A Little Bit Of This and That and a Whole Lotta Nothin

The things that randomly float around in my head ... 

 I think jumping is very fun and everyone ought to try it now and again.

I have to say that sheep are one of my favorite animals. 

And penguins, too, but I don't have any fun pics of penguins.

I'm pretty much going zero to ninety all day long, every day. And when I'm not, I sometimes feel like I'm being lazy. {I know, I've got issues.} A few weeks ago, we were at the lake and it was rainy and all cozy-cozy-like, and you know what I want to do on a rainy Sunday? I want to curl up with an afghan and a good book and I want to read until I fall asleep. THAT is my picture perfect rainy day. And so I was doing just that but the hubs was out working on the boats and the lawn and everything else and being all productive-like and clearly over-achieving, and there I was being lazy.

 I'll let you in on a little secret though, I didn't get up off the bed and I did finish my book. I couldn't put it down. And I think Aunt Bec was taking care of the kids and Coco, good sis that she is. But I did feel lazy the whole darn time. 

Somebody LOVES girls.
Here he is in full flirt mode, just begging Kiana to chase him. 

She's just out of the frame on this one but oh, she's there and he's workin' his magic.

For the last, oh, 5 years or so, I've wanted a very cute pair of rain boots. And I keep putting off the purchase because they're pricey and all. Or at least I think. But each year, after I slosh around in my crocs for the entire season, I say to myself, "Self, BUY a pair of rain boots and get the cutest pair you can find so that you're set for the next decade."  

And so now, I'm on the hunt for the-CUTEST-pair-of-rain-boots. 

 Got any suggestions for me? I'm goin' for it. I'm done procrastinating. I'm going to wear cute tight jeans (with a long shirt to cover up my booty, never you mind), and my rain boots and a cute coat and I'm going to feel cute. That's the promise I made myself about an hour ago. So there. 

 Jackson is still whining and throwing temper tantrums and he's SIX. Does your 6-year-old do that? Or did yours do that? Please say yes. Just lie to me if you have to. 

I'm going crazy over here. 

 It's a good thing he's so cute.

Maddie starts piano lessons on Tuesday and I can hardly wait. {Sorry for the old news. You can read full details here but these were my initial thoughts prior to her first lesson.} Honestly, I think she's going to be delighted. She's moved by music, as is her mama. Deeply moved. So I get all giddy-like just thinking about this new adventure she's starting. Hard work, yes. Worth it all. Absolutely.

We've been working on our backyard these days and we're loving it. I'd like to call it "small-but-mighty." We lovingly call it our 'postage-stamp-yard' because that's about the size of it, and I'm so not kidding. To cut our front and back yard, Jack puts the burgers on, cuts the back yard and flips the burgers. He then wanders up to the front yard, mows the front, goes back to the back and the burgs are done. Presto. See here for pics. 

On the tooth fairy. I simply STINK at being her. But fortunately for me/her, Gobbie {my mother and it's a story for another day as to how she wound up with the name Gobbie} came through for me when we were in Canada a few weeks ago and she had a book to slip under Jackson's pillow when the little man last yet another tooth at random. So, by my chinny-chin-chin, the tooth fairy came through and found Jackson all the way up in Canada. He was rather impressed. As was I. 

You see, back in July or August, Jackson lost a tooth and, well, let's just say that I think 4 days went by and that darn tooth fairy FINALLY showed up. One night she was sick. The next night she was in New Zealand or some faraway magical place. The first night he lost the tooth too late in the night (8pm) and she was already flyin' around so she couldn't stop in ... And on and on it went. See, I do stink at it. In my next life I'm going to nominate Jack to be the tooth man-zy or something clever so he has to be responsible to pull off the magic act. 

 Sometimes you just need to wear goggles while you're cooking bacon and pancakes over the fire.

LOVING this crock pot recipe. Ready. Go get a bag of frozen meatballs. A great big one. While at it, buy one bottle of bbq sauce (your favorite kind will do) and one jar of pineapple preservers. Go home and get the crocker out. Spray it with Pam or the like. Dump the meatballs into a great big bowl (I usually do half a big bag so we have extras for leftovers). Get another bowl and mix up the bbq and the pineapple preserves and stir. Then dump that mixture over the meatballs and stir it all around so the meatballs are covered in the goop. Then dump into the crocker, turn on low for 3 hours (no more than this or they get dried out). Serve over mashed potatoes or rice. Be ready to be a hero. Oh, and to save you from going insane, most stores do NOT carry Pineapple preserves. I have found the only place around here is Jewel. 

Just trying to save you umpteen trips to umpteen stores.

 I really prefer to stay up super, SUPER late and then sleep in super SUPER late. The latter never happens unless I'm at my Mum's house. She spoils me. I love that about her. 

Coco makes me smile. Pretty much every time I look at her.

And with that, I'll rap up my irrelevent little tid-bits of nothingness and hope that you have a rocking good day.