Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Glamping

And just what is glamping you ask? Glamping is glamorous + camping of course! And it sounds like my idea of roughing it for sure!

Glamping Girl breaks it down for us, "Glamping truly originated in the early 1900’s, with the popularization of the safari, The word safari is an Arabic verb meaning “to make a journey” and an entire industry was created to cater to the needs of the demanding European and American travelers, looking to bag a trophy and experience adventure in the wilds of Africa. Naturally, the wealthy travelers weren’t eager to part with the creature comforts of home, and instead stayed in luxurious canvas tent lodgings. These tents were fully furnished with beds, luxurious bedding, Persian rugs, antiques and fully staffed with chefs, guides, porters and butlers. A new trend of glamping has emerged with luxury camping resorts, safari camps, eco-resorts and campgrounds offering every amenity imaginable, from 5 star dining to spas. Manufacturers are catching on, offering designer gadgets and gear to bring style to the wilderness. Regardless of budget, you can enjoy the great outdoors without sacrificing luxury."

I have been dreaming of rehauling an Airsteam trailer for quite awhile now and making it a cozy camping oasis on wheels. One of my favorite sites, One Pretty Thing, dedicated a roundup today all about Glamping. Check it out, you'll likely decide that glamping is for you too. I love tenting and camping, but there is no reason to be uncomfortable while doing it! Who's up for a Glamping adventure???

More importantly, does anyone have an Airstream trailer that they no longer want???

Wow.

Last night I had a dream about shopping. It was so strange. I was in a place that reminded me of Macau, with little shops open to the street and people with a party attitude everywhere. Ok, that's not so wierd, but the stores were. Here's a few that I remember...
  1. The Sock store. Ok, maybe not so strange except that all of the socks had the toes missing. Like leg warmer socks. Oh, and the socks were all brown.
  2. The Organic Clothing store. You customized your own clothes. Sound good? Well, you customized them by picking out the clothing item that you wanted AND an essential oil fragrance. The clothing was then permanently infused with that scent. The store was packed with people and the scents were crazy. I don't really remember them, but I do remember being awed by the whole concept.
  3. The diaper store. All the diapers had animal tails on them. Disposable diapers with animal tails. WTF???
  4. The Liquor store, where you could just open up a bottle and take a swig to test it out. If you didn't like it you just put it back on the shelf. Then the next person would come along and take a swig out of the same bottle. And yes Lev, this even grossed me out.
There were more but I can't quite put my finger on what ecactly they were anymore. Maybe it'll come back to me. I do remember that the stores became too overwhelming for me at some point and I went and sat in a random alley for a long time while my shopping partners carried on. Until the cops came that is...

I wonder what I had to eat or drink last night before bed???

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Cupcake Courier

My cupcakes can now travel in style! Up until tonight my cupcakes have had to brave pampers boxes, cupcake pans, paper box lids, shoe boxes and more to get to their destination in one piece. I never bought one of the Wilton carriers because, seriously, who ever just takes a dozen cupcakes? Not me, that's for sure!
Tonight at HomeSense I found this... The Cupcake Courier.
It holds 36 iced cupcakes! Three dozen cupcakes is definately how I roll.

In case you are wondering; yes, I do have something special planned for it's virgin voyage in the next couple of days.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Their Baack...

Disgusting moths! In case I haven't shared this yet, all it takes is a moth sighting to send my body into convulsions, my feet running in the opposite direction and my arms over my head as if to protect myself from an incoming missile. Oh, and I scream. I can't help it. Everything about their disgusting furry bodies and lifeless-grey wings makes me feel faint. I literally break out into a sweat if I am the only adult at home, and therefore must attempt to kill the creatures myself.

Ugh. They crunch when you hit them with a rolled up newspaper; or a broom (I can't get too close, they might touch me).

We're having a pretty good wind here tonight and it caught the screen door and was swinging it wildly around. I raced down the stairs to shut it before the sound woke my sleeping angels (whom I don't want to have to see until morning). I grabbed the door and pulled it shut only to see about 6 moths hanging onto the window. They were smiling demonic smiles at me. I'm sure of it. Sleeping kids be darned, I slammed that door and raced back up the stairs. Hey, I didn't scream though; that's pretty amazing for me. Just ask my Mr. if you don't believe me. Or any member of my family. It's really quite pathetic to witness. The snow hasn't even all melted yet. Gross, gross, gross.

Toys x 2

I've been wanting to get the boys Doodle Boards for quite awhile, but at $30 a pop x 2... I wasn't sure if they wouold like them or if it would once again be money wasted. Just by chance I actually looked at the Toys R Us website last week, and wouldn't you know, they had them on sale for 10 bucks! Now that's my kind of deal. Were the doodle boards a hit? We're on day 3 and they are still playing with them! Amazing! the only things in the past that have held their attention for so long are dollar store toys and cardboard boxes. Two identical Doodle Boards means less fighting. Aren't they cute...

On another note, those of you with twins or kids really close in age, how do you handle the toy buying/sharing issue? I've pretty much been buying two of most things that are exactly identical. This cuts down on all of the squabbling over whose toy it is. That said, we still have plently "single" toys in the house that the boys LOVE to fight over and occassionally manage to work out some way of sharing.

What do you do?





Cupcakes Help Save the Day

A couple of weeks ago, on my blogging hiatus, Alek's school had a fun night to help and raise money for the new playground. When I heard there was going to be a bake sale table... my imagination went into overload! It's nice to have a creative project with a deadline; this ensures that I will actually make the time for some fun in the kitchen. I ended up making 7 doz cupcakes and 12 bags of carmel corn. The popcorn was a last minute addition, mostly beacuse I had the ingredients on hand and time to kill between batches of cupcakes. I'm pretty happy with the way that the cupcakes turned out, and they were a huge hit, even at $2 a cupcake.





Bubblicious












 
Triple
Chocolate
Death












Orange You Glad
      It's Spring










Up & Away











Mint Explosion










Under the
 Rainbow






Original
   Oreo







Caramel
  Corn

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Mikah Swears

Mikah is just like the parrot that has an unbelievable vocabulary of inappropriate words that are expressed loudly at inappropriate times. Honestly, this kids vocabulary would make a trucker proud. Alek really never swore so this is a new one for us to deal with. And, as the parent who is most guilty of helping him increase his vocabulary, I get the job of trying to explain why he can't use bad words. As you can imagine, reasoning with a know-it-all 3 year old never goes over very successfully. For instance, and please try not to judge me too harshly, in the yard today Mikah and Lukas were fighting over who got to sit in the car when I heard this come out of my darling's mouth, "get off you stupid asshole." I reprimanded him right away and he looked up at me with his deep blue eyes and said, "it's ok Mommy, I was only talking to Lukas, not you." Somehow he is smart enough to grasp the concept that certain language can be appropriate within your own peer set, but how to convince him that "asshole" is not the type of word one would use when your peers are 3 years old???

Yes, my own love of "bad" words is coming back to haunt me. In spades.

Overheard From the Back of the Van

Here's another soon-to-be-classic...

Today while Lev and Alek were out-and-about all was quiet in the car. When the car is quiet you know that Alek is in deep reflection about something. Sure enough after about 15 minutes of silence Lev hears this come from the backseat

"Dad, why don't you ever tell the Government about my ideas?"

Our dear son considers himself an inventor extraordinaire, as well as a military strategist who would love nothing more than to share his wisdom with the people in high places. I have no doubt that he is going to accomplish amazing things in his life, but I pity the people who unexpectedly experience his 9 year old onslaught of "knowledge." His ideas of how things work (or should work) is such a mishmash of arcane facts and fantastical imaginings, yet he is so sure of himself that at times you actually doubt what you know to be true.

Hmm, on second thought, maybe we should try to find him a direct line to the Prime Minister - it might not hurt!

Saturday, March 27, 2010

I just spent an evening belly down on the couch watching Motherhood. I had no idea what it was about, besides the fact that Uma Thurman was in it. Once her character started Blogging, I was hooked. Blogging about motherhood and life no less! Would she be honest or would she be one of the closet-drinker-mom's, as I refer to them. You know, the ones who are all rainbows, cotton candy and perfectly accessorized lives. How can that level of perfection actually exist??? But... I digress; another post for another day.

My Mr. and I watched it together; ok, he watched with one eye on the screen and another buried in a book, but as he did offer up the occasional comment or question I am choosing to believe that he was way more attuned to the movie than the book. One thing that really struck him was how women respond to other women out in public. Yes, we really can be nasty, unsupportive bitches to one another. Why is it so hard to offer support one aspiring super-mom to another? Would it kill us? I choose to believe that it would make us stronger, individually and as a group. Imagine getting home after a day of errands with kids in tow with your head held high and a smile on your face because another mom offered a verbal commendation to you instead of a snide aside. Wow, wouldn't that be amazing? Everyone would be in a happier mood. You might even be happy to see your other half walk in the door after work instead of resenting the fact that he does not have to deal with this BS on a daily basis. I know that such an event would help me appreciate the gifts that I have in my life instead feeling constantly pressured and stressed that I am failing my job evaluations as mommy, wife, homemaker and employee.

Motherhood, left me feeling both validated and yearning for my moment of clarity.

Oh, and the soundtrack is killer.

This aspiring super-mom recommends that you watch it.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Tough Guys

I've been super busy lately and without much sleep or time, it has been hard to get on here and post anything coherent. Please be gentle as I attempt to climb back on the horse.

Hmm, maybe a funny story is the way to ease myself back into the saddle; good thing there is no shortage of those around here.

Alek's best-bud Steven was over awhile ago and they set themselves up on the couch in front of the Wii playing some military game that they love. You know, the kind with lots of shooting and bravado. It was Alek's turn at the controller and the conversation went like this:

     Steven: Why did he just call you Bulldog? You're guy's name
                 isn't Bulldog.
     Alek (in full out lecturer mode): Well, he called me Bulldog
                 because my guy is a Commando. Commando's are tough
                 and so they need tough guy nicknames. You know, like
                 Bulldog, or Sarge, or Ice Cream.
     Steven: Oh.

A classic Alek and Steven conversation. Those boys just make me laugh and laugh.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Dearest Readers

Thank you for not abandoning me; even if it appears that I have abandoned you. I'll be back shortly with hilarity, stories, recipes, pictures, ideas and crafts. Be patient with me please...

                                          xoxo ~ Barb