tuesday

hello tuesday.
getting ready to head out and take the kiddos on a bike ride to the duck pond.
and now I have that preschool song stuck in my head
about 5 little ducks.

Got my groceries, having chicken one night, red peppers, corn and glorious ginormous peaches were on sale. I had an avocado and tomato sandwich for lunch. And then Middle and Baloney begged for one too. They loved it, and I'm not surprised because those two will eat fruits and veggies for days.

Did a new work out routine. Had some torture stretches that they call yoga. I flopped over on my face and yelled "pass." I think Jillian yelled back and said "fail!" but I can't be certain. I have been running with the Husband in the afternoons. I'm pretty sure running is for when you are being chased....by a clown... who has a giant fish that he wants you to taste. It.is.not.my.style.

I have to do my Teen Mom recap, failed at last weeks.

oh and the homemade granola came out yumtastic. 

Mad Hatter Birthday on a dollar store budget

 My Middle turned the big ten. Double Digits. I am a birthday lover. You betta believe that when someone wakes up on their birthday in the house, it becomes magical. I usually decorate the dining room the night before with whatever their favorite theme is. They get to pick their favorite dinner, and everything that I find special about them, is incorporated in their day. Giving is totally one of my love languages, so I LOVVEEEE to make a huge day of special for the birthday person.

Middle is kind of quirky, and awesomely sweet. Plus one of her nick names is Mad Hatter. What- my kids have nicknames for days. Middle is just in a list of a bajillion names that I call her. In fact, up until this party, Baloney always thought we were calling her the Mad Hattren. When I asked Middle about having a Mad Hatter birthday, she flipped the wonderland out, and was so incredibly excited about the idea. But she didn't want a tea party. Um which is kind of the point, but I went with it. That's what makes the Middle so unique, she puts her own twist on what the should be's and makes them the could be's.

I didn't have tons of money to throw at this, seeing how I have a gaggle of kids, 2 who have birthdays a few days from each other. I hit up the dollar store...and was amazed at how easy this was going to be. To me, the Mad Hatter is vibrant, crazy, funky, whimsical, with a little bit of fancy. Flowers, cards, black and white. I chose yellow, pink, teal, green and bits of purple and then just ran with it.




I made these  ruffled streamers I found on pinterest. More importantly from this tutorial. She is a genius. I whipped these up in about 5 minutes and it was magic, watching them ruffle before my very eyes. My new favorite streamer decoration.

 This is Middle's banner. I took funky pink zebra wrapping paper, slapped that to the wall, printed out my letters in a Beyond Wonderland font. Took some Joann's cardstock that was 40% off so about 30cents a paper, and then glittered around the outside of the paper to the cardstock for that wonderland glamour feel.

And banner up close.

I used harlequin patterned fabric I got at Joann's. It was $4.99, and I had a 50% coupon. I got a yard, then cut it in half and then half again and used it as a runner on the tables. This table had a dollar store yellow tablecloth underneath. I used various tea pots/cups stacked in the background  along the table. The food was a little tough. Because unless you are feeding a bunch of kids, no one wants to come over for mini sandwiches. So sticking with the mini theme, we had mini tacos. With chips, salsa, black beans and rice, deviled eggs, and fruit kabobs. To play on the theme, we printed out "Eat Me" tags and tied them onto the fruit sticks.

So I mentioned Middle didn't care for tea cups. I found small sparkling apple cider bottles for .79c, and Middle LOVES those. And they seemed just perfect for being a special, wonderland style drink. I just wrapped a strip of card stock around the bottle covering the label, and added a "Drink Me" tag with colorful ribbon.

The table inside had a flower table cloth, with the harlequin runner. Joann's had these hideous tulips on sale for 70% off, so for a few bunches it was about $3. I'm glad nobody bough these things so I could. We took empty cans, tied a big pink bow around them, and placed the flowers in it. Then I took pipe cleaners, also found at the dollar store (seriously, I had no clue they had bright fun colored pipe cleaners, I was giddy at the find.) I wrapped them around a pencil and made curly whirly sprigs and put them in the cans as well, to add to the whimsical feel.

Middle and her cake. It was a semi topsy turvy cake, I kind of read the instructions wrong for the first layer, but whatcha gonna do. Middle was delighted, and we  used the sparkler candles, so when it was lit up, it looked crazy magical.

A bigger picture of the setting indoors.

Okay so here is some more little details.
(1) I took a 2 pack of playing cards (99c for 2!) and hot glued them to fishing wire and used it as a hanging backdrop behind the food table.

(2) The streamers hung up with dragonfly lights wrapped around the canopy, and I also hung pink and blue pinwheels from the inside.
(3) The tags for the food.
(4) I also made yellow and green ruffle streamers
(5) Found a flower serving tray and took the utensils and placed a dollop of sparkle glue on the ends, just to fancy them up.
(6) My funky assortment of plates and super cute green napkins complete with utensils on it.

Outdoors fella

This boy loves anything outdoors.
Sidewalk chalk all day with a side of bubbles.
If there is a skateboard left out, he stands on it.
Has to have a ball.
"balll balll balll ballll!"
Wagon rides.
Push car rides.
Playing in the playhouse.
playing in the pool.
The beach? Forget about it.
Runs full force into the water,
will sit with a bucket of sand and a shovel,
and just play.

Personal Responsibility

I ran across this quote
and I paused, and pointed
my finger and said " This, this
right here is one thing that in this
world of entitled, excuse making kids,
is what I want my kids to learn."

WTF Wednesday

Yeah buddy!
WTF Wednesday is back.
Like Montezuma's revenge.

A few weeks ago, the neighbors down the street were having work done in their yard.
whateva.
I had been in and out all day, playing with kids in the front yard, errands whatever.
I'm standing in my yard, enjoying my birds of paradise or weeds of last years whatever,
when I hear shouting.
I look over and see an older man, around 55-60, shouting, dropping the F word like it is hot.....with an australian accent. He is shouting at an Eastern Indian man, who claims "F~ You, F~ This, I am effing doing ten times the work of you, you F~!" also in an australian accent.

I, of course, am just slightly WTF....

I just realized that the air has just been massacred by F bombs, Crocidile Dundee style, and while I have been known to let a little F~ word slip out here and there,- more often like here, but who's counting- this poetic fury of F~ words was insane. Like an F5 tornado. Tons of yelling and cussing. I of course, crouch like a ninja with a maxi dress on, and like all ninja's do, peer over the patio fence between the palm tree, so I can watch this thunder  train wreck from down under take place. All of a scary ass sudden, I see bodies scuffling and shoving and I hear a huge BANG of metal clanging. And then a young black male who might be like 16, comes running out into the street, yelling....you guessed it- in an AUSTRALIAN accent.

Now I am super WTF......

The old man with a huge Santa Claus beard with a hair style made famous by Shaggy on Scooby Doo, is now running, into the street, chasing the dumpster that he had punched. I have my hand on phone, not to call 911, but to enter myself into the witness protection program, because I have seen one too many Law and Orders and I know what happens to nosy housewives that witness dumpster diving. Just as I am changing my name to Gertie Grazniowkc, and changing my address to Iceland- just so I can make sure I get my trashy mags forwarded- I see a little boy standing on the street corner, staring.

The boy looks at the old man Shaggy who is trying to hold the dumpster from rolling, the Indian man who is still cussing and holding a shovel trying to put it under the wheels, and the young man who is now sitting in the bed of the truck watching. They are yelling and then I hear a little voice say "Hi."

Silence falls, Shags moves his sweaty nasty hair out of his foul mouthed face and says...."Uh hi fella."

Looking like true jackholes, not one of them utters a single word, and they spend the next hour trying to move the dumpster back into the driveway.

I have no idea where you hire such an oddball labor company, and I don't know if they do good work, but if I ever wanted to say an effective "F~ you" with an Australian accent, I'm sure I could.

Eatin

We have been eating a little more "clean". I really agree and like the thought of eating less junk/processed/convenient food, and more simple handmade food. Nothing tastes better than homemade spaghetti sauce or homemade tortillas. Because we have access to all kinds of fruit/veggies at amazingly cheap prices, I find myself more and more drawn to food in it's natural state, and prepared at home. I have been teaching my girls to cook more. (and no not because they are girls, since my boy will be taught to cook as soon as he isn't running around trying to throw everything in the trash and climb on tables.)

Today we bought stuff for homemade granola, and making pickles. My pickle lovers are excited about making them, even though Baloney, who has been about a thousand times what pickles are made out of, she tells me in the store, "we will put it together, and create a pickle and take the seeds and then it will grow into a pickle tree!" Sure thing boss, we'll get right on that pickle tree business.
There is something incredibly domestic and satisfying in standing in my kitchen, playing some Ella Fitzgerald, wearing my blue and red flirty apron, while my kids help or play outside, making homemade bread or beef stew or steak salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette. It takes me to the 1940's or wherever. Simple, simple simple.

Fourth of July recap

This year for the Fourth of July, we ate. And ate well. The weather didn't cooperate, it was a gray, chilly day, which was completely not like barbeque weather, but whatcha gonna do. We had burgers n dogs, watermelon stars, fruit salad, deviled eggs, potato salad, baked beans, cupcakes, cowboy caviar, and cherry limemade.

Cowboy Caviar is super yummy, we eat it with tortilla chips. I loosely followed this recipe from My Recipes.com. I didn't add the hot sauce but added chopped jalapenos instead. Rebellious, but good.

Cherry Limeade is my kiddos favorite special occasion drink. I followed The Pioneer Woman's recipe out of her cookbook- my secret obsession is cookbooks. As in I have tons, and I like to read them.... the more down home, fruit from the farm lovin, the better. It appeals to my inner Laura Ingalls.
I mixed the Cherry Limeade up in my cool Mason jar drink dispenser, and ok to be honest, I doubled the recipe, we like it thattttttt much. I always serve it over a glass of crushed ice, more refreshing that way.

Cherry Limeade

Ingredients

• 2-liter bottle lemon-lime soda
• 1 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 cup sugar
• One 10-ounce jar maraschino cherries, with juice
• Thin lime slices

Chill all ingredients before mixing.

When cold, combine the lemon-lime soda, lime juice, sugar, cherries with their juice and lime slices in a large pitcher and stir. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Serve with a ladle, getting cherries and limes in each serving.




Oh, and the middle picture above was this year's 4th of July cards. Super easy but those little twigs cost me two stamps to mail....and of course the little guy was my patriotic boy, complete with bow tie, cuz he is totally dapper like that.