I love fall

School started this week, which can only mean one thing: Fall is on its way!

I love fall!

I love the light jacket weather, the falling leaves, the cool nights, wearing scarfs, drinking hot chocolate...and I LOVE Halloween.

Right about this time every year, my mind starts racing with possibilities of how to dress up Thing 1 and Thing 2 that will make them even cuter than they are everyday (if that is possible, right?!).

For their first Halloween, they were, what else...Thing 1 and Thing 2.

For their second Halloween, they were Bert & Ernie.

For their third, they were rock stars.

And last Halloween, they were train engineers (complete with their very own ride in Thomas the tank engine).

What will they be this year?  Hmmm....  the possibilities are endless!

They like firetrucks.  And dogs.  Maybe I can make them a fireman and dalmatian.

They love acting like animals.  Maybe I could make them a puppy and a kitten.

They are really in to space and astronauts.  Maybe I could make them an astronaut and an alien.

But then again... a lot can change in two months, and by then, the boys may have all new favorite things!  So unlike last year, I resolve not to begin buying costume parts off of ebay in August!  (Although, those purchases will come in handy if the boys do decide to be firemen this year!)

Patience never was my strong suit.

40 B4 40: Build Something

For the past year, I've been wanting a craft table, but nothing I ever found was just perfect (read: big enough). Then, about a month ago, I ran across a blog that had plans for a simple saw horse table, and I knew I'd found not only my table, but an opportunity to check #37 Build Something off my 40 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 40 list.

First, I built the saw horse "legs" for the table.  And stained them black.

Thing 1 helping Superman cut my boards

Wood filler done and sanded

Saw horses done

Then, I found an old door and stained it black.

The saw horses really work!

Then....  TA-DA!

I can't wait to have this covered with a craft project!

This is literally a huge improvement over my old craft table!

Too tiny!

I can't wait to build something else!

40 B4 40: My little garden

A few weeks back, I wrote that I had finally planted a tiny garden, which allowed me to cross off #13 and #14 on my list of 40 things I want to do before I turn 40.

Here are some updated pictures of said garden:

My little garden

Bell pepper

Mmm fresh basil!

Jalapeno peppers

More Jalapenos

Tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

I have another big 40 B4 40 update coming soon! I'm really excited about being almost finished with this project!

This is an ugly post

I hate the "I was abused" defense.

I hate it.

Oh, I know what you are thinking "How can you judge someone unless you've walked in their shoes? You have no idea how that could mess a person up."

Well, I'm going to share something with you that I've only shared with very few people in my life:

I was sexually abused as a young child.

I haven't shared this with many people for all of the myriad of reasons people generally don't share things like this...

It's embarrassing.

I didn't want to make other people uncomfortable.

I don't want to hurt the people indirectly involved.

And hell, maybe tomorrow I'll regret this coming out and wish I'd just kept it pushed in the back of my mind, but right now I'm furious.

I don't know whether Casey Anthony killed her daughter or not.  Obviously the circumstantial evidence piled high against her.  But I'm furious that she and her defense team used the allegations of childhood sexual abuse as some sort of excuse for her erratic and neglectful behavior as a mother.

Sure she partied when she should have been looking for her missing daughter, but oh poor Casey was abused as a child, so you can understand....

No.  No, I can't.

My emotional scars don't make me neglect my sons...they've done the opposite.  They've made me become what some would deem overly protective about their care.

They are why I refused to put my sons in daycare.  They are why I have only let a handful of selective people (mainly their grandparents and godmother) babysit them.

I could never leave them alone in a room, even for two minutes with someone I didn't trust 100% to not hurt them, because I won't allow my child to have to endure the kind of trauma that I did.  Even if other people can't understand why I don't "just hire a sitter".

I'm not saying I don't think she was abused.   I wouldn't presume to know the answer to that.  But I do not accept said abuse as some kind of defense for her deplorable actions (and I'm counting all of them, regardless of whether she actually murdered her daughter).

I've kept quiet about this for a long time.  As most people do.  It's a dirty secret we try to bury deep inside and not think about.  Maybe I wouldn't even be coming clean now if it weren't for the perceived anonymity of the internet.

But reading these articles.  Seeing the way that the defense tried to manipulate and exploit a very real, tender, and hurtful subject as a way to excuse her actions (or non-actions)...I just have to say, as a "survivor" myself, that abuse is not an excuse!

My new favorite thing

I love pajamas.  I especially love kids in pajamas.  I especially especially love Thing 1 and Thing 2 in pajamas.  The only problem: pajamas are expensive.

I am a bargain hunter.  At the end of almost every season, my favorite shopping partner in crime (my mother-in-law) and I go and buy all the clothes the boys will need for the next year at the clearance prices.  If you go in my basement right now, you will find totes upon totes filled with 4T, 5T, and 6T boys clothes.  Shirts, shorts, sweaters, shoes, underwear, swimming trunks, you name it.  In fact, I probably already own the outfit they'll wear on their first day of kindergarten!

A shirt on sale for $10?  Ha!  Come talk to me when it's marked down 75%!  I speak red-line clearance fluently.

Now, I'm just a bargain hunter.  My mother-in-law, she is a professional compulsive shopper.  She cannot pass up a "good buy."  Combine our two personalities and you have a deadly combination leading to an overfull closet of marked down clothes.  (I won't point fingers of who won't stop buying long after they have more than plenty, but her name begins with "grand" and ends with "ma.")

But what we don't have overflowing...pajamas.  Why?  Because pajamas are expensive, and they never seem to go on clearance.  Sure, you might catch a buy 1 get 1 half off sale, but where I can routinely find name brand shirts for $2 and jeans for $3.50, I can never seem to find the same amazing deals on bedtime clothes.

This summer, we are the lowest on pajamas that we've ever been.  We literally have 3 pairs of 4T short sleeve/short combination pajamas.  I've been rotating those with a few pairs of 3T pairs I have left over from last summer.  For a while, it was working, but then...

Weird Science called.  Wyatt wants his shirt back.

The 1970s called.  The NBA wants their shorts back.

Obviously the boys needed new pajamas, but I didn't want to spend $15 a pair on outfits that never even leave the house!  And I didn't want to put Grandma-shop-aholic on the case, because I just wanted a few pair, not 20!  One look at their closet jam packed with tshirts, and you know she has no self-restraint.  Half of those shirts they've never even worn.

Wait...I have a plethora of shirts they've never worn....  EUREKA!

Instead of buying more pajamas, I headed over to Burlington and picked up a few packs of Hanes toddler boxers (did you know they made boxers for toddlers?!?!).  Two packs of 2 for $5.  Score!

Then, I match the cute plaid boxers with one of their millions of unworn tshirts and...PRESTO!  Instant pajamas!

But the best part...better than saving money....  Is they look so freaking adorable!!  Seriously, I thought seeing them march around in their little tighty whiteys was adorable...but I swear the boxer/tshirt combo is even cuter!  (That, or my boys get cuter everyday.  That is a possibility too!)

So there you go...if you have a little boy, and you want to help out your hurting wallet...skip the pajama aisle and head over to the underwear.  Pick up a few pairs of brightly colored boxers and pair them with matching tshirts that you probably already have plenty of.  I promise you won't miss the pajama cute factor!

40 B4 40 Update III

3. Sell something on etsy.com

Well, I haven't sold something yet.  But I did finally put my store online.

I chose the shop name Do-It-Myself as a play on the popular term Do-It-Yourself.  Because the types of crafts I'll be selling are the types of things mosts women (or men) would make themselves for family and friends if they had the time, money, or talent (although I didn't include that last part in the shop description!).

My first listing is the superhero capes that I've been making for Thing 1 and Thing 2's friends.  I can tell you from experience that these make great birthday presents.  What kid wouldn't love their own personalize superhero cape?

Fingers crossed!

40 B4 40: Update II

My little garden

In January, instead of a New Year's Resolution, I wrote a blog listing the 40 things I wanted to accomplish before I turned 40.

In April, I wrote an update.

So, I figured it was time to write another update.  If for no other reason than to prompt myself to keep working to check some things off.

4. Present at a national conference - Unfortunately, the proposal I submitted to ACTFL was not accepted.  I was pretty bummed about this, until I found out that my work's budget was being slashed 46.5% for the 2011-2012 school year which means no one will be traveling anywhere for any conferences.

My basil

12. Grow an herb garden - Unfortunately, my seedlings I started were picked by curious boys.  But I do have one basil plant growing in a pot on the back porch.  It's not quite an "herb garden", but I think it is a good start.

13. Grow a vegetable garden - Like the herb seedlings, my vegetable seedlings did not make it. :(  But I do have five tomato plants and three peppers that I bought from seedlings planted in the garden.  I managed to clear out and till about 10% of my garden plot.  If I can keep these babies alive, then I think I'll feel more confident to plant even more next summer.

33. Learn to use coupons (making it a habit) - Honestly, I'm not sure if I care about this one anymore.  The more and more I read/watch/learn about couponing, the less I'm convinced it is useful for me/my family.  #1 Seeing people fill entire rooms full of groceries creeps me out.  I am an anti-clutter person, so I don't like lots of stuff.  Not to mention it makes those people look like they are preparing for armageddon or when "they" come for our guns.  #2 Most of the coupons I find are for boxed food (Hamburger Helper, instant mashed potatoes), canned food (Chef Boyardee), and frozen pizzas or tv dinners.  And that's just not how we eat.  We tend to buy ingredients, not pre-made foods.  So unless coupons start coming for fresh fruits and veggies, eggs, milk, flour, etc.  we will concentrate on just trying to stick to a budget.

This update does remind me that I need to re-visit my etsy.com store idea.