The Truth About Glitter

Do your kids have their own words for common things?
Do you avoid the temptation to correct these little errors simply because you think it's really cute when they say the wrong word, only they don't know they're saying the wrong word?
Mine do it all the time.
Today we were sitting at a stop light and we saw some soda cans and old garbage in the gutter.
Beano shook his head and said,
"Ooo, somebody glittered!"
I held back the belly laugh that was fighting to come out.

I just did not have the heart to correct him.

Sometimes I think if I correct all those words that more of their babyness will be gone forever.

Then from way back in the 3rd row comes Doodle, ready to add to the conversation,

"When people glitter it destroys animal's habitats!"

At that I lost it.

It was just too much for me.

I know, I know, I really should tell them the truth about glitter.

Happy Mardi Gras

photo by Newlyweds!

I almost forgot today is Mardi Gras!

How could I forget?

Doesn't this king cake look absolutely to die for? I have never tired it, but I think tonight just might be the night.

I love the Mardi Gras beads, heaven knows we have plenty of those hanging around our house.

Photo by realbakingwithrose

And french onion soup is my favorite.

Do you think I'd have mutiny in my kitchen if I tried making this tasty dish for a bunch of kids who hate onions?

You know what? I am going to try it in the name of Mardi Gras. If they don't like it, they can celebrate skinny Tuesday instead!

Now go check out those recipes and start cooking!

Spring Fever

I was looking at random photos and found this one from last spring.

I have Spring fever in a bad way.

This makes me wish for green.

I can't wait for the tiny leaf buds to appear on our trees,

or the snow to melt and give way to florescent green baby grass.

I can't wait for our bulbs to push up through the no longer frozen ground,

or for my baby apple trees to get their first set of apple blossoms ever.

I can't wait to dig in our rich soil and plant lots of tiny vegetable seeds and watch them emerge into tiny plants that will feed our family.

I can't wait to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin and just bask in the sun light.

I can't wait for horse rides and picnics.

I can't wait for park days and riding bikes and spring time hikes at the Nature Center.

I feel like we are on the thresh hold.

It could all happen at any moment.

I know, I know, we still have at least another month.

*Sigh*

Taste the Rainbow

These little candy hearts are my favorite candy.

Except maybe chocolate.

I am sad they are gone until next year.

Except I'm really glad because I have no self control when these are around.

I think I ate 3 entire bags myself.

*eewww*

I still have a tummy ache.

Someday soon I will give up sugar for good, no looking back, like my friend Lara has done.

Someday soon, but not today.

I think of myself as a strong woman in many aspects, but I just don't know if I'm strong enough for that.

Almost, but not quite

I Spy With My Little Eye, A Bargain!

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love a bargain.

I am a pinny pincher to the max.

I get 5 Sunday papers so I can have 5 sets of coupons.

Our local news paper has a coupon special which includes 5 Sunday papers each week for $18.50/month. That works out to less than $1/paper.

When certain items go on sale and there is a coupon to match I get the deal 5 times instead of just once.

In an average month I spend around $400 on groceries for the 6 of us.

That includes diapers, shampoo, soap, deodorant, cleaning supplies, tooth paste, ect.

When stores have their end of season sales I stock up on clothes and shoes for the next year for the kids and me. I usually buy the size bigger than they are.

I store them in bins in the barn until the next year.

You can imagine my thrill today as I went shopping and found killer deals every where I went.

I have found a discount grocery store that is just killer.

Today I picked up bananas for 10/$1.00.

I bought 53 of them.

They freeze really well and make wonderful smoothies.

I also got red, yellow and green bell peppers 4/$1.00

(the red and yellow ones sell for around $2 each in the grocery store).

These also freeze well and are great for stir fry or fajitas at a moments notice.

They had yummy salad kits for 69 cents,

Fresh pre-washed spinach for 69 cents per bag.

Plus they take coupons so I got my yogurt there for free after the coupons.

They had 4 packs of Yoplait Yo Plus for 99c. After the dollar off coupon they are free.

They also had Juicy Juice 100% juice for 99 cents, again free after the dollar off coupon.

I have started stopping at this store before I do my regular shopping in case they have better deals there.

It is kind of hit and miss.

Some weeks I score and get tons of deals, other weeks there is not much there to get excited about.

My local grocery store had my favorite mascara and eye liner buy one get one free. After I used coupons on top of that I paid about $1.00 per item. They would have cost around $7.00 each typically. They also had diapers on sale for $6.99 with peelie coupons on the pack for $3 off. I bought 2 packs for $3.99 per pack.

Not too shabby.

So here is the kicker.

I heard one of my favorite clothing stores, Down East Outfitters, was having a sale where they were taking an additional 50% off all clearance items.

I hit the jack pot.

I ended up getting 4 shirts, 1 sweater and a pair of pants for me.

Guess how much it cost.

Go ahead, guess.

Wrong!

Less!

Try again, lower still!

$19.85

Can you believe that!

The receipt said I saved over $205

And they are all really cute, too!

Cha Ching!!!

All said and done I spent less than $100 today and got a weeks' worth of groceries, clothes, diapers, a new muffin pan, 2 mascaras, 2 eye liners and a box of 1/2 off Valentine's chocolates so Mr Bird would not feel so bad about not getting me any.

What would Valentine's day be without chocolate, I ask you!

The best part is, the pants were size 2 and they fit me!

I usually wear a size 4, but they did not have them in a size 4. I decided to take a chance and try them on and low and behold, they fit!

I can't decide if I was more excited about the size 2 or the price tag of $2.85 for perfectly cute

chocolate brown corduroy pants.

To see what others are chatting about this frozen solid Tuesday visit The Lazy Organizer

Valentine's On Parade

I was informed today by my cute Sister-in-law that is really more like my real sister that I need to blog about my Valentine's Decor. The kids and I (OK, mostly me) have had a really fun time creating our Valentine's decorations this year. Here is a little of what we (I) created.

This old window came from my friend Calene.

I had a hard time taking a decent photo of it, the flash glared and without a flash it was the most blurry picture, even at broad day light.

I was at Calene's house one day and saw one like it in her bathroom. I asked her where she got it and she, being the sweet heart that she is, sent me home with a spare one she had in her garage.

I put different scrapbook papers in each window pane to make a cute wall hanging then hung the hooks on the front.

Actually, Mr Bird put the hooks on and hung it for me, he's handy like that.

I can change out paper for each holiday if I want, or I my just leave it how it is, since it matches my red kitchen.

Here are the deep red Valentine's Lovers Candles with a sweet pure white flower filled heart adorning our dining room table.

And you know me, I just have to have something hanging from the ceiling. The streamers are left over from our inaugural ball, I just took down the blue ones.
Then we made wax paper hearts.
You just get a long piece of waxed paper, put crayon shavings on one half, then fold the other half over the shavings.
Iron the waxed paper between two towels until the crayons melt and the wax paper seals shut.
Then trace hearts shapes (I used different sized cookie cutters) onto the wax paper and cut.
These look really cool in person, the colors are all mixed and they are really pretty when the sun shines on them.




This is one of my favorites. Anyone that comes to our house gets to pick a treat from our Sweet Heart Shoppe. You can choose from conversation hearts, red hots, a candy bracelet or a real beaded bracelet that Doodle and I made.
So come on over and have a treat, we would love any visitors we can get!



This one is super easy. I filled one of our large drinking glasses (you could use a vase of any shape) with red hots, tied a ribbon around it and put flowers in the top. It looked a lot better when I first made it, Mr Bird keeps taking the flowers out and eating the candy!
Now the roses have all come apart and are not as tight as they used to be.
I painted LOVE on the cup with craft paint and letter stamps I already have.
The great thing is that the paint will just scrape off the glass when I am done with it.

Same concept for this one, only prettier and pinker.
Conversation hearts are my favorite. I have to keep buying new bags of them to replace the ones the kids and I eat. This is my last bag, I promise.
Good thing Valentine's Day is in 3 days!
Now I just need to decide which fun Valentine's Day Goodies to make.
I'm sure you'll hear all about them when I am done!
Happy Valentine's Day
Now, go kiss your lover!

The Perfect Mess

In this corner we have

The Three Year Old

eating and spilling chocolate milk mix.

(Look at that face? How can anyone get mad at that face?)

In this corner we have

The One Year Old

playing in a sipie cup full of spilt milk.

I don't know how he figured out how to get the lid off, but he did.

What can I say, he's a genius.

That little heathen was having way more fun sitting and splashing in the milk than we was drinking it.

Now for the ironic part. These two incidents happened within 2 minutes of each other.

Chocolate milk anyone?

Oh, and I forgot to mention that Mr Bird was only about 6 feet away from them.

I will not tell you where I was...
To see what everyone else is chatting about this ice blue Tuesday

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