Works For Me Wednesday - I’m in love with a robot!

 

  My new best friend is my Roomba Robot Floor Cleaner! I got this baby for Christmas, thanks to some very generous preschool parents of mine, and I never thought I would love it so much! I also never imagined I would love a robot, but hey, he does what I haven’t been able to get my husband or kids to do in 20+ years! Is that so horrible? Just when I’ve thought my room looked reasonably clean (as in “I don’t SEE any dirt!”), I run this thing for 30 minutes and here’s what comes out - gross, huh? Dog hair, human hair, threads, crumbs, coins, scraps the dog spit out, you name it! Every disgusting thing that you can’t see hidden in your carpets gets pulled up by the Roomba! All while you are doing things you would RATHER do! Like playing on your computer! Ha! You can push START on your Roomba, leave the house, and it will run for an hour and half all on its own. You come home to cleaner carpets! It won’t go down the stairs. It has an automatic sensor that keeps it from doing so. It gets into corners, under sofas and dining room tables, under the wine rack….I just love it! Can you tell!? With a golden retreiver, the hair is a huge issue for me, and the Roomba solves it on the spot! Now all I need is the Scooba, a kitchen floor cleaner that MOPS! Pretty soon I’ll have trouble justifying my own existence to my family!
And this was a “Clean” room!! HA!

Come check out my online jewelry shop The Taffy Box  (hand stamped and hand crafted )where you’re sure to find something sweet for yourself or a friend!

 

 

…Musings on motherhood,  creativity, and the daily grind of life in this little slice of Heaven on Earth. Enjoy!

March 31 was my one year anniversary at my online shop! (See tab above) Stop by and take a peek! AND

Take a look at Rachels’ blog: Ripples In The Water  where you’ll find lots of cute things and a feature on my jewelry! Thanks Rachel!

Works For Me Wednesday - Christmas in July!

This time of year when it’s too hot to play outside and you just want a special treat, I like to bake up a  batch of warm chewy molasses cookies if only to make it feel like Christmas in July!  They disappear quickly in my house!

Recipe For MOLASSES COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup margarine, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup white sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the melted margarine, 1 cup sugar, and egg until smooth. Stir in the molasses. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger; blend into the molasses mixture. Cover, and chill dough for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Roll dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the remaining white sugar. Place cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, until tops are cracked. Cool on wire racks.

Come visit me at my online hand stamped jewelry shop: The Taffy Box!

Works For Me Wednesday - Dog Proofing the kitchen counter (again!)

As some of you may remember, my 9 month old puppy Colby had kept getting up on the kitchen counters when we weren’t looking, and was destroying everything in site, chewing it to bits. This was happening a few months ago when I wrote a post about it.  My first post about Colby HERE

  Here he is when he was cute!  Darn cute at this stage!

A great dog lover wrote and told me I should crate Colby while we were out and in bed, and that he would actually like being in his kennel.  Well, she was right, but only for a time, and then, he out grew the kennel.  It is a BIG kennel and he is a BIG dog, so what to do NOW? 

Well, quite by accident we discovered that he is terribly  afriad of helium balloons.  He won’t go near them. Our son graduated from high school two weeks ago and we bought some helium balloons for him.  Once again, Colby went running, fearing for his life!  So where are the balloons NOW?  You got it!  They are on top of the kitchen table and the kitchen counters, deflated a bit, but effective none the less.I can safely leave the mail on the counter, and the napkin holder on the kitchen table, and nothing is being destroyed while my back is turned!  Yeah!

Here he is in the kitchen when I was trying to detour him from the counter using tape.

 

 

 

 

 

 Thanks to Shannon and Rocks In My Dryer you can find lots of tips and tricks to life HERE!

See my online jewelry HERE!

Mothers day - A day of GRACE - After the fire…

Last year’s Mothers Day is one I will never forget.  My children (all teenagers now), set off for the mall to shop for mom (i.e. ME!)  It is sooooo nice when they can finally drive themselevs and they make their own money!  My husband asked me what I wanted to do for the day, after all, it is MY day.  I told him “NOTHING”!  Now, this probably frustrated the heck outa him becuase he is a doer and I am a relaxer (if that’s a word).   Ha!  Actually, I spend so much time doing that given the choice, relaxing is what I would do.  So on this beautiful May day in Virginia, sun shining, breeze blowing, bugs still hibernating, I wanted to just lay on a blanket in my yard and enjoy the day, maybe take a nap.  So that is what we did.  Just when I’d thought I’d died and gone to Heaven we heard this loud bang, then a pop, then a smack!  Again! Bang! SMACK!  I said to my husband, “who is making all that noise!  I really just wanted some peace and quiet!”  Suddenly from out of nowhere came 7 fire trucks screaming down our street, past our house just two doors down!  We looked into the sky and could see huge billowing black smoke.  Our neighbor’s two houses away house caught fire.  The heat was intense and dozens of people began running out to see what was going on.  Luckily, Les, the sinlge older man who lived there had gotten out along with his loyal companion, his black lab, and was in shock, but okay.  He had been working on his car in the garage.  It caught fire at the gas tank and then the other car did as well, all tires popping and then the explosion.  Neighbors came together for Les, collecting money and putting him up.  It’s been a year now and Les hopes to move back in the end of this month.  Construction has been going on for 7 months.  The trees are gone.  The smell still lingers, but his life was saved and a neighborhood learned what it felt like to stretch out the hand of grace to one in need.  I felt the grace of God that I have my family, and a home. 

   <—-Here’s what remained after the fire

Win Free Pair of Earrings! (Ends on Mothers Day)

     

   SORRY _ THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED - Congrats to Scrappy Designs for winning!

To win these free green and floral glass earrings with gold filled french hook wires, from my Taffy Box Shop,  all you have to do is leave a message at this post saying your favorite childhood memory. It would be wonderful if it has to do with your mom, but it doesn’t have to. If you would like a second entry into the drawing, let me know our favorite item from either of my shops - Mothers Precious Gems or The Taffy Box along with your comments. That’s it! I will pick the random winner on Mothers day, May 11th and contact her so please make sure you leave your e-mail or blog address, somewhere I can contact you. Good Luck! Shipping is free to US address only.

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Blast To The Past!

Okay ladies, so if you grew up in the 60’s, do you remember Kiddle Dolls? Those plastic perfume bottle shaped containers , with a snap on cap, with a little mini doll inside? I believe they even came scented. They had long colored hair. They were collectibles and I even still have a couple of them that my mom saved. They aren’t in pristine condition so they probably aren’t worth much, but, nevertheless, they bring back memories and sweet ones at that! Well, today I found at our local store, these little dolls inside cute little bottles! Aren’t they adorable? Too bad my baby girl would probably choke me if I got excited about them, after all, she’s 14 now! I can hear it now…”M-a-w-m!!” I’ll secretly keep them to myself and hide them away for another day, maybe for a granddaughter in 10 years. Ha ha!  I

I share them with you here so you can be tickled pink too!

Dinner is Done! (in advance)

Last night I attended a “sneakpeek” preview of a new business in town called Dream Dinners.  Maybe you’ve heard of these places where you assemble dinners for your family in a party type atmosphere and leave the mess and clean up behind!?  What a beautiful store!  15 or so of my friends and I came and donned our aprons and head scarfs to assemble a dinner entree to take home.  The best part of the evening was that it was FREE (and, well, the great wine that Renee brought!)  The concept behind this business is that you quickly put together meals in their kitchen, no mess at home, and easy prep on your busy nights when a home cooked meal is called for.  We live in a crazy metropolitan area here in metro Washington D.C.  People commute 1 - 1 1/2 hours to and from work each day.  Working women don’t have time to come home and cook.  At-home working women deserve a convenient alternative to cooking every night of the week!  I can definately see the market for this here!  Watch this video to see what it’s all about! Dream Dinners How To

Over the course of the evening we were able to taste test two of the available dishes, Country French Chicken and Peach Glazed Pork Chops.  Yum!  Both were really delicious and very healthy! In less than five minutes my dish was prepared.  I brought it home and placed it in the freezer for future use.  I’ll be relly glad to have a meal all ready and set to go on a busy night, and in a family with three teenagers, our home is always busy!  As with any convenience food, the cost is certainly higher than if you shopped and prepared everything yourself (about double for entree costs - average $25 for 6 entree servings) , but for many it is well worth the time, hassle, mess and headache saved.    Besides, you have a lof of fun and time with your friends in a relaxed, clean and organized kitchen setting.  For the nearest location to you, and to view sample menus and get all of your questions answered,  go to http://dreamdinners.com

A SEA OF SOCKS - laundry outa control

PLEASE! Someone come help me fold these socks! Better yet, let’s make a matching game for the kids on the ping pong table! I counted one day and figured out that over 200 socks come out of my dryer each and every week! Between the kids socks, my husbands and my work out socks, my husband’s work socks, the kids work socks (three have jobs now) ,

the kids soccer socks and church socks, well you get the idea! So one day I layed them all out and called the kids down to do a matching game and see who could pair their socks the fastest! This worked when they were 7 years old but now that they are 15 to 18 years old, it just aint happenin’! I told my family I do not fold socks anymore. The white ones go into one basket and the dark or colored socks go into another. (You don’t even see THOSE in these photos!) I’ve suggested they sit in front of their favorite TV show and fold just their own socks for the whole upcoming week. Nope! They still go to the laundry room every morning, sometimes in the frigid cold basement, and pull out a matching pair, which can sometimes take a while to find!, and only get that pair for that day! How did I raise kids like this? HELP!

BETTER THAN BEING CARDED! the thrill of youth

At age 44, I feel somedays like my life is just about half over. Another 45 years or so and I could expect to be gone. I don’t dwell on it, but it is a fact. I won’t be hanging around forever! Yesterday I took my son to a doctor’s appointment. He is 18 (yes he could have gone by himself), but this was a dermatologist and the office was quite a distance from where we live and he didn’t ask me to come but he did give me that look, like, ‘Okay Mom, if you want to, but please do, because I don’t have a clue where I’m going.’ A pesky case of excema, nothing too serious. Well, the doctor sitting across the desk from us turned to me and said, “And, you’re the sister?” HA! I nearly broke out into laughter! I wanted to kiss her! She was absolutely serious! She was probably about my age. She said she had a 16 year old son. I told her that, no, I didn’t “start having kids early”, and that I would be 45 this year. I think she was cringing inside. She had clearly let her weight get out of control, and I’m guessing she didn’t believe in make up, being a dermatologist and all. I’m just guessing here. At any rate, I swelled with pride wishing my husband could have been there. He got carded at the basketball stadium a few weeks ago when I was with him. The following week he took our sons to a game and DIDN’T get carded! When he came home he told me that he thinks they only card him when we’re together because they think he’s buying for his young girlfriend! Double Ha! This was better than that. This was a doctor who should know just by looking at a person what their real age is. She is an expert and so I am taking her estimations of me 100% and I’m not looking back! I am the sister.

IT’S HERE! my son’s new cd!

 Kyle, age 19

My son, Kyle’s singing group, Exit 245, has just released it’s CD Limelight! Hot off the press, you can hear snippettes of each song at this site, or full versions of a couple of songs at their myspace page http://www.myspace.com/exit245.
This group is 16 college guys, who sing a capella, with no instruments at all, but plenty of beat boxing sound effects and they bring in hundreds of fans at every concert. I’m one of their biggest fans! Mom the groupie, they call me! I’m so proud! (Can ya tell?)
Can you see his name in teeney tiny print here?…..>

WHAT’S NOT TO LOVE? puppy love!

 

This is colby. He is almost 7 months old.  He is a golden retreiver, and by all accounts, the perfect pet, albeit with his quirky doggy imperfections!  Colby came into our lives last fall after the tragic sudden loss of Sandy, our 9 year old golden.  After twelve days of absolute grief and mourning, we , uh, I, found Colby at a nearby breeder’s, and brought him home to love. 

Now let me assure you, I didn’t want to admit it at the time, but an 11 week old puppy is NOT a 9 year old dog, and a male 11 week old puppy is NOT a submissive, docile FEMALE dog!  Colby has a mind of his own.  He needs much self discipline.  Much correction.  Much help!  He is a work in progress.  I’ve spent a small fortune replacing things he has chewed to bits, such as my son’s work shoes and a lead crystal angel he pulled down off the buffet.  He seems to have a fiber shortage in his diet because he devours anything paper such as newspaper, books, folders, coupons, recipes, magazines, you name it.  He jumps up to see what he can find on the table or counter, and drags it into the living room. Actually, he doesn’t eat these so much as he chews them up into tiny pieces and leaves them all over the place for me to clean up.  In short, he is like having another child to pick up after, as if four kids and a husband weren’t enough! He never does any of this when we are watching.  I get to come home, open the door, and find his little surprises awaiting me. 

I think Colby is actually more of a social critter than any of us imagined a dog could be.  When we leave the house he just goes into a deep depression and can’t help himself.  He wants us nearby and that’s that.  A mams boy.  A high-need, emotional wreck!  What have I gotten myself into!?  Just when my kids were growing up, more independent, and my soccer mom days becoming less chaotic, I’ve taken myself back ten years.  What was I thinking?

HERE is what I was thinking ….let me tell you…

 that I really need to be needed.  I like having someone to feed and take on walks.  I really love the feel of soft fluffy fur.  I like to be licked all over in sweet abandon.  I am a dog person.  What’s not to love? ♥

Happy Easter!

Okay, so I know easter is tomorrow, but if you’re looking for a great activity to do with your kids today, look no further! Go to this web site to find out how to turn your husband’s old ugly ties into some beautiful Easter Eggs! Silk Tie Eggs