Bench Monday

So, here are my feet again, perched atop an old rickety chair I picked up in an El Paso, TX thrift store for a whole dollar years ago. It was for the look of it and not much else. At the time, I thought it would great to catch the things in the bedroom that other wise would end up on the floor. Since then, it has been the time-out chair and the computer chair.
My naked feet have joined us again and for the life of me, I have no idea why, but since they decided to participate, I thought I'd allow it.
Off the clean the kitchen counter and sink before Little Miss Ava joins us for the stormy Monday morning!
And, maybe later I will share some details of all the happenings of this past week.

Bench Monday

Here's a bench and it is Monday and I took it upside down. I did it because these are the types of days we are having. We have added a friend to come and play with us two days a week. Her momma and I parted our former employer together as part of a lovely force reduction plan. She's nearby with her new job and I am at home with my wee ones: why not make good use of our current positions? So far, I think it is working out rather well!

Alas, here are my feet perched up on a bench to join the forces in spreading Bench Monday!

Now, if anyone has any new ideas as how to get the lipstick and mascara off of my bench without having to repaint it, just say the words!

Looky!

Looky what I added to my reading list!

Sew Subversive, by Melissa Rannels and Plush You, by Kristen Rask.
Both were found at the discount store, Ollie's for $3.99 and $2.99. While I really hate to see good books hit the secondary and discount markets, I completely understand why and it helps me save money, plus add to my book stash. I know that often when we see brand new books in the discount market, it is often due to the over production of the item and by some specific laws, they must be moved this way.

Well, I'm off to clean something and peruse these two new books whilst my bambino sleeps!

Reading List

So, here it is. The stack of books that I am currently perusing. Why "perusing?" Well, unless a book is fiction, I'm not so likely to read it cover-to-cover. I flip through pages and often read my books and magazines backwards.

First, I flip through the pages to see if something catches my eye, then set myself to read that portion, and so on...

We garden every year and since I'm not a real fan of chemicals, we have a few books related to organic gardening, although I don't understand why it is called organic gardening since it was originally the conventional method. What is conventional now, should be renamed "Chemical Crazy Gardening."


The Secret, to some might seem silly and a waste of strange time, but when things were rocky for my at my former job, it helped me re-center and focus on the positive aspects of everything. Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying you'll be dancing around singing to the birds and critters like Snow White, but it can help one rediscover the importance of thinking positively and how in doing so helps to bring about positive change. Give it a go.

The Sorceress, it is the third in a series of books I started reading thinking it might be light reading when I needed a good book, but not one I had to really focus on. I love the Harry Potter series and this is lighter than that, yet has caught the attention of my 9 yr old. It is Youth fiction, however, does have quite a bit of history throughout. Great for young readers or someone who needs a light read. Not every book we read needs to be a great philosophical endeavour.

The Creative Family, by Amanda Soule, seems to be on almost every blog I read, so I thought I should see what all the buzz was about. So far, I'm on the fence about it. I've read most of it, but I felt like I was being spoken AT as if I were not very bright. Sorry to offend anyone, but I have my right to my opinion. The ideas are great and the messages in this book could definitely be repeated daily throughout the world, especially now that so many are taking a long hard look at their lifestyles. So that said, in short, I'm not feeling how it was written, but the information is good.

Healthy Meals for Babies and Toddlers, why not just go out and buy some jarred food? Have you tasted that nonsense? I picked this up for $6.98 at B&N recently and have enjoyed the information and recipes with great photos. I often think the visual content can really make or break an information based or cook book.

Weekend Sewing, by Heather Ross. Yep, another blog buzz book that I thought I should check out. So I did. While I didn't enjoy the $27 price tag, I did resolve to buy it if I saw it at B&N. It was seriously cheaper on eBay, but I wanted to see it while I had a a few days without my LBO's in tow. I'm working on my second project from this book. If you are not willing to wait for the next edition, just be sure to check out the Flickr group and Heather's website for the corrections. And, be sure to check those sites BEFORE you purchase fabric and any notions for these projects. A few mistakes are not on her website, but are listed in the Flickr group.

Big Brother Time

LB takes his big brother responsibilites very seriously. He collected E on the loveseat to entertain her the other night while I was implementing sleep re-training on Bam-bam.
From the pictures, snapped between putting BB back in bed, this special time was to E's delight as LB read to her and showed her picture books. Poor baby was so tired, but she hung in there for Momma and so did LB. Bam-bam, on the other hand fought dearly and I have the scratches to prove it to keep from giving up and going to sleep.

Bam-bam was going to bed all peacefully until daddy decided he could hold him on the couch and let him fall asleep to the sound of the TV. Eh-eh, no TV dreaming under my roof! Reason #1-no good sleep results from that racket. Reason #2-what happens when you don't have a TV to listen to when you are, oh say, out in the woods camping?!?!? Reason #3-because I love my children and will not put a TV in their room, nor should I be subject to watching pre-school programmming at 10pm because some little one hasn't fallen asleep, yet! Bad ju-ju that TV dreaming thing is. Bad ju-ju.

Last night was night #3, and off to bed he went, w/o fussing!

Trains anyone?

Trains, yep, I was on my way to the fabric store last week when I got caught by the train. Haven't been this way in quite a long while, so I decided to take a few pics for my Bam-bam who is three and loves trains!

Happy 4th of July

Here we are this beautiful morning on the East Coast of Virginia, trying to decide how to spend this day, baby chatting in the background, Bam-bam brushing the bugs out of his teeth. While my family is planning in its sleeping confused state, I hope your family has a wonderful day and celebrates the freedoms that we have here in the country. I hope you are inspired throughout the day by all of the celebrations of the our great country and if you can, take the time this coming week to contact your Representatives to uphold our rights and freedoms in this country. Together, we can help keep our home, our country, the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave.

My passion for this is driven by the simple fact that I am an American and that I am a proud veteran, the daughter of a vet, the grand-daughter of a WWII vet, and the great grand-daughter of a Navajo Indian.

Happy 4th of July!