Don't Judge Me

I've gotta go to work today.

We've got inservice all week.

Every day...

During my kids' last week of summer...

I'm not excited about this.   Can you tell?

Please do not tell me how lucky I am to get the whole summer off.  Or how people with "real" jobs only get a week or two of vacation, unlike TEACHERS. 

I am very aware of how blessed I am to have a job that allows me to be with my family more than a "real" job allows.  That is why I am feeling down.  I love hanging out with my boys during the summer.  And I mourn the end of summer.  :(

Now I gotta go shower-----and go to work.

Afternoon delight

NO!! This is not THAT kind of blog!  I'm talking about this


 
I have been in desperate need of some kid free time.  I have been with the boys pretty much 24/7 for the last three weeks.  And, I love them, but my brain needed a chance to have some silence.  And Mr. G very kindly took the kids to his mother's today and took me to lunch.  We did nothing special.  Had some tacos for lunch, ran a couple of errands and then--the afternoon delight.  He suggested a stop at Nikki's on the way home.  Love me some salted caramel fro yo! And swirled with dark chocolate hazelnut!  Holy cow---I have simple needs.  Some time on my own and a cup of salted caramel yogurt and I am a new person.  And then I got a little nap!!! ANNND it rained!!! Talk about a good day.  :)
Still working on my craft room.  I hit a snag that needed some Mr. G. assistance and won't be getting that until tomorrow.  Hope to post pics tomorrow evening. 
Love to all!!!

Remind me again why I thought this would be a good idea

You know THAT project?  The one that you've been wanting to get done in your house but it is going to be such a production that you keep putting it off.  But you really, really want to get it done because it is going to be such an improvement.  And then you get started on it....get to the point of no return....get to the point of "remind me again why I thought this would be a good idea"
You know the project I'm talking about?
Well, we started ours yesterday.  We have a home office.  A home office that truly gets very little attention or use.  When we first moved into our house 6 years ago, we thought that the office would be a great place for Mr. G to work, pay bills, etc.  And at first it was.  But, now he really does very little work from home, and when he does it is from his laptop on the sofa in the family room.  So, I've been saying for months that I was going to repurpose the space and make it a craft area for myself.  In my fantasy room, I get to leave the sewing machine and cricut set up all the time so that whenever I think "hey, I'd like to cut out a flower for this project" or "sure would like to run that through the sewing machine" I can actually do it without having to haul all the stuff out of the closet and set it up. 
So, we got started on cleaning out, purging, and reorganizing yesterday.  We spent 3 hours or so in the office and got maybe, MAYBE 1/2 done. 

And I've hit the wall.  I've gotta go in there and finish it off.  I know once I get it done I'll love it, buuut....remind me again why I thought this was a good idea?

Phineas and Ferb in the 2nd dimension

If you don't have little ones and/or do not regularly watch the Disney channel, you may be unfamiliar with Phineas and Ferb.  However, in our house, and in the homes of many of our friends, Phineas and Ferb is a big deal.  And tonight is the premier of the summer movie "Phineas and Ferb in the 2nd Dimension!!!!"  The boys have been looking forward to this for weeks.  We set the DVR last week just in case we forgot.  They planned family movie night all around this event!  Check it out...

Salad bar supper  (idea from my friend Michele over at Houseful of Boys)

The cupcakes are NOT part of the salad bar--those are for dessert

We also had pizza dip with pizza crust chips

And check this out

Yes, he is wearing his Agent P shirt and Perry cap.  I told you they were excited about this.

I hope you are having some fun with your family tonight!

Blessings,

"Too hot for humans"

Seriously, this was on the radio today.  Some national weatherman was issuing a heat warning that included the phrase that people needed to remain indoors as much as possible because it would be "too hot for humans" outside today.  Ummm, where has this guy been all summer?  Are you having rolling blackouts? We aren't but several of my friends in larger cities are today.  No a/c?  For hours?  That would be HORRIFIC!!!  I might have to sit in my car with the a/c on until the electricity was returned. 

The E man and I went up to my school today to pack up my personal belongings because I am relocating to another classroom this fall.  When we left we made a grocery run and then headed home to spend the rest of the day in our air conditioned house with all the blinds and curtains drawn.  This is where I planned to spend the entire day then DRAT! I forgot the C man had a piano lesson---at 3:30!!! I cannot explain how freakin' hot it is outside at 3:30 in the middle of Texas these days.  As soon as his lesson was over we quickly zoomed back to our cave and and the cool air. 

Mr. G has had people from the corporate office in his office all week so I think we have seen him maybe 30 minutes total since Sunday.  So, I haven't cooked all week but decided to pull this recipe out and see how it went with the kids. 

Chicken Pockets
2 cups cubed/chopped cooked chicken breasts  (I grilled my own chicken so it was seasoned when I cut it up--if your's isnt you might need to add some salt and pepper)
1 diced red bell pepper
1 C chopped broccoli
1 TBS minced dill (I didn't have dill so I subbed fresh basil)
1 C of plain yogurt
1 C of mayo
2 Cans of crescent rolls

(I also added in some fresh chopped spinach)

Open your crescents and unroll.  Do not seperate into triangles!  Divide each can into 4 rectangles.  Mix all remaining ingredients together in a large bowl.  Spoon filling into each rectangle, then fold over and press edges to seal.  Back at 375 for about 15 minutes.  Serve with a salad and/or fruit.

OK, C LOVED these.  E wouldn't even taste them once he heard C say there was broccoli inside.  (sigh--we are knee deep in the no veggie stage)  I liked them a lot too---of course I had had them before. :)  Now, my budding chef son  and I are thinking of what else we could put inside, and how we could make a breakfast version.  We'll keep you posted on our experiments. 

Annnnd, last but not least, we've done a tiny bit of crafting around here. 

 I took 2 old bed pillows and stitched along the outer edge to bind them together

Yes, I know you are amazed by my mad blanket stitch skills.  This, of course, didn't have to look great or be perfect because no one would ever see it. 

then I took this yard of super cute fabric, folded it right sides togther and stitched up two sides on my sewing machine (the 3rd side was the fold)  Turned it right side out and slid my pillows in and then stitched up the opening.  And now...

I have a super cute, trendy, owl patterned floor pillow.  I had the cute kid sit on it to show you how functional it is, and to get in another pic of the cute kid. 

This will be going up to my classroom for me to sit on during my music classes.  I spend the entire day sitting on the floor and my old bones get creaky after a couple of classes.

Cute kid and I made this butterfly canvas. He watercolored edge to edge on a white sheet of art paper.  I stuck it in the cricut and cut out the butterflies and then we glued them on the canvas we had painted green.  He's pretty happy with his final product.

And then while the glue gun was on, I stuck some flowers on my plain ol' flip floppers. 

Up next...  mobile made from home-made shriky dinks!

sigh.....

I'm feeling blue.  It's August.  August!!! How in the world did it get here so fast?  There are a measly 3 weeks of summer left.  I'm not ready to go back to school, and I'm not ready to send the kids back to school.  I had such plans for the summer and I've done so little with the time.  Where is my rewind button? 
School supplies are pretty much all bought, lunch boxes and backpacks are purchased.  I even got the new shoes and a couple of shorts and shirts each to start school.  No need to buy long pants here since we are officially living in hell's oven these days.  My kids are gonna be wearing short sleeves and shorts for at least the first two months of school, probably the first three months. 
So, because I feel we have not done anything we planned to do this summer, we stayed home all day to swim and work on a craft project.  Are you familiar with the phrase "the best laid plans...."? 
Just before we go out to swim the boys decided that it would be a super idea to run around the house chasing each other---despite the fact that they have been told approximately 1 million times not to do so because some one would get hurt.  Chris slammed into the door frame and busted up a toe, so he spent the next 45 minutes howling and the rest of the day hobbling.  Then, the two of them decided they would play Wii together but got into a shouting match of who would be which character, Evan decided to whack him, which led to Evan getting sent to his room.  Which then led to him throwing a fit and making a really, really, really bad choice, which resulted in a spanking and loss of Wii privelages for the next two days.  That of course led to wailing and gnashing of teeth--yeah, we've got sorrow of Bibilical proportions around here folks!
So, around 5:00, we got to our craft project---which should be completed tomorrow, and I will post pics then. 
Just a regular day in my house--what's going on in yours?

Random ramblings

It is stinkin' HOT!!! No, really, not just regular middle of summer hot.  This is brain melting and leaking out of your ears hot.  We are currently at 47 days of 100+ degrees with no end in sight.  We need rain, so, so, so bad

Today is Mr. G's bday.  He is 40 today!!! He's not a surprise party kind of guy so we are having surprise cake instead.  He loves pineapple upside down cake.  But I had to put a twist on it to make it a birthday cake.  If we like it I will post the recipe. 

I've finished 2 books this week:  The Help and Heaven is Real.  They were both very good and I recommend them to you.   I would tell you more about them but if I did you wouldn't need/want to read them. 

We took the kids on a mini-vacay this past weekend.  We had supper Thurs evening with my parents, sister and her family.  Friday was my dad's birthday (I won't tell you how old he is---he wouldn't like that!)  Supper was great!  You should have seen my little one's pile of rib bones at the end!

Friday we went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing for a tour and saw how money is made.  Very cool, very interesting, engraving is intense! 

Friday evening we took the boys to their first baseball game.  We went to see the Ft. Worth Cats , which is the Dodger's farm team.  When I was a kid we used to go to similar baseball games all the time.  Since our town doesn't have a semi-pro team my kids have never had a chance.  They LOVED it.  And it was much, much cheaper then going to see the Rangers.  My sister in law, brother in law and niece and nephew were with us.  Here's some pics









The next day we spent the ENTIRE day at a water park.  Yes, we are little crazy.  But the kids had so much fun!  And we only had one injury


  A certain little boy I love wiped out and skinned his knee. And despite hanging out in water all day, he felt that he MUST have a band aid. 

They had a lot of fun.  They are still exhausted!

Tomorrow, my father in law is having surgery to get a pacemaker.  Prayers would be appreciated for successful proceedure. 

Little Callie is home from Houston for a bit.  She starts her radiation on Aug 11th.  Prayers are appreciated for her too, specifically that she is able to swallow during her next test and that all goes well with the radiation.  And please pray for her parents, after being at MD Anderson it has really hit home that their little one has cancer.  They are exhausted and stretched to their limits.  And their son is struggling with his family being away so much and for so long.  Thank you friends!!

Girls just wanna have fun, Moms just wanna wear yoga pants

I have come to a realization--forgive me for my apparent mental slowness---I'm not 20 anymore.  See, back in the day, when I was in high school and college, I was very worried about wearing what was currently trendy and cute.  Today I realized, mmm, not so much anymore.  Let me give you some specific examples.
Jeans:  years ago I would throw them in the wash after one, even brief, wearing so that the next time I put them on they would be tight.  Today---I hang them back up after one wearing because now they are already loosened up and comfy.
Tights: THEN--worn with dresses and skirts for fashion.  Now--worn with dresses and skirts so that my thighs don't rub together. 
Bras:  Then--it was important that they provided good lift and cleavage.  Now--important they provide good lift to keep "the girls" off my rib cage
Shoes:  THEN---cuteness and heel were very important no matter how they felt on my feet.  Now--they fall into three categories  summer=flip flops, winter=tennis shoes, dressy=flats
Then I would be mortified if I went out in sweats and a tee.  Now, I could pretty much be happy for the rest of my life in yoga pants or some version of them. 
I came to this conclusion this afternoon when I returned home from the movies and errands with the kids.  Since it was determined that we were going nowhere else today, I immediately headed to the bedroom to take off my khaki capris and cute top to put on my knee length yoga pants and tee.  It was then I realized that at 41 years old I have come to dislike wearing pants with zippers and buttons.  See, zippers and buttons tend to dig into the post baby tummy.  Yoga pants are gentle with the mommy tummy.  Cute pants are more likely to give you a wedgie.  Yoga pants are not wedgie inducing.  Cute pants can wrinkle.  Yoga pants are wrinkle free. 
Now, I must overcome what I am sure is my inflated estimation of what others think about me and what I wear, so that I can embrace my yoga pants filled future.  I think if you will join me we can make this a movement that sweeps the nation. 
Are you with me?  Moms across America want to wear yoga pants!!!!

I got nothin'

So, I haven't blogged for a few days, and I'm sitting here trying to come up with an interesting topic, a cool craft, a yummy recipe, or SOMETHING to write about annnd.... I got nothin'
It is just too stinkin' hot to do anything.  At 8:00 in the morning it is 90 degrees, and it just gets hotter from there.  So, if we have errands to run we run out of the house and do it as early as possible so that we can get back home into the air conditioner before it gets even hotter.  Yesterday, Evan and I headed out at 7:30, ran four errands and were back by 9:00.  See my "grass" in this pic.  Our whole yard, front and back, looks like this right now.  Even the plants I have in pots on the deck are looking crisp and we water those daily.  Ugh, this is nasty summer weather.  LOL, the grass is so awful that I am not even attempting to protect it during my spray paint projects.  I have quite a rainbow going out there these days!!

And to make me feel depressed, we started buying school supplies yesterday.  I am against this, and think that school supplies should not even be for sale until August, but I can't pass up notebook paper for a penny!! And glue and crayons for 20 cents!! I figure if they stores are going to be shoving this stuff at us in July, I might as well get what the kids need at a bargain price while they are available.  We got almost everything yesterday.  I think there are maybe a dozen things left (between the 2 boys' lists) that we still need to pick up.  Do your kids need one of these for school?  The junior high here does not allow kids to use a locker or carry a backpack  (this is supposed to cut down on kids bringing contraband items to school and eliminate wasted time at lockers and in the hall) so they have to have these "locker bags"  I bought Chris' yesterday.  I still can't quite figure out how they are supposed to haul jackets, lunches, these bags, books, etc. around with them all day.

I'm linking up some projects here this week.

How are ya'll doing?  We are frying like chickens here.  Even the water coming out of the cold water tap is warm, and the pool feels like bathwater. 
C is attending a math and science camp this week. He is loving it (which makes me very, very happy.) I don't know if I have explained this before but C struggled with extreme social anxiety when he was little.  Before starting kindergarten he would cry whenever we drove past the elementary school.  He barely spoke in school and struggled socially.  So, for this child to have developed to the point to which he can go to a camp, by himself, where he knows no other kids is an ENORMOUS milestone that I would have thought would never happen.  I'm so proud of him and for him.  He is a great kid.
While C is gone all day, E and I have had some time to hang out together.  Yesterday we went to a movie together, today we swam, Monday we went to the library, tomorrow we are doing some crafts and baking cookies.  He is so excited, he has been bragging to his daddy and brother all week about what he is getting to do each day. 
So tomorrow we will be crossing some things off our summer to do list and posting pics in the evening.  Stop back and check out our end results! 
Blessings,

What I've been doing

OK, summer is almost 1/2 over and I have got to get my stuff done!  Every summer I start out with this long list of goals to accomplish and plans to finish and then September rolls around and I've got almost none of it done.  So I am getting serious about crossing some things off both my mental list and our summer to do list

We have gotten a few things on here done--shaving cream fight, made the rainbow cake, swimming, golf, library visits, swim party,

But we still have LOTS on here--mostly craft projects that we wanted to make and have yet to begin.

On my personal list, I've been wanting to finish off my closet (i.e. get Mr. G converted to wooden hangers), and do some spruce up around the house. 

Yesterday I tackled the boys' bathroom and rooms.  The boys have a "jack and jill" bath.  They each have their own sink/vanity area but they share the tub/toilet.  When we moved in I went with a Mickey Mouse theme.

Now, I could have posted a bigger/better pic but that would have meant showing you the filth that was my boys' bathroom yesterday before I went to work.  Anyway, the boys were a little tired of the MM theme and felt like it was too "babyish".  So, I headed to Target

The basket has shampoo, lotion, body wash, hand towels, and wash cloths for guests.  On the rare occasions we have people stay over, they use the boys' bathroom and, now that it is sparkling clean, I don't mind letting you see the whole bathroom

Vanity area---looks the same on both boys' sides

New shower curtain---the yellow valance was actually made during MM era because I felt it looked weird with such a huge gap between the top of the shower curtain and the ceiling.  Since the curtain has yellow anyway, I decided to keep it

They both love it.  I like that it brightens up the bathroom, not as thrilled about the boys' desire to grow up so fast

Then I had to go over here and clean up

Please do not think I have some sort of wonder child who keeps his room tidy at all times----he DOES NOT.  In fact, these pictures were taken after approximately an hour of cleaning, reorganizing, muttered curses, and threats of loss of TV and video games if I ever find this room in a condition that I found it yesterday.  Not the least of which was a Reese's peanut butter egg squashed into the carpet.  Umm, yeah, good times, good times, NOT!!! But doesn't it look nice now?  We added the little green table beside his bed today.  He needed it , because his cousin has a table next to his bed (DUH Mom!) 

Then to clear my mind of the peanut butter egg incident I needed to inhale some fumes and spray paint something.  This is what I ended up with

They used to be a dark color that resembled cherry wood and now they are white and I like them even more than before. 

One more thing, my friend Courtney's little one, Callie, got to come home from the hospital yesterday.  She had a shunt and "g-button" (for IV feeding) put in at the end of last week in prep for her radiation therapy that begins next week.  The family is so glad to have some time together, at home before the next chapter begins.  Thanks for all the prayers!

Blessings!

 

The days of summer

This is laundry from four days of non-stop swimming. This is it!!! Isn't it lovely? Laundry like this I can handle. Swim towels and swimsuits are soooo much easier to fold and put away then "real" clothes.  Makes me happy. 

I took this one to camp today

Big boy camp.  I'm talking junior high, math/science camp.  How can this be?  Junior high?!  I mean seriously, I feel certain that it was only a year ago when he looked like this

 

I mean seriously, how could this little guy possibly be old enough for junior high camp?  Much less junior high?  There must be some mix up here.  And if one more person reminds me that in just THREE years he'll be in high school I may punch them in the face.  I'm sorry, I'm not generally violent.  It's just all this growing up stuff is kind of shocking. 

And then this one....

is going in to first grade!  What? Where did this guy go?

I feel certain he was sitting in this high chair just the other day.  How can he be going to 1st grade? 

I'm sorry.  It's all those school supplies I saw stocked at Target today.  It is making me light headed and a little nauseated. I mean really, school supplies, already?  They are ruining the remaining 2/3's of my summer. 

If you feel the same, you should make one of these.  They both have a summer taste and sugar makes you feel better.  Truly, it does.  And if sugar is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Strawberry pie

1 shortbread or graham cracker crust

1 lb of strawberries, washed trimmed and diced

1 pkg softned cream cheese

1/4 C of powdered sugar

1 small container of cool whip

mix cream cheese with electric mixer.  Pour in strawberries and powdered sugar and mix together until well combined. (yes, some strawberries will get mashed up and cream cheese will turn pink--that's ok).  Fold in cool whip unitl well combined then pour into crust.  Place in freezer until firm. 

Pineapple cake

1 white cake mix

2 eggs

1 can of crushed pineapple with juice (the can I use was the medium size--8 or 9 oz)

1 sm tub of cool whip

Mix together the cake mix, the eggs and pineapple with the juice.  Just open the can and dump it all into the cake mix.  Mix well and pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for about 30  minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.  When cake is cool "frost" the top with the cool whip---I used the vanilla  cool whip just 'cuz I'm fancy like that.  Place in fridge to chill at least 3 hours before serving.  Now, this cake is good the first day----but the second day it is really, really, really good!!

4th of July photo essay

Happy Independence Day!!!

Just a little pic to get you in the celebratory mood.  Unfortunately, due to the drought, heat and EXTREME fire danger fireworks sales have been banned across Texas so we are unfortunately unable to celebrate in our usual pyrotechnic/pyromaniac way.  (The kids are truly upset about this).  However we are continuing with the traditional food-a-palooza and we will be having the annual shaving cream fight this afternoon.  Pics to come tomorrow. 
Enjoy your holiday and be safe!
Blessings

It's 2:30 p.m.--what are YOU wearing?

Was that too personal?  Come on, we're all friends here.  Whatcha' wearing?  Me?  I am able to tell you, without embarassment or shame, that I am STILL wearing my pajamas.  And so are my children.  Yes, dear friends, we have been up since 7:00 this morning and we are still wandering around, unbathed and in our pjs.  You can call us the Funky Bunch.
I'm thinking if I get them in  the pool later today that will count as a bath and then they can get back into pjs for bed---if you think about it this is really an environmentally friendly move on my part.  I am saving water both in the lack of bathing and laundry.  My carbon foot print is practically non-exsistent right now.  Don't hate me because I'm "green"
Love,
The Funky Bunch Mama