Pet Peeve

I am a party pooper and I don’t care.

In fact, I wish more moms felt the way I do.

I have a pet peeve which goes against my love for crafting.

I hate gift bags, goody bags, and here’s a bunch of crap bags.

I know it’s expected now at birthday parties and showers but I just struggle with it. The goody bags at my kids’ parties are probably the worst around – a lollipop, stickers, and a tattoo – and the tattoo is only if I really like the kid.

Goodie bags are expected at parties now and I have learned to deal with that.

What I cannot deal with are the expectations for goody bags at school.

Preschool at that.

My daughter’s preschool sent out a message stating that bags would be placed in each students cubby “in case we were going to bring treats to share with our friends.”

They are two. They don’t need any extra goodies. A costume day and fall festival was more than enough to celebrate Halloween.

I refused to prepare any treats. We went to school empty handed.

This is the goody bag my daughter came home with.

Let’s just take a peek at what was inside.

Nice haul for a five hour school day, huh.

This bag was from one kid.

Here are the contents of the bag:

Impressive but ridiculous.

Isn’t anyone else tired of plastic trinkets littering their car and the “I get something” expectation that now comes with going to a party.

Now we are going to have the expectation at school.

I stand firm by my decision to not bring anything.

Plus, some of the goody bag contents were not labeled so no one else knows I didn’t participate. – ha!

A Quick Closet Fix

Our system for putting away gloves and winter hats worked quite well until it became cold and we actually had to find those items on a daily basis.

There were plenty of  “I can’t find my hat,” and “I can only find one glove,” so I decided something must be done.

If you remember way back in February I shared our closet redo which took care of book bags, coats, and hats.

Effective for those items but we neglected to designate a place for winter hats and gloves.

Until now.

We decided the best place for some containers would be in our garage.

We took a trip to our trusty IKEA and found the IKEA RETUR Recycling Bin.

Ten boxes later we had some winter organization.

 

Best part: The closet floor is clear.

Now we are ready for winter.

Though, ironically, it’s suppose to be 70 degrees tomorrow.

Running Peak

I truly dislike running.

I don’t get the runner’s high you are suppose to experience at the end of a run.

I get exhaustion, a dehydration headache, and sore legs.

Two months into my training and I keep waiting for this to get easier.

Yesterday I went for a 7 mile run in the neighborhood per the running calender I am adhering to.

It was tough. I was out of breath practically the whole run and was complaining to myself the entire time.

To make matters worse, a boy on a unicycle passed me.

I couldn’t even make that up.

I wanted to push him over.

Only problem was…I couldn’t catch him so I just watched him cycle away.

Before kids, my husband and I completed a marathon.

I was 26 and in shape.

Now eleven years and several kids later, I’m trying to run just half that distance and struggling.

I’m 37 after all. A bit old to chase a dream?

Apparently not.

Take a look at this article I saw in the paper.


According to this I should hit my running stride in 63 years!

Halloween Pics

It came out of their mouth…or at least I bet they thought it.

I’m going to save all these seeds.

If I could only get all this stuff out of here without having to touch it.


“If only the other Himalayan girls found such joy in the simple tasks.”

“Yuck.”

Two Face from Batman


Two Face from Texas

(Clothes from goodwill cut in half & sewed together – dress shirt, dress pants, tie, t-shirt, shorts)

About to go to Costume Piano Recital – no face paint or here…yet.

Dexter Jexter from Star Wars (anyone else not know about the cook in Star Wars?)


Dexter Jexter the Texas Cook

“He’s a cook. He has to have a messy apron. I want to put ketchup and mustard all over my apron.”

“Can I give you a hand with that?”

We had ourselves cracking up over that comment…oh, and putting the fingers up other people’s noses.

“Hurry up and take the shot. We can see trick or treaters and they’re getting ALL of the candy!”

mermaid costume here

“See this candy. Don’t touch my candy.”

Like mother, like daughter.

“Hey Mister, I have four hands so you can give me more candy.”

Yes. He really did say that.

All three of them: “Please. Please. Please. Can we have more than three pieces tonight?”

“No.”

“PUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLEEEEAAAASSSEEEE!”

“No.”


Notice that huge chunk of chocolate in her mouth? Nice, huh.

Halloween 2011 – All Done.

Etsy: Family Portraits Edition

 I have some news for you…only 52 days until Christmas!

Yes, that’s right. We must get shopping.

How are you going to remember those special people in your life? The woman who watches your child. The music teacher. Your best friends family. The school teacher. The special neighbor who takes care of your dog. Your family.

This year consider giving a special gift. A gift the person and their family will enjoy for years to come.

Will they enjoy a candle? No. (I’m guilty of giving out 1,362 candles in my life)

Will they enjoy pot holders? No. (Mom, your getting some of these from the kids. Act surprised and love them.)

Will they enjoy a custom portrait? Yes!

I have found eight etsy artists who I think can provide you with that special gift you are looking for. Many of the artists have even agreed to give Big D & Me readers a discount on a purchase!

 Take a moment and see what catches your eye  I promise you there is something for everyone here.

If you click on the shop name you will go to their etsy shop. There you will find many more items worthy of being holiday gifts.

 Custom Art Family Silhouette Print

Nella Designs


Super Hero Family Custom Portraits

MBoarts

MBoarts has kindly agreed to give Big D & Me readers a 10% discount on a store purchase.      Use the code BIGD10 when checking out


5 Custom Wood Peg Dolls

Pegged

Pegged has graciously offered Big D & Me readers a 15% discount for November. Use the coupon code BIGDNME2011 during checkout. Holiday orders must be purchased by Nov 20 to insure delivery.


Custom Family Portrait

A Land Called Anna Lee

Anna Lee has kindly offered Big D & Me readers a 10% off discount on a shop purchase. When you contact her, please mention Big D & Me for the discount.


Custom Folk Art Sculptures

Indigo Twin

Indigo Twin is graciously offering a 10% discount to Big D & Me readers.Please use the coupon code TRICKTREAT during check out.


Custom Cut Paper Portrait

Paper Portrait


Custom Silhouette Family Portrait

Happythought


 Personalized Family Name Art Print

Baby Delicious :Bespoke Art for Children

Baby Delicious is graciously offering Big D & Me readers a 15% discount on a purchase. This offer lasts until November 11, 2011.    Use the coupon code BD15OFF at checkout

Did you see something special? Maybe even something special for you?

Happy Shopping!

 

No Team Here

I had planned to write about something else today. Something cheerful and happy. Instead, I just got off the phone and feel like crying.

Last year one of my boys played on a winter basketball recreation league. We were invited through a friend who knew the coach. It was an eight game season with one practice a week. Being his first season, my son was hesitant at first but came to love going to practices. He always had a smile on his face and always followed directions.

My son was not the best on the team, the son’s coach was. My son didn’t play all the time, the coach’s son did. 

But.

My son never cried on the court, the coach’s son did. My son never threw a fit in a game,  the coach’s son did.

My son was just thrilled to be on the court. He once said to me, “Mom, one day I’m going to play in the NBA.” He barely touched the ball during games but he thought he was a star.

For the past month I knew registration for winter basketball must be approaching. Today I looked on the website and saw that the registration deadline ends in two days. We never got an email from the coach.

Good riddance I thought. We’ll get on another team.

But suddenly the tail end of a conversation made sense to me.

Last week at soccer practice I walked up on a conversation between our soccer coach and two moms. I heard, “So they’ll both play?” The response was, “Yes.” The coach then quickly walked away.

Fast forward to today when I called one of those moms and asked if their son is playing basketball. She awkwardly told me the coach had asked her son to play on his team for the upcoming season. Outwardly I was laughing and making light of the issue but I had tears forming.

Again, someone doesn’t want my kid on their team. It feels like shit – I want to scream and shout and say, “You’re missing out on a great kid! He wants to play!”

What happened to “we are a team,” or “every person on this team is valuable?”

Joining a team at six should not be about ability, it should be about fun. Yes, you can learn techniques and be excited about wins but a bigger message should rise above it all. Sports are fun and can be for everyone. Sadly, the adults involved are forgetting this message.

Ever gone through this?

 

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

It’s been a week since I wrote the post above. Though still annoyed, my husband and I have found another avenue for our son to play basketball.  We have signed him up with a Christian youth league where the emphasis is on everyone playing and having fun. While we feel really hopeful that this will be a positive place for him to be, it hasn’t stopped me from making snide internal comments to the soccer coach during the last two weeks of practice.

Care Bear Bingo

I don’t know about you but last night I ate about twenty mini candy bars.

If anything, I am underestimating.

I spent the rest of the night complaining about my aching stomach while my husband looked on with a, “Why are you surprised by this…. this happens every year,” look.

Later in the week I’ll post some of our Halloween pictures but for now I have this for you.

Care Bear Bingo!

I am going to a birthday party for a little girl turning four with my two youngest this weekend. The birthday girl is very into Care Bears so I decided I would make her a Care Bear bingo game.

The set consists of 5 cards and 25 calling cards.

The game is a preschool version of bingo with only sixteen spaces instead of the usual twenty-five. Fewer spaces for the younger kids tends to work better.

I also printed off two copies of the calling cards, cut them apart, and placed them in a small box for a memory game.


In order to download the bingo game, please click on the bingo board above. The PDF document should come up. From there, print.

If you decide to print, please consider becoming a follower of Big D & Me.

If you are interested in other printable bingo games please look in my “Printables” section at the top. I am also selling a Thanksgiving bingo game in my etsy shop.

Hopefully this is the first of many girly bingo sets!

Todays Creative Blog Tuesday To Do Party Weekend Bloggy Reading