Brenda & The Boys

You all know I love to clean. Cleaning up and cleaning out. I always have a Goodwill pile. My FAVE things to do. I love it!! The bags I fill are weights lifted off and out of my life. I always start a cleansing late Dec. early January. I clean out the boys rooms and playroom to make room for the new toys, books, clothes, and other gifts they/we received at Christmas. This year we even rearranged furniture. Boys helped and they love the change!! Another area I hit every January is the medicine cabinet. I look at expiration dates. I throw out the old stuff. Have a note pad on hand. Make an inventory of things you need to replace. Do you need band aids? First aid ointment? More ibuprofen? The pantry and fridge are other spots I hit the first of Jan. Look at exp. dates. Change out the baking soda boxes in the freezer and fridge. I take out the shelves. Wipe and wash it all down. I throw out old stuff. Condiments that have been on the shelf a while that I know won't be used agai...

Setting/Scene: Yesterday morning in my bathroom getting ready to leave for Field Day at school. MP is brushing his teeth. Alex is taking his vitamins. I walk in and... Me: Matt. Wanna mohawk for field day today? Matt: It's too late Dad already fixed my hair. Me: It's never too late for a mohawk!!!! Alex: It is for Pa!!!  Everyone: Pawahahahahahaha!!!! We love you Pa!!

It's Children's Book Week. The boy's school is celebrating with different themes each day. Today is Story Book Character Day. After MP decided at the last hour, minute, second that he wanted to participate... last night we brainstormed and brainstormed and then came up with this idea from one of his all time fave books. The book is Arnie the Doughnut . A book about doughnuts is one of his faves. Duh. Ha! Awesome part is we had all the supplies to a make his character here at home. Phew! I took a swim ring spray painted it and then glued some card stock on it for the sprinkles, eyes, and mouth. Then I taped some string on the back so he can wear it around his neck. Yay! Quick. Next time we'll come up with something more creative when we have more time! Check out Arnie the Doughnut next time you are at your public or school library. It's a cute story!                                 ...

Alex's class submitted questions to, if picked be used to ask First Lady Barbara Bush a question during a video conference on Feb. 7. One of his questions was picked and so, he got to ask the First Lady his question directly to her via satellite. It was a pretty exciting time around here because of it. I just got video from that day just yesterday. My boy. Watch. Its really cool. I don't know though. They do say that kids say the darnedest things. Ha. Is he overly confident? Sassy? Nervous? Maybe a little bit of each. So, glad Barbara B. has a sense of humor about it all! LOVE her!!!--P.S. I am not that surprised that he responded that way. If you know Al he is pretty serious when it comes to his sports "opinions"! Ha. And a sports related question at that. ESPN are ya watching? Lol. Will AJP be on Sports Center some day? Hmmm.. I think. Maybe. How fun would that be!?! :) Thanks for watching. Enjoy! -B I pulled the following from his school's webs...

Alex had to read a biography last month for class. Then he had to do a report/presentation about it. He chose a book about John Elway, the ex-Denver Bronco's quarterback. He pretty much had free reign on how to present the book to his class. Be creative it said. So, he and I came up with a board game idea of John Elway's LIFE. We pulled out our LIFE board game and used it as a model. I went to Lowe's and got some paint samples to create the game board squares. KP helped with the spinner. Alex told me what he wanted the game pieces to be and then I made those. He did the rest. Each square represented a different fact about John Elway. Every other square had something like "you fumbled the ball go back 2 spaces" or "you scored a touchdown move forward 3 spaces" kinda deal. You started in John Elway's birthplace. Port Angeles, WA and the winning square/the end was Mile High Stadium in Denver, CO. After it was all said and done we all knew a ton of fact...

Are you like me and as soon as the Christmas break is over you start counting down to Spring Break? Yes. I am always ready for a break off with my boys and KP, too. Spring Break. Seven days of hopefully good weather and lots of fun! Most years we take a trip of some kind. Sometimes we fly somewhere. That is what we will do this year. Sometimes we take a road trip. Last year we went to Huntsville. Alex had done a school report about Sam Houston and so we spent a few days exploring Huntsville and the many places in the area that we could learn more about Sam Houston. It was fun! It was. For real. Who knew. We've also had a few Spring Break stay-cations. These are usually an over night stay at a hotel or motel in the Houston area. Since KP travels some for his job he has accrued hotel points that we save and use. The Woodlands for example is where we stayed once and visited the Children's Museum there, rode the carousel in the mall, and ate at some of our fave restaurants that w...

So. I am organized. Yes. But. What does that mean really? To me it means I have a space and place for everything. Everything. Everything has its "SPLACE". Splace = Space and place. Oh. You got that. Of course you did. Just making sure. If you have somewhere for it. Your stuff. Then you always have a splace to put it!! Yea! And this makes me happy when that happens. :) Your family can then help you put things back in its splace where it goes. It can happen. Becomes routine. It does. Sometimes you just have to get creative and find a place to put things! Example: Take this piece of furniture below. A dear friend gave it to me. Thanks, Keri. I love it. After I found a splace for "it",  it later became what you see now.  A splace for the boys craft supplies. Before it housed some odds and ends. See, I used to have a Rubbermaid box full of these craft things and would bring it out when they felt creative and then would open it up in the kitchen and then I would box it...

So. If ya don't know. Let. Me. Tell. You. Number one. I love Halloween!!! Two. I love Ellen DeGeneres and her show. Three. I have always wanted to be on a red carpet interviewing celebs. So, that is why this year I am thinking I will be Sophia Grace for Halloween. This lucky little bitty currently holds my dream job on my fave of all time talk shows!! Yes. Maybe if Ellen sees me dressed as Sophia she'll let me have a gig like her, too. A girl can dream. If you don't know this super cute girl, Sophia Grace who just so happens to be the 6 year old version of me. Check her out on YouTube. She's a hoot. I love her and her enthusiasm! She's kinda awesome. Here's a link to one of a million videos this cutie.  http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p-pOGkhxoy4&feature=relmfu

Someone. MP. Penny, our dog is a little short yet to reach these. Changed his mind I guess.  So nice of him to put it back and save it for someone else. Want a snack? Anyone? Ugh.

By now you may know that I am always cleaning or clearing out stuff. I love to go through stuff from time to time. All the time. Lets be honest. I look for things we don't use, wear, or play with. For me to fill a bag or two and remove it f rom our house is truly cathartic. It not only physically removes it from our home it mentally removes a weight from my shoulders and brain. It comes easy to me. I bag it up. Donate it. Or pass it on to others that can use it. Freecycle. I keep an empty 13 gallon trash can out in the garage. Everytime I find something we do not need anymore it goes in the "bucket". When it fills up. I bag it up. I know that for some this does not come easy. Be it sentimental reasons or maybe just being overwhelmed and not knowing where to begin. A friend shared this article with me. Its great. Worth the read. And maybe you have been looking around your home and wanting to but, just don't know where to start...this article may just be the encourageme...