My Remodeled Nest

Happy Angry Bird-day!

2011-08-09T23:40:00.000-04:00

My son Benjamin recently turned SIX! I know, that's crazy! And each year when I ask what type of party the boys want...lately their answer is always STAR WARS! I don't quite understand what the appeal is with Star Wars, so I was very happy when Ben suggested having an "Angry Birds" party! He loves playing "Angry Birds" on my husband's phone, and I have to admit I like playing it too!

I found many ideas on Pinterest. And since Angry Birds is fairly new, there isn't any type of party decorations (unless you have a ton of money to spend on Etsy). So I had to come up with ideas on my own or should I say with the help of the internet! ;)

I LOVED this balloon idea! It can be found HERE.

The party stores in the neighborhood wouldn't fill latex balloons with helium, so I bought a small helium tank from Walmart and filled my own. Or should I say my hubby filled them for me! I know that latex doesn't hold helium long, but my balloons started falling about a half hour after we filled them! :( So that was a bust! But they sure were cute while they lasted!

What was neat about making these little characters was that the paper weighed down the balloons a little, so we left them hang from the ceiling and it looked like the little angry birds were looking down on us! ;)

I think the little blue one is my favorite!

I found these little plush pigs and angry birds at Toys R Us...so I bought them and we set up our own little lifesized Angry Bird Game.

We were going to use a real slingshot, but it was too hard for the boys to work, so they just threw the angry birds! They had a blast!

As for the cake, I ordered it at Walmart. I could have baked a cake like this, but I try to eliminate as much added stress as possible lately, so we had the party catered, and I ordered the cake. I did however decorate the cake myself. I was going to make little angry birds out of clay or fondant, but again I wanted no stress, so I ordered the Angry Bird Game off of Amazon.com and just used the game pieces. I think it made the cake look fun!

I was a little upset with the fact that the cake decorator inscribed the cake wrong. I specifically gave her what to write in writing, but she still managed to screw it up. It was supposed to say: "Happy Angry Bird-day Ben!" But she wrote: "Happy Angry Bird Birthday Ben!" But oh well, it's just minor and bothered me just a little! ;)

But in the end Ben loved his cake and that's all that mattered! :)

Here is the invitation that I made him. I think it's horrible, and I could have done a much better job had I hand drawn it, but I digitally drew it on the computer which is hard!

And finally here we are in our Angry Bird shirts that I waited to the last minute to buy. In the end I traveled about an hour to find our shirts in our sizes! Alex is going through this stage where he makes faces everytime we take a photo! It's exhausting! lol

So that was our simple Angry Bird party! Do you play Angry Birds?

Chicken Tomato Alfredo=YUM!

2011-08-07T21:07:00.000-04:00

I have a love affair with pasta! I would be in some serious trouble had I married an Italian! ;) Luckily, my husband is Polish but holidays can be fattening with all of the homemade pierogies & cabbage rolls! lol

Anyway, here is one of my new favorite pasta recipes. This is super yummy! A couple weeks ago I had made a homemade alfredo sauce, but it called for butter, garlic, flour, half-and-half, Parmesan Cheese, Colby-Monterey Jack Cheese, and Sour Cream..among other things. The recipe was super super rich and my husband and I didn't care for it. It was a highly rated 5 star recipe on allrecipes.com...but for us it was merely 3 stars if that. My husband and I didn't even have a second helping...it was that bad. I think it was just too much cheese, butter and sour cream!

Anyway I had made this Chicken Tomato Alfredo and fell head over heels in love with it!

This is my second time making it and I made a few minor changes from the original recipe, and to us it is perfect! The original recipe can be found HERE. I love her blog! Her recipes look sooo yummy! I definitely want to try more, especially after this recipe turned out soo well!

While her recipe was super yummy, I found that two cans of tomatoes like she suggested in place of mushrooms was just too much. My husband liked it, and while it was good, the second time I used only one can and it was PERFECT! I ate three huge plates! I'll be totally mad when it causes me to put on a few pounds, but I promise you...it's sooooo worth it! ;)

Here is the recipe exactly as I made it!

Chicken Tomato Alfredo

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup olive oil

3 chicken breasts (halves), cubed

1 regular onion,diced

2 tsp minced garlic (I used 4 large cloves)

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 package Alfredo sauce mix (I used Knorrs)

12 oz. Fresh slice mushrooms (I didn't add any mushrooms because my hubby hates them, but I imagine it's sooo good that way)

1(15oz) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 cup chopped parsley or 2 T. dried (I used dried)

2 T. dried basil

1 lb fettuccini or any pasta you like, cooked according to package directions (I love using Penne Pasta)

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (not the shaker cheese...use the real shredded cheese)

Heat the oil and the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken, onion, and garlic and cook until chicken is no longer pink. While the chicken is cooking, whisk the cream and alfredo sauce mix together in a small bowl. When chicken is cooked pour the cream sauce mixture into the skillet with chicken. Add the mushrooms, tomatoes and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over high heat while stirring. Reduce the heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until sauce thickens. Stir in Parsley and basil. Remove from heat and toss the sauce with cooked pasta and parmesan cheese.

This is soo yummy and it makes just enough sauce for 1 lb of penne pasta! Blogging this is making my mouth water...it's nearly 9 at night and I think I'm headed to the fridge for leftovers! lol

Enjoy!

Beach- Day 6

2011-07-14T12:34:00.000-04:00

This was our last full day camping at the beach! This day we went back to Assateague Island (Maryland) to enjoy our day!

The boys have a blast at the beach!

They could spend all day just playing, or laying around in the sand!

I can be found usually bent over, picking up shells that wash up on shore!

I love when we are visited by the horses!

And the horses love walking all over everyone's beach towels and eating and pooping on anything they can! As a matter of fact, the guy in the right of the photo had a "present" that was left on his beach towel! ;)

Some of the horses just stand and watch the ocean for hours!

This sweet little pony enjoys lunch on the beach.

Then she decides to take a nap! I love how the other horses just watch her sleep! There's something wonderful about a sleeping baby!

Sandy toes!

And one happy family sad to see their beach vacation over! :(

We stayed for a week, but I'm not posting photos of our last day. We didn't do much but pack up our camper and then eventually head home! We had soo much fun and I cannot wait until next year until we go back!

Beach- Day 5

2011-07-12T22:42:00.000-04:00

During our fifth day at the beach it was raining, so we decided to take a little road trip. We ended up driving to Assateague Island in Virginia which is about a 2 hour trip from Assateague in Maryland (where we were staying). I had saw online that they had a lighthouse, and I knew it was something that I wanted to photograph. It was literally pouring, so the conditions weren't that great but we really had a fun time!

I love this chippy little lighthouse!

Sorry, this photo is out of sequence. It was really cloudy and just plain BLAH when we first arrived! This photo was after we had gone to the car and it had gotten sunny! I hiked the trail to get some better shots! lol

I tend to over pack when we go on a camping trip. This year I packed even more than last, and had decided to pack their rain gear! It worked out perfectly...and these little rain jackets look so darn cute on them!

Ben was very nervous at the top of the lighthouse. I couldn't get a photo of him relaxed and smiling nice.

Here they are at the top. Still very nervous looking! lol

Here is a view from the top. It was pouring...so it looks very hazy! I just took a couple quick shots because I didn't want to get my camera soaked! As you can see from the photo there is a lot of stagnant water that surrounds the lighthouse. This meant that the mosquitoes were BAD! I normally don't get bit up by bugs, but they were feasting on me! They were flying into our cars and they were just everywhere! I never in my life have seen mosquitoes this bad!

Love these old windows and their views!

Like I said, the weather was soo crappy! But eventually and it figured it waited until we got to our car...it cleared up and became beautiful! So Ben and I hiked the trail (the only way of getting to the lighthouse)! But it was totally worth it!

After we visited the lighthouse we decided to take the "nature loop" scenic drive. And it was totally worth it! There were amazing views and amazing wild life! We saw a huge eagle perched in a tree, many beautiful birds and this huge snapping turtle!

I love the placement of the bird in this photo. It was soo serene there and such a perfect way of ending what would normally be a stay in the camper type of day!

Beach- Day 4

2011-07-11T20:35:00.000-04:00

We have been back from the beach for several weeks now and I am so sorry that I haven't finished posting the remaining photos. So here are a few photos of us at the boardwalk in Ocean City Maryland!

Here is one of the entrances to the boardwalk. You cannot really tell, but my boys are standing underneath the huge signage!

Chris and the boys taking in the sights!

Me and the boys.

I was really looking forward to finding the "Ocean Gallery" and photographing it! It's probably one of the most recognized places on the boardwalk. Inside is hundreds and hundreds of prints and paintings! If you are a neat freak...do not go inside...it is totally crammed inside!

I took the following two photos inside. I took them really quick, because I doubt that I was allowed to take photos inside of a print store. I just wanted to give you an idea of how packed it was inside!

There was just a very narrow path where you were able to walk through!

One thing about the boardwalk that was a bit much was the seagulls! They were EVERYWHERE... and they weren't very afraid of people at all! Tons of them would just fly right by your head! I don't mind birds, but at times it freaked me out a little! lol

We didn't go inside Ripleys, the huge tire outside the museum was a total photo op! ;)

One thing that did bother me a bit about the beach was how easily and how novel buying a hermit crab was! Every souvenir shop has cages full of them! Most offered special deals where if you bought a couple of t-shirts you'd get a free hermit crab! Poor crabs! They sure are beautiful to look at though!

I always love getting photos of the clocks when we are on vacation! They are so ornate and I love how they are welcoming as well! This one had a hot dog on it, which I thought was odd!

Anyhow, that is how we spend day 4 at the beach! In the next few days I'll wrap up my vacation photos and then we'll be all caught up and I can start fresh again! I have a lot to share with you, so stay tuned!

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Beach- Day 3

2011-06-20T00:43:00.000-04:00

We spent our third full day of vacation at Assateague Island in Maryland! I blogged about it last year, it's the island where the wild horses roam! It's so fun driving on the island, because you never know what you're going to see! I totally fell in love with this little pony! I wish I could cram him in the camper and take him home with me!

The baby stayed close to it's mother at all times. They were to the left of the road and on the other side of the road was it's "pack."

The baby just whinnied and whinnied and eventually the baby and it's mother decided to cross to the other side. As they were crossing, the horse (which you can see on the right came out to block traffic, so that the mother and baby could safely cross!

Apparently, (I read this information today) there is one male "leader" of the pack who protects the mares. This must be their leader. By the way, the lady to the left of the photo is "pony patrol!" lol

Here they are all together, making their dramatic descent onto the parking lot! lol

I could stand there all day long and just watch and photograph them! My husband makes fun of me and says that they are just horses, but it's not often that you see horses just roaming around free!

Ben and Alex enjoyed playing in the sand.

And running from waves!

I enjoyed just sitting and relaxing! I think my pale stomach is just hilarious! This is the first time that my belly has seen the sun in probably 10 years! lol I may be a little too old to wear a bikini, but I worked my butt off this past Spring chasing those men around the hockey rink! lol And by the way my stomach is just as pale now as it was then! I used SPF 70 on it because I knew it would probably burn. It didn't burn and I didn't even get one tan line! :(

I had to include this photo! It makes me laugh! Every time that I try to get a photo of me and my husband together, he always makes a funny face in at least one of the photos! lol

He said that this is his "stressed out from vacation" look! lol I did end up getting a nice photo after all!

We decided to take a little walk on the beach and we came to a group of horses just taking a rest! lol I didn't get to see this last year, so it was quite a delight to come upon this! I guess they like to enjoy the beaches and work on their tan lines too! lol

And as we were leaving we drove up to this group of horses who found a watering hole. We stopped and watched them. They jumped in got wet and went on their way! I know...they're just wild horses, but they are so fascinating to me!

We plan to go back to Assateague in the next day or two, and I cannot wait!

Beach-Day 2

2011-06-18T00:28:00.000-04:00

We're having a wonderful time in Maryland! Today we went into the town of Berlin to the Farmer's Market and to eat lunch at Rayne's Reef!

I absolutely LOVE Berlin! It's soo small town and reminds me alot of South Western Pennsylvania. The only difference is that all of our old stores are shut down and boarded up!

Last year when we visited Berlin, I blogged about meeting this cute little Golden Retriever. Well guess what? He was in exactly the same place since I last saw him! Right in front of his owner's business! See him laying down outside the door? He is absolutely adorable! And I found out that his name is Brady!

I talked again to Brady's owner (I apologize, because I didn't get his name) and he said that he has read my blog and recognized my boys! lol

This was very exciting because I have never met anyone who has read my blog before! :)

I love this shot of Brady, if you click on the photo to enlarge it, it looks like he is smiling as he basks in the sun!

I am going back into town in the next couple of days to take some photos. I'll have to get the owner's name.

Here's me and Alex as we wait for our lunch at Rayne's Reef! They have the most delicious food in this quaint little diner! I had a tuna salad wrap, which was yummy, and Alex had french fries only! lol

Chris had a tuscan chicken wrap, which he enjoyed, and Ben ate two hot dogs! Besides seeing Brady again, I think this little lunch spot is another reason I must go back to town in the next couple of days! ;)

I love how beautiful and quaint this little town is! The details in the signs are amazing...everything is just amazing and wonderful to look at!

And the store windows are dressed so beautifully as well!

Last year when I had visited this store (Victorian Charm) she had a Vera Bradley window display. I was quite tickled when I saw this window display cause we all know how much I love Richard Gere! :)

At the bottom left of the window you can almost see the little white dog that is lying there. He lays there all day long, and was there last year as well! One little tip...he's not very friendly...not like Brady at all!

After spending the afternoon in Berlin, we went back to the campground where we got these shots!

The boys had such a great time! And I look forward to going back to Main Street in Berlin sometime soon! I am going alone because there are a lot of antique stores and places where I do not want my 4 and 5-year-old inside! lol Oh and I plan to take my bike there are a lot of places that I want to photograph!

Tomorrow we are going to Asseategue Island...I cannot wait! :)

Beach-Day 1

2011-06-16T22:51:00.000-04:00

Hello! This is our first full day at the beach! Oh how I've missed this place! No other campground has been the same ever since the first time we came here last year! We're at Castaways Campground in Berlin Maryland! It's in between Ocean City and Asseateague Island!

Today we spent the whole day at the campground. They have a bunch of organized activities for the boys so they were happy staying here for the day! Tomorrow we plan to go into the town of Berlin! I blogged about this town last year. It's where the movie "Runaway Bride" was filmed! That blog post happens to be one of the most read posts of mine ever! Not sure why, but it's a wonderful town and I could only dream of living there!

Here are some highlights from Day 1.

The boys really had fun playing on this inflatable bouncy thing out on the water. They said they were playing "Wipeout!" lol

Here is Ben, his friend, and Chris walking out in the middle of the water on a sandbar!

Me and Alex!

Me and Chris.

I love this photo because it wasn't taken in the way that it actually turned out. I was taking a photo of the seagull, but if you enlarge the photo or just glance at the specs on the bottom, it's Ben and Chris out on the water walking on a sandbar!

I had so much fun painting on the beach! What a wonderful way to pass the afternoon! I absolutely LOVE how fast my watercolor paint dried!

The boys having a blast playing in the sand!

Tomorrow should be a fun day! Like I said, we plan on going into the town of Berlin to the Farmer's Market. We're going to eat lunch at Rayne's Reef (YUM), and then we are going to Asseateague Island! I cannot wait to collect sea shells! Have a wonderful night!

Post from my phone

2011-06-10T21:28:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! Soo much has happened in the last couple of weeks....particularly our new addition to our family!

Meet little Katie!

Poor thing has some sort of eye infection and has been to the vet's twice in the last week.

Hopefully she'll be better soon!

I also got a new phone which I love and am trying to blog with it so I can blog on vacation!

Tomorrow I will upload more photos of Katie and talk to you about her wonderful personality!

Have a wonderful night!

Inspired By Nature

2011-05-25T22:29:00.001-04:00

Today I had a nature filled day, and right outside my kitchen window!

Outside of my kitchen window is a big tree. I noticed two squirrels playing on the tree. I don't know if they are mates or siblings, but they sure are cute! I watched them for about a half hour. This one took a nap while the other played nearby on my deck.

Here is the one that played around on the deck. My goal is to get them tame or not run away when I go outside. There was a blog I read last year and the lady had a squirrel that became tame and would come into their house for food! lol How cute would that be? lol

Eventually the squirrel became tired of playing alone so it climbed up the tree to wake up the one that was napping! Notice the five toes with sharp nails on it's back feet. It only has four toes on its front feet!

While I think they are adorable, my husband hates them and calls them "furry rats!" He is planning on cutting the remaining three trees that we have in our yard! That makes me very sad!

After it woke up the other, they decided to run around on the branches! They reminded me of little monkeys. Again...oooh sooo cute!

Squirrel number 2 reminds me of myself...very clumsy! lol

Since I was totally surprised by the squirrels today, I did not have time to mess with the settings on my camera. So this action shot was very blurry! I love how squirrel number 1 is a big blur!

Also during my day I noticed a big commotion in my backyard! Again this year we have a bird nest that is on the boy's clubhouse. This time she built it on the ledge and this year I have been very respectful and have given her her space. Remember last year when I photographed the nest everyday? You can read about that here. If you go back through after that post you can view all of the stages from building the nest to the baby birds leaving the nest. It's very educational!

I really left the nest alone because I was too chicken to get up close and take the chance of being attacked by the mama bird! lol

Anyway I noticed this huge commotion in my backyard. The birds left the nest today and Allie got one! I was soo upset! She didn't kill it thankfully, so I woke my husband up and he put it in the neighbor's yard where Allie can't get to it! But all these birds were out there attacking her! Not just robins, but big black birds and small tiny birds! It was quite a sight to see! Here is a photo after my husband relocated the baby. A couple of birds sat on the fence and watched over it. It was very weird. They do not appear to be robins, but they seemed concerned. I also noticed in this shot that you can see the mama bird in the middle of the photo in flight! I feel really bad, but like my husband says..."that's part of nature!" The other baby bird was able to fly to safety, while the remaining third remained in the nest. I kept Allie in all day long and took her out only under supervision!

Later in the evening this is what we noticed on our deck. The third baby bird flew out of the nest and somehow landed on our deck! Isn't it soo sweet with that fluffy little head!

The mama bird was never very far. You can see the baby on the deck at the bottom left, and the mama in the tree at the upper right!

We watched her as she fed it a worm. Within a couple minutes later she returned with this huge worm, but the poor baby refused to eat it! I don't blame her! lol

So the mama bird walked around with it for a few minutes.....

And then returned and tried to shove it down the poor baby's throat! lol

A few hours later we were off to hockey practice and the baby bird was off of the deck. I had my husband walk around to make sure it was safe and it was nowhere to be found!

What a wonderful day filled with nature! :)

A House For An Imaginary Friend

2011-05-24T00:39:00.000-04:00

My son Benjamin has had an imaginary friend for the past couple of years. Can you guess who it may be? Sometimes I find him playing alone with "Jerry." They even play boardgames together! His friend Jerry is from the cartoon "Tom & Jerry!" I have no idea why Jerry has all of a sudden become his friend, but he has and I'm totally fine with that. Someone I know suggested that I don't play into this imaginary friend thing. But I find it harmless and have read that it probably means he's creative and imaginative.

For awhile now I haven't heard anything about Jerry. But the other day while driving in the car, I noticed that Ben was very sad. Since I had just picked him up from school, I thought that something may have occurred there. So I asked him what was wrong. He said: "Jerry moved away with his family." And he said it with this sad sigh as he put his head against the seat. I asked him why Jerry couldn't move back in with us, and he said because Tom would probably chase him! lol I thought about it for awhile and then I came up with a solution.

I have a bin full of unfinished birdhouses in storage that I have never gotten around to painting. So I let Ben choose which house would be suitable for his friend and he came up with this one.

I really wanted to paint this myself with big funky polka dots and bright colors, but he only let me paint just a little bit. I guess I'll need to make my own mouse house! lol

He was really drawn to the glittery paint.

Here is his finished "mouse house." He was soo proud! According to Ben, Jerry's last name is "Mouse"...so I painted that on the doormat! Hopefully this house is big enough because Ben said there are 200 mice in Jerry's family! lol

This photo cracks me up! lol He has that look on his face like he is thinking: "Come let me lure you into this mouse house with a trap...Muahahahahahaha!"

Here is Ben's mouse house with a little plant that we added on the porch! It sits beside his bed so Jerry and his family of 200 can move back in with us! And all is well again! :)

Easter 2011

2011-05-11T22:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some highlights from Easter 2011. Easter was a couple weeks ago...but better late than never, right?!

The boys sit and wait here on the steps on Christmas and Easter morning. This gives me time to grab my camera and video camera to capture them going into the living room to see what the Easter Bunny or Santa brought them the night before! Each year I take a photo of them sitting on the stairs.

And every year the Easter Bunny leaves "bunny tracks" on the couches and floor that leads the boys to their baskets! As you can see from the photo, the bunny hopped all around Allie! ;)

Here is Alex with his basket.

And Ben with his. The bunny left a powdery mess all over my floor!

The boys had egg hunts at both grandparent's houses. I just love this photo! It shows just how exciting egg hunts are to kids!

Here is me and my wonderful family!

And me and my precious boys! I am soo blessed to have such a wonderful family!

Soooo much has been going on here in the last few weeks. I plan to start blogging a few times a week to catch you up to speed! Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Goals Scored & Goals Prevented!

2011-04-17T00:29:00.000-04:00

I know that I usually start off by saying life has been so chaotic and that's why I'm not keeping up with my blog. But I couldn't be any more honest! I fell and hit my head during one of my hockey games and got a slight concussion...so I've been taking it easy this past week!

But last two weeks have been especially crazy! Ben had 2 hockey programs going at once and soccer as well!

For example, one Saturday morning he had soccer photos at 9:10 am and then hockey practice from 10:00-11:00 am. Then he had a soccer game that started at 11:00 am! It's impossible to be at two places at one time, so we missed half of his soccer game. The good news though, once we got there Ben scored three goals! I love this photo...he gets so excited when he scores!

One good thing about hockey is that it's helping him with his soccer. Ben used to be the type of kid who didn't go after the ball. Now, he totally goes after the ball and tries to hold the other kids back!

Luckily, soccer was canceled today because of rain! It was super nice not to have to rush around after hockey practice!

This past Thursday was the last of Ben's "Little Penguins Learn to Play Hockey" program. This was the program that started at the end of January. If you remember this was Ben's first time on ice. He pushed a little bucket around so he didn't fall down.

And here is Ben this past Thursday! He's a goalie now, and he's having the time of his life! Not bad for only being on skates for nearly three months!

Sooo cute! I love how he's smaller than the net!

And he can stop the puck with his eyes closed! lol

It's soo sad that this was the last of this program! We had such a great time and the people at the rink went above and beyond to make this a great experience!

I'm soo proud of every single participant! The majority of the kids started out not knowing how to skate and most of them just whip around the ice now! It's amazing to see them progress!

It's not everyday you can get your photo taken with a Stanley Cup Replica. But all Ben can think of is eating the ice! lol He must find this tasty, because when it snows he always outside eating the snow! lol At least my snow cone machine will get a lot of use this summer!

I'm sooo proud of big Ben! :) Hopefully he'll be holding the Stanley Cup over his head again in another 15 years or so! :)

I'm soo proud of him! :)

Friday Fragments

2011-04-01T13:09:00.000-04:00

I'm participating in Mrs. 4444's "Friday Fragments!" I love Friday Fragments because here I can post about a bunch of random different things that happened during my week.

I can't believe that it's been a whole week since my last post! That's what I love about Friday Fragments, I can sum up my whole week in one blog post!

We still have been playing a lot of hockey! Both Ben and myself! As you can see from the photo below, Alex is actually trying it, but doesn't enjoy it as much as Ben. Ben's Spring Season starts next Wednesday, so between that and soccer we'll be keeping busy. He has decided that he wants to be a goalie, so I'm going today to pick him up some goalie equipment! I'll have to keep you updated, because he's going to make such a cute and tiny goalie!

I'm going to soon be selling some of my art and jewelry at a local Art Gallery. I've been working on things lately to put in the gallery plus to fill my Etsy shop back up. Here is the beginnings of a bird nest pendant.

Again Ben won three awards at school: Reading Excellence, Math Whiz, and All A's! He loves writing in his journal daily and at the end of each month his teacher sends home his journal pages. I love what he writes, but this particular page made me laugh. It says: "My choowowo is fat." He's talking about our chihuahua Allie! lol :)

I'm not much of a sweets person, but every once in awhile I crave chocolate. I love Cadbury Eggs, but they are way too big and way too sweet for me. I did find that they make mini Cadbury Eggs, and they are just the perfect size! One definitely satisfies my cravings! And they sell them by the dozen!

Another blogger (I'm sorry I can't remember who) recommended this nail polish. I tried it yesterday and I am in love! I'm not much of a purple person but this polish screams Spring! And I can almost feel the warmer weather just by wearing it! It's called "Lacey Lilac." Excuse my unmanicured fingers. Between hockey and housework, my hands really take a beating! I am definitely in need of a manicure!

I don't wear nail polish often, but this particular brand is awesome! I also bought a pretty green color too and I can't wait to try it out!

That basically sums up my week. Hopefully I can be back on track and start blogging at least every other day. We'll see like I said Ben starts Spring Hockey next week so I'm sure it will be hectic!

Have a wonderful week!

Friday Fragments

2011-03-25T10:59:00.000-04:00

I'm participating in Mrs. 4444's "Friday Fragments!" I love Friday Fragments because here I can post about a bunch of random different things that happened during my week!

I have soo much to randomly talk about, and it all starts out with the "supermoon!" I think the supermoon is to blame for my crazy week! lol

Here is a photo that I took from my backyard. I finally figured out the correct setting for my camera and was able to capture the magnificent moon! I don't know if you were able to see it, but it was mesmerizing!

Over the last week or so we have had the most beautiful weather! It was like Spring had come early, which is unusual in South Western Pennsylvania! It was nice to be able to get out after a long winter! Alex loves blowing bubbles, and this was the first time this year that he was able to do so! Our weather was beautiful one day and then our area got a huge tornado! It destroyed my high school and did a lot of damage! Some people lost their entire houses! I'm so glad that nobody was hurt!

The tornado happened on Wednesday. And I was just in the area that the tornado hit, but I had to go pick up Ben from school. I missed it by 2 hours! Thank goodness, because I don't know what I would have done if I would have seen it! It's rare for us to get tornadoes. So we're not used to seeing them! But I have realized one thing....I need to carry my camera with me at all times! You never know when you may need to use it!

The warm weather has brought lots of birds! They have gotten so bad to the point that you can hear them chirping very loudly in the trees from inside the house with all the doors and windows shut! And we're not talking cute little birds...we're talking the big black scary ones! lol I wanted to get a photo of them all flying away, so my husband went out and started banging on things, but they wouldn't budge! I told you...big scary birds who are not afraid! It reminds me of that Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds!" Have you seen it? There were hundreds more in the trees, but this was just a sampling!

I had a hockey game this week and as much as I have complained in the past about hockey...I'm actually starting to enjoy it! It figures we only have about four games left! At our last game we only had five people show up for our team, which means that we had to play an entire game of hockey without being able to sit down and take a break! That's sixty minutes of hockey! The only break we had was the one minute in between periods! We were exhausted...but I SCORED A GOAL! I told you that weird supermoon is causing all kinds of things to happen! ;)

And lastly is about my dog Allie. Allie loves her toy bunnies! She has several of them and loves sleeping with them at night. Since she cannot jump onto our bed, we have doggie steps for her to help her. Alex recently broke the steps so she had no way of getting onto our bed. So at night she likes to sleep on the shower mat in the bathroom next to our bedroom waiting for us to go to bed. Normally she'll lay there with her bunny and wait for me to lift her onto the bed. Well the other night we were getting ready for bed and this is what my husbnd found on the mat in the bathroom!

It looks like Allie will not be getting anything from the Easter bunny this year! lol

As much as I keep nagging my husband about fixing the dog steps, I'm glad he didn't cause this is what we would have found in our bed! lol Poor baby bunny!

See I told you it's been a crazy week! Hope next week is boring!

A Photo Shoot With Alex!

2011-03-22T00:22:00.000-04:00

This past week we had such beautiful weather, and I couldn't wait to get back outside to take photos!

While Ben was in school one day, Alex and I took off to a local bike trail to take some photos. They have a couple abandoned trains there, so I thought it would make a cute prop! Alex's favorite color is red, so that was our theme!

I love this old abandoned bridge in the background! It sure is beautiful here in South Western Pennsylvania! As much as I complain about the weather and wish I lived elsewhere...I need to look at the beauty that is around me!

I had this vintage tricycle in the garage, and thought it would be fun to add to our red themed photo shoot.

Here he is taking a break at a fountain. I should have taken a photo of the fountain that was near the ground. There were three fountains each at different heights. It would have been more convenient for him to use the one that was closer to the ground, but I'm guessing that it's for dogs? Not sure, and I didn't want to take any chances! ;)

And of course we had to take some silly photos! He sure does like making silly faces!

I know every mom thinks that their kid is just the cutest...but I swear it can't get any cuter than this! But don't let this cute face fool you, he is one stubborn little boy!

"A" is for ALEX!

And as my friend pointed out...it's also for "Air-borne!" :)

I love black and white photos with a touch of color!

As I mentioned, we went with a "red" theme, but I'm thinking that this may be a little too much red!

I just LOVE this shot! His little shoes are sooo adorable and so are the skull shoe laces! Little girls are fun because you can accessorize with bows and things like that. But with boys, it's very limited, so I guess skulls are the cool thing for boys!

So we've been enjoying this beautiful weather. Rumor has it that it is going to snow towards the end of the week! I sure hope not! I'm getting too spoiled by this early Spring weather!

Reflections

2011-03-07T11:54:00.000-05:00

We got a little snow yesterday, and it's one of those cold crappy days outside. I have a lot of house work to do, and to be honest I've been putting it off! After I took Ben to school today, I took my last online art class, and then I decided to get on facebook. I get onto facebook throughout my day, but today I noticed something just simply beautiful!

I keep my laptop in my kitchen on my breakfast bar, and behind me is a huge arch window which I absolutely love! You can see by the reflection on my computer screen, just why I love this big arch window!

Of course each day the window reflects onto my computer screen, but today I noticed, and was just mesmerized by it's beauty! The sky is such a wonderful shade of blue and the tree branches are lined with snow!

Here is another reflection (an up close one) from my computer screen!

And one more!

So I grabbed my camera, turned around, and took a photo of the arch window and the amazing view!

Isn't it just beautiful outside? And just think, my husband wants to take these trees down this summer! What will I look at then?!

I see a sketchbook page in my future! :)

Now off to do the dreaded housework!

Hockey and Comfort Food

2011-03-05T00:44:00.000-05:00

This is just a random post about what I have been up to lately. Ben is still continuing in the Little Penguins hockey program and he is loving it! He is turning into such a great little player, and he amazed me the other day with how fast he can skate backwards! And I am totally enjoying helping to teach the kids! It is amazing to see how fast they are progressing!

Here I am on the left (in pink of course) watching them do a drill! Ben is in the front of the line.

I normally wear full equipment, even when it's just teaching the kids, because I don't want to get hurt. Well at this particular practice I decided not to wear any because I had a hockey game later that night (last night). I didn't plan on skating around too much. Well earlier that day I bought new skates, because my other pair were about 17-years-old and falling apart. I figured they would be just like my old skates...well they were not! lol I stepped out on the ice and nearly wiped out! This happened several times, but within the hour and a half I got use to them! Thank goodness because later that night (last night) I had a game with "the big boys!"

I do need to get a photo of me in my hockey equipment from my men's league. I thought I wanted to quit, because it was sooo hard core, but I decided to give it another try last night and it went really well actually! I think my body is finally getting conditioned! It wasn't worse than childbirth last night, and I'm sort of looking forward to my next game!

Remember when I posted about my first game ever in the men's league? I said that no one talked to me and I just didn't have a good time. Well last night we had a new player on our team and he was so nice! He actually talked to me the whole time that we were on the bench and I don't feel so out of place now! We even shared water! ;)

The other players were even actually joking with me about my age! They found out that I was 33-years-old and I had a couple players come up to me after the game and ask me if it was the truth! lol Apparently to them I look like I'm in my twenties! Now you can understand why I keep going back going back! Plus the weight loss helps too! ;)

Oh and speaking of hockey...I am a little irritated about one thing! Now that I am playing hockey again and now they finally have pink laces, and pink hockey tape, and pink sticks...it's wonderful for a girl. And it's my thing that keeps me different from the men...or at least that's what I thought! Last night one guy had a pink stick with pink hockey tape and pink laces in his skates! Come on! I don't even have a pink stick! I was a little jealous! But seriously this is the latest trend with men playing hockey!

Ok onto another note: cooking! The past week or so I haven't cooked much at all! You know how it is when you get out of a routine and then it becomes hard to get back into that routine? Well that was me!

Yesterday I did make some yummy chicken enchiladas with a homemade enchilada sauce! They turned out great! And today I needed some comfort food! I get soo exhausted from running around after the boys, going to Ben's hockey practice, and me playing in my league! For example I was out on the ice with Ben last night for an hour and a half and then later had a game of my own! I didn't get home from my hockey game until about 11:00 last night and then stayed up a few hours after that only to get up early this morning for a doctor's appointment. I was exhausted today that I ended up taking a two hour nap this afternoon! So when I woke up I wanted comfort food and something that I love is tuna melts!

As a matter of fact, when I was pregnant with both boys I craved tuna salad sandwiches. But as you know eating tuna isn't safe during pregnancy, so I rarely ate it. When both of the boys were born in the hospital I ordered a tuna salad sandwich for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I just couldn't get enough of them!

Then we vacationed in Ohio and we went to this fancy restaurant for lunch and I ordered a tuna salad sandwich and it tasted just like the ones I ate at the hospital...just delicious! So I asked them what was in it, and when they told me I was shocked at how simple it was! The secret is mayo and not Miracle Whip! Previously I was using Miracle Whip and I couldn't understand why I couldn't replicate the taste. Well know I knew!

Here is how I make it. I take a couple cans of tuna; drain and flake it. Add some chopped onion and chopped celery. The amount just depends on your taste. And then you add some mayo. Not a lot because you don't want it too wet, but just enough where it's not too dry. Mix it together and chill! It's that simple!

So tonight I made up my favorite tuna salad and made tuna melts with it! I also made a side of the best buttered noodles! You can find that recipe HERE.

This was the second time I made these noodles and they are just delicious! The key to making these is to cook them in a large skillet, not a tall pot. This is because you cook them in very little liquid, so you want to make sure that the noodles are spread out so they cook evenly.

Here is a photo of the yummy tuna melts and yummy buttered noodles! As you can see from the photo, I am definitely NOT a food photographer! lol But trust me they were yummy!

What kind of food comforts you?

Vintage Photography

2011-02-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

I love all things vintage! I mean what's not to love? I especially LOVE and collect vintage aprons! I feel soo "June Cleaver" when I wear one! ;)

Anyway, I was in an antique shop a couple years ago when I came across this box! Since I am such a lover of photography, I just knew I had to have it! Plus the $5.00 price tag made my decision easy!

What drew me to this camera was how unusual it looked with it's weird dials, and just how solid it was. I have started a collection of old cameras, so I really didn't plan on doing anything with it except to keep it. I did want to create a cool camera robot out of it...but now that it works that is out of the question!

Anyway, for the last couple of years I had pushed the camera aside! When I came across the box a few months ago, my husband and I looked more closely at it. We couldn't figure out where the viewfinder was. Or the button to actually take the photo! lol

Just the other day when I actually researched the camera I realized that the viewfinder stands on top of the camera. It's a pop-out viewfinder. See the photo below...that's where the viewfinder would be if it had one. Besides a missing viewfinder, it is in very good condition!

So I began to research the camera. I found out that it is a Kodak 35 camera from the year 1938! I was soo excited! I never imagined it to be this old! It was Kodak's first 35mm camera! When I found that out I was super excited, because 35mm film is easy to find and inexpensive!

In 1938 the cost of this camera was $40 which converts to a price of what would now be $609 according to data from the year 2009.

But I had no manual! Luckily, I came across an old one that someone had uploaded! I ran upstairs and grabbed a roll of 35mm film that I had leftover from the days before I went digital, and I began to experiment with it! Unfortunately, I snapped/broke two rolls of film before I figured out how to load and unload it properly!

I love how sleek and wonderful the metal is! On the left you can see the "rewind button", and on the right is the "exposure dial" that shows you how many photos you have left on the roll! And next to the exposure dial is the "wind button"...yes you have to manually operate this camera! lol Did they even have batteries in 1938? Eventhough I know it's manual...I still look for it to operate with batteries for some reason! lol I just cannot imagine or comprehend how it works without batteries! lol

Also under close inspection of the camera...we didn't know where the "exposure button" was to take the photo! After reading the manual you have to push down the screw/lever on the side of the lense. I added the arrow to show you exactly where the button/lever is. According to the manual you press down the lever and "take a breath" and release it! I can't wait to play around with this button and hold it down for more than a breath just to see how much light gets added to the finished photo!

I love the little plate on top of the lense that is written in a cursive font that says: "Made in the USA!" It's hard to find a good quality product anymore that is actually made in the USA!

You can't tell visually by looking at the camera in person, but I realized from the photo below that the lense is very dusty! I guess I am going to have to clean it now that I know that it works!

So today I tried roll number 3 and successfully managed to load and unload the roll of film without breaking it! I was soo excited with the possibility of it actually working that I didn't read the manual correctly the first couple of times! Now that I have learned how to properly load and unload the film...I cannot wait to experiment!

The photos are a little blurry, but I love how it adds to that vintage photo effect! That is another downside to the way this camera is made. Without a viewfinder to look through that is inside the camera, there is no way to see if your image will turn out blurry. Along the lense is a dial that has a distance you can adjust, by how many feet you are standing away from the object. I think it starts with four feet and goes up to about twenty feet and then to "infinity" or something like that. I'll need to play around with it more and keep a notebook until I learn how to correctly take an image. I am just soo happy that it is actually a functioning camera! I have never been soo excited over blurry photos before until today! :)

I processed them at a 1-hour lab and looked at them several times on the way home! I was that excited!

Like I said I was so excited with just wanting the camera to work that I just took random photos from my backyard...nothing really planned out. Since there is no flash on the camera, it'll probably work best on bright and sunny days. Today it was rainy and an overcast. I took some photos in the house, they turned out, but were too dark.

Like I said, I randomly took photos, not thinking that anything would actually turn out! lol For example why on earth would I take a photo of the faucet outside?! lol

Or the camper! lol

All of these photos were straight from the camera. I did not photoshop any of them except the black and white one below! I love how the black and white one turned out...it really gives it a vintage feel!

I also love and collect old vintage photographs that I have displayed around my home. I'll have to share those with you sometime soon as well! But with a camera from 1938, it makes me wonder...what photos has this camera taken. Who owned it? And did they love photography as much as I do?

A Peek Into My Art Journal

2011-02-21T23:46:00.000-05:00

This is week 3 of my online "Sketchbook Delight" class! And I am loving it! Last weeks lesson was about finding your inspiration or "muse." I have realized that there are soo many things around me that are inspiring...that have great textures and beautiful colors! I really learned to open my eyes and see all the detail, that I normally overlook!

Last week I found some old corn cobs in our garage for our squirrel. They had such wonderful texture. I knew I must capture it in my art journal. It wasn't Indian Corn, but I love the colors of Autumn so I made it into Indian Corn! :)

Another view.

And I have many inspiring photos on file that I have taken over the years. I have been looking back at old photos and they just speak to me now! I love putting them down on paper! I'm not a realist type of artist, I love the whimsical dreamy look of art, so that's how I create!

Here is a nest that was built by a killdeer in the middle of my sister's driveway! I love how unique it was and I am sooo glad that I was able to photograph it! I've been drawn to bird nests lately, so you may be seeing a lot more of them!

Here is my take on the bird nest. I journaled around the painting. I used watercolor, pencil, colored pencil, and markers.

Another angle.

And by far the most inspirational place I have been to recently was our trip to the beach this past summer! I didn't realize how inspired I was until after I came home and missed it tremendously! I cannot wait to go to the beach again this summer and take my watercolors and just paint on the beach!

Here was our view from the campground we stayed at called "Castaways" in Berlin, Maryland. We stayed on the bay side and in the distance you can see Assateague Island.

I should have varied the colors of blue, but since I am just beginning with watercolors I am ok with it. I had an inspirational moment and just went with it.

And I did the journaling on the sand.

Another view.

I religiously work in my art journal everyday! I have been going through some tough times lately, and art is a great escape for me! I am seeing the world with a whole new view, and I LOVE it! :)

Fairies Out...Gnomes In!

2011-02-16T13:13:00.008-05:00

Awhile back I blogged about our "Fairy Door." You can read about that HERE It's a tiny little door in our dining room on the floor and it's where the fairies live. The "fairies" would leave the boys little notes and treats in the mailbox and the boys had a lot of fun with it. But then like all things when you get super busy...it fades away. Ben and I started talking about the fairy door last night, and I told him that the fairy must have moved away because all of the dust on her doorstep. I honestly think she got way to busy with taking her kids to hockey practice, painting, cleaning, and laundry...but I didn't tell him that! ;).

So before bed, Ben wanted to write the fairy a little note and leave it in her mailbox. It says: "I hope you enjoy." And he also left her an Andes Candy! She like Santa Claus LOVES Andes Candies and coffee! ;)

Here he is putting the note and Andes Candy into her mailbox with hopes she will find it and enjoy!

And this morning Ben checked the mailbox and the note said: "Thank you Ben! From Mr. Gnome...enjoy!" And Mr. Gnome left Ben a "Crabby Patty!"

Apparently the fairies have moved out and the gnomes have taken over! :)

So in the next couple of days we will be decorating the "Gnome Door" with St. Patrick's Day decorations! I'll be sure to share what we come up with!

And hopefully this Spring I'm going to create my own set of "Gnome/Fairies Doors" for my Etsy Shop! So stay tuned for that!

Inspiration

2011-02-15T00:02:00.002-05:00

I have been soo busy over the last week! Friday was my 33rd birthday (YIKES) and I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with a wonderful bunch of friends at a Scrapbook Retreat!

I was supposed to play hockey last night, but didn't feel well when I got home. We planned on seeing Gnomeo and Juliet yesterday afternoon, but it was sold out! The boys were soo excited and couldn't wait until I got home from the retreat to see the movie. I ended up going home and going to bed so Chris took the boys to see the movie without me! :( It came out on my birthday, and the movie is meant for me (since I'm a gnome lover) and THEY LEFT ME AT HOME!

So I'm planning on seeing the movie soon...and probably alone! lol

So anyhow I am into my second week in an online sketchbook class called: "Sketchbook Delight" taught by the wonderful artist Alisa Burke!

This weeks class was about finding your inspiration! I have always thought that I was artistically challenged! I seemed to never come up with my own inspiration...I always got inspired by other's artwork! Let me clarify, I never copied anyone's work, but I looked for things in it that inspired me. And I always wished to find my own "style."

Over the years and especially this last year I have walked through life blindly...unable to see the beauty that is around me!

Well look out...I have finally opened my eyes and I see all the beauty that surrounds me! And it feels soo good to create, and do it on my own! Remember the bird nest I blogged about this past Spring? You can read about it here.

This is what I came up with! I have played with watercolors before, but haven't done any real paintings. This is my first attempt at a sketchbook page! I really love how it turned out! I first sketched it in pencil in the waiting room at my son's pediatricians. Yes, he's sick again and actually ruptured his eardrum! He's finally feeling a little better today, thankfully!

Here's a closeup.

Another closeup.

Another.

Another....you get the idea! ;)

And speaking of art...look what Alex made me on my birthday? A pink playdoh cake! He's my little artist...he loves to paint and just create anything! Wonder who he takes after? ;)

It's almost midnight and I have a ton of ideas that I can't wait to get into my sketchbook! I have been working at it non-stop and I just can't quit! It feels soooo good! I'll share more of my sketchbook in the next couple of days! Have a wonderful week!

Much, much too old for this!

2011-02-09T12:20:00.000-05:00

Last night I played in my first official hockey game in about 15 years! As you know from my previous blog posts I have been helping out with my local rink's Little Penguin Learn To Play program. It felt natural to be out there playing again, and I was looking forward to joining a team!

I got a call asking about joining a team a couple days ago. I originally wanted to play with younger kids/teens because that is more my speed. Unfortunately, there wasn't any spots in that division so I was asked to play with the adults (or big boys as I call them)! A little unsure I said "yes" and very late last night I headed to my first real game! I need to give a big thank you to my wonderful neice Desiree for coming over to sit at the house while I was gone!

It's a little lonely being the only girl on an all boys team. I have to get dressed in my very own dressing room...alone! And rarely anyone talks to me. I don't know what the big deal is about changing around men or vice versa. I already have a t-shirt on and shorts under my jeans, so it's not like I get naked and plus when you've seen one man...you basically have seen them all...they all look the same! lol But anyway I got ready alone. Oh and I got my very own jersey and socks...which was exciting, and made it ever so "real!"

So then it was time for the big game. I wasn't nervous at all and was actually really excited! Our team isn't very full, so there are only three players who sit on the bench at one time. Which means you play a majority of the game....3- 20 minute periods! YIKES!

The game started and I nearly died seeing how fast the other team was! I come to find out that they are very experienced high school hockey players! What the heck did I get myself into?! The first period trying to keep up to these men was super exhausting! I'm not an overly religious person, but found myself sitting on the bench trying to catch my breath and praying that I either didn't throw up or pass out! lol

When I played hockey in the past there was always an ambulance there in case something happened. Last night there wasn't one, and I honestly thought I was going to have a heart attack and I was going to die right there among a bunch of clueless high school teenagers! lol I was also beginning to panic when I didn't even see one of those glass cases that hold a Heart Defibulator! I was seeing stars and thought I was doomed! lol I honestly wanted to quit during that first period, but I would never do that because I was part of a team that depended on me! Normally I play defense, which requires a lot of skating backwards, but they were just too darn fast and I spent most of my time just trying to keep up!

By the third period I was physically exhausted! When it was time for a line change I would just roll over the boards and onto the bench! Then I would go out there and last maybe a minute and would need to sit back down...it was crazy! I continued to pray that the time would just go by quickly, and eventually it did! After an excruciating hour it was finally over! And at 11:30 pm nonetheless! I find out that the oldest person on our team according to one of the other guys, is 30-years-old which to them is old! Apparently they think I'm in my early twenties, but will be 33-years-old in just a couple days!

With the late games and priorities as a mom, I'm not sure if I'm going to continue. My team wants me to come back, but I'm still unsure. I would love to continue playing because it's such a great workout, but apparently I'm the only one with parental obligations! The other players go out to the bar after the game and don't have to get up the next morning at 7 am to pack lunches and get a 5-year-old ready for school! And speaking of getting up...I could barely move this morning...I'm hurting in places that I've never hurt before! lol

But to sum up my night and just to give you an idea of just how excruciating it was...I told my husband I would rather give birth to 100 babies than have to endure that again! lol And the two births that I experienced were very long and very, very painful! lol

You're In Steeler Country

2011-02-06T10:47:00.001-05:00

It's hard to find a street in my area that is not decorated with Steeler decorations! You'll find several houses that aren't decorated (including mine), but you can't go far without seeing the black and gold!

Even though I am not a football fan, I wanted to share some of my favorite local decorations!

They put a lot of effort and detail into decorating this house!

I didn't catch it at the time but Alex yelled from the backseat...look at that giant bottle of "hot sauce!" It's not hot sauce, but Heinz Ketchup (a Pittsburgh made product)! I tried to convince him that it was "ketchup" but he didn't believe me! ;) I have seen a lot of inflatable decorations over the years, but never a giant ketchup bottle! lol

Here is another view of the house. I love how they have made goal lines/yard lines (I think that is what they are called) in the grass. Usually we have snow, so that is probably why I have never noticed them before!

Also to the side of their yard they have a little black and gold graveyard! Tomorrow they will probably be adding a "Green Bay" tombstone! ;)

Here is another house. Love the sign: "You're In Steeler Country!"

I really wanted to get a photo of the sign that was hung at a local restaurant. It said we are now serving "Roethlis-burgers!"

Apparently it is a burger named after our quarterback Ben Roethlisberger! :)

Unfortunately, the sign was no longer up, so I couldn't get a photo for you!

I probably will not be watching the game...I'll probably flip back and forth. I'm just not a football kind of girl!

Also, I was surprised to hear that Pittsburgh City Schools have a 2 hour delay in the morning! And this is just because of the Superbowl! I'm glad that we live outside of the city. I would be upset if our school was delayed for something as stupid as football! But like I said before Pittsburgers take their football very seriously! ;)

Have a safe and fun Superbowl Sunday!

Here We Go

2011-02-04T12:18:00.000-05:00

Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go, Pittsburgh's Going To The Superbowl!"

Ok let me go back to yesterday.....

My husband picked up Ben from school and around 4:15 he handed me a note from Ben's teacher. The note said that she was having a last minute Superbowl Party at school the following day and it would be great if I can contribute to this party! We had to leave for hockey practice at 5:00, so I only had 45 minutes to run to Walmart to get these supplies for the party! I knew that I could have gone after practice, but I actually help teach the kids to play, and knew that I couldn't go to the store smelling all sweaty and nasty.

Sidenote: The way you smell after playing hockey is the worst smell possible. I knew I could not go out in public smelling that way! ;)

Anyway, this is what I grabbed at the store. I'm not a football fan, so hopefully this will work for a Kindergarten Superbowl Party.

Have you seen these cute football shaped Little Debbie's Brownies? They are sooo adorable and very tasty!

I also bought black and yellow Pittsburgh Steeler tortilla chips! Yes, we have our own Steeler Tortilla Chips that comes out this time of year.

And of course I had to get Steeler napkins and plates!

And then I went to the party store. I wanted each of the kids to have something that was fun and something that they could take home with them. So I bought black and gold Mardis Gras beads! I'm just hoping that they do not know the real use of Mardis Gras beads or we may have a huge problem on our hands! lol ;)

I also came up with a little game for the party. At the party store I bought a little penalty flag, which is like a weighted type of flag. I thought it would be perfect for playing either hot potato or used to throw at a target like a garbage can.

People in Pittsburgh really take their football seriously...it's like a religion! I'll blog more about that tomorrow. But yesterday being Thursday was crazy with people rummaging through all of the Steeler merchandise at Walmart and the party store! It was nuts!

Will you be watching the big game on Sunday? Who are you rooting for?

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

2011-02-01T23:06:00.000-05:00

Winter here in South Western Pennsylvania sure can be beautiful but sometimes it's just an inconvenience!

I don't have 4 wheel drive, so when I can venture out, I love looking at the beautiful snowy landscape!

Yes, I know that this is dangerous...but sometimes I like to take photos when I drive! lol Here is a shot of the beautiful trees that surrounded the highway!

While I was driving I came across a bunch of black crows on the side of the road. I loved the contrast between the black birds and the snow. So I turned around and came back and they had already flown away! So here is a shot of them speckled among the trees.

Here is one of my favorite roads! And I especially love it in the Fall! The trees lining this back country road are just beautiful!

Wouldn't you just love a big beautiful house along this road? I know I would!

Also along this road was a farm, and I believe there was a pond under all of this snow! Why else would there be geese in the Winter? They must love this road as much as I do, because aren't they supposed to fly South when it's cold?

Hopefully it's warm in your part of the world. We are supposed to get a huge snowstorm either tomorrow or the following day!

CHAOS!

2011-01-25T16:45:00.000-05:00

Today has been one of those days! I woke up at 8:15 am. Ben goes to school between 9:00-9:15. While normally this is enough time for me to make him breakfast and get him ready, I had to be out the door at the same time for a doctors appointment as well!

I showered and dried my hair. I also had to pack him snacks for the week. Even though I know he needs snacks at the beginning of each week, I somehow wait until the day that they are needed to pack them! I'm running around like crazy...Alex is throwing a fit because he doesn't want to share a blanket on the couch with Ben! I then realized that Ben needs a check written for school lunches! He needed a written excuse for missing yesterday at school! It always seems like I am waiting until the last minute to accomplish EVERYTHING!

I really need order in my life! I suffer from CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)! I love that term! I got it from one of my many organizational books "Sink Reflections." Do you have a house of chaos? I wish I could have a house that stayed spotless every single day! One that I walked into and instantly felt calm and not anxious and overwhelmed! A house that didn't have cheerios under the couch cushions and socks thrown all over the living room! Oh socks...that's a whole other blog topic! lol

It seems like when I clean one room one room perfectly and go to the next, the boys destroy the room that I just organized! It's a vicious cycle! And I can never ever seem to catch up! They are 4 and 5-years-old and we tried everything! But when it comes down to it, I think they have way to many toys! We've packed a lot up and decided to only give them a small selection to play with and then switch them out every 6 months or so. But Alex had a birthday in December and then there was Christmas, so we are overwhelmed with toys again!

I feel like I never have enough time in the day to accomplish everything! Ben's Little Penguin's practice is every Thursday night and now he has the opportunity for another hockey program that is free for Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday! Because it's free, we jumped on the offer, so now he plays 4 days a week! As if I didn't already have enough going on! But it's just 12 weeks, I keep telling myself that!

So back to today....

I'm already late to my doctor's appointment, which is almost an hour away, and I first have to drop Alex off at my mom's. Alex didn't really want to go, but he was ok with it, or so I thought! He ended up falling asleep about 5 minutes away from my parent's house, so he was super crabby when he woke up. As I walked him up to the house, he began to scream: "I don't want to visit!" He stops on the sidewalk and my mom had to come down, pick him up, and carry him into the house! And yes, he's 4-years-old and is now going through the terrible twos! YIKES!

So I'm in a hurry trying to make it to my appointment and am going down back roads. I end up coming to a road that is closed, and that adds about 10 minutes to my travel time! I think the only plus to my day was that I found an empty parking spot at Panera Bread, so I was able to eat lunch there! ;)

Oh and did I mention that I went outside for about a minute earlier today to check on the dog? I came into the house to find Alex's shoe on the couch with his drink upside down inside it! Maybe he's looking for attention? It sort of reminds me of dogs who poop in their owner's shoes when they get mad at them! lol

I guess it's good that it wasn't my UGGs! I guess my day could always be worse! lol

Thank goodness that my husband is off for the next five days! I can always use the extra help! I love how my husband gives me a day to myself to craft and unwind! I see a tub soak in my future! :)

Oh and we are currently almost finished with our bathroom remodel! I have to do a couple finishing touches and then I'll share the before and after with you! I can't wait...it's BEACH THEMED! :)

Do you U Curl?

2011-01-23T22:56:00.003-05:00

I am a girly girl. Ok I said it! lol As a teenager I wanted to be a man! I wasn't very girly. I hated the color pink and I played hockey! But as an adult and especially over the past few years I've turned into a girl! lol And now I cannot get enough of the color pink! I think it's because I live in a household with three males!

Here is my latest beauty product purchase. It's the "Infiniti U Curl" by Conair. Basically it's a wand that you wrap your hair around to create a curl! It comes with a glove so you don't burn your hands, but I find the glove very awkward, so I don't use it. And the wand gets hot...up to 400 degrees!

Let me tell you, I absolutely LOVE this iron! Here is a photo of my hair after I used the wand today. Reviews have said that the curl will last all day and even for a couple of days. I wash my hair once a day so I'm not sure how long the curl lasts, but I will say that it lasts all day long! Usually I use hot rollers, but since my hair is getting longer, the curls usually don't last all day. That's why I love this thing!

Oh and I must mention that this is me BEFORE I went to play hockey today! Yes, I do curl my hair and apply makeup before I get all hot and disgusting! lol I mean why bother? But like I said I'm now a girly girl! And that's how I roll! ;)

The size of the curl depends on how much hair you wrap around the wand and where on the wand you place the hair. I recommend this for people with at least shoulder length hair. My hair is shoulder length and at it's shortest layers I sometimes find it difficult to wrap around the iron. Anyway, just wanted to share my latest beauty secret with you! Oh and if you do decide to buy one....price them first. Most places sell them for $39 dollars. I found my at Walmart for $29! So that was awesome!

I had so much fun with my self-portrait today, I also wanted to share another fun photo with you. I know the lighting is really bad, but I love it this way! On the bottom left is a frog mosaic that I made for my bathroom!

But anyway, that's just one of my favorite beauty finds! I have a ton others that I will share with you another time!

My Biggest Loser

2011-01-22T23:41:00.000-05:00

In this society I think we over indulge with everything! And when it comes to our pets most of us like to spoil them! And it was no surprise to me when I was in the pet store last week and came across this product.

Since then I've seen it on tv almost daily! My dog Allie was at the vets this past week with a reoccuring foot problem. At her appointment we discovered that she is even heavier than she was this past summer. She weighed 14 pounds this past summer and she now weighs 16 pounds! Because of her extra weight, it may be hard to tell but she is a chihuahua mix!

This is what she looked like when she was about a year old! Here she is with Ben. I think what has happened over the years is that she is consuming all the food that the boys have dropped on the floor as babies and toddlers!

Not to mention some intentional feedings I imagine!

Here is a photo I took of her tonight! She is pacing by her food dish...crying and whining because today is day two of her diet program! And I can totally relate with how she feels because I am a total beast when I am dieting! I just feel soo badly for her! While we don't usual give her table food, we just always feed her when she wants to eat. Which is a couple of bowls full at a time, a couple times a day. She'll go to her dish and cry or follow you around the house barking at your feet and you know she wants to eat, so we fill her bowl! Well that was a big mistake!

For a dog of her size, the diet program only allows you to give her two of these packets of food A DAY! That's why I feel soo badly because it is such a small amount compared to what she normally eats. Look how tiny the packet on the left is! And she only can have just two per day! And the packet on the right is the amount of treats she can eat! And she is allowed just one of these treat packets a day! Normally she doesn't like dog biscuits like these, but she's so hungry that she eats them anyways!

So I fed her a one packet around 8 o'clock this morning. And the other packet around 6 o'clock this evening! She had one biscuit around lunchtime and then the other at bed! The program states that 96% of dogs lose weight within the first month! That is IF you follow the plan! Today she was soo consumed with hunger that she manged to climb the boys chair and jump on the couch and steal a graham cracker from Alex's bowl! But I don't blame her, I'm like that too when I am starved! lol ;)

The plan was a little pricey...you get a 5 week supply (for small breeds) for around $44. But if it works, that is what is important...I want her to be around for a very long time! And at this rate her obesity isn't very good for her health!

With this program they are supposed to lose 1% of their body weight per week! I'll have to keep you updated!

Bucket Boy No More!

2011-01-21T23:31:00.000-05:00

If you read my last post you know that Ben couldn't skate his first time on the ice. But by the end of his first time he was able to skate just a little!

Yesterday was his second time on the ice however, and he didn't use a bucket! He skated the whole hour and a half on his own! I was sooo proud of him! He did great, and even scored two goals! He still falls alot, but it's amazing that he is doing so well!

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but because of my past hockey experience I am helping out with the program! Here I am teaching some kids how to skate! Aren't they soo adorable and tiny?! lol I'm not tall at all, I'm only 5'6", so you can see in comparison of how very little some of them are!

I absolutely LOVE teaching the kids! I think now that I am older, plus I'm a mom, I have a ton of patience and it's soo rewarding too! One little boy fell backwards and hit his head on the ice. I was standing right there and I said: "You're all right!" And he responded in his tiny little voice: "No I'm not!" lol It was the funniest thing ever..it made me laugh! He was ok, he wasn't hurt, and he never cried.

I totally forgot what a workout hockey is! I was completely drenched with sweat after our last practice! lol It was sooo gross! I felt like I sweat off five pounds! Hopefully I'll lose a little weight at least!

My Little Pittsburgh Penguin

2011-01-17T23:12:00.000-05:00

We had a very busy and exciting weekend! Benjamin, my five-year-old, started "The Little Penguins-Learn To Play Hockey" program! He has never played hockey before, or even ice skated for that matter, but we had the opportunity to participate and went for it!

He was all smiles when he first got his equipment, and even wanted to watch tv while he was wearing it! I'm just loving the little helmet and the itty bitty skates! They are soo adorable!

Sidney Crosby, who is the captain of our professional hockey team, The Pittsburgh Penguins sponsors the program each year! He is a spokesman for Reebok, so all the children participating got full gear! Through The Pittsburgh Penguins (Sidney Crosby), Dicks Sporting Goods, and Reebok they gave children all over the Pittsburgh area the chance to be able to play hockey at an astonishing price! It only cost $100 and that included all the ice time, full equipment, and 12 weeks of lessons! You cannot beat that! If anyone knows anything about hockey, it can cost up to $1000 just to play for one season! This is the perfect opportunity to see if he really likes the sport and wants to play...and it's easy on pocket! ;)

So Ben will be playing every Thursday for the next 12 weeks! I just love this profile picture of him! It's soo cute, and he looks so deep in thought. He's probably thinking...what have I gotten myself into?! lol

Here he when he first got on the ice! You can't really tell, but the boy kneeling behind him is holding him up! lol Poor Ben just couldn't get the hang of just standing on the ice! He wanted to keep moving his feet, which caused him to fall repeatedly! lol

For those who don't know, this is how they teach kids to skate. The kids that cannot skate or stand up by themselves are given big buckets to push around the ice! At first Ben was hunched over the bucket and by the end of the hour he was standing up straight and even skated a little on his own!

I played hockey in high school, so luckily I was out on the ice with him and was able to help him skate. It's been about 15 years, and my feet were killing me! Especially since I had to skate backwards most of the time as I was watching Ben skate! lol

Towards the end of the skate I let Ben hold onto his stick as I skated backwards. I figured it would give him a better idea of actually skating, if he was standing upright doing it himself. Like I said, it worked and hopefully by the end of our next skate, he'll be able to skate on his own!

Here we are taking a little rest!

Since I have had experience playing in the past, they will be letting me help out on the ice! I am soo excited! I love hockey soo much and love working with kids! So this will be a good fit for me! So I won't be taking a ton of photos during the program obviously since I will be on the ice. But I will try to have my husband take some.

Just for laughs, I wanted to share a photo from when I played hockey. I was about 17-years-old when this photo was taken! I absolutely fell in love with the sport and hope that Ben does too!

Traveling to games and playing hockey was one of the best memories that I had of childhood!

Christmas...A little late!

2011-01-16T18:43:00.000-05:00

I know, I know...it's nearly a whole month after Christmas, but I just had to share these cute photos of the boys, and then I'll be all caught up with my blog! lol

Every year I buy them matching pajamas. It's a tradition...I just love watching them open presents in their matching pajamas! It makes for great photos too!

Here they are waiting at the top of the stairs before they come down and open presents! They get sooo excited waiting!

Here they are sitting together opening presents. It was a big year for Star Wars!

I like to take a formal photo around Christmas time, so I have one year to year. This is this year's photo. Here's Alex.

And here's Ben. I think they turned out really cute!

And here is our family Christmas photo (Allie our dog included)! It was tough taking a photo myself....it's so hard to get everyone with a nice smile. This isn't perfect, but oh well...I thought it was cute! lol

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful Christmas! I wish I was able to send each one of you a holiday card!

Living a chaotic life!

2011-01-11T23:10:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been such a long time since I last blogged! I apologize, and I probably lost many readers, but December is one of the most chaotic months for me!

My photography business is finally picking up, Alex's birthday is on December 12th, and then there is Christmas! There's just a ton of stuff packed into one month! I know I'm behind, but I'd still like to share some photos from December! Here are some photos from Alex's 4th birthday party! As you can see it was "Lego" themed. I was so excited when I found this t-shirt, I thought it would be perfect for him to wear for his party!

He's very excited that he is now 4!

I haven't made a themed birthday cake in a few years, but this year I thought I'd try to tackle a Lego Brick cake.

I made this yellow brick cake and the blue one that you can see behind it. I wasn't super happy with how it turned out, but the kids seemed to love it! I even used one of his little Lego characters to hold one of the candles!

Here is the table centerpiece. I used a Lego gameboard that I found at a thrift store and a vase that I filled with Lego Bricks. The little boxes were filled with treats and I stamped each child's name on the box. I wish I would have gotten a photo with all the little Lego Man boxes, but the kids snatched them up pretty quickly! lol

I made these gift bags for each child that were made to look like Lego Bricks. I purchased solid color gift bags and used a hole punch to punch out circles from cardstock and used dimensional stickers to add them to the front. Very inexpensive and very easy.

So that was basically his fourth birthday! He had a great time and got tons and tons of what else...LEGOS! :)

I plan to start updating my blog on a regular basis, just please stick with me. I've gone through a tough time in the last month and I'll share that with you soon. Hope you are staying warm in whatever part of the world you are in! Have a great week!

POTD: Sailor's Delight

2010-11-21T19:27:00.000-05:00

This was the view from my backyard tonight! We had an unusually warm day for this time of year. I just love a reddish pink sky!

Everytime that I see a sky like this, I think of my husband who was once a sailor. He often says this:

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor's warning!"

I've been a busy, busy girl!

2010-11-14T23:41:00.000-05:00

I have to apologize once again for the lacking of blog posts! But....I've been a busy, busy girl lately! Between the boys and photography...it's been crazy! Last weekend I was hired to photograph a wedding and I spent part of this past week editing and organizing the photos. And yesterday I took Christmas photos of a cute little girl, so I'm currently working on those!

My husband was "watching" the boys while I was at that wedding and Alex had an accident. I say "watching" in parentheses because we all know the quality of childcare when a man is watching the kids! lol Anway, as the boys were jumping up and down on the couch, Alex banged his eye off of the back of Ben's head! A few days later he got quite the shiner!

This wasn't the worst of it. The bruise got much worse over the proceeding days. Thankfully it is returning to normal! Poor kid! If you knew Alex and his personality, this wouldn't surprise you! He is an accident waiting to happen! lol

As I mentioned, I photographed a wedding last weekend! It was AMAZING! And it sure helps when the couple is gorgeous! I had a total blast! Here are a couple of my favorite shots!

The place where I photographed these was at this religious place called "Mt. Macrina." It is only about 15 minutes from my house and I never knew how beautiful it was there! Unfortunately I only had about 10 minutes to photograph the couple there, so I wish I had a little more time. And I wish I knew about this place at the beginning of Fall because I would have loved to have photographed my boys there! Oh well, there's always the Spring!

Lastly, mama got a new pair of shoes! :)

I have been wanting these for a couple of years now and finally broke down and bought them! I knew a couple of people who has them and loves them. One of the groomsman at the wedding had them as well, and it gave me the push to buy a pair! They are supposed to be wonderful if you have knee and back pain. I'll let you know what I think about them!

I don't know what is scarier...the shoes, the striped socks, the striped pants, or my unshaven legs! lol With two boys, if I can shave once a week that is a luxury! lol :)

Oh and I would like to mention that I have a poll on the right side of my page. I need a little feedback. Would you like me to continue doing my Richard Gere "Movie Mondays?" I just feel like it's something that nobody really reads. Let me know what you think!

Happy Anniversary to ME!

2010-11-09T22:31:00.000-05:00

This past week Chris and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary! I am so lucky to have married the most wonderful man in the world! Here is a photo of the card that he bought me. Apparently the gift for your seventh anniversary is "copper"....hence the seven pennies that he glued to my card!

We didn't do the whole gift thing this year. I think we both realize how truly blessed we are to have each other...so no gift can compare to that!

This is probably my most treasured gift that Chris has ever bought for me. I'm sharing this with you now, because I have been wearing it a lot lately.

When Chris and I started dating he bought me this "St. Christopher" medal to wear. Saint Christopher is the protector of travel. Chris bought me a card and this necklace was taped on the inside with a note that said that he would always protect me no matter where I am in life! :)

I love how romantic he is, and how he puts soo much thought into the gifts that he gives!

I tried to get a photo of us the other day, but Chris was being too silly for a serious photo! He always has to do a silly one!

Here are some photos from our past! We've done a lot of great things over the 9 years that we have been together!

Here we are in Punxsutawney during the Groundhog's Day celebration (2/2/02).

The night before our wedding we attended a Halloween party and we dressed as Hugh Hefner and a playboy bunny!

Here we are on our wedding day...seven years ago!

On our honeymoon at Niagara Falls, Canada.

Here we are on one of our anniversary trips in Ohio. We had a blast ziplining!

I am so very thankful to have Chris by my side. He is my best friend, my soul mate, and a wonderful father! A girl couldn't ask for a better husband!

Movie Monday-Breathless

2010-11-01T21:23:00.006-04:00

I am reviewing the movie "Breathless" this week! The movie also stars a French actress Valerie Kaprisky. The movie is from 1983 and is a remake of a the classic which is from 1960.
Richard Gere plays the character "Jesse." Jesse is an arrogant cocky man who goes on a crime spree while on his way to see the woman that he admires. On his travels he kills a cop, so there is a manhunt for him.

He finally makes it to see his girl "Monica" played by Valerie Kaprisky. Monica is a french college student who is studying architecture. In the past Jesse and Monica had a four day affair in Las Vegas. One that Jesse would never forget.

Monica has big plans for her life, and Jesse isn't part of them. But he is relentless and constantly pursues her! Monica has no idea that Jesse is wanted by the cops and she winds up becoming pregnant and falling in love with him!

Even after she finds out about his crime spree she still stands by his side! But seriously..it's Richard Gere...I'd stand by him too! ;)

I normally do not like watching movies that are nearly as old as I am! BUT, this one was actually good. It kept my attention and to be honest, I was kind of liking the YOUNG hot Richard Gere! ;)

You know me...I like the "old man" Richard Gere, but this cocky arrogant character he played really attracted me to him! He constantly stole cars, and smoked cigarettes...it was HOT! lol I was totally digging this character!

Don't you just love the ruffled dress shirt!

I could see how an intelligent woman could be attracted to his character in the movie like Monica was! There was something exciting about him that was very magnetic.

There were a couple of scenes in the movie that I liked. Monica was in the pool and Jesse was upstairs on the balcony of her apartment. He ended up crawling down her macrame plant holder just to get to her in the pool! It was very romantic in a bad a** sort of way! lol You can view that clip here!

Remember macrame plant holders? I think I was in 2nd grade when I made one of those for my mother! lol

And the other scene of my dreams was that he pulled up to pick up Monica in a PINK convertible! It was sooo hot! That is my dream...Richard Gere picking me up in a pink convertible! lmao! ;)

Two things a girl cannot have enough of...Richard Gere and PINK! :)

I give this movie an 8 on the Richard Gere hotness scale. There WAS Richard Gere nudity! So that's always a plus for me! lol But I would recommend watching it! There was just something about his character that was sooo attractive! Plus if you have Netflix it's an "Instant Movie" right now!

Here is the trailer if you want to see a preview! Surprisingly I found it to be really good!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2010-10-31T20:12:00.004-04:00

Hope everyone had a great Halloween! We sure did! This year's Halloween theme was "Star Wars!" I of course had to be "Princess Leia!" Since I'm still not feeling well, I didn't feel like wearing her signature white dress. Instead I opted for a long sleeve white t-shirt with a winter vest over top! It's quite chilly here!
Alex dressed as Darth Vader, and Ben was a Storm Trooper! We got dressed a little early, so we went outside for a little photo shoot! Here we are ready to trick or treat!

Princess Leia was captured by Darth Vader and his Storm Trooper! The storm trooper (Ben) told me that if I escaped while he was trick or treating that he'd shoot me with his gun!

Every princess has to have some gas station coffee! lol I LOVE gas station coffee! And I drink at least 2 if not 3 of these a day!

Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween! I love Halloween and I will greatly miss it! I guess I'll start planning for Halloween 2011!

Last Day of the Fall Soccer Season!

2010-10-30T23:45:00.002-04:00

Today was the last day of soccer for Ben for the Fall Season! I'm a little sad that it's over for the year, but in a way happy because the temperatures are getting colder! Today was a tournament, so he played two games.

Ben loves playing soccer, and is always so happy to play! He's really good on defense, but this season he has proved to be a goal scorer! It's so funny to watch him at his games, he has so much energy and just jumps and bounces around...even when the ball is NOT in play! lol
There are some beautiful farm lands near the soccer area that you can see from the photo! It is so beautiful (especially in Fall), and reminds me of a painting!

Here is Ben and his little "girlfriend!" She was a classmate of his from his "old" school. And they missed each other soo much! Today she informed me that Ben just has to attend her birthday party in a few weeks! She is so cute!

Here is Ben's team with their trophies!

Ben was excited about his trophy, but more excited to go and play on the playground after his game!

We're looking forward to the Spring 2011 season-which starts after Easter. Alex will finally be able to play soccer! And both Ben and Alex will be on the same team! I cannot wait!

Fall/Halloween Party!

2010-10-29T18:44:00.005-04:00

Today was Ben's Fall Party at school! I was so thankful to be able to help out at the party, because now that he's in public school you can sign up but that doesn't mean they'll pick you to help! Last year he attended Catholic School and they were very lenient with their school parties...the more that attended- the merrier! But public school is a whole different scene!

Here is Ben and a couple classmates enjoying their snacks!
I bought each child a pumpkin to decorate. Here is Ben's pumpkin. He said it's an Indian.

I had to get a photo of me and my new Halloween t-shirt! I just LOVE Halloween...it's my favorite holiday! So here I am with the boys. I think it's funny that they wouldn't put their Wii controllers down for one minute to pose for the photo! lol Silly boys!

Unfortunately I am still sick. All my running around today really made me feel worse and feverish! Why is it that I am sick for every single Halloween? Well at least I was for the last four years! Hopefully I am somewhat better before Sunday!

The Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-27T17:30:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was really beautiful in South Western, PA. It was in the low 70's which is unusually warm for this time of year! But I'm not complaining! ;)

We thought it would be the perfect weekend to visit the pumpkin patch and get some Fall photos!

I always like to dress the boys alike since they are so close in age. I don't know when I'll stop! lol

I use to be the type of person who has said. "I can't believe people dress their twins alike! They are individuals, not the same person!" Then I had kids and that went out the window! lol

Two reasons why I like dressing them alike. #1 It makes for a nicer photo when they are in coordinating outfits. And #2 when you are at a zoo, an amusement park or other busy place, you can instantly pick them out in a large crowd. They are very easy to locate in a quick glance.
We had such a great time at this particular pumpkin patch. When you pay for your admission, they give you a big bag of marshmallows that you can roast on one of their outdoor fires! There were a couple of corn mazes, and the hayride dropped us right off at the pumpkin patch where we could pick our own pumpkins! It was sooo fun!

The boys didn't really like the corn maze. They were a little scared! I don't blame them because I was too...just a little bit...especially when the wind blew! Have you ever seen the movie "Children of the Corn?" Need I say more! ;)

Here they are at the entrance of one of the mazes. The wouldn't go into this one! I did but I couldn't find my way out! I had to backtrack!

Here's the one that they went through. At one point Ben started crying! He was so frightened!

And this happens to be my favorite photo! Of my three LOVES: Ben, Chris, and Alex! I couldn't ask for a more perfect family! :) I just love them soo much!

Hope everyone is enjoying their Fall! Hard to believe that Halloween is less than a week away!

I'm Sick!

2010-10-27T00:41:00.003-04:00

I have been sick for the past few days! All I have been doing is lying in bed watching scary movies and snuggling with my dog Allie! Photo evidence is below! This has been my view lately, since I spend the majority of the day in bed!

I am postponing "Movie Monday" until next week. Even though Richard Gere movies are what makes me feel better when I am ill, my brain is too foggy to review any new movies. I'll have to go to my standby feel good movies like: Nights in Rodanthe, Pretty Woman, and Runaway Bride!

A girl cannot watch enough Richard Gere movies! RG to me is like Vitamin C! ;)

Anyway I am in need of some Vitamin C, so I'll probably spend tomorrow in bed watching some of my favorite movies while I recover!

More posts to come in the next few days!

Movie Monday-Cotton Club

2010-10-17T22:46:00.004-04:00

I know, I know....I've been a really bad blogger and I apologize! Ever since school started with my son, life has become so hectic. Plus the Fall soccer season started and there are practices, games, and homework for school! Up until recently, it has felt extremely hard just to keep up with the everyday tasks of life!

I organized my house, totally. I mean cleaned closets, organized, and packed away the boy's summer wardrobe. I use to live in CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome). But now that my house is clean, anyone can stop over anytime and I'm not rushing like a mad woman and hiding stuff in closets and under the bed! lol

Now that I am totally organized, I am finally ready to focus on some "me" time...including this blog! The past couple of weeks I've been focusing on my art and it finally feels good to create again! I'll share some of my work with you in the next couple of weeks. I also want to stock my Etsy shop so I can earn a little extra money for Christmas!

So onto Movie Monday! This week's review is about the movie "Cotton Club." It is from 1984 and stars Richard Gere (of course) and a very young Diane Lane. It also stars Gregory Hines, a young Nicholas Cage, Laurence Fishburne among many others.
The movie is about the Cotton Club, a famous club in Harlem. Richard Gere plays the character of Dixie Dwyer. He is a musician who plays in a band and happens to be at the right place at the right time...or so he thinks. He saves the life of a well known gangster and because of this he gets wrapped up in the gangster's life...which is a life of crime. Once he's in, he finds it very hard to get out!

Diane Lane plays the character of Vera Cicero, who is the gangster's girlfriend. It is one of Dixie Dwyer's jobs to keep her entertained for his boss.

As I said it is about a famous jazz nightclub called "The Cotton Club." Gregory Hine's character auditions to be one of the club's entertainers and he makes it in! If you have never seen Gregory Hine's perform, it is worth renting this movie! His tap dancing is amazing! There is a lot of jazz music, dancing, and singing...it's really entertaining.

I was actually dreading watching this movie, because it is so old and it's not a typical Richard Gere romance movie. PLUS, he is young in this movie and if you have read my blog you know I prefer the old man Richard Gere! lol But I was very surprised, it was a great movie to watch!

I give this movie a Richard Gere hotness rating of a 7. The movie was to depict the olden days. The days of the flappers. I have been trying to see what era this movie was from, but I can't find any info. Anyway, I rate it a 7 because I love the ways men dress in the olden days! Very sophisticated! And plus RG plays a few instruments in this movie and that makes him super sexy as well! lol

A little RG factoid: He is a pianist and writes his own music. He wrote and played the piano piece in Pretty Woman. If you notice he plays many different intruments in different movies, and it's really him playing them!
It is an instant download right now if you have Netflix so you may want to try it out! Also you can view a clip of the movie here. Just remember to turn my music player off of the right hand side of my page.

More posts in the next couple of days so be sure to stop back! Have a great week!

Movie Monday- My Dog: An Unconditional

2010-09-20T21:43:00.006-04:00

For my movie review this week, I watched the documentary called: "My dog: An Unconditional Love Story. It's about famous New York celebrities and their dogs. It's not totally about Richard Gere, but he does have a few interviews in it about his dog. You can rent this movie from Netflix and it's an instant movie right now! I found this documentary to be very touching. Anyone who has a dog knows the unconditional love that you experience with them! This documentary isn't for you if you are not a dog lover. The documentary is from 2010 and many celebrites star in it such as Glenn Close, Lynn Redgrave, Richard Belzer, Edie Falco, Greg Louganis, Christopher Meloni, Isaac Mizrahi...and a few others.

Each celebrity tells you their story about their dog and what it has meant to them. Richard Gere says that he is the Alpha Male to no one in his family except his dog!

One of the most touching stories was that of the actress Didi Conn. Remember her? She was pink haired "Frenchie" from Grease. Well her son has Autism and people with Autism often fixate on one thing. Her son's fixation is on dogs! As a child he had sleeping problems and the problems ended once they got a dog! He bonded with his new dog and became best friends with him! His sleep problems finally ended because his dog knew he needed him and layed by his side in bed each night! One funny thing about their story was that the boy's dad said to him. "Please talk to me about something other than dogs. Ask your dad a question." The boy replied: "Dad, what's your favorite breed of dogs?!" lol What a cute and wonderful story about a boy and his dog!

This was a wonderful group of stories that really touched my heart! And of course I cried....but in a happy way!

Here is a photo from the documentary of Richard Gere, his dog, and his wife Carey Lowell. My husband walked in when I was watching this movie and exclaimed: "Is that his wife?" "She's that cute girl from Law and Order!" And I said "yes" and I added, that she is much cuter than Cindy Crawford! My husband exclaimed: "He was married to Cindy Crawford?!" And I said: "Where have you been?!" LOL

I give this a 9 on the Richard Gere hotness scale! Any guy who pours his heart out about his dog gets a higher rating in my opinion! :)

You can watch a preview of this movie here.

I have always had a dog in my life. There is something about them that is so wonderful. I always have said that I get more attached to a dog than I do people! And it's because dogs love you in an unconditional way and people do not.

I got my first dog "Spunky" when I was 5-years-old. I remember very clearly going to pick him out that day. I remember my mom saying we were going to get tires for the car and to take my blanket with me. I remember going into the house and seeing a lot of poodles. And I got to chose which one I wanted to take home! He was black and brown. I have a few photos of me and Spunky, I'll have to scan them in sometime soon!

This is my current dog Allie. She's a chihuahua mix. Her and I have a bond because we are the only two female in the house with three boys!

She is the alpha female in my house. She often herds me around by barking and biting at my feet! She is in love with my husband and I often wonder that she loves him more than I do! lol

She tolerates my son Ben, but absolutely dislikes my youngest Alex! If she is lying in my bed and he walks into the bedroom she barks and tries to snap at him. The bed is her domain. She even gets a little cranky when she is sleeping with my husband and I try to climb into bed! My husband goes to bed early and the dog will try to sneak upstairs so she doesn't have to sleep in her kennel. When I get to bed she is laying on my side of the bed near my pillow and dislikes it when I try to move her! lol

Like I said she's the alpha female in the household! lol

This photo was taken at my parent's camp. She absolutely loves it there!

What kind of bonding stories do you have about your dog? I would love to hear them!

Great Yard Sale Finds

2010-09-18T17:24:00.003-04:00

I haven't blogged in over a week and I am very sorry! Things have been busy with Ben's school, soccer, and Alex's gymnastics class. Plus the doctors appointments and everything, my head has been spinning.

I do however have good news. Ben's heart is fine! YAY! Thank you everyone for all your well wishes, positive thoughts and prayers!

I wanted to post about the wonderful day I had today and the great things that I bought!

I am so lucky to live close to Kimba from A Soft Place To Land! If you read her blog you would know that she was clearing out a lot of her fantastic pieces, and I went to her yard sale today!

And let me tell you, it was by far the best yard sale of the year! Lots of great pieces, and I cannot wait to incorporate them into my home!

And I am so sorry Kimba for not introducing myself. I woke up at 6 got a shower, barely did anything with my hair, got the kids ready and I was on the road! It took me about 40 minutes to get there, but it was definitely worth it! I'm the one with the kids that were watching Star Wars in the car! lol

As you can see in the photo below, I got a metal planter, a of white couple of plates, and a magnetic board in the beautiful blue frame.

Isn't that blue magnetic board fabulous? It's covered in fabric and completely jumped out at me! I have great plans for that little board, and I cannot wait to share them with you! I just love that color, so fresh and relaxing!

The metal planter might end up being another fairy garden or a planter for the Cats & Kittens plants that I love! And the white plates will eventually have a vinyl monogram on them!
Look at that lovely green frame! It is sooo beachy and I just love it! I am going to put a photo from the beach in it once I get some glass for it. And can you believe that she had a pink frame similar to this and I passed it up! Yes I did! And I do regret it! lol I'll probably be going to the local goodwill stores over the next week trying to find it if no one bought it! lol

And I love this chippy white frame with the stitchery that says: "If the shoe fits!" I love Halloween and witches so this is just perfect for my home! And it's already on my mantle! Here is some scroll work plaques and a black metal frame. I think they are eventually going to go in my living room since it's accented in black. And this black bird cage is just one of my favorite finds! It's making me reconsider my bird themed loft/meditation room! It would look perfect in there!

And can you believe that I got all of these goodies for UNDER $20! How awesome is that?!
And lastly here is the strawberry pot that I got. I've always wanted one of these for my Cats & Kittens succulents, so I was happy to score this as well! Don't mind the house wrap still on my house, we are going to get siding really soon and I cannot wait!

The raccoon rock isn't from Kimba, it's a rock that I painted a few years ago and he just hangs out on my front porch.
Does anyone having any recommendation for planting Cats & Kittens? Should I wait until spring until I plant them in this pot? I know they do well in the Winter so I thought that they'd be fine in this pot on my front porch? Any suggestions?

Movie Monday-Intersection

2010-09-06T21:34:00.005-04:00

Sorry that I'm a day late with my movie review. Because of the holiday weekend, I was very very busy. But late last night I stayed up and watched the movie "Intersection." It's from the year 1994, and also stars Sharon Stone.
This movie was a remake of an old French movie. I should have figured that it would suck! lol

As you can see I didn't like the movie. Richard Gere plays a married architect who is having an affair. He struggles with which life he wants...that with his wife, who is also his partner, at his successful Architect Firm...or his mistress whom he really loves.

Just when he thinks he knows what he wants, it all changes at an intersection.

I think the reason that I didn't like this movie was that the whole movie was made of flashbacks. That in itself wasn't bad, what was bad was that the flashbacks were all out of sequence! lol

It wasn't so much as confusing, but stupid really! It reminded me of a Lifetime Movie. Actually most Lifetime movies are better than this one! I wouldn't really waste your money renting this movie. If you have Netflix though it is an instant movie to watch right now.

I give it a 3 on the Richard Gere hotness rating. I don't like his mid-nineties look....again too much like Fraggle Rock!

Hopefully next week's movie won't be soo bad!

Friday Fragments

2010-09-02T22:33:00.007-04:00

Today is finally Friday! And I haven't done a Friday Fragments in such a long time! They are so fun and I hope now to start doing them weekly! You can see other's Friday Fragments by visiting Mrs. 4444's blog here.

So this is what has gone on this week at my house:

***Monday was Ben's first day of Kindergarten. He loved it soo much and had such a great week! And he said the funniest thing to me this week. We were going over vocabulary words, and he needed to know the terms- "first," "second," "third," and etc. I knew that he knew what they meant but I thought I'd ask. I said: "Ben what does the word "first" mean?" And he said: "So and So (not going to mention their name) gets to go first in line everyday because their mommy is the teacher!" lol I just thought that was a very funny observance, since his teacher has her own child in his class! lol

For some reason I was thinking that things would get less hectic once he started going to school throughout the week, but my life seems even more chaotic! Yes he is not at home during the day but we now have homework, lunches to pack, and I have to drive to and from school! Things have gotten way out of hand here at home and my mission is to become more organized! I have to! I need things to be less chaotic and easier for me so I am not rushing around and I can spend more time crafting and doing fun things!

***As you can see from the photo below I have started a new project! I bought an old headboard and foot board from St. Vincent De Paul for $5, and it even included the rails! Sadly, I have had it since last year so I decided that it needed to be finished! The photo below is of the foot board. The headboard I had already started painting when I discovered that I didn't take a photo first! lol
I am painting it black and it is going to go in Ben's room which will have a "Star Wars" theme! Hopefully it will be finished in the next couple of days and I will post about it then.

***I have been freezing a lot of food lately. It saves so much time! So far we have use up some quesadillas that I froze and some spaghetti sauce! I hope to stock my freezer full of a lot of soups this fall!

***I cannot wait to start decorating for Halloween! As soon as I get my house all organized this week, I plan to start decorating!

***My oldest Ben had a checkup for school a couple of days ago to get the rest of his vaccinations. They discovered during that appointment that they heard something weird with his heart. He is getting a chest x-ray and EKG today, and will be seeing the cardiologist next Wednesday. Heart problems run in my husband's family, so please pray that this is nothing serious. I will keep you updated with what we find out. This is all in good timing though...he is due to have dental work in the next couple of weeks, and we definitely want to find out what's wrong before he has any work done!

***This weekend is going to be so busy for us. Ben has soccer practice tonight and we have a birthday luau party to attend on Saturday. Then we'll have Sunday and Monday to relax before school starts again on Tuesday!

Have a safe & Happy Labor Day weekend!

My Little Artist

2010-09-01T19:53:00.002-04:00

Today we took a trip, outside of Pittsburgh, to pick up this little art desk that we found on Craigslist!

Alexander, my youngest son, absolutely LOVES creating! He is very imaginative and just loves to tell stories, paint, and color! I wanted to give him his own little creative space, and I always loved this desk made by Step 2. It has a place for all of his supplies and the top of his desk is a dry erase board that lifts up for additional storage!

Each side and the back of the desk has additional storage for his coloring books and tablets.
He spent the remainder of the day just being creative!

Here he is using the dry erase desktop! The best part was that this desk only cost $30 and it was in near perfect condition! There were no marks on it and it was super clean!

I think he is an awesome artist for only being three-years-old! Here is a picture he drew of me! He is drawing at the level of his older brother!

So while Ben is at school each day, this is probably where Alex will be spending his time! But that's ok, cause I like to be creative too!

Happy Birthday Richard Gere!

2010-08-31T16:52:00.005-04:00

If you read my blog at all you know I am totally obsessed with Richard Gere! Can you blame me...he is absolutely GORGEOUS! Yum! Anyway today is his 61st birthday! And seriously I think he is cuter than EVER! :)

I say it a million times...he just keeps getting better with age!
And seriously...hot...huh?! To me he is the sexiest man alive (second to my husband of course)!

I wanted to send RG a gift for his birthday, but apparently you cannot send yourself through the mail! That makes me sooo sad! :(

And plus I think it would take a little more than just three stamps to mail myself! ;) And a lot more bubble wrap! So I guess he'll have to come to my house if he wants his gift! ;)

First Day of Kindergarten!

2010-08-30T23:04:00.005-04:00

Today is a double post day! For my movie review look at the post below. Today's Monday was very eventful. My oldest son Benjamin started Kindergarten today! He was very excited!

Here he is, trying to adjust to the sun, all decked out in his Star Wars gear! Star Wars shirt, Star Wars book bag, and Star Wars lunchbox! lol We are starting to live in a Star Wars house...it is everywhere! lol
Here's me and Ben before I dropped him off at school.
Daddy and Ben!
Ben getting ready to walk into school!
Posing for a picture...as he was walking into school he got a little nervous. You could just see it in his face.
My little boy is growing up sooo fast! He had a really great day today and he's looking forward to going back tomorrow!
Come back for tomorrow's post...it's Richard Gere's birthday! :)

Movie Monday- First Knight

2010-08-30T21:59:00.005-04:00

Today's movie review is of the 1995 movie "First Knight."
Richard Gere plays the character "Lancelot," and Sean Connery plays the character of "King Arthur." To be very honest with you this is the second time I tried watching this movie, and it's sooo hard for me to pay attention! lol I don't like "knight" or "pirate" movies so I cannot concentrate while watching it! lol

To me it's like watching a foreign movie...without subtitles! lol But from what I have watched and understand...Lancelot (Richard Gere) rescues Guinevere from a runaway carriage. He quickly falls in love with her, but she is soon marrying King Arthur (Sean Connery).

Guinevere is kidnapped and Lancelot rescues her again and takes her back to King Arthur. King Arthur is impressed by Lancelot and gives him a space at his "Round Table" at his kingdom of Camelot. Guinevere, who is struggling with her feelings for Lancelot, gets upset when he decides to leave. They kiss goodbye passionately as King Arthur walks in and discovers them. Then this is where it becomes blurry to me lol....both Lancelot and King Arthur declare their love for Guinevere. Somehow they are both put on trial and a character of "Malagant" comes to Camelot and wages War.

It ends with King Arthur dying and telling Lancelot to take care of her (meaning Camelot and Guinevere).

I am so sorry for the confusing movie review, but I couldn't follow this movie easily. It's not the movies fault, it's just that it's not my kind of movie to watch! lol

I normally don't like the shaggy hair RG look! It's what I call his "Fraggle Rock" look, but for some reason in this movie it really works for him! I think it's his sword fighting skills or how he looks very dirty and unkept...but it sooo works! lol

I give him a 6 on the Richard Gere hotness scale! I love the fact that he knows how to use a sword & he rides and rescues her on a black horse!

Here is one of my favorite clips from the movie. You can watch it here.

I totally recommend this movie, if it's the type of movie you like. I just get lost when I hear words like "Round Table" and "Camelot" and things like that! lol

Make sure that you check out my post tomorrow...it's Richard Gere's 61 birthday! :) I have a funny post tomorrow for you to read! ;)

POTD: Fall Soccer Season

2010-08-29T21:23:00.002-04:00

Ben's Fall soccer season has officially begun! He had his first practice on Friday night, and he is soo excited! He had the summer off from soccer, and he definitely missed it! And I missed it too! It's so fun watching the little ones play...they are sooo into it!
He is growing up so quickly! Tomorrow is his first day of Kindergarten! We are both sooo excited! I'll post photos from his first day- plus I'll try to do my "Movie Monday" as well! These weeks are just going by soo quickly! Before I know it he will be graduating from high school!

POTD-Tricycle & Summer Memories

2010-08-27T19:26:00.003-04:00

Here is a photo of my youngest son Alexander...riding his tricycle on one of our camping trips! This photo was taken at my parent's camp, and my boys love going there every summer!

This is probably the last summer that they will have their camp. My parents are thinking of selling it. I am so thankful that my boys went their every summer so they have these wonderful memories as I did as a little girl. This was my thirty-second year of going there! It is such a wonderful relaxing place!

In a few years, once I start my career, I am hoping to get my own cabin so we have a place to go to and make our very own summer memories! :)

Movie Monday: Mr. Jones

2010-08-23T22:51:00.005-04:00

This week's movie review is of the 1993 movie "Mr. Jones."
Richard Gere plays the character known as "Mr. Jones" a man who is manic depressive. Mr. Jones is a very charming man full of energy at one moment and totally depressed and suicidal the next.

Mr. Jones is hospitalized when he first meets the beautiful psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth 'Libbie' Bowen (played by Lena Olin). Mr. Jones has a habit of not taking his medication and his life begins to unravel. He does a bunch of crazy things and that puts him into mandatory hospitalization.

Dr. Bowen is his doctor and the two of them begin to form a relationship which eventually jeopardizes Dr. Bowen's career. Will she lose her career for Mr. Jones?

After one of his crazy behaviors this is Mr. Jones strapped down to a table ready to be medicated. It is ironic though...this is probably the same photo that I would take with my camera if RG was at my house! lol ;) HA HA!

Favorite quote of the movie:

Dr. Bowen: "Mr. Jones, you have a disease. Manic-depressive disorder. Its like having diabetes."

Mr. Jones: "No sh**! And here I thought I was just having a bad day!"

Sorry for the short review. This was just an ok movie in my opinion. Definitely worth watching, but not one of my favorites.

I give it a Richard Gere hotness rating of a 5. Yeah I know...a low rating...what is wrong with me?! lol But in the early 90's he had that long shaggy hair that made him look like one of the muppets on Fraggle Rock! lol And that is not attractive to me. His hair was gray, which is a plus so maybe I'll bump the hotness rating to a 5.5! :)

Other than that it was just an average RG movie...not great and not bad either.

Back To School Tree-Mini Tutorial

2010-08-18T19:21:00.014-04:00

It is hard to believe that summer is almost over! My oldest son Ben starts Kindergarten this year and we're very excited! I wanted to celebrate this event, so I decorated a pencil tree in a "back to school" theme!
This will be my first mini tutorial. I guess it's not really a tutorial, but just some helpful tips to help you decorate your own back to school tree on a budget.

Here are some basic supplies. I forgot to take a photo of my ribbon. I used about two spools of ribbon. One that had polka dots, and the other, which is my favorite ribbon, looks like a ruler! Very cute for a back to school themed tree! :)

Besides ribbon, you'll need a box of chalk (12 count), 2 bags of mini chalkboard ornaments (found at Joann's), 2 rulers, and a white gel pen for writing on the mini chalkboards. You could also use white acrylic paint, but I found the gel pens are much easier to write with.

In the above photo notice the pink marks on the ruler. That is where my husband cut the ruler in three places. He cut right above the three ring binder holes. We cut it this way so we could skip the step of drilling a hole in the ruler to hang it from. This way is quicker and your ornament is ready to string with ribbon immediately!

In the photo below is the cut rulers, but really you only need about two. Each ruler makes three ornaments, and I found that six was enough to decorate the tree adequately. The rulers were $.50 a piece at Walmart. Just a little tip.... before you cut the ruler, use pliers to remove the metal strip that is along the long edge of the ruler.

I also made salt dough pencil ornaments to decorate the tree. A great recipe for salt dough ornaments can be found here. It's amazing what salt, flour and water can make!

This recipe was enough for about 10 ornaments. Plus I actually made two cupcake ornaments as well in the batch. So you can get about 12 small ornaments out of the batch. They were fairly easy to make. I just rolled a ball of dough into a log and pinched and rolled the end of it to make a pencil point. I then took a butter knife and made the groves of the pencil and stuck a wire in for hanging. They baked in the oven, came out cooled and then I painted them in about an hour! Easy peasy! :) Before I painted them my husband said: "They don't look like pencils!" I kind of agreed, but I had a vision in my head, and I'm sooo glad that I didn't abandon the craft! I love how they turned out! Very stubby and cute!

I painted them with several coats of acrylic paint and left them to dry. After they were completely dry I rubbed on a stain and then sprayed them with a clear coat of varnish. When they were completely dry (front and back) I tied on a ribbon to complete the look. I just love how they turned out!

I topped the tree with a faux apple that I got at Joann's, but you could also use the kind from the Dollar Tree. They are cheaper at the Dollar Tree and in my opinion the same quality. To get it to sit on the top of the tree, I hollowed out the apple with a pair of scissors. You could also use a knife, but be very careful. They are usually made of foam, so they are rather easy to hollow out. You don't need to make a very big hole, just keep trying it out and see what fits on your particular tree.

I also used this method with the small faux pumpkins that you can find around Halloween. They make a cute topper for a Fall themed tree!

The little chalkboards that I mentioned came from Joann's craft store. They are very inexpensive and come in a package of three for $1.49. They are 2"x3" in size and you can do soo much with these! I used six on my tree and wrote things like "1 +1=2" and "CAT" and the boy's names. The added bonus is that these are already ornaments and are ready to hang instantly! I love when I can accomplish something quickly!

Like I mentioned above I used a white gel pen to write on the chalk boards. I'm sure if you had one of those cool chalk pens you could probably do the same thing, but wipe it right off instead! I am sooo drooling over those chalk pens, I hope to buy some someday! I have used white acrylic paint in the past on the chalkboards, but it's a lot harder to write nicely with a paint brush! The plus side to using gel pens is that if you mess up you can quickly wipe it off with a damp papertowel!

Here is a look of the chalkboard ornament hanging on the tree.

I also mentioned that I used a box of 12 count white chalk. Yes this is real chalk. It's inexpensive and looks super cute hanging on the tree! A 12 count pack of chalk from Walmart is $.74! I just used ribbon to tie on it and make into an ornament! You could probably cut the chalk in half and get 24 ornaments out of the box, but I found 12 was sufficient enough for my tree. Here is the chalk and ruler ornaments.
Here is a photo of one of my salt dough pencil ornaments.
I put my pencil tree in a basket, covered the base with yellow fleece fabric, and threw in some faux apples to complete the look of my back to school tree! I think it would look super cute filled to the max with apples, but that would be quite expensive since each apple costs $1.00. These apples are from the Dollar Tree. I hope they also come back out with the tiny apple ornaments that they had last Christmas. Those would be a cute addition to the back to school themed tree!

Joann's had a box of mini apples that would have been cute as ornaments, but at $5.00 a box I thought I'll wait until the ones from the Dollar Tree comes out and save them for next year! I suppose that I could have used my 40% off coupon, but I left it at home! :(

And here is a look at the completed "Back to School"themed tree, lit up, and made on a budget! :)
School starts here on August 30th. Stay tuned for my "Back to School" themed dinner that I have planned for Ben! I have a lot of cute ideas!

I am linking up with some cool blog parties. Check out many awesome projects at House of Hepworths, Strut Your Stuff Thursdays at Somewhat Simple, Craft-O-Maniac Mondays, and Skip to My Lou.

Movie Monday-The Buddha

2010-08-16T23:02:00.006-04:00

This weeks movie review is sort of different. Instead an actual movie that Richard Gere stars in, I'm going to review a movie that he narrated. This movie is called "The Buddha."
This movie is a PBS movie that aired on April 7, 2010 and was directed by David Grubin.
Basically this movie is about the life and death of the man known as The Buddha. This movie really simplifies the Buddhist religion and is a very interesting movie to watch whether you follow the religion or not.

I actually started getting interested in Buddhism several years ago before I even liked Richard Gere. I'll blog about that journey in a few days. But my husband, who is Catholic, got caught up in this movie today because the story telling is awesome and so is the artwork and animation.

As I said Richard Gere narrates this movie, and I could just listen to his voice FOREVER! So certainly that helped with my ratings! lol Besides being narrated by RG, there are many interviews with many scholars. And even some thoughts from the Dalai Lama.

The movie is two hours long and right now it's an Instant Movie download on Netflix for those who are interested. I totally recommend watching the movie, it's a great story and RG's voice is an added plus! ;)

As I was blogging about this tonight my son asked me why I kept staring at this statue of the Buddha! lol It has been on my screen as I was typing my blog post. He asked me to tell him about the Buddha, because he is use to seeing the image around our house, but wasn't sure of the story about him. So tonight I told him as basic as I could about Buddha. And he wanted to know even more! Does anyone recommend any good books for children regarding Buddhism?

I looked on Amazon and they have a ton of books, I just don't know which to choose!

I better get going, tomorrow is a really busy day for me! We have Kindergarten orientation and dental appointments for both boys! I need to get some sleep! Have a great week!

POTD- Goat

2010-08-15T17:58:00.005-04:00

I haven't done a "Photo of the Day" in such a long time! I hope to start doing them more often now since summer is coming to an end. It seems that we have so much going on in the summer and I'm always running to and from somewhere!

On our last camping trip we visited a restaurant/petting zoo called "Farmer's Inn." I've been going to this place ever since I was a baby and I enjoy going every year! I think it's great that my boys can enjoy the same place I enjoyed as a child!

Here is one of the cute little goats! They are always super friendly because they know that you are going to feed them! lol I just wish I could take this little guy home with me! He's a little too big though to fit in my purse! ;)
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Tomorrow's Movie Monday! YAY! My favorite day of the week! ;)

Soccer Camp

2010-08-13T22:33:00.006-04:00

This past week Ben participated in "Challenger British Soccer Camp." He went to the local football field and learned a lot of new skills from 9 am until 10:30 every morning this week! I thought that it would be nice and cool in the mornings, but I was wrong. It was near the 90's that early and it was miserable! There was actually one day that the weather was really nice, and that's about it. It has been one of those weeks where you don't bother to do your hair because it's frizzy after being outside for a couple hours! lol

Here is Ben and his soccer coach Craig. Craig is from Scotland and he talked with a very thick Scottish accent! It was really funny because during some of the drills he would have kids repeat what he was saying. The kids ended up repeating in a Scottish accent! lol It was really cute!
Ben and his soccer coach playing a fun game. That was one awesome thing that I loved about this camp. They were so creative with their drills and even included songs and it really made it fun for the kids!

Here they are listening contently to their coach.

Another fun little drill.

Today was the last day of soccer camp. Ben participated in several mini games. Here he is during one of his games. He happened to be the youngest player at camp this year! He sure does have a lot to learn! These kids were really good!

Today was crazy Friday at camp. I ended up getting spray in color for the boy's hair and I face painted a soccer ball on their cheek. Here's a photo of Alex, and he wanted to have pink hair! He claims that it's his favorite color, but I think he says that because he knows it's my favorite!

I am sooo looking forward to Fall! This hot weather is just crazy! I can't remember it being this hot in such a long time! I'm already on a Halloween kick, and I am so anxious to start making some Halloween crafts! Tomorrow is exciting because I am going to a flea market! Hopefully I'll find some goodies, and I'll be sure to share them with you! Have a fabulous weekend!

My Baby is FIVE!

2010-08-11T21:37:00.012-04:00

My oldest Ben turned five-years-old a week and a half ago! It's hard to believe that he will be starting Kindergarten in a few weeks! Here are some photos from the last five years! Wow, time flies when you're having fun! :)

Here we are in the hosptial shortly after he was born. He was sooo tiny!
This next photo I took about two weeks after he was born. This has always been one of my favorites! It's Ben and his daddy's hands! We compared their hands again tonight and Ben's nearly covers his daddy's hand! He is growing up soo quickly!

Here is a photo of Ben at two months old. This was his first trip to the local Fall Festival!

Here he is as a cute little Santa for his first Christmas!

And his first Easter with Allie!

This is his second Halloween!

He was sick and missed his school photos at daycare, so I took this one at home when he was better! Here he is this past Spring at his soccer game.

And here is the birthday boy this year as he turned five! Happy Birthday Ben we love you sooo much!

Jump for Joy!

2010-08-09T18:31:00.011-04:00

Today is a double post. So if you're coming to my blog for the movie review, look for the post below this one. I had soo much on my mind today that I am blogging twice! ;)

I am finally starting to feel somewhat better! I have been sick for over a week, and yesterday was the first day that I didn't have a fever! :) So far I have been on two different antibiotics, an inhaler, and now steroids! lol

But that is not why I am jumping up and down in this photo! lol Last night in bed I had an "Aha" moment or an epiphany of sorts!

Last night someone told me that I am no longer the fun person that I use to be. I was also told that I am miserable and anti-social! lol I am laughing so hard now because that is so far from the truth, so unwarranted, so random, and totally out of left field!

Laying in bed last night I was self-reflecting when I had this epiphany moment and I instantly wanted to jump up and down on my bed with joy! I actually wanted to start jumping up and down singing the song: "I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, YEAH, down in my heart to stay!" LOL Obviously I couldn't jump up in down last night because Chris was sleeping next to me. I did however want to capture this moment in a self portrait. I've always wanted to do a jumping photo, so here is my first try! I had such a permanent smile on my face today!

I am so thankful that I was confronted by this person! I know it seems odd to be thankful for someone who is being negative, but it really made me look deep within myself! I have always had low self-esteem in the past, so normally something like this would really upset me. But this totally had the opposite effect on me!

This person is right, I have changed. I got married, had kids and I grew up! I use to be a miserable person. I was a very jealous person, and that all equaled to living an unhappy life at that time. I made fun of people at their expense, and I didn't think about anyone but myself. But that has all changed and they are right, I'm not that way anymore. I am not proud of who I am, but I am very proud of who I've become!

I told this person that I am abundantly blessed! And I am very lucky to live the life that I have! My life dramatically changed once I met my husband. He and I are such a perfect fit and he is my total support and we really balance each other! After we were married I became more spiritual and have discovered that life is too short to worry about the little petty things.

I focused on my family and helping others, and that alone truly transformed my life! I am the type of person who would go without just to help someone in need. And seeing the bigger picture of life has made me truly happy in my heart! :)

Anyway I have come to the conclusion that if someone has the opportunity to be my friend and passes on that chance, it's their loss! I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm one cool chick! :) lol

Some great quotes of wisdom from the Dalai Lama:

"It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance."

"I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It is the ultimate source of success in life."

"Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions."

Side note: Ben saw this photo tonight as I was blogging and when Chris came home he said: "Daddy, mommy was jumping on your bed today!" lol Apparently he thinks that because he can't jump on the bed, I guess I can't either! lol

Movie Monday-Shall We Dance

2010-08-09T15:32:00.004-04:00

This week's movie review is of the movie "Shall We Dance" from 2004. This movie is about an estate lawyer named John Clark (Richard Gere). Every night on his way home he sees a beautiful woman, played by Jennifer Lopez, gazing out of the window of a dance studio. One evening he acts out of impulse and jumps off his train and rushes into the dance studio. He reluctantly signs up for classes only to find out that Paulina (Jennifer Lopez) isn't teaching the classes!

Paulina seems to think that John is only taking classes to try to win her over. She tells John not to come back if it's because of her and not because of dancing. John soon discovers a love for dancing and is entered in a big dance competition.

Because his personality is changing and because of his absence at home after work; John's wife Beverly, played by Susan Sarandon, becomes suspicious and hires a private investigator. She soon finds out that he is in love with dancing, and not another woman. Will it change their relationship?

I will have to admit, this is not one of my favorite Richard Gere movies. It's sort of in the bottom middle of my RG movie list. I don't know why I feel this way? Maybe it's because this is more of a comedy than a romance. And you all know how I love RG romance movies! lol

Here are the things that I loved about the movie. As I said above, John is entered in a big dance competition. Paulina is the one who ends up teaching him because she used to be a professional dancer. The chemistry between the two of them in this movie is unbelievable! Here is a clip from the movie of their dance together! Just remember to turn off my music player on the right so you can hear the clip!

I also love the scene in the movie where John is dancing with his wife Beverly in the kitchen! Soo very sexy! lol However, I do not like the match of Susan Sarandon with Richard Gere. For some reason the two just don't make a match in my opinion. Maybe it's because she is a few years older, I don't know. Or maybe it's because it isn't me?! lol ;)

The one scene that brings tears to my eyes is towards the ending. It's the scene that is pictured below where John comes up the elevator into the store where Beverly is working. And the following dialogue takes place and it always makes me cry!

Beverly: "Why aren’t you at the party?"

John: "Oh, it’s a dance…to dance you need a partner. My partner is right here."

John: "Beverly, dance with me."

Beverly: "I don’t know how."

John: "Yeah, you do. You’ve been dancing with me for nineteen years."

Beverly: "I don’t know the steps."

John: "I’ll teach you."

Beverly: "Here?"

John: "Right now."

I remember one time my husband was watching this movie and I was upstairs and heard the music to it, so I came down to watch the ending. I sat on the couch and said to my husband I think I am desensitized to this ending because it doesn't make me cry anymore. Well wouldn't you know it...RG comes up the escalator and tears just start streaming down my face! lol

Favorite Quotes:

Paulina: "The rumba is the vertical expression of a horizontal wish. You have to hold her, like the skin on her thigh is your reason for living. Let her go, like your heart's being ripped from your chest. Throw her back, like you're going to have your way with her right here on the dance floor. And then finish, like she's ruined you for life."

John: "The one thing I am proudest of in my whole life, is that you're happy with me. If I couldn't, if I couldn't tell you that I was unhappy sometimes, is because I didn't want to risk hurting the one person I treasure most. I'm so sorry."

John: "We need a witness to our lives. There's a billion people on the planet..... I mean, what does any one life mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things..... all of it, all the time, every day. You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness."

I give this a Richard Gere hotness rating of about an 8. I like a man who knows how to dance! ;)

And a man in a tie is always sexy too! ;)

Scripture Rocks

2010-08-07T23:05:00.007-04:00

On our camping trip we stopped by "Scripture Rocks" in Brookville, PA. I have been camping in this area for 32 years and never knew this place existed until I read about it on an online blog! lol
That is the wonder of the internet! You can find almost anything on here! I'm going to give you a little background on Scripture Rocks before I share the photos with you.

In the 1890's a young school teacher by the name of Douglas Stahlman got in a fight with a man behind a local tavern in Brookville, Pennsylvania. The fight left him with part of his skull crushed.

In a medical procedure that was quite risky back in the late 1800's, doctors patched Douglas' skull with a metal plate. Whether it was the plate pushing on his skull or his near death experience, Douglas became obsessed with the scriptures that he read.

He took to the woods in the Brookville area and carved 500 individual scriptures among the rocks! Which is about 15,000 individual letters! It is truly amazing!

In the 1920's he was placed in a mental institution in Pittsburgh, PA. He remained in there until he died in 1937.

Thankfully the owner of the blog I read gave me detailed directions and the gps coordinates to find these rocks! If it wasn't for his help, we never would have found them!

We had to park on a back road, walk up the road a little, up a hill, and onto the remains of these railroad tracks.
We walked the tracks for several yards and came across the "Death Rock."

Here is a photo of the boys standing next to the rock, it gives you a little comparison to it's size. Ben was a little scared at first...he said "I think this place is booby trapped!" lol I think he plays way too many Indiana Jones Lego games on Wii! ;)

The moss covered rock is my favorite! I love how the moss grows in the letters! Sorry that this image and the next are sideways. They were not like that originally when I uploaded these. I'll have to leave them like this, because it's too hard to re-upload here on blogger.

Here is a close up of the rock with moss.

Locals have weeded the area to make it more accessible to visitors. Well sort of. It was really grown up in places when we went. We actually had to walk through weeds that were above our knees! I was a little nervous, especially since I was warned that the place was crawling with snakes! Luckily, we didn't run into any on our hike!

Here was a cross that someone made and erected among the rocks. It's a dedication to the man that hand carved all of these rocks!

This was a huge rock that my boys climbed. Can you believe that they actually climbed this all by themselves? I was a nervous wreck, because it was nearly a straight up slope! You can't really tell from this photo, but there were several verses carved on many different angles on this huge rock. And it's amazing how uniformed each of the letters are!

This rock is dated by Douglas. At the top it says: "July 30, 1913." If you glance at the lower left hand corner of the rock it is numbered on a yellow splotch of paint. Each piece that he carved is either numbered on the rock itself, or on the tree that is right next to the rock. They are all numbered and I would have loved to have went and found every single one, but I was soo sick that day. It was 90 some degrees, I had bronchitis, I couldn't breathe, and it was sooo humid in the thick woods. We stayed for about an hour and I just couldn't handle it anymore, so we left. I would have loved to have gotten better photos and stayed much much longer, but I just couldn't take it!

This photo I made black and white and increased the contrast, so you could see the different angles of scriptures. I would like to go back in the Fall when it is much cooler and take some paper and charcoal and do some stone rubbings!

We found a heart shaped stone on our hike! I had to keep it, I LOVE heart shaped stones!

Lastly, I had to include a photo of my happy little hiker Alex. Both boys did so well on this hike, and it wasn't easy! They walked through weeds almost as tall as they were, and climbed rocks and a steep hillside in 90 degree weather! And they never complained at all!

I also had to include this photo because my parents bought the boys these t-shirts with these funny sayings on them. Alex's says: "Don't look at me, that smell is coming from grandpa!" lol

We really enjoyed our trip to Scripture Rocks, we just wish we had more time to explore. It was so peaceful there and truly amazing, I hope to go back soon!

Summer Fun!

2010-08-06T08:44:00.005-04:00

I'm back! I went on a camping trip this past week, so that's why I was MIA! No modern conveniences...no cable, no WIFI, and no running water! I happened to be really sick as well, which did not help! It's been a whole week and I'm still really sick, so I'm headed back to the doctor today. Hopefully they'll be able to figure something out!

Last week before we left on our trip we took the boys to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh. It's one of my favorite places for kids! My husband's cousin was in town so his family and ours spent the day in Pittsburgh! The boys really had a great time! Here they are sitting on Mister Roger's porch swing! With this many boys it is sooo hard to get a photo with them all looking at the camera! lol

Here's Ben, Alex, Cooper, and Brady! Aren't they sooo cute!

There is soo much to do at the Children's Museum and I literally have hundreds of photos! But here's a little sampling of the activities, since I can't upload them all! :)

Here's Alex building with shapes in the Curious George exhibit.

Here's Ben dressed up as the doorman from the Curious George cartoon!

Here's Brady playing with trains! Isn't he soo precious! It really made me want another baby! That was until I remembered how much work a small toddler is! lol Brady doesn't just walk...he runs! I forgot how energetic little ones are!

Here is handsome Cooper playing at the water table! I think the boys enjoyed this exhibit the most! Good thing for the extra change of clothes, cause they were soaked!

Here are our cousins: Kristin, Brett, Cooper and Brady! They are such a great family and I soo wish they lived closer! Texas is just too far away!

And here we are after a long day at the Children's Museum! A big thank you to our cousins for spending the day with us! We had a blast and can't wait to see you again next year!

This week has been so chaotic! I will share more photos with you tomorrow and the next day, and the next day! lol We packed so much into our week long trip, so I have a lot to share! Hope you're having a great day! Hopefully mine will get better once I go back to the doctors!

Movie Monday-Nights in Rodanthe

2010-07-27T22:46:00.007-04:00

I know, I know...I'm a day late! This week my oldest son will be turning 5, and I have been in a crazy cleaning mode to prepare for his Friday night party!

So today while I was cleaning the kitchen I hooked up my dvd player to my pink Hello Kitty tv and re watched "Nights in Rodanthe!" Yes I have a pink Hello Kitty tv in my kitchen! I'm crazy like that! ;)I have decided that this movie is probably my favorite Richard Gere movie! I love it on so many different levels! I've blogged about this movie after I first saw it. You can read about that here!

If you haven't seen this movie, you might not want to read my review, because I am basically going to give away the ending. I normally try to just review the movie, but the ending had a big impact on me. Anyway, here it goes.

First off, I am going to give this movie a 10 on the scale of Richard Gere hotness! The hair, the wrinkles...everything was PERFECT! Here's a photo from one of the scenes! The movie is from 2008 and like I've said many times before, Richard Gere is like a fine wine...the older he gets, the better he is! ;) I'm sure that when he's 90 and in a wheel chair, he'll still be turning my head! ;)
Ok let's get started. This movie is about a woman named Adrienne Willis (Diane Lane) who was asked by a friend to run her bed and breakfast (beach house) while she was out of town. There was only guest that she needed to take care of, whose name is Paul Flanner (Richard Gere).

Adrienne was currently separated from her husband and a mother to a young son and teenage daughter. Her kids were on vacation with their dad, so it's just Adriane and Paul alone in the house. They begin to get to know each other and soon find out that they have a lot in common.

Paul is a divorced surgeon, and is in town to visit with a family who is suing him for wrongful death. During all of this drama a huge hurricane hits and the two embrace each other in fear and that spirals into a whole lot of Richard Gere lovin'! Side note: I am terrified of bad storms...too bad I couldn't cuddle up with RG! Now that would make me feel much better! :)

Paul is estranged from his son. His son, also a doctor, is doing volunteer work in a foreign country. Paul plans to go and work with his son with hopes of rebuilding their relationship.

Both Paul and Adrienne promise to continue their relationship after he returns to the states. Over a period of time they converse through romantic letters. Paul finally is ready to return to the states and Adrienne has prepared the same meal that she served him at the beach house. She waits and waits and he doesn't show up. She falls asleep.

The next morning she is awoken by the doorbell and runs downstairs thinking it is Paul. She opens the door to discover Paul's son and tears immediately stream from her eyes. She finds out that Paul had died in a mudslide. And she also finds out that Paul completely changed for the good in his sons eyes.

His son says to Adrienne: "Just as we were starting to know each other again... ...he was taken away from me. Because of you, he was a changed man. You gave me back my father. You saved him."

Oh my goodness, what a line! Everytime I hear him say that I sob and sob and sob!

Paul's son gives her a box of his possessions. In it Adrienne finds all the letters that Paul had received from her. Surprisingly she finds an unmailed letter that Paul had wrote to her! As she reads it she cries hysterically. This is where I cry too! The letter said and you hear Paul's voice:

Dear Adrienne,

In a few days we'll be together again. I can't wait to meet Danny and Amanda, walk on our beach, and spend another night in the Blue Room with you in my arms. But most of all, I can't wait for our life to begin together. Thank you for showing me that it wasn't too late. All I can do to repay you is promise to love you forever. And I do.

Just typing that right now, and I started to cry! What's wrong with me? Am I just over emotional? I think it's because I can relate so much to her loss. I have been in love before, but not the type of love that I experience now with my husband.

Adrienne is right when she said:

"But there's another kind of love, Amanda. One that gives you the courage to be better than you are, not less than you are. One that makes you feel that anything is possible. I want you to know that you could have that. I want you to hold out for it."

Adrienne spent a lot of time in bed and crying, and I totally connected with how she was feeling. I couldn't imagine spending my life without my husband!

Another part of the movie that made me cry was the ending when she saw the horses running up the beach. She told Paul in the beginning that the horses never wander that far down the beach, and he promised her that someday they would! It was just a surprise in the movie that just made you cry and thinking about it brings tears to my eyes! I am quite surprised that I didn't cry when I saw the wild horses on the beaches of Assateague last month. I did think about the movie though!

This year on vacation I did want to go down to North Carolina were the movie was made. I wanted to see the house where it was filmed since this is my all time favorite RG movie. The house which is basically out in the water has been condemned and is in bad shape. As I was looking for photos tonight to share with you I discovered that this year the house was relocated. So now there is hope that the house can be restored!

Here is a photo of it being relocated.

And here is a clip of it's relocation that I found on Youtube. You can see that video here.

One of my favorite lines in the movie was when Paul said to Adrienne: "And any man is a fool who doesn't know how incredibly lucky he is to have you."

Like I said I give it a Richard Gere hotness rating of a 10! I think that is a first so far in all my reviews! I don't think he could get much hotter than in this movie! :)

But go out and rent this movie if you haven't seen it already. Buy a copy...buy two copies, you won't regret it! Oh and another note. This movie was based on the book written by Nicholas Sparks. I read the book before I saw the movie and I loved it! It's totally worth reading!

Silly Bands....Silly Boy!

2010-07-22T20:27:00.004-04:00

Edited: Another safety precaution on silly bands. Talking to my husband tonight he warned me that you NEVER want to let them wear silly bands to bed. The reason being if they were ever to get caught on anything they could cut off the circulation to their arms or hand! Like he always says to me and the boys over and over again "Safety First!"

Today Alex asked for a nap. He usually does this when he's tired, and especially when he isn't feeling well like today. He is currently working on being potty trained, so I have been using some bribing methods to get him to use the potty.

He was actually using the potty with little accidents for a week or two. As a reward I got him the Imaginext Castle that he wanted. Well guess what happened? He got the castle and he stopped using the potty! Smart guy...he knows what it takes to get what he wants! lol Well, as a result we ended up taking the castle from him. I know it's harsh, but he has to learn a lesson. Anyway, this week I'm bribing using m & m's and silly bands. If you have kids you know what silly bands are...they're much cooler than the jelly bracelets I grew up with in the 80's! They come in many different shapes and colors!

Well today I remembered that I had a couple packages of silly bands. So I told him he would get silly bands for using the potty. So anyway he asked for his nap and was wearing two silly bands. I went downstairs and I heard a loud cry coming from upstairs. He was hysterical and crying, saying his head hurt. I instantly thought he fell out of bed and hit his head on one of the radiators, but he said that he was hurt from a silly band! lol

Apparently his bracelets were tangled and he tried pulling them apart, when one snapped an smacked him right above his right eye! I took this photo right after it happened and you can see a welt above his right eyebrow!
Here he is showing you his silly bands. Notice the tears in his eyes! Poor thing! Who knew silly bands were dangerous? A fashion disaster-maybe, but never would I have thought they would cause any harm! lol

I have a big project to share with you in a couple days! I'm refinishing something for the patio, and it's a big pain! Hopefully it'll turn out good! Have a great weekend!

Movie Monday-Pretty Woman

2010-07-19T18:10:00.007-04:00

This weeks Richard Gere Movie Monday Review is of "Pretty Woman!" I know this is probably his famous and most popular movie, but I'm still going to review it. It's not my favorite movie, but it is in my top 5!

Thinking about the movie as I review it, makes me realize how great this movie really is! It's hard to pick a favorite scene, or a favorite quote. So I'll talk about a few!

This movie is about a wealthy businessman named Edward (Richard Gere). On a whim Edward picks up a prostitute on Hollywood Boulevard named Vivian (Julia Roberts).

Edward takes Vivian back to his upscale hotel where he plans on keeping her overnight. The next day he decides that he wants her for the week because he has many business events to attend. She agrees, and has to quickly learn how to fit in with the wealthy society!

There are many funny scenes in the movie. Julia Roberts character is really rough around the edges and not very proper like Richard Gere's character. I loved during the breakfast scene where Edward is sitting there all properly eating his breakfast and Vivian just sits on the table stuffing her mouth and talking with her mouth full. I just love the reaction on Edward's face!

Their characters are so completely opposite, which I thinks makes the movie work that much more!

Edward gives Vivian money for a shopping spree, on Rodeo Drive, which at first she is thrown out of the store because they clearly see that she is a prostitute. After she returns shopping she is transformed into an elegant beautiful woman! Over the week Vivian starts falling for Edward, but for Edward their relationship is just business!

Edward is a tough businessman who leaves relationships out of the equation, just to make money. Vivian eventually makes him realize that their is more to life than just business. And eventually they fall in love!

I love this scene in the movie where he presents her with a necklace to wear to the opera! This movie is the movie that really made a career for Julia Roberts. She was great in this movie!

There are soo many additional scenes in this movie that are great. I love the scene where Edward takes her on a shopping spree. My two weaknesses in life is shopping and Richard Gere! So that would be my ultimate experience! lol

I've included another one of my favorite scenes in the following video. After Vivian was thrown out of one store, Edward takes her to Rodeo Drive for a shopping spree. As they are walking he tells her to spit out her gum. And she does...and not very lady like! lol I am known to spit my gum out this way, I always have since before I even knew about this movie, and my husband responds the same way that Edward does by saying "I don't believe you did that!" lol

My husband and I are complete opposites the way Edward and Vivian are in the movie. He is very similar to Edward because he is very reserved and proper. I'm at times rough around the edges like a truck driver! lol Oh, and make sure you turn off my music player on the side so you can hear the clip!

Another all-time favorite scene is the bathtub scene! Vivian is in the bathtub with her legs wrapped around Edward while they have a serious discussion about his father! How come I couldn't have been a stand-in for this movie? Despite the fact that I was only 12-years-old when this movie came out! lol If they ever remake this movie...I have to play Vivian and RG has to play himself! lol ;)

I give this movie a Richard Gere hotness scale of a 9! He was extremely hot in this movie! Loved the hair, and loved how he looked in suits!

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Edward: "You're on my fax."
Vivian: "Well that's one I haven't been on before!"

Vivian: "You're late."
Edward: "You're stunning."
Vivian: [grinning] "You're forgiven."

Vivian: "What else? You going to leave some money by the bed when you pass through town?"
Edward: "Vivian, it really wouldn't be like that."
Vivian: "How would it be?"
Edward: "Well, for one thing, it would get you off the streets."
Vivian: "That's just geography."
Edward: "Vivian, what is it you want? What do you see happening between us?"
Vivian: "I don't know. When I was a little girl, my mama used to lock me in the attic when I was bad, which was pretty often. And I would… I would pretend I was a princess, trapped in the tower by a wicked queen. And then suddenly, this knight, on a white horse, with these colors flying, would come charging up and draw his sword… and I would wave, and he would climb up the tower, and rescue me. But never in all the time… that I had this dream… did the knight say to me, "Come on, baby, I'll put you up in a great condo."

Vivian: "In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight."

Vivian: "I would have stayed for two thousand."
Edward: "I would have paid four. I'll see ya tonight."
Vivian: "Baby, I'm gonna treat you so nice, you're never gonna wanna let me go."
Edward: "Three thousand, for six days, and Vivian, I will let you go."

The movie ends so happily and magically. Vivian decides to quit being a prostitute and go back to finish high school. Here's a clip of the ending! This is probably my most favorite ending to any of Richard Gere's movies! And it always makes me cry!

This was the first Richard Gere movie that I ever watched. I watched it when I was 12 or 13-years-old. I don't remember ever being attracted to him back then. That's just a recent thing! lol But after reviewing this movie, I have placed it in my top 3 favorite Richard Gere movies of all-time! But remember, there are several movies that he has made that I haven't watched yet!

"Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream? Everybody comes here; this is Hollywood, land of dreams. Some dreams come true, some don’t; but keep on dreamin’ - this is Hollywood. Always time to dream, so keep on dreamin’."

Be Back Soon!

2010-07-12T21:14:00.003-04:00

Due to some events that happened over the past couple of days, I'll be back blogging hopefully towards the end of the week. I will resume "Movie Mondays" next week.

Enjoy your week!

POTD-Marbles

2010-07-10T16:56:00.002-04:00

I haven't done a "Photo of the Day" in a very long time. Hopefully now that most of our camping trips are over, I'll be able to do more of them!

Here is a case of marbles that we saw on display of an Art Gallery/Store in Berlin Maryland. My youngest son loves marbles and I would have liked to have bought him one, but they were $18 each! Luckily inside they had a marble chute he could play with and marbles that were 10 cents a piece. I let him get a little bag of marbles and he was totally happy with that!

I love how vivid & unique these marbles are? Which would you choose? I of course love the pink one in the third row as well as the rainbow colored one next to it!
Hopefully you're having a bright and sunny summer in your part of the world. Here is was very rainy yesterday and bright and beautiful today!

Berlin Maryland-Part 3

2010-07-08T22:34:00.005-04:00

Here is the last installment of my tour of Berlin, Maryland. As I mentioned in previous posts, this is where "Runaway Bride" & "Tuck Everlasting" were filmed. I have yet to see the movie "Tuck Everlasting," but it is said that they filled the streets of Berlin with dirt just to give it that old time appearance!

This is the "Hotel Atlantic." It is a very old hotel and a restaurant as well. This is the hotel that was in the film "Runaway Bride." Remember the scene where Julia Roberts climbed out Richard Gere's hotel window? This was the place!
During my visit to Berlin, I ran into so many interesting and fun things! One day I was walking down the sidewalk and saw several people petting a dog. They then walked away and the dog remained setting there. I watched for a couple minutes and no one was around. I thought that certainly it wasn't a stray. I had to investigate for myself! Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a dog lover. If there is a dog around I have to visit it! This dog was such a sweet dog and I took many photos of it, amazed that it stayed off the street and on it's little area of the sidewalk.

After a few minutes a man came out of the building and said "I hope your photos turnout!" The man worked in the building, and was the owner of the dog. He said the dog stays right there on the sidewalk and never wanders away! The dog was even featured on a Berlin postcard! I guess he's somewhat of a home town celebrity! lol

Here is a view of the dog from across the street.

And before I left I paid him a visit and he was soo tired and taking a little nap! It was so hard to leave him behind!

Remember the hair salon in "Runaway Bride" called "Curl Up and Dye?" Such a cute name, but here it is in Berlin. It's obviously not called that anymore. I wanted to go inside, but never did. I chickened out!

And lastly here is Julia Roberts' house in the movie. Remember the scene when she was running down the front steps to get the newspaper? Here's the house. It changed a little bit, like the porch on the right is now closed in, but it's the house. They even kept the same house number for in the movie.

Wonder how much they pay to use your house in a movie? The only famous house in my area is the "Silence of the Lambs" house. My neighbor's daughter actually owns it. Now that would be very interesting and creepy at the same time! lol I'll have to take some photos of that house and share them with you sometime! Maybe I'll wait until Halloween! :)

Fourth of July Fun!

2010-07-06T22:10:00.005-04:00

This past holiday weekend, we went to Yogi Bear Campground in Mill Run, PA. Our friends were also camping there which was awesome! Autumn and Roy have two little girls that are around the age of my two little boys! Ben and Alex just love Baleigh and Kelsea!

There was a ton of stuff to do for the kids, and I'm going to share a few photos of our weekend!

Of course there were lots of sparklers for the Fourth of July! Here Ben is making a giant circle!
Alex also made a giant circle!

Chris made me a heart! :)

Here the boys are standing by the picnic area by the sign that said: "Do not feed the bears!"

Here the kids are riding on the firetruck! My husband took this photo because I was back at the camper making dinner. Aren't the kids soo cute! There's Ben, Baleigh, Alex, Roy, and Kelsea! Baleigh is soo sweet! She usually sits in the middle of my boys because they always fight over her! lol

Here the kids are mining for gemstones! They really thought this was fun!

Here's a group photo! Me, Chris, Ben, Alex, Baleigh, Roy, Kelsea and Autumn! What a fun bunch! Thank you guys for everything, we had a blast!

Hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July! I'll be getting back to my photos from Berlin Maryland tomorrow. And I'll get back into "Movie Monday" next week. I wasn't able to this week because the campground we stayed at didn't have WIFI! :(

Berlin Maryland-Part 2

2010-06-30T22:01:00.005-04:00

There are so many great little shops around the town of Berlin Maryland. This shop "Victorian Charm" was used during the filming of "Runaway Bride." It kept it's own name and it was the bridal store where Julia Roberts was showing off her wedding dress to Richard Gere. If you remember that scene it was when Julia Roberts wanted the wedding dress that was on the mannequin in the shop window. The bridal shop owner was very reluctant. And Richard Gere stepped in and grabbed the mannequin out of the display and said "We're buying the dress! And anything else she wants!" I love that scene!
This store is a very up-scale boutique. And lining the shelves are hundreds of Vera Bradley purses! It was very colorful and beautiful inside! I didn't buy a purse, but I did buy a beautiful ring that reminds me of our vacation!

Just as we were leaving I happened to glance in the display window and seen what I thought was a "fake" dog. It was lying completely still. I said "Alex, is that dog real?" As we got close, it moved! lol Yes, it was a real dog!

Under closer inspection I saw this cute sign! "Pawtected by Maltese Security!" Hooooow cute!

We never attempted to pet the dog. I'm a dog lover, but this dog didn't appear to be very friendly. The shop owner said that when it's in the window, it doesn't want bothered! Here Alex is looking through the window at the dog!

I visited Berlin on three occasions, and each time I came by, the dog was in it's spot right at the window!

I have much more photos of Berlin to share with you tomorrow! I even met another furry friend! Stay tuned for that cutie!