My Favorite Thing I Have Found So Far During This Week of Cleaning and Purging

A fossilized colby cheese stick lovingly wrapped inside of a tube sock, tied with a red ribbon and a half a pound of scotch tape.

Here is the Second Grader and Here is the Second Grader With Her Sisters

First day of second grade!

(Camera's in the shop. Iphoneing it in today.)

Plugging About

Hey! This week my Etsy shop and I are being featured on the super cute Noodles and Milk site.

You'll find

1. My very first tutorial--this mod flower and leaf headband:

2. A chance to win one of these hair accessories: (just leave a comment on the N&M site!)

3. The coupon code for free shipping on any items this week until 9/5--a savings of at least $5.

That is all. Over and out!

You Should Be Hearing Nothing From Me, Which Means You'll Be Hearing A Lot From Me

Over the next three weeks, I have an intense scrubbing/purging schedule. Every day I have assigned myself a different room in the house to scrub/purge. Hence the title of this post. At the end of the three weeks, if I stick to the sched, I should have myself an organized, de-cluttered, de-trinketed, washed clean and organized house. Either that or a really well updated blog.

Our New Favorite Cookie/Gluten-Free Goodness

I'll be the first one to say it--but not in front Ruby of course--that most gluten free things don't taste good or are weird textured, etc. These cookies are not. They are delicious.

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE BUTTERSCOTCH PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 1/4 cups butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter
4 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (not instant or quick) - Red Mill has gluten-free oatmeal if you have a person with Celiac in your house
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips (look closely at labels--a lot of butterscotch chips have barley protein. If you can't find any that are GF, use chocolate chips)
1 cup chopped nuts (can omit)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugars at medium speed until well blended. Add peanut butter. In seperate bowl combine oats and baking soda. Stir into creamed mixture. Stir in chips and nuts. Drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10-11 minutes. Leave on cookie sheet a couple of minutes.

And This is My Other Family

D-land, Yo!

One day while in California, my Mom, the girls and I spent over 12 hours at Disneyland. I was expecting at least a couple of whining fits or melt downs but I was a good girl and stayed on my best behavior all day. We had a GREAT time. I wish I had brought my camera but I didn't want the stress of it, so here are three pictures I took with my phone:

There are a hand full of people in my life who call me Fannie, for obvious reasons. You would think this might help me pull of the fanny pack. It does not. Unlike my brother, who wears one faithfully and with swagger, when it comes to me, there are no right or wrong ways to wear one...only wrong ways.

This is May right after the plunge on Splash Mountain. She kept her hands up the entire time, as she did on the roller coaster in ToonTown. My MayMay is a thrill seeker. Those who know her should not be surprised at this. Why yes! That is one of those animal backpack/leashes things she is wearing! I used to think parents who used these were horrible but kid leashes have been added to the loooooong list of things I said I'd never do as a parent before I had kids and now do. This list includes but is not limited to such things as snapping while on the phone, using my saliva to clean off a smudge on their face, etc.

And here is Ruby right after the plunge on Splash Mountain, ecstatic that she didn't get completely drenched. Girlfriend hates to get wet while fully clothed.

An Addendum to My Previous Post and Other Things

This is what I have to say:

If someone approaches me and says "Hey, do you think _____ is pregnant?", I will give my opinion. If someone approaches me and says "Hey, do you think _____ has had a nose job?", I will give my opinion. If someone approaches me and says "Hey, do you think ______'s Prada bag is real?", I will give my opinion, which is "Who cares?" That being sad, if you are on my radar concerning a bump, whether be baby or boobs, I will certainly not approach you about it, nor will I start conversations about it. If you want to talk to me about it, cool. If you don't, cool. And maybe I shouldn't give my opinion when asked by someone else that's not you, but well...I'm just not that righteous. The end.

Thoughts on This Early Vegas Morning

Something I'm bad at: Sleeping: Going to sleep and staying asleep and falling back to sleep.

Something I'm good at: Knowing your secret. I know when you're wearing knock-offs. I know when you've had plastic surgery. I know when you're newly pregnant. And I applaud you on all accounts.

Something I wish I was better at: Besides going to sleep and staying asleep and falling back to sleep...thinking the grass is pretty green right here rather than over there.

Something I want to be doing right now: Sleeping.

Joe Pug Hymn #101

And I've come to know the wish list of my father
I've come to know the shipwrecks where he's been
I've come to wish allow
Among the overdressed crowd
Come to witness now the sinking of this ship
Throwing pennies from the sea top next to it

And I've come to roam the forest
Past the village
With a dozen lazy horses in my cart
I've come here to get high
To do more than just get by
I've come to test the timber of my heart
Oh I've come to test the timber of my heart

And I've come
To be untroubled in my seeking
And I've come
To see that nothing is for not
I've come to reach out blind
To reach forward and behind
For the more I seek
The more I'm sought
Yea the more I seek
The more I'm sought

And I've come to meet the sheriff
And his posse
To offer him the broad side of my jaw
I've come here to get broke
And maybe bum a smoke
We'll go drinking two towns over after all
Oh we'll go drinking two towns over after all

And I've come to meet the legendary takers
I've only come to ask them for a lot
Aw they say I come with less
Than I should rightfully possess
I say: The more I buy
The more I'm bought
And the more I'm bought
The less I cost

And I've come
To take their servants and their surplus
And I've come
To take their rain coats and their speed
I've come to get my fill
To ransack and spill
I've come to take the harvest for the seed
I've come to take the harvest for the seed

And I've come to know the manger you sleep in
I've come to be the stranger that you keep
I've come from down the road
And my footsteps never slowed
Before we met I knew we'd meet
Before we met I knew we'd meet

And I've come here to ignore you cries and heartaches
I've come to closely listen to you sing
I've come here to insist
That I leave here with a kiss
I've come to say exactly what I mean
And I mean so many things

And you've come
To know me stubborn as a bitcher
And you've come
To know me thankless as a guest
But will you recognize my face
When god's awful grace
Strips me of my jacket and my vest
And reveals all the treasure in my chest.

CA Comes to a Close

sniff sniff.

Not shown:

Disneyland.

The pool.

Seeing my cousin Meagan.

Seeing my cousin Taryn.

Seeing my cousin Mitch.

and a bunch of other good times.

Auntie Sarah came down for a wedding

and were lucky enough to snag her for a few hours in Laguna.

Go acclimating himself to the outdoors and sunlight.

Smoldering. As usual.

Us.

Now onto Vegas...

Because You Needed More Beach Photos?

May May by the Sea Shore

Today

Friday Photos: CA So Far

Things I Decided

Things I Decided That Would Be Equally as Awful as Traveling Single-Parently With Three Children for 16+ Hours:

1. A classic: getting a root canal

2. Wearing Shape-Ups

3. Entering an adult beauty pageant and singing "Proud to Be an American" while wearing an American flag-print Snuggie

4. Watching Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking for 16+ hours

5. Reading all the Twilight books from start to finish

6. Taking testosterone pills and growing a beard

7. Getting a cat

8. Brushing my teeth with motor oil

9. Changing the diapers of one million babies

10. Declaring oneself a Belieber from the pulpit