Girlfriend needs some baby fat

Yes, a thousand times, yes. I don't care if it was based on a comic book; I don't care if shoot-em-up movies aren't your thing; you need to see this movie in the theater. You can always cover your eyes when the bullets go right through people's foreheads. It was worthy.

My only problem? Angelina Jolie's arms are too skinny. I have a hard time believing that an assassin could get her job done with toothpick arms. She can't possibly hit someone hard enough to knock them out with arms like that. She looks thinner than she did in Tomb Raider. Girlfriend needs to keep some of her baby fat after the twins are born. Sorry, that girlfriend thing came out of nowhere, but it's true so I'm leaving it.

Would I have liked it more if James McAvoy used his Scottish accent instead of a very natural sounding American accent? Eh, maybe. It might have been a tad distracting. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, I'm still seeing this multiple times. Multiple- I'm not limiting myself to twice.

Mosaic-ality

I had to copy Snuffywump's mosaic meme. I love a good excuse to waste time!



The Questions (and The Answers):

1. What is your first name? Sara
2. What is your favorite food? Mexican (real Mexican)
3. What high school did you go to? Altamonte Christian
4. What is your favorite color? Purple
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Rob Thomas
6. Favorite drink? Dr.Pepper (I'm a pepper...)
7. Dream vacation? Hawaii
8. Favorite dessert? CHOCOLATE
9. What you want to be when you grow up? A teacher
10. What do you love most in life? Family
11. One Word to describe you. Scatterbrained
12. Your flickr name. Craftyhandbags

Now go ahead, make one of your own. Here's how:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. Sara, 2. Mexican Skull Formation, 3. What. The. Hell?, 4. Purple Lips, 5. Rob Thomas Up Close, 6. Dublin Dr. Pepper, 7. Kalalau Lookout - Kauai, Hawaii, 8. Put Chocolate Pudding on the Top Shelf !!, 9. The Teacher's Desk, 10. A Twisted Family Tradition ~ The Lime Jello Brain, 11. scatterbrained, 12. PrincessBagModel


Try it; it's fun!

You can't possibly be as hot as these people.

It made me laugh.

Ready, set? Unload!

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! Ever have one of those weeks? Yes, two of my four kids are gone, but I just can't get it together!

I've had Vacation Bible School every night this week with 3rd and 4th grade- ack! I love the kids, but that's my least favorite age group. I've had craft on Tuesday and Thursday morning with 40-something elementary aged kids; I've done about 15 loads of laundry a day because my four year old decided she doesn't need to use the toilet, and I'm potty training the two year old; I just drove an hour in the Florida afternoon heat to pick up 25 goldfish for centerpieces for the week-end VBS party; I still have to shower, make myself look somewhat attractive, arrange the centerpieces, and set up for the party that starts in, oh, 5 hours. OH! I have two tests to take on Saturday that I haven't studied for. Hubby's had a crappy week, too, and I feel really bad because I've been either busy or drained and not able to be supportive. I know it's bad when he does the dishes, although he didn't break anything while slinging dirty dishes around.

BUT, we have a sitter for late Saturday night, and we're going to see a nice, loud movie that we won't fall asleep during, I hope not at least. Wanted looks so awesome (cheesy word, I know). I like James McAvoy (I'm a little upset he doesn't use his accent- oh well), and I have a tiny girl crush on Angelina Jolie, who doesn't, huh? So anyway, I thought I'd share the trailer. Enjoy! I have about 15 other things I need to do right now...

Wanted- Choose Your Destiny - Watch more free videos

Um, ok.

Just a quick question today. How might someone clean banana chunks out of a toaster? I'm voting for a new toaster.

Learn from the music

Hubby found this band for me. He was listening to them in our bedroom, and I walked in and immediately liked them. I'm not a huge rap fan, mostly because of the negative lyrics and I can't really understand what they're saying. I'm white, I'm sorry, I just don't understand most of the lyrics.

I thought the best way to describe Flobots' song would be to type out the lyrics to the first song "There's a War Going on for Your Mind" on their CD Fight with Tools. So here they are:

There's a war going on for your mind
Media mavens mount surgical strikes from trapper keeper collages and online magazine racks
Cover girl cutouts throw up pop-up ads
Infecting victims with silicone shrapnel
Worldwide passenger pigeons deploy paratroopers
Now it's raining pornography
Lovers take shelter
Post-production debutantes pursue you in nascar chariots
They construct ransom letters from biblical passages and bleed mascara into holy water supplies

There's a war going on for your mind
Industry insiders slang test tube babies to corporate crackheads
They flash logos and blast ghettos
Their embroidered neckties say "stop snitchin'"
Conscious rappers and whistleblowers get stitches made of acupuncture needles and marionette strings

There is a war going on for your mind
Professional wrestlers and vice presidents want you to believe them
The desert sky is their bluescreen
They superimpose explosions
They shout at you
"pay no attention to the men behind the barbed curtain
Nor the craters beneath the draped flags
Those hoods are there for your protection
And meteors these days are the size of corpses

There's a war going on for your mind
We are the insurgents

Yes, it's rap, but it's rap with a positive message. There are no "ho's" in these songs. They highlight global issues like famine, opression, and indifference. Plus you can actually understand what he's saying.

Flobots is a group of 6 people (5 guys, 1 girl) out of Denver; not only do they have the traditional guitarist, bassist, and drummer, but they include a violinist and a jazz trumpet player. Their music is a upbeat blend, and I have listened to their CD several times already. They do curse in a couple of songs though, so my monsters won't be listening to all of it. I will definitely be playing the clean songs for them. I would recommend this to any mother of teens. You know your teens will be listening to rap anyway; at least this way you can be sure they are getting a positive message as well.

Please check out their website and MySpace page. They are currently on tour, and coming to St. Petersburg in July. That's pretty close! Hubby and I may have to take a drive. Date night!

How three meatball subs decided who I was going to marry.

Happy Strangely Orange Snack Appreciation Day (S.O.S.A.D.)!!! Eat lots of unnaturally orange snacks and be sure to wipe that orange powder all over yourself.

Okay, now that that's out the way... I recently left a comment on someone's blog that three meatball subs were the deciding factor on who I would marry. Of course, she was surprised, and I realized that I had never shared that story with y'all in bloggy land. My In-laws read this too, so I think they would like to know how "it all happened."

[Insert wavy lines here- We're going back in time to the late 90's, folks] I was looking oh so stylish in my grungy, slacker best. This was after my goth phase; I was no longer depressed, just apathetic. It was cold outside, so it must have been January. We were on an actual date (Hubby and I had been friends way before we started dating, so there is some speculation on our first date. He says we went to the movies, but I paid for my own ticket, so I say that doesn't count. Guys should always pay on the first date, after that it doesn't matter.). Back in the day, there were actually clubs and things to do in downtown Orlando. If you've been there recently, you know how unexciting it is. We weren't clubbing (HA!), but we liked to go watch the drunk people and "hoochie-ma's" stumble around. The drunk people stumble because, well, they're drunk, and the hoochie-ma's stumble because they try looking hot walking around on four-inch heels.

We may have gone to the coffee shop, or played pool at the arcade, I don't remember. I do remember walking around near the Subway sub shop (near Washington Street and where Yab Yum's, the coffee shop, used to be), and having a guy come up to Hubby. He was asking for money (which if you see a guy on a date and ask for money, chances are he's going to try to impress the girl), and I was curious to see how this was going to turn out. The guy told Hubby that his car was broken down, and he spent all his money getting a hotel room so his family wouldn't have to sleep outside in the cold. Could we please give him some money? They were really hungry. Hubby told him he wasn't going to give him any money, but he would buy him some food. He asked the guy if subs were okay, the guy got excited (real or fake, I don't know) and agreed. Hubby then asked if meatball subs would be okay, thinking hot subs would be good because it was cold outside. The guy said yes, so Hubby ordered three footlong meatball subs. While we were waiting in line, the man pulled out a Bible and tried witnessing to Hubby. Hubby told him not to bother, and that we were already Christians. They shared some verses, got the subs, and Hubby shook his hand.

Some point during the conversation, I remember giggling because it hit me. This was the guy I wanted to marry. The indigent (I think this is the socially accepted term for poor now) man got upset and told me that his situation wasn't funny. Of course, I couldn't tell anyone why I was giggling, that would have probably scared Hubby off. So I mumbled something insignificant back to him. So somewhere there is a man who is thinking about this young guy (who is nice enough to buy food for someone in need) stuck with an uncaring b****. Little does he know...

So that's the story about how three meatball subs decided who I would marry. I hope you've enjoyed it because while I was typing this my monster has emptied the movie cabinet, dumped out my coffee, hit his sister, unfolded several piles of clothing, and caused general chaos. I have to go pick up movies, mop the kitchen floor, kiss a boo-boo, and refold some clothes now... all because of three meatball subs.

Strangely Orange Snack Appreciation Day

Tomorrow is Strangely Orange Snack Appreciation Day. I bet you didn't know that, huh? That's my forte, bringing knowledge of the scarily bizarre. Terry Border, who has a great collection of goodies coming out in book form very soon, has appointed June 21st as THE day to celebrate all our favorite snacks in their abnormal (and possibly cancerous) orange glory. There's even a facebook group! Celebrate with me as I snack on yummy orange-ness and gain a few pounds for the cause.

Yummy, yummy, for my tummy!

First off, Nonna (my MIL) is taking the two older boys for two weeks!!! It's like a half-vacation for me. I'm really glad because Hubby will be taking the teens to camp during that time, and although I can handle all four by myself, he just got back from a four day business trip. I need more time to recover if I'm going to do it again.

Second off (I know that's not right, but deal with it), I wanted to share my sneaky recipe for breakfast bread. I love baking, but I have little patience or time to do it from scratch. So, I use the box mixes and fancy them up a bit. This is not Sandra Lee stuff here. My concoctions are normal. For example-

Peanut Butter Banana Bread- Vanilla cake mix, a cup of freeze dried bananas (Gerber makes them for toddlers or you can use banana chips, but soak them first), peanut butter instead of the butter or oil called for, and for good measure throw 1/2 cup of peanuts in there, too. If you really want to up the banana flavor put a teaspoon of banana flavoring in also.*

Apple Cinnamon Bread- Spice Cake Mix, applesauce instead of the oil called for (lower fat bonus!), a cup of freeze dried apples (once again Gerber or soaked apple chips), and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on the top before baking. You can also substitute apple juice for the water, but sometimes (depending on the mix) it's too sweet. These are supposed to be for breakfast.*

Strawberry Banana Bread- Vanilla Cake Mix (see the trend yet?), a cup of freeze dried strawberries (Gerber or just soaked, dried strawberries), substitute banana baby food for the oil (or just mash up a couple of bananas), banana flavoring if you feel the need, and I always sprinkle red sugar crystals on top. I'll explain why later.*

Mocha Chip Bread- (You had to know this one was coming) Chocolate Cake Mix, a cup of mini chocolate chips, very strong coffee instead of the water called for, and if you feel you need to lower the fat, prune puree or applesauce instead of the oil.*

I have more that I may be posting later, but I had to share the best part. You can freeze them!!! I make them in muffin tins and throw them in freezer bags after they've cooled. You only have to bake once a month, and you'll be set for breakfast! I usually separate the flavors, but since we don't have a microwave (our microwave broke again and I refuse to buy another one- three in one month is ridiculous! I do miss my popcorn though... back on track now), they have to defrost in the refrigerator. I also like to mix the flavors together in the same bag so everyone gets their favorite flavor without having four gallon-sized bags hogging space in my refrigerator. This is why I put the sprinkles on top- red sprinkles means strawberry- hello! The batter for the other recipes are different colors, but the Peanut Butter Banana and Strawberry Breads are almost identical. Especially when you're half awake and rushing to get to school.

The kids love them. Mommy loves them too, because she is NOT a morning person. They're great to have on hand for improptu coffee or tea with friends, and if you have a microwave, you can just zap them from frozen.

I know, I know, they have a lot of sugar in the mixes, but fess up, you give your kids frosted sugar-coated cereal all the time. Mine have real fruit in them, too. Some mornings, they'll have orange juice and yogurt or a banana with one, but I won't lie, sometimes I just give them two muffins and milk. I'm an awful mother, I know, but I REALLY don't like mornings. Once someone comes out with whole wheat cake mixes I'll be better, I promise.

I do occasionally make muffins from scratch (with whole wheat flour even), but really, I'm just being honest here, it's hard to be perfect all the time.

*Unless I've specified to substitute a certain ingredient, follow all the directions on the box. I do not recommend substituting egg whites for the whole eggs if you are substituting out the oil. It just turns out weird, and we do want the children to eat them, right? Oh, and if you can't get freeze dried fruit (try your sporting goods store in the camping section, too), just soak your dried fruit or fruit chips in the liquid you're using in the recipe. Half an hour is fine. I'm not sure why, but the freeze dried fruit turns out fine after baking, but the dried fruit is always leathery unless you soak it first.

Enjoy!

Yay for (almost) mindless entertainment!

I had to share my latest time waster. It's an online game with all the fun of piecing together patchwork quilts with none of the messy thread and cutting. Patchworkz! has really chill elevator music, too, that's guaranteed to put you to sleep. I know not everyone enjoys piecing quilts, but it's actually more relaxing than you would think. Have fun!

For Myra

Last year some time, a friend and co-worker passed along some pattern books from her mother, Myra (who also worked with us). Myra's eyes were getting too weak to do needlepoint, and her daughter is about as crafty as Hubby (she can clean house like no one's business, though). I am a collector of everything, especially crafting materials and patterns, so I was more than happy to take them off of her hands.
Well, at the end of last year, Myra died suddenly. She had cancer that had spread everywhere, and there was really nothing that doctors could do.
I was organizing my patterns today, and I came across the stack of books I had received. (I really only organize my patterns when I'm out of ink and therefore am unable to print anymore out, but that's another post.) I thought it would be a nice tribute to Myra to post one pattern that has really intrigued me, but I have never attempted. I'm fairly certain that the copyright on it has expired; there isn't any copyright information on the booklet anywhere. So here it is a knitted "saque" with smocking on the bodice and sleeves. Yes, that's right actual smocking.

Saque

Directions are for Size 6 months. Changes for Size 1 are also in parenthesis.

MATERIALS REQUIRED:
Columbia-Minerva Baby Nantuk OR Baby Yarn-- Shrink Resistant (1 oz ball)-- 4 balls OR Beehive Baby Wool-- Shrink Resistant (1 oz ball)-- 4 balls

AND

1 ball of Contrasting Color (CC) for smocking
[You'll definitely have to play around with a few yarns to find a good size- use your gauge! Here's a chart that gives approximate yardage.]

Knitting Needles: One pair each Sizes 1 and 3-- 14 inch and one steel crochet hook Size 5 and one tapestry needle

Gauge: Pattern Stitch on Size 3 needles-- 7 sts to 1 inch; 10 rows to 1 inch

PATTERN STITCH: Row 1- Right side: P3, * K4, P6, repeat from * across, ending K4, P3. Row 2: K3, * P4, K6, repeat from * across, ending P4, K3. Repeat these two rows for pattern.

BACK: With size 3 needles cast on 120 (140) sts. Work in pat until back measures 6 (6 1/2) inches, ending with Row 2. Sl sts onto st holder for yoke.

LEFT FRONT: Cast on 70 (80) sts. Work in pat until from measures 6 (6 1/2) inches, ending with Row 2. Sl sts onto st holder for yoke.

RIGHT FRONT: Work same as Left Front. Do not break yarn. Sl sts onto st holder for yoke.

SLEEVES: [with a new ball I assume] With size 3 needles cast on 35 sts for both sizes. Row 1- Right side: P3, * K1, P3, repeat from * across. Row 2: K3, * P1, K3, repeat from * across. Repeat these 2 rows for 1 1/2 inches, ending with Row 2. Next row P3, * inc 3 sts in next st as follows: K in front, back, front and back- all in same st, inc 1 st in each of next 3 sts, repeat from * across, ending inc 3 sts in next st, P3- 80 sts on needle. Starting with Row 2 of pat, work in pat until sleeve measures 6 (6 1/2) inches from start, ending with Row 2. Sl sts onto st holder for yoke. [Make 2, although the pattern never tells you this]

YOKE: On wrong side of work, sl sts of left front, one sleeve, back, 2nd sleeve and right front onto size 3 needle- 420 (460) sts on needle. Starting at right front edge, work in pat for 2 (4) rows. First Dec Row: Dec 1 st in center of every K4 and P6 rib, 83 (91) sts dec'd- 337 (369) sts on needle. Work in pat for 7 rows, having 1 st less in each dec'd rib. 2nd Dec Row: Working in pat, dec 1 st in each K3 and each P5 rib- 254 (278) sts on needle. Work in pat for 7 rows. 3rd Dec Row: Working in pat, dec 1 st in each K2 and P4 rib- 171 (187) sts on needle. Work in pattern until yoke measures 3 3/4 (4) inches, ending on wrong side. 4th Dec Row: * P3 tog, K1, repeat from * across, ending P3 tog- 85 (93) sts on needle. Change to size 1 needles and work in K1, P1 ribbing until yoke measures 4 1/4 (4 1/2) inches. Bind off in ribbing.

SMOCKING: With tapestry needle and CC smock the yoke as follows: Working from right to left on right side of work, start on frist row of K1 ribs, bring needle up in 2nd K rib, draw the 2nd and first K ribs tog, work another overcast st in same place, then bring needle up in 4th K rib and draw 4th and 3rd K ribs tog as before. Continue in this manner across row. Work 2nd row about 1/2 inch above first row by drawing 3rd and 2nd K ribs tog, then 5th and 4th K ribs tog, etc. Repeat these 2 rows of smocking once more, as illustrated. Work 3 rows of smocking on cuffs.

Sew underarm and sleeve seams. Work 2 rows of sc on fronts and neck edge, making 3 button loops evenly spaced on right front of yoke as illustrated.

----------

Unfortunately, I have tried to scan the picture, but it's very dark and yellowed, and my scanner is unwilling to help me out. I may post a picture later if I can figure out how to lighten the scan.
If anyone would like to attempt this, please send me a picture. I would love to see how it turns out.

Mama's got mad ninja skills!

Wow, that last video is dark, isn't it? I'll have to do a better one when it's not so dark and rainy outside. Or get a better camera...

Anyway, that same little one is sick with an eye and ear infection. I've been stuck at home furiously washing my hands, washing the pillows (he insists on wiping his nasty eye on my throw pillows), wiping his goopy eye, and utilizing my mad ninja skills to put drops in his eye every four hours. Oh yeah, Mama's got mad ninja skills. I'm also not ashamed to admit that chocolate bribes are somehow involved. Apparently he has a taste for fine chocolate just like Mama.

You can find the Knitting Ninja tank top at FunkyQuail's Etsy shop. If I don't buy it first.

What does a monster say?

From my monster to you!

Snuggle to the music

It's been a while since I've highlighted a band. I stumbled across this band on one of my nap time wanderings through the interwebs. Their name is Bright Eyes, and the music I've heard so far is chill and happy at the same time. I first heard them through the video I posted above; you really should watch it all the way through. My favorite part is at the very end.
Back to the band, they have a MySpace (who doesn't?) and a website that is pretty amusing without being irritating. Definitely check them out.

An aggre- what?

I have to share socialthing with you. It's kind of like a RSS feed for all your social networking sites. Hubby says it's a "social networking aggregater." Uh-huh.
I've become quite the social site addict since school has let out, and I don't really have much to do during nap time. (Who needs to actually clean your house when you have a laptop and internet connection?) It's still in beta, but I was given a few invites so I'll be happy to share them.
Once you've signed up and linked all your networks together, it gives you a "lifestream" where updates from Flickr, twitter, pownce, Facebook, Vimeo, and LiveJournal all appear in either chronological order or grouped by user. What's really great about it, is you can filter out things by groups of friends. For example, if you only want your Flickr friends to see your Flickr updates, you can set it up. I use my Flickr mostly for Etsy pictures so this is ideal for me.
They're working on adding digg, MySpace, and a few others too. Ning was mentioned as a possibility as well.
I'm still playing around with it, but even what little I've found so far is great. I'm slowly getting in touch with my geeky past!

Diggnation!

I finished it- in one day!!! And only one trip to the "crap" store (what my son calls the craft store). I got up to the decreasing section and realized I didn't have the double pointed needle size I needed. Even with all the problems, I think I did fairly well for my first circular intarsia attempt. I'm not showing you the back though. This one is definitely for Hubby. No one else will love me the same after seeing the back.
I will be making another one with gray for the "digg" part for myself. Mine will be a little longer so it doesn't fit quite so beanie-esque. (Look at that I made up a word!)
Oh, and if you don't know what diggnation is go here.
Enjoy!

I'm officially a moron.

I'm making a hat. I have finally figured out circular knitting, I think. I thought I would be cool and put words on my beanie style hat. Well, being a moron, I didn't figure that knitting from right to left and while adding words that read from left to right would need any, oh, I don't know, adjustments. Three rows into my chart, feeling very proud of my yarn carrying skills, I look down and think out loud, "Why doesn't that look like my chart (which I made myself using this website)?" Because yours truly is an idiot, that's why.
Maybe I should just leave it the way it is and only wear it while I'm looking at myself in the mirror...
For those of you that do not knit and can't figure out what's going on- Knitting is done right to left, so you must read any charts from right to left also. I was reading mine from left to right, and, as a result, my words were coming out in mirror image.
I did not take any pictures because I quickly frogged it, but I will post pictures of the hat when it is done. Done the right way, that is.

Summer time, when the weather is hot.

Well, jobs number one and two are done. I still have about a week until I start my summer job, but that's only two days a week for a few hours each day. I won't be watching the little cutie. His mommy found a full time sitter; I was just a temporary situation. I still need a baby fix! Don't worry, four is enough for me- I'm not that crazy!
My summer job is leading craft time at a day camp. It's for ages 4 to 5th grade, so it's definitely, um, interesting. Hopefully, I'll have some fun stories to share.

Domestic Engineer

"I prefer the word homemaker, because housewife always implies that there may be a wife someplace else." ~Bella Abzug