Treasury - Spring and Summer Pretties !!

THE LEMON WEDGE has been featured in an Etsy Treasury! 

Thank you Laurence Collection for including me.

Can I also mention that I LOVE the 1940's style linen hat. 

That hat seriously wants to live on my head!

Link expires Sunday, May 2

Spring and Summer Pretties

Buying Local/Handmade Goods at Twee!

The boys always ask to go to our favorite store in the Tower District that features local and handmade artisans, Twee Boutique and Gallery. Some variations of goods from my Etsy Shop are sold there and I always find good buys when we go! There is always some type of little treat or activity for the boys to do there, which I suppose is the real reason they like to go....as opposed to just spending time with me! 

A corner in our yard has been longing for some type of art piece where NOTHING, not even snails, ever grows! Succulents, Iris, Hydrangeas have all met their death in that corner of the yard. However, today’s purchase at Twee might be the end of a long line of flower homicides!  Here she is "planted" in all her glory - upcycled, drought resistant, annual blooming, pest resistant, and a super deal at only $15!  Oh, how I love thee....and Twee!

Become a fan of Twee...I mean, "Like" Twee!

A very shallow story involving vanity, jury duty and the DMV!

Every single year that I have had a California drivers license I have received jury duty.  So when we moved to a different county five years ago I decided to go into "hiding".   It's not that I have a problem with serving jury duty but it is always during my vacation (you would NEED a vacation if you worked with teenagers every day too) and I always have to commute about a half hour to serve it...excuses, excuses, I know.  Well my plan backfired because sometime while I was pregnant with my second son, my license expired but I couldn't do the automatic renewal because there was no forwarding address, as I was in "hiding". So there I am, 50 lbs over weight with an expired drivers license.  What do I do?  What any vain woman would do ... I drive with an expired license until after I have Lincoln and lose some of that weight!  I would have gone much longer but I had to fly on a plane...airline flights are such a downer these days!  So I was still about 20 pounds over weight when I finally gave in and got my license picture taken.  Not wanting to go back to the DMV or pay the fee to get a new license once back to my pre-Lincoln weight I just ended up keeping it.

Alas, my license went MIA around the beginning of the school year.  Again, still having baby weight on me I decided to just wait a while as it slowly melted away.  Technically, I do have a valid license I just don't physically have that licence but I am using my expired licence from when I was 22 years old...do you think that the police man would go for that when he pulls me over in my mini-van?  Not quite back to my pre-three kid weight...you know this when you break out in a cold sweat upon sight of a cop.  After a month of waiting for the earliest DMV appointment, today is D-Day.

This is the look I'm going for in my picture this afternoon...

Veronica Pendant

...but it might end up looking something like this as I give one of my children the evil eye to behave themselves while I am taking my photo...

Betty Pendant

However, I'm pretty sure if I did this pose I would never get a ticket again!

Worst Spring Break Ever Pendant

Thank you to RockPaperCraft on Etsy for letting me use these fabulous pendants and wish me luck as I take the always

dreaded Drivers License photo.

Etsy Treasury: The Orange Room

Man, I love vintage goods!  I found myself swooning over my friend's collection of Fiestaware a couple months ago!  The woman who writes one of my favorite blogs, DearBaby, is always mixing wonderful elements of vintage and modern.  I would be all over that scene except for I kind of have a phobia of wearing used clothing.  My dad was abnormally orange throughout most the 1980's due to FTLA, or Fake Tanning Lotion Abuse, we'll never know how many fell prey to that orange glow!  Laugh all you want but it was soooo embarrassing to me because not only did he fail to notice that he was orange, or had orange build up around his eyebrows and mustache, but it also had that distinct funky smell to it!  What does this have to do with vintage clothing?  My dad and step mom were on a big consignment store kick then and the combined smells of their fake tan lotion and used clothing has left me permanetly traumatized!

Can I wear vintage clothes? No.  Do I appreciate vintage items?  Is the Pope Catholic .... hells yea!  GreenTrunkClothing, curator of this treasury, (that JACK HEARTS ROBOTS had the good forturne of being included in) has some great vintage and handmade items in it!  Here are a couple from her shop:

How many of you remember these sheets?

Rainbow Tent Dress handmade from vintage bed sheet

This one is my favorite

Retro Poodle Handmade Half Apron

Jaya from GreenTrunkDesigns has happily extended a 10% discount from items in either of her Etsy shops GreenTrunkDesigns and GreenTrunkClothing  if you find something you must have!  To receive the discount you must convo, saying you heard about GreenTrunk from this blog along with what item(s) you want to buy. The listing will then be adjusted and reserved for your purchase.

The Orange Room - Etsy Treasury East

Check out other cool Etsy Treasuries!

Have A Dot: A Few Of My Favorites

Do you want to know what's better then being included in an Etsy Treasury?  Being included in two!!! 
 

Thank you to  Boydem Treasures for including

THE LEMON WEDGE in her treasury this weekend! 

Boydem Treasures is in Tel Aviv and makes a fantastic

recipe book with Yiddish on it!  I love that!

This link expires Monday, April 26

Have A Dot: A Few Of My Favorites

Ode To My Darling: Clemetine, an unsung citrus

Ahhh, isn't all the orange fabulous!

Thanks to Curious Houghtaling for including THE CLEMENTINE

in her Etsy Treasury!

Link expires on Monday, April 26

Ode To My Darling...Clementine, an unsung citrus

This seasons first cut of roses...mmmm!

These are the first roses from my three bare root John F. Kennedy hybrid tea rose trees that were planted in December.  

Mmmmmm, can you smell them through your screen? 

It's times like this that you wish you had
Willy Wonka's "Smell-O-Vision" isn't it?

My Earth Day Purchase!

Jack goes through countless plastic baggies each week for his school lunch.  Since my obssession with Etsy these reuseable bags have been on my purchase list.  Being Earth Day and all today seemed like a very appropriate day to finally make the purchase from Bug Baby Designs.

This is the pattern for Jack. 

I can just see him in my head counting all the numbers with glee!

Reuseable Snack Bag - Gold Numbers on Black

Next time I will get this one for my animal loving, and almost

pre-school attending, Lincoln!

Reuseable Sandwich Bag - Gray Elephants on Green

There are tons of these types of reuseable bags on Etsy.  This design appealed to me because the velcro is placed on the outside of the bag so crums are less likely to get stuck in there - as opposed to it being placed inside the bag.

The best part...other than not having to purchase plastic baggies all the time is that they are MACHINE WASHABLE!!!  Can I hear an AMEN!  If I didn't have you at MACHINE WASHABLE then how about FREE SHIPPING! 

Mention this blog upon checkout and get FREE SHIPPING!  Yippee!

Pink/Yellow Reuseable Sandwich Bag

--we wouldn't want to leave little Maggie out!

Maggie Attacks A Clementine!

Don't be alarmed - she made it out okay!  The only victim here was that poor clementine.

Apparently, Maggie has been sneaking apples at night, letting loose with those chompers of hers.  When introduced to a family favorite snack, the clementine or "cutie",  Maggie innocently embarked on her vicious mutilation of her first clementine....

Should we be concerned by her lack of culinary norms?

"ga-da-bi-go  wha-ma bi?" -Maggie

[interpretation] "Peel?  What peel?"

Kumquats...Pucker Up, Baby!

First of all, how many of you have even had a kumquat?  The other day while collecting fun goodies for our coastal picnic at Trader Joe's these kumquats called my name!  In my head I had flashbacks to kindergarten where my friend had a kumquat tree in her backyard.   We would pick them off the tree and then pop them in our mouths....we would also suck on honeysuckle's which grew in their front yard, those were the days! 

When you eat a kumquat you instantly regret it as your face is almost completely sucked up by your head.  However, as you keep chewing it becomes somewhat delightful and when the kumquat is finished you forget about the insanely tart shock that almost just permantely altered your face and then you want another one....hmmmm, just like childbirth!

Last weekend the neighborhood girls had a little baby shower at my house.  With kumquats fresh on the mind I put some out in a little bowl.  Surprisingly I learned that not everyone has had a kumquat before and my sister-in-law developed a little kumquat addiction that night!  Also, in great relief to my pocketbook as kumquats can be pricey, I found out that one of our neighbors has two little dwarf kumquat trees.

A couple days later, as great neighbors do, she graciously supplied me with a fresh bag of kumquats!  Now this happened to be the day that our power was shut off ALL day.  By three o'clock we were roaming the streets with our entourage of children collected around us!  Being a wonderful sister-in-law I fetched the kumquats and shared them with my sister-in-law.  Now remember we really had nothing to do other than play outside so we decided to try to get the kids to eat them for some free entertainment.  Some of them liked them, some wouldn't touch them, some spit it out after a minute but our neighbor's 2 year old kid provided just the free entertainment we were seeking!  While his mom was nursing her baby next door we were charged with looking after him while he played with our children.   As that boy went through all the stages of eating a kumquat, my sister-in-law and I almost peed in our pants from laughing so hard.  Unfortunately we couldn't get the first kumquat but we did get this clip of the second, but he was all the wiser the second time around and takes a good 30 seconds of pondering before the execution begins.   [excuse the poor quality of the clip, which is another story in itself]



If the boy's parents are reading this, just remember it was all my "mean" sister-in-law's idea!

Ruffle Bum Bloomers WEEKEND SPECIAL!

Is it possible for baby buttocks to be any cuter then they are in their au’ natural state of being….hmmmm, maybe just one! Ruffle Bum Bloomers are going to be my Maggie’s official uniform of the summer. Paired with a tank or lap tee and bonnet she is ready to play inside and beat the heat, run errands around town or play in the sandbox.

Ruffle Bum Bloomers by PinkyBleu

SPECIAL DETAILS:

I'm cutting fabric for bloomers this weekend! It is always much faster to make multiples so as I fill a couple orders this weekend, I'm extending a special deal to anyone else interested. Normally, $20 for one pair, this weekend it is one for $18, Two for $35 or Three for $50. You can select the original pattern combo or any of the three below.  A reversible bonnet can also be made to cordinate with two pairs of bloomers for $25.

Ahhhhh, I can't wait to get these made for Maggie!

Contact me at IMarriedMrRogers@gmail.com if you would like a listing!

Unplugged...and I'm not referring to 1990's MTV

Dear Readers,

Yesterday I was held hostage by a power outage! The power company kidnapped my power from 7am-5pm for neighborhood repairs. Thankfully, we did have a two day warning but one doesn't tend to think of all the things that you cannot do when there is no power until after the fact. These are some of the problems my neighborhood girlfriends and I ran into yesterday.

No cooking -- I thought I would outsmart my stove by just using the gas. However, it turns out that just makes your kitchen smell like gas because it needs power to ignite!

No Internet -- Again, thinking I'm so clever that I would just use the wireless...hmmm, forgot that was plugged into the wall.

No Telephone -- Maybe the cordless works if it is charged??? No.

Smart Phone -- Yes! It works...until the battery is drained.

No vacuuming or laundry -- well, let's be honest, I wasn't going to go that anyways!

No sewing!

Going to the bathroom -- Affirmative but not without complications! Try taking a 2 year old to pee in the dark...we were just crossing our fingers that the aim was spot on!

Coffee at Starbucks -- Would have been nice if the car wasn't trapped in the garage!

Five years ago, pre-kids, I would have welcomed this retreat to take a long nap and cuddle up in a blanket to read a novel. Oh, how times have changed!

Unplugged by StillMemory on Etsy

Soaps Del Corizon

I love soap. 

I love Etsy. 

I love Northern New Mexico.

Nourishing Pomegranate Soap

 Being plagued by super sensitive skin, glycerin soaps are my usual soap of choice ... until now! Several weeks ago my mom brought me a Nourishing Pomegranate Soap  and a Yucca Cactus Soap back from Northern New Mexico. [Side note: By definition I am a Californian as I have lived along the beautiful coast of Southern California for two thirds of my life. However, my family is from Northern New Mexico and having lived my pre-teen and teen age years there, that is where I consider "my people" to be!] New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment and Northern New Mexico is just that - enchanting. Would it be too cliché for me to say that this soap leaves my skin feeling enchanting? It does! There, I've named it and claimed it! The landscape, the culture, the people, the food, the architecture and the soap are all enchanting!

These soaps make your skin feel exquisite! They are very gentle and not too fragrant to irritate sensitive skin. In addition, they are made from natural indigenous ingredients grown by the shop keeper.

Visit Soaps Del Corizon on Etsy for more of these natural handmade soaps from the Land of Enchantment. 

Mother's Day is coming up...hint, hint....Mr. Rogers!

The Cupcake Thief!

This weekend my brother and sister-in-law along with Mr. Rogers and myself were at a birthday party for our niece. A giant tray of cupcakes was placed at our table and my brother-in-law began to pass them out accordingly. As we sat and talked we realized that there was a new child sitting at the head of the table that we didn’t know. Oh wait, he wasn’t just sitting there he was feverishly eating the top of a cupcake as if his life depended upon its consumption! We all kind of smiled and snickered…until he put it down and grabbed another one. Our snickering turned into squinty eyed eyebrow arching as the kid stuffed the second cupcake top into his mouth. My sister-in-law gently told him not to eat anymore cupcakes but this kid was relentless! We continued to talk but were once again stopped short of our discussion as we realized the little boy then had a THIRD cupcake that he was eating! This time, he knew he was in the wrong and the cupcake was sheepishly hidden under the table with only the boy's large eyes staring at us over the table…not to mention our large eyes staring right back at him! Thankfully he stopped at three because we had been quite dumbfounded as to whether we should tell his parents. My sister-in-law and Mr. Rogers thought we shouldn’t say anything, I thought we should bust the kid and my brother-in-law was undetermined.

The boy was really cute and sweet but he just couldn't keep his little hands off those cupcakes!  Hey, who can blame him....sometimes I have the same problem!

The Homeless Red Dragon, the perfect handmade gift for my preschool boy!

   
Homeless Red Dragon

US Wood Toys on Etsy

Lincoln's 3rd birthday is coming up but he is so hard to buy anything for because, well, he just doesn't really want anything! Jack and I are the opposite... WE LOVE GIVING AND RECEIVING GIFTS!!! No doubt Lincoln gets his lack of want from Mr. Rogers, who is equally difficult when it comes to gift giving. Kudos to people who don't want stuff but that is far from my comprehension!

Last weekend we took the boys to see How to Train Your Dragon, super cute and I give it my Siskel and Ebert's Two Thumbs Up rating! The boys enjoy dragons in books about dragons, medieval castles and knights, and in play where they like to pretend that dragons are staging an attack on anything and everything. They also enjoy playing with their plain Melissa and Doug wooden blocks and Playmobil sets which I enjoy because they encourage creative play and the kids aren't watching toys do stuff for them. 

The Homeless Red Dragon would fit right into their world of imagination.  No to mention that AP approved non-toxic water based acrylic paints are used just incase Maggie tries to eat the dragons, which wouldn't surprise me!  Also, since they are $12 and are made by a stay at home dad I think I would get two to prevent fighting ... by the boys not the dragons!  Thank you Patrick, the humble toy maker, for making the perfect handmade gift for my preschool boy!

Our Bird's Nest

Birds love to take up their nesting residency's in our backyard. It happens every spring but unfortunately it seems like their eggs usually crack before they hatch. Our bird "friend" (as the children refer to her as) this year seems to be holding strong. One of her eggs did appear to tumble from the nest a couple of weeks ago but we were able to sneak a peek of this one the other day. It is very hard to get a picture of her not on her nest....sometimes we see her and another bird, one can only assume it to be her male counterpart, frolicking about but it is rare.

The PAINS of Motherhood

Each of the kids have LOVED this "car" and Maggie is no exception, all three of our kids STILL play on it daily!  So, I've been trying to get a video of her powering it with her thunder thighs for months now but whenever I bust out our FLIP she just won't do it...Murphy's Law, right?  My quest for this elusive footage has only left me more roughed up then when I started...note how fast I pop up after I totally eat it!

The Fabulous Culinary Skills of a 4 Year Old

Jack discovered his inner culinary self during Spring Break.

This is his signature sandwich..

Nutella, Strawberry Jelly, Almond Butter and Peanut Butter

Lincoln loves it and why wouldn't he...how much sugar do you think is in one of those?!?!?!

Hickey's...Gotta Love Them!

The number one reason why you should never lecture anyone with a hickey on their neck is because the next day you might end up with one, or what appears to be one, on your neck.

A couple of weeks ago I was waiting to use the copy machine in the teacher's lounge. One my former students was making copies for another teacher. As I was chit-chatting with her I noticed five gigantic hickey's on her neck! So, of course, I inquired as to why she let her boyfriend give her those. I mean really, the first several weeks of nursing is PURE PAIN and I can't understand how someone sucking blood out of your neck would be enjoyable...unless your a vampire, then I could see the appeal! Changing the course of our conversation, I began to spew on her all the positive attributes my brain could possibly muster up noting that she was far above having any guy "mark" her. All I have to say is I'm really glad that I didn't run into her on Monday morning because I would have looked like the biggest hypocrite EVER!

While getting ready the following morning for my volunteer duties at Fresno County's History Day, my neck was violently attacked by my curling iron! Oh yes, you've all been there...a sudden slip of the hand and there goes the iron down your neck or a little too close on the bangs and "ssssizzzzle" right on your forehead. As the magnetic pull of the universe would have it, my curling iron landed on the most optimal square inch for a hickey that the neck possesses. This picture does not even do the burn justice!

When something embarrassing happens to me, which is quite often, I usually share it with my students as I am a very animated storyteller and making my students laugh brings me much joy. However, this time I was truly embarrassed because it felt like my morals were compromised by this "hickey." Even my dermatologist made a joking inquiry about it, seriously! When I went to work Monday morning all I could hear were the boys snickering and trying to catch a glimpse of my neck. Finally, on Wednesday one of them got the nerve to ask me if I had a hickey on my neck so I was able to set the story straight! Needless to say, I've felt like Hester Prynne for the last two weeks marked with my scarlet "hickey."

This Easter Sunday

Listening to the waves roll in and Maggie laughing in the sand next to me, my mind couldn't but help wonder at God's beautiful creation and the sacrifice He made for humanity. 

How a controlling perfectionist plans a birthday party: Craft and/or Party Favors!

arty favors are one of my favorite projects when planning birthday parties for the kids.  Usually I do both a craft and a party favor. A lot of thought is put into them to make sure that the theme and goodies inside are consistent.   For whatever reason, unbenounced to me, I got a hair brained idea to make a mermaid doll for each of the girls coming to the party. 

Using the following pattern:

Mermaid Doll e-pattern by Whosiesandwhatnots on Etsy

This was the result:

Each girl's favorite color was used for their mermaid hair color. 

My brain was fried after embarking on making ten mermaids so the mermen (all of Maggie's male cousins) got the shaft!  The craft was making sand cork bottles.  I purchased the colored craft sand ($20) and clear plastic bottles with little corks ($12) from OrientalTrading.com.  Paper was used to funnel the sand into each bottle.  


With a Sharpie before the party I wrote the name of each child on the bottles.  After each child filled theirs with sand then I bagged them with a little tag I had already made and placed them all by the front door.  The mermen just got some candy in their bag to compensate for the lack of mermaid doll, lol!

This is the last is a series of five blogs on birthday party planning, click here and scroll to bottom of entry for series links.

How a controlling perfectionist plans a birthday party: The Cake

In certain things I have the ability to picture something in my head and perfectly execute in ….but not in other things, such as cake making! The baking is not the problem, more the decorating.

This year, my party favor (tomorrow’s blog), just consumed way more of my time then originally thought. Baking the cake a couple days before the party allowed me to spend the time on THIS SUPER AMAZING idea but then didn’t get to the actual decorating of the cake until about 30 minutes before Maggie’s party started...bad idea, do not copy!!!

The recipe/tutorial for this cake is a MUST for your next party!  It is from Our Best Bites and not only does it look AMAZING but it tastes AMAZING too! Although I was trying to get the cake to be aqua, orange, goldenrod, pale pink, and light pink, which I didn’t succeed at, it was still a big hit! The recipe is for Colorburst Cupcakes and since I was making a cake I just doubled the recipe.  The frosting was my 30 minute Impressionist mermaid…hmmm, think of Monet’s "Water Lilies" and then add my mermaid in that pond. Crushed graham crackers were used for a sand like effect.  That poor slightly creepy Barbie pick wanna-be barely got her "ta-ta's" covered as I hot glued some felt on her in less than a minute.  Personally, the decorating is embarressing for a perfectionist like myself but the inside was just so fantastic that I had to humble myself and post anyways!  The Wilton Wonder Mold Kit provided the mold and creepy half doll on a pick or in other words, the mermaid.

More artistic pictures would have been preferable but trying to serve thirty raging cake mongers and simultaneously snap blog pictures is just not as easy as it sounds.

Do you like my face? It was a little tricky trying to figure out where to place the candle.  My alarmed face is actually a reaction to realizing that mermaid Barbie’s face might melt off as her hair catches on fire from the candle!  The candle placement also looked slightly phallic to me after placing it on the cake.   However, that could just be because I teach high school and they can't get past Nixon's nickname of "Tricky Dick" let alone Deep Throat!

Maggie and her first bite of cake…at least as far as we know!

(Who knows what grandma gives her?!?!?!)

Kickin' it Old Skool Personalized Orange Filigree Bib

This is what Mr. Rogers and I finished off after the party!

How can you ever make a plain cake again? 

This is the fourth in is a series of five blogs on birthday party planning, click here and scroll to bottom of entry for series links.