Green Works

Now I am not exactly the "greenest" person you will meet. But Allie is determined to "greenovate" me. She asked if we could buy this cleaner that is supposed to be more "green" than the old cleaners I have used since the dinosaur age of the 80's. So, we bought it (very sceptically, I must admit) and it really is an OK cleaner - no big prizes!

BUT, I discovered a FABULOUS use for this stuff that is not really what it is intended for(sorry dangling preposition!). Wanna know what? .............. It kills flying bugs!! Now, FYI, I cannot rest when there is a fly in my house. It drives me nuts, and sometimes in the spring and summer, it seems like there are millions! (maybe 5 or 6) Back in college, in the good old aerosol (told you I wasn't green) hair spray days, I found out that you could spray flys with hair spray (in my mind this was better than spraying pestisides everywhere and I CANNOT stand fly swatters - squished bugs - YUCK!) and it would slow them down long enough to scoop them up with a paper towel (more waste, I know) and throw them away with no mess............ WELL, one day it occured to me that instead of wasting my hair spray and getting the whole house gluey, there must be something else I could spray on them to slow them down. VOILA, Green Works, works!! You wait until they land, spray them, and it totally makes them slow enough to squish!

I know this is a crazy subject, but it is the small simple joys that make my day!:)

Happy Mother's Day

It was a very happy mother's day. I am so privileged to live in the same town as my precious Mother and grandmother(Gram). I don't even have the words to say all they both mean to me. All the memories of happy times are such a gift that they both have given to me. All the money in the world can't buy parents and grandparents who adore you - it was simply a wonderful merciful gift from God that I received gratefully. I am a very VERY blessed girl to have Mother and Gram as examples of all that a mother should be. I love having this photo of the four generations. May 10, 2009

My Love Hate Relationship with Ebay

I started selling things on Ebay about a year ago. Some days I am super motivated and feel like listing tons of items and I get a strange thrill out of making the listing perfect and beautiful. I love making the font color match whatever I am selling and taking a million pictures until I get some that are just right. Can you say "control freak?"

And then they start changing the rules on me. Now you can no longer use a picture from another website(at least not from J Crew) in your listing. GRRR!!! Using those professional shots used to make my listings so much prettier. sigh. I mean the money is nice(of course!), but I think it is just the student in me that needs to do a little project and (in my mind) if the item sells well, that is my good grade.

I haven't had a real job or a real grade in about 15 years so I guess this is about as close as I can get. Maybe I should get Ethan and Allie to give me a report card on mothering. No nevermind. That would not go well.

Cooking - not so much
Cleaning -"who's coming over?" asks a kid.
Laundry - THAT I can do - anything involving clothes is kinda fun.
Gardening - I killed my fake plants
Grocery shopping - only once a day (can't remember to bring the list)
Loving them - OK I rock at that.

Maybe I'll go back to school someday or get a job that involves a paycheck but for now it's back to Ebay :)

Happy Birthday Catherine!

Today is our precious Catherine's 11th birthday. She is the eldest daughter of my sister Lisa. They live in AL and we will miss seeing Catherine today on her birthday. Last year on her 10th she celebrated at our house(see photos). Ethan, Allie, Catherine and Emily(Catherine's sister) had a fun time together. They love being with their cousins.

Pogo Anyone?

Last night we came home from Five Guys (and a little shopping) in Commerce and I was reminded of Ethan's latest "thing." He has been dragging out all the ancient toys lately. His latest one is the pogo stick that I believe was also a gift from Aunt Shannon. (Apparently she gives all the gifts with staying power!) He has gotten amazingly good at it and can stay on for at least 35 bounces at a time (that was from the time we actually counted them). He is such a fun and funny boy. We all love him so much.

Awana Girls Sleepover

I forgot to take my camera to the sleepover so I am posting some Awana photos of Allie from the Grand Prix race that they had last month. The group shot is of all the homeschoolers that raced and the next is Allie and her friend Naomi who is a wonderful TFC student that has been so sweet to Allie. The last one is Allie with her car - it was so cute and Allieish.

So, the sleepover was LOUD. We had it in the Family Life Center(the gym), so we had plenty of room to spread out, thankfully. There were 24 energetic third-sixth grade girls who all had very healthy lungs. Everyone brought a snack and drink so we had lots of chips and dip, cookies, cupcakes, etc... all the things that I make myself walk past without picking up at the grocery store. YUM!!! They played on the gym floor with the Awana scooters alot, and they played "Sleepover Town" in the classrooms with all the rooms being a different business. We had a pinata which they LOVED and we managed to get it broken open with no injuries. We had ice cream, and then popcorn and a movie and finally called it a day around 2:30am, but they were still whispering at 3:30! The funniest thing to me was that especially several of the younger girls got GREAT joy in asking me what time it was about a million times during the night. They would find out, and squeal with joy that they had never stayed up so late - it was very cute. It was a very short night of sleep - the parents arrived at 8:30am and they were met with some sleepy little faces - none of which were ready to go home:) So, it is over for another year - Allie was blissfully happy the whole time and loved every minute of it, so it was worth it. I love that girl.

Springtime and a New Scooter

Ethan got a scooter many years ago from his Aunt Shannon for his birthday one year and lately, that has been the main attraction when Ethan and Allie go outside to play. They had been taking turns with his without complaining and doing very well sharing one. So today, we went and got Allie her own scooter as a surprise. I love to reward them for good behavior when they aren't cooperating just to get something - for some reason, they had never asked to have more than one scooter. Anyhow, Allie got a Razor with pink wheels and handlebars and she loves it and Ethan loves having his own one back! Now races are the main activity - I am praying for no broken bones!!!