Happy 15th Birthday Mica!

Today we had an odd storm roll through. It happened very suddenly, and left many in the Omaha area, including us with no power. 

Your birthday didn’t really start out on a positive note. You were brushing your teeth in the dark. 

We are in the middle of a pandemic. I have to say out of all of us in the Apel house you’ve adapted the best to solitude + change. You said that this pandemic gives you time to self reflect.

You were supposed to start high school today. North High Magnet School focuses on Biomedical and Engineering. We found out just two days ago that classes are going to be held remote, for the first semester. You were excited that school wasn’t going to begin on your birthday.

What you got, for your birthday:

•A room makeover - You would have never asked for a room makeover. Why? Because it required work. Ha!

•You also wanted something on the PS4, but missed playing time with your cousins due to the power outage. 

•I got you some candy. I know jellybeans are one of your favorites, but you never get any because Isaak can’t have them, due to his braces. The Dentist may not thank me, but you’ll enjoy them. 

•I made you an ice cream cake, and got Chinese take out. 

Likes: 

•Eating! I went to get a snack, and the whole pan was empty. It threw me because the foil was still on the pan. You're growing like a weed, so I get why you're hungry all the time.

•Battlefront - A PS4 game

•You liked the show Hunters on Amazon Prime

•You still enjoy reading

•You often are listening to music

Dislikes: 

•Bugs

•Getting your hands dirty in the kitchen

Struggles: 

•Scoliosis is our main scare with you right now. You didn't do well at the doctor's office, they sent you to get a scan, and you didn't do great on that either. I'm hoping you just grew too fast. You have to get yet another scan in three months. 

•You have no interest in driving. We shall see. 

Strengths:

You got a big award sent your way from school last year. More on that in a big.  

Overall you're a pretty darn good kid, and I love you!

Happy Birthday Mica!

Carrot Cake #doughnuts

Typically I wake up before everyone else. I lay there pondering about what I should make.

This morning I was thinking, What do we have that needs to be used up? We have lots of carrots, and raisins. No one in our house likes raisins all that much, except in desserts, or breakfast goodies like this. 

They were easier to make, then my Dark Chocolate Doughnuts, or the Lemon Doughnuts I've shared with you. They were just as good as both, but I have to say it's hard to pass up chocolate! 

Carrot Cake Doughnuts by AlissaSpiehs-Apel on Scribd

Sometimes I skip the glaze. It's not because it's not good. It's just that we don't need the extra sugar. This time I decided to add it.

What I Paired the Carrot Cake Doughnuts Up With:

• Spinach Leaves
• A Date
• Bing Cherries
• Cottage Cheese
• Emergen-C Drink

It was a hit with everyone. Mica per usual on a weekend morning asked, for seconds. 

What kind of homemade doughnuts do you prefer?

Random Tid Bits

1. I know it's been awhile since I've posted a random post. Working from 4:30 AM to 1:30 PM isn't too bad. What's bad is working from 1:30 PM to 9:30 PM a few days later. I feel like I have no routine. I'm tired ALL the time!
   
   
2. The boys were supposed to start school next week. Omaha is doing so bad with COVID! The teachers got on the news, and talked about how they don't feel safe going back. I have a few thoughts on this. First I agree with them, second I see groups of kids all over hanging out without masks on, and with their parents out and about without masks... How is going to school any different?
   
   Education should be in my mind set before sports, and the economy. We've made it clear as a society that education is last. If we would have kept all things that we could shut down as long as we could, and had school in session first that would have been ideal. 
   
   
3. Things need to change, and fast! I've been saying this for years. We should move to one person in a family working. Single parents, shouldn't have to work as hard as they do. This would give children a stable home environment, that they need. Then make the price point of everything just a bit cheaper. If everything was cheaper this could be accomplished.
   
   Kids need home cooked meals, supervision, help with their homework, and someone to talk to.  
   
   What are your thoughts on all this? I'm not in the position to judge you. I want to know what you think. To me it's crazy how political this has gotten. We need ideas, compromise, and resolution. 
   
   
4. Isaak was cracking me up the other day. He said, "Mica do you think all holiday shows are kind of cheesy?" I don't even know that I heard Mica's answer. Then he said, "Mica do you think it's odd that dogs always talk in cartoon movies and shows?" 
   
   It reminded me of that seen in Stand By Me...
   
   
   
   
5. At home I wear Cheez-it shirts all the time. I literally a walking advertisement for them. They are comfortable. At the store a lady said, "I love your shirt!" I wanted to say, "If you follow me home I'll give you one." I have about seven of them. Ha!
   
   

 

Wagner Smart Roller Review

Recently we've had a few house updates. Both boys needed a room update. 

Mica's always been the type that just has never cared if anything is updated. Reason...he knows it requires work. Can we say, "LAZY"? I think most kidadults would skip out on making things look better if they knew it required work. 

Mica wanted a space theme that's graphic. We struggled because I pictured a galaxy, or star star wall. He wanted an exploding earth. Then I got him a starry bed spread. I'm thinking of getting him a starry blanket to cover his chair too.

Main Color: Red-Orange

Now that Travis and I basically have opposite working schedules, it was hard getting Mica's room done. We had most of Mica's room in our living room, for three weeks.  

I taught Mica how to roll, so we had three people working on this project. You can tell he was oh so excited to start rolling. Ha!

A good way to get a home project going, is having the right tools to do it. 

List of Products to Help With This Job:

• We had three gallons of paint: Navaho White, Red Orange, and Teal
• We mixed up two more colors with the three
• Rollers
• Paint Brushes
• Painter's Tape

Process:

• Paint with a base - We used Navaho White
• Tape with painter's tape - We free formed it
• Burnish the tape
• Roll base color on
• Use a brush to edge the colors
• Roll on the colors
• Take away the tape
• Fix up bleeding paint with a brush

Setting up the Wagner Smart Roller:

The Wagner Smart Roller came in pieces. Travis had the roller set up in minutes.

Where to Get the Wagner Smart Roller:

You can get it here: https://www.wagnerspraytech.com/products/paint-rollers/smart-roller/, for $19.99.

 

The roller was fairly easy to use. We picked to use the Wagner Smart Roller, for the biggest area of paint that we needed to cover. 

We did feel like the paint got in the parts, and was a pain to clean. I think I'd want to use this, for a room that's all the same color. 

How to Use:

The paint gets pumped up into the gigantic syringe AKA a fill tube.

Mica at first didn't think it was working, but it was.

There's a release, to work the paint into the roller. We did it over a paint tray; to not make a mess on the floor.

Start to roll. It puts mini dots all over. I know the dots are meant to roll on, and mesh a solid uniform coating. I happen to like them. I could see the dots in a pop art room. 

We were all hoping the paint would cover more area. It didn't seem like it lasted long. I know it's a bright color. With bright colors you do need a lot of coats. It still seemed like with all the work of getting the paint up into the fill tube it would cover a more massive area. 

The mess was less. There was no paint tray really needed. We had one just in case. It was more of a pain to clean the roller out. Way harder than a typical roller. 

The results were great though. Mica's happy with it. This is his biggest gift, for his birthday. 

What was the last room in your house, that you painted? What color did you paint it? 

Disclaimer: I got the Wagner Smart Roller for free in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A Dress for Halloween

Halloween is so fun! Although I don't know how into the holiday I will be this year. When I worked at an art school, it was a blast. When the boys were in elementary school they had a Fall Festival. Many peoople dressed up for that as well. My costumes were used for a few events. Now I'm not really needing a costume. Possibly Halloween socks, or a shirt will be all I need. 

I do like to pass on my love for Halloween to others. 

My niece to be is going to get a Halloween dress from me. 

What I like about this outfit:

• It's themed wonderfully for Halloween!
• At first I didn't like that there were some things right side up, and other things upside down, but now I like it. Babies lay down. No matter how they lay, you can see the fun designs. 
• The colors are pretty.
• I love my boys, but now I can get something girly. 

What I dislike about this outfit:

• The skirt wrinkles fairly easily.
• The pumpkin gets hidden by the skirt. It would have been better if it was sewn higher up. 
• I wish it was a onesie under the skirt; instead of a shirt. Babies never keep shirts tucked in. 
  
  

Overall it's a cute outfit!

Where to get it?

 

You can get this outfit, and another cute one similar on Amazon for $10.98 to $12.98: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07V7SRVJJ. 

Sizes:

• 6-12 Month
• 12-18 Month
• 18-24 Month
• 2T-3T
• 3T-4T

Considering that my niece Margaret is due mid August, I would have ordered a 3-6 month. They didn't have this size. My sister is a seamstress, so she might be able to adjust the dress part. Really it would look cute with a black or white shirt. 

About the Bow:

I like bows, but only if they aren't covering the babies head. Some bows are just too big in my opinion. This one is a fairly small size. 

Do you like bows on babies? 

Is Halloween a holiday you enjoy?

Disclaimer: I got this product, for a discounted price in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Random Tid Bits

1. Mica had his routine check-up with the doctor yesterday. The boy is almost 6 foot. Because he grew so fast, he has some stretch marks. He's never been fat; in fact he's slimmed down his tummy. He just grew oh so quickly. Doctor Harrison doesn't think there's anything that really works for stretch marks. Have you found anything that does?


2. Mica failed his Scoliosis test. I was and still am a little worried about it. It helped when my sister told me in regards to Evan (my nephew Mica's age), "Evan failed his too. I think he just grew so fast. His body was catching up somehow." Today Mica got his scan. Oh joy - more expense. I do want to make sure he's ok.


3. Isaak and I have been watching the old show Lost. Isaak and I seem to have the same taste in shows. We both liked Medium. Travis and Mica could have cared less, for both of them. Travis and Mica like documentaries. Isaak and I are like, "Really? Documentaries! They are boring. I feel like I'm in school!" I like some documentaries, but not a lot of them. 


4. We're in the process of redoing Mica's room. Because I work some of the weekend, it's taking for-ever! I spackled, sanded, and primed. Then Travis taped, and painted. We still have painting to do though. Mica's bedroom is infringing on our living room, so I'm ready for it to be done!


5. I'm tired like 90% of the time. Waking up at 4:30 AM to go to work by 5:30 is rough. I have successfully opened up. My trainer said she has faith that I'll get down closing as well. It seems intimidating. I don't mind the job. I just don't like when asked - "What do you like about this job the most?" She answered, "Going home." Most designer/marketing jobs around here have about 50 applicants on the low side, so that's a challenge. I keep trying. Each time I get shot down, something else pops up that I'm excited about. Something, sometime will happen.
   
   This old song from Sesame Street keeps popping into my head:

@PrestoPhoto #book

I finally spent a day, ok maybe two days making a book of our vacation last year to Minnesota. Whenever I've made photo books it takes way longer to make than I think it's going to take. 

Mistakes Made:

Don't upload all your photos, if you have tons of photos. It took forever to upload them. I didn't want to stop the upload process in the middle, in fear I'd only get some of them to upload. Then it took a long time go through them all on Presto Photo's site.

I also had Presto Photo put my images in the book. Each single image went on a page, but they have a lot of different compositions to choose from. I had to delete a lot of pages.

Typically one wouldn't have these problems. I just happened to have tons of pictures!

Don't do what I did... Select your photos outside of Presto Photo, then upload your selected shots.

Presto Photo Has Quality!

I've had two books made by Presto Photo. They do not disappoint. Other companies have gone down hill in my opinion, with the printing process. Not Presto Photo.

They make, and ship their books really fast too!

Where to Get Presto Photo Books:

You can get them here:  https://www.prestophoto.com/help/11x8.5+Hinged+Layflat+Photo+Book

Oh so Flat

This book lays nice and flat. It makes it easy to keep it on a bookshelf because it doesn't take up a lot of room.

Cost

The cost varies. The books start at $29.99, but it depends on how may pages you opt to make.

Where would you go on a trip this year, if COVID wasn't a thing? 

We talked about going to Western Nebraska. It was so pretty when we went. It's very remote. I still doing know that it's safe to travel anywhere right about now. Maybe it won't be safe, for quite some time.

Disclaimer: I got this book for free in exchange for an honest review. I was not told what to say, all opinions were my own.

Hello World - Baby Clothing Review

What do you buy someone that has 4 kids and one soon to be added to the mix?

Normally I'd say a gift card for a meal. BUT my sister's about to have a girl, when she has had all boys. She needs girly things.

Meet my newest soon to be niece Margaret! 

She's 4 pound right now.

I got a cute gown for Margaret to review called Hello World!

I heart gowns because they make it so easy to change diapers! 

About Hello World:

• It came in 0-3 month size only. I kind of wish they had it in 3-6 month size as well. Not all babies are tiny.
• It's 100% cotton, so soft!
• It came with a hat
• It's $13.98
• You can get it on Amazon Prime http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B34RV93

I sent the link over to my sister, asking if she liked Hello World or the New the the Crew gown better? I thought I could use the code, for either. She liked New to the Crew. The code wouldn't work for New to the Crew, so I bought that one. It makes since she'd like that one considering she has 4 kids already. 

• They had this one in a 3-6 month, so I got that
• New to the Crew came with a hat and a hair bow
• It's $10.89

My sister said that my brother-in-law and her have had disagreements on clothes. He likes plain things, and she likes flowery, and patterned things. I think these two gowns are a good compromise. 

Which one do you like better? New to the Crew or Hello World.

Disclaimer: I got Hello World for a discounted price to help with this review. I was not told what to say. All opinions are my own.

@Firmoo Optical Prescription Glasses Review

Guess what? Isaak's glasses came in. He has 20/20 vision, and an astigmatism on the one side. His doctor thought it would be good to get glasses to fix the astigmatism, while he's young. I debated because his vision is 20/20.

What I like about Firmoo Optical https://www.firmoo.com: They have someone there to help you at any time + They let you upload a photo to try on glasses. 

I had to ask if we should be looking at adult, or child sized glasses. They said, "Children's because they come in different sizes."

We didn't try on too many pairs. Why? Because Isaak was stuck on having black frames. He didn't even want to try anything else.

New glasses for back to school time.

We did get a school plan, for the fall. For now they plan on having the children present only 1/2 of the time to keep class sizes down. I think it's best Isaak leaves his glasses at home. Then there's less chance of them getting lost, or damaged.

We did add things:

• No scratch lenses
• Blue light protection
• A cleaning cloth

So our free pair that I got to review, ended up costing money. At least they'll be more protected.

Prescription:

The prescription was easy to upload. I was a little worried that it would be a problem that they butchered Isaak's name. According to Target, Isaak Apel is now Isaac Apple. I even corrected them when I walked in the door. 

Shipping: 

It didn't take long at all to get the glasses! They shipped them out fast!

I told Isaak that I want him to wear them while he reads, and is on any device. 

Cleaning Cloth:

The cleaning cloth is graffiti cool! 

Have you gotten glasses online? 

Disclaimer: I was given a discount on this product in exchange, for my honest opinion. 

Searching for a Job in the Middle of a Pandemic

Source

It's an odd time to search for jobs. 

What I've learned...

• Look for things I know I can do
• Look for things I want
• Keep trying

I have three or four interviews this week. I say that because one I haven't heard back from yet, after I emailed them.

One I kept emailing, only to find out they weren't getting my emails. I guess it was through a job platform, not their actual email. I called them using the fourth of July as an excuse. I just said, "I started thinking that you may be out of the office due to the Fourth of July, and I wanted to touch base..."

For me it's not about how much money I make. It has more to do with enjoying the job. I'm not so sure I want to work somewhere that's in constant routine. I want to have a bit of variety. 

I want to work for a place where I feel like I'm making a difference. I'm not just a number in a crowd. It should be a team that we're a part of. Some places...you walk in the door and you feel like one person is against another person right away. If someone is under me, I don't want them to feel so. I want them to do their job, and we have respect for one another. I scratch their back, and they scratch mine. When it comes down to it all humans matter. 

What do you want out a job?