I think it is time for new sheets...

so... we got these awesome flannel sheets from Grandma Miller 2 years ago, and my hubbie LOVED THEM!! In fact, he preferred that they stay on all year round. Well, this is how they look now. Aaaahhhh!! We need new sheets!! I will have to find a good deal on sheets now!!

Book Fair time!!

Today was Harrison Elementary school's Annual fall Book Fair Bingo Night!! We had a great time and the book fair was a great success!! Here are Lauren & her buddies reading their new books outside the school after the book fair ended!!

Ethan's funny of the day

Today, I brought Ethan to Walmart and we saw a huge barrel of pumpkins.

Ethan: Mommy!! Look at the baby pumpkin!

Mommy: (gets Ethan the cutest little pumpkin)

Ethan: (spins the pumpkin around and around. Face gets very serious)

Mommy: What's wrong Ethan?

Ethan: Mommy, Where his face go??

Mommy: (trying to contain my laughter)
They are not born with faces, buddy!! You have to do that part yourself!

Lauren's reaction!!!

Here is the reaction that Lauren had today during a visit to her Gpa Tom's house...
I guess that answers the question: Is Lauren allergic to Tom's cat??

This is the worst cat reaction that she has ever had. Usually it ends up being a snuffy nose with sneezing and itchy eyes. This reaction was nothing like that at all!!

Happy 50th Anniversary Gma & Gpa Moosh!

Darlene & Merle on their wedding day

Here they are on their 50th Wedding Anniversary!!
We Love You!!

MN Author visit: Agate

Today, MN author Joy Morgan Day & Illustrator Nikki Johnson spent the day at Lauren's elementary school. We purchased a copy of their book "Agate".

This book is sooooo cute!! The illustrations are absolutely stunning. It is all about a brown moose with low self esteem to put it lightly... He wonders "what good is a moose??" He thinks that his friends, with their bright vibrant colors and neat tricks are all better than him. He finds out that we are all gems in a different way. Fantastic book, you should check it out!!

On this day in history

Ok, I know... this is a stretch. I have nothing for today. Here are the historical events that I could find for this day in history, September 24th.

1869 – "Black Friday": Gold prices plummet after Ulysses S. Grant orders the Treasury to sell large quantities of gold after Jay Gould and James Fisk plot to control the market.

1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument.

1948 – The Honda Motor Company is founded.

1957 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation.

1990 – Periodic Great White Spot observed on Saturn

2005 – Hurricane Rita makes landfall in the United States, devastating Beaumont, Texas and portions of southwestern Louisiana.

Births: 1936 – Jim Henson, American puppeteer (d. 1990)

Deaths: 1991 – Dr. Seuss, American children's writer (b. 1904)

Hope that makes you feel smarter... or something.

Cute Halloween Costumes for kids

Halloween is just around the corner, here is a cute costume that youcould make yourself for your kids!! (you could adapt it for an adult too!!)

YOU’LL NEED:

• Butterfly kite All you magazine suggests the kite below-
  
• Monarch butterfly kite ($23; kiteandwind.com)
• Scissors
• Yellow sweatshirt
• Safety pins
• Sewing needle
• Thread
• Two large, round orange beads
• Two black pipe cleaners
• Glue
• Black headband
• Black leggings

1. Cut kite in half down center. Lay sweatshirt flat, face up. Arrange both halves of kite along side seams of shirt body and sleeves; pin in place. Stitch wings to sweatshirt.

2. Place one bead onto each pipe cleaner. Secure with glue. Twist pipe cleaners around headband and glue.

Honey Baked Pears

Here is a new recipe that I would like to try. I will share it with you!

Prep: 12 min.; Bake: 25 min.

Cost per serving: $1.05

Yield

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup crushed graham crackers
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon apple-pie spice
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 pears (about 2 lb.), peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Stir lemon juice with honey and 1/2 cup water in a small bowl until blended. In a separate bowl, blend graham cracker crumbs with sugar and apple-pie spice, then stir in melted butter.

2. Layer pears in an 11-by-7-inch baking dish and sprinkle with half of crumb mixture. Pour honey mixture over pears and sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture. Bake about 25 minutes, until pears are tender when pierced with a knife, topping is golden brown and juices are bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream, or let cool, cover and refrigerate to serve cold.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

269

Fat:

9g (sat 5g)

Protein:

1g

Carbohydrate:

50g

Fiber:

4g

Cholesterol:

20mg

Sodium:

127mg

All You, OCTOBER 2009

dessert anyone?

Are my kids good or what?? I offer them dessert, and they pick applesauce.
I had to put sprinkles on it because I was so proud of their choice!!

who is calling at 3:30 AM???

So... Generally if I would get a text message at 3:30 AM, I would not be very happy, right?? Well, yesterday was a very big exception!! I received a text message from my brother in law's girlfriend (they were on vacation in Las Vegas at the time) with this awesome picture of her
BRAND NEW ENGAGEMENT RING!!

Congratulations Brian & Jenna!! I could not ask for a better sister in law!! I love you guys so much & am looking forward to your upcoming wedding!!!

Lauren & her buddies at Sam's Bday party

Lauren, Shaylynn and Sam at Sam's 7th Bday party!!
The 3 musketeers!!

Ethan's funny of the day...

Today, I went in to the bedroom to wake Ethan from his nap. This is what I encountered...

Mom: Ethan, honey, it is time to get up!

Ethan: (rolls the other direction)

Mom: Ethan, let's get up and go get Sissy from school!

Ethan: (points at the door) Go out mom, I sleeping.

He thought that he had me fooled... He is so cute!

Product Review Skintimate Moisturizing Cream Shave

My mom was recently here, and she had found a great deal on shaving cream so she brought me a few to try... Awesome!!

I am going to give this shave cream a great big YES! You smooth it on your legs (it is not foam, not gel but more like a lotion) in the shower and shave. Simple-yes, but the treat is how you feel after you shave. I usually have to put on lotion after I shave, but not when I use this!! You come out of the shower feeling like you have just applied lotion, but you don't feel greasy like some lotions can feel! Even in the summer, (when I can't stand to put on lotion) you just feel moisturized to perfection!!

Nature pic

Here is a cool flower pic I took in our front yard.

Too Cute Tuesday!

Ethan helping me out with all my little Johnson's Buddy soaps. He opened 27 boxes!!

Voila! The end product!! He is such a good helper!!
Too Cute!!

Product Review Uncle Bens Long Grain & Wild Rice

As most of you know, our children have food allergies and I have to be creative when it comes to meal planning in our house. I can rarely find any pre-packaged foods that do not contain any dairy or egg.

I did come across one new thing at the grocery store recently, Uncle Bens Long Grain & Wild rice.
YUM.
Love the flavor and really love the fact that it takes only 5 minutes. I paired it up with boneless pork ribs (a staple in our house) and green beans. My family loved it! This one will be a new pantry necessity!!

Sunday Funnies

I could not pass by without taking a picture of this...
Only at Menards will you see a shirt being modeled by PVC pipe...

The shirt says it all...

"Lock up your daughters"...

OMG, could he be any cuter??

Video of Lauren in swim class

Isn't she cute!!!

Lauren back at swim lessons!

Lauren getting ready to take her dive!!
She took a few months off, but she didn't miss a beat!!!

Aahhhh!! I chopped it off!!!

Before--- Lauren was letting me know what I was in for...

Here is all of the carnage... 6 inches or more!

The new me!!

The back

Can't believe I did it, but I did!! I love it!!

Lauren's 1st day of First Grade!!

Lauren's 1st day of First Grade!!!

Outside when we picked Sissy up from school!

After her first day of school, Lauren's wiggly tooth kept getting wigglier!! Soon, it was to the point that I didn't feel comfortable letting her go to bed with it in... so... It came out!! Lauren lost her 2nd tooth on the first day of the school year!!

B4 and After- my new downstairs pantry shelf!

My pantry shelves before...

Ethan with my new GINORMOUS shelf...

My new shelf all stocked!!

Sunday at Mary's cabin

Today, we spent the day fishin up north at my Auntie Mary's cabin up north! Here is Ethan with one of his massive sunnies. By noon, he was trying to put his own worms on the hook and he held every fish! No fear!!

Lauren, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the fish, the worms or anything remotely dirty... What a little princess!

Brad finally caught that big guy that was hiding under the pontoon... Giving him a great big kiss before he let him go. I think that we caught him 3 or 4 more times after this!!

Here is me with the biggest catch of the day!! Little Northern!!

Oh Brad...

Oh, honey...I don't have any words...

I missed this funny pic??

I can't believe that I forgot to post this funny picture of the leftovers of my hair from Andrea & Scott's wedding! This is a picture of the curly hair extensions and all of the bobby pins that I pulled out of my hair after the wedding!!

Product review - Avon Jillian Dempsey eye color

I don't know about you, but for me easy and quick is a prerequisite when I am doing anything for myself. Especially something like makeup. All women seem to have that "thing" that they feel they can't leave the house without "making up".
For me, it is my eyes.

What I like about this eye color is that it is all in one.
Avon's Jillian Dempsey eyecolor is my secret to 30 second eyes.
1. With your finger, smooth on a little bit of the highlight cream just under your brow. For a little added effect, put a tiny smudge on the inner corners of your eye (next to the nose)
2. With your eye brush, smooth the lighter color onto the bottom 2/3rd of the eyelid.
3. Line the lashes with Avon Smooth Over eye definer (I use Blackest Black)4. Use your favorite mascara.
Voila!! This is a perfect look for daytime.

If you want to create a more dramatic nighttime or special occasion look, just use the darker color in the crease and to the outside of the eye.

I am a little bit biased to this brand, I do sell Avon. If you would like to order or just browse the catalog, you can view my Avon Store here.

AAAaaaakkkk!!! I am so behind!!

I am so sorry that I have allowed myself to become behind again on my blog. Between some great weekend visits from family, the start of school, my new responsibilities within the PTA, and a virus that has sidelined me for 2 full weeks now... I am behind!! I am going to attempt to get all caught up today...

...Stay tuned

Too Cute Tuesday!

Ethan & his Uncle Andy...

Too Cute!!