I Think it is Magic!

This morning I had a stack of dishes. They needed to get done. Alas, over the last few weeks, I kept forgetting to buy new sponges & scotch brite pads. The pad & sponge I had no longer seemed sanitary. The pans have been piling up this week. (Nothing unusual...)
I figured I should go out to the store to get the dish washing tools I needed.
I was standing in the store, trying to pick out the best possible sponge. I saw the Magic Eraser! I had been told about this in the past. I didn't think much of it then. I guess I just filed it somewhere in the back of my brain. Today, I had the urge to get it & try it.
And, I tried it. I couldn't stop trying it. It was so fun. I cleaned all my cabinet & drawer fronts in the kitchen. The stovetop. The microwave. The oven. The walls. The fridge. The kickboards. I was going to sew this afternoon. But, the magic eraser had other plans. I cleaned until the eraser was out of magic. I had to kept repeating to myself, "do not get out the other one... leave it in the drawer... do not clean anymore..."
I recommend this little sponge. It makes cleaning so darn fun. And, it even worked on the kitchen grease above the stove/oven range. And, when I say grease, I mean, a lot. I don't do such chores with any regularity...

On My Nightstand

First off - we never had nightstands, until yesterday. We found the perfect ones! We wanted something that was rather smallish, not heavy looking, but not girly, froo-froo. These black iron ones are great companions to our bed, which is also black cast iron. Our room is finally nearing completion! We still have a few things to hang on the walls, including a lovely little beveled edge mirror we got as a wedding gift. We need to finally enjoy it!
Back to what is on my nightstand...

Flower Confidential: the good, the bad & the beautiful

I've been reading about flower breeding. Breeding out the scent & delicateness... Shipping flowers across the world, so we can have what we want in the wrong season...

Tending the Heart of Virtue: how classic stories waken a child's moral imagination

This is a great book! I've read about Beauty & the Beast & Pinocchio. Now I am starting on the chapter about Little Mermaid & the Velveteen Rabbit.

I am inspired to become a parent who does some serious reading of fairy tales with my kids.


How Starbucks Saved My Life: a son of privilege learns to live like everyone else

I just started into this last night. So far, so good.

An Engagement

I had the opportunity to do floral arrangements for an Engagement party this week. It was fun. It was supposed to be simple, with roses, but not really "rosey" & look sort of 1950's. I don't know how well that came across. But, I thought it was nice.

Weekend Trip

We went to San Diego for the weekend. Gillian was so excited about the "pain" (plane). She was having a hard time waiting for it on Friday. When we got her out of bed Saturday morning & put her in the car, she was practically jumping up & down in her car seat.
The kids were both very good all weekend. Gillian hardly got a nap both days. But, lasted very well.
Saturday was Scott's mom's birthday. The party was a surprise & so was our visit! I think she was glad to see the grandkiddies!
Sunday we went to the Zoo, before we flew back home. What a great place! Everyone loved it.

Gillian & Aunt Kim watching the baby hippos.

Can you see how tired Gillian looked?

Peyton woke up from sleeping in the carrier & got to check out the goats at the petting zoo.

Collecting

The CFT auction is coming up quickly again. A bunch of us have been working hard to gather together items for the auction. So far, the greatest donation I got given to CFT is a drafting table from Saffron & Genevieve. Krista got a Kayak trip package thing donated. That is way cool! My mom has gathered tickets from Disneyland, Great America & more. We have wine tasting packages. We have a hand quilted quilt. Many treasures!

Right now, I am trying to win this beauty - the Toro, made by Micralite.

If I win this, I'll donate it for the auction. It looks like a pretty awesome stroller. The giveaway is going on at MomDot. You could always enter & then donate it to the auction, if you win!

That is Smart

My little boy is a smelly little one. When he sleeps, he drools & sweats a lot... His sheets get pretty nasty, pretty quickly. But, I never would change them as often as I should. It was just such a chore. Sometimes the mattress gets really stuck. I often need Scott's help. It was just really hard. But - not anymore. I just got the Quick Zips. This chore no longer exists. It is a breeze to change his bedding! Check the out!

Sweet Honey Buns

I kept intending to blog last week. But, never got too far. It was a busy week.

A new little niece was born - Emma Grace! She is a sweet little honey.

And, it was our (uh - mine & Scott's) anniversary - the end of our 4th year of marriage. So, we did some celebrating. The tradition for the 4th year is giving fruits or flowers or books.

That made it really easy for us, since we are really into those things. Scott got me books on floral design. I gave him a custom paper cutting of his beloved Medlar fruit. I found this artist - Joe, by putting up a request on Etsy Alchemy. I love how easy Etsy makes it to connect with artists who will work with you & do custom work for a reasonable price.

Scott was out of town for work, until the evening of our anniversary. While he was gone, I made up some of these Honey Buns, for a sweet breakfast when he got home. What a marvelous recipe!

These were SO yummy. When I make them next time, I will do a few things differently, though. I think I will try buttering the pan. The sticky mixture baked on to the pan & made it really hard to get the rolls out. I will also bake them for less time. The recipe says about 1 hour. I took mine out at 50 minutes, and they were over cooked... But still delicious!

We took our anniversary date to the Shadowbrook. We had our first date here & hadn't been back since. We had a lovely time. We had Gin & Tonics & Artichoke Soup for starters - just like we did back then. Their artichoke soup is really good...

The Best Day of Her Whole Life

We went to Monterey yesterday morning. I am pretty sure it was the best day of Gillian's life. And, since it ended with a Bbq at Papa & Ama's house - it only got better.

After she woke up & had here morning bottle, I told her we needed to get out of bed to get ready - we were going to go see fishys. She was giddy, starting right then.

First we went to breakfast at First Awakenings. A tasty start - with both Scott & I eating the Bacado Omelette.

Then we went to the Aquarium. She loved it!

Peyton loved it, too. He was shaking with excitement when he saw the fish tanks.

We loved the kiddie play Splash Zone. Face plants are kinda fun when you are on a water bed.

We walked the trail along the ocean to this little park, where we had a picnic lunch. Gillian kept racing to this tree & posing. She seemed to really want a picture. But, she was a little far away to get a really good one.