Etsy, here I come.....

Not really. I'm not really up for that yet. But I have been working on some things lately. For a year now, I've been tossing ideas around in my head about things that I'd like to make and sell. I would like to use my almost art degree for something. I say almost because I haven't fully completed the degree (two classes left). And I love making stuff for Jack and Riley, like wall art and shirts and bows. Stuff like that. And of course the next thought that comes to mind after I make something for one of them is, "hey, I could sell that."

Enter my niece, Adriana's, 2nd birthday. My mom wanted to make her a step stool because back when Jack was about that age her and my dad made him a really cool surfboard step stool with waves and all. She wanted to make Adriana a flower one. So, she came up with the idea, my dad built it, and I painted it. Now I totally think we should make more and sell them. What do you think we could get? I say at least $40. Here's a not so great picture of how it turned out. Notice the base is leaves. I thought that was cool.



I'm designing a bed for Jack right now, and whenever it gets built, I will share pictures because it's gonna be, as Jack says, "totally awesome," with secret compartments and all.

Dear Ryan,

Here is a picture of Lauren with her new military haircut as requested. Sorry it's not that great because that overhead lighting was a killer, and this was the best one out of the few that we took.

Our sister, Lauren, got accepted into the military as an officer a little while back and has now been in Officer Training School for about six weeks. They kept complaining about her hair saying it was almost too long so she went ahead and just got it cut really short so they wouldn't keep hastling her about it. She has about six weeks left until she graduates and then goes down for more training in Panama City. Not a bad assignment, if I say so myself. Here's another picture that I think is pretty cool. (My mom's not too fond of it. "I don't want to see my girl holding a gun!") Her first tough military picture:

Dear Ryan,

Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden (weirdest video, check it out on youtube)
Crazy by Aerosmith
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm by Crash Test Dummies
I'd Do Anything for Love by Meatloaf (longest video ever)

These are just a few songs off the top of my head that we used to listen to as kids. Remember the song "Molly" by Sponge? We would sing this at the top of our lungs and get right in Lauren's face, singing "don't ask why!" My brother and I tended to always pester Lauren.

Like the time she broke a window and our parents weren't home yet. We turned the stereo on full blast playing the song "Deep Deep Trouble" by the Simpsons. It was quite funny at the time.

We also used to bring the radio outside and dance to music in our backyard. We got especially excited for some reason when "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Bonnie Tyler came on. When she said "turn around" my sister and I would of course turn around in circles. We thought we were real cool doing that. Disclaimer: we were very young at the time. Ahh, nostalgia....

Dear Ryan,

This is for you.

My brother, Ryan, apparently feels that I do not post on my blog often enough. (My mom feels the same way: "Nobody's gonna read your blog anymore if you don't put something new up there.") But this is for Ryan. Please join me regularly for my Dear Ryan segment. They will be sweet and short.

Today I introduce you to something Ryan introduced me to: Sporcle.com. For those of you who haven't been here, you can waste so much time on this site, but it's so much fun. It's all about lists and your memory, technically "mentally stimulating diversions." Like seeing if you can name all 50 states or if you can name 30 corporations by looking at their logos. There's also the misheard lyrics game, that's a favorite. It's a great thing to do online if you have nothing else to do, or are avoiding doing something else.

Germ Freaktacular

We drove up to Nashville today and stopped and ate at McDonald's on the way. I try my hardest to avoid taking my newly potty trained child anywhere near a public restroom. He's a boy so it's a little easier on me, being the germ freak I am, than it would be if he was a girl and had to actually sit on the toilet. I'll probably end up holding Riley over the toilet as she goes IF I ever get stuck in a situation like this again while she's potty training/trained and still small (a.k.a. unaware of the nastiness that sits on ANY surface in a public restroom).

Anyways, Jack announces in the middle of our meal that he has to go potty. I run through the options in my head: a) pack up our lunch quickly and take both the kids outside, put Riley in the car, and let Jack pee in the parking lot as I hide him so no one can see that I'm letting my child go right where people walk. (this really was my first thought) and then there was the only other thing I could think of b) leave our lunch there, take both my children and my giant diaper bag into a McDonald's restroom, and try to get Jack to pee without touching any surface while holding Riley and my giant bag and protecting them from the germs that lie within those bathroom walls.

Regretfully, I chose option b. We get into the bathroom unscathed. Then I see that these toilets are the giant, tall kind that are close to impossible not to touch, even as an adult. The door is one of those that you have to hold open or it will close on you. So here I am, holding Riley in one arm, my giant bag on the other, propping the door open with my knee, reaching out for Jack with my free hand so he doesn't get too close to the toilet, while shouting warning after warning about what not to touch.

"Jack, DO NOT touch that toilet. DO NOT touch ANYTHING. Just pull your pants down, stand on your tippy toes, and use the bathroom really fast. OK?!"

Everything's going pretty smoothly. He finishes going and I've already decided that I'm not gonna be able to squeeze into the stall to flush the toilet with my foot, and there's NO WAY I'm letting him flush it, so it's not getting flushed. I think he's about to pull his pants up and walk back out when the unthinkable happens.

He touches the toilet seat...............with his bare hand. I freaked out; I totally did. I'm glad no one else was in the bathroom although I'm pretty sure the lady that was about to clean it was standing outside the doorway listening the whole time.

"Jack! I can't believe you just did that! That is disgusting! UGHHHHH! Gross! Don't touch anything! I have to wash your hand! DO NOT pull up your pants! DO NOT touch anything! I HAVE to wash your hand first! I'm about to throw up! That was so disgusting!"

I put Riley down, hoping she won't touch anything. Then I instruct Jack to hold his hands out a certain way so as not to touch the dirty counter top, but what does it matter now. He touched a public toilet seat. I wash his hands thoroughly, and then notice Riley's hands headed for said countertop.

"Riley! Stop! NO! Do not touch that! COME HERE!"

Riley starts crying, but miraculously does not fall to the floor as she usually does in her drama queen style. She must have a developing germ sense like her mother. I finish washing Jack's hands and turn the water off with my elbow (no papertowels, only those dirty dryer things). I pick up my girl and lead my family safely out of the condemned place with my foot opening the door. That's where I was greeted by the cleaning lady, waiting to get in. I give a quick smile and quickly walk back to our table.

Next time, he's going in the parking lot. By the way, if you ever see a puddle on the ground, don't automatically assume it's water........

"She's Just Being Riley!"

Setting: I was about to eat some food I'd just heated up and Riley walks towards me with her mouth open. No words, just an open mouth.
Me: Riley, it's very hot.
(I feed her a small piece that I've blown off.)
Riley: I want more "very hot."

Last night at supper:
Jack: I want some tea.
Riley: I want some tea party.

Oh, and one for Jack:
Last night I had a cupcake that was actually for the kids, but I split it into thirds so I could eat some. I gave Jack his piece of the cupcake and he responded, "Thanks Mom. That is so nice for you to share."

Grace

I haven't really had much to post about recently, but then I remembered a book that I read a couple of weeks ago. After reading the first Twilight book I got on this reading kick, but didn't have access to the second one yet. Well, I ended up reading like three books in three days. They were good, but not books that I'd normally read that fast. I think the reason I read them so fast was because I really wanted to read New Moon (Twilight, #2) and didn't want to be in the middle of a book when I finally got hold of a copy of the twilight book. Sad, but true.



So, I'm here to review the best of the three that I sped through. It was Richard Paul Evans' new book, Grace. My mom is a big fan of this author, and she's gotten me to read all of his books. They're all pretty short, but very, very good, and once you read one, it's hard to stop. This one was about this 16 year old girl, Grace, who runs away from an abusive home. The main character, whose name I've forgotten, runs into her and offers to let her stay in a little clubhouse that him and his brother built. Anyways, it's a really sweet book. It's sad, but also inspirational in a way. Grace has been through so much and still has such an upbeat attitude and is just a cool girl all around.

Let me note one thing I noticed though in all 7 of the books I've read in the past few weeks. Yes, seven! That's crazy! Okay, we'll count the Twilight series as one book because it was written by the same person. So four books. Three out of the four were written by women. In all of the books written by women, the guys were hot and the girl's were kind of average-looking. In the one written by the man, the girl was hot and the boy was dorky. Go figure. I definitely think there's something there. I mean, women like writing/reading about hot guys and men like writing/reading about hot girls. I need further evidence to back up my theory, but I'm sure it's true.

If you want a synopsis or other information about this book go here. I just found this while looking for an image.