Birthday Berries

On the 21st I turned 44, for the second time. I say that because I was 44 all last year. On those grocery receipts and anywhere else I have to mark in my age, I was 44. Really I was 43. At least I'm used to writing 44 down.

I spent the day not searching for jobs. Instead I watched movies, shows and picked berries. I picked to have doughnuts for breakfast, because it was my birthday. Travis picked to have Indian food for dinner, because it was Father's day.

A quick note on Father's Day: Retail sucks with it! When Mother's Day is a thing, there's so much to buy and restaurants that give deals for it. When Father's Day is a thing there's nothing! Even the card selection sucks.

Explain this: Why do single moms claim Father's Day as their day? Single dads don't claim Mother's Day as their day. When did this become a thing? I'm not trying to judge. I'm just trying to understand.

Back to birthday and Father's Day shenanigans:

I made the boys watch the chick flick Uptown Girls. I rarely watch chick flicks. Many man flicks are what is played in this house. I consider beat them up, high action movies man flicks. They seemed to enjoy the movie. It's too bad Dakota Fanning doesn't act as much as she used to. She was such a great little actress.

After that I said, "Let's go pick berries!" If you remember this was something I did at work during lunch breaks all the time. Well I texted the boss' wife and asked if I could still pick them. I said, "Otherwise they will just drop to the ground." She said, "Sure we could come pick berries." 

Mica started out holding the bowl, and grabbing high branches for me. That was a help. Isaak's in one of those, "I'm too good to work." stages. So he walked off flinging sticks onto a tree stump. Eventually both boys ended up like this:

I think the boys' behavior drove Travis more nuts than me. I was just happy to get berries.

When we got home Travis picked up dinner, and we watched Nobody's Fool. I told Travis how Paul Newman used to be quite the sexy guy. He didn't believe me.

Here's some sexy pictures of Paul Newman:

What is an older actress or actor that you found to be good looking?

PersonalizedArt.com Mens Toiletry Bag Review #FathersDay

I always struggle with Father's Day, and don't know what to get my husband and my Dad. They are not the typical guys that eat, sleep and drink sports. They don't drink alcohol. They don't even go fishing. I really don't picture either of them wearing a Dad t-shirt. It's not that they don't enjoy being a Dad, it's just not their style to wear sayings on their shirts.

In the past I've gotten them garden tools, plants, and art materials. We've also gone out for breakfast, instead of getting a gift.

What I Got This Year:

When I found the company PersonalizedArt.com, I was indeed a happy person. They have great personalized things on their site. I really like their Mens Toiletry Bags!

Features:

Material: It's 100% leather - I know Travis in particular loves leather. He's gone to a place in town just to buy leather for things.

Size: 9"x4"x4" - It's great for camping, short trips, long trips, and staycations.

Liner: It has a water resistant nylon lining - Great for if it gets water in it from toothbrushes, or razor.

For the Guy - This will work for anyone really. Even I like it! I had, "Apel" put on it, so possibly it can be one of those things that is handed down from Dad to a Son.

Free Engraving - You can put initials on the bag, a last name, or a first name.

Cost - $34, which isn't bad for it being leather and engraved.

Engraving: 

I do like how the engraving came out. They have 10 different fonts to pick from. I happened to get the font: Imperator. I love that they don't add a cost for the engraving.

Zipper: 

I like that the zipper isn't cheap plastic! It's a nice metal zipper! Everything is stitched really well too!

Other Things They Sell: 

Custom Puzzles, Mats, Glasses, Frames, Wooden Cutting Boards, Necklaces, Robes, Keychains, Mouse Pads, Calendars, Dog Collars, Journals, Watches, and much more!

What would you choose to get from PersonalizedArt.com?

Disclaimer: PersonalizedArt.com sent me this Mens Toiletry Bag for free to Review. They did not influence me on what to say. This is an honest review.

WW: Father's Day and Birthday {Linky}

For Father's Day and my early birthday celebration we went out to a place called Sgt. Peffer's Italian Cafe. It's a little hole in the wall place. They have some Beatles stuff, and play music from that time period.

Their pizza is pretty good!

Then for dinner Travis had Isaak help him in the kitchen.

They made Varna-Style Chicken with rice, and a garden picked kale salad.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to any male readers out there!

We don't really give gifts for Mother's Day and Father's Day. Isaak usually makes a little something. This time he made a Sculpey pot. I have to look up baking instructions every time he uses Sculpey.

We went out for brunch at a (new for us) place called Bailey's. One thing Omaha doesn't lack is places to eat.

Travis got some crapes, I got a Belgian Waffle, and the boys both got a waffle. The boys' and my meal came with eggs, and sausage. Travis' meal came with sausage, and fruit.

Mica looked across the restaurant and said, "WOW! This place is HUGE!" Travis said, "That's a mirror silly." He said, "Oh!"

After a big meal, we went to University of Nebraska - UNO to find out where the boy's writing camp is tomorrow. There was construction everywhere, which made it fun to figure out where they were going. The photos they sent me was the wrong door to enter. We finally figured it out.

I came home to wash, desteam, and make dehydrated strawberry chips. We just put them in the dashboard of our car. No fancy dehydrators here.

I spent yesterday with my own Dad. He's been wanting a matte cutter, so I got one to review on Amazon. He was happy about that. It took awhile to set it up, then I had to show him how to use it. He's left handed, I'm right handed, so I hope I showed him how to use it ok. Ha!

What are you doing this Father's Day? 

Happy Fathers Day and First Day of Summer a Day Late

Yesterday was pretty busy. I didn't get a lot of time to blog. I did respond to my crazy amount of Facebook Happy Birthday messages though. 

My sister's, mom, day, and I went out to breakfast on Saturday. It was to celebrate Father's Day and my birthday. 

On Sunday we went to Jurassic World at 10. Tip: If you never go to movies in the morning, try it out. It was only $5 for each of us to get in. Recliner seats and all! What I loved the most was that the theater wasn't crazy busy!

Mica's still talking about the movie, "Mom, who was your favorite dinosaur?" "Dad, did (insert dinosaur's name here) die the way you thought he would?" I don't want to give the movie away. He's also been building dinosaurs out of Legos, and checking out Jurassic Park Lego sets in his Lego magazine. When he gets on something it's constant.

Isaak only stayed in his recliner seat for 1/4 of the movie. He ended up cuddling with me. He got scared. It's odd because he watched all 3 previous movies at home with us, and didn't seem scared. It's ok I enjoyed the cuddle time.

What Else We Did:

• We went out to dinner at The Olive Garden. That kind of food doesn't always do the best with me, but it was my birthday, and Father's Day, so one time of the year - I made an exception.


• I made raspberry lemonade cupcakes for my co-workers. We always bring in treats for birthdays.


• We went to 2 places checking out prices for cell phones. I think that made me more nervous than picking out a car for some reason. I still don't have a Smart phone. I want to go to 1 more place before we decide what we're going to get. It's more about who we're going to get it from than what we're getting. Our current place - US Cellular wants to charge us more than Verizon, and put us in another contract, which Verizon wouldn't. That's what we're researching. The sale's people talk a bunch of talk I just don't understand. I have to say that Verizon kind of laid it out on the table with a sheet for us to look at, as to where US Cellular kept adding things, saying if I got a land line back again it would be cheaper. I'm like What?! I'll be getting a Smart Phone soonish. But I'm afraid US Cellular will be out.


• We played Skip-Bo. That has to be one of my favorite card games right now. Isaak won, so he was happy.

• Mica and I took turns reading Fried Green Tomatoes in the car. He needs to work on his Southern accent. I think I got it down pretty good from living in Georgia for 3 years. ;) Of course I can't fast forward a book, so they started talking about sex (nothing to explicit). I was ready to have a conversation if needed. We must have bored Isaak, he fell asleep.

•  Mica wrote a skit for Dad, and Isaak wrote a skit for me. We got to watch 2 short plays. 

• Isaak made a card for Dad, and a bracelet for me. 

• Dad got me 2 boxes of Cheez-It Grooves, since I teased them about eating all my Cheez-It's. The cell phone is more my gift.

What did you do for Father's Day?

Ranom Tid Bits

1. My birthday, Father's Day, and the first day of summer all happen on the same day this year. I'm going out for breakfast with my sister's, mom and dad on Saturday to celebrate my birthday and Father's Day. Then on the 21st we'll stop by to see my dad more than likely, we're going to Jurassic World, and going out to Olive Garden for dinner.
   
   When Travis told me about Father's Day landing on my birthday I teased him and said, "I guess we'll have to figure out which one is more important to celebrate that." He's like, "What?" I was only kidding. I think Jurassic World and Olive Garden will make everyone happy. The boys hardly get scared with movies. It's not like I let them watch horror flicks. I don't need to worry about them getting freaked out with a little Jurassic madness.


2.  One night this week we picked a lot of peas. Travis planted them, so it was our job to pick them. I didn't realize he made an agreement with the neighbors that they could have a bag of peas if they let their lawn guy know not to weed eat the fence. Once I picked them we had to take them all out of the pods. It took all evening.
   
   
   
   
   Maybe this sounds selfish of me, but I wasn't happy to share them. Part of me wanted to go to the store, buy them a bag of peas and say, "Here's your bag of peas." At least I wouldn't have spent tons of time on those. It would be one thing if we were really close to them. We're not. All the sudden I sounded like a selfish bit_h.
    
   I'm all for sharing with my friends, family and co-workers. I've given a ton of homemade jam to people in the past. I make people cookies. They scratch my back, and I scratch theirs. I have acted good towards strangers. I let people go in front of me in line a lot, and put carts away that are randomly in the parking lot. Letting people go in front of me, and putting carts away doesn't take all evening. Not to mention all the time it took to plant those suckers. Overall I'm not a person that likes to share. I always hated as a kid to let my sister pick at my food when we went out to eat (she always does that). I dislike going in on gifts because sometimes I don't get paid back. I'd rather just go get someone something on my own. I love trying to find the perfect gift for a kid. Are you a person that likes to share?


3. Speaking of jam I'm disappointed in our June Berries this year. I usually pick 4 quart bags full of them. This year I didn't even get 1 full one. I think berries don't do well with a ton of rain. We've had a lot of that this year.


4. I'm getting my hair cut today. YAY! I like my hair shortish, but Travis likes it longer. It's my birthday weekend, so I'm cutting it. 


5. Isaak and Mica are still enjoying their fun summer school. I'm really glad we signed them up for it. They love their classes, and argue with me about how it isn't school. It's too fun to be school I guess. They have pretty full classes except for 1 of Mica's. There's only Mica and 1 other kid in one of his classes. 

Father's Day

So...I never posted about Father's Day. I edited the picture. I swore I wrote about it. Nope! I must have been in la la land with that one. The odd thing is, is that I even remember linking up to the restaurant. It was going to be my WW this week. I realized on Tuesday that I didn't have a WW in my feed. I made the superhero boys be my WW.

Any how here's my handsome men on Father's Day. We were not sure if we should even go anywhere at all. Isaak said, "My tummy hurts!" He looked white to. I think for a few weeks the boy was having growing pains. His tummy hurt often in the mornings, and he'd be fine after 10 or so. He had all kinds of other pains during that time to. We're thankfully past that.

We decided to try out the same place that my sister's and Dad AKA Aunts and Grandpa went to the day before. It was a repeat for me, but new for everyone else. I ordered something different anyhow. It's called FirstWatch. Do you have a FirstWatch where you live? It's new for us.

Source

They are only open the first part of the day; that's where they get their name. They have healthier options for breakfast, which is what I love. Everyone seemed to like it there on both days I went.

Thankfully Isaak didn't have any sick issues. I was a little worried about that.

We've been so busy that we didn't really do anything else with Daddy.

He's been trying to get some molds done to take down to Kansas City, so they can cast them, and he can include them in a sculpture show in the fall. He's also applying for a few grants, getting a press release out for the gallery that his work is in, getting a wedding ring set done, and applying for something else to. He's been working tons of hours at his other job. Two of his co-workers are out of town. He was hoping to work there part time all summer. Nope...He's had to go in more than full time the last 2 weeks. Even Isaak's had to go into work with him. Isaak doesn't seem to mind too much. He takes toys, watches movies, and plays with a kid that also comes to work with their mom. His boss is so different than mine; mine would never let me take my kids to work. It's been crazy around here.

I keep telling Daddy to go work, get things done, while I man the fort. The only thing I refuse to do is mow. My allergies will go nuts.

What did you do for Father's Day?

It's June, so...

at our house that means 3 things:

1. It's my birthday month. That's not to say I spend all month celebrating my birthday. I just celebrate whenever everyone has the time. My birthday gets celebrated with my nephew Emerson's birthday. He'll be 3 this year. I'll be closer to 40. My birthday is the first day of summer. Well some could argue that the 22nd is the first day of summer. I think it depends on the moon. My birthday is the 21st. Depending on what literature I'm looking at I'm a Gemini, and others say I'm a Cancer. Again I'm stuck in the middle.

2. It's Father's Day Month. Again it's celebrated whenever everyone has time.

3. It's Juneberry picking time. I've already filled two gigantic quart bags full of berries. I enjoy picking berries. It is time consuming though. It's either I pick them, or the birds fly through and eat them. I'd like to try out my new canning stuff I got last year as a present. I'll make more Juneberry Jam. It works great for teacher's gifts, and random Christmas presents. I was even thinking of making Juneberry Syrup, or trying to. Then I'll make Oatmeal Superfood Power Bars to. What would you make with them? They can be replaced with any blueberry recipe. I just have to be careful because I don't want to make things that have tons of sugar. I'm safe with jam because I'm giving it away.

So...He Likes Father's Day

Isaak's said on more than one occasion that he likes Father's Day way more than Christmas.

Daddy said, "Are you sure you like Father's Day more than Christmas?"

Isaak said, "Yes I do!"

Daddy said, "Are you sure you like Father's Day more than Mother's Day?"

Isaak said, "Yes I like Father's Day more than any other holiday."

I wonder if any other four year olds like Father's Day over any other holiday?

City Life on Father's Day

• Daddy was pretty busy at work this weekend.
• He came home today on Father's Day around 5:30 to play with the boys while I made dinner.
• They built a city of just about every kind of toy Mica and Isaak have. If you click on the picture you can see Lego's, Little People, Team GeoTrax, Imaginext and more.

• Then when the boys went down for the night, Daddy went back to work in an unhappy mood.
• He didn't want to go back in.

Happy Faters Day!

• A Happy Fathers Day goes out to Daddy of course. Grandpa Spiehs (my dad), Grandpa Apel (daddy's dad) and Great Grandpa Kent (my mom's dad).
• All of them are great people. I wish them all the best.