Donations

Berk is very faithful about donating his blood every 8 weeks. He just hit his 2 gallon mark. yeah for Berk. He has "sucked" me into donating a handful of times before. The last time I donated I didn't feel real great the rest of the day. Kind of "drained" if you know what I mean. So yesterday we went to lunch and then I dropped him off at the Red Cross. Feeling slightly guilty and selfish, I hit the Savers thrift shop next door.

If any of you frequent Savers, you know about 99c monday. The color tag was orange. So everything with an orange tag was 99c.

I was all alone to spend some time digging and I found one orange tag worthy of buying. Some brown cords my size!! Also in my bag were a couple of skirts and 2 pair of pants for the Retro. The cords were my favorite. I bet it was the price that made them so desirable.

Thrifting is my addiction. Yet I feel the prices at some thrift stores have jumped quite a bit. Am I being a total cheapo, or does anyone out there agree.

Daddy's working sundays

Berk has been working a lot lately. Oh wait... he always works a lot. That's the life of a restaurant owner. One sunday a month Berk gets to pay his dues and take a shift .. or two...or three. This sunday is the hardest day of the month for me. So instead of sitting home feeling sorry for myself, I load up the kids and we come to him.

It was our first big voyage in the new minivan and she proved herself worthy. We listened to sunday music, looked at the changing leaves, and best of all, none of the kids could touch each other.

The food is always wonderful. We all seemed to fall back on our current favs. For me it was the French Dip, Mo can keep up with an adult size chicken enchilada, ella a hot dog, and Rhett never changes its always chicken strips with fries. Of course we end with cheese cake and a pink cookie.

The kids get some quality dad time, ok and I do too. Trips like these make daddy's working sundays much more bearable for us and I'm sure even much more so for him.

Tradition

My dad came over today with crayons and paper for the kids. He has started a little tradition ( 2nd year running) of having each of his grandkids draw a self portrait and then a family portrait, pets included.

He keeps the drawings and when they have finished, he shows them last years work. The kids got a good laugh at what they had drawn last year.

What a great idea this was. Simple, yet it made the kids feel special to know that someone cares about them and loves what they can create.

Thanks Dad.

book club

These beautiful desserts were provided by none other than Taggart's Grill for book club hosted here at my home. My mother-in-law is a pretty amazing dessert chef.

The book we all read and discussed was The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. I would highly recommend the book to anyone. It was a beautifully written memoir about her childhood with some pretty crazy parents. I came away from the book feeling like a pretty good mom.

The week has been busy with minivan shopping/buying and cleaning house to host book club. I am anxious to simplify. I will stay home tomorrow and try to be still, at least for a few moments. I will at least get some good cuddles in on the couch with the little ones.

Tagged

I was tagged by my friend mckenzie to list 6 quirks about myself. I was thinking that I don't have any at all (ha, ha), so I had to ask for Berk's help. He was quick to reassure me...

So here they are:

1-Do not ever touch my collar bone. Period.

2-I can't chew ice cream. I get the shivers just thinking about it. So that leaves out any flavors with nuts. I suck the ice cream until I have only a mouth full of cold nuts. Who likes that I ask?

3- I hate feet. Poor Berk no foot rubs for this guy.

4- I love to dance all crazy with my kids. Yes one time someone came to the door during one of our dancing sessions. We have glass french doors on the front of our house and it took me only he knows how long to realize he was there. I was quite embarrased.This incident didn't end the dancing, it just moved it to the bedroom.

5- I have a fear of talking to strangers on the phone. Berk is kind enough to help me out with these scary phone calls. What would I do without him.

6- I have an insanely strong sense of smell. Just ask Berk.... this one links back to #2. A smell can instantly bring me back to a place and time or a person. I love smells. (except Berk's feet.)



So there they are. Now I tag Heidi, Kelley, Amy, Rachel,Tawnya, and Megan.

Honda Odyssey

And here it is.

I love my minivan

Today I became the proud (yes .. very proud) owner of a 2001 Honda Odyssey. I was so excited that I kept dreaming about minivans last night. You know you are a mom when things like minivans and refrigerators are up there with a new pair of shoes.
Well with much patience, a lot of research, and faith in my husband we held out till we found the one that had been loved and very well taken care of by it's original owner. It was just waiting for the Tuttles to find it in 2008. And the very best part of my minivan buying experience, NO DEBT!!! Yes, cash only please. What a good feeling.

P.S. I'll post a pic tomorrow when I can get a good one in the daylight.

Applique

After having so much fun making shirts with freezer paper, my friends and I decided to try applique. We got together for lunch, let the kids play, and helped each other with designs and color coordinations.
I only got one shirt finished because I wasn't thinking when I picked this design. I love it but it wasn't very fun sewing around each skeleton.
The design I have picked for Mobey will be much easier and hopefully just as cute.
Here is the finished product. I hope he likes it as much as I do. Maybe I should make myself one......hmm.

Peaches

We canned peaches today. I was going to can in the morning with my friend but her little girl was sick. So I waited until Mobey got home from school and I'm really glad I did because she was so excited to help.

Sometimes I get busy and forget to include my children in activities such as this that could make good learning experiences and great memories.
Mobey loved to peel the peaches and watch the skin slide right off. That was my favorite part also.
The mess is still waiting for me in the kitchen, but I am happy to know I shared this with my daughter. When all was said and done, we had 25 bottles of peaches.

Peugeot

I have a new bike.
My super cool husband built it for me.
Built it from the frame out.
The frame is as old as me.
Yeah, my husband can pretty much do anything......

This morning we got a babysitter and rode our bikes around the neighborhood hitting yard sales.

Good times.

Berk found some Burton snowboarding boots for $2. He wins the prize for the best find of the week. I found retro some cord pants and some halloween books. Not much, but fun to be on the bikes. I don't know how much will fit in my cute little basket anyway.

My Secret Garden

By the looks of these pictures, one would never guess this is a vegetable garden. But yes .. it is. I was really ambitious this spring, but weeded maybe once throughout the summer.

So I was a little surprised to find all this produce amongst the 5ft weeds. This batch here is not the first and I'm guessing there will be more before winter.

Freezer Paper stenciling

Some of my friends came over yesterday and we spent a few hours making these shirts for our kids with freezer paper and fabric paint. They turned out very cute.

It was super easy to do and we had a great time. I loved it so much I want to make more. Retro could hardly wait for his monster shirt to dry so he could wear it.