Don't Pee on the Bee

Friends and Brothers, Give Thanks!

The topic of the April 2010 issue of O Magazine is love.  I'm not really sure why since they probably "did" love in February, but who knows?  But there were two interesting pieces in there that greatly appealed to the Psych major in me!

A study from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland finds that people who were raised with at least one sister are happier people than those who were raised with only brothers!  It appears that this might be the case since girls are more expressive with their feelings and probably help their families communicate better.  Hmmm . . . could this be the reason I went into Psychology and both my brothers went into Construction Management?  Again, I'll be waiting for the "thank you" from my brothers on this one!

The other heartwarming finding (published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology) shows how important friendship can be.  Participants of the study stood at the bottom of a steep hill and were asked how hard they thought it would be to climb the hill.  Participants who were standing with a friend when asked this question thought that it would be easier than those who were standing alone.  The amazing thing is that the longer that the friendship had lasted, the easier the participant thought the climb would be!   I think this is so powerful!  Maybe we should remember this when our inclination is to pull the cover over our heads and not talk to anyone!  Seems like we should find ourselves a tall hill somewhere and grab a friend!

Great stuff in Family Fun this month!

I am so proud of myself.  I've been making my way through the April stack of magazines and am organized enough to share some cute ideas about Easter before it is past!  (Funny what will impress us about ourselves some days!)  With the March issue, it was weeks past St. Patrick's Day before I posted about the cute cupcakes!

So today--days before Easter!--click here for an easy way to help your kids dye eggs AND for a great idea for what to stuff in an egg for an Easter egg hunt!  I think this is one of the best parts of this magazine--My Great Idea!  Real moms sending in great ideas for practical things that work!  And I, for one, did not put candy or food inside the eggs that I sent to school for my kids Easter egg hunt.  I went the sticker route, and I made certain to assure the kids' teacher that the eggs weren't empty just because they felt so light!

Switching gears slightly, you all know how I feel about gratitude!  Well, there was another great idea in this month's magazine about practicing gratitude for our bodies.  The writers suggest writing the names of body parts on cards and then having each person choose a card and say one nice (or grateful) thing about that body part.  For example, if I chose eyes, I would say, "Thank you, eyes, for letting me read so many magazines and books and blogs and recipes and . . ."  I guess I would have to stop somewhere!  This is particularly apropos for me as I started working out last week at the gym, and my body is letting me know how hard it has been working!  At the same time, I swear I look thinner! (Smile)

And finally, there was one other article in the magazine that I thought was a real winner.  How about planning a brunch with your family or friends instead of dinner?  At dinner, it's the end of the day, or a long week, everyone has been busy all day, maybe is used to being in bed around 7 p.m.  But in the late morning, everyone is refreshed, feeling pretty good, no naps or bedtime in sight for awhile.  I think it sounds like a great thing to try!   Plus I love brunchy food!

If you're crafty, it's definitely worth a peek to the Family Fun April 2010 web page.  Lots of ideas, recipes and other good stuff! 

A simple question

"Mommy, are these on right?

This is what happens when the tag is in the side seam and not in the back!

Strength and Power

"Enter every activity without giving mental recognition to the possibility of defeat. Concentrate on your strengths, instead of your weaknesses... on your powers, instead of your problems."
--Paul J. Meyer

For me, this week was riddled with the possibility of defeat!  Somehow I completely missed t-ball sign-ups.  And let me tell you, it was not for lack of reading the local signs!  I've read all of them daily since missing soccer sign-ups last year!  How was I supposed to know that Little League meant t-ball too???  So after beating myself up pretty good for--yes--being a bad mom, I am happy to say that JJ has found a t-ball team and has a hat and a jersey too!  And in the future, I will (try!) to focus more on my powers instead of my problems!

Check out Spirit Booster's blog for more inspiring daily quotes! 

Some Fun Treats

The March 2010 issue of Family Fun magazine had some cute treats for the kids.  I loved these butterfly treats and can definitely see myself making something like this for the kids' birthday parties at school.  I know that some of my family still think that I am a Scrooge when it comes to treats and sugar and such, but that's OK with me!  And I think that any of my kids' friends (and their moms!) would love these!

That being said, when I saw this recipe, I immediately wanted to make these!  I think my kids would flip if they got to eat one of these rainbow cupcakes!  And even though St. Patrick's Day is over, I think that these would be a hit any day of the year!  If you haven't clicked over yet, you've got to see this picture!

Need a New Truck?

I just couldn't resist sharing this photo!

We were getting out of the car at the beach last week, and this big ol' truck pulls up!  JJ couldn't get out of the car fast enough!  This is NOT a diesel big rig.  This is some Texan's truck that he drove to California on vacation with two sets of grandparents, his wife and kids.  Can you believe it?  It's a Ford F650.  Most pickups we see driving around are F150's or F250's.  Blows my mind!  "Grandpa" showed me the inside.  Super plush.  I would LOVE to know what this cost!  
 

My New Digs!

First of all, I have found our new house.  Actually, the house that J.R. and I could retire in when we finally have our own little spot on the coast of San Juan Island in Washington state.   This house won Sunset magazine's Green Home award (March2010 issue, Photo by Bill Timmerman).   What's so cool about this house is that besides being prefabricated and having all it's green components (solar panels, rainwater and gray-water collection), it's a little less than 600 square feet and is narrow enough to be transported on the road!  There is the covered deck (seen in picture) then a bedroom, a covered breezeway, bath and kitchen split by a hallway and then the livingroom.  Of course, J.R. will have to have a work shop on our property, and I will likely need a library/office!

And speaking of my office . . . look at what my husband and his little apprentice are working on!

Apparently, J.R. has been percolating an idea in his head for quite some time now about building me an office I don't need to clean up every time we have company.  I came home in February from my mom's to find the ivy pulled up in this area of the yard and a few holes dug.  J.R. started filling me in on his idea, and the next thing I know, there are windows leaning up against the side of our house.  A few days later, lumber starts appearing!

Here's the totally cool thing, though.  Years and years ago, I remember watching a movie, Benny & Joon.  In this movie, they had a room in their house that went out over a river or creek on their property.  I vividly remember thinking that I would love to have a room like that.  And guess what!  Without ever knowing that, J.R. is building my office out over our creek, and it is going to have a glass wall looking out over that part of the creek.  If you look closely at this picture, you can see the creek flowing down the property.

I am so excited!  And he promised me that one entire wall will be bookshelves too!  How did I get so dang lucky???