Bank Some Happiness

I was scrolling through my camera and my phone pictures this morning.  Any time I need a little happiness, I take a peek back through all of the funny and sweet and silly things that I've taken pictures of. 

I realized that I often take non-traditional photos.  Ones that are of the everyday goofiness and chaos and crazy that makes me happy.  Instead of only dragging your camera out on "special occasions" to take orderly family photos, keep it in your bag and take a picture of anything that makes you smile.  You'll love scrolling back through all of the captured moments.

The above is a picture of my daughter's chalky foot. Taken while in the midst of filling my driveway with art work.

Don't you just love blue candy?

Make your son feel like a Superhero even if he's just doing his math homework!

Um, well if you happen to run across a polar bear pelt, have your daughter stand in front of it's head and make a funny face!

Stick a piece of corn where your tooth used to be.

Take foam squares and stick them randomly to your face.

Take a picture of your elbow.  It really does look like...well, you know.

And how about this super happy toothless grin! It makes me smile!

I'm not good at saying "No"

I'm a Yes person.  Sure I can help. Absolutely, you can count on me.  Why not?  I've found that lately my desire to help out or pitch in has been to the detriment of my family and more importantly, to my laundry. 

I have been inspired by my painter to start a list of readily available and scripted excuses for why I can't do things.  Maybe if I just had a list nearby, it would be easier to get out of stuff.  My painter has a list as long as his arm of excuses.  Here are some that I've heard lately:

My daughter was sick and I had to get her from school

A tree trimmer got his truck stuck in my driveway.  He got unstuck by 11am, but by then, I had started to clean the garage

I have another job that is bigger than yours

I'm feeling foggy today

So, I need some more excuses for my arsenal.  What are some of your go-to's?

Help!....I can't stand it!

I know I shouldn't care.  I don't know why it's such a big deal...I'm just a quiet person.  I enjoy quiet.
 I ride in the car for hours with just my own thoughts.  Noise in the background makes me nuts.  For example, a TV that someone has walked away from hours ago, and was left on: makes me crazy. Any kind of Nintendo game constantly playing the same tune, or worse yet, the gun noise constantly: makes me nuts.

Click Here for credit for this perfect image. 

Here's the thing:  My daughter constantly hums.  It's a happy noise, full of tune and is her own personal song.  She hums in the car, while she's reading, during homework. It makes me crazy.  I hate to squelch her happiness, but sometime I snap.  (Then I feel badly)  What should I do??

Steak Stew

I've been time challenged when it comes to dinners around here.  I was inspired by the giant Costco "stew meat" package.  I remember my Mom making stew when I was little, it was a really good one pot meal.  So, I brought home the ingredients, and drug out the crock pot.  BOY, am I glad I did.  Imagine my surprise when it turned out really good, and my kids were asking for seconds.  The recipie I used allowed for a lot of interpretaion (for example, it didn't call for carrots, but there were carrots in the picture of the meal). There were also other discrepancies with measurments.  I've cleaned it up, and revised it here:

Steak Stew  (Named By My Daughter...Who Loves Steak..)

1/2 cup plus 2 tblsp. flour, divided

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 lbs. beef stew meat

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes in juice, undrained

6 ribs celery

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tblsp. water

2 cups diced carrots

1.) combine the 1/2 cup flour, salt and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag, add the beef and shake until the beef is coated.  Place in slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients except the 2 tblsp. flour and water.

Cover and cook on low 8-12 hours, or on high 4-6 hours.

2.) One hour before serving, combine 2 tblsp flour and 3 tblsp water in a small bowl. whisk together and add to the stew mixture. Cover and cook until thickened.

This stew is excellent served with my Amish Cornbread.

BOY Valentines

Valentine's Day is nearly upon us.  Every year, my girls go nuts painting and primping and cutting and pasting and glittering their Valentine's Boxes.  Every year, my boys moan.

I found this very boy-ish valentine from Family Fun for my 6 year old to make for his class.  He was very excited to make them, and is now excited to give them.  They are far from the norm of sticky sweet kissy and huggy valentines!

Here's what you'll need to make your own fleet of vrooming dive-bombing valentine treats and toys all in one:

rubber bands, life savers mints, Smartie's and some stick gum.

I wrapped my gum in brown paper that I had stamped with hearts (note that I did the stamping with hearts...my son could have cared less).

Take the rubber bands, string 2 lifesavers through the holes and then slide either end of the rubber band over the sticks of gum. Then slide a Smartie through the middle of the two lifesavers.

It's SO easy, and so sweet!

Custom Beads!

Well, we are at it again.  My husband is cranking out these custom made beads as a fundraiser for our kid's school. 

Each student designs his or her own bead with pencil and paper.  My very talented husband then creates each of their beads in glass.  We offer them to the parents for sale on an 18" sterling silver necklace accented with 2 silver beads. 

The fun is not just for the students at our school though, YOU can design your own bead too!  Or have your husband draw something, or have your 2 year old scribble a pattern, or design it yourself!  Visit my Etsy site to place an order.

They are terrific personalized gifts for Mother's Day.

Did You Know You Could Make a Puzzle from a Photo?

My Mom has been crazy about "having a puzzle going" all winter.  I think ever since she heard that Barbara and George Bush frequently do puzzles together, she has been validated that this is a legitimate, even desirable thing.  The winter days are long, as we know, and she really enjoys finding a few pieces here and there.  Sometimes she saves the last 6 pieces for the kids so that they can complete the puzzle...now if that's not love...

You can order your own at http://www.portraitpuzzles.com/, or any number of other sites.  Portrait Puzzles does have a very nice selection of sizes, and I particularly liked the "gift tin" option.  It was a great gift idea.

The Letter Project

I have been working on a project with the 5th graders at school.  Every year, our school has an annual auction which serves as a fundraiser.  Each grade level is asked to produce an item to be auctioned off. 

I know I've got a lot going on right now, and I really don't have time for this, but somehow I get an idea, and I just can't let it go.  It turns out that maybe having something "fun" to look forward to makes it easier to "get through" all of the other stuff on my list. 

So, here's the project:  Finding Architectural Alphabet Letters around school. 

I took some examples in to show the kids what we were looking for ( the letter B in the entryway door, for example).  Then, each student chose a capital or a lower case letter of the alphabet to find.  I've been going in at recess to have the kids point out their letter so we can photograph it.  We have been having so much fun!  The teachers have been assigned letters too.  Currently, we have are on "all out search mode" for the letters: a, and R. 

Capital Q on a post in the playground

Xavier found and X on the bottom of his chair

Lower case i in the flagpole

Capital V in the roof of the playground building

Peter found a P in the slide

And if you could have seen the expression of recognition on the boy's face who couldn't for the life of him find a letter E, you'd know why I'm doing this project.  It's all about having the kids look at things in a different way, from a different angle, in a new light.  What a great lesson.

I have plans to edit all of my images in a sepia tone and create a message board of sorts.  I'll be so excited to share the finished project!

This is BETTER Than a Zoo, Ripley's, and a furniture store

My son broke his tooth off sledding this past weekend.  As a result of an extreme case of motherly angst, the Dentist came in on his day off monday.  He was able to "fix" my son's tooth by bonding it.  My son thinks it's "perfect".  Moms are a little more descriminating, but it's WAY better than how it looked sunday evening.  So, for that I am grateful.

Making a long story long, my 11 year old and I were in downtown Pittsburgh at noon, with hours to kill before picking up the rest of the kids at school at 3pm. 

I remembered a place I've been wanting to visit.  It's very out of the way, and I would never be in this neighborhood for any other reason.  I thought it was a furniture store.  My son was less than thrilled. 

The trauma begins here....This is the "before" picture of my son's front tooth.

Here is the "after".  Thank God for great, talented, flexible, and understanding dentists!

 

And so we headed to Artifacts, it is located in Pittsburgh's West End.  Just look at this giant room full of rugs! Overwhelming to say the least.

 

The furiture was truly unbelieveable.  The carved tables, chests, mirrors.  It was impossible to take it all in. The dining room table where the dwarves are dining (?) is easily 15X15!

And now for the oddities:  Anyone need a stuffed gizzly?  only $22,000!

A polar bear pelt? This is a bargain at $7000.

I was so amazed and stunned and overwhelmed with the place I forgot to include the giraffe and the 13 foot python!  You really must see this place yourself!

My Cup of Tea: Christmas Ornament

Last year, my friends and I made ornaments for one another, and they all were so special and unique, and they carry so many memories for me.

As I was putting up my "pretty tree" in the entry a few weeks ago, I was hanging all of my precious ornaments.

I thought I'd be so much fun to keep up the tradition, so we made each other some more for this year's memories.

I saw this cute little tea cup at Ikea.  It's an expresso cup, really, but it's so small it's almost like a child's tea set in size.

I thought about how nice it is at times to have a cup of tea with my friends, and an idea for an ornament was born. 

I glued the cup and the saucer together with super glue.  Then I used white glue placed in a baggie with the corner snipped, and made designs of snowflakes and a first initail on the cup,  like you'd pipe on icing. Then I liberally sprinkled on glitter. The next step was the tea  bag.  I had to "scale down" a regular tea bag, because a regular sized one looked too big with  this tiny cup.  I just snipped it apart, and made it smaller, being sure to staple it back together the same way that it came apart. Then, dip the tea bag in mod podge, and set it near the cup to dry. I tied a ribbon around the handle to hang it from. I replaced the standard tea label with one of my own: " Merry Christmas 2010"! 

It's Holiday Time: Amidst All of the Family Time, It's Nice to have a Game up Your Sleeve

We gather as a family a lot during the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's.  It's usually lots of fun, and we spend most of the time eating, drinking and catching up.  But, it's nice to have a game to play...something to get the whole crowd involved. 

This year at Thanksgiving, we played Photo Scavenger Hunt!

Everyone can play!  Choose random things around your house, pick likely party activities (like someone drinking something in the kitchen), make a list, and choose a central person to report to (this is a great job for a Grandma who's not able to get around like she used to). 

Here's what was on our list:

- A Cat
- A Straw

-One of your team mates giving someone else a hug (shown)
-Someone's ear (other than your team mate's)
- A Sink
-A Trash Can
- A Tree

-A house (shown)
-A cupcake
-A magazine
-Someone's nose (other than your team mate's)
- A leaf

 -Your hand making a peace sign (shown)
- Someone in the kitchen
-A blade of grass
-A drink with ice cubes

- A paper airplane (shown)
- A pair of shoes
-You and your team mates making serious faces

- A turkey hand on a piece of paper (shown)
- The pen that you are crossing things off with
- A TV

- Someone drinking something in the kitchen (shown)
- Something yellow
- A lego ship built out of at least 10 lego bricks
- Your hand making a heart

Have everyone report to Grandma (or whoever is designated) and then the pictures can be reviewed and "qualified".  The winner gets a prize (a box of chocolates, a bottle of wine, base the item on your crowd).

Everyone has a camera at gatherings, and cell phones are great for taking photos too.  This is an easy and fun game to get the crowd energized, and ready to have fun!

Your Kids Will LOVE This Goo!

If you are looking for something gross to do with your kids as Halloween approaches, here's an idea! This goo is perfectly gross and very kid (and Mom) friendly.

Here's what you'll need:  mostly Borax and white glue.

Mix as per the directions. And you'll have a gooy playdough type substance that is more slippery and wet.  The great part is that it is washable!  Your kids will love it!

 GOOEY GUNK

Solution A
1 cup water
1 cup white glue
7-10 drops of food coloring
Solution B
1 1/3 cup warm water
4tsp. borax laundry booster(you can find it at giant eagle)

1. Mix ingredients in solution A together in a medium bowl.
2. In a second medium bowl, mix the ingredients in solution B together until the borax is completely dissolved.
3. Slowly pour slution A into solution B(Do Not Mix!)
4. Roll solution A around in solution B 4-5 times.
5. Lift solution A out of solution B(i had excess liquid left in my bowl) and knead for 2-3 minutes.
6. Store Gunk in an airtight container or plastic zip bag.