6 Ways to Reuse Your Leftover Hair

Messy Messy Fail - We purchased a new entertainment center to go underneath our TV that we mounted on the wall on a hinge.  All of the DVD's were reorganized on the shelves underneath.  Low and behold, aren't 4 of the most popular DVD's missing - The Land Before Time, a Thomas DVD, the Little Einsteins and the old school Disneyland Mickey Parade.  The boys will not confess nor show me where they went, so the search continues.  Until then, the Peppa Pig DVD is on our hot list.  I feel as though I have really begun to master that British accent.......

Tidy Victory - I attended the UPKer's field trip to a local farm this morning - what a treat!  We got to pet some horses, check out some pigs & cows, even saw some baby goats that had been born only 6 hours before we got there!  So cute - be careful if you ever see a baby goat, you'll want to take one home!

Why It's Good To Take A Blogging Break

Messy Messy Fail - When we dug up most of the landscaping in the front of the house to preserve and replant after the front yard revamp (will be posting!), we got everything back in the ground EXCEPT one last dwarf Alberta spruce.  It's currently leaning with it's giant rootball on the side of the snowmobile trailer.  My husband and I cannot decide on a place to plant it, the snow is really going to fly soon and I HATE being wasteful!  I may just drop it in the center of the front yard to plant it.  Except my husband might kill me.

Tidy Victory - I made a goal for myself to put one piece of clothing from my closet into the donate pile EVERY DAY and I am pretty sure I've been sticking to it.  I don't know why I have such a hard time getting rid of old clothes - I think it's guilt from throwing perfectly good items away.  They are just old, out of style and need to be replaced.  Replacing is the key word ;)

5 Reasons Why I Am Excited to Start Teaching Again

Messy Messy Mess - I should have known when I left my computer bag next to the dog water dish that someone was bound to dump the water on the floor, hence soaking my computer bag.  Good thing the computer was charging on the end table!

Tidy Victory - In my new middle school classroom, I finally have four (cue gasp!) large bulletin boards to decorate.  I've NEVER had bulletin boards to decorate - I had to hang posters with duct tape on painted cinder block walls, which usually only stayed up for a few months.  So I made a trip to Joann's and found some cute fabrics on clearance, grabbed some borders at Office Depot and a staplin' I went.  I am so excited to hang up some fun pictures and my sticker charts to help the kids with their practicing this year!

Oh Hey, Friday - Patriotic Weekend

Messy Messy Fail - We had a few friends over for the 4th of July - lots of kids running around, good drinks and good food.  I had some minnie pizza bagels in the toaster oven that I wanted to serve as part of our lunch (appetizers, just like Mermaids!).  I checked on them after about 20 minutes and they were not quite ready yet, so I left them in for a few more.  About 25 minutes and a tasty drink later, I realized I had forgotten about them and went hauling inside.  Too late - quite well done, hockey puck-like is how I would describe them.  To my disbelief our gracious guests still ate them - too kind.

Tidy Victory - Some good friends and I always go strawberry picking in June when the berries are ripe.  U-pick is so much less expensive and gives the ladies a great opportunity to spend some time together.  Our first patch that we always go to ended up having a poor crop due to the surplus of rain and lack of heat, so we went to a new patch we had heard about in Pennsylvania (which is only a few minutes away).  The berries were MUCH better - we were able to pick 6 quarts in less than two hours.  We also ended up finding an amazing New York style pizzeria which served cannolis to order for lunch.  Double score!

I really love the 4th of July, although not as much as Christmas.  The picnics, the fireworks, the family time just makes for a terrific start to the summer.  We have a few traditions including going to a local parade in the morning, picnic for lunch and dinner, and watching fireworks with a bowl of popcorn from the bed of our pickup the end the day.  A few things to recap our Independence Day:

<One> Patriotic Jams - I ordered buy three get one free from a co-worker who sells them.  I purchased these especially for the 4th - how festive!

<Two> Deck Flower Baskets and Planters - I finally finished them!  The rain has held off long enough and having people over made me hustle and get them done.  Definitely cost less than buying three from the greenhouse.   I will be posting on what and how I put them together later.

<Three> Opera - My husband works at Chautauqua Institution in the opera house during the summer.  Opera is one of my favorite forms of the creative arts - the costumes, the sets, and of course the MUSIC!  This summer, the productions include Macbeth (which I had no idea was an opera!) and Eugene Onegin.  I always try to attend the performances when I can.

<Four> Strawberries - So as I said above, I was able to pick 6 quarts of strawberries when I initially went out.  The berries were certainly not as good as previous years, but definitely good enough for making freezer jam (which is my primary use of the berries).  When there have been better crops, I've had enough berries for jam and strawberry shortcake, strawberry ice cream and strawberry rhubarb pie.  This year, not so much.  But that's okay, I'll pick up some extra strawberries at my happy place (Wegmans).

<Five> Polka Dot Wine Glass - This literally just happened - I had a nice glass of a white house wine on the floor next to the couch where I'm typing.  Of course there are fireworks going off in our neighborhood the day after the 4th of July, the dog goes berserk and breaks my amazing Marquis by Waterford Polka Dot wine glass.  Quick search on the Internet takes me to replacements.com and low and behold, there is my broken glass.  I'll let you know how this works out.

I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July weekends with their families like I did!  I hope to post about my fun red, white & blue dessert that I made within the next few days.  In the meantime, have a great start to your summer and week!

Randomness on the First Day of Spring

Messy Messy Fail - The poor baby follows the toddler around and plays with his toddler toys.  Chews on puzzle pieces, throws Mega Blocks, pushes around Hot Wheels.  As the toddler was getting older, we packed away his baby toys in tubs in the basement but then forgot to get them back out for the baby.  Whoops.  Maybe playing with toys for older children will make him more advanced.

Tidy Victory - Did you know that if you call the credit card companies and catalog/magazines you receive junk mail from, they'll take you off the mailing list and STOP SENDING IT?!?!?!  I'm insane about recycling - I think it drives my husband crazy - I'm always gathering piles of paper, plastic, glass and metal to put in the recycling containers we have in the garage.  I even save my yogurt containers from school, rinse them out and bring them home to recycle.  So getting less junk mail = smaller paper recycling pile = happy husband.

In contrast to my last long post filled with pictures and details, I'd like to post a short list of randomness that I have been thinking about today on this first day of Spring.  I thought this day would never come.  Not that I didn't enjoy all of our winter snowmobiling and such, but it really was a cold one.  My school district had one snow day and three cold days, as in the wind chill was at least 15 below zero and not safe for kids to be walking to school.  Having this many days off due to inclement weather NEVER happens in my district, so that says something about how brutal our winter was.

<One>  Melting - We have had several days of temperatures above 40 degrees, which means that the 4+ feet of snow we had has turned everything into a lake/pond/mud.  Winter boots have been exchanged for galoshes.  Melting snow means finding interesting things around that have been lost in the snow and presumed gone forever.  Until now.  Like the blue pom-pom that came off of my husband's hat when he was putting up Christmas lights.  We meet again pom-pom!  Now I just have to figure out how to sew it back on.  Located directly underneath the rhododendron bush in our front yard.

<Two>  Musicals - If your local districts are anything like ours, this is prime time for musical season.  If  you are looking for some inexpensive entertainment that supports your local schools, try looking in the paper or at the district websites to see when their musicals are scheduled for.  Chances are you will be highly entertained and and impressed to see what some talented teenagers are up to these days.  My district is performing Bye Bye Birdie, and I've got my ticket and babysitter lined up for Saturday night!

<Three>  Gardening - I let out a shriek of excitement when I happened to see my daffodils already starting to poke out of the dirt.  I know it is still a ways off, but I'm so excited to see what comes up this year.  I planted a TON of bulbs & tubers last fall - peonies, poppies, some sort of tree from Nana Patti and the Lord only knows what else - and it's so fun to watch little sprouts come up and try to figure out what made it and what didn't.  We had a large holly bush in front of our house that we lost last fall (moment of silence), not sure what happened, but it needs to be ripped out and replaced.  What should we put in place of it?

Skeletal holly bush

<Four>  Party Planning - The baby is turning one and we love to plan a big first birthday.  Our theme is going to be Mickey on the farm with a picnic type menu and lots of farm goodies.  To save some money I made the invitations myself but am having a cute birthday made from an Etsy shop.  I will not be going too overboard, but I like to have some cute centerpieces and of COURSE a cute cake (that I will not be making, too much pressure).  I'll be taking pictures throughout the process and posting about it after B-day has been completed.

<Five> Dog Tag - The dog's new FREE (only paid for shipping) tag from Shutterfly arrived in the mail a few days ago and I figured out how to put it on her collar today (needle-nose plyers).  I think she really likes it and I really like Shutterfly!

Her name is Sadie, not Woof, her name and our phone number is on the other side.

Thanks for reading my randomness today and enjoy your weekend everyone!



Katie