Fly On The Wall: August 2014

Hey there!  Welcome to the August Fly on the Wall Group Challenge. This month, 11 awesome bloggers and I are describing what it would be like if you were to take a peek inside our homes....

Have a "look" around mine, and then go visit the other blogger's pages. There's always something fun, sentimental, or better yet, embarrassing going on. It's like your house, only we're admitting to the craziness. You have our permission. Buzz on over!

Cast:
The man
Alex, the eldest (daughter, 20) She has a name!!
C., The middle (son, 16)
J., The youngest (son, 9)

Henry and Lila- The dogs

If you were a fly on our wall this month, you would have witnessed this:

Once upon a mattress:
After twenty-one years, 3 kids, and 3 dogs, the man and I finally bought a new mattress set. We decided to upgrade after our youngest was watching TV with me on my bed and did an accidental slow-roll onto the floor. The rectangular prism we had been sleeping on for so long had finally morphed into a wedge.
The bad news? No dogs allowed. (Bad news for them.) Also, I now need a ladder step stool to get into my bed.
The good news? Better back support and a 50% less chance of me rolling into my husband like we're on a Matterhorn ride.

Henry and Lila wondering what happened to the sloped "jump-on" spot from the old bed.

Oh, Brother!:

C. to J. while gathering laundry:
C.: "There needs to be a BALANCE when throwing your underwear down the chute. If you don't put enough down, mom will think you're not changing it enough. But, if you throw too much down, she's going to tell you to lay off the apples."

***

C. to me: "You should thank me, mom. J. couldn't sleep last night so I read to him. I even read from the bible."
Me: "C.! That was really nice of you."
J. to me, not nearly as happy about it as I thought he'd be: "Yeah, he read me a story about Cain and Abel."
Me: "C., you're grounded."

***

C. to J. on one of the last day of summer vacation: "Every time we bake with mom, a toothless angel gets her wings."

School begins!

The kids are off to school once again. C. is a Junior and J. is entering 4th grade. It's going fast. I'm trying to hold on and let go at the same time.

C. -11th grade

J. -4th grade

I asked Alex to send me her "first-day" picture. She's entering her senior year of college.

A.: "Not today, mom. School doesn't start until Monday. This morning, I'm just a hot mess. That's not a picture you need to see."

***

I get up early on the first morning to make everyone a big breakfast. We have pancakes, eggs, bacon and juice. I even serve it on our good dishes.

J. is making "Mmm" sounds.

C. to J. : "Enjoy your breakfast today, J. It's pop tarts for the next 179 days.

The Man: "C.! That's not very nice."

The Man then whispers to me, "BTW, we're out of pop tarts."

Preview for next month's Fly on the Wall:

The man just started working most weekdays from home. 

Yeah. That's just begging for blog posts.

Convo of the month:

Me to the man: "I know you're working, but I need you to come and kill this spider in my sewing room. It's huge."

The man walks with me down the hall then points at the spider: "What is all of that wet,white stuff?

Me: "It's baby powder. And spray starch. I didn't want it to run away while I went to get you."

The man: .....................

No words. Just the shaking of his head while he wonders if he should go back to working away from home.

Finally:

My son put me in his Lego "City".

Three things I love about this:

1. I drive an awesome convertible.

2. My ripped arms are as fabulous as my raven-black hair.

3. My husband has to sit in the back to make room for my cup of Joe.

Happy Friday, friends:) 

-Michele

Thanks once again for stopping by, and to the Fly's AMAZING creator, Karen @ Baking In a Tornado, aka "The Blogging Original", for hosting this challenge! Would you like to join in the next FLY challenge? Click on the FLY button on my side bar. Karen will more than take care of you.

Take a look at what the other bloggers have going on inside their homes. Go on! Leave them a comment. You know you want to...

Baking in a Tornado                          

The Rowdy Baker                                  

Just a Little Nutty                                

The Momisodes                                          

Spatulas on Parade                          

The Sadder but Wiser Girl                                   

Follow Me Home                            

Stacy Sews and Schools                   

Menopausal Mother                                

Someone Else's Genius                          

Go Mamma O                                          

Use Your Words- August 2014: Short and SWEET!

Hello, friends!

Today’s post is a writing challenge created by Karen @ Baking in A Tornado. This is how it works: 11 participating bloggers picked 4 – 6 words or short phrases for someone else to craft into a post. All words must be used at least once and all the posts will be unique as each writer has received their own set of words. That’s the challenge, but there's a fun twist; no one who’s participating knows who received their words or in what direction the writer will take them. Until now.

At the end of this post you’ll find links to the other blogs featured in this challenge. Check them all out, see what words they were given and how they used them. 

My words are: 

Potatoes ~ hippopotamus ~ cannon ~ bug spray ~ orange submarine

They were submitted by: Sarah@ http://themomisodes.com   

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? 

Well, for this challenge, I decided to use all of my words in photos.  I was able to "USE" the words and "EAT" them :)

So, thank you, Sarah. Not only for the awesome words, but for giving me an excellent excuse to bake the day away with my boys.

            

I didn't have cookie-cutters for many of the words, so C. cut them by hand for me.

J. loves to ice the cookies. Lila loves to watch.

Without further ado, here are my "words".

Potatoes

Hippopotamus

Cannon

Bug Spray

Orange Submarine

Thanks again for the words, Sarah!

Have a sweet day, my friends :)

Check out the other participants in today's Use Your Words Challenge!

Baking in a Tornado                                       

Spatulas on Parade                          

The Momisodes                                      

Confessions of a part-time working mom               

Juicebox Confession                             

Evil Joy Speaks                 

Follow me home                   

Someone Else's Genius                       

Crumpets and Bollocks                       

The Bergham's Life Chronicles              

The Sadder but Wiser Girl                       

* sending love to Stacy @Stacy Sews and Schools, a regular contributor to these challenges. She's unable to participate this week for personal reasons. Keep her in your thoughts. We miss you, girl.

-Michele

Secret Subject Swap-August 2014 Yabba Dabba Doo!

If you're a regular reader, you know that the Secret Subject Swap is a collaboration between various bloggers. We receive secret topics from a blogger in a secret e-mail and put our own spin on the subjects. The 14 blogs participating this time are listed at the end of this post. Go have a look and leave a comment. It will make my our day! :)

My “Secret Subject” is:

If your life were a cartoon from YOUR childhood, which would you be and why? 

It was submitted by: Dawn@ http://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

If my life were a cartoon, it would be "The Flintstones". One could learn a lot from that stone-age family. I know I did. After watching reruns every day after school for years, I feel like I could safely walk the gravel streets of Bedrock today with confidence. Hmm. That probably explains a lot about me, right?

Here are 10 Cheesy Inspiring Life lessons I learned from Fred, Wilma and the gang:

1. Nothing is written in stone. If it is, drop that stone like it's hot and be flexible. The world is so much easier with some wiggle room.
2. Don't be afraid to lean on others. If you need a friend, call her up. It's amazing what can happen over a gab, a cup of tea or a day out on the town. Friends always help you see things in a new light. If not, they'll at least be there to hold your hand through the rough patches.
3. Shop Wisely. It's silly to buy 26 pairs of shoes when you're living the majority of your life barefoot.

4. Enjoy everything in moderation. Snack or have that special treat. When you do, savor it and then be done with it. It's not every day the McRib 300lb. ribs are in town...

5. Appreciate what you DO have. So your car doesn't have floorboards? Neither did my first car! (a cherry red Chevy Chevette that I jokingly called the Flintstone-mobile) Maybe your house is small or it feels like you're wearing the same outfit over and over. (Betty Rubble did that and rocked her look every single day.) You get to wake up every morning with a brand new chance to be grateful or inventive. I used a cookie sheet to cover the rusted floorboard of that first car. It makes me thankful to now be able to tap my feet to music in my present car. Strong floorboards. It's the little things.
6. Wear your hat like a boss. If you're an artist, a quarry worker, a doctor, a teacher, a parent or Grand Poobah of the Water Buffalo, be proud of what you do. Own your hard work and walk tall.

7. Don't sweat running in place. Sometimes it feels like we're not moving forward; barely balancing on tippy toes. Think of yourself as revving up for your next move.

8. Work hard, but play too.  As soon as you're off of your shift or even if you're just taking a break when you can fit it in, set the stress of the day aside; for the rest of the night or for the next five minutes. Be present so you can enjoy the things you're working so hard for. When you can, squeeze in a movie or go bowling. (using your twinkle toes, of course!) Build a fort. Paint or sing. Anything to escape for a bit. Oh, and for the love of all things leopard-print... please, please MAKE time to laugh!
9. It's okay to be a dinosaur! I still have an AOL e-mail address, people. I write my blogs in cursive before typing them. I love the feel and smell of a well-loved book. Those things are going by the wayside for the next generations, but I'm quite happy keeping some of my old habits.

10. Breathe. Times are hard. When you take care of you, you can take care of others. Those days when things get too hard... Maybe your job is driving you crazy or you're unemployed. Perhaps you are overwhelmed or lonely. You might feel helpless or find yourself talking to imaginary green martians. What if you aren't able to find your (or anyone in your town's) pants? Problems can be big or small...Don't give up. Contact a friend. Or a neighbor. Or your therapist. Scream into a pillow or meditate.  If you're me? Always, ALWAYS take your meds vitamins. :) 
Smile, friends. Pants are overrated, anyway.

Thanks for the topic, Dawn!

Baking in a Tornado                          

The Momisodes                                       

Spatulas on Parade                          

Confessions of a part-time working mom               

Juicebox Confession                           

Evil Joy Speaks                    

Sparkly Poetic Weirdo                       

Follow Me Home                 

Someone Else's Genius                 

Crumpets and Bollocks                    

Stacy Sews and Schools                

Climaxed                         

The Bergham's Life Chronicles                    

Dinosaur Superhero Mommy         

Happy Friday, friends,
-Michele                            

My married daughter is already turning into me.

Yep, I'm still talking about the wedding. Actually, it's the aftermath of the wedding, but still.
The eldest is now off on her own with her husband and living the married life. It's been pretty fun gabbing with her about all of the new experiences she's having. Already, though, I can see some common threads of myself in her.

If her husband is reading this, he's probably thinking, "Holy NO, Batman! Please say my wife will be nothing like my mother-in-law!!"

But, BAM, Mr. S., she's practically there.

A few quotes from the new Mrs.:

• "I was making dinner the other night when I realized, "Crap! I have to do this every night for forever?"

• "All of these people are going out to parties and I'm thinking, "Do you know how much gas I could put in my car for the price of that dinner?"

• "I bought an oscillating fan for the bedroom. After one night of using it, I thought, "Where has that been all my life?"

• "I will NOT turn down a free meal."

• "We went to the grocery today. I'm so sorry for eating all of the fruit snacks and chips at home like they were indispensable. We're learning to ration; and I'm not kidding. Things are packaged individually for a reason. One at a time!"

• "I've got a lot of imperfections. He's (The husband) so great. He doesn't even pick them out to me, or put them in alphabetical order like I do with his..."

• To the middle child: "When you've cooked a full dinner for three people using only a toaster oven, THEN you can tell me how hard you have it."

• "I hate it when you don't text me back, mom. All I think is you could be dead or something!"

What can I say? My baby is all grown, and she's doing just fine.

Happy Tuesday, friends :)