Happy Early 4th of July!!

I don't want to be mature!

I want to be able to wear a t-shirt like this:) Is that so wrong? Probably, huh?! Oh well, these are the things that make me giggle.

Lookey, Lookey

Look what I just discovered! Give it a try. It's fun AND free!

http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/hockney.php

Dance Recital

The girls had their dance recital last night. They both did so well and looked SO cute! I was very proud of them. We all had a great time!

Well.......

HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE ME NEXT WEEK! Well, me except not so skinny and not so naked! Thanks to whoever I stole that picture from. Thxandsorry!

What I Had 4 Dinner

This is why your husband shouldn't work late OR at least call you to tell you he's going to be late;);)

A few What-Nots

I originally got this apothecary jar to put in my scrap room but it has found it's way into the bay window in the kitchen. Some of our beach rocks are in there now. I think we need to get back to San Diego to get some more. Is that illegal to take rocks from a beach? Uh ohhhh...

The last time I went to visit my parents I used two years worth of gift certificates I had been saving up from my favorite store there. One thing I found was this cloche. It was on sale because it had some chips in the rim. I still think the lady must have been smoking some serious crack when she priced it because neither me nor my mom saw the chips. Anyhoo I moved it here to this shelf and moved Mr. Friendly over on this cabinet. He is more visible here and the girls are better at taking care of him. Plus he is just too cute to be stuck on a shelf back there.


I recently converted to Catholicism so I put some of my meaningful books on the shelf with my Hobby Lobby birdie. Those books were sitting there all straight and formal but when I went to take the picture I just had to mess them up a bit. I don't do neat or perfect;) So there!


I'm still trying to figure out this whole blogging business and posting pictures is taking up some serious housekeeping time! Surely there is an easier way that I just haven't figured out yet?! I think I'm going to go make myself a stiff drink now:)

Getting Jiggy, I mean Thrifty, with it!

My Goodwill frame spray painted black, then chalkboard painted right on the glass. It's fun to change out the message. The girls expect it daily:) I finally splurged and bought a 64 cent box of regular chalk. It's hard to write smallish with sidewalk chalk! Just noticed that it is crooked, I'll get right on that!

Oh, and yes there are two different colors seperated by a big ass line right down the middle. The rooms have no dividing line so when the painter was here I said screw it, I'll work with it. My original thoughts were that I would find something to hang there that would detract from the line. I never found what I was looking for. This will have to do:)

That wooden basket was a great find at the flea market. It is supposed to have dried hydrangeas(my favorite flower) in it but my lovely husband used it to put his junk in. I'm hoping to get to the flea market next month to get some more hydrangeas. Sorry Bill, back the eff away from my basket. It's mine now!! The white vase thingy is another Goodwill find that is now a pen/pencil holder. I'm liking it:)

Flashbacks

Last week after doing some laundry I set the clothes hamper at the bottom of the stairs to be taken up later. Soon after, the girls were giggling uncontrollably and this is what I found. Just last month my cousin Christina and I were reminiscing about the time we were playing and I got stuck in my clothes hamper. I was probably around Syd's age. We still get a chuckle out of it. I think we think it is so funny because I was scared to death I was going to get into trouble. Why? I don't know. Just knew that I had to grab the camera just so Christina could get another chuckle, even though neither of the girls got stuck:)

Turkey

Today is my cousin Turkey's 38th birthday(again!). Her real name is Christina but as a kid I couldn't pronounce her name thus the nickname Turkey came into place:) We both are only children but grew up like sisters. This picture shows us the day I got to meet her beautiful baby girl, Alicen(Turkey Toes) for the first time. Alicen was very premature and has had many illnesses since her birth. Christina has proven herself to be a very strong woman! At times I don't think she even realizes her own strength. I see it. Her whole family sees it. I hope she does sees it too:) I luv you cuz!! Hope you are having a great day!!! Wish we could celebrate like the old days, although that would require an all together different post;);) Wink, wink!

The Secret Life of Bees

I'm verrrry excited! I just discovered one of my all time favorite books, The Secret Life of Bees is coming to the big screen this fall!!! Yeah me! Can't wait to see it!

Father's Day

What a gorgeous day it turned out to be yesterday! The girls made breakfast in bed for Bill and gave him his presents right away. While we cleaned up the kitchen he read the paper and watched a little sports up in our bedroom. We then headed out to Bill's sister Rita's condo up in Wisconsin for the afternoon. It had stormed there in the morning and the wind was so bad they lost a big branch to their willow tree but by early afternoon it was gorgeous. The kids and men swam, the ladies chatted and grilled up a yummy beef tenderloin! Man it was good:)

I called my Dad in the evening to wish him Happy Father's Day. He said he didn't even realize that it was Father's Day. I don't know if he was kidding or not but it made me sad. I usually wait until evening to call cause they are usually out and about, as are we. Now I wish I would have called sooner. At least he would have known I was thinking about him all day.

My Dad really is a great guy. That's him with Natalie last September. My birth father passed away when I was four but Jim has been my Dad for as long as I can remember. I called him Dad even before my Mom and him were married. He is the strong silent type and has the patience of a saint. I don't know how he managed to raise me as his own and still like me after all I have put him through!

I feel very fortunate to have both of my parents so I don't know what it is like to celebrate a holiday like Father's day without my dad. It is something I don't like to think about but wonder if he was sad to not be able to let his dad know how much he meant to him. The same goes for my Mom with her parents. I know I don't say it enough but I hope both my parents know how happy I am to be their daughter. If you read this Mom or Dad, I love you! You're the greatest!

And Bill-Thanks for being such a great Dad to our girls. They sure are lucky to have you! I feel the same.

A Good Day

Not that the others are bad...Today started early with a quick trip to a local flea market and Goodwill. My neighbor and I hit the jackpot! I still have to take pics but we got some nice things for great prices. When we got home it was time to get the kids and hubbies out the door to the Daddy/Daughter White Sox game. 8 girls, 5 dads. How fun. Don't they look cute:) I can't wait to hear all about the fun they had!

Sex and the City

Because everyone should love Smith and vodka as much as I do!!!

Today's post brought to you by the letter "R"

****Rambling. That's all I have for today.****

*This morning I had a hair appointment with my favorite hair girl, Lindsey. She's such a free-spirited 20something. I just love her. I only see her every 6-8 weeks so we always have a lot of catching up to do. Today I had my first "issue" with Lindsey when I decided to have her wax my eyebrows instead of my usual close by, Asian we do anything type mani/pedi place. Well, she ripped the freaking skin off my ever so delicate, uncrowsfeeted(I just made that word up!) eyelid. Literally. I have a big strip of skin that is gone!! HOLY SHEEP SHIT! That'll leave a mark! I did feel bad for her as she said this was the first time this had ever happened. Lucky me! Just for shits and giggles I am going to call her at work tomorrow to mess with her:):):)

*On the way home the girls were ravenous after working up a sweat at the play place where I get my hair done. So after much begging for Wendy's I obliged;) Which leads me to my next rambling...

*Last week I ate an entire quarter pounder w/cheese value meal while watching the Oprah show where the woman had just lost over 300lbs. That's all I'm saying.

*Before Syd's last dance class today I decided to do a second coat of paint in the mudroom. Up there is what it looked like before. Just white and drab. I didn't think to take a picture until I had already taken down two years of art work from the girls. Boy was it messy in there. Definitely a catch-all room! Ok, well I still don't know how to do the picture thing but I think you can tell the before and after! That is the second and last coat but still have to do a little more behind the door as I didn't have enough paint. I need to finish up tomorrow cause some of that crap you see in the before picture has to go back in there. It's decorating my kitchen table, floor and family room right now. That doesn't work for me!!!!!

*After drinking two Foster's oil cans this post seems a bit wonky. Oh well.

That's it for the letter "R" today. I'm sure I'll be back for more b.s. I'm liking this blogging so far. It's like talking to myself without all the strange looks from my family:)

Just because...

Just because I'm starting to feel overwhelmed with the crap that is piling up around here. There is just not enough time to get all these projects finished AND do all the stuff in-between, like be a mom, a wife, and friend! This ALWAYS makes me smile so I thought I would post it here.

Grandpa Bill

This morning while reading my email Natalie brought in her Soda Pop girls to play. In the middle of her annoying, I mean sweet, humming/singing she asked where her Grandpa was when he died. "Was he in the yard doing something and then he was just dead?" I explained that he was in his bed and she just said, "Oh, poor Grandpa" and just continued to play. Where that came from, I don't know, but I am happy that she still thinks of him. She was only 3 when he passed. I like to think he is here with us and sending us gentle reminders of our happy times together. We miss you Dad:)

Well, here goes nothing!!

I've came across so many bloggers lately that have inspired me to start my own blog. I mainly feel like I really need another outlet aside from the 582 phone calls to my husband each day at work. Thanks B, for letting me vent all those times;) Also, in between my cussing like a truck driver and makinganassofmyself, I'd like to have a place to write down all those cute things my kids say that I never make note of. Let's see if I can stick with this!!