Friday, September 23, 2016

Random Tid Bits

  1. I went grocery store shopping one day after work. When I walked into the store there was what looked like a manager and 3 very upset kids. The kids were getting in trouble for shoplifting. The oldest was probably 12 or 13, the next child was about 8 or 9, and the youngest was about 4 or 5. I had a hard time removing the situation from my mind. Thankfully they were called into a back room. Otherwise I would have just stood there watching with my mouth 1/2 hung open.

    When I went to check out, the cashier was lacking in his professional skills. He kept saying, "I hope we don't get in trouble for their kids shoplifting!" The parents and cops were in the store. Just by watching I think the cops were called first, and the parents were called second. That's the order they came in anyhow. I was thinking the whole time, Where are the parents? I wouldn't let Mica run around with Isaak at those ages with a 4 or 5 year old. Yes the kids were old enough to know better, but had the parents been there the whole scenario could have been avoided. It looked like the parents were paying for their kids, the youngest child was out of the office with their parents, and the older kids were getting talked to by the cops. They came out with tears running down their faces.

    It was all handled how I would handled the given situation, but I would  have taken them into the back office right away. The cashier should have known to be discreet about the situation. They need to be trained for more than just checking out groceries. 

  2. This wasn't the first time I was shaken by kids getting in trouble. When I lived in Savannah, Georgia I was a Book Buddy for an elementary school. I walked in, and a cop, or guard had a kid's face pushed down on the floor. Drool and tears were running down their face onto the ground. I was really shaken by that scene because A) I wasn't expecting it. B) I didn't know what the child did to deserve such treatment. C) I wondered why they just couldn't have their hands behind their back? Why was their face pushed hard on the ground? I so wanted to ask. 

  3. We went to a La Mesa Mexican restaurant. It was a the first time we were handed 3 adult menus without us asking. Mica's growing up! He ordered a taco salad. 


  4. Mica's big into saying, "Brah", which is slang for "Bro", which is slang for "Brother". A slang within a slang. He called me, "Brah" once and I replied with, "I'm not your Brah! Call me Mother, Mom, Ma or if you have to Mah." Brah sounds like Bra. What slang words can you not stand?

  5. My next art piece was going to be an owl that's in the city, and can't sleep. He/she will look super annoyed at all the city noises. I want to use a background that's all rainy, and dark. Then I thought about the fact that owls are nocturnal. I might have to change it slightly to show some daylight. 
Source

Thursday, September 22, 2016

PAUL JONES Mens Casual Slim Short Sleeve Shirt Review

My son went up to men's sizes this year. He was lacking in dress shirts. Picture Day came and went. He was looking in his closet for a shirt just like the  PAUL JONES Mens Casual Slim Short Sleeve Shirt I got to review.


Thankfully we have many more occasions coming up where we have to dress up.

What I love about this shirt is that it can be worn casually with jeans, more dressed up with black pants and a tie.

We still have to wash it. Those fold lines are in it. That's pretty normal for a dress shirt.

Colors:

  • It comes in Wine Red like he has
  • Light Blue
  • Navy Blue
  • 2 Whites (one with the different colors by the buttons, and one without)
  • 2 Blacks (one with the different colors by the buttons, and one without)


Wine Red has always been my favorite color on him, but I like Black too. White and Blue are just too light for boys that aren't quite men yet. They play too hard, and dirt shows up on them.


Material:

60% Polyester
40% Cotton

We had a few random threads on it, but otherwise it's perfect. It's slim fit, which Mica is fairly slim. Fit wise it's great. There's room to tuck it in if he chooses to wear it for a dressy event. I just need to wash it to get rid of the fold lines. He was just so excited to put it on.


Cost:

$25.08 on sale for $13.98. If you have Prime shipping is free. 

I'm pretty happy with this shirt. I think he looks sharp!

Disclaimer: I got this product for a discounted price in exchange for an honest review. 

Adult Coloring Greeting Cards by @ColorfestCrafts Boxed Set Review

If I had more time, I'd color more. It's fun, relaxing, and inspiring. When I color I don't have to think of a concept, and my mind is free to come up with other ideas for illustrations that are all mine.

Recently I got Adult Coloring Greeting Cards by Colorfest Boxed Set of 12 Unique Artist Design With Envelopes to Review.

The Greeting Cards do not come with the gel pens shown.

Colorfest Makes: Greeting Cards, Watercolor Pencils, and Gel Pens.

The Greeting Cards Come With 12 Designs:

  • 2 Different Dog Designs
  • 2 Different Cat Designs
  • 2 Different Flower Designs
  • 2 Different Dragonfly Designs
  • 2 Different Butterfly Designs
  • 1 Heart Design
  • 1 Dove Design 
They are all different, but have a similar style. I do wish the ones that had 2 of the same subject they thought of something different to do. There are endless options, but I thought of: An Igloo, a Train, a Snowman, a Sloth, a Panda, an Ice Cream Cone. What would you add to the set?

Color Time:

We took Mica to get a haircut last night for picture day today. While Isaak and I waited we colored. I said, "Isaak I have a job for you." He gave me a sigh. When he saw that I wanted us to color, his eyes lit up.

Isaak colored the cat card for his teacher:


I colored a flower for someone that will need a card:


I colored with a lot of hatching lines. Isaak asked about my method of coloring. I talked to him about hatching, cross hatching, bracelet shading, and solid shading. 

It was fun to color. We didn't finish them, while Mica's hair was getting cut. We went home and we colored some more. 

Each Card Comes:
  • With thick paper stock. This ensures that there is no bleeding through when gel pens, or markers are used.
  • With a blank inside. You can make the card whatever you want. 
  • With a white envelope.
The Cards Are:
  • $38, but on sale for $18.98. They are sold on Amazon. If you are an Amazon Prime member you can get shipping for free. 
  • They are made in China. I wish they were made in the US.
  • Used for any occasion. I think we'll use ours for Teacher Appreciation Days, or to lift someone's spirits up.  


Disclaimer: I got this product for a discount in exchange for an honest review. I only agree to review things that I find fits this blog.

Check Up

I'm a bad Mom busy Mom. I don't take my boys to the doctor every year. It's usually when they are sick, when it's flu shot time, or every other year.

I had a list going of things I wanted to ask their doctor, it's flu shot time, Mica had a few vaccines (whooping cough and meningitis) to get, they are were off of school on Monday, so we got the boys in for a check up.

I'm big on vaccinations because Isaak had Meningitis when he was 2 months old, and my Mom had Polio. I've seen how scary some of those things are. We've all had the actual flu. I like to do anything to prevent us from getting whatever crap germs are out there.

They look huge on the table now!


Isaak looks freaked out in the picture because he knew he was about to get a shot. Neither boy cried, but Isaak was certainly wigging out about the 1 shot he got. Mica handled it like a champ. 

My Dad is super tall, both my Mom and Mother-in-law are taller than I am. I'm always curious where the boys stand with weight and height. 

Mica:

He's 61.3" which is 95% in his age group.

He's 93 lb 15 oz, which is 78% in his age group.

Isaak:

He's 55.2" which is 96% in his age group.

He's 65 lb 11 oz, which is 75% in his age group.

They won't go to the doctor again until they are sick, or for their next flu shot. 


Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Mini Apple Tarts


Sometimes I get this wild idea to be creative with food for breakfast on the weekends. When I have time. Sigh

I hate don't like making pies. Ok it's the crust I don't like fitting into a pan. If I can buy a crust pre made I'll do it. I should just watch tutorials on how to put crust in a pie dish. I've tried, and failed many times over again. Something always rips.

I can do what I did this weekend, which is cheat!

Why frustrate myself when I can make a crisp, or what I made this weekend Mini Apple Tarts?

Seriously if you have tips, or know of a great tutorial on laying pie crust in a pan I'll read the tips or watch the tutorial.

Mini Apple Tarts:

Mini Apple Tarts are easy, taste good, and are pretty healthy.

I made 1/2 a recipe of pie crust, but you can make however much you'd like. If you want a lot of tarts make a full batch. You'll just be in the kitchen longer. I used this crust recipe, but any recipe will do.

It helps to refrigerate the dough for 1/2 an hour, or you could make the dough the night before.

Roll out the dough and cut it into circles with a glass, or circle cookie cutter.




Cut apples into circle slices. Add onto the dough, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, crimp the edges and bake.



We set the oven to 425 degrees. It took about an hour to bake them to our liking. I was looking for the apple to be baked, and the crust to be tan. 


They were good! We all liked them!

I could see making Mini Peach Tarts too. Although the big seed in the middle gets in the way for a close to perfect circle.

You could top with a dollop of whipped cream. It would taste good with vanilla ice cream for a dessert. We actually had them for breakfast though.


Tuesday, September 20, 2016

WW: Popcorn and Bees {Linky}

I just finished a piece of artwork. I actually had two projects going on at once. Now it's time to say goodbye to one because it's finished! 

It's about the decline in bees right now. That's the reason they are wearing gas masks.


A Few Details: 

The bees took forever. I look at them, and still see things I could do. Materials: Yellow Paper, Colored Pencil Filings, Cut String, Vinyl for their masks masks, Acetate and Tracing Paper for the wings, Felt for the pollen.



For the steam of the sunflower I used popcorn stalks. We grew popcorn, so why not use them in a painting? The yellow stuff on the sides of the steam is dried corn silk. I dry brushed yellow on it. There is some build up of molding paste to get some textures.


I tried another thing new with this painting. I wanted to hint at more in the background, but didn't want paint anything back there. Dripping paint right on the canvas didn't give me enough control. I dripped paint on an old picture, let it dry, and scraped it up with a razor blade to glue down. That's how I got the yellow "blobs".


Bees: We actually have some flying around our house right now. Isaak is a true bee charmer. He love to pet them. He hasn't been stung petting them yet. 

They are so busy I got some close-ups of them. 







I also spotted an empty wasp nest on a walk. I gave it to Isaak to add to his nature collection.



We grew Popcorn. We grew Sweet Corn before, but this is our first year growing Popcorn. To be true Nebraskan's we have to grow corn right?

The boys just picked it off. Travis tried popping an ear, but it wasn't dry enough. I hope we get the popping down. It will be nice to have some popcorn. We're still newbies at that.






Monday, September 19, 2016

Vandalized

We woke up just like any other day. Travis went outside, and noticed a rock was off our trash can. He puts the trash in the can upside down, and puts a big rock on the can to keep animals from getting into our trash.


Our trash was elsewhere.


He knew it wasn't a wild animal because the trash was still in tact. 

Then he saw this:


The block was put by our trash can, which is clear across our driveway.

Next he noticed his windshield wiper was twisted, and I had one that's entirely gone!


Next he noticed our mailbox flag was twisted, and our neighbor's mail was all ripped in pieces.


The mailboxes are connected. 

I was paranoid. I was thinking it was a targeted situation. I was thinking a pissed off student could have done this to us. 

Later I learned that a neighbor down the street had a rubber snake put in their mailbox, and another neighbor had something else happen to them. 

We still have to get new windshield wipers. My poor neighbor had a certificate of something their son did (award wise) in the military. It's all ripped up. 

We called it into the police, but we don't know when or if we'll hear anything. I also reported it to a neighborhood site call Next Door. 

Have you ever been vandalized? 

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

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