Fall Foilage

Did you know that USAToday ranked Columbia River Gorge as one of the "Top 10 Fall Foilage Drives Around the USA."  How cool is that?  Right in our own backyard.

We are truly blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the country.  To be able to experience all the seasons in their glory! 

GNFNWM

What is this? 

First person that responds via email with the correct answer will *win* a prize!

iamnotsuperwoman@yahoo.com

Good luck!

Merge

Life choices are a lot like the merge lane. 

You either "gun it" and move into traffic as fast as you can or you "slowly meander" into traffic.  As I was merging on the freeway the other day, deciding what to do (a semi truck barreling down the side of me) I was thinking about these parallels of life.  So often you can just "gun it" and make the choice to do something  OR you can "slowly meander" about life waiting for just the right time.  Just the right opportunity...but what if you don't "gun it" and miss that opportunity?   Where does that leave you?    Wondering what could have been? Or in the case of the merge lane..in the dust of the shoulder  or worse yet into the freeway barrier.


My question for you to ponder is do you gun it it through life or do you slowly meander?

dosomething.org

Life As We Know It....

Yes, another recent movie title…By the way, this was a very cute movie.  Josh Duhmel and Katherine Heigl (who I don’t particularly like much) had very good chemistry.  The plot itself was a bit predictable but what movie isn’t these days,right?

So again, Life As We Know It, is very chaotic with an 18 year old (who is only recently getting her license; has a car sitting in our driveway but can only drive it with licensed parents/grandparents), a 12 year old (very active in football and social butterfly), a very “strong-willed” 3 year old (need I say more) and a “cute as a button” 5 ½ month old.  Don’t get me wrong I am not complaining by any means…This is our life and I wouldn’t change a second of it for anything…but it does get exhausting at times.  Heck, I am tired as I am writing this.  I made a post on FB a few weeks ago….”If I didn’t laugh, I would cry.”

Yesterday though, our lifes chaos was at an all time high and we had melt down after melt down between the three youngest ones; yes I am including the 12 year old. 

I should have known when I woke up at 530am and shortly thereafter I hear the pitter patter of little feet (3 yr old) that TODAY was not going to go well.  I want to be optimistic, I really do but when you have a 3 yr old up that early, you know he is going to be a pill for a good portion of the day.   That pretty much set the tone.  He didn’t want to eat breakfast, it was “grossy.”  (I made him egg/cheese English Muffin which he has liked and eaten just fine several other times).   We could barely get him to get dressed and needless to say by the time we left, his clothes were already dirty.  I have no idea what he did.  I think toothpaste marks.  At least he brushed his teeth right? 

Before church, we had to take the 18yr old to work so had to leave by 815am.  This in itself is quite funny when you see us all pile into our van.  I am sure our neighbors just love us because here it is 815am or so and said 3 year old does not want to get into his seat (at least he didn’t bail down the sidewalk yelling; there is more where that comes from later). The littlest of the bunch is also unimpressed about being put in her car seat and toted out at such an early hour.  She is essentially wailing.  Onward we go.  Pull into daughter’s work, take out car seat with wailing baby, so daughter can get out of the far back seat.  Mumble our goodbyes (only a few more days of pick ups/drops offs…hopefully)  Put wailing baby back in car.  Drive through for coffee; much needed coffee. Look back at 12 year old and realize he is wearing shorts!  Shorts!  1) It is freezing cold 2) We are going to church; basketball shorts not acceptable.  And THEN realized the bin that I needed to put in church foyer for Thanksgiving Basket donations….at home.  How could I have forgotten that?  Hmm….let’s see; review above.  Wait…..have to pull over really quick to put binky in wailing babies mouth.  Back home for 12 year old to put pants on and to grab bin.  Easy enough, right?  Haaaaa!  I think we sat in the car for 15 mins waiting for 12 year to put on pants.  He couldn’t find any, they are too tight, he doesn’t like them…any excuse he could think of.  But alas, after holding “trick or treating” over his head, he found some pants real fast.  I know threats not so good, but it worked.

Church…..at last……very nice service.  I always love going to church.  It helps feed my soul for days such as these.  This too shall past and one day I will miss days like these.  I have a brand new outlook for the rest of the day.  Fast forward….leaving church….3 year old BAILS, I means BAILS, out the front door, me running as fast and furious as I can holding diaper bag and luckily 12 year old toting car seat, dad nowhere to be found.  I think he was still back in the foyer visiting.  Finally, get to 3 yr old as he dodged a few cars in the parking lot.  After a couple weird glances from onlookers.  Luckily, I know most people at our church and they all know how quick 3 yr olds are; not just ours. 

Ohh my, car, just get in car and everything will be ok.  Disaster (kid getting ran over) averted.

Did the day get any better?  A little bit…but the evening trick or treating, again baby did not want to be in car nor her ladybug costume.  We did however get a few quick pictures.   Needless to say, Miss K and I, had a quiet night at home while dad and boys went door to door in the neighborhood.  And this is what we (I) needed after our day....

This was me by the end of the day:

So how was your day?

Time & Cost Saving Tips

I heard some of these "Time & Cost saving" and home "remedies" on the radio today...thought I would share.  Some of you may have heard or tried these before.

1) Use baby oil or baby shampoo to remove make up
2) Make your own body scrub with oatmeal and honey
3) Quick fix for french manicure, use white out to fill in tips
4) For a clarifying hair rinse use apple cider vinegar


Here are a few that I have known about and I have used myself:

1) To shine your faucets and avoid "water" spots put a small amount of baby oil on rag and wipe over the faucets.
2)  Use dryer sheets to dust (used ones).
3)  To keep your trash cans smelling good, put a dryer sheet in the bottom of your trash can before putting your bag in.
4)  Baby wipes work well for just about everything.  I have used them to wipe down bathroom counters many times for a quick-n-easy clean.
5)  Have a smelly garbage disposal?  Put a few small orange peels in the disposal.
6)  To help shower curtains avoid becoming musty (and sometimes) moldy, keep a spray bottle with vinegar and water handy.  Spray the bottom of the shower curtain after each shower. **And always keep your shower curtains closed so they can easily drip dry**

Do you have some Time & Cost Saving home remedies you want to share?  Let me know.

Happy Monday!