Hey, It's Jade! and family

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

C'mon, ya'll... SKA SKA SKA!

On of my favorite ska bands from back in the good 'ole days (y'know, the 90's) is trying to make a go of it again, attempting to put out a new album on their own instead of going with a label. But, they need our help to do it. Michael and I have pledged our support. Watch this video for more information on how you can be part of The Insyderz's new record!



So, what do you say? You can't say 'no' to ska, can you?  Click here to pledge your support!  If they don't meet their goal, you're not out any money.  Plus, if you DO donate to them, you can get the album and/or a t-shirt... so... win-win! There are only 33 days left till their cut-off date, and they are just over half way there.  Could definitely use your help!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Homeschool Recap, Week 35 (Kindergarten Complete!)...

We really didn't have much to do this week, but I had planned for us to go 35-weeks... so I dragged things out.  It's so hard to believe that we're done with Kindergarten!  I remember getting started and being soooo nervous about doing things right, just like it was yesterday.  Now we have a year of homeschool under our belt.  Yay!

Monday:
- I also had Preston go through several end-of-year worksheets (I downloaded for free here) to describe what he liked, didn't like, remembered, and some of his favorite things in general.  I have a feeling I'll treasure this information for a long time.
I wrote what he told me to!
- We spent time going through his folders of work and seeing what we wanted to keep as good examples of what he did this year, putting it in a Kindergarten Binder.  We'll also be using that to show off at a Homeschool Party we're going to next week... kind of a Kindergarten graduation for him and awards ceremony for some other homeschool kids we know.
- Preston spent a good chunk of the day writing up, hiding and figuring out scavenger-hunt type clues.  He would hide something, make up clues and hide them and I would search.  Then I'd do the same for him.  He had so much fun doing this!

Tuesday:
- Daily devo
- Another end-of-year worksheet about what he learned this year.  Apparently, nothing... according to him.  I love how when you ask him an open-ended question, he completely goes blank.  Ok, yes, I'm being sarcastic, it typically makes me feel like I've taught him absolutely nothing this year.  But, he knows stuff... he's shown me.  He's just not that great at pop-quizzes!  Haha.  One of the sections simply said "My Teacher..." and he was to finish the statement.  He wrote "makes me breakfast."  Lol!  That cracked me up.  That is something that wouldn't happen at "regular" school, I'm sure.
- I went through his math folder and picked out stuff for the binder.

Wednesday:
- Daily devo
- The worksheet this time was about his favorite things... tv show, song, movie, toy, etc.  He drew cute little pictures for the answers and I labeled 'em for him.
Love his drawings!
- I went through his science and social studies folder with him to pick out stuff for the binder.  I... need a bigger binder to showcase the best of his work (or the stuff I want to keep anyway).  Haha, oops.  There's just so many good, fun things that I would like to keep to remember Kindergarten!

Thursday:
- Daily devo
- Today's worksheet was entitled "My Best Day Ever" and it had a square to draw a picture and lines to write a story.  Preston was all "I can't think of one!"  I told him he could make up one or try to remember one, and threw out a few examples.  He picked something that happened just a few days ago.  His Daddy took him to Legoland and they had a great time together... it wasn't a whole day, but it was a great afternoon and evening together for them (it was his reward for doing such a great job as ring-bearer in the wedding last weekend).  He wrote "Legoland was fun. I loved it."  
Daddy & P looking at a Lego Man.
Friday:
- Daily devo and notebook.  Preston illustrated how he and Jesus handle the day TOGETHER!
Illustrating a theme from the devotional
Last "subject" complete!



This post linked up with:
Hip Homeschool Hop Button Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Friday, May 27, 2011

Homeschool Mother's Journal, week 35...

The Homeschool Mother's Journal
The Homeschool Mother's Journal is a weekly writing prompt and link-up, hosted by The Homeschool Chick. I just came across it and am jumping in, even though it's the end of our school year.  I'll try to keep up with it next year, because I like the fact that it's not solely about the lessons or the kids... it's about the Homeschool Mother and what's on her heart.

In my life this week…
I'm not feeling quite as much love for the 31 Days to Clean Challenge as I have the previous weeks.  And it's nearly over!  Have really had to push myself to do the Martha Challenges and have pretty much ignored the Mary parts.  I was just really lazy this week.  Also, my mom got some medical news that has us a little anxious.  It could be absolutely nothing, or it could be... something.  They were supposed to do a test on Thursday, but that didn't happen... so more wait and see and wonder.
In our homeschool this week…
We filled out some end-of-the-year worksheets and went through all of Preston's work, pulling out what we want to keep to represent Kindergarten.  And... we're done!  My boy has officially completed Kindergarten!  I can't even believe it!
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Michael and I had our Couples Class Small Group on Wednesday evening.  Was nice to get out of the house without the kids, even if it was just an hour and a half.  Other than that, the kids and I didn't leave the house this week!
My favorite thing this week was…
Just being lazy.  We slept late a few of the days, and school took like 10 minutes.  Guess I am looking forward to the summer break more than I thought!
What’s working/not working for us…
Preston was rather well-behaved this week.  There were very few times I had to get on to him.  I'm hoping that means our Blessings and If-Then Charts are working...that us being more consistent in discipline is working.
Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…
We're taking a little bit of a break for the summer, but I have some stuff for Preston to do to keep working on his writing.  Planning on using A Reason for Handwriting, starting in July.
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Preston randomly came up to me the other day and said, "Look, I come with instructions!"
One says "Take me go to Legoland"
Translated: "Instructions love, shower, twice toothbrush"
My homeschool weekly recap (the last one for now!) will be posted on Sunday morning.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

31 Days to Clean, part 4 (of 5)...

Homemakers Challenge - 31 Days to Clean
It's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag!

Day 20 - Washed the mirrors in the bathroom and pondered where all my time goes... then I realized I was sitting around pondering for a while and wasted a lot of time.  Um... vicious circle much?  Or... question answered, perhaps.

Day 21 - I quickly cleaned the toilets and sinks in the bathrooms because the rest of the day was full of wedding festivities.  Preston was ring bearer in our friend, Dannell's, wedding... and thankfully everything went smoothly.  Yeah, I was a bit nervous that my sometimes-rebellious-5-year-old would have one of his moods and things would go all wrong on his part, but... he did SO GOOD!  Everyone kept telling me (and him) how great he did the whole day.  Super proud of him!

Day 22 - I wore myself out on Sunday, trying to finish up the rest of cleaning the bathrooms (tubs!) and tackling window in the boys' rooms.  I also added dusting the fan and the rest of the rooms, since I was on a roll.  I didn't have the energy to work on... or even think about... routine, or making up a schedule.  Once again, slacking on the Mary challenges here.
  • Doing Day 21 and 22 of #31daystoclean today. Instead of home office, I'm doing the boys' rooms. So much to be done!

Day 23 - The boys' rooms both have wood laminate... so for the Martha challenge all I did was sweep (though I did make sure to move the beds and stuff to get under those too!).  Concerning distractions... basically if I don't put it down on my to-do list, it might not get done.  So, my Six List has been my best friend that past few weeks!  Hooray for being able to mark stuff off a list instead of trying to wrack my brain at the end of the day in hopes of remembering something I was supposed to do!  I may get distracted, but I can always go back to my list and see where I'm at.

Day 24 - One thing I'm really bad at is filing paperwork.  I tend to just throw it on top of the filing cabinet until it topples over, then I might get around to filing it.  So, today's Mary and Martha challenges both had to do with organizing a 'hot spot.'  I got all that stuff filed away a lot quicker than I thought.  Guess it wasn't as bad as it seemed.  Now, if I could just do that on a regular basis, there'd be no paperwork mountain threatening to come crashing down every time you walked by our door!

Day 25 - I totally lost my momentum today.  The Martha Challenge was to clean/organize home office shelves/desks.  Since I don't have a home office and I already cleaned our desk in our bedroom anyway, I was going to tackle Preston's book shelf.  It tends to get out of control, and all the books start falling out and what not.  I just... didn't do it.  I went in there a couple of times to get started, took a look at the shelves, and walked back out.  I read the Mary Challenge but shrugged it off.  Total fail.  I'll try again tomorrow.
  • I'm on #31daystoclean Day 24, but lacking the motivation to get in there & do it (don't have a homeoffice, the boys' shelves are my goal).
  • I mean Day 25... whatever. I lack the motivation to know what day it is too, apparently. #31daystoclean

Day 26 - Today I did what I wanted to do yesterday... cleaned and organized Preston's bookshelf.  I got Callen down for a nap and Preston and I pulled off all the books, sorted 'em and re-organized 'em.  It looks great. For now.  I was also able to make enough room to move some of the homeschool books back to his shelf.  I'm having a hard time figuring out where I want those kind of books.  For now, I think this works.  I ended moving half of his book collection to his little corner shelf so that the big bookshelf wasn't completely overloaded.  There was also a big stack of baby/board books that he wanted to give to Callen, so those helped free up more room too.  We have room for more books now!
I also quickly dusted off the laptop and both computer screens since that was part of today's Martha Challenge.  The Mary Challenge focused on laundry... I try to stay on top of that pretty well.  Though, I admit, I am not the best at folding and putting away clothes that have been cleaned.  The kids usually have a basket in their room of clean clothes that just need to be put away... yet, it takes me a few days to ever do that!  Gotta work on that!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

It's not Delivery, It's Just Really Stinkin' Delicious!

Pure yum!
"It's not delivery, it's DiGiorno!"  Y'know, I've seen those commercials a thousand times.  Never really thought about it much.  I usually buy off-brand frozen pizzas, or name brand ones that are on the cheaper side.  I tend to burn 'em to a crisp anyway.  This past weekend, I saw that the DiGiorno Pizza & Cookies meals were on sale at Target, and I had a coupon.  Best decision ever!  I heated that pepperoni pizza up, and watched it extra carefully (I'm telling you, I almost ALWAYS burn whatever it is that's in my oven).  While it was cooking, I slapped together a salad and threw a handful of the chopped bell peppers on half of the pizza close to the end.  When I pulled that puppy outta there, it was beautiful.  Perfection!  I made up plates for Preston and myself and popped the cookies into the oven as I sat down.  Preston was all "Where are my cookies?!?!"  He expected us to eat the pizza and cookies at the same time, so I had to explain... uh, those are dessert, dear!  Anyway, the pizza was divine.  I know, I'm talking frozen pizza here, right?  But seriously, it was delicious.  The crust was cooked just right, the cheese was gooey and the pepperonis were crisp, the way I like 'em.  Ya'll... Preston had three pieces!  I pulled the cookies out at just the right moment (again, I tend to burn cookies or undercook them because I'm so scared of burning them!) and the smell filled the room... this lovely Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies fragrance just completely overtook my house.  Preston nearly had a fit, he wanted them so badly... but, of course, we had to wait for them to cool off a bit.  They, just like the pizza, were divine.  It was the perfect combination... someone over at DiGiorno deserves a raise for thinking up this one!

Face of a happy boy!
And, no, I'm not getting paid to write this.  I didn't even receive a free product for it (but DiGiorno, if you're reading this... a couple of free coupons would certainly not go to waste if they happen to show up at my door!).  I just felt the need to tell everyone how great my meal was.  So there!

Five Summer Getaway Ideas...

Ah, yes, Summer is rapidly approaching.  The warmer weather is setting in, the days are getting longer and the kiddos are itching be done with school for a few months.  For a lot of people, Summer means "Let's pack up the kids and go!"  Because the kids need a little more than TV, video games and Facebook all Summer, right?  You wanna give them exciting, interesting, educational and fun experiences, right?  RIGHT?  Perhaps you need some inspiration on which way to head.  Maybe I can help!

Visit family!  Why not visit your Aunt Sarah and Uncle Joe?  Provided you have relatives who live somewhere outside of your own city limits, AND provided you're on friendly terms with them, call 'em up and say "Hey, we're bringing the kids and the dog... mind if we crash at your place for a week or so?"  Ok, it might not be that easy, but staying with family can be an educational and inexpensive getaway.  C'mon, it's good for the kids all the embarrassing stories about you and your siblings when you were younger!  And not having to rent a hotel saves you money!  I know I enjoyed going to family reunions when I was a kid... you just never knew what you'd learn about your crazy family!

Perhaps you were thinking of something more adventurous.  How about getting back to nature and bonding with your kids over s'mores and ghost stories 'round a campfire?  Looking up at the wide open sky and all those millions of stars you can't see in the Big City.  There's just something about camping out that brings a family closer together.  Make the kids leave the Nintendo DS at home, no iPhones allowed... just the sounds of nature, doing it's thing!  You don't have to go far if you don't want to either, I'm sure you can find a camping area near you.  I have the greatest memories of camping trips with my family in Meridian State Park.  I got to see armadillos up close (and not dead!), and will never forget being afraid of them... until I saw one run right smack into a log. Then I realized that they're not very smart!  Ha!

Not into sleeping on the ground?  That's cool.  There are still lots of ways to enjoy nature and God's great creation.  I would suggest that you grab a map, and figure out which Ocean is closest to you... and head THAT way.  Nobody should ever be denied the chance to look out on the great, big ocean blue!  Now, I've been to the Gulf of Mexico... which kind of counts, but it paled in comparison to standing on the beach in Orlando, Florida gazing upon The Atlantic... or walking along the beach in Los Angeles, California and watching the waves on The Pacific.  But... take which ever large body of water you can... and DIVE IN!  Let the kids build sand castles and enjoy some fresh seafood.

If none of those are floating your boat and you live in the South, my next suggestion is basically...anywhere cooler.  I have lived in Texas my whole life, and Summers... well, they are dang hot!  So, if you are fed up with the heat... travel North.  Try checking out Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, travel up into the U.P of Michigan, check out the vast and beautiful land of Montana.  Heck, why not go all out and cross the border into Canada.  Trust me, do it just for the accents... it'll be worth it.  Uhh, I think you need a passport for that these days, though.  Just saying.  I know that in the middle of July and August, all I want is to be somewhere much, much less hot!

I realize the economy is not exactly in a great place right now, so maybe a "real" vacation is just not on the books this year.  That's ok.  But don't completely rule out some time off and away with the kids.  Stay-cations are all the rage these days anyway!  I have a feeling there are landmarks and neat places all over your area that you've never taken the time to explore.  Go for it!  Go realize how awesome your city or town is!  Teach your kids the history behind where you live... you'll probably learn something too!  I grew up in Fort Worth, but I guarantee there are tons of hot spots I don't even know about... and don't get me started on Dallas!

So, whatever you're in the mood for... go, do, have fun!  You (and the kids!) deserve the break.  Enjoy your Summer!

[I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Alamo blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.] 

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Garage Sale Treasures

I forgot to post about this last week when it happened, but I just remembered... so I'm gonna do it now!  Last Saturday, I asked Michael to watch the boys for a few minutes so I could run out to hit a sale on diapers (exciting, huh?), but on my way back from the store I saw a bunch of garage sale signs.  I couldn't help myself!  I cruised by a few and could tell from the street, they didn't have anything I was interested in.  I stopped at one, and it was soooo weird.  It was like a garage sale I would have.  I mean, the baby clothes were nearly all clothes we have have or had at one time.  They had games and movies that we've owned.  It was a little Twilight Zone-ish.  BUT, everything was extremely over-priced!  I didn't buy anything.  I headed back home, but then saw that the elementary school near my house was having a big parking lot sale.  I had to stop!  

I'm glad I did, too, because I loaded up on some great reader books for Preston.  At 5 for a $1.  There were some ragged ones, but there were also some really good, quality books too... woo hoo!  Score!  When I got home and showed Preston our new treasures, he was pretty excited too!

This post is linked up to My Life on a Taffy Pull's Garage Sale Treasures.

Homeschool Recap, Week 34...

This week and next... and we're done with Kindergarten.  In fact, I don't really have much for us to do other than review some of things we did this year.  I can't believe it's almost over!  I mean, of course homeschooling for us is just beginning, but THIS YEAR IS ALMOST OVER!

Monday:
- Daily devo
- Letter writing practice.  Preston still struggles with most lower case letters, especially where to put them on the lines.  He's got the capital letters practically perfect.  So, I had him do his alphabet in lower case, capital, and then had him practice writing his full name correctly (not all capital, not some lower case but mostly capital, correctly!).  This took a while.
- Reviewed money, how much each coin is worth, etc.
- Reviewed Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Obama... and what a president does.
- Used My Giant Flip Book (the one I got at Borders a while back for 75cents, yay!) and went over "Good Habits" and "Safety"... been meaning to do that for a while, but just now getting to it.  He was sad to see "get plenty of rest" and "brush your teeth after eating" on the list for good habits, 'cause he hates taking naps and brushing his teeth,  haha.
- I had him to do some pages in the Learn Every Day book that we have yet to finish.  It was simple tasks, but I left him 5 pages to do, told him to just read and follow the instructions, then I went and put Callen down for a nap.  When I came back, he was finishing up and had done everything perfectly.  Yay!  He got to wear the "Crown of Obedience" we created last week for a little while.
- He wanted to do a science experiment he saw somewhere, so we filled a plastic bottle with hot water, poured it out and stuck it in ice water.  The bottle collapsed.  We talked about air pressure a little.  A bit over his head, of course, but he liked seeing the bottle collapse into itself.  Hehe.

Tuesday:
- Daily devo
- We reviewed even and odd numbers.  I used this set to do addition problems and put them in the even or odd category.  Then we made a graph showing how man evens and how many odds he had.
Even or Odd?
Making a graph
- I had him do a little Spring first-sounds activity, from here, while I took a quick shower.  He had to come up with and draw a picture of something that started with each of the letters in the word "spring."
Very interesting ideas, Preston!
- We reviewed living v. non-living things.
- Finished up the LED book!  Yay, all done with that!

Wednesday:
- Daily devo
- Reviewed pilgrims/indians
- Reviewed measurements (time, rules, thermometer, etc)
- Did a blooming message daisy activity, also from here.  I cut out some daisies, Preston and I each wrote a message in the middle and folded up the petals.  Then, we set them on top of a bowl of water and watched the flowers bloom to reveal the message.  So fun!

Thursday:
- Daily devo
- Reviewed the earth and solar system.
- Reviewed time on the clock and made sure he remembered how to count by 2's, 5's and 10's.
- While I was working on cleaning, Preston made me two amazing cards!  He folded a piece of paper up and on each fold he wrote something funny like "This card is going to be great" then "Keep opening to see" and "Oh boy are you excited?"  On the inside, he wrote "Ok that's enuff."  Haha, silly boy!  He came up with the idea on his own and the first card he did without ANY help from me (including spelling).  The second one, he asked me how to spell things like "quite" and "excited."  He does some of the best work and writing when he's just coming up with his own stuff... love it!
- When we went out for the mail, Preston noticed a little tree was starting to sprout up right under our big tree.  He gave it a bit of a tug and it came right up, roots and all!  You could see the acorn it sprouted from... made a nice little science lesson to review plants!
The acorn doesn't fall far from the tree!

Friday:
- Daily devo and notebook.  Preston illustrated how God sees the big picture while we only see pieces like a puzzle.  That's all we did for the day, because we went out with my mom for the day and then on to a wedding rehearsal - Preston was ring bearer in our friend, Dannell's, wedding. 

This post linked up with:
Hip Homeschool Hop Button Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers

Friday, May 20, 2011

Homeschool Mother's Journal, week 34...

The Homeschool Mother's Journal
The Homeschool Mother's Journal is a weekly writing prompt and link-up, hosted by The Homeschool Chick. I just came across it and am jumping in, even though it's the end of our school year.  I'll try to keep up with it next year, because I like the fact that it's not solely about the lessons or the kids... it's about the Homeschool Mother and what's on her heart.

In my life this week…
Doing lots of cleaning for the 31 Days to Clean Challenge, and actually enjoying most of it.  Weird, huh?
In our homeschool this week…
We have been mostly reviewing things from earlier this year since Kindergarten is nearly over! I've also been getting things ready for summer and next year.  I'm excited, can't help it.
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
This weekend Preston is going to be ring-bearer in a friend's wedding, so we'll get to see some old friends we haven't seen in a while. 
My favorite thing this week was…
The fact that we've been so relaxed.  I don't have anything intense left for us to do in school, so we've had really easy school days as far as the work goes.
What’s working/not working for us…
Preston must have picked up on the easy-going-ness because most days this week, he didn't have any interest in even getting started.  So, there was a bit of resistance every day except Friday when it was all fun activities.
Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…
Just hoping and praying that eventually we'll get over the previously mentioned resistance that tends to happen most mornings.  I mean, he'll WANT to do school at some point, right?
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Michael brought home a book called Who Made God? and when Preston saw it, he a very knowing look on his face and said, "Duhhhh, no one!"  I love that he knows that, and that we can have the opportunity to talk and teach freely about God.  Yay, homeschool!  

My homeschool weekly recap will be posted on Sunday morning.

Keeping Callen Occupied...

While Preston and I are doing school in the mornings, Callen is usually nearby in the floor or hanging out in his highchair.  Here are some pix of what keeps him occupied so we can work:

Lots of eating takes place!
Coloring!
Tickling brother!
Shake, shake, shake!
Playing with bowls.
I've skipped several milestone posts, but Callen is definitely walking... often practically running.  A few days ago he climbed up on the couch by himself - and stood up... oh boy!  That's trouble.  He is obsessed with playing with the electronics and cords still.  Thankfully he has taken interest in the little V-Tech computers we have (one is his, the other is Preston's... he prefers Preston's, of course).  He'll sit and play on the computer for a while, it's super cute!  He is saying very clearly: mama, dada, bubba, light, no no.  He's repeating some words as he hears them... he's starting to say "nite nite!"  He's really good at understanding and following instructions.  I'll tell him "go get your cup, bring it to mama" and he'll go find it in the other room and bring it back!  I'm finally read to wean, I think.  Is it sad that the main reason I'm so ready this time is because the Boppy has another big hole in it, and I don't wanna attempt sewing it up again?  How's that for motivation?  Haha!  We're down to about two nursings a day (just before bed and around 6am - when he's been getting up this whole past week, ughhhh!), so I don't guess we're too far from being done.

Callen loves the word "light" and so it only makes sense that his favorite song is "Light Up The Sky" from The Afters.  I finally got a good video of him watching their video on JC-TV and him 'singing' along!




Oh, and Callen got featured on Totally Tots today! Cool! Click the button to see him and the other adorable kiddos.
Cute Tot

Thursday, May 19, 2011

31 Days to Clean, part 3 (of 5)...

Homemakers Challenge - 31 Days to CleanIt's not too late to start, if you are interested in the 31 Days To Clean Challenge.  The blog info is here and the 31 Days To Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way e-book can be found here.  You can start anytime, do it any way you want to, there aren't rigid rules... don't be intimidated.  There's also a helpful and encouraging forum, as well as twitter friends at the #31daystoclean hashtag! 

 Day 14 - Today's Martha Challenge was something about trading winter bedding for summer bedding.  Ummm.... what?  Never heard of such a thing.  Ok, fine, it makes sense in certain parts of the world I guess... and well, I don't even have a Winter/Summer wardrobe either.  I wear the same thing year-round... I also have the same comforters and sheets year-round.  I did, however, get a jump start on Day 15's Challenge because we plan to be gone most of the day tomorrow.  I'm only doing the master bedroom right now.  Taking on all three at once is a little much for me, I think.  So, since I don't have a home office (our computer, desk, etc. is set up in our master bedroom), I'll work on the boys' rooms then.

Day 15 - We had church and went to a Rangers game, so there wasn't much time for anything else.  I feel kinda guilty because I have been slacking on the Mary Challenges the past few days, but getting the Martha Challenges done just fine.  It seems to be easier to get up and clean lately than to spend time sitting still and figuring out certain areas of my life.  And today's challenge, having to do with coming up with a lesson plan... that should be right up my alley, being a homeschool mom and all, but, nope... totally ignored it.  I'll try to come back to that sometime this week!

Day 16 - What's blocking me from achieving my goals and ideals?  Lack of motivation... thinking it's too hard or not worth the trouble, I guess.  I feel like I don't have what I need or know where to start.  What can I do about it?  Do blog challenges!  Lol!  Seriously, doing this Mary/Martha Challenge is kicking my butt and getting me to do things I've NEVER done.  Today I vacuumed the mattress.  It wasn't part of the challenge, but I felt like it probably needed it!  I also dusted the fan in the bedroom and then vacummed the floors and some under the bed (eeeepppp!!!).  So, I didn't do exactly what the challenge told me to do, but pretty darn close at least.
Day 17 - Today's Mary challenge involved taking the DISC Personality Style Quiz.  I don't know how many times I've taken this thing, but I always forget what I am or what my choices are.  Anyway, for the record, I'm an "S" which apparently can mean "supportive" or "steady."  Basically, I like familiarity, I care about feelings, I'm dependable and understanding, etc.  I don't like change or confrontation... that's so true!  Anyway, now I know... let's see if I can remember.  I finished dusting the rest of the bedroom that I had already started. I peaked ahead to tomorrow's Martha Challenge, ugh our closets.  I swear, I organize that monkey every couple of months... it'll be nice for a few days, then BAM, total chaos again!  Anyway, I felt like it would a big task, so after the boys went to sleep, I got started.
  • Uhhhh.... I just peaked at tomorrow's Martha Challenge. Closet? Clean? Organize? Are you kidding me?
Day 18 - Since I got a head start last nite, it wasn't too bad.  I really just had to vacuum what I could of the floor in the closet.
Before
After
Well, at least you can SEE the floor now!  Granted, the closet is not how I'd like it to be, but we gotta but our stuff SOMEWHERE!  There isn't a lot of clothes or things to purge in there anymore (done that too many times already!).  But, I really struggle with the balance between throwing things away and keeping mementos.  So we have lots of boxes of letters, pictures, cards, and random things from concerts (tickets, posters, flyers, autographs, etc).  Sometimes I wanna just throw it all away because it causes so much clutter.  But then, I'm all... BUT THE MEMORIES!!!  I have also wrestled with selling my wedding dress and prom dress (yes, still have it 11 years later!).  I keep thinking I will list them, then just never get around to it in time for proms.  I guess there's always next year!  Haha!
  • Tackled that closet last nite, now just need to vacuum the carpet in there (at least what I can get to). Take that, Day 18, !!
Day 19 - We're supposed to move into the bathroom today, but our medicine cabinet is actually in our hall closet... so I started there and ended up in my bathroom.  I threw out several expired medicines and prescriptions, sorted some of my random stuff in the closet and made lots more room. 
Before, all crammed in there
After, slightly less crammed in there
It looks the same because I was able to take stuff that had been cluttering up my bathroom and move it into the cabinet.  Haha.  It still looks cluttered in here, but now my bathroom space is de-cluttered.  Moving junk from one place to another...  you can relate, right?  Please tell me you can relate!  =)
  • Got most of Day 19 done, just waiting for baby to wake so I can vacuum the closet floor (our med cabinet = hall closet!)
  • Yay, hall/medicine closet organized, master bathroom de-cluttered! Successful Day 19, I'd say! 

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Prestonism on The Cooking Channel...

My son adores doing infomercials and hosting his own shows.  I rarely get to catch this awesomeness on camera, though.  This time... I got it:

Monday, May 16, 2011

Twizzlers Landmark Summer

We had a blast in San Antonio last month, on our road trip with the family.  Got to see The Alamo, The Riverwalk, Sea World and so much more!  Now that the trip has come and gone, it's got me wondering... where to next?!?!  One place my husband and I have talked about going (when the kids are old enough to really enjoy it) is Washington, D.C.  We'd love to check out all the amazing history museums and see the famous landmarks!  Again, it's not really something we're up for right now while the kids are so young, but someday!


Twizzlers is currently running a promotion looking to send a family on a road trip to their favorite U.S. Landmark.  Or you could win a G.P.S., digital camera and more!  Prizes are given away every day, so enter every day to win!  Mmm, I love me some Twizzlers!
Hey, we have one of these in Dallas now, too!
I'd totally eat that!
I am writing this post to be entered into a contest for a Twizzlers Landmark Summer promotion prize pack as a member of the Mom Bloggers Club.

Baseball Blessings!

This weekend's weather could not have been better!  Middle of May and under 75-degrees, absolutely wonderful!  On Saturday we went to a birthday party for a 4-yr-old and spent a good deal of time outside enjoying the weather and some friends from church!  
Bounce! Bounce!

We decided we should take advantage of Preston's Junior Ranger perks and go to the Ranger game on Sunday since it would be too hot in the coming months!  At least for me and Callen - no thank you!  After church we raced home, changed clothes and headed to the ballpark.  So thankful it's only minutes away from us!  We paid to park, walked up to the ticket booth and even though we were there an hour early, the game was pretty much sold out (only standing room tickets and no-two-seats-together-type tickets).  Um, I can't stand for that long with a 14-month old and a 5-yr-old, no way.  We were pretty bummed at the thought of having to just go home.  So... Michael started walking around the ballpark to see if there was anyone selling tickets... sure, it would cost a lot more, but we didn't want to waste the great day!  Anyway, turns out there was a guy trying to sell back a couple of tickets he didn't need, but he was being told he couldn't sell them at the ballpark.  Michael stepped up at just the right moment and the man gave us the two tickets!  And not just any old tickets... 17 rows behind Home Plate.  Not bad!  
Great seats!

Michael offered to pay for them, but he said "no" (we tried several times to give him money... and the Neftali Feliz jersey the kid's got, but he wouldn't take anything).  We had to buy a standing room ticket so that we could all enter the ballpark, but then we just figured we would hold the kids in our laps.  Turns out, the seat next to us never got filled... so Preston got a seat there with us too!  It was such an amazing blessing of a day!  God just totally provided a fun, family day out... and the Rangers won!

Callen got antsy a few times (and didn't even nap allll day, only fell asleep when we were walking back to the car!), as did Preston, so we walked around a lot.  It did end up getting pretty warm when the sun wasn't behind the clouds and we weren't getting much breeze where we were.  But, overall, I can't complain about any of it!  Preston and Michael got to run the bases after the game too.  He loved that!
Who's a VIP?

Touching Home Plate
Adorable Father & Son time!