Gingerbread Playdough!!!

I made this stuff last week for my classroom!   The kids loved it!  It smelled yummy!  (It looked questionable!)    When I added the spices...  I made sure it was a rounded off.  I wanted it to smell extra yummy!

Here are my little Ginger babies!   This was taken in December 2000!  Wow, time has flown!

Frisco Riverdogs. The end of an era.

We have been the Frisco Riverdogs for 9 years.  In baseball years......that is about 15 seasons.   There have been a lot of boys that have ran through the team.  All of them have been amazing young men.  All of them have made some sort of contribution.   I can't say enough about how these boys have touched our lives.  Thanks boys for such good memories!

We won several tournaments and seasons of trophies, metals and t-shirts.   None of that really matters because we were friends out there having a good time.



Braden, Hayden, Carson, Connor, Owen,
Neal, Andrew, Jaime, Lee-Man,  WoJo,  Evan, Jake, Jacob, Joshua, Mitch, Jackson, Matthew, Caleb, Keenan, Mark, Clarky, Sam, Spaghetti, Chase,  Oliver,  John Mark, Drew, Terrence, Fletcher,  Joey,  X-Man, and my son, Clay.  Yes, I have forgotten a few names..... Forgive me.

Boys, you are all etched in
my heart.  You are all athletes of the highest
rankings.  Go out & love the sport.   You were all
taught sportsmanship and the love of the game.

A big hug is extended to all our honorary bat-boys...  Diego, Abby,  & Collette.  Geez, you three were mighty cute out there cheering for your big brothers!

Good Friendships were made.  Good times were had by all.

Wakeland Class of 2014

Just yesterday she was this big.   She was afraid of cameras.  Notice that tear under her right eye.

Her first day of preschool.....  She broke my heart.  I still left her.

The very next day.....  "Yook at me!!!"

Where did my baby go?  There she is!!!!!

                                 Go out there baby and change the world!!!!    You got this!

People Watching at the Mall…..

It all started the day I parked my car and found this strange soul sitting on the ground near Nordstroms.  I can't be sure what she was exactly doing.   It was odd how she was looking at her leg and occasionally leaning against that car.  She must have been braiding that hair on her leg.  Trust me, I locked the van and ran into the mall.

The mall offers many opportunities for people watching.  I have decided that there are many who just haven't evolved into the human race.  Note the above picture.

Later that day……  I was hoping to try on clothing in one of my favorite department stores.  This is what I found in the dressing room.  Seriously? It left me speechless.

While I was no means upset with the staff.  They were having a difficult time policing the place to keep it tidy and up to standard neatness on the floor.  It really isn't their fault that most shoppers are slobs and don't care about all the extra work they cause the world around them.  

It led me to wonder….what kind of person would do this?  Honestly, the people working are not hired to be personal maids/slaves.  They are hired to help you find a good outfit and put it together.  Their job includes putting things in order and returning the  items back to the correct location on the floor.  

Please do the rest of us shoppers a favor and put your things on the "go-back" rack.  It would also be nice to not tie your shirts in knots and  leave them inside-out.   It kinda destroys the integrity and newness of the clothing when it is left to wrinkle and get all yucky on the floor.  Who really wants to buy that now?  NOT ME.

This is just funny!

So I am not sure what appeals to me here the most.   I just needed another giggle.  

Really?

This just makes me laugh.   Yep..........    This is the silver lining of the day.

WAL-MART SHOPPING & K.B.

As a former resident of Arkansas,  I grew up with Walmart.  I understand the place.  I understand it's philosophy.

But that being said, there are ways to shop at Walmart and save even more money.   The above grocery list was made by my friend, K.B.  I consider her the local queen of saving a buck or two around town.  The list is store specific and each number represents an aisle.  I simply print off the sheet and write down what I need.   Easy Peasy.   This list gives no man an excuse for not being able to find what is written down.  Again, easy peasy.  I will even tell him to look for "Great Value" brands.  It takes the guess work out of finding that name brand stuff.

Each week,  K.B.  compiles a list of where the best local price is and sends it out via email to all her local peeps.   WalMart has a price match guarantee and will always honor the lowest price.  After that, grab those coupons and watch the savings begin.  It is always magical to see that price drop.

http://corporate.walmart.com/ad-match-guarantee    Read this.  Know your stuff.  Print it off and be prepared to educate your local store.

Wal-Mart policy states that the original sales ad does not need to be shown.  All you need to do is tell them the price & corresponding store.   K.B. has it down to an art.  She uses colored stickers where she writes the new price on the sticker followed by store initials.  To help the cashier out.....she places all the stickered items face up on the belt at the end.  She also looks for her favorite cashier.    Rumor has it she has been known to bring them a treat during the holidays.   (NOTE THIS PLEASE:  it is important to make friends with the people who work at your favorite stores.  They will appreciate you & give you better service.  Retail workers are like that.)  

K.B. also recommends getting on the email list from your favorite restaurants.   Many of them send out special savings weekly.  Some of the ones I recommend are  Cinemark,  RedBox, Chili's,  Pei Wei & Starbucks.   If you don't like all those emails cluttering your inbox...grab yourself a specific email account just for this purpose.

I love getting her email.  She even throws in a scripture or two.   It brightens my week.  Thanks, K.B.!!

If you are one of my local friends and want a copy of the WalMart store list or on K.B.'s list........  you know how to contact me.

Saturday night.

While driving home late Saturday evening we saw this posted on the side of the road.  It was somewhere on the west side of Ft. Worth.

I am not sure about the rest of the world....   But I am picky about where I pay my bill.

Integrity & the Mean GIRLS

We have been discussing integrity at our house this week.   Mean girls lack integrity.

I was reminded of a couple of girls from high school.     I can't call them ladies....so I will refer to them as D&B.   They constantly gave me their "stink-eye" and were always rude.   They were never nice nor did they treat me like a human in the same room.  To this day.........  I've tried to forgive and add them on FB as a friend.   We live in different parts of the United States.  They never accepted my request.   Forgiveness is their loss now.  Am I hurt?  NO.  Do I care?  NO.     D&B don't have integrity.   STILL.

Did I mention there were only 13 girls in my graduating class?  Maybe it was 12.  I can't remember.

I find people like that amusing.  Why do they bother?  What makes them tick?   I think it stems from a lack of self-esteem and jealousy.   We could blame their parents  for giving them too much attention and never punishing for their misbehavior.  Maybe they haven't gotten enough positive attention or guidance.  Again, the parents fault.  Either way, the world continually suffers from their issues.

I  (hopefully!) have raised my girls to have integrity.  I want them to ignore the "mean girls" and not give them any glory or attention to the given behavior.    Yes, be as nice as you possibly can.    Keep it honest, real & upfront.  Keep yourself away from their useless drama.  


My moral of this story......  Mean girls will always be that.  MEAN.  The rest of us grow up.

Gaming.. my thoughts.

Someone asked me recently how I felt about video games.   I have been known to play a few of them.  I love playing Candy Crush.  It gives me a minute of brain-crushing distraction.     

Video games can be fun.  They can be somewhat entertaining.  The complexity of what can be done with a digital format is mind-boggling & I  enjoy seeing the graphics.

I don't, however, support gaming to the point of doing anything else.   There are so many other things we can be doing....reading, exercising,  praying,  seeking God's word,  finding a new hobby......   maybe cooking a fancy new dish?,  quality time with the family or friends.    Gaming can be a huge distraction to our regular lives.   Gaming shouldn't ever be our lives.   It is in the same category as continuous texting........ learn to communicate verbally.  It is a good thing.

Gaming shouldn't take precedence over the real world.  EVER.  Enough said.  

My son, the Superhero.

My youngest, C.G. needed an original superhero costume for a DNOW weekend at church.  He didn't have a clue what he wanted to be.  He is 13.  I can't fault him for that.....when you are cute the options are endless.  We went with what  could be made using my limited sewing skills. 

The idea is get 2  large t-shirts at the thrift shop.  Wash them!  I bought a red & a purple.  Cut them exactly the same size on the back side of the shirt and leave the neck hole open.  DO NOT CUT THE NECKHOLE apart!!  Flip it over so it is inside out and sew the two shirt sides together.  I didn't sew the bottom.  It was already finished and I didn't want to bother.  Turn them right side out, iron and then sew a line of topstitching along the outer edge of the folded seam.   I cut the large yellow sun shape out of yellow broadcloth and backed it with the iron-able wonder under.  After that,  I again topstitched the edges down and ironed on the "STASHE".  

That's it.  EASY PEASY!

The "Stache" was found at Hobby Lobby with all the other iron on decals and letters.

The big boy...... that would be R.S.  He is my oldest daughter's "SPECIAL FRIEND".   We like him.  

Leadership

Last night, my baby MG was named the Colorguard Captain for WHS 2013-2014.   It was her greatest achievement to date.  That girl was on fire...........  She looked like this when she arrived home from school.  But, she wasn't wearing this little number...  Too bad.

My  advice and wisdom to her is be the leader you would want to have.  Own the title...BUT DON'T LET IT BECOME YOU.   Give of yourself.  Use your privileges with responsibility and have wisdom & grace in all situations.  

Style & Attitude is important too!



WE LOVE YOU BABY!

Something new for my kitchen...

Tonight, I made this little sign for the inside door of the spice cabinet.  Occasionally, my lovely daughters need a reminder of  equivalents for different measuring cups.  It all depends on the amount of dirty dishes in the sink.   I have to assume that I am not the only person in this world who can't maintain control over the dirty dishes.

There is nothing new to report on the home front.  The girls are both working at their respective jobs.  I am still at the same places.....either Celina ISD or the LOFT.  I love both of my jobs.  Baseball has begun and someday we will have Spring weather for a day or two.  The boys are happy.

This one is for the homeschoolin' cajun.

And, yes, I will share it with anyone else who wants it.  The story behind this is that last week she was texting me about how she needed to find a teachers lounge.  HA!  Can you guess where I told her to go?   Well, just in case she wants a little privacy.......this little poster would look fabulous framed up and hung up properly on the door.