At least the rugs are really clean now

How's that for a random post title? Well, there is a story to go behind this and it involves lots of smushed, stinky, fresh dog poop. Oh how I miss having a forest near by for the dog to go into to, well, you know. If I still had that in my backyard, then I would not have spent yesterday morning scrubbing rugs, my child's sandals, the floor, the carpet AND the doorway. How far does this stuff really go, anyway?

At any rate, my rugs are clean now and smell nice! That's enough about dog poop...let's talk about something a little less gross but equally as entertaining yet, oddly, still involving poop. My Eli has been wearing underwear for two days now! He's getting it down, this potty training thing. It's funny how we want this to happen so badly and then, when it does finally, you realize that the kid is growing up too fast for your liking. He is enjoying the vast underwear collection to choose from, however. I do have a question though...why do they put the cool pictures on the back of boy's underwear? It just makes them wear it backwards so that they can see Mickey or Lightning McQueen or the Wiggles. Perhaps tomorrow super mom can remedy this situation with some iron on transfers.

Good night, sleep tight.

I am trying to think of a post title

Oh, dear bunny readers, I have been neglecting this blog. Well, most of it is due to the crappy internet service we have now. Don't worry...Nate is already looking into getting that fixed. For three days in a row I could not log in. Ok, I'll be honest, I was not patient enough to wait for the internet connection to link to blogger. Ugh!

Anyway I may be going MIA for awhile again soon. I have to design the wedding invites ASAP, I have to print on some fabric for the swatch swap AND I have some sewing projects to finish. Wow. Plus I have these really plain area rugs that keep whispering to me to paint on them. I wonder how that would work or look? Boy do I really want to experiment. I think I will, too, because they were really cheap rugs and they are old. Plus, I have this dream of having them turn out SUPER cool and everyone who comes to my house will ask, "Where did you get that fabulous rug?" Then I can reply, "I painted it." Brilliant!

Thankful Thursday Is Here Again

I like thankful Thursday. It makes me focus on the positive rather than the negative. Today I chose to disregard cleaning and organizing and focused on hand printing some fabric and just playing with ink. I do love ink! I got a few cool samples that I will take pictures of later...most of them were experiments. Some worked and some need tweaking. I think tweaking is a better choice than a failed experiment. Who knows, I might like them next week.

I am thankful, also, for my boys who played nicely today so that I could play with my stuff. Eli took an incredibly long nap and Ammon was enamored with his "How to Draw Spider-man" book I got for him from the library. I showed him how to use the techniques in the book and told him that he would have to practice A LOT. Well, he did. A LOT!

I am also thankful that I get to see my dad this weekend. I miss that guy!

Well, now I am thankful for towels that will, inevitably, soak up the flood on the bathroom floor from the tsunami in the tub that just occurred. Hopefully it is not as bad as the last one. Yikes.

My super hero alter ego (and others)

Actually, I think most of us would benefit from this service, thus giving us more time to do the things we would rather be doing. Sigh. Anyway I am about to go on a cleaning and organizing rampage so that I can play with fabric and paint tonight. I did think that a new post would be a lovely, so here it is.

This weekend I went dress shopping for 82% Serious's wedding. We found one and it looks great! We also bought some bling to go with it, which I cannot wait to put on with the dress. I had a great time shopping with the girls. The best part of the day was when we arrived back at 82% Serious's pad, I got to see the very elusive and sneaky bunny negro that roams, or I should say hops, around 82% Serious's neighborhood. He/she is too cute! I knelt down to watch that cute little bunny nose wiggle as he/she was munching on some grass. I told the boys about it...they did not care as much as I thought they would.

And now for the grand finale...my super hero alter ego! Ammon is currently organizing a super hero party. Right now is the training session so that he and his guests can properly "stop the bad guys, mom." I am currently living with hand drawn, very colorful targets poster puttied to the walls in various rooms of the house and at varying heights. Some you kick, and some you punch (I did tell him that he could not actually do that to the wall. He just aims for the target and then kicks or punches the air). The best part is that he told me what my super hero name is, the Aproness. I fight mold, mildew and dust bunnies. Excellent. I even have a sidekick (which is 82% Serious) and her name is Apron Super-Girl. Want to know what our super power is (we share the same one)? We turn our enemies into aprons. How's that for conquering crime...I mean grime...in and out of the house!

Thankful Thursday (I like this)

Today (and everyday) I am thankful for my boys, who "made" me go outside to play football, frisbee, bean bag toss (well actually a game Ammon and I invented for him to practice math) and show off my excellent jump roping skills. I bet you did not know that I was on a jump rope team in elementary school, did you? Needless to say I impressed the boys with my jump roping tricks. Now I need to find a speed rope to show them double unders, forwards AND backwards. I wonder if I can still do a triple under? Yup. I still got it.

I am also thankful for shovels. They are very handy, especially when ridding the backyard of dog poop piles. I have never had to do this in my adult life. I have always been fortunate enough to live near the woods...which is where my dog would go to take a, well you know. The best part was my Eli telling me where the poop piles where. He's a funny kid.

Last, I am thankful for library books and pop art. This was EXACTLY the answer to help me with my book addiction. Just borrow them and THEN buy them if you really like it...plus most of the books I like are way out of my price range right now. Why do art books have to be so expensive? Anyway, I checked out an Andy Warhol book (I do love pop art) and had a totally different reaction to his art than I have had previously. I have seen his work in person at two different shows now, one focusing on his portraits of Jewish people and the other sort of a retrospective or "greatest hits" of sorts. I have to say that the portraits of Jackie O are so powerful...they give me chills. The last show I saw had all of the Jackie O portraits (both before and after his death) in a room with the JFK ones as well as part of Warhol's Death and Disaster series. Seeing art in person is so much more meaningful than looking at it in a book. I really feel like the viewer does not get the pleasure of having an emotional reaction to it or interacting with it face to face when you just look at it in a book...not that books are bad, though ;) I also rediscovered an old favorite of mine that I had somehow forgotten about...the portraits of Ethel Scull. LOVE IT! I love the photo booth idea for generating silkscreens and I love the big blocks of color. And, of course, there's the Cow Wallpaper. Oh how I love the Cow Wallpaper! I remember one Warhol show had the Cow Wallpaper right as you entered the exhibit, in all its magenta and yellow glory. My husband went with me to that show and simply smiled when I squealed and yelled, "Look, honey! It's the Cow Wallpaper!" As you can tell, I can go on and on and on about art.

The other reason why I am thankful for library books is that my mother, who is also addicted to books and a librarian, just ordered "A is for Apron" for her library because she thought I would like to look at it. Thanks, Mom!

And now, I am thankful for my fat cat who sleeps on my feet and my fluffy, warm down comforter.

What are you thankful for?

Tomato Jam and BBQ Sauce

Well, as I have said before, I am THOROUGHLY enjoying being a stay at home mom! Yesterday the boys and I went to the playground three times during the day, just because, took a walk after dinner (our new favorite family thing to do), visited the farmer's market and bought some zucchini for chocolate zucchini bread and just had fun. I think it was a well deserved mini break from moving.

On another note, since I have time, I made some tomato jam from Bon Appetit and some killer homemade barbecue sauce from this book here (which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone who loves to cook). Both recipes were a HUGE hit with the family, especially the BBQ sauce. My husband is addicted to BBQ sauce and has now told me he will not buy any because the stuff I made was WAY better than the stuff from the jar :) What a great compliment! BTW I did add extra garlic since everyone in my house loves garlicky stuff. Oh, I also made some sugared raspberries from this book (which is a great bedtime read as well as an invaluable resource in the kitchen). I have not tasted this wonderful jar of raspberry fabulousness yet...they need to sit in the fridge for at least two days. I am planning on sharing it with 82% Serious over some ice cream or yogurt or something.

So anyway I must update my resume and create an online portfolio ASAP. So, more updates to come, since I will be on the computer most of the day today. I hope the boys do not go crazy. I guess we'll have to go play on the playground :)

PB&J Pancakes

Yes, you read correctly. PB&J pancakes for breakfast this morning. I saw the idea on Food Network...I think it was Rachael Ray. They were delicious! I added about 1/3 to 1/2 half cup organic peanut butter to my pancake batter and cooked them as usual. Oh I also added some extra baking powder, just because I wanted them to be extra fluffy. Then I microwaved some of my homemade strawberry freezer jam to drizzle on top. Genius! Ammon actually proclaimed, after the first bite, "Mom, these are AMAZING!" I think we will be having PB&J pancakes more often.

BTW I am on a quest to find the perfect curtains for my living room. I am thinking orange since I had to go neutral on the walls. Has anyone seen any fabulous orange curtains anywhere? I think I may end up making them myself. I just cannot find any curtains that scream buy me and put me up in your living room!

Oh, I am doing the 100 push-up challenge with 82% Serious. I am excited! I hope I get some nice ripped arms from all those push-ups.

Well good night for now!

I'm back!

Oh, boy was I ever happy to see the cable guy today! We just got our cable and internet hooked up in the new house. It is funny how you become accustomed to always having the internet and then feel awkward when you do not. Anyway today was a crazy day. The cable guy had to go downstairs to run some wire up to my bedroom for the internet connection. When I showed him how to get to the basement, I discovered that the sewer had backed up into the basement! DISGUSTING! Luckily it had just happened and I am renting the house so it is not my bill. So, after the cable guy left, my handy husband came home closely followed by the guys from the city to check out the sewer. They said it was not there end, whatever that means, so we had to call a plumber. He used one of those power snakes to snake the drain. He then yelled at me through the door, "Hey, ma'am, would ya like to see the stuff that clogged the drain?" I very smartly replied, "how smelly and gross is it" BEFORE I looked into the bucket. The clog was thirty feet out from the house so I had envisioned this extra large, huge, gigantic, stinky...well you get it. Want to know what was clogging it? Tree roots! Meanwhile my husband was in the middle of replacing a leaky faucet in the kitchen when the power goes out halfway through the installation. The funny part of this, the only flashlights I could find, mind you we just moved in so the flashlights are in a box somewhere, were the Mooing Cow and Whinnying Horse Fisher Price flashlights. Every time he needed light we had to listen to the barnyard sounds. We laughed, which was good because the day was really crappy. Get it? Crappy! Oh, I almost forgot...I had started a lasagna in the oven, which we did not get to eat because the power went out halfway through its cooking time. So we went out to eat, which was not as good as the lasagna. The funny thing is that this new house has an ancient old oven that rocks! It is small, but man does that thing heat nicely! When we got back home, the lasagna was cooked and the oven was still hot! The power came back on around 10 pm, pretty much right after we got home from dinner and driving around, so I immediately came to the computer and my husband went to the couch to watch something in cable. I think he deserves it after having to listen to me laugh while holding a flashlight. He kept getting dripped on by the faucet and did not exactly fit under the sink...small cupboards. The whole thing will be MUCH funnier tomorrow for him. Hopefully tomorrow I will have some art news or something to report. I have some placemats and napkins to finish for the BTRS Sewing Swap (see the sidebar) and I have to get my rear in gear making some fabric swatches for the swatch swap. YIPPEE!!!!