Andrew's Tenth Birthday!

Andrew is TEN, friends! And YES, he did receive many, many Nerf guns from his friends! They were all over the house on Saturday. Propped by the front door, back door and out in the yard. The new one squirts out water in a circular motion!

Apparently he has ONE girlfriend as..you guessed it...ONE candle remained lit! What is the origin of that whole deal anyway? Anyone know? Someone's weird uncle trying to be interesting?

I took this shot as I found it hilarious that he received three cards that were exactly the same! Come on, card companies! I told him "You'll probably think this is funny in the future just like my Uncle Jim did that one christmas when he received like..14 flannel shirts." He just laughed but looked kind of perplexed.  I always wonder in these situations (as well as Uncle Jim's)..how do you retain the excitement as you're opening the identical items? "Oh..thanks..same card again. Did you guys buy these together? Was there a sale?"

My nephew Emerson and his mom, my sister Dawn. I take these candid shots because A) She's not really a fan, but I am. B) She likes very staged shots. Me? Not so much. I think this shows Em's personality. Too often in the smiley ones, the kids are a million miles away and aren't even present. So in the future you can all say "Hey! Another Robot Shot!"

After pizza, gifts, cake and ice cream the family played a nail biting game of Pillow Toss or Beanie Bags or whatever it's called. It's all fairly new to me. The kids seem to get really into it, so it's cute to watch. I find the rules odd. It's almost as if to win it's better to be somewhat mediocre. "Do NOT get that bag in that hole again or you lose X points!" Huh? So you're saying do NOT do this overly well?

This photo makes me laugh because everyone looks so damned serious! That's John (Andrew's dad and Dawn's amour) and Dawn and little Ava.

The cuteness almost hurts! Look at that side braid and that headband fascinator! DARLING.

Again. Look at that little face. She uses "like" a lot.  As in "yeah..I'm like three now and my birthday is like...I think March 14th??"

All of the kids...Ava, Juliana (Amanda's friend and constant sidekick these days. They are 13. And everything we do is lame, embarrassing and very, very uncool!) Amanda, Andrew and Emerson.

Me and Em. I had to rock a side braid due to crazy messy hair, little time to fix it and Don King craziness and too much humidity.


Andrew rounded out the evening showing me some very cool magic tricks that he's learned on YouTube from Michael Weatherbee? A magician. I learned a few things...a cup trick, a card trick and how to make it look as if I'm floating about an inch off of the ground.  Who knows where these new skillZ can take me? God only knows!

Hope your Sunday was mellow, calm and beautiful! Mine was!

xxoo

Crafting Your A$$ Off.

Photo via: http://www.cherrymenlove.com/blog/2010/10/carpet-crafting-2010.html




Yep.


Tori Spelling's new crafting show on TLC. Saw a preview for the first time about two nights ago.

Was not expecting to hear that one lone man (will he be the only guy on the show? Who knows?) say this "I am going to craft my ASS off!"

I burst out laughing. Brad was sleeping.

I really wanted to wake him up to show him, but settled for rewinding and recording that on our DVR.

I played it for him the next day and we both had a good laugh.

It is still on my DVR. Is that odd? I save things like that for moments when I'm down and need to be lifted up.

Please view preview here. You'll be glad you did ("You're Gonna Like The Way You Look!" - Mens Wearhouse guy!):

http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/craft-wars


I'm actually kind of excited because I have found Design Star to be again..lacking this year. Don't get me wrong. They do have some really good designers. The chick from Minneapolis is quite talented. I am jazzed that the moronic Luca has been voted off. But overall..come on! As a designer and a former student of design, I find I am underwhelmed by what they come up with many times. Ideate! I always tell my hubby "If I  had come up with something like that for my design studio project, I would have been laughed at. F! I give it an F!"  If you watch Project Runway or even Top Chef and see the creativity of those peeps, it just makes Design Star seem lame in comparison. And it is.

In other crafty news...this is amazingly beautiful. I may even try and make one someday..someway.

Image and info via: http://heartlandpaper.typepad.com/heartland_paper/


I'm off to eat something amazing. I feel like making one of those amazing frittatta recipes from Pinterest...but will probably settle for scrambled eggs as Brad (In House "Chef") is sleeping because he works tonight AND..let's be honest friends..I think that the Frittatta is beyond my comfort level and cooking capabilities.

We can't all be good at everything!

HOLLA-ING from the rooftops!

Happy Saturday!

xxoo

Randoms At Our House. How Things Really Look.

This post is for Kim, my best pal.

When she comes over, she always says "you should take pictures of the flattened stuffed dog toys that Curtis ruins and how hilarious it all looks." So..this one's for you, Kim-San Baby!

I like to think that our house generally looks fairly neat and clean. It's usually clean, but there are always weird items strewn about due to the puppy. I think his motto is basically "I've never met an object that can't be played with!"

Curtis with Twinkie Box. I polish off the box, he chews it for a time. We recycle. "Things That Work."



I don't have a photo of it, but his latest fave is chewing on (rinsed out and emptied) Gatorade bottles. He'll chew on a bottle for a few days. Takes it outside. Carries it around the yard. It works better than a rawhide because it lasts longer! He'll chew a bone up in less than ten minutes. When Daisy (older dog) gets annoyed with him, she either steals the bottle OR the other day...peed on it. That's right. Peed. Right. On. It. I'm not gonna lie, he looked offended like "what? how COULD you?"

May I present to you..Headless Bear! He's been carting this one around since winter.

Flattened giraffe and puppy. See the stuffing he's pulled out? This is why we don't buy new toys unless they're from the Dollar Store. I keep telling Brad "When he gets older, I'll just restuff all of these and sew them up!"  or "This is why we don't have nice things!!"

Found this the other night as I headed to our bedroom! It's a large stuffed bear/seat. He loves it. He was playing nicely with it earlier in the day. Kissing it. Sitting on it. He blended WITH the bear "where does the bear end and the puppy begin?" Oh..so sweet! And then..this!

He really likes the stuffing! No worries, I will stuff it all back in and sew it up..and save it for a later date. He cannot be trusted!

In other news, we're selling a bunch of stuff on Craiglist as we're going to be moving and downsizing this fall. It actually feels good and I'm excited to purge! So..I'm off to meet random strangers to sell things!

Happy Thursday, Peeps!

xoxox

Red Velvet Cupcake Found!

We will speak of this OH SO SOON!

Found this "quite by accident" with my best friend about a week ago.

Her take? "This frosting is made with flour!"

Me: "Why do you know this?"

Anyhow....it was DELIGHTFUL. It was found at a Barnes & Noble cafe.

Subsequent photos of my love for it, me eating it, etc...

Have a beautiful weekend!

xxoo

My Favorite Little Ones

That's right.

Some/most of them are right here in my own little family.

I must say the next generation is rocking it & are just in general, good peeps. Thoughtful kids. Kind. Warm. Loving.

Cuties from L-R: Andrew, Kirsten (background), Amanda, Nick (blue shirt- graduated tonight! YOW!!),Emerson and Madison.  This moment was right before what I called "Man Down!" on the trampoline. There was a traffic jam and minor injury. No photo of event. I mean I have it. But people need to be protected! ;-)

Emerson. Andrew. Amanda. Such little hams!

I may have posted this before. Maybe not. Memory is not nor has never been one of my "strengths". Even as a child, my mom would say "Good God, Tina! How can you not remember that? Your memory is worse than mine!" Ummm..Thank You?  I digress. Emerson and Andrew. School carnivale. Yes. I said Carnivale. For many reasons. You had to be there that year. There was a mom in spiked heels. 6pm. 90 degrees in the sun. My feet felt swollen and hot. I was happy to just not pass out & to have a swig of the liter of Orange Pop that Emerson and Andrew won.  That's neither here nor there..this photo always makes me laugh! OUT LOUD. Some day...I think they will all be happy about the photos that I obsessively take.


I was born in 1972. I have an older sister & older brother. There's a photo of me as a newborn. Then at maybe a year. Then three years old. Then school pictures. When I asked my mom I'd get "The camera broke, Tina!" My cousin and b/f/f has shown me photos of me that I did not believe were me! I had no real idea what I looked like at two...9 months, etc. So I'd fight her on it: "That is NOT me, Kim! Why is that baby so bald and wearing moccasins? Everything is mismatched! Powder blue pants and fire engine red shirt? That's a mom who was color blind or didn't care!" Alas, it was MY mom.  I didn't know I was bald until I was about four.  The point? Because of this, I take A LOT of photos. Perhaps too many.

Rockin' it in Madison's room. I think Andrew is Elton John, Em...Kung Fu Fighter? Madison? Just cute.

Yep. I am "that person". I even take photos of the tomatoes we yield! Me and Emerson. Harvest..Fall 2011. I believe we planted our tomatoes from seeds too late. Who knew that March was too late? The year prior our pumpkin seeds were never helped along by the bees. I was told this when my mother-in-law visited. It sounded like blame. I cannot control the bees!  Anyway..we ended up getting a good 12 tomatoes! I made us a pizza and Emerson said "The bad news..is that I don't really like tomatoes, Auntie Tina." So hilarious.



I'm off to watch some HGTV possibly. Maybe even a movie. I just don't know. The road is wide open! Maybe even some Words With Friends! Nerd Alert. But I love it. My game is getting  better monthly AND my goal is to beat my husband someday soon. He's annoyingly good.


Over & Out All!

Have a lovely evening!

xxoo

He Sometimes Sleeps Upright.

This "happened" last night as I was online and Curtis my puppy was tired. He was under the desk, disappeared for a bit & resurfaced sitting on a chair. Staring at me. As in "Come on, Lady! Bedtime!"  Those are some of his favorite words in addition to "treats" "walk" and "outside". He's been an early riser & even earlier to bed since we got him last July. I'm a nightowl so to say our first few months were sort of hellish is putting it mildly. For the first 3 months he was here, he wanted to go to bed around 7pm and rise at 5:30-6AM!!  We've both made concessions and he now stays up a bit later & sleeps in more.

Good LAWD!! The cute factor is extremely high here!

I sent this to Brad at work and he said "I think he was tired but wanted to be able to see you!" He follows me from room to room. Brad jokes when he has bad dreams "I think he's probably dreaming about you walking out of a room." Lol. So darling.



Need some cute birch baskets? New items in my Etsy shop today. These work well for weddings but are rustic and can really be used anywhere.

In other unrelated news...I will be planting in my yard today AND possibly getting either A) A slice of red velvet cake. I kid you not. Somewhere. Someway. OR..B) One of those (maybe even two or three!) cheap cheese danishes that you can buy at a Walgreens. Damn, they are good!

Happiest of Saturdays!

Holla-ing!

xoxo~

T

Living Large With A Canopy OR A Gazebo and Lemonade for Fifty Cents!

Call it what you will..I'm sold!!

We fenced in the backyard for the dogs and..let's be honest..for US. I feel like I can now sit and stare at my foot OR read a page in a book without worrying about them running off, killing a bird (the puppy- a sad story that made me burst into tears and I'll save for another day.) or scaring a mother and small child or baby (older dog, the one who looks like a cow in this picture!)


I think this is a canopy, but I guess it's a gazebo. All I can say is Home Depot, I love it AND THANK YOU, Mr. Bradley W.!! He surprised me with it one morning and said "I just want you to be happy." Aww. It was touching. And necessary as this backyard has no shade save for the rocky area under our deck and sunroom. I was out there a few days and honestly felt heat stroke coming on with zero shade. So this friends..this is exciting!!

Next up: More plants for the corner shelving...an outdoor rug and for sure..some Ikea Lenda curtains for shade and some privacy. I'm also toying with the idea of getting a somewhat inexpensive patio conversion set. The kind with the couch, chairs and coffeetable. We haven't spent any money in years on outdoor living items, so I feel fine about it. Add to that fact that Minnesota has very poor, cold and long winters and I feel like I'm worth it. If I get four months of joy out of this, I'm all good. Plus the dogs like it.

Miss  Daisy: "I luhs it! I have shade! Maybe it even makes me less cranky..."

Curtis: "I've never met a patch of shade I did not like, Mom! I'm also sick of you taking photos of me and NO, I will not look your way."



In other yard news, found this bench that my nephew Emerson and I made together a few years back. It was the first time he used a drill (with my very close supervision and help!) and it looks PERFECT around our firepit. I love it when that happens!

The cute little boy across the street- Dawson- had his first (from my experience) lemonade stand today. All of a sudden I saw a cooler carted out to the end of his driveway. Suddenly there were two tiny chairs. Filled with two tiny kids. Lemonade at 50cents a cup! I can dig it! I was going to go over with  Brad (was waiting for him to wake up. he works nights so he sleeps days when he's working.) and give them $3 because I know how huge a deal that is at that age. We missed them by about 10 minutes. I saw him drinking the remains of his lemonade straight from the pitcher. Earlier I heard him yelling "Lemonade!!" to any car driving by or person. This was the only pic I got because A) I've met him once. They just moved in. I don't want to be the weird neighbor asking "Can I take a pic of you for my blog?" and B) Same reason as A!!   Pre Sale Photo below!

Little Curtis regularly falls asleep in the frontyard. This is generally after breakfast and a walk/potty break. He sits out here (on a leash as he's prone to running in the road and playing "chicken" with cars and trucks. i don't know how you cure a dog of this. Seems genetic.) and after yelling at passerby and many a bird, falls off into an exhausted sleep. I will leave him for maybe five minutes, but am not comfy having him out there sleeping. Brad has made me fearful that "someone will steal him" due to cuteness.

Finally...our citronella candles seem to DRAW mosquitoes TO the area! WTF?! They were in a frenzy all over the patio and this was a good 10 minutes after they began burning. Do we have GENIUS or modified skeeters here or is the citronella simply ineffective? Jigga Huh?

Have a splendid weekend, peeps!

HOLLA to the tenth power!

xoxo~

T