A Few of My Favorite Things..... go ahead just start singing it. I am.

Okay, I'm a fan of a lot of stuff.  Puppies, clean sheets, black olives, coupons.  But I have a couple things that are my favs.


1. KIDS ARTWORK!  It's the only artwork I own.  Not entirely true but it's a statement I use broadly.  I'm that person that has a rotating gallery of frames that showcase my kids' artwork.  In all seriousness, I love their art and I believe showing it off is good for everybody's self-esteem.


2.  BLANK NOTECARDS .  You can use those bad boys for any occasion.  Birthday? yes.  Graduation?  yep.  Congratulations on the new job?  you betcha.  Sorry to hear about the wart?  Absolutely!

3.  RUBBER CEMENT.  I'm almost positive I have mentioned this somewhere on this here little ol' blog but I'm too busy to research that.  It is the best bonding agent for paper and it's super fun to peel away. It just is.  

4.  HAND WRITTEN, SENT IN THE MAIL, THANK YOU NOTES.  While I spend a good amount of time on the computer with email, Facebook, Pinterest blah de blah blah, I still LOVE getting snail mail.  So, making my children write thank you notes is pretty much the reason for which I live.  I'm a task master for this.  It will make them better adults, I'm sure of it.

Elvis is a year older.  He's got some thank you notes to write!  I picked a piece of his artwork that makes me smile and made copies of it.  Slapped the copies on some blank notecards I had around the house with trusty rubber cement and we are 1/3 of the way there.

Experience has made me wiser.  I know that little people find this task, well, tedious!  So I try to ease their pain by taking care of the sentence structuring.  It's way more fun to fill in the interesting parts.  It makes the task quicker, less painful and something they aren't turned off to for life.

Elvis completed four thank you's in 15 minutes.  He's proud of his accomplishment.  The gift givers will be psyched to receive the thank you and I am proud of his work.

I know you can buy something similar at almost any big box store these days.  Don't bother.  Make your own from original artwork and about 5 minutes on the computer.  You can customize the inside to fit your child's personality.


Okay I'll get off my Emily Post soapbox.  Rock on people.

A dog party! A big dog party! Big dogs, little dogs, red dogs, blue dogs, yellow dogs, green dogs, black dogs, and white dogs are all at a dog party! What a dog party! - P.D. Eastman

We had a birthday at our house this week.  I have kind of given up on birthday parties.  When my kids were really little, I went all out.   Made the cake, did all of the decorations, hand-made party favors, games.  I can honestly say I took birthday parties to a whole new level.

But I burned out.  And, they just stopped wanting to have them.  Going out to dinner with one friend or taking a friend to the movies is sort of our "go to" celebration now.  But the birthday we celebrated this week is special.    NO MR. HANDSOME DID NOT TURN 50!







Lola the dog turned 1.  Yep, my puppy is growing up......

Lola came to us with her sister Daizy during the holidays last year from our wonderful local shelter.  Mr. Handsome and I thought fostering some puppies during the holidays would be a fun experience for the kids.  We took 2 of the litter of 10 with NO INTENTION of keeping either of these puppies.  NO INTENTION!

But wait, are you kidding me?  Look at that!  Emma acted like the best mommy ever.  She truly loves Lola.  So when someone or something has such an impact on everyone in your family, you should celebrate their birthday!

I gathered up some craft supplies and a cookbook and got to my party planning!

I traced out an old party hat that I used as my template.  Making party hats is SO easy and a great way to customize a party.  Plus anyone that has a head can wear one!

The hats turned out great.  Now on to the treats.  A few years back I bought a dog treat cookbook.  I don't use it a ton but it's fun to make special treats for birthdays or holiday gifts for neighbor dogs (yes, I do that.)

Now, here's the hitch.  Our oven died.  RIP.  gonzo.  off to appliance heaven.  bit the dust.  Do you know what a pain in the ass it is to come up with dinner items that are all stove top, microwave or grilled.  Suddenly, we are all craving casseroles, homemade bread, souffles, braised meats.  ANYTHING from the OVEN!  Anyhoo, the dog treat cookbook has a microwave recipe.  So, Microwave Molasses Oatmeal Treats were on the menu.  But, I never got around to making them.  Cuz, I'm busy.  I have 3 kids with lots of homework, after school activities, laundry, non-baked dinner to make.  I'm freaking busy!


But I made hats.  

We partied like it was 1999.  We celebrated a very special friend.  She's the bestest.

Happy Birthday you squirrely little, tennis ball-loving, speed demon, freakaziod!  WE LOVE YOU!

40 things.

The Goat - Capricorn explained.
December 22 to January 20

Traditional
Capricorn Traits

Practical and prudent
Ambitious and disciplined
Patient and careful
Humorous and reserved

On the dark side....

Pessimistic and fatalistic
Miserly and grudging

I have a few things to say. I'm entitled. It's my birthday. I have 40 things I'd like to talk about. It may ramble. It may make sense, it may not. It's all important to me. Fasten your seat belts, it's about to begin. In no particular order.

1. I am really happy. Not every day, because no one is really happy EVERY day. But for the most part I am really happy.

2. My life has not turned out how I thought it would. I'm a dreamer, some things don't happen how we think they will.

3. I am still the same person I was 20 years ago, except I'm different.

4. I am silly most of the time. But I do get really serious and then it's.... well serious.

5. I have had my heart broken. Really broken. I think I'm lucky. When my children deal with this, I will understand.

6. I don't like to watch the same movie over and over. If I've seen it once, I've seen it. However, once convinced I will watch a movie for the second, third or fourth time.

7. I like fruitcake. I like my mom's fruitcake. She thinks I'm a fruitcake for liking her fruitcake.

8. I was a gymnast. I was a good gymnast. Then I was a swimmer, I was a really good swimmer. I loved being both. I loved being good.

9. Babysitter Casserole is one of my favorite recipes. My mom made it up. It involves ground beef, elbow macaroni and cream of mushroom soup. It is delicious and a family recipe.

10. I know my very best friend. Her name is Chris Brown. She is THE best friend I have ever had. And, I still know her. I met her when I was 5. 35 years ago. If I could see her today, she would make me laugh so hard I would spit milk in her face or out my nose. Either way, don't matter. I adore her.

11. I have been pregnant 4 times. The 2nd time was the worst. I didn't have a baby the second time. It broke my heart.

12. My brother is amazing. I have always been in awe of him. He is an amazing artist. Terrificly funny. Crack me up funny. He challenges our parents. I respect him and love him.

13. I love my sister-in-law. I know. Crazy, right? I love her. She is charming, beautiful and loves my brother. I'm lucky.

14. I love my other sister-in-law. She's married to my husband's oldest brother. I love her. She smart. She's funny. She respects me. I totally respect her. Together we will keep this thing moving. We will move mountains. She's amazing.

15. I love sour patch kids, hershey bars and twix. Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.

16. Movies I have enjoyed are, Nanny McPhee, Elf, The Hangover, Old School...... There have to be more, they'll show up late.

17. I wish I could sing. In front of a crowd. And dance.

18. I have danced, late at night with really good friends, to Madonna. And filmed it. And then watched it. And then laughed really loud. It was classic and fun and worth every minute of drunken-ess.

19. I know my sister. I don't have a sister. But I know who it would be if I had one. She is the most amazing woman I know. Her name is Geri. Her dad looks like my dad. Her mom is my other mom. I want to be Geri. I love her with all of my heart. She is smart, creative, generous and amazing. She is one of the greatest gifts I have ever received.

20. I LOVE MY HUSBAND! He drives me crazy, he makes me laugh, he loves me unconditionally, he gives me more than you can imagine. I LOVE HIM LIKE CRAZY.

21. I will eat cake batter out of the bowl. Without hesitation. Raw eggs. So what. I will eat cake batter out of the bowl.

22. Twenty two is my favorite number. It is the perfect number. I don't know why it just feels right.

23. Seagrams-7 and diet sprite is my drink of choice. I will also drink Bacardi and diet coke. Jose Cuervo and Crystal Light lemonade. Vodka and I don't know. I don't love wine or beer. But I won't turn it away.

24. I love the smell of lavender. I wish I could grow lavender. I live at high altitude. I can't grow lavender.

25. My children are my greatest achievements. I will not have a greater achievement. They are amazing. Every day they amaze me. They are smart, kind, beautiful and incredible. They will be outstanding adults.

26. I love my parents. They don't drive my crazy. I hope to be half the adult they both are. They have worked incredibly hard for what they have. I hope I can be like them.

27. I have no clue how to apply make-up. I so desperately want to have "smoky eyes" It just turns out a mess. Like rock star falls asleep in her make-up bad. Some day. Some day.

28. I have learned to hate. I hate that. But I do hate.

29. It takes huge effort to make me get out and do something. I throw a fit, find a bunch of stuff to do and then alphabetize something before I go outside and do something. Then I go outside and do something and I love it.

30. I am an enormous pain in the ass.

31. I rarely communicate with anyone from my high school years. I tried Facebook for a while. It did not bring out the best in me. It's ugly. It's silly. My husband brought that to my attention. See why I love him? He reminds me of the what is important.

32. I dream of being a farmer. I want to have chickens and goats and a garden of sorts. I cannot slaughter anything so I will have to be a vegetarian farmer or buy my meat at Costco. I would love to raise bees. I'm allergic to bees.

33. I buy things in bulk. Not just bulk but pallets. If I can buy a "lot" of something I will. A "pallet" bring it on. I should have been raised in another era or another religion.

34. My friend Laura, is remarkable. She is who I hope to be 28 years from now. I don't know how old Laura is so I'm assuming. You know about assuming. "It makes an ASS out of U and Me." I love what she loves, I love her. I feel really lucky to have her in my life.

35. I have owned quite a few pets in my life. From the pets at my house w/ parents...Samurai, my first cat that was mine. To animals we have owned into marriage and parenthood. I love them all. Jack, Sheba, Bojo, Hagen, Emma, Titus. Some are still with us, some are not. I hate losing them.

36. I have great friends. I have great friends who are parents to my kid's great friends. I score.

37. Hilary is adorable, loveable and smart. She has a great sense of style, I envy it. She is an amazing mom and SHE'S MY FRIEND.

38. LeeAnne is beautiful, fashionable and hilarious. She handles people like you wouldn't believe, she could be the First Lady. In fact, that's what I'm going to start calling her. She is an amazing mom and SHE'S MY FRIEND.

39. I'm crafty. Crazy crafty. I have a ton of craft material in my midst. I have pom-poms, fabric, glue, paste, adhesive, pins, thread, felt, paper, foam, paint, glitter, fringe, stamps, buttons, beads, you name it I've got it. And, by golly, I'm gonna use it.

40. I'm 40 and Holy Shit I'm going to shine. This is it folks. Look out. Here I come!

Q is quitting school and becoming a Magician.

Let's just say this crew really enjoyed some time off. Like seriously, look at our faces.

Mr. Handsome proved once again, he is the coolest guy I know. Who can pose like that while being whipped around on a roller coaster? He has another picture where he was eating a doughnut and talking on the phone. It was so hilarious I couldn't even take a picture of the picture.

But on that note, we did remember that we like hanging out with each other. It's fun and funny and silly.

But then I said, "When we get home, we should start decorating for Christmas, because I'm totally inspired." And poor Mr. Handsome was all "UGGGGHHHH!, I loved you in that last picture but now I'm over you."

So do want to know why Q is quitting school? Well, this was waiting for us when we arrived at home. The most awesome magic kit EVER! He's becoming a magician. His super, duper friend LaTobian Burkiason left this for him. He couldn't be happier. He's perfecting the bending spoon trick. If you need entertainment for your holiday parties, he'll be available.