Conversations

This is the conversation I overheard this morning between Brayden and Bryson. Brayden was in the bathroom shaving and Bryson was keeping him company. You just never know when a big brother might need your help!

Brayden: "Oh man. I hate when I do that."

Bryson: "What, Brayden?"

Brayden: "I hate it when I get too much shaving cream."

Bryson: "I use A LOT more shaving cream than you Brayden. Cause I have A LOT more "hear" than you do!"

Conversations With Bryson

This morning I was getting ready for work and Bryson looked at me as serious as can be and said, "Mom, do you wear the Genie Bra?"

Yes. That is what my 4 year old asked me.

Me: "What is that?"

Bryson: "It's a bra!" (duh)

Me: "Where in the world have you heard about the Genie Bra?!?"

Bryson: "TV!"

I guess he has been watching infomercials?

Sara

Christmas in July

Have you realized how quickly Christmas is approaching? We are half way there, and I know a lot of people shop early so we are having a Christmas in July sale in the shop the 24Th and 25Th! Use coupon code XMASNJULY for 25% off your entire purchase! Happy Shopping!

Sara

It Ain't Food Network......But They Eat It, Tuesday!

This really shouldn't be called a recipe. But I thought I would share it with you anyway. Most people that I talk to have never heard of eating this, but we grew up on this at my house!

Grilled PB&J

Peanut Butter
Jelly, Jam or Preserves of your choice
Bread
Butter

This is just like making a grilled cheese sandwich. Except leave off the cheese, because that would be nasty. Make yourself a PB&J like you normally would. Now, I hope you do know that there are ways to make a PB&J and ways NOT to make a PB&J. You should always put the peanut butter on one side and the jelly on the other. And spread it to the edges....not just in the middle. I have seen people before put the peanut butter and the jelly on the same slice of bread, and let me just tell ya now, that is just plain wrong. Or mix it together and then spread it on. OH the horror! Smack them together and put butter on the top. Put it in a skillet, butter side down, and then butter the side that is up. Grill it until it is the color you like, then flip.

If you are making this for your kid and you get it too done on one side, don't brown the second side so dark and you can serve that side up and they will never know! Works every time!

This sandwich is so ooey gooey good. It makes me feel bad for Brayden that he is allergic to peanut butter. It is almost as good as a goop sandwich. We may have to do that one next week!

Enjoy!
Sara

Lately......

My last couple of weeks have been pretty busy. I have gotten a few things made.....

24 pip squeak rolls for a 4 year old's birthday party. These were the party favors. 14 girls, 5 boys, and 5 gender neutral....they hold 5 skinny pip squeak markers each.





Fabric flowers in pink and purple (not sure why they are sideways, sorry!).............for a Fancy Nancy inspired birthday cape. With 3 boys I had never heard of Fancy Nancy. The mother had to explain.

2 sets of chenille backed burp cloths in All Star 2 fabric, one of my favorite boy fabrics!

2 crayon rolls that hold 24 twistable crayons each, with sweet little orange flower buttons.....

and zippered flat bottom pouches to match, for a childhood friend's little girls.

And then there were the 4 days of VBS at church. And one tired little boy who isn't so sure about this getting up early stuff.

And to tell you how out of it he really is.....

......he is asleep with clothes on AND has dropped the tissue! What I thought was so funny was how his foot is up by his head. He was one tired little boy!

Sara

9 More Days

Only 9 more days to enter to win a crayon roll of your choice from my Etsy shop! Christmas is just around the corner (you know it's true!). These make great stocking stuffers! Go here now, make a comment and tell which one you would pick if you win. It tells other ways to enter so check it out so you can enter more than once!

Sara

The Day Blaine Almost Died

Blaine is my middle child who seems to get hurt more than the others. He is the dare devil child who anytime I tell him not to do something (like "play in the street because you might get run over by a car") has to try it out to make sure I was right. Or to prove me wrong, is more like it. I can honestly say that I am very surprised he has not had to have stitches or a cast. Knock on wood. But the day Blaine almost died was not because of a careless accident like you would think. He almost lost his life because he almost gave his mother a heart attack.

It's been about 6 weeks since this "little incident" happened. I have failed to tell about it here because at first I was so mad. Then I forgot. If I remember correctly, it was a Wednesday night and Stephen had taken Bryson to church. I was home with the older two because they had been running a fever and complaining of sore throats, both were coughing and Brayden's ears were hurting. Brayden ended up having a double ear infection and walking pneumonia. Blaine had a cold and needed a stronger decongestant. So I stayed home with them and it wasn't long before I threatening them that they better start acting sick or I was going to put them to work. They were fighting and picking at each other all day. So since they were feeling so well, they got to pick up there rooms and put away their clean clothes, and so on.

I was getting some things done. I had just mopped the kitchen floor and finished a few loads of clothes. I went to the kitchen to unload the dishwasher and load a few things back in. I turned on the faucet to rinse a plate and water starting going everywhere! I had a cookie sheet in the sink and at first I thought the water was reflecting off of it so I turned my head and picked up the cookie sheet at the same time. The water didn't stop so I turn to look and realize it is coming from the sprayer. I turned off the water quickly and I see it.

A rubber band.

By this time I am soaked and I am furious.

I started screaming, "Who did this?!?"

I stomped into the living room where Brayden was playing the Playstation. He doesn't say a word....just shakes his head and points to the other room where Blaine is. I stomped back to Blaine and he (the poor kid) was on the phone and I snatched it from him and hung up on whoever he was talking to. I know...complete and total over reaction, which I apologized for and explained why to him later. (He picked that one day that wasn't a good day to do something like this.) I marched him to the kitchen and began explaining to him loudly how I had just finished mopping the floor and now he was going to get to clean it all up. Then I told him I know he got it from America's Funniest Videos and how everyone in the house was banned from ever watching it again! While he was cleaning and I was preaching, Stephen and Bryson walked in from church and they just stood there.

Bryson turned to Stephen and said, "Blaine's in trouble again."

All poor little Blaine kept saying was, "It was just a joke."

But he said it with a snotty, huffy attitude accompanied by eye rolls that would make his Aunt Rachael proud, which made me even more mad! I sent everyone to bed so I could finish up everything and lower my blood pressure. No, I don't have blood pressure problems, but I felt like I was going to explode after that. I ended up staying up late searching the internet for a practical joke to pull on him.

I could put Saran Wrap over their bedroom door so they would run into it when they got up in the morning. Fire hazard.

I could duct tape them into their room. Still a fire hazard.

I could put Saran Wrap around the toilet under the seat so they won't see it. They can't hit the toilet anyway so how will that be any different than any other day?

I could wake them up in the middle of the night and make them think they were late for school. It's summer break, we have no where to be that early and I am too lazy.

I could poor cold water over the shower curtain when they are showering. They know how to pick the lock to my bathroom, too.

I found one that I thought was really good and wouldn't make a bigger mess for me to clean up. Snap 'n' Pops. Under the toilet seat. So when he sits down to do his business he will almost have a heart attack like me and then I can video when he comes running out of the bathroom. Then when he complains about being bored, I can say, "Let's watch that video of when I put Snap 'n' Pops under the toilet seat!"

Now if I can only figure out how to do it so it happens to Blaine and not one of the other boys. Or me. And if I can only figure out his "schedule". Hmmm.......


Sara

Today Is the Big Day!

I mentioned back a few weeks ago here that a blog was hosting a bunch of giveaways and was including one of my crayon rolls. Well, today is the big day! If you would like to enter to win a crayon roll of your choice, go here and get in on the fun! She is also giving away items from other Etsy shops so take a look around and see what else you can win! Good Luck!

If you don't want to wait until the drawing (or you are a loser, ha ha) you can also enter a coupon code when checking out and receive 10% off your purchase. Coupon code is REVIEW611. Coupon code will be good through July 31st.

Sara

Why I'm Up So Late

Two sets of burp clothes......



And a Fancy Nancy inspired cape.....
These are the fabric flowers that are waiting to be attached to the cape when the glue on them is dry. The cape fabric is the same as the covered buttons in the middle. Sparkly purple.
I'll post pictures of the finished product, hopefully tomorrow!

Sara

Slippin' And Slidin'

Gran got the boys a slip 'n' slide this past week and it was a hit! With the younger two boys and the neighbors, anyway. When Brayden came out with his swim trunks on and saw all the "little" kids he decided to go back in. Here are some of the pictures I took while trying not to get wet!







Bryson
Blaine
Justin and Tommy
Bryson
Blaine
Bryson
Tommy
Blaine
Justin

I thought I was doing a good job of getting the same amount of pictures of everyone, but now that I am looking at them I see I didn't! They were going down it so fast it all became a big blur. But they sure did enjoy it!

Sara

It Ain't Food Network......But They Eat It, Tuesday!

This is a recipe that a lady brought to work for a pitch-in when I worked at the bank. I thought it was so good and what is even better is it is so easy! It doesn't really have a name so I am making up one.

Not Too Spicy Shredded Roast Beef Sandwiches

Roast, pretty much any size and any cut
1 Jar of Pepperoncini peppers, sliced (as far as I know there is only one size and you find them in the pickle aisle)

Okay, here is where it gets hard. Get out your crock pot. Rinse your meat like you normally would. Put it in the crock pot. Now take the peppers and dump them in, juice and all. Turn on the crock pot on low and cook for 6-8 hours. Or on high 4-5 hours. Then take 2 forks and pull the meat apart to shred it. Serve on buns (or another favorite bread) or eat with no bread. This stuff is even better the second day. It's not too spicy but has just enough flavor. My mom ate it last night so it can't be too hot. She's a sissy.

Surprise Sale!!!

Hello Friends!

Now through Midnight (Central time) July 4Th, all items in my Etsy shop are 25% off! When you get to the checkout screen, before you click how you will pay, enter into the coupon code box "FREEDOM25". All caps! This is for items already made.

Happy Shopping!

Sara

Friday Fun

Today the boys went outside to make water balloons. They had been waiting for the masons to finish the brick work and not long after they had their trucks loaded up and gone, the boys were outside. As soon as they got a bucket full filled with water balloons, someone else came to work for awhile on the addition. He had a saw and was cutting metal pieces of trim so they didn't need to be out there. So I decided to look up online how to make homemade play dough! It was a hit! There were several different recipes to choose from so I went with what I knew I had ingredients to make. After I finished cooking it (don't worry, it doesn't take long!) I set it aside to cool. Then I went outside in the driveway and set up the folding table. I covered it with waxed paper and taped it down. Then I went to get plastic gloves for them to wear so the food coloring wouldn't stain their hands. Oops. We didn't have any so I made them wear sandwich baggies on their hands! I thought that was very creative but they had a lot of stupid comments to share. But they lived. Every time a car went by they would hide their hands.

After the play dough was cool enough to handle I took it outside and added the food coloring. The boys squished and squeezed but the color wasn't mixing to well. I showed them how to knead the play dough like you would knead bread. That worked the best! Brayden didn't play for very long but he helped color the dough. I think he just came out to see how we were going to get that blob of "mashed potatoes" turned into play dough. After Bryson finished adding his color he made a few things and then was done. Blaine played until he got sent to his room for his attitude. But all in all they had fun while it lasted. And now we can put them in a plastic container to play with later! I made green (of course), Blaine made red, Bryson made blue and so did Brayden. When I noticed Brayden was making the same as Bryson I had him add red to make purple. We didn't need two of the same but for some reason I couldn't get anyone else to understand that!



Here is some of the conversations that went on while we were playing:

Me: "Bryson! That Stegosaurus looks awesome! Is it laying down asleep?"

Bryson: "Ummmm.......that's not a Stegosaurus. It's a Mohawk."
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This was when Blaine was adding color to his. We made a divot in the middle so the color wouldn't run down the sides.

Blaine: "Look! I picked a scab!"

Me: "Blaine. Your nasty."

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Brayden: "Don't take my picture."

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Brayden: "Can I eat this?"

Me: "You sure can! But it won't taste good."

-----later-----

Brayden: "Mom, did I tell you I tasted the play dough?"

Me: "No."

Brayden: "Yeah. It was nasty."

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I hope everyone has a fun and safe long weekend!

Sara