Instructions (the English version) to our new Carbon Monoxide (CO) detector:

Or it could just read:

It's not easy being green

I'm sitting in my art room listening to an amphibious symphony going on out back. Our neighbors have a pond and as soon as twilight comes, the "music" begins. It is both annoying and humorous...they are completely silent for a two minute intermission...I timed it...(I wonder if they're stopping to have a Croke-a-Cola?)...then they start back up again in unison for about a minute, then silence again. Off and on for most of the evening. If I had to guess, I'd say there are at least 10-12 froggies in the choir. Their vocal cords really get a workout! Do you think they ever get a human in their throat?

Today is my little boy's birthday. I gave birth to him the day before Mother's Day 28 years ago. He was the easiest little baby and the happiest little boy...always climbing on things-I found him sitting on top of the stove burners playing with the salt and pepper shakers...always curious about things-asking a police officer who had pulled me over "Is that your badge?Is that a real gun?Do you have bullets?Can you turn on your siren?Are you going to give my mommy a ticket?"...always mischievous-climbing out of his car seat while I was talking to my daughter's preschool teacher, and taking the car for a "drive"...always sensitive to other children's feelings. I remember when as a teenager, he and I were the same height. Then suddenly overnight, he was 8 or 9 inches taller than me. My little boy has grown to be a much bigger boy man now. He is now a husband and daddy of two precious babies of his own. I don't know how I did as a mom, but if there was one thing I hope I would have taught my son(s) it is this message which was so eloquently delivered by Sister Elaine S. Dalton in the October 2011 General Conference. I was emotional during her talk, and again as I watched this Mormon Message. Happy Birthday Sean Boy.

It's coitens for you, curtains!

My last post was about the new life given to a simple chair. I wanted to breathe some fresh spring air into the dark winter feeling that has permeated our kitchen house for the past 6 or so months. After painting and recovering the chair I needed to wash the windows and curtains on the french doors that lead out back. Good intentions sometimes lead to bad results....

We'll just call these our Halloween curtains, because aren't they just scary?? The arrows point to the shreds and the circle is where they are so knotted together that even if they weren't shredded they'd be impossible to get apart. GAHH!

The re-re-re-re-reincarnation of a chair

This chair has had many lives. Most recently she was this:

But before it was black with french grain sack covering the seat, it was black with black polynesian floral print fabric, before that it was painted red with big cabbage rose print fabric, before that it was (still red) with a red country plaid fabric, before that it was a teal green paint with vintage cowboy fabric, before that it was a solid cream, and it's original life started as a plain dark wood with a nasty old rusty fabric seat. Paint and a little bit of fabric is a super cheap way to make a change in a room, even if it's only in a little corner. So my most recent project went from this:

To this: ......................................................................and BTW, don't you just love that little black chest behind the chair? It was Ron's chest of drawers when he was a little boy. We put a new coat of paint on it and added some new hardware, and now it houses our DVD's.

Lemon Monkey Bread

Normally my motto is: If it isn't chocolate, it isn't dessert. But lately I've been really craving sweets on the tart side. I made these flakey rolls of lemony goodness from a recipe I got off pinterest. They were super easy to make...which makes it a problem. The problem being that we could've/would've eaten the whole pan of them ourselves, they are so good. So we shared with the Elders and they appreciated them much more than my waistline would have!

Now I've seen EVERYTHING! (literally)

So I'm driving home from the grocery store, going on the back roads. School has just let out and there are kids walking home, so I have to be extra careful and go slow - like I don't ALWAYS go slow... 'cause I DO... Anyway, there was a group of 3 or 4 high-schoolish age boys walking ahead of me, and ya know how some ghetto kids think it's cool to wear their pants off their "behinds"? I kid you not, this is literally what I saw one of the kids wearing:

BELOW HIS KNEES! Are ya kiddin' me?? When did this NOT become indecent exposure? I didn't have presence of mind to grab my camera phone and snap a picture, but I did roll down the passenger window and yell out these four words like some old lady:

"ARE YA KIDDIN' ME???"

Maybe the four words I yelled shoulda been

"PUT YER PANTS ON!!!"

I think after my early-bird buffet, I'm coming home to watch Lawrence Welk and settle in with a nice cup of Geritol. G'night.