I Don't Need No Stinkin' Man

For the past couple days, all I could think about was how much I wanted some Biscotti. This is unusual for me because I didn't really like biscotti at all before. I think all of the coffee research has subconsciously made me want this yummy cookie. I mean i DO really like cookies...So today I ran into Fry's and the only brand of biscotti they had was Nonni's and there were 10 different flavors to choose from. I picked Turtle Pecan dipped in chocolate and then went home to make some coffee to go with it. First, i was dissapointed, not because it tasted bad but because I broke our french press while cleaning it and i think it was a pretty decent press too. So I tried the biscotti with regular drip coffee, which isn't as good, but still satisfying. It was seriously delicious! I wish I could have biscotti and coffee ten times a day on my patio and do nothing else. It makes me very happy. I do inted to try the other nine flavors too! Hopefully I won't get burned out on biscotti and we can have a biscotti party!!!

After lunch I decided to do a little yard work. Which is something that Nathan usually does. One time I mowed the front lawn. That sums up my yard work history besides gardening. I grabbed the mower, weed whacker, and rake from the shed and started working while the kids were on the trampoline. I had never used a weed whacker before, but it was neccesary to whack the entire yard first because there were so many weeds and the grass was so tall it looked like a jungle. I'm not gonna lie, it was actually really fun to go at the weeds with that thing. The downside was that this took me an hour. Then I went over my whack job with the mower, this took me another hour. Then I took about forty min cleaning up and raking the excess into a bag. I have to say that experience was one of the best workouts I've had in a while, but I can see why Nathan never wants to do it because it takes forever and kinda sucks!!! Now I have to to the front yard. Not really looking forward to that though. And I have blisters on my hands :(

A busy weekend

This weekend was very busy for me! I did a lot with the kids and also did a lot of school work too. My stats midterm is this week so I'm studying extra hard!!! I took the kids to the park on Friday. This is the prettiest tree ever, it's right next to the playground area.

On Sunday Nathan and I went to see Shutter Island. I thought it was actually pretty good. It was definitely very intense, but not as scary as the preview makes it out to be. I think most movies that Leonardo DiCaprio does are pretty good though...I really liked Blood Diamond, Revolutionary Road, and The Aviator. I can't really talk about the movie without giving away the story but I can say you should go see it!

Today my order from Cath Kidston came in the mail. Cath Kidston is a company based in the U.K. and they have some super cute stuff like bags, purses, wallets, kitchen things, and stuff for kids. Not all of it is cute though, some of her stuff is very old english lady looking. Because I couldn't find another reason to justify spending money there, I told myself I was buying myself an almost a month early birthday present :). Fortunatly it was money well spent because I really like what I ordered. It's all made from oilcloth too, so it will be very durable and last for a very long time unlike those crappy wallets I usually pick up from Forever 21. I suppose I couldn't chose just one purse because I liked all of the styles below, but that's okay because it's time for me to be more organized in my bags anyway. Usually it's like a black hole and I can't find anything i'm looking for.

I got a clasp purse, a case for my ipod and or phone, and an ID/change wallet

I couldn't resist getting this mini clasp for Madeline to play with!

I got a book bag because I needed something cute to carry my homework around in when I study elsewhere. Hopefully this will last me forever, I don't think I will ever get sick of polka dots!

I went to Target on Sunday to pick up some cleaning supplies and other boring items when I came across these Converse in the clearence rack! I was so excited because they are pretty sparkly converse that were only $8.00!!! Usually they are $40.00. Needless to say I was pretty proud of my find.

Here is a looksy at my latest assignment for 2D art.
Nothing exciting but I thought I should maybe show my progress in class.

Death of a baby

Well we went to Peter Piper Pizza for some old fashioned Friday night fun and it did not end so well. We were playing the "Candy Shoppe" game with our last tokens, getting ready to leave when it happened. I looked at the "Wheel of Fortune" game where we set down our boxed pizza, soda, and Madeline's baby doll. I look back at the kids to make sure they were still there, then back at "Wheel of Fortune" and lo and behold in a three second time frame, Madeline's baby was actually gone. Now I'm not going to speculate too much on how it happened, but WHY. Why someone would want the stinkiest, dirtiest, old, ripped baby is beyond me. If a child had taken it, you think their parents would put it somewhere or return that stinky thing to the counter. Didn't happen. We searched literally every nook and cranny looking for this baby that Maddie absolutely cannot live without for over half an hour. We've had many close calls in the past. One time last week Mad dropped her in the parking lot and I drove back an hour later frantically looking for baby while Mad was having a meltdown. Luckily someone had picked baby up in the lot and gave her to the cashier in the store. Peter Piper Pizza is not that big!!! I do not know how we managed to loose baby right under our noses in three seconds. We had to leave because the kids were getting cranky, so we left our number and had the guy make an announcement, "If anyone has seen a pink baby doll, please return it to the front counter." Thank you Peter Piper employee, but no luck. Fortunately, we have a spare at home. Unfortunately, Madeline has been rejecting this spare ever since her grandma tried to replace her raggedy one with this look-alike impostor on her second birthday (original baby was a gift from grandma on her first birthday). So we rushed the kids into the bathtub, buying ourselves time. I watched the kids splash around while Nathan grabbed impostor baby, ripped off both arms, uncurled her hair, ripped the "baby's first doll" label off of her chest, and went outside to rub her in the dirt!!! When Maddie asked for her baby, we said, "Oh we found her! She is very dirty!" (trying to convince her that this is baby number one, not impostor baby). She took a good whiff of baby, something that she always does, and said, "No! She's too dirty!" So we hesitated, afraid this would not work because Mad really knows the way her other baby smells, which is weird but the truth (she always hold baby up to her nose and mouth for comfort). We told her we'd wash her, and after we did she seemed a little too clean but Madeline actually bought it! Praise the heavens, it's a miracle! Nathan immediatly left to run to Target to grab another one in case she said "this is not my baby!" So that we could show her the new one and trick her into thinking imposter baby is the real one. Two Target's were sold out so we didn't get another one, but thankfully Mad went to bed with no questions asked. From now on I am leaving baby in the car if we go somewhere, lesson learned for the 20th time. It's probably a good thing we replaced that germy, dirty thing because it was starting to seem unsanitairy...goodbye baby number one, if Peter Piper never calls, we enjoyed having you in our lives!

Vonnegut

Yesterday I read a really good bio of Kurt Vonnegut, one of my favorite authors. If you are a Vonnegut fan like me, I suggest reading this!

Details of today

S&P Bears...Do you like them? I think I am the only person who does. Ha!

So last night we went to get a new camera. Ours other one was getting old and the lens does not always come out when you turn it on. We gave it to Maddie and she loves to use it all the time. I'm actually impressed she knows how to work it. Anyways, I've been taking pictures all morning of my favorite things around the house just because I have nothing else to take a picture of!

Chandelier

My favorite piano

Vintage Phone actually works but for some reason we don't use

A weird purse I have

Vanity

Poster

Garden

Thanks Marie, for this awesome cup!

Speaking of coffee cups, I love these thrifty finds too!

Easiest and most tasty lunch ever!

When Ben is done with his bananas, he likes to throw them on the floor.

Backyard

We were blowing bubbles and Abby tried to eat them.

Under the trampoline

Spring cleaning.

Nap time/homework time now!

On Saturday, I went to Goodwill by myself while Nathan watched the kids. I picked up a couple cute things for Mad and Ben and found these sweet red shoes for me. I've been wanting red heels so this was pretty exciting for me! I wore them out Saturday night when I went to "W" in Scottsdale with some friends. I had fun but I think I like going out in Tempe better because everyone is not as concerned with what they're wearing or how perfect their hair looks...





Sunday was Valentine's Day. Nathan has never made anything for me before in his life and he decorated a bag with my name on it and put a million chocolates and valentine's in it! It was definitely a good surprise. I made him, the kids, and the fam valentines in a felt envelope I sewed together. I also made a heart banner for no reason, but the kids though it was pretty! We didn't do anything special really, we try not to be super cheesy, but we did see Dear John which was definetly cheesy (we tried to see The Blindside but it was sold out when we got there). We also took the kids to the train park this weekend which was really fun. We rode the train and carousel and had a fun time for only a couple dollars, I like that place because it reminds me of when I used to go there when I was little.

Faux Ballerina

I can't believe these shoes are eight years old. I first got them when I was a sophomore in high school! One day Heather brought me two big pink pieces of ribbon because she liked my ballerina slippers and thought I should wear ribbon with them, so I did. When I got them out of the closet yesterday the ribbon was old, dirty, and fringed so I went to Michael's and bought new ribbon. I will always love these shoes because I can pretend like I'm a pretty ballerina for a minute and they remind me of high school, although I'm pretty sure people just thought I was weird for wearing these around. Madeline thinks I'm the worlds best ballet dancer after I showed her my moves (Ha!) when we were dancing to classical piano music this morning...she has some pretty good ones herself!

For those Venezuelans lookin for a good time...

Flowers that I picked at the park by our house today. Maddie goes down the slide all by herself now!

Today is dollar day at Goodwill! I got two dresses but one needs to be hemmed because it's grandma long. It's not the same goodwilling without Dusana. I can't go goodwilling by myself for a whole year! Somehow, I think I'll manage....;) this means I get all the good stuff that Dusana usually gets!!!

So that you can see my weekly finds and approve or disapprove, i'm posting pictures for you Dus! What do you think?





Hope you like it! I intend on showing you lots of pictures just in case you miss me too! By the way, the thing with the clips on the wall is our new art wall thingy. Obviously we need a name for it. Tomorrow i'm starting valentines! Hope you are ready for this one...