come until the end of November. So I switched my thinking to Christmas and said great!

Then I started talking to Happy Mom. We started talking about how great it is to do cheap/easy/homemade presents for Christmas. She mentioned that she made a doll for her oldest girl one year. That got some wheels a turning. What if I made a doll for my girl? And picked up a little bit of tulle the same color as her new tutu so it was all cute and matchy? That would be lots of fun, right?

I started googling doll patterns. I found some ugly ones, some ok ones, and some I thought were pretty cute. But the cute ones meant buying a $10 pattern plus fabric. As much as I love my girl, the point of me making this doll was to save some cash, not spend the same amount as just picking up a doll.

But then I discovered Waldorf dolls. I think I'm in love. I found this one first. How adorable is that! But still, I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. But I kept on looking. And then I found this version. Supplies from the dollar store! That I can handle. I've also been reading a lot about re-purposing old clothes. I went through a charity pile and found some awesome possibilities for clothes. And then I found instructions to dye a t-shirt with tea for the skin material. So in reality, all I'm going to need to buy is some stuffing.

It won't be a true Waldorf doll, since those are supposed to only use natural materials and I've got a great conglomeration of stuff, but they are so flippin cute!

And then the more rational thoughts start pouring in. "You've never made a doll in your life. You've never made ANYTHING that had to be stuffed. And these aren't the easiest dolls for a first timer. Are you sure you can do this and not have it look like a stuffed potato? You already made 7 afghans this year, shouldn't you take a bit of a break? Plus you're pregnant, and to the point that you need to take a nap every day. And it's only 5 1/2 weeks until Christmas., 4 1/2 if you count the week you'll be in California and therefore unable to work on this. You'd only be able to work on this at night after the kids are in bed, and usually the only thing you want to do after 8:00 is read a bit and then sleep. And whenever Hubby is home, you usually feel like you should do something with him. All this means you have approximately 20 nights to work on this. Happy Mom admitted that she was up way late Christmas Eve sewing hair onto her homemade doll. Don't you think you'd end up in the same situation? IS IT EVEN WORTH IT?"

I'm honestly not sure. I guess we'll see. But I think I want to try. I'm off to pick up some stuffing . . . . If I produce something non-potatoish, I post some pictures.

a bit of nostalgia

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:50:00 +0000

I come from a big family. There are 8 kids divided into two sets of 4. I'm part of the younger crew. In my half of the family, there were 4 of us born in 6 years. Combine that with a Dad who worked SUPER hard at two jobs to put food on the table (and often put in 12-16 hour days), one on one time with a parent was a rare commodity.

I suppose that's why I always loved school shopping so much. Even as I got older and school wasn't something I looked forward to starting so much, I always enjoyed the shopping part. It was a day just about you. Just you and Mom, gone for the whole morning. You laughed together. You got NEW clothes (not hand-me-downs!). New paper, pencils, crayons THAT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO SHARE. And you even got to eat out with Mom.

My favorite place to pick for school shopping lunch was Hunk of Bread. Sadly, this wonderful shop has now gone out of business, but it was the best. The premise was simple: luscious homemade bread, sliced super thick (at least 1 1/2 inches), smothered with butter, then topped with either jam or ham and melted cheese. It melted in your mouth. They also had the best doughnuts ever.

I'm not sure what it was today. Maybe the drizzly weather. Maybe the lack of sleep. Maybe the 13 four year olds I teach at church that all acted as if they had been injected with caffeine and then brainwashed to forget any good behaviors they had ever exhibited. But today, I NEEDED to feel 7 years old again, kicking my heals against that vinyl booth, melted cheese dripping down my chin.

This was a fantasy too good to pass up. This must be done for dinner tonight! I made some bread - oh, it was just perfect too. Not to tough, raised like a dream. Perfect melty homemade bread. We were out of ham, so I voted for just melted cheese.

Look at that gooiness. The kids decided to go for the sugar route. Judging by that schmear all over Buddy's face, I think they're fans.

And yes, I even kicked my feet back and forth. And just for a minute, I was 7 years old again, the biggest worry in my life which box of crayons to splurge on.

Life is good.

Wow, is has it been that long

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:44:00 +0000

Girly-Lou-Who turns 5 today. 5!?!?!?!?!? I can't believe that she could be that big.

Because she was so tiny for so long. She started out so little (and early too). It was like a miracle when she would open her eyes.

(I don't know if I've ever mentioned it, but I'm a little bit of a closet scrapbooker. I hate paper scrapbooking, but I love the digital stuff. I don't do anything fancy, but I've had some fun putting books together for my kids. Someday I'll actually have the money to print them out!)

This scrapbook page shows a bit of what I'm talking about:

Happy birthday, my silly, crazy, wonderful girl!

I'd LOVE to win this one.

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:45:00 +0000

Over at the shopping momma, they are giving away an awesome convertible car seat. I would LOVE to win this for little #3 coming. Of course, the contest started yesterday and there are already over 1000 comments. So my odds are really slim, but hey, I thought I'd give it a shot.

Go check it out.

Quick update

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Some days are lousy. Really stinkin lousy.

Some days are in-betweenies (that's most of my life around here)

And some days really. freak'n. rock!

That would be today. I finally got a decent night sleep. I woke up to the most beautiful sunrise I've seen in months. The kids were semi cooperative as we drove Hubby to work. I had a great exercise class. I got a rockin deal on a bunch of pork roasts.

And then my Hubby called. I think the birds started chirping a bit louder as the sunlight streamed through onto my awesome couch - maybe even a doe and fawn stopped to smile at our happiness.

He's changing bases effective December 2 again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, all those agonizing stressful things are now gone. Life looks beautiful. At least for today.

Cross your fingers. He was also told that this could change on a daily basis. If he makes it to December 2 and does 1 flight in the new base he's locked in for good. They can't change him back. So here's hoping for 19 more days

Ack! I want to tell all!

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:27:00 +0000

I know I've previously mentioned, but I really do love finding other people's amazing ideas. The majority of the blogs in my reader are ones that feature cool crafts and stuff. Most of the ideas that I find, I go "Oh, that's so fun, I want to do that."

And then I found The. Single. Coolest. Thing. On. The. Planet.

Seriously, this is the coolest thing EVER. It had my jaw on the floor. So simple, so easy, so cheap, with such possibilities for true awesomeness.

But I can't tell you about it!

That's because I think I'm doing on for every single one of my sisters, and mom too, for Christmas. And since every single one of my sisters reads this blog, they would all know how cool it's going to be. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but it is SO COOL!

On the bummer side, I need a color printer to really make it work. And ours died a month ago. Otherwise, I would be working on this right now instead of blogging.

I need to go hit up some friends and see if they'd be willing to let me print off about 4 colored pages . . . .

I promise I will tell all after Christmas. Sorry to make you wait!

last day: 14

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:25:00 +0000

Day 14 was a combination of days 11-13. The nice thing was she had us just use the same collage as day 13. I'm fairly happy with the results.

Day 13

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:23:00 +0000

This was similar to day 12, but on a grander scale: a full on collage. You were supposed to use brushes to add some punch, but my version of photoshop is too old to add cool brushes to. So I stuck in a flourish png all over and erased portions.

Day 12

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:21:00 +0000

This was about creating a story board - you know, the awesome really expensive sets they try to sell you when you bother to get pictures done professionally? Now I can to it for super cheap.

Oh, he's cute! (even if he's the reason I'm up at 4 am!)

Finishing up projects

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:13:00 +0000

Do you remember back in (cough) JULY when I was taking that photo editing class? Um, so yah, I never finished doing the projects. But since it's currently 4:06 AM, and I've been awake since 1:30 (grumble grumble), I figured I might as well get up and do something semi productive.

Day 11 was selective spot recoloring. I wish I had a perfect photo like she always does, but this one works.

Man, my little girl was SO tiny back then! this is her clutching her precious giraffe, which has been her favorite since she was about 4 months old.

12 days of Junkies

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:58:00 +0000

I think I've mentioned before how much I love tip junkie. Hundreds of crafty/cleany/inspirey ideas every week all in one place.

And giveaways too.

Right now she's doing the 12 days of Junkie, with awesome giveaways every single day. But you have to actually check every day because they only last 24 hours!

Be still my little heart - I love this stuff!

Wow.

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:07:00 +0000

I think it's finally happened. A skill I have been developing for at least 25 years just might be fully developed. Others have tried to help me with this. I've felt guilt over my lack of ability to accomplish this task. I've been bothered, annoyed, frustrated, even given up multiple times. But I think I can finally say . . .

I now make my bed every single day.

It finally actually bugs me to not have my bed made. I no longer find it more annoying to actually make the bed than to see it rumpled. I find joy in straitened covers.

Of course, now it bugs me at how lousy the rest of my room looks when my bed is made (and the serous need of some actual decoration done in that room!), but today I'm finding happiness in the little things.

Language

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Have you ever thought just how amazing language is? The fact that we are able to communicate with others, through voice, through print, through electricity, through touch, through hands?

In college, my major was Communicative Disorders. For those not in the know, this is the undergrad for either audiology (hearing specialists) or Speech Language Pathology (speech problem specialists). You pick which on to specialize in, and then go on to grad school to be able to actually do anything with the degree. While I did not do the last step, I learned some amazing things about language.

One of the most fascinating classes I had was our voice disorders class. There we learned, in great detail, just exactly what is involved to talk. There are such minute differences between different sounds. For example, the difference between and long e sound and a short i sound. They are produced in the exact same place in your mouth, your tongue is in the same position, they are the same length, same intensity, same everything. Except for one small thing: there is a very small muscle underneath your chin that is tightened for the long e. This results in a very small harmonic change, which our ears are able to pick up, change into an electric signal, send to our brain, which then correctly interprets the difference. All this happens in less than a blink of an eye, for the myriad of different sounds used in our language on an hourly basis. English has 18 different vowel sounds. The actual difference between different sounds is minuscule, but we can understand.

I have been fascinated by sign language ever since I watched Linda on Sesame street. I always wanted to be able to sign. When I was 17 (ish), I started to learn. A good friend of mine knew a woman that lived close by who was an interpreter. Together we took classes from her for over a year. I never was proficient, but I could get by.

In college, I was able to take two more classes. I learned syntax, vocabulary, culture. I still was not even close enough to interpret for someone, but I loved every minute. One of my favorite classes was a conversational ASL class. This was taught by a grad student that I knew fairly well. He was hearing, but had been raised by deaf parents, and actually learned English as a second language - his first was sign. He was able to give such a unique perspective.

Now, as an adult, I've had little opportunity to use my sign language. I have forgotten so much of it. I will admit, that's one of the many reasons I was happy to move here - my sister is good friends with a deaf woman. As I have also become friends with this amazing lady, I have had the opportunity to brush up on this amazing language. While I am still very limited in my vocabulary, and really lousy at actually interpreting into full ASL, I love the ability to communicate with her, to feel my understanding grow.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to interpret during Sacrament meeting. It was hard - really hard at some points (you try interpreting computer code into a different language!), but so fulfilling. To help someone be able to understand, to grow, to communicate with another person, is a great gift. One that I'm excited to have and develop even more.

What gifts do you have and develop?

rants

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:19:00 +0000

I had planned on this wonderful uplifting post about my amazing experiences over the weekend. Well, that post is going to have to wait. One of the reasons I started this blog was so I could talk about whatever I wanted without everyone and their dog talking to me about it - which is why I'm semi anonymous here. Of course, that backfired just a touch, since I'm related to most of my followers. Not that I'm complaining that people read me, just know I need to rant for a minute.

I'm trying really hard today to be grateful. I mean, at least Hubby has a job, right? There are thousands of people out there, especially pilots, who have found themselves out of a job. We even know a few. But I am so ticked off at his company right now I could scream.

Moving across country was supposed to be the best thing for our whole family. We got to live close to family, buy a house, meet new people, and Hubby's schedule was going to be so much better since he would have twice the seniority. The commute wasn't going to be bad because he was also changing bases. Hubby started that process clear back in April. It took until middle of August for us to FINALLY get word that he would be changing, starting October 1. Which got pushed back to November 1. And then December 2. But we were getting close. We've been counting down, getting so excited that this was his last time to bid for Dallas.

Until today. Hubby just told me he's been put off, AGAIN! Now his start date isn't until, get this MARCH 1 ?!??!?!?!?!?!? "'m more irate than I have words for. He can't hold a line any more in Dallas, but they won't let him change to the new base because "staffing reasons". What? You don't have room for him where he is, but he can't move because they might need him where he is right now. Um, yah, that makes sense.

This messes up Christmas (because his training will be all messed up). This could mess up Girly-Lou's birthday. And I'm pretty sure this means our chances of him being here for the baby being born are next to zilch now. He has to spend even more time away from the family, just when we thought it was going to get better.

On the plus side, he does have two ways to fight this, and he promised to do all he can to get this changed back. But right now I'm so angry I could just hit something. Maybe I should go bake some bread. There is something very therapeutic about knocking some dough around, and the smell might help me calm down.

try this one at home

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:36:00 +0000

Take one huge stack of scrap paper:

Combined with an adorable girl who refuses to use "yucky" paper.

Figure out that she will use it if it's little.

Hack up the whole pile into 4ths.

Clothes pin into bundles.

Squirt some Elmer's all over one even-ish edge

Spread it around with your finger.
Let dry. Repeat the glue if you want to make it a bit stronger.
And Voila! A dozen really simple easy home made note pads.

Now obviously, if I wanted to make this look cute, I'd take the time to measure the cuts to make it all even, and make a cute little cover out of card stock. But this was just so my girl (who single handily could go through a ream of paper in a month if I'd let her) would have something to color on that didn't bug me.

*Also, I totally saw this idea a couple of years ago, only they made money books with 20 dollar bills glued together. I have no idea where I found this originally, but there's my attempt at credit where credit is due!

How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways . . .

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:08:00 +0000

An Ode to clutter

How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways . . . .
You are merciless, relentless, in your desire to stay.

You’ve taken over my bedroom, creeping across the floors
The closets would be overflowing if we could see the doors.

Like rabbits, you seem to reproduce, covering everything I see
The dishes are doubling, tripling, exponentially.

As crumbs grind between my toes (my children seem to feed you)
an unseen diaper smell creeps along (Oh, what shall I do here!)

Back my enemy! Victory will be won.
I’ll vanquish you somehow. This mess will be undone.

Room by room you’ve conquered, now you’ll win no more
Room by room I’ll clean you, until I can finally see this floor!

Now vanquished, I triumph, my victory complete.
Nevermore will I see thee (at least until next week!)

My new obbsession

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:21:00 +0000

I know I've said it before: I really love to blog hop. And craft. I've been so busy crocheting (only one more blanket left!), that I haven't done much else this year. As I've found other blogs, I think my new thing just might be quilts. At least sewing.

Just look at some of the free patterns I've found lately:

Now that we actually bought a house, I really want to do some "real" decorating. Like where it looks like you actually planned for the room to look that way instead of just shoving stuff in and never thinking about how ugly it looks together. I really would love to make the bedspreads for my kids rooms, a girls room with this, and a boys with this. *or maybe the other way around!

The are so flippin cute!

I'd have already started on this one, but I know I need to make two of either the boys or girls quilts. But I won't find out which until January (I hope!), so I'm holding off on buying fabric yet.

Then there is this site. Don't go look at it unless you have 37 hours of free time. Seriously! I'm astounded by all the patterns on this one. The really fun thing, if you sign up, you get a whole heap free. Plus, go to this link and you can get a free tutu and vest pattern. They give some ideas to use them for Halloween costumes, but I've got visions of Christmas dancing in my little head.

Especially if I get really ambitious and do the vest with this tie pattern . . . .
Humm. I know I spent more on afghans this year than I probably should have. I wonder just how much I'll find myself spending on fabric in the next year!

If I had a million Dollars

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:35:00 +0000

You know, I sing that song a lot. A REAL lot. Like almost every time I go to any store other than the grocery or gas station. Even the dollar store. As I've said before, Hubby is a pilot. He flies the little puddle jumpers for a regional airline. Many pilots make insane amounts of money (ex. captain for FedEx STARTS somewhere around $200,000.00). Some make really great (ex. Captain for Delta starts at $120,000.00). Regionals make . . .um less. Captains still do ok. First officers . . .get there. I've surprised more than one person when I tell them that Hubby made less his first year than my sister did her first year teaching. Seriously. Less than a teacher. We've gotten great raises each year, but he's only been flying for 3 years. In other words, we are not rolling in dough (except for sugar cookie, but that's only because I use them as bribes to get my son to use the toilet. Anyway. Moving on.)

Our budget is often tight, which is why I sing that song. I spend 95% of our money on necessities, like toilet paper and milk, 7% on almost necessities, like pancake mix, and 3% on extras, like Christmas presents, Halloween candy, or gum. (I don't know why, but I've honestly been craving gum for weeks now.)

Wow. I'm really rambling here. I promise I'll get to the point. Today, I sang this song for the 10 billionth time, I thought, "What would I do with a million dollars, really". So now I'm here to answer that question.

This assumes that I inherited a whole bunch of money or something, and taxes have already been taken out. It also has a bunch of rounding to make easy math, and a lot of estimates that I don't really have a clue how much it would cost in reality.

#1. Pay tithing (100,000) Remaining: 900,000

#2. Pay off all debts (mortgage, student loans, credit card) (195,000) Remaining: 705,000

#3. Buy a car for hubby (yea for 2 cars!) (7000). Remaining:698,000

#4. Set aside a nice chunk for each kid, with some extra for future ones (150,000). Remaining: 548,000

#5. Fix our really sad pathetic fence (5000). Remaining: 543,000

#6. Buy real bedroom furniture for our room. (4000). Remaining 539,000

#7. Decorate the kids room with real furniture and accent pieces that don't look like crud (3000) Remaining: 536,000

#8. Fix my sad outdated bathroom (2000). Remaining: 534,000

#9. Change out my yucky lousy flat top in my kitchen with a real stove + fix the pealing wall paper, scratched linoleum, and new dining table. (5000). Remaining: 529,000.

#10. Buy a freezer and a whole bunch of food storage (3000) Remaining: 526,000.

#11. Um. Er. Buy some warm clothes for my boy (100). Remaining: 525,900.

#12. I've honestly got nothing. As of 4:35 October 14, that's really all I would want to get. Most of the things on my list will happen, but not as quickly as I'd like. But there's a few fluff stuff on my list that I don't need, which I'm learning to just deal with. I guess I don't really need a million dollars to be happy. I could get everything I want for less than 500,000. And everything I really need with a trip to Goodwill.

Some days it really helps to put it all in perspective.

What would you do with a million?

Um, what do you say to that?

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:12:00 +0000

For the last two days in our neck of the woods, it's rained. And I mean RAINED. It didn't stop for a full 36 hours, just went from light sprinkles to Noah-like proportions and back again. My kids were going crazy been cooped up, and I was right there with them.

And then this morning, we woke up to glorious sunshine. Seriously, not a even single wispy cloud in the sky. The birds were singing, the temperature a perfect 64 degrees, the trees are kissed in vibrant colors, and you could sort of kind of see it all through my dirty windows. (ahem)

I spend the morning cleaning my kitchen, and then we all headed out front to soak up some wonderful vitamin D. I spent a few minutes weeding some flower beds, Girly-Lou rounded up every leaf she could find, and Buddy tried very hard to climb our tree.

Then he got adventurous. He walked over to me with a tiny snail on his finger, asking what it was. "oh, a sthnail! It's so cute. I wuv sthnails." This was quickly dashed when it fell off his finger into the grass. But soon he came over with something else.

"Wook Mom! What's this?" It was a tiny bug of some sort. "Oh, Mom, it's my favorite. I wuv the tiny bugs. Deay are my favoirte animal ever." Of course, the bug also fell into the grass. Massive disappointment followed. "But Mom, I don't have any animals. I wuv to hod all da animals. Dey are my favorite, and I need to hold another animal."

Lunch helped. After lunch, they kids headed out back to play some more. I stayed inside to check my hubby in for his flight.

"Mom! Guess what I founded outside!"

I'm afraid to ask.

"Wook Mom!" he shows me his hand proudly. Clutched firmly inside his little paw are dozens of dried up worms. All crunchy in their curliness.
"Wook how cool. I founded dem all by myself. What is it?"

"dried up worms" I reply, trying very hard to be calm and not grossed out, and not stressed out that he'd drop them all over the freshly vacuumed carpet.

"Oh, yah. Dried up worms. I wuv dem Mom. Dey are my favorite animal. 'Cause I can hold dem and dey don't go away. Dey are so cute!"

Um, yah. Right. But part of me was so happy he was finding joy in nature. Especially insect life. That's just such a boy thing. And something he loved until Aug 2008. That's when he was attacked by fire ants, and ended up in an urgent care center getting treatment for his more than TWO HUNDRED bites over his hands, forearms and lower legs. He's been rather terrified of bugs since then. So while I'm really NOT ok with dried up worms all over my house, I will try to not show him how gross this is. Because I'd rather he grew up to be a "normal" boy than that traumatized one I've seen for more than a year.

*picture snapped after ushering him upstairs to the freshly swept and mopped floor. That way I could at least quickly clean it up if he dropped it! Fourtunatly, I was able to pursuade him that they belonged BACK outside!

A little help?

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:23:00 +0000

I may have mentioned before, I really like to do crafts. My problem is I have very little natural talent, and even less inspiration. But I'm getting better at copying other's amazing ideas.

A full year ago, I found this post. I was inspired! My daughter spent the entire month of October asking how many days until Halloween. A countdown would be perfect. However, I couldn't find the little pumpkins, and I didn't really have the energy to hunt, and blah, blah, blah.

Long story shorter, I didn't make it. For a year. But FINALLY the end of September, I threw this together.
(Obviously we're already using this one - it does actually have 31 pumpkins to take down)
Mine is a bit different: I didn't' have a cute clock, but I did have a crummy old cookie sheet. I spray painted it black, and then fake modge-podged some scrapbook paper on. I forgot to get numbers for the pumpkins, so I got really creative (I printed out the numbers, rubbed pencil all over the back to make it like transfer paper, traced over the numbers to transfer the outline to the pumpkins, and then went over it with a sharpie. Very annoying. Just buy numbers!). Then I stuck some magnet strips on the back.

The ribbon I got last year at Hobby Lobby in November for like 10 cents a spool or something. And the little bag next to it I just threw together.

Cost breakdown:
Cookie sheet: free
Black spray paint: 3.49
Scrapbook Paper: .88
Pumpkins: 24 for 1.99 (on sale for 1.19)
Magnet tape: on hand
Ribbon: .10

Total: $6.85

I love the idea of this countdown, but I also feel like there is a big space screaming for some help.

So I have a question: Should I add something to the "Trick Or Treat" paper? A word art thingy? What should it say? Should I do black or orange? Or is it good enough? I'd love some input here!

My education

bookwormbaby@hotmail.com (Laree) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:54:00 +0000

There are days I want to go back to school. I miss the learning, the feeling of knowledge, the moments on tests when you suddenly remember the answer.

But this is not the season for formal education. So instead, I thought I'd think a bit about what I've learned in my informal school. The school of being a mom, wife, daughter, and just a human.

This week I've learned:
*What it feels like to have a frail looking 80 something year old woman decide you're the one that needs help picking up a jug of milk from the bottom of the cooler.
*How much easier it is to toilet train an over 3 year old than a not quite 2 year old.
*That said 3 year old is capable of reaching absolutely anything in my kitchen.
*That if anything is left out in my kitchen, that same 3 year old will find it and devour it every time he walks through.
*how much more homey your front room feels when you finally get a couch. (!!!)
*How much I can accomplish when I wake up (on purpose or not) 2 hours before anyone else.
*How to empathise with my own mom when she would get so frustrated as her kids bickered.
*Driving 40 miles in one day now seems like no big deal
*That watching home movies shows so much clearer how much your children have grown instead of just pictures
*I'm addicted to crafting blogs, even though I rarely have the time/talent/money to actually make any of the 8 zillion pages I bookmark.
*The likely hood that I will end up delivering this baby without my husband near scares me more and more each week.
*How close I can feel to someone I've only met digitally.
*That sitting down to think about all the ways I grow feels me with gratitude that I can still grow in so many ways.

How about you? What have you learned in the "real world"?