bribe vs. reward

someone once told me that a bribe is when you give the prize first and then expect the task to be done but a reward is given after the task is completed.
i reassure myself with this definition often! i think that my kids should do what they are asked without incentive or reward but, my reality is that they don't always meet my expectations.

thing 3 has long curly hair and it can get very snarly! she hates for me to brush it(she lets my friends and sister when they are watching her-but screams at me!). so recently i've caught on to her chocolate addiction and started giving her a bowl of M&M's while she sits and lets me brush her hair. it's been working! she doesn't scream at me at all-and we are learning our colors as we go over the color of each one before she eats it!

i used to be a Dr. Phil faithful. not so much anymore-still really like him and his common sense give me a break attitude but don't catch his show as often as i used to. one thing i do remember him saying with kids was that you have to learn their currency. every kid has something that matters to him and if you know what that is you can use it as reward and punishment.

thing 1 has been kind of dragging through school this year. he just has not been getting the grades on his tests that he should be. i know he knows the material but the scores aren't reflecting that. so i've gone against some of my basic beliefs with him. i've never really thought i should pay my kids for their grades. i know a lot of parents do this and that is fine i just didn't want to do it. but my sons currency is $$$$$. so we have started to pay him for his scores. we based it off of my husbands parent's method when he was a kid.
90-100%=$1
80-89%=$0
anything below 80% he owes us $1
my husband was older when his parents used this on him and the amounts were different and it was used for end of term grades but the scale was the same. at thing 1's age i felt like he needed something more immediate than waiting for the report card. next year we can extend it to each term.

so anyway, low and behold the first 2 tests came home with 100%! which just tells me he just had no incentive!

so, am i bribing or rewarding? do you bribe or reward?

juggling

i don't juggle well. i've had too much going on and i know that if i sat down at the computer i wouldn't get anything done! so i have stayed away.

so what has been going on?

you know about the baptism i was busy getting ready for and the in-laws came to visit. after they left thing 1 got sick for a couple of days. then work picked up for me-which is good because it has been so slow-actually not slow but dead! then thing 2 got sick then the dad was out of town for a couple of days and then i had to get ready for thanksgiving. we go to my parent's so i needed to pack and prepare all the food that i was bringing and all that. now i am back and spent the morning catching up on banking that i have neglected and next i need to tackle my house-unpacking and cleaning up!

we had a really nice thanksgiving though. we went into manhattan for the parade and then went to my parents for the rest of the weekend. the parade was crazy but lots of fun. the crowds were nuts this year but we squeezed the boys in up to the fence so they had front row and we sat on a concrete fence post. the boys loved it!

anyway, we are alive in case anyone was wondering. if i disappear at christmas time you know why!

hope you all had a great holiday. i can't wait to catch up on what you have all been up to.

i've awarded myself the bum mom of the year award so you guys don't have to.
halloween happened and the kids of course had a great time-collecting candy is right up my kids alley! the bum part comes in on the costumes. thing 3 was a ballerina. she borrowed the costume from our very favorite neighbor. it was cute and very appropriate for thing 3 but the bum of a mom didn't even do her hair or put on any cute makeup-which she would have loved! she did enjoy her stash of candy as you can see so maybe my shortcomings have been forgotten.


as for the boys, they were completely on their own. they both wanted to be wrestlers but what do i know about wrestlers. the dad tried to interest them in some "old school" tag team wrestlers but they weren't interested. i wasn't interested in hunting down some expensive costume! so thing 2 borrowed some sweat bands and wore his wrestling belt and was, i think, john sena (i have no idea how to spell the guys name and don't feel like looking him up right now) thing 1 decided he would be a gangster and made his own costume. (he was out running around with friends when i took pictures and when he came back i forgot to get his picture) he cut up an old t-shirt and wore some chains and stuff like that! he was satisfied with it! so my kids made halloween happen for themselves! though i was a total bum when it came to costumes i did fix them mummy toes and chocolate spiders and i did invite their friends over to trick-or-treat with them. we have a lot of friends that don't live in a good neighborhood for trick-or-treating so they all come here and spend the evening with us. it's lots of fun!

the next day grandma and grandpa arrived from out west to spend a few days and be here for thing 1's baptism. we are so glad they were able to come so far! it really meant a lot to all of us but especially thing 1.

saturday we had his baptism. it was a really nice day. he was very excited for it and i think very ready. thing 2 was very excited for him too.

his grandparents were all here for it and most of his cousins on my side(missed you snack!)


we've been busy with a lot of good things! we are very proud of our thing 1 for his good decisions and his desire to choose the right. love ya boy!

7 random things-about me!

i was tagged by michelle to post the 7 random things, so here goes

1. i always wanted to be a trapeez artist-still kind of do. they do lessons in the city-i'm hoping to get there one day(after this baby of course!)

2. i have issues with some P words like, pocketbook, pantyhose, panties. can't use them and hate when others use them.

3. shaka-that was a nickname given to me way back in 8th grade. shaka zulu was being shown on tv at the time and a boy in my class came back to school calling me shaka after he had watched the show. of course i didn't respond at first and then one day he was walking down the hall behind me chanting shaka, shaka and i turned around and said "What!" he got all excited "she answers to it!" and that was what i was known as from then on! if you meet anyone from school that's what they call me, it's sewn into all of my sports sweatshirts and things like that from high school. so now you know it's not as random as it may have seemed. if you have emailed me you see my email says shaka con but that is just because shaka zulu was taken. oh well.

4. i love pajamas! it is not unusual for me to crawl into them at 5pm-if i know i'm home for the night! i also love a good comfy pair of slippers!

5. i received my bachelors degree in early childhood education from byu. that certified me to teach pre-k through 3rd grade. i never taught though.

6. i love to dance. i don't dance well, i prob. have no rhythm but i can't stand or sit still if there's good music on! i'm waiting for the day when the other "adult" leaders at the youth dances tell me to sit down!

7. i (me and a few friends) were held at gunpoint by my hometown police when i was in high school!
it was a day off of school and some friends and i were hanging out at one of my friends houses. she jokingly locked the guys out so they went around back to come in the slider, as they opened the door the screen fell off(as it always did) i guess a neighbor saw this and thought someone was breaking in and called the cops. so while we were inside goofing around, the house was being surrounded by cops! all of the sudden we see a gun in the sliding glass door and then there's cops coming in all over the place. it was a bit frightening. i can't even imagine what kind of look was on my face!

there it is, 7 random things! now i am to tag 7 people. laina, i know you were tagged a while back so i won't tag you. if i tag someone who has been tagged-sorry!
1. laurel
2. traci
3. laci
4. sarah
5. katie
6. cecily
7. rochelle
HAVE FUN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

today my sweet little first born turns 8. hard to believe! he is the happiest little kid(most of the time)! he was born smiling! as a baby and still today he has a big beautiful smile for everyone! he was the baby that was always hugging and kissing all of his friends. one time, when he was 2, he and a couple other friends were playing together and we tossed them all in a crib. while the other 2 boys were jumping around thing 1 was in the corner kissing the little girl!

he was a perfect little baby, so easy going and just happy to be loved! i feel like as he gets older i don't hug and kiss him as much-he's always in a hurry to get outside to play with his friends! but i know that he still loves a good hug and though he scrunches up his face and makes ucky noises, i know he still loves to be kissed!

we love you! you are a great big brother and son! keep smiling!

star struck!

a rainy saturday turned us up at the mall (and everyone else-it was like christmas!). so while sitting in the hall waiting for the dad to check on a hat at finish line i caught a quick glimpse of a man wandering by with 3 kids. that quick glimpse screamed vincent d'onofrio!

i kind of didn't believe myself but told the dad "i swear that was him" so he said "lets go see". so we followed the man to the other end of the mall before we caught up to him and sure enough it was him!! he was wearing black pants and a black hoodie and roaming the mall with 3 kids-two teenage girls and an early teen boy! he has a lot of the same mannerisms as he does on the show! we followed him into old navy where he ended up with his arms full of clothes and then we left! left him to do his shopping without gawkers like us hanging around!

it was very exciting and i still can't believe i saw him! i never run into "stars"! it's just not my kind of luck or maybe i'm just too clueless to notice them. part of the fun thing is that i really don't pay much attention to actors/actresses but this is one that we really like! and he was in our little rinky dink of a mall! too cool!

the office

the office last night was great-too short though! they got me hooked on those hour long episodes and then they throw a half hour one at me! what is that about?

anyway, my husband emailed this to me yesterday. it's about 10 minutes but fun-of course, it's the office!

YouTube - The Office - Greatest Moments part 1

(i don't know how to put the player in my blog so i just have the link)

so cute!

traci posted about her sister-in-laws new blog where she sells these adorable shoes.

i love them. i think that baby craze is starting for me. i just don't know what i'm having yet so i can't make any purchases.

go on over and check them out!

tagged

i have been tagged

thanks michelle, i enjoy reading your blog too.

now i tag

laina

laurel

lacie

so you guys can post this cute little candy guy in your side bar and tag 3 more people.

have fun!

when she was bad she was horrid

there was a little girl, who had a little curl... you know the rest. well this time she was bad!

we put her to bed and thought she stayed-about an hour later thing 1 hollered down that "thing 3" would not leave his room, uh, oh. the dad headed up the stairs and about fell over once he reached the top. what did she do!?

the little bugger found my notary stamp and stamped all over my bedroom! my night stand, dresser, footboard, bed rail, floor and door were all covered in stamps!!!! she was in trouble!!!!! put to bed and door shut!!

thank goodness -i think -for the magic eraser. it took it all off, and some of the finish, but at least the stamp is gone.

where did this girl come from-my other two never did anything like this!

bad habits

i am not a family bed person. it's just not for me. i want and need my space at night.

unfortunately though we have let thing 3 get into some bad habits. first of all she doesn't even want to go to bed at night so we have let her stay up with us for a while. when we do put her to bed she just keeps coming out and i guess we have just gotten lazy with her. then when we do finally put her to bed she comes and crawls in with us about half way through the night. and again-we have gotten lazy and let her stay!

with her in the bed, no one gets a good nights sleep. we fight over blankets-she kicks them off and i want them pulled up to my chin. she snuggles close so if i want to roll over i have to slide her over first and often times she sleeps sideways.

now with a baby on the way, who is going to have me up nights anyway, we need to get thing 3's sleeping habits straightened out.

we never had an issue like this with thing 1. he has always slept in his own bed.

thing 2 did come into our bed for a while. he was about 3 years old and so we would talk to him about it and ask why he liked to sleep in our bed. he told us it was comfortable. then finally, we started asking him what was comfortable about it-the bed, the blankets? he told us the blankets. now, we sleep in heaven under a down comforter. if you have one you know that it is the greatest thing in the world. we can't sleep well under anything else either. so, when he said the blankets were comfortable we decided to buy him his own down comforter-it was worth a shot! we haven't seen him since!

now what's thing 3's trick!?-probably just us being consistent. we'll see but that is one of our messes we are trying to clean up before the baby gets here.

BIG NEWS!

Your baby is now 5/8 of an inch long, about the size of a kidney bean. New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. His arms have lengthened, too, and his hands are now flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart. His knee joints have formed, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways.

so, this is kind of where i have been-stuck to the couch feeling yucky!!! i'm in my 8th week now. i discovered this about 3 weeks ago when the nausea set in. it was planned but right now it hasn't been very exciting! as i start feeling better i'm sure i will feel happy about it. i apologize for my complaining to those of you who get really sick and throw up and all of that. i know i could be much worse but for me this is the worst one yet. with my other 3 i've only felt nauseous until i ate-this one is constant and draining. anyway, we are preparing for thing 4. i'm due in may(spring baby-just what i wanted). the things are excited-but they don't like our name choices! i told them they could call the baby whatever they want. they want to name it after their favorite cartoon characters.

now you know where i've been! i think i'm a bit on the upswing of things-i hope! so i'll be around more.

i-yi-yi

i don't know what happened, i got sucked in for a second!
as i was registering for an online newsletter an offer caught my eye and ignorantly i filled in the information! now i am getting about 40 spam e-mails a day!!! it's driving me crazy! i guess it shouldn't -all i have to do is delete them, and they go in a separate folder anyway but i wish i had thought about it before i filled in that darn offer! oh well, now my email has been exposed to the world of junk!!
does the junk bother you or can you just ignore it?

ooh la la

i unfortunately subscribe to domino-i expected it to be different and it's not my style.

i do, however, flip through it every month when it shows up in my mailbox and occasionally i find a couple of things i like. this month i must share...

isn't this tub gorgeous!?

it won't be showing up in my bathroom ever though-$9,267!!! i'll just enjoy looking at it on the pages of a magazine!

HOW OLD ARE YOU NOW?

yesterday was thing 2's birthday-the big 6! which is absolutely crazy to me! not because he's getting old-though that is hard-but because i thought he was already 6! i did this when he turned 2 also! i had to stop and calculate because he just seemed older already! he's one of those kids though. i firmly believe he came to this world to be with his big brother-yeah, he loves us but big brother was the driving force. so, since day one pretty much, he has done everything thing 1 has done and sometimes more. as my friend says, "he's an old soul". and it's not that he's super mature and beyond his years, he just seems older-maybe because he started bigger-9lbs 50z! my first was 6,14 and my third was 7,12-so he is one of a kind around here! a three month old from birth!-and we are small people-we could lose a few inches but small in general!

so anyway, he's a great kid. pretty even tempered-agreeable most of the time but when he is cranky-watch out!! he is really a fun kid, very excited about life! we are so glad he is part of our family!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!

staying on task!

this is the chart i use with my boys every morning. we started using it several years ago after a family home evening lesson on family responsibilities. this chart has been very helpful. when they get distracted(which happens often) i just ask them what is left for them to do on their chart and they know what they need to do. the whole thing is laminated (love my laminator!) and each tag is attached with a piece of velcro and on the reverse side is a happy face sticker, so as they finish each task they flip it over. they started using it probably around the age of 2 or 3 and were able to follow along. in those days i was much more involved of course but it got them started doing it on their own. now they are responsible for everything including making their bed (it's not always beautiful but they are getting it down-i just go back and straighten it after they have left)

i guess it's time to get out the master and make thing 3 one of her own. as crazy as it is i'll catch her making her bed some mornings-better keep that going while she enjoys it! (she just pulls all of the blankets up flat on her little toddler bed, but the first day i found it like that i was very confused and even though she said she had done it i had to ask everyone else in the house if they had done it for her and then i still didn't believe she had done it until i caught her doing it one day!-children are so much smarter than we realize!)

do you have any little trick to keep your kids on task?

spirit jugs

i'm saving my milk cartons for this cute halloween decoration!

spirit jugs

cravings

i woke up this morning and decided on taco soup for dinner. by lunch time i was craving it so badly i decided to fix it right then and to fix a double batch so there was enough for me to start eating it!

everyone has probably had taco soup but in case you haven't, it's a great way to get that sour cream, cheese and chips in your mouth! YUM YUM!

here's the recipe...

1lb hamburger
1/4 cup onion chopped
1 16oz can stewed tomatoes
1 16 oz can kidney beans-drained
1 17 oz can corn-drained
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cumin

brown and drain hamburger, add onions. cook till onions are tender, add remaining ingredients over med. heat. cook till heated through. serve with cheese, chips (Doritos, Frito's or tortilla chips) and sour cream!

*some people just add a taco seasoning packet in place of the last 6 ingredients.
**i also add a can of chicken broth and a can or two of water-i like mine with more broth so it is soupier!

now that hit the spot!-and dinner's ready!

uh, oh!

while i was typing my last post i started to hear a lot of crinkling upstairs! i quickly finished up and headed up to see what the girl had gotten into!

she found the box of birthday presents sent from grandma for the boys. (their birthday's are this month and next month and along with their gifts she sent a couple little gifts for thing 3)!

the little booger ripped almost all of them open!

i'm not sure how the boys will react-they'll prob. just be happy they get their present now and don't have to wait-or i could wrap them up again and hide them away! hmmmm not sure-one thing i realized though is i'm not sure what was for who!

i guess it's time to get off the computer as thing 3 has climbed into the freezer and brought me the ice cream (Edy's loaded chocolate fudge Brownie-yum!) and is telling me she NEEDS ice cream! (i think i need some too!)

uplifting thoughts?

a local business that i pass almost every day puts out a new thought every week. they start out feeling positive but end up... well, not so positive! a few weeks ago it read...

"if life is like a bowl of cherries, then why are there so many nuts?"

this weeks reads...

"life's too short to take seriously. besides, no one gets out alive!"

a little food for thought i guess.

BLOGGEDY BLOG BLOG BLAH'S!

that's what i have right now!

LAUREL!

no homework-yet!

the first week went great! the boys came home excited about school-thing 1 let us know very clearly that he had no homework! that was the one thing he was dreading-homework! last year we(and i do mean to say we) had a lot of homework! i think we will this year too, it just hasn't hit yet! this year i think he will be able to work more independently on it though.(at least i hope)

thing 2 was excited for FUN FRIDAY!

what a great way to keep the kids going all week-give them something to look forward to at the end!

he's been up early everyday, dressed quickly and ready to go-thing 1 has been slow to wake and very cranky at thing 2 for disturbing him! such different boys!

thing 2 hasn't had any homework yet either. thing 1 had the same teacher when he was in 1st grade so i think i know what to expect. not a ton of homework (busywork style) but a lot of reading.

so, we are off to a fun start but i'm sure attitudes will change when the homework hits!

Girls only!

thing 3 was invited to a tea party!

her and her two little girlfriends all sent their brothers off to school on wednesday, so the girls got together for some pretty girl fun! they all got dressed up pretty(thing 3's favorite thing to do anyway) had a tea party and played with dress up clothes and toy make-up!

her kind of fun!

she loves her brothers but i don't think she's missing them yet.

school's IN!

today we are off to school! the boys are excited! thing 2 was up early, ready to shower and upset that thing 1 wasn't ready to get up!
i'm sending them back with a bit of mixed emotions. the summer went way too fast! but at the same time i'm ready for them to be at school. i'm ready for the schedules and organization that comes with the school year!


a new school year always keeps me up at night thinking about how quickly my kids have grown and how much i am missing my babies!

thing 1 has always been very independent. he's never had a problem leaving me and trying new things. when he was prob. about 2 i remember him asking me to drop him off at friends houses and then come back and get him. when it came time for kindergarten he was ready. he said goodbye and he was off, through those big doors. the hardest part for me was not knowing what he was doing-when was lunch, recess or specials! he never went to preschool so it was all new for me. i held it together though. thing 2 had the hardest time. he cried and didn't want to leave. he wanted to wait for thing 1. that broke my heart!



thing 2 is not so independent. he is much more of a home body, maybe a mama's boy-just a little bit. he went to preschool when he was four and that was really the only time i left him alone. he did not want to go! he screamed, told the teacher he hated her and sat in the corner all day. it made me wonder if i really wanted him to go to preschool. the second day he did the same thing. i told him i would wait outside for him so, like a good mother, i came back early, put a blanket out on the grass and acted like i'd been waiting for him the whole time. he was surprised and asked if i really had waited for him. the next day i told him i would do the same and he went in without the screaming and kicking. i again arrived early and waited outside for him. he then told me i didn't have to wait the next day. when kindergarten came he went without a problem-mostly, i think, because he was getting on the bus with his brother and friends.


so they're off. big boys now. today they start 3rd and 1st grade! But they'll always be my babies!(don't tell them)

he's a wolf!

my sweet little boy is growing up! he started cub scouts last night! he has been waiting for this for so long and was so excited! i was excited for him! i think it was everything he hoped for.

she's back!

laughatme-laurel

go see what she's been up to!

have you played yet?

lead poisoning

yesterday i read this article about a boy who died after he swallowed a little metal trinket that came with a pair of sneakers! it's so scary!

and now they are saying that they have found lead in many children's toys! this magazine also has a list of toys that have been recalled due to lead levels. i don't usually freak out about things but this one has me nervous!

how do you know if the toys your child is playing with are safe?!

and the earings were still there-right where she left them the night before.

it's true, i took out my earrings and set them on the coffee table and when i came back the next day they were right where i had left them! why could i leave them there? because my kids are gone! grandma took them on friday and they are still gone today! i've missed them but i have also had a very nice time.

Friday-my husband and i grabbed a light dinner and went to see BOURNE ULTIMATUM. good movie-lots of action-definitely the dad's pick but i did enjoy it.

Saturday-we went into Manhattan, did a temple session and then spent some time in the park. we saw some classics! this guy just one of them.-yeah, he's dancin' on those skates!

Sunday-quiet morning, got myself ready for church, sat quietly by myself at church-actually listened to the speakers! after church we watched a movie, took a walk-we found a trail across the street from us that we knew was there but didn't realize it went so far! then we watched another movie-(we have the movie channels free right now so we are recording everything) it was my birthday-the big 33!-hmmm that was hard to say! oh well.

Monday-quiet day, ran some errands i've been wanting to do but not drag the kids on. then when my husband came home and the kids still weren't here we hit the trails! there's a trail that we've heard is supposed to be good and it's only about 10minutes from our house! so we loaded up the bikes and headed out. it ended up to be a really good ride. some easy trails and some really technical ones which was a fun challenge. i took a couple of spills! it felt good to get out there! we need to make sure we go more often!-we are waiting for you LAUREL!

so, i think my kids are coming home today-i can't wait to see them!

iron harvesting basket

pretty garden basket

catalog shopping

my downeast basics catalog came this weekend(i didn't know they had a catalog but glad i got one!). they have a lot of really cute stuff and decent prices! here's some of what i like...

i like the skirt here.

so now here is a complaint. i'm tired of layering! i just wish that these modest clothing stores would make more shirts or dresses that don't require a tank underneath. only one of the shirts above doesn't require a tank. i feel like i wear enough layers -especially during the summer! it's too hot!

is anybody else tired of the layers?

and it's only MONDAY!

this is how my week started!


on my way home and as a guy turned the corner the truck he was towing detached and scraped the side of my van and tore my bumper right off. no one was hurt. it was all at low speeds but just not a fun way to start the week. at least it's not my fault!

8 Things About My Marriage

Lacie tagged me so here goes...

1. Where did you meet?

we met at Rick's College (now byuidaho) in a racquetball class. we both had a few straggler credits to finish up and were taking this class during summer term. the funny thing is that we discovered that we had taken the same English class a couple semesters before. he remembers my sister from it but not me. i don't remember him from it at all.

2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?

the first thing i remember saying was something like sure or yes. i stayed after racquetball class to practice while i waited for my friend to finish her class and then we were going to go exercise. he poked his head in and asked if he could practice with me. i said yeah, sure(or something like that). in the course of that first conversation we discovered that i knew his cousin. he was serving an LDS mission in my hometown and had been to my house for dinner several times before i left for school-in fact he had sat on top of me(shame on that missionary!). my little sister had a crush on him for a long time. she couldn't wait to come to our wedding to see him again. (sorry). *funny thing is, that friend i was waiting for, her and i had decided to forget about guys for that last month and just have fun-i met my husband and she met hers that month!-i guess we still had fun.

3. Where was your first date?

he took me to dinner and a movie. chinese food and i can't really remember what the name of the movie was-we did watch it. i dated a lot of bums before i met my husband so before i met him i had decided that the next guy i dated would be active, would take me to the park to play frisbee would come over and play cards with me at night, would go for walks with me. then i met him and he suggested to go to the park and play frisbee and he came over one night with a deck of cards and when i asked him to take a walk with me he wanted to go! corny i know but it's true!

4. Where was your first kiss?

on my front porch. he came in for it and i, not realizing, turned my head. a little awkward.

5. Did you have a long courtship/engagement?

we were finishing up summer term which was only a month long. so when that ended i went to utah to find a job-i was continuing on at BYU in the fall. he left to go home for a month and then he was leaving on his mission and would be gone for 2 years. we wrote while he was gone and then i went to california to see him when he came home in august. i ended up moving there for a while. he proposed in september and we were married in January! the day before we got married it was sunny and in the 60's-in January! i kind of wished there was snow since it was winter and the next morning we woke up to a beautiful snowy day!

6. Where did you get engaged?

on the top of Mount Lassen! we hiked up to the top and along the way he kept stopping and giving me presents-chocolates and things like that. once at the top we found a pretty little corner and he got down on his knee and proposed. since we were at such a high elevation my fingers were swollen and the ring didn't really fit. but by the time we got back to his house it fit perfect!

7. How did the reception go?

the reception was great. i just had a great day! it wasn't anything grand and fancy but it was a really nice day! i can't tell you if anyone else had a good time because i was just in a bubble having a great time! and yes-he stuffed cake in my face! if you know him you aren't surprised!

8. How was the honeymoon?

well, we didn't really have a honeymoon. we stayed the night in a nice hotel -in the honeymoon suite, which was really nice, and then drove all our stuff back to our apartment where he was starting school in 2 weeks, and then flew out for my hometown to have a small reception. he still owes me! that is one thing i would change-go on a honeymoon! it's too hard to go on one later!

there you have it! almost 11 years now!!

i tag lainakay and laurel and traci-if your up for another tag. have fun girlie's!

recipe

this is for you lacie, i would have emailed it but i didn't find an address on your profile. we all love these muffins-no nuts for us though. Enjoy!

Banana Nut Muffins

1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups sll-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. preheat oven to 4oo degrees. grease 12 standard size muffin pan cups or use liners
2. beat together butter and sugar at med. speed till light and fluffy. add eggs, 1 at a time beating well after each addition. beat in bananas until smooth.
3. mix together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
4. alternately stir flour mixture and buttermilk into egg mixture until dry ingredients are just moistened.
5. stir in nuts and vanilla. do not over mix batter; it should not be completely smooth.
6. spoon batter into prepared pan, filling two-thirds full. bake until lightly golden, 15 to 18 min. transfer muffins to wire rack to cool.

banana muffins!

thank goodness for ripe banana's!

butterflies

we had a visitor!

iron drying rack

this looks like a good idea! i found it here.

stripped

the chairs are stripped and primed!

along the way i found some great things to make the work, less work!

this paint remover is the BEST!
we used a different one on the first chair and went through the entire can and a lot of scraping and steal wooling. we used this one on the 2nd chair and only used probably 1/4 of the can and no scraping or steal wooling! it was pretty toxic! don't forget your chemical gloves but it was fun to watch. the paint just bubbled up in pretty little ripples-looked like smocking on a dress! then just wipe it off! i'll never use another!

then we came across this gadget in the paint isle.
i've never seen it before but i'm sure it has been around. you just attach it to the top of your spray paint can and it makes it so easy! no sore finger! and it was only a couple bucks! double great deal!-i would pay more!

now we need to decide on color. we have been considering everyone's ideas-thanks for them-the dad added his color idea-yellow. a creamy yellow i think. so i will take all of my ideas to the paint store and see what they have available and then decide! can't wait to see how the chairs turn out!

the gobble bag

my mother read about this idea online and decided to do a craft activity for lainakay's birthday. so we all got bags and painted a face on it-this is my sorry face-no artistic talent here. but the concept is that the bag gobbles up what the kids don't clean up before going to bed. then they lose the toy for a week. if it is returned to them and left out again then perhaps the toy is not so important and can be given away. so we will try it and see how it works.