Fluster Buster Creative Muster #172

Messy Messy Fail - Back to the missing Toms issue - I did end up finding them, however, we have shoes ALL OVER our house.  Boots, sneakers, Crocs, dress shoes, Toms, sandals - you name it, they are here.  Time to organize the footwear, but is there a container big enough?

Tidy Victory - The weather was so beautiful this weekend (almost 75 degrees F!) that we were able to go outside and work in the yard for a good chunk of time.  Most of the front yard and part of our backyard gardens were weeded - love my weed poking tool!  You wouldn't believe how deep some of those bad boys were - I pulled out a weed whose main root was nearly a foot long!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #117

Messy Messy Fail - My Toms have disappeared.  Vanished.  I wore them on an unseasonably warm day in February or March, and they have since gone completely missing.  

Tidy Victory - I had a lovely thought to watch one of my favorite movies from my single girl years - Marie Antoinette.  I almost forgot I had it, had to dig around in some boxes downstairs to find it.  I am so glad I did - fabulous movie!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #116

Messy Messy Fail - I literally just finished making a somewhat heinous looking Little Einstein's rocket cake.  I bit off more than I could chew on this one.  Cake cracking issues, frosting issues, you name it - it went wrong.  I'm really not even sure how this cake is going to taste.  I made sure to have lots of ice cream though, because everything tastes good with ice cream.

Tidy Victory - I have been trying to upload all of our old movie videos from the video recorder to my computer.  To my dismay, it seemed as though several were corrupt.  After many hours trying different ways to import the videos and researching online, I figured it out!  Somehow these older videos were .mpg files and they needed to be .mov files.  I have begun the slow process of converting them, but I am THRILLED that they are not gone for good!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #115

Messy Messy Fail - Our weather has seriously been at extremes these last few weeks - 72 degrees F one day, 31 degrees the next.  Quite literally, no exaggeration.  Therefore, hasn't our beautiful new weeping cherry tree that we planted in front of the house trying to bloom.  It actually started snowing today, so I frantically went outside with a king size fitted sheet to drape over the poor tree.  This baby better bloom after all of my efforts!

Tidy Victory - It's a miracle - The Land Before Time DVD just showed up in the boys hands this afternoon as I caught them playing with the DVD's in the entertainment center again.  No explanation, but that's okay - it has returned!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #114

Messy Messy Fail - So I thought I had a really great idea of using Elmer's glue to draw our initials on our Easter eggs.  My thinking was the glue would dry, we would dye the eggs, and then I'd peel the glue off to reveal a white initial on the dyed egg.  Total fail.  Didn't leave enough time for the glue to dry and it just fizzled off in the vinegar.  At least now I know it won't work.  Still determined to discover a cool way to decorate our eggs (for next year wah wah)

Tidy Victory - I've had all of our Easter goodies purchased and ready to go for about a week now - it was nice not having to run out last minute!  Each of the boys got a small toy, DVD, book, hatching dinosaur egg and candy.  Can't wait to celebrate in a few short hours!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #112

Messy Messy Fail - As you know, I do enjoy my wine and beer.  We enjoy it so much in our household that we have acquired quite the can and bottle collection in our garage.  We are so silly - the redemption center is quite literally down the street.  I just simply have gotten my act together to collect everything and drive it down.    Money just sitting in my garage!

Tidy Victory - Even though I have not planned for meals or done serious grocery shopping in about two weeks, I have managed to clean off my pantry shelf quite a bit.  Stocking up on regularly used items or purchasing in bulk can be great, but you have to remember to use it.  It can be tricky to force yourself to only use items you have in your refrigerator and pantry, but it pays off in your bank account!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #111

Messy Messy Fail - The ABS (break system) light has been on in my car since at least last summer.  When I had my car inspected last August, the mechanic said it was just a sensor, it was fine, passed.  Until this past Thursday when the break system started kicking in on its own and there was no ice. I swore my breaks were completely giving out!  Going in on Tuesday.....

Tidy Victory - We bought our tickets for our Dave Matthews show this summer - going to see them in July at the Molson Canadian Amphitheater in Toronto, ON.  We love this venue - it's small (for a more intimate performance), in a terrific city, and typically has a mostly adult audience.  And guess who scored the better seats when both my husband and I got online to buy - ME! 

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #110

Messy Messy Fail - I haven't published my own post in a couple of weeks now.  Lots going on around here - concerts, swim lessons, meetings, but I've got an Easter roundup and a couple of great posts in a different format than what I typically publish coming up, so be warned.

Tidy Victory - I was able to conduct my first all-county ensemble this weekend - an elementary orchestra - and I had an absolute blast!  This ensemble was made up of the best elementary string students in the county and I had the distinct pleasure of leading them through rehearsals and at our final performance on Saturday.  An absolute joy and a treat - this was why I wanted to teach orchestra!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #109

Messy Messy Fail - One of my goals over my winter break was to get our tax information gathered so I could submit it and have that task checked off on the list.  This goal has yet to be accomplished.  Our taxes are not that difficult, but all that printing off of the interest from our student loans and gathering all of our donation letters takes quite a bit of time.  However, if I do submit them during the month of March that will be the earliest I have ever done them!

Tidy Victory - Even though I did not get a lot of housework done on my week long winter vacation, we did get a lot of snowmobile riding in.  We went for two rides together, one of which I got tossed, but I'm okay folks!  On or second ride we went to one of my favorite trail restaurants called Guppy's Tavern where you can get a killer stromboli, and that's exactly what I ordered.  I was even able to pack the leftovers on to my sled when I was done!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #108

Messy Messy Fail - We are winter break from school this upcoming week, and I will say I am embarrassed about the condition I left both of my classrooms in - disaster.  I had a guest conductor in at both buildings on Friday to complete a workshop with some of my students who will be participating in a side-by-side concert shortly and it was quite the whirlwind getting to both buildings on time.  Let's just say I'll be going in for a little tidying up during my vacation.  

Tidy Victory - Last year, I tried making it a goal to do a small organizing/purging project a day.  Be it my makeup drawer, a bookshelf, etc., I wanted to make a little difference one small step at a time.  Sometimes I did my project for the day, sometimes I didn't.  I came across this blog project from Susan at Organized 31 - 31 Days of 10-Minute Purging Tips and I was really inspired.  You can start with her first post at the above link and she gives you a task every day - very manageable (10 minutes or less!) yet very effective.  I'm going to try this and attempt to get rid of some more nonsense in my house!

Happiness Is Homemade Link Party #106

Messy Messy Fail - The snow has nearly melted away, which means the snowmobile trails are closed AGAIN until further notice.  Because don't you know this is what happens - you get new sleds and it's a lame-o winter.  I can't even believe I am complaining about having no snow.  I'm really not crazy.

Tidy Victory - I have had an idea for a post for literally nearly a year now - to interview one of my favorite Etsy shops - and it finally happened!  I do not want to give away too much too soon, but if you are interested in crocheting and/or starting your own Etsy shop, you need to stay tuned folks!  :)

My Word for 2016 - Ahead

Messy Messy Fail - I know that I definitely have food in the refrigerator leftover from Christmas - I spotted some sautéed green beans, mashed potatoes and the remains of a leftover roast in the back of the fridge.  Good thing garbage night is tomorrow evening.

Tidy Victory - We had some friends over to celebrate our Christmas together quite late on Friday and I made a terrific somewhat authentic Mexican dinner - hard and soft shell tacos with my own taco seasoning (I just cannot use the packets anymore, so salty!), Paula Deen's mexican rice and this delicious recipe for restraunt style refried beans.  Let me just say there were no leftovers.  

Be ahead of the game. 

Think ahead.

Be ready.

Be early.

Do you see the common theme?

Punctuality is not necessarily one of my strong suits.  I am a procrastinator tried and true.  ESPECIALLY if it is something that I don't really want to do.  

But you know what?  That's a terrible excuse - I can be very lazy and that's the truth of the matter.  

Therefore, my word for this year is AHEAD.

Anticipate what is coming and be ready.

Think about the future and plan accordingly.

Do not set it aside for later, do it now.

Some of my specific goals include:

• better meal planning - I typically plan ahead for a week in advance, trying to go to the grocery store only once a week.  However too often we resort to running our for a quick pizza or sub. 
• keep our wipe off calendar in the kitchen updated - it's pointless to have if we don't use it properly!
• try to stay tidier - I'm always in a mad rush the night before our house cleaner comes to get clutter out of the way
• finish the task at hand - I am notorious for starting something then getting distracted by something else
• try to keep a "big picture" view - what will the consequences of my choices be and how will they affect others and not just myself

How ironic that my word for the year is being posted at the end of January ;)

What is your word for year?

Did you set specific goals for yourself?  I'd love to hear about them!

Click here to see where I like to par-tay!

Friday Favorites - Post-Christmas Recovery

Messy Messy Fail - My feet are horrendous, just ask my husband.  I pay regular visits to my podiatrist, but for the 2nd time I completely forgot about an appointment this past week and didn't even realize it until days later.  I felt so badly - when I called to reschedule, I identified myself as "The jerk who forgot about my appointment again.".  Thank goodness they are so understanding.  

Tidy Victory - Over our vacation, hubby and I managed to clean out the unfinished portion of the basement.  The pantry and baby clothes were resorted and organized, wrapping paper totes cleaned up, kitchen appliances reconfigured and decorations all boxed up in labeled containers.  Pandora helped out A LOT with that project.  What can I say, music inspires me!

Happiness is Homemade Linky Party #99

Messy Messy Fail - Did anyone else miss the first episode of the 2nd season of Fargo like I did?  Can't find it anywhere on the TV schedule, and being the outdated weirdos that we are we have yet to figure out the whole Amazon Prime free streaming thing.  I'll just add it to the list I guess.  And keep searching online for that golden first episode.

Tidy Victory - I found them!!!!  All the missing pieces to our Candyland game that is.  The UPKer does enjoy playing it, but it's even more of a game to try keeping the entire thing together in one box.  My solution - ziplock bags!

Welcome back to another great weekend at Happiness is Homemade!!

DIY Emergency First Aid Kit

Messy Messy Fail - I can no longer stretch out the 12 month clothes so they fit the baby - time to break out the 18 month clothes.

Oh Hey, Friday - How Great Is This

Messy Messy Fail - Who knew the melting point for white chocolate was so low?  Not this girl!  Apparently the temperature for your double boiler to melt white chocolate should only be 110 F.  That doesn't sound like a "boil" to me - that's as hot as my shower!  And "burning" the chocolate doesn't mean it's brown and crispy, but thick and grainy.  I "burned" two batches while trying to melt them, that's why there ended up being only one white chocolate truffle :)

Does that looked "burned" to you, cause it is.

Tidy Victory - On the flip side of that situation, I was able to pull out some dark and milk chocolate chips that I had left over - they melted fine in my double boiler.  They turned out delicioso for my cake balls! ;)

I just can't say enough how nice it is to be spending time at home with my boys and husband for the summer.  We've gotten to do lots of activities together - story time at our local library (they let me back in), shopping at My Happy Place (Wegmans!) and Sam's Club, and picking out flowers to add to the garden.

It's been a great second week and I've got a bunch of random things to share:

<One>  This Thing - Who knows that this is?

scroll down..................................

If you guessed fish turner you are correct!  If you did not guess that, clearly you need to be more educated on your kitchen utensils ;)

Who knew such a simple device could make me so happy?  I've wanted one for quite some time - I have a huge pancake turner that can be too big to use and my large replacement OXO spatula I mentioned in this post, but I wanted something long and slim.  I found this at the Kitchen Collection in our local mall - perfect!  It was only $5.99 and it's red to boot (I enjoy red kitchen appliances, don't ask me why).

<Two> The Library - What a great place!  We attended a Wednesday morning story time with some friends - the toddler sat for TWO ENTIRE STORIES!  It's amazing what a difference a year can make, because that certainly never happened last summer when we went.  He did interrupt a few times to ask Miss Claire (the librarian) if he could sit in her lap, but other than that we were without incident.  After story time we went downstairs to the children's section and played with puzzles and rented a new Thomas the Train DVD.

<Three> Yankee Candle Sun & Sand Candle - My husband thinks I'm crazy to be burning candles when it's warm out, but I NEED things to smell nice.  I have scented things in our bedroom, my car, my classrooms at work - it brings me clarity and keeps me peaceful.  I've really been enjoying this scent from Yankee Candle so far this summer - I swear I can hear the ocean if I put my ear up to the jar!

The name of the candle would suggest it smells like sunscreen, but I swear it doesn't.  The Yankee Candle website notes orange flower, citrus, lavender and a powdery musk.  

<Four> Summer Projects - So I cannot just sit around playing and blogging all summer - I have to get some work done, too!  I'm planning some big cleaning/organizing projects for the summer including:

• Reorganize the downstairs pantry
• Reorganize gift wrap section/containers
• Paint & redecorate our bedroom
• Place printed pictures in chronological order in photo albums

<Five> DIY Shower Paint Paint - I saw a post about this originally here and I pinned it here.  Sounds like a fun idea for the bathtub, and since I'm always looking for new bathtub entertainment, I'll be giving this a try this week.  We have a three piece tub without grout so I'm not worried about the food coloring staining.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Thanks for stopping to check out this post - I've got some more coming up for the week including about how my hanging baskets turned out and a possible Amish Friendship Bread round-up!

Have a great week!

Linking up with......

EB Baskets

Messy Messy Fail - When I was pregnant with the baby, both mine and my husband's backs started getting sore from sleeping at night.  I contributed my pain to being a miserable preggo and thought for sure I would feel better after having him.  My husband even went to a chiropractor which he says did help.  The baby turns one year old in two days and low and behold, our backs still hurt.  Time for a new mattress.

Tidy Victory - We received all of our party planning essentials for the baby's Mickey on the Farm birthday party this weekend - absolutely ADORABLE birthday banner from A Sweet Celebration on Etsy (she even made extra number squares for me to change out when we use it every year, which I do!), plastic checked table clothes and flag banner for his highchair, farmer hats for the kids and two giant pork tenderloins for pulled pork.  

I love Easter - dying eggs, putting baskets together, hiding tin foil chocolate eggs around the house and dressing up for a nice meal.  I am always in charge of putting the boy's Easter baskets together, and I've been planning this year's since, oh I don't know, JANUARY.  

Not only is the toddler into Thomas the Train but PAW Patrol is high up on the list, too.  Go figure - the baby likes Thomas (since that's all that we watch in this house, besides PAW Patrol).  So I decided to do a PAW Patrol and Thomas themed baskets this year. We spent the holiday at my in-laws house so I packed everything in a giant TJ Maxx reusable bag and away we went.

All of the items purchased were either from Walmart or Wegmans.  The actual Easter baskets themselves were mine from when I was a kid.

For the baby's Thomas basket, I collected the following items:

Wegmans

• Easter bunny plate
• 1 bag of paper grass

Walmart

• Thomas and James bath squirter toys
• Thomas rolling train (plastic)
• Vtech Baby Line Beep & Go Baby Keys
• Container of bubbles
• 2 packages of yogurt bites
• Biscuit's Pet & Play Easter book

I also got the baby a chocolate train from Peterson's Candies which I will end up eating.

You can never ever EVER go wrong with Peterson's Candies.

For the toddler's PAW Patrol basket, I collected the following items:

Wegmans

• Easter egg plate
• 2 bags of paper grass (bigger basket)
• Duck & Goose Here Comes the Easter Bunny book

Walmart

• Giant PAW Patrol coloring book
• 8 pack of Ultra-Clean Washable Crayons
• PAW Patrol Big Action Pup, Chase
• PAW Patrol Rolling Marshall Car
• PAW Patrol T-shirt
• Chapstick Original

I also purchased a chocolate bulldog (like the one in PAW Patrol of course) from Peterson's Candies.

Yummy chocolate bulldog made from the most delicious and creamy chocolate.

The night before Easter, I like to hide these little tin foil eggs all around the house in places where the toddler can easily find them.  

I happen to have a few leftover tin foil eggs this year, so I put those and little piles of jelly beans in larger plastic eggs that we USUALLY hide around the yard - the kids go out after breakfast to collect them.  It was pretty cold out this year so I hid them in the boys rooms when they weren't looking after we got home.  They got a kick thinking the EB (Easter Bunny) had visited them both at grandma and pop pop's house AND at our house!

The EB hid the baby's Easter basket in his highchair at my in-laws house, and the toddlers was up high on one of his favorite things there - the big clock!

I think I may have gone slightly overboard on the basket goodies this year, but it's just so fun planning it and seeing how much fun they have with all of the Easter day activities.  

What are your Easter basket ideas or Easter activities that you like to do with your families!

Beautifully sunny day, time to go outside with the fam!

Katie

Hello, Spring!

Messy Messy Fail - What a rough week back to school this was - I cannot describe in words how hard it is to get students refocused after a week off when they just had another week break four weeks prior.  Had to give out many reminders about when lessons were, how to rosin their bow again, what the purpose of their bow was, etc.  My phrase for the week was "Be engaged during rehearsals people".

Tidy Victory - I've got my new glasses!!!!  Love them - Anne Klein AK5027 in Mocha Horn.

I am currently out of town at an intensive weekend retreat for the local youth symphony that I serve on the board of directors for, so while I wait for the little musicians to start arriving, I'd like to share a weekend wrap up of things that have been on my mind this week with you all!

<One> Spring is Here - there are little crocuses opening up and daffodils ready to pop all over the place!  That's the sure sign around here that spring has sprung.  I'm watching my tulips that I replanted on the side of the garage carefully so I can dump my special deer/rabbit deterant on them - maybe I'll get to them quick enough this year!

<Two> Concert Time - The school musicals are pretty much finished, but now comes the spring concert season.  I already had my middle school concert before break (who performed FABULOUSLY I might add).  Next week I have my beginners concert which is one of my favorites.  All of my string students who I started last October get to pick a 1-2 line solo from our method book (we use Essential Elements) and they all play Twinkle and Bile 'Dem Cabbage Down together.  For some students this is their first time ever on stage, so this can be a particularly harrowing event for them.  But they always do a great job, and it's not necessarily about how well they play but that they are able to get up on stage, perform and complete the task at hand.

<Three> Spring Cleaning/Haul Out - As I have previously mentioned we do have a house cleaner who pays her magical visit every other week, but I like to do some extra spring cleaning tasks myself.  These include washing curtains (or hanging new ones in our bedroom!), vacuuming mattresses (and possibly purchasing a new one for us woo hoo!) and washing the couch cushions.  The insides of the window casings need a good cleaning out from all the winter grossness that has accumulated in them, and I know a few screens will need to be replaced from little toddler fingers poking through them.

<Four> Summer Concert Tickets - We always like to hit up a Dave Matthews Band show over the summer, and we just purchased some tickets for their Pittsburgh show at the beginning of June.  We definitely prefer the outdoor concerts whenever we can swing it.

<Five> Closet Switch Out - I'm almost nearly sure it's safe to put the big, puffy winter jackets, hats, gloves, snow pants and boots away and get out the galoshes, rain coats and baseball caps again.  To help save on closet space we rotate these two seasons of outdoor wear.  My most favorite nice weather footwear?  My Sperrys that I purchased last year - I am now a believer.  

Is anyone else ready for some nice weather?  Enjoy your weekend!

Katie

5 Albums I Will Never Throw Away

Messy Messy Fail - Who knew that caramels could burn  so quickly?  I was melting four cubes of caramel in a coffee cup to drizzle over my beautiful turtle pie when all of a sudden smoke is BILLOWING out of the microwave oven.  Whoops!  Note to self - next time try only 15 seconds at a time.

Tidy Victory - With a little quick thinking and a jar of leftover caramel sauce in the fridge, the pie turned out beautifully.  It did not quite match the pictures in the post where I found the recipe - I thought it would turn out a little LIGHTER and FLUFFIER - but it was still good.  Kudos to the pecan crust, yum!

As I am sure many of you out there can relate, we are always trying to get rid of stuff.  Especially all of the stuff that has accumulated in our basement.  Especially the giant box of CD's (albums!) that we still have collected since those shiny disks first came out in the late 80's.  I still remember my first CD - I believe my dad (of course he was into all of the latest technology) brought me home the first NKOTB album from BJ's Wholesale Club.  I was astonished at this thing, no more listening to the radio with my tape ready to record when my favorite songs came on!

I've been slowly going through my giant box of CD's (albums!) and trying to downsize by copying disks with single songs that I really like to my hard drive so I can toss the disk.  However, there are some CD's (albums!) that I just absolutely CANNOT throw away.  I've made reference to some of these in Facebook posts, but now I'd like to share my official list.  The following is a list of 5 CD's (albums!) that I will NEVER throw away:

<One> Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album) - the single "Say It Ain't So" was my mid to late high school years anthem.  Pure rock and roll that still tugs at my heart whenever I hear it.

<Two> Radiohead - The Bends - I had one of those 12-disk CD players in my bedroom and this album never left the mix.  I really can't explain why I love this album so much, all I know is I can listen to the whole thing without skipping a track.  Perhaps it had something to do with the high school looking-for-my-corner-of-the-sky years, but this album just really spoke to me and still does to this day.

<Three> Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - received this for Christmas one year and it stayed it my Discman (whoa remember that contraption?) for several months.  I was so struck by the soul and emotion that dripped from her voice.  I just recently listened to the single "Zion" from the album about when she had her son and I cried.  What a beautiful song.

<Four> Madonna - Ray of Light - my dance album!  When I needed to lighten the mood, Madonna made it happen for me with this record.

<Five> Jay-Z - Vol. 2 Hard Knock Life - I did not typically listen to rap music, however, this was not typical rap music.  I loved the loops and samples he used (I thought using the music from Annie was pure genius) and his lyrics were so honest.  I had a friend from the youth symphony I was a member of in high school, two peas in a pod we were, and we would drive around BLASTING this album.  Boy did we think we were cool.

These are certainly not THE ONLY albums that will remain in my house - Ten by Pearl Jam, Siamese Dream by Smashing Pumpkins, Aenima by Tool, Dookie by Greenday and Jagged Little Pill by Alanis Morissette will never see the inside of a garbage bag as long as I'm living.  These albums are so solidly connected to moments and times in my life - that's the power of music.

Nothing else can bring back memories and emotions the way music can.  I often listen to our local classical radio station and the wave of happiness that comes over me when I hear a piece I had played previously in youth symphony or in college at music school is so unbelievably strong.  There is just nothing like the joy and emotion that music can bring, no matter the genre or style.

What are your CD's you cannot let go of?

Katie