I feel a little famous...

I regularly state that only my mother reads my blog.  But obviously, at least on one day, that wasn't true!

In checking out my referral stats, I found this blog: How to Shave with a Straight Razor.  He had discovered my blog about Mr. Curly's new hobby and shared with his readers. (His specific post here).

If I were writing a story, I'd use the expression "just tickled pink" that I've been noticed!

She said mysteriously as the elevator door closed....

I feel like my blog has been very teachy lately, very here's what I'm doing to organize my life. A little too much of that and not enough aren't my kids the cutest, isn't my husband the greatest, don't you just love summer?

The other night I made Mr. Curly get out of the recliner and come outside just to listen to cicadas and watch the fireflys with me. We talked about cicada memories - like the one summer we had TONS of them and my brother and I collected their shells off our treehouse tree every morning and kept them in our wagon.
Mr. Curly remembered listening to them in OK on family reunion trips - he said they sang ALL DAY there (as they do here), but I only remember them in the evenings from when I was growing up.

Thursday night it started raining and rained ALL night. At 8:30 in the morning, it was still raining and yet the cicacdas were singing.

Why is that tree cricket sound so great?

I read an awesome blog about summer. My friend Libby posted it here. Check her out. She's much more of an author in her blog than I am!

Post title from Music & Lyrics

Learning curve....

As I stated here, we're starting to do some intentional teaching with Curly Girl. For the most part I'm making up my own lessons, but there is one site that was sent to me by my sister-in-law that I just love!

HomeSchoolCreations has amazing Preschool Print Packs that help teach kids colors, numbers, letters, graphing, matching, sorting, tracing, almost anything a preschooler should know in a theme they love! Curly Girl's favorites are, of course, princesses and the girly ocean themes.

From that site, I found 1+1+1=1 and her amazing tot books. I've downloaded the Cars and Pond tot books to make activity kits for Curly Boy to use during church and on trips. I downloaded the princess pack for Curly Girl.

I'm such a geek, I love charts, so the graphing games are my favorites and, thankfully, my kids love them too!



Check the sites out, especially if you have a preschooler or younger at home you want to teach!

My Bargain of the Week

My sister-in-law always posts a bargain of the week. Being a true bargain shopper (she would totally take the gold in Olympics) this is a pretty easy post for her. Me, I'm more of a "I'll buy it when I need it" sort of shopper, so I don't get in on this very often.

But this week - I have a post!

Moving from a 4 bedroom 2 bath house to a 3 bedroom 1 bath house has not been as difficult as imagined. The biggest problem - the bathroom. In SD, we had a tiny bathroom with the tub tucked under the stairs that was the "kids" bathroom and held all their things. Our "main" bathroom upstairs was huge by bathroom standards, as it was actually a converted bedroom with the walk-up attic door.

The bathroom here is more of a "oh yeah, we need a bathroom" tack on, slightly smaller than normal size. The biggest issue - the sink - not even a pedastal, but just one that hooks to the wall and tucked in a little corner with a shower wall not 2 feet behind it, there is NO counter space.

The linen closet holds about 8 towels, and a stack of hand towels and washcloths. Then there is a little cabinet area for toothbrushes and such.

However, this bathroom also has walk-up attic access, and some smart person built shelves in there. So we also bought an over-the-door pantry shelf unit and now most of our bathroom supplies are tucked in the attic stairs. It doesn't change the fact that we had no space for toothbrushes, combs, mousse, make-up, shaving supplies (see Mr. Curly's new hobby), etc.

So after this long explanation - our bargain of the week:

We found this fantastic old medicine cabinet at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.

I know to most it's an old piece of junk. But seriously - $5!!! $5 for a medicine cabinet that totally fits my decorating style, the age of our house, and our bathroom and budget needs.

Much better than the $70 MDF ones we were finding at Walmart.

Once it's actually up, I'll post pictures of the bathroom (which needs painted as well) - but I was too excited not to share!

For more great bargains of the week and other money-saving tips, visit Life With Mrs. B.

Today, Tomorrow

Today is my last day of work!
Today is the day we are to use no dishes so I can finish packing my kitchen.
We'll see how it goes.

Tomorrow is our moving day. Our load up the truck, drive it down, unload the truck and then collapse in front of the TV day. I've been warned by multiple people multiple times not to move anything, not to lift anything. I understand the concern, but it is not my personality to sit by and watch people work when so much needs to be done!

Now, I will be watching the Curly Kids, so that will keep me from getting a lot of what I want to help with done, but there is no way I won't be carrying a box or two myself.

After tomorrow, there may be a brief hiatus from the blog as I meet my new doctor, set up my new house and get everything going. And I mean very brief, I'm as addicted to writing my blog as I am to reading the list of blogs I follow.

So, if you see no more posts from me, check out the list on the right. There is some great reading there, or check out all frizzy things marked "sites I love." There are great blogs there too!

Or you can read the Darth & Droids comics.

Or write some hint fiction.

OR, and I just found this new one, challenge your writing skills at creativecopychallenge.com. They list a creative writing assignment each day.

Or, I guess you could always just play sudoku.

Little plushies, how I love thee.....

Chez Beeper Bebe is one of my favorite blogs. Holly hand sews her own things and always has an incredible list of other homemade toys to sort through, buy, and try on your own.

Her etsy shop is fantastic - little bitty dogs, dotted hippos, mooshy belly bunnies....



AND she created these:

How stinkin' cute is that? Holly generously shares not only a fantastic tutorial on how to make each one of those Beddy-Bye Beasts, but also soft, cute little cashmere bat baby hats to match.

My newest niece or nephew is getting a little bunny and hat, our friends who just had their baby girl received a little pink and white kitten with matching hat. My cousin, who is having her first boy (the first grandson for my aunt!), is receiving a hat, but I made him a little cuddle monster. Because every little boy should have a cuddle monster. And after 10 attempts I just COULD NOT get the panda eyes to work for me. But I know that was completely me - no sleep for two nights, trying to sew with the Curly Kids up and running around.... I should've attempted it at a better time!

But anyway, check out Chez Beeper Bebe. She's ridiculously creative and loves to share. You won't be dissapointed.

I WON I WON I WON

Seriously, I won.

This is crazy.

I follow a little blog called "One Minute Writer." Each day, C. Beth posts a word and you have 60 seconds to write whatever you want. She even provides a timer!

I use the prompts to do mini-journal entries, vent, write a bit of hint fiction, really just whatever I feel like that day. There are many days when I don't comment on the prompt, but it spurs on little ideas I jot down in the composition notebook I've started carrying around.


On Fridays, they do short fiction. You are allowed more than a minute, but keep it short.

On Friday, January 7, the prompt was "Sword." AND I WON! And I didn't even know it until Wednesday (Jan 19) because I hadn't had time to check back at the site since she posted that week's winner!!

So, here's the post with my short story that I wrote in less than five minutes and won me the marvelous title of "One Minute Writing of the Week Winner"!!

If you're looking to spur creativity or stretch yourself, seriously check this site out (there is a button on the right). I love it.

You like me, you really like me!

I believe the quote is a misquote of Susan Lucci as she accepted an award after umpteen nominations and no wins.


The point is - a button has been requested for my blog!! So, somebody besides my mom and husband is obviously reading and that is pretty darn cool.



So the blog button is over on the right hand side for now. Let's hope it works.


Also, you may have already noticed changes in the blog layout (little ones that just don't even really matter) - well, I'm just playing around with options. It will probably change several times over the next few days (maybe week) as I goof around and see what works and what doesn't.

If you have any hints, tips, suggestions, or ideas - Please let me know!

I'm just a writer.... I only have words.

My brother will tell you that I wrote about 10 stories a day growing up. When I read back on all the writing I did, I think I actually re-wrote one story about twice a week. I'm not impressed with my originality, though I am impressed with my volume.

I've always loved writing. I've always wanted to write a novel, or a biography, or SOMETHING that could be published and people would read and enjoy. This blog is the closest I've ever gotten to that.

And then, one of the blogs I follow (The Penultimate Word) posted about short, tiny little stories inspired by Ernest Hemingway. Called "Hint Fiction" they are 25 words or less and yet a complete story.

See the entire post on Hint Fiction here.

I'm going to try my hand at these.
They may not be publishable, but they will be challenging. I think they will force me to grow as a writer, jump start something more original than I've ever written before, and maybe even lead to something that could actually be published.


Post title from Alex & Emma

I think I want to be her....

Or at least, emulate her.

I've found a new site I love!

Today I introduce Jamie, the Very Worst Missionary. I found Jamie through reading Jesus Needs New PR, who I found through my friend Scot's site: That's with One T. Quite a route, huh?

Anyway, Jamie is hilarious and honest and insightful and makes me feel awful and awesome about myself and my life and everything I've been dealing with since July all at the same time.

I read all her archived posts over two days. One of my favorite so far? This post here . Oh, and this? Wow.

I love that honesty, and while, no, I'm not a missionary in a poor country surviving on nothing, I can relate to the feeling of "Are you sure you want ME, God?"

Her blog is everything I want mine to be - personal and funny, and yet so full of God's truth and applicable to others. Love it. Go, read it now, and find yourself laughing with tears running down your face and learning all at the same time.

*Disclaimer: Jamie is awesome, and real. So sometimes language, yeah, my mother wouldn't condone it. But PLEASE don't let that stand in the way of her great lessons on God and his love and grace and mercy.

Oh be careful little hands what you do....

So I've only done this once before, but I have to share a site I love:

Cakewrecks.com. True to their tagline, this is the site for "when professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong."

Jen comments daily on the "professional" disasters that bakeries try to pass off as legitimate cakes. Their commentary is hilarious, and the first time I stumbled across their site, I spent over 2 hours reading backlogs and fighting back insane fits of giggles and outright laughter.

My two favorite posts ever: Possibly the Most Depressing Cake I have ever seen and Don't Toy with me, Man. The "most depressing" is to me, most hilarious and "don't toy with me?" Well, read through, and pay careful attention to the little lamb riding out. I fell out of my chair laughing at that comment. It was a pretty giddy day, but still, makes me laugh every time.

Oh, and it has almost become imperative to me that I have this cake. I know third babies don't get baby showers, you already have everything you need, right? But LOOK at this! How stinkin' awesome is that?

Anyone know a bakery that won't screw it up?

This site inspires me to try just a teensy bit harder whenever I make my children's birthday cakes, which have come out like this:


Curly Girl's First Birthday: (it's a lion, ok? Only the homemade fondant didn't stiffen up the way I thought it would for the mane)

Curly Girl's Second Birthday (we did two, one at Nanny and Papa's and cupcake turtles at home, the orange turtle went to the neighbors who had graciously donated eggs to the cake!)








And Curly Boy's first birthday (my mom did all the hand piping to make him furry!)





Post title from Sunday School song: Be Careful Little Eyes

Featuring: I Can Teach My Child

I am not a teacher, in any way, shape or sense of the word. It is not my gift. However, I do want to give Curly Girl and Boy the best start in life I can, and I do believe that much of the knowledge that leads people most successfully through life comes from home.

Enter one of my new favorite blogs:



Jenae used to be a first grade teacher, and now stays at home with her two boys: Big Brother and Little Brother. Did you know she loves Sonic too? Oh how I miss Sonic!!

Jenae's site explains the 6 domains of early childhood development and adds a 7th - Spiritual and Moral. Her site is filled with all sorts of fun learning activities for children 5 years and younger.
I love that she used the story of Jesus calming the sea in a transportation learning unit about boats!!

There are too many of her projects for me to list all my favorites here, but I did just make a "Give, Save, Spend" bank with Curly Girl this weekend. Right now Curly Girl just enjoys filling it up, dumping all the jars out and starting over, but eventually, it will be a great learning tool for money management!

So check out Jenae's site: http://www.icanteachmychild.com/. You may not have little ones of your own to teach, but it's a lot of fun anyway!