Date Night {IN}--The Yogurt Edition

So this is gonna seem totally weird but we love yogurt.  So we did a yogurt date.  If you don't like yogurt feel free to substitute the yogurt with chocolate syrup, pudding, honey ---whatever floats your boat.

What you need:

• Some time sans kiddos
• yogurt
• paper scraps with one letter A-Z written on the scrap
• hat to put scraps in
• dice

What to do:

1. On scraps of paper, write one letter and then put the scraps of paper into a hat.
2. Set the scene--we made a comfy little pallet on the floor in front of the fire, turned on the Airborne Toxic Event station on Pandora, and lit candles.
3. Get into as little clothing as you are comfortable with.
4. So to play, take turns drawing a letter out of the hat.  Let's say you pull out "T".  You have to find a part on your spouse's body that starts with that letter (tummy, tongue, toes, tibia...), put some yogurt on it, and lick it off.  Here's the catch, you can use silly names or body parts (like funny bone for F) or secret names (I could give you an example but then I'd have to kill you).  You want to think of the most difficult name possible because your spouse has to guess why you chose that location (which is why I'd pick tibia over tummy for T).  If he guesses wrong, roll the dice and he owes you that many minutes worth of back rub, foot rub, hair plays, etc.  
5. Finish the date with a hot shower because you'll be sticky :)

Things I Love: Spicy

Yes.  I love spicy food.  But that's not what I'm talking about here.

What I love is the word SPICY. 

Remember the girl from Mean Girls who wants to make the word "fetch" popular?  Well, I've been on a mission to make spicy popular.  And it's catching on.

At first I started saying spicy in place of the word hot--which seems obvious.  For example, "It's spicy out today" or "My husband is so spicy!"

Then I decided that spicy could also substitute for sassiness, snarkiness, wit, etc.  "Wow, you are being spicy!" or "Love the spicy comment."

Of course, I use spicy to help tone down a contentious situation.  For example, in class two students were rigorously debating and to help bring calm back into the classroom, I said, "This is a spicy conversations."

Turns out lots of people love my word.  I've caught friends posting it in Facebook (my daughter is so spicy today!), students writing it in e-mails, Matt using it when he likes how I dress...  It's catching on!  YAY!

I love spicy!  It's so fetch!

Days of Play: Rainy Day Scavenger Hunt

We have a chance of rain every day this week.  Yes, I'm doing a happy dance.  Sorry, I'm that girl who prefers 60 and rain to 80s with sun. 

If you are stuck inside on a rainy day it can be hard to entertain little ones.  At our house, a scavenger hunt always goes a long way.  What I like is how quickly I can whip up a hunt.  No need for maps or lists--simply pick an attribute of an item, give kids a grocery sack, set a timer, and send them off into the house to gather anything that meets the criteria.

For example, have kids find things that are: blue (or any other color), round (or any other shape), small (or any other size), soft (or another texture), etc.  Feel free to give younger children an easier task (color) and older children a more difficult task (90' triangles) to make this activity work for all kids in the house.

When time is up, empty bags and go through what your kiddos found.  Then put everything back TOGETHER and have some special "treasure" as a reward for a hunt well done.

Some Monday Music

So my Mac is still an absolute mess.  One of Matt's co-workers loaned me his MacBook Pro so I can work on my competency exam questions.  I figure I might as well write a blog or two since I have it.

I have a pretty eclectic taste in music and people often want to know what I'm listening to. So I'm gonna do a few posts on music I love, some lesser-known artists, etc.

First up--The Airborne Toxic Event.  This band is really gaining in popularity. I've been in musical love with them for just over a year.  I went to one of their concerts a week ago and they actually sound better LIVE--which like, never happens.  Anyhoo, give this a listen. This video is of their most recent hit, Changing.

Things I Love: Thunder Storms

Tonight the sky turned dark and pink. The sun was setting and clouds rolled in. Then the show started.

Accompanied by a symphony of wind and the steady rumble of heavenly drums, light danced across the sky in graceful yet frenzied movement.

Left. Right. Alone. In pairs. The light streaked in slim lines at times while illuminating whole cloud banks other times.

Rain fell gently renewing the dry ground and filling the earth with perhaps the most delicious and intoxicating smell ever.

I stood staring at the beauty from the sliding glass door in my kitchen and I was, for once, without words.

There is, perhaps, nothing lovelier than a summer thunder storm.

What I Think About: My Sick Mac

So my boot up software on Mac is down ... Again.

Last time this happened I had 20 papers to read and final grades to post.

Now I have my first answer to my first competency question due on June 30 and I haven't typed a single thing! And I'm doing research (and writing this blog) on my phone! Ahhhh!

I know it'll all work out and that I'll rally and get my paper done but right now I'm a bit stressed. Or a lot stressed. Whatever!

What I think about my sick Mac is me no likey! This is actually worse than a man cold (okay, maybe I'm being dramatic. Still.)

Get well soon, Mac!

The bus, the bus, the bus is on fire

Last week I spent time at Quaker Ridge in Colorado for WYLDlife camp. Ropes courses, horseback riding, shaving cream and flour fights, human bowling, singing, swimming ... I had about as much fun as you can possibly have in one week.

There was only one small hiccup in the whole week (which is pretty darn good).

Our bus burned to the ground.

Yep--you read that correctly. Last Monday our tour bus got a flat which started the bus on fire. We had to get 50 kids/leaders and their bags off the bus. Yours truely was the baggage hero who literally crawled under the bus(remember, it's on fire) to remove all the bags. I tossed them out and the kids--working as an amazing team--formed an assembly line of sorts to pass the bags down the highway to safety.

We got the bags out and ran down the highway right about the time tires and gas tanks started exploding. Aside from a scraped knee (and sore throats/lungs from the smoke) there were no injuries!

Sadly we had to wait for about 3 hours for another bus to come get us but we did eventually get to camp. Some people might call this a tragedy but I love that this experience brought us together as a group. It solidified our trust in one another. It reminded me that my God is mighty to save!

Days of Play--Family Knots

Get all family members into a circle.  Put your hands in the center and grab someone else's hands.  You should be in a knot.  Now, untie yourselves.  This is a great activity to practice listening, following directions, and teamwork.

On the downside, this isn't great to do with small children.  Check out some previous posts if you'd like ideas of something to do with small children.


Bubbles
Indoor rafting
Color Hunt

MIA

Reagan is MIA this week.

Actually, she's at WYLDlife camp with a whole bunch of awesome middle school aged kids and she's having too much fun to blog.

Not that she doesn't love blogging or the people who read her random thoughts.  

To be continued in one week ....

Date Night {OUT}--Bar Games

Grab your guy and head to a local bar--a place that's a real {safe} dive.

Order a beer (if you drink) or a soda (if you don't) and challenge your fella to a couple of bar games. Shoot a round of pool or play darts.

If you are like me, this will be a stretch since I'm not into the bar scene. But sometimes getting out of my comfort zone is the best idea ever. So indulge yourself in some peanut on the floor, country music on the juke box, rack 'em up, fun!

Source

Things I Love: Grass

Freshly cut grass, that is.

To me nothing says, "Welcome, Summer" quite like the sound of a lawn mower and the delicious mix of gasoline and newly cut grass.

Of course I'm horribly allergic to all things that grow but I like to stand on the deck, soak in the smell, and let it take me back to the days of Uncle Don mowing his huge yard while Jennifer and I read Christopher Pike novels on blankets in the sun.

Mmmm.  Grass.

What's a smell that you love?

What I Think About: When the Young Die

When I was nearly five I met a girl named Jina.  Nearly three decades later she is still among my closest friends.  As often happens with friends, I became close to Jina's brother, Jeremy.  He was sort of the big brother I never had (he even did irritating things like whipping me with wet towels and hanging me upside down). I love it when that happens--when you get two friends for the price of one.  How precious is that!?!

Jeremy--not quite 35--died early on Tuesday from a massive heart attack.

Not believing what I was seeing on Facebook, I called Jina and she confirmed what I had been reading.  Jeremy was dead.

I couldn't believe it.  I can't believe it.

Those words are foreign on my tongue.  How can I grasp this awful truth--that sometimes, the good--the young--the fathers to young daughters ... die?

It was uncomfortable talking on the phone to my oldest friend.  What could I say?  Words are junk in moments like these.  Comfort impossible.  Hope feels like an illusion--both to offer and receive.  So I said all I could say--that I was heartbroken and loved and her.

What I wanted to scream--to her, to the neighbors, to the wall was, "IT IS NOT FAIR WHEN THE YOUNG DIE!"

Today as I mulled over my memories of Jeremy I thought about death.  Everyone tells us not to fear death but how do you not?  Even if you have hope and faith, how can you not fear death?

I remember reading once--I think in a John Eldredge book--about death and how it is nearly impossible for Christians to reconcile death because we were never meant to experience death.  We were the eternal people.  Life eternal was ours but we traded it.

One bite of an apple later and death is all around us and who can be comforted?  Sure we move on and it gets easier but every now and then it hits--that memory that makes you laugh so hard you cry; that burning ache caused by loss; the empty chair at the dinner table.

Death haunts us even when we hope in the future.

When the young die, people--myself included--question God.  Why Jeremy?  Why so young? What now? Where is the redemption in this?  Why, God?  Why?

I don't have the answers.  I probably never will.

What I think about when the young die is that God is still God and God is still good.  Though I burn with hurt and anger, I will stand on this Rock.  I will believe in Him if I feel it or not.  I will not be shaken. 

Thanks to Shell at Things I Can't Say for hosting my random (sometimes depressing) thoughts.

Less and More

Less paper work

More ice cream

Less people

More bike rides

Less commitments

More walks

More swimming

More S'mores

More BBQs

Less rushing

More stargazing

Less snow shoveling

More laughter 

Or what I like to call

Summer

Wedding Gear

So, as of tomorrow afternoon I will officially have a new sister!  My brother-in-law is getting married and I can hardly wait to have a sister-in-law on my husbands side of the family.

HAPPY DANCE

Anyhow, I've been agonizing what to wear to the wedding.  This isn't going to be royal so no ridiculous hats are needed (thank goodness!).

Here's what I'm thinking ...

Rehearsal Dinner

Day Dresses by Mossimo
Clutches by Forever 21

Actual Wedding

Black Dresses by Calvin Klein
Platforms by Forever 21

Sunday Brunch

Tanks by Banana Republic
Wallets by Forever 21

Yes.  I'm going to wear black to the wedding.  Black is classic.  I am not mourning.  I'm celebrating a deep, deep love between newlyweds and Little Black Dresses.

Things I Love: My Million Dollar Jeans

Every girl should have a pair of million dollar jeans.

Of course I don't necessarily mean a pair of outrageously expensive jeans.

I mean jeans that make you feel like a million bucks.

Jeans that fit your legs and your hips and your derriere so well it seems as though the jeans were literally made for you.

When I know I have a tough day ahead, I put on my million dollar jeans and somehow, just the comfortable feel of slipping into a pair of jeans that melt against me gives me courage to face a day.

So thank you, American Eagle Boyfriend 77 jeans for hugging my curves, boosting my bum, and making me look hot--even if I'm only in my slippers and a t-shirt.

Tell me about your million dollar jeans!

What I Think About: Selling My Children

You know, I would never put a "For Sale" sign on my kids and put them in the front yard to be purchased by the highest bidder.

Even though they can be cranky and sassy and down right disobedient, I love them.  They are mine.  I'm gonna keep them. 

But sometimes when I let my children watch TV, I sort of feel like I'm putting my kids--or at least their minds--up for sale.

Have you noticed how grossly advertisements target children--even babies--through commercials and product placement?  It's actually quite disgusting to me.

I mean, do my children really need Sketcher Twinkle Toes to go to school?  Does a Happy Meal actually make them happy?  Does M.E. need that Easy Bake Oven to make her a successful professional and will that Thomas the Train engine ensure Paxton will be a man's-man engineer?

I think not but millions of children don't understand the hidden messages and context of commercials.

I'm prone to taking a pretty critical look at "stuff" like this and I'm not exactly pleased with what my research is showing me.

For example:

• Companies spend $17 billion dollars marketing items toward children in hope of producing life-long consumer loyalty.
• Children under the age of 12 influence $500 billion dollars in materialistic purchases each year.
• Children 2-11 see 25,000 commercials per year (which affects point 2).
• Many advertisements promote sexual stereotypes (girls should be sexy and cook; boys build with Legos) and violence.
• 63% of parents believe that their children's self-worth is defined by what they own.

Now many of you will say this is all harmless.  But really, think about this.  Why would companies spend BILLIONS of dollars trying to attract our children if that money didn't make a difference?

The short answer: They wouldn't!

Whether you want to believe it or not, these ads have an affect on buying habits, values, and even self-worth (you should see the data of eating disorders being linked to perceived beauty ideals promoted through TV shows, movies, magazines ....{Shudder}...).

Have you ever seen a toddler scream to buy a box of Mac-n-Cheese because Woody is on it?  The child doesn't know what s/he is buying but still "needs" it because Woody is selling it. 
Does your child need this brand or that character for the start of a new school year?
Has your 5 year old told you she needs to diet to be skinny like Ariel?

These ads--these "harmless" product placements in TV shows---they matter.  They affect our children whether we want them to or not.

What I think is that every time we turn on the TV, we put our kids up for sale!

Want to stop selling your children?  Get the facts.  Get resources.  Get involved.

Start here at the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood.  <---click that link.  I double dog dare ya!

Thanks for hosting, Shell!

Days of Play: Goodbye School

M.E.'s last official day of preschool is Wednesday.

I'm a little emotional. :(

Moving on.

Today for our special time, M.E. and I are going to pick out a nice book to donate to her (soon to be former) classroom.  This just feels like the gift that keeps on giving.

If your child is in school, let me encourage you to do the same.

Go to a bookstore and purchase an age appropriate book.

Write the date and a brief note of thanks to the teacher on the inside of the book.

Let your child color the inside cover to "personalize" the gift.

Wrap it up and give it to your teacher (though you might want to read it first!).

Confession

Deep down in side, I'm a girl who likes comics and super heroes.  Give me action!

This actually works out really well for Matt and I because we can go to these movies together and both have fun.  He's not suffering through a chick-flick and I'm not pretending to think Between Two Ferns is funny.

On Saturday night my sister and I went to the movies (can I hear a WooHoo!) and saw this preview.



Kill me now for two reasons:
1. It's another X-Men movie and I love X-Men!
2. James McAvoy is Professor X. Have I ever mentioned that in the scheme of celebrities I love, there's Robert Downey Jr. and then there's James McAvoy? You ladies can keep Gerard Butler and George Clooney--these are my fellas!

Anyhow, I confess to loving Marvel Comics and James McAvoy.

Phew. My conscience is clear now.

Date Night {OUT}: Progressive Dinner

I love progressive dinners!

Here's the main concept: you eat a different course at different restaurants/houses.  That's it!

This date can be done two ways: solo or with a group of friends. Read on!

SOLO:

If it's just going to be you and your husband, map out some restaurants you'd like to eat at.  Go to restaurant #1 for an appetizer.  Go to restaurant #2 for soup or salad. Go to restaurant #3 for a main course.  Go to restaurant #4 for dessert.  Go to restaurant #5 for drinks/hot drinks.

You can choose to do this fast food style to keep it fast and cheap OR make a night of it and go to sit down restaurants.  Sure your servers might think you are nuts but leave a good tip and they'll forgive you!

GROUP DATE:
Get together 3-5 other couples.  On five slips of paper, write down a course (appetizer, soup/salad, main, dessert, drinks).  On another five slips of paper, write down a theme.  For examples, you could do countries (US, Mexico, France, Italy, China) or colors (red, white, black, yellow, green).  Put the slips in two different bowls.

Now, have one person from each couple grab a slip from each bowl to let them know what course/theme to follow.  For example, you could have to make a Italian dessert or a red main course.  Encourage couples to go ALL OUT decorating in their theme.

Finally, schedule times to be at each others homes.  For example, start appetizers at 430.  Move to soup house at 5:15, etc.  Whoever has the final course should prepare games for people to play or provide another form of entertainment.

Things I Love: Making Stuff

My friend Sarah is hosting a sewing night for our mom's group.  It's not until June but I'm already scoping out a few projects I would mind whipping up while chatting with the ladies.

Here are some of my top picks!

Summer Flower Tee (which Disney promises is FAST to make.  I like fast).

Photo from Ruffles and Stuff

I'm thinking navy shirt with white and red flower?  Or maybe white shirt with green flower?  What say you?

Then there are these No-Sew Flowers.  Cute, aren't they?  I like the idea of adding them to shirts, shoes, headbands ... really, you cover up a lot of stains with these cuties.  But then again, these are NO SEW--is that against the rule on sewing night?

Photo from Ruffles and Stuff

One Pearl Button posted a tutorial knock off of this Anthropologie shirt.  I like it.  And I like that if and when I screw it up I will be at Sarah's house and she can save me, or--er, the shirt I mean.

Photo Source One Pearl Button

Finally, there is this cute scalloped skirt.  I love it.  Problem is, I'm not sure if I can pull it off in one night.  But maybe I could leave it with the directions and Sarah could finish it.  Maybe not!

Photo Source Ameroonie Designs

So much to make, so little talent time. 

What's your vote?  What should I make on our lady's sewing night?