September Summer

This afternoon was splendid.
I surprised Reese by picking her up from school (she ususally rides the bus) and we headed over to Jocelyn's house on Lake Windsor to soak up the last of the summer heat. Jocelyn kept us entertained with funny stories as always, and we laughed as she called up to the house to her kids and harped at them to quit doing homework and come outside and play in the water.

"okay, I'll come down, but I'm going to type my essay first!" was the reply.

Amazing, right?

Jocelyn countered with, "No! Come now! No homework until you've been in the pool! It's beauutiful outside, you need fun and vitamin D!"

More children need mothers like Jocelyn.
We spent the afternoon swimming in the pool,



Swinging in hammocks,

stuffing our faces with as much "swalty" kettlecorn as possible,

kayaking on the lake, (how about that view for a backyard?! Breathtaking.)

collecting sea shells,

and visiting with a few gals that I feel quite lucky to call my friends.

It was a pretty fantastic Tuesday.

Spontaneous days like this are magical.

I couldn't ask for a more beautiful backdrop for this stage of our lives to play out on.

Thanks, Jocelyn, for sharing your backyard and your wise reminder that life's too short to spend such a lovely Tuesday in the house, thinking about homework and what's for dinner.

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

First of all, a BIG thank you to my sister for hosting a super fun "favorite color swap!" I've had a lot of fun getting to know Mimi. Be sure to check out her blog, she is a riot! My package should be arriving at her place tomorrow. I hope she enjoys her box of Red, Green, and Purple!
And..... Check out the loot she sent me! It made me so happy to open a box FULL of orange!

My swap partner, Mimi, and I think alike because our notes to each other are very similar.

1) Obviously, my favorite thing in the box, because it is almost time to decorate for Halloween. I probably should have spaced everything out better so it would be easier to see what the items are. It's a sign (that she made...big brownie points and a gold star there, I heart homemade gifts.) from a wood shingle with a skull and raven silhouette on it. It says, "Keep Calm and Scary On". So freaking awesome. It's going in my entryway. Possibly year round...

2) a tiny orange notebook

3) an orange pumpkin shaped cookie cutter....I will be baking very soon.

4) Reese's peanut butter cups (don't ask how many are left, I opened the package ONE hour ago and...it's sort of embarassing)

5) Candy Corn!!! It is officially Fall.

6) what the what? Caramel candy corn----where have these been all my life?

7) this is my other fave. Orange oven mit and potholder. I am in a permanant state of shortage when it comes to oven mitts because aaron likes to wear them when he adds logs to the fire. YES. We DO own fireplace gloves. But why not destroy a nice, colorful oven mitt instead? I cannot count on one hand the number of times Aaron has dashed out to the front yard with a flaming mitt on his hand to shove into the snow. These cute orange mitts are my only pair that aren't scortched and they are off limits.

8) A beautiful soft orange scarf. I totally love this and I actually can't believe that I don't already own one. I can't believe Mimi took the time to make it for me! I LOVE it! Thank you, Mimi!

9) a scented candle! It has a citrus ginger scent and it is really really refreshing. Wishing I'd had this around a few months ago when I was nauseous every day. It will definitely be a favorite in the future if I get prego again.

10) yum, the other scented candle just makes me hungry. It is "cinnamon roll" scented. To me, it smells like homemade caramel. It's already burning in my kitchen. That way, at least people THINK I'm baking...

11) and to add to my autumn decor, a wood pumpkin that says, Blessings on it. Time to get the rest of my decorations out, I think!


I am so glad I participated in this swap! It was really fun to shop for Mimi, and we've exchanged a few emails and she makes me laugh a lot. She's a good friend of my sister's and I can totally see why. Thanks, Mimi! You are great! I love my box of orange!









To go to my sister (the lovely swap hostess)'s blog and see what other people got in their favorite color packages all over the country, click here. She'll have a linky party set up there. What a great way to start off the week!

Skeletons in the Closet

I've received a lot of positive feedback via emails and FB messages regarding my organization posts, so I'm going to try to make it a more regular feature. So keep sending tips and ideas and I will post them soon so we can all be inspired!

So, let's talk about doors. My friend, Janeene sent me this photo of the door to her coat closet.
Like me, she also lacks a room for a den or home office. Her solution is an over-the-door pocket style shoe holder for all of her desk/office supply needs. There are larger pockets at the bottom of the holder (not shown in image) for extension cords, USB cables, cameras, etc.

Brilliant?
Jes.

A similar shoe organizer is used at for mixes and sauce packets in Kasey's pantry.

Now, everything can be seen and used before it expires or disappears in the Land of the Lost (aka the back of the pantry)

My friend, Michelle, has one on her bathroom door for health and beauty supplies, so they don't get shoved under a sink cabinet or in a drawer to be lost forever. It houses hairbrushes, clippies, hairspray, detangler, lotion, cotton balls, nail polish remover, baby powder, etc. neatly and right next to where the are needed so it is easy to put them away after each use.
Kasey has a mini pocket organizer (found at TJMaxx, I think?) in her bathroom for jewelry. No lost earrings for this girl! I also like the idea of being able to see all of her accessory options all at once.

happy organizing!

Young Learners: Let's Go To School!

I am blessed to have two preschool classes this year! PreK (Friendly Frogs) on Tuesdays and Early Learners (Busy Bees) on Wednesdays. My Early Learner class is currently full with a waiting list! I couldn't be more thrilled to announce that my preschool is thriving, especially considering that many of the other local preschools are stuggling to keep enrollment up. It seems that when the economy is down, preschool is one of the first things to be cut from a parent's priority list. I am grateful to have a successful program, even in a recession.


Parents, I'm not even going to TRY to paste all of these images in order, so enjoy a smorgasbord of photos today! I took a lot more of the friendly frog class, since my camera died halfway through class on Wednesday, but I managed to snap at least a few of everybody before the batteries quit on me.

I haven't decided yet how I will go about blogging each, since some weeks there will be a big difference between curriculum we do in the separate classes. I can't decide if I want to do separate posts, a combined preschool post, or feature the classes individually and alternate. For now, I'm going to combine into a super post, but in the future, I might do something different. Today, enjoy!

Our first day was about learning school rules, making new friends, and getting to know one another. We shared family photos and talked about our families, homes, pets, and favorite things. We explored the classroom and playground, read our favorite books, checked out the calendar and job chart, and learned a few new songs. It was a great start to a great year! I'm looking forward to learning, laughing, exploring, and discovering with these sweet children every week.

Color: My Favorite Color is...
Shape: Circle
Book: Bring your favorite book, Let’s Share Our Toys By Nancy Parent, The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

Share: Bring the photos for your All About Me Page
I am putting together a book to keep in our class library with a page for each of my students. The children love showing pictures of their families to their friends, and the book serves as a source of comfort in our Peace Corner when a child is feeling homesick.

Dramatic Play: Babies, Cars

Fine Motor: puzzles, train tracks

Sensory: I SPY at preschool: a cubby, a carpet square, a calendar, a flag, a friend, a swingset, a snack table, a hallway

Practical Life: I can share with my friends, I can wait in line

Snack: Circle Crackers and apple slices

Gross Motor/Outside Play: Introduce rules for outdoor play. Explore the backyard!

Art: Circle people

Phonics: Letter H. "H says Huh, H says Huh! Every letter makes a sound. H says Huh!"

We started a list of Hh Words in each class.

Friendly Frogs: Hat, Hair, Hungry, Ham

Busy Bees: Hat, Happy Face, Horse

Math & Science: Number 2 and matching puppet pairs

I have a large collection of finger puppets. The children sorted the pile and matched pairs of lions, frogs, monkeys, santa's, ballerinas, bears, etc

Math Language: a Pair means Two

Music & Movement:

Welcome Song: ____ is here today to play, ____ is here today! Let’s clap our hands and shout, “Horray!” because _____ is here today.

The Handwashing Song

My Favorite Song is...

What is Your Name? song

The He-Man Woman Hater's Club

I replaced the batteries in my camera. Oh boy, prepare for photo overload this weekend.
Is it just me, or does Corbin not look like a "baby" in this picture.
I did not approve that.

Aaron just left to take Corbin to the annual Father and Son Campout. They aren't planning to sleep over, but it was cute to see the car packed with a camping chair for Aaron and a tiny one for Corbin.

I see a family camping trip in the very near future. The girls were in absolute hysterics when the boys left, tonight. They do NOT like being left out and the idea of a "girls night with mom" was so uninteresting to them, they chose misery and went to bed to cry themselves to sleep.
It was a little dramatic.

While I am sad that my daughters do not know yet what an incredibly fun mother they have, I am happy that Baby Guy got a night out alone with his Daddy.

As for the girls...they'll figure it out soon enough ;)

What's Wrong With Miracle Whip.

Notice that this post title is written as a statement, rather than a question.

This one's for Angie and all you other miracle whip lovers out there. (I know who you are!)

Let's get one thing straight. Miracle Whip is gross, and I think I have a pretty fair argument.

Fact: Miracle Whip is NOT mayonaise. At all.

To illustrate this, I have come up with an analogy:

Miracle Whip : Mayo :: Root Beer : Dr. Pepper

1) See? Not the same thing.
2) One is preferred over the other only by people who have once lived in Utah or Idaho.
3) While the two products appear to serve a similar purpose, one is not an acceptible substitute for the other.

Fact: Miracle Whip is living a lie.
Really, the packaging should just say, "Bottled Fraud".
Why? Because Miracle Whip is not mayo, but it pretends to be, and what's worse--- it doesn't even do a good job as a fake!

Yet, there are so many people out there who have accepted this stolen identity, that it continues to get away with it's evil facade. The victims being what-could-have-been delicious, non-soggy sandwiches, fallen to tangy weirdness that can only be described as, "what's wrong with this sandwich? Did the meat spoil? Why is is sour?"


Down with Miracle Whip!
I say, "Bring out the Best Foods and Bring out the Best!"

On Being Heckled

You know that when you saw this picture you quietly did the Nelson Muntz "ha ha" laugh out loud, sitting alone at your computer.

I don't know where my kids picked it up, but I hear this laugh all the time, lately. Corbin knows it will make me laugh, so he answers just about every question with, "Ha Ha" and it's becoming the kid version of "that's what she said" in our house.

If you don't "get" this pop culture refrence, I really can't help you, and for that, I am sorry.

For those who do know the laugh I am talking about, you know how hilarious it is to hear my 2 yr old throw out a faraway, "ha ha" from the other room without skipping a beat as a response when I say things like this to the children:

"Ok, guys, it's naptime" (ha ha!)

"Girls, go pick up in your bedroom." (ha ha!)

"Quincy, go to time out" (ha ha!)

"Corbin, where did you put your shoes?" (ha ha!)

"Did you hit your sister?" (ha ha!)

"Let's go, we're going to be late" (ha ha!)

and

"Corbin, are you poopy?" (ha ha!)