Sunday Funday or Something like that!

Friends!  We are a quarter through the year!  Can you believe that?  How'd the first part of the year treat you?!
On the radio Friday morning, I heard that they are doing the movie version of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.  Remember these terrifying images from elementary school?

All from the books!  I still have these books somewhere.  Not from my childhood, but I ordered them for my children from the Scholastic Book Clubs when they were younger.  I remember checking out the books from the school library and always having to wait for them because everyone loved them. Anywho, I found the trailer on YouTube.  I would love to see this movie when it comes out.

We had another derby game this weekend.  So much derby.  Here is a picture from our previous game.  It gave me a good giggle in the morning when I saw it.  I was just passed the jammer cover and was trying to put it on.  You don't need to see to skate, right?

My team won 2nd place in the Clover Cup tournament.  So that was cool.  We got a medal.

Peyton has been struggle bussing at school. (and home)  He has been in a lot of trouble the past two weeks and we are working to correct this behavior.  I do not want it to get worse.  He has not been doing work in school and it was because he didn't feel motivated to do it.  Thursday night, Peyton, Alli and myself all sat down and completed almost all his missing math assignments.  I checked the school website and he forgot to upload one of them at the time, so we got that done this weekend.  He retook all his quizzes and got better scores on them.  I emailed his teacher to let him know that I had been discussing school with Peyton every morning on the way there and stressing the importance of completing his work.  I asked him if there was anything he needed me to address and he just asked me to keep motivating Peyton to get his stuff done. 

A to Z Blogging Challenge starts tomorrow.  I plan on still regular blogging.  If you don't want to read the challenge posts, just skip through those.  If you do read them, let me know if you tried any of the recipes. 


I plan to finish out my Sunday by watching Season 2 of Game of Thrones (so I can get it turned into the library), reading more on my books while taking a nice hot bath and planning out dinners for next week.


What are you up to?

Question: What are your non-sports hobbies?

I saw this on another persons blog and it had me thinking.  What are my non-sports hobbies?  With the kids it is cheerleading, volleyball, football and baseball and with me it's roller derby for our sports hobbies.

So I came up with a list for non-sports hobbies:

Baking/Cooking

Blogging

Traveling

Reading

Completing small house projects

Looking at cat pictures/memes/videos

What are yours?

The plane, somewhere over Oklahoma, in my brief non-nap state.

I tried to capture the sunrise.

Mostly eating.

I like colored pens, cheez-its and trying weird flavors of coke.

The Kibben was hogging the bath tub.

#busymamabookswap March Reveal

I participated in a book swap again this month!  The theme was Floral Fancy!

I received a box full of wonderful things!

I got five books with this swap.  I'm going to be honest here, I've never heard of any of these books.  I can't wait to read them.  Has anyone read any of the books I received?

I received some cute non book items.  The candle is lavendar and it smells divine.  I love the bee socks.  I actually sent her a pair of bee socks also, so that was cute.

Have you done any fun exchanges this month?  What kind of things do you like to sign up for?  Can you direct me to some?  I like blogger swaps with themes!

The Second Day of Spring

I know, yesterday was the first day of Spring.  I'm a day late.  But it's okay.

Here is my Spring Bucket List.

What's on yours?

Small Towns

Kansas City in the morning

I’ve been traveling around the great state of Missouri lately.  Okay, fine, not that far. 

Friday, we got an email stating coverage was needed up north in Buchanan County (1 hour away from my home base) because of the flooding near the Nebraska/Iowa/Missouri borders.  I was the choice for our office because I have driven the state car before (also referred to as G Wagon) and I needed the key for Monday anyway.  Some of the office staff was in the evacuation zones and needed to tend to that business.  I went up to Buchanan county and they sent someone from Buchanan up to the more northern counties.  We piggy backed.  I drove an hour and they drove an hour.  The Buchanan office was a nice change of pace.  It was steady.  I was there by myself for a while.  The staff is super nice.  The front atrium of the building is awesome and the sun would shine right in it. 

Monday and Tuesday, I was working in an office an hour south.  It is slow.  It’s not bad.  I like it, not because it’s slow, but other reasons.

Why I like smaller offices?

• I can do all the work myself.  I don’t pass it along to others. (I rarely do this in my home office because I don’t want to)
• People are more patient.  They wait their turn and don’t try to “cut” in line.
• My pace is fast and I can work at that pace.
• People are nicer.  I don’t get yelled at or cussed at.
• One of my coworkers had to leave because their red cow got out.

Kibben on the Catnip

 

So, a few stories.

One man came in to do his business.  I asked him questions regarding his case and his answer was “It’s because of my crazy ex-girlfriend, you know what I mean?”  I shook my head no with a straight face, but wanted to LOL.  I wasn’t sure if he thinks I’m a lesbian and I’ve had crazy ex-girlfriends or I am a crazy ex-girlfriend.  

An older lady comes in, we handle her business, she uses the restroom and before she leaves, she comes back up to me.  She liked my lipstick color.  She asked me where I purchased it.  I told her Sephora.  She wanted to know where she could buy it.  I told her Sephora.  She asked if that was in the town we are in.  I told her no, that it was at the mall.  And she was like, oh okay, my granddaughter works at Macy’s!  She’s going to have her granddaughter pick her up a tube.  The lip stick is called “All Washed Up” and it’s a bright red.  She had my write the info down for her.

Chin Chin with his wooden sticks

 

One of my coworkers in the office stopped me when I was coming back from the water fountain on Wednesday and said she noticed I liked bright lipsticks.  She brought me some she had received from Ipsy and didn’t do well for her.  It is so pretty.  I can’t wait to try it.

A man called Kansas City, “the big city”.  That threw me off, but it made me smile.

The gentleman behind me at the Dairy Queen talking about his cows and which ones he is going to keep and which ones he is taken to auction.  Hearing the whole conversation made me smile. 

If I didn’t have to drive so far, I would work in a small office every day. 

A gift from a coworker at the Cass Office



Bowling for Birthdays

Over the weekend, we celebrated February (my moms, my sisters and my nieces) and March (mine) Birthdays.  We are a little behind on the celebration front.  Everyone has been busy.  This was the first weekend when everyone was able to make it.

We decided on bowling.  All of us had fun when we were at Fort Leonard Wood for Tanner's graduation bowling and we had fun again.  None of us are do very well, but we have fun.  Here are some pictures to capture the fun times.

After bowling, we picked up some Papa Murphy's Pizza.  We had Ice Cream Brownie Sundaes for dessert.  I got my niece the Goosebumps Board Game.  Which we played, it was fun.

I like easy, fun, cheap Birthday celebrations.

How do you celebrate birthdays?

Alli getting a spare.

They are all looking at someone. My guess is Scarlett.

Alli and Violett dancing.

Tanner, Lauren and Scarlett

Bowling shoes

Tanner

Alli

Peyton

Violett

A to Z Challenge: Theme Reveal

It's theme reveal day for the A to Z Blogging Challenge!

My theme......recipes! 

The recipes are completely random.

I picked recipes I've never made before or maybe only once before.  I picked recipes that my children will eat and that I will like.  I mean, why make something that sounds absolutely disgusting?

What are your favorite recipes? 

What is your A to Z Theme?

I can't wait to hear what others are doing!

It's Friday!

Happy Friday!  We've made it through another week and that deserves a big pat on the back!  What did you do this week?

Monday was Monday.  It was quite busy in the office as Mondays are.  We had a lot of ESL clients.  They all like Mondays, ya’ll.  I started not feeling well on Monday.  Congestion out of this world.  I figured it might be allergies with the weather changing dramatically and such.  I found out Tuesday that was not the case though.  We aren’t on Tuesday quite yet though.  The kids were on Spring Break, so by the time I get home, they are starved and so are the cats.  You would think the kids could grab a snack for themselves or have fed the cats, right?  No.  Everyone was famished.  I fed the cats and made chicken tikka masala for the fam.  I was trying for the spicy to try to clear up the congestion.  I had picked up some Tylenol cold medicine at the store on the way home also.  I did have a clear hour on the nose front though.  I was happy with that.

On Tuesday, I still felt bad.  I went to work.  Did the work things.  When I got home, I made a dinner of burritos.  That recipe will appear in the A to Z challenge next month.  It was yum.  While I was making dinner, I found this fairly large lump in my jaw.  I freaked out.  I was like NOOO, not an infection in face!  I ended up going to an urgent care.  I was in and out in less than an hour and found out that I have/had a double ear infection and the lack of drainage was causing a “backup” in my jaw.  I was given a RX nasal spray and steroids.  They are working and I know no longer have the lump in my jaw.  I never want to be on steroids as a medication again.  The side effects are not stellar and if there is another way around it, I want that next time.

I did not practice at all this week.  With the infection and the treatment for the infection, it wasn’t a good thing.  I did go and watch and help out.  We have the tournament coming up and now there are only two practices until then.  Even when not skating, being there is just as important.  I wasn’t contagious and I could observe and talk about things.

Thursday night, we had shamrock shaped cheese raviolis that I picked up at Costco.  Alli asked me if there were leprechaun hats.  I laughed and it was adorable.  I let her know they were shamrocks but they did look like hats.

Amazon Prime was in heavy rotation this week.  I received the books for the floral book swap that I ordered for my partner.  I ordered new curtains, pillow covers and a throw blanket for my living room re-do.  I ordered some HDMI cables for my DVD/Blu Ray Player and so I can hook up my lap top to my TV. 

This weekend we are celebrating the February/March Birthdays in my family.  The plan is bowling and pizza on Sunday.  My sister is getting some Mary Kay items she wanted and my niece is getting the Goosebumps Board Game.  I already gave my mom quite a few bottles of wine back in February when we went out.  I will probably pick her up some more things though.

I figured out how to make a custom header on my blog.  It was much easier than I ever thought it would be.  I am working on making a custom background.  I kinda like what I did just playing around.  I will work on the things and playing around with them.

How was your week?  What did you do?

mall walking

Peyton has been obsessed with going to the mall lately.  I ask him what he does and he tells me he just walks around and hangs out with his friends.  Last Friday, he wanted to go to the mall. I took him out there.  I decided to stay because I didn’t want to drive all the way home and all the way back.  It’s not like it’s a long drive, but it’s one that I don’t want to make numerous times.  I have to go on three different highways to get there.  I had some dinner at the food court and walked around.  I got around 6,000 steps just in those few hours.  I stopped by Lush and got some items for my Book Swap.  I picked up a soap and bath bomb for myself.  They gave me a good sized sample of their new lotion.  It smells yummy.  I stopped by Sephora and picked up two lip sticks (After Hours – very red color and First Class – orange red).  I got my “Birthday Gift” from them.  I didn’t know they did that in the birthday month.  It was a cute little set.  I browsed in a few other stores and continued walking around.  I did come across Peyton and his friends one time.  They were sitting on a couch, all on their phones.  I went down to the cookie place and grab a few cookies and brought them back to them.  I walked around some more and found a nice, comfy chair to sit in until they were ready to go.

On the way home, we stopped by Walmart to get some cat food.  We are ALWAYS out of cat food.  I feel like I buy it all the time.  They had some Jillian Michael’s videos on clearance.  I picked up a few of them.  I rather do workout videos at home then go to the gym. 

Saturday, I did some fundraising for the Travel Team games in Dallas.  My friend, Dawna and I, as well as her husband painted another friend of mines living room and hallways.  We had another team member join us for about two hours.  She gave us a great donation and it will cover my room and Dawna’s room for the four days we are there.  The other teammate gets the money for the hours she worked.  My daughter and I went to finish us the trim on Sunday afternoon.  It’s hard work and now I remember why I do not do manual labor. 

We are traveling to Dallas my birthday weekend to play in a tournament.  I am carpooling out there on Thursday and flying home on Monday.  I decided to fly home because I didn’t want to stay in a car for eight hours after a three day tournament.  I’m going to be exhausted and tired and that’s when I want to be at home. 

On Sunday, I coached a practice.  We had ten people there, but it was fun and worthwhile.  We worked hard and everyone was exhausted afterwards. 

I’ve been reading “Fangirl” by Rainbow Rowell.  It’s YA Fiction.  I like it, but I feel like the main character is kinda the feel sorry for me type.  I’m sure it will all come up roses though, because that is how most of YA is.  I pick up YA books everyone once and a while for an easy, quick read.

I’ve caught a cold or it’s bad allergies.  I look like Rudolph right now.  I have the Puffs with lotion and cold medicine, so I’m ready to conquer whatever has made my nose bananas.  I made chicken tikka masala for dinner last night with the hopes that the spices would clear the nasal passages. 

How as your weekend? 

Happy Friday!  We’ve finished our first full week of March! 

On Monday, I got a new furnace.  On Tuesday, I got a new water heater.

Last Thursday, my sump pump failed.  It failed because it became rusty and overworked and got stuck in the on position.  My furnace and water heater are both in the crawl space and were ruined.  My insurance covered the replacement since I have a “drainage” clause on there.  I have the clause because of the crawl space.  It saved me.  I didn’t have heat or hot water the entire weekend.  It was around zero and on Monday, it was negative three when I took the children to school.  I did have space heaters and they worked well in Alli and Peyton’s rooms, but my room has a tall ceiling and is pretty big and it didn’t do anything (plus the cats hogged the heat)  I am grateful for heat and hot water.  I got a fancy new thermostat that I can control by my phone.  It included a new fire alarm and smoke detector, which will send alerts to my phone.  I would like to purchase a second one to put in the lower level of the house.  All animals and humans are much happier now.

 

I got my partner for the book swap.  I found the book swap on Instagram.  BusyMamaBookSwap is where you can sign up.  She does the sign up for a few days at the beginning of the month and then partners you up.  My person is from St. Peters, Missouri, which is just a hop, skip and jump down I-70 from me.  The theme is floral and I’ve started finding books with floral themes and I’ll have to run to Half Priced Books to find some with floral covers.  I’ll probably include some sunflower items because Kansas and I want to find some fun, floral paper to wrap things up with.  I think Lush has some floral bath bombs, I’ll have to use the book swap as an excuse to visit.  What other floral items should I include? 

 

I am getting closer and closer to execution date on my project at work.  I was selected for a committee that is called the Business Process Re-engineering.  We try to make the Family Support Division better functioning while following policy and meeting the needs of the clients we serve.  My project involves the transient and homeless population of a few areas in the state.  We’ve identified five areas that have a high number. The pilot is going to take place in my home office and then once data is quantified with the other offices, we were determine where the second round will take place.  Wish me luck!

 

Alli’s cheer tryouts were this week.  She said they determined who made it based on how they would be useful to the team.  Alli is useful to the team. We find out today!

 

I’ve decided to do a no-spend April.  It’s not super strict like some are.  I have a grocery, gas and misc. budget.  There is a budget for all regular payments made each month.  There is the budget for savings.  And then, kids things.  I do have two eat out days, because every once in a while you need to have food prepared by others.  I have a fun activity budget also.  I can find a lot of activities that do not cost money, but some of them do and we have to allow for that.

What's been going on with everyone else?  Did your week go well?  Fun plans for the weekend?

March Goals

March Goals!  I am a few days late on the posting of these, but better late than never.

1.  Try out some new recipes!  Send me some you have been loving lately!
2. Get new curtains for my front room.  The Kibben has ripped our current ones pretty bad.  I like these: https://www.wayfair.com/decor-pillows/pdp/sun-zero-groton-solid-room-darkening-grommet-single-curtain-panel-sunz1268.html?piid=21685447%2C37209918 and https://www.wayfair.com/decor-pillows/pdp/andover-mills-kuhlmann-lattice-thermal-curtain-panels-andv2051.html?piid=24098901%2C24098906 I also like this table https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/trent-austin-design-chelsey-4-piece-dining-set-trnt4851.html?piid=28143008 but that’s for another month.  One step at a time.
3. Read Books!  I’m not going to set a number. I’m just going to read.  I have a stack from the library to devour.
4. Clean out my car?! Will the weather allow me to do this?  Let’s hope so!
5. Replace the lightbulb in my hallway….
6. Exercise other than derby.  I picked up some videos from the library to try some different things out.  Also, there is a 50 burpees a day challenge.
7. Sign up for the A to Z Blog Challenge.  Wanna try it out?  Go here.  http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/2019/03/atozchallenge-sign-up.html

What are your goals for March? 

Cookies and Wine

Belvoir Winery.  It is one of my favorite places to visit in the Kansas City area.  It’s in Liberty, which is northeast of where I live.  It’s a grand, historical place with a few extra visitors.  It’s known for its ghostly friends.  They have had Ghost Adventures, Ghost Hunters and a few other paranormal shows film there.  The owner was making fun of how exaggerated Ghost Adventures was being during the screening of the show.  Zac Bagans is so dramatic.  I enjoy watching it for that fact.  (Plus, they visit some pretty cool locations regardless of haunt status)

I went to a Girl Scout cookie and Wine Pairing there.  They did well at pairing each cookie with a wine.  This is how it went down.

White Wines

The Chardonnel was paired with the Shortbread cookie.

Plumeria  -- Lemonade

Sorelle Dolci – Lemonade  (My second favorite wine there)

Red Wines  (I'm not a huge red wine fan, but the cookies did fit the wines)

Norton – Peanut Butter Patty

Casanova – Thin Mint

Lucky Pierre – Peanut Butter Patty

Specialty Wines

Naked Pink – Didn’t have a pair, but we got to sample the wine.  (This is also my v. fav. wine at the winery, so delicious)

Boos – Caramel Delites  (The Boos is the Norton plus Brandy.  It's super potent and you cannot drink a lot of it.  Like a sip was enough, the smell is that strong)

The same evening as the Wine Tasting, there was a Ladies' Night Out Event.  This is where people get to sample/buy wine and go vendor shopping.  I enjoyed the vendor shopping.  I picked up some Paparazzi Jewelry and some Sh*t.  Wait, what?  There is a vendor that sells things with the word Sh*t in it.  It's hilarious and my plan is to bring the items to a potluck type thing with friends.

My friend that I was with gave me one of her water colors.  It matches so well with the Owl I have in my front room already.  Once I get the front room painted all of them are going on the wall together.





Letters and Books and Birds

Happy Tuesday!  I feel like I haven’t been on here for a while!  So much reading to catch up with!  A lot has been going on. I'll write about the things in a catch up post later!

Last Tuesday night, Alli got her Varsity letter in cheerleading. She got the most achievable award because she was able to get her aerial before everyone else.  Her hard work paid off.   She has her first day of clinics for try outs today.  The actual try out is on Thursday.  I think she will be golden.  I am excited for her.  Cheerleading is an expensive sport though.  The camp they do in the summer is what raises the price so much.

I got my package from the book exchange!  It was Mermaid themed.  I love it.  The colors are so pretty and the bath soap she put in there smells so good. I’ve included the picture she posted of what I sent her. I’ve signed up for next month’s exchange.  It is a spring/floral themed.  I’ll have to start searching for books.  Does anyone have a suggestion?

Peyton wanted me to take a picture of all the birds one morning.