"You Never Play With Me!"

Pin It Now! I just love it when one of my kids complains that I NEVER do something. And it is ALWAYS referring to something that I usually do but just not right at that particular moment.

Their moment to be more precise.

Anyway, Shiloh said this to me the other day. Well honey, here's proof that mommy does indeed play with you . . .

Remember Sweetie, a few Saturdays ago, when you were a bit sad about me adding the castle cake set to the garage sale pile? And remember when I said that I would somehow make a different castle for you. (I had no idea how I was going to pull that off, either!)

Well, my not-so-crafty side was awakened, and I managed to recall some curtains stuffed on a shelf in my closet. Oh, and then there was that ribbon I've had in another closet for years. Okay~maybe some scrapbook paper could magically turn into turrets or something.

I was really starting to get a mental picture of how I could transform the diaper changing table/Barbie house in her room into an enchanted dream castle. A castle she decided was going to be for her ponies.

Just look at how happy you are in that picture after I made and helped you set up your "My Little Pony Dream Castle"!

It may not be the snazziest of castles, but it truly was made for YOU with lots of love!!! So glad you are having so much fun with it. :)

Aquarium in Denver

Pin It Now! While we were visiting in Colorado, we decided to stay one extra day to visit a local aquarium. Boy am I glad we did! Being able to see such amazingly diverse water creatures up close brought to life everything we've been studying in science this year.

Look at the lips on this guy!! Fish are kind of gross looking to me. And they certainly don't taste good!!

In awe of the beautiful colors under the sea!! Animals resembling plants are cool and creepy at the same time!

All throughout the aquarium you could hear giddy kids screaming, "DORY, DORY!" every single time they'd come across a Blue Tang. Not once did you hear, "Oh, that's a Blue Tang."

To touch and feel the very creatures we've seen only on the pages of our science book was neat. My kids have never been to the beach either to see any of these.

Ooooh, stingrays. They felt sort of velvety/rubbery. It was a bit difficult to pet them since they'd only come up and pause ever so briefly at the surface.

And NO aquarium is complete without this guy, right? I can hear him now, "WELCOME TO BIKINI BOTTOM!" Hahahahahahahaha.

Bloggy Backsliding

Pin It Now! Yes, that's right. My blog *yawn* has been overwhelmingly boring as of late.

Not that it's ever been amazingly dynamic or anything.

I had BIG plans (well, not too big) for my blog come 2010.

For starters, I wanted to post consistently and frequently. (Scratch that already) I'd thought of a couple of weekly posts~you know like Works for Me Wednesday except different. One of those weekly spotlights was going to be SAHM Wise--it's on my nifty, new navigation bar and everything. (Yeah, as you can tell, haven't gotten around to that either.)

ONE of my goals has been achieved, though, but I can't take a lick of credit for it. The acknowledgement of my new blog design is WAY overdue. Thanks to Jen it's autumn all year round at Autumnfawn Lane.

It's kinda neat how we met, too. I met Jen's sister, Amy, (in the pink jacket) in bloggy land b/c she was looking for other home schoolers in our area. Amy and I met, became friends and I joined her home school group.

Jen, Amy's sister, (brown jacket) happened to know a bit about HTML and all that computer stuff, so not having ever met, she offered to change my blog for me. SO SWEET!!!!

Over Christmas, I had the chance to meet Jen in person when she came to visit her sister, Amy. I had a great time getting to know her at The Paradise Bakery. :) Okay, did you get all that? Anyway~thanks again Amy!!!!

Back to my bloggy mess:

I think I was saying something like my blog just ain't what I want it to be!!! So many post plans, so little time. Ahhhhh!

The extra time I had planned for spicing up my blog has been replaced by something else. An unexpected something else. A truly wonderful-opportunity-something else!

As of about 4 months ago, I was invited to become a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and website! It is exciting, challenging and I really do enjoy it. There has been some added stress in my life, I admit. This is the first time since my school days that I have deadlines to meet and papers to write. While I love my new "job" it does take time away from the blog world.

So, that's what I've been up to. Reviewing in my "free" time instead of blogging. Speaking of that, I've got a big one due soon. Better get crackin'!

I hope to get my act somewhat together so I can achieve my bloggy goals, but I will just have to fit it in when I can.

God bless all of you who still read my mindless twaddle!

Dude!

Pin It Now! While intensely playing X-Box here's what a classic conversation between a bunch of neighborhood boys sounds like:

Dude!

DUDE!

dude

DUDE!

Dude, dude, dude!

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!

WFMW: Sunbutter

Pin It Now! Unfortunately, I have a child who is deathly allergic to peanuts.

The poor thing would always look longingly upon his brother's almond butter and jelly sandwiches. Though not allergic to almonds, the almond butter had a warning with which we are all too familiar: May contain peanuts. *Sigh*

But, his world got a whole lot brighter when my sister asked me if I'd ever heard of Sunbutter?

Sunbutter is made from Sunflower seeds! It looks just like peanut butter and tastes pretty good, too. It's made in a peanut and nut-free facility and is also gluten-free.

This butter is packed with protein, vitamin E and other important vitamins and minerals. And what about FAT? It contains 1/3 less saturated fat than peanut butter!

It's not only a great alternative for kids who have a peanut allergy but also for kids who may go to school and eat lunch in a peanut-free cafeteria. It does taste a bit different than peanut butter, but if you don't tell, they may not even notice. :)

My son with the peanut allergy likes it, and I am so happy that he can now eat one of my very favorite sandwiches from childhood~Sunbutter-Honey & Cheerio sandwiches!! (Well, as a child I ate it with peanut butter, but now I use Sunbutter or almond butter.)

Because Kristen from We Are THAT Family is in Kenya right now, you can visit Rocks in my Dryer for more WFMW tips!