Life with three divas...

Costume pictures coming soon!

With the untimely death of our laptop, I've been reduced to the dinosaur desktop PC, which is so old it doesn't have a port for SD cards. I'll need to get a flash/SD converter before any of my pictures can be downloaded. Bummer! Check back soon!

RIP

Something very sad happened at the Grannis house yesterday. The hard drive on our laptop crashed and burned. The laptop was our main computer. So you know what that means. All the family photos were on it, all my important documents were on it. It's all gone. Wiped out! Fortunately my husband was pretty good about backing up the hard drive. UNfortunately, the last back up was in May. *sigh* Well, at least I didn't take too many pictures over the summer. And on the up side, I got pretty decent at posting pictures to the blog the last few weeks, so I was able to recover a few lost things. Warren thinks he should be able to replace the hard drive for less than $100, so hopefully our poor laptop will come back from the dead. It's very old. Warren had it all throug his undergraduate years. The space bar is missing. Some of the keys stick a little. It barely holds a charge. But if it still has some miles left on it, I'm willing to give it a second chance at life. I'm crossing my fingers!

Look who decided to join the party!

After stubbornly incubating an extra 13 days, we are very happy to announce the arrival of our newest nephew, William! He was born early this morning, October 25th, at 12:25 am. Weighing in at a hefty 10 pounds and 1 ounce, and an impressive 21 inches long. What a handsome guy! Congratulations to Krissy (especially Krissy), David, Jonathan, Caleb, Christopher, and Lucy. He is just beautiful! I'm so glad I was able to be there and see him so fresh and new. Happy Birthday, William!

A blast from the past

I'm freaking out a little. Why?  Because Christmas is only 60 days away!! That's why! Are you ready? (I'm not.) Have you started getting ready?? (Well...kinda sorta. I'm Pinning!) Who am I kidding? No, I haven't started getting  ready.

Fortunately, whilst in the middle of a panic attack that was brought on by reading the "Hot New Toys and Christmas Wishlist of 2011" I remembered something wonderful. A couple years ago I started writing a letter to myself on Christmas day. I call it "Lessons Learned from Christmas (fill in the year)." Every year, after all the wrapping and the unwrapping, the laughter and the tears, the hugging and the fighting, the binging on candy and the diet resolutions, I find myself generally happy and satisfied with how Christmas went, but also coming up with ideas for how it could have been better. Particularly in the gift-giving department. Having grown tired of watching the girls break, lose, destroy, and abandon their Christmas toys by New Years Eve year after year after year, I decided I need something to break the cycle. Something that will reign-in my impulse to buy TOYS for Christmas. That's when I got smart and started writing Christmas Day letters to myself. See? I am (on occasion) quite brilliant and cunning and wise. Here are my words of wisdom to myself from last year.

Lessons Learned from Christmas 2010

 Amber, pay attention! This was written just for you on Christmas day 2010…so these ideas are FRESH and probably worth considering.

 Forget toys!  Ok, maybe ONE cool toy per kid.  Focus instead on:

• Games that involve 2+ players. Family game night has been a huge hit lately! Especially with Haleigh and Brooklyn getting older and better at playing a variety of games.
• Puzzles…the girls LOVE those (especially Brooklyn) and they didn’t get ANY in 2010.
• CLOTHES! They’re girls. They love getting new clothes And let’s admit, their wardrobe usually looks a bit shabby by the end of the year.
• SHOES! See above. 
• Movies are always a hit. Think of all the kid-friendly box office blockbusters they never went to see. Better yet, what were YOUR favorite movies when you were a kid? Think obscure...like The Flight of Dragons, or the Secret of Nimh, or The Never Ending Story, or The Flight of the Navigator.
• Musical instruments. All the girls loved your guitar that Warren gave you. Especially Haleigh.  Maybe you could outfit them all with some sort of instrument and you’ll have your own band! 
• Craft items. I know you hate them. But they DO keep the girls entertained, they love them, and are very rarely a waste of money. (unlike those toys…hint, hint)
• Scrapbooks or Memory Books. You have gajillions of digital photos of the girls from the moment they were born. But very few have made it into print. And Brooklyn is so sad that she doesn't have a baby book like the other two girls. This could get expensive or, at the very least, time consuming. But think about how much you loved looking through all the family photo albums when you were a kid. The best part of making memories is being able to look back and actually remember them! 
• Electric toothbrushes. You know they beg for stuff like that but you never buy them. Stocking stuffers!
• Speaking of stocking stuffers, make those items stuff you don’t really care if you’re not around when they open it.  That way they can take their stockings to their rooms and dig in, while you & Warren get some extra shut eye.
• Speaking of shut eye...make time to prep EVERYTHING before Christmas Eve. And I mean everything. Wrap all the presents and make all the gift tags. Get all the stocking stuffer stuff divvied up and ready to go. Don't stay up late no matter how tempting it is! Go to bed when the kids do and set the alarm for 4am to do the Santa thing. It’s better to get to sleep from 9pm to 4am, rather than from midnight to 1am. 
• Taryn’s gonna be 10 ½ this year, so keep in mind she doesn’t need the little kiddie gifts anymore.  Maybe something a little more mature. A charm bracelet, a nice journal, maybe some music, or a nice purse. 
• Something you said ON Christmas day 2010 was “Next year I want to be more practical and thoughtful in my gift giving.”  So before you buy anything this year, keep that tucked away.

Sometimes I love myself. Great advice, self! Ah, now I feel like I can breathe a little and not freak out so much about Christmas. Oh, I'll still have at least one melt-down, I'm sure. But then I can pick myself up off the floor and go back to my plan for a better, more practical, more thoughtful Christmas in 2011. 

Kindergarten Fall Festival

Dog-gone it! She ruined it!

This is no joke. Yes, I just made Ginger's special doggie bed...today. And, yes, I just blogged about how brilliant I am for making it myself...today. We walked in from church today to find this!

I'm just glad I didn't spend $60 on it. ;-)

Pumpkin Painting 2011

Artist's at work

Spooky Masterpieces

I love my little goblins.

 

 

Dog-gone it! I'm brilliant!

When I went shopping the day we planned to bring Ginger home from the shelter, I was a little taken aback by some of the prices for doggie stuff. Even at the discount big box store I was not super jazzed looking at the price tags. So...I came up with some brilliant alternatives to save a few bucks and thought I'd share. 

I knew Ginger was going to need good sized food/water bowls, but I didn't want them scooting all over my kitchen floor. The non-skid doggie bowls were $10 a piece! I don't think so. So here's what I did:

• Roll of non-skid rubber backing = $4.98
• Carpet sample rug = $1.59
• Cheap plastic dog bowls = $1.98 each

For a total of $10.53 (cutting my cost in half!) I created a skid-free doggie buffet that stays put and out of the way. 

The other high price item was the dog bed. Sheesh! Those suckers are spendy! I didn't find one that was less than $30. The plush ones were closer to $60. So instead I bought:

• A Twin-size egg crate foam mattress topper = $9.00 
• A clearance fleece throw = $5.00

I folded the mattress topper in thirds and sewed the fleece to fit. I sewed it pillow-sham style (with an overlap opening in the back) so I can take it off and clean it without warping the foam topper in the washing machine.

It looks great, is totally comfy, is washable, and has that high price plush feel for less than half the cost. I love it!

 

Cooties

Haleigh taped these next to our dinner plates the other night. Too cute.

If a Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words...

***WARNING: You do not want to read this post. Trust me. It's gonna be boring. This is one of those "just so I don't forget the little things" posts that's more for me. And maybe my mom. Read on at your own risk, if you insist. But if you get done and feel like you just wasted 5 minutes of your life that you'll never get back, don't come cryin' to me. :)***

I'm sitting here  eating my breakfast. The house is quiet. Everyone's gone. Just me and Ginger. And this is what I'm looking at.

Let's take a closer look and see what's going on in Amber's world. 

This? This drives me crazy. As you can see, the nail on the left is coming out of the wall and has tugged a significant line into the sheet rock. I can wiggle it back into place and it levels the rack out. But then the girls hang their backpacks on it and it goes back to this. It's on my honey-do list. Right up there with baseboards and touch-up paint, new trim on the porch and tile in the laundry room. But none of that, and I mean NONE of that takes precedence over the finishing of The Thesis. Yes, I capitalized it. It has been in our lives long enough to deserve a title. It has become a pronoun, if you will. The Thesis. 

Ah, yes. Here we have Haleigh's Pizza Hut Reading Chart. You read with your child, write the titles of the books on the cute little pizza wedges, turn it in, and you get a free slice of pizza. It was due on the 10th. (Dangit!) And you'll notice it's blank. Not because we didn't read...I just forgot to fill it out. Which, oddly enough, is why I stuck it on the fridge in the first place. To remind me. *sigh* Moving on. The picture behind the pizza thingy is an adorable picture Haleigh drew to illustrate the variety of gourmet cupcakes she would like at her next birthday party. Which is a little hilarious, because I made cupcakes for her last party but she pouted and cried because she didn't get a full-size cake. We've been watching cupcakes wars. She must be coming around. You'll also note my keys hanging on the magnetic wreath hanger that never got put away after Christmas last year. Yes, I said Christmas. Don't judge me. It's dual purpose, obviously. Oh, and don't forget to squint really hard and check out the cutie patootie vintage of pics of me and Warren when we were just wee little crumb-snatchers.

Here we have the flyer from Taryn's fundraiser for camp. In fact, I think the orders are coming in this week. Mental note...call the school and double check. Behind the fundraising flyer is one of Brooklyn's infamous self-portraits. She almost always titles them with "I Love Brooklyn. I Love Me." Notice how she has the "gleaming" hashes surrounding her glorious self? We are not worried about her self esteem in the least. Oh, and the coupon. Yeah, that was for $2 off a greeting card at Target. Sadly, it expired last month.

I know it's not much to look at, but without this baby I'd be lost.

I love this. It is a sweet subtle reminder that my children are often lovely and charming and darling and thoughtful. Believe me. Sometimes I really need those reminders. 

Ok, so either some people aren't getting their chores done, or we need a new system. Actually, I've been thinking the old chore chart needs make-over. It's been my experience that whatever you use for getting stuff done around the house, it usually only works for about 3-4 months. Then the novelty wears off. Gotta keep 'em on their toes, I always say!

Ahah! See?!! Evidence that my children are weird. They actually BEG to do homework. They're all over this math workbook like a grandma on sudoku. It's hilarious. And frustrating. The math is too advanced for them (Haleigh and Brooklyn, that is) but they don't care! They whip out that calculator or break out the counting cubes. And when all else fails, they hunt down Warren and I and force us to tutor them. Last night at dinner I remarked, "Brooklyn, you really like numbers, don'tcha?" To which she replied (in quite the haughty tone), "You mean numerals." Ok. 

This is my new favorite freshening spray for Ginger. It's sweet pea and vanilla. I love it. She hates it. Right next to the spray bottle is the piece of cardboard I'm using as the template to cut out all the squares for the hot pad holder service project we're doing at Super Saturday. I've only cut out about a dozen. Help! They need to be ready by next Saturday! In the jar to the right is a sad reminder of all the plants I sprouted from seed earlier in the spring, only to watch my garden roast and die in the oppressively hot and dry summer we had this year. Ugh. It was the pits!! Really. I can't remember a worse summer.

And that just about wraps it up. From my point of view anyway.