Homework for Me

This past weekend was, thankfully, a productive and fun one. We didn't get everything finished that we wanted to but we got some projects finished that we'd needed to for a while. And some things that aren't projects but that I'd promised to do. Like taking Chloe to Panera- just she and I. Panera is her most favorite place because, being the carb-a-holic that she is, she *loves* bagels. The pink ribbon bagel is her favorite (mostly because it has the word "pink" in it) followed by the cinnamon crunch bagel. But unfortunately they had neither. You'd think they'd make more of those on a Saturday. We had a lovely conversation and yummy food and we named a new drink. You see, Chloe loves making things called "concoctions". Travis started it when she was old enough to talk and while I prefer one beverage at a time, they prefer to make mixes. On this particular day she was engrossed in an orange scone so I decided to get the drinks. I asked her if she wanted me to surprise her and she said "sure". So I filled her cup half full of fruit punch and half with Mountain Dew. And while it won't win any gourmet awards, it turned out surprisingly pretty. Pinkish red on the bottom, lighter pink in the middle and orangey on top- just like a sunset. So she named it "Florida Sunset". Now there's probably a drink out there called "Florida Sunset" but since I don't think it will end up on any menus, I don't think we're in any danger of copyright infringement. But it was lots of fun for us. Then it was on to Target for some necessities- if that's what we're calling them these days. The two of us in Target is dangerous. Later Trav and I had a date night that was more like errand running for things we had to do the next day, but at least it was just the two of us.

Sunday was filled with snow and church. We didn't actually get to play in the snow and it was melted by the time we got out of church but it was pretty anyway. And it was March 1st. I hate to be a grump about it but I'm ready for shorts now, thanks. Then it was more errand running. I don't really like braving Costco on a Sunday afternoon but it's easier for me to stock up on things if Travis is with me. Then to Publix, then home...for more stuff.

So, you know when a teacher assigns a project for a second grader, it's really homework for mom, right? Not that it was terribly difficult, it wasn't. We actually had a really good time with it. She had a list of things she could pick from and we picked a diorama. I figured that stage fright might kick in if she wrote a song or poem, besides this is right up her alley. Her book was on horses and we were able to find a tube of different kinds of horses at Target for about $5. Along with that I picked up a pack of craft/scrap booking paper that seemed promising, so for about $8 we had everything we needed. Except for a darn glue gun. I have 2 glue guns already because I like to make wreaths sometimes. But I could not find them anywhere so I had to pick one up at Wal-Mart on the previously mentioned date night. But I also found out on Friday that Chloe had been picked as star of the week, which meant that I had to make a poster of things about Chloe and send in some other items. And it was all due by Monday. Darn me and my procrastination- I could have had the diorama finished already. So we had to make a diorama and a poster last night. I took about 3 1/2 hours but it all turned out nicely and I had one happy second grader.

While Chloe and I were busy making crafty things, Travis was at Home Depot getting boards to make bunky boards for the girls beds. Basically he had a two boards cut to size and then stapled some old sheets to the visible side so you wouldn't just see plain plywood. It was easy peasy- he did it himself- and we saved about $55 over buying bunky boards at a furniture store. He also picked up a shingle swatch thing. I'm not sure what you call it but it's just like swatches of paint that you pick up in the paint dept. We're getting a new roof and when I met with the roofing guy last week he asked me what color I wanted the shingles to be. Color? You mean I get to pick a color? I've never even thought about it. But considering that my house is an orange-y brick, the charcoal-black color that's on there doesn't really look that good. So we picked Golden Cedar. It's brown and cream with some orange-y specks in it. Not that you'll be able to tell at all- but it will still look nicer than black.

And, OK, just for giggles, aren't these eggs too funny? While we were at Publix I realized that I'd forgotten to get eggs at Costco. I wanted an 18 pack of Eggland's Best but they didn't have any and I saw these and was instantly confused. It took me a minute to figure out that these were, in fact, Disney brand eggs. It's marketed on the outside with a blurb that says "See your pals inside" and sure enough there were 18 eggs stamped with Pooh, Ariel, Cinderella, Woody, Buzz and Tigger. I rolled my eyes but the girls were jumping and begging for Disney eggs. Since they didn't' cost any more and seemed to be the equivalent of Eggland's Best, Trav and I decided to get them. Even as I was putting them in the cart I was saying "this is ridiculous". But Halle begged for a "Mickey egg" this morning. I guess if it gets them to eat more eggs it's OK. The ink comes right off when you boil them though.

And lastly- see the table runner that the eggs are sitting on? I've wanted this table runner for-ev-er but didn't want to spend $17.99 at Target. It's kind of a rule of mine that I only buy them when they're on clearance. I've gotten too many for $2 to consider paying full price. So here you go for about $4.50 I have a new table runner. Nice.