I'm SO Funny

Daddio: Do you have a short extension cord?
Me: Yes, the one I use for my glue gun.
Daddio: Can I have it?
Me: Will you be keeping it long?
Daddio: No.
Me: Of course you won't, because it's short!

Hahahaha.

 This happened at least 5 minutes ago and it's still cracking me up! Such a dork.

I've Been a Stranger Here...

It has been FOREVER since I have posted on this blog, and by "forever", I mean August. Really. That DOES seem like forever. The initial reason for my lack of posts this summer was because my computer kicked the bucket on me back in July and I was without a computer for a month. Being without a computer, I had to come up with a hobby to fill my time, hence the main reason I haven't been posting.

I have been busy with a new "hobby"/business that started out as something to try to bring in a little extra cash. I have been making fabric jewelry and hair accessories for women and girls. I have attended a few craft fairs, one went well, the others not so much, but now I have opened up my own Etsy shop. I just opened it yesterday, but I'm hoping that it goes well. Here is a selection of some of the items that I have made:

"Margaret" pom necklace.

"Bethany" pom necklace

"Karli" embroidered headband

"Bethany" flower headband

I also make hair clips and pins, both in the pom and flower designs, along with a few random headband designs. If you are interested in checking them out, please visit my Etsy shop: Betty Bow Blue. I also have a newer blog that follows this hobby, also called Betty Bow Blue.

Thanks for your interest, and please feel free to spread the word!

I have a new computer! A laptop, to be exact. But now I'm headed out of town to, hopefully, (she's slightly "overdue") meet my new niece in VA! Until I get back into the swing of things in the blogging world, I would like to share my new favorite photo of me and my adorable little boys!

I really don't know where the blond hair comes from...

Computer Update

I am still without a computer. My motherboard was bad, so it's time for a new one, just don't know when it will happen yet. I'll be back soon, hopefully!

Mommy Doesn't Compute.... For Good.

The Super Clap got the best of my computer and it bit the dust last night! Thank goodness for library computers! Will be back in touch with the blogging world when my computer is (hopefully) fixed!

Mommy Doesn't Compute

We have all just returned from another week-long family summer vacation (you may recall last year's "vacation"), and I was planning to share photos from said vacation, except that for some unknown reason, none of my USB ports are working. I suspect that my computer may have contracted a strain of Super Clap, because no matter what I try, I cannot heal it.

Before we left for our vaca, I tried to print out a recipe, only to be greeted by the lovely yellow and orange flashing lights on my printer and a message on my computer saying that the something or other was not being recognized. I turned off the printer and turned it back on. Same flashing lights. I restarted my computer, only to be told that it recognized new hardware and was requesting me to insert the CD for my printer so it could install the new whatchamacallit. Needless to say, I do not have the CD for my printer, or if I do, I have no idea where it is. I gave up trying to fix it and resorted to writing down the recipe instead. (Which, by the way, was a very delicious banana muffin recipe. You should really try it out).

Fast forward to today when I am trying to upload this past week's photos to my computer. I open my photo program, plug in my camera and turn it on (the usual steps to take when uploading photos). Nothing happens. I turn off the camera and turn it back on. I receive an error message stating the the USB device is not being recognized.

Image Source

My brilliant computer recommends that I reconnect the device, and try again. I do this, and then my whole computer shuts down on me and restarts itself! WTH? After it restarts, I turn on the camera again. The computer is now recognizing the camera, but asking me to choose the program to launch the action. The only problem now is that there are no programs listed to choose from! WTH? So I quickly look up directions online as to how to resolve this problem. I walk through all of the steps without any problems until I reach the one that tells me to insert my camera's CD. Crap. I have no idea where that one is either. How frustrating.

So now I'm drinking a beer, which I hate, but one of the boys dumped Berry Blue Bubble Wash on the area rug in Owen's room earlier tonight and I am at the point where I don't care to even share the photos anymore. At least not tonight. So I have given up on figuring out how to cure Super Computer Clap and am now on Facebook discussing with my sister and mother how to get the bubble bath out of the rug. (I ended up dragging it into the bathroom and attempted to rinse it out in the tub).

Has anyone else had this USB problem before? Do I really have to venture up to the attic or down to the basement to try and unearth CDs that I haven't needed in years?

Mommy Doesn't Swim

This Fourth of July post is obviously a tad late, but quite honestly, I have been too lazy and unmotivated to write it until today. :-)

We did absolutely nothing for the Fourth of July this year. Our town doesn't put on a fireworks display; our big celebration is the annual Dairy Princess Festival weekend. And we were not invited to any barbecues this year (as we were last year), and Daddio had to work, so our holiday was pretty much uneventful. Well, that isn't entirely true. We actually took the boys to the beach to go swimming. Or rather, Daddio suggested that we take the boys to the beach to go swimming and I went along for the ride.

I think he was trying to be a monster in this photo.

It's a Baby Shower!

It has certainly been a while since my last post! This one is a special edition post in honor of my twin sister's baby shower! A while back when I had mentioned that I was in charge of planning it in a Random Tuesday Thoughts post, Stacy from Stacy Uncorked had requested that I show photos from the shower. I promised to share them, so here they are!

My sister provided us with a color inspiration for the baby's nursery, so everything for the baby shower was pulled from this "inspiration board":

 

Mini-Vaca!

I am taking a mini-vaca from the blogging world. Not because I really want to, but because I currently have "better" things to do with my time than sitting in front of the computer. Like baking. And cleaning the house. And socializing. And now that Daddio has switched to the evening shift, I am able to substitute teach again. And I have been. So that's how I am spending my time during the day right now, which means no more composing posts during Ben's nap time.

And I've also been on an exercising kick lately, trying to lose some weight and tone things up. And that's how I've been spending my nights, which means no more composing posts after the boys have gone to bed. And I've been going to bed earlier because I have to be up around 5:30 AM, which means no more staying up until midnight to finish composing the post that I started during Ben's nap time.

So..........


Mini-vaca.


Be back soon.

I Am Not Myself Tonight

Or rather I wasn't this weekend.

Daddio and I took an overnight trip, sans kids, to Burlington, VT this weekend, which is a rarity in and of itself. But I also did a few things that I never do, such as try new things, which I am always hesitant to do. Here is a rundown of our visit:

We dropped off the boys at my mom's house around lunchtime on Saturday and took the Essex, NY ferry across Lake Champlain and over to Vermont. It was a pleasant ride, but I would imagine that it would be much more enjoyable during late spring or early summer, when things are actually green again. No signs of Champy, however.

Image Source

Mommy Doesn't Know Best.

I knew that one day "it" would happen, I just didn't think that it would happen this soon. All along, (meaning for 3.10 years), I have been the relieved mother who boasts that "it" has never happened to her child. I have heard stories of parents who have experienced this and felt pity for them, while secretly beaming with pride on the inside. I dreaded the day when Owen would start school and become exposed to something like this, but felt safe that "it" would not happen yet. But in my naivety, I neglected to consider playgroup, which he attends twice a week with five other kids. For the past three weeks, it has only been Owen and two other girls who have been at playgroup; three of the children (all cousins), had been mysteriously absent for three weeks. For the past three weeks, Owen has been returning from playgroup with nary a cold, but then the three cousins returned on Monday. And this week? This week saw the Great Puking Disaster of April 2011, and I am totally blaming the three cousins for it.

My Book Babes-A Blog Hop

Katie at See K Read is hosting a one time blog hop called "Book Babes". She is a mom who loves to read, and therefore, loves to see photos of babies and their books. And guess what? She wants to see our babies and their books, so dig out your photos and hop on over to participate!

My Little Bookworm

This is the earliest photo that I have of Owen with a book. He was a little over 6 months old here. He loved "reading" this baby faces book. He still loves to read, and it's not uncommon to find him sitting on his bed with a book when we thought that he was playing instead.

Ben has never been a big reader, so I'm pretty sure that this is one of the only photos that I have of him with a book nearby. (He's about 4 months old here). Thankfully, he is finally starting to take an interest in books, but I suspect that it's mainly from watching Owen reading and a desire to do what his big brother does.

Now hop on over to See K Read to check out some more little bookworms!

RTT: Tea Parties, Exercising, and Burlington, VT

It's time for another Random Tuesday Thoughts, currently being hosted by the rebellious Stacy at Stacy Uncorked.

• It seems as though the only posts I am doing lately are Random Tuesday Thoughts! Okay, in reality, that really is all I'm doing, but I suppose it's because they are so easy! I don't have to worry about gathering all of my thoughts into an organized and cohesive post. I've also been busier these last few weeks. Well, maybe not busier, but less inclined to sit in front of the computer for hours on end (because that is seriously how long it takes me to compose anything).

•  In a quest to try to lose those last stubborn baby weight pounds, I have started working out. Kind of. I'm not going to the gym or anything entirely motivating as that. I'm using the Exercise on Demand feature through our cable provider to complete various workouts at night after the boys have gone to bed and while Daddio is at the gym. It's a nice feature to have. I've tried kickboxing, yoga, cardio, pilates, "piloxing", and bellydancing workouts so far, along with various mini-workouts for my abs and buns and thighs. It's been a good experience, but I'm not really seeing too many results yet. I understand that it's only been a week, but come on! That's one of the reasons I have always hated working out; I would prefer to see instant results and tend to lose patience if I don't. But, it has been over one week since I started, so I'm hopeful that it's a sign that I will actually stick to it this time around. We will see. 

•  I am a member of the Friends of the "Small Town" Free Library committee.Basically that means that we are in charge of organizing fundraisers to help raise money for our local public library. We are in the middle of planning an American Girl doll tea party. I am on the crafts committee for it. As a mother of two boys, this will be an interesting experience for me, and I'm kind of excited about it. This is the second year that the tea party has been held. Last year only 30 tickets were available, and it sold out immediately. This year, we changed the venue to be able to host 60 young ladies and their dolls. Tickets were sold out in less than one week! It's crazy how popular this is! Basically, the girls get to dress up and bring their American Girl dolls with them to participate in crafts, and games, and refreshments for a few hours. We also offer items available for purchase and are raffling off this year's American Girl "Girl of the Year" doll, Kanani; she's Hawaiian. I was assigned the task of creating Bingo cards, and I think that I did a pretty nice job.  I had to come up with 15 different cards.

• Spring is finally here. Yay! Hurray for spring! Yesterday our temps were near 70, if not all the way there. Today, we are expecting mid-60s, while the rest of the week will see the 50s. I'm not going to complain, because as long as it's not more snow, then I am a-okay with that!

• In American Idol news, what on earth happened last week?! In all fairness, I should admit that I don't vote, nor have I ever voted, for an American Idol contestant, so I am probably one of those viewers who is to blame for why Pia was sent home last week. I assumed that Pia would make it to the final three. However, I did not think that she would win, (I've already pegged James Durbin for that honor). While Pia has an absolutely beautiful voice, and the image to go along with it, I don't think that she has shown enough personality to actually win. She is not the performer that most of the other contestants are. Apparently that's the main theory behind why people suspect she was booted last week. I think that she should have at least lasted longer than Stefano, but what do I know. 

•  Daddio and I took a mini-trip to Burlington, VT this weekend. I intend on writing more about it in a separate post, so I will just say here that on Saturday, we stopped by my mom's house long enough to throw the boys out of the car, and headed to Burlington for the night. I love my boys to death, but it was so nice having that time without them. I think that we actually enjoyed each other's company for once! Or at least I know I did, I cannot speak for Daddio on that one. But it was a nice stress-free trip together. Next time we're shooting for a whole week. I'll tell you all more about it later, but in the meantime, you can check out some of my purchases while I was there.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Wordless Wednesday: Shameless Promotion of the Familial Kind

www.SMWartworks.com or www.SMWartworks.etsy.com

*That's my sister's work; not a photograph, it's a graphite portrait.. She takes custom orders, folks. Get in touch with her!

It's Tuesday Already?

So I (almost) completely forgot that today is Tuesday. For whatever reason, I keep thinking it's Monday. Time to whip out a quick Random Tuesday Thoughts, currently being hosted by Stacy Uncorked.

I originally had a list of random ideas started, but I have misplaced it. So let's try to pull something out of nothing...

• I would like to know whose bright idea it was to package plain oatmeal in a box with blue coloring and with a picture of real blueberries on top of a bowl of oatmeal on the front. The strawberry oatmeal comes in a box with red coloring and a photo of real strawberries on top of a bowl of oatmeal, so I think that's it's a pretty safe bet that a mother who is scurrying through the grocery store with two hungry and tired boys is going to quickly glance at the box and assume that it is blueberry oatmeal and throw it in the cart. This is why I don't go grocery shopping. I wonder how many other distracted mothers were fooled by this. 

RTT: Disney is clueless, and Mother Nature is a tease

I wasn't going to participate in Random Tuesday Thoughts this week because Keely from The Un Mom has gone on hiatus, but apparently Stacy at Stacy Uncorked is picking up the torch until Keely decides to return.

Stacy Uncorked

Is anyone else upset over the fact that Jennifer Garner has been cast to play Agatha Christie's iconic Miss Marple? Apparently Disney is in the works to "reboot" the character to give her "youthful and more modern spin". Bad idea? I think so. The age of the character matters because it is what makes Miss Marple such a success. Her years of experience in St. Mary Mead and the time that she has spent observing human nature is what makes her so successful at what she does. (That coupled with the folks who underestimate mental abilities and view her as a batty old lady who knows nothing). If they were going to “reboot” the character, then why not just create an entirely new character altogether? Am I the only one who feels this way?

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Owen just called me into Ben's room. He and Ben are sitting in the glider chair together, cuddling. (Awwww). But then he tells me that Ben is picking his nose. No. That Owen used Ben's finger to pick his nose. Gross. Boys will be boys. 

If I Only Had a Girl.... Or Money.

Earlier today, Jenny from Babblings of a Mommy shared with her readers some great items that she picked up this weekend. Although they were all clothing for little girls, and I haven't a single one, I couldn't resist checking out her list. She shared this cute zebra print dress from Gymboree...

 
...which led me straight to the site to see more. Here are some of my favorite baby girl items (click on the images to learn more). A mommy of boys can dream, right?:

Gymboree: Baby Girl by Betty1940 on Polyvore.com

Then she shared a few items from Kohl's. So I wandered over there to check out the selection. These are my faves:

Kohl's: Baby Girl by Betty1940 featuring floral print dresses

And of course, no "window shopping" wishlist can be complete without a visit to Old Navy:

Old Navy: Baby Girl by Betty1940 featuring old navy dresses

I was actually surprised at how many non "girlie-girl" items are available right now, (by my definition of girlie, that is). What do you think? Any favorite items?

Nail Biters

Owen has been a nail biter for a while now, and I haven't really thought anything of it. It seems like a normal habit for a young kid to develop, so I wasn't concerned. Until I walked into the living room yesterday and caught him chewing hie toenails! That's right. He was chewing his toenails.  Ew. Yuck. Blech. Nastiness. And he had chewed the darn things as far down as he could (on his big toes). So of course this had me worried.

Source

I did a little research and here are a few facts that I unearthed about nail biters:

• About 30%-60% of children and teens chew their fingernails (with the occasional toenail biters). 

•  As they get older, boys are more likely to be nail biters than girls.

• Nail biting is the most common "nervous" habit.

Little Benny Boo-Boo Hopping Through the Forest...

For my 100th post, I was going to post "100 Things About Us", but then I figured that it would have been too long of a post and no one would have read the entire thing. So instead, I'm going to split it up into separate posts. Let's hear it for Ben today!

(Previous "100 Things": Owen and Daddio).

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1. Ben was born in Plattsburgh, NY at 3:12 PM (yes, I had to look it up). He weighed 7 lbs. 15 oz. and was 20 inches long. Like Owen, Ben was also born on his due date, however, his was an induced labor, (because I was about 2 hours away from the hospital where I was going to deliver). Compared to Owen, Ben's delivery was a walk in the park. Thank goodness for epidurals!

2. Ben's name was a mutual choice between Daddio and myself. It was a name that had appeared on both of our name lists for Owen, and one of the only ones that we both liked. His middle name, Ryan, is the same as Daddio's.

3. Ben had really dark hair when he was born. His hair is now blond.

Please, Do Not Feed the Animals!

And by the animals, I mean my kids.

Image Source: ClipartHeaven.com

I'm probably going to come off as being one of those moms after this post, but I'll take my chances with that one.

I get so annoyed when people feed my kids something that they shouldn't be eating, or that I wouldn't normally feed them. Now don't get me wrong here, I understand that when they are visiting someone else's house, they are probably going to be eating food that I don't regularly stock. Grandma S. is sure to serve Owen five pieces of sausage, two glasses of orange juice for breakfast, and no milk. Grandma B. will always have fruit snacks and chocolate treats on hand. And it's a good possibility that Owen will have dessert instead of dinner while at his "girlfriend's" house. Which is fine. I understand that while they are out of the house, I have no control over what they eat. However, when I am in the same room, or when I have left specific instructions, then that's a different story.