So worth the 99 cents.

How fun is this?

I discovered the Shake It Photo app yesterday (thanks Carissa!) and LOVE it.


It gives pictures this Polaroid-y look.


I always wanted a Polaroid camera growing up.


I love how you have to shake the phone to get the picture to "develop".


Fun.
Let me apologize in advance for all of the pictures like this you will be seeing in the future....

Leftovers.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a fan of leftovers?

I try to like them, I really do. I save things after dinner with the real intent on eating them the next day, but it usually just doesn't happen.

{With a notable exception: my mom's twice-baked potatoes after Thanksgiving and Easter. If I don't have enough to eat them for at least two days after the holiday I feel very slighted.}

Here's an entirely different category of leftovers that I do love, however.


I made a pillow today from some of Avery's quilt leftovers. I ran out of stuffing so it's not quite as full as it will be tomorrow after I run to Joanne's (with my 40% off coupon), but I do like it.

And don't you just love that Anna Maria Horner fabric on the back? It's one of my favorites. I love her fabric.

Oh, and did I ever mention the time that I spoke to Anna Maria herself on the phone and made a total fool of myself?

No? I didn't?

Good.

--------------------

{Sorry if you're sick of seeing the quilt fabric. I have a few more leftovers that I'm wondering what to do with. You may have to suffer through it once or twice more....)

Faking It.

From what I hear, fall has arrived.

Technically, anyway.

Around here, though, it has been nothing but H - O - T. I've run my air conditioner more the last two weeks than all of summer combined!

So today the house was a cool, artificial, 74 degrees, my Glade apple spice candle was burning, and the smell of pumpkin bread filled the house.


I love it when my kids want to bake. (Without help.)


I think the only question he asked was if vegetable oil came from vegetables, kind of like vegetable juice. (I said: yes?)

He didn't even need help with the eggs.


He did get a little unsolicited help about mid-way through the process, however.


He is such a good brother. He asked her if she wanted to stir.



I think it's supposed to cool off here a bit this week, so maybe we won't have to fake our way through fall anymore.


But if we have to fake it for a bit longer, that's OK too.

The Thing About Crazy...

...is you never know when it's going to strike.

One minute you may be out in the backyard, chewing your bone and barking at birds....

...and the next you're tearing around the backyard like a crazy dog, running laps and threatening to knock down anything or anyone in your path.

It just hits you.

And the other thing about crazy...


...it can be contagious.

The Shred vs. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

I started Jillian Michaels' "30 Day Shred" DVD recently.
(Do you Shred?)

I've just started.

And I'm pretty sure she tried to kill me the other day.
I was sore the next day. But it was a good sore.

I am actively trying to avoid muffins in all forms: the edible kind and the hangs-over-jeans kind.

So of course, logically, I went looking at Williams-Sonoma's website recently.
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. Are those not the cutest things ever?

They probably taste horribly, right? Sure.

And...while we're on the subject of the cutest things ever....


If I thought I could bake this cake and get it out of the pan perfectly without sticking I would be all over this.

And finally....


Robot cookies. And cute little fashion girls. (Or is that sunglasses-wearing cookie the grumpy old lady from Hallmark cards? I'm not sure. Either way these are cute.)

And now that I have used the word 'cute' three times in this post it is officially time to retire.

And rather than look at the Williams-Sonoma website again I will go look at the DVD case for the Shred and chant to myself that Jillian Michaels does not eat Pumpkin Whoopie pies from Williams-Sonoma.

Wonky.

You ever have those days where you just feel...off? Like you can't ever quite get it together?
(Whatever 'it' is.)

I've had a few of those lately.

I think a lack of sleep may have something to do with it:
Avery's a little sick and was up a lot last night. (And she coughed so much she threw up on me. Nice.)

Riley has had pink eye. (See photo above, and ten points if you can guess the eye.)

And every night - for the last week, at least - Lucy trees a raccoon up in one of our trees around 2am and barks like crazy until I lock her up somewhere.
(Raccoons?! Apparently I only *thought* I lived in the suburbs.)

So until the eyes are no longer pink and the nights are 8 hours long again, I think I may have that wonky feeling for a bit longer. So if the blog suffers, you'll know why.

And does anyone know how to get rid of raccoons?

The New Girl in Town.

So my dear friend of 20+ years, Francesca (formerly of Three Bay B Chicks), has done it again.

She (along with some other great ladies) has gone and created a media group, Moxie Media. This media group is unique, in that it's comprised solely of women bloggers.

And to celebrate its birth, "Moxie Mona" is making the trek, beginning today, across country.
Mona is traveling the U.S. to experience the life of some women bloggers, and where they live.

Hosted by:
Better in Bulk
Mama’s Losin’ It
Mayhem & Moxie
Scary Mommy
& 7 Clown Circus

So, naturally, Fran thought that Mona needed to see a little about my glamorous life here in sunny CA.

I thought about some of the famed scenery here in the Bay Area I could show Mona. You know, the Golden Gate, the Redwoods, the cable cars, Napa Valley, the Pacific Ocean....

But then I thought...nah.

I decided to show Mona a side of California never seen before. My exciting day-to-day life.

First, however, a little business. Here's the way Mona looked when she arrived.


Hmmm. She's cute, I suppose. Definitely has a great figure. I just wasn't sure she was dressed appropriately for life in the carpool lane. (I'm a pretty conservative girl, you know.)


Much better. Now she's dressed for playdates. Mona was thrilled to get a little glimpse of my daily life. Here's a little bit of what she saw.

How about the view from my car of the elementary school parking lot?


Or the view from my car of Riley's piano teacher's driveway?


(Sorry, Mona. If you're going to hang out with me you're going to be spending some quality time in the car.)

And the excitement doesn't stop once we get home.
There's homework to help with.


And baths to supervise.


And then there was soccer and dinner and soccer and bedtime and drums and soccer and laundry and cleaning and groceries and soccer and dishes. Oh, and soccer.

It was a busy week. I think Mona had fun and realized life in California truly is glamorous.

(Wow, and I had no idea this was happening. How embarrassing for Mona...checking Facebook while the kids are bathing. That never happens on my watch, I assure you.)



Go visit Fran's new site, Mayhem and Moxie, along with the other great sites listed above, to follow Mona across country. I'm sure she'll have a lot of interesting stories to tell....

Polka Dot Problem.

{Alternately titled: If You Have Seen My Self-Control, Please Send it Home}

I'm going to admit it. I have a hard time resisting polka dots.

Bowls.


Fabric.
(poor lighting, but pretty fabric.)


Avery's raincoat.
(a hand-me-down from a friend. love it.)


And {hangs head in shame} I ordered the polka dot scarf.
In purple.
Love.


Of course no cute, green, polka dot, hand-me-down raincoat would be complete without rain boots.

So now you know my problem. I hope you still like me.

(I had a coupon code - does that make it any better??)

I Need a Napkin.

I'm not really a big fan of musicals, but this had me laughing.

I love the looks on the people's faces.

And here they just thought they were getting a hot dog on a stick!

Consequences.

There are definitely consequences to having two brothers.


It's possible, if your mom hasn't done laundry for two days, you may end up in a pair of your older brother's Star Wars undies.

{Hmmm. Perhaps these consequences arise not from having two brothers, but from a mom that doesn't keep up with the laundry. Something to ponder....}

Done.

And it only took me three months.

{Only.}

I began the quilt back in June. And I finished yesterday. Well, I finished my part. I'm sending it out for quilting and binding. I'm not *that* brave.

And I do like how it looks on my bed.


But it's not for me.

It's for the big girl bed in her future.


She gave it the seal of approval.


I can't wait to see her tucked in all warm and snuggly in her quilt.

{And the boys want one, so maybe I'll be done with theirs by Christmas.}


****

By the way, thank you for all of the kind thoughts about Colin the other day. His cardiologist called Friday and he is fine. I've warned him that if he gives us a scare like that again, he's in time-out for life. He's sufficiently scared.

Grab a Pencil...

...and your grocery list.

You will want to write this down, trust me.

I got this recipe from my aunt Cheri. 
Cheri is a fantastic cook who can come up with recipes on the fly 
that turn out amazingly.

I want to be her when I grow up.

This weekend she and my uncle were visiting 
and she made the most amazing concoction. 
She didn't have a name for it, but I quickly dubbed it 
Bruschetta in a Bowl. 
Because that's exactly what it tastes like.

So if you are a fan of bruschetta, you'll love this.

First, grab your prettiest bowl, 
some cherry tomatoes, and basil. 
How much tomato and basil depends on 
how much you like, I suppose. 
I had - maybe - two cups of tomatoes and a cup of fresh basil.


Cut the tomatoes in half and chop the basil, 
and put it in the bowl. 
Add a bag of your favorite croutons.


In a separate bowl measure approximately 
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup olive oil. 
(You can use a bit less vinegar if you're not as big of a balsamic nut as I am.) 
Add salt and pepper to taste, 
and a clove or two of minced garlic. 
Whisk it all together...


...then pour over the croutons, tomatoes, and basil.

Finally, add some grated parmesan to the top, 
and stir it all together.

Oh, my.

After a couple of hours, 
the croutons will be deliciously soggy-ish 
with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 
And you will want to dive into those croutons, 
eat the whole thing, and lick the bowl clean.


Don't ask me how I know that.

Company.

There are a lot of things that I had to say goodbye to once I became a mother. (Sleep, a clean house, my old jean size...sigh....)

And alone time.

I am very rarely alone. Showers? Not really. Someone usually needs something. Bathroom? Avery likes to come and chat with me. Getting dressed in the morning? I have to herd them out like cattle.

But I'm not complaining. (Not right this second, anyway.)

Today Avery was asleep and the boys were playing inside. I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous afternoon and bring the laptop and my hair clips outside and do some quiet work.

Dave Matthews channel on Pandora, craft supplies, and a Diet Coke and I was good to go.


I was alone for about ten minutes before company came.


He came outside quietly with his book.

And he sat with me for an hour and read his ENTIRE book. From start to finish.


He was quiet...I was quiet...Dave was singing...and we just sat together.

Sometimes being alone is overrated.

Nothing to Wear.

It seems lately I've had a lot of those days where I look in my closet and stare for minutes on end, hoping for something cute and slimming to magically appear.

It doesn't. Drat.

I spent some time dreaming tonight, and came across all of these.

(Shirt from J. Crew, jeans from Gap, boots from Anthropologie, scarf from Boden.)

I won't buy them - darn these kids needing to eat! - but I feel I need to tell you how long I've needed and been searching for the perfect brown boots. Maybe three years?

Ohhh, how I'm trying to forget that fact.

{{Sorry in Advance}}

If you have a weak stomach, are easily grossed out, or are currently eating anything, you may want to read no further.

So...consider yourself warned.

Still reading?

OK.

I bought the boys something yesterday that has fascinated them beyond anything I could have imagined.

And it grosses me out (that sounds so Valley Girl) beyond anything I could have imagined.


Ewww.

OK, so I guess it's a little interesting. I knew the boys would enjoy it, but I really had no idea they would spend at least two hours fly-hunting yesterday. And I have answered more questions regarding fly traps than I thought humanly possible.

So, yesterday I learned two things: one, that carnivorous plants are extremely enjoyable to six and seven year old boys. And, two, that partially-digested flies in aforementioned carnivorous plants can come very close to inducing the gag reflex in thirtysomething mommies.

The End.

Sickie.

My poor Colin has had a rough two weeks.

It started a couple of Fridays ago with a visit to the ER. He was complaining of some heart-related issues, and the doctors think everything is fine, but it has been a bit scary.

Then Tuesday afternoon, we were waiting for Riley to come out of his classroom and Colin was attacked - totally unprovoked - by a wasp. A sting on the arm and one on the forehead = big ouch.

Yesterday, Wednesday, he had to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours. Not painful, just uncomfortable. Lots of complaining.

Then last night - Wednesday again - the 102 degree fever made its debut. The diagnosis this morning: raging ear infection.

Poor guy.


He spent the day in jammies watching cartoons and looking pretty puny.

This evening - finally - his mood turned a bit and he's doing better. He was even playing outside for awhile.


I was happy to see that smile again.

He proclaimed to me today that fevers are bad. I totally agree.
But antibiotics are good.

Pumpkins on Parade.

Today was a fairly warm September 1st. I actually (briefly) considered turning on the air conditioner.

But I didn't.

Instead, I did what I do every September 1st. I dug the boxes of fall decorations out of the garage and tried to pretend it was 68 degrees outside.


I made these little pumpkins last week. I think I'm going to make a few more and line them up on my mantel.


And September 1st also happens to be the day that Pumpkin Spice lattes return to Starbucks! Hello, old friend.

But since I couldn't make it to Starbucks today....


It's not the same, but it'll do in a pinch.

Welcome, September!