Water, Water Everywhere {and an obscure movie reference}

We have plastic cups sitting everywhere in the kitchen. Half full of water. It's bad. Like, I'm waiting for aliens to land and someone to yell "Swing away" and start hitting the half-filled cups with a baseball bat kind of bad. (Points if you know what movie that's from.)

Also? It drives me nuts.

How hard can it be to use the same cup all day? Just one day. Not a month or a week. Just a single day. That's all I'm asking.

Apparently, it's really hard.

"Whose cup is this?"
"Not mine!"
"Not mine!"
"It has to be one of yours. Because it's not mine, and I'm pretty sure Oz can't reach the water dispenser."
*blank stares*

(And no, it didn't matter what the cups looked like - superheroes, pink, flowers, plain. DIDN'T MATTER.)

I couldn't handle it any more. So I decided to try a new thing. And it's actually working pretty well.

I bought some plain cork coasters at Walmart - they were around $4. Then, I traced a C and an H on the coasters and colored them in with Sharpies. Now, when the kids get a cup out, they're supposed to set it on their coaster after getting their drink. It keeps drippy cups off the counter, and it gives them a single place to put their cups.

I know I'm not the first person to use this little trick, but it's made a huge difference in the state of my kitchen and the number of cups sitting around the house. Now, if I could only manage to make it work in the kids' bathroom, too. We're still set up to fight aliens in there. But one day...one day.

Why I Can’t Do a Capsule Wardrobe (See also: My dumb first world problem.)

Simplification is all the rage. But it gets kind of complicated.

Capsule Wardrobes are the thing right now. Basically, the idea is to limit yourself to a certain number of versatile clothing items for each season. You wear the same 37 (or so) articles of clothing/shoes in different combinations for 3 months, then pull everything else out of storage and remix your wardrobe for the next season. (That doesn’t include undies/socks, workout clothes, pajamas, etc.) The idea is to only purchase things you love and will work well with things you already have. Given the blog posts and Facebook links I’ve seen on this topic lately, it’s a brand new idea no one’s ever thought of before.

But here’s the thing. The Capsule Wardrobe is supposed to simplify your daily life. And I love that. But switching out clothes from storage every three months? No way. Talk about un-simplifying things.  Let’s be honest. I do good to move my kids’ shoes and clothes out of their closet when they’ve been too small for 3 months. There’s no way I’m going to voluntarily decide to “remix” my own clothes four times a year. Go ahead and think, “that’s not that often.” And then smack yourself. Because remember when Caedmon was having laser treatments every 3 months? Something you have to do every 3 months comes around too fast. Every single time.

It’s also supposed to help simplify your laundry. I don’t know about you, but no matter how many articles of clothing I own, I only wear a certain number of clothes each day. So the laundry burden wouldn’t change for me.

I also wear a lot of the same things in every season. Sure, shorts and sandals are pretty much a summer thing. And a few sweaters are only worn in winter. But jeans? V-neck t-shirts? Boyfriend cardigans? Chucks? Most of my long sleeve shirts? All year. (I’m cold natured…and it’s the same temperature inside all year long.)  So it really wouldn’t do me much good to switch out even half of my 37-ish items every 3 months.

And let’s talk about how many articles of clothing/shoes 37 x 4 actually is. (Not counting your workout clothes, swimwear, undies, and the jeans you wear to paint the living room.) Sure, there are a few that would cross over. Let’s say that you have 10 things you wear all year long or would cross over to multiple seasons. The other 27 items are switched out every 3 months. That’s 118 items. And actually a lot of clothes. At any given time, you’re required to store 81 articles of clothing/shoes. Where are you supposed to put that stuff? It’s not supposed to be in your closet. It’s supposed to be in “storage”. I don’t have that kind of extra space lying around for stuff that could actually fit in my closet.

Sure, I keep things I should get rid of. Just today, I went through my side of the closet and donated quite a few items.  My general rule is that if I didn’t wear it in the past year, it’s gone. And I haven’t been diligent in that the past couple of years. Generally, if I’m buying something new, it’s probably replacing something I’ve gotten rid of or filling a gap. Just for fun, I counted the items in my closet – including a few quality pieces I’ve chosen to hold onto even though I haven’t worn them in a while. I have about 100 items. That officially leaves me 18 items short. Yet I don’t feel the need to run out and buy 18 new things. 

I think the main point in the whole Capsule Wardrobe endeavor is to only buy things you love and will wear a lot. With very few exceptions, I already do that. And I always have. So that means I leave a lot of things on the rack at the store. If I don’t love it, or I don’t see myself wearing it a lot, I don’t buy it. It’s pretty simple. I’ve also been known to visit clothes in the store. If I really like something, I’ll keep going back to it each time I’m in the store…usually waiting for it to go on sale. If I really love it every time I see it, I know it would be a good purchase. If I don’t, I know it might not be the best idea, no matter the price.

If the official Capsule Wardrobe works for you, then by all means, go for it. I get what it’s trying to do. It’s just not my thing.

Garden Update: It Lives

The garden…it lives. And it’s producing!

Look what Caedmon found! Our first zucchini.

We have little cucumbers everywhere. Some of them are…weird.

By far, the kids’ favorite is our little strawberry patch. It’s still producing! Only one or two at a time, but they don’t care.

Is this not the cutest little watermelon ever? We have four just like this. I hope one of them makes it to the kitchen table!

We’re finally getting some bell peppers.

And remember that tomato plant I thought I killed? It’s come back and has tomatoes on it.

Homemade pizza…with garden tomato and basil!

The basil is producing!

I’m in the process of drying it. We’ll see how that goes. The oregano I’ve dried has turned out well, so hopefully this will, too.

We’ve had a week of cool(er) weather, not a lot of sun, and a lot of rain and humidity. The plants aren’t liking it very much. My hair doesn’t either. We’ll all just have to get over it, I suppose.

Commenting Challenge: Pinterest

I’m participating in Jenna’s 4th Annual Commenting Challenge this week!

 

Today’s theme is Pinterest. You can follow me on Pinterest here!

I love Pinterest. And I seriously need to go back and organize my boards. They’re way too broad. I mean, “Sweet” and “Savory” sounded like good recipe boards at the beginning. But I eventually started one for bread, and let’s face it, “Sweet” just doesn’t cut it as a category when it comes to desserts.

I’ve found some great ideas on Pinterest and used a ton of them. But my favorite things have been food. Of course.

We’ve enjoyed this Autumn Chopped Salad. I like to add chicken and make it a meal!

We like this casserole, too. I call it Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake. I’ve started calling it Chicken Pasta Florentine. Because then my family eats spinach. Spinach, y’all. I also use this as a freezer meal – make it once, eat twice! It freezes beautifully.

One of our favorites is Cilantro Lime Chicken. It’s so easy to make, and we can usually get two meals out of it. We eat if fajita-style one night (with cheese, sour cream, & avocado), then over rice the next night. I do change it up a bit, though. I add a jar of salsa and don’t put the lime juice and cilantro in until about 30 minutes prior to eating, or when I shred the chicken. I prefer the flavor of the fresher lime & cilantro.

I won’t even go into how many recipes I’ve used on the “Sweets” board. And? I’ve pretty much loved them all.

I also started a Disney board for our upcoming trip. It’s so much fun!

Show me your Pinterest!

A Very Merry UnBirthday to You!

As part of our “Countdown to Disney” for our upcoming trip, we’re watching a Disney movie each week and doing something fun related to the movie. I’m already working on one epic post to list them all after we finish, but this one was so much fun, I wanted to share it now!

This week, we watched Alice in Wonderland (the old school version). I have many, many memories of watching Alice when I was a kid. In fact, we may have worn out the VHS tape. Caedmon has seen it a few times, but it’s not his favorite. So I wanted to do something fun instead of just having a special snack.

I, of course, asked for suggestions from my sisters. Trump insisted that we needed a hedgehog to play croquet with. But as that violates my “no birds, no reptiles, no rodents” rule, that was out. There are so many wacky things in the movie, it was nearly impossible to choose something and just go with it.

However, my favorite part of the whole movie is the UnBirthday tea party with the Mad Hatter, March Hare, and the Doormouse. (Probably because that’s what our dinner times resembled when we were growing up – madness!) So I decided that we would have ourselves a Very Merry UnBirthday Tea Party.

Up until now, I’ve picked the snack/activity, and surprised the kids with it. This time, I told Caedmon we were going to have a tea party and asked what he wanted to eat. His first statement was that we would have to drink something else, as he was not about to drink hot tea. That was easy enough to fix. Sparkling Cherry Limeade to the rescue.

Then, he shot down my Queen of Hearts cookies idea. He wanted Card Soldier or White Rabbit cookies or none at all. Well, since I am most definitely not my friend, TheDoughmesticHousewife, those were out. We tossed around a few other ideas, and he finally decided. He wanted a clock cake, and nothing else. Not cupcakes. Not clock cookies. A chocolate cake with white frosting that looked like a clock. That, I could handle.

I started by making a 2-layer chocolate cake and white buttercream frosting. Then, I put chocolate sprinkles all around the sides.

I printed numbers in a fun font, laid a piece of wax paper over the paper, melted some chocolate chips, and traced the numbers and free-handed the clock hands. They went in the fridge to harden, then I placed them on the top of the cake. It turned out pretty cute, I think. Simple, but cute.

After naptime, the kids got up and found a tea party ready and waiting. We all chose our funny hats, and settled in for some sugar fun!

(Rain clouds were appearing on the horizon, so Oz was glued to my side. He managed to photobomb without even trying this time.)

We used things we already had around the house. I pulled out some “special” dessert plates that we rarely use, and we drank from coffee mugs. I had to have some sort of table décor on our tiny table, so I used a fabric flower from Honor’s toy box.

It really was a “mad” tea party. Caedmon was dressed in two different kinds of pajamas, wearing a cowboy hat. (Yes, that’s a potty chair in the background. Don’t ask.)

That is, while he wore his clothes. Later, he ended up like this.

Honor was in her pj’s too, but she was just a little less “mad”.

They loved the cake, and had fun sipping their Cherry Limeade along with it.

We didn’t do much damage to the cake, though. So the next day, most of what was left went to work with Husband.

Then, while we watched the movie, the kids had another tea party. This time, with their dishes and food.

Caedmon even knows how to stick his pinky out.

I believe my work here is done. That’s all you need to know, right? Stick your pinky out when you drink tea. He should be good on tea party etiquette for the rest of his life now.

Even though it’s been a lot of work, I’m so glad we decide to do the weekly movie countdown. It’s been a lot of fun, and we have all enjoyed it!

Garden Update: The Resurrection

So, we almost killed the garden.

Seriously.

Even after the worm infusion.

It looked so cute for a while. Then it turned yellow and stuff just didn’t do well. And the bugs? They almost ate everything.

See? Pathetic.

And the big tomato plant on the right? That’s a new one. We killed the original one.

I finally decided things were staying too wet, so I took the mulch out of the bed. That seemed to help things not stay so soggy. (The soil is really clay-heavy here.)

One day, while Mom was at my Aunt W’s house, I was whining talking to her about my garden. She said, “Aunt W says….” Aunt W has probably forgotten more about gardening than I will ever know. So I took her advice.

I also found a recipe for a kid and pet safe bug spray for the garden. And spent a few days spraying and squashing bugs.

And now? This.

The difference is amazing. Everything has started growing like crazy. The tomato plant on the right? It has 20 green tomatoes on it. Twenty. Seeing as how we nearly killed it a couple of weeks ago, I think that’s amazing. Maybe I’ll eventually have enough to make some sauce.

My basil and oregano have taken off too, even though there is an anthill in the oregano. Seriously, why do the ants want to live in my oregano? In a pot? I don’t get it. It doesn’t seem to bother the oregano, though.

On the menu this week? Margherita Pizza. Definitely. At least, for me.

The kids love the garden and beg to go out and visit it every day. Honor has been known to prematurely pick something here and there, so we have to watch her pretty closely.

We only seem to get one or two strawberries at a time, so the kids take turns getting to pick and eat them. This was Caedmon’s most recent prize.

I just hope we get something from each plant. I’ll consider it a success if we can manage that. And hopefully, I’ll learn enough to avoid some of these crazy issues next time.

Garden Update: We’ve Got Worms

I figured it was time for a garden update! (And bonus points to you if you know what movie “We’ve Got Worms” comes from. I posted it on Twitter and Facebook yesterday and no one replied. Not one person. It’s a sad, sad day we live in.)

I think we’re managing ok for having no clue what we’re doing! We’ve had such a wet, cool month that I wasn’t sure if the cucumbers and zucchini were going to make it. They turned really yellow, but with the warmer days recently, they’ve seemed to perk up and start growing.

I’ve put the soaker hose in, but due to the relatively wet conditions, I haven’t even used it yet.

Remember when I talked about buying some worms? Yesterday, the kids and I stopped at a gas station to buy a newspaper. There was a sign on the door that said “Live Bait,” and I asked the attendant where to find it. She had no idea what I was talking about at first. And then I barely understood her response, but finally deciphered that the worms are kept in the beer cooler. I found that interesting.

We went home with two containers of worms. At first, Caedmon was not even sure he wanted to carry the containers. But by the time we got home, he was ready to get them out and put them in the garden.

There was no time to even change clothes. We went straight to worm-release mode. It was great weather for it – warm, but overcast and humid. Perfect worm-release weather. Right? I mean, come on. These worms were destined for fish hooks and now they get to live wild and free in our garden. PETA should be proud of us. At least for a few minutes.

They were admiring the worms while we let them warm up a little.

Caedmon was ready to get his hands dirty, but Honor was not about to touch them.

She wanted to hold the bowl, though.

Honor finally decided she would try to touch one. I thought she was going to end up kissing them before it was all over.

After we got each worm warmed up enough, we released them into the garden. Run (or inch forward slowly) free, little worms!

Caedmon was very specific about where certain worms went. He even named a few of them. All I have to say is that “Mr. Garden” and his buddies had better do their job.

I know it’s still early, but we do have a few things going.

Our first jalapeno.

We have two tomatoes on this plant, and one on the other.

The strawberries are tiny and weird. But hopefully we’ll at least get a few.

And the cucumbers and zucchini, as I mentioned, are looking much better. Even blooming. (Cucumbers are at the bottom, zucchini on the right behind them.)

The kids are checking on the garden every day. It’s all I can do to keep them from pulling off what’s already growing. They’re just too excited. Honor pets the plants, and Caedmon is going to end up pulling something off one day soon. But they love the garden and have fun with it. So I guess we can handle a little mangled produce here and there.

I am going to have to figure out a solution for bugs, though. They’re just getting started, but I don’t want to let them get out of control. I’ll be browsing Pinterest over the next few days to find a solution, hopefully! I’ll update again when I test it out.

Until then, happy growing in your own gardens! And let’s hope Mr. Garden (worm) and his buddies are up for the challenge of our garden!

{DIY} Dresser to Entertainment Cabinet

I’ve been looking for just the right piece of furniture for our living room entertainment stuff since we moved into our new house. But you know me. I wasn’t going to spend a lot of money. I trolled Craig’s List for a while, but never found exactly the right thing.

During our neighborhood-wide garage sale a few weeks ago, I found just the right piece for just the right price. (The drawers were still being unloaded from moving.)

Beautiful, isn’t it?

No, it wasn’t. But it had good bones. It was in good shape, except for a broken drawer runner on one of the bottom drawers. And I wasn’t interested in the top part at all. (Maybe I’ll figure out something to use it for later.)

I decided to use latex paint and glaze as I have before, so after a trip to Lowe’s, I got to work.

First, I cleaned the whole thing, fixed the broken drawer runner, and built some shelves to go where the top drawers were. Then, I added a little reinforcement for the shelves and cut holes in the back for the cords to go through.

Then, the cover primer. (No sanding!)

Also? I found a genius way to paint drawers. Shelves!

After the primer, I painted the entire thing with Seashell Gray in satin finish from Lowe’s.

Out in the garage, it looked almost white. But I promise, it’s gray.

Then, I used a tintable glaze in Rugged Suede.

This glaze was very different than glaze I’ve used before, which was oil based. This, being water based, was much thinner and required that I paint it on and let it dry a few minutes before I wiped it. I like this stuff ok, but in the future, I’ll go back to my favorite oil based glaze.

Instead of trying to find new hardware for the drawers, I decided to paint the handles. I’ve heard all about the magic of oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, so I decided to give it a try.

It took the handles from this…

…to this.

Love!

Husband had the hard part in this project. He took care of the kids while I spent hours in the garage with the jigsaw, screwdriver, and paint brushes!

We moved it in last night and got everything situated. It’s perfect for the space and what we needed. We may end up mounting the TV on the wall, but haven’t decided for sure yet. If we can get the million cords under control, I think we’ll be happier with it sitting on top.

(Also, please disregard the ceiling fan boxes sitting next to it. We still have a few to get installed.)

The total cost was $160, including the dresser, shelves, shelf hardware, primer, paint, glaze, protective coat, and spray paint for the handles. I also have some left over for other projects – maybe I can figure out something for the top part of the dresser after all.

Moving Week

This is it. Moving week.

To be honest, I am excited about the end of this week. Because that means we will be moved. Past-tense.

To say this past couple of weeks have been hard would be an understatement. Preparing to move after only being in this house for three months has not been one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. And the thought of making another big move after we just moved here a little over a year ago makes things even harder.

I keep looking at the last piece of art I made – specifically for times like this. I wanted a visual reminder of a lesson my parents taught me, and God has continued to teach me. Some of the words come from a scene in a movie, which is perfect for us, since we speak movie quotes like a second language. (And every time I read it, I can hear the actor delivering this line in my head. I’m weird like that.)

You may have seen different versions of this floating around, especially if you’re on Pinterest. But there’s always one word that’s bothered me in those versions. The word “can”.

I’m not saying that the version I made is any better than anybody else’s, or that if you have “can” in there, it’s wrong. But I took it out for a reason. I know I “can.” Everybody can. But not everybody does. And while I’m trying to remind myself of this lesson, teach it to my children, and follow God’s will through it all, I don’t want to be someone who “can.” I want to be someone who “does.”

So, this week, I will be spending a lot of time doing. And it will be hard. But we’ll come out on the other side, and we’ll be fine. In fact, we’ll be more than fine. Because we’re following God on a journey for our family, He will make sure of that. It’s our job to follow, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard.

“It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great.” (Source)

(Bonus points if you know what movie that quote is from without peeking.)

Not Extreme Couponing, But Still Saving

One of the ways I try to save money is with groceries. It’s hard. The grocery bill can quickly get out. of. control.

After we moved, it was out of control for a while. Having to re-stock all kinds of stuff and build your pantry back up takes more time and money than you think. But I’m finally back to the point where I feel like I have things somewhat figured out.

The biggest thing that helps me is savings and deals websites. My friend Heather started a website a few years ago, and it’s the reason I started using coupons. I needed someone to tell me what to do. She’s pretty much my go-to for savings, deals, and coupon help. Heather not only does grocery store deals, but all kinds of products from stores and websites. So if you want a starting place, check out PassionForSavings.com.

You will never find me on an extreme couponing show. I don’t have the time or obsession, and as of yet, I can’t give Caedmon the job of clipping coupons. Once I can trust him with a pair of scissors and a stack of coupons, that might change. But probably not. I think those shows are neat, but I think they give the impression that you have to dumpster dive for coupons or buy 63 mustards in order to save money.

Guess what. You don’t.

Even if you just save a few dollars each trip, it allows you to stretch your budget by that much. Saving a few bucks each time you go to the store eventually adds up.

I’m still learning the “system” at the grocery stores here. I love the Buy One, Get One deals at Publix every week. And I’ve been taking advantage of them for a while, but this week I was pretty proud of myself.

And yes, while I was staging and taking a picture of this grocery haul, Husband was laughing at me.

He’ll laugh until he opens that box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. It’s his favorite.

Here’s what I got: 2 2-liters, 2 boxes of Cheerios, 2 boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, 2 Fiesta Sides, 2 boxes of pasta, 2 jars of pasta sauce, 6 cans of ravioli, 2 bottles of coffee creamer, 4 packages of cream cheese, 2 avocados, and 1 pkg of M&Ms.

I paid $20.45 for $49.83 worth of groceries. $49.83 is what I would’ve paid if these things hadn’t been Buy One, Get One and I hadn’t used coupons. So by taking advantage of the BOGO deals, it literally cuts the cost of those items in half.

Everything except the cream cheese, avocados and M&Ms were a BOGO deal, and that accounted for $8 of the $20.45. The M&Ms were a filler – I needed to have a subtotal of $30 in order to use a $5 off Publix coupon. I knew I would be close, but at the checkout I discovered I needed one small thing to put me over. The M&Ms seemed like a great choice to me! I stocked up on cream cheese because Publix has the best price, and I know I’m going to use it soon. I also love their Avocados, which I need for meals this week. I used coupons on top of the deals for almost all of the BOGO things.

I’m not the person to teach you how to use coupons. Heather and many other ladies are awesome at that, and you should check them out. I just want you to know it’s possible to save on groceries. And sometimes fun!

Just be warned, if you try to stage your grocery haul for a photo, you might get laughed at.

A Dryer Sheet Just Might Save the World One Day

Does your dog ever look like this after some time out in the yard?

Oh, mine neither. Nope. Never. He’s just demonstrating.

Whatever. We all know he tries to slip into the house covered in grass on a daily basis. I have enough to worry about in the house without Oz dragging in extra gross grass for me to vacuum up. Ugh.

But wiping it off is…a challenge, to say the least. It’s like a magnet. It sticks to him. And when it does come off, it’s like it gets sucked back to his coat. It’s impossible.

Until I found this little trick.

Yep, that’s a dryer sheet. A used one. We’ve all got those babies stuck in between the couch cushions in the trash can of our laundry room.

The idea hit me a few weeks ago and I tried it out on him. I can’t say that it was truly original, for I’m sure someone else has done it at some point or other. In fact, I’ve seen quite a few tips lately on Pinterest involving dryer sheets. These things might get added to the “Duck tape and bailing twine” that holds the world together.

Oz is clearly…enthused.

But it works like a charm. And I don’t go nuts trying to a) get the grass off of him, or b) trying to clean up all the grass once he comes inside.

Also? Free. And Recycle-ish. Doesn’t get much better than that.