"That's my kazard!"

If you live in ANY other home you might not know what that means. But when my two year old pointed to a hair barrette on the coffee table that she had been wearing last night when I left to walk with a friend while saying the above - I knew exactly what she was saying and why. LOL. You see, my hubby is very aware of choke hazards. He points them out to the kids all the time. In fact at preschool conferences in the fall Miss Melinda relayed a story about my 3 year old Merce telling a classmate not to put a toy in his mouth because it was a choke hazard. Lord only knows what else she has said in class... I only hope it isn't too bad!

But back to Rita's kazard. Yep, I knew right away that daddy made her take the barrette out of her hair before bedtime. I knew he had told her it was a choke hazard. She apparently thought a "kazard" was a name for the Elmo barrette as it is now "her kazard." Oh well, one step at a time.

Speaking of steps, I hear a few of them coming in the front door, which means (drumroll) it is time to clear off the computer and get the homework in motion.

Have a great day ya'll!

Where has the fabric gone?

The other week I purchased some white flannel for backs of napkins from our local Hobby Lobby. Great stuff, nice and soft. But, I didn't purchase enough. So, today after taking the youngsters to soccer I decide to take them to JoAnn's to get more flannel. I just want plain white, the closer store is fine, right? Nope.

There is NO plain white flannel there at all. I contemplate loading them up and going to HL, but I have an extra 4 yr old with me (neice) and it is COLD. Ok, red will work, not ideal but it will work. I decide while I am there to look at the holiday fabrics. The selection is dismal! 4 Valentine prints, all just blah. 4 St. Patty fabrics, only 1 would be even suitable for napkins. Sigh. I can't even spend money when I want to. I guess Steve will be happy. They used to carry so many fabrics it would make my head spin. In a good way, of course.

Slimfast RTD alternatives

As some of you might know, Slimfast recently had a major recall of all ready to drink products. That stinks. I get mine from Amazon subscribe and save so I don't have to remember to pick them up at the store. I don't like powdered drinks but find if I don't have protein first thing in the morning that I get a little faint through the day. So, now I have to get store brand versions. First I tried Target. 20 fewer calories, not quite as good (and it doesn't start good with Slimfast, just ok) but doable. I was running low on the Target ones and purchased Walmart brand. YUCK! OMGosh they are terrible! Glad I only bought one 6 pack there. They are right in the middle for calories (SF 190, Target 170, Walmart 180) but I am not sure I am even going to drink the rest of these 6. Slimfast, please get your stuff back together so they can be delivered to my door again! And in the mean time, I'm going to pick up a bunch at Target.

You know it's bad when...

Your own fans are booing you! Pats are down 21-0 with 2 minutes left in the FIRST quarter. Talk about STINKIN' IT UP! Now, ya'all know I'm a 'Boys fan first (though in recent years it is more theory than reality) and a Colts fan second. As a Colts fan I am an anti-Pats fan... as such I'm delighted they are loosing. :)

Saving money with reusable shopping bags!

Reusable/cloth bags are a wonderful idea, not only for an environmentally conscience person like myself, but also for the store. They get to be an environmental hero, touting saving resources while also saving themselves some money (and hopefully passing the savings on to the consumer, we'll get to that in a minute). I worked for Kmart in my late teens and early twenties. At every store I worked at there was a bulletin board of bags on the wall in the break room. Each bag had a number on it. This was how much money each bag cost the store. The average size Kmart bag was $0.004 (or 4/10 of a cent). This was in the late 1980's. Now that doesn't seem like a lot - but it can add up quickly for the store.

The first store I saw selling reusable bags? Target. They are still the bags I like the best! They are ROOMY (as you can see... that is my 3 yr old, who weighs in at 35lbs sitting in the bag). Now, I am getting "paid" to use my reusable bags at two of the stores I shop at frequently. Target scans a coupon for 5 cents off for using reusable bags instead of a plastic bag. And now CVS has a green bag tag program. In a nutshell, you buy their tag for 99c. Each time you use a reusable bag, they scan your tag along with your CVS card. After 4 visits your a credited a $1 CVS buck. That is like getting 25c off each time you reuse a bag. It only takes 4 visits to pay for the tag, then it is equal to a 25c coupon every time you use your tag. I like it. :)

I am not currently affliated with any of the above companies, except as a customer.

Sew Sane

I am publicly thanking my sister for getting me back on the wagon. :) She inquired about making her some cloth napkins. I told ya'all I'm a bit of a environmental freak, right? So, now I am psyched, I get to make more napkins for my sister - and know that she plans to use them.

Originally she talked about buying fabric and shipping it to me to make and ship back to her. I told her we could avoid one way of shipping if she found some fabric online that I might be able to find locally. We went to hunting the internet. Oh, I forgot how I like to look at fabric. :) She mentioned John Deere fabric, and there was a Valentine's print we both liked. She also found a great print that she wanted for everyday. Unfortunately, the print was sold out online and not in my local stores. I am still searching to find it elsewhere online but so far, no luck. But I did make her some JD napkins. I found this fun print, mostly to tease her hubby as he is the JD fan. And I bought a more traditional print as well.

I washed and dried the fabric right away and got started. I love the way they turned out. And it got me back behind both my machines again. I finished her napkins, I finally finished a Christmas wall hanging of Rudolph that I have been meaning to do for at least 4 years, I have things in place for napkins for a friend (waiting for the right color of Woolly Nylon to arrive) and finally decided to dress up our tree skirt.

Oh, I have had fun this week. :) And I must say that tree skirt will look mighty nice next year. You see, it was just a piece of white fleece with light blue snow flakes. I cut it into a "cape" and lay it around the tree. I have thought about cleaning up the look with some blanket binding. But today, I played with Koolaid and Fold over elastic. I dyed some FOE with Berry Blue Kool Aid, washed it, dried it and sewed it on and it looks awesome!

Speaking of Kool aid... I just mentioned that I used it to DYE elastic, right? WHY would your put something into your kid that can be used to dye clothing? Can you imagine all the things that food coloring might be doing to those ingesting it? Well, you don't really have to imagine it... there is more, if you want to google it, migraine triggers, allergic reactions, possible negative affects on the immune system.

And when you start paying attention to the food you are buying, so much of it has food coloring in it! :( There are the obvious, brightly colored cereals, but also the not so obvious ones such as pickle relish - yes, relish.

A belated Happy New Year!

We had a nice but uneventful New Year... that's the way we like them as parents. ;-)
Our oldest spent the night at a friends, child 3 spent the night with her cousin and we had just 2/3 of the crew. I think I was in bed by 11. Call me a wild woman. LOL.

I am not really into resolutions, but my sister did call me and ask to help keep her accountable. She wants to eat healthier and exercise more. We agreed to email one another with what we ate. DANG! I hate that accountability thing. :) Sure, she lives 700+ miles away and won't know if I "cheat" - but my jeans will know. AND my daughter put the fear of shopping into me earlier today. You see, Steve's brother is getting married in May. Brandy asked me if I was going to wear the dress that I wore for the work formal in 2008. Well, it was a bit big then, and I am about 5lbs less now, not to mention it is a winter dress. So, no. Then she said "But that is your only nice dress." AHHHHHH! She is right.

I look in the closet when we get home. I have a handful of nice-ish dresses that will pass for a wedding. But, I will need to lose some poundage. Be disciplined, go shopping, be disciplined... Yeah, I'll take no cake, cookies or ice cream for $300, Alex.

Not really looking forward to the wedding. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for Ken and his girlfriend. I hope they have a long and happy marriage... just not looking forward to the formal wedding bit. I feel the noose already. I do think I was spoiled by the last wedding I attended - It was an outdoor ceremony, performed by a minister from the Church of Beer. How could that not be a fun wedding? Campsites were set up. No one needed to leave after the reception - just a big ole party on a farm. The upside to this wedding is that Brandy is somehow going to be in it, Jr. Bridesmaid maybe? I don't know, but she is looking forward to being in a wedding and dressing up. And she will look adorable. :)

Ok, since this has turned into a gripe about the relatives post... how 'bout them grandparents? One set hasn't come out since the Beat was 2 weeks old (she is 25 months old now) but are ok with complaining about how rarely I get out to see them. Um, 700+ miles x 6 kids = 4200 reasons we don't visit regularly. (For the record, I was out this summer, made the trip alone with the kids - then I flew back a mere weeks later for my gpas funeral). And the other ones, oh, the other ones...notorious drive-thrus. The last one was in Jan of 2009 after MIL's mom died. They are seriously here for one, two at most, nights. There are 10 grandkids here. Being here for only one night ensures that we are all in one place for their visit. Then Oma tells us that the kids are a "little overwhelming, aren't they?" Hmm, you come out about once a year for an evening visit, the grandkids get 4-5 hours to visit with you for the whole year. They are all excited to see you, they want to share all kinds of things that have happened to them over the year, that they have planned... [think, the show-off, crazy stage, kids go through for the first few minutes when a loved babysitter comes over for the first time in a few months. Now, multiply it by 10.] Overwhelming, probably, but you set yourself up! Come more often. The kids aren't like that with Laura and Paul (the cousins other grandparents)... oh, wait, they see L & P about once a month, sometimes more. There isn't a year of stuff to share.

I better stop as I am obviously PMSing and a bit pissy to boot.