Tuesday Ten

Woo Hoo - It's Tuesday Ten!  Wanna see what's going on round our abode this week??

ONE

Though Harrison's 5th birthday was well over a month ago, he just got his birthday gift from Mama & Daddy this week.  Partly because we waited until the last possible minute to order it only to realize it was out of stock and then waited nearly 2 weeks for it to come back in stock (which it didn't) and then proceeded to order a completely different one.  Because of all that hoopla, Harrison knew what the gift was and the details surrounding it not being here for his birthday.  I should probably first point out the fact that Harrison is a YouTube whiz.  Justin showed him one time how he could look up mudbogg videos, 4-wheeler videos...pretty much anything involving mud & trucks.  (and obviously, we supervise...not all of YouTube is "kid friendly.")  So, months and months back, he got started on watching remote control videos.  Not like the cheapy R/C trucks from Wal-Mart, but these are high dollar trucks that are near replicas of a full size truck.  Apparently (yes, I've learned quite a bit about this), people are big into this and even go as far as buying accessorites for these R/C trucks.  There are even clubs where people meet monthly or whatever and race...I mean, with annoucers and prizes and stuff.  And they even go to such lengths as to compose detailed and life-like videos of these trucks on YouTube.  Whew. 

Having been through dozens of the cheapy Wal-Mart R/C trucks, Justin brought up the idea of maybe getting Harrison one of the quality ones that runs on gas.  If Harrison really liked it, maybe that's something he could get into...save his money for tires, yada yada.  If I could have come up for another idea for a birthday gift, I really would have.  But, I know my kid and I know that's something he would love.  And....right I was!  When UPS pulled in the driveway that faithful day, I nearly thought the kid would pee his pants.  He couldn't wait for Daddy to rip open the box and the smile on his face was worth it to me.  And of course, they had to try it out immediately!

TWO

As you know by now, we're well into the sharing room things with the boys and honestly, they've done great!  We haven't broken down and bought bunk beds yet, simply because the trundle bed situation isn't as bad as I thought.  Harrison makes both beds in the morning and all I have to do is push the trundle under.  When Brig naps, we've been just putting him in the top bed to avoid pulling out the trundle just for him.  But at night, Harrison sleeps on the top bed and Brig sleeps in the trundle...or at least that's what is supposed to happen.  What really happens is that Brig crawls under Harrison's bed (like on the floor) dragging his pillow, blanket and friend and sleeps on the floor.  When he first started doing that, we'd go in and put him back in the trundle, only to find him in the morning back on the floor.  It's really quite hilarious.  I have plans to sneak in there one night and attempt to snap some pics of him in the act.  Soon to come.  :) 

But, these pics are from last week when I just happened to peek in on Brig during naptime and the sun was coming in such a way that he just looked so peaceful and so pretty.  It's like all the "no, Brig, "get out of there," "leave him alone" of the day had melted away and there layed this sweet, perfect baby. 

THREE

Thanks to my love for reading blogs, I came across a new dessert recipe over at Our Best Bites.  Brace yourself.  Chocolate-Frosted Peanut Butter Bars.  I bookmarked the recipe with plans to make them over the weekend, and then couldn't get them off my mind.  Is that not pitiful?  Saturday afternoon was D-Day.  They were surprisingly easy to make, though I split Our Best Bites' recipe in half and baked them in a 9x13 dish.  If you could imagine a Reese cup but in a non-melty, non-goopy cookie...that's it.  And because the cookie part has oats in there, it almost gives them a Do-Si-Do (the Girl Scout peanut butter sandwich cookies) taste and texture, but then frosted with chocolate.  I've yet to try any recipe from Sara & Kate over at Our Best Bites that isn't great and this one is no different!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Base

As if the cookie part alone wasn't good enough, how bout drizzle some peanut butter on top?

With a final layer of chocolate frosting-Yum!

FOUR

We're Vacation Bible Schoolin' this week at our church.  I have the preschoolers yet again this year and though I love those little critters and am a little sad that I won't be leading them , I'm way excited that I'll be teaching them this year!  I wish I could be there all week (and Harrison too), but I'll just be there the first 2 nights.  The rest of the week will be spent jet-setting it to Nashville for MOPS Convention!  Details on that to come next week.

FIVE

My sweet niece Kalea turned 9 this week.  I can remember her being a spunky (well, she's still spunky) itty bitty thing and telling me her birthday is on "July twenty-nines," and I have yet to forget it!  Though I'll be off at MOPS Convention the day of her birthday party, J and the boys will celebrate anyway. 

 

SIX

A few weeks back, Harrison asked me off the cuff (everything's off the cuff with him) if I'd "show" him how to play the piano.  After reminding him that learning piano is a little more involved than me just showing him, he said he was serious and really wanted to learn to play.  He said, "I can play the piano and Briggy can dance!"  (Brig is our dance superstar...more on that another day.)  So I did some research and found the same piano curriculum I took as a kid, but for some reason I didn't order the books that day.  Then, on a whim, we decided Friday morning to do a little yard-saleing.  You know I love a good yard sale.  Well whatdya know, I found the same series of Bastien Piano Basics that I had planned to order at that yard sale.  I bought the entire Primer level (4 books) for $1...ONE DOLLAR!  I'm pretty excited that on that same yard-saleing morning, I found 4 pair of nearly-brand-new jeans for Harrison for $1 a piece.  If that's not the Lord's provision, I don't know what is!  We cleaned out closets about a month ago and I was floored by the amount of things Harrison had outgrown since last year.  And after I got up off the floor, I realized that I'd have to school shop very budget-friendly for him.  What's the main thing he needs?  Jeans.  Coincidence...I think not. 

SEVEN

Brig's to the age where he's learning new words and copy-catting everything he sees and hears.  This is good because he's starting to ask to sit on the potty...obviously from watching Brother do the potty.  But this is bad, because we have to be careful about what we say. 

Last week, we were in the kitchen and the boys were eating lunch.  Harrison asked me what we were having for supper.  It was Friday and Friday is always pizza night.  So I said, "Um, it's Friday, so we're having pizza."  He then said, "You mean like a pizza that you make??"  And I said, "Yeah, like homemade" (a favorite round here).  He immediately raised his lanky little arms in the air and proceeded to let out a "Whoop!  Whoop!" because obviously he was excited about homemade pizza.  And without missing a beat, Brig pipes up a little "Whoop! Whoop!"  Just in case you've never seen a PB & J covered 20-month-old let out a "Whoop! Whoop!", it's pretty much the cutest thing ever. 

EIGHT

Thanks to my love affair with Pinterest, I found a new recipe to try for supper....five-ingredient chicken & rice.  The best part (besides it being only 5 ingredients), is that it's a Crock Pot meal!  Five ingredients = Chicken breasts, cream of chicken, cream cheese, Italian dressing mix and rice.  This was a huge hit and super easy!  Win-Win.  In our haste to dig in, I didn't even snap a picture of the finished meal.  It made the house smell SO good.  We had it with green beans and fresh creamed corn from [the garden,] along with the previously-elaborated-on choclate peanut butter bars with ice cream for dessert.  Perfect (and easy) for Sunday Supper!

The secret ingredient?  Italian dressing mix

Disclaimer:  This is not the finished meal...this is before cooking.  Doesn't look so appealing.

NINE

As much as I love clothes and shoes and accessories and all things girly, I'm a cheap-o at heart.  In my mind, it doesn't take oodles of bucks to look great.  I stumbled upon the Eyes Lips Face (E.L.F.) line of makeup and was a little leary of buying anything because the prices were so darn cheap!  I mean...a good bit of the collection is $1!  Well, I decided to go for it and ordered a few things.  And even though it's cheap, you better believe I used a coupon code too.  So far, I really love everything I bought and am excited to try some other things eventually.  A few of my favorites...

Blush/Bronzer Combo...This is a near duplicate for the high-end [Nars] equivalent.

High Definition Power...Another near duplicate for the [Make Up For Ever] famed powder.  This powder has made the biggest different in how my liquid foundation looks and lasts during the day.  If I have one complaint about it, it's that it's a loose powder and a little messy, but then again, all loose powders are messy.

Eyeliner & Shadow Stick...I got this in the Midnight combo, which is a blue cream shadow on one end and a navy blue liner on the other end.  Having blue eyes, I'm already a big fan of blue shadows...tastefully done blues.  This one is great!

Liquid Eyeshadow...This is the first time I've used a liquid shadow and the color is Champagne.  It's the perfect shimmery pale color to use as a highlighter or is even pretty all over the lid for a more natural look. 

These are only a few of the products I ordered, but are definitely my favorites.  All in all, I spent less than $20 (including shipping) for the entire package.

TEN

I'm so very pleased to report that Harrison's behavior is getting back on track.  Here's a glimpse of last week's behavior/chore chart.  (The check marks are days the chores are done and the :)/:(  is his behavior.  Now, that deserves a big "Whoop! Whoop!"

Have a BLESSED week!

Happy Birthday to You!