Why Every Girl Should Have a Bead Stash
Okay - I'm taking a quick break to show you what I did today. I wanted to have some fun bracelets to wear with my new skirt, but I really didn't have anything that matched. Bring out the beads! I pulled out my bead kit - found 2 bracelets in there that might work, but not quite. So, I spent 45 minutes and made 3 others that work really well! I might actually end up wearing all 5 just to mix things up a little. Every girl needs a stash of beads so that she can accessorize at a moments notice!

Another "What was I thinking" Moment
AACK! Do you remember how I said I wanted to get gift cards for my kid's teachers, but was afraid it would be too spendy? Well I could have done it! For the last couple of years I have been involved in a thing called MyPoints. They send me emails for different retailers and if I visit the site in the email, I get 5 points. I don't have to buy anything, don't even have to spend a lot of time on the site. Just visit and the points are mine. I can also buy things from a list of retailers and get points. And guess what you redeem those points for? GIFT CARDS! They have gift cards for all kinds of places! I wanted to do cards from Barnes and Noble and guess what... they have them. It wouldn't have cost me a thing! Sigh... well, maybe I'll redeem my points for Hubby's birthday or for Christmas. I've got almost 10,000 points... so I should be able to get some pretty decent gift cards. That's almost $75 at Barnes and Noble. If you're interested in signing up, let me know! Email me and I'll send you the info. I think my email address is in my profile... It's an easy way to earn gift cards for yourself or friends and family. And, if you use me as a reference when you sign up, I get points too! It's win/win I tell ya! ;)
Oh, and thank y'all for your fashion advice on the skirt... looks SO much better now! I'm done bloggin till Tuesday - then I'll be back with lots and lots of pictures... aren't you excited? Enjoy your weekend!

Help!

I am about to exhibit how fashion backwards I am...sigh. I bought this skirt at WalMart today - cute, eh?

It's not really that pink... it's a cream back ground... not a great shot, but I'm in the middle of packing so I have to hurry... ANYWAY, at the bottom of each pleat is a stitch....Is that some kind of decoration? Or do they just put those in to keep the pleats looking nice during shipping? I'm such a dork. HELP!

Have You Ever...
known someone on drugs? Have you ever watched them kind of disappear? I have. It's scary and so sad and you feel so helpless. You wait and watch and hope that they will clean up, but you don't dare confront them because they are in a very frightening place and you're never quite sure what to do. I have a nephew that was in this place. I don't know all the details of what he did or didn't do. I don't want to know. All I know is that he was a mess. And then he got help. And now, well, now you wouldn't even recognize him. He is on a mission for our church and he is amazing! But back in the day I wish I would have maybe stepped up my game a little. Helped him find some kind of drug treatment, but I wasn't sure how to help. I hope to never be confronted with a loved one with this problem again. But, if I am, I hope I will be braver and step up sooner. This story had a happy ending, but it could have been so different. So very different.

What Was I thinking?
So, I've had a lot of these moments today... moments where you just stand back and think "WHAT THE HECK?" So... for your reading pleasure, my "What Was I Thinking List"

1 - I decided to make a billion little paper stars for my friend that's getting married. I saw them on Depsonq Path and he talked about how each star represented something to you. Usually a wish or a dream. They are COOL little things and I thought it would be fun to fill up a gift bag with these awesome little stars and give them to my friend and her new hubby with a little note about making their dreams come true. Awww, so sweet, right? Yeah. Except I didn't expect my hands to cramp up. Also, I didn't take into account that these things are about 1/2 to 3/4 an inch, so filling a bag would take a year or two. Since the wedding is on Saturday, we are not filling the bag. We are just going to put a few into the mixing bowl that I got her...kind of like packing peanuts, except cuter. Only a few hundred more to go by Friday... sigh... the picture doesn't even show half of what we've already done... and yes - we made them! Crazy, eh?

2 - I just drank .5 L (1PT. 0.9 FL OZ) of water. It's 11:50 p.m. Now I'm gonna have to pee in the middle of the night.

3 - Hubby and Red both needed new shoes. So, instead of doing the smart thing and only sending Hubby and Red, I drug the whole family out to Target tonight. Screaming, crying, begging and pleading ensued and that was just from me. The kids were unfortunately 10 times worse. You know the people that you see in the stores and think "Why do they come out in public?" Yeah. That was us. But, on a very happy Target note... I got these CUTE shoes for $4.98 WAHOO!! On the other hand, I don't do well when my shoes have a big heel. And these aren't huge, but I'm a klutz. Big time. I usually fall and mutilate my feet. Hmmm... well, they are darn cute. So, I think they are worth the risk!

4 - The last thing on my "what was I thinking" list... why did I start writing this so late? Now I'm gonna have to proof read it 100 times (remember, I'm a tad obsessive about that). Well, this was supposed to be a Wednesday post, but it's 12:08... so, it is now my Thursday post :) Well, gotta go... literally...

Woozy
I'm feeling a tad lightheaded. The world is starting to spin. I'm dizzy. I'm afraid that I might be coming down with what Hubby and Baby Girl have had. No no no... this can't be happening! Not now! We are going on vacation in a few days! Sigh...oh, wait. Let me think... this MIGHT have something to do with the fact that I have only had peanut M&M's to eat today... maybe. Why have I only had peanut M&M's today? Well, first of all, THEY'RE GOOD! Second, I'm self medicating. We are headed to St. George this weekend for my friend's wedding. I have known this girl for roughly 26 years. She is having a slumber party for all the gals on Friday night. Movies, swimming, food, lots of laughter... it sounds like a blast. The problem? We won't get there till around noon on Saturday. Slumber party over. Can someone pass me the M&M's?

Good Tuesday
So, how good is your Tuesday so far? Mine is going fairly well... I finally decided on gifts for the teachers, bus drivers, aides, therapists, principals and any other person who I can think of. Candy. Lots of candy. With a note that will say "Thanks for such a SWEET year". Yeah. Simple, yet delicious. I even made an extra one... FOR ME! Cause these teachers, aides, bus drivers, therapists and principals weren't the ones helping with homework and crazy weird projects. They weren't up at night with Little Bug when he couldn't sleep because he was in sensory overload from school. They didn't have to deal with all the craziness that came into my home because of school. I get a goody bag too gosh darn it!
And I have been meaning to blog about this for a week... I got good mail! I was so excited! I signed up to be part of a good mail group and a couple of days later I got this super sweet card and Hollyhock seeds from Heather at A Daily Dose of Mischief! Can I just tell you how big my smile was? Super huge doesn't even quite cover it! Thank you Heather! You ROCK!!
AND THEN! Yesterday, I got MORE good mail! Come on now! Y'all are spoiling me! Kathleen over at So Grateful to be Mormon sent me a card and a wonderful book! Thank you so much! So super sweet! And now my smile is even super-er huge-er! If you can even imagine that! Such a sweet heart!!! THANK YOU!

And to top it off - there were no misspellings in this post! That always makes me happy... it means that the mommy brain rot hasn't totally consumed me. So, how is your Tuesday?

Random Thoughts for Your Monday

• Have you noticed that I keep changing my profile picture? First I had a picture of three monkeys. One had it's hands over it's eyes, the next had his hands over it's ears, the last, over his mouth... you know "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" or however it goes? Anyway, from there I went to a vase of Gerber daisies. Very pretty. Then I got my new blog design and I had a picture of a pair of p.j.'s that I own that actually were the inspiration for the blog. Now, I have a picture of a frog. I think I'm going to change it back to the p.j. shot though... why? Well, Hubby asked me why I had picked a poisonous frog to represent myself? BECAUSE IT'S CUTE! And it matches the blog... but, I suppose a picture of a tiny poisonous amphibian really isn't a good portrayal. I need a much larger venomous creature for my picture...


• It's already in the 90's for today... but Baby Girl keeps telling me she's cold. Hubby was really sick on Saturday. Kept getting really dizzy and almost blacking out. :S He had a fever and felt really nauseated. Looks like he might have shared. As long as everyone is healthy by Saturday... they have to be well by Saturday!
• Saturday is our trip to St. George. It is going to be a lot of fun. Red will head off to Idaho to have a fantastic time. I'm a tad jealous. Okay, more than a tad. It's not so hot, he's going to sleep in, play, goof off, have other people prepare his food... is it too late for me to go too?
• I did a dumb thing last night. Well, actually I did a couple of dumb things. First, I bought the bag of M&M's at Costco... 56 oz. XXL size... this is a bad thing. The second dumb thing, I ate some for breakfast. Third dumb thing... well, let me give you a little back story on this one. When we lived in Oregon I had a friend that lived just a few doors down. She and I would get together, watch girlie movies, eat peanut M&M's and just laugh and talk. Last night, I got out the mondo mega bag of M&M's, put "Pride and Prejudice" in the DVD player and then sat there. Alone. (Hubby was on the phone with family) It made me so sad. So frustrated. So homesick. Sigh... and to top it off, I consumed an insane amount of M&M's. I started with the little blue container and thought... that's not big enough... found another... still not quite enough... ah... the last container was just right. I felt like Goldilocks!

So there you have it. Totally random ramblings for your Monday morning! Now, I'm off to do laundry... :S

Lightening Never Strikes the Same Place Twice (we hope)

You poor unfortunate souls... I was digging through a bunch of old photos and found a TON that I think will be fun to share over the next little while. So, you get to suffer whilst I reminisce.

Our little family used to live in a tiny little town in Idaho called Murtaugh. I would tell you how to pronounce the name, but I don't think you really care ;) ANYWAY, we had previously lived 10 hours away from family and now we were only 2. So, we went home quite often to visit and let the kids get spoiled rotten by grandparents. One day when we came back we found this....

There was a tree in the back of our truck, a nice round hole in the ground where the tree had been, and the back window on the truck was shattered. We were a tad flabbergasted at the sight. We called the people we were renting from and asked them if they had any idea what could have happened. They told us that a storm had come through with TONS of lightening. We started looking at the end of the tree and sure enough, it was a tad charred. Some of the other trees round about had big branches torn off of them too. But to have the tree blown out of the ground and land in the back of the truck? It was just crazy!

So, there you have it. Story number one from my endless supply of photos. Be prepared. I will continue with this for as long as my heart desires. After all, it is my blog ;)

This week's theme is "shoes". I have a picture of Red and I in our matching Converse high tops somewhere, but I couldn't find it! :S He was only 2-3 months old and Hubby's brother and his wife got us these teeny tiny shoes that looked just like mine! So fun... sigh... but I did come across this one. This is Red at age 2 and if you'll look closely, he is wearing a lovely pair of tan heels. AND he has his shoes on too... the boy loves his shoes, what can I say? ;)

R.O.U.S.'s
Okay... so there is a creature chewing on something in our attic. It sounds big. Hubby is asleep. I wake him to inform him that I fear we have "rodents of unusual size" roaming in our fire swamp. My dear sweet Wesley looks at the ceiling and says, "I'm going back to bed. They don't bother you so much when you're asleep" So, while he's sleeping, the R.O.U.S.'s are gnawing on my feet. Someone hand me a stick so that I can feebly poke at them. You know... just like Princess Buttercup in this clip...

I always hated this part of the movie. First of all she stands there FOREVER watching her "True Love" get eaten. But if you'll notice, she's got some killer boots on! She should use em! A few karate kicks to the face ought to do it. Then, she gets knocked over. She's got a big ol' stick in her hand and what does she do? She tickles the rodent of unusual size with it. Poking is just not gonna do it! SMACK THE DARN THING! I know there's a guy in that there nasty rat suit and they've probably told her to go easy on him, but COME ON GIRL!! Defend yourself! Defend your MAN!! What can I say? I love a kick butt heroine. Hm... so, maybe, instead of waiting for my hero to come save me (after a good 8 hours of sleep) I should venture into the fire swamp myself. Or, maybe Hubby has the right idea... it won't bother me so much when I'm asleep... if I can get to sleep! If I don't post a blog in the next 48 hours, send someone into the swamp after me! And if Hubby tells you that the R.O.U.S.'s don't exist and to just take a nap, don't believe him! Time is of the essence...

Take the Quiz here!

"I do not attempt to deny that I think very highly of him - that I greatly esteem him... I like him."
So, which Jane Austen heroine are you?

Return of the Return
I have a bad habit. If I buy an object at the store and then something is wrong with it, or it just isn't what I needed, I hate returning it. I hate explaining the problem to an employee that will look at me like I'm some kind of moron and sigh while rolling their eyes. Some of you may remember the 11 sock pack... I never did return them. We just have a roving sock somewhere in the house. Today, my loathing of returning an item will be tested. I bought a container to put my craft items in at Lowes. It's one of those boxes that has lots of little drawers... usually it's used for nails and such. It works great for beads, sequins, buttons and other small craft items. I got the one at Lowes and then went to Target and found one that was bigger for about $6 less... so I got it. I don't need two. The problem - when I bought the one at Lowes she asked "Do you think you will be returning this?" I said "No" because at the time I knew it was an item that I needed and I really didn't think I would return it. Silly me. I've checked the receipt to see if there is some kind of "NEENER NEENER NEENER YOU CAN'T RETURN THIS" on there, but I don't see anything. It's probably written in some kind of strange numeric code. So, wish me luck. I don't want to do it, but I'm going to. You'd think having kids would brace me for all kinds of eye rolling and sighing and looks that say "Idiot..."

Morning Pop Quiz
So, I have a Jeopardy style quiz for you... remember, your answer must be in the form of a question ;)

Answer: WalMart
Question: What is the place where your money disappears into some sort of alternate universe vacuum?

Answer: 5
Question: What is the number of crazy people living in my zoo...er... I mean...home?

Answer: 5
Question: What is the number of donuts purchased at the money sucker store?

Answer: 3
Question: What is the number of people who actually got to eat a donut?

Answer: 3
Question: What is the number of donuts that Melissa personally consumed?

Yes, I admit it. I bought enough donuts for everyone to each get one. Baby Girl got one (I HAD to give her one, she saw me buy them... no getting out of that one - otherwise I would have consumed her confection too) Hubby had one last night as part of his "I'm trying to loose 15lbs by the middle of July" weight loss plan. And I had 3. Yes, 3. Am I trying to loose weight? Um... no. Not at the moment. Right now I'm eating a donut. Now, you might be thinking, "What about her boys? They didn't get one!" All I have to say is that what they don't know won't hurt them, right?

Squeak
I am just a bloggy fool today. So, here's a question for you - what do you do when your child is doing something that annoys the heck out of you and now matter what you do, they just keep doing it? Baby girl must be part dolphin. She is talking in squeaks. She sounds like a little lost puppy half the time and it is driving me bonkers. I even had her go to her room till she could talk like a big girl, but it didn't help! She just came out and started it all over again! Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas?? I'm about ready to loose my mind...

Happiness in a Box
Isn't it funny the things that bring us joy? The smallest things can make you smile. Most often I'm smiling at my kids - usually because they are doing something really fun or totally insane. I TRY to laugh either way. But my joy today comes from a totally inanimate object. I get giddy just looking at it. The smile on my face is ridiculous. And yet, I'm totally and completely in love with my most recent Costco purchase. Why does it give me such a thrill? Maybe because it only cost me $6. Or maybe because I love the colors. Or maybe because it stands about 6' high. Curious?
Who knew that nesting boxes could make you feel so exhilarated? Even Baby Girl is shocked by the joy they bring!

Whirling Vortex of Terror
Have you ever made a decision and then regretted it later? When I had my idea I thought, "Hey! That will be great! I think I'll head off and do that right now!" I was excited. I was sure that this was going to be a wonderful thing. Yeah, I was wrong. What was this wonderful thing, you ask? Well, I decided to take a nap. On a weekend. With all my kids home. Unsupervised. Because, you see, hubby fell asleep too. The children saw their opportunity and attacked. Their tactical maneuvers are unprecedented. They are cunning, stealthy, and, when they know they are getting away with something, they are quiet. Unnaturally silent. You see, all of our toys are separated into different boxes. You want dinosaurs, here's the box! Animals? No problem - check out this tub here! So, while hubby and I were comatose they opened every stinkin box of toys in the house. They didn't play with any of them. Just got each container ajar and removed the contents. Because that's what they do. Now, I would love to say that we have very few toys. But that is a total fib. We have lots. I had a missionary in my home one time who asked if we ran a daycare. Yeah. I have my reasons for the toys. You see, Little Bug doesn't really play with toys. He drags them around the house stimming (shaking them in front of his face). So, I'm always searching for that magical toy. The one that he will play with appropriately. The one that will encourage him to speak more. The one that will change our lives forever. Okay, so, maybe that's a little much to expect from a toy. But, I still continue to search for something that he will actually play with. Needless to say, we have boxes and boxes of failed attempts. I have a hard time getting rid of anything because they were EXPENSIVE!! Gosh darn it! And who knows? Maybe someday he will be interested... ANYWAY, the afore mentioned boxes are empty. K-NEX, Littlest Pets, play food, balls, Weebles, horses, dinosaurs, animals, super heroes... you name it... it's on my floor. That nap cost me dearly. So, I may have to just throw everything away. It will be easier than sorting and getting everything back in the right boxes. So, if you're in to dumpster diving, Thursday is our garbage day. There should be a fairly decent selection of toys in there. Have at it!

Saturday
So, how was your Saturday? Did you do anything fun? Did you do yard work? Clean your house? Do a little laundry? Or did you play? Go somewhere fun with your family? Or maybe, you did what I did. You opened your front door to find two police officers pointing their guns at you. Cause that's what I did today. I guess there was someone jumping fences and entering houses. They were going house to house checking things out. No one was here except my little brood, so they moved on. Then we heard someone wiggle the handle on the back door. Not sure if it was an officer or what. Whoever it was took off and a moment later the cops were in their cars traveling at warp speed to their next destination. There is a cop parked at the end of the road at an angle right now - not letting anyone in or out. So, tell me, did you do what I did today? I hope not. Between the earthquake last night and the manhunt today, I may never sleep again!

I feel the earth move under my feet...
I love the sun. I love the palm trees. I love that we can go to the beach for the day and be home that night. I love that we live in a fairly good neighborhood :) I love that my kids go to good schools. I love the mountains in my back yard. I love that Hubby brings home grapes, oranges, bell peppers, and strawberries from work. I love where we are right now.
BUT....
I hate earthquakes. Every time we get one of these little tremors I lose my mind. We haven't had anything big. Tonight there was a 4.2. Just enough to get my heart moving a little faster and move my paranoia up a notch (or 10). It's not a fun feeling. And I don't think I'll ever get used to it. It fascinates Hubby. He is amazed by the movement and the sounds. Me? I just freak out. There are lots of things that I love about California, but this isn't one of them!

The theme this week is "Art". Now, I know that this isn't really art to most people... but I love this photo. I know... I'm crazy. This is one of my favorites. Why is it my favorite? Because I'm weird that way :) Seriously though... I love black and whites. I love that it's kind of blurry (something that I didn't intend, but it works). AND... have you ever canned beans? It is a fun process. Something that I enjoy. But it takes a few hours to accomplish the task. So, when I look at bottled fruit or veggies I can see the sacrifice of time and patience that went into it. So, not only is the picture art, but the actual process of canning is an art form to me!