Miss America Party

    My birthday happened to fall on the same day as the Miss America pageant. So my daughter and I planned a Miss USA party. She made me this lovely center piece as pictured above with her dolls wearing sashes. Mario Lopez as host of course. She also set up a nice manicure tray for everyone to do their nails.

    My friends and their daughters showed up along with one of her friends and we had a great time. Watching Miss Arkansas and her crazy yodeling ventriloquist act was my favorite highlight of the evening. It was the stupidest talent I had ever seen and she wins second place. Of course the winner was a bald Miss Nebraska. The girl wears a wig and still wins as beauty queen? I find that odd.

Jennifer and I

Chloe and Justine

Chloe and Justine

Brian and Brad, Johnny in the back

Justine and Kyleigh

Lesa and the girls

Yodeling Ventriloquist Miss Arkansas

Our Real Life Horror Story

  
     I was headed home from work, when I got a call from my 11 year old son. He says that there is a bird in the house and it was scaring him, so he went to neighbors house. I told him I'd be home in ten minutes. I pulled into driveway shortly after and went next door to pick up my son. I thanked the neighbor for letting him in and told him to put on his shoes so we could go home. He then tells me he didn't wear any shoes over and he is barefoot. I looked at him like he was crazy. There is a foot of snow on the ground. I walked back to my van and pulled out my snow boots for him to slip on.

    We walk up to the front porch together. I go to open the door and can't because it is chained from the inside. I turn to Brad and ask him how he got to neighbors house. He says the bird was flying by front door so he ran out the backdoor, climbed the fence, and ran to neighbors house barefoot in a foot of snow. Now I'm wondering what kind of bird got in the house to scare an 11 year old boy so badly, we have a pet cockatiel so this isn't anything new to him.

    I ask him to go around the house and unchain the door since he is wearing the snow boots. I wait and wait and wait. What is taking him sooo long? He finally comes back around the house. What now? He says he opened the back door and the bird was flapping around so he shut the door and came back. I asked if he at least let the bird out? No.

    So now I go around the house. I open the backdoor and there is nothing there. I unchain the front door and let my son in the house. We begin to look for the bird. After searching the house, there is no sign of  a bird. I am beginning to think my child needs medication. He swears up and down there was a bird and is starting to lose it.

    I tell him we will pretend to be cops. We will go through each room and closet together. If we don't see the bird we will yell clear. He nods his head and we begin. Room after room, closet after closet, we yell clear. There is nothing to be found. We get to the last room I say clear and begin to shut the door. Then, I stop. I ask my son, "why does your sister have dog crap on the top of her curtain"? He says that's not dog crap its the bird. I look closer. It's not a bird. It's a bat. We slam the door and run down the stairs.

    I call Scott and tell him to come home now and get this thing out. He arrives about 5 minutes later with a bucket and a fishing net. The bat has moved so it takes him awhile to find it. Then he comes down with it. You can hear it hissing in the bucket. He lets it loose outside, its wingspan is about a foot. No wonder it was scaring my son. He just didn't know what a bat was.

    We are glad it is gone. It has been a year and we still don't know how it got in the house and have never had a repeat performance. Looking back it's funny, at the time creepy.

What a difference a day makes!

 
   Yesterday was a snow day, no school. The kids were super excited! They bundled up and headed out. They would play for an hour at a time and only come in to warm up after I made them. They began to build an igloo. It was hard work and digging the doorway was exhausting. The solution...the dog. We have a Belgium/German shepherd mix. The kids took him out and showed him where to help dig out the doorway. The dog had great fun being needed and getting to play along.

     Later the kids built two forts and stockpiled their snowballs. The ensuing battle was intense. Not because wars are harsh. Not because one side was overpowered. But because the ammo wasn't hitting its intended targets. Why? The dog was intercepting the flying snowballs and eating them. Frustrating for the kids playing, hilarious to the mother watching from inside. Overall, the kids had a great day outside.

    Fast forward one day later, the wind chill is below zero. I decide to go out and shovel out driveway. The kids beg to go out and play. I tell them it is too cold but they don't believe me. I let them go out with me. After about 10 mins I am done with driveway and my fingers are burning. I head back inside with the kids on my heels. No forcing them to come in and warm up today. They are disappointed and are looking forward to a warmer day to go back out and play.

Shotgun

Missing Socks...Solution!

    I hate that I always seem to have missing socks. Where do they go? I usually throw the singles into a basket in hopes of finding them a mate, only to watch the basket grow and never truly sort through it. It's disheartening and I truly do not want to spend money on more socks.

     The solution? I am a very visual person. I like to see things a a glance. I have photographic memory but if things are in piles it doesn't do me much good. I found a curtain cafe rod that I wasn't using and mounted to wall above washer and dryer. I slid on some curtain clips, about 24. Now as socks come out of the dryer, the singles are clipped to the rod. I can see at a glance whether I have a match for a sock or not. It has worked very well.

Repurposing an Ironing Board

    As you can probably tell from this blog, I love repurposing things. It lets me be creative and thrifty at the same time. My laundry room had become overwhelmed with odds and ends. It was clutter I needed but wasn't sure where to put it. My solution was a homemade peg board.

    I buy wrinkle free clothes and never iron. My ironing board was taking up space and collecting dust. So I took some screws and hung it on the wall. I went to store and invested in some "S" hooks, baskets, and hangers that were designed for peg boards.

    I now have a place to hang scissors, tape, dog grooming supplies, ties, etc. As it is metal, magnets would also work on this. I love that it adds some whimsy and charm to the laundry room. A regular wooden peg board could not pull that off. It's very convenient and useful.

Mountains out of Mole Hills

    A three year old child is a being who gets almost as much fun out of a fifty-six dollar set of swings as it does out of finding a small green worm.  ~Bill Vaughan

   Their is no better joy, than watching a child explore and discover new things. A hill becomes a mountain that must be hiked, conquered, and summitted; only to roll or sled back to the bottom repeatedly. Trash becomes a craft project. An old tree or bush, becomes a secret clubhouse. The wonders of this world are endless.

    Kisses heal all boo-boos and a case of the giggles brings pure happiness. Disappointments are short lived and pain never lasts long. The excitement of a child is contagious and definitely worth catching. The purity and innocence of a child is a wonderful gift. Watch a baby realize for the first time they have a hand, or if they throw something it falls and makes a noise. Toddlers have pure joy when they learn to toss a ball. Remember when you learned to ride a bike, the pure thrill?

    Take some time each day to find your inner child and bask in the warm feelings. Look at something mundane with the eyes of a child and recapture the wonder and awe.  Roll down a hill or jump in a puddle.

   

A House with "Character"

    We bought an old house, about 100 years old. It has "character". The outside looks great. The inside is livable but needs upgrading. It has the usual character you hear about from home shows, original wood floors and woodwork, large windows, wooden porch, and huge yard.

    Our home has original wood floors, but they need sanded and refinished. Some boards are bowed from the house shifting and require lots of love and money...future project. The home has 24 large windows. Yes they are beautiful but not energy efficient. They all need replaced. To get decent windows at $300 each...$7200 grand total...future project. The wooden porch is getting older and will need rebuilt in a few years. We would like to turn it into a wrap around to connect front porch with side porch. Both porches have roof overhangs and the rebuild will be costly...future project. Currently all the walls are plaster. I would like to eventually switch to drywall...future project. In the meantime, the walls are all painted cheery colors, paint is a cheap alternative. The kitchen needs new counter tops and refinishing. The cheap alternative is counter top paint and painting cabinets. The existing cabinets are strong and are staying. Recently our basement flooded from back up in mainline, so did neighbors, so dealing with clearing out pipes and dealing with mess. The list could go on.

    The real "character" comes from the inside. Not the inside of the home, but the person working on the home. If you can continually work on an old home, with limited funds and lots of creativity, and come out sane, then it speaks volumes about your "character". To see the hidden beauty and charm and be able to bring it out, to be patient and continue on, and to stay calm in the chaos are character traits of a true remodeler.

    These same traits serve well in all aspects of life. Mothers, spouses, friends, etc, need these traits to work well and accomplish greatness. Sometimes you wake up to a flooded basement, a sick child, or a family tragedy. Can you make it to the other side intact? Perhaps your child broke a dish while making you breakfast. Can you see the beauty in the thought behind the task or just see the brokenness? Do you have the time and strength to stick to the big things? Sometimes things in your home or life are broken beyond repair and need to be replaced. The work will be hard but if you stick through the hard parts you will have something new and beautiful and a fresh start.