Theme Thursday: Sun Flare

Theme Thursday is back!  What's Theme Thursday you ask?  It's a weekly photo challenge that Micaela hosts at her blog.  Each week she gives out a new prompt and you take pictures accordingly and post on your blog. 

This week's theme is sun flare.  And here's my attempt at capturing sun flare.  Not bad but I'm sure there will be many better ones.  Head over to Micaela's blog and check out every one's take on sun flare!

Who's growing up? Who's growing out?

We've got lots going on around here. 

Sarah finishes her seasonal swim program next Tuesday.  She's a little bummed that she's not going to get to swim again until the spring.  I would like her to be able to swim year round but that's so expensive and consumes a lot of time.  This seasonal program is was a good fit for us because there are no swim meets.  It's just practicing for improvement.  The program is set up so that you could sign up for 1, 2, or 3 nights a week.  We chose one night and it was perfect.  I just wish we could keep on through the winter.  But the instructor is a high school swim coach and that season is about to start so his program will end until the spring. But I might let Sarah do two nights in the spring. 

Peter had his first basketball practice last night.  He will have practice two nights a week from 6:30 to 8:30.  He and I are both a little stressed about that.  I wish at least one of the practices was right after school or at least earlier than 6:30.  But I think this time works best for his coaches.  And these guys don't even have kids at our school any longer.  They just love Our Lady of Mercy and coaching basketball and I know I'm not willing to coach so, 6:30 - 8:30 it is!

And speaking of basketball, Sarah has decided not to play this year.  I'm a little bummed because I really enjoy watching her but she just really doesn't enjoy it the same way she enjoys swimming.  And if she doesn't enjoy it, then why are we doing it? 

Sarah just bridged up from Juniors to Cadettes and she just received her Bronze Award.  Here are a couple of less than perfect photos:

Sarah went to the fair with her friend Mia and came home with not one but TWO! goldfish.  And these things look pretty hearty so I've got a feeling they are going to be with us for a while.  We've never had much luck with goldfish before.  (That one only lasted a few months).  And WILL YOU LOOK AT MY LITTLE BABIES??????????

Now I'm a little weepy thinking about how small they were and how big they are now. Especially since I am in process of buying Peter a whole new wardrobe IN THE MEN'S DEPARTMENT because nothing fits any longer.  NOTHING! 

The length of the pants I'm buying him is 32 (which is the length I buy for Dan, although the waist size is a completely different story!) and his shoes are an 11 which is a size and a half BIGGER than Dan's.  But neither one of us is tall so I am assuming he will level off soon. 

In other riveting news, I purchased a new shade of nail polish, and if you play your cards right, I'll show it to you later on this week.

And now I'm off to clean out my closet.  I am getting rid of all the clothes that no longer fit me.  And unfortunately, it's not because I'm growing up...

7 Quick Takes

How about some Quick Takes?  Seven to be exact!

1.  So here's a random cleaning tip I discovered on Pinterest.  Do you ever get hard water stains on your toilet where the water drips down and leaves ugly brown marks?  Well, I don't.  I guess we don't have hard water but I'll tell you what I did notice in the kids bathroom a couple of months ago.  It was a urine colored stain about the size of a quarter in the toilet bowl.

I typically go into the kid's bathroom one a week (or sometimes less) to check out the state of the bathroom, remove trash, wipe down the counters, etc.  When I noticed this stain, I grabbed an old magic eraser and got to scrubbing.  I do love me some Magic Erasers.  But low and behold the stain did not budge.  I got out bleach and mutiple cleaners and nothing worked.  I tried on many occassions to remove this stain and had eventually resigned myself to having it there forever or at least until we replaced the toilet bowl which was not at the top of my priority list.

And then I stumbled on a cleaning tip on Pinterest for an easy trick to remove hard water stains in toilet bowls.  It was simple - a pumice stone!  So I dug out my pumice stone (one I typically use for scrubbing my heals right before sandal season) and I scrubbed on that toilet bowl stain for less than a minute and it was gone!  Just like that!  Your welcome.  (And don't worry - this will now become my toilet pumice.  I'll get a new one for my heels.)

2.  I just had the following conversation with my almost 13 year old this morning: "Mom, what's the weather like today? I need to know whether to wear long sleeved pants or short sleeved pants."

Y'all!  I can not tell you how many times over the years I have told him that sleeves are on shirts and shirts only! Pants do NOT have sleeves!

3.  And speaking of my 13-year-old he was reading something on my phone in the car on the way home from school when I received a text.  He read it to me and I told him to reply with a Thanks!

"T-h-x?"  he questioned.

"No," I replied.  "Put thanks with an exclamation point."  

"Mom it's silly to type out the whole word.  Why don't you abbreviate everything when you are texting.  It's so much easier than typing everything out."

"Because I'm not a teen slacker is why."

I just can't bring myself to text in abbreviations.  I guess I'm just old but I'm okay with that!

4.  My poor husband has just been in the grumpiest mood all week. He's had customers in town since Monday morning and he hasn't been getting home until 9:30 or after each night. It was 10:30 when he got home on Wednesday night and then this morning, he left at 6:00 because the meetings were going to start early to make sure they finished up in time before everyone heads back.  And he's had to wear suits and ties every day so that has made him even grumpier!  We are both very ready for the weekend.

5.  Random shot of my cat sticking his tongue out at me:

His tongue was hanging out of his mouth for a good 5 minutes.  Guess he was really annoyed with me!

6.  We get to see the Patriots play on TV this weekend!  They had a bye last week and the two games before that weren't televised locally.  :(  Go Pats!

7.  And Kelly, our fabulous Quick Takes hostess with the mostess is giving away prizes in October. For a chance to win just link up your Quick Takes.  And there's a bonus entry if you answer her bonus question.  This week's question is "How many 7 Quick Takes have you posted."  I just counted all the ones that I had labeled (there's always a chance I forgot to put a label on one) and I counted 51!  I would have thought there were more than that.

Have a great weekend everyone!

It's a little Chinchilly in here.

Last week I veered away from my normal clear nail polish to try out a new fall shade.

I chose Essie's Chinchilly.  I absolutely love the way the color looks.  It makes me happy and I think it says fall is here without being too in your face.

Sarah immediately spotted my new shade as soon as she hopped in the car. She was quick to tell me how much she loved it.  She's very observant.  And also very kind to her dear old mom.

It took Peter until later that evening to notice my new nail polish. His response was a little less kind, "I hate that color mom.  It looks gross."

When I relayed the kids comments to Dan, he shrugged.  Which I guess I can take one of two ways.  Option one - he didn't even notice.  Option two - he agrees with Peter.

Or perhaps, maybe there is a third option.  He didn't notice but now that it's been pointed out, he agrees with Peter.

Yep.  I'm going with number 3. 

No worries though.  The girl and I love it and I'm getting ready to slap another coat of paint on right now!  What do boys know about nail polish anyway? 

A lot of yum on that plate!

Last night we had meatloaf.  I tried the Pioneer Woman's Favorite Meatloaf and it was really good.

Because honestly, how can  you go wrong with bacon? (The meatloaf is wrapped in a little blanked of bacon.  Yum.  A bacon blanket.)

I served it with garlic thyme carrots (and I forgot to add the thyme, whoops!), mashed potatoes, and balsmic glazed Brussels sprouts.

Dan loves these carrots but he refused to eat the Brussels sprouts.  I tried to convince him to try them because the balsamic glaze makes them so yummy but he refuesed.  "I'm almost 50.  I've hated them every time I've ever tried them so I'm not trying them again."

I forced Peter to try them and he tried to use Dan's line, "I'm almost 13. I've hated them every time I've ever tried them so I'm not trying them again."  But we made him any way and, of course, he hated it.  "It tastes like broccoli.  And that glaze is gross." 

Sarah will eat broccoli so she gave it a try and said it was "pretty good".  She's my favorite.

Everyone agreed that the meatloaf was good and that my potatoes were extra yummy for some reason.  Want to know my secret last night? 

I added heavy cream to the potatoes instead of milk.  So, yes.  They were extra yummy! 

And I figure that eating the Brussels sprouts will offset the cream in the potatoes, right? 

At least for those of us that tried the Brussels sprouts.  ahem

7 Quick Takes: Edition Phone Dump

It's Friday and I'm heading off to Mass but I thought I would do a quick dump of my phone and call it 7 Quick Takes!

1. We got a load of mulch delivered yesterday.  We (and of course, I mean Dan) got a lot of it put out last night before the rain started.  It's been raining all night and it's supposed to be a rainy weekend.  Guess we (he) won't be able to get the rest out until it dries.

2. Speaking of my hardworking husband, here he is doing something that he's good out but that he hates - checking math homework.  This is one of those things that makes me love him even more!

3. I snapped this during the Vatican anthem the other day. Sarah saw it on my phone and asked why the Pope looked like he was sleeping!  (I am assuming he was deep in prayer but maybe he was just bowing his head respectfully.)

4. This is Sarah chowing down on a wing.  YUM!

5. See this pretty necklace?  My friend Jennifer gave it to me for my birthday.  So pretty!  I was trying to take a selfie so I could send it to her and when Sarah saw my results she grabbed the camera and said, "Mom, let me do this for you so all of your chins don't show."  (And I will save you from seeing the picture I took with my THREE CHINS!)

6.Just a pretty shot of the sun setting. The phone never does it justice.

7.I spent some time last weekend canning peppers!  So pretty.  So tasty.

And that's 7!  Head over to Kelly's for more 7 Quick Takes and have a great weekend, y'all!

Sarah and the Google

I've mentioned before that my sweet Sarah loves to watch DIY videos and beauty tutorials.  She's practiced a smokey eye, a cat eye, casual up dos, waterfall braids, and a whole host of other things thanks to a good You Tube video. 

But her latest obsession is growing out hair.  And growing it out quickly.

She has decided that she  no longer wants her hair short and she no longer wants bangs. (insert knowing motherly voice saying "I told you so" right here)

Because, y'all, I. Told. Her. So.

But some lessons in life (particularly cutting your hair short when you love to style it and your face is really round, and cutting bangs ever) have to be learned the hard way.

For instance, have you seen Princess Kate's new do?

I bet you $10 she is already regretting them and probably Googling "proper use of bobby pins while growing out bangs."

But, back to my princess.  She Googled "how to grow your hair faster" and came up with some lovely advice.

Last week, I found her upstairs massaging coconut oil into her scalp. Because apparently the internets told her that will make your hair grow faster.  I told her not to believe everything she reads on the internet and to immediately get into the shower and  use extra shampoo to get that oil out of her so she doesn't look like an oil slick at school the next day.

She did as instructed and I had hoped we were done with that.

But last night, I went upstairs and found her rubbing VASOLINE into her scalp!

"What are you doing?????" I screeched.

"I read online that you should massage Vasoline into your follicules  to encourage your hair to grow faster."

"I think you mean follicles not follicules."

"Oh. Well what's a follicule then?"

"I think you are combining follicle and molecule.  Follicule is not a word.  Now get into the shower right now and really scrub your hair with lots of shampoo and rinse it really well.  You are going to look ridiculous tomorrow."

"No, no.  I'll be fine.  I can get it all out and I bet my hair will be longer tomorrow."

I looked at her this morning and could only shake my head.

It looked like she had not washed her hair in weeks.

"Well, it looks like you are going to have to go with a slicked back bun today because your hair is a hot mess."

So then she takes to Google and tells me that she can just sprinkle some baby powder in it.

"I think that helpful tip is for people who haven't washed their hair in a day or two, not people with a half a jar of Vasoline in their hair."

So she went upstairs, put her hair in a bun and went off to school.  She was a little worried that people were going to tell her hair looked greasy.  And I'm sure someone will.

Hopefully this will put an end to rubbing grease into her hair follicules.

Cheese!

It's Monday y'all and I'm glad!  It's been a busy 5 days or so for me so it's nice to look at the calendar this week and see lots of open space.

That doesn't mean I'll be bored though, so don't worry about me getting lazy!

Last Thursday we had our first general PTO meeting.  It was very well attended. But we promised refreshments and free dress down day passes so we knew it would be!  :)

I was in charge of the refreshments and I knew I wanted to keep it simple and easy with cheese and crackers.  But I also knew I didn't want it to be boring.  So, I did what I do and headed over to Pinterest and searched "cheese board".

And y'all!  Who knew there were so many elaborate ways to serve cheese?  I mean I love cheese and am very happy eating it straight from the pack, but apparently there are quite a few people out there than can make cheese look snazzy!

Here are a couple that caught my eye:

This one is courtesy of Half Baked Harvest.  Isn't it beautiful?

And this one is available if you hold your wedding at Flathead Lake MT Wedding Venue.

I knew I didn't have the budget or the time to pull off anything quite like this but I used these pictures for inspiration and shopped at Aldis and came up with the following simple cheese board:

Not bad for someone with a Pinterest dream but a PTO budget, eh?  I also added brownie bites with cream cheese frosting and some cookies at the other end of the table.  And of course there was wine because, it is a Catholic school!

And here's me doing my best Vanna White impression!

I had fun putting it together and I hope everyone had fun eating from it!

Wait! It's not Friday!?

I almost started this post with "It's Friday!  Where did the week go?"  And then I realized it's only Thursday.

I've been busy  and Dan's been out of town all week and the kids don't have school tomorrow so it really feels like today should be Friday.

This past weekend Dan and I went out to dinner to celebrate our Birthaversary.  Our anniversary is September 9, Dan's birthday is September 12 (49!) and my birthday is September 13 (46!).  We both love September because it really is the most beautiful month weather-wise (in my opinion) and we were both born in it making it extra special.  So when we were choosing our wedding date, September was our first pick.

And I remember declaring, "Oh and we can always do something extra special every year to celebrate our birthdays and our anniversary - like a trip!"

And we did the first year and over the last 15 years we've done it 3 or 4 more times I think.  We always go to Charleston because we absolute adore Charleston. I was hoping we were going to be able to make it there this year but it just didn't work out due to Dan's always changing work travel schedule and the kid's activities.

No worries though - we were still able to go out to a nice dinner.  We went to the Honey Pot again. And just like the first time we went there, it did not disappoint. It might be my new favorite date night restaurant - sorry Mozelle's.

This week has been a crazy whirlwind of activity between Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and swimming for the kids. And overseeing Teacher Lunch Out at school, preparing for tonight's PTO meeting and this Sunday's parish event which the school is helping to run for me. I've been on the go!

But it's been a good busy and the kids homework is starting to be a bit more manageable - or maybe they've just gotten back into the flow of it all- so life is moving right along here at a nice clip. And that's the latest on my little family.

And with that - I need to go decorate some brownie bites!

And since this post feels naked without a picture, here are some beautiful flowers that Jennifer brought me for my birthday.

And here we are blowing out the candles on our birthday fruit pizza.  My mom made us a cake for the anniversary party she threw for us so she made a fruit pizza (which I LOVE!) for our birthdays.

And here we are - the happy old couple!