Waste Not, Want Not - The Dual Purpose Pumpkin

Do you remember the beautiful pumpkin that we got a couple weeks ago?  Well, yesterday we I finally got around to carving it.  We looked through the templates from the pumpkin carving kit I bought, on clearance after Halloween last year, and finally decided on one.

Mommy, Did You Know Those Boys Were Laughing at You?

Yesterday, Patterson Elementary School kicked off their weekly fun runs.  Students and their families were encouraged to come out and it is intended to be a great way to get kids involved in fitness at an early age.  The fun runs are going to be every week.

I Taught My Kids How to Make Explicit Christmas Ornaments

ALERT: I, in no way, mean to offend anyone with the end result of this post.  This is real life and this is what REALLY happened!

On one of our many afternoon trips to the library, me and the girl headed over to the section where they keep the craft books and grabbed a few.  When we got home, we looked through them all, from cover to cover trying to find something to make with supplies that we already had on hand.  We found instructions for making ornaments out of milkweed pods.  The instructions recommended that you paint the pod and make a little snow scene inside by using a small plastic reindeer.  I decided we would just paint and use glitter.

Milkweed Pod
Source: Mdf

I'm pretty sure I haven't seen any milkweed pods, but they are similar in shape to these pods that fall off the trees around here.  Connor calls them coconuts but they in fact, look nothing like coconuts with the exception that they are brown.

Off we went one afternoon looking to collect some premium specimens; we found quite a lot.

We cleaned them up and decided to do a test run on one.  We took the single pod and painted it gold.

Then we painted the inside with glue and sprinkled it with glitter.  I thought red would be a nice touch!

When it was finished, I held it up and took a good look at it.  Then I realized, I had just taught my children how to make vagina ornaments!

I think tomorrow we are going to look for some fake snow and some little plastic reindeer!


On an unrelated note: read today's HubPages article!

Four Years Old, Three Preschools Later

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was attempting to get Connor into the Preschool Program at Madison's elementary school.  Everyone raves about this school AND the preschool program that they offer.  Well, there just happened to be one spot available because someone moved away, and our little Connor got in.  This week is his fourth week and he seems to be adjusting well.

My Heart is Warm, My Belly is Full

Today was Sunday, nothing important day.  We had no plans to do anything.  I got up and made a batch of monkey bread for breakfast, which was an awesome start to the day.  Michael headed out after breakfast because we needed a new chlorine tablet holder for the pool.

Nike Training Club Review

Since moving to Arizona and having to become even more frugal, I had to give up my gym membership.  This was very difficult but I told myself I would keep up with my exercise.  I packed up all of my exercise equipment and DVD's and planned on doing a little step aerobics, a little kick boxing, a little strength training, a little yoga and a little running to keep me in shape!

Even More Redonkulous!

We have been doing this EZ-3 Savings Plan with the electric company for a little over a week and it is actually going really well.  Not only have we reduced the price of our electricity but we have also cut down on our usage because we turn almost everything off from 3pm - 6pm.  Having said this, you can only do so much at home without electricity (especially when it's in the high 90's......the house starts to get a little hot at the end of the 2nd hour), so we have been spending a lot of time at the Library.  Madison does her homework, we read books, we check some out, etc.

Doohickey

I don't know what to write about today.......this is the first time I have been speechless.  It may be because I am now writing double time.  The articles I am writing are taking a lot more of my mental energy than simply writing about our lives.  Also, nothing particularly share worthy has occurred.

Frozen Dog Treats

Do you remember my grocery store score from Saturday?  Well, that 32 oz carton of Yoplait Yogurt only cost me 50 cents.   Why am I telling you this?  Because, I thought this the perfect opportunity to make frozen dog treats or what I like to call "Frosty Paws Knockoffs".

Takin' It Easy on a Saturday

Today I'm going to take it easy because it is Saturday......just relax and do nothing of any importance........as soon as I get a few things done!

Thankful Thursday

First of all, I would like to tell you that I wrote this post in my head while running this morning.  Secondly, I would like to apologize if it is a little poorly written because I am writing it, post run, sitting on a towel with another towel in my lap to wipe the sweat off my hands and face while typing.

Wordless Wednesday - Unprompted

An unprompted thank you note written with a cinnamon scented marker.

I'ts Fall Break and I'm Already at a Loss!

Yesterday was officially the first day of Fall Break.  This may be a foreign thing for most of you but out here in Gilbert, we have Fall Break which consists of a full week off of school.

Source: Fastilysock CC-BY-SA-3.0

I'm More Like Frosted Flakes

This morning I published another article on HubPages.com; this is my fourth so far.  Since my articles seem to be following a trend of "helpful information", I decided to write about air drying your laundry.  This is something I have been doing for almost a year now.

I Received the Versatile Blogger Award!

Today is Saturday Funday and if you remember, we are going to Barktoberfest today. I have decided to squeeze in some blog time real quick and maybe (or maybe not) I will tell you about Barktoberfest tomorrow. Yesterday I had a really nice surprise from fellow blogger For Every Girl Like Me, who awarded me with the Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks so much for supporting me, since I have only been at this a month, you made my day!

I Found My Literary "Chair"

I recently changed my Facebook employment status to "Aspiring Freelance Writer".  I have been writing this blog now for almost a month and am thoroughly enjoying it!  The words just keep coming to me and I have an overwhelming feeling to just keep writing.

FREE Fun is Even More Fun!

If you haven't figured it out by now, I LOVE FREE.  So you can imagine my excitement when I received a text message from Redbox with a FREE movie code.  The Redbox Text Club sends great rewards to your phone, including a free promo code every month! You'll also be the first to hear about special offers and members-only freebies.

I Finally Laced Up My Shoes

Last night, we had a big storm. It began with a dust storm in the afternoon which then progressed into a full scale, thunder and lightning with torrential down pour kind of storm. Not raining cats and dogs but raining horses and cows! The result of the storm was nice cool weather this morning. So I got up, got dressed and laced up my running shoes. I walked Madison to school and then set off on my run.

Tasty Tuesday - Spiced Sweet Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Things are starting to settle and we are getting back into some of our usual routines.  So last Saturday, I got up early and went and picked up my Bountiful Basket.  I have to admit that I am thrilled to bits that the pick-up time here in Gilbert is 7:30am unlike Las Vegas where I had to drag my ass out of bed to get there by 6:30am.  My pick-up consisted of the the usual awesomeness of fresh fruits and vegetables that sent me home with culinary excitement!  If you are not familiar with bountifulbaskets.org then I highly recommend you check it out!

Small Observations On A Morning Dog Walk

This morning when I went on my usual walk with the dog, I decided that I would take the time to "smell the roses".  Being that roses aren't very common in the desert, I decided to look for things of interest.

Redonkulous

If you read my recent post entitled "Slowly Getting Settled" you will hopefully remember that I was excited about a Mystery Shopping assignment that I had received for Friday the 30th of September.