Such a Sweet Valentine's Day

Yesterday my son disclosed he has a girlfriend. My 5 year old son.

I was looking at his pile of Valentine's on the kitchen table, and asked if he had a good day and a nice Valentine's party. He said yes. I said I like his Valentines. He said he got one more special one but it was "personal" and "none of my business". I respected his privacy. He mentioned his "special valentine" several more times, but reiterated I was not allowed to see it.

A few hours later at his bedtime, he came into my room clutching a piece of red construction paper. He whispered that I could see the outside of the card, but not the inside, because that was "personal". (never mind he can't read, so unless it is drawings, he doesn't know what it says either!) He showed me an adorable hand-made card with a picture of an alien with a giant eye and cut out letters that said "i have my eye on you". I told him it was very nice and he was lucky to receive such a special card. He continued to stare at it lovingly. Then he told me he would show it to me one more time, and said, very softly, "her name is written on the top very small". He showed it to me quickly and I saw the name "Alana". A girl he has spoken of before, but I have never met. I asked him if he wanted me to try and set up a playdate with her, and he said "YES!". A few hours later when I was going to bed, I peeked in on him sleeping. He had her valentine next to his head on his pillow.

And that is what Valentine's day is all about!

Spring Cleaning...on the hottest weekend in July

We didn't want to do much to leave air conditioning this weekend, with temps over 100 degrees! So, of course, we decided to clean out the refrigerator. We were inspired by this picture we found on Pinterest (if you haven't tried pinning, you are missing out!)

This is what our fridge looked like before. Think we could find much of anything in there? nope. We decided we wanted to use containers (like in the picture), so measured everything first. The key measurement was depth. If you get containers that are too shallow, you will constantly lose stuff behind them. Then we went to Walmart and got some containers that could work.

Next, we took out all the food, and threw away anything scary (we did find a sauce bottle that expired in 2005!!). Then we took out all the drawers and shelves and while DH cleaned most of those, I got in the fridge with clorox and cleaned the heck out of it. Only when everything was sparking white, did we put shelves and such back in. We had to replace the produce drawer, as the kids had broken it years ago.

Then we tried to organize the food we had. We had LOTS of yogurt and LOTS of cheese (the kids could probably live on an all-dairy diet). So one bin went for yogurts, and another (smaller) bin went for string cheese and other single-serving cheeses. We put the rest of the cheese (good "mom and dad" cheese, shredded cheese, etc), back in the cheese drawer. We have a "toppings" bin with "shaker" cheese, sour cream, bacon bits, tomato sauce and ketchup. Lunch items (cold cuts, lunchables, etc) went in the small drawer. The other big bin has "dinner" items - things I am defrosting, have ready for dinner that week, left overs, etc. Produce goes in the bottom drawer.The top has sort of anything else.

Then we organized the door shelves. They were crazy. We consolidated, threw out much, and tried to organize as best we could (international sauces, bbq sauces, salad dressings, etc).

And here is the big reveal. Not the best pics, I apoligize (iPhone), but gives you an idea. And yes, ASAP I will be switching out that top blue bin for a white one. Makes me crazy, but the white ones we bought didn't fit on the top with the built-in water dispenser. I had this blue one sitting around, and it fit. But I will switch it out for a white one as soon as I can.

We made the kids come in and oooohh and ahh over the clean fridge. Lets see how long it lasts! Hopefully we will all find it easier to use and will keep it like this!

The Ways of the Universe!

We have quickly been reminded that the universe always has ways of even-ing things out. Just 2 weeks ago we made our last daycare payment. After 9 years of daycare payments, we are finally free. Think of the money! Well, the universe quickly took care of that.

First, our car died. Totally died, leaving me at work stranded, when I was supposed to pick up all three kids and get two of them to piano lessons. Not so much. Turned out it was the alternator and battery. And the bumping noise we had been hearing was the brake rotors, which had also worn bad patterns in our relatively new brake pads. $1400 and we were golden.

The next day the painter we had hired to deal with our porch finds termites in the posts. Joy.

Then, the truck has the A/C die this weekend. Not looking forward to that estimate.

So just when we thought we would get some of that credit card debt paid off, the universe acts to suck up any money we were saving.

I shouldn't be surprised.

I also shouldn't complain at all - we are very lucky, and have more money than we deserve. But still!!

How To Store All Those Cool Ideas

Have you heard of Pinterest? It is soooo great! It is a place where you can store all the great ideas (recipes, crafts, decorating, gifts, etc) that you find online, and categorize them and make them easy to find! You can also see what others are "pinning" and "repin" their stuff too! I love it, and has really freed up all my saved internet pages and "starred" google reader stuff.

For example, here is a link to my "crafts I want to try" page - http://pinterest.com/meganhb/crafts-i-want-to-try/

I also have categories for recipes, pretty to look at, kids crafts, cool ideas, etc. It is a great way to keep all those ideas in one place! I highly recommend it! You have to get on a waiting list for an account, but it is usually about 48-72 hours. Go here to get started, www.pinterest.com!

That's what works for me, click here for more Works for Me ideas!

Get Your Day Started Right

I am back on WW. And I am actually following the program, so that's always good. ;) The hardest thing for me was breakfast. I was having a light yogurt every morning, and while it was low it points, it also made me hungry by 10am.

At my WW meeting, someone mentioned oatmeal. Now I have NEVER been a hot cereal type of gal. My grandmothers both had cream of wheat every morning and I thought it tasted like paste. I put all hot cereals in that category. But I was desperate, so I figured i had nothing to lose. I went straight to the top and got steel cut oatmeal. Not instant- the kind you have to cook nearly an hour.

But man, does it work! I eat some of these, and I am full for the whole morning. I can't believe it. They are really tasty too! I make a full batch and night, and then divide it into 4-6 containers. Then I just heat it up at work in the morning for 1 minute in the microwave, add a tiny bit of chopped walnuts and craisins, and I am good to go!

I use McCann's Irish Oatmeal. You can buy these oats at many grocery stores, but I have found them cheapest at Trader Joe's. Having a filling breakfast really works for me! For other works for me ideas, visit We Are That Family.

B Turned 7!

We are entering the "odd years" with our kids, and by August they will be 9, 7, and 5. B's birthday was this weekend. She is in love with the Disney movie "Tangled", so that was our theme. She actually had three parties - #1 at school (10 minutes, max - i brought in donuts and juice - they sang); #2 at out house with family friends (had the fancy cake, did a few of the activities with the kids); and #3 her official with the friends she wanted to invite party (about 7 girls from school - whole shabang: fancy cake, 2 crafts, 1 game, lunch, movie, and favors). It was actually all fun, although I really needed to start working on all of it earlier than a few days
before. I had been planning it way before that, but just didn't get around to actual prep til way to late!

My favorite thing was the cake. I found several versions of this online, and put my own spin on it. I used Entemann's pound cake, a dowel, and mini chocolate-covered Krispy Kreme's. I love a cake that is no baking, and just assembly! B loved it. This is the second one. B insisted I add the little picture of Rapunzel (that I just cut out of paper). The "house" on the top is a cupcake, with a ice cream cone on top. The braid is just icing, as are the vines and flowers.

We used everything we could find on the Disney Family Fun website, and the kids made the Pascal party blowers and paper lanterns. We also played pin the flying pan on Flynn Rider, after using a projector to blow up the printable on the website.

For favors, the girls were given one of these necklaces I made with bottle caps, and a box of colored chalk (Rapunzel loves to paint and draw, and uses chalk with little kids in the village).

All in all, a very fun party. A little nuts, but still fun. At the grown up party we even launched a real "floating lantern" with fire. But we were scared and attached some yarn to keep from burning down the neighborhood. It didn't go up very far with the string weighing it down, but it was still cool.

And now my little B is 7!!! I can't believe it. She is 100% girl, very witty, and incredibly witty. I can't wait to see what the next year will bring.

Spring Break - part 2

When we left Columbus we made a small stop. I am a HUGE sucker for random Americana. World's largest ball of twine? Awesome! Foamhenge? Can't wait to go. So we had to stop and see the world's largest picnic basket that also happens to be an office building! I know! so cool! It is the headquarters of Longaberger - a company that makes baskets, of course. Is this awesome or what? People WORK in here. I LOVE it.


After indulging my weirdness, we continued on to Pittsburgh. Let's start by saying Pittsburgh was awesome! There is no RV park near the city, so we were about 25 minutes outside. Found the greatest hole-in-the-wall restaurant, for some great food! If you ever end up in Washington, PA - go there! On Friday morning we went on a ride on the Dusquene Incline. The kids loved it! There is a small museum on the top that shows the pulley system that makes the whole thing work - very cool. Then we headed to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. I grew up outside of Boston and am a total snob about children's museums - but this is probably the best one I have ever seen! We could have been there for 2-3 days, easy. To say it is interactive is an understatement. We spent a few hours in the garage - where kids can build stuff, make simple electronic circuits, use levers and pulleys, climb, etc. The also loved the Attic, and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. K and I could have spent all day in the art studio. It was just really great.














Saturday morning we went to try some famous Pittsburgh pretzels. The place was a little take-out joint in an adorable area called Southside Flats, but man those pretzels were great. There were no tables, so we had a fun tailgate in the back of the pick-up. Then we headed downtown to the Carnegie Science Center. Yet another fabulous museum. The kids really like the special shows (one on electricity and another on fire), the robots, and the submarine!


























Soon, it was time to head to the park for the baseball game. Despite a short rain delay, we had a great time. The Pirates stadium is fantastic. Right on the river, with views of many of the bridges. I had an amazing pulled pork & pierogi sandwich on a pretzel roll (with onion jam!). And the kids were thrilled when 2 of our own Washington Nationals Racing Presidents ran with the pierogis in between innings.


On Sunday, it was Easter. That crafty Easter bunny somehow managed to hide eggs in a travel trailer, due to rain outside. So although it wasn't the longest Easter Egg Hunt, the kids still had fun. We went to a small church for services, and were treated to a very nice Bell Choir.













All in all, a great adventure! Fun time had by all and kids can't wait to go back to COSI and the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh!