Quick Summer Craft Tutorial

Oh look! A craft tutorial!

I'm not sure where I first saw this idea but I saw it on Pinterest recently.

So I kept this idea in mind. I knew I was going to the beach this summer and I knew I wanted to do this little craft. I also knew I wanted to vlog it. So it did. Granted, mine is not as classy and "purdy" as Ms. Stewart's but it works for me. I really just wanted to do a quick one. You can do different types of jars too. Right now, mine is sitting on my dresser. And I'm reminded of driving up and down the beach, cooking nachos, starting my love affair with coffee, and playing bartender and creating a new beverage with a naughty name.


I hope your summer is going a great as mine is! Happy crafting!

San Antonio Vlogs

Just a couple of vlogs from San Antonio. I have maybe one more to do but for now, enjoy!

Potty Training... WHUT?

When Ivy turned two, we got her a potty chair. We were just simply introducing her to the concept. We didn't force her to sit on it. Just a suggestion. "Wanna sit on your potty?" Sometimes she would, sometimes she wouldn't. No big deal. We would just occasionally ask her.

A few months ago, she would sit on her potty and potty just a little bit. Still no forcing and we would celebrate it - no matter if she did anything or not.

She recently started to become interested in sitting on her potty quite often but still not doing anything. But a couple of evenings ago, after her bath, I asked her if she wanted to potty and she said yes. And WHAMMO!!! She went!

Ever since this weekend, she's been going to the potty more and more. Without us even asking! She'd just go and show up to one of us naked! Lots of laughs on a cute little baby booty streaking the living room - SUPRPISE!

She loves to flush the big toilet. She has two options now. She can use her own potty chair. Today, we bought a step stool and a toddler seat for the big toilet. Either way, she is one happy potty girl. We aren't forcing it. I think it just clicked with her.

So what did we do? Who knows? But it's working.

Menu Plan Monday over coffee

Back from visiting family and a mini-trip to San Antonio. Back to the real world. Back to Menu Plan Monday.

I am (we are?) going to try to make a better effort of losing weight. My 'fitness' goals did not happen. But I swear, I don't want to buy new clothes because they're too small. I want to buy new clothes because what I have is too big. I've downloaded some apps to my iphone. Fitocracy, Nike+ and 5K Runner which is probably wrong but it is the couch to 5K app. All free apps.

Bought some fruit today so I'll be adding that to what I eat. Apples, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries. Oh! And watermelon. I love fruit. I just hate having to prep it before I eat it. Ugh! First world problems - I have to wash my fruit and cut it and put it in a bowl before I eat it. The downside is that I've added coffee to my diet. Whooboy! I blame you, Jessica! I would blame Starbucks but that was only occasional because of the price. I usually only purchase because I have a gift card or I get a frapp which will probably be no longer happening. Who knows.

Coffee. Husband got himself a french press and a grinder a while back. When the weather was cold, he'd have that and I'd have a hot chocolate. I was never really into coffee. But since last weekend, I've had a kurig coffee, and regular ol pot coffee. I can totally tell a difference in the flavor of the coffee that Ryan made which is much richer and not watered down. I do kill it with sugar and cream though.

I got two awesome mugs while we were in San Antonio. A handmade pottery mug from Jus' Cuz Pottery and an Alamo mug. Nothing off the wall or BA but still pretty nifty. MUGS! My first year teaching, a student gave me a mug with some candy for Valentine's Day. I keep it at work. But now I will really use it for coffee - probably at work. I also have a vintage Strawberry Cupcake mug - but that's geared toward children. How can it be a coffee mug? Where did I get that? ... An old supervisor I think?

Tell me, what is your favorite coffee mug (or mugs) and how do you take your java?

Here's my awesome mug from Jus' Cuz. I take it with a lot of cream and two heaping teaspoons of sugar. Good morning!

So, what you all came for... The MPM!

Sunday - Pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches - via Simply Scratch - however we just used bottled BBQ sauce.
Monday - LOs if they make it past lunch, Pizza if they don't
Tuesday - Fondu
Wednesday - Fried fish and shrimp
Thursday - Nachos
Friday - Ranch chicken
Saturday - Pizza if we have LOs on Monday or stir fry if we eat pizza on Monday.

San Antonio

The plans were simple. Well, for me anyway. Husband wanted an actual itenerary. Aaaaand there went the vacation. Noooooo. I'm kidding. I know how he is. He likes to have everything mapped out - A B C D... And I am a bit more spontaneous.

Tuesday, we arrived and went directly to a record store, ate lunch at Pho Sure (not recommended) and back to the record store. Then we went to another store and checked in to the Inn. We then rested a bit then walked the Riverwalk. Once back at the Inn, we went to a bar, The Friendly Spot. They had a great beer selection, not that I drink beer, but awful food. We went back to the Inn, picked up the car and attempted to eat at Dough Pizzeria but the wait was 1+ hours. Skipped that and went to Sushihana which was excellent! Then we went to another shop and retired for the evening.

Wednesday, we went to the Alamo and then to Sea World. I got a free ticket for being a teacher and we got a discounted ticket and parking through my credit union. Despite the discounts, we were not happy with the place. Yes, we saw a Shamu show and I got what I went for, it was just disgusting hot, packed and not really what we were expecting. It was just shows, rides and a little water park. Nothing like an aquarium or little learning areas. Meh, whatever. So... We had lunch at Dough Pizzeria which was amazing! And there was no wait this time which was even better. And the tiramisu? To die for. We went back to downtown for Market Square. I made good on my promise to myself. I became a coffee drinker over my beach weekend with some girlfriends and wanted a cool mug. I got two. I also added to my pressed penny, refrigerator magnet and owl collections. We went to another shop, rested at the Inn and the had dinner at a burger place called Chris Madrid's. The burger was huge but was really yummy! After that we called it a night.

Thursday morning, we made plans to pursue my dorky hobby but I got frustrated and gave up. Maybe next time, letterboxing. We went ahead and went to the Natural Bridge Caverns which was better than I expected. Got a few more pressed pennies and another magnet and we went back to SETX.

Quiet and relaxing vacation that was full of amazing food!

Pictures and vlogs coming soon!

New Hair!!

What's in my bag - beach bag edition

Getting in the Mood

Probably not quite the mood you're thinking about. Find your way out of the gutter and we will have a little chat.

Being more specific, what gets you in the mood for summer? I love summer for a lot of different reasons. There are certain songs, movies, books (although I typically don't re-read a book just because it's summertime), smells and flavors that just remind me of summer and hid a sweet spot in my brain. In my most recent vlog, I ask a few questions about summer. What does summer mean or why is it special to you? How do get ready for summer aka what puts you in the summer mood? And when does summer really start? We all know I'm from Texas and summer is practically year round in my neck of the woods.

Spoiling it for a little bit, I mentioned music in my vlog and that I like to create playlists for CDs so I have a few lists for you. Aren't you thrilled?!

Music
Cruel Summer by Bananarama
The Tide is High by Blondie
Surfer Girl by the Beach Boys
Surfin USA by the Beach Boys
Go Outside by Cults
Summertime by Janis Joplin
Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet
Pipeline by Dick Dale
Dog Days by Florence and the Machine
This is by no means all that I would put on my summer playlist. This is just what I like and could just build a list without looking for inspiration.

Books
I just finished Divergent by Veronica Roth. I don't think there's a summer feel to the book but I'm putting it on this list.
Anything by Sarah Dessen (Young Adult) but specifically Along for the Ride
The Disenchantments by Nina Lacour *I haven't read this one yet but will
The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin *I haven't read this one yet but will
The Hunger Games trilogy by Susan Collins
Delerium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver Although Pandemonium is set in colder weather.

Movies
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Lilo and Stitch
North Shore
The Endless Summer
The Sandlot
Jaws
Summer School
National Lampoon's Vacation
Independence Day
Dirty Dancing

And there you have it!
I hope you have a great summer (H.A.G.S.!)
Stay cool and do something fun

The clouds are talking to ya...

We live in an area that for the past four or five years, hasn't gotten too much rain. Lake levels are down. Area wide water conservation days. Drought. But lately? Like within the past couple weeks, we've been getting some pretty good thunderstorms. Hooray! I love thunderstorms. Lightening is pretty, the sounds are so relaxing, perfect book weather. However, there is one person who is not a fan of this weather pattern.

Of course, it is Ivy. For 3 or 4 nights in a row, it rained hard. Extremely loud thunder claps rolling one right after another. She'd be asleep -knocked clean-smooth out- and husband and I would be settling in to bed after relaxing with our books. Like clockwork, my head would hit the pillow and the thunder would clap and the kidlette would cry hysterically. The third evening of this an idea struck me like the lightening outside...

I told Ivy, "Listen... I know it's loud and it wakes you up. But you know what? That is thunder. And all thunder is are clouds telling you 'hello.'" She calmed down pretty quick. I stayed in bed with her for a few minutes for some more thunder to roll by, which it did. So then...

Me: What is that?
Ivy: Tunderr
Me: Yup, and what's it doing?
Ivy: Saayinn hi to Iybee
Me: That's right! Not so scary is it?
Ivy: *squeeling with laughter* NOOO!! *more laughs*

The rest of the noisy evening, I was kept awake from the thunder, not a frightened two-year-old. And so have consecutive stormy nights. Ryan even mentioned that he thinks she even likes thunder now. I do make a point to remind her what the clouds are doing and she's playing right along with it.

I told this story to someone else and their question was "what if she asks why it's so loud?" Without skipping a beat, I said "Well Ivy, clouds are pretty big. Big clouds have big voices. And they want to make sure you hear them tell you hello." The response I received was an approving knod.

Well played.

Feel free to try this on your kids. I'm not going to guarantee that it works. But so far, it has worked for me.

Day One

Today is the beginning of my summer vacation. For three days in a row, it has felt like Saturday. Let's see what's been happening since last week.

My job at the high school has ended. I did very well keeping it together during the day. Send the kids out on a happy note. I went to lunch with my friends and then Ryan sent me an email. He gets me. He understands why I do what I do. He understands what it all means to me. What he said filled my heart and made me cry.

I recovered and got the rest of my work done. Turned in my keys, did the whole end of year check out. And at the very end, the secretary told me some things that broke my heart about my whole situation. We were all in agreement about it. I hated saying goodbye.

But I know that what is happening will be a good challenge for me. I'm thankful I have a job.

Friday I visited the teacher I am replacing and found out more about my placement. I also checked to make sure my things arrived (which they had) and to deliver the rest of my belongings. I have a huge amount of space for just little ol' me.

Saturday, I attended the graduation of my previous school placement. I wished congratulations to my kiddos. Sunday, I worked the graduation at my current (?) school. It was very interesting. There were 862 graduates and it only took 1.5 hours. The teachers who participated wore regalia as well - almost like a college or university graduation. I also congratulated my kiddos there too, of course!

Today. My first real day of vacation. Taking care of business. Mostly cleaning stuff. Getting rid of clothes I don't like or want, toys Ivy doesn't play with. Just a bunch of junk. We are getting ready to go on vacation too.

Here is my Menu Plan Monday (hosted by OrgJunkie). We leave for vacation this week so I don't know if there will be any menus for the following weeks.

Sunday - Fondu
Monday - Tacos with a friend
Tuesday - Fried fish and shrimp
Wednesday - Fondu (to finish the bread before it goes bad)
Thursday - Out Of Town
Friday - OOT
Saturday - OOT