Thursday, January 17, 2008

SURPRIIIIIISE!



toooooo

ME!

Now before you think I am simply tooting my own >choke<38-year old>choke< horn, I am sharing the news because I want to celebrate with you!

Come join the party!

There will be


And lots of



My

will be there too!

Aren't they so cute!!

And I am sure my husband will come home with



It's come & go, so don't be afraid to just drop in and say hello!

In lieu of gifts, just leave a comment.

In fact......

To be honest, that is all I am asking for this year!

I love comments!

From everyone! Yes, even you shy people!

Surprise me!

You may end up being the one surprised! ;) ;)

Stacey

**HUSBAND ALERT! You now have 729 days to plan and execute the extravaganza for my BIG ONE!! Plus, a trip to Greece wouldn't be too bad either!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Whistle while you work, la la la la la la la!


About a month ago, a friend mentioned on online product that I might want to try.

My Reward Board

And since one of my goals is to create a responsibility system for my kids this year, we started our 15-day free trial last week. We still have this week to continue our free trial, but I am pretty sure I will be making the one-time purchase of $19.95 to keep it around forever.

Over the last few months, I have fretted over how to do "a system" for my kids. Since I have a slight tendency to err on the side of perfection, I could just see myself spending a whole lot of time planning, creating, and recreating the perfect system to include responsibilities, earnings, demerits, you name it!

There was bound to be many trees lost as I figured out what worked best.

And looked the cutest!

I was even set to use my brand new laminator for the job at hand.

So I checked it out, and it is true what they say, after just a few days, my kids are excited to be earning their happy faces! They have even been asking to do some of the things on their charts!

Now the week has not been perfect and I am certainly allowing for an adjustment period. Especially for some of the "Behavior" items I added to their charts such as "No whining". For instance, little man had a few sad faces added to his chart for no-no's this week, but I made sure he had opportunities to earn extra happy faces to make up for it.

The system is animated, talks to the kids, and has many features which would have taken me forever to put together myself. Some things you will find there include the "Can Do" charts, the piggy bank, reward coupons, goals sheet, games. There are many options already available to create the charts and reward coupons, but you can also add your own items or make adjustments to the coupons as needed. I love being able to make changes when I need to with a few simple clicks.

You can manage the system straight from the computer. However, since my kids are younger, I also posted a copy of their weekly chart on the fridge for quick reference. Then at some point each day, we go to the computer and they get to see me add all their happy faces to their charts!

In a short time, it has already cut down on the drama around here!

And on that point alone, it works for me!!

I hope you find it helpful too!

For more great tips, go to Rocks In My Dryer.

Stacey

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Rumor has it....

you might want to stop by here on Thursday for some special fun!

And in my defense regarding #7, I present this.

If the writer's strike causes indefinite delays, or worse, a complete nixing of the appearances, I will not be held responsible for my actions!

Pencils will be broken people!

Stacey

Thank goodness! An excuse to be random!



I got tagged by Karla (or "Grace" as some may know her!) A LONG TIME AGO at Rose Cottage Lane for this little award going around.

So sorry it is taking me so long!!

Here are the RULES:

* Link to the person that tagged you.
* Post the rules on your blog.
* Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
* Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
* Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Now before I get started, everyone raise your right hand and repeat after me:

"I, ________, solemnly swear to not laugh at, be shocked by, nor hold against Stacey, any of the below stated facts. I promise to continue to visit and support her despite any awkward vibes I may feel after reading her facts. I will not remove her from my Google Reader as a way of punishing her for her random weirdness."


Allrightythen, let's get started!

7 Random and/or Weird Facts About Stacey

1. For 2 years, I would get a new job every 3-5 months.

2. I went to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

3. I backpacked in Australia for 2 weeks.

4. I scuba dived at The Great Barrier Reef for 2 days.

5. I have had a body part pierced. (My father loves this one!)

6. I will rearrange/reload my dishwasher if someone else does it wrong.

And lastly, and quite possibly the sole reason for the oath, I give you my never-before-revealed random/weird fact.......

7. I developed a crush on "Pacey" at the age of 37.

Now to pass this along:
(I am trying to think of gals I have not tagged before!)

Mel
(my sweet new friend and a wise woman!)
Kathy
(a cool gal and great resource for green living!)
Staci
(b/c she needs to post more often!)
Shannon
(a real-life friend whose blog i just found!)
Bee
(cuz i need someone to be more random and weird than me-love ya b!!)
Lori
(a wonderful "virtual" friend and woman!)
Diann
(b/c we all miss her and i am hoping to intice her back again!)

Monday, January 14, 2008

"There she goes. There she goes again!"

As most of you know, my sweet baby girl turned SIX last week. That was a hard one for me, but one she was so very excited about!

And in holding fast to my belief that birthdays should be celebrated as long as possible-a day is simply not enough time!-I will share with you the events of her birthday week!

The morning of her birthday, we were a few minutes early for school, so we took a few pictures to get the day started right!


Wish, baby, wish!


She celebrated with her classmates by bringing fruit and cheese, along with stickers for everyone. Her special request was strawberries and I struggled to purchase that $5 package, but she is hard to resist! I added grapes, orange slices, and cubed cheese to the menu for a delicious and healthy birthday treat! She has several classmates with nut allergies and I personally could not bear knowing these kids were indulging on more sugar after the holiday!

Don't feel bad, I am not always a perfect mommy!

She got to order a grape slush from Sonic after I picked her and brother up from school! That is made out of real grapes, right?!!


And the day before, brother helped me pick out a simple cookie cake just to make sure her actual birthday day was pretty special! Oops, forgot to take picture before I removed the candles!


This was a highlight of her day! Daddy ordered some special flowers to be delivered to her while at school! It was funny listening to her tell the story of the delivery! Her favorite part? Getting to sign her name for the flowers! Oh to be a kid again!!


Her "all-girl roller skating party" (Yes, I am quoting her!) was this past Saturday. She did allow 2 exceptions; her brother and her boy cousin! It is a good thing since brother skated all of 5 minutes!

I must be honest here and tell you that this was my first relinquishing of birthday party control. Seriously, I love to plan and host their parties. I love to be creative as inexpensively as possible. And while it was nice to let go some responsibilities and just bring the cake and birthday girl, there were times when I simply wanted to tell that sweet and timid teenage girl to get on with it or move on over!

Some of my family came down on Friday evening, including the cake maker, my sister! For several years, she has assisted her MIL in her cake making and catering of weddings. She is now actually making some of the cakes herself these days as she aspires to sharpen her skills and turn it into a business of her own. After seeing the cake she did for her son last summer, I requested her services for my own birthdays this year.

I put in a tall order, but she did a great job! We kept taking pictures during the process and prior to transporting it, as we were not sure if it would still be standing after the road trip to the rink! And just so you will know, we figured out why we had the leaning skate and she will be perfecting her technique on the next version in February!

Here we have A. posing with the cake in the garage just in case! (Guess it doesn't really matter if I use her name in this post, seeing that her name is plastered all over the cake!!


PTL! We made it!!






Poor girl was winded from skating that it took two breaths to squelch the flames!


A.'s friends once again blessed her abundantly! So many neat things! Lots of artist stuff, a few Barbies, a few Ponies, and her very own first Webkin! Both she and brother have already made many princess portraits with this great Color Wonder Spray Paint Kit!


Once home, it did not take her long to dig into her new Barbie make-up/hair supplies!

(look at that sweet, chocolate-covered face of her cousin!)

To us, she will always be our princess!


Sorry, no action shots! Of her or me! Yes, I did put on some wheels and thoroughly enjoyed it! I wished I had more time, but maybe she and I will make it a girl night at the rink soon!

She had a great week topped off by a great party!

Stacey

** If you live in the OKC or surrounding area and would be interested in a custom cake at a reasonable price, I can put you in contact with my sister. They not only look good, but they taste yummy too! And that is important!

** The song in my title is in my head because I watched A. skate away with one of her friends as it played. I got it on video and I am sure it will make me cry one day.

Friday, January 11, 2008

FRIDAY FUZZIES!

Welcome to Friday Fuzzies 2008!

I have been working on my list in hopes of sharing some great new sites for your reading enjoyment! It was a killer trying to clean out and organize my computer's favorites section. Many sites got scooted over to Google Reader. I have not updated my Blogroll yet. I always like to wait until I present their FF to them.

I am only doing two today, so this will be easy!

The Bargain Shopper Lady
I rediscovered her in the midst of my clean sweep and I am so glad I did! I can't even tell you how many deals I have checked out thanks to her! She has a great site where she rounds up sales, deals, and coupons for you. It is almost like having a personal shopper! She also shares some great sites for low-cost items and coupons. I will be checking all those out as well! I so have to get back on my coupon kick. Go over and find a bargain. Tell her "hi" while you are there!

*********************************************

And in honor of my own little matey who thinks these guys are the next best thing since peanut butter.

Oh wait, he doesn't like peanut butter!

....since broccoli!

Yes, he prefers broccoli!

Speaking of vegetables that are good for us, I would like to introduce you to next recipient of Friday Fuzzy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado....

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything
My kids are big fans of VeggieTales and their first big screen movie Jonah was no exception. We have the storybook of Jonah (the movie) and I love reading it with my son as he finishes the storylines. Three year old word tweaking is always entertaining!

When I learned the movie was coming out, I couldn't wait to start talking it up to him. Just this morning as he played some games on their website, he bopped along to the catchy tunes. He has the best facial expressions when he is singing!

The movie is out in theaters TODAY! I hope you will go enjoy it as a family. We need to make sure we are supporting these types of kid-friendly movies.

And don't forget to check out their website where you can win stuff or join their fan club.

And I know you won't want to miss THIS! My kids looked at me a little strange as I jerked my head around to the music. If they only knew!

Happy Friday Fuzzies to all!
Stacey

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Fun stuff!

Before Christmas, Christi over at Bon Bon Boutique announced she was have a 50% off sale at her Etsy store Swanky Ta-Da!.

You already know that I love her site where she shares so many wonderful crafty ideas! I had been eyeing her store for awhile and jumped on the chance to get a few things at a great price!

She was so patient with my first PayPal purchase. She even combines all the products for one shipping cost.

Look at my trinkets!


These are her smaller square trays with paper decoupaged in them. One is for next Christmas as I try out my new favorite fun colors together! The other with blue and brown will match my bedroom if I can ever finish it!


These are a wedding gift for a friend's daughter. It was so hard to decide! But I adore the post-it note holder with the metal adornement and stand. And isn't the matching tray too cute!


Another great item I really wanted! This is a framed magnet board you can hang up or set on the counter. She decoupaged the magnet section and included cute magnets!

It was sooooo hard to make decisions because everything is cute!

Her sale ends January 15th.

Head over soon before it is all gone! It's worth it!

Stacey