And Now A Matthew Moment

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Fun Holiday Treat Turned Out Pintastic!!

We made these fun Christmas Tree treats over the break. Its an upside down ice cream cone covered in green frosting. We put a star shaped marshmallow on top for the star. Then took M&Ms and Skittles for the ornaments. It was fun! And they were yummy!! The kids liked making them more than eating them actually. This post and idea is brought to you of course via an idea I saw on Pinterest! I love that site I am telling ya. Not a day goes by I am not doing something or eating something Pinterest related. Ha.

Wordless Wed

Go, Colts!

Alex LOVES football! LOVES!! I can't express in words how much. 

Its his passion. He can talk to you ALL day about it. All. Day. All.

He has wanted to play forever. We found out a few months ago that the YMCA has a flag football league. So, we signed him up and he loves it. He is on the Colts team. And unlike the pro team, his team is undefeated. LOL! He is so happy to be playing!! Go, Colts!! Go, Alex!!

Day 2

So. It's day 2 of 2012. Whatcha think so far? Its same stuff different year for me. Lol. Not much has changed. Of course I shouldn't judge after just 2 days. This year I hope to just take it one day at a time. Try and not sweat the small stuff. And get what I can get done when I can get it done. With lots of deep breaths, I am ready for whatever the days bring.

One thing I am not ready for is my boys going back to school. I miss them already. I LOVE having them home with me!! And I know they love being home! It's been a great break! We've had fun! It's been low key. I've loved it. Love my boys. 151 days til' summer! But who's counting? Ha.

For those of you "going back" tomorrow, have a great week! Its a short one. Yay!

-B

Sent from my iPad

2012

Happy New Year from Brenda and The Boys!!! Its 2012! Can ya believe it?!?! 2011 whizzed on by so fast. It was a fun year for me. I hope that 2012 brings as much fun and laughter as well.

I spent NYE at home with the ones that me laugh the most, make me the happiest, make me crazy, and sometimes even make me cry. Ha. My boys!! We had a quiet night at home. Home. With the ones I love the most!! I kissed all 3 of them good night before midnight. They were tired and fell asleep early. IT was a nice NYE! I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.....uh take that back. It would have been fun to be in NYC/Times Square with my friend, George. It was a nice NYEve with my guys. Our first holiday(s) without our, Phoebe. Miss her so much! She would have hated the fireworks last night. Sigh.

Well... let's get this year started right. Right!?!? Stay tuned to see what me and the boys will be up to in 2012. I got a feeling its going to be a great year!

I wish you all the best in 2012!!!

-B

And Now A Matthew Moment: I wanna hold your hand!

Wordless Wed

Love @ First Sight!!

I am so blingin' happy about my new blinged out headphones!! I got'em at Ross!! They're so SHINY!!!

Wordless Wed

Pinning: Our New Homework Station

So, if you don't know already I am a major PINHEAD! I love the website pinterest.com. It is full of Ah-mazing ideas. Ones that I have pinned for later. And ones that I have actually made or tried to make. OMGosh, it is super fun. If you don't know what pinterest is then get over there stat and check it out! Brilliant site!

One of the projects that I created via an idea on pinterest is a "homework station" for my boys. I found that now with both of them in school and having homework, and due dates, and papers, and binders etc. They needed  a place to put "their" own stuff. So, I found a space in our study/office area and made a homework "command" station. It has worked out really well. I am pleased. I even added my own little touch. Here are the pics.

Here it is. AJ on the right. MP is on the left. 

They each have a bulletin board for posting important notes.
Each have file holders for homework, reading logs, and
other papers they use on a weekly/daily basis. The dry erase
board I found at Target with a red tag for $2. I use it to write notes they
need to see or reminders for each week.

I added the pencil holder on the side of each of their
file holders. That was my own little touch. ;) The
pencils are there and ready to go. No looking around for one.

It is a toothbrush holder. The kind you use for traveling.
I put a piece of velcro on it to make it stick to the folder file.

I love finding new way to use things that already have
a purpose. This is what Pinterest does. It motivates and inpsires
new ideas in your brain so then I can then pass along my ideas
on to others.  Thank you, Pinterest!

Joining Pinterest is by invitation only. :( If you need me to send you one. Just holla!! You too can be pinning in no time!!

Dear Sarah

Dear Sarah,

Its been so long since we last spoke. We got your Christmas card this week. Brought tears to my eyes. You have grown so much. Oh, how I miss your sweet smile and your soft hugs. I want to hear all about school, and your new friends. I heard ya'll got a pool this summer. I miss you! I also miss your dad yelling, "B. Loooooooooo!" every time he'd see me. Jordan looks so tall! OMGosh. I don't think I'd recognize him if I saw him in person. He is a teenager now! Lauren is just as pretty as ever. I wonder how she is doing now that she is in 5th grade. Is she excited about middle school next year?! And your mom. OH, how I miss her. It hurts. I need to call her. I need to make the time. Life is crazy. BUT I need to hear her voice. I miss you, Sarah. I hope that this Christmas is just awesome for you guys!!

Please know that I think about you guys all the time!

Love,
Brenda (:

And Now a Matthew Moment

My sweet boy comes home from school everyday and does his homework without being reminded. Love him!

And Now A Matthew Moment

A friend. Yes, that is a girl, painted this for Matthew. He already has a way with the ladies. Lol. I asked him last night if any girls in his class liked him and he said, "Yes!" "All of them." Well... there you have it. Oy!

Wordless Wed: Pics so good they need no words!

And Now A Matthew Moment

Surfing the net I guess requires a helmet these days. :-)

Living with boys...

When you live with boys football helmets become part of the decor. Sigh. ;-)

WDITOT: Fort Kit

I saw a cute idea on. Yes, Pinterest.com. It was for a Fort Kit. You know the sheet and blanket forts/tents you made as a kid and now if you have kids like your kids make. Well several people have posted the kits they have put together and have given as gifts. So. We are going to a party this weekend for a 5yr old boy and I thought this would be the perfect gift for him.

I went to Walmart and bought 2 sheets. The kits online said to get 2 twins. I got a Full and a Twin size. I also found the drawstring bag there. Then I went to the .99 Store and got a flash light, batteries, clothespins, string, clamps, and suction cups. Before, I put all the stuff in the bag I printed out a label onto iron on transfer paper. I use the kind for dark fabric. It is easier to use. Printed out the pic. Ironed it on the bag. Put all the stuff in and presto! Fort kit. I think he will love it! I hope he does! This could be made for boys or girls. I saw fun pink and polka dotted sheets, too!

Thanks again, Pinterest! WDITOT (Why didn't I think of that!).

And Now A Matthew Moment: He Still Misses Her

Matt made this at school last week. It is about our dog Phoebe that passed away on Aug. 16 of this year. I mentioned before that he still talks about her as if she were still alive. He then will remember. She is not. Poor guy. His paper is a picture of Phoebe by our front door. It was her favorite place to lay.

He writes: I have a dog named Phoebe. And she always likes to sleep by the front door. She go's outside all the time.

Breaks my heart. He's so sweet. He misses her. I do too, Matt.

Sock Bun Curls

On Thursday night after I had taken my shower and gotten ready to finally lay down with my iPad and do my favorite nightly activity. Which is to listen to the night before's Big Brother after Dark while on Pinterest on the iPad. While pinning I ran into this picture of this girl and her gorgeous long blonde hair. Her long loose curls are so pretty! I pinned it and then it took me to a YouTube link about how to get these curls without heat. Oh, yeah and with a sock. Yes. I said it. A sock. Crazy. I know. So, I watched the video. A few times. A few times cause the girl's accent is awesome. And plus I wanted to be sure I was getting it right. So, watched this video. Looked at blonde girl's curls again and was like gotta try this. Doing it! Since my hair was already damp like she said it should be and cause I had a sock that was missing its mate and surprisingly I hadn't trashed yet. I was like done and done. Wet hair. Sock. So, I got my hair up in a sock bun. Went to sleep. Woke up the next day and did a bunch of stuff that morning and before I had to leave to go to a meeting at the boy's school I took my hair out of my sock bun and presto CURLS! Long. Loose. Pretty. Curls. Shriek. My mom and friend TG thought I had had it done by a professional i.e. Lauren Jackson of Bella Sorella. Nope. Sock bun! So now I can't stop telling everyone that will listen all about the Sock Bun! You know you wanna try it! What are you waiting for? Oh, and Pinterest. Yea. If you don't know... go to it now. Clear about 3 hours out of your day or night first. Just saying. Its crack. One click aka pin and you are in. In!! As in you are never gonna get up from your computer again even to pee. In. As in your house will go uncleaned. In. As in your family will go unfed. Addicting. Crack. For real. You have been warned. Have fun pinning and sock bunning!!

-Brenda aka Brenduh aka Pinster

P.S. I added at the bottom another Sock Bun tutorial. Same girl but she explains it a little slower and a little closer to the camera. You can see what and how she does it better maybe. I think in this one she was showing how to make a bun to wear. Just the bun and then when she took it out it was curled. Maybe. Any way it is the same method. Good luck. Let me know how it goes. Post your pics!!

Isn't her hair gorgeous?! Sock Bun!

Here's the sock I used. Snipped the toes off.

Rolled up my sock and then made
my bun. Forgot to take a pic of my bun.

Tada. Curls. This is after about 5 hours. It had fallen
somewhat. But all these curls were from the sock bun. Fun!

You may want to watch this video, too. Just to get a better understanding.

Who done it?

I wonder which little Parks left this fake rubber life like surprise for me to find this morning!? Ahhhhhhhh!

We love Station 105!

A very happy little guy. We were there to give to them
and the firefighters still were giving to us. Thanks, Captain Rick.

Last night and yesterday was scary for our neighborhood. There was a fire about 2 miles away. It started about 3pm. It burned over night. We we woke up about 3am to a house filled with smoke. The firefighters worked all night and it was 100% contained by 5am this morning. I barely slept a wink. I was worried. I found myself having an anxiety/panic attack about 8am. If you've ever had one, it is a horrible feeling. Anyway.

I decided I wanted to do something for the awesome firefighters of our local Station 105. So, I baked away all morning. A cake, some brownies, a few tubs of cookies (From my boys school fundraisers. Which by the way we are selling cookies etc until Sept. 20 if you need some.) that I had in the freezer. As soon as I picked up Matt from school he helped me carry them in to the guys at 105. They were so happy. They thanked us a million times. Asked us what it was all for. I said it was just a small token of our appreciation for all their hard work and for their sleepless night. For protecting us. For being in our neighborhood. They were happy. It made us happy.

Before we left. The Captain asked Matthew if he wanted to get up inside the fire truck. Of course Matthew said yes! What a treat!! Thank you Station 105 and Captain Rick. It is now my goal to visit them more and bring them treats from time to time. Not just when there is an emergency but, just because.

Paying it forward in little but, I think big ways.

Words to live by.

I saw this picture not to long ago. The words have stayed in my head. So much so that when I wake up and go about my day and I get to that point where I am about to complain or gripe about how horrible I feel or silly things like how I wish that my youngest son hadn't helped himself to the pancakes and syrup and gotten syrup on the floor, cabinets, counters, sink. Everywhere. You know those kinda days or moments. Well when I get to those days and moments lately I think of the words and know that somewhere, some one out there is fighting a harder battle than me. The Texas  wildfire victims come to mind. A person just diagnosed with cancer. Those hard things. So, I pick myself up and am glad that I only have sticky Matthew syrup to clean up.

The other day I decided to take these words and challenge myself a bit. To be kind. So I did something very simple. I smiled at every person that I came across. Even if I was in the car driving. I made eye contact and smiled at them. Sounds like no big deal. Huh? Well, some people looked at me like who are you? And what do you want? Ha. Just from a smile. Some people kinda scrunch their brow but, do smile back. So don't smile back. Yes, I usually smile at most people I see. I can't help it. This time though I was trying to really be kind and smile and let the person know I was doing it not to be polite but, because I wanted them to get a smile that day from someone because maybe they had stuff going on where they just needed a smile or someone to look them in the eye. Someone to be kind. Sounds easy enough. And its free. But, maybe you should try it. It was tough to smile at even a guy standing around in a parking lot looking like he was up to no good. But I just thought he too might be fighting a hard battle.

I challenge you. Think about the words in the picture and even if you are having one of those days yourself and don't feel like it. Smile at someone today. Or at everyone you see. And by everyone I mean everyone. When was the last time you saw your garbage man and you gave him a smile? How many smiles do you think they ever get? Not many cause when I did it the other day ours looked at me crazy but the gave me a head nod. People need to see a friendly kind face. So today, I am going to do it again and I want you to, too. I think a smile is worth a million words. It can say hello. How are you? Thank you. A smile. No words. Just kindness.

Tomorrow, I have a new challenge for us!
-B

Wordless Wed

And Now A Matthew Moment

This is Phoebe and the boys.
Her brothers. She was 11 here.

Its been a few weeks since the last Matthew Moment. They occur daily but, I just can't post them all. Sorry. There are just too many. As you know I save the best ones to share with you guys. This one is no different. For the last few days Alex (8) and his cousin Madeline (10) have been co-writing a comic book. They get on Skype and discuss and write it together while Alex types it up on Word. Smart kids. Love them. I was still picking my nose at 8 and 10. Any who. Today Matthew (5) decides he wants to write a book. "A book," I say. Really about what?! My dog, Phoebster (he calls her). Side note. Our 14 year old dog died on August 16 (on mine and Kevin's 14th anniversary). Her name was Phoebe. She was our furry child. The boy's sister. Our family member. We have talked a lot about how much we miss her. Lots of tears have been shed. Matt sometimes still talks about her as if she were still with us. Then he remembers and says. "Oh, yeah." "I forget."

This is a picture the boys on their own asked me to take on their iTouch. It is theday she died. The last picture we took of her.  She was very sick.We had to make the tough choice of putting her down. They were  We were devastated. Lots of tears.

Today. This afternoon. He wanted to write a book about her. Like Alex and Maddie. He asked me how this could happen. I told him all about Word. He asked if it was like a typewriter (how he knows about those. I don't know.) I said kind of. I set up a new Word document for him. I just let him go. Alex and I told him that he was on his own. We couldn't help him with it. Alex was off to do who knows what and I "had" to get ready for the GoGo's concert I was going to attend later. So, he said "Ok". And  he went at it. Before I knew it he came bouncing into my room and said, "I'm done!" "Can I read it to you?" I said sure. So, here is what he wrote. I was and still am very impressed that at five he was able to write, type, express, spell, etc. the following story. He is lacking in the punctuation department but, he's 5! I know he can recognize and tell you what a period, question mark, and coma are called. Placing them in sentences not so much. Anyway. I just had to share. Brag a bit. Plus I wanted to share how sweet he is and how much he must really miss his dog. Tear. P.S. Exploding Phoebe sounds kinda gross but, it is a game he and she played.  He

started Kindergarten this week. He's already writing books. Well paragraphs. Ha. Go, Matthew!! 

I scanned in his "book". It is the paragraph below. If you need to you can click on it and it will redirect you to a new page and it will be a little bit bigger to read. Enjoy his "book". I did. My sweet boy.

iPad iDea

iLike to listen to my iPad in the bathroom while I am getting ready. I either prop it up or lay it flat. I have a dock but, it is in another part of the house. I only listen to it in here while I am getting ready so, I didn't want to $pend money on something that I only do for a short time each day (in this place). So, yesterday while I was in Hobby Lobby I bought this frame holder. It was $8. Now I can put my iPad on it and it won't topple over and doesn't have to lay flat on the counter. Yeah!