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Handy Manny
Is it bad that while I’m watching Handy Manny with my son, I pass the time envisioning his voice-over actor Wilmer Valderrama in the role? In his post-”70’s Show” adulthood cuteness, that is. Here you go ~ a few visuals of the Colombian/Venezuelan cutie pie!
That’s my random Tuesday blurb for you.
Silver Impressions
This is the name of my recent Etsy discovery! I’ve known about Etsy for a long time, browsed on occasion, but I ran across the most delightful, delicate, personalized neck trinket a few weeks ago and placed my first order with Sharice, owner and designer of Silver Impressions. It came in the mail much sooner than I expected as it involved itty bitty hand-crafted detail.
It’s a sterling silver charm necklace. The heart tag says “m+d”, the round tag says “evan + zeb” and the rectangle tag says “my heart” (heart as in the actual shape of a heart). Each tag can be custom stamped within the allowed space for the characters and she added an August and October birth stone for my sons. There was a 16″ and 18″ chain option as well when placing my order through Etsy, I went with the 16″.
I am super pleased with my delicate and personal trinket and have already had many compliments on it in the 2+ weeks I’ve had and worn it. I’m on the lookout for birthday and Christmas gifts all year long, and with Mother’s Day coming up I thought I’d share my cute find. It was under $50 including shipping (right at $46, I think!).
Touchdown!
I spent this past weekend with my sister, and we shared an elevator ride with this gentleman:
*Apologies for the poor picture quality – it’s very difficult to find a picture of this man where his face isn’t covered by a football helmet!*
Colin plays pro football and he lives in my sister’s building. My mom ran into him in January and told us of her encounter with cuteness, and we knew (at least my sister did) as soon as he stepped on who he was. Yes, we had my two kiddos with us, and yes I am married, but we still got all twitterpated upon his entrance to the 4×5 box of vertical transport. He was quite good looking, quite tall (my husband is 6′5″ and I’m completely used to that, so “quite tall” in my mind is really very very tall).
He said hello and chatted with a few other guys on the elevator, telling us his objective at that moment was to “steam room his life into neutral”…must be a nice way to start a Saturday, huh? We were on our way to Trader Joe’s to look around and find some lunch. Ahh…maybe we’ll see him again. I’d definitely classify him as “eye-candy” and just had to share our little tale….you’re welcome for the visual 
Happy Tuesday, y’all!
It’s that time of year again…
I wrote about it last year, and find it necessary to re-blog about it again. It’s that time ladies. Warm weather is creeping in (let’s hope it decides to “sit for a spell”). And here comes my reminder about pedicures ~ I took this lovely verse from a friend’s FB wall and copied it here because it amused me and is absolutely RIGHT!
It never hurts to remind everyone!
OBEY THESE RULES…..
Just a friendly reminder, it’s that time of the year again.
Please raise your big toes and repeat after me:
As a member of the Faux Pas Sisterhood, I pledge to follow “The Rules” when I wear sandals and other open-toe shoes:
For all our sakes, please don’t keep this to yourself – pass it on to other Sisters.
May God Bless your Soles as well as your Soul!
Apology
For those of you directed to my page by the lovely article in Rebecca Albertson’s “Triad Tuesday” blog on Forsyth Family magazine’s website, I would like to apologize most sincerely for not being prepared and having a blank gallery page. I knew about this article a couple weeks ago and time slipped by me and I was not ready for you and I am so sorry. My sister helped me find a website that I can easily use and watermark my images before uploading them here, which is the only thing I was needing to do before actually putting art in the art gallery. I know, I’m a slacker, please forgive me. Rebecca took an interest in me and used her time to write a really wonderful piece about me and I didn’t have it together for her. I am working on uploading all images I have as I type this and hope to keep on top of my current projects for you from now on. My thanks for visiting me here, and please please don’t let my idiocy deter you from coming back again! Thank y’all and have a great rest of the week!!
Zeb’s First Krispy Kreme
This momentous occasion occurred on the morning of March 5, 2011. My oldest son and I had made an excursion to our local Krispy Kreme to pick up a Saturday breakfast treat. I can’t believe my husband and I waited this long, Zeb is nearly 7 months old, and he had not yet had his first taste of the scrumptious Krispy Kreme icing! We gave Evan a little nibble at 5 months!
Let me back up just a bit – Krispy Kreme was founded in my hometown! The location we go to sits adjacent to the original site. So, this is not just a generic doughnut experience for we locals, it is the only doughnut experience! My husband and I were both raised on Krispy Kreme (not in the literal sense), but as a special post-church treat on Sunday afternoons, or when we had out of town company. It is blissful to bite into a warm, fresh-off-the-line glazed ring of sugar-coated euphoria! Other people can have their dense, cake-like doughnuts, but they’re not for me – no, sir! I want my Krispy Kreme!
Here is the play by play of Zeb’s first taste of hot glazed doughnut!
Here it comes…
And he goes for it!
“I wanna hold it, mama!”
Yum!
And when we took it away…total devastation…
I know, my darling, they are deeeee-licious! You’ll encounter one again someday soon, I promise.
Precious Spring Outfits!
I just hit up one of my FAVORITE children’s boutiques, McCall’s (located in Reynolda Village). My mom and grandmother shopped for my siblings and I when we were younger, and now I love pouring over their selections and choosing those special little outfits for my two boys. I can always always find beautiful things for our house, too, and our friends!
Today I came home with a precious giraffe bubble outfit for Zeb for this summer. He’s almost in 12-month sizes (though he’s not quite 7 months old) so I went with the 18-month size with the hopes of it fitting him through the summer.
I also got reversible shortalls for Evan. One side has a cute beach theme on orange seersucker and the other side is ice cream on multicolor seersucker. He’s moving into the 3T sizes as I type, but I went with the 4T to give him more room. It’ll be cute on its own or with a white, green or orange collared shirt. SO EXCITED! Spring is on the way!
The Reverse side:
Fact Friday!
I stole this idea from my sister’s blog (www.einthepink.com). It is indeed an easy and fun way to share random tidbits about myself, so that you, my dear readers (if I actually have any) can know me better.
Fact:
Pickles are evil and I have only eaten 2 on purpose – but I was getting paid to do so (one was a $1 dare from my dad, the other was a $5 dare from dad ~ inflation and all). Picky eating habits run in my family…it’s sad, really. And pickles happen to be one of the most vile and abhorrent creations ever to accidentally end up on my plate (or my mom’s, my brother’s, my sister’s…) It is strange (and annoying) how I can be so specific about deep-sixing the pickle with my order…
Deep-six
Delete
Nix
Eliminate
Erase
Scrap
Can
Obliterate
Abolish
Reject
Exclude
Jettison
…and STILL end up staring down the slimy green spear on the side of my plate when our orders arrive. No pickles. Period. End of sentence. It is difficult to disregard one when it comes on the plate after the specifications have been made. The juice from said item puddles on the plate soaking into and contaminating anything around it, namely the hamburger bun or sandwich bread, french fries or chips…you get the idea. Then I’m left with a quarantined portion of the plate that must be sopped up with a napkin, I don’t care of it’s cloth I’ll use it anyway, and soggy bread items must be removed or set aside. That’s how much I dislike this commonly popular side-item. It is a real process. My husband doesn’t understand why it is such a big deal, but think about it. If you bring me a pickle, you are
A) wasting a pickle
B) making me unhappy
C) wasting napkins
D) possibly having to redo a sandwich or burger, depending on placement of the pickle (ON the sandwich or burger is just unacceptable) , thus wasting food
To clarify, I do not make a fuss with the wait staff if I can resolve the situation myself with above actions (removal, cleaning of plate…). It’s not worth fussing over, I just don’t like them. The smell, the taste, the whole experience of a pickle (which I observe with my husband and sister-in-law on a regular basis) is unappealing in general. So, hold the pickle please!
Daddy, Mama, Evan & baby brother
Foam Bath People
They live at our house, but only momentarily, only in the bathtub and their sole purpose is a few moments of entertainment before sacrificing their foamy lives to clean my son’s elbow, knee or tummy.
Bath time is most often held in my bathroom because I can sit on the edge of the large tub with my legs in the water while my 2-year old son plays in the “little pool”. It’s just easier and more comfortable than jamming myself on the floor in between the toilet and tub, killing my knees and back while he splashes and gets clean. Parents – you know how it is, and boy, this is a MARVELOUS alternative!
Foam people came about one evening when I decided the water felt too tempting on just my legs and I jumped in the tub with Evan. We drew with bath crayons, scrubbed up and then played with the sieves and containers we have stockpiled. He likes his little boat (a $2 Target find almost a year ago!) and I thought it needed a little something. I added a foam “Captain”, which tickled Evan and he asked for another one…so we quickly had a boat of foam people who were all dubbed one of the family – mama gets to be the pink foam and Evan is blue and usually gets a basket ball added (a small-ish blob of pink foam)! And one by one Evan scoops them out to rub their foaminess on whatever body part I name.
What also fascinates me and makes me proud, is that though they look nothing like actual people in the sense that he’s familiar with, he gets it – he knows what they’re supposed to be and which person in his life they represent. Kids are amazing. So, I look forward to bath time with him and seeing where he’ll ask me to put a foam Evan, and seeing if he’s in the mood to add a “ball” of some sort.
Here are our foam people on the edge of the tub for the lineup, in their $2 speedboat and in their wannabee life raft (chinese takeout container). Meet the Foam Family!
Daddy, Mama, Evan (with “basketball”) and baby brother.
Going for a boat ride on Lake ScrubbaDubbaToeCheese
Wouldn’t you know, their three hour tour went bad and they’re a’driftin’
Ahhh….the random things we do and take delight in for our kids!!!
“Thirst Quencher”
The scene ~ Whole Foods, late Sunday morning.
My husband, my kids and I made a quick trip to pick up a bag of veggie puffs or something for our two-year old (he had some at a birthday party yesterday, and for being a non-veggie eater, I figured we’d go get some to have at home). We don’t really shop there, we’re good with the regular stuff at Lowe’s Foods or Harris Teeter, and the one in our town has the crappiest parking lot EVER. Poor layout and way to small for the shopping center it is in. I’ve only been there twice, maybe three times before today. Once was an initial exploratory trip, and maybe twice to pick up lunch for my former employer and myself…for those wondering, don’t worry – it was a happy separation, I left work to start a family! Anyway -
We are puttering through the store, eyeballing all the healthy, organic, sugar-free granola and tree bark flavored items (I’m partially kidding). The baby is asleep and Matt is rolling him in the stroller while Evan sits in the cart I am pushing. Matt and I separate for a moment and I go around the front of an isle where a uniquely dressed woman behind a display table asks me if I would like to give my son a sample of juice…here is how it played out:
Sample Lady: Would he like to try a sample of “Just Kids Thirst Quencher”?
Me: No thank you, we don’t give him juice yet.
Sample Lady: It’s not juice, it’s thirst quencher. (She cocks her head and includes a full on “well, aren’t you an idiot” look).
Me: Ohhhhh-kayyyyyyy. (In my head I am saying – ok, Dot…back away slowly…..no sudden movements….she might scare easy….)
…………………………………
Did she seriously correct me and give me a “look”? Excuse me? The liquid you’re pushing at me looks like diluted tea – it’s not water, it’s not milk – in my mind it’s juice, right? Apparently not, it’s THIRST QUENCHER. Geeeez. So we finally find that they are out of the veggie puff things and I quickly wheel Evan to the register to purchase the hot tea bags I found (in a flavor not available at my grocery store)…and we head out as fast as possible. Oy. Whole Foods may be the big thing, but just not for us. I’ll just get Evan some animal crackers and be done with it!