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