Random Tid Bits

1. My Great Aunt passed away this week. People on that side of the family live into their 90s. My Grandpa just turned 90, his sister (my Great Aunt) lived until she was 92, and his mom (my Great Grandma) lived until she was 92. I hope my Grandpa has a few more years in him at least! 





2. It was fun going to my Grandpa's 90th party. They had slide shows set up to watch of my grandparents, mom, dad, aunts, cousins, sisters, and I when we were younger. Isaak looks a lot like I did when I was little.
   
   Many people in our family have questioned if my Grandpa's side had Native American in it. He's always gotten so dark. I happened to get the skin coloring of the German's and Swedes in my family. 


3. Isaak has a really good friend. His friend's Grandparents take Isaak places. We take his friend places. There is no fighting. There are other kids that ask Isaak to do things.
   
   I wish Mica had the same kind of friend(s). Everyone seems to like Mica, but he doesn't have that one kid that he does stuff with. He has a good guy friend, but he's into baseball. It takes up much of his time. The people in Mica's class just doesn't do stuff together. Mica had a great friend that was a girl, but she grew up, as girls do, and only wants to hang out with girls. 


4. There's some kind of stomach virus going on around this city. People at Travis' work has had it, my cousin's kids have had it, and now my family has it. It started with Isaak, then Travis had it, and now Mica has it. I hope I don't get it.
   
   
   Little Isaak wore out after camp on Monday. He didn't feel good.
   
   
   
5. What's a mom and son to do with a sick son? Lucky for us The Wonder Years - the 4th season came in from the library. The library just bought it, and we're watching that. I'm so happy that the boys love some of my favorites as much as I loved them.
   
   

   

   Source

No Walkens

I took this week off. I wanted to get the painting I'm working on done. It's sitting here...facing the wall. My husband put it there. He said, "That's it you're starting something new." I just want to get the 1 painting done. I'm thinking he either does want me to get another painting going, or he thinks the painting I was working on sucks, and he wants me to move on. I was getting a little grumpy when I painted in a flower that didn't look right, and had to paint over it. Such is life.

Another thing on the list to get done this week was to use up my massage gift card that my husband got me for my birthday. It's just sitting there. To be honest I think it's creepy having a stranger touch all over me. Am I the only one that thinks that? I feel like I am.

Source

He gave me a gift card to World Market, and I used that up the same weekend I got it. I actually got more than what was on the card. I love that store!

Part of me wants to regift the massage gift card. My husband's birthday is in August. He needed a huge cart to put tools in. I said, "Buy it! It's your birthday gift." I feel like saying, Since you don't really have a gift on your birthday use this...the massage card. His back hurts all the time. Mine on the other hand rarely does. When I get a massage from him it could be a 5 minute one, and I'd be happy. Longer than that I'm thinking, that's enough.

I don't mind when someone touches me. Like a pat on the back, or the shake of a hand. I just don't like long rub downs. I tried it years ago when he gave me another card. I went, got the full treatment, and left feeling like I was in a dream state. I couldn't tell if it was a yes that felt wonderful, or that was creepy, and I need to go to sleep now.

Do you like massages? Am I the only one that finds them to be creepy? 

What an Explosion

I'm taking vacation time this week, and Travis is off on Mondays to work on sculpture.

Yesterday I was sitting on the couch in my living room. All the sudden I felt a jolt, and heard a boom. We don't have noticeable earthquakes in Nebraska. If I could imagine what an earthquake feels like, it was similar to that.

Travis was downstairs grinding with headphones on, so he didn't notice a thing.

I went outside to investigate, and noticed nothing. I even made Travis go up to check the roof. He only found a Nerf gun dart.

About a half an hour later I noticed a house blew up in Benson, not too far from me. Number wise the house was on 65th and I live on 76th. It dawned on me, My kids are at Benson Park for camp. My first instinct was to drive over there to see if they were ok. Travis said, "Don't be silly. They'd call us if anything were wrong." So I stayed in my house.

I saw on the news that houses by the one that blew up are unlivable. All those people were sitting outside on a hot day. I thought, Maybe I should do something for those people. Someone brought them water, and another person bought a boy sandals. He was running around barefoot because his shoes were in his house, which was destroyed. It looked as though they were being taken care of. My heart went out to them. I couldn't and can't shake the story from my head.

Before and After Found Here

My first thought was a possible meth lab. That thought disappeared when I found out that the house that blew up was vacant. There was only 1 person in that house, and that was a 30 year old lady that was inspecting it after a tenant was evicted. She was found under the rubble by her husband. Her injuries were so bad that she died. :( Another thought was a gas line, which they do have a gas leak, but that was due to the explosion. I keep wondering if this all has to do with the guy that was evicted. I'm not there, and it's all speculation. There is another adult and a 14 year old child that are at the hospital.

The whole area is taped off. The only people that can get on that street are people that live there. The homicide unit was there last night. Apparently they are called whenever someone dies. Firefighters put out the fire at the home next door that started last night. I just can't imagine being those neighbors, staying in a hotel because their homes are unlivable. Even worse yet the families that have loved ones in the hospital, or the family of the wife and mother that died. It breaks my heart!

When I went to pick up the boys they said the boys saw the explosion, heard it, and felt it. Their camp counselor was able to tell them what had happened from facebook. 

Fashion Rainbow Bikini Swimwear Bathing Suit Chiffon Beachwear Cover Up Review

Recently I got Fashion Rainbow Bikini Swimwear Bathing Suit Chiffon Beachwear Cover Up to review.

I love the geometric pattern on it! I love it because it's artsy. I wore it to gallery openings.

In these photos I'm modeling the cover-up right by our corn, which has surpassed me in height. Yep we're turning into typical Nebraskan's, and have corn growing in our backyard.

The cover-up is meant to go over swimwear. You can wear this to the beach, or to the pool. I like it with a solid shirt and jeans. It's very versatile in my opinion.

The model wasn't wearing it with a suit either.

Here's a close-up of the geometric pattern. I have the perfect triangle earrings to wear with it.

It's 100% polyester. Wash it by hand, and wring it out, and hand it up to dry. It dries super fast because the fabric is light weight. 

It's one size fits most. I'm a large, and it fits me perfectly. 

It's super affordable: $14.29! If you have Prime there's no shipping.

Would you wear this with jeans like me, or as a swimwear cover-up? Maybe I'll wear it as both.

Disclaimer: I received this product for a discount in exchange for an honest review. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Random Tid Bits

1. School will be starting up soonish. Last week I scheduled a routine procedure for the first day of class. I don't teach on Monday, I'm all ready for the week of class, and my driver AKA Travis has the day off. I put in my time off request, and it was a problem.
   
   Every year on the first day of class I sit in my office, and do virtually nothing for the buzz of the week. I'm working way in advance. I don't take a lot of sick days. I'm pretty sure I gave my computer an eye roll when I read that it wasn't approved. 


2. I have a make-up class this week. Basically the student needs to make up time because he wasn't here enough during the class to full fill his credit hours. His been late twice. His problem of not being here is now my problem. He has to make up the time. In order to do that I have to stay later on Friday for him to do so. He didn't bring in his annual report from before, so I could look at it like he said he would. It was not my class before, so I have no clue what I'm helping him with. He has some kind of court date one of the days. I wish I could reach the students that struggle with life. 


3. Mica reads much of the time. Even on busy weekends he'll hand me a thick book and say, "I just finished reading this." I think it drives Travis nuts just because he'd like to see Mica outdoors more, or making something artistic.
   
   
   
   
   
   Isaak still struggles with wanting to read. He'll do it, but usually only if he's asked to. One day this week I spotted Isaak with a Lego book. I was so happy to see him reading on his own!
   
   
   
   
   
4. Last week I got a facebook message from an acquaintance inviting me to come over to his house. I don't know this guy very well. Hanging out with people I don't know very well out of my comfort zone. When I mentioned it to Travis he was like, "YES!" I do know the guy that invited us is an art collector. I just painted on 3 wooden dogs for a show that he was having awhile back. I had no clue if this event was ok to take children to. Then it dawned on me that my kids were in their leadership camp that night. This was a big yay because no kids showed up to his house. It would have been odd if I had brought the boys for sure. 











I loved the artwork that said, "too much art will kill you" just because it was everywhere. One I also liked a lot was tribal men attacking grocery carts. It cracked me up! 


5. Every once in awhile a miss understanding happens. That happened earlier this week. I hate when that happens. I agonize about it for days. I'm not one to let stuff go. I don't like the fact that I pissed someone off. Sometimes people view something so very differently. Quite frankly I don't share the views of a lot of people, but just roll with it. I think the world would be a pretty boring place if we all thought the same way.

Family Fare Supermarkets Review Plus a $100 GC Giveaway!

Recently Family Fair bought out Bag N Saves and No Frills Supermarkets. I shopped at Bag N Save quite regularly, and have been patiently awaiting it's transition into Family Fair Supermarkets.

I'm so happy that they've remodeled. Everything looks so crisp, clean and modern.

Family Fare Locations:

• 5110 S. 108th Street Omaha NE 68137 
• 14444 W. Center Road Omaha NE 68144
• 2650 N. 90th Street Omaha NE 68134
• 3003 N. 108th Street Omaha NE 68164 
• 3026 S. 24th Street Omaha NE 68108 
• 1801 Valley View Dr. Council Bluffs IA 51503 
• 7402 N. 30th Street Omaha NE 68112 
• 1510 Harlan Dr. Bellevue NE 68005

Where Can I Find it?

It's took awhile to figure out where things were at, but as Mica pointed out they have a sign on their carts that list where everything is. How cool is that?

My favorite Part of the Store

My Favorite Sign +
They had a HUGE deal on meat!

Say, "Yes!" to Yes

I'm not all about store cards. Mainly because I have to carry yet another card in my purse. Not this time! Every store has a kiosk at the front of the store, or you can go online before you shop. You can just type in your phone number to check out Yes Reward Card deals. At the register they take care of you. I saved so much just by using the Yes Card!

10 for $10 Deal

4 for $3 Deal

I saved $28.28 with my Yes Card + I got a refund for the bags I brought in. My total bill was $132.70. Thankfully I had $100 in gift cards. I only spent $32.73. I can say, "Yes!" to all of that!

Shopping With Kids

Some of my most frustrating moments are shopping with my kids. They aren't even the type of kids that scream, or run far, far away. They just pick on one another, don't pay attention to where they are going, hop from one square to the other without touching the lines, and well you get the picture. I've learned some tips over time that I'm going to share with you.

Family Fare has little grocery carts. They are a bit too small for Mica, but Isaak loves them! He got our deal on grapes and more.

I put together a list of helpful things you can do to make your shopping experience a positive one with your children.

Shopping With Kids?

The kids weren't too bad. It was a big grocery run, I stopped for lots of pictures, and it was past their bedtime.

Check Out

They have a self checkout and regular check out. I always have so much produce that I prefer regular check out. Isaak loaded a lot of it up!

Many More Perks:

• They have fuel savings at my favorite gas station QT. 
• Some select locations have health clinics.
• They have a local selection of alcohol. When you purchase 4 or more bottles of wine you get 10% off.
• They have a pet section that looked wonderful. 
• Check out their stores for giveaways.
• Sign up for a YES Rewards card.
• There's many more perks!

Friday July 22, 2016 Daily Prize

• 2 $200 Living Well gift package 
• Cookies 
• BBQ Sauce Grill Wagon w/ Smithfield Meats (sampling/coupons) 
• 3003 N. 108th Street 11 am – 6:30 pm, outside in the parking lot Oscar Mayer Wienermobile (sampling/coupons) 
• 1801 Valley View Dr. 11 am – 2 pm, outside in the parking lot 
• 7402 N. 30th Street 3 pm – 6 pm, outside in the parking lot 

Saturday July 23, 2016 Daily Prize!

• $300 Private Label summer gift wagon Cookies BBQ Sauce Grill Wagon w/ Smithfield Meats (sampling/coupons) 
• 3003 N. 108th Street 11 am – 6:30 pm, outside in the parking lot Oscar Mayer Wienermobile (sampling/coupons) 
• 14444 W. Center Road 11 am – 2 pm, outside in parking lot 
• 5110 S. 108th Street 3 pm – 6 pm, outside in the parking lot

Giveaway Time! 

1 US reader have a chance of winning a $100 GC to Family Fare Supermarkets. You must be 18 or over to enter. End August 4th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Want More Chances to Enter?

Hostess at Heart - 2 $50 GCs Ends July 23
Kissing the Frog - $25 GC Ends July 25
The Gastronom - 1 $100 GC Ends July 29
Family Fun in Omaha - 4 $25 GCs Ends July 31
Midwest Mammas - 2 $50 GCs Ends July 31
Coolestmommy's Coolest Thoughts - 3 $25 GCs July 31
Mama Saves Money - 2 $50 GCs August 1
Liv, Laugh, Love - 4 $25 GCs Ends August 4

Disclaimer: I received this product for a discount in exchange for an honest review. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Joslyn Art Museum

On Saturday we went to Joslyn Art Museum. 

If you live close to here you may want to check out their special exhibit, Sheila Hicks: Material Voices. 

There was no photography in the special exhibit, but it was so cool! The museum is free, but special exhibits cost $10 for adults and children are free. That day an event was going on, so we got in for 1/2 off. 

All the work below was not photographed by me. Please click on "Source" to see where the image came from.

Source

Source

Source

Sheila's work is nothing like what I'd do, but I found it inspiring. Much of it is large scale, and all fiber. 

Isaak seemed to like Sheila's work I think. Mica kind of rushed through saying, "I think we're the only kids in our elementary school that goes to galleries and museums on a regular basis."

Mica and Isaak did enjoy making a pot on their i pads set up in the kid room. 

As you can see Mica's neck was peeling pretty bad.

Travis liked the Sculpture Garden outside. He wished some of his pieces were in it.

We decided to do something brave...we went to do a meditation workshop inside the museum. It was part of their special events going on that day. 

I say brave because we had Mica and Isaak with us. 

We went around the room and said why we were there. I was there so I could have a break from listening to the boys talk. Ha! The boys were there because they were told they had to be. 

We only had a 10 minute meditation session. 

At first I had trouble not concentrating on anything. Isaak was trying to lay on me. When I pushed him off he was sitting sideways in his chair. Mica was tapping, but stopped when I nudged him.

That 10 minutes could have been any minutes, and I wouldn't have known. I didn't fall asleep, but I did loose a sense of time. I kept envisioning a jeep driving on a river. An odd vision, but it worked for me. 

Travis jolted asleep a few times. 

Isaak decided to start meditating when we were all finished. We were all talking about our experience, and Isaak had his palms up on his lap, his head bowed, and his eyes closed. Isaak said he wants to meditate more. He got mad that I didn't sign up on their email list.

Mica didn't get what meditation was about at all. He was staring at the spooky fireplace in the room, and coming up with a story in his mind about it.

I'm not all New Agey, but meditation is relaxing. It's a way to just break away from the business of the world. 

Side Note: If you ever need something to laugh at type in, f that meditation on YouTube. If language doesn't bother you it's hilarious!

Do you ever meditate? 

WW: Random Funnies {Linky}

We just got a Duluth Trading Company in Omaha, Nebraska. For some reason the kids are very excited about this. They've seen commercials at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They think the buck naked guy is hilarious.

Isaak dressed himself in a Thanksgiving shirt. I guess if Christmas can be in July, Thanksgiving can be as well.

That's not all...Mica read in the girl section, "Cover your tatas." He asked, "What are tay tas?" I said, "Where are you reading this from?" He pointed. A worker looked at me like, Hmmm...how is this mom going to answer this? I said, "Boobs Mica. Tatas are boobs." He said, "Oh."

Isaak was being a little very annoying in a checkout line. The clerk laughed when I made him count the beef jerky to help her out on her inventory count.

He just looks ornery.

I was waiting for photos at Picture People. You know how they tell you it will be a few minutes, and that turns into a half hour. Isaak sat down in this too little for him set of props, and said, "Take my picture even though this is too little for me."

What's even more funny is that he doesn't want me to take his picture most of the time.

At World Market the boys spotted these 2 big blow pops. Who would buy these?

I suck at Scrabble compared to my husband. I happened to land a word on 2 Double Word Scores. He didn't want to give me the word 4x it's amount. He said it was only a double. I tracked down the rule, and ended up getting 4x the amount, but I still lost.

I laid these peppers out, and thought it looks like some kind of weird writing. Sure enough one of my friends thought for sure it was some encrypted message. Nope just peppers.

My friend had a carnival party. I saw this stuff, and had to put it on.

The bow tie reminded me of Isaak's paper bow tie.

What's a crazy thing in your life right now?

 

Recent Camps

Back in May I went to a camp event that was sponsored by the boy's school district. A whole bunch of camps had tables to sign up for them.

It was really helpful. 

One form I filled out was for Banister's Leadership Academy. This was a camp not everyone could get into. They said it is difficult to get into actually. The cost is free. The camp is Saturday evenings. I was beginning to think that the boys didn't get in. It was well into June before we got a letter from them. When the letter came in the mail it wasn't clear what the camp was about. There was an orientation, so we went to check it out. 

They went over: 

Disciplinary Action: They send the kids to a timeout, and discuss both sides of what happened, and why they are in trouble. They always have a progress report for every kid at the end of the night. 

When it is: It's every Saturday from 6:30 to 10:30 PM. I was a bit thrown off with how late it is at first. Our kids go to bed about 8, and are asleep about 8:30 or 9 PM. I knew it wouldn't last for, forever. It lasts 4 weeks. It makes a great date night for us. 

Where it is: It's at Omaha Home for Boys. The kids are locked in to ensure their safety. 

What They do: They start off with games like UNO, Chess, and more. Then they have Pizza Hut. Later they do a leadership activity, which changes every night. Lastly they go to the Rec Room to play pool, air hockey, foosball, and in the gym they can play basketball. 

I admit I was nervous the first time I dropped them off. They didn't know anyone, and I knew they'd be getting done so very late. As soon as Chess was pulled out I knew they were good. 

Aftermath:

When we picked up the kids the first time they were all sweaty. They played hard! They were super talkative about everything they did. I guess Mica was the one that got the "I" word right after going to just one session = Integrity. 

The next day Isaak was upset that it wasn't camp day again. They are used to camp days that are in a row. Mica said, "Mom I think it's funny that they call each other homies instead of friends there." It is primarily African Americans that go there. The camp leaders talked about it being diverse. I think my kids make up that diversity. I'm really glad that they are there. They love it so far! 

I came to the realization how divided our wanna be big city really is with the color of skin. It's sad. I drove to the next camp mentioned below, and it was full of caucasians. Why? Because of the part of town it was in. That camp costs money to. We really teach our kids racism. 

I've been listening to the educator Jane Elliot, and I love how she teaches about racism. It's harsh, but needed in my opinion. If you've never watched any videos with her I really hope you do. Just type her name in YouTube, and she'll come up. She separates elementary kids, and college kids in the classroom by eye color. When kids are told they are stupid, or not pretty their test scores go down. As harsh as it is, I wish every classroom went through her study. 

The other camp the boys just went to was Camp Zorinsky. That ran all last week. It's an outdoor day camp. It's a ways away, so I felt like I was driving a lot that week! We got there early many days because I didn't know how long it would take to get there. Photo opportunities I guess.

They went over:

Canoeing: Mica quickly learned that, that is a group activity. This was the first for the boys.

Fishing: Isaak caught 3. He was so excited. Mica didn't catch anything. They practice Catch and Release. This was the first for the boys. 

Archery: They've both done that before and have loved it.

Swimming: There was a mishap. Isaak dived in a spot where it was too shallow. He says he was told he could dive. Boom he scraped his nose. I'm so glad it wasn't worse. It could have been bad. We had a few talks about pool safety. I'm putting that in a category of crap happens. I'm not playing the blame game.

Nature Hikes: Both boys got really sunburnt during this camp. There are less trees, and more lake at this place. Kids lack on reapplying sunscreen, and moved to applying aloe vera gel. Mica's ears blistered up, and I felt bad for Isaak's poor nose with the scrape and a sunburn. They had to wear hats. These are the only hats they have that cover their ears. They look like rice farmers.

Camp Songs: Are always at the end. I get to hear the boys sing them all week. Lucky me. 

I told you Isaak doesn't like his picture being taken. HA!

What have you been up to?