February Goals Revisited

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Jennifer

So it’s that time again.

Time to review which goals I have officially accomplished in February and which ones I needed about 5 more days to complete.

*Get Yearly Photos Framed – Check! These will be ready to pick up in a week and I will share them with you.

*Pay Library Fine – Check! We haven’t gone to the library in six months because I was convinced I had a large fine to pay. Turns out it was only $10.

*Make Birthday Skirt or Dress for My Daughter – Check! She wore the skirt to school on Monday and I’ll be sharing those pictures soon.

*Play more Music in the House– Check! – I played some music but not as much as I would have liked, though going from no music to some still counts as a check in my book.

*Figure out How to Keep My Car Clean– Check! I think! So far so good in the clean department. I shared with you here how I started the process and next week I’m hoping to share with you some storage holders I made for the car.

*Do the Art Project with Andrew he’s been asking to do– Check! Go here to see the process

*Hang “I Love You” Signs – Check!

*Make Jeopardy Game for etsy – Fail! It’s about 20% complete – will bring this goal over to March

*Paint Bedroom Lamps and Buy New Shades – Check! But not 100% sold on them yet. Will share soon.

*Read a Parenting Book – Check! I read How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Farber & Elaine Mazlish. I have to admit, I am not a big nonfiction reader so for me to read this is a big deal. I am so glad I decided to read it. The authors provide tons of scenarios and cartoons that show positive and negative ways parents and children interact. The book is meant to be used as a workbook but I chose to read it front to back since I wanted to make sure I completed it. Now that I’ve read the book through I’m going to go back and read each chapter more thoroughly and use it as a workbook.

One point the authors try and guide parents toward is not making all of the decisions and solving all of their children’s problems. One day Alex had a friend over and this was turning out to be a little difficult for Andrew. He wanted to be involved in all of their games and was feeling left out.

He came downstairs and said, “Alex and *** won’t let me play their game.”

I took my moment and seized it, “How does that make you feel?”

“It makes me angry and frustrated.”

Here was my biog move, “Ummmm.”

“I’m going to tell them I’m frustrated with them.”

AND HE DIDN’T COME BACK DOWNSTAIRS TO COMPLAIN AGAIN!

I’m hoping for more of these moments when I read the book again.

*Host a Mardi Gras Party – Check! Go here for the door wreath and here for the decorations.

*Do not accumulate one single bag while shopping – Check! I will admit I probably stretched out my purse a bit when I forgot my bags. Other times, I simply didn’t have enough bags so I would have the bagger just stick those remaining 8 items into the cart. I found myself saying several times, “I know it’s weird, it’s just a resolution I’m trying to keep. My friend emailed me about a great bag to use when out shopping for clothes so I have gone ahead and ordered one since placing new shirts in the bags that previously held onions is really not a smart choice.

*Scrapbook 10 pages in Andrew’s scrapbook – Check! Barely. 10 pages done.

***As a side note, last month I had the goal to drop $100 from our food budget. I failed miserably since I didn’t keep an ongoing written list of spending. This month I redeemed us by spending $300 less than what we normally spend on groceries… so we are back on track.

Overall, I feel like I accomplished a lot this month so I know the list is helping me. But. And it’s a big but… I feel like the list is constantly looming over me. When I was sick for a week this month I worried about all the wasted time. I may shorten my list for March since there’s birthday parties to plan and a whole week of spring break – and we all know that nothing off the list will get done that week.

Have you accomplished anything this month your excited about?

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Jennifer

I knew this would happen.

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone in our house lost some hair.

Apparently my daughter has inherited the need to cut hair when she sees it.

My love of hair dressing started with Barbies.

Every Barbie I owned had short hair after several visits to my salon.

I was years ahead of G.I. Jane.

Then there were my sisters.

Poor innocent victims of my obsession.

My sister Amanda had a head full of curls. Anything I did to her hair really went unnoticed.

This was not the case with Kelly and her thin straight hair.

She would climb up on the chair and let me cut away.

She let this go one for years.

Until she was in 4th grade.

That year I took it a little too far.

Or, a little more accurately, a little too short.

With fourth grade class pictures looming the next day I set about cutting Kelly’s hair. There was no give like Amanada’s hair. I think her bangs were roughly two inches long when I finished them. Not good when there is four inches of space to fill.

I found Caroline’s handy work one day during naptime. Since naptime is now quiet playtime I just let her be when I heard doors being opened and closed. Apparently, she found the scissors in the craft room and went to town.

I really can’t be angry.

I mean, after all, you can’t fight DNA.

Art Project with Andrew

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Jennifer

My six year old has been asking for months to create a piece of wall art similar to this one.

source

I have stalled and stalled on it because 1) it would take a good amount of time to complete and 2) I couldn’t quite decide what the best way to make a frame for it would be.

But the since this project was on the list I was forced to make a decision and begin.

We looked around the garage and found this old Halloween decoration which was broken.

My husband add the ears which were previously the mummy arms while old metal coat hangers became the base for the antlers and the nose.

Using a mix of half Elmer’s glue and half water, Andrew and I paper mached strips of newspaper onto the structure.

Over the course of a week we put on four separate layers.

After a trip to the craft store to choose his colors, Andrew painted his gazelle with a combination of orange, coral, black, white, and blue colors.

There was a minor debate about where this piece of art should hang. Andrew suggested my bedroom which I quickly thanked him for but declined. My thought was for it to go in his bedroom room. He quickly declined that offer. We finally settled on an area in our playroom above a doorway.

Andrew’s already talking about making a water buffalo for the living room and an elephant for his sisters’ room.

I’m thinking I’m going to have to introduce him to the idea of small sculptures.

Follow Me Please….

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Jennifer

You know how many of you follow Big D & Me here:

Well….

Google Friend Connect is GOING AWAY in 6 days -March 1- for non-blogger blogs (this site).

So…

I’ve got 2 new ways you can follow Big D & Me

First,

You can subscribe to Big D & Me and receive an email each time a new post is published.

Second,

You can follow Big D & Me on the new Linky Followers tool

This site is easy to sign up for and it’s FREE!

(You can actually type into this post to subscribe or click on the linky tool to link up )

You can also subscribe to the RSS feed using My Yahoo, Google Reader , or other news reader using the link below:

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I just want to say a quick THANK YOU to everyone who takes time out of their day to visit Big D & Me. I appreciate every follower, comment, and kind words of encouragement readers have sent me.

Have a great weekend!

Missing Teeth

Posted on February 23, 2012 by Jennifer

Look who lost his two front teeth?

He is quite excited about this development,

though he is even more thrilled about a new trick he acquired as a result of the loss.

Now I always know where he is in the house since all I have to do is follow the whistling.

Movie Logic

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Jennifer

I took my kids and one of their friends to the dollar show on Monday.

It was President’s Day and the place was swamped.

I had to drop the oldest two off and have them stand in line while I parked the car.

Several movies were already sold out so we made contingency plans in case ours was sold out by the time we got to the ticket counter.

“I only want to see Tin Tin if Arthur’s Christmas and the Muppets are sold out.”

“I really want to see the Muppets but will go see Tin Tin as my second choice.”

“I already saw the Muppets and Arthur’s Christmas so I want to see Tin Tin.”

Thankfully we didn’t need to come to a concensus since our movie was still available.

I ushered us all into the building only to find the concession stand line was enormous.

Not really a problem for us until my son’s friend said, “I want to buy something.”

I left the two of them to stand in line together while I found seats with the youngest two.

Thankfully we got great seats and were settled in no time.

But the 9 year olds didn’t come back.

For 30 minutes!

I was starting to get a neck crick and strange stares from the people behind me since I kept turning around to look for the boys.

The theater was packed by now and I was having to fend off desperate moms and grandparents who were looking for extra seats.

Finally they returned when the movie started and I was able to enjoy the movie.

That is until about three fourths of the way through the movie when my daughter had decided she had seen enough and wanted to leave. I was able to use my mom negotiating skills and convince her to sit on my lap for the next 20 minutes. Some talk of candy when we got home might have been whispered several times.

After the movie I got everyone to the car and congratulated myself on a successful outing. We rarely go to the movies so in my mind this was a nice treat, especially getting to bring a friend along.

As we were driving away I heard the friend say, “I wonder why the movies were so crowded today?”

My nine year old volunteered, “Well, it’s Presidents Day and kids don’t have school. Their parents probably took them to the movies because they didn’t know what else to do with them.”

After hearing that I can assure you that I know exactly what my children will be doing on the next school holiday.

It starts with CHORE and end with an S.

Oh, and me?

I’ll be on the couch watching Parenthood reruns.

Happy Mardi Gras

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Jennifer

Happy Mardi Gras!

I have so many wonderful memories of Mardi Gras from growing up in New Orleans. I remember some of the costumes I wore, the ladder seats we sat in, scavenging the ground for beads, watching the St. Aug band play, and eating Popeye’s chicken.

Those memories spurred me into having our own little Mardi Gras party despite the fact that we are 600 miles from the real event.

Like most parties I host, I was planning on decorating and cleaning right up to the minute when guests walk in the front door.

This time that plan backfired on me.

Our party was set for 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon. I thought…plenty of time to cook and work on things. That’s a great plan exept that I became sick at 6:00pm the night before the party. I mean, I went down quick and was in bed by 8:15.

In came my superhero husband. He cleaned and cooked up a storm. Without him there would have been no party. I was still in bed when it was only one hour until the party and went back to bed about an hour after the party.

So, our decorations were minimal. Not my best work but it is what it is. After all, I’m pretty sure everyone was there for the crawfish pasta and king cake, anyway.

My mom sent the adorable mask along with Mardi Gras plates, napkins, and shirts for the party. The mask was placed in a flower vase filled with purple beads. I added the gold signs which read, “Let the Good Times Roll,” and the same in french,”Laissez Le Bons Temps Rouler.”

The only other decoration I put up for the party was the “Parades” sign. I actually wasn’t able to finish the sign since I got sick so the last parade, Crescent City, has a lighter coat of paint than the others.

And no I haven’t gone back to complete the sign. I got things to do.

I remember getting up early on Mardi Gras day to get to our spot on the parade route. First came Zulu and the thrill of them throwing decorated coconuts, Rex with the huge cow float, and then the truck parades, Elks and Crescent City, which each had over 120 floats in a row.

Steps in creating the sign:

1) Paint large board purple

2) Print out the names of the parades and arrange on the board.

3) Take the slip of paper with the parade name on it and turn it over. Color the letters with a white crayon (you are coloring on the back of the paper).

4) Turn the paper over so that the crayon will make contact with the board.

5) Trace the letters with a pen onto the board.

6) Lift the paper up and you will see a faint outline of the parade name.

7) Color inside the letters with paint.

Go here to see our Mardi Gras wreath.

Do you have any favorite Mardi Gras memories?

Frozen Cheesecake

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Jennifer

I was at the Cheesecake Factory the other night when I watched a young girl make a complete fool of herself.

I had just eaten dinner with a friend when I decided to stop by The Cheesecake Factory and grab a surprise treat for my husband.

Ahead of me in the to go line were three young women who couldn’t have been older than twenty-two. Two of them ordered quickly while the third hummed and hawed over her decision.

I was thrilled when she decided on the Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake.

Little did I know that would be the end of my excitement for awhile.

The woman behind the counter prepared a piece of the cheesecake and placed in the to go box.

When the young woman saw the piece of cheesecake she flipped.

“This isn’t what I ordered! It doesn’t even look the same. I said the Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake.”

“Ma’m this is the Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake.

“No it’s not. Just look at this piece. It looks pale and white compared to the piece in the display.”

“The piece in the display has been sitting out for awhile. I got this piece from the refrigerator so it’s a bit fresher.”

“I didn’t say I wanted a fresher piece! I want one that looks like what I ordered. This is just ridiculous. Why are you trying to give me a different piece of cake?

“Ma’m, the piece I prepared for you to take home is what you ordered.”

“I ordered the Chocolate Godiva Cheesecake and this doesn’t look anything like it.”

At this point the manager appeared, quickly resolved the issue, and apologized for the misunderstanding.

I meanwhile, continued to stand there stunned.

Who is this person? Why does she think it’s okay to act this way?

While my husband was thrilled with his cheesecake surprise I’m not sure the young woman had the same reaction when she got home and finally tasted her less than fresh display case cheesecake.

New Car Smell

Posted on February 17, 2012 by Jennifer

Yesterday was a big day for me . You see, I got my car detailed. Remember my goal of “figuring out how to keep my car clean,” well I took the first step today. I cleaned out the car completely and took it to get professionally cleaned.

Here’s the nightmare before:

I emptied out approximately…

30 books

6 activity books

12 pieces crayons

10 old granola bar wrappers

5 old snack containers

4 just in case diapers

3 just in case packs of wipes

16 old lollipop sticks

3 “I must have lost that sweatshirts”

and 65,000 goldfish pieces.

One hour and $55 dollars later it was AMAZING! I have never spent money to have anyone clean the inside or outside of my car but I can highly recommend it now.

When we got in I said, “Just smell that new car smell.”

Andrew quickly responded, “Don’t worry that will go away soon.”

So now I’ve got to keep the car clean…I’m thinking my method will involve designated boxes and lots of reminding. Any tips before I get started on this master car cleaning plan?

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!