October, I'm Really Starting To Hate you.

What is with October this year? I feel like it has been jam packed with things to do, and I never have enough time to do them. Not to mention all the time I've had to take off from work this month. It's ridiculous. I feel so bad for having to take time off, but there is nothing else that I can do. Does anyone else feel bad for taking time off or am I just crazy? Yea, probably the latter one.

This past week Bug turned TWO! I can't believe it and still don't want to. How can my little peanut be TWO already? Good thing she's cute or else I might have had traded her in for a newer model. Speaking of a newer model...Month one of "Operation Impregnate" (OI) was a fail. Here's to hoping that through all the craziness of October OI is a success.

I digress...

Back to the busy week. First of all Monday started with me having to redo an assignment for grad school because I didn't state the necessary information in the more obvious manner. Excuse me for sounding snotty for a minute; as an professor of education you would think it would have already been obvious which parts of the assignment were differentiated. I guess it wasn't, so I whipped up a new section and copy and pasted the information from above to the lower section. VIOLA! Then I resubmitted it and got an.....A!

Tuesday was the down day. No interesting reports here.

Wednesday was Bug's real birthday and I would normally take the day off and spend it with her doing something fun and exciting, but I couldn't do that this year. It just so happened that the school's family night was scheduled on Bug's birthday from 6-8 and I HAD to be there. AWESOME! After being thoroughly angered by this hiccup we decided that we would simply celebrate her birthday on Thursday as a family. I still wasn't happy about the decision because I felt like a scammer. The good part was that Bug's Poppy and Gramma came over to celebrate with her. She got some very snazzy princess boots for winter, an outfit, and a baby doll almost as big as her. I love these pictures of her loving her baby up. Isn't she so sweet?

Despite the dreading, family night went well and much faster than I thought it would. I raced home to hopefully put Bug to bed. Luckily she was just getting ready for bed, but unfortunately as soon as I arrived she tapped  into her reserves and ended up staying up much past her bedtime.

Onto Thursday... It was Thursday and I still didn't have anything farmish for the kids' favors for the party. Then AMAZON saved my life. I love that I get one year of free prime membership for being a college student. I guess going to graduate school really does pay off. So I found some really cute farm things and ordered them. I only could order the items that shipped with prime and said "Order in the next TWO hours for delivery by FRIDAY, October 22,2010!" Hello checkout and order receipt! Whoops! I accidentally left if for the two shipping...within 30 seconds of receiving my instant receipt I went back and changed it to one day shipping and paid the $3.99 per item to get it the next day. ***This is important information for later. Now I had the favor bags all set. One less thing to worry about for the birthday bash.

It was all going a little too smoothly for the week and then I got the phone call. It was my mom. I had to go pick up my brother. That's all I'm going to say regarding this matter because it is really personal. Let's just say it wasn't long after receiving my mother's phone call that I got another phone call from a place where they only limit one call. Yup. All I could think was "What about Bug's BIRTHDAY!?" I thought she would never get to celebrate her birthday. Did I mention that on Thursday we watch a friend of our's daughter that is one month younger than Bug and they were to arrive any minute? The only thing that I could do was leave the Hubba-Bub home with Bug and hope for the best. I think I had more faith in him than he had or showed. After 1 hour I was back home with little brother in tow and finally ready to celebrate Bug's birthday. I just hoped that she was still ready. All I had to say to the girls was, "Want some ice cream cake?" and they were hooked. After that things went great. Bug and L ate their cake and opened Bug's presents then took turns playing with them. They are so darn cute together :) I love watching L and seeing Bug interact with another girl her age. They play so good together too!

Now it was Friday and I only had one day until Bug's party. There was still so much to do and I felt like I had no time. I mean we still had to finish the countertop at the bar area, paint the picture frames for the wall collage, put pictures in them, make cupcakes, buy party supplies (plates, cups, etc.), buy party food, find a tv stand, make a dress for Bug, etc. Oh and I was supposed to get my hair cut too. I was actually supposed to get it done on Tuesday but that feel through and was impromptu scheduled for Friday. It started out as any other day and when I got to work I had decided that I needed my hair cut ASAP. Luckily I work at a school that also houses a trade school and we have a cosmetology center on site AND one of the aides that comes in one of my class is a licensed cosmetologist. The stars aligned and VIOLA! I was getting my haircut. I love the way it came out!

I'm loving the length, layers and ease of it. It's a mom-cut but still young. Thank you to my SIL for tipping me off on the Katie Holmes Elle Cover.

Then it was time to leave half day. I left in the middle of a mix of snow, sleet, slush, rain coming down. Wonderful. Our first encounter with the lovely stuff this year. I was not impressed, but as soon as I arrived to the nearest town with a superstore in it everything had cleared up. I shopped for the party supplies that I still lacked, party food, and even picked out a tv stand that I liked. The bad? I couldn't pick up the tv stand to get it in my cart. Maybe if I had been a little more conscious that morning when getting dressed and didn't put on my wedges with a total tread of -100, then I could have managed to flop it into the cart. So whip out the trust iPhone, seriously people- don't leave home without it, and snapped away at the UPC. When I arrived at the register and told the cashier of my dilemma she said no big and called for someone to bring it up. 10 minutes and letting 5 people cut ahead of me later I was finally able to checkout my beautiful new tv stand. Thank you slow moving cartel bringing man (SMCBM), thank you. I check out and....what's this? Where did SMCBM go? Oh c'mon! Don't these people know that I still have to get home put this thing together, make a dress, food, etc? This is completely unacceptable. The shock must have registered on my face, because it was at this point that the cashier told me to go to customer service and they would call SMCBM back up to bring it out to my car. Another 15 minutes later and beginning to debate whether I should put in an application and start checking people out while I wait to help pass the time, finally SMCBM arrives again with a friend! Great! No wonder it took longer. We trek out to the car and load it up. Once again, and truly this time, thank you SMCBM.

I make it home and we start to assemble the beauty. By we I mean my brother and I. I'm not kidding when I say it took at LEAST two hours to assemble. The directions were AWFUL, but it looks great! Now onto Bug's dress. I had this AWESOME  idea to "Sound Of Music"-it and make a dress out the left over material I used to make the curtains in the living room with, which just happened to be painter's canvas. I know, I know, I know...WHAT WAS I THINKING?! Anyways I made this dress from it with a bottom ruffle as muslin. When it came time to try it on Bug (after fighting with my sewing machine about its stubborn refusal to shirr until 12am), she was already sleeping, but I could tell  it was too big and too stiff. I know you're probably saying, "Really? Stiff? Who would have thought painter's canvas would make a stiff dress?" Consider this one a FAIL! I went to bed extremely tired, disappointed, and thinking my baby girl was going to wear her birthday suit to her birthday party.

Somewhere between the tv stand assembly and the dress failure it dawned on me that my Amazon package of barnyard goodies for the kiddos hadn't arrived. I was concerned. I checked my Amazon account and was stupifided. The expected delivery date was 10/25/2010. WHAT! I called up Amazon immediately and was asking questions to which I was told, "We're sorry, but unfortunately there is nothing we can do at this time because you're order is already being proccessed and readied for shipping. We cannot overnight it because it would have had to been sent out by 3:30 Pacific Time."  After some much needed venting to the poor individual who just happened to pick up my phone call I was refunded my $3.99 per item shipping charge and given a 20% credit to a future purchase with Amazon as an apology. Good, but still left me with nothing for the kiddos. I ended up sending the Hubba-Bub to the dollar store in town on Saturday to cover that base.

The party was good. I just wish I hadn't waited until the last minute to do things because it could have been so much better and cuter...::sigh:: Here's my proudest piece of handy work which was created in help by my awesome inlaws:

I got the idea and how to from the taste of home website from a google search. Google saves the day again!

Everything went great during and after the party. I'll  leave you with these beauties that I captured while trying to take a picture of myself for the hair reveal:

Maybe I should have used these for the big reveal, because I'm guaranteed to look good compared to a dog's butt. (Or so I hope)


How was your week?


****UPDATE!****
I received the Amazon order TODAY (Monday) and went straight to the computer to complete the return information. At which point I stop dead in my typing when I am presented with a screen that says because it wasn't Amazon's fault I will have $5.99 deducted from my refund to cover the return shipping charges. Unacceptable Amazon, unacceptable. Not feeling confident in my ability to remain calm on a phone, call I decide to give the contact via chat option a chance. After explaining the entire thing to the person they said they would email me a return label to return the order free of charge. Then I ask the simple question of "Can you please tell me when I will see the $11.97 credited to my account that was promised to me on Friday?" and am told that they don't see this on my account; they only see the credit towards another purchase. Thank goodness I didn't call in. I then explained how the other lady told me I would get refunded my $3.99 per item one day shipping charge, and they happily said they would process it for me and I should see it in 2-3 business days. I have my shipping label in my email waiting to be printed and slapped on that forsaken package to be returned to my once beloved Amazon. Sorry Amazon, despite your attempts to "fix" this, you've fallen a couple of notches in my book.

Umm Yea... I did it again..

As you can probably already tell, I've changed up the blog's look AGAIN. When bordem sets in this is what happens. I'm still not happy with it, but think it is better than the lemons. While I love the lemons and all it just reminded me of a foodie blog, which this is the farthest thing from being.  What I really want is to go back to my simple white background but the new Josh Peterson layout won't let me! Until I find a hack it will stay this grey polka dot. I like it. For now.

I wish I had some awesome pictures to show you of what we've been up to, but umm... my camera battery died when we went to the zoo and after that I...ummm...well... left it in the Rhino and it got rained on. Now all the pictures I take look like this:

I'm referring to the strange purple tint and lines across the photos not the silly smile I'm sporting. Or maybe that is why I never take any of myself? Hmmm... 

So here's the game plan for the camera issue. I'll keep it for anytime we need to get our Barney fixes, but I just ordered the HP PB360 12 MP Digital Camera with 3-Inch Touchscreen LCD (Bronze)  as my "temporary" camera until I get my DSLR. If I am being completely honest, then I must say that the only reason I bought the HP was because of it's price. $139.99 on sale for $85.32 with tax (free shipping). You can't beat that for the reviews. Ok maybe you can, because I was looking at a polaroid for $70, but the HP is TOUCHSCREEN! Now that you CAN'T beat. Hopefully it comes soon, because I hate being without a camera. (Christmas in July just keeps on getting better!)

Oh there is great news to be passed along too! For one, the DSL guy came yesterday and hooked it up. That means GOODBYE HUGHES NET!!! Hughes net wasn't all that bad, just annoying that you have a certain limit you can use daily and if you go over, then it is SLOWER than dial-up. (I kid you not) The second wave of good news is that the new sewing machine came tonight. Although, I haven't had time to play with it yet. I'm hoping that tomorrow will lend itself to that, but it's not looking that way with cleaning that needs to be done, company coming over, and a fourwheeling campfire adventure to be had with the neighbors. 

I wish I wasn't my camera wasn't so stupid!

I may have lost the battle, but I WON the WAR!

All weekend I have been trying to get this open:

 

...And all weekend I have failed!

I can get all my other recycled baby food jars button holders open, except this ONE; the one I want opened the most. So today I'm working away and find myself NEEDING these brown buttons more then ever. I try cold water, I try super strength, and then it hits me (no pun intended): If I can't open it now, then when I do get it open, I must not close it! I am breaking entry. (and I even made a tutorial for it, should you ever feel the need to be deviant).







Materials Needed:

Pesky Button Holder(s)
1 Plastic Bag
1 Hammmer
1 Colander (not shown above)
2-3 Paper Towels (not shown above)

Here we go...

Place the pesky button holder in the plastic bag.

 

Find a hard surface to place your bag. Make sure the pesky button holder is on its side in the bag. Aim your hammer...

 
Then add a downward swinging motion hitting the spot you aimed for. Repeat until you hear the beautiful CHLINK! Busting that pesky button holder to bits! Open the bag carefully to confirm the fatality.

 

Free at last!

Next carefully transfer the buttons to the colander while leaving the large glass shards in the plastic bag.

 

 

 

Rinse off to remove any slivers still clinging to what they once were.

 

Pat dry, and let lay to dry while you bask in your success of releasing the buttons from the pesky button holder's confining wrath. Nice job!!

 

Ahhh success...

 

 

 

Ok, maybe I have too much time on my hands?

Sick Wife/Mom = My Dishwasher Runneth Over?

First let me say how blessed we must be to have two physical representations of "My cup runneth over" within a few short days of each other in our lives! Is the universe trying to tell us something?

Friday as you know, I was extremely sick and so Nick was left to manage the house. At one point as I was feeling better I made a comment that the house had blown up on itself! It was mayhem. He got the hint and started to clean up. We're sitting on the couch and hear a strange noise. Nick looks over and suddenly yells out "I'm not doing ANYTHING with WATER EVER AGAIN!" I look to see what he's talking about and see this...

{He was too freaked to even bother with towels this time; he grabbed clothes from the laundry room!}

Then he opens it and I see this....

Finally I ask him how much soap he put in and he said the normal amount, BUT then he tells me he squirted DISH SOAP on the dishes to "try and get them cleaner." There's the culprit: Dish soap! (Mind you, Nick has loaded this dishwasher many, many, many times before- I think he suffered a temporary insanity as a result from exhaustion from dealing with my unrelenting neediness of the day)

Have no fear, the internet is here! I said leave it until the morning and giggled about it. The next morning I woke up and checked online to see how to fix the problem...White Vinegar; you simply put some at the bottom of the dishwasher and it will eat the bubbles away. AMAZING!

I love my husband. He tries.

My Cup Tub Runneth Over...

Nick and I take turns giving Bug a bath. We rotate every other day. Tonight just happened to be his night...

He said that he had a terrible headache and asked if I would give her a bath. No problem, but then he changed his mind, and decided that he'd be fine. I'm in the bedroom checking my facebook to see if I have any willing lenders of the $220k that we so desperately need (see next post), when all of a sudden I hear Nick yell "Do we have more towels?!" I run to see what the problem is and he started running her bath water, then called his friend on the phone and forgot the water was running until a random moment in the conversation brought him back to his senses. Needless to say he was smart enough to shut the water off and pull the plug before yelling out his line to keep me from seeing just how bad it was actually. I ran to the bathroom and saw all the water then without missing a beat exclaimed, "I HAVE TO GET MY CAMERA! THIS IS SOOOO GOOD!" What I meant was that it was too funny not to take pictures of and post on the blog. So yes, in the middle of mayhem I'm thinking how great of a story it will be on the blog. By the time I got these lovelies the water had already started going down the drain (in the tub) and down the register, so there was only about a 1/2 inch of water covering the floor.





Nick said that when he went in the water was RUNNING over the tub and was ankle deep on the floor. I've never been so happy to have clothes lying on the floor before in my life! Thankfully they helped absorbed quite a bit of the mess. I'm just so glad that I no longer have the "Shania Twain" pants of my past that were latex-ish. No absorbing power there!

Boo!

I haven't written on here in awhile and finally have the time and the ambition to. I have been searching the internet for my next craft project. Well I've found so many that I can't keep track of them all. I do have to take pictures of Bug's birthday present (a horse). I am really pleased with how it came out!

The past weekend was Halloween. We decided we would carve our pumpkins Saturday night because we weren't going to have any trick or treaters, and we weren't taking Bug out. Here are our pumpkins:

Nick carving away at his mummy. So serious.

From left to right. My ghost/boo. Bug's gremlin. Nick's mummy.I think they turned out pretty good!

I also made Bug's Halloween costume at the last minute. I wanted to make a lamb costume for her, but thought the owl was cute too. I had the supplies for the owl, so guess which one won? You guessed it. It really does look much cuter in person, for some reason the camera makes it look so flat.

We couldn't pull the mask down further because she'd freak out. She kept ripping it even like this!

Me being silly with Bug's mask on.

When we finished all the silliness, we roasted our pumpkin seeds. Yummmmmy! They came out delicious. I can't keep my hands off them.

Jokes on me!

Something very funny happened to me today. I went to lunch and when I came back to my room the lights were off and there were kids in it. (typical-they seem to always beat me to class from lunch....what can I say they love English...yea right!) The strange thing was that the students moved my reading nook to the front of the room. Silly boys! Then I look around my room a little more, and OMG! They reversed ALL the desks, tv, microwave, my desk with Julie's, the garbage, etc. I just started CRACKING up! I couldn't help it. They must have been in there all lunch working on it.

I had to give them credit they did a really good job. The even better part is that it messed with the students that entered the class that weren't involved in the prank. Just thought I'd share that little joke that was played on me today. I guess I've officially been hazed by the students....So now I'm accepted, right?

I'm so addicted to....all the things you make...

I'll admit it. I have a problem. It is in the form of crafts. I have always LOVED crafts and crafty things, and now I have found my ultimate weakness: www.etsy.com I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT! Already I have a bunch of things in my cart (mostly patterns). I just have to say that if you are thinking "hmm what should I get Crystal or Calla for blah blah blah?" well I'm sure you can find something on Etsy that we would absolutely love. I am even thinking of starting my own etsy. I thinking about selling the leg warmers I make, but I have to come up with a cute name for them. The next 2 items on my list to make is a shopping cart cover and a stacking toy for Calla. I also want to make some books for her. I did find out Etsy a vendor that will sell a book kit, which would be cool, but I could definitely make it for less money. Enough jibber jabb...go explore the addicting world of Etsy!



What do you think??

Beggers can't be choosers...obviously

I have been wanting to cut my hair since I was about 6 months pregnant, but never got around to it or had all the courage. Well... Yesterday (Friday) I was driving to work and thought, "Hmm..I'll call and see how much it is for Cosmetology to cut my hair" well I called them up and they said it was free. I was like ALRIGHT! I'm doing it. I had the picture of the haircut I wanted and went down during my free period to get it cut. I knew the risk involved: students learning to cut hair cutting my hair, but we reassured that the teacher would be by whoever's side helping the whole time.

I walk down show my picture and get a lot of oooo's and ahhh's. I am introduced to my hairdresser-in-the-making. It is a lady I have seen many times in the hallway walking her granddaughter to the childcare. So tells me that I have to remove my glasses for the cut, which I so hesitantly do. I take them off and the cutting begins. Snip, snip, cut, cut. Before I know it I am done, and put my glasses back on.....Not like the picture, but I can work it cute. I go home and show Nick (who didn't know I was cutting it) and he FLIPS!!! He says the front is cute, but the back is AWFUL! I look at the back and it is interesting. I tell him it will look better after I can style it and stuff, because she didn't even style it just blow-dried it and straightened it.

This morning I got up and ready to start the day. I did my hair and it doesn't look that bad. I can work this cut. I do think that I will go in on Monday and have them trim up the back though. I'm sure you're like WHAT?! After they messed up? Well yes. I'm not going to pay for someone to just cut the back of my hair which is maybe 1 inch. Yes, I'm cheap.

So although it doesn't look like the picture, it is good enough for being a free cut. I think if I had my glasses on I could have interrupted a bit before it became what it is. (Not that it is bad though)

I'll post some pictures once I find our camera!!! (I lost it :0!!!)

Nick in a few years with Calla

Whoops! I'm sorry Mr. Officer, sir.

Today on our way home from Nick picking me up at work we passed a DEP cop. Nick was messing around and thought it would be funny to flip the cop off below the windows (so the cop couldn't see). The cop passes us in the other lane and FLICK! the lights come on. We both knew why (inspection sticker), but couldn't help but laugh because of what Nick just did. We were pulled over and he gave us a warning about the inspection sticker. Our excuse was that we were trying to get it, but our check engine light is on (which it is). We really do need to figure out what is going on and get it inspected. My inspection ran out in November. WHOOPS! Lucky us! That will teach Nick to be a smarty pants!! (doubt it)

Married?

I had to laugh. Yesterday was the 14th...and I said to Nick, "We've been married for 4 months, and neither of us wear our wedding bands." He's like so what's your point... I was like nothing, it is just funny because I can only imagine what people think when they see us and we say we're married, but without any rings.

Here are the reasons why we aren't wearing our rings...

Nick doesn't during the week because of work. If he doesn't have it on during the weekend it is because he has forgotten to put it on being used to not wearing it throughout the week. (easily confused...he's a typical guy)

My reason...Well, I'm starting to swell in other places than the belly so for my own comfort I have decided to stop wearing them until my sausage fingers return to normal.



There you have it kids. Married, but you'd never know it :)

True Story...

Today I went and met with my first cooperating teacher for student teaching! I was so excited getting dressed, and was like OH i have the PERFECT lia sopha necklace!!! So I threw it on and WHAM! I looked MAGNIFICO!! I was more worried about the belt I was wearing meshing with my outfit and not being too much that I let a very big piece of my outfit go unnoticed. So I went to the school it was great, and everyone was super nice. Then I came home and was changing into my "after school" clothes...low and behold....I take my necklace off AND THE TAG WAS STILL ON IT THE WHOLE TIME!!!!!! I KID YOU NOT!! So of course I put the necklace on to see if it was truly visible, and...IT WAS!!! I feel like such a butthole! I can't believe that, and NOBODY said ANYTHING! haha. They must of thought I was such a dork! oh well though, at least it makes for a funny story!

...Just had to share the moment...

I can fly!!!!!!

So this morning I woke up at 7:30 and couldn't fall back asleep. I decided I better go downstairs and let the dogs out. I am able to get to the steps fine without making a noise to wake up Nick, then I start down them....WHOOOOMP, THUMP, THUMP, BANG, BOOM, CRASH, OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I flew down the stairs this morning, but obivously I am not fully light enough as I hit them a few times coming down. I got to the bottom and was in PAIN! Of course I woke Nick up with all the racket, but I was fine just a few bumps and bruises here and there,but fine. It's been awhile since I have fell down the stairs (which used to be a weekly thing), so I guess I was due; it definitely woke me up even more though!!

Today's Fiasco

So here's something interesting...
I was out in the garden today picking our glorious red tomatoes when all of a sudden I felt a prick! I pulled my hand back, looked at my finger (right middle) and sure enough I was bite by something. I thought I was stung by a bee, at least that's what it felt like. So I went to my car got my epipen just in case. I waited a little bit and it started swelling but not as fast as a normal bee sting. Something was off. I started to feel really dizzy and shakey, but didn't want to use my epipen because I wasn't sure what was really happening. I called DVH and they said to take Benedryl (I didn't have any), and I don't need to use my epipen unless I have a hard time breathing. Which I wasn't! I hung up and went and sat on the loveseat, but felt so disoriented, so I decided to call Terry at work. She wasn't able to come and get me so I drove myself to the Delhi Hospital. By the time I got there I was still a little dizzy, but most of it had worn off, and I was begining to feel normal again. I saw the doctor he said I was fine, and that it wasn't a bee sting, he thinks it was probably a garden snake, but that I am fine. What a day!!! So now my finger has no swelling, but two little bumps that are tingly to touch, and I am fine. All that just to find out it was probably a harmless snake. Who'da thunked?! But I'm telling you people, I sure didn't feel fine just after it happened!! But that's my day