a little birdie told me

meet our parrot- Grayman

He exists, I swear. I don't talk about him much but Grayman, our African Gray parrot, is a big part of our life. He talks all the time and he squawks and beeps and makes every sound you can imagine. He is 11 years old. Paul had him before we met. Funny thing, I was literally terrified of birds before I met Grayman (by the way, he was named by the little kids who raised him as a chick- I think Brutus would be such a good name for him, in honor of Brutus the Ohio State Buckeye guy, oh well, too late to change it now). He was the first thing I noticed when I went to Paul's apartment for the first time. I almost didn't go on a second date with him. I kept thinking, what if he is one of those weird bird guys who puts the bird on his shoulder all the time like when he is eating or watching tv? It really creeped me out. I remember consulting all my friends and even my mom, should I go out with Paul even though he has this bird, in his house?!

Well, many years later, he's my buddy, Grayman, I mean. I feed him, give him toys, pet him, hold him, all things good pet owners do. I DO NOT clean his cage. I draw the line there. Paul has to do that job, no matter how much I am gagging from the grossness, he has to do it. Birds are so messy, I do not recomend getting one if you have lots of kids, you will resent their messes so bad. However, he is fun to have around. He does however bite and it hurts like the dickens.

It is never, and I mean, never quiet at my house. He makes noises all the time, talking to me, "answering" the phone by saying "hello" when it rings. If I pick up the phone he starts making the beeping sound of the buttons. He cheers "Go Buckeyes" and "Go Wildcats" (we're equal opportunity fans at my house), he yells for me "hey Jenny (in Paul's exact voice)" if I am gone too long. He makes ice hitting a glass noise if I get a glass out and get some water, he can mimic the sound of a can opening (too many Diet Dr. Peppers), he barks like my dog, he yells "Max" just like me if he thinks Max is being naughty, he giggles like the kids, he says "woo" if the music is cranked up, he says "woo" also if I do an exercise DVD, seriously, I could go on for hours. The only time he is quiet is at night, when we go to bed, but he will talk really quietly if he sees you in the middle of the night coming to the kitchen for a snack or whatever.

The best time to have a parrot is when you are entertaining your husband's work associates for dinner and the conversation kind of lulls. Just like I gave him a cue, Grayman will start talking and making noise. Boom, instant conversation starter. Most everyone agrees he's a pretty cool pet. He's quiet (sort of ) if you are right next to him, or he'll talk very softly (in my voice, so weird) and as soon as you leave, look out, he wants you to come back and he lets you know by squealing as only parrots can do.

Every year he visits our local bird shop while we go on vacation. He always picks up some interesting noises there. He can mimic a siren now, thanks to our trip last year.

Once, before Paul and I were married, he got away. As in, away, outside. Yes, my fiance took the bird outside, something you should never do, unless the bird's wings have been majorly clipped and poor little Grayman flew away as far as he could. He is a terrible flyer since his wings are clipped pretty regularly and he is a pet, not wild. We were panicked of course. This was our baby (before dog and kids) and so I made a bunch of posters, taped them all over the neighborhood and we spent the entire weekend searching for him. Yelling his name hoping he'd fly down to us. It was awful. We thought he couldn't go far because he can't fly that well, being a pet his whole life and all, and we were even more scared because he has never had to forage for food the way real parrots do in the wild. We were so lucky to be near the neighborhood where we saw him fly over, we just kept walking in the back yards and telling all the people our situation. We got a call on Sunday (0f Memorial Day weekend no less) that a family had him captured under a milk crate. Apparently the dad of the house thought Grayman was a falcon of some sort and his wife told him about us, they coaxed him down with some sunflower seeds and put the milk crate over him. It was relief to say the least that he was found. I couldn't believe how sad I was that he was gone. Could it be that I actually liked his dusty, feathery, noisy, annoying self?!

Grayman starts squeaking at dawn and roosts (yells like all birds do) at dusk, it's kind of like having a chicken in your house. Except this one talks to you in your voice. I used to be so anti-bird, avoiding the peacocks at the zoo, screaming at sea gulls on the beach to "shoo", now I kind of like them, a lot. I am drawn to bird art and I have little birdy statues in my house, oh puleez, not the tacky kind, cute ones of course. I tease Paul that if we ever split up, he'd have to give Grayman to me, because it'd be like I never left, Grayman would be talking to him in my voice, he he he!

Just another thing that makes my life special... I must like him a little if he is allowed to rest on my Longaberger basket and wrought iron holder! He is totally looking at me to rescue him in this picture.

cute

nothing exciting to say today, I know you are shocked! Just sharing a cute picture. Well, i think it is cute.

watchin' my weight Wednesday

Why, hello there first ice cream cone!

Nice to meet you!

I think I love you!

OK, so me and ice cream do not mix, I redeveloped my "milk allergy" after I had kids so things I love (like ice cream and lots of cheese) are off limits. I had an "allergy" when I was a baby, or so my mother says, I wonder if it was just plain old lactose intolerance, but I grew out of it and enjoyed milk and milk products my whole life and then I had Zoe. Whammo! Totally cannot eat a lot of dairy or I am sick as can be. It does suck to not be able to eat ice cream with my family, especially in the summer and on vacation but I have learned to enjoy other treats which in turn helps my waistline.

I discovered I love sorbet. It has no dairy and it is cold and yummy on hot days, most nicer ice cream stores have it so I can have a taste while everyone else enjoys their ice cream. I also dig smoothies which use yogurt and fruit and fruit juice. They have a lot of calories but yogurt uses less milk than ice cream so I can have a little. And those shaved iced things are the best, almost no calories and so good. And if I am really lucky, some ice cream parlors have chocolate treats which I of course love so I don't feel too deprived.

I do enjoy cheese, just very little. Sometimes I go overboard with this, because I flat out love cheese, definitely shows my midwestern upbringing! But my body is quick to remind me that I am a dunce for indulging. Having this "problem" isn't so bad, because it does force me to be conscious of my dairy intake, but I do so miss chunks of cheese, sniff sniff. So for now, I have to live vicariously through the kids and hubby as they scarf down cone after yummy cone.

Someday, Parker is going to ask me, did I ever smile in a picture? No matter how hard I try, he has to test me!!! Just one picture of all of them looking cute, is that too much to ask!?

and yet, another repurposed jar gift

Ok, so I kind of promised I wouldn't post another jar gift but like I said, promise is so serious. wink, wink ;)

I made these for Zoe's dance teachers so she would have a gift to give them on the last class day. We actually had a really cute photo mug made for them too but we gave that to the them from "the whole team" everyone signed the card and it was just something I thought we should do, just 'cos.

Both are jelly jars, one is from a homemade jelly and I thought it was so cute.
Note: Zoe's dance teachers are 20 and 15 so I thought a good supply of hair bands would be appreciated. And they were. :)
I just basically split them up between the two jars.
Here comes the cute... paper, ribbon, and homemade tags...
Done. (I just realized that these were pink and green too- much like my other jar gift. Oops, probably should clean up my desk more often so I have a better variety of scraps to use!) Sorry about the yellow tone of the photo, I had to finish these up after the monkeys went to bed and the lighting was terrible.

My posts have been kind of sporadic lately. I think it could be for any of these reasons...

• i have had a terrible cold
• Tanner has been sick
• it is finally warm enough to be outside a lot
• the rain has stopped and again, we are outside
• my laundry is spontaneously reproducing
• we are still trying to sell our house (grrr....) and I have to clean it all the freakin' time
• getting ready for the end of school/summer takes a lot of work
• my hubby has been gone a ridiculous amount (end of the school year- lots for a HS principal to do!)
• and really the main reason I don't have time to blog, read other's blogs, or catch up on Facebook is because little toddler boys are like puppies...

they need regular walks everyday, we have been walking up and down our street all day long, a million times a day, you'd think I'd be a skinny stick because of it! Gotta go, this boy needs to get his walk on, again...

repurposed jar

Here's another repurposed jar gift:

A view from a different side... I simply adore these puffy sticker letters, I think they are made by American Crafts, mmm they are so cu-ute!

This one Zoe gave to her school office staff. I was really at a loss as to what to send in... homemade cookies? (I was a teacher, I know no one eats those unless they know you personally, I mean who knows what goes into some of those cupcakes and stuff), bagels & cream cheese? (nope, that would mean I have to go to Panera and take it myself, I can't leave Panera without s Sierra Turkey sandwich and I found out how many WW points those are, I might never go to the bread heaven shop again), flowers? (too expensive), so I settled on M&Ms, my personal favorite. Honestly, I felt like I could have done a bit more but this was last minute and I have learned my lesson. I hearby declare: I will not wait until the last minute from now on to send in treats for the office staff during teacher appreciation week.

(Just a note, I wasn't going to send in anything because I felt like we recognized her teachers but Zoe was crying saying, "everyone is taking treats to the office, I have to." Now I know that is not true, seriously, the girl thinks I was born yesterday and she must not believe me that I was ever a teacher!!! So I really sent this in so she could parade her little self down to the office and be all special and stuff. Ugh, drama!)

So for the jar: I cleaned out a nice sized peanut butter jar, the organic peanut butter still comes in jars, as opposed to those other kinds that use plastic, taped some cute scrapbook paper on, added some stickers and ribbon and done. I also put a circle of paper on the top just to be cute, I forgot to take a pic sorry. And a big huge bag of M&Ms fit in here, I didn't even sample any, and let me just tell you that was so freakin' hard not to do! You know my M&M love affair is long and tumultuous, kind of like my affair with Dr. Pepper, daytime soaps have nothin' on me and my sweet treats.

I used this similar idea for Zoe's dance teachers. I'll share those later, than I promise not to share anymore jar gift ideas. Well, promise is kind of a harsh word, I mean, what if I make a super cute one and I just know you want to see it?! Maybe I'll just show you the really awesome, make you jealous ones, ok? ;) Not that you'd be jealous of me... I steal everyone else's ideas anyway.

watchin' my weight Wednesday

Like the rest of America, this movie

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

is changing my life.

I am not new to these ideas, in fact I have known a great deal about the nastiness of the food industry for a while, just seeing this movie is reminding me that my body is a temple that needs constant care. I checked the movie out from the library, twice. I made my husband watch it. I read the book too and read parts of it out loud to him as I was reading.

If you haven't seen the movie the book is just as good (the info is different in both- they are companion pieces). I think we all should watch this with our families and start a food revolution, a la Jaime Oliver (love what he did in Huntington, just sayin').

things we are doing since watching this movie/reading the book that I didn't do before:

reading all food labels

avoiding fast food if at all possible

making my own bread (periodically)

buying locally if possible (shopping at Whole Foods makes this most possible)

eating organic dairy and meat

eating organic produce if it is available

eating more organic foods (such as pasta, cereal, etc.)

explaining where food comes from to my kids (we watched Jaime Oliver show how chicken nuggets were made, we might never eat these again)

making more homemade stuff in general (salad dressing, cookies, etc.)

preaching to all who will listen about the evils of bad food (just kidding)

I truly believe these changes will benefit my family. I don't anticipate we'll change overnight but slow and steady will definitely win this race for us at least. I sincerely hope others are affected by these pieces as much as I have been, they are truly shocking and groundbreaking.

an open letter

Dear Sir or Madame,

I think I speak for every mother in the world when I beg of you to please spare my child(ren) of your stomach flu germs. If your child has the stomach flu or has had it in the past week, stay home, please. I do not want these germs near my child, as it turns out, my child will inevitably ingest said germs and become violently ill usually at 3AM. AND I do not want to have this predicament on the eve of my other child's dance recital for the second year in a row. In fact, I hope I live the rest of my life and never encounter a stomach flu germ ever, again.

Most sincerely,

Jenny

still here

I'm still here...

just dealing with sick kids...

be back soon.

my PJ

If you look close you can see Tanner's little arm, he was waiting to kick the ball too right in front of his big brother...

This little guy has been making me cry so much lately. Not for bad reasons, for good. He is growing so fast, learning so much and just maturing right in front of me. I can't stand it. Stop. Please. He is just may cute little helper all the time. I think his feet grew over night, they look so big all the sudden and all his pants are too short. We started doing a kindergarten workbook together, just a few pages a day, and he loves his "school time" I know he won't be in kindergarten for another year but he just seems so grown up, I thought I'd better get started on his academic stuff. Today we planted some pepper and squash plants and he did almost all the work himself, getting all dirty and grungy, he did it perfectly, a total pro. And he is the best baker you've ever seen, measuring the flour using a knife to level it off and everything, uh, he kills me. And just this morning, he was playing with Tanner which means he was jumping on the couch with him, and he said, "I love having a baby brudder." Made me melt. **sigh**

watchin' my weight Wednesday

some of my recent antique mall finds...

What do my recent antique store finds have to do with watchin' my weight? Well, plenty. I found out through my Weight Watchers journey that I am an emotional, unconscious eater. When the goings get tough, I get the bad stuff and eat it, not really realizing I am doing it. I am, and always have been, a pretty healthy eater for my meals. It's those darn snacks and those emotional eating binges that sabotage my waistline, my hips, my butt, well, you get the idea.

After we had our low-ball house selling offers, I was really bummed out. Who wouldn't want to live in our house, my gosh people, it is gorgeous! (If I do say so myself.) It's on a golf course, minutes from a really nice shopping center, the interstate that will take you to even more nice shopping centers, we are in an "excellent" rated school district. What's not to love? Well, people just want something for nothing nowadays (I totally sound like my grandma) and they have no problem offering you a ridiculously low bid on your house, hoping you'll be desperate enough to take it. Well, after all the highs and lows of the bidding nonsense. I felt myself slipping into the uncontrollable eating frenzy and an emotional tornado.

I remembered in Weight Watcher meetings, my leaders says to find things to keep you busy besides eating that make you happy. Scrapbooking is tops on my list, exercising is next, shopping for antiques is right up there too. So with my two boys in tow, I headed to the antique mall (formerly the Brass Armadillo- thought of you Sarah!). I figured I might get a few minutes of browse time before they were melting down. We were there a whole hour. Parker loved it. He was checking out all the old toys and tools and asking me lots of good questions. Tanner mostly snacked on goldfish crackers.

I was so blissfully happy afterwards, something I hadn't felt in at least a year. Seriously. I wanted to bottle it up and take a sip everytime some other goof ball came to look at our house and just pissed me off. AND I didn't snack or eat unnecessary foods. Bonus! Happy distractions do work in the battle of the bulge. How often do you think I'll be able to drag these guys out for some retail therapy? I hope more now that I know they can do it.

And Sarah, I am blatantly stealing your idea of using the flower frog for my collection of antique postcards that I have bought and do not have the heart to cut and use over again as I originally had planned. Thanks girlie!

***just for Sarah- the iron thingy is a... wait for it... twine holder! Eeeeeee!!!! I totally thought of you, my twine sister. You put the ball of twine in and there is a hole in the top for the string to come out. I plan on using it just for that. It sits proudly on my desk right now. I agree, it would make a perfect book end.***

stair baskets

I got these cute little baskets at the dollar store (the one where everything really does cost $1) and I keep them on the steps for all the stuff that makes its way downstairs that should be upstairs. Once a week or so, the kids have to empty their baskets. I sometimes get mean and dump them on their beds and tell them to get busy, but I don't do that very often, I promise.

I did not intentionally get two different sizes, I thought they were all the same, when I took them out of the package I noticed Zoe's was bigger. Actually it works out because she is the one who has the most migrating stuff. Oh and I do help Tanner with his, obviously he can't do it by himself yet.

homemade gift container

empty pop case (by the way, this is THE BEST orange pop, EVER!!!)

transformed into a gift container using scrapbook paper and supplies (it has six spots for holding things, Starbucks frappachino containers have four- in case you were wondering)

I hate wasting things so whenever I get the chance, I try to reuse things. I have made these before and shared them here before but I really like how this one turned out so I thought I'd share, again. I made this one for my Weight Watcher trainer. I gave it to her Saturday after my last training session. She seriously deserved so much more, I was always calling her at the last minute to reschedule or something else and I think I asked so many questions during my training, I know I was driving her crazy every time.

It has small trinkets inside like gum, lip balm, Weight Watchers candy, notepads, pens, a small magazine (Everyday Food), Chrystal Light drink mixers, and a Starbucks gift card. I also included a matching thank you note using the leftover paper, wouldn't Martha be so proud? The note is probably the best part, very appreciative and says what I can never say in person.

I don't think that these gifts are so much about the gift but more about showing someone you were thinking about them. I have given them to Zoe's teachers, neighbors, and a couple friends, each one looks sort of the same and the actual gifts aren't that great, just trinkets. I love to see someone get so excited to get a little basket of goodies, I think I like giving them more than they like receiving them.

Maybe you could use these for end of the year teacher gifts? (I have given them to teachers at the beginning of the year with school supplies in them- very cute!)

teacher appreciation

Here are my simple teacher appreciation gifts. They are all handed out and everyone has said how much they love these, thank you so much, my favorites...

I know some people have waaaaaay better ideas than this, but honestly, I am pretty tapped out. I am thrilled we could get this together and actually give them to the teachers on time, not a week or so late.

And, a Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there. I am hoping for a nice relaxing Sunday and all I truly want is a picture of me with all 3 of my kids! Seriously, would it be too much to ask that I look pretty and they are all smiling too? Yeah, that's like wishing for the moon. Oh well, enjoy mamas. (almost a pug butt in this one too, jeez! a little big of cute pug ears instead)

April Get-Organized Challenge- final post

I promise, this is my FINAL post about my April Get-Organized Challenge!

Here is what prompted me to post this challenge a month ago...

My cutie pie baby playing in my spice cabinet, well actually he was destroying it, and it was driving me crazy. Do you think that it will stay this neat? Probably not, he still loves to go and explore all the spices and containers. My spices before:

Here are my spices after: they are categorized, but it is not really evident in the photo
Eeeeee! I just love adding labels to things! Zoe helped me stick these on, it did take a long time. I figure it will be easy to keep up with since I will only be putting a new label on as I get a new spice or replace one. I like being able to read the top of the jar because I always stand here and cook so just being able to look down is soooooo..... easy!
My measuring stuff is in here too. I bake a lot (and cook almost every meal) in addition to measuring ingredients for recipes I measure portions (for me) always being a good Weight Watcher :) Having these so close to my prep/cooking area is very important to me. My oils and sprays are right here too. I keep a basic supply of baking needs on the bottom shelf. Weird stuff I only use every once in while is in the big pantry, so I don't have to move it around and have it weighing down the spinning thingymabob.
And lastly, my silverware drawer. Nothing too exciting. I just took out the old baby spoons (the ones you use when your baby first eats cereal) and cleaned and sorted really well. I did have some random things in here that I purged, ahh, so glad it is done.
When I posted this challenge a month ago to myself (and anyone else interested) I had no idea we'd be trying to sell our house ourselves. It has been a crazy month. So many things going on, more than I want to talk about here, plus it is just making me extremely grumpy, I apologize for getting these photos posted so late. Not very "organized mommy" of me! I hope I can get my thoughts together coherently (wouldn't that be a change!?) regarding the housing market, sucky realtors, mean people who say mean things about your home, the state of the U.S. in general regarding the housing market, and more. I'd love to share with all of my blog buddies the goings on, but honestly it is so frustrating and horrible, I just can't do it now.

I promise to not share a kitchen picture tomorrow :)

I hope everyone has a great day.

April Get-Organized Challenge

Day 3 of April Get-Organized Challenge recap

Ah, my glass cabinets. When we were looking to build this house, we went to every model home in Ohio (just about) that our builder had to get ideas for our home. When we went into the model that had this island with these cabinets, it took my breath away. I was sold. I knew I had to have these. I was instantly thinking of all the Longabergers I could order to fill up these beauts.

Then we moved in. Reality check. They are kind of shallow so platters don't fit, big baskets don't fit (that's ok, I have lots of little ones), and if you rearrange the shelves to accommodate taller things, they don't look good through the doors. AND then my in-laws downsized and I got all their old stuff in addition to other people in my family's old stuff. They would say, I quote, "we know you like antiques, and you have that big new house, here you go." Me, being the people pleaser would just say, I quote, "oh, you are so sweet, I like these, thanks."

Then I would come home and try to cram them in here. And here "they" (old stuff) sat for 5 years. I did use a lot of the stuff in the right side cabinets for parties but I had a lot of stuff I didn't want.

See. This is my dining room table with all the stuff I had to get rid of. Gone. Off to Goodwill. It doesn't look like much here, weird photo angle, but it filled the entire back of my van, passenger seat and the floor between Parker and Tanner. It felt so good to get rid of all that unused china and stuff.

I will say, I felt a teeny bit bad getting rid of it, but we got our own china when we got married and I like it better, honestly. And my mom has given me some really cool pieces from Anthropologie that fit well with my Longabergers and everyday Fiesta Ware so I decided I didn't feel bad enough to keep them anymore. AND, if/when we move, I am quite certain I won't have room in my new home for other people's old stuff.
Here is the finished reorganization. (Please ignore the top of my island, it was a busy day and stuff was everywhere... you know, life happens.) I only kept my most favorite things. There is no rhyme or reason, just stuff I like. Some is old, some is oldish, some is new, some is silly, I don't care, I do however know I love how much better these cabinets look. I am always amazed at how much relief I feel after finishing a project I procrastinated on for so long.

Far left cabinets... with the doors open, so you can actually see...

Far right cabinets...

Middle cabinet...

April Get-Organized Challenge

The April Get-Organized Challenge- Day 2 Kitchen Cabinet Clean-up

Here is my reorganization of my collection of "Tupperware." I always call it that, even though I have two real, actual Tupperware pieces. Basically, it is all my plastic containers with lids.

This cabinet also housed Zoe's Easy Bake Oven (and cupcake maker, and princess baker, and supplies) that she got for Christmas in 2008. Yes. 2008. They have been in there since then because Tanner was born two days after Christmas in 2008. So a year (+ some more months) later, I am finally getting around to finding a home for them. Here is the big tote holding her supplies. (I know I have posted this before, just a reminder...) She is very happy to go get the tub and dig around getting what she needs to bake me a treat. She just needs a gentle reminder to put the tub back in the basement. I am much happier now that these are not housed in the main area of our home.

OK, so you know I select pictures to post on my blog and they show up all helter skelter, sorry. I really don't know how to rearrange them, yet. Drives me crazy, oh well.

Here is the bottom of the cabinet, AFTER! Woo! Look at all that room! This is my lesser used stuff. Big containers for cupcakes, brownies, lasagna, etc. are down here. AND yes, I am slowly turning into my grandma. I save my cottage cheese (and other) containers to send home leftovers with my family members. (I can't really keep all those cupcakes, brownies, and lasagna in my fridge, I am a Weight Watcher you know!) They are waaaaay in the back.

Here is the top of the cabinet AFTER. These are the pieces I use a lot, like every day. Tiny containers for lunch boxes, small leftovers, etc. All the lids are housed in a random box-y thing, not sure where it came from, but it does the trick. I really like using what I've got to organize, I really don't like spending more money on baskets (unless they are Longaberger of course) or containers, I have quite a nice supply I can re-purpose.

**Don't you love how Max is waiting by the high chair for a crumb to drop? He is the most patient dog on the planet, he will sit for hours waiting for a bite from the baby. And he is in about 90% of my pictures, usually his pug butt.**

Can I just mention that my cabinets ROCK! I will miss them someday when/if we move. The middle shelf pulls out and makes it so nice to get to things. sigh

Here are the pieces as I was sorting/purging... I only kept them if they had a lid. The rest made their way to the recycling bin. If nothing else, it was good to match everything up, this stuff multiplies on its own! Spontaneous reproduction.

Yes, I know my shelf liner doesn't fit the whole shelf. I brought these here when we moved from our old house because it was this really expensive stuff you can clean and reuse (the kind that you buy when you have two incomes and you don't care how much it costs) and I didn't want to throw it away. It works pretty well, just don't look too close.

And in this photo, you can see that I was cooking dinner, pots and pans and stuff everywhere, ignore that, I am always multitasking, a million things going on at once.

The BEFORE. Yuck, so annoying, not functioning, down right embarrassing!
More updates tomorrow. :)

April Get-Organized Challenge

OK, so it is May, and I am a little late in posting about my own get-organized challenge... sorry. Seriously, this selling our house business is throwing a huge wrench in my life and I don't like it one bit, at all! I will have to post about this later...

my junk drawer before:

my new and improved "junk drawer" I can actually close it now without cursing, not that I do that or anything?!

Oh it felt so good to clean this thing out. It was so gross, full of hair doodles, jack bouncy balls, Christmas ornament hooks, and well, junk. It will stay like this for a couple months probably.

I will post more pictures all this week of my other newly cleaned areas. I can only post about 5 photos at once, I am sure there are ways to do more, I am just severely technologically challenged.

See you tomorrow!