jack johnson

Just a funny note:

I was listening to this song (playing on the ipod to the right) with little a. on my lap running Thomas up and down my arms and across my hands while catching up on emails, blogs, and general morning stuff when he pipes in (with perfect timing)...

"I WANT TO..." (you may need to listen to that point to fully appreciate. Or not. Maybe you had to be there.)

I guess Jack Johnson speaks....

(and as I write, my little comedian says: "Yay! Woohoo! If you want to..."

done.

I finished my own little valentine's box....

J: "so, what is it for?"

me: " to keep all my valentines in...."

J: "for this year?"

me: "no, for like, ALWAYS...."

J: "hmmm.."

me: "it's like my own personal love box"

J: "hmmm...."

Oh, well. I had an idea and went with it. THIS is why we have lots of crap laying around. :)

Happy ValentiMe's Day

I went a little crazy this Valentines Day. Here are just a few projects I had going....

These are gluten free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free....so, basically, COMPLETELY allergy friendly sugar cookies. And they are soooo good. I was seriously impressed. Made totally easy...from a box. Pretty excited about this actually because Cherrybrook Kitchen makes the mix for these great baked sweets, and now they have....(wait for it....wait!)... FROSTING! I attempted to make vegan frosting back at lj.'s birthday and thought it came out kinda slimy. Well, lo and behold, so is this frosting. EXACTLY the same. So, I didn't mess it up afterall!

lj. celebrated Valentine's Day on Thursday at school...this was the lunch I made him. Almond butter and jam heart sandwich with a black licorice arrow on a bed of almonds, raisins and granola trail mix sprinkled with a few valentine m&ms.(for color :) Pita chips (my color eye has a real hard time with this; I should've put the pita chips in the purple container...) and hummus. Clementine eyes and a banana mouth. (he didn't seem to give two squirts about it, but it made me happy.:)

He had to make a box to house his valentines from school. I , we, had a lot of fun with this one. His task was to come up with adjectives to describe himself. His words were: LOGICAL, EXTRAORDINARY, ADVENTUROUS, LOVING, CLEVER, CONSIDERATE, UNIQUE, ATHLETIC...I added "Super Star". I got so into this I wanted my own box. For future use...you know, for all my valentines. :)

This is how far my box got....I couldn't find an embroidery needle and got a little hung up. So, that's just gonna have to be a to be continued....

And finally, the hubster and I got a night out. All in all, a very nice valentime's day. Happiness to you too.

The "Stupidbowl"

We aren't huge football fans around here. Typically we'll catch a few college games...but only UGA. We mostly forget though, or will try to watch it then get sidetracked into something else. (It's a familial problem...the sidetracking thing...)

Lj. is our sportscaster and the one who can tell us who won what, etc. We tried to watch the Superbowl (or the Stupidbowl as coined by my hubby years ago). We even made stupidbowl food...complete with nachos, and turkey roll-ups.

I couldn't keep up with what was going on...But, the halftime show was pretty entertaining. The Who was alright, but the dancers and lip-synchers at OUR HOUSE...they were outstanding.! Check it out.

kid books EVERYONE should read

Yesterday I had to create "picks" for recommended reading for children and young readers. I even get my name on a little card saying recommended by... Whoah, hold the phone! Oh, lordy. What a hard decision for an indecisive soul such as I....I mean, there are just tooooooo many choices..... sooooo many good reads out there.

Where do you start?!? A few others were in on this task, so I didn't feel the weight of all that purely on my shoulders. Thankfully, this way we can spread the love!

SO, here are MY picks!

Non-fiction: The Omnivore's Dilemma: Young Readers Edition by Michael Pollan

Great way to get young'uns thinking about the food they eat and where it comes from.

Picture Book 1: Sylvester and The Magic Pebble by William Steig

A classic. And such a good reminder that sometimes we already have all we need.

Picture Book 2: Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

Funny. Endearing farm animals think Duck is crazy....no duck can ride a bike. Until....wait, it looks like so much fun. That Duck....

Lesson: don't let others tell you things are impossible; be a trailblazer.

Fiction: The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

.

First book in The Chronicles of Narnia ... because the wardrobe didn't just appear out of nowhere......I mean, you have to know the backstory... How did the wardrobe get there? What's this other world all about? How'd the White Witch become Queen? Why is it cold? So many important questions...

Okay, if you were in my shoes, what books would you pick? :)

Costochondritis

Inflammation in the rib cartilage...mimics heart attack symptoms. Tender to the touch and aches continuously.

Napralen prescription.......

• Side effects of Anaprox may include:
  Abdominal pain, constipation, difficult or labored breathing, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, heartburn, nausea, red or purple pinpoint spots on the skin, rash-like symptoms, ringing in the ears, water retention

Naprelan shares some of the above side effects, but also has some of its own:

• Side effects of Naprelan may include:
  Back pain, flu symptoms, infection, nasal inflammation, sinus inflammation, sore throat, urinary infection

Why would an anti-inflammatory cause more inflammation? Just wondering....

Hmmm....sounds inviting, doesn't it. So, I ask you, do you just deal with the original pain, or do you take a med that gives you more pain? Neither option works for me....

Urban dictionary fun

Fun way to start your day....

According to Urbandictionary.com, my name has a variety of fun and useful meanings. Here are a few that I choose to share...we don't need to go into all the negativity of being a 'heather' as in the cult classic Heathers. Oh yeah... I did used to love that movie. It was so very. Have you tried watching it lately though? Good grief. I can still appreciate the irony, and dark humor in it but I used to think it was just awesome...now, I'd rather not. Anyway....

heather: Beautiful, creative, smart, spontaneous, girl who would be a good catch to bring home to mother. Who is down right sublime. My parents are going to love the new heather I am bringing home. That girl is a heather! A BEAUTIFUL girl with the most ADORABLE voice that would simply make your day. Her CUTE laughter would just leave you with a feeling that you can't describe, like the look of a rose, the smell of the rain, or the feeling of forever. love me some heather ;p Okay, enough of the love. Go do your name and tell me all about it. (And don't you just love the word sublime?)

Rethinking, rewriting and editing.

I've been thinking.... (watch out.) And, I have spent an exorbitant amount of time lately worrying about my blog posts, fb updates, and the like. (after the fact, you know... like, when it's too late.)

I guess it's not proper blog etiquette to rewrite, or edit blog posts...so, I try not to. I tend to let it flow. From the brain to the computer....and well, it may not always come out right. I try to put what I am thinking about out there and either it will serve as "therapy" for me, inspiration for you or possibly even good fodder for future blackmail. Probably the latter. But still, I try to be honest.

Sometimes when I reread my posts, I see things in them that I wish I hadn't said. (oh well.) Or that could have been more eloquently stated. I hope you will forgive me. Sometimes a rambling brain is not a pretty thing and maybe,( ?) sometimes I should just keep it to myself.

I hope some of you out there can find common ground in the things I say. Maybe someone out there doesn't feel so alone.

So, for honesty's sake...and to clear a mommy conscience... in my last post....it wasn't exactly true that lj. spent the entire day in his bed. I mean, really? Can you imagine? yeah, right... That's kinda like the "you're grounded for the rest of your life." Which, I admit..came out once too. (his response made it all the more funny...like "what?" calling me out on it.) oops.

Funny how "rethinking, rewriting, and editing" can be a metaphor for so much in this life.

Thanks for letting me share my brain, I hope it hasn't scared you.

parenting...

and what it's supposed to look like?

Before having kids, I seriously thought that if you loved (verb) your kids and that they would just love you back. You know, feed 'em, love 'em, teach 'em, guide 'em, do the right thing; and that's really all it took. Love them and they turn out A-Ok?!

I also learned early on that it just isn't all that easy...boy, did I.

I have mentioned my struggles... (Did I mention it? Previously? Once or twice?)

(a. has been sick.) Lj. has had a few sniffles. He decided this was a prime reason to stay home (again)...did I mention he was home 2 days last week? One day entirely in bed because if he was going to "be sick" he needed to rest.... hoping school looked more appealing than a boring day in bed. Because... you know, he hates school.

Umm... that didn't seem to work. I decided enough was enough and he needed to get to school. WOH!!! The evil eye and the blame game are in full effect. Ya know, things like..."you are the worst mom ever!" (yay. me. That is definitely something I have aspired to in this life.)

So, when I look at it written out like this...I can laugh. I can see the absurdity of it. I know that this all starts with a capital M...MAN-I-PULA-TION!... But, in the moment....when your first born baby looks at you with hate in his eye...well, that's just about enough to send you over the edge.

Fun stuff, right?! And this too shall pass.....

Right? Please. pretty please....