Growing up my grandfather kept a candy dish next to his brown leather recliner. I can’t remember a time that it wasn’t fully stocked with Werther’s candies. We played a little game with him, one where we snuck up by his side and darted out a hand to grab a candy before he caught us. He always caught us. And he always gave us the candy, even if it was almost dinnertime. “It’ll be our little secret” he’d mock whisper. [Read more...]
Sweet Treats: Werther’s Original Sugar Free Candy
May 11, 2013 By
Ice Cream And Potty Training And A Book About Jesus
May 9, 2013 By
(This is what it is like to live in my house, y’all.)
I decided that I wouldn’t write about what I lovingly refer to as “adventures in potty training” here lest I embarrass the future Scarlette who reads this blog. That being said, I’m totally fine with sharing things that are embarrassing for me. Like the fact that I myself have used a teeny, tiny little princess potty WAY MORE TIMES than any adult woman should ever sit on a toddler potty, ever. I’M REALLY TRYING TO MAKE THIS APPEALING, Y’ALL.
Although I have to say that I am a big fan of the fact that our potty cheers for us after we do our business. I appreciate validation. And when I say “we” I mean “me” because thus far I’m the only action that potty chair is getting. Also, this plan has backfired because now when Scarlette wants to hear the potty cheer she just pushes me towards it and says “YEAH! UM, OKAY MAMA TURN IT ON!” so there’s that.
Obviously I needed a reward after all the potty training I’ve been accomplishing ON MYSELF so I asked Jeff to fix me a cup of ice cream while he was in the kitchen.* I should tell you that ever since I read the book 7 I made the decision that we needed to be serious about recycling. The problem with this is that I am somewhat slightly neurotic and also that nobody understands me.
I heard a faint hiss and then Jeff asked “Honey, WHY? WHY did you put the empty container of whipped cream back in the fridge?”
(Clearly he finds me incredibly charming and is never frustrated by my tendency to return items to the fridge that he calls “empty” and I call “still containing a swig.” One of us is a glass-half-full kinda girl person, that’s what I’m saying.)
I quickly pondered how I could blame this on the baby but could see no viable option there so I just told him the truth and answered
“Um, okay Jeff BECAUSE I wanted to recycle it but I wasn’t exactly sure how you clean out an empty can of whipped cream. Like, you can’t just fill it with water or something. And I didn’t have time to stop and look up how you clean one of those. And you get annoyed when I leave things out on the counter that need to be recycled but you don’t even ever use the whipped cream so I figured that if I stuck it back in the refrigerator you would never even know that it was empty! And it worked because that can has been empty for like, three weeks because I totally forgot to ever look up if I actually could recycle it or not and then it’s possible that I may have forgotten that it was in there on account of how I have been making homemade whipped cream because you made me watch Food Inc.”
He stared blankly at me for a few seconds and then he was like “I am married to a hoarder. You hoard potential recyclables.”
And then I was all “Um, it’s IN THE BIBLE, JEFF.”
And then he was all “And NOW it’s in the trashcan.”
I accepted that with grace and dignity because of how he was really sweet to think about putting whipped cream on my ice cream for me.
(But not really because then he left to play tennis and I looked up all about whipped cream cans on the internet and proceeded to dig it out of the trash in order to recycle it. And I would just like to point out that according to this INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO about HOW TO RECYCLE WHIPPED CREAM CANS that I found on youtube, FOUR THOUSAND OTHER PEOPLE WANTED TO LEARN HOW TO DO THE SAME EXACT THING so I am not the crazy one here.)
*A cup because I feel as though a bowl is too large for three scoops of ice cream, obviously.
Scrapbooking: Using up random embellishments
May 7, 2013 By
I’ve been on a mission to simplify for the last few months and that includes paring down my immense hoard of scrapbook supplies. I tend to hold on to supplies I love which is really a terrible plan because after awhile they start to look a bit dated and I pass them over for things that are a bit more fresh. So my goal for this layout was to just use up a lot of little supplies while making it feel really girly.
I cut the different sized hearts out using my Making Memories Slice. I would have loved to have stitched them on but I am terrible with the sewing machine and did not have the patience to hand stitch. And by “patience” I mean there is no way my two year old would have sat still long enough for me to stitch those on. She’s in constant motion, that one.
To make the glitter dots I just used a hot glue gun to make tiny dots and then sprinkled silver glass glitter over them. The very next day I went to Michaels and discovered that they make GLITTER GLUE STICKS which would have been really nice to know like, yesterday. Also, I don’t know if you know this but I am very good at putting letter stickers on layouts in a straight line. Or not. Thanks for nothing, astigmatism.
This page isn’t for an album, it’s going in a 12×12 scrapbook frame in my mother’s house so that’s why I went a little bit crazy with the dimensional elements, since it won’t be lying flat. Isn’t my niece the cutest? TFL!
Giveaway | Fueled by Shell Fuel Rewards Network Program
May 6, 2013 By
(I try to space out my giveaways 2x per month but sometimes the schedule changes on me – I thought y’all might forgive me for the chance to win $100 gas card though 
)
Part of our weekly routine is to fill the car up with gas on Sunday after we’ve been to the grocery store. I have a grocery rewards card that I can use at our local Shell station to save a few cents on each gallon of gas. I’ve been known to nag sweetly remind my husband to remember to use our rewards card when he’s filling up because I’m a little bit annoying super helpful about frugality.
So when BlogHer asked if I wanted to try out the new Fuel Rewards Network™ program to save even more money on gas, and generously offered to host a giveaway of a $100 Shell Gift Card for my readers, I obviously said yes. Because gas is flippin’ expensive. Once upon a time when I got my driver’s license, gas cost less than a dollar per gallon. I also had very frizzy hair and no boyfriend so some things get better with time, y’all.
Then & Now: Mommy, Daddy, Baby Edition
May 3, 2013 By
Scarlette came waltzing out holding this photo of me circa 1985 the other day. I looked at the date on the back and realized that I was the exact same age in this picture that she is now. So then I decided to go look for some photos of Jeff around that same age.
Here is what I would like to say about this: LOOK HOW MUCH HAIR I HAD AT TWO AND A HALF! Why is my baby still basically bald? Also, what sort of metal contraption is my husband sitting in? That does not look safe at all, Walt Disney.
I think it is obvious who Scarlette resembles the most. Which is, of course, Michelle Tanner.
Just kidding. We actually think she looks the most like Jeff’s brother and my father, who I don’t have permission to post photos of on the internet so that comparison is completely unhelpful to y’all. What do y’all think, based on the stellar photos that I have provided you with?
