Confessions of a Garbage Picker

So, I must confess. I'm a garbage picker. I don't do it often.

Honest, I don't.

But sometimes I see something and I think, "Surely they are not throwing that away?!?!?" Then, I have to stop. I have to rescue the discarded treasure from the landfill.

This happened recently. One problem... It was one of my neighbors. I saw an easel propped up against their garbage can. Normally, if one is picking through someone else's garbage, you can hop in your car and drive away and remain anonymous. When it's a neighbor, it's not so easy. Until now, I have resisted garbage picking in my own neighbor hood. I don't want to be the neighborhood garbage picker. But this easel was screaming my name. I saw it out my front window and resisted at first. But I kept peaking out to see if it was still there. I waited until most of the neighbors had gone to work and then I ran out there and snuck it home. It was covered in paint and pretty grimy but hey, it's mine now. A little elbow grease and a hose later and I am so happy that I rescued this easel. Could you resist? Take a look at it...

It has a dry erase side and a chalk side with a clip at the top for holding paper.

It has removable trays with compartments that hold all the art supplies in place.

The only thing that is missing is the brace on one side. I'm going to see if I can get a replacement for it online but the one remaining brace holds it just fine...

The beauty of it is that it folds up easily for quick storage. Both sides can be raised or lowered to adjust the height for shorter or taller children. The other great thing about it is that it's lightweight and I can move it outside with ease for a quick wash down with the hose without ruining it.

The kids love it. They were my helpers bringing it home. At first my daughter was shocked by how messy it was. Then, after we got it cleaned up, she couldn't believe that someone would throw it out. I thought my hubby would wonder why we needed it since we do already have an easel in our home. His response was perfect, though. He said, "You could use this one downstairs while you're homeschooling the kids." Love that man.

One last thing, the trays were filled with old art supplies - mainly wet chalk - that needed to be thrown away. But to my surprise, there were some profession paint brushes in there. They took a lot more elbow grease to salvage but I got them clean and they're for me. Yippee! And it was all for FREE! I'm glad I learned to overcome my fear of the neighbors thinking I'm a crazy garbage picker!

Kids' Art Silhouetted for Daddy's Day

Recently, I had the kids paint their silhouettes for their Daddy. I got the idea from this blog. I didn't follow those directions exactly. Instead of tracing the silhouette onto the contact paper before cutting, I just placed the silhouette photo over the contact paper and cut through both pages. It worked fine. I used the contact paper that I had on-hand which was not specifically removable, but I didn't have any trouble peeling it off. I used water color paints on drawing paper. I am so pleased with how they turned out.

Here's my daughter...

And, my son...

I love how they look hanging together on the wall...

Last year, I gave my husband silhouettes of the kids. I think this may be becoming an annual tradition!

Sweet Endings

Children sleeping in their beds, iced mocha in our hands, and our minds wrapped around a new game.

A sweet ending to a perfectly lo-o-ong weekend.

My April Fool

My husband is such a good sport. I put him through so much heck for my own enjoyment. April Fool's Day would be one one of those times.

It's such a fun holiday. You get a free pass to annoy those around you and then laugh at their annoyance.

Today my hubby awoke and stumbled half asleep into the shower to find the showerhead turned upside down. As in, spraying at the ceiling instead of at the tub.

April Fools!

Then, he got to find that his underwear had switched places with his t-shirts.

April Fools!

In addition to his regular lunch, his lunchbox included a tupperware bowl full of crepe paper and a pair of fingernail clippers. Yummy!

April Fools!

He couldn't drink out of his waterbottle at work because there was saranwrap pulled tight under the lid. He said this one got him the best.

April Fools!

Yep, I know I'm mean. But did I have fun? You bet. Did he have fun? Well, he certainly had a smile on his face as he retold his frustration with each encounter. I think he can tolerate it for a day but he's thankful it doesn't last all year!

Men...What To Do With Them?

I have a ceiling that is open to the clouds.

The rest of my bathroom looks like a bomb exploded.

This mess was created by two men... my husband being one of them.

So, what do you do with those men? Here's what my mail said when I went to the mailbox today.

I laughed out loud when I read this. I know it has another meaning but how funny is that?!?!? Should I take a torch and just light the whole repair project on fire? Hmmmm.

Nope, I do appreciate the work my husband is doing but boy, do I hate it when our home is in the middle of a project. I'll certainly be glad when all the banging, expense, and mess are over.

Plus, I'll have a bathroom that won't leak. Thanks, honey. I promise I won't ignite you on fire despite what the mail encouraged me to do.

My Personal Chef

I'm a little jealous of the rich and famous who have a personal chef that cooks whatever their heart desires. Wouldn't that be nice?!?!?

Well, I don't have a personal chef but I do have a hubby who's darn good in the kitchen! His birthday was last month and I gave him a 4 in 1 grill. We had his parents over to celebrate his Dad's birthday this weekend. My fabulous husband cooked everything.

He made Paninis loaded with chicken Breast, Mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and pesto (frozen from last summer's garden).

On the side was a pasta dish that could have been a meal all by itself. It was delicious with a creamy white cheese sauce over chicken, tomatoes, and broccoli.

Thanks, honey! It's like I have my own personal chef... only with benefits!

Making Wrapping Paper

Here's an easy, fun, and inexpensive way to make wrapping paper...

We took the roll of paper off of our easel and rolled it out on our kitchen floor. I scattered art supplies around and let the kids at it. Since the kids were making this paper for their Daddy, I wrote "Daddy" randomly numerous times along the the paper. This gave my daughter the encouragement to practice writing the letters herself.

Both kids LOVED this activity. They worked on it all morning. Because the paper covered so much of the floor, there was no fighting over space. And the best part is that they were so very proud of the wrapped packages that they helped create.

Happy Birthday, Honey!!!

Save Those Valentine's Candy Boxes!

If your valentine gave you a box of chocolates, don't throw out the box!!! Last year, I ended up with a collection of boxes (not from my valentine!). I used them to make two games.

One is a counting game with heart clips and dice.

Roll the dice and clip the number of clips that corresponds with the number on the dice.

My daughter has loved this game and has even been doing basic addition by adding the clips from one side with the clips from the other.

The second game is one that my husband made. I saw this idea somewhere and he thought he could make it. It's a wooden puzzle heart.

The pieces fit inside the heart box for storage.

Sorry the pictures are turned again. I can't figure out why blogger sometimes turns them!

Fun Fall Day

Whew! Today was a busy, fun-filled day. Where do I start? How about a list of things I learned or tried today and a picture for each one...

1. I learned from a hard-core fisherman that fish in the pond behind our house are biting on "Rooster Tails." Despite all the stuff in there, we don't have "Rooster Tails" in our tackle box.





2. I learned that both kiddos tire of fishing when there are no fish being caught and the wild outdoors bid them to play.



3. I learned (while the hubby tried to fish and we went exploring) that my daughter can climb a tree. Yep, all. by. herself!



4. I learned that wandering aimlessly through a corn maze with a sleeping 16 month old on your back is REALLY tiring. Wandering through with some friends and their family makes up for it though.






5. I learned that when there is nothing to look at but corn at your sides and wood chips at your feet...look up! The clouds were magnificent today!






6. I learned that some hens and roosters like to perch on evergreen tree branches. Now that's an interesting site.

   



7. I've never seen a hen with her chicks tucked under wings except for in pictures. It was the cutest thing! The chicks didn't peek out from underneath her, they poked their heads right up through her feathers.
   
   


8. I got to meet this little guy. Can you guess the name? This is Tina Turner...
   
9. We met Grandma and Grandpa at a festival in a local park. From the moment we arrived, our daughter noticed the big blow up bouncy things. She really wanted to play in them. However, there were just too many kids trying to play in them. And, they were big kids who were being really rough. Instead of crying or throwing a fit, she simply said, "Could we go play at the park instead?" Once we were at the park, she looked at me and said, "This is much more peaceful, isn't it?" I sure do love that girl!!!

   

10. I learned from a crafter at the craft fair who was willing to share tips on how to properly cut gourds. This is a skill I have tried but never mastered. I have so many dried out gourds around here that I hang onto in hopes that I will figure it out. This talented lady inspired me to try again. Here are some pictures of the ones I bought from her...

Wow, it was a busy day... fishing, the pumpkin farm, and the community festival. I feel exhausted but content. I love my family and days like these are so much fun to spend together.

The Laundry Room Saga

A week and a half.

That's how long I've been without a dryer.

If I had to choose, I would pick the dryer going out rather than the washing machine. I'd hate to hand wash my clothes or haul them to and from a laundromat. But, even so, it's not fun. It's not warm enough outside to dry clothes in the breeze. So, my home has been overtaken by drying laundry. The railing for the stairs, every doorknob, the shower curtain, on top of doors, wall sconces...everything and anything that I can hang laundry on has had clothing on it. Ugh!

No longer.

Today, my hubby fixed the machine. Rather than paying an exorbitant amount for a repairman just to walk through the door and then paying for parts and labor on top of that, he figured it out himself.

I'm so proud of him. He had the whole machine taken apart. I've never seen the inside of a dryer. Of course I've seen inside the dryer but I mean the real inside of the dryer. Did you know that a tiny belt wrapped around the drum and connected to a motor is what keeps the drum turning? I didn't. I thought there would be a huge strap of sorts that made it go but no, it's just this thin little belt.

Anyways, the machine is now fixed and the broken part only cost $50. I say only in comparison to what it could have cost if my hubby wasn't a do-it-yourself-er. Only $50 is actually weird to day when the part that cost this much was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. I vacillated from thinking, "What, that little thing cost $50?!?!?!" to "Thank goodness that only cost $50!!!!!" I guess it's all a matter of perspective.

My perspective right now is thankful. Thankful for a resourceful, handy husband. Thankful for not having to dip into savings. Thankful that my home is no longer cluttered with drying laundry everywhere. I am most definitely thankful for a dryer that works!

Cheers!

Dinner, drinks, and a coffee house plus a mom who's willing to watch your kids so that you and hubby can have a night out equals one happy momma!

It's been over 2 years since I've had an alcoholic drink. I've never really been much of a drinker. But, I do like to have a fru-fru drink every now and then. A little over two years ago, we started thinking about having a second child. From that point, through the pregnancy and through the breastfeeding stage, I have avoided alchohol for the obvious reasons. Well, tonight was a night of celebration and I had a margarita. Mmmmm. There's nothing like relearning how tasty something is after a time away from it!

After dinner, we headed across town to our favorite local coffeehouse. We were happy to see that "our spot" was open. We love this particular table because it's seated next to tall windows overlooking the harbor. While sitting there, we noticed that the water appeared to be boiling in spots. As we peered to look closer, we realized that in the midst of this "boiling water" periodically, a fish would jump up and slap the water. We were very curious about this. So after our mochas were finished, we took a walk on the boardwalk so we could see this phenomenon up close.

It turns out that the "boiling water" was fish preparing to spawn. Based on what we learned from a local fisherman, they are probably Coho Salmon coming into the harbor to spawn. We also learned that in order to fish in the dark effectively, some fishermen use lighted bobber. I had never heard of such a thing. It sure did look funny watching the fisherman prepare to cast while a very large firefly buzzed around his head. It took us a while to figure out what was going on with that too.

It was such a beautifully clear night. Walking beside the water by the light of the moon with the man that I love was the perfect way to finish off my birthday.

Button, Button, Who's Got the Button?

Once upon a time, way back in high school, I knew how to make a button using a button maker. Some friends and I tried our hands at being entrepreneurs and made buttons to sell. We made a variety of "Support our Troops" and "God Bless America" buttons. It was our little way of taking our minds off the Gulf War. (I remember fearing that the draft would be reinstated and all of my male friends and family would be gone.) We sold those buttons to all our friends and family and we even spent our weekends sitting in the grocery store entrance trying to sell our our patriotic buttons. We made a few bucks but not too many. We probably gave away as many buttons as we actually sold.

I haven't thought about that entrepreneurial adventure in years, but the memories came rushing back to me today. I found myself once again making buttons. A friend of mine recently had surgery and was struggling to get ready for the start of the school year while balancing pain management and three small children. I offered to help and this was my assignment... making button name tags for her students and parent volunteers. Her button machine is much different that the one that I used 17 years ago. So, today I learned how to use a fancy modern button making machine. I made 40 buttons... 38 for her classes and 2 for my kiddos.

My daughter was fascinated with this whole process. The two that were for my kiddos were made and designed by her. I told her that she could make one for her and her brother. She worked diligently designing them and picking colors. At the last minute, she decided that if she could only make two, she would make one for her brother and one for her daddy. Here's the button for Daddy...

I ask her,"Who did you draw in your picture?"

"That's me and Daddy on a date," She answers emphatically and my heart melts into a pool of mush!

Daddy was proud too. He showed his pride by mowing the lawn proudly wearing his bright pink button honoring his special dates with his daughter.

Terrabyte

This evening, my husband was looking at a hard drive online. When I asked him if he was thinking about getting a new hard drive, he said, "This one's half a terabite. That's more that we'd ever use!"

A terabite?!?!? What the heck is a terabite?!?!?

A terrabyte, he informs me, is 1000 Gigabytes. So, this hard drive that he was looking at had 500 Gigabytes. Apparently, that's a lot!

So, this made me a little curious about this lingo that I know nothing about. I looked it up and found my answer on WikiAnswers. There is a whole language out there that has to do with bytes. I really only thought there were Bytes, Megabytes and Gigabytes. That is where my knowledge stopped. It's like a whole place value system for computer bytes. It goes like this:

1000 Bytes = 1 Kilobyte
1000 Kilobytes = 1 Megabyte
1000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte
1000 Gigabytes = 1 Terabyte
1000 Terabytes = 1 Petabyte
1000 Petabytes = 1 Exabyte
1000 Exabytes = 1 Zettabyte
1000 Zettabyte = 1 Zottabyte
1000 Zottabyte = 1 Brontobyte

To make sure that I had all my info straight, I read this chart to my hubby. He pointed out that I forgot to include bits. The only bits I know about are Kibbles 'n' Bits. That's not the bits he's talking about. In his lingo, 8 bits equals one byte.

I don't think I'll ever use this info again. But typing the word "petabyte" made me hungry for my favorite restraunt...Pita Inn. I want a petabyte of hummus...yum!

To Stitch or Not to Stitch

No, I'm not talking about sewing. I'm talking about my daughter's head!!!

This evening, while out with some girlfriends, I got the call...

"Honey, it's me. Every thing's OK now, I just want to let you know..."

My heart was racing. Which kid? What happened? How bad? Give her lots of hugs!

My daughter had been jumping on her mini trampoline which happens to be in her bedroom. She tripped while stepping off of it and fell head first into her bed frame. She has a pretty good cut down the middle of her forehead. My hubby called his parents to come help with the baby while he tended to the injury. Luckily, they were able to come right away. Being a head injury, there was a lot of blood, but the three of them (Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa) decided that it didn't need stitches. So, when I got home, I researched how to make the call of when you need to stitch or not to. It seems like they made the right choice, although I think this is one of those that sits the fence. Do you or don't you...such a tough question?!?!? She was asleep when I arrived home, so I can't actually see the injury under it's bandage. I just hope and pray that the right decision was made.

Updated: This morning, I got to take a peek at the cut. It looks pretty deep but not gaping. It's probably not necessary to have it stitched. Poor Daddy! He feels just awful about the whole thing. Our kiddos are so lucky to have such a loving, gentle, and compassionate Daddy!

Everything Glorious!

My hubby and I led worship today and we sang a song that we just learned. It's called Everything Glorious and it's by The David Crowder Band. It is a beautiful song with beautiful lyrics that remind us that even when we feel insufficient and insignificant, our Heavenly Father views us as beautiful because "He makes everything glorious."

Song lyrics | Everything Glorious lyrics

Here is a link to an interview with David Crowder where he is discussing the song. It's an interesting link if you want to see what he looks like...definitely not your traditional worship leader look.

Great song. I'm glad I learned it!

Celebrating Daddy!

Today, my heart grew several times it's normal size.

My daughter got it in her head today that we needed to have a celebration of her Daddy. I told her that I thought that was a fantastic idea. Then, I pressed her for a reason. I was curious why she chose today to have a celebration for him. Her reply was simple, "Because he misses us while he works and we love him!"

See, my heart was about to bust!!!

There was much decorating to be done, balloons, artwork and Hawaiian leis for decorations...

Special tissue paper flowers were made especially for the man of the hour...

After Daddy came home, we had dinner together and his had to be on our "Special Day" plate. Then, there was much artwork sharing, story reading and the girl even put on a show just for her Daddy.

The night was finished off with a Daddy/Daughter bike ride.

Thanks, sweet daughter of mine, for teaching me to celebrate the people we love everyday!