Does this make me look fat?

I hate to shop. Really I do. I'm the antithesis of the every day woman, like my sister, who can spend the day shopping.

I hate trying things on, especially since they often don't fit or look right on me. I'm the kind of gal who takes 20 things into the fitting room and walks out with one or two things. I don't go back out and try again. I'm done and I'm ready to go home.

Shopping for a new outfit for my blog is a lot more fun, because all I need to do is find a look that I like. Everything fits! And nothing shows my bumps and bulges. How cool is that?!

I am doing all I can to bring Spring. I really liked the old look, but it was kind of dark and wintery. Here's a new light, fresh and warmer look...at least I think so. I hope you like it, too!

Packing and Purging

The packing has begun and I'm wondering, do I really have to do this? I am absolutely amazed at how much crap we have. We spent a good part of Sunday going through a dozen boxes that haven't been opened since we moved back to Oregon from Georgia when Princess was one!

You'd think that anything in there we don't need since we haven't seen it in four and a half years, but there are some things we simply can't do without.

I used to scrapbook a lot and I have lots of really cool scrapbook supplies. I am convinced that one day I will scrapbook again (really I am) so I am keeping all this stuff.

There are some other things as well, but I have to admit we are not really pack rats at heart. There is A LOT of stuff, boxes and boxes in fact, that are going to Goodwill. It feels good to purge.

He's Not Perfect

Everyday I wonder how I got so lucky. I have the most amazing husband. He works his ass off to support us (and Needy Evie) and so I can stay home and homeschool Princess. He does so much for us.

He is the handiest guy I know. He can do practically anything. He supports me in whatever I want to do or be. He treats me like a queen.

I read other blogs with complaints about husbands shortcomings and think, well my husband would never do that.

Then every once in a while he reminds me that he isn't perfect. It doesn't happen often and before yesterday I can't remember the last time it happened. But yesterday it did happen and man was I pissed!

It really wasn't anything big. I had texted him in the morning and in response he called me, but he was on Skyline which is a road with spotty cell phone reception. He said he'd call when he got there. Three hours went by. I called but got no answer...again and again.

Finally he called me with great attitude and a threat that he was going to throw his cell phone into the Willamette (River) because it was a pain in the ass. He told me he had work to do and that I was interrupting him. I told him goodbye and that I would talk to him when he got home.

I then reacted in the most mature way possible, vowing to never call him again. I began making a list of all the things throughout the day that I wanted to tell him. The plan was to hand it to him and walk out because one of the things on the list was doing an errand alone. Yes, I was the epitome of the mature adult woman.

Later in the afternoon I texted him again and asked if he wanted to talk. He called me and we talked. He apologized. We're back to normal and I'm thinking...he's pretty perfect.

Vote Earth

Over the last year I have made many changes in the way I live my life. Many of these changes are to help save our Earth. I use homemade natural cleaners, recycle everything, turn the water off while washing dishes, combine errands to save gas, buy sustainably raised food, take reusable shopping bags everywhere and more.

I was stunned at the amount of plastic, especially since I don't use plastic bags. I began recycling all plastic after I learned about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This is not a landfill where garbage (mostly plastic) is being dumped. Plastic blows there and gets caught due to the direction of the winds and seas. This garbage patch is twice the size of Texas!

Since learning of this, I try to make purchases that reduce my plastic waste. The rest of my plastic I save to take to our local plastic recycler. Save your plastic for one month. You will be shocked. It will be a lot harder to just toss that plastic packaging.

All this has been a long way of saying that you can do your part to help by participating in Earth Hour. THIS SATURDAY 28 MARCH (tonight) AT 8.30PM YOU CAN VOTE EARTH BY SWITCHING OFF YOUR LIGHTS FOR ONE HOUR - EARTH HOUR. Click the photo above or here to link to the website for more details.

We're Moving!

Go ahead, try and raise my rent 15% for your piece of crap house. I can fix that! I'll just go get a new and better house.

Here it is!

Since finding the new house we're actually excited about moving. Notice the beautiful energy efficient windows!

Princess is so excited because she will be able to get a bath again! The bathtub where we are now is so gross I won't let her sit in it. Granted, I have a pretty low "ick factor".

Moving day is April 19th. We've got A LOT of work to do.

On another note, the word is spreading about Connor and Tavvi. Good Morning America is considering the story. There is a donation link set up on this blog for anyone who would like to donate to Stephanie for legal or flight expenses. Page down, the link is on the right.

Spring Spell

I call upon the powers of the seasons. Bring Spring, bring Spring, bring Spring!!! To call the energies of Spring, I have had my toes polished Spring Green. I just know this will work. I want to be warm, I want sunshine.


And if this doesn't work, next time I'm getting the Sunshine Yellow polish. So there!

Wardrobe Wednesday

I dug this out from the archives. Check out these Shady Lady shades! Here I am home with a new Princess. Lizard King snapped this one.

Isn't she the cutest baby you've ever seen?!

Let's Take This Nationwide

There isn't much of an update to share, but I wanted to let everyone know a couple things. Stephanie, the children's sister, did have legal custody of the two children. KATU, the local ABC news station has been broadcasting the story. They covered it on Monday and Tuesday.

Oregon DHS is now aware of what happened. You can read that here. I have written letters to Oprah and Ellen. If anyone can take a story national, it's the two of them. I know that others have written to them as well. Perhaps you will feel inspired to do the same.

These children have flourished in Stephanie's care. Who knows what is happening to them now!

If you are on Facebook or anything like it, please post the link to the news piece I have above. If word keeps spreading this could make national news, especially if it hits the right people.

If anyone has any other ideas, I know that Stephanie would welcome them. Maybe a pro bono (sp?) attorney will even step forward.

Family Tree

Princess and I are having way too much fun with the eclectic homeschooling thing. We listened to the introductory chapter (on CD) of Story of the World the Ancients, where we learned what history is and how archaeologists play a part. The first type of history we talked about was Princess' history. We then read a book called "Me and My Family Tree". It is a suggested story in the activity book and we got it from my favorite place...the library! After reading the story Princess wanted to make her own family tree.

She is also in the process of interviewing us for a booklet she is making about the history of our little family.

I hope to prepare an archaeological dig for her some time in the next week or so. Wish me luck!

Legalized Kidnapping

I had to share the link to a situation that is happening here in our town. It is a horrible thing when police come in and forcibly remove children from a loving home. It is legalized kidnapping. How terrifying it must have been for everyone involved. Please follow the link. There is a lot of history to this story, much more than I could post here. I can tell you that I know Stephanie. She is an outstanding mom. She is the kind of mom I strive to be.

This whole fiasco started at the end of last year. At that time we were in the throes of snowstorm after snowstorm. Many of us, myself included, called the news stations trying desperately to get them to report the story. They wouldn't because as far as they were concerned, the only news was the weather.

Time went by and things quieted down (maybe too much) and we became complacent. Then it hit the fan and now the kids are gone. Freckle (of Such Lovely Freckles) took the bull by the horns. She called KATU, our local news station and spoke, quite effectively, to someone there. KATU was at Stephanie's house within a very short time. The news piece airs tonight at 5pm and 6pm local time. Yes, Freckle ROCKS!

We are hoping that the national news picks this up. If anyone out there has any clout, please step forward.

When the decision is made for you

Lizard King and I have been going back and forth about whether to stay in our current rental or move to a new rental. We moved here almost six months ago after signing a 6 month lease. Once we moved in we began to discover the many problems with the house. It's an old house that hasn't been upgraded.

The biggest issue is lack of insulation and old aluminum windows. These two things have led to gas bills over $250 a month. The electric bill is over $90 a month. The reasonable rent made this tolerable for a short time, but we didn't want to go through another winter here.

We were considering staying here through the summer, at which time we were hoping that the stars would align and we would be ready to buy a house. We really don't want to stay, but we don't want to commit to a long term lease and our landlady prefers her tenants go month to month afte the initial six month lease. Perfect, right?

Our landlady wanted to come over this evening and talk with us since our lease is ending April 15th. She told us that she is very happy with us. We take good care of the house and pay our rent on time. She would like us to go month to month, which we expected. However, after looking at the rental market she has decided to raise our rent nearly 15%! Yes, she wants an extra $150 a month!

After going back and forth over whether to stay or move our decision is made for us. There's no way we're paying $150 more for this house.

Mommy's Nose Failed

After watching each episode of Sid the Science Kid, we do the observation in the show and/or the activities presented on the Sid the Science Kid website.Today we watched the "What's That Smell" episode. For the observation, I placed familiar smells into jars. Princess smelled one jar at a time, blindfolded, and then she drew what she thought she smelled. She was right 3 out of 4 times. Pretty great observations!

Then Princess wanted me to do my own observations. I gave her four jars and let her loose in the kitchen. Then it was time for my observations. She put the first jar under my nose, but I couldn't smell anything. She put the second jar under my nose, again I smelled nothing. I smell nothing with the third jar as well. What is wrong with my nose? The fourth jar, finally, I smelled something! Toothpaste! But what was wrong with me? Why I couldn't smell the other jars?

After removing my blind fold, I understood.

Jar #1: play money

Jar #2: salt

Jar #3: water

Jar #4: toothpaste

A Departure

In March of 2007 the Lizard King and I made the decision to homeschool Princess. Having always wanted to be a teacher, I was as excited for me as I was for her. I learned about unschooling and was fascinated by it. It sounded so beautiful and natural. I wasn't sure it would work, but we started on that path and found that it does work and it was wonderful. Princess learned to read and is figuring out math as we live our lives.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I've been feeling so very conflicted. I trust and love the unschooling life and it works well for us. Still, I felt like something was missing.

A few days ago I pulled out some old workbooks that I had purchased in the very beginning. We started with a Strawberry Shortcake telling time workbook. We worked on this until we were half way through the book. When I wanted to stop, I got the same disappointed response that I get at the end of a playdate. "Awwwwww! Can we do more? Pleeeaaaase?"

The next morning at breakfast Princess told me she wanted to work in that book again. I told her that when we got home from ballet in the afternoon we could do it then. Her response was a big whine. She was begging me to work in this book. We ended up being 30 minutes late for a playdate because she wanted to do school work!

How can I deny her this when she loves it so much, simply because I want to live this unschooled life? Isn't part of unschooling following your child's passions?

We have been working on some things over the last few days. For science we have done Sid the Science Kid, watching the shows and then doing the explorations ourselves. We bought a sketch book from the craft store and decorated it to use as a science journal.

I bought some writing paper and Princess started writing and illustrating a well know rhyme.


We read to each other every day. I've ordered a Montessori style math program. I purchased Story of the World Volume I where we can learn history in a story format and do activities related to what we learn. I found a geography book at The Learning Palace.

Princess is having the best time! She absolutely loves it! I'm pretty relaxed about how we do it and when we do it and even if we do it. So what are we now?

I've decided we are eclectic homeschoolers for a couple of reasons. What we're doing is pretty eclectic. We are doing school work with an unschooly attitude. Unschoolers would say that we aren't unschoolers and traditional homeschoolers would call us unschoolers so I think eclectic works well. The other reason? I like the sound of the word. *eclectic* Say it! It's fun!

Wardrobe Wednesday

Have no fear! Darth Vader (over at Such Lovely Freckles Wardrobe Wednesday), either black or red, is no match for this little leprechaun.

Thanks for the playdate!

P.S. Princess is SO excited that today she is 5 1/2!!

Bent

A few weeks ago I told you the tea in the cute-little-pink-laptop story here. I've recovered from this and my laptop incurred only minor damage, the keyboard...about $35 to replace. The only place I found that had the keyboard available was some company overseas. The keyboard finally arrived via air mail yesterday looking like this.

Perhaps a padded envelope was not the vessel in which to ship something so fragile? The company so far has been great. They asked for a photo of the keyboard and says they will send another. Perhaps they'll use a box this time?

Substitutions

When Princess was born, my husband and I began to change the way we speak. It was probably easier for him than for me because my sweet husband has always monitored the way he speaks in front of women, feeling that foul language was disrespectful. Old fashioned, I know and if you saw my husband you wouldn't expect that. His mama did a good job raising him.

It was harder for me because, well, I had a foul mouth. Well, it wasn't as bad as it used to be when I was in my wild child days, but still it wasn't the way we wanted to speak in front of Princess. We made the adjustment, but there were times when it was absolutely necessary to use such words. For those times, we resorted to spelling.

One day a few years back, while having a phone conversation with a friend, she shared some shocking news. My response? Holy C - A - R - P! To which my husband and sister responded in hysterics. They went on to make various fish exclamations like "oh smelt" and "flounder you". Well "carp" stuck. Let's hear a resounding "Holy Carp!

The Purim Party

Today we attended our first ever Purim party. It was at the same place we go to Sunday School. Who knew there were so many humanist/atheist Jews?!

We started with crafts - painting masks and coloring pictures.


Bowling was a big hit with the kids. They used the basketball....

...to knock down Haman pins. (Haman was the evil guy who wanted to kill all the Jews....well, one of them.) So the kids knocked him down.

A guy named Jon read the story of Purim. Each child had a sign to hold up. The signs had words we (the audience) were supposed to say when different names were read in the story. Chloe had Vashti and we were supposed to say "oo oo". If ya wanna know why, you'll have to read the story. Or, you can read this poem I just found.

We had a fun time, but the best part for Princess was getting to dress up like the princess she is...and she's still dressed that way (even for the movies this afternoon). Notice the pink?

I'm Speechless...

By now, you all know that rarely happens. This is my third award in a week! I am stunned. I started this little blog in August of last year. I posted only 15 times that year, and nobody knew I existed. NOBODY. Why, you ask? You see, I'm really quite shy and was rather afraid to let anyone know that I even had a blog. Then one day I summoned all my nerve and sent an email to my dearest friends (it's true, I hadn't even told them), Freckle and HerbiFaery. Then I posted a link on Facebook. Then Freckle shared my existence on her blog. Here we are less than a year later and I'm accepting my third award in a week. I guess somebody knows I exist.

Thank you, Fiona at Bantering Blonde for acknowledging me! I do exist!

This award is for showing a great attitude or gratitude.

The rules of the award are as follows:
1) Put the logo on your blog or post.

2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.

3) Link to your nominees within your post.

4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5) Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.

I know I've passed awards to some of you before, but an award for attitude or gratitude certainly must be passed to you as well.

Such Lovely Freckles

A Reservation For Six

Momma Bear

Ancora Imparo

Ex Vita Scientia

Feet Off the Table

mommyfesto

Heathen Family Revival

My Life as a Trailer Park Mom

RasJane

I am not completing rule #4 so I hope you're reading this post. Hey, I gotta break some rules.

Spring Forward

I usually handle the time change so well. I love the longer days of Spring and Summer. I love knowing that warmer weather is on the horizon. I usually adjust quickly to the change. This year it kicked my ass!

Sunday wasn't so bad, but I set my alarm because I had to work that day. Monday, Princess and I slept until 9:30! We never sleep that late. The whole week has been a struggle and I wanted to get back to waking early and having some quiet time before Princess wakes up.

The shift used to be so easy...I must be getting old. After all, I'm falling in love with socks and I just turned in the neck breaking progressive lenses for a pair of trusty bifocals, lines and all. I'm gonna be looking pretty snazzy at park days this summer with my lined bifocal sunglasses. Hey, maybe they'll be all the rage. Lined bifocals, the new black (or would that be pink). I think I'm ready for my cane.

Unschooling Reading

How do you unschool reading? With unschooling, the theory is, you just live life and things happen. I admit that I had wasn't certain this could work with reading. We bought Fridge Phonics years ago, which Princess really liked. We later got Word Whammer. This she played with a little, but wasn't all that into it.

What she really loved and still does, are the Leap Frog movies: The Letter Factory, The Talking Words Factory, The Talking Words Factory 2 - Code Word Caper and The Storybook Factory. In fact she hard a very hard time parting with them when Freckle's son was going to borrow them. These movies she watches over and over and over again.

I have the Hooked on Phonics learn to read program, but we aren't about sitting down to a reading lesson. I just put the books in a basket and left them out for Princess to read whenever she chose. It seemed like things were going well, but slowly.

I bought Dora the Explorer Phonics: 12 Book Reading Program because she knows the characters. I thought these books would be more interesting. I'm not sure why it's called a phonics program, because it's not just phonics. It's simply a basic early reader.

When the books arrived we decided to start a reading time in the evening. The idea was that I would read to her, then I would help her with the Dora books...or so I thought. We snuggled together and I read for a bit. Princess was excited to have her turn. She opened the first book and BOOM, Princess was reading! She does need help with some words, but for the most part, she is really reading. How did that happen?! I know it may not be for everyone, but for us...unschooling rocks!

Socks!

Welcome to Wardrobe Wednesday!

It's winter time (still...grrr) and winter time is sock time. Here you see my pile of socks. Boooorrrrriiiing! I always buy the big ol' packs of socks. I wear them because I hate wearing shoes without socks and because it's cold. They aren't overly comfortable and they certainly aren't very pretty.


Monday, I went to Target to look for some St. Patty's Day wear for Princess and me. I found these socks.

I never knew what I was missing! Not only are they way cuter than my ever so boring black/white socks, they are so soft and comfy. Who knew there was such a difference in socks?! I think I may have found my new addiction. Yes, in this mom's life, it's the little things... (Excuse the pink fluffy slipper to the right. I have no idea where that came from. It certainly couldn't be mine.)

Happy Purim!

Well, it's one day late. Can you believe I forgot to post about it yesterday?! What was I thinking? I feel like I've let you down so much. Oh, what you must think of me! I am so very sorry. I just don't know how it happened! Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me? Please?

What? You don't know what Purim is? Oh...silly me! Well, Purim (pronounced Poorim) is a Jewish holiday. The story of Purim is told in the book of Esther. We don't follow the religious part of it all, but we love the traditions! The holiday was yesterday, but we're celebrating it all over the place.

We baked Hamantashen on Saturday with my sister. Hamantashen are sort of like little tarts and they're so good. Yes, the gluten avoidance goes out the window when Hamantashen are around. Yummo!

On Sunday the Humanist synagogue is having a Purim party. It's our first Purim party and we're very excited. We don't really know what to expect. One of the the fun things about this holiday is that it is tradition to dress up. I will have to see if I can find something to wear. I'm certain that Princess will find something in her costume trunk. If I get photos at the party I'll be sure to post them here next week.

Well, Happy Purim everyone!!!

I'm Smokin'

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Who? Me?

My first blog award ever! Thank you so much Freckle of Such Lovely Freckles! How cool is this?! Freckle had the sweetest things to say about me, too. Something about my head being the size of a basketball? Oh wait...I think she said my heart.

Well, there are rules to this award stuff, so let's get down to it.

The rule for accepting the Kreativ Blogger Award is to list 7 things I love, then pass the award along to 7 blogs that I love.

7 things I love:
1. I love pink. I didn't realize it until Princess started loving pink. I really do love it! I have a pink phone and a pink laptop and a pink blog. It really is all about the pink!

2. I love hanging out in the nursery at Village Home. I love sitting in the little chairs, around the little table with my dearest friends, HerbiFaery & Freckle and the rest of the gang. We talk, laugh, knit and have a great time connecting while the kiddos play. I love this community!

3. I love this moment. Where I am right now is what it's all about. I am in bed with my husband to my left and my daughter to my right. I lay here each night typing, reading or watching TV and listen to the sound of them breathe. This is one of my most favorite times. It gives me the opportunity to acknowledge and be grateful that I have such an amazing husband and such a wonderful daughter in my life.

4. I love to drive. Sometimes I miss my 5-speed, little red sports car. But even in my minivan I love to drive. My favorite time is in the summer. Alone. With the music LOUD. Nothing newer than 1999, if you please.

5. I love Oregon. I grew up in Pennsylvania and lived there most of my life. I moved here when I was 30, after falling in love during a weekend visit. I fell head over heels in love with Portland. I knew I had to live here. It is one of the best decisions I have ever made. This place has changed my life. This is the most beautiful place on earth with the most amazing people. I want to live here always.

6. I love sounds. I don't know if I can describe this well, but I love listening to different sounds. Yes, birds chirping and the sounds of nature are wonderful, but I'm talking about something different. The sound of walking down a gravel path. The sound of someone typing. The sound of paper being crumpled up. Sound is one of my most favorite parts of a movie.

7. I love knitting. It doesn't matter what I am knitting or how long the project takes. It doesn't matter if I knit twenty rows and have to rip the whole thing out and start over. It is definitely the journey.

7 blogs I love, that you should totally check out because they are definitely worth the read:

Momma Bear
Heathen Family Revival
November Fifth
Snavley Free Birds
The New Unschooler
Ex Vita Scientia
Unschoolers Anonymous

Well ladies, you're up! What are 7 things you love and 7 blogs you love to read?

If You've Got the Time

Of course, if you are a stay at home mom you know you've got lots of time, if you can just put down those bon-bons. Gentleman, you may want to leave now. We're going to have one of those conversations. I bring to you my consumer report on the Smooth Away. I would like to thank Rachel from A Reservation For Six for presenting me with this amazing opportunity!

For those of you who thought you could use a fine grit sand paper, I'm sorry to tell you that I don't think they make sandpaper this smooth. Sorry!

The good news! The product works...it probably works better for those of you with normal hair on your legs. Maybe one of you out there can do a consumer product review for the normal leg hair people.

For people like me with coarse leg hair, I am here to say that this product works! Hurrah! BUT! (Here comes the bad news.) Be prepared to spend a lohohohohohong time doing this. It took me about 10 minutes to "smooth away" the hair on my calf alone. (AND, I've got to shave my whole leg. sigh) It left my leg silky smooth, too! Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time. Bon-bons prevail! I will probably use this on occasion, but it won't be used in my regular routine.

As Princess watched me perform this task she had lots of advice for me. Apparently, I was doing it wrong. "The girl on TV goes slow, Mommy. Like this." She proceeded to show me the proper way to Smooth Away. Perhaps that was my problem...I needed to go slower. Or! Maybe the sandpaper will work better!

Before the day ends

I wanted to post and let everyone know that my cute-little-pink-laptop survived! Yay! The keyboard is shot, but that's a mere $50 max replacement part. I am working on my old, clunky and verrry ssslllllooooowwwww computer.

I am so behind on my blog reading! I miss you all so much! I am doing my best to catch up, but this is the best I can do for a post. I hope you all are well and had a beautiful Friday! I promise to have something good tomorrow...maybe even a consumer report after I use my consolation prize.

Glass Half Full

This has been a great week and today was another great day. I've been busy, but it's been a good kind of busy. This afternoon, after another busy morning, we were in the nursery at Village Home as we often are. Kids were playing and moms were talking (some were knitting) as we often do.

I am fairly new to knitting and the Knitting Goddess offered to help me with a sweater that I started for Princess last summer. I moved next to her, leaving all my stuff at my original place at the table. I always shlep the same things each day - my basket of all our daily needs, my cute little pink laptop, my knitting and my tea.

I left everything but my knitting in my original spot. The Knitting Goddess got me on my way, but I stayed by her. At some point HerbiFaery's youngest needed to get by my vacant spot and pushed the chair in which pulled the power cord and then my tea which fell over onto my laptop and started pouring into my keyboard.

Everyone moved fast. We pulled the power cord. Popped the battery. Turned it over to shake out and attempt to dry any liquid. Then I started beating myself up. I heard all the old crap I grew up with playing in my head. I was not in a good place.

Freckly and HerbiFaery came to me. They said all the right things and it helped so much. I am so grateful to have them in my life. They helped to quiet the voices in my head that were calling me names and telling me all the things that are wrong with me. They helped me to stop listening. Yes, I am very lucky to have such amazing friends.

I called Lizard King from the car. He said all the right things and it helped me so much. He told me that the laptop is just an object and objects can be replaced. He told me if we had to we would get a new laptop at Best Buy and buy the warranty that covers everything, including spilled tea. He told me that there are only two things in the world that he can't replace and that's all that matters. Yes, I am very lucky to have such an amazing husband.

My laptop is sitting in my dehydrator and I know that it will be fine. It will all be fine because I am focusing on the good things. Thank you HerbiFaery, Freckle and Lizard King. My glass isn't just half full, you fill me up and I am grateful for each one of you.

It's Wardrobe Wednesday!

I bet you thought I forgot...didn't you? It's been a busy week! But, I'm here now. =)

This week I have for you a photo of Princess in the only outfit she owns without any pink. Shocking, isn't it?! I find it difficult to believe it myself.

Here we have a photo of Princess decked out in all her pink glory. Pink glasses, pink shirt, pink pants and you can't see it, but she's holding a pink necklace and wearing pink crocs. Have I mentioned, it's all about the pink!

Enlighten Me

If you will...

I have noticed a few times over the last couple of weeks people typing meh in their comments on other blogs and on Facebook. What the heck does that stand for? Freckle and I searched, but the only thing we came up with was meh = tch. Huh? Okay, what the heck is tch?

I'm really tired and just don't want to research it any more and, after all, I have all you lovely people out there. I know one of you knows what this is, right?

I got to sleep entirely too late and woke up at 4:30 this morning. Eventually, I did fall back to sleep, but had to wake up and get out of bed and dressed because the electrician was finally coming to give us power in the bedrooms. I thought he might appreciate it if we got out of bed while he worked??? He was a pretty nice guy...maybe we could have stayed in bed. Hmmmm.....

Colorful Conversation

Princess: Mommy, when I came out of your tummy, did you know my favorite color was pink?

Me: No sweetie, I didn't know that.

Princess: Well, pink wasn't actually my favorite color when I was a baby.

Me: Oh?

Princess: No. My favorite color was aquamarine when I was a baby. Now that I'm big, pink is my favorite color.

Me: (stifled giggle) When did pink become your favorite color?

Princess: Um...when I was three.

Me: What made you change your mind?

Princess: Well, the aquamarine turned into pink.

Me: So the color changed or you changed your mind?

Princess: No, the aquamarine disappeared and the pink came.

Me: Oh, I see...

I'm certainly glad we're clear on that. After all, we know how important the pink is. Yes, it is all about the pink!

The Rewards of Competition - HOTB Style

I wish you could have seen the look of excitement on my face when this package arrived in the mail from Rachel at A Reservation For Six. Rachel is our beautiful sponsor for the Hair of the Blog Contest. Although I was not the winner, Rachel was kind enough to send a consolation prize...and what a consolation prize it is. This is the perfect gift for the woman who needs a shave. Rachel, how did you ever know?!

Momma Bear was the winner, but we have yet to find out what her Grand Prize was. Kelly at Heathen Family Revival came in second and shared her prize with us. Aliceson at Feet Off the Table received her consolation prize as well. Melanie at What's Happening Mallons? competed, but we're all waiting to see what her consolation prize was.

So, Momma Bear & Melanie... tap, tap, tap ...we're waiting. Patiently... tap, tap, tap ...really, there's no rush... tap, tap, tap ....any time now... tap, tap, tap. OH, COME ON ALREADY! Oops sorry... I really can be patient. tap, tap, tap

Ooh...did you want to see what was inside my package?

My amazing, one of a kind, original, unique and oh so special consolation prize.

Are you ready?

It's really exciting...

I bet you can't wait to see it.

It's really cool!

You've never seen anything like it.

Well, maybe you have.

I guess maybe it's not so one of a kind.

And maybe it's not so cool.

It is pretty special...

Well, maybe not.



It's just perfect for me.

And it's MINE all MINE!

Well, without further ado...

Here it is!

Thanks Rachel!!! How did you ever know?!