B- Best Feature: I like my eyes…one thing I consistently get comments on…

C- Could do without: Cat vomit.  Ugh.

D- Drink of choice: Ice water…with strawberry or cucumber if you’re fancy.

E- Essential items: Chapstick, internet, chocolate. 

F- Favorite flower: Iceland poppy.  So happy.

G- Good at: Going with the flow.

H- Have never tried: Skiing.

I- If I had a million dollars: Travel.  And more travel.

J- Junkie for: Brownies.  You would think cupcakes, but no…it’s brownies.

K- Kind of car you’d like parked in your driveway: Some sort of something that would fit us all comfortably and have a much better turning radius than my Nissan.

L- Little known fact: I skipped Kindergarten. 

M- Most memorable moment: Meeting Jeffy. 

N- Nickname: Jen mostly.  Jeffy has a few that he calls me that make no sense to anyone else.

O- Occasional indulgence: Very occasional now….a pedicure.  Used to be often, but those times are no longer.

P- Phobias and Fears: Don’t care for most rides at amusement parks.  Ack.

Q- Quote: Stuff your eyes with wonder . . . live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.

- Ray Bradbury, “Fahrenheit 451″

R- Reason to smile or laugh out loud: Oh, I tend to lol at a lot of odd things.  It doesn’t take much.

S- Sorry about: Getting frustrated at the kids.

T- Tastes: comfortable, simple, easy.

U- Uninterested: Sports, keeping up with the Joneses

I have been using Downy Unstopables for quite some time now.  I think they are a great thing to add to laundry, especially loads of towels!  They keep everything smelling great without having to add fabric softener which isn’t always a good idea with towels..  They are little beads that you add to your washing machine before you put the load of laundry in.  One day I was shopping for some and the store was out!  I couldn’t believe it!  I then noticed a bottle of Purex Crystals.  It looked to be a similar idea, from reading the bottle, so I decided to try it out.

There are a few things I noticed right away.  When you open the Downy bottle, you can immediately smell whichever scent is in there.  With the Purex, it wasn’t very strong at all.  Downy has beads while Purex has smaller crystal looking things.  I did my laundry like I normally do and was disappointed to find that I couldn’t really smell the results in my laundry like I could with the Downy!

With the Downy, you can add just a small amount and it will still give your laundry a pleasant scent.  Even adding a full scoop didn’t change the scent of my laundry.

The Downy is more expensive, but in the end, I think it is definitely worth getting!  You can use less and it lasts longer.

Just thought I would let you all know my experiences with these two things..

Apparently I am a late comer to books by Laurie Notaro.  She has written quite a few!

This book was a little different than what I have been reading lately.  It is basically a bunch of short stories that are all about her life.  Some of them are so stinking funny…some are just..eh.  Which, when you think about it, that’s what our lives are like too!

The very first story had me giggling…as she is stuck in a dressing room having grabbed the wrong size shirt to try on.  She was stuck because she could not get the shirt off.  She described her struggles in such a way to make you feel like you were experiencing the scenario yourself.  It just goes from there, talking about her struggles, her successes and everything in between.

I typically get to read books mostly when I eat a meal, so something like this is perfect as the stories aren’t too long and I don’t feel bad having to put the book down.  But I imagine it would be a good read for the beach, etc as well!

Reading this book made me want to look for more of her books, which I think I might do on my next trip to the library…

When we started homeschooling a little over a year ago, one thing I was looking forward to was cooking different things for meals, especially breakfast!  The kids always requested chocolate chip muffins.  I started with a basic recipe and it was ok.  I added things, subtracted things…and I think I have perfected the recipe!  Well, they like it anyway, and that is what counts! 

You can sneak things in like flax seed, protein powder, whatever…and they are still tasty..  Let me know if you try them!

I made these again the other day.  If you notice, some have topping and some don’t.  Two of my kids don’t like the topping and one does, so I just split it up a bit.  The recipe is down below!

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
t tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
2 cups chocolate chips
——————————————
For topping: 3 Tbsp sugar and 2 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350. Beat butter, sugar, powder, salt, vanilla and cinnamon.
Beat in eggs.
Stir in milk.
Mix in flour.
Add chocolate chips.

I use a 1/3c measure to fill the muffin tin, it looks like a lot, these aren’t tiny muffins. 

If you want the topping, mix both sugars and sprinkle on the top before baking.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Yesterday I had my first 5K.  It wasn’t your traditional race, not in the slightest.  In fact, I don’t even think it could be considered a race at all!  There were just SO many people! That’s part of what made it fun though…

It was called the Color Run and the benefits went to the Cordon Children’s Medical Center.  Awesome!  Every kilometer, there were people throwing a different color at you.  First stop was yellow, then green, then purple and pink.  At the end was a big explosion of color, every fifteen minutes.  It was so fun!  I would love to do it next year!  I have a feeling a few more of my friends will do it next year too! 

We made it through the week!!  It was all pretty uneventful.  We didn’t do much school, one of the reasons being the internet was off not letting me print anything.  But we did all sorts of other things.  We played our new board game a couple nights, went to friends a couple days, painted pottery, went to the zoo…it was just a great week.  I love hanging out with my kids.  It is so much easier with homeschooling.  We don’t feel so rushed anymore, our weeks are oh so casual.  Sure, sometimes we have a ton of stuff to do, but that just changes it up a bit!  This week we all stayed up later than normal every night too, which was fun.  The kids laughed and laughed.

Towards the end of the week though, I did notice that they were more than ready to have their daddy back.  I think they enjoyed picking him up from the airport.  We went out to eat with my mom and made it just in time for him to land.  If his plane was on time.  It was only about 13 minutes late, so that isn’t too bad.  Lauren entertained herself by doing cartwheels and putting her face in front of the fan so her hair went all wonky.  The boys were entertaining themselves with the sleeping police officer.  I think the sign that said to not approach him, was because he was trying to sleep.  While standing.  Way to go officer. Good job thinking ahead! 

Jeffy brought all kinds of goodies back for everyone, including me, which I wasn’t expecting!    He gave them their surprises when we got to the van.  It was a good ride home.  I love having him back…

Every night, after Jeffy and I have watched our tv show(s), I am wide awake.  I need more time to calm myself down to get ready for sleepy time.  I check email, facebook, my tiny tower peeps, pinterest…and eventually I check out youtube.  Not sure why, as that sometimes keeps me awake even longer.  Although I have been getting to bed earlier since Ray William Johnson has not been on this month..    Anyway, a while back, I happened across a channel by Jenna Marbles.  So so funny.  She swears…a  lot…and those that know me probably wonder why I watch her. She has a lot of silly videos, but every now and again she has one that just makes sense.  Like this one. (beware of language)

Why girls hate each other

It is SO true!  I see it all the time!  Girls compare themselves way too much.  Everything is a competition.  I want to be skinnier than her, I want my kids to be better than hers, I want my life to be better than hers…oh goodness, it goes on and on!   I realized years ago that comparing/competing against other girls is just plain stupid.  I am so thankful that I am married to a man that appreciates me for who I am.  I don’t think he would have it any other way!  He likes that I am not like other girls.  Sometimes I give him the o_O look about that, but he is telling the truth!  I am me!  I enjoy that I am me.  I love that there is nobody else LIKE me.  Too many girls never realize their full potential in themselves and go their whole lives comparing themselves to others.  Ack.  I wouldn’t want that at all!

I think that what JennaMarbles said is right on.  If we could all just stop…we could all be friends.  Try it!! 

Having never read the first two books in this series (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) all I had to go on was seeing the second movie.  I never even saw the first one.  But for some reason, I was drawn to getting this book.

I thought it was going to be another light hearted book about friends doing crazy things, just being older.  I was quickly surprised at the turn the book made.  I like how it took a normal thing that happens in life, friends drifting away a bit, and running with it in a different way.  Of course it had a happy ending, which is always good for me, so I don’t dwell on the book for a couple weeks wishing it had ended differently.

The characters in the book have pretty much all gone their separate ways.  They communicate, some more than others, but always had the bond of their youth.  One of the friends invites them all to visit Greece, where a lot of their memories took place all of those years ago.  This is when the story takes a turn that you don’t expect.  And not until more towards the end do you understand what was really going on.

You can see more about the book here on Amazon.

This morning we all woke up early..some earlier than others, the curses of having to straighten hair..  We had to take Jeffy to the airport and on the way pick up his dad.  They will be gone for the week.  It is the longest we have been apart! (awwwwww..hehe)

Thanks to some great friends, we will have a pretty full week!  I think we will have a great time and it will at least take our minds off of the fact that he isn’t here, at least for a little while. Nights are going to be the weird thing.  Our new king bed will feel so huge!  I will have to watch tv by myself and figure out the remote that I have never used.

I think it is great that he will be able to spend the week with his dad, although it won’t be too much fun getting poked and prodded…at least they get to do it together! 

Welp, it was a busy week.  I will not use that excuse again, if I can help it.  I will start posting.  Tomorrow.    I have to wake up earlllllllly in the morning to take Jeffy to the airport.  :yawn: