Snow Day

Inbreeding

"No, Reese. You can't marry Corbin when you grow up. Aaron. It's time to leave Arkansas."

Puckerooms

I saw these at the counter at the movie theater.

My guess is that the original name "peckerooms" didn't make it past the idea table, because Wonka Inc felt it might make the candy appear "offensive".
Um...

The "calm" before the storm?

My friend's husband took this picture on Wednesday.
This is the bread aisle at Walmart the day before an ice storm is expected to hit.

Aaron said that when he went on Wednesday night, they were COMPLETELY OUT of milk, bread, tortillas, eggs, bottled water, and bananas.

Just a reminder of how quickly supplies can be depleted in the state of emergency.
Thank goodness for food storage.

We are thinking about purchasing a generator.

If we decide against it, then the next item on my food storage/emergency preparedness list is a hand powered grain mill, because the 400+lbs of wheat and corn that I have stored up won't really do us any good if I don't have power to grind it into flour.

Busy Bees

For the Birds

Book: The After Christmas Tree By Linda Wagoner Tyler
Book: I Love My Nest by P.D. Eastman
Book: Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman

Color: Brown

Share: Bring something that begins with Letter L

Dramatic Play: Bird Watcher prop box (bird cage, identification chart, binoculars, bird calls, safari hat)

Fine motor: Lucky Ducks
I love this game! Each of the 12 ducks has a shape on his bottom. The button is pushed and the duckies quack and "float" around the pond in a circle, making it a moving memory match game. The object is to collect 3 ducks with the same shape.
Simple, fun, and a great way to learn shapes, colors, counting 3 objects, and turn taking skills.

Sensory: feathers, feathers, everywhere!
This was a total mess, but the kids loved it. Since this is for preschool, the feathers were, of course, the store bought, manufactured, bright colored variety, and not the gathered, parasitic kind. Messy, nonetheless. I'm still finding them under the table and clinging to the side of the sofa!

Cooking: Bird Suets
Mix: 1c shortening, 1c crunchy peanut butter, 1c cornmeal, 2c oats, 1c bird seed, and 1c sugar
Pack into cookie sheet or molds and freeze until ready to use
This was a great fine motor activity and the children did a wonderful job scooping and transferring the mixture into the tins and packing it down. If you have a 3 year old, you should totally do this at home. The kids worked really well together and were just "cuckoo" (hahaha, I'm hilarious) over the whole idea of cooking food for birds instead of people.

Art: glue pine needles and string to paper to make “birds nests”

Math: Sorting Egg Match game
I didn't take a photo of this one, but the kids loved it and I'm sure we'll play with it again in the Spring, and I'll post a photo of it then. The children matched colored tops and bottoms to plastic Easter eggs, then placed them in a coordinating colored well in a cardboard carton.

Science: what are binoculars, and what can we use them for? (Show a real pair) make “binoculars” from empty TP rolls and tape.

Language: What do birds eat? Where do they live? What makes them fly? (read Flap Your Wings by P.D. Eastman)

Practical Life: I can take turns (lucky ducks)

Music and Movement: Bird Songs with had motions
5 Little Ducks I have hand puppets to go with this
Bird Song:
Way Up in the sky, the little birds fly.
Way down in the nest, the little birds rest.
With a wing on their left, and a wing on their right,
The little birds sleep all through the night.
Shhhhh…..they’re sleeeeeeeping!
The bright sun comes up, the dew falls away.
“Good Morning! Good Morning!” the little birds say

This is our job chart. The children can choose from line leader, light checker, sweeper, table setter, calendar helper, and song leader.

The child with the "calendar helper" job gets to choose two of the above gross motor tasks. Then, as a class we do the tasks the number of times that matches the day of the month. For example, on Jan 27th, we clapped 27 times, and spun around 27 times.

Next Week: Clouds!

Got Milk?

Well, at least Corbin loves le leche.

I just tried to drink milk for the first time in probably 10 years.
I threw up after one sip.
That crap is disgusting.

Cuz I'm Keeping It Real

An ice storm is coming.

Aaron called me from Walmart, asking if there is anything (in case we end up without power for a few days) that we can't live without.

I frantically had him stock up on chocolate chips.

Quincy wore pants for a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes today.

I was supposed to deliver several freezer meals to a woman from church who just had a baby, but she didn't answer her phone at all today (or return my message) and I don't know where she lives.

I am eating the dinner I made for her.

The girls are going to bed early,

and then I'm baking chocolate chip cookies, and Aaron and I are having a 30 Rock marathon.

Sometimes I think Aaron would make a good character for a television show.

Tonight while watching the State of the Union, out of the blue I get:

Aaron: Aside from Jesus Christ's Atonement and Joseph Smith's Restoration, WalMart Inc. is the best thing that ever happened to this world.

Meg: Seriously? Are you awake right now? I'm not amused.

Aaron: Name ONE thing that has had a better effect on civilization.

Meg: This is stupid. I am not playing this game.

Aaron: ONE thing, Meg. I guarantee you won't be able to come up with any---

Meg: ---the wheel.

Aaron: Hmmm... Ok. Ok, Other than Jesus Christ, The Atonement, Joseph Smith, The Restoration, and the invention of the wheel, Walmart Inc. is the best thing that ever----

Meg: ---fire.

Aaron: Denied. Walmart beats fire.

Because it is Wednesday

The Hunt for Red Oak-tober...or Grey Ash, or Black Walnut...

I stepped over my first cattle guard today.
The prize on the other side?
WOOD BABY!

Meet Glenn Beck (really, that's his name, awesome, right?)
Mule Skinner, Doggie Lover, Chicken Owner, Mill Worker, Furniture Maker, and nicest guy ever!

Does the lumber in all of these piles look the same to you?
It did to me at first, too!
Everything is weathered, so it has that lovely crusty gray, aged look on the outside, but once it is planed or hit with a sander (or pocket knife), the look completely changes.
My plan is to use a belt sander to lightly sand down some of "the woods" off my wood, but only enough to reveal the beauty hiding underneath. I like the character of weathered wood.
Can't see the beauty hiding underneath? You will when my table is done!

Pictured above by Glenn: Cherry...those planks were 2 inches thick and SO HEAVY! I would LOVE to have a chopping block made from one of those fat boards. I might buy one and make a set of benches. Cherry is so pretty, and SO expensive to purchase in planks (if you can even find them) from a hardware store. I think these are just TOO fat for my table top, though.

Black Walnut I really wish I had taken photos of some of the furniture he has made with this. BEAUTIFUL. Black Walnut is dense enough that if left outside on the dirt for like a zillion years, only 1/8 of an inch would deteriorate. A table made from these bad boys would be around for generations (should my children fall in love with it the way I will. If not, well then when I've passed on they can rip it apart and fashion me a reclaimed coffin that will rot slower than I will.) I had pretty much made up my mind that I would be using this for my table, but then I saw the ash...

Ash-notice the light spots? That is what is hiding beneath the weathered layer. I can sand as much as I want off, or leave it looking old and crusty. How will I ever decide?! I originally was turned off from ash because it is SO light, and I thought it was too soft of a wood. Turns out that Ash is a harder wood than pine...which is what I would have purchased from Lowe's (for more $).
Cedar-obviously, this was recently planed and I would have to "weather" it myself. Isn't it beautiful? Glenn had just finished a table and chairs made from this wood and it was really cool.

I couldn't make up my mind, so I decided to wait, think about it for a few days, and go back with my mind made up and the trailer ready to load.

I DID come home with a dozen farm fresh eggs, though.
Omelets coming right up.

How Much wood would a woodchuck chuck if woodchucks could chuck wood?

I am going to check out a guy in Missouri tomorrow that has a mill and a collection of salvaged, aged, and reclaimed lumber.

Ash, Oak, or Walnut?

Will Skate for Tacos.

Saturday was Big Adventure day.
It rained a lot.
I ran 6 miles at sunrise with Kasey in the rain.
We moved the firewood pile from our driveway to the backyard in the rain.
Then we both became temporarily loco and thought it would be a grand idea to take the kids ice skating.

So we drove to Springdale in the rain.

I can't even ice skate without falling on my face, so I'm not really sure what possessed us to think our girls would be able to do it. But it was a perfect rainy day adventure, it was free, and in the end, we all had a great time.

(Quincy "ice skating")

The ice skating center is about 20 minutes south of here. My oh my. I used to think Springdale was a good for nothing little town that only existed to keep us further away from better shopping in Fayetteville.
I was wrong.
There is a Taqueria on every street corner!
We pulled up and stared at the window displays with eyes so big that it might as well have been a lingerie store. I even unrolled my window in the rain and told Aaron to just follow the tacos de cabesa smell.
There we so many options, we didn't know where to begin, so we just went to the one with the least amount of correctly spelled English words and the most cars in the parking lot. I don't care if you think I am racist. I had to get some tacos in me. If I'd wanted good spelling, I would have gone to the library for dinner.
This place won our hearts quickly, as there was a cape on the quesadilla graphic in the logo. I also think it was the magnetic draw of the word "Super".

I knew it was going to be magical when I walked in and saw like a zillion unsupervised children running around THIS on the table:

GREEN SAUCE.

One look at Aaron, he rolled his eyes and said, "go order everything on the menu that you feel like eating. We won't be back in Springdale for awhile....ok if it's good, we'll be back next Saturay."

It was good.
And yes, I took extra little green sauce container thingies home with me, and they are all gone already.

That night we went on a date which involved MORE food. Then later, we joined up with friends for free breakfast-for-dinner at Mimi's Cafe and ate even MORE food. 3 Dinners? Yes, please.

To the Batmobile!

Ok, I got a message from cousin Jenny, requesting pics of my house.
My home is only 1700 sqft, and y'all have probably seen 90% of it in the background of pictures of my awesome kids. And I KNOW you've seen the bathrooms, because unlike most people, I posted pictures of myself with my arm in the sewage hole when I replaced the toilet.

But I have a zillion projects on my To Do list, so I'm thinking that the hunt for some dining room chairs will begin next week.

I'm going "treasure hunting".

Wanna come along? Of course you do. Treasure hunting is awesome, and I am super fun to furniture shop with...watching me in an antique barn is like taking a fat kid into a bakery and telling him to go nuts.

Hopefully, I'll come out covered in pink frosting.
I'll be posting pics of my adventures here.
Be excited.

{8 Months}

Perfect baby.

Inspiration.

I saw this photo on a friend's blog last month and can't stop thinking about how I want a new table. We are about to out grow our little bistro table. I love color. I love that it is crusty. More than anything, I love that it is unique.

I like to eat.
a lot.
To clarify: I eat a lot, and I like it a lot.

We spend a lot of time at our table.
It SHOULD be unique, and it definitely should be able to seat our entire family without rubbing elbows. (unless you are playing the M&Elbows game, and in that case, elbows SHOULD be touching). Anyway, I couldn't get this table off my mind. (I hate the chairs, btw)
Ok, then...so we decided I would find a crusty old table to refinish.
Unfortunately, even a crusty table costs a small fortune that I am not willing to pony up.
So then I thought...well why don't I just BUILD a table?
I have tools, I can do that!

I googled How to Build a farm table and discovered THIS blog (which ironically, is linked on like everyone's page. It was calling to me. Why didn't I listen?)

http://knockoffwood.blogspot.com/

Are you in love?
Hi. My name is Meg, and I am a furniture junkie and a project addict and this blog is the best crack ever. It has been 7 minutes since my last hit...and I have zero plans of stopping.

My thoughts:

-Um, yeah! I want to be her!

-I never could be because I talk too fast, my hair is too big, and I don't rock the cleavage when I do projects. I rock yesterday's hair, nasty t-shirts with mustard stains and kid hand prints on them, and 10 year old Dr. Martens that Stacy and Clinton would throw in a shredder and make fun of me for owning.

-I am SO ready to build something that does not:
a) make me curse
2) take 6 months to complete
d) have the word Fence in it.

I have a sickness. A love for projects, furniture, and food that is bad for me. And I've got the itch to create something FABULOUS.

Time to self-medicate with chocolate, furniture catalogs, and how-to carpentry articles. I've been dreaming of a big fat table with several antique mismatched splat and ladder back chairs seated around it for years.

Ironically, in my hunt for an image of the perfect table, I found this picture in an Apartment Living post from '09 (seriously, what apartment has space for that kind of rockin' table). Love the idea of the mismatched chair, but here, I think they missed the mark somewhere. They sort of remind me of the old chairs that you might find backstage in my high school theater. The branch thing in this one is also bugging me. Hopefully, I'll do a better job to create the look I want.

Project time!

Cheap Vacation Rental Hunt

This one is for my parents.
Everyone else can disregard this post, as you will find it totally boring.

Both Facebook and my email are failing miserably today at allowing me to attach a video, so this was the only way I could figure out how to show you the footage I took of one of the houses we looked at today.

I'm sorry for the absolutely horrid videography. Also, after watching the second video, and see how awesomely helpful my kids were you'll appreciate that I spent the morning lugging all three of them from place to place. Reese may have a future in real estate sales. She loved the hunt. Quincy loved the candy she was given every 10 minutes to keep her happy as she was totally deprived of a much needed nap today. The candy also explains Reese's obnoxious behavior.

Call after you see these and let me know what you think. All of the utilities (including cable, phone, and internet use are all included in the monthly rent.)

Great Update

Remember a year ago when I wrote this post about two teenage girls from church that set a goal to raise $4000 for Room to Read?

They didn't do it...


They raised $5,000

Yeah. They are rad.

Do something good for someone less fortunate today. These girls are only teenagers and they just raised the funds to build a school and library in Cambodia. Amazing.

Thanks to anyone out there who sent them funds.
By small and simple things, great things really are brought to pass.

"It's always fun when Grandpa comes, when Grandpa comes, Horray!"

HEY DAD-O are you reading this?

I am working on a fabulous agenda for when you are here. I'm so excited to have the luxury of grandparents in close proximity for 2 1/2 months that I am prepping now, so I can squeeze every last drop of fun out of you guys.

Items #1-3 on the list are fishing, golfing and boating with Aaron (and the kids).
Item #4 is spoil my children rotten. No need to schedule that, really, since it would happen anyway. I have no doubt there will be a child on your lap 90% of the time you are at my house, and Corbin will taste his first ice cream during a stay at your place.

BTW-I'm working on finding you a sweet rental. You're welcome to stay with us, but FYI- with the progress we've made on the fence, the dining room window no longer looks out to the road and therefore, Aaron has increased the frequency in which he is dressed in only underwear. Great for me, not so much for you.

Item #5 on the agenda is to supervise the removal of said dining room window. I want a sliding glass, or french doors so we can have access to the yard from the dining area. I'll have a weekend blacked out, a sitter for the kids, a lawn chair, a "good" tape measure, and the necessary amount of grape otter pops with your name on them. Shower us with your wisdom.

And just in case you need incentive for helping us (which I don't think you do, because you are a splendid guy)
Item #6 will be a Catfish dinner at Lamberts as a thank you.

Oh, and Item #7 I've signed us up for a 5K walk/run while your here. Get your tennies on, Grandpa, you're going to be busy.

Other things for you to look forward to:
-Tanyard Creek Waterfall and Lake Bella Vista walking trail
-yummy squash, watermelon, and tomatoes from our garden.
-Corbin's first birthday bash
-Bransen and Eureka Springs
-a trip to Florida (tickets are $49 from XNA to Orlando. Something to think about...but not really. $100 round trip to Florida?! Decision made. Take your wife.)
-all the BBQ you can stand
-visiting the local Civil War sites. I think the reenactments are in March, but there is still a ton to see during the rest of the year.
-Craft Fair Week! You guys always just miss the War Eagle craft fair by one week, but this year you'll be here for it!
-Of course, the week FOLLOWING craft fair week you will be using your mad wood-cutting skillz to cut out things for Mom and I to paint, that we saw at War Eagle for $100 and want to copy for $5. I need a big wooden snowman welcome sign for my front yard at Christmas time.
-Kingsdale Pool-we are getting a pass.
-Toy Story 3 at the movies with Reese and Quincy. They keep asking when they get to see it, and I tell them that it will be in the theater when Grandpa Pumpkin gets here. To them, that translates as "Grandpa will be joining us to the kids movie". Be excited!
-FYI once you guys are finished with your mission, you'll be going to the movies with Mom more often. Tickets are only $6 here. $4 for a matinee...and on Tuesdays, popcorn and soda are $1.
-the cuteness of your grandkids
-a 10 week long 500 Tournament. That's right. I plan to keep a running score on a chalkboard. At the end of each day we call it quits, the loser is responsible for putting the cards away and providing snacks for the next hand. Also, because I'm manipulative and incredibly awesome at 500, I'd like to throw in that the loser should also have to change Corbin's next poopy diaper.

Enjoy the last few months of your mission, we are so proud of the service you and Mom are doing.

Can't wait to see you in APRIL!

Don't worry, Mom...of course I have an agenda for us, too.

Weekend Warriors

The Fence is finally looking like an actual FENCE!
This is the view from my dining room window. I can't wait until everything is green and beautiful again, and rather than brown and barren...I was going to tear out the dead stems from the garden, but every day, it is filled with Cardinals that swoop in and fly away with bits of it's remains in their beaks. We've decided that, for now, we like looking at pretty birds more than we dislike looking at dead peppers.
Aaron wants to tear out that HUGE Crepe Myrtle in the far left corner, because it takes up so much of the yard. It is BEAUTIFUL 9 months of the year. I told him I'd throw my body in front of it if he ever headed over there with his chainsaw. Seriously. He hates the Crepe Myrtle, but loved the Fugly Bee Bush? (which keeps trying to grow back, btw). We need a landscaping specialist, stat.

I might need to post a picture soon where I am dressed in non-exercise, non-jammies, or non-work clothes, and DON'T look like total crap, just so y'all will still believe me when I tell you that I really do take showers and style my hair.


Someday, I will be baking pies from the fruit of that tiny cherry tree by the air compressor.
Yes, those are Christmas lights on my house still. No, we don't plug them in.

Lookin' good, Baby!

"I Do. Mitchell, I Wanna Dance for My Baby."

Unfortunately, Corbin has RSV and an ear infection. (Another ear infection? Act surprised, Y'all. I should buy stock in Augmetin and Albuterol.)

He is still his happy, smiley self, and he isn't about to let RSV stop him from getting his Miley on.

Sun Bread

Attention everyone everywhere!

This book is awesome.
For everyone.

Sun Bread by Elisa Kleven

The wind it whooshed, the snow it whirled,
the rain streamed down; it sloshed and swirled,
and washed the colors from the world.

Bare trees shook like chilly bones.
Children grumbled in their homes.
Birds and beasts all wished the sun
Would show its golden face again.


A baker missed the sun so much,
She took some flour from her hutch,
Some butter, sugar, eggs, and yeast;
She said, "I'll bake a sunny feast
Because the real sun likes to hide,
I'll make my own small sun inside."


She kneaded bread dough, rich and gold,
Glossy, springy, smooth to hold.
She shaped a bread so round and grand...
It seemed the sun shone in her hands!


Perhaps the baker's loving touch
Helped her sun bread grow so much.
Perhaps it was the yeast or flour-
Something gave that sun bread power!

(no pants)

It rose and rose and rose...
A smell from heaven filled the nose
Of every chilly child and dog,
Every porcupine and hog.


They saw that good bread rise and shine
And stopped their grumbles, groans and whines.
"The baker's made a sun!" they cried.
The baker let them all inside...
And filled them up from toe to head
With puffy, hot, delicious bread.

Bread so brilliant, bright and sunny,
Summer seemed to fill their tummies.
Bread so fluffy and so fine,
They felt themselves begin to shine...

And then -SURPRISE!- begin to rise,
To float and flutter, flip and fly,
Light as kites, into the sky...

And down again, to dance and sing
They all joined hands and hooves and wings
And praised the joy good bread can bring.
They made a sound so sweet and deep...

The real sun woke up from its sleep!
It burst out through the lumpy clouds
And streamed down on the startled crowd.
"The sun is here!" They gave a cheer.


"It wants some bread," the baker said.
So everyone threw bits of bread,
Chunks and hunks and crusty crumbs,
Into the sky, up to the sun,
Who ate it up and beamed back down
On every city, field, and town.


It dried the fur of mouse and dog
And warmed the soul of bear and frog
It glittered on the blue-green seas,
Wove golden ribbons though the trees.

It painted colors on the day,
Melted all the snow away,
And brought the shadows out to play.
It scattered rainbows, soft and bright,
Fed the plants with it's clear light...

Streaked the sky red, yellow, pink,
And purple-then began to sink.
And as the sun slipped down to rest,
The baker shouted this request:
"Come back for breakfast, please, dear sun.
I'll bake fresh sun bread-and sun buns!"

The baker baked the whole night long...
And then -horray!- at crack of dawn.
The sun was back to spread it's light
Like honey on each yummy bite...
And dance around the world and sing
Of all the joy good bread can bring.

And now, when it is cold and gray
And dark and icy, guess who plays
With flour, sugar, eggs, and yeast?
Guess who bakes bread stars and beasts,
Bread birds and flowers, boats and towers
Tons of buttery, small suns
Which shine until the real one comes?


The baker and her crew -that's who!

We let them do everything from measuring the flour to cracking the eggs themselves. I caught the egg cracking on a 1 minute video. It's pretty comical. My favorite part is when you can see Q's little hand trying to just squeeze the egg in her tiny fist to make it crack open.

A Benefit of Being Younger

Sometimes, when Dad is at work and Reese is at preschool, Mom takes Corbin and Tinkerbell for donuts.