Too Tired...

Between the mountain of laundry to wash and fold, plus sorting through "too small" or "too worn" pieces of clothing and shoes, I am wiped out!

I'm glad we went swimming today and there was another family who ended up playing "shark" tag with us. We had so much fun!

Gotta rest to see if I can peel myself off the bed tomorrow and get some dusting, more laundry, vacuuming and gardening. And oh yeah, the kids' room, still IN PROGRESS... *yawning*

We watched the new season of Monk and the first three episodes of Design Star over popcorn and rootbeer. *big smile*

Friday? Still the Fun Day!

Yep, no matter how stressful, no matter how hectic, Friday is still our "escape" day!

The leftover half a loaf of french bread, we turned it into french toast! Mr. Man suggested it and he is a genius for that. He himself loves french toast so that was an expert suggestion in my book! (I so love that man! Whew, is it hot in here or is it just me? LOL)
Then, it's time to let our cockatiel out! We let him out and he says "hello" to everyone by opting to land and play with any of us. I-Dude got that honor this morning. Look at that smile!Then he finds a bigger mirror and "sings to his friend" in there. LOL
Cece and Dexter seem to have "private" conversations when they're together. I wonder if it's about how to convince us to let him out more. ;-)
After our typical "leftover smorgasbord" lunch and a nap, we headed to Half Price Books again for the last day of their Reading Promotion. J-Pony held on to her coupon last week and earned another one this week. Her choices, she found a computer game she saved her coupon for and two great books with today's coupon. She saved $6 and only paid, $5.83! As for I-Dude, he saved $3 with his coupon and paid only 1.08 for two books!

Btw, it's official, my girls are Anthony Horowitz fans and our family's hooked on the Berenstain Bears series. Michelle found "My Sister's Keeper" and a photo editing software.
When we got out, we decided to look into DSW Shoe Factory and try on some shoes. As you can see, I-Dude was not enjoying the "activity of choice". LOL
Here's me finding a great sparkly pair in the Clearance section. (My cell took this pic and I look like my feet are jaundiced.) *hee hee*
But before that, I tried on this 4-in. "blind ya" number! Cute, but not me...
Here's J-Pony finding a great pair for a wedding...
And I-Dude slipping into some Rocket Dog slip-ons! There was no children's section... ;-(
Here's J with a sweet turqoise pair that matched her socks.
Michelle found some really cute ones, too, but the prices, not so cute! Yep, the only thing we're able to afford, the browsing and try-ons, what else? Before we left and after all those we tried on, this is the pair I fell in love with! It just looks like fairy slippers made of leaves and vines. (But as you can see, even with that blue (40% off the shown price) tag, I can't afford it.)
Then off towards HOME to make dinner and since it's Friday, it's also movie and soda night! (I get nominated for Mother of the Year weekly because of these two. LOL) As you can see, we chose to watch...

Well since I've also blogged about our day, it is officially over... It's some ME time now. (Whatever that is...) ;-)

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND, EVERYBODY!!!

Full Friday For Four

After a breakfast(more like brunch) of eggs & bacon sandwich and juice, the four of us, with Michelle driving the van, headed to Half Price Books again to redeem some more books.

They are doing so well with their reading programs, that I got them these yesterday. We love the "Charlie Bone" series by Nimmo, so we'll be trying these. And we love Gail Carson Levine for "Ella Enchanted", so we added this, "Fairy Haven and the Quest of the Wand" to our library as well!

These are some of their choices, Bionicle series for I-Dude and Bunnicula series for J-Pony!
Right next door was Petland, so we spared about 2o minutes in there enjoying bunnies,

parakeets (Michelle's taking a picture, too!), even an English Bulldog pup, a white parrot, cockatiel and gerbils! I took pictures of J-Pony and Michelle in my cell's cam, but they weren't there! *arrrggghhhh!!!*
Then off to lunch at Taco Bell/Long John Silvers then off to our favorite Asian market, H-Mart. And look what I found! RAMBUTANS!!! I grew up with these. They are sweet and juicy! You squeeze them open and enjoy the fleshy fruit around the big seed. *mmmmm* Then I remembered that I signed up to do a weekly "Christmas in July" tablescapes on Saturdays at my other blog, "What Now?", so I had to do one while I was still coherent. LOL
J-Pony spent 6 hours at her friend's house, so when we picked her up and opened the door, we were greeted by one of the many "Jimmy's" at night. (yes, I do know it's a frog, but L-Infinity calls them Jimmy so we call them Jimmy.)
Say goodnight to all, Jimmy! "G'night, all!" (with a Texan drawl) LOL

Friday IS the FUN Day!

Well today was a searing 103 deg F which kept us inside until 6:30 PM!

After we watered our neighbor's plants and "shocked" their pool, we immediately walked back home, but along the way, Mr. Man texted and so we used that as an opportunity to--- take pictures!

We loved seeing this manicured lawn and trees, so it's a perfect spot for a shot! ;-)
(I-Dude) "Mommy, this bottle is not cutting at all!" (Me) "It's because, it's a water bottle, silly!" (I-Dude)"Oh! I'm not a smart lumberjack..." LOL
(I-Dude) "Well, what about for a sword fight?" "Maybe... let's try it, J-Pony!"
Inside our complex, we saw several black birds disappear into this tree and when we came close, we saw this nest with one of the birds in it, but I was too slow in zooming in so... all I got was the nest up the tree! I can only imagine the eggs or baby chicks eagerly awaiting the day they can fly away themselves... *sigh*

Nature sure has a way of tugging at your heart...

Ok, 'nuff sappiness; I'm off to watch "Night at the Museum" with the kiddos with popcorn and soda! Make room on the couch! ;-)

Catch-up Day

From Curtis Martin Group dot com
Not much excitement around here... Woke up early enough to remember that maybe I should start watering the plants twice a day now that we've been experiencing the wrath of summer fun- blistering heat! The plants and windows got another soaking at 6 pm, the first, 10 am. I'm still not giving up on my herb garden pots, though I am surprised that the marigold and moss rose seeds are finally sprouting after weeks of being planted. Soil a little parched, perhaps? LOL

The kiddos did their new routine of chores, reading and Wii, but with the addition of Friday's laundry added to the mix. Also, Friday is "Soda and Movie Night" over here so Mug rootbeer all around with a round of "Phineas and Ferb" as well as "Jonas" episodes in lieu of a 2-hour flick from our budding collection of DVD library.

Honestly, we are still recovering from the big party last Monday night. We ended up doing our FHE on Tuesday where errands abound but we all did it together. The lesson we learned, finding ways to better manage our time together when errands abound! ;-)

As for me, I'm still deciding if I should redo the decor or just leave it be and just dust, dust, dust since I really prefer the earth tones and can't wait for Fall again. That seems to be the time of year I feel alive the most. I do have two major tablescapes I want to pull off before Fall and hope to pick up my energy soon to do so.

Have a great weekend!

I know Paper is from Trees...

Hosted by "Vintage Postcards Cpaphil"
Sorry for not joining in last week, been really busy!

Hello again! If you love postcards to send like I do or collecting them blank or used, then you should join in every Friday and meet Marie Reed, our darling host residing in France. She lets everyone show off their fave postcard for the week and talk a little bit about them.

Me, honestly, I love the unusual and mailing them out to friends. Like these ones for example. I don't own any, yet, but I'd love to if I ever came across one for cheap! Maybe, I'll just ask Mr. Man to make me some. LOL

If paper is the result of wet wood pulp being smoothed out, then...


Is this a step before that? LOL

Imagine that, carvable wooden postcards by Drus Dryden through E-Potpourri dot com.

I just love it!

Thanks for hosting Marie and hope you all enjoyed seeing these wooden postcards. It made me smile! Have a great weekend!

Animal Postcards

Hosted by "Vintage Postcards by Cpaphil"

I really don't have any other reason for these postcards but that they are too cute not to share with all of you. :-) Of course, I couldn't find the ones I have from AZ, so here I am again surfin' the net for some fun ones.

Enjoy! (I wonder though what the premise is for these designs... hmmm...)

I can glean from 7satellite dot com that Abi Goy is a postcard artist and sells them on her website.

Thanks, Marie Reed for hosting! And for you all of you who visited!

Want Some Postcards?

Hosted by "Vintage Postcards Cpaphil"

Marie, thank you for hosting another great week of postcard peeks!


Need some postcards? Look at this collection! Wow!

Have a great weekend!

Twisted Saguaros?

Hosted by "Vintage Postcards Cpaphil"

You know, after missing last week, I couldn't wait to grab some unusual postcards to share and see everyone's, but when life gets in the way, life gets in the way you know? ;-)

Anyway on way back here, I went to my favorite airport store inside the D gates in Phoenix, AZ and found several great postcards!

This one is about Saguaro Blooms, but look at that twisted one! That has to be at least 50 to 60 years old if it's blooming as it states on the back. (Hope you can see it) The blooms are beautiful!

State flower of Arizona: Saguaro Blossoms

"The extreme slow growing saguaro does not produce its first blossoms until it is seven to eight feet tall and fifty to sixty years old."

Photos by John Kamenchuk

Thank you Marie for hosting again!

Enjoy looking at all the postcards! I know I will!

Discovering America Winner

Hosted by "Vintage Postcard by Cpaphil"
I am still looking for unusual new postcards, when I came across this online. I'm sure many of you have heard of this contest, but this guy's picture won and became a postcard! How cool is that?

From Postcards.com
Marie, thank you for hosting again such a great meme!

Have a great FRIDAY everybody!

Happy May & Grand Canyon

Hosted by "Vintage Postcards CPAPHIL"
Happy 1st of May everybody!!!

When we moved from Arizona, my dh brought me a book of postcards of his work. Then, while unpacking, I found my small accordion of Arizona "must-see" places postcards. But now, of course I can't find them, so I'm sharing with you a book of postcards all about grand canyon. I only chose the cover as I really love it because of the purple coloring! Love purple!

Thank you for peeking at my chosen postcards today!

Walk, walk and walk some more...

Yes, that's what we did today. We walked from our place to Tuesday Morning for some inexpensive crystal. Actually, the same specific Gorham crystal that I saw last late February. I told myself (and my budget) that if these are still around by Easter time they will be mine! They must be because all six were still there! I'll show it on Sunday's Easter tablescape at my other blog.

Then off across the street to Kohl's for Easter dresses for the girls. Thank goodness we found some they both liked and the colors are complimentary to I-Dude and Mr. Man's shirt. Thank goodness! L-Infinity and J-Pony have two different styles, so finding any holiday dresses that don't clash is a big relief!

On the way home, as before, we played our "Alphabet game". I-Dude chooses a topic and the first person to start the game. Today was "sea creatures" and I was first. We started with abalone and ended with zebra fish. We didn't mind having people driving by seeing us laugh our heads off from not coming up with a sea creature for a particular letter. For example, L-Infinity got stuck on U, so everytime it's her turn, she would substitute with "U" like uctopus, ulectric eel and ugli fish.

Tonight, we did a dry run with our Easter dinner and dessert tables. J-Pony is helping me and she even chose a dessert for Sunday. Then we enjoyed a simple "breakfast for dinner" fare. And of course since it 's Friday, we also have dessert. We tried making "molten lava cakes", but I think our oven is too hot, since I have yet to see the real lava. I've got as far as ooey-gooey, but no lava... not yet! One day... one more practice. I'm sure I can handle more chocolate, right?

Movie night is "School of Rock" with Jack Black.

Hope you all had a great Friday!