Rockport Reservoir or "The place teenagers go to drink beer"

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So, the river in the mountains was super fun.  We felt like keeping the "outdoor time on the weekends" ball rolling and check out the reservoir that is about 15 minutes away from our house.  My thought was it would possibly be easier to swim in because it was rushing down a mountain, perhaps just a smidge safer.

Well it turns out my kids won't swim in water that "smells like dead fish."   Nice.  Okay admittedly, it totally smelled like dead fish.  I didn't see any dead fish but I certainly could smell them.  Then, there were the deer flies.  These things are nasty and persistent and totally ruin a fine picnic by smelly dead fish water.

I know what you are saying.  "I thought you hive folk would love all winged insects."  Uh, no.  About an hour into our grand outdoor time at the local reservoir, I was beginning to hear the grumblings.  The "I'm bored and ready to go" grumblings.  Remember how we didn't yell at anybody when we were by the river in the mountains?  There was yelling at the reservoir.  We had to yell at Q when he dropped an enormous log onto Elvis while trying to throw it into the reservoir.  We had to yell at Elvis for purposely knocking over a stone tower Ladycakes had built.  There was yelling.

On a good note, we did our part and picked up 2 dozen beer cans that were scattered all around that dead fish smelling beach.  It became a scavenger hunt of sorts.  We did find some pretty cool drift wood that made awesome "weapons."  We did see a cool drunk teenager-type structure.

We stayed about 2 hours.  That's not too bad.  We were pretty glad to get out of there actually.  Next weekend we are going back to the river in the mountains. Or maybe we'll just go to the mall and buy skinny jeans and video games.



Add this to my Life Soundtrack.  Kid Rock isn't afraid of a little dead fish.  He'll even make love in dead fish.  So there.

Hope your day doesn't involve breakfast in bed....it's just messy!

This is my Mother's Day loveliness.  Mr. Handsome and I found these shelves at our local Recycle Center.  For $2.00 a piece, I couldn't pass them up.  After a little sanding and painting, I have just what I wanted and needed.  This is my honey pot collection.  It's something I have been working on for a few years.  It's something I will continue to work on.  Some are old (I love these the most) some are new (It's fun to find ceramic artists that make honey pots.)  

My honeypots have been hiding in the pantry.  Now they are out for all to see and for me to dust.  Along with the shelves, the black amethyst pot on the top shelf is new (to me.)  It's beautiful and unusual.

Tomorrow we hope to be outside, hiking and just enjoying each other's company.  It is such a privilege to celebrate this holiday.  And, have it be about me.  I feel so lucky and loved.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there.  Enjoy your day, it's all about you!

Erin Go Braugh, and then I ran an errand and bought a bra!

St. Patrick's Day was eventful in an uneventful way.  Aside from the normal schedule, there were a few side trips.  Check it out.

Elvis's preschool was totally "green" for St. Patrick's Day and went to our local Recycle Center.  It happens to be one of my most favorite places.  The pack rat, creative sort loves this kind of place.  It is a world of endless possibilities.

We saw a rainbow of caps and what not in one particular bin.  This makes me so happy I could cry.  There a million things that could be done with this "garbage."

Then, we went  back to school and had these cuties.  Thanks to Pink and Green Mama and her genius.  These are amazing, easy and " wow"  kids and adults alike.  Thanks for sharing!

Recycling and Rainbow Jello Rock my World.  Just call me Kermit!

A Valentine Collection Box and some Valentines. Totally last minute!

Q's class is celebrating Valentine's Day tomorrow.  His teacher is brilliant.  She decided if they did it mid-week the kids wouldn't be totally annoying the WHOLE week.  I like the way this woman thinks.  Needless to say we've been procrastinating on Q's Valentines.  Do we go with a Mario theme?  Different cards for the girls?  Lovey-dovey vs. Masculine?  Sooooo many decisions.

Here's what we came up with.  First stop the collection box.

After I cleared off the kitchen table from our breakfast.  Just kidding, this is not what we ate for breakfast.  This is the garbage  recycled materials, we used for his collection box.  I cut open the Doritos bag and cleaned the remaining cheese residue off, leaving a lovey, shiny and very workable material.  Q wanted to use aluminum foil but we are on a budget!

Turns out the Doritos bag works better than foil because it doesn't wrinkle like foil.  A much cleaner look.  We wrapped the Sprite box with the Doritos bag using shipping tape.

And boy howdy, look how slick it is!  Next we added some construction paper and pipe cleaner decorations.  And some calendar pieces Mr. Handsome was throwing away recycling.

Doesn't it rock!?  We are very proud of this little masterpiece.  Easy, didn't cost a cent to make and will hold TONS of Valentines.  Now on to the Valentines.  While wasting time doing research on the Internet I came across this brilliant idea by Alyssa.  I couldn't resist so we went for it.

First you take a picture of your Valentine subject, here sporting the always popular Randy Moss/Mario look. Have your subject hold his/her fist out in front of their body.

If you have Photoshop (I do not) you can add some words onto the picture.  I instead copied the picture into a Word document and added the Valentine message.  I wanted to have it read "You are what you eat!"  note the Dum Dums also in the picture but that was vetoed.  Print out the pictures with message and cut to the desired size.

With an Exacto knife, cut a small slit at the top and bottom of child's hand and slide a lollipop through the slit.  Isn't it cool?  Totally looks like his hand is coming off the page.  It's easy and does not take a lot of craft supplies or talent.

You should totally make these today.

One Small Change

So I have a ritual in the morning.  After tending to the needs of the little bees, I make my way to the computer and waste a ton of time reading the blogs in my blog roll and then bouncing around all over cyberspace reading other blogs.  But while doing this, I learn stuff, lots of stuff!

While visiting The Prairie Girl, I became aware of a little challenge called One Small Change.  I read further.  It's a challenge to make one small change a month to make our lives a little greener.  Here at the Hive, we think we are green.  We are so not green.  We buy LOTS of new stuff.  Some of us leave the lights on in our rooms (Ladycakes!)  We do like 50 loads of laundry a week (Me!)  We eat at McDonald's.  We have a Wii and we play it a lot.  We have a ton of work to do.

So with a name like "One Small Change"  I feel less intimidated.  We can do this.  However, I'm making each of us take the challenge.  Not just one challenge for the whole family.  Everyone has to suffer with me.

Here is what we are committing to this month.

Ladycakes will turn off the lights in her room and closet EVERY time she leaves that space.

Mr. Handsome will program the thermostat to hold steady at 68 degrees during the day.  We currently hover at 70 degrees.

Q will walk to school at least one morning a week unless the weather does not permit.

Elvis will try wearing a pair of pants or pajamas more than once before throwing them in the hamper.

I will boss them all around and remind them that they are not green!  Just kidding.  I promise to bring out the cloth napkins, walk with Q on the days he walks to school and remember to take my re-usable bags to the grocery store.

It's a gentle start for us and this challenge.  I think we can do it.  Next month, we will dig a little deeper.

Who wants to join us?



Add "It's Not Easy Being Green" sung by Kermit the Frog to My Life Soundtrack.

Saving the world. One Pringles Can at a time.

Remember when I threatened you with a project involving Pringles and Hot Chocolate containers? It was at the end of this post. Well here it is, clearly not a new idea but a fun one nonetheless.

Here are the containers (check that fabric stash in the background!) TOO. MUCH. FABRIC!

The bees here at the hive do not recommend the Craver Onion Blossom flavor btw. Not to fond of those.
Here are the supplies you need. Careful with that Craft Bond, it is sticky. And the overspray is hard to get rid of. After a little measuring (Pringles cans require 10" x 15" of paper) a little gluing and patience to get the paper to stay smooth on the cylinder, here's what you get.

Cute for storing craft supplies. I refuse to buy anymore plastic bins. I would rather re-use what would become garbage. These could even hold gifts. I'm sure your best friend won't care that the great gift you bought her now smells like Pizza Flavored Pringles. If she does, get rid of her!