Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden

We’ve stalled a bit indoors as I won’t be able to set up the toddler’s playroom or my craft area until my kindergarten materials, books, and decor are delivered to my new classroom later this week.  Dear Husband checked the trees in our yard today instead, looking for branches that needed to be trimmed while the kids and I checked on the seeds that we planted for “filler-type” greenery and flowers for the remaining summer months.

The nasturtiums and pumpkins have sprouted, though I’m not sure if we’ll actually get any pumpkins grown in time for Halloween with such a late planting.  The kids were inspired by the pumpkin photos at Chance Family Happenings:

Dear Husband trimmed back some branches that were obscuring traffic/street signs:

…and he discovered a few branches that the electric company will have to come out to cut and remove (see where the power line is?):

Later this afternoon I’ll re-pot some of my indoor plants into larger containers, anticipating what new greenery I can find to put into the newly emptied pots!

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Thanks for being green, Kermit:

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~SmittenKitchen shares a recipe for Sauteed Radishes (yes, radishes!), Sugar Snap Peas and Dill

~Paper-and-String is working on Christmas in July (check out her trees, reindeer, and puddings)

~Doug has “heavier” reading on his summer book list than I do, but I’m intrigued after reading his thoughts on Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine.  NCLB is an issue that has ties that stretch much further than our classrooms, school district offices, states, even country.

~Dear Daughter enjoyed her birthday, but wanted a plain ol’ vanilla cake (with purple streaks swirled in) with strawberry icing.  Guess I’ll have to wait for another celebration to try The Pioneer-Woman-Cooks’ Yogurt and Orange Marmalade Cake.

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Happy Monday!

Tags: family, friends, links, photos, recipes

I hope you enjoyed greeting the surprises in our rental yesterday!  To continue on with our housing adventure…

On Day Three of being back in Oz, Mother Nature gave us a rainstorm, followed by a hailstorm.  I didn’t mind either as we were inside and the show was a change from the usual tumbleweed/dirt storms experienced in Texas.  And look at all of that *green!*

Do you remember me mentioning the duct taped gutters yesterday?  Apparently the duct tape was merely a cosmetic issue, the real problem easily obscured by the fact that I couldn’t see INTO the gutters themselves from the ground.  From out of our bedroom windows, we could hear what sounded like a flood, coming off of our roof, more intense than the rain and hail itself that was falling.  When we looked out the windows, we saw two rivers of water being shot up and out away from the house four or five feet before hitting the ground.  With special lighting and Liberace playing piano, we would have had our own Vegas Water Show!

Sigh.  Maybe not.  I don’t have the epaulets for that kind of production.

Anywhoo…the gutters were clogged, plugged, full of who-knows-how-many-years’-worth of debris.

And the in-my-opinion hazardous exposed fiberglass insulation garage?  Flooded.

Another call was made to the property manager, and after this pearl, “Oh, it’s normal for the garages around here to flood,” he actually produced a ray of hope: he called a Gutter Service/Repairman to come out and clean the gutters.

While Dear Husband made plans to seal the walls of the garage himself (and wowzer, can I just tell you how SMELLY, horribly NOXIOUS the fumes from sealant are?), Walt arrived.  Walt got on top of the roof, and cleaned out what he called our “compost pile” that had accumulated in the gutters.  Walt removed the duct tape that was holding the gutters’ joints together and made sure the assembly wasn’t dumping water along the garage walls.  Walt ran some scary tubey-chompy-snakey looking thing through the drain pipe to clear out any clogs that were hiding.

And once Walt was done, he made balloon sculptures/animals for us.  No lie.

Here’s a pink kitty, but if he had had an orange balloon, Walt said it would make a cute tiger:

My husband’s favorite, a motorcycle:

A sweet faced bumblebee (MUCH nicer than the wasps!):

And if you can imagine this one made out of a green balloon with a red tongue, it’s a FROG!

I’m thinking Walt the Gutter Service Repairman just might need to come in for Show and Share sometime this year!

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Want to learn more about balloons and balloon art?  Check out the “Pop” Culture at Balloon HQ!

Here are ideas for balloon games and decor for childrens’ birthday parties…

…and check out balloon fashion at Secondose!

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Congratulations to Daisie and Andy!  They got married in Hawaii yesterday!

(bears found here)

Tags: family, friends, links, photos

Hello House!

Hello beer bottle in the backyard:

Hello, duct taped gutters:

Hello, er…walkway(?):

Hello lawn decor:

Hello wasps!

Hello, “freshly painted walls:” (**cough, hack**)

Hello, garage door opener track that has been jerry-rigged so it’s cutting/gouging into the drywall each time the door is opened or closed:

And hello to you, exposed-fiberglass-insulation-in-the-garage-ceiling-that-covers-the-entire-area:

Hello water heater, propped up and tilted on cinder blocks:

Hello light boxes falling away from the ceiling, hanging on by only a few screws:

… a few things I’ve learned this past week…

*Renting over the internet might not be such a great thing, especially when the property manager posts photos online from THREE TENANTS PAST.  Oh my, those photos were downright flattering.  Flattering enough to make us want to rent.  Surprise, surprise, surprise (go Gomer!) once we arrived.

*While it’s wonderful having household goods delivered the day after arriving at one’s new home, it’s not so great when a painting crew is hired the evening before to peel the paint from the walls (oh yes, they PEELED IT OFF IN SHEETS), patch, mud, sand, and prime, with painting occuring as the moving truck pulls up in the driveway.

*When speaking with the property manager pre-rental, don’t just ask “is the garage finished?”  Ask things like “Is there exposed fiberglass insulation (rotted in places) hanging from the ceiling?” “Is the garage TALLER THAN MY HUSBAND?” or “DEFINE ‘finished.’”

*Make sure to keep receipts (okay, so I already knew this one, but it’s worth bringing up for other renters out there) for any and all improvements you have to do to the property, and by gum, make sure you negotiate an agreement that you can write them off of your rent each month.

*My definition of “house in MOVE-IN condition” is obviously different from other peoples’.  My definition is better.

*And finally, it’s awesome having a great big tattooed Harley Tech/Soldier husband, because when the retired military property manager tells you “Well, you’ve lived in military housing before, this shouldn’t be bad for you at all,” SGM Grumpy can growl and assert his impression of what is and isn’t acceptable for his family…and oh my, what an impressive scene that is!

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Never fear, dear Readers!  While we’ve had to deal with the not-so-fun elements of moving this past week, we’ve also met some pretty terrific people too: the painters on the paint crew, our gutter service guy (more on him tomorrow), the DISH installer (he stayed for dinner), and we’re looking forward to meeting the air conditioner repairperson sometime today.  Oh yes, we’re really looking forward to that visit!

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It’s a few weeks before school starts, so check back in periodically as I’ll be posting some helpful tips and ideas about setting up your classroom, making lunch time easier for kindergartners who bring “home” lunch, and any other news from the world of public education!

Tags: family, military life, photos

You know how it goes!

Several happy events took place this week: our daughter’s last band concert, our toddler’s third birthday, my husband’s graduation from the SGM Academy, time spent with friends, and my teaching contract arrived in the mail! Whoo hoo! Happiness all around, but at times it’s felt like we have been going bananas. Thank goodness for Martha Stewart Crafts and Target!

The toddler’s party was MONKEY themed!

Gummy bears, trail mix, and pretzels are some of his favorites, along with carrot cake cupcakes:

The tumblers and plastic plates/bowls are from Target (the tumblers, packed with gummies, were our gift favors):

The cupcake picks were part of the Monkey Birthday Kit from Martha:

Num num num!

Happy Birthday, my rowdy three year old!

Tags: family, photos

Tags: crafts, photos

…and then *admit* you too, have some prom photos that have come back to haunt you!

In honor of my eldest son, who will be attending his first prom this weekend, here are some blasts from the past (and yet more proof that I have always loved playing “dress-up”) along with a challenge:

I *dare* my readers to dig through your photo boxes, albums and shoeboxes to find evidence of your own formal fashion “foo-paws” from yesteryear- and POST THEM, linking back here so that I can see!

In fact, I *double-dog-dare you!*

My first prom (I was thirteen) was in an Eskimo village!

Another blue gown that I also wore the year before (nope, not sharing THOSE photos!), this time shortened, for Prom #3.

Prom #4, still in Alaska, only this time outside of Squarebanks, with my dear friend Jodi. She wore lilac, I wore white…

Only to follow it up with a black lace dress for my Senior Prom. The photo doesn’t show it, but boy did I have 1987 BIG HAIR!

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Have fun Boy- I can’t wait to see your photos!

Tags: family, fashion, humor, photos

“Wed tain Mommy, wed tain!”

“Boo-boo cykul Mommy, boo-boo cykul…” (a friend’s bike was hit by a driverless car this morning- the bike’s rear fender is toast, and the paintjob is scratched, but our friend is fine! Yes, I typed “driverless…”)

And Miss Laurie from Laurie’s Charming Designs entered me into a drawing for one of her paper flowers! It arrived just in time to join me in reading the newest Somerset Life, that just so happens to feature Laurie’s beautiful birds (pages 70-73):

Take a look at the beautiful handpainted envelope! Thanks so much Laurie, I’m enjoying reading about your “soft perches” and will find a special place for my beautiful flower!

Tags: family, links, photos

Friday’s chores: go grocery shopping, check. Put groceries away, check. Clean house, check. Excavate desk, check. Peruse some newly discovered blogs, check. Return to the “cleaning” theme and sort through digital photos that have been collecting virtual dust in a “deal with it later” file on the desktop…check!

Grandpa loves these photos, being a “boots” kind of guy himself. Over the last two years, guests to our home have often complimented us on the “distressed” look of our furniture.

Umm…. it wasn’t always “distressed:”

Yep, that IS the toddler doing a little stompy dance… on top of our coffee table!

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In case you were wondering, why *yes,* I do know Santa (having lived in North Pole, Alaska):

**In fact, I know him so well that I’ll let you in on a little secret…he likes Harleys (and little stompy boys)!**

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This is our cat:

This is our cat getting ready to go into stalk-mode because the neighbors have a teeny tiny little yipper dog (see her intently watching the neighbor who is carrying said prey?):

One of these mornings, when the timing is *just right* and the neighbor puts the dog down and turns away, I’m guessing our cat will make a run for the wall, sail into their yard, and then freak out because she hadn’t thought of what to do next!

She’s kind of a …wuss.

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~ThinkGeek is featuring an item that could be my new favorite never-be-without-it item, an electronic bubble wrap keychain
~ Creature Comforts found some femme reusable grocery bags that make it easier to go green (I want the girly ones!)~ For those of living in zones where spring flowers are in short supply, why not make them? Making tissue paper flowers is one of my favorite crafts in late April (especially years where May 1 falls on a school day so my students can deliver May Day bouquets and posies to other classrooms) and there are some gorgeous colored and patterned papers out there that could be layered to beautiful effect!

~ Finally, I thought THESE were flowers when I first saw the photo pop onto my screen while reading Smitten Kitchen’s blog, but noooooo….they’re taters!

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I hope you are enjoying a fun, fabulous Friday!

Tags: family, humor, links, photos

Tags: Bordertown, photos

“Before”

I think I mentioned recently that I needed to update my recipe binder. Re-print recipes, straighten up recipe cards, and sort dinners, desserts, side dishes, breads, etc. into workable divided sections. I’m no expert on scrapbooking, nor am I looking to recreate the wheel, so I thought it might be nice to update the cover with photos, graphics, and other embellishments, trying my hand at some “altered art” that will become instantly recognizable and enjoyed by my family.

I’m still at square one. Because I have so many photos and postcards from which to choose, and of course there are sassy and humorous graphics to be found online. I know to scan the originals in so I don’t damage these, but I’m not sure if I’ll try to use them all on the cover (front and back) or one or two as the cover with the rest on divider pages:

The toddler exploring the fridge with Sister.

My grandmother and mother standing in the kitchen of the cabin on the homestead.

Daughter, many years ago, at Thanksgiving dinner.

Toddler helping me make cookies.

My favorite cake-bakers!

A postcard from Shannon.

And of course, vintage-style graphics that would be lots of fun too:

I know, I know- the one of my grandmother and mother in the kitchen would be the obvious choice for altered art, but I’d like to use several shots of family members in the kitchen.

Any suggestions or ideas? And yes, I’ll be posting the “after” results when I’m done.

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* sfgirlbybay has me wondering what the heck a Gocco is?

* Kelli has very cute (and very simple to make) St. Patrick’s Day cards posted.

* Howcast.com’s crafting videos will probably challenge my YouTube addiction each time insomnia hits me.

* Guest-Blogger Amber has posted a cute and relatively easy egg decorating idea at Scribbit.

* And I’ve recently discovered Kelli over at There Is No Place Like Home, who hosts “Show and Tell Friday,” (this week she features her Princess Diana books and a beautiful ring) providing links to other blog sites that want to participate.

I must have goofed this week, but hopefully I’ll get the Mr. Linky situation figured out so I can participate with her in the weeks to come- check her out!

Tags: crafts, family, links, photos, Show and Share