Just Me Being Crafty:)

So far, this summer, I've tried to think of some fun things to do at home with my children. With the heat the way it is outside, we can only do so much outdoors! I've tried to think of a few fun "art/crafts/projects" to do after nap time. So far we've made our own playdough. A little trick, if you're interested, is to add some extracts to the playdough. I added some lemon extract to our purple playdough and it smelled yummy!

We have made edible playdough in the past. This is good, too. It's a little expensive because you have to use powdered milk (why is this so pricey???? Even the Wal-Mart brand!) and honey, but the end result is fun that kids can even eat.

Something that I have always enjoyed making with kids is homemade butter. (I like to do fun activities involving food!!) I learned to make this when I taught preschool and our class would make some every year we discussed "farms". This is SO easy to make and it's actually really good! Try it and wow your family with your skills.

1. Start with a clean, small container. I used a large baby food jar, since I have many availaible, lately. I have also used a small food storage container in the past.

2. Pour some whipping cream in the container and add a pinch of salt. Don't fill the cream to the top of the container. It looks like it is in this picture for some reason, but it's not.



3. Close the lid tightly and shake that thing like crazy! When we did it, we all took turns shaking. Now, this part takes a long time and requires a lot of HARD shaking. Once the kids are done (which will be after a few seconds), you take over and just shake it! You'll start making some weird faces....I tend to do an overbite, where my top teeth clench my lower lip.

4. After a few minutes of shaking the container, you'll see the mixture get lumpy and then solid, while turning a slight yellowish color. It's ready! You'll see some excess liquid. I like to pour this out. What you're left with is actual butter that you made!!! You can leave it in the jar or....

...you can take out your favorite cookie cutters and make the butter into fun, little molds!

Either way, you can serve your new creation at dinner and your husband will think he's married to a true Ma Ingalls. LOVE her!

This week's fun activities at our home will include finger painting with pudding and making our Father's Day cupcakes. I found a CUTE idea that looks easy. I'll post next week! If you have any fun craft ideas for me, please let me know. I am running out of ideas and it's only mid-June....a few more months to go!

It's Raining, It's Pouring....These Last 10 Days Have Been BORING!

I have come to be okay when Roy travels for long periods of time on trips. I don't like it, but I get by. But for some reason, this past trip has been TORTURE!!!! I don't know if it's the mixture of pregnancy-irritability, having an overcast-rainy day on a daily basis, enduring a long holiday weekend, or what, but I'm so ready for this trip to come to an end. If Caroline didn't have camp this week, we'd be in VA or Boone visiting grandparents but instead I've found myself experiencing a daily transformation into a crazy, mean mother who is about to pull her hair out because her kids are driving her NUTS!! I am so sick of hearing the words, "poopoo", "Poopie", and "Duckie" (Caroline is now in the silly stage where she talks nonsense all the time and thinks it's hilarious. She answers "duckie" to most things. Ex: "yes ma'am, Duckie!" It's realllly annoying). I've cleaned the house, the laundry is caught up, I've started pricing stuff for next weekend's yard sale, we've been on tons of walks, been to the pool when it's not rainy and when it is rainy (we were all three DRENCHED by the time we got to the car), been to a few parks and play areas and yet...it's only Thursday?!


Here are some observations from the longest week, ever:






1. Maybe my sweet friend, Jessica, could sense my SOS signal today. She took Caroline home with her after camp today so she could play with Caleb. She even took them to get ice cream! I love this picture because they both look SO happy! Thank you, Jessica:) It really meant a lot.

2. Have you seen these new Huggies? They're made to look like little jeans!! Roy Austin is getting into pull-ups now, but I had to buy him one pack before he outgrows diapers for good. They are so cute on, too! They're only for a limited time, so I'm going to stock up for baby #3 (by the way, coupons.com has Huggies $3 coupons right now). Oh, and about 20 minutes after I took the above picture, I was busy in the kitchen and RoyBoy said, "Mommy, I poopooed". I told him I would come change him in just a second. He then said, "Mommy, I poopooed. See?" There he stood behind me, naked and holding his diaper in his hand. Luckily is was all contained. This is the second time this week. Maybe we really should call him "Poopie".

3. Speaking of RoyBoy, my sister, Dawn, has always said that he reminds her of Michael Banks in Mary Poppins. Last night the kids and I sat down to watch a little of it before bedtime and the minute he came on the screen, I started laughing because Roy Austin DOES resemble him!

4. I am not an Al Gore fan by any means, but I have really been saddened this week by the news that he and his wife are separating after 40 years of marriage. What in the world?! I guess it makes me sad because of the number of years they've been together. My parents have been married for 43 years, so maybe I am comparing it to them? Someone on the radio said the other day that their case is not uncommon, they just happen to be high-profile. 25% of marriages that make it to 20 years will end in divorce! I couldn't believe it when I heard that statistic. I guess people tend to think that marriages break up before that mark. Someone else on TV mentioned that when you stop being best friends with your spouse, it's just a slow fade downhill until you are just living with a person who you call your spouse. I pray that Roy and I never get that way. It's just so sad....the Gores have 4 adult children and grandchildren together!! Get some counseling and stick with it, guys! I'm currently doing the Bible Study, The Power of a Praying Wife, and hearing stories like this makes me want to become even closer to Roy! Pray for your spouse daily and pray together daily!!

So, I will be one happy wife come Saturday around 2:00 when we drive up to the Charlotte-Douglas Airport and see that handsome man standing at the curb waiting for us. There is just something about being under the same roof with your family--complete--that is such a relief! Hurry up, Saturday! I can't take it any longer!! In the mean time, tonight and tomorrow I will finish Roy Austin's baby book before I have to begin a third one in a few months. And I will do it while I watch Toddlers and Tiaras and pat myself on the back for not being as crazy as some moms out there.

Ho Hum...

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately. There honestly is NOTHING to blog about! Plus, from what I see with my blog friends, I'm not alone! What is it with hardly anyone blogging lately? Is it just this time of year? I guess we're all just busy with life. So, to keep this blog active, I literally thought and thought of some recent things that are going on in our life right now. Don't get bored.....

1. Roy Austin now teases me by saying, "Poo-poo in potty?". I'll say, "Do you have to go poo-poo?" and he'll say, "yes!" So we rush to the potty, he sits down and grunts with a smile on his face (I think he thinks you have to grunt) and then he says "M en M?" Then he gets off (without pooping) and then within 10 minutes, there is a fresh poop in his diaper!!! Oh well, at least he's feeling the urge.

2. All of the neighborhood kids around our house are at least 9 years old. One day, we had the bounce house out and the triplets down the street stopped riding their bikes and invited themselves over to play. I loved it and so did Caroline! She thought she was so cool and kept calling them "her friends". Well, these same kids ride their bikes and scooters by our house all the time and Caroline wants them to stop SO badly...but she IS only 4! She'll say hi to them and smile, but they keep riding by. We've heard them playing in their yard before and she will sing and yell really loudly just hoping they'll hear her and come over. Two days ago, they kept riding by and she would wave and say hi. I felt so bad for her!! Then we were getting ready to eat dinner outside the other night and they rode by again and were talking to each other. I laughed to myself as I heard Caroline yell, "What?!" as she tried to get in on their conversation. Poor thing!

3. Is it just me or is LOST getting good? Things are starting to come together now. I just can't figure out if Jacob is really good and the man in black is really bad? It would be just like the show to switch the two. And I think Jack's Dad was the MIB for a while before dead Locke came back to the island. Remember how he was the one in the rocking chair in the cabin and he told Locke how to turn the wheel, etc? I just really hope that by the end of the show, the point of it is not to make Christianity look fake and bad.

4. And again, is it just me or was Dancing With the Stars good last Monday? First off, I hate the new holding room. I liked it when it was literally "back stage". That glass box is awkward and I don't like how the "stars" have to get up and down to be on camera when the interviews take place. Kate Gosselin? Awful! She looked so uncomfortable and I think she may have realized that maybe she didn't belong and wasn't in the same caliber as the rest of the stars???? I loved the part in her routine where she kicked her leg up but it only went to her waist. Pam Anderston was definitely on something by the time she danced. Wow. And what is it with Edyta always having to take something off in her routines???? Oh, and I am SOOO glad that Samantha Harris is gone!!! At this point I'm not rooting for anyone specific, but I do like the ice skater and Niecy Nash:)

5. It's triples this week at Harris Teeter. They do this monthly now and it snuck up on me this time. I am not prepared at all and I have about 100 coupons to use. There are some good deals out there, so sometime today, the kids and I will venture on over. See? I told you our life is hum drum lately!

6. I have been busy planning Caroline's 5th birthday this past week. Her birthday always falls on Spring Break week, when we usually go to VA for the week. So, we're going to have her big day there. She wants a Princess and the Frog party because Tiana is now her favorite princess:) So, I have some neat ideas up my sleeve for April 7th! We will be having a New Orleans/Bayou themed party (this is where the story takes place). When I tell Caroline my ideas, she gets giddy! What a confidence booster for me! Oh, and we've been listening to the soundtrack allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll week long.

7. Last Sunday, I subbed in a 3 year old Sunday School class. This sweet little boy told me out of the blue, "My mommy's name is __________, but my dad calls her the love of his life." He was so matter of fact and it was so sweet!

Okay, that's all that I can think of and remember from this past week. I'm looking forward to next week....making Easter cookies, an Annual Easter Egg Hunt party to go to, finishing up Easter baskets and getting ready for Easter Sunday!

Meet Charlottte's New Neighbors!

Look who just moved to Providence Road last month:

That's right. In less than 10 minutes, I can make it to Rielle Hunter's house that John Edwards bought for her and HIS BABY last month....with money from the trust account that was set up to honor his late son.

So, after denying the whole affair and then admitting it but then denying that this child could ever be his because "the timing of it all is off"...he admits that the little girl is indeed his. Can this guy get any more disgusting? He actually gives me the creeps.

Charlotte Peeps: if you want to bring Rielle some cookies or homemade banana bread to welcome her to the Queen City, she lives at 1611 Providence Road across from Providence Sundries. Just look for the paparazzi.

Just me, rambling....

1. This is my new favorite kitchen gadget. I saw this with my SIL at the Greenbrier last year and wanted to get it so badly but it was a little pricey at $50. I've been scouting it out all year and finally got one for $10 on Ebay! It is a Vacuvin marinader and it is GREAT! We are major carnivores in this house. I always find myself forgetting to marinade the meats until it's too late. Problem solved. Stick your meat in this thing, pump it up with the vacuum pump included and within 20-30 minutes, your meats are perfectly marinaded (is marinaded a word?). Seriously, this is a wonderful kitchen gadget. They're pricey, but Ebay it...it's cheap.

2. I was talking to my friend, Nancy, on the phone the other night and we both had an epiphany! Remember how Michelle Duggar had realllllly tan/yellowish/Oompa Loompa skin for a long time? Well, she recently had her gall bladder removed in an emergency situation. Gall Bladder issues and jaundice go hand in hand...Hmmmmm. Yep, I bet she had a serious case of jaundice! Mystery solved. (side note: I love how the media has left them alone with their baby being premature and in the hospital, etc. )

3. I lived for Barbies when I was little but I want to hold them off for Caroline until she gets a little bit older. Roy recently bought her a flight attendant Barbie on one of his trips (she named her Laura after Laura Ezell--one of my friends who used to be a FA). Then she got a Kelly doll from a friend at Christmas, and then at CVS the other day there was a Holiday Barbie on clearance for $3, so I caved and got it for her. When we got home, she said that Barbie was Kelly's mom but wanted to know where was the Daddy? Well, look what RoyBoy got in his stocking from Grammy and Grandaddy:

Yep, that is Samson, the Bible character. I told her that Samson would make a great Daddy and she got so excited. These are three of her new favorite toys and I constantly find Samson carrying Barbie, the two of them kissing and dancing to princess songs, etc. Yikes.

4. Speaking of Barbies, Caroline and I were at Wal-Mart today and we glanced down the toy aisle. I got so excited! Peaches and Cream Barbie was my all time favorite Barbie when I was little. She got married and went to balls and kissed Ken too many times in my Barbie-soap-opera world. Well, Mattel now sells her again! For $45. She is as pretty as I remember and it looks like someone else would love to have a Peaches and Cream Barbie. Too bad I'm too cheap to buy one!

5. This week has been a deal-getting week at our house with Target's toy sale and Harris Teeter's Super Double Coupons (double up to $1.98!). Caroline and I had a girls day today and we found this cute thing on clearance for $19.98 at Target. Perfect for her room and it stores all of her baby doll gear inside!

6. And last but not least, I bought these things at Super Doubles because they ended up being $1 per box. They are SO good and only 100 calories per pack. Two bars come in a pack, so if you only eat one it's 50 calories. They're kind of like skinny pop-tarts. Me likie.

Fun Christmas Craft

I think I blogged about this last year, but it's a good reminder. Here is a very easy craft to do with your children this month and it smells so good, too! We made some last night for my kitchen tree and Caroline really enjoyed it!

Apple-Cinnamon Ornaments

1 Cup Plain Applesauce

1 Cup Cinnamon

1/4 Cup Elmer's glue (I have used craft glue in the past and they DID NOT turn out!!)

*Mix the three ingredients together and roll out on wax paper as you would cookie dough. (Work quickly because the mixture gets sticky!!). Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and lay on cookie sheet. Using a straw, poke a hole at the top of each ornament. Let dry (usually 24+ hours).

When the ornaments have dried, place a red ribbon through the hole and hang up on your tree. I know this is common sense, but do not eat! The smell is tempting...especially to little noses:)

Here is my kitchen tree this year. My sister-in-law, Kristy, gave me a Christmas plaque this year and I used it as my tree topper! Thanks, Kristy!! It's so cute!

Thank You, Nikki!

Okay, I can't stop smiling! Girls who take part in the blog swaps, you should just pray that Nikki gets your name from now on. When I saw that she had my name, I was so excited! Once again, Miss Crafty came through for her person. When I saw that box on my porch this afternoon, I couldn't get it opened fast enough. I had to tell myself to slow down so I didn't slice anything with the knife and I think I actually said, "oh, yeah...here we go" when I started opening the packages!! So, for those that don't know, I took part in the Fall Swap that is currently going on. You had to send one item for every letter of F-A-L-L. Here is what Nikki sent me (and let me just say A++ on the packaging of each item. I tell you what, start praying, girls):

F- Fall Banner:

I wanted one of these and I was seriously going to order one from Nikki's etsy store. Click here is you want to order one. She does all kinds of different sayings for any occasion. I love the colors, Nikki, and they go with my living room perfectly!

A- Adornment

Again, I love these necklaces! I have given them as gifts but never bought myself one. She put a C on one of the charms and an R on the other. Love it! (these are available through her online store, too. They make great Christmas gifts!).

L- Latte

Thanks for contributing to my addiction. A Starbucks gift card with a free sample of their new coffee and coupons for Starbucks! You know how I love a coupon!!

L- Little Birdie Desk Calendar

How cute is this?! She sells these in her etsy store, too. I love it and I am always looking for a calendar. This will look perfect on my desk next to my computer.

And if that wasn't enough, Mrs. Hogsed sent nicely packaged prizes for Caroline and Roy Austin! When they get up from their naps, they will be so excited to see these:

RoyBoy has become quite the expert with stabbing his food with forks lately, so he will be good to go. And Caroline LOVES decorative flatware and candy corn. So does Mommy!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Nikki!!!

You have seriously made my day!

Oh, and just to plug Nikki's stuff some more, click here to visit her website (not the etsy site) and click here to see her personal blog. She just did a REALLY cute family rules craft recently.

**** UPDATE****

When the kids woke up, I showed them their prizes and they were so happy. Of course, they wanted the candy right away:)

Worms!

This afternoon is was so beautiful, so the kids and I went for a little walk to feed the ducks and turtles. When we came around the bend towards our house, I heard a bunch of crunching on the sidewalk. I looked in front of the stroller and under my feet to see nasty, dried worms all over the place! It was just our sidewalks, too. There must have been hundreds. One poor worm was hanging on and trying to make a comeback but half of his body was torched by the sun. Where did these things come from and why did they pick our yard?

It's not a good picture and it doesn't do it justice, but all of those spots on the sidewalk are worms.

Cliff Huxtable....Where Are You?!

Wednesday night, Roy was out of town so I had the TV to myself. After watching Dancing With the Stars (which is reallllllllly stupid this year and which will probably be my last episode of watching), I stayed tuned for some new sitcoms on ABC. The first was called Modern Family and it was talked up to be a funny show. The show opened with a mom hurrying to finish making school lunches while organizing her family's breakfast, too. Her husband is on his blackberry and not helping and not engaged in conversation, while their teenage daughter comes down in a too-short skirt. The mom "suggests" that it's too short, while the dad barely looks up to support her suggestion. The daughter just rolls her eyes. This made me so mad! As I watched the show, I was really getting irritated. Some of the character story lines were gross and just totally inappropriate. Another scene showed the same mom in the kitchen asking her younger daughter what her older daughter was doing. The daughter replied that she and her friend (who was a boy) were laying in her bed watching a movie. The mom just stopped, looked up as if to tell herself to remain calm and relax, and then just went on doing what she was doing. Huh?

The next show, Cougar Town, came on with Courtney Cox. I liked her in Friends, so I thought I"d give this one a try (seriously, there was nothing on TV Wednesday night). This show was awful!!! The entire show was about a 40-something single mom who wanted to have sex, so she picks some random young guy in a bar for her prey. In this show her teenage son sees her lifestyle and is more of the parent than the child. This mom also purposely flashes a teenage boy and is constantly drinking large glasses of wine at night because she feels like a loser with no life. Again, this show made me mad and sick.

Now, please know that I wasn't sitting on the couch watching these shows intently. I was on my computer and the volume for the TV was on low so I would look up from time to time. The next show that came on, Eastwick, was ridiculous! I honestly couldn't believe it was allowed to be on TV. I ended up turning the TV off within the first 15 minutes and heading on to bed. As I was brushing my teeth, it made me sad to think that these are the examples of American families these days.

When I was growing up, my family gathered in front of the TV each week to watch The Cosby Show, Our House and Family Ties. The Cosby Show, especially, was so good and wholesome. The parents loved each other, were in control of their house and their children. The children respected the parents and their rules--they didn't even think to talk back or roll their eyes. The family could have fun together. The dad was the head of the house and he was strong and smart--not a goof-off loser like dads are portrayed as on TV today. Oh, it makes me so mad how fathers are represented on TV. I can't think of one "Bill Cosby-like" dad on TV today.

So, I realized that the good old days of gathering around the TV to watch a sitcom as a family are over, too. There is not one show I can think of on network television aimed at families that doesn't include sex, rudeness, homosexuality, provcative dress, bad words. It's really sickening and depressing. How sad that this is what some people view as normal or as an example of family.

I don't care what you think about him...these pictures are so cute and they made me smile this morning:

Bringing Up BOYS!!!!

Little did I know when I met this genius back in the fall of 1998...

...that I would be reading his classic, Bringing Up Boys, 11 years later with my mouth wide open believing it was written just for me.

A few months ago, I really believed that this boy was a special child:

Special meaning that he was the only one of his kind. One who would see something, climb it and then jump off it, be enticed by things like greasy car tires, tables, streets, toilets and sinks, flower pots, eat anything and everything off the floor (including grass fertilizer), constantly getting into things like drawers and the pantry...you get the drift. After reading the first chapter, which includes the characteristics of a toddler boy, I realized that our RoyBoy is 100% NORMAL!!!! Thank you, Jesus!! When I read this, I wanted to cry. A cry of relief. My boy isn't crazy or deranged. He's a boy!

There are so many points about this book that I could discuss. Let me just say, first of all, that it is a difficult book to get in to. It's full of statistics, facts, studies, numbers and dates. But there are so many good points and "aha" moments within. For example, Dr. Dobson says that mothers who grew up in families of all girls often have a difficult time with raising boys because they are not used to the ways of boys. DING DING DING!! That's me!! That's me!! Thank you for the reassurance, Dr. Dobson. I'm not a bad mom and I'm not crazy, after all! All of my bad thoughts, crying spells (I mean bawling spells where Roy was really starting to get worried about me) and me wanting to throw in the towel and pull out my hair have founded reasons!! I'm not the only mom in the world with a boy who goes non-stop, 24/7.

So, if you have a boy, regardless of the age, read this. It's full of great advice for raising them...especially when the age of adolescence comes into play. He also discusses the major importance of a strong father/son relationship. Dobson gives great insight on the mother/son relationship, too. He tells moms to "let go" of their sons when they become toddlers and let the dads take over (meaning for the sons to become little men and try to emulate their Daddies---supposing that they are good daddies to emulate). They still need to cuddle with Mommy but they need to adore their Daddies and follow them around. He gives great examples of mama's boys, mothers that are obsessed with their sons, and the reasoning behind this. I really enjoyed this chapter and learned a lot of what not to do in the future.

After reading this book and realizing the way God intended boys to be, it has honestly made me appreciate my sweet Roy Austin so much more and it has changed my thoughts on mothering my children. I now look at his antics with a smile. I still get frustrated when he has pumped hand soap all over the sink, and when he has dumped out his laundry basket for the umpteenth time of the day, and I still worry to death when he fearlessly climbs the playset in the backyard and then goes down the chain rope backwards, but I know that he is a normal, healthy boy. That makes me so happy.

Okay, I'll be quiet now. Just know that I have always admired James Dobson and Focus on the Family but now I really enjoy them. Did you know that you can upload his podcasts to your ipod? I do it from time to time and listen when I run or go on walks. It's very enjoyable and interesting. If you want to do that, click here.

Here We Go Again...

Okay, I know this kind of thing gets annoying after a while, but I got a good laugh just a little while ago at Harris Teeter. It's triples again. I got all of this.....

...for $1.29! I laughed when the total came up. I know it's a lot of cake mixes, cookies, brownie mixes, ect, but the baking season is upon us, you know! And speaking of baking, look at this yummy thing:

I think I may have to make this with Caroline this afternoon just to try it out. Yum!

Toss a Coin

When I was pregnant with Roy Austin, I went through a period where I was terrified of the "what ifs" of getting him vaccinated. With all the scary links of vaccinations of boys and autism, I really lost sleep over this issue! After much debate with other moms and talks with our pediatrician, we came to the decision that we would get Roy Austin vaccinated, but only 1 or 2 at a time, just for my piece of mind---even though our doctor made me feel a teensy bit silly. Anyway, I know that pregnancy multiplies worries, and after he was born (and after that MMR shot) I wasn't as scared.

Enter the Swine Flu Vaccine. I was talking to my neighbor last week about this--should we get it or should we not? She brought up a good point: this is the first year that they've had a vaccine for this epidemic. What are the side effects? Nobody knows. And she mentioned that it's made of cancer cells? Huh? Our pediatrician recommended getting the SFV, but all pediatricians recommend getting vaccinated. I just don't know what to do. We will definitely get the regular flu vaccination, and I know this doesn't cover the Swine Flu, but should I get my children vaccinated for that, too, without knowing the side effects? Give me some advice and your comments.

And just because, have any of you tasted this yet?:

Breyer's Chocolate Chip Yogurt. I had a free coupon for a pack, so I bought it and it's my new favorite 4:00 snack. They also make this in mint chocolate chip, which I will try next. This is SO good!

SOMEBODY STOP ME!!!

Yes, this is yet another post on Vista Print! I just had to share some more products that I got for free. When I get the emails from VP with free products, I say to myself things like, "Donna? What can you do with a free magnet?" How about this:

This is a magnet for a car door. It's the small sized one. I am going to put this on the garage door that leads into the kitchen to display Caroline's art. And my crafty sister, Denise, gave me this idea.....25 free magnets for Caroline's preschool class (fellow WEE School moms, don't laugh or think I'm trying to suck up!!!):


Caroline had given her teachers a little first day of school treat with a card from her saying how excited she was to start the new year. Today both ladies raved about her note cards:



I hesitantly told them I got them for free at Vista Print. Ladies, you'll be getting some VP products at some point this year.

This must have been the order with Caroline's name on it. I copied Nikki and got a little tote for Caroline...for FREE:

And because we LOVE to suck up in our family, look at this notepad I ordered for Caroline's piano teacher:

We got her another style, too, but you get the idea. Thanks, Jessica, for the idea!

And another freebie was a free banner. Now what could we do with a free banner? Well, each time Roy comes home from a trip, we have a homecoming dinner for him, so here is our new Homecoming Dinner Banner:

Kristy, you need to get a banner made for when Edward comes home.

So that's it for this order. I haven't received any emails from Vista Print for a while, so maybe that's a good thing!