A Scattered Post

I am feeling very scattered.  Tomorrow is our last day of school before spring break.  We are leaving Saturday morning to spend the weekend out at my mom's house in the woods.  Before we go, I have a few errands to run, everyone has to get packed and the girls have to clean their bedrooms.

So, because we have so much on the to do list for tomorrow, we decided to eat out tonight since we can't really leave the house tomorrow night.  I talked Chris into going to  Ali V's (trust me, I really had to twist his arm *wink, wink*).  And we lucked out!  It was a kids eat free night!

This is what I ate.  I'm pretty sure that it was an 8000 calorie dinner.  I had the 4 veggie plate - green beans, mac n cheese, a double order of fried squash and cornbread.  I think we should take another look at the fried squash.  Oh how I love thee.

 

I'm telling you....what I wouldn't do for a bowl of it right now.  Seriously.

Quinn was completely fabulous throughout the whole dinner.  It was pretty much a miracle.  And then when we came home and Quinn did this....

 

He emptied everything out of the telephone table in the foyer.  And when I told him that he had to pick it all up, he wrapped himself in the blanket - kind of cape like - and picked up one. thing. at. a. time.  It took him forever to clean up.  Because he could only use one hand.  The other one had to hold his cape closed, of course.

New things that will be up in the shop...um, maybe tomorrow?  With any luck tonight.  But I can't guarantee that...Grey's is on, so I'm a little busy.  :)

 

What I Wore Wednesday, Week 4

Linking up with Lindsey at The Pleated Poppy for another week of What I Wore!

{from left to right}

Outfit #1:

green cardi - banana republic outlet

white tank - old navy

jeans - banana republic outlet

brown suede sneakers - simple

Outfit #2:  

white top - banana republic outlet

jeans - banana republic outlet

shoes - report from nordstom

Outfit #3:

yellow and white shirt - banana republic outlet

khaki cropped pants - the loft outlet

jean jacket - the gap

brown ballet flats - old navy

Outfit #4:

flower cardi - old navy

grey tank - converse at target

black capris - banana republic outlet

sporty ballet flats - anne klein

 

I love these shoes.  Now, granted, they are not very comfortable, but it really doesn't diminish my love for them at all.  They were expensive, but I justified the cost because I bought them when I was pregnant with Quinn...and pregnant ladies don't really need to justify what they spend on anything.  So that's my justification for that.  What I love most about them....

They have a perfect wooden wedge.

And lets face it.  I have a jacket addiction.  I bought this short trench at the gap outlet about two years ago.  I do love some kelly green.  But I'm sure that I've already mentioned that before. {I wore it with outfit #2.}

And then there is this...Yes, I make jewelry.  Its my hobby and my side business.  But there are times when I just don't want to make something.  I just want to buy it and have a fun gift delivered to me in the mail.  And, I really like supporting other crafty people, too.  I got these earrings and necklace from Tamar {Nest Pretty Things} on etsy.

Cowboy Up!

Sometimes, you just have to cowboy up.  And when you do, pants are optional.

Hey Soul Sister as performed by Casey and Quinn

I am quite certain that your day will be much better after you watch this video.  Here's how it went down.  Casey and Quinn were sitting at the kitchen table playing with the prize horses.  While they were playing, Casey went to great lengths to teach Quinn the Hey Soul Sister song by Train.  I knew that my life would not be complete unless I had this on video.  And I am sure that you're life won't be complete without it either.

The dancing?  That's all Quinn.  He wanted to make sure that you had a good view of Pig from Super Why.

Today is Chris's Birthday. And a random story.

Today is my dear, sweet husband's birthday.  And I want to post a really amazing post for him.  I really do.  But I need the perfect picture to accompany said post, but said perfect picture is currently on his bulletin board at school.  So, until I kidnap, or rather, picturenap it, this will have to do....

I am married to the greatest guy on the face of the Earth.  And I am not just saying that because its his birthday.  I'll say tomorrow too, just to prove myself.  And I hope he has a super happy birthday.

Random story...

On the way home from work, with all three children in the car, I said to the girls....

Me:  Girls, guess what song I had in my head all day?
Girls:  What?
Me:  *belting it out* Jesus, met a woman, at the welllllllll....
Casey:  Oh, yeah, from church yesterday.  Guess what song has been stuck in our heads all day?
Me:  What?
Girls:  *together, without discussion, which, no doubt, is super creepy* blah, blah, blah (singing a real song, something from their kidz bop cd)

As they continued singing without end, Quinn began shushing them.

Quinn:  shhhhhhhhhhhh!   shhhhhhhhhhh!  shhhhhhhhh!
Me:  Quinn, is there a song that's been stuck in your head all day that you want to sing?
Quinn:  Um.....yeah!  Shakalaka, jump over my blankie!

Another Random Story....

The other morning before leaving for work....
Me:  Quinn, there's a napkin on the floor.  Can you put it in the trash?
Quinn:  Abracadabra, trash!

It didn't work.  And that was upsetting.

Going to bed. The weekend is over. Jesus Met a Woman.

I just don't know how it happens.  The weeks feel like they take fooooorrrrrrrrever and then the two days of the weekend go by in a flash.

Church was really great today.  My favorite part...three of my favorite people (Amanda, Joel and Neil) sang this song. And it was completely amazing.  I want them to sing it at least once a month now.  Please.  Maybe I should pray for it.

We celebrated Chris's birthday (which is tomorrow) at his parents' house today.  The children all played so nicely together, which is always a bonus.  And my mother and sister-in-law proved themselves (yet again) to be some of my best and most loyal customers.  :)

Then I took Q to the immediate care where they took one quick look and said, "Why, yes.  Yes, indeed, he has a full blown ear infection."

While I was paying, Quinn was doing a little dance, holding his crotch, and singing, "I gotta pee pee.  Mama.  I gotta pee pee.  Mama.  I gotta pee pee."  So I told the lady to hold on and we raced to the bathroom.  Because he's just not tall enough and they didn't have a stool, he had to sit on the potty and aim downward.  Only he was so busy exclaiming (and I quote), "Whew!  That was a close one!"  that he forgot that he had a penis to man and he ended up peeing all over the bathroom.  Awesome.  Clean up on aisle 7!

Then we went to the grocery store, got his medicine and a prize (a bucket of plastic horses), headed home, fed the children, and now, friends, I am getting ready to turn in for the evening.  I am just too, too tired. 

We generally don't get very good sleep in our house these days, but this weekend has been...ugh... one of the worst yet.

Here are the treasuries that I am in this week...they are awfully cute and you should check them out!

Spring Water

Spring Into Green

Owl Inspiration

And the Rain Came

It rained pretty much the whole day.  So we cleaned closets.  I did the grocery shopping and ran to the post office.  And there was an awful lot going on in the kitchen today.

Chris made....

• A most wonderful beef stew out of things that we had in the freezer and pantry.  It cooked in the crock pot all day long and the smell....ahhhhh....perfect for a rainy day!  (We ate it for dinner over egg noodles, with a salad on the side.)
• Homemade soft pretzels.  The girls were in love.  And when I told them that Daddy made them from scratch they were completely amazed.  And then Chan kept saying, "I just can't believe that Daddy made this out of scratch."  I think something was lost in translation.

And then together we made this recipe for  via cappuccino muffins.    Oh my.  Heaven.  I think I need to make them like once a week.  Perfect.  Outstanding.  Fantastic.  Sadly, Quinn got a taste of the frosting and said, "I luhv this.  I luhv cawfee."  And I lower my head in shame that he even knows what coffee tastes like.  He almost always gets to drink that last drop in my cup on the weeks.  He licks his lips and rubs his belly.  Because he luhvs cawfee.

Another thing that I'm in love with that he said the other night...  "Gooda New"

He broke the hinge on a plastic box with a hinged lid and was really sad that he broke it.  He was totally convinced that he could fix it.  So he, ever so carefully, placed the lid on top of the box, clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Looky, Mama!  Gooda new!"

So we're saying that at least ten times a day now.  Gooda New!

Where I Live

Some days it feels like I live just on the outskirts of suburbia.  We live exactly 30 minutes from anywhere - Athens, Gainesville, Mall of Georgia, a Target, a Wal Mart, a Home Depot.... 

But then there are other days when it feel like we live in the country.  No two ways about it.  We have cows, chickens and goats, country roads and red dirt.  There are more churches than there are gas stations.  (That may or may not be true, but it certainly feels that way.) 

These are some pictures that I took at the post office that I stop at many, many times during the week.  Its my favorite post office and I love the ladies that work there.  There is never a line.  Beware though, they are closed from 11:45 to 12:45 everyday for lunch.  Yes, the post office closes for lunch.

 

{Pendergrass, GA}

It looks like a step back in time, doesn't it?  The next picture is take on the driveway of the post office to the building behind it - the town library, city hall and police station.

And here's the fire station...which is right next door to the post office.  Its a volunteer station.  But, I'm sure you would have figured that one out.

 

And here's the railroad tracks...across and down the street.

 

To be fair, I'll take a day and post pictures from the other two post offices that I use in my area.  One is in a much more populated area.  A downtown area, if you will.  :)

A New Schedule

Apparently the boys in my life want me to have a new schedule.

Quinn would like for me to go to bed at 8pm.

Ike would like for me to get up at 4:30am.

It just may be doable.  And I am actually considering it.  If they would just work together and let me have consistent sleep during the in between hours, I think it would be ok.  I could make jewelry and do laundry while everyone sleeps.  And drink a pot of coffee all by myself before heading off to work.  I think that my coworkers would really appreciate that.

I can't try it out tonight though, because I am getting ready to watch Grey's.  Priorities, ya know.

I am thinking about trying it out tomorrow night though.  And if I can make it through Saturday without an afternoon nap, we just might be on to something.

Good for My Soul

Fried squash is good for my soul.  It really is.  I love it.  A lot.  Perhaps more than I should.

I had dinner last night with a few besties - Anna and Donna.  We used to see each other every day when I taught at the middle school with them, now I'm lucky if its every month or two.  How I miss them.  Big sigh.  Donna was my teammate and I don't know what I ever would have done without her, and Anna and I were co-teachers.  We started every class period together by sitting on our high stools and having the Kelly and Kelly show.  The kids loved it.  We went over all our housekeeping items, what we ate for breakfast and what we would be doing in class that day, as Kelly and Kelly.  We couldn't do Regis and Kelly because we're both girls.  But I think you figured that one out on your own.

Anywho, so we met up at Ali V's for dinner.  I perused the menu...like I don't always get the same thing...and Anna kept saying, "Don't forget, you always order a double order of the fried squash."  And I laughed and thought that I could get away without ordering a double of fried squash (because that's kind of embarrassing).  So I didn't.  And I regretted it.  So I put in an order for seconds (which is really more embarrassing than just ordering a double to start with).  Only I think the waiter (a teenage boy) thought that I was joking (and I was not) and didn't ever bring that second bowl of fried squash out to me.  Oh, the tragedy of it all.

So, my soul feels better than before I went out, but not quite as great as it would have felt if I had that 2nd helping of fried squash.

Have You Entered?

Have you entered the giveaway to win a gift certificate to Ike and Co.?  You should.  Just go here.

What I Wore Wednesday, Week 3

Spring is finally here!  The weather is warm!  Yay! And I'm linking up with Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy for another edition of What I Wore Wednesday!

If you didn't already know this, I'm an elementary school media specialist.  When you work in an elementary school, it is a MUST that you wear red on Valentine's Day and green on St. Patrick's Day.  And so this was my St. Patrick's Day outfit this year...

green moccasin ballet flats - old navy

khaki pants - the loft outlet

white tank - banana republic outlet (I don't know how I lived without this tank.  It is my new favorite.)

flowered shirt - old navy

Oh, be still my beating heart!  How I love this new jacket! (I tried to take a picture of the back, but it didn't quite work out...its smocked, people!  Oh, so cute!)

gray ruffle ballet flats - gap outlet

jeans - banana republic outlet

paprika jacket - American Rag @ Macy's junior's department

 And I wore this embellished t-shirt under the jacket...from old navy.

and these....

gray ruffle ballet flats - gap outlet

lightweight, silver filigree statement earrings - my shop!

Oh, my!  Have you ever seen legs this white?  I can't tell where my leg ends and the bedskirt begins.  That can't be a good sign.  And I am in desperate need of a pedicure.  Seriously.  Ugh.

yellow striped tee - old navy

khaki bermudas - j. crew

roman sandals - rack room (last summer)

 

Those big yellow earrings?

Yep.

In my shop.

(And yes, Mom, I probably should have put some lipstick on.)

Speaking of my shop....  Want to win a gift certificate?  Go here to enter!

We Have Small Children

It seems to be becoming more and more apparent that we have small children in our house.

We all went to bed last night at 8 o'clock.  I am not kidding.  Chris and I brought books to bed to do a little reading, thinking that Q would just pass out in between us, but that was not the case.  He wanted to read his book...over and over and over again.

Quinn:  Mama.  I luhv Shakin.
Me:  I know you do, but do we have to read it again?
Quinn:  Yesh.  I luhv Shakin.

Who is Shakin?  Um, yeah, that's Franklin.  You know, the turtle.  Franklin.  Or, as he is in our house, Shakin.  And we read Shakin about 18 times last night.  Chris and I took turns. 

And then I tried ignoring him.  Only he pressed his little lips to my cheek, with his eyes open wide and said...

Quinn:  Mama.  Mama.  Mama.  Oh Mama.  Oh Mommy.  Moooooooommmmmmmy.  Mama.  Oh Mama.  Mooooooooommmmmmmmy.
Me:  *big sigh*  What, Quinn?
Quinn:  I luhv Shakin.

Awesome.

There are some days that Chris and I do not have a moment in our whole day together to say one adult thing without a child present.  Yesterday was like that.  Its like always having a chaperon.  Or shackle.  Or noose.  You know, depending on what day of the week it is and how we're feeling on that particular day.

I am trying really hard to savor these moments, because I know that soon enough we won't have them any more and I'll be complaining about how big our king size bed feels, but some days, savoring is just easier said than done.

A Day Where All I Want to do is Vent

I am certainly trying to do my part in boosting the economy, I really am.  I still do quite a bit of shopping...definitely more than I should.  And so then this is what kills me.

Getting a letter from the mortgage company letting us know that our escrow account was short because the taxes went up on our house.  Our house that is currently being appraised for 20k more than what we bought it for.  The same house that we wouldn't be able to sell unless we listed it for 30k less than what we paid.

So this means our house payment is going up...yet again.  It has consistently gone up (to the tune of almost $300) since we moved in 3 years ago...even after we've refinanced.

And the part that really, really bothers me is that our taxes are going up but being that we are both teachers, we have both taken pay cuts and furlough days.  So essentially its like, "Hey!  We're going to cut your pay...and charge you more for the taxes on the house that you live in.  That ok with you?"

Awesome.

I am really just venting.  On this issue though, I know that it is going to take me a week to get over it, rather than my usual 24 to 72 hours.  :)

Gearing Up for Spring and A Proud Mama Moment

I am gearing up for spring in the shop (in case you haven't noticed) and adding some fresh, new items full of bright, beautiful colors.  Like these...

{Bold Purple Majesty Pearl Necklace}

{Bold Aqua Pearl Necklace}

{Bold Magenta Pearl Necklace}

We went over to our dear friend Bob's house after church this afternoon and there were several occasions when I was nothing more than a proud mama.  The girls held hands with him and danced around the living room to Nat King Cole.  Quinn ran over to him repeatedly to just give him a hug and kiss - and then he would run back over to the girls to continue playing.  No one had told him to come over, or had called him over...he just felt the need to give Bob a hug and kiss.  And as we were leaving, my son called over to him, "I love-a you, Docky Ayers!"  And my heart melted.  Right there. 

I Know I Was Busy...But What Did I Do?

Today was one of those days where I know I was busy, but feel like I didn't accomplish as much as I wanted to.  Sometimes I feel like the children create my A.D.D....I ask the girls to watch Q, start a task and then Q comes back in the room, sans sisters, with crayons in his mouth, and an open coke in his hand.  What kind of "watching your brother" is that????  Watch your brother do whatever the hell he wants...that's what kind, right?

This is what we did accomplish on this 80 degree Saturday...

1.  I tried to sleep in.  Chandler came in to show me some new things in the American Girl catalog.  Why, thank you, thank you very much.  I couldn't continue living without that knowledge at that precise moment in time.  I was able to go back to sleep though and accomplish a sleeping in Saturday.

2.  We shopped at Sam's.  With all three children.  And everyone came out alive.  And we brought them all home with us.  Major accomplishment.

3.  Chris worked like a mad man in the yard.

4.  I posted a few new things in the shop...like this and this...for example.

5.  Quinn peed all over the wall in the bathroom.  How?  I have no idea.  Like, instead of aiming for the toilet, he decided to turn to the left and hit the wall instead.  WTH???

6.  Chris worked like a mad man in the yard.  Did I tell you that?

7.  We went to the post office and ran a few extra errands in Athens.  Quinn went to the bathroom everywhere we went.  I love taking a bathroom tour across town.  Kind of like a pub crawl...only not.

8.   Laundry.  Laundry.  And more laundry.  I hate laundry.

9.  I am still going to run to the grocery store tonight after dinner.

10.  I have a few more things to make for the shop this weekend.

And, that, I think is it.  I really, really, want to begin cleaning out closets and the such.  I am feeling the need to purge.  But no one else in my house is really feeling it and that makes it a little difficult.  But soon.  The purging has to happen soon or I will lose my mind.  Period.

Relief Effort for Japan

I haven't posted about Japan because I just don't even know where to begin or what to say.  Its unbelievable.  Unimaginable.  The worry.  The fear.  The devastation.  The grief.

Here are two ways to donate...

First, the fabulous Crystal B is donating all proceeds from this pair of earrings...

Cute, yes?  I am certainly going to get a pair for myself.  :)  Visit her blog or her shop to get yours!

And then there's this....

by Lyndsay Johnson...visit her blog to order your print!  (Again all proceeds will be donated!)

Why the New Look?

You might be wondering, Why the new look?, and I certainly wouldn't blame you. 

I have been mulling this over for three, almost four, months now...kind of like mapping out plans for spring cleaning. 

And now I am just going to ramble and hope that maybe at least a little bit of it makes a tiny bit of sense.  Stick with me, please.  :)

I started blogging in September of 2008.  I had no idea what I was doing and when I signed up, I used "ang4332" as my url because I knew that it was something I could remember.  This is why...

4332 were the last four digits of the phone number where my mother worked when I was in middle school and high school.  I was home by myself every afternoon and the first thing I had to do when I walked in the door was to call her at work.  When I turned 16 and opened my first checking account and had my first ATM card, I used 4332 as my code (not to fear, it is no long my code for anything...sheesh...I wouldn't be sharing this story with you if it was) because I knew it was a four digit number that I would never forget.

In, I don't know, 1999?  2000?  Whenever it was when I signed up for my hotmail account, it was the rule of thumb to not use your name in your address.  So, in order to be clever, I chose "ang4332" as my email address....because I would always remember it.

Etsy user id?  Yep, you guessed it...ang4332....because I would remember it.

Now, while I have often beat myself up over this (because really, who else in the world is going to remember ang4332??? And from a business/marketing stand point, surely that can't be a good thing!), it has allowed me this one luxury...  I can change my blog name and my shop name pretty easily at this point.  And everything matches - my email, my blog, my shop.

So, back to the lecture at hand...

I wanted the names of my blog and my shop to coordinate.  And I couldn't make either of them bend to serve double duty.  So the brainstorming began.

Life With Ike {and a husband, twin girls and a wild little boy}.  I went round and round with it in my head before I even got a few other people to weigh in on it.  It came down to this and one other (which I am not going to tell you)...I had hired the blog designer and a decision had to be made.  So, I made it.  And here we are.

Ike and Co.  {handcrafted for stylish women}.  Modern.  Fun.  Hip.  That's what I was going for. 

I'm sure that I could go into much more depth about how I came to these decisions, and maybe some day I will, but for right now, I think that's enough.  I don't want to completely bore you.  :)

There will be some more changes in the next weekish or so.  {Both in the shop and the blog!}  I hope you like it...I sure do! 

Whoa! What happened here?

Its a complete work in progress...and there are still just a few more changes to come...and then I'll have A LOT to say!  So, for now, bear with me!  :)

What I Wore Wednesday

Once again, linking up with Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy!

Believe you me, this was one heckuva rainy day!  And, FYI, the girls took my picture that day...they consider themselves the photographers of the family now.

purple sweater - banana republic outlet

Jeans - banana republic outlet

tan sneakers - simple

lime owl necklace - my shop (I have one of mine own, but have this one in my shop for you!)

 

Saturday, when we were playing in the yard.  The funny thing is that I got all ready to run errands and do the grocery shopping, but then ended up postponing those things until Sunday.  So essentially, I could have just stayed in my pajamas all day.  Sheesh.

stripped shirt (one of my new favs) - old navy

dark jeans - banana republic outlet

all is well necklace - crystal b

flower bobbi - crystal b

sperry's

These are my new favorite khakis.  I just them and I think they are the perfect length for spring - not too long, not capris...great for ballet flats!

navy and white polka dot blouse - the loft outlet

khaki pants - the loft outlet

chambray ballet flats - old navy 

and I wore these earrings from my shop!

navy blazer - ann taylor loft

green t-shirt - ann taylor loft

khakis - j crew

chambray ballet flats - old navy

Next week I am hoping to spice things up a little with a dress...or perhaps a skirt...we'll see how the weather ends up.  :)

You Never Know When You're Going to Have to Bust a Move

I cleaned out the girls' dressers this weekend.  It is a terrible job.  But someone has to do it.  And somehow that someone is always me.  Although, I roped Chris into being my folding sidekick, so that was helpful.

I noticed that Casey had about 50 pairs of underwear and Chandler had, oh, um, maybe 5.  Five pairs of underwear.  That's all.

Me:  Chandler, what happened to all of your underwear?  Why does Sister have all of the underwear?
Chan:  Oh, I've pretty much stopped wearing them.

*and then my jaw hit the floor*

Me:  Why?  Why would you do that?
Chan:  Oh.  Casey told me that you dance better if you're not wearing any underwear.  So I don't wear them all the time.  Because you just never know when you're going to have to bust a move.

*Yes, folks, that's right.  You just never know when you're going to have to bust a move.*

Me:  Ok, Chan.  From now on, you have to always wear underwear.   God forbid you and daddy were in an accident on the way to school and the paramedics had to cut your pants off you for some reason and you weren't wearing underwear.  You would be completely embarrassed, wouldn't you?

*I realize if paramedics were cutting her pants off of her that we would have bigger problems than a naked hiney.  But it made a point to her.  And Chris also interjected that if she ripped her pants on the playground it would be really embarrassing if everyone saw her bare behind.*

So she promised that she would wear underwear from now on.

After Casey got out of the shower, I questioned her about the underwear situation.

Me:  Case, are you wearing underwear everyday?
Casey:  *puzzled look on her face* Yes.
Me:  Because Sister said that you told her that not wearing underwear makes you dance better.
Casey:  I told her that I don't wear underwear to dance class because I have on the tights and leotard and I dance better in them.  You told me not to wear underwear.

*Which is true, because she's at the age now where its not cute to have your underwear down around your thighs at the end of class.  And the tights are meant to be worn without underwear.*

Chandler:  Oh.  I think I might have misunderstood.

*Gee, ya think????*

Quinn

Quinn has a whole slew of new things that he is doing...

• He can spell his name.
• He tells ladies that they are his best girl.  For example, "Mama, you my best girl."
• He likes to hide for the last person home to find him, and then he jumps out and yells, "Boo Prize!"
• Hen continues to call Ike, Bikey.  Big sigh.  Which makes me think that the dog may need a name change.

And not to leave the girls out, they also have a whole slew of new things that they are doing....

• They can now argue with the wall, properly throwing attitude at it in the form of eye rolling and crossing their arms over their chests.
• They can try on 5 different outfits in a morning and then put 4 of those outfits in the dirty clothes.
• They now think that Chris and I are complete idiots and that we have spent the past 33/32 years living under a rock and know nothing about life on Earth.  

So far, I like Quinn's new things much, much better.

Treasuries!

Have you ever looked through the treasuries on etsy?  Its an easy way to suck away part of your evening.  You should start by looking at these...mainly because they've included something from my shop in it!  :)

Georgia Peach

Spring Is Finally on its Way!  Yay!

I'll Rust Till Dust

Dear Spring, I Miss You.  Love, Me.

Spring Forward, Yes Indeed!

While I did not enjoy losing that hour of sleep and said repeatedly, "This is not a good morning,"  I am super excited about spring forward!  I love the extra daylight.  I love that it is starting to warm up.  I love that my kids have played outside both days this weekend.  I love that the windows are open.  I love what spring does for my mood (vastly improves it).  I seriously love that spring is on the way!

This week is going to be a busy one, for sure!  Its book fair week at school...which is kind of like Super Bowl week for a librarian. 

And...I have so much going on (in my head at least) in terms of plans for the shop and the blog.  Some spring cleaning...that's what I am going to call it....and I can't wait to share it all with you!

Saturday Playlist

I spent part of the day working on things for the shop.  I'm feeling a little behind.  Sometimes it just happens that way.  This was my playlist for the day...

Rolling in the Deep by Adele
MoneyGrabber by Fitz & the Tantrums

Dog Days Are Over by Florence + the Machine

The Cave by Mumford & Sons

My Name is Jonas by Weezer
(Because who doesn't love some Weezer????  And suddenly I am 16 years old again driving around in my 89 Honda jamming out.  Big sigh.  I love every song on that album.  Every.  Single.  Song.  Really.)

This particular list is making me a very happy girl.  I love sing-along days and hand clapping songs.  Success.

And this is some of what I worked on...

 {All Across the Universe Necklace}

{Honey Blossom Earrings}

{Opalite Filigree Earrings}

And then we spent some time outside.  Q especially enjoyed the swings.

 

As did Chandler....

Casey flew her kite and was then just so, so sweat and had to go inside to cool off.  Please keep in mind that it is only 70.  I can only imagine the dramatics that are going to be going on when its 100...which is bound to happen around the middle of July.

Where I Spent My Friday Night...

I left work today a little after 2:30.  This is actually normal on Fridays...we work late on Tuesday so that we can roll out right after the buses leave on Fridays.  (Woohoo!)  So, I left work and drove into the city.  And I went here and got this...

  

So that I could get my book signed by and meet this lady....

 

And I thanked her for linking to my shop...

 

She was every bit as gracious and wonderful in person as one would hope that she would be.  And I would like to give a big shout out to Juli for coming with me tonight.  She was sick all week and I am so grateful that she was able to make it.  It was a fantastic evening.  And I didn't say anything crazy or stupid.  I sometimes have a tendency to do that.  But I didn't...and we had a great time.  :)

A Story About Soup

As I may have mentioned Quinn loves to mix together a bunch of little toys and call it soup.  He brought down this bucket of them the other night...his soup, if you will,...and proceeded to line everything up on the table. 

Me:  Quinn, what are you doing?
Q:  Makey soup.
Me:  With your toys?
Q:  No toys.  Soup.
Me:  What is the best part of your soup?
Q:  All good soup.

Please note that the child doesn't even like to eat soup.

A little while after I took this picture, Chris asked Q to clean up his soup and take it back upstairs.  He packed everything back into the pumpkin and then made a detour into the craft room, where I was, and began lining all of the toys up on the couch.

Me:  Quinn, I think Daddy told you to take the soup upstairs.
Q:  Soup hot.
Me:  Well, I think you should clean it up and take it to your room.
Q:  Soup too, too hot.
Me:  Well, if the soup is too too hot to go upstairs, then its too too hot for you to put it on Mama's couch.  So, clean it up.
Q:  Soup not hot, soup warm.

And then he looks at me like I'm the idiot.

Sheesh.

I Just Looked Up

I just looked up and saw Chandler trying to lick her armpit through her sweater.  Yes, you read that right.  Trying to LICK her armpit.  So I watched her and she continued trying to lick her armpit for several minutes.  When she stopped she looked right at me...and said nothing.  Nothing.

Me:  Um, Chan, what were you just doing?
Chan:  Trying to lick my armpit.  (And she says this like its a normal thing.)
Me:  Whyyyyyyyyyy?
Chan:  To answer a science question.
Me:  Um.....  *eyebrows raised*
Chan:  Can a human lick their own armpits?
Me:  And?
Chan:  Yes.  Yes, they can.

What I Wore Wednesday

Again, this week, I'm linking up with Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday.

 

This is my new favorite sweater.  If I could wear it everyday, I think I would.  Just so you know.

gray sweater - junior's department at Macy's

purple long sleeve shirt - target

black pants - ann taylor loft

black loafers - target

And now Quinn would like to show you how fashion forward he is becoming...

Oh, look, its that same jacket.  And now he is modeling a Vera Bradley with it as well.

These are some of my favorite earrings from my shop...matte silver chandelier pieces adorned with opalite octagon beads.

This is another one of my favorite sweaters.  And I love green.  If you didn't already know that, now you do!

 

green cardi - banana republic outlet

khaki pants - j.crew

striped tank - gap

brown ballet flats - old navy

And, oh, look, there's Q again!  I promise you, you cannot take pictures without him in this house.

These earrings are also from my shop...matte gold frames, two shades of green crystal briolettes.