So....

Are you tired of pictures of these things yet? Well, here are miss Kyleigh's blocks all together, finished and shipped. I'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, even though they aren't perfect. And I'm even happier that I'm done with them. It shouldn't have taken me so long to finish them but I'd get stuck on something and they'd sit for a couple of months until I'd remember them again. Thankfully Kyleigh hasn't started school yet :) Travis spilled the beans on the aprons for Landon and Cameron and I kind of meant them as a surprise. But I think they'll like using them when they bake with Shane.

When you live in a house the size of ours every little bit of space is important. There are nooks here and there where stuff is just kind of piled for lack of a better place to put it but for the most part everything has a place. I should really get rid of everything that doesn't. But for the last two and a half years that we've lived here our hallway has pretty much looked like this:

Actually that's a vast improvement of what it used to be. We used to have one laundry hamper that wasn't nearly big enough to hold dirty clothes for 5 people. We bought this laundry sorter at Costco a few months ago and I love it. It really is the best $50 I ever spent. But it left little walkway in the hall. I can't even count how many times I've caught my wrist on the hall closet door while walking by. It always *really* hurts. But since our cats departure, it opened up storage space in the laundry room and we were able to put the laundry sorter in there. Finally. So here's our walkway now:
It feels really weird to have all that space but I love it. I also love that my bathroom (laundry and bathroom are together) doesn't smell like cat litter- or worse. When I walked in there this morning I actually noticed that the bathroom smelled *good*- vanilla coconut- heavenly compared to what it was.

Can you guess what these guys are? The pile of seeds under the plants probably gives it away. Pumpkins. Yes, pumpkins. Last fall when my decorative pumpkin was starting to go bad I tossed it out in the back yard because I'd heard that deer like to eat the inside. I don't think any deer nibbled on it but the seeds were all left behind after the pumpkin decomposed. So now I have little pumpkin plants- I think I counted 8 in all. Travis almost mowed them down last night not realizing what they were. So I guess we'll see how it goes. Could I be lucky enough to get more than one pumpkin this year? My fingers are crossed....

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.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I did a post a few years ago (have I been blogging *that* long) that listed a few things that I really like and I thought that maybe it's time to do one again. Mainly because it's fun :)

About a week and a half ago- the day Chloe's flu really started- she convinced me that she was feeling just fine and was absolutely well enough to go to the mall. So we went and all of the spring merchandise is out so we squealed and said 'isn't that the cutest thing' about 500 times. If you don't have daughters of your own you should borrow mine for a while because it really is fun to shop with them. But we headed into Body Shop to look for a little thing that I'll list later but what we stumbled upon was their Hemp Hand Protector! OK, I'm not a hippie and I've never owned or desired anything made out of hemp but I tried it and it is incredibly fabulous! It smells, well, earthy but not like patchouli- which I don't like- it's more subtle. Amanda says it smells like pot and it scares me to think that she knows what that smells like. But she did go to public high school. I bought it for Travis because he has seriously dry skin, but I haven't let him take it to work. It's on sale right now for $9 so I might have to buy another tube. And as an added bonus there's *no petrolatum products* in this product. I asked the sales girl if their products were petrolatum free and she didn't know so I can't say for sure that all of their products are.

Number two on my list is an oil burner. I bought one a couple of Christmases ago with a gift card that Amanda bought for me and I've loved it. Why? Because it works infinitely better than candles; it can even be overpowering at times in my little house. But since I have 3 cats (I can't stand the smell) I don't mind an overpowering *good* smell. You can get the burners pretty much anywhere but the oils tend to be a little pricey- $7.50 for .3 ounce. I bought Satsuma because Travis has wanted it forever and the orange smell is amazing. I find that Bath and Body works has the best deals though because they'll offer their oils for $3- I get their e-mails and stock up. I also find that cinnamon-ey smells last the longest. And any of their seasonal fragrances are fantastic- "A Perfect Autumn", "A Perfect Christmas", etc. What I don't think works all that well are their Scentport plug in type things- unless you buy two of them. I have one Scentport and one Wallflower- because I had a coupon for each and they were free or next to free- and they work well when you have the same fragrance in each. If you're at all interested in their stuff you should sign up for their e-mails, you get quite a lot of good deals. One time I bought about $40 worth of stuff for $12. I just signed up for Body Shop's e-mail so I don't know what kind of deals you get there.

Yankee Candle. I love it there. I dated a guy once (the one right before Travis) and he was allergic to everything. He started sneezing every time we went into that store- it would have never worked. I think I've mentioned before that Cranberry Chutney is my absolute fave but by this time in the year I'm looking for something a bit more springy. So on Valentine's Day as part of our date, Trav and I went to Yankee candle- because I had a buy 1 get one free for their jar candles. Yay! He'd already decided that he wanted Vanilla and lime but I don't really like it that much and this was my Valentine's Day present. So I decided that I'd pick one and he'd pick one and we'd compromise. We smelled every candle in the store, as usual, and I picked up Starfruit and Orange for the very first time. It smelled heavenly. More importantly it smelled Florida-esque so I was hooked. And Travis picked Mandarin Cranberry, still yummy although not as strong as what I picked out. Last time I bought a candle, I bought the slightly more modern looking jar with two wicks and the metal lid but two wicks just burn the candle a lot faster so I went with the more country looking jar.

I'm sure I stumbled across these Blumebuds by someone else's blog a while back so if it was yours then I'm sorry. But aren't these just the cutest little things? I've never actually done place cards before, mostly because I never have enough seats when I have people over. One day though, I'll have enough room and when I do I'll be happy I saved this little idea.

I also love this- how cool is it to make your own clock? I've seen the clock making kits at Joann's and I have plenty of canvases so it seems like it would be easy peasy to have a piece of art that's all you and tells time too. Fun.

(Edited to add)

And last but not least- caffeinated eye cream to get rid of puffiness. I was skeptical when I first heard about it but figured it was worth a try for those days when I haven't had enough sleep. I read about Moxie's Double Shot eye cream for men and Garnier's Eye Cream. Since Garnier's is easier to get (Wal-Mart) and the price is only about $13 I tried that one. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. It's easy to put on and if you apply it repeatedly when you're really puffy it does help. It's supposed to help with dark circles over time but I really can't remember to use it every day.

Alright, I think that's enough for today. I still have tons of things floating around in my brain but I think I've been sitting here for about an hour now- I should check in on Halle.

Back...To Randomness

OK, I'm back. From where you ask? The flu- that's where I'm back from. Yes, I get sick quite often but I'm encouraged because I'm not getting sick as much as I have. I actually went four whole weeks without getting sick at all- nearly the entire month of January! And I'm bouncing back from this nicely. My fever is down and I put makeup on and went out of the house for the first time today. I took Chloe to the Dr. because she's been sick for over a week too. She had the flu and I'm pretty sure that's where I got it. She's missed five days of school but the Dr. said that she's OK to go back. She's only 7 but the makeup work isn't anything to sneeze at, plus she has her very first project due next Monday. Please don't get me started on a 2nd grader doing projects.

So while we were at the Dr. we noticed that a new kids consignment store opened next door. I was actually somewhat impressed with the clothes and the prices so I think I'll go back when I run errands on Friday. If any of you are interested, it's right behind Costco. The girls were impressed too which was evidenced by the eardrum piercing squeals coming from the two of them. It's amazing the pitches those little bodies can produce.

Then we ran to Blockbuster and Publix and the Factory. One of those was a necessity- I'll let you figure out which one. They're having a consignment sale at the Factory and I wanted to see how long it was going on and what the clothes were like. I haven't really been to one of those before but I wasn't really impressed. It seemed kind of like a trumped up garage sale. It wasn't dirty- in fact everything smelled of fabric softener- but maybe it's just not my thing.

Rewinding a few days- I'm not sure how many because I could barely get out of bed since Friday...Travis brought home a Michael Buble' CD for me! I haven't listened to it all the way through yet but I know I'm going to love it. I recently wrote 25 things about me on Facebook (because none of you have heard of that, right?) and one of them is that even though I have a music degree, I'm shamefully ignorant of popular music. See, I haven't put music on the priority list of things to buy because everything else comes first. But I watched a video clip of Christy's son Drew play the euphonium and felt all giddy and happy inside and realized that I've let a huge part of me die. So I decided to do something about it. I remembered Kris talk about Pandora a couple of months back and decided to jump in. I've actually always been a bit clueless about popular music because I wasn't allowed to listen to "secular" music when I was growing up. I never really decided what I liked because I just listened to whatever my friends listened to when we were together or contraband Q105- *before* it was a country station. Then it was whatever music that whatever guy I was dating listened to. Gangster rap (hangs head in shame), Eric Clapton, Classical (he was a much better choice), New Age, Alternative (garage band)...you get the idea. The only artist I was sure I liked was Bon Jovi- I still like Bon Jovi. See Travis doesn't really make music a priority. Probably because he likes '80's Christian Rock and I hate it. I mean, I liked it in the '80's. Who didn't *love* Petra? Or Whiteheart? But I don't love it now. I love jazz and guys like Michael Buble' and Harry Connick Jr. Apparently I like Coldplay too- Amanda says everybody does. So I said all that to say that I'm taking suggestions. Who do you guys love? I know I love James Blunt- acoustic guitar and vocalist. But other than that I think (except for country and death metal) I'm an open book. I think this will be fun.

20% Country! Seriously?

You have to take this quiz. I found it at How About Orange. Remember how I told you I was design schizophrenic because I like nearly everything? Well apparently I'm 40% modern (which will come as a great relief to my husband), 40% Scandinavian (really?) and 20% country (bummer). Which I'm pretty sure gives me license to be 100% Amy. I'm OK with that.

Miss Mary

At the beginning of last year Mary had a great little pay it forward crafting idea which I signed up for. I'd actually forgotten about it until she reminded me last week, so imagine my surprise when this beautiful scarf landed in my mailbox last week. Isn't it beautiful? And the kicker is that it's made of *bamboo*! I didn't even realize that they made yarn out of bamboo but it seriously is the softest most yummy yarn ever. And since it's been so cold it has been my constant companion for the past few days. I haven't actually owned a scarf since we've lived here. I haven't really needed one in the last few years because there have only been a few weeks that it's been really, really cold...but we all know what this winter has been like. I think it looks smashing with my black pea coat. Thank you Mary.

That picture was taken a couple of days ago with my "old" hair. I just came back from the salon and it was heavenly. I used to go to Fantastic Sam's because of budget constraints but I was really, really tired of bad haircuts. And since I only go about every 4 months I figured we could fit it in. The salon has recently remodeled and now they have chairs that give you a massage while they wash your hair...heaven. I didn't take a picture because unlike Christy, I stick with the same haircut pretty much every time. I've tried different styles, really, but it always ends up bad. My hair is really fine and I have a strong jaw so long and straight is the only thing that works for me. After the salon, I got a cup of coffee at Merridee's. It was just coffee. Not a latte, or mocha anything- coffee. I suppose I should add that I tried Jamaican me Crazy but it was still coffee. It was good though not strong enough for me. I don't have to have coffee every day, I don't want it every day but I am really starting to enjoy it.

And see the cutesy picture that I bought at Target last night? I've wanted a dandelion something for a long time and believe it or not they're incredibly hard for me to paint. I've tried. This isn't really a painting, it's canvas but more like a furniture canvas that's colored- not painted- with the dandelions screen printed on or something like that. It reminds me of an iron-on shirt. But it's cute and it was on sale for $10- yay! Their whole furniture event that they have once a year is 50% off right now and they have some pretty cute stuff.

Ooh, and my sewing machine isn't broken! Apparently I inadvertently pulled out a knob on the side and that's what made it quit working. I'm so glad Travis looks for the simple thing first. So it's back to making blocks today. I almost headed over to Hobby Lobby to get some new fabric but decided I'm not buying another scrap of fabric until I finish what I'm working on. I'd like to get Kyleigh her blocks before her first birthday...sheesh.

A Really Bad Habit and Some Good Memories

OK, it's confession time. I have gotten into the really bad habit of going back to bed after I take Chloe to school. How did this happen? I was in such a good groove of staying up and doing devotions and now I'm sleeping way too late. Grrr... OK, it happened when I was sick and couldn't stand up so I'd have to go back to bed but now it's not a necessity and I'm still doing it. But I'm posting it in the hopes that the thought of another setback will keep my peepers open after I drop my kiddo off at school.

I have started to like coffee- I'm not sure if that's good or bad. But only 8 o'clock coffee. It tastes really good and I never thought coffee had a flavor other than bitter. And it's probably just me and I'm going to get crucified for this but I think that Starbuck's coffee smells and tastes burned. I still like it in a Latte and if I put enough flavored creamer in it I can drink it but still I don't really like it. That was kind of random but apparently I'm in that kind of mood today.

And I finally have a Facebook, um, whatever you call it. I'm not so into it because it's too overwhelming to see what other people have to say- and I only have about 6 friends. My brain really short circuits with all of that going on. But I did reconnect with my friend Vinny yesterday. He and I have e-mailed each other a couple of times over the years since I graduated from college. Vinny was an RA at Southeastern and he and I hit it off my first semester there. He was older than most of the students (11 years older than I ) and was probably more secure in who he was than most. He was one of several friends that I'd have over (and he's one of the people that I cooked my very first turkey for! I have pictures.) and he kind of adopted my parents. He actually really saved my butt one time and kept me from getting in *big* trouble at school (I'm not posting what I did on this public blog, it wasn't *that* bad, Southeastern is just really strict). He's a great guy and I really miss him. *And* I ate at Subway yesterday which I did nearly every day while I was in my last couple years of school- it made me smile.

Tonight I'm making hot wings, curly fries (actually fried, wish me luck), and brownies with ice cream for Travis because the Gators are playing some other team for the national championship. I've actually kind of started South Beach today, probably because I dreamed I was fat last night. I've intended to start anyway but there's nothing like a visual to get you motivated. I'm not sure I can resist brownies though. Besides chocolate chip cookies, they're my Achilles heel. But if I eat the stuff I was already planning on making tonight then I have to start over. And my parents will be in town on Saturday and it's nearly impossible to diet with them around. My Dad has a colossal sweet tooth and has a way of making you crave things you didn't remember existed. I'm sure I'll figure it out. And I do feel very good for not having eaten anything that I'm not supposed to today.

And I finally framed one of my paintings. I worked on this one forever. Actually I got bored with it and put it down forever but finally finished it. And I was really pleased with the way it looks framed. I'm not putting this one up for sale. And I'm probably going to take the other ones out of my shop and frame them too. I really like all of them and I think I might put them all on one wall in similar frames. Except for the sunflowers. They're on a wooden framed canvas so I'd have to have that one framed professionally...maybe one day. And as long as I'm confessing stuff, there seems to be no better way to suck all the fun out of painting than for me to put them up for sale. I'm not sure what I'll do with it but I haven't been painting for a while.

This is what it looks like close up. I think it's one of my favorites now.

Good Stuff

I'm delighted to say that there is lots of good stuff going on at the Button house. Nothing really huge but I find that it's the little things that make life especially enjoyable. Last night for instance, last night Trav and I went out for his birthday. A few weeks ago Eric told Trav to go out to dinner on HMS because of all the long hours he put in for their last big project. So we went to Stony River. It was fabulous. The atmosphere was really nice although they sat us next to the bathroom. And to just vent a bit- the restaurant was nearly empty, why by the bathroom and not by the fireplace? I should have said something. Anyway, the food and the conversation were great. Unfortunately there's nothing else to do in Franklin on a Sunday night. So we came home and put the girls to bed and watched a Sleepless in Seattle. It was really nice.

Isn't he cute? I love my guy.

I haven't really mentioned Christmas presents yet but I did get a pretty cool one this year. Trav bought a new camera for me- and it's pretty; cranberry red pretty. I've had an easy share camera before and liked the, well, easy-ness of it. Plus it's got 10 mp so the pictures should be more crisp. It's not the camera that I dream of but it has some newer features like face recognition that the camera that Kris and Mary gave me doesn't have. Plus I can just stick it in my bag and be ready to take pictures without a lot of fuss. Nice.

And see how it will focus on something up close instead of the thing behind it?

Another little thing I love is the bud vases. I'm crazy for the shape *and* they're only $1.99 at Target. I think that's a lot of punch for a little $$$.

And in somewhat disappointing news that turns into better news...sadly Cottage Living is no more. I'd just renewed my subscription too. I loved that magazine because it had cottages from all over, not just the south (like Southern Living which I also love). Plus it had great style and ideas. But when I got the official notification yesterday, I found out that I'll get a subscription to Coastal Living instead. It won't be the same *but* having lived in Florida for most of my life I definitely like the coastal style. And I'm pretty sure that it won't be sand dollars and starfish. And see the flowers my husband bought for me for no reason at all? Pretty, no? The flash thing is something I still need to work on. See the way the flash right in the middle sort of washes it out? I'm sure there's a remedy for that but I haven't taken the time to do it yet. One day I want to take a photography class.

So I've Been Dodging a Bit

I have come to realize in the past few days that I've been sort of dodging writing anything personal of late and have been sticking in a bunch of decorating stuff. And while I like decorating stuff, right now it's a means of not having to think much. So where are we? Hmmm, that's too hard a question to answer. I guess I'd say things are stirred up a bit right now with things I really, really don't want to deal with. No details, just stuff. We did switch life groups so we'll see how that goes. I'm in choir now at church and even though we've been at Newsong for nearly 3 years I find myself still trying to get to know people and such. You know how it is when you go into a setting where people have been together for a long time and you're the newcomer and you don't get all the jokes and feel out of place. Gaaa! I feel like I shouldn't have to deal with because I've been there so long. I'm not miss super outgoing girl and it takes me a while to make friends. Tisra and I have talked before about handing out a resume' when you meet new people so you don't have to go through the whole "So where are you from? What brought you here?" Blah, blah, blah.

Chloe's party is tomorrow and it's a Halloween party. I love fall but really don't like all the stuff that goes with Halloween so it's kind of funny that I'm the one that ended up doing it. I got jack-o-lantern plates and lots of Halloween sprinkles from the dollar bins at Target. And everything else is delegated out. Thankfully another mom has lots of Halloween decor that I'm just not going to buy. What use do I have for a cauldron? It will be nice to have that behind me though and my party is done for the year. But I don't mind helping the other moms out.

I got food poisoning on Tuesday. A little word of caution- if you get a Caesar salad from Panera and the dressing tastes a bit fishy just don't eat it. It hit me like a brick wall and I visited the Lou 4 times before Travis prayed for me. My stomach immediately quit hurting and within a few minutes after I laid down in bed it quit churning and I was completely fine. I'm very, very thankful for my husband.

I was in Hendersonville on Tuesday (where the offending Panera was) and got to go to World Market. Chloe went with me and it never ceases to amaze me that she likes to look at every.single.thing. She likes shopping more than I do.

I'm finishing up a bunch of art. Tisra may be opening her house for an open house art-type thing. I haven't done anything like that before and I'm not stressing myself out or anything but thankfully I'm feeling more inspired lately.

And now I'm off to help Trav put the girls in bed and possibly make sugar cookie dough before I go to bed. Ooh, and I rescued a kitten the other day. I'll post pictures of him soon. He is really a cutie. Yes, I guess we are the crazy cat people. Although I really consider myself to be a dog person...maybe one day.

A Pathetic Little Post

Is all that I can come up with right now. I've started two posts in the last week but I just wasn't feelin it, you know? So I've been up since 5am (my back hurts) and I would really like to take a walk since it's only 63 degrees outside. It's supposed to be 90 today though and I know I have to take advantage of it while I can. So here are a few pictures of what's going on around here. I'm trying to squeeze lots of fun and happiness into the days because Chloe starts her new school in 2 weeks and one day. I'm sad now but when she gets that big 3 week break in October, I know I'll be happy about it.

The happy highlights include a super awesome date night at Arrington Vineyards. It's a beautiful place to have a picnic and we had the perfect spot on a grassy hill overlooking the vineyard which was also the perfect spot for watching the sunset. Beautiful chocolates from Schakolad that my sweetie brought home for me last night. A sweet photo of the girls that I took at the park. And a picture of a dragonfly that looks like a bi-wing airplane. I tried to get a closer picture but he was on to me and took off. I've seriously never seen a dragonfly like that before. There is also some gardening going on. Does anybody have a good recipe that involves basil? Because I really have a lot of basil. And I'm crossing my fingers that my sunflowers make it and bloom soon. Several have been snatched from the front yard by something that likes small sunflower plants. One day they're there and the next day they're gone. I shouldn't get so emotionally attached to plants but it really bugs me. Ooh, and I saw a deer in my backyard last week! To be more precise she was a doe- that was bigger than I am. Travis cut down a lot of wild brush that is taking over our backyard but we left it there until we had time to drag it to the curb and she was eating some of it. I picked Chloe up to see her but she must have heard us because by the time I got to Halle so she could see, the doe was gone. She was beautiful. And I didn't get a picture.

And now my time is up, I think I'll take the girls with me on that walk.

So Cute!

This is so seriously, amazingly cute. It makes me want a pet cupcake.

Mr. Rogers Sweater Day

I just read an article on MSN about wearing a sweater on March 20th in honor of what would have been Mr. Rogers 80th birthday. I never watched his show as a child but I've let my kids watch it and really appreciate his take on television for kids. My favorite show was when he showed STOMP behind the scenes which, I think, showed his appreciation for the arts and a lack of stodginess on his part. So, I'm going to mark my calendar and even if I don't wear a sweater (I love Mr. Rogers but if it's 85 outside I don't think I'll wear a sweater) I'll still turn on his show for the little ones. It's a far cry from the gross-out, bodily function driven "humor" that Chloe likes to watch. I know she's growing up but still....

"I went into television because I hated it so, and I thought there was some way of using this fabulous instrument to be of nurture to those who would watch and listen."

Fred Rogers

Elf Yourself

Travis just sent this to me and it is super funny. Just so you know the elf with the black face is Sophie.

Just More Randomness Since I'm Sick and Can't Do Anything Else...

Well, except maybe watch Rudolph with the girls. I probably should since Eon (the big vulture) is scaring Halle. Anyway, I found this while checking out the Handmade pledge from Tisra's site. I love pretty much everything in this store but I'm especially drooling over this, and this, and this. Fun stuff.

It's spring time again and that means wonderful temperatures, beautiful flowers everywhere, longer days and wasps! I really dislike wasps. They're all over our backyard and make it difficult to take the girls outside to play. Travis is ready to spray poison all over everything but call me crazy, I'd prefer to try a natural approach first (in his defense he wants to try the natural stuff first too- but if one of us gets stung all bets are off). I suppose my Dad's natural remedy can be effective at times- he used to douse my swingset in gasoline and set it on fire to get rid of the wasp nests- but since our house isn't made of metal I think we could do some real damage. So I haven't completed my research but I found this and I think it will be a fun thing to do with Chloe. The article says to use a protein source for bait in the spring and fall so I'm thinking that I'll try peanut butter? It's a less-gross protein source than what originally came to mind (spam- yuck!). And so ends my informative-educational post for the day- thank you.