Hi Ho, Hi Ho....to get a tree we go....

After a rare stretch of balmy-for-December weather, we decided to go chop down a Christmas tree early. 'Go chop down', as opposed to 'go to the nursery, point to a good tree, then go pet the cat who lives there'.

We had a plan. *Tall and plump*. After some "suggestions" we did have to add:* green and pointed* to that list. Later we had to add: *still alive*.

After 47 days and nights tromping around the tree farm, tripping on stumps, falling in holes, we narrowed down the list bit by bit. Every hill we discarded another requirement until at last we were left with: GREEN. Even that was negotiable.

In spit of lowering our expectations we still could not decide on a tree. Weeping with hunger and fatigue, I finally conceded to Janey that she could pick whatever tree she wanted.

And this, my friends, is how the fattest Christmas tree *EVER* came to dwell in my living room!

Bake Pops; Part Deux

">A while back the girls and I decide to make cake pops. Once. We made them, and learned our lesson.

This year for Janey's birthday her friends Jessie and Katie got her the "As Seen on tv" Bake Pops.

Thankfully Jackie (Jessie and Katie's super mom) also got a set, and gave us a few pointers.

I was still skeptical, and kind of dreaded making them.

Directions seemed easy enough. Make cake as directed, and add a package of pudding mix.

Pour into bottom pan. That would be the pan without the holes.

Take a picture of the cute birthday girlInstead of using melted chocolate to set the sticks and coat the cake, Jackie suggested heating up frosting. I can.not.even.BEGIN to tell you how much easier this made it!!

All we had to do was decorate, and voila!! Done and done.

So easy, and so yummy! AND a very important lesson that sometimes the "as seen on tv" gimmicks are well worth it!

King me!

Every now and then an idea so simple smacks me in the side of the head. Usually the result of fighting kids, this one is no exception.

Last week I bought a chess/checkers set after the girls showed renewed interest.

Who knows where our old one(s) have gone to.

Needless to say, the boys want to play chess and the girls want to play checkers. At.the.same.time.

So..... with these few supplies, I made one of my best things EVER.

Acrylic paint in red and black

Yardstick

Sharpie

Brushes (foam worked really well)

Screwdriver

And most importantly:

A wooden picnic table

I measured the "board" and marked off the spaces with the sharpie.

Mine were 3 inches square.

Use the screwdriver to 'etch' the lines in. It will help with the painting.

Not something you *have to do, but it made it a bit easier.
I put 3 or 4 coats of paint on. It dried quickly, and I stopped once I had the coverage I wanted.

Add the black squares.

I wanted this (obviously) to be weatherproof.

It is our crab eating table also, so it has to take a bit of wear and tear.

I used this sealer. Why? Because I had it already.

Used newspaper and tape to cover the parts I didn't want sealed.

Had to use packing tape, since duct tape disappears faster than candy in this house.

Again, one of those things I have no answer to.

Couple of coats later...voila!! How awesome is this??

Now all they need is some checkers.

Sun In

Finally was brave enough to let Janey swim in the deep end.

She perfected her underwater moves called "give mom a heart attack".

She can hold her breath for something close to 46 minutes. Or so it feels.

Summer: Blonde hair for the kid.

Gray hair for the mama.

Not for the timid

Always looking for some fun (free) crafts to do at home. Preferably ones that we can get a lot of use out of. After discovering the rock hard, dried up finger paint I went in search of a recipe for make your own. I found a few recipes, and they all looked pretty simple.

Simple I can do.

3 ingredients simple I can really do.

You know, 3 ingredients. Can't be that bad.

Things you may not know:

Cornstarch is messy. Really messy.

It is not the same consistency as flour, and if you are dumb enough to make the mistake of trying to pour it into a measuring cup, well....you will be making a big mistake.

Cornstarch and water, brought to a boil to thicken WILL bubble.

If it gets on your skin, especially on the soft, unprotected flesh of your fingers, you WILL scream.

You might even scream "F*CK!!!"

You will not, however, feel too bad about it because you will be in stunning disbelief as to how much it burns, and how cornstarch+boiling water= molten hot GLUE.

The mixing of the colors was the best part in the opinion of the paint makers.

I would love to be able to tell you how it actually works, but apparetnly they only wanted to make the fingerpaint. Not use it.

Probably for the best right now. I am sure it would irritate my blistered, burned flesh.

Summer So Far

swimming

swimming

and more swimming

janey's day spa

sparklers

picnic lunches

radishes from the garden. mysteriously planted, but enjoyed none the less.

crabs. I like them steamed. stella prefers live.

red, white, blue, and peace on earth

baby horses and the beach

so far so good!

Hindsight

Better Late than Never

It has been a full year since we remodeled out bathroom upstairs. It was old. Outdated. Bad, bad, bad. It didn't even have an electrical outlet. Not a single one! What kind of person puts in a bathroom without an electrical outlet?!?

It was well worth the hassle of 6 people sharing one bathroom.

Well...Teddy might disagree as it his his bathroom of choice ;)

It was also well worth every penny, although I could have bought a fairly nice brand new car with what it cost. Who the hell knew that plumbers were so damn expensive?? Who the hell knew faucets were so expensive??

This cabinet was ALOT bigger on the picture, and once I got it put together I was too lazy to return it. I could really use this to be about 5 times bigger.

Without meaning to, the bathroom evolved into a beach theme. All with things I had, and that mean something to me.

Stuff from trips to the beach, my garden, days fishing on the boat, and from my grandmother.

Shells from many beach visits. An intact sand dollar from Ocean City on the day Teddy and I visited what would be his new home away from home. A tiny baby horseshoe crab from the same day, and a sand dollar from my Nana.

A teeny tiny seagull painting my grandmother painted. I love seagulls, and know I am in the minority there! A conch Teddy found clamming, and a stained glass sailboat that was in my grandfather's office until he retired.

Julian picked out the tile in the shower. My head started spinning at all the choices, and I went into a decorating coma. Kudos to her for not only picking out something that looked great, but, believe it or not, this was the lowest priced tile and mosaic.

And now a year later, after buying, trying, and rejecting many curtains, I finally made some to finish the bathroom. My sewing skills are limited, but I can make a mean curtain! All I know I learned in middle school home ec class. In case you may think I'm a little too big for my britches, I will show you what I *really have to work with!

My fancy sewing machine (that I swipe from Julian) as well as my very helpful (NOT!) helpers!

So...finally it is done. Until i decide what I want to hang on the walls. Maybe by next year :)