Blackboards, memba' those?

Seriously guys, I love chalkboard paint. Like love it. I just bought a quart of it
for a simple project and now I want to lather everything I own in it.

Here's the closet to my kids' room before:

And here's the closet after a $9 quart of chalkboard paint

Isn't that fun? The kids are already having a blast with it. 

Bella and Mia took turns drawing pictures of Cindy Lou Who and The Grinch. And then Chance blew me away with his artistic skills as he scratched some white lines over and over again :)

But for my section I figured a calendar (that we can mark off the days) would be a perfect 

little daily activity for them. 

The darn blue painters tape didn't stick as well as I would have liked in the upper left corner, so I'll have to go over it with some white paint to fix up the edges. 

All in all, a cute inexpensive project huh? But if they learn to scratch their nails down it, 

then it's all over. Mark my words.

I just got chills thinking about it.

Look at some of these great chalkboard paint ideas:

I love that it's in a bathroom. I think that's so unique.

Love the paint on the dresser!

My next project? THIS!

So smart. So smart.

Best $18 EVER!

So this past week I decided to pop into a second hand store in the area. I'm on the hunt for a large framed canvas painting that I could upcycle into something new. Damn you Nate Berkus.

Anyhoo, I didn't find what I was looking for but when I turned the corner and saw this my heart started racing. Suddenly I was taken back in time to Mrs. Hoekstra's 4th grade class on the fateful day when a classmate was out sick and I asked the teacher if I could sit at her desk. You see, in our world there were two types of school desks, those that you put things in and those that you get to lift up. Take it from me, the lift top desks ruled. However, the sad fact is that I NEVER and I mean NEVER got assigned a lift top desk. It was heartbreaking. Every year, total devastation.  But that one day, I'll never forget that one day that I first sat in Sharon's lift-top desk. I obsessively opened and closed that desk ALL DAY LONG. I kept trying to find reasons to open it. Like getting an eraser, or a new pencil, or sometimes for no reason at all other than to stick my head in there and smile. I know, major dork. The best part? Sharon had mono. Awwwww yeah baby! I sat there for 4 days!!! But when she returned it was like some bad break up. Ugggh, the agony. She sat two rows in front of me and I'd catch myself just staring at the desk. And when she'd it lift it up it was like pouring salt into my wound.

But......snap back to reality and what stands in front of me? A lift-top desk! A LIFT-TOP DESK PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was so excited I started jumping up and down and threw myself on the desk for fear that someone in the store might want it too. For real, Gina? Holy crap, I knew my kids would love it as much as I did. I envisioned them sitting there and reading or doing homework or playing school.

There was no way in hell that I was passing this up. No way. And with a swipe of my card I was the proud owner of a graffitti'd up 1980's-ish lift top desk!

Eugene, on the other hand, doesn't see it the same way I do. He doesn't think a school desk belongs in a family room. Whatever! It totally does. And the kids LOVE it. Even Chance. I mean look at this? 

Money well spent. 

2 Thumbs Up!

Looking back I realize that I've always really wanted to be a mom. I'm sure it could be traced back to my Cabbage Patch Kids and Pound Puppy days. Sidenote-my first Cabbage Patch was named Jacenth Mitzy. Jacenth? WTH? That name sucked! It ruined my Christmas when I had to explain to every family member that no, her name was not JASON it was JACENTH. Whatev, I gave up. By New Year's her new name was Mitzy and I hid the damn birth certificate.

But, I digress.

I've been collecting experiences and mistakes and memories and ideas and I've put them all in a little box in my head called motherhood. When we found out we were pregnant, I was ready and EXCITED! And then our first child was born. And it was my turn up to bat and I was scared shitless but I looked deep into my little box and knew I could do it. 

But what no book or magazine or advice could teach me was the type of impression my child was going to have on me. I didn't prepare myself for that. In fact, I'm still preparing myself for it because every day that passes my children impress me in new ways. For fairness sake, I should probably add that my kids also piss the shit outta me on a daily basis but for the most part I end the day impressed. 

Especially on this particular day. I opened Bella's folder and found that it was her turn to write a book report for the school hallway. A book report? In Kindergarten? Game on.

Her mission was to write a few sentences about her favorite book. With a grocery list a mile long, I put my husband in charge of her homework assignment and I took off. Eugene busted out his iphone and interviewed Bella about her favorite book. Then they sat at the computer together and transcribed her words into a report. Genius idea, huh? 

In her own words....

"The Giving Tree"

It's about a little boy and a tree who were friends because they did everything together. 

The boy grew older and the tree was all alone. 

The boy cut down everything from the tree. 

She was an old stump and said "come boy and sit down and rest." 

I liked this book because it taught me that as friendships get older they only need one thing: "sitting down and resting." 

And in "The Giving Tree" at the end, it was just the stump and 

you can sit down with her if you relax.

This little girl makes mothering easy.

And fun.

                  

Which no doll could have prepared me for.

Happy Halloween by Dr. Seuss

I think my excitement for Halloween is borderline whack-job. For realz.

I totally take it too seriously and plan about a month (or two) in advance but jacknabbit

 IT MAKES ME HAPPY. 

But high-fives for me since I was still able to convince all family members to participate in a team costume this year. I didn't think we could top last year's but we sure tried. Whom I kidding, I know damn well that in about 5 years Mia would rather eat rocks than dress up with me soooooo, I'm milkin' it for as long as I can.

In an ode to Dr. Seuss, here's The Grinch, Cindy Lou Who, Thing 1 and Thing 2, The Cat in the Hat and a Green Egg.

Didn't Bella's hair turn out great? Wires. Which is exactly what she told everyone who's door she knocked on. Even if they didn't ask. She would just blurt out "wires" and point to her hair. It was hilarious. She was so proud.

My sister, Thing 2, is so talented! She did all the makeup and hair!

We ended up pulling our kids in the wagon to each house. They're such pansies about walking!

The weather turned out to be perfect and the kids loved trick or treating. Especially Chance who proceeded to dig his grubby little hands into every neighbor's candy bowl.  It was cute.

It was his first taste of candy and the boy went nuts. And then Mia shared her Fun Dip stick with him. Um yeeeeah....there's candy and then there's Fun Dip. Which is basically a sugar stick that you dip in more sugar. A mother's dream.

Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!

I've just smeared nutella all over my keyboard because...

+

= HEAVEN!!

My Must Have Fall Accessory

Forget knitted cowls and leather riding boots, this is my must have fall accessory!

That's right. Coffee-mate's newest addition to their winter line up is 

Warm Cinnamon Sugar Cookie creamer.

Aaaahhh. Doesn't that just make you tingle?

By the time I got to the A in cinnamon my sweet tooth was already reaching in to grab one. The name says it all. In fact let's examine the name for a second. Take away the 'warm' and it's just a Cinnamon Sugar Cookie creamer. Not that appealing huh? 

I  say they were geniuses to add the warm. Give that person a promotion Coffee Mate!!!

So how does it taste? Delish. It's the perfect touch to my coffee and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it tasted in tea!

Our very own harvest hoedown!

You guys, we had such a fun weekend. We threw a harvest party sleepover and I'm not sure who had more fun, all the kids running around or all the adults sitting, talking, drinking and eating.

From the moment Tanya and Camille arrived they found themselves hip hopping to Superbass and assisting Eugene in the kitchen as he whipped up his own fresh batch of pasta. 

Now, that's fresh. 

Then the Olsen's arrived along with a buffalo ranch dip, fudge brownies, and a tray of rice krispie treats. Oh how the indulgence began. So did the laughter. 

About two bottles of wine later we headed up to the Children's Farm for some country fun.

I reckon I oughta get me some hay piles for the backyard since them there kids loved it so much!  

Isn't this such a great picture!

Why does she always go for the pole? 

Please don't answer! :)

Here Piggy, Piggy

Camille, the Baby Whisperer

Isn't Kallan the cutest?

Wanna pet my bunny?

That same caption is much creepier when next to this picture

And for their final destination, the children frolicked as they swam in a vat of cork kernels.

Confused, Mia?

The farm was a perfect getaway. The kids had a blast and our mission to tire them out early was a success. When we arrived home we feasted on another amazing meal by Eugene and proceeded to sit outside by the bonfire laughing for hours. P.S. Tiffany Olsen is the perfect party accessory. She had us all rolling!!  And with so many speech alums around we convinced Camille to perform some late night speeches. She's awesome!

We all woke a little dazed the next morning, but perked up when 1) had a cup of coffee and 2) smelled what Eugene had brewing.

Yeah, see that avocado and carne asada breakfast skillet? It was awesome!

Thank you family and friends for making it such a memorable weekend. Until next time!!

Apple Mouthed Girls

Gina and sitting in a tree. 

K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

I'm telling you I've got some serious co-dependency issues with this website. My newest find also happens to be the greatest tasting snack ever! At first glance I thought my kids would totally love this because of how funny it looked. And boy did they! 

Low and behold, the apple mouths. 

But after the second day of making this as a snack I decided to actually taste it. Holy mother of pearl. These flavor combinations are awesome! There's something about the way the marshmallows and peanut butter react together and I'm telling ya, it's better than a caramel apple!

A sure hit! See?

Okay, so clearly my apple mouths turned out looking like some hillbilly apple mouths,
but you get the jist.