Shhhh. I'm about to share a secret.

For less than the cost of a Super Value Meal at McDonalds.........

Hanging Organizers!

Ok so I bought them about 3 years ago when Lauren started school but I've kept this secret to myself. I didn't want people to get a false sense that I was uber organized when clearly, I'm really not.

Here's how it works. Each day of the week has a complete outfit in its cubby. From underwear to socks to shirt and pants! Now there's no guessing which shirt matches which pants. No going to school in green pants and purple print shirts. No more saying, "I don't have any underwear".

The best thing of all is that it's one less battle in the mornings. I can focus on other things like making sure they brush their teeth or comb their whole head of hair.

I have ones for my little boys too which include both an outfit for the day and their jammies as well. Makes it a little easier on Kirk since I've seen some of the outfits he's put together for the boys to wear and then gone out in public. I once asked him, "Would YOU wear that in public? You would seriously wear a brown plaid shirt with blue plaid shorts in public?"

Know what I'm saying?

What big brothers are good for......

Helping feed the baby who is thrilled with the never ending supply of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

Can put stickers in baby's hair and the baby won't care because he's not picky and loves any kind of attention.

Will feed little brother snacks at any time.

Being a big brother is an awful lot of hard work.

Maybe I should label this post, What little brothers are good for.

My husband bought me a

Louis Vuitton wallet (knock off) when he went to Hong Kong!!!

For those who really know me, fancy shmancy designer expensive things do not impress me much at all. In fact, when someone shows off something I know cost a pretty penny, my first thought is, "Wow. That was a big waste of money." How people can spend more than $20 on a pair of shoes ( as I walk around in my recently purchased $7.00 tennis shoes from Walmart since the last pair I bought was two years ago ) or 50k on a decked out car ( I'm perfectly fine driving our '01 paid for Tahoe ) is beyond me.

Let alone, $500 for a wallet! If I wanted to get the matching purse, it would set me back $1700! They sell diaper bags too there at Louis Vuitton. For $2100! And I would only have three colors to choose from! Baby blue, pink or black. Real original. I managed just fine using the free bag, sponsored by Similac, from the hospital. Sure it only came in black, but it was free. For $2100, I sure as heck would expect to pick any color of my choosing. And if I were to drop that kind of money on something like a $2100 diaper bag, I would feel obligated to have more kids just to make it "worth it". At the very least, I would expect it to come with a personal nanny.

It's inherited from my frugal dad who mentioned the other day how they exchanged a timeshare for a week in Vegas and how they plan to go to a bunch of other timeshare presentations just for the free show tickets.


The first thing I asked my husband when he gave it to me, knowing it was a knock off, was "So what's the deal? Is Vuitton spelled the wrong way or something? I guess it really is spelled "Vuitton". I had no idea.

But, I needed a new wallet anyways so it was worth the 20 bucks.

At least it matches my $3.00 purse I got on clearance at Walmart. My husband should consider himself lucky that I don't have expensive taste.

Hang gliding 101

My kids like to chatter. A lot. They will follow me around as they explain things to me like how they want their next birthday cake to look or the reasons why I need to buy the "Aqua Globe" even though we don't even own a plant.

The chatter is accentuated those times when my husband is out of the country on business trips.

I'll admit that a lot of the time I tune their background noise chatter out. Although, I have been busted on occasion when I nod and say, "Uh huh. Really? That's cool" by a child who will then say, "No. It's NOT cool that Erik can open my electronic diary mom". But every once in a while, they will say something that catches my attention. Today, it was "Hang glider Rules" by Jack. He's so smart.


1. Put hang glider together


2. Always hang on


3. Don't open your mouth or else you'll swallow a bug or a bee and a bee would be bad because it would sting you


4. Be sure to bring snacks in case you get hungry


5. Keep your eyes open always because if you look down at the water, you might run into a mountain or birds


And that's all the stuff you need to do to hang glide.


I'll have to keep that in mind. And it's just about as useful to me as an Aqua Globe.

I have a new friend named Craigs

list.

Want to see my cool new finds?

No. It's not the complete series or Harry Potter books.

Nor is it books on pregnancy which are il-placed next to the South Beach Diet book.

And it's not the one and only scrapbook I've attempted.

It's a new home office! Craigslist got me the bookshelves, the corner desk, the over stuffed chair and the big rug all for one low low price of $300! Now Kirk is all set when he starts his Masters in Global Business Management at Thunderbird in the fall!

I've lost my marbles....

And my curtains.

No really. I can't find my curtains.

I took them down a couple of weeks ago when it looked like this: ( We're focusing on the windows as this is a stock photo which shows the old seat cushions and light fixture. )

Then we added this:

And now I can only find this:

And this:

But I'm missing a couple of the side curtains. Naturally, they weren't where I had the other ones.

I swear I must be getting old.

In case you ever wanted to know.....

Those temporary tattoos you get in the current Happy Meal at McDonalds take forever to fade. I initially thought they would be like the cheapo Shrek tattoos from the Corn Pops box that lasted a couple of days or at least until the next bath. So when I put them on my two oldest boys the Saturday of Conference weekend, I thought for sure by the time church rolled around the next week, the pirate skull and crossbones picture would have been long gone from their forearms.

FYI: McDonald's temporary tattoos are more titanium than temporary.

We got the Happy Meal on April 5th. This is a picture of what it looks like today.....10 days later.

My nailpolish doesn't last this long! Right now, I'm just hoping it will fade by the time he has his three year pictures taken next month. I'm blissfully hoping that maybe his quick-tempered, unstable two year old disposition will fade along with it. At least I know his chocolate Cocoa Puffs residue on his face is temporary.

Deal of the week

We're mostly women, right? And as women, we must and will share a deal if we see one. It's some unwritten law or something. So, this is my deal of the week as shared with me by my mom.

"Bountiful Baskets"

Every two weeks, at various locations around the valley you can pre order and pick up a basket of fruits and vegetables. You need to place your order by the Wednesday before and pick up is that next Saturday morning at the designated times.

Each week the basket contents vary. Each week they also will have different items like breads or cheese or like this week, strawberries.

So here's the deal. The first time you place an order, you pay about a dollar or two more than the other times. Then for each order after that, for $15.00, you can get this:

There's a couple of bunches of bananas, 2 onions, a bunch of broccoli, a jicama, some tomatoes, mushrooms, 9 apples, a bag of grapes, 7 large carrots, 4 red peppers, box of small strawberries, bunches of spinach and a bag of romaine lettuce.

For an extra $8.00, I got a case of strawberries!

Here's the even better deal! They do charge a 1.80 fee when ordering online. So, get a few friends to go in on it with you and have one person order 3 or 4 baskets under their account and have them be the one to pick them up so the order fee is spread amongst more people which makes it an even better deal. Every little bit counts these days!

HaPpY AnNiVeRsArY!

Happy 9th Anniversary Kirk!

The modern gift for a 9th anniversary, by the way, is leather. Intriguing......