Personalized Hand Sanitizer for back to school

If you missed my tweet yesterday, my baby started Kindergarten!  (sigh)

If you ask, no, I did not cry, not even a little.  I swear!

Here he is, ready to go.  

I thought I would make his new teacher and the secretary a little something to start their year off

"squeaky clean"

I found several examples of this all over the Internet. 

I started off with a bottle of hand sanitizer, some un-do and some vinyl.

Remove the stickers from the bottles, then use the un-do to remove the sticky.

I only did this on one side.

 I cut the vinyl into a 3" shape, and one into a 1 1/2" letter

 Centered them onto the bottle and added a ribbon

On the backside I found an adorable printable about hands somewhere on the web, I'm sorry I can't find who I got it from, but I would like to thank them!

I used the sticky that was already on there, printed the words on a piece of overhead transparency and cut it to fit.

The secretary was beyond surprised and thrilled, and the teacher loved it.  I know when I was a teacher, anything was appreciated, and I think secretaries are amazing!  

To all the teachers, secretaries, principals and staff, I hope you have an amazing 2011-2012 School year!  

Have a Happy Humpday loves!

Love, BJ

Taco Soup

This is by far my favorite recipe for the crock pot.  It's simple, easy and delicious!!!!

What you'll need
2 lbs ground beef
2 cans pinto beans
 1 can kidney beans
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can rotel
2 cans diced green chiles
1 can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional
1 package taco seasoning mix
1 package ranch salad dressing
_______________________________
Corn chips for serving
Sour cream for garnish
Grated cheese
Chopped green onion
Pickled jalapenos

It's as simple as browning the ground beef and dumping the rest of the ingredients to the line in the crock pot.  Stir and simmer on low all day (6-8 hours).  If you don't have all day, but you have 4 hours, crank it to high, and it will be ready for dinner

I hope you enjoy!  Love, BJ

Sh!t My Kids Ruined

Let me start out by saying that I love my kids and know that they are little and accidents will happen. Depending on the item, ruined can either be a permanent or temporary condition.  I have resigned to the fact that my house will be destroyed for the next 10+ years and will only fix the items that really are in need.  There are numerous books where pages have been torn out or spines are ripped in half.
For example, Da Freakout decided one day that he was going to move the console in my truck so he could sit in the middle.  Well instead of lifting the small handle to do it, he just started pulling by the cupholder and separated the cupholders from the rest of the seat.  I will say that duct tape and a large tube of super or gorilla glue is a must. 
Here is a small list including photos of sh!t my kids ruined.

Venetian blinds.  No less than 6 are broke right now in my house.

Great for privacy.

Bar stool 1 Wood Floor 0

Some Ninja decided that standing on the gate and jumping to get over it was a good idea.

Check out the duct tape repair.

Dyson vacuum no longer has a holder for the cord.

What's missing?  How about my favorite Japanese Maple shrub that was right in the middle of the mulch.

Da Freakout drove his power wheel F150 right over it.

Trampoline netting.  Not even a year old and there was a 7 foot rip in it.  Once it started, they kept pulling it.

I had to take some heavy rope to sew it back up.

Well this may not be ruined, but it's to funny not to share.  I gave the boys a bath in the jacuzzi tub last night and left the water and soap in there.  I wanted to fill the tub up more and add Clorox to clean the jets.  Bobbi decided to turn the jets on and close the door.  10 minutes later she came down laughing hysterically on what happened.  Pretty funny but my arms still smell like Clorox.

What are some things that your kids have ruined?? Just stockpile the duct tape and glue and all will be good. 

 Have a great Monday!!!!

Steve ✈

Silent Saturday-underwater

These were too funny not to share with you all.  Have a great weekend!  Love, BJ

iPhoto Friday- this past week

I thought I would share a couple days of this past week with you.  It has been one heck of a week.

While I was getting ready, this is what Baby Diesel went and did.

We took a small road trip to WV,

I did get a little silence.  Baby Diesel was awake by this point, but there wasn't any bickering or arguing.

One of my highlights that brightened my crazy week,

some of the best Pizza you'll ever put in your mouth!  

It makes #2 of my all time fav. Pizza!

The brightest part of my week, the reason for my trip to WV, well besides visiting family, 

my new colorful locks, and 1 new feather!

I love getting my hair cut, especially since I only do it twice a year.  While looking through the feathers (that I'm addicted to) my lovely stylist Sandra showed me the colored hair.  It is AWESOME!!  I love it! I was going to go with wilder colors, but I stayed a little reserved.  I would have to say the colored hair is my new addiction.  I would have it all over my head if it wasn't such a pain to comb.  I would highly recommend it to all of you lovelies that want to add some color to your life without damaging your hair.

I hope you all have had an amazing week, and that next week is smooth sailing!  Love, BJ

Orange Lemonade

• A de-lish drink for those little ones after a long day at school! 

via

• What you'll need:
• 4 1/4 cups water, divided
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• ice cubes
• Lemon slices

1. In a saucepan, bring 1-1/4 cups water and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes; cool. Transfer to a pitcher; add lemon and orange juices and peels. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Stir in the remaining water. Serve over ice. Garnish with lemon if desired.

Lunch notes

Growing up, it was always so fun to find a lovely little note or card in my lunch box.  It was the perfect pick-me-up in the middle of the day.  I got them I know until high school, if not my first year there too.

 With my little guy starting the big K this week, there is no doubt in my mind that he'll be getting little love notes in his lunch box everyday.  He may not be able to read, but simple little notes like this one

 or this one

 or even this one

 are simple enough for my 5 year old to understand.  You don't even have to be an artist to do it!

If you really want to impress your kids, check out what one mom did.

How awesome are those?!  Crazy right?  You can check her out here

If that's not your thing, you can go here and print out these

I just love all the options!  It's a great way to put a smile on your little ones day, even if you can't see it!

Have a happy Humpday!  Love, BJ

Blender Jello

With school starting, I thought I would share a couple lunch goodies for your little one.

What you'll need:
3/4 cup boiling water
1- 3oz. package strawberry flavored gelatin mix, unsweetened
1/2 cup low fat milk
1 medium banan
ice cubes

1. Blend together hot water and gelatin mix in blender
2.  Add ice cubes to milk to equal 1 1/4 cups.  Add to blender
3.  Add bananas and blend at high speed.
4.  Pour into eight small paper cups and chill until firm
5. Enjoy!

Hope you like it!  Love, BJ

Survival in the workplace

I know that most of my survival tips have had you thinking about preparedness, tools, and keeping your cool. Today my survival spotlight is upon workplace survival. It has been called a rat race, the urban jungle, the grind and a slew of other slang terms; we know it better as our jobs. We all need income to survive, whether we like it or not. We must make the best of what we have and be thankful for our jobs. In a job climate where it has become the norm to do more with less it is crucial that we do all that we can to prevent burnout, breakdowns, and complete insanity. I have a few little tricks of the trade that have been passed down to me by a guy in a field where burnout runs rampant.

The first thing that we must come to terms with is “acknowledging our limitations”. I have a hard time with this one, and it’s only the first step. I think this is where it all goes wrong. I feel like my limitations are limitless and I blaze a trail into the perils of my work load. This usually ends up with me becoming very annoyed with those around me. This is probably an adverse side effect of not accepting my own limitations. 

When the words “spread the load” hit my ears it was a life changing moment; my eyes were opened and praise the Lord I could see!!! My problems were not with my workers, they lie within. They do not have a clue about what is going on unless I tell them. All that they see is their manager working freakishly hard, in a bad mood, and sweating profusely. I have neglected to spread the load with others. This is a key point in backpacking and it works very well, how I could have overlooked this seemingly obvious step in life. I must focus on my verbal communication with my guys. If they don’t know what I am working on or why I am doing the things I do how can I expect them to help? It is unfair to leave your workers in the dark about what is going on behind the front lines. They were hired for their own individual talents. 

Recognizing the great talents of those around us is a tough thing to do when you are out of breathes, sweating and irate. I am not the all knowing, all seeing Wizard of OZ. The fate of the world is not in my hands alone. Take a break, a moment to reflect, or what ever it is that you do to get to your happy place inside of your brain and remove your self from the situation for a brief moment. Go over the individual skill sets that your personal cast of OZ possess and make an inventory of their major assets. The main factor of personal satisfaction at work is having workers know that they are important. Hand off the tasks they can easily conquer on their own, and save the important stuff to be done personally. I have a hard time doing this because my OZ seems more like the setting of the Showtime prison series, Oz, than the Dorothy and Toto version that most of us are more familiar with. 

We all face down our own daily demons when it comes to surviving work, you may be a CEO or your family’s chief financial officer, we all have a work load that sometimes swamps us and puts us in a funk. I am here to let you know that many have passed before us and done their jobs and sought out ways to make it more like fun than work. My best advice on this survival scenario is to surround yourself with great people, and if you don’t have the luxury of choosing the people that you surround yourselves with at work, look for the best in everybody. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you find. It is hard to recognize the great talents of those around us until we find out what our own limitations are. 

Barry

Silent Saturday-My wild boys

Crayon Centerpiece

Getting into the school spirit, and wanting to be festive, I thought it would be adorable to make a centerpiece for my table.  

What you'll need:

Glue gun and glue sticks

2-3 boxes of Crayons

floral foam

This is a simple but oh so cute craft.  It's as simple as glueing the crayons onto the foam like this.

 I put the glue down first, then laid the foam flat on the table so that the crayons would line up evenly.

 Arrange the crayons in any order you desire.

 I added some flowers and viola!

The finished centerpiece.

Since it's not quite fall yet, I couldn't bring myself to putting fall flowers in the center piece, but by September, I will change those flowers out to something a little more fall.

Have fun, and enjoy!

Happy Crafting!

Love, BJ

2 new cocktails

I thought I would share a couple of cocktails that you don't hear of everyday.  They sound super yummy to me.

Bacardi Cocktail
1 oz. Rum
1-1/2 oz. Sour Mix
1/2 oz. Grenadine

via

Pour all ingredients over ice, shake, or blend add to cup and enjoy!!!

Banana Banshee
1/2 oz. Creme De Banana
1/2 oz. White Creme De Cacao
2 oz. Coffee Creamer

via

Pour all ingredients over ice, shake or blend add to cup and enjoy!!!

I love these two drinks, I'm a fan of all of the ingredients.  If you're not a big banana fan, the banshee might not be the drink for you.

Have a wonderful day and we'll see you tomorrow!!

Love, BJ

Best Movie Ever

Okay, so I'm having one of those days where I'm having brain farts.  I wasn't real sure what to share, my head is so full of stuff I couldn't pick one thing, so this morning I thought I would participate in the Writing Prompts over at FTLOB.  It's perfect for those days when you need a little boost!  This weeks prompt is movies.  I have so many favorite movies that I thought I would share just a couple.  I would say they are the best movies ever!

First up Sweet Home Alabama.  I love Reese Witherspoon, she is an amazing actress, I don't know if there are any movies that she's in that I don't like.

Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore, they both get two thumbs up.  These movies make me laugh so hard I could cry.  Adam Sandler is my top male actor.  He is hilarious and is great in every movie I have ever seen.

 SUPERSTAR!  Holy moly, If you have never seen this movie, go out and rent it this weekend, or tonight if you can.  Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell are superbly funny! It actually has a great story to it, with a lesson.  It's a good one for young girls. (The story that is)

Cruel Intentions would definitely be at the top of my favorites list.  The young love of Reese and Ryan is so sexy.  It's a true shame they didn't make it.  It's crazy watching this movie now with these actors so young in the movie.  Reese was an amazing actress even early in her career.

My list of movie could ramble on and on.  These movies don't need a lot of words to say how amazing they are.  I love each one of them and would highly recommend each one of them.  I can't say there has been any "new" movies that I would compare to these, but there could be one out there.

If you are having one of those days where you need a little help with what to write, head over to FTLOB and check out their Writing Prompts.

If you have any great movie suggestions, leave me a comment and I'll check it out!  I love to watch movies!!!!

Have a Happy Humpday!  Love, BJ

Tomato Salad

Hands down, my favorite summer food is a tomato!  There are so many things you can do with one.  My favorite recipe is a simple tomato salad.

All you need is:
Tomatoes, as many as your heart desires, you can use one or whatever depending on how many you are going to serve
Onion
1 banana pepper or semi-hot pepper
Fresh Basil
Vegetable Oil- I wouldn't recommend using any other kind, it make it taste different, trust me, I've tried

1.  Core and dice up the tomatoes into a bowl
2.  Cut up and core the pepper, I get out most of the seeds since that's where the hot is, but I like to keep a couple, put into bowl.
3.  Dice up about 1/2 an onion, use more or less depending on what you like
4.  Add basil, I use the top of the basil, it is very flavorful and a great use of the basil, just make sure you pull the white little flowers off.
5.  add about 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, this is just a guess, I don't actually measure it with 4 tomatoes, less for less.
6.  Add salt
7.  Stir and enjoy!

I can eat the entire bowl of this by myself when I make it.  It is so yummy!  I hope you'll try it out and let me know what you think!

If you are looking for more great recipes, check some out below!  Love, BJ

Simple Pencil Block Holder

Here is a simple craft idea that would be great for a kid to give to a teacher or grandparent as a present.  It is a simple pencil holder that you or your kid can decorate anyway you see fit.  All you need is a scrap piece of wood that is lying around.  I decided to make different size holes to accommodate anything from pencils to sharpie markers.  I even made a larger hole for a pair of scissors.  When its was time to paint, I decided to use chalkboard paint.  This way you can write notes on the outside and then wipe them away when not needed.

Here is what you will need:
Chop saw
4 x 4
Sandpaper / Sander
Drill
Drill bits (various sizes)
Paint Brush
Paint (your choice) I chose chalkboard paint

I started by cutting the 4x4 on an angle of 19 degrees.  This allows the block to stand up and not topple over. 

I then took a leftover 2x4 that I had and just made a freehand cut down the middle. 

This piece would go in front of the block and add support.



In the front of the small block, drill 2 screws in, to hold the pieces together.

Now that the pieces are together, begin sanding.  Sand as much as you like.  Ensure that there will be no chance for splinters and all edges are rounded.

Next, place the block in a vise and drill holes in the top that will allow anything from pens, pencils to sharpie markers.  I even made a hole big enough for a pair of scissors.  Unless you have a drill press, the holes will not line up exactly with each other.  I used my cordless drill and it seems as though the drill bit follows the path of least resistance through the softer areas.  This caused my holes to be slightly off from each other.

Now its time to paint.  Again I used chalkboard paint.

I gently brushed the top of the outside two and liked how it left that zebra effect.

Now all you have to do is let the paint dry.

When dry, you will be ready to write/draw or decorate however you want.  You can use green paint and paint ivy or leaves on the side or other colors to make it look like a frame.  Be creative.  Since I think this would make a great gift for D to give to a teacher, I just jotted down the date.

Sorry, terrible penmanship.

When Monday is over, just wipe away with a damp cloth.

I hope you all enjoyed and and make something memorial for a loved one or a wonderful gift for a teacher.

Steve

✈