"Don't Cry. Disney owns the rights to that emotion."

Random Sharing

A few things I wanted to share...

1. Recently made this recipe from Pinterest and it was SUPER. And healthy. And easy.

You just blend together 2 cuties (clementines), a frozen banana, milk or yogurt and a tsp of vanilla in a blender. DE. lightful.

2. Speaking of beverages, my husband has been making some amazing coffee in the mornings. Because he's getting such pure flavor from the coffee, this particular roast (Mocha and Java from Counter Culture) tastes like blueberries in a cup. I don't even put my flavored creamer or sugar in it. Just a little half n half and I'm a happy girl.

{Here are 4 reasons why you should try his nerdy method.}

(please forgive this grainy pic and the ones that follow. they came from my archaic phone camera.)

3. This just cracked me up. I walked in the living room this morning and saw this, but couldn't find Isaiah...

The room was silent and I kept asking Manny, "where is Isaiah???" Then, this appeared...

Silly boys. :)

4. And speaking of silly boys (don't you like all my clever segue's?), my mom got the boys the Tickle Monster Laughter Kit for Christmas.

They loooooove it! It has become almost a nightly routine for Josh or me to put on the "tickle monster claws" and have a tickle fest before bedtime.

It's charming, witty and best of all....rhymes! We laugh and laugh. I dare you read this to your kids when you're in a bad mood. It's the perfect cure....

...and I am now convinced it is the perfect gift.

That's all for now. Have a great weekend!

Fun Giveaway of my little creations!

So most of you know I have an etsy shop called Happy Little Lovelies, right? Ok, well I do. I've been creating, making and shipping my jewelry for about a year and a half and I LOVE it. It's the perfect creative outlet that I need and I'm so grateful for how God has blessed it.

I also have a sweet sister-in-law...

...and another sweet friend (who lives in China).

I've known them both for what feels like forever and love them both dearly. Said sister-in-law and friend have a blog called Getting Through the Day and it is chock full of tips and practical ideas to help you do just that....get through the day. You know, stuff like meal planning, organization, schedules, getting out the door in a timely manner, etc....things that moms of young kids are constantly tweaking (they both have 4 small kids!). Seriously, you should check them out. :)

Also, they just so happen to be hosting their very first giveaway today and have decided to feature my shop! Isn't that nice of them? All you have to do is subscribe to their blog and leave a comment....super simple! The giveaway ends tomorrow at 6am so please head over there and introduce yourself to them. They would love to meet you!

On a completely unrelated (and incredibly sarcastic) note...

Several of these made me wheeze and cough with laughter.


I guess that tells you something about my sense of humor. :)



(Please don't avoid me now. I still care about people's feelings.)

Some Useful Condescending Phrases

1. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
2. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
3. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
4. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
5. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't care.
6. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.
7. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!?
8. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
9. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
10. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
11. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.
12. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
13. No, my powers can only be used for good.
14. How about never? Is never good for you?
15. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to worship me.
16. You sound reasonable...Time to up my medication.
17. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.
18. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...
19. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.
20. Who me? I just wander from room to room.
21. My toys! My toys! I can't do this job without my toys!
22. It might look like I'm doing nothing, but at the cellular level I'm really quite busy.
23. At least I have a positive attitude about my destructive habits.
24. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
25. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
26. Someday, we'll look back on this, laugh nervously and change the subject.

The weekend recap

(those are not our kids. I have no idea who those kids are.
for explanation, read the end of this post.)

Our little family just got back from our annual Memorial Day weekend at the beach.


It was lovely.


I remarked several times about how nice it was watching our boys play on the beach now that we're not trying to contain an infant in a little tent, change diapers in said little tent (NIGHTMARE), constantly slapping sand out of their hands and away from their mouths and spontaneously throwing water directly in their eyes when a grain of sand looks threatening.


Now, they've earned a little freedom. Manny enjoyed eating whatever he could find on the beach. Even the little mussels (shell included) proved to provide a little nourishment at one point (no, we didn't mean for that to happen). Isaiah is now able to run free from our chairs to the spot in the sand where he's playing near the water. We feel fine about it because of his healthy fear of the water, the fact that we always pick a spot near the lifeguard and we can always see him.


But one little tip for ya'll at no extra charge: if your lifeguards offer little plastic bracelets with their stand number on it for the kids, take them! About 5 minutes after I put Isaiah's on him, he disappeared. It was an awful and LONG 3 minutes before I found him again...way down the beach.


My father-in-law was up in the loose sand at our chairs and I was a ways in front of him with the kids, playing and watching them (our nephew and neice were there too). I had sent Isaiah up to him for a snack. He went, got his snack and my father-in-law sent him back to me...again, I was directly in front of him. Somehow, Isaiah got disoriented and instead of walking straight to me, he took a hard left and started walking through the crowds. Both my father-in-law and I were dealing with other kids and didn't see him make that turn.


I took off in one direction and Josh in the other. After walking for what felt like a really long time, I saw his poor little frame walking slowly through all the sunbathers, looking from side to side and calling "Mommy? Mommy?" I had just had that awful thought of "what if I never see him again? What if I never get him back?" I prayed and there he was. He said, "Mommy, I was starting to get worried. I didn't see you. I didn't know where you were."


I held his hand for a long time. We talked about what to do if he ever gets lost again, rehearsing his full name and ours and how to look for the yellow flag and big, white chair.


The Lord allowed us to find him, and we are really grateful. I can't imagine what parents of real missing children must go through. I don't think it's a coincidence that a few days before we left to go to the beach, I sat and read every detail about every child and studied the faces that came on the little "Missing Children" insert in my mailbox. I never do that. They are a group I've never thought to really pray for, but I think I'll start.


But other than that little incident, we had gobs and gobs of fun spending hours playing and relaxing in the perfect weather, going out to eat and just being there. My nephew now thinks I have ninja skills. And I do.


One little thing I should mention is that when we got home last night, we realized that our computer will no longer turn on (!!!!). I'm using our little laptop, but the other computer has all our pictures on it so I can't do my garden post yet. So sad! Hold on to your pictures because we're working hard to get it back up and running!


I'm really looking forward to doing it....especially since our little garden grew like CRAZY the few days we were gone. I think it was glad to finally get rid of me with my constant hovering and weird staring all the time.


What's that thing about the watched pot again? :)

A "small" plug :)

Please forgive the billboard sized logo. I didn't know how to make it smaller. :)


So, about a month ago I got a little email asking me to take a survey and see if I qualify to be a Dove Hair Ambassador. If I qualified, they would send me a full sized bottle of their newest hair product: Damage Therapy Daily Moisture Daily Treatment Conditioner. (Longest title ever known to mankind.)


In return, I would offer my honest feedback to them, give away the samples they would also send me and tell my friends about it.


Enter you.


I qualified so they sent me the cutest little box filled with the big bottle of conditioner, a welcome kit and a bunch of samples.


Now, a word about my hair. It is thick, course and naturally curly (read: frizzy without gobs of product). I usually keep it pretty long, have highlighted for years and flat iron it almost every day. So you can imagine the damage I have inflicted. A while back I decided to stop highlighting and let it grow. I just got the last of the nasty, brassy blond cut off the ends and, while it's shorter than it's been in a while, it feels healthier than it has in a VERY long time.


So when I tried this product I knew there wouldn't be fireworks because it had just been cut...and there weren't really. BUT, it made my already healthy hair feel like silk. Truly. I kept begging Josh to feel how soft it was and I couldn't keep my hands out of it.


I did nothing different. I shampooed, put the conditioner in for the same amount of time you would for any conditioner, rinsed and fixed it like normal. I used no additional products. BUT the results felt like I had gotten a conditioning treatment at a salon. Seriously, I don't know how they could do it any better.


So, there's the opinion of a hair product junkie (you should see my cabinet). If you want to try it for yourself, go here and get a free sample.


And if you try it, let me know what you think! Happy Damage Therapy Daily Moisture Daily Treatment Conditioning! :)

The day in pictures

Today was....busy, productive and a bit rough. And I'm going to warn you, I'm about to ramble on about it.


My sister is getting married in less than a month (!) and I ordered my dress online. It saved a few bucks, they promised to deliver the same quality, etc. People, please. Don't ever, no, not ever do this.

Though I ordered a size larger than what I wear (just to have a little room to work with in case of a, ahem...discrepancy), but I'm pretty sure the Chinese dressmakers envision us American girls as 6 feet somethings with teensy-tiny waists and gargantuan, enormous, tip-you-over, "hello, Dolly!"... bosoms.

Because that's what it looks like. I knew some modifications would have to be made, but oh my sweet heavens. It's so bad, one alterations lady flat out told me there was no hope for the dress.

Well, that's not an option, lady!


So anyway, back to our day....we went 2 mins down the road and met Mr. Hong. I'm pretty sure Mr. Hong is the dress whisperer. He has promised to make everything in my life ok again (but I need to "we-ah bra"). I love him.


Then, we hit our neighborhood Super Target to buy 2 birthday gifts and then find a strapless bra...and just for kicks, let's go ahead and try on cute bathing suit tops. Now, this is why I need to never go out in public without a level-headed chaperone. With 2 little boys, a good idea that was not.

We get home exhausted and with nerves thoroughly shot to heck. I'm looking at the clock to see if it's too early for a beer. My conscience kicks in and I decide what I really need is to pray instead. Small victories, right?


Apparently, I got the boys their lunch and high-tailed to my bedroom because all I remember is noticing the quiet and, upon entering the kitchen, saw this poor sight.

(Yep, he's sleeping with his eyes slightly opened.
Yep, it really freaks me out too.)

In the midst of me trying to recover from the elation of winning my Mother of the Year award, this little cutie grabbed the camera...

found me changing Manny's diaper....

(Because who doesn't look like this when dealing with a screaming mad, diaper-rashed little boy. The people who didn't win the award. That's who.)


and then decided to give you a tour of his favorite things in our house. I found the theme to be very interesting.

The barn in his bedroom, right beside his bed.

"Goodnight Moon"...a book we sometimes read to him before bed.

Our bedroom, where he ends up sleeping at some point
during the night, despite constant warnings, pleadings and
discipline.

And that takes us to about 1:00pm. Are you tired yet?


Between then and now there was exercise and laundry and vacuuming and scrubbing bathrooms and doing dishes and preparing dinner and MUCH impatience and discipline and crying and whining and directing and bathing and picking up repaired vehicles and now, GLORY, it's bedtime.



And this, friends, is why there's not a family member #5 on the way quite yet.


So there you have it. Aren't you glad you asked how my day was? :)


Now, please tell me I'm not the only one with bald patches at the end of the day.

Group S

Well, it's about dang time. Thank you all for waiting at the very edge of your seats for this here extremely! exciting! update! of the 34.8 seconds I spent with the Pioneeress.

I also need to tell you that this post will, in all likely-hood, be the most anti-climatic thing you've ever read in your life.


Now that we all have normal and healthy expectations....because we all know I'm a picture of that....let's get on with it.


I went with my dear friend Kristin.


When we arrived, we had to get a ticket that told us which group we were in. They also told us that each group had about 20 people in it. We got a little lost (perhaps due to the fact that neither of us, in our excitement, had the foresight to get directions, bring our gps or even bother to remember the name of the bookstore)....so, by the time we got there, we waited for about 20 minutes in line before they handed us our tickets.

(this was taken by Ree from the balcony)

"Group S" was written in red marker at the top. S! As in the NINETEENTH letter of the alphabet.

(I had to count the letters twice on my fingers, so I'm positive it was the NINETEENTH group.)


Oh, and there were also at least 2 VIP groups. Fortunately, there was a cute, little cafe in the store that was featuring some of Ree's dishes so we enjoyed a long, though lovely dinner at a very leisurely pace. Very. Did I mention we were in no rush at all?


One small perk was that from certain spots of the store you could look up and see Ree happily smiling and signing away at her little table on the balcony. Kristin may or may not have had to remind me that I looked crazy just standing there smiling at her while people shuffled around me.

I may or may not have made Kristin very nervous by threatening to bust through the velvet rope, past the 14 year old "security" boy, up the stairs...just to tell Ree "hi" and stare at her.


So, what do two girls do in a giant bookstore for more than 3 1/2 hours? Well, we try on hats, of course!

Ok, I tried on hats while Kristin was my paparazzi. She's a good friend like that. :)

"I don't know what to do with my hands."
(Cool points to whoever can name that Will Ferrell movie)

We take numerous pictures of each other and promise to not ever, ever post them on the internet...

(what's up with the Elvira bangs?)

(isn't she cute!)

We browse and pick out Mother's day cards until our feet hurt, then grab as many magazines as we can hold, find a corner near the sports section (not likely busy considering the clientele that evening), throw off our shoes and get comfy. We also field multiple phone calls from husbands asking, "Are you seriously still there?"


Finally, we hear our call and head upstairs. It was not unlike hearing the Hallelujah Chorus after sitting through Handel's Messiah forever.

(To any fellow music majors...I'm sorry, but it's just how I felt.)


And there she was.... still smiling.....after hours and hours of writing the same thing over and over for people who were weird and smelly and tried to secure their spot as her best friend in the time it took for her to sign their book.


And that, friends, is when I realized there was a very good possibility we were not twins. I would have dove over the balcony.


And then it was my turn. I had it all planned out. Kristin and I had rehearsed what I would say.


I would ask her to please sign my book "To my twin" because I had a silly little joke on my blog about how we were twins...and then I would somehow try to make her understand that I wasn't a freak who obsessed over her in a crazed, lunatic way (thus making her re-think her choice in security boys). I was simply a fan with a little joke.

I walked right up to her as bubbly (in a non-crazy way) as I could be, waved enthusiastically and said something like,

"Hi, Ree! Ok, I have a weird request. Would you mind signing my book 'To my twin?'
I have this obnoxious little joke on my blog about how we're twins because clearly we're not.
I can't really cook. Or do ballet."

"Oh, I don't think I can do ballet either anymore!"

(paused for a picture...then she looks at my hair and says,)

"And you're a brunette, and I'm a red-head."

"Right! I mean we're perfectly twins!"

(now if that's not the cheesed-up grin of a crazy lady, I don't know
what is)

And that was it. I waited for Kristin, we both said our goodbye's and left. That's just the life of my, decidedly, un-twin.

Sigh.

And really, I'm ok with it. Maybe the dream has ended. Maybe I'll never be like Ree, and she'll never be my "twin".

OR...

It could all be an act while she composes herself and figures out how she's going to handle this news. She'll take some time to decide how to address this turn of events in the press, and how we can finally be the long-lost sisters we never were. She was in shock upon meeting me and now she's processing....

And she can take all the time in the world because I have the truth to keep me warm at night.

And in her heart....


I really do believe....


she knows the truth too.....

What having kids has done to us

Don't judge.


I know this is what ya'll do on spring break too. :)

Spring break means...

--hurrying to mow lawn, pack bags, pack food, load up, change oil and wash... van (!).

--sipping coffee on the porch... looking at the ocean waves.

--hurt feelings, hard conversations, sin revealed, much needed marriage maintenance and sweet forgiveness.

--dump trucks, shovels, wagons, beach chairs lugged to the sand.

--fun food that's horrible for you.

--DIY channel, Food Network and, for Josh, the Science channel.

--a few sniffles, sore throats and mild fevers.

--milkshakes and cuddling.

--walk to the trench.

--beach "treasures".

--meeting many strangers on the beach...thanks to wondering toddler.

--great naps.

--sand spurs.

--boys trunks hanging out to dry.

--sandy gummies.

--laziness.

--wagon rides.

--losing track of what day it is.

--magazines and books.

--walking around shops.

--digging holes until you get to water.

--running from chairs to ocean and back again...over and over and over.

--planning garden and shopping for bedroom makeover items.




Soooo don't want it to end.



(Pictures soon!)

A few things I'm currently enjoying

1. This girl's cd. Her name is JJ Heller, and I think I might love her.

Her voice is addictive. Soulful, pure, puppies and butterflies, the perfect amount of spice and sweetness with a little Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday thrown in. I can't get enough.

Add that to the fact that her lyrics dig their way straight to my heart and somehow manage to perfectly articulate what I'm thinking....and some things I didn't even know I thought.

"Hope is holding on to You. And grace is You're holding me too."

You should listen to her.


No, really.



2. I've successfully made several batches of yogurt in my crock pot and we're LOVING it! In fact, we're flying through it!


It's incredibly easy to make, and then we add frozen fruit and honey. So, SO good.


So, if you were on the fence about it, you should totally try it.


I will tell you that low-fat milk makes thinner yogurt, and whole milk makes it thicker. I'm fine with the thinner stuff, but I have read that some people add powdered milk to thicken it up. I may give that a whirl.


3. This....

And then this....

And now this....

I'm pretty sure everything that is spring is trying to kill me.


A normal conversation between Josh and I in the car goes like this:


Me: Oh look. There's a pretty little tree that makes me want to die.

Josh: Uh huh.


(My poor mom is still in denial about my allergies because I was breastfed. Yeah, mom? IT DIDN'T WORK. But it's not your fault. You did the best you could.)



4. Speaking of cars....my MINIVAN! I feel like I'm part of a club now...one that exists only in my mind...but hey, me and my mind, we have a good time.


This, by the way, was my fun little surprise from God the other weekend.


(if you were expecting something more significant and patiently kept checking for the past 2 weeks to see what, for the love, the freaking surprise was....well, you may now start cussing your computer monitors and throwing your bloggy tomatoes. that was it.)


(I'm sorry.)


I don't have any pictures of it yet because remember, outside = Dana wants to die.


I can tell you that it's an older honda odyssey with plenty of miles, but the way God worked it out for us to get it at a CRAZY price (via Josh's parents who are amazingly generous to us) and the fact that it was well taken care of AND (bonus!) had power doors (ohmygosh, I had no idea how that would change my life) has had me smiling every time I get in it.


(I apologize for my over-use of parenthesis and run-on sentences, but there was just so much to say. I teach music, ok?)


Not fancy-schmancy, but just perfect for our family. To me, it represents a daughter's sweet gift from her compassionate Father at a time when she was struggling to trust Him to take care of her.


In fact, that whole weekend was a picture of that. I need to write more about that weekend. Man, He really loves me.



5. And speaking of how much He loves us....


This is the second year I've gone through these little Resurrection Eggs with Isaiah. The idea is that you start 12 days before Easter, and each day you open an egg together. Inside each egg is a little something that symbolizes part of the Easter story. Think: donkey, silver coins, piece of linen cloth, etc.


I have to admit that Easter crept up on me this year. I didn't start the eggs with Isaiah until today (we did 7), and my own heart hasn't really stopped to meditate and prepare for the significance of what it means to me as a Christian.


I had to make myself pull these out, and that was mainly because my Mommy guilt was getting to me about letting the season come and go without taking the opportunity to really teach Isaiah what it means. He understands so much more this year and just seems to be more sensitive to spiritual things in general than he was last year.


After going through the 7 eggs today, I'm not convinced he really gets much of it, but it was just what I needed. As we read each scripture and explanation of what was in each egg, I was reminded bit by bit of the vastness of His love and the bitterness of his sacrifice. Tomorrow the little eggs will tell us of the wonderful, epic twist in the plot...the twist that is literally the difference between life and death. And not just for Jesus, the main character, but for us too. I can't wait!


So anyway, you can buy them like I did or make them yourselves. I've found tons of websites that lay out simple instructions to do just that.



6. And one more thing that's really more of an idea than anything else.


The creators of a current obsession of mine, Young House Love, decided to take a door off the closet in their nursery and replace it with an adorable printed fabric hung by a tension rod.


GENIUS.


So here's what I'm thinking. Remember this closet door in our bedroom?



You know, the one that makes the possibility of Josh ever having his very own night stand a sad impossibility?


I'm thinking we ditch the door for a couple yards of swanky-ness, and make all of Josh's dreams of night stand equality come true.


What do ya'll think?



And while you're answering such important questions, why don't you tell me what YOU'RE enjoying right now?

Well...umm.....

I don't know what exactly is going on with me. I'm NOT pregnant (no really...I'm sure). But I certainly feel pregnant.


We have been busy and I have had a lot on my mind and plate, but even more than that is the fact that I am D...R...A...G...G...I...N...G.


I just can't seem to get going in the morning, even with copious amounts of coffee, and by dinner I'm ready to crash....like, take to my bed, eat dinner there and not get up until I absolutely have to in the morning.


Naturally, I don't have that luxury so a lot of days I'm just pushing myself to get to the end. My hunch is that it's my thyroid (I didn't take my meds for awhile....I know, it's terrible) with the addition of allergies, coughing, congestion and my normal life thrown in.


It's a nice little cocktail. You should try it. Oh wait. Josh is screaming "NOOOO!!!!!" over my shoulder. Is this not fun for you, sweetie?


All that to say, my sincerest apologies for not showing up on here. I have stuff I really want to write about, but every time I think about about it, I want to take to the bed again.


So, I'm going to go drink more coffee and hopefully, with my medicine getting back in my system, I'll be rearin' to go in a few more days.



(this might be the most pitiful thing I've ever written)

Delayed Gratification

Sorry my posts have been....um, absent.


I was dealing with such bad perspective most of last week, I didn't want to spread the Soul Poison that I was apparently wearing in a vile around my neck.



And then, the weekend! It was busy, fun, a very large snake was involved, there were celebrations and then an unexpected surprise I can't wait to tell ya'll about.

(no, not preggo...as far as I know.)


It was somewhat connected to my very bad, awful attitude.


God went and showed off. I'm humbled.


So, when I catch my breath, I promise to give you every gritty little detail. Stay tuned! :)

Welcome to my post of random, insignificant questions

Have you ever made your own yogurt?


(FYI, it's Random-Questions-and-Ramblings-from-Dana day here at the ol' bloggeroo.)

(picture from Kitchenstewardship.com)

I haven't but I'm really interested in trying it.


I just read all about it here and was VERY excited to read about making it in the crock pot here.


I'm on this kick right now of making stuff yourself. Actually, that's always a kick I'm on.


I aspire to DIY everything that is somewhat interesting to me. It's all about the thrill! The bragging rights! The (sometimes) satisfaction! The personalized, cutesy, artsy touches! The savings! The freedom!

(I like me some freedom, now)


For instance, I recently found this site that I have developed a major crush on. Actually, an emotional, needy, high school girl obesession, if you want to know the truth.


(Thank God I have a husband who will come pry my clawed, stuck fingers away from the mouse. I think he just wants to eat.)


(Does anyone remember the one when Chandler played Ms. Pac-Man so long he had the "claw hand"? Just wondering.)


So, my crush's name is Young House Love (no you can't have it...it's mine and I neeeeed it!), and it belongs to a young couple who bought a small house and completely re-did the whole thing themselves. It is so cute and charming, I could pee myself.


Here's a small peek into a guest bathroom they did.


You should see the "before" picture.


The table the sink is on used to be a night stand. ahmygah.


Anyway, this post actually has nothing to do with them. I'm just ga-ga.


Recently, PW's Tasty Kitchen blog featured a post on making your own ingredients. It spoke to me. Now, she apparently live in the Town of Middleonowhere where the nearest grocery store is miles and miles away... so this especially makes sense for her.

But I am trying to tighten up on my grocery budget, and have two small children whom I dearly love, but prefer to take nowhere unless unlimited childcare, snacks, train rides and coffee are involved....so this makes sense for me too.


They have instructions for how to make oodles of stuff yourself from baking mixes to sour cream to taco seasonings to brown sugar to...wait for it.... Nutella. (and Kahlua. not that I noticed.)

(I mean, did anyone else know that it was just sugar and molasses?!)

(You did, didn't you?)

So, you dirty, little DIY-ers, here's another question for you:

What do you make yourself (doesn't have to be food-related)
that has completely changed your life forever?


Or has just been really helpful and worth doing again?

And just for fun, I think I'll take a little poll. I've been wanting to do that for awhile now.


It'll be somewhere around here (not sure how to do it yet), so make sure you add your vote!


Can't wait to hear your two cents!