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Friendly Friday 4-29-11

April 29, 2011 · by · 6 Comments
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Welcome to Friendly Friday!
Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier, Christi at Frugal Novice and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other! Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted.

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. Feel free to right-click on and save the Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Happy Friendly Friday everybody! After days of rain and wind, it’s a beautiful sunny day here in Lansing. Kaitlyn asked this morning if we could please start planting a garden! Chris and I have talked about it, but I think we haven’t yet because we’re afraid we’ll put a bunch of work into it and then nothing will grow :P

We’re planning to make tomorrow Spring Cleaning day. Every room in the house needs a thorough dusting, vacuuming, mopping. I’m sure we’ll end up filling the back of the van with stuff for Goodwill, too. I also need to write about two dozen product reviews, I could do it in a weekend if I could stay off of Facebook :)

If you read this post, scroll down to the end of the link list and add your link so I know you stopped by. Comments are always welcome!



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It’s A Big Day For Both My Boys

April 28, 2011 · by · 6 Comments
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Today turned out to be a big day for both Ryan and Nathan. First, Nathan went with Chris to work for Take Your Child to Work Day. The company Chris works for is family-owned and they love planning activities for kids. Chris has been busy all morning so I don’t even know what Nathan is doing, but I’m sure he’s happy not to be in school :)

Tonight is Ryan’s induction ceremony into National Junior Honor Society. At dinner last night Ryan casually mentioned that he had gone to “rehearsal” yesterday during school and was going today as well. I said, rehearsal for WHAT? People, getting inducted into NJHS is a BIG FREAKING DEAL, I had no idea.

This is the largest group the school has ever had, 84 students. Besides going over the ceremony and practicing things like lining up and walking into the room, they also practiced the ceremony itself. Which involves things like holding a candle and having it lit by the person next to them, then turning and lighting their neighbor’s candle. And taking an OATH.

OMG, my son is joining an actual SECRET SOCIETY, people! The more he described it, the more it sounded eerily familiar – because I went through a similar ceremony when I had my sorority initiation. Except I had to take a test about the sorority history, recite the Greek alphabet, learn a handshake (yes, a HANDSHAKE), and Ryan just has to take an oath and light a candle. But STILL. Guess that means I’d better take a shower and put on something other than sweatpants and a ratty t shirt.

GREAT. Now I have my sorority’s song totally stuck in my head and it will be there all day. Bet your sorority’s song didn’t start with everyone having to WHISTLE. How does one even type a whistle?

Like I said before I digressed, big day.  I asked Chris to try to get some pictures of Nathan at work, and I’ll take my camera tonight and record what I can of Ryan’s initiation.  It’s exciting for both of them!

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Wordless Wednesday 4-27-11: Best Save the Date Wedding Video EVER

April 27, 2011 · by · 4 Comments
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I wish I was their friend so I could go to their wedding! Add the link to your Wordless Wednesday post below, and please leave a comment letting me know you were here!

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Menu Plan Monday 4-25-11

April 25, 2011 · by · 3 Comments
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Yesterday was the first Easter in a long time that I didn’t fix the traditional ham dinner. We had been to a Memorial service for Chris’ Grandma on Saturday and there was a ton of food left over. So, we had leftover fried chicken, lasagna and caesar salad for Easter dinner!

Thanks to my friend Eliza mentioning it on Facebook, I discovered the site Give Every Night New Flavor, which looks to be a collaboration between ConAgra Foods and participating grocery store chains. I picked Kroger because it’s the only one on the list we have here in Lansing, and used the recipe search to come up with a few ideas for meals this week.

I searched for Italian recipes that take 30 minutes or more and serve 4 or more and found a Baked Ziti that only calls for 5 ingredients – my kind of recipe!  Here’s everything I’m making this week:

Baked Ziti Casserole with steamed broccoli and garlic toast

Betty Crocker Chile-Chicken Enchiladas with rice, chips and salsa

Manwich Sloppy Joes, with oven fries and corn

Breaded Fish Fillets with Betty Crocker Au Gratin Potatoes and steamed peas

Pizza Night

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with mashed potatoes, chicken gravy, and green beans

I link up my menu plan posts at I’m an Organizing Junkie. Head over to see hundreds more menu plans, and feel free to tell me in a comment what you are making for dinner this week!

 

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New Color Scheme – Better?

April 22, 2011 · by · 10 Comments
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I let Kaitlyn help me tweak the colors of this new theme. After rejecting her first background suggestion, which was to use a repeating pattern of MY LITTLE PONIES, we settled on this purple that comes from one of the shades used in my purple flower logo.

I also changed the footer background to a darker purple. I need to do something with the very bottom footer stripe, not sure what yet.

So? Better?

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Friendly Friday 4-22-11 – Welcome New Friends!

April 22, 2011 · by · 7 Comments
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Welcome to Friendly Friday!
Remember, YOU can host the link list on your blog, too! Just get the InLinkz code and copy it directly into your post. The code is different every week, so be sure to get the new code when hosting Friendly Friday on your blog. Hosting the list is a great way to get even more traffic to your blog and make Friendly Friday more beneficial for everyone.

Thanks for joining the Friendly Friday celebration hosted by Christi at Frugal Novice, Xenia at Thanks, Mail Carrier and Charla at Healthy Home Blog! We invite you to join us every Friday to make more friends in blogville, get more blog followers and follow other great blogs out there.

To join in the Friendly Friday celebration, include your family-friendly link in our list, follow the hostesses in the first 3 spots and then start blog hopping! Visit other blogs on the list and comment to give them some blog love. Then take a minute to follow them through Google Friend Connect – this is a good way to keep up with other blogs, but also lets us show support to each other!

Please DO NOT list your giveaways here, links must be to either your homepage or your Friday posting with your blog title. All others will be deleted (sorry, those are the Friendly Friday rules).

When people comment on your blog and let you know they’re a part of Friendly Friday, return the favor and follow them back. This way everyone gets traffic and followers out of participating, and it’s a win-win situation. Feel free to grab the Friendly Friday button and post it on your blog and/or in a post – the more bloggers that find out about Friendly Friday and participate, the better!

Happy Friday everybody! It’s cold and rainy today, I’m starting to think we’ll be doing our Easter egg hunt inside on Sunday. Which reminds me, I still need to fill all the plastic eggs so the kids have something to find! lol

Did you do a Friendly Friday post today? Link it up here! Or, leave the link to any post you’d like me to stop by your blog and read! Friendly Friday is all about visiting current blog friends and making new ones! Happy Friday Everybody!!

Oh, and while you are here, I have a favor to ask! I switched themes because I’m joining the Clever Girls/Federated Media ad network and I had to make room in the sidebar for a 300×250 ad, which should be coming soon. This is the Social Eyes child theme for Genesis. I had to pick my own background and I’d just like to know – what do you think about the horizontal stripes? Be honest :)



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216 Piece Magnetic Balls Set From DinoDirect – Video

April 21, 2011 · by · 2 Comments
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This is a sponsored post from DinoDirect.com. They asked me to tell you about this product and their site in my own words.
DinoDirect Magnetic Balls Desk Toy

Magnets are a wildly popular toy for everyone from kids to adults. People post all kinds of videos on YouTube showing what they make with magnet sets, who knew? DinoDirect.com has a 216 piece Magnetic Balls Toy that makes pretty much anything you can imagine. Photos on their site show pencil and pen caddies, business card holders, crown and coffee mug sculptures, even pretend eyeglass frames!

I decided there HAD to be a video on YouTube showing someone making something with this set, and sure enough, I found it. Here’s a cool demo that starts with little triangles, joins them up to make flower shapes, then combines those into a six-sided triangle box:

Each of the Magnetic Balls in the set is strong enough to hold papers to your fridge by itself, so imagine how strong they are when combined! I’m already thinking ahead to Father’s Day – these would be great to include with my husband’s gifts, something he can take to work and fiddle with on his desk. Best of all they are only $21.79 with free worldwide shipping plus the site says “free gift with order” – bonus! Check out DinoDirect.com and decide for yourself!

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Nearly Wordless Wednesday 4-20-11: Surprise! It’s a Coach Purse!

April 20, 2011 · by · 8 Comments
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I never expected that a casual comment left on a Facebook update about how I’ve always wanted a Coach purse would have led to getting this package in the mail!

A Surprise Package!

The wonderful Naomi from Superdumb Supervillain saw my comment and remembered a Coach purse she bought at a thrift store but wasn’t using.

Holy Crap It's A Coach Purse!

So she sent it to me! And I LOVE IT!

Looks Good On Me :)

Coach purses have an inside zippered pocket that is stamped with a description of the materials, where it was made, and a serial number. I went to the Coach website and typed in the serial number and found out it’s a Patricia’s Legacy bag. Isn’t it awesome??! Thanks again, Naomi!

Link up your Wordless (or Nearly Wordless!) posts here!  Here’s a linky that lets you put in a thumbnail of your post:

And here’s a basic linky if you prefer:

While you’re here, why not leave a comment about this post or just to say hello? Happy Wordless Wednesday!

note: Looking to make a jewelry purchase? A huge selection of premier design jewelry is available to make your purchase care-free from Abazias.

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Filed Under: Things That Make Me Happy, Wordless Wednesday · Tagged: ,

Please excuse the mess

April 19, 2011 · by · 1 Comment
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I’m moving things around to accomodate having been accepted into the Clever Girls Collective/Federated Media Ad Network. Please bear with me while I figure out just how to make Table for Five look as awesome as possible!

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Photo – Nathan wearing Metatarsal Boot

April 16, 2011 · by · 4 Comments
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Thursday night, Nathan was running from the kitchen into the living room to plug in his cell phone before the battery died, and he landed wrong on his right foot. It isn’t swollen or misshapen, and he can put weight on it although it hurts, but just to be safe, I took him to the doctor on Friday.

Because Nathan had specific pain on one point of his foot, the doctor sent us for Xrays and also wrote prescriptions for crutches and for a metatarsal boot, which keeps Nathan’s foot aligned correctly and also protects it.

I have been so impressed with how well he’s dealing with all of this. We even went to the library today. I told him he could stay home, but he said “Mom, I have to get used to walking with the crutches for school.” How’s that for being a trooper? He hasn’t complained at all, and best of all, he’s letting me take care of him.

Chris keeps telling me to let him get things for himself, but I LIKE giving him extra attention. At 12, he doesn’t really need much mothering anymore, so it’s nice to get a chance to fuss over him a little.

And it could be worse. He could be Emma Stone’s character in this SNL Digital Short! Ryan and I love this, we sing it all the time :)

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