September Acres

Or is it 17? This is an update to my jeans post. The Lands End jeans are super cute & the perfect style but they didn't work (yet) - the 8 'plus' - toooooo big, the 7 'plus' -too big, the 7 regular- too tight. I am debating ordering the 8 regular but at this point I have spent more on shipping than what the jeans cost. My mom also got her a really cute pair at Kmart - 1st pair-too tight, 2nd pair - too big. I thought the 2nd pair might work - she put them on, they looked cute, looked like they fit, then she jumped rope and they started falling down! Today it was 80 so I am wondering how much longer can she even wear jeans this season. All I can say is UGH - who thought this would be a full time job? :) Today I bought 2 indoor house plants. Very small but cute. I haven't had house plants in years (read: since the last ones died). I thought I would give it a try again. I know this isn't rocket science but I hope I can keep them alive for a while. Right now

Gosh, I can't believe it is Thursday already. Where, exactly, does the time go?? My daughter just came to me and asked, "Where is the Barbie makeup head that Annika gave me?" Now, the Barbie head has been gone for well over a month. It is one of those heads you can make up and do her hair. It had gotten so gross with tons of makeup all over, glitter in the hair, etc. I made the decision a while back to toss it - she hadn't played with it in months. So, what do you say when asked the above question??? "Mommy threw it away." No, I tried that once. Tears went on and on. So ( this is where the bad mommy comes in), I say, "Hmm, I am not sure, we'll have to look for it later. Why don't you go play with your real Barbies and do their hair?" This, thankfully, worked. But was it the right thing to do?? I will probably be struck down for this some day. I just read Kellie's post at http://acorn-cottage.blogspot.com/ about yesterday's Oprah an

Well, my husband is home from his second trip in a week. His uncle died on Saturday, the 16th so he flew back for the funeral by himself and got home today. Needless to say it was a long week for us all but I am glad he could go spend time with his family. We were able to stop at a couple of places after we picked him up today. I wanted this little cake stand from Williams-Sonoma. It is the small green one on the top. I saw it in the catalog & fell in love with it. I am putting my few Easter decorations out now even though I have my St Patrick's things out also. I dont have a lot of either so it doesn't look too wild. I also got this adorable towel at Williams-Sonoma. I just fell in love with the color and little bunny pattern. Definitely an impulse item but so worth it! So, I think I have spent enough on new decorations this year. I also made a little run to Walmart yesterday and got some Easter basket stuff for my daughter. I didn't get any candy, just a few things t

Fly Lady here I come!! I got a call today from my cleaning lady and she is getting a new job and won't be cleaning houses anymore. I was shocked and sad. She is such a nice lady and the best thing about her is that she is soooo nice to our dog. It's like Montana has a baby (I mean dog) sitter when Noreen is here. I was actually planning on asking her to come everyweek instead of every 2 when a friend who also uses her moves. So much for that idea! So, I am going to log on to flylady.net in the morning and brush up on some ideas and do this myself! Now I know in the big scheme of things this is not a problem at all. But it just throws a wrench in my little schedule. It is hard to find someone you can trust with all your worldly posessions (not to mention your dog!) so I think I will sit back, start cleaning and hope she calls to say the new job didn't work out...

This has nothing to do with "27 Dresses", although it is getting to be almost as comical. By the way, "27 Dresses" is a really cute movie if you haven't seen it. Anyway, I have been on a mission to get my 6 year old daughter a new pair of jeans for about 4 months with no luck. Just something she can 'toss on' with anything - wear on the playground - just really basic. No rhinestones, characters or plumber's cracks (a big thing here!) Let me tell you it is hard! My daughter is not one of these skinny little things that can wear anything (just like her mom) - she is tall and stocky. Add to that our shopping choices (Walmart, Kmart, and JC Penney - which is closing so they have gotten no new merchandise since Christmas) and things get really tricky. I have paid a fortune in shipping to find these jeans. I think I have hit on these from Lands End, I just need to get the size right. I just ordered the 3rd size from there and hoping that the 3rd time is a

It's a sad day again in our fine country. I am praying for all the friends and families of the students at NIU. It is so hard to understand a tragedy such as this. Only time will heal these deep wounds. God bless you all..

I hope everyone is having a great Valentine's Day! Our day has been good which is more than I can say for the weather. We have had a beautiful last few days but it just couldn't last (darn groundhog!). Today we awoke to lots of wind, clouds and cold! So that's where the comfort food comes in! As I write this I have a pan of homemade mac 'n cheese in the oven. Perfect food for the not so perfect weather. Today I was in my daughter's class all day. They had a Valentine's party and gave out their Valentine's. It was a fun day and it wasn't until I was handing out backpacks at the end of the day that I realized "these kids have been REALLY good today". Even the ones who are somewhat challenging were behaved wonderfully. I guess they are getting ready to be first graders. We do now have enough candy to rival Halloween. I put it in a 'candy jar' and divvy it up one piece at a time, one day at a time. It will last until well past Easte

Well, it's almost Valentine's Day again! It is always a fun holiday around here. Especially now with my daughter. She gets really excited about giving cards to her friends and family. We bought her class Valentine's yesterday. It was hard to find Valentines without candy or toys. What happened to just giving out cards?? We settled on the Littlest Pet Shop cards with a small heart candy (ugh- just what the kids will need on Thursday!) But she is thrilled and that's what it's all about sometimes! I don't do much Valentine's decorating usually. We have a cute wooden wreath at the front door and some hand towels. I made this little garland with my scrapbook paper and my cricut. So easy! And I thought it turned out cute, too. I got the idea from another blog so I can't take the credit for this great idea. I was proud of myself when we were at Target yesterday. I just walked right past the Valentine's candy. I gave up candy for Lent and

The time when my husband asks me every 30 seconds, "Are my taxes done?" I may be exaggerating but he really asks at least every other day! So I am going to install turbo tax today and get going. I should keep a log of how many times he asks me this. The wierd thing is that I really enjoy doing our taxes and turbo tax makes it pretty easy and stress free (usually). My husband is going out of town to visit his uncle who has been diagnosed with cancer. He leaves tomorrow. I am kind of wishing we were going with him but it's not really a fun type of visit and not much to keep a 6 year old occupied. So we decided he would go alone so he could spend time with his uncle and not have to worry about us. My husband is a little bummed too since it has been snowing in his home town for about a week and it's going to continue to be really cold. Now, here in AZ we haven't gotten out of the 50's for a few weeks but the 30's are going to really be a shocker for

I am very excited about my new printer & my new Cricut (r) (a die cutting machine used for scrapbooking). First, my new printer: a few days ago the old one just stopped working properly. It wasn't pulling the paper through the rollers (at least, that's my expert opinion -haha). It would maybe print a half a page. I fiddled with it a bit but figured it had lived a good life. I got it a few years ago and it was one of those $40 deals. Now I have a beautiful new printer that copies & scans; I had been making copies on my fax machine & I have never scanned. It also has a little place for the card from my camera & will print photos right there. Don't you just love technology? I also have a n ew Cricut(r) courtesy of my wonderful husband. He suggested it for Valentine's Day & I got it early. I have used it a bit and just love it! It will make scrapbooking so easy and really fun. It makes me want to go back and re-do pages I have already done (like I have t