spray it with a smile!

My friend Marni, who is by the way super crafty cute, and if you ever want a quick craft to do with your crazy kids just go here, first introduced me to the world of spray paint. That girl will spray paint anything that doesn't move and a few things that do. Her kitchen table, kitchen cabinets, picture frames, chairs, toys, living room tables, and wall hangings, just to name a few, have all been lovelied with a fresh new coat of spray paintusually black, then shabby chiced really cute. Who knew it was so versatile? I hadn't used spray paint in I don't even know how long before I started hearing her say " oh I just spray painted it" all the time...and it always looked amazing. So in the last little bit I have been following in her footsteps and spray painting as much as I can. In fact just last week I went to town in my newly rearranged living room. I sprayed some picture frames and a few hand-me-down decorations and VIOLA, a completely updated awesome new living room. I have done plenty with a paintbrush, and I gotta say...spray paint is the way to go! Little to no clean up...the "no" part if you actually have a table on your back porch specifically for spray painting...like MARNI! It's fabulous. So go out today and buy yourself a $2.19 can of quick drying spray paint and wait for your eyes to pop out of your head because it is so easy and beautiful!. You can thank me, and marni, later!

Hail to the Princess!

No I'm not dead, just way behind...
So last week my first born turned 6 years old! Holy Crow! Time sure does fly when your raising kids. This year she was particularly excited and aware of her birthday. She counted down for almost 2 weeks. Then on her apparent "birthday eve" she got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and was so excited to find that I had decorated her door. Then she said "mom I won't look in the living room when I go back to bed", ya know...as if it were Christmas Eve and there were going to be be gads of presents waiting for her in the living room. I gently let her know that that, unfortunately, was not the case. She was just really excited this year, and I did my best to make her feel loved and special. I don't know about you all, but on my last "Birthday Eve", I was pretty much crying myself to sleep. lets not talk about the actual number behind the tears ok.

First off...pink pancake princess crowns. It was on the fly, so just tilt your head a little to the right and squint-then you'll see it.
After school we went to the park which you can see here, with some wonderful friends who brought cookies and candles and we sang Happy Birthday. It was so sweet of them...thanks Sarah. And her choice for her Birthday Dinner? Potato soup of course. I was surprised too.

A few days later came the birthday party. She was so excited and we had a great time. We took all the kids for pony rides and games, then back to the house for presents and Pink Pony Cupcakes (as shown in the slide show). **A special thank you to Lisa for cutting all the "horse hair" and moral support for my cupcake "vision". And to Kayla for finishing their faces since my dear friends talked me into rearranging my ENTIRE living room while trying to finish up the cupcakes. I love it, but I'm a succor.

Anyway, she had a great Birthday, and pretend Birthday that's when you have a party on a day other than your real b-day . I love you Hannah Banana. I'm so glad your mine. mom

Super-what?

Hannah: Why does your shirt have a Superman on it Daddy?

Me: Cuz he's Super-Daddy!

Daddy: yeah. I'm Super-Daddy!

Hannah: No sir...where is your mask...where is your cape...where
are your

MUSCLES?

Me: ouch.

La Cucuracha

So last night I was laying in bed having a little trouble falling asleep which was weird because I was super tired. I just continued to feel "not right" so I went and checked the door locks...again...locked. Checked the IRON on the counter to make sure it was off...cuz you know I was IRONING at 10:30, seriously. Then I spotted it. The COCKROACH. That's right, I obviously have some sort of 6th cockroach sense. So we're talking a light reddish color, 5-6 inches long... ok maybe more like 1 and a 1/4 inches. This was no infant roach though. He knew exactly what he was doing there. After I vomited in my mouth a little, I went into action.

Now, gratefully we are more of a "cricket" house- which are also nasty in large numbers and we thankfully have had a total of (counting this one) 3 cockroaches in our house in the last 3 years. So I know, I know, I really can't complain-especially to you "scorpion houses"... but I absolutely hate cockroaches. Uugh, shiivvver. They are probably at, or near the top of pretty much everyone's list of nastiness too. I don't expect any comments saying how "cute they are" and that you are "opening up your own home as a cockroach "half-way" house for those who have are living on the streets". Even just thinking about them makes me squirm and pull a face. sick.

Anyway, my first thought was- smash it with my broom, but that was a "no go" because I would have had to pass within a forbidden 3 foot radius of the cockroach to get to my broom, and I wasn't going to risk "a runner" getting away. So I went for the shoes. I threw like 3 shoes at it-from a safe distance of course, hoping to at least mame it, but it scurried under the china hutch. So then I did the only thing any loving mother protecting her family would. I pulled out my beloved and trusty DYSON. I love this vacuum. I'll admit, it was a splurge after years of poor to nonexistant vacuuming, but it was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY. Now, it did cross my mind that it was 12:34 in the middle of the night, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. It was either- turn on the vacuum and risk waking everyone up or let the little nasty thing lay baby cockroach eggs all over my laundry room, which would be the beginning of many years of throwing up in my mouth and fighting the cockroach army to get my house back. choice made. So with one quick swoop I sucked up that nasty ol' cockroach before he even knew what hit him, or sucked him in this case. Then I did the victory dance in my underwear while I let the vacuum run to make sure he was good and dead.

I went back to bed, feeling gratified and ready for a peaceful slumber. My hubby asked: "why did you turn on the vacuum?" me: "I had to suck up a huge cockroach". hubby: "oh cuz it was going to attack you?" me: "yes. I'm so glad we both see the severity of the situation." hubby: "good job". me: you'll think twice when next time I just let it live, and it crawls into your ear while you're sleeping, and lays it's little nasty baby cockroach eggs."

oh, he'll thank me then.

Leaning tower of trash

I know what your thinking...

IMPRESSIVE. It's quite a feet to be able to stack the recyclables over twice as high as the actual container.

I figure you could look at it 2 ways.

#1. Way to use your creative stacking abilites and the perfect corner to make such a wonderful leaning tower of trash. The way you (I) used the walls like that and the angles of the boxes...truely inspiring. I could sit and look at it for hours.

or

#2. Girl, you need to get it together.

don't act like you don't do it...