Teeth and Ties

So I had a dentist appointment yesterday, just a routine cleaning, but totally forgot to find a sitter for the Babes.  I didn't feel like calling anyone last minute so I decided to brave it and take her along.  I had a bag full of stuff to keep her occupied:  her favorite blanket, some animal crackers, a sippy cup of juice, some books, small toys and even a few electronic devices in case things got bad.  Don't tell the Spencinator, but we borrowed his Nintendo DSi.   I had her strapped in the stroller and ready to go when we were called back into the room.  The dental hygienist was a nice lady and politely said 'hi' to the Babes.  Well, that did it.  She burst into tears (which she has been known to do when strangers say 'hi') and only wanted me.  

This was not a bad thing.  She spent the entire 50 minute cleaning laying down on my legs with her favorite blanket, while I laid back in the chair and had my teeth cleaned.  She was very still and quiet, but also quite interested in what was going on.  I could feel her head move from side to side to checking things out.   I'd venture to say that dental visit was a success for her and me.  

I was feeling pretty good about the Babes' behavior and thought I'd head over to the mall since I was already out and about.  One of the stores was having a tent sale so I checked it out.  They had some good bargains like some Clarks brand shoes for $9.99 (too bad they weren't in my size) and some Foster Grant sunglasses for kids for $0.99 which I did get.  I picked up a few other things too then headed into the store.  While shopping in the Men's Department for a Father's Day gift for the hubby, I overheard an older gentleman talking to the sales clerk.  He stated how he just bought a self constricting tie and now couldn't get it off.  I glanced around to see what he was talking about and could see him lifting up his tee shirt to show her the tie underneath.  I guess he was concealing the problem under the tee shirt?  I'm not sure what a self constricting tie is, I googled it and couldn't find anything.  My guess is that it may have been one of those zipper ties, the kind you don't have to actually tie, just zip up to make it look like it was really tied.

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I didn't stay around to see what happened but I'd guess he got his tie off, one way or another.

Displaying Kid's Creations

Every year in school the kids make some sort of ceramic art.  And then there are camps and other activities where they make something 3 dimentional.  Of course they want it displayed, and one or two things on their dresser is fine, but over time these things add up.  So the other day I added some cube type shelves to the Spencinator's room so he could display his creations.

Here is his room before, before it was cleaned and before I hung the cube shelves.
I thought that space to the left of the dresser and right under the 'moon' needed a little something more so that's where I decided to put the shelves.

Flower Bed Finale

Sorry to keep you in suspense about the flower beds, but I have been discouraged by weeds popping up and haven't done as much work as I could have.   That and I've been busy with end of the school year activities at my kids' schools.

I can't believe the nerve of those weeds.  I tried so hard to prevent them.  First I sprayed weed and grass killer down, then a couple of weeks later I weeded the flower beds.  After the beds were weed free (or so I thought), I sprinkled on some Preen.  Then mulched them and added more Preen.  So I was a bit peeved when I saw weeds poking their nasty little heads through my freshly mulched flower beds.  But since I spent a lot of time, not to mention money, on getting these flower beds into shape, I am determined to keep them weed free.  Here is my plan:  the kids play outside everyday in the summer anyway, so I'll just take a stroll around the flower beds to check for and eliminate any weeds I see.  I'll pluck them out or spray them with more weed killer depending on my mood and the severity of the weeds. 

OK, so it's taken me just over a month to get my flower beds weeded, pruned and mulched but I did, I really did it!  I was actually finished with the flower beds on Wednesday but then a downpour hit so I didn't get to take the final pictures.  So without further ado, here are the 11 flower bed before and after shots.  Prepare for picture overload.

1.  West side of driveway
I neglected to take pictures when I started this project so I don't have a before shot.
Here is what it looks like now from the top of the driveway looking down.

And from the bottom of the driveway looking up.

Inspiration For The Weekend - 20 (Preventing Summer Boredom)

My kids only have a few days so school left so I'm starting to get my game plan on for summer.  I need to keep them busy and having fun without overloading on TV and video games.  Here are a few summer fun ideas that I found.  Hopefully they'll inspire you to create a fun filled summer for your kids and avoid hearing "Mom, I'm bored".

Click on the links below each picture to find out more about each activity. 


Basket full of summer fun to give your kids on the last day of school

http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/wordpress/day-school-basket

Make a can and fill with cards that have things to do on them.  When the kids get bored, draw a card from the can.  She has lots of great ideas.

http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/05/30/the-what-can-i-do-can-free-printable/

Summer boredom busters with a weekly schedule

http://www.somewhatsimple.com/summer-boredom-busters/


Something fun to look forward to each week of summer.

http://crayonwishesandpopsicledreams.com/oh-happy-days-of-summer/


"CHEWS" Wisely Summer Fun Board!

http://thecsiproject.com/2011/05/25/chews-wisely-summer-boredom-buster/

30 days of summer fun activity board

http://www.sewdangcutecrafts.com/2011/05/30-days-of-summer-fun-activity-board.html

So how do you keep your kids from getting bored over the summer?

Quick Mail Box Upgrade

Taking a break from mulching to fix something that has been bugging me for months.

Last winter (or maybe it was the winter before that, I don't remember) the snow plow that plows our street knocked into our mailbox.  The whole box was ripped from it's base because one of the supporting bars was broken.  For a couple of days we had to use a bag to collect our mail until the township replaced the broken support bar.  Well, because of this accident the paint has been chipping off that part of our mailbox.  It has only gotten worse over time and rather than buy a new mailbox, I thought I could just spray paint it.

Here it is before being painted:

And after:

The Last Of The Flower Beds

OK, here it is, the final flower bed.
Here is what it looked like before:

 and after:

Yard Work Attire, A Tire, I'm Tired

In case you are wondering what I wear when I do my yard work, here's my yard work attire:

Rubber boots so they can easily be cleaned of dirt and grass:

 I bought these several years ago before rain boots were all the rage and there were lots of styles.  I think I got these online from Walmart and this was the cutest style they had.

Inspiration For The Weekend - 19 (Herringbone Art)

This week's inspiration come from this Herringbone Art:


source

I've seen this print on Pinterest and love the design and pattern of it.  A DIY version in your own home would be a totally custom look that could incorporate your room's colors to tie everything together.  You know how I like things to match and coordinate, so I started looking for some DIY versions to give me some ideas.  Here is what I found:

 Sam from The Junk House was also inspired by the above artwork and got to work making her own out of scrapbook paper cut into 3" by 1/2" strips.  

  Amanda from Our Humble Abowed make this herringbone art from her kid's watercolor paintings. 

Becky from DIY Newbies used salt to create a neat effect in her herringbone art.

Ashley from Design Build Love didn't do a piece of artwork for her wall, she did her whole laundry room wall in the herringbone design. 

OK, who's going to make some herringbone art this weekend?

Another Flower Bed Done!

We had this very week infested flower bed on the west side of the patio.  And I have finally tackled it.
Here is what it looked like before:

click below to find out how much better it looks like now.

Patio Flower Beds - update

I planted some hostas so now the patio flower beds are looking a little less bare.

Here's a before:

 And a bunch of after shots:

Mother's Day Gift

As I mentioned in this post, I used something I saw on Pinterest as the inspiration for making my Mother's Day gifts.

Here is the quote I saw on Pinterest:

I think this was done on a cabinet door.  A bit big and bold for my taste and that of my mom and mother in law.  I wanted to do something smaller and classier.

So here's what I did with the quote:

Inspiration For The Weekend - 18 (Quotes on Motherhood)

Mother's Day is a time for each of us to reflect and honor our own mother, but Motherhood is not merely defined by one who has raised children.  It is a statement regarding the divine nature of all women. 
So with this Sunday being Mother's Day, I thought I'd share some inspiring quotes about Mother's and Motherhood.  Enjoy!

We “dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes” and “find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.” Mary Ellen W. Smoot, “Steadfast and Immovable,” Ensign, Nov 2001, 91

”Every one of us can mother someone—beginning, of course, with the children in our own families but extending far beyond. Every one of us can show by word and by deed that the work of women in the Lord’s kingdom is magnificent and holy. I repeat: We are all mothers in Israel, and our calling is to love and help lead the rising generation through the dangerous streets of mortality.”
Sheri L. Dew, “Are We Not All Mothers?,” Ensign, Nov 2001, 96

“[The] ability and willingness properly to rear children, the gift to love, and eagerness … to express it in soul development, make motherhood the noblest office or calling in the world. She who can paint a masterpiece or write a book that will influence millions deserves the admiration and the plaudits of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful sons and daughters, whose influence will be felt through generations to come, … deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God”
(David O. McKay (1873–1970): Gospel Ideals [1954], 453–54).

Women affect so very much of what happens in the world for good or otherwise. In some measure, wives and mothers control the flow of blessings that come into their homes. "
James E. Faust, “Instruments in the Hands of God,” Ensign, Nov 2005, 114

“Motherhood …is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels.”
(In James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (1965–75), 6:178.

Yard Sale Bargains

I love getting a good bargain so of course I love yard sales. 
Here are a few things we picked up lately.

The Spencinator was the first to spy this one and was begging us to buy it before we even got out of the car:

I couldn't believe they were selling a huge Lego Star Wars set for just $1.00!  Of course we had to get it.

Some of the pieces were still in the original packaging.  There wasn't an instruction booklet, but that's not a problem.  There are a couple of websites out there (such as letsbuilditagain.com and worldbricks.com) where you can plug in the Lego set number and download that set's instructions for free.

Fixing the Unfixable

For the past couple of weeks our over the range microwave was making a weird noise.  Whenever you turned it on, it sounded like an airplane about to take off.  We knew it was only a matter of time before it stopped working altogether, so last week my handy husband decided to fix it.  He thought it was the fan so he set out to find the best price for the part by searching online.  The cheapest fan replacement part was about $125.  For that kind of money, I wanted him to be sure that was the part we needed. 

So he un-installed the microwave,

 unhooked the fan and turned the microwave on.  Hmmm, still sounds like take off time.  So the problem's not the fan. 

Flipping and Falling

I took a break from weeding and mulching my flower beds to take care of Sweetie Pie.

While the Spencinator does this:

Inspiration For The Weekend - 17 (Mother's Day Decor/Crafts)

Last week's Inspiration For The Weekend was crafts and cards that little ones can make for their Moms.  Today I'm featuring some decor and crafts that older kids and adults can make for their Moms.

Does your Mom like to garden?  If so, I bet she'd love this gift basket of seeds.  DaNita from Delightful Order came up with this cute idea.  I love the seed packet holders, they read "a mother plants seeds of LOVE, HOPE, JOY!"

These MOM blocks are cute.  Lorraine from Extreme Domestication just mod podged some photos onto wood blocks to create this beautiful and easy gift. 


Mom's love photos of their kids and Grandmom's love photos of their grandkids.  So making a gift using photos of your kids is a great idea.  Kim from The Inadvertent Farmer made this photo project.

Printables make a quick and easy gift.  Just print and place in a frame.  I'm wondering if you could change the colors to match your Mom's decor.  Or paint the frame the same bold color as that of the letters. 

Check out these printable from Holday Snobs  

And  A Proffittable Life

I've seen a couple of other great ideas on Pinterest.  Here are the links in case you'd like to check them out. 

http://pinterest.com/pin/97882991871423666/

http://pinterest.com/pin/97882991871194682/

http://pinterest.com/pin/97882991871423671/

http://pinterest.com/pin/97882991871423720/

http://pinterest.com/pin/97882991871467277/

As for what I'm making for my Mom and Mother in law.  Well, that'll be a secret for now since my Mom reads my blog (hi Mom!).  But I will say that she doesn't use Pinterest so if you check out the links, you'll see one of them that I'm using as my inspiration. 

Patio Flower Beds - part 4

Welcome to part 4 of getting my patio flower beds under control.  If you want to see how much I've done, be sure to check out part 1, part 2, and part 3.

This is the end of working on my patio flower beds and I only have 2 more flower beds to go, so I'm in the home stretch.  Whoo hoo!

Here's a series of before and after shots.  Just look at all those weeds, overgrown ivy and even some extra little trees that started to grow in the before shots:

after:

Tooth Fairy

We interrupt the flower bed project for an unscheduled visit from the tooth fairy.

Sweetie Pie lost a tooth the other day and decided to write a note to the tooth fairy.  She had some questions and she wanted some answers.

Here's her note and envelope with a spot for the tooth fairy to put the answers:

It says:

"Tooth fairy what

is your name?

What do you do
with teath?
Love ________"

Patio Flower Beds - part 3

Getting more and more done on these patio flower beds.  You can read about part 1 and part 2 HERE.
I'm getting so close to the end of my flower bed project.  Just a little section of the patio flower beds left and then 2 more flower beds to do and I'll be done.   I wanted to have it done before May but that's obviously not going to happen.   I'll revise my plan and hope to be done this week.  OK, maybe next week at the latest, I promise.

Here's some before shots to remind you of how bad it was.  Over grown bushes and out of control ivy.  We even had a butterfly bush start growing in three spots - a seed must have spread from the butterfly bush of the flower bed I have yet to tackle.

Before:

That purple bush on the right is one of the prickly bushes that needs to be removed.

During: