Isaak's Friend Birthday Party

One things is true about us: We have trouble keeping the house clean during the week. Seriously we both work all the time. When I'm not working, I'm blogging. When Daddy's not working, he's making sculptures. Isaak loves to keep anything and everything. On the weekends it's scramble time. We clean in a hurry.

Isaak's friend birthday party was this Saturday.

Note to self: NEVER schedule a birthday party on Mother's Day weekend EVER again! I didn't even think about that.

I cleaned pretty much every night last week. Laundry was one night, floors were the next, dusting was another, and so on and so forth. Cleaning should be that way all the time. To be honest it usually gets saved for the weekend. In my mind since we work much of the time we're lucky we get mostly home cooked meals. I do keep up with the dishes. *See I'm trying to justify my sloppiness.

Friday night Daddy was working on an art project that he was accepted to for the whole month of May. *More on that later. The cleaning was mostly on me.

Saturday was Isaak's big day: His friend birthday party. 

No one had RSVPed. I gave them my email, Daddy's cell phone #, and our home phone #. The school no longer gives out directories; due to privacy. Getting a hold of parents isn't the easiest thing.

Many true things in the US (in general):

• People just have trouble picking up the phone to RSVP.
• People are always busy.
• People don't give thank you cards.
• People sometimes just show up. 

True things with kids:

• They expect all their friends to come to their party.
• Most of their friends tell them that they are coming.
• They want the best birthday party ever.

Isaak's party started at 10. It was 10:20, and no one was there. When I wrote on Facebook that I didn't know what was going to happen, a few people sent me personal messages saying that same thing happened to them, and other commented saying that has happened to them as well.

What no one knows that day, is that I went into my room and cried for a brief moment. I don't know if I cried because I was sad for Isaak, maybe it was more because I was sad for society as a whole, or maybe it was a mixture of everything.

I couldn't help myself after seeing this:

I decided to put my big girl panties on, so to speak, and gave Isaak a gigantic hug. I said, "Honey if no one comes it's ok to be sad. Just remember that we will have a special day for you on your birthday, and a family birthday party. I will let you open up a gift from us today if no one comes. We will have brownies and ice cream." Then called 2 parents that I had numbers for.

One was coming, but was late. A sigh of relief. I thought they would come because Isaak had a play date with this kid before, and he said his mom said he could go. I just didn't know if they had forgotten. So...one person came. In this case I was soooo happy that his friend's sister, and her friend stayed to! The more the merrier! His friend's mom said that his friend had a birthday party that no one showed up to as well. She had a bounce house, and no one was there to enjoy it. :(

His friend with a Transformer mask on.

Isaak likes brownies way more than cake, so that's what we went with. Everyone asked for 2nds, so they got them. We had strawberries, carrots and lemonade to.

I did have games planned, but since there wasn't too many guests they just played. They had fun on our swing set. They loved their trinket of a Superman ring, and got way more candy than I wanted them to with limited people for the piñata. 

Isaak got a Hot Wheels extension from his friend. They got the Hot Wheels stuff down, and happily played with that.

With the one kid showing up everyone was happy! :) 

What do I do for next year?

Do I just have a few friends over to spend the night? 

Do I try and have a friend party again?

Do I just stick with a family party?

Part of me wanted to have a big party for Mica this year at Hummel Park. It's a little ways away. There would be archery, and more, but I risk spending the money, and not having kids show up. If I invite everyone, then I might get too many people showing up when the limit is 20. I'm so in limbo.

What are your thoughts...

Happy Mothers Day!

I'm not crazy about Mothers Day and Fathers Day. I've always felt like birthdays and Christmas are more than enough for gift giving. We do however celebrate the holidays.

Daddy doesn't get me anything for Mother's Day. I don't get him anything for Father's Day. We just go out to breakfast. Then Daddy or I get to choose a game to play, or movie to watch (depending on who's day it is).

I wanted chocolate pancakes this morning, but opted for a fruit cup and a cheeseless, veggie omelet. While we waited for our food we played a name game. We had to think of a name we liked for every letter of the alphabet. Letters Q, X, Y and P were the hardest. Then this evening we played Rumikub.   

When asked if the boys made anything at school for Mother's Day? Mica said, "I started to, but never finished it." I said, "That's ok. I just want to be with you anyhow."

Isaak gave this to me:

I have twin Isaak's.

It says:

Mom
scole "school"
hoges "hugs"
nise "nice"
loves
likes
heps "helps"
wrse "works"
Love
Isaak

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I hope you got to do at least one special, out of the ordinary thing today!

We Got a New Refrigerator

We had a bit of a hiccup this weekend.

I noticed last week that our water wasn't as cold as it should be. I didn't think too much of it. I just cleaned the fridge, and thought maybe one of the boys bumped the thermostat. They both helped me remove things, and put things back in. We bumped up the thermostat.

Soon after that there was a funky smell in our refrigerator. 

We found the funky smell. The eggs smelled horrible! Daddy said, "Are you kidding me? Are we going to have to go back to buying the cheaper eggs because they last longer?" Then we smelled the milk. It to was spoiled. It smelled like feta cheese. Needless to say the problem wasn't the brand of eggs I bought.

Our refrigerator died. There was a slight coolness, but it wasn't as cold as it should have been.

I wasn't too sad. We've had problems with that refrigerator since we bought it. The water in the door stopped working right before our warranty was up. We got the money, but chose not to spend it on a new fridge at the time. The refrigerator worked, just not the water in the door.

Now we had no choice we had to get a new refrigerator. 

Friday night and Saturday were too busy to go looking for a new fridge! 

Finally today we ventured out to get a new refrigerator.

We had a GE before. This time we went with a Whirlpool. One thing I do love about Daddy having a smart phone is that he can look up ratings online.

Things we were looking for:

• We were eying one that was more money, but all the controls were on the outside. I could just see the boys getting curious, and pushing buttons they know nothing about. I also asked the sale's man about that control panel going out, and if it would be more money to fix than the other fridge that had the controls on the inside? He said, "Yes it is more." (I was thinking after the warranty dies off.)


• I had a difficult time picking out which shade to go with: White, or grey? I like grey better, but all our other stuff we have is white. But the white things we have have grey on them. Daddy convinced me that as our other stuff dies we'll slowly get all grey things. 


• Picking out a grey refrigerator I wanted to make sure magnets still stuck to them. Kids artwork has to be hung on the side of our fridge. It's just part of what we do. Magnets do stick on some, and not on others. Luckily magnets do stick on the one we bought.  


• I wanted a refrigerator and a freezer that are side by side. That's what I'm used to. I could see having a lower drawer style freezer, and forgetting about things that are under other things.

If I didn't have kids that are always hungry I may have gone with something smaller.
 
The Whirlpool was on sale, we got it for 20 months 0% interest, a rebate, a warranty, same day delivery, and they hauled off our old one for free.

 

What I'm loving the most is that our water now works!

What I'm hating the most is moving food around. I moved as much as I could into the deep freezer because I new the new refrigerator was coming. When it came Daddy and I moved the stuff in the deep freezer up into the new refrigerator to thaw out the deep freezer, and clean it.

I wanted to go grocery shopping, but there are tornado warnings and storms all around us. We have no milk, no eggs, and need some things.

What do you look for in a refrigerator?

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday is all about me discovering something that is different. I don't want to post things that you and I have more than likely heard before. I want to find something different. It could be from another country, someone singing from the streets of NY, and more.

This next band isn't new at all. It's just one that I forgot about, and rediscovered. Have you ever heard of The Gits?  I imagine that not too many people have. I actually learned about the The Gits when watching an Unsolved Mysteries show one night. They were a band that was popular in the 90s. Actually they weren't big at all. Only popular in the Seattle area.

Mia Zapata was the lead singers name. She was often described as having a voice like Janis Joplin. It was a really strong, and powerful voice.

Back to the Unsolved Mystery show...Mia Zapata was raped and murdered, while walking home on a July night in 1993. Her murderer left no clues. The case stayed open. In fact Kurt Cobain, Pearl Jam, and Sound Garden sang at a benefit concert for her. Her fans were passionate about wanting to find her murderer.

The police were circling her friends. They couldn't find out anything. Shortly after a film was made about The Gits, DNA evidence led to an arrest and conviction of the killer. He was a traveler, so that made it hard for them to catch him.

It's a little harder than anything I've posted.

Source

Do you think she sounds like Janis Joplin?

Second Skin

King and Queens

Check out their website here.

Random Tid Bits

1. Part of me thinks everyone should work retail at some point in their life. Even if it's just a summer job. 

You may be wondering why I'm saying this?

I learned how to deal with people more when I worked at ShopKo behind a jewelery counter for a summer, than I have as a teacher. I'm talking about how to deal with rude people. As a teacher I have some rude students, but it's nothing compared to working retail. When I have rude students I think I deal with them in way as if to turn that negative energy into a positive.

We have a few people that work right inside the front door at my work. I walk in and say, "Hi!" :) or "Good morning!" :) All I get back is silence. I know their desks just happen to be there, but if they worked retail in the past they'd know that it's nice and important to say, "Hi!" to anyone that walks in the door. At first I thought I did something to piss them off. Other people have experienced the same thing. I know it's not me. I'm the type that says, "Hi!" when I see someone. I say, "Bless you!" when someone sneezes. I walk in the door at home and say, "How was your day?" Life is too short just to be grumpy. I find it awkward when people are silent. How do you feel about this? Part of me wonders if I over analyze things though. 


2. I have to say that I'm ready for the semester to be over. I have one student that is very demanding. She doesn't make decisions on her own. It's 50 questions kind of a day. Yes my job is to teach her. It's just that I start to feel like she's taking up other student's time. I have politely said, "Can you go back to your desk; just while I answer this next student's question." I'm not alone in feeling this way. So far I've been VERY patient. I feel like I should answer any question a student has. Students pay a lot to go here. I should be helpful.

One other teacher was in the classroom last week, and got super irritated by this same student. He snapped. Rule number 1 in teaching: Don't snap. If you need to discuss something important with a student call them into a different room to discuss how you feel with them! It was so awkward after that moment in time.


3. I have another student I discussed absences with. Her's are high. That's compromising her work. She said, "I think I should be given a break. I don't have a car, and can't get here on time, all the time."

Rule number 2 in teaching: Don't laugh when a student is serious. I didn't laugh, but I wanted to. I felt like saying, "Be ready early. I'll pick you up at 7:30 AM. That's right before I come to work." I didn't say that of course. Instead I said, "Maybe you need to talk to the Director about this." Somehow what's a student's problem becomes my problem.


4. Rule number 3 in teaching: No surprises. I work at a small school. We have the ability to print off their grades. This time of year I print off grades at the beginning of class day, and at the end of the class day. I don't want them to have any surprises on their grade when the class is officially over. I remember being in school, and really not knowing how good, or bad I was doing. 


5. I love teaching, but I have to say that I'm happy to have some time without them. I still have to be here over the summer. I teach summer school, and get prepared for the fall. There comes a time when students and teachers want a chapter to be over with. That time has come.

New Cousin

Last weekend I went to visit my cousin that just had a baby girl. There are so many boys, it's nice to hold a girl for once.

Isaak went in saying, "Babies are lame." to, "I want to hold her again." He's always liked babies, but someone at school told him that babies aren't cool. Anyone his age tends to be a bit of a follower. I told him that babies are special.

Mica used to be awkward around babies. Now he loves them. The problem with that evening was that when the baby was handed to him she was doing this:

She was certainly hungry. LOL For her size she eats just fine. She was only 5 pounds something at birth. Coming from a Mom (ME) that had major troubles with breastfeeding in the beginning, this is a success! She looks like she latches great!

Instead Mica read Thomas books to my cousin's son.

This little guy has an obsession with ears. He kept playing with Mica's eat. Mica was thinking, What the heck?

I got my baby fix to. Can you tell I like babies?

My cousin had a scare. The baby had a clogged tear duct. I know that's common. Her pediatrician didn't know that, that is what she had. Off to the NICU she went. They did an expensive scan before a doctor there even saw her. The doctor came in, popped it, and the fluid drained. Now I'm sure they will get a lovely expensive bill in the mail.

I can't count how much I've spent on my boys for no reason at all. Doctors worried me for no reason at all to. Things like that piss me off.

*An update on my soon to be nephew: My sister still hasn't had him. She'll get induced next week; if he isn't here yet. It's a good thing that he's not here just yet. My nephew Emerson has strep throat, so we think. They didn't do a culture because he throws up a lot. He sure did have the symptoms. The new baby Edison can hibernate a little bit longer. I just hope my sister Terra doesn't get strep throat! Imagine delivering, and being sick to.

WW: OPPD Arboretum {Linky}

Mica was out with Dad, so I decided to take Isaak out to get his pictures taken at OPPD Arboretum.

Isaak will be 6 later this month, and usually I try and get pictures of the kids close to their birthday. I'm putting some photos up now, and the rest up on the 19th, which is Isaak's day.

I washed his hands and face, but didn't think about washing his knees! 

If you have a moment enter my low entry giveaway for Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care Liniment No. 1. It's a great leather cleaner and makes leather products look new again.

Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care Liniment No. 1 #Giveaway

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

We have a leather sofa, and a fabric loveseat. I love leather because it's so easy to clean. Saying that, I should clean it more often.

I got Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care Liniment No. 1 to review. I didn't realize how dirty my sofa was until I started cleaning it.

Leather Care Liniment No. 1 is a milky, water-based natural leather care recipe containing some wonderful leather enriching ingredients. I was expecting to open the bottle, and have it smell bad. Nope, it didn't have much scent at all. A lot of scents are not good to take it. I was pleasantly surprised.

I'm pretty familiar with nasty chemicals used in things. I'm an art instructor, so I have to watch the ingredients in oil based products all the time. It's great that Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care doesn't have any nasty chemicals.

Their product contains oils that are lighter rather than heavier oil types. Because the product is water-based, it works as a cleaner as well. For leather items you just need a refreshed look, without using heavy oils and conditioners.

Some Ideas of Things Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care can be used on:

• Leather coats
• Bags
• Auto interiors
• Furniture
• Portfolio cases
• Boots
• Suitcases 
• *Really it can be used on all things that are leather

These are the kinds of things that are exposed to public and human touch on a regular basis. You can use Leather Care Liniment often, for a quick, effective, cleaning and revitalizing result.

Process:

1. Use a damp rag. Wipe the leather down.
2. Put Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care on their applicator, and apply. 

It's really that simple!

Before Using Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care 

Look at the top of the cushion. 

After Using Chamberlain's Leather Milk Leather Care 

 The furniture got darker, richer looking. Many of the wear, stressed leather look went away.

Look at the Rag and the Applicator:

Just as milk is a primary nutrient for so much of animal and human life, so Chamberlain’s Leather Milk is for all things leather. 

Get this product today at Amazon. It was originally $24.95 and on sale for $18.95.

Giveaway Time: 

One of my US readers is going to win 1 bottle (the same one I reviewed) of Chamberlain’s Leather Milk.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Lumenx Mountable Bicycle Light Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I got the Lumenx Mountable Bicycle Light to review. It's a high quality front mount bicycle headlight / flashlight.

I thought this would be perfect for Daddy to have on his bike. Mica is at the stage when he likes to ride a bike trail in town. What I worry about is them losing track of time. They may start riding when it's light out, but don't realize it's getting dark towards the end of their venture. The Lumenx Mountable Bicycle Light is perfect for situations like that.

Once upon a time a long time ago Grandpa (my dad) road his bike often. He was riding on a trail here, and it got dark. He carried a flashlight with him. He dropped it, and all the batteries fell out. Then he was moving along, and a possum was on the trail. He avoided it because he had the light. Aunt Terra (my sister) that was behind him hit the possum like it was a speed bump. No accident occurred, but it could have ended badly.

It came perfectly packaged:

Install:

Really it took only a few minutes to install. No tools are necessary when installing it. It's not big, or bulky. It's also not a loud color. Black pretty much goes with anything. The materials are waterproof with advanced "O" ring seal. It's made out of a durable military grade aluminum.

Light:

The flashlight is attached to a mount on the bike. You can remove the flashlight if needed. No tools are needed if it's removed. I could see this being helpful if Daddy or Mica dropped something in the dark, and needed to go back to find the something.

It shines up to 500 feet. That makes it easy to light up their path. It's a LED light, so it more powerful than most other bulbs. The bulb is a CREE Q5. The light zooms up to 2000x! I was surprised at how powerful it lit up. There is also a flash mode, which would be handy for cars to see a bike on the road. That is an important emergency feature.

As you can see even in the daylight the bulb shows up.

The back of the bike has a light to.

I love this Lumenx Mountable Bicycle Light set. I'm thinking many people are going to get one for Christmas in the near future. It's $49.99 and on sale at Amazon for $35.77.

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.