SPONTANEOUS . . . A lesson learned!

Yesterday I was on my way home from work and only had about 10 more minutes left of my drive. I had been wanting to take the family down to see the Rubber Duck in Pittsburgh since it's arrival but it had not worked out yet. So on my drive home, I was trying to plan when we should go this weekend to avoid the rain and then the sun from the beautiful fall day we had yesterday came from behind a tree, through the windshield and shone brightly in my eyes. At that moment, I had my answer. 

RIGHT NOW! 

We need to go right now! 

When I arrived home, I told Allison to get her sneakers on because as soon as Daddy got home from work, we were going on a Fun Family Activity! Of course with her being a 12 year old tween with raging hormones, I got some grumbling. She said something about it being a free country and she should be able to choose if she wanted to go or not. I told her that the country wasn't free until she was 18 and go brush her hair too!

I waited until I heard Curtis drive in and I pushed the button the Keurig . . . coffee makes him happy. I told him I had a surprise fun family activity planned so go to the potty and grab his cup of coffee and we'll meet him in the mini-van! He also gave me some grumbling because he doesn't like not knowing where we were going.

They both continued to grumble a little but I didn't let them ruin my excitement. I had in my mind that we were going to have fun no matter what!

And FUN is exactly what we all had!

 I can't say that I've ever posed with a duck before...let alone a 40 foot one!

 After our visit with the duck, we headed over to the South Side for dinner at the BD's Mongolian Grill. Allison and I had been there before but this was the first time for Curtis. He loved it just as much as she does!

 Of course you have to order the Fried Oreos for dessert!

 Hmm, maybe we should have ordered 2 orders!

 After dinner we stopped by Lucy's Handmade Clothing store on Carson Street for a little shopping and ended up with Mommy & Daughter matching skull scarves!

On our walk back to the van, we stopped at Hello, Bistro for coffees to go and then headed home.

Curtis and Allison raved about how much fun we had and now Allison wants to go to Pittsburgh every weekend. Curtis mentioned it again when we were getting into bed and again before he left for work this morning. 

MY LESSON LEARNED!

SPONTANEOUS - performed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus.

Curtis and Allison's reactions to last night made me do some thinking. 

I used to be so spontaneous. I used to do things on a whim all the time. I used to throw caution to the wind and just have fun. 

When did all of that stop? 

When did I stop being spontaneous?

When did my life get so serious?

My doctor told me that I need to reduce my stress and I think this is the way to go! I love seeing those I love and care about happy. It's my joy. I love having fun but somewhere along the way, I lost that.

I want it back!

No, I just don't want it back I'm TAKING it back!

The dust on the shelves, the dishes in the sink and the pile of Mt. Washmore in the basement can wait!

There is fun to be had and memories to make!

Have Fun!

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March 11th's Photo!

Chicken fajitas . . . it's what's for dinner!

Thanks to McCormick's they are easy peasy to make! Click here to see my secret.

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March 10th's Photo!

 

Allison stayed at Pa Pa and Grandma's for the weekend and she came home tonight with her favorite DARK chocolate cupcakes with DARK chocolate icing!

 

Have Fun!

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March 9th's Photo!

I forgot to adjust my Market Day order by the deadline and I have to  pick up 3 boxes of ChicNSteaks on Wednesday.

I have no clue where I'm going to put them!

On a side note: Do you see the 3 grapes between the ice cream and the sherbet? Allison loves frozen grapes and puts them in my freezer from time to time. I wish she would put them in a freezer bag!

 

Have Fun!

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March 8th's Photo!

Another thing Curtis and I are not compatible on.

I prefer the cracker Combos and Curtis prefers the pretzel Combos.

 

Have Fun!

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March 7th's Photo!

I love these rotisserie chickens from Sam's Club or Giant Eagle!

They are perfect for chicken pot pie, casseroles and soup!

 

Have Fun!



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March 6th's Photo!

Hello March winter storm!

I think it's safe to say that we received more than they predicted and as you can see, it's still snowing.

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March 5th's Photo!

We picked up more boxes of GS cookies tonight from the leader. Hopefully, this will be the last of the sales.

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March 4th's Photo!

Allison and I are going to New York City with the Girl Scouts in August. I thought a jar on the kitchen counter where we see it every day will help keep us focused on our goal.

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March 3rd's Photo!

My Curtis got up early and made us waffles from scratch and bacon for breakfast! Yum!

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March 2nd's Photo!

Allison is putting the final touches on the gift baskets the girls made at today's Girls Scout program for the women at the women's shelter of Pittsburgh.

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March 1st's Photo!

The stack of mail and school papers from this week that needs my attention. I'll get to it tomorrow . . . maybe.

Have Fun!

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February 28th's Photo!

We had a transition meeting at the Junior High with the gifted coordinator tonight. This was my first time to see or visit the school. I have to admit, I was a little overwhelmed. There is more to the right but I couldn't get it all in the picture. This school is only for 7th & 8th Grades. All of our 11 elementary schools merge going into 7th Grade and there will be 1200 of them walking through those doors next year. That's a lot to this country girl who didn't even have that in her Jr.-Sr. High school for grades 7th-12th!

Have Fun!

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February 27th's Photo!

My view of the right side of my desk at work.

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February 26th's Photo!

My view of the left side of my desk at my new job.

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February 25th's Photo!

This is what happens when you forget to take the fur-trimmed hood off your winter coat before washing.

Good thing it was the last winter for this coat anyway!

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A Thank You from My Girl Scout!

 I like to include a little "Thank You" to our Girl Scout cookie customers when we deliver our cookies.

I've done this in the past but wanted to do something different this year.

I came up with 3 ideas and this is the one I used this year.

They were not that difficult to make and I was happy about that since I had 59 to make! It took me almost 2 hours once I had my supplies and got the hang of it.

If you are interested in making your own, here is the supply list and the tricks I found that made life easier.

• Photo - I bought the popcorn bucket at The Dollar Tree for ...um...$1.00 and filled it with popcorn. I inverted a bowl inside of it so I didn't have to pop a lot of popcorn. Two bags worked perfectly and I did it on movie night so my family had their popcorn. I have Microsoft Picture It! Premium 10 edition, which I used to alter the picture.
• Packs of Popcorn - found at Sam's Club.
• Ribbon - I have curling ribbon in every color by the big spool. It's so much cheaper when it's on sale than buying little rolls all the time.
• Scotch Tape - I put tape on the corner where I hole punched the cellophane wrapper since the cellophane wrapper tore when I tried to whole punch it by itself. I took one piece of tape and folded over the edge so it was double thickness.
• Hole Punch - see above.
• Scissors - for curling ribbon.

All I did was create myself an assembly line. Here are my steps:

1. Hole punch all the pictures. 
2. Put a piece of tape on the corner of all of the packs of popcorn.
3. Hole punch all the popcorn (just shake the popcorn pack down inside the cellophane wrapper so you don't hole punch the popcorn.)
4. Cut pieces of curling ribbon in 12" lengths.
5. Put the picture and packet of popcorn back to back.
6. Connect with a piece of ribbon.
7. Curl ribbon with scissors.

 

After I had all of them made, I laid them on top of each order of cookies and added more curling ribbon to hold everything together. I did this for the cookies I sold but Curtis just took the cases of cookies he sold to work and gave a popcorn pack out to each of his customers. This is why I wanted them attached in the corner.

As you can see in the picture, I also added a little white tag with the customer's name on it and either the amount they owe or the word "paid" on it so we knew who we had to collect from.

Have Fun!

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February 24th's Photo!

Tiramisu from Oakmont Bakery. It's what's for breakfast today!

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February 23rd's Photo!

A sweet surprise from a special friend made my day!

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February 22nd's Photo!

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February 21st's Photo!

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February 20th's Photo!

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February 19th's Photo!

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February 18th's Photo!

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February 17th's Photo!

Items I found in the right pocket of Allison's coat when I cleaned it out so I could wash it. Hmmm, looks like her Dad's pockets and I thought we were past the dinosaur phase.

Have Fun!

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February 16th's Photo!

240 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, sorted, packaged and ready for delivery!

Have Fun!

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February 15th's Photo!

A couple of new plants for my new office at my new job that I start on Monday!

 

Have Fun!



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February 14th's Photo!

Valentine treat bags filled with candy for the neighborhood kids when they get off the bus today!

 

Have Fun!



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Happy Valentine's Day!!!

 

Curtis told me the other day to pick where I wanted him to take me to dinner tonight for Valentine's Day. He then asked why I was looking at him with a strange look. I told him that he knows I don't do holidays in a restaurant. After working in them for many, many years, I don't find spending today or any other holiday in a restaurant relaxing and enjoyable.

 

I'm sure my restaurant family understands.

 

We have a day trip planned tomorrow so I agreed to a special lunch somewhere.

 

However, I don't think I should cook today either!

 

So I'll be surprising my family with a Papa John's Valentine's Heart Shaped pizza! 



 After all, it's not where you go for dinner or the presents you receive today...it's about spending time with those you love and those who love you!

 

Have Fun!



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February 13th's Photo!

This is what happens when you put something on a burner that doesn't belong on the stove and then accidentally put on the wrong burner. Don't try this at home!

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February 12th's Photo!

I officially filled the last open Saturday in March with a Girl Scout activity. That makes 8 Saturdays in a row when you add February's 3 to the list. Good times!

Have Fun!

Have Fun!

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February 11th's Photo!

Stouffer's macaroni & cheese is the perfect food after a tooth extraction!

Have Fun!

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February 10th's Photo!

I forgot to take a picture today but this was on the camera for today. It's a piece for the dashboard that Curtis is making for his car.

Have Fun!

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February 9th's Photo!

Red Lobster's Chocolate Wave Cake makes one little girl very happy!

Have Fun!

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February 8th's Photo!

Allison and her best "friend" at the Valentine's Day dance.

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February 7th's Photo!

Maybe I should have put down more of a drop cloth before I started spray painting.

 

Have Fun!

 



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February 6th's Photo!

I made a quick stop at the Girl Scout store in Beaver while I was in Beaver County to pick up some keys.

Have Fun!

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February 5th's Photo!

While cutting up veggies for fajitas, I decided to use coffee filters instead of bowls to hold them until it was time to throw them in the skillet. No clean up and it probably only cost a penny or two!

Have Fun!

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February 4th's Photo!

I opened the refrigerator this morning to find a little surprise from my sweetie. Thanks, Honey!

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February 3rd's Photo!

Allison's book bag is packed to capacity and ready to go with all the work she missed while being out with the flu.

Have Fun!

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Valentine Wreath Revisted & A New Favorite Movie!

Yesterday was day 5 of Allison having the flu so we decided to have a lazy Saturday. Curtis rented Disney's Brave movie for the family to watch. I'll admit, I stink at watching a movie at home . . . especially one that I didn't pick out. It's not that I don't want to watch it, I just usually fall asleep. So, in order to try and stay awake. I decided to do a craft while the movie was playing.

Our Mom's craft group made the Ragamuffin Heart Wreath 4 years ago for a craft. My original wreath has faded over time since my front door gets full sun during the day. It was time to replace it. However, I still love the wreath and decided to make another one instead of finding a new Valentine wreath for my door. Lucky for me, I had bought extra supplies when we made the original ones so everything I needed was on my craft shelves. It also came with a bonus . . . the fabric was already cut into the strips! Yay! 

Click here for the original post with all the details for making the wreath yourself. This wreath is the second most popular post on my blog and has received over 20,000 visits so far! Amazing! I am truly blessed to have been able to touch that many people with my little old blog!

 

 The Disney movie didn't last as long as I needed to complete my wreath and after it was over my family left me in the family room by myself. Thanks, family!

Since my wreath wasn't done, I decided to throw in another movie while I finished my wreath. 

A friend had surprised me with a gift bag of goodies at our last craft group and it included "The Help" which I had not seen yet. OH. MY. WORD. Can I just say, it was EXCELLENT???? Seriously, I had always wanted to see it but never got the chance. Shame on me!

It is honestly now added as one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE movies!!!

If you haven't seen it, you must rent it. NOW!As I said previously, a friend presented me with a gift bag of goodies. Look at all the fun stuff she included in the bag! She is too kind! This is a friend who is a sister-in-law to my best friend. I didn't know her on a personal level until we started Mom's Craft Night Out over 4 years ago. 

Yes, we make pretty things during our craft time and have a lot of fun doing it. However, the friendships and the time I spend with an amazing group of women are what I cherish the most!

Those few hours a month are truly good for my soul!

Have Fun!


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