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Archive for October, 2009

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Crafts for Kids – Halloween Ghosts…

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Two weeks ago across the street, I saw some awesome homemade ghosts in our neighbors tree.  I went over to see how they made them and I was surprised to find that they were only handkerchiefs, cotton and string.  I thought this would be a great craft to do with Brook, so I promptly went to JoAnn Fabrics to get the material.

Brook's Ghosts Hanging In Our Tree

Brook's Ghosts Hanging In Our Tree

While at JoAnn’s, I picked up some styrofoam balls for the heads and some white floral wire for hanging, but the didn’t have any handkerchiefs…

Here is where my stupid shows up…

I proceeded to spend the next two days driving around town trying to find handkerchiefs for this project.  Why did I have to have handkerchiefs?  Well, because I had a one track mind…stupid.

I went to Khols, Target, Marshall’s, Michaels, TJ Max, Ross, Sears and I went…CRAZY!!!

Finally, I started to think outside of the handkerchief box when Travis suggested I buy a sheet and cut it up…Yeah, couldn’t find a cheap enough sheet…That is another day of running around…See my stupid is really showing now!

So, have you figured out my solution yet?  On the third day my brain decided it was sick of being stupid and the light bulb came on (don’t worry, my brain is now being ran on eco-friendly CFL light bulbs)…

Ready for this?  JoAnn’s sells fabric by the yard!

WHO KNEW?

Not me obviously!  So, I went back to the very first place this whole quest started and bought 3 yards of white fabric for a whopping $2.99 a yard.  Oh and the $40 of gas that I spent to run around town and figure out my solution was underneath my nose.  Unfortunately, the gas was not so eco-friendly…crap!

Was it worth it?

Yes!  Brook loved the project and now you can learn from my mistake…you can get everything you need at the craft store and it’s actually really inexpensive to do and the little ghosts look so good outside hanging on the tree.

Brook loved making different faces and she could twist tie the styrofoam balls in place too.

One of Brook's Scary Ghosts In Our Tree

One of Brook's Scary Ghosts In Our Tree

So, here is the the supplies and instructions for making Halloween Ghosts…

Halloween Ghosts

18 – 2 1/2 inch Styrofoam balls

3 yards of White Fabric

18 pieces of 20 Gauge White Floral Wire – 18 or more inches

Scissors

Sharpie Pen Thin Tip

1 – Cut out 12″x12″ squares out of the White Cloth (or whatever size you want)

2 – Put the Styrofoam Ball in the center of the cloth and pinch the cloth around the ball.

3 – Secure the ball in the cloth by twist tying the Floral Wire around (see picture)

4 – Use Sharpie to make Ghost Faces

5 – Hang in a tree or anywhere you want using the remainder of the floral wire after twisting it around the bottom of the Styrofoam Ball.

As always, go and make some memories with your kids and Happy Crafting!

Brook Tying a Ghost to the Tree

Brook Tying a Ghost to the Tree

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Posted in Art Projects, Holiday | 1 Comment »

Baby’s First Word…

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Two nights ago Travis and I were giving the kids a bath and getting them ready for bed.  As I was putting Blake’s pajamas on, him and I were talking…and although I don’t think he knows what the word means…he said…

BABY!

Blake at 8 Months Old

Blake at 8 Months Old

First official word people!  He can almost say bye-bye when he is waving too…you know they sound kinda the same.

But, now everyday since, he has been talking like this, “ba-by, ba-by, ba-by.”

If you go, “who is the baby?”  He will repeat the baby part…it’s amazing.

Yes, we did get it on video and if I had my cool little pocket video camera that easily uploads with only the USB cable, I would have posted it right here on the site, but alas I don’t have it yet.  I do have an idea though and if it works, I will put it on the blog ASAP!

But, I wanted it to go down in the books that Blake has officially said his first word and it wasn’t Mama or Dada.

Although, we are still having the Mama/Dada contest and hopefully (as I cross my fingers) he will say Mama before Dada.

My little 8 month old can say a word…I am so overjoyed with happiness!

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Mommy’s Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Get Sick…

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

On Sunday afternoon at 4pm, Travis packed me up and sent me off for some alone time.  It’s a new thing we are trying out to help my sanity.  So, I went to our local coffee shop and did some work on the computer.  At 6pm, they closed up shop, so I crossed the street to the burger joint across the street and sat outside to enjoy reading one of my magazines and to eat a gourmet burger.  But….something wasn’t right.  I wasn’t really enjoying myself and I didn’t feel right.  I only had a couple of bites, packed up the rest and headed home.

I was back around 6:30pm and Travis was wondering why I was back so soon…well, little did I know…

I was about to get sick…really sick.  It was basically like having food poisoning on steroids…but, it wasn’t food poisoning, it was the flu.

Blake had been battling it for a couple of days and Travis was complaining of a stuffed up nose.

Then I got knocked down with stomach stuff, a fever, chills, aches and all that comes with that.

That night Brook got a fever too.

Four sick Newman’s in the house is not fun and Mommy’s really should never be sick.  Travis helped me out yesterday, but today he gave me a fair warning of only helping out a bit…”I have to make money dear.”

Um…well, this house can’t run if I’m knocked down by the flu dude!

I remember those times when the hardest part about being sick was getting to the grocery store to get all of the remedies I needed before I hunkered down in my bed for three days.  I miss those days.

Good news though, we are on the mend and hopefully Brook will be able to get back to school by Thursday…even though she is sick, she is going stir crazy and I honestly don’t have a lot of energy to entertain since I’m trying to get better too.

There should be a rule that Mommy’s are not allowed to get sick…because the family just doesn’t work when she’s down.

Hopefully tomorrow my family and I will feel healthy and terrific…here is to hoping!

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Posted in Daily Life, Family | No Comments »

Easy Caramel Popcorn Snack…

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Travis has been dying for me to make him this caramel popcorn snack for awhile.  Really the reason it’s taken so long is because I’m afraid I will eat it all.  So far I have been good, but most of it is still sitting in my kitchen, so you never know.  Here is a picture of the product…this is super easy to make and my four year old helped me with it…

Super Easy Carmel Drizzled Popcorn Snack

Super Easy Carmel Drizzled Popcorn Snack

This is what you will need…

Super Easy Caramel Drizzle Snack

  • 1 bag of wrapped Caramels (like Kraft Caramels)
  • 2 bags of any Microwave Popcorn (the large bags)
  • 4 tbsp of Butter

1 – Pop the two bags of popcorn in your microwave following the packages directions

2 – Unwrap all of the caramels and put them in a microwave safe container.  Add the 4 tbsp of butter and microwave for 1 minute.  Take out and stir.  Continue to microwave for 30 seconds.  Stir.  Repeat the 30 second process until the caramel and butter are melted, combined and smooth.  You must keep an eye on your caramel though, because it can boil over and/or burn.  I think I did 5-6 (30 second and stir) cycles.

3 – Once the caramel and butter are melted and smooth, put first bag of popcorn on a serving tray.  Drizzle half the caramel over the first bag.  Put second bag on top of the first layer and drizzle the rest of the caramel over this batch of popcorn.

4 – Try to share…it will be hard I know, but the family might want some too!

So, Brook unwrapped all the caramels and she also pressed all the buttons on the microwave.  I didn’t let her touch the hot stuff, but if you have older kids, they may want to stir and or drizzle the popcorn.  Here is Brook loving the fruits of her labor…

Brook Eating Her Caramel Popcorn

Brook Eating Her Caramel Popcorn

I made this so Travis could munch on something during Football, but this is great for a little Halloween party or if you want to make friends at work or in your neighborhood.  Have fun cooking with your kids and as always…

Happy Eating!

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Posted in Cooking and Food, Snack Food | No Comments »

Getting My Canon Back…

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

I have my Canon EOS 400D back!!!!  What an ordeal.  I will have to say that they have some really horrible, crappy customer service people and some that are amazing.

So when I drove back from Wisconsin to Phoenix, I thought I put the camera in a fool-proof, safe place.  I was wrong.  Somewhere in the Midwest my camera died.  So, I filled out a form from Canon, shipped it out and crossed my fingers that it wouldn’t cost too much to fix.

I didn’t wish hard enough…

$300 later and two months later, I finally got my camera back…sans the and battery charger.  After reviewing my paperwork, I realized I did send the battery and battery charger.  So, I called Canon and figured…no worries, they will just ship it out to me.

Well, the first person I talked to promised me that indeed I will get one sent to me and sorry for the inconvenience.

I waited for two weeks and it never came.

So, I called again…this time I talked to a woman who literally was the rudest person I have talked to in awhile.  In not so many words she basically said that it somehow was my fault that her company lost my battery charger and that they wouldn’t be replacing it and that I would need to buy a new one.

I’m sorry what?

I actually told her that that wasn’t going to work for me and that I expected all my equipment back that I sent to them and that since it wasn’t my fault the item was lost and that I just payed $300 to get my camera fixed, I wasn’t willing to shell out more money to buy something I shouldn’t have to.

She rudely said, hold please and by the power of the universe my phone lost signal and our call ended…a blessing in disguise.

So, after calming down, I re-called Canon and got someone else on the phone…I re-explained everything once again and this time I was heard.  This gentleman promised me that they would replace my charger free of charge and that I should get it in a couple of days.  Shocked, I said, “I want to believe you, but after my experience with others in your company, I am having a hard time doing so.”  He totally understood and called the next day to indeed confirm the part was sent out.

I got it three days later…

This man deserves a raise!  He restored what little faith I have in the customer service world where the customers are always wrong until they yell enough to prove themselves right…

That being said, I took a couple of really cute pictures of Blake with my newly fixed and improved camera…

Blake Splashing Away in the Bath Tub

Blake Splashing Away in the Bath Tub

Blake Enjoying Some Yummy Bread

Blake Enjoying Some Yummy Bread

Thank you kind sir for helping me get all the parts of my camera back so I can capture these moments…

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