Uncategorized Archives • Page 29 of 53 • Binkies and Briefcases

Abby’s Birthday (with Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes!)

April 23, 2013 By: Stephaniecomment

Sunday my middle daughter, Abby, turned four! We celebrated at home with her favorite ice cream cone cupcakes.

In a very uncharacteristic move, Abby requested a pretty low-key weekend. She asked if we could go to Chic-Fil-A because they have a playground (which we did on Saturday, since they are closed on Sundays), make cupcakes, and open presents. Those were all pretty easy requests to accommodate.

We always make our cupcakes in ice cream cones because that’s the way my mom made them for me when I was a little girl.

It’s very easy to make ice cream cone cupcakes!

All you need is:

-Ice cream cones

-Cake batter

-The things it says on the box you need in order to make the cake batter (eggs, oil, etc.)

Just make the batter according to the package directions, then fill the cones about 3/4 full with raw cake batter, place them in muffin tins, and bake according to the directions on the box for cupcakes. (Sometimes it helps keep them steady if you bake them in a muffin tin.) We found that 1 box of cake mix made 21 cupcake cones. Top them with your choice of icing and sprinkles.

The kids love making ice cream cone cupcakes because it is easy for them to help, and they get to decorate and eat them as well.

After the cupcakes we had a scavenger hunt to find her presents. (Dolls from the movie Brave.)

Welcome to four, Abigail!

If you liked this post, don’t forget to pin it on Pinterest!

My First Book Signing!

April 22, 2013 By: Stephanie8 Comments

Last Thursday I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Philadelphia and attend a book signing as one of the authors of the new book I Just Want to Pee Alone.

My husband took the entire day off from work so that I could have a chance to get ready in peace and head out early to beat some of the city traffic.

I drove to meet Meredith from The Mom of the Year at her house. We have been online friends for about a year, but it was the first time we met in person. She was super brave (and maybe a little crazy) to trust me with her address. I even got to meet her kids and her sweet husband brought us some sandwiches from Subway for a quick dinner before we had to leave. Meredith’s sister, Adrienne, also came with us to help us navigate, be our photographer, and calm our nerves.

There was a crazy amount of traffic driving into the city for our book signing, but Meredith did a great job not having a panic attack at the wheel and we made it with just minutes to spare. (Yes. We had never met before, but she gave me her address and I got in her minivan. That’s what blog friends do.) We even got an amazing parking space right outside of the store. We were meeting Bethany from I Love Them the Most When They’re Sleeping, another one of the authors in the book, for the first time also. Bethany had organized the whole event at an adorable women’s active wear boutique called Indigo Schuy (pronounced “Sky”).

That’s Bethany on the left, me in the middle, and Meredith on the right.

The store really went all-out for our event. They had a masseuse doing free massages for the women who were waiting, a giant cake with the picture of the book and our names on it, and champagne. It was hopping the entire time, mostly due to the fact that Bethany seems to be one of the most popular people in the universe. Almost every person who came was connected to her in some way.

Our pens were busy for hours!

It was so strange to actually have people standing in line waiting for our autographs. On the car ride there Meredith and I were a little worried that no one would show up, but it was packed!

We didn’t even have time to eat any of this awesome cake. Seriously, have you ever seen such a lovely toilet cake? As Bethany said, “The gold icing really classes it up.”

We sold and signed a bunch of books, met a lot of new friends, and had a great time!

I had a long drive back, so I didn’t get home until almost 1am, and then Penny was up before 5. She did not get the memo that her famous mom (ha! yeah right) was out signing autographs until the wee hours of the morning and needed more beauty rest.

More book signings are in the works with our co-authors all across the country. If there is one in your area be sure to check it out. They are a ton of fun!

Imperfect: The Day I Forgot My Kid

April 16, 2013 By: Stephanie8 Comments

This is for you, yes you over there sitting on the couch in unwashed sweat pants and giving your kids cereal for dinner for the second night in a row.

You’re a good mom. They won’t remember the cereal. They won’t remember that you yelled when they spilled it. They won’t remember what you were wearing today.

You don’t have to be perfect to be good at this.

As a matter of fact, perfect and parenthood have kind of an inverse relationship. If you are a perfectionist I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but you probably aren’t very good at the parenting and if you are a really awesome mom you probably aren’t so worried about the perfect. (Have you ever heard Alexis Stewart, Martha’s daughter, talk about her childhood? It’s sad and uncomfortable.)

My middle daughter is turning 4 this weekend. Sure I could head over to Pinterest and plan a perfect party with a super cute theme and stress out and yell at her to not touch the rainbow cupcakes I spent 3 hours perfecting, but I’m not doing that this year. We are going to work together and bake cupcakes in ice cream cones because I told her those were my favorite when I was little and she wanted to do it too. They will look terrible and taste amazing. Then we will give her the toy we bought from the Disney store and she will be happy and we will call it good enough.

Because THAT is where perfection lies, in the land of Good Enough.

Case in point, you wouldn’t know it from the time stamp, but this picture was actually taken on Easter 2013.

We’re all doing okay.

Friday was a pretty rough day for our little family, for example, but it was good enough to be quite a memory maker.

Eddie was off from work and we were going to drive up to the land where we are building our house. Construction was scheduled to start and we wanted to see the progress. Of course it was pouring down rain, so we weren’t even sure the work would get done.

We dropped Nicholas off at school and drove over an hour to a different state. Our car needed to be serviced, so we dropped it off and took the girls out to brunch at a nearby diner. Eddie was also hoping to get vaccinated for a mission trip he will be going on in a few weeks.

After brunch the car still wasn’t finished, so we walked to the dollar store and let Abby pick out some princess themed plates and napkins and a balloon for her upcoming birthday.

The car still wasn’t finished. We walked down the street to the tractor supply store to look at the baby chicks and ducks and pick up some oil for our riding mower. Abby was playing with the handle of a wagon and somehow managed to hit herself in the face, getting a big gash under her eye. Don’t worry, she is fine. She said it didn’t hurt as much as it seemed like it should have and actually didn’t even cry.

This is the part where I share with you that I forgot to pick up my son from school. It was around 12:30. “Nicholas is in the office. Today was a half day. Please come and pick him up.”

Ummmm…sure thing. Oops. Except we are an hour and a half away from the school and don’t have access to our car at the moment. If you ever want to look like a REALLY bad mom, just go out in public with a child who looks like she has a black eye, hold a crying baby, and snap back and forth with your husband about whose fault it is that your other child has been forgotten.

Thank God my mom didn’t have to be at work for a few more hours and she was able to get to him in about 15 minutes and take him to my in-laws.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

Except the car STILL wasn’t finished.

So I found myself changing Penny’s diaper on the dirty floor of a public restroom while we waited. For another hour and a half.

Eddie discovered that he wouldn’t be able to get an appointment for the vaccinations until the following week.

We eventually were able to get the car back and drive by the land on our way to get Nicholas and the work that had been scheduled WAS done. Yay. One piece of good news!

Later we left the kids with my mom (again. poor mom.) and went to IKEA to place the order for our kitchen cabinets. (Remember when I was trying to decide? We’re going for it.)

We were there for 2.5 hours and couldn’t place the order because the storms had taken out their online ordering system. Eventually the store closed and at 9:30 Eddie and I found ourselves running through a Chick Fil A drive thru because we still hadn’t eaten. They got our order wrong.

Sometimes all you can do is laugh. Do I feel bad about not getting Nicholas?

Not really.

My mom told me that when she went to get him there were at least 20 other kids in the office. The school hadn’t put the half day on the calendar they send home for the month. I wasn’t the only mom who had absolutely no idea.

Nobody’s perfect.

If you want more stories from moms encouraging each other by airing our imperfections, check out our new book, I Just Want to Pee Alone.

My Parenting Victory (and a HUGE Giveaway with Chobani yogurt)

April 3, 2013 By: Stephanie2 Comments

Well, we did it. We survived the first year after adding our third baby. Miss Penelope (please note that I chose that name BEFORE the Kourtney Kardashian. Now it’s becoming really popular, which I’m a little disappointed about) is now 15 months old! For the past two weeks we have been working on a pretty big milestone and now it’s official: she is weaned.

I was so grateful to be able to nurse her because it was an experience I wasn’t able to have with my last two children. It was a very special time for both of us but I’m also thankful to have my body back, if I’m being honest. An added plus was that when she woke up in the middle of the night Eddie was extra willing to take care of it because if she saw me she would get upset and want to eat just because it was a habit, not necessarily because she was hungry. After two weeks of realizing she wouldn’t get fed in the middle of the night and extra rest for mommy, she is now sleeping through the night for 9 or 10 hours almost every day. I have extra time during the day to focus on my other kids and I’ve noticed that their behavior has been a little better. Nap time is a little harder. She has never taken a pacifier or wanted a special blanket or other comforting object, so she basically just wanted me to hold her the entire time she naps. I’m okay with that for now. Pretty soon we’ll be trading Easter dresses for prom gowns and I want to cherish these moments while I can.

Raising kids isn’t easy, but Chobani Champions is all about celebrating the little victories in parenting.

I’m excited that such a big company approached a few blogging moms and wanted honest feedback on their product. I actually do regularly give my kids Greek yogurt for breakfast. I like that it is healthy, just as fast and easy as a bowl of cereal, makes fewer dishes for me, and all of the extra protein helps keep my kindergartener full until lunch time when he is at school.

Chobani sent us a few yogurt tubes for the kids to try and Nicholas really liked them. I put some in the refrigerator and some in the freezer. They make great substitutes for popsicles.

Together with Chobani, we want to make YOU a winner.

Enter below to win 1 GRAND PRIZE* of a year’s supply of Chobani and Chobani Champions. Yep, a year’s supply of that delicious, nutritious, protein-packed parenting victory known as Chobani greek yogurt. Our grand prize winner will build a custom case for themselves to be delivered to their doorstep monthly, including 1 case of assorted Champions Flavors, 1 case of assorted Chobani Flavors and a bonus case of either Champions tubes, Chobani Bite or Chobani 32 oz cooking sizes. Every month for a YEAR!*

10 Runners-up will receive one case of Champions Tubes delivered to their doors!

Giveaway begins April 3 and ends at midnight April 8.

Chobani is gettin’ social to find the good, the bad, the ugly… and a REAL taste of life with kids. Join in on the convo!

Follow Chobani at:

@Champions on Twitter

Chobani Champion’s on Facebook

@ChobaniChampions on Instagram

Join all of us on twitter for #spikedpunch Sunday night, April 7 from 9-10pm EST. Enjoy the party and a chance to win 1 of 2 cases of Chobani tubes!

*Giveaway open to residents of the United States only. Grand prize winner will choose from products available at http://chobani.com/products/
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`For Rene`

March 27, 2013 By: Stephanie7 Comments

This post was originally written in February of last year. Since it was written some laws have changed and some are currently being debated. In light of current events, I was asked by a lifelong friend to please re-post this today. So I did.

You can view the original post and comments here.

This is not a post about craft projects and there are no pictures of my kids. There is an important issue going on here that I don’t feel comfortable ignoring any more. I haven’t seen my perspective represented anywhere & this is the only public forum I have, so I’m going to talk about it for a minute.

I’m a conservative Christian housewife living in Amish country. I’m a registered Republican. I voted for McCain. I’m strongly opposed to abortion, illegal immigration, and I do think homosexuality is a sin. And this is for my college friend Rene. Not my gay friend, just my friend who happens to be gay. And her wife.

I support gay marriage.

Why? Because to me whether or not our country should legalize the union of two people of the same sex is not an issue of morality, it is an issue of civil rights.

Is it sinful? Yeah, actually it is. It’s also sinful if I don’t go to church on a Sunday or if I cuss under my breath when the wrong contestant gets booted from American Idol. But I do that stuff and so do you.

Do I associate with gay people? Umm…do I associate with any people? Of course I do. If we refuse to hang out with people on the basis that we think they are sinners it’s going to be a pretty lonely existence. Newsflash: all people are sinners. Most of us aren’t being denied basic civil liberties because of it.”Last time I checked my watch, it still said America.” -Tim Allen

In our society right now people are outcast for being gay. You know who loved a good outcast? Jesus. You know who liked to persecute people who didn’t share his beliefs? Hitler. I’m not sure about you, but I’d much prefer to embrace the example of the former.

Did God make gay people gay? Yes. He made every human being and every one of us is a sinner. God loves every one of us despite our sinful nature. Hence, God loves gay people. Get over it Westboro Baptist “Church.” And P.S. Nobody is going to make me stop shopping at JC Penny.

Here’s the thing: it’s not the government’s job to regulate personal morality when it comes to issues that aren’t affecting the safety and well-being of others. That’s pretty much a fundamental Republican philosophy so I don’t understand why it doesn’t seem to apply to the gay marriage argument in real life.

In my mind it works like this:

Murder? Sinful + Harmful= Illegal.

Drugs? Sinful + Harmful = Illegal

Teenagers back talking their parents? Sinful + Not Harmful = Not Illegal

Gay marriage? Sinful + not harmful = _____________

It seems to me the logical answer to the question should be “not illegal.” Actually, it seems to be far more harmful to deny the gay community the advantages of a legal marriage.

My friend Rene and her wife are mothers to one very sweet little girl. They are mothers just like I am. As they have been anxiously awaiting Maryland’s ruling over the legality of their marriage, I’ve been reflecting on the benefits I take for granted as a woman in a traditional marriage.

The life insurance policies I would automatically have access to if something happened to my husband.

The tax deductions we just filed.

The fact that Eddie never had to go through the process of adopting our biological children, despite the fact that we never offered proof that he was their biological father. (Which, I can assure you, there is no question about.) The point is that even if he wasn’t, the hospital just gave him the rights to the children that came out of my body because we are legally married and I said he was the co-parent. When Rene had a baby Lauren had to wait months and pay thousands of dollars to adopt their own child and then go through hell trying to claim the adoption on the taxes.

We also have one adopted child and no one gave us a hard time about filing our adoption claim.

The right to adopt our son from Florida, the state where we were living at the time. I’m not sure about the current policy, but when we adopted Nicholas out of foster care in 2008 it was legal for gay couples in our state to foster children, but not adopt them. Consequently, there are foster children who have been living in loving foster homes for years with gay couples who lose yet another family when they become eligible for adoption and the couple who has been caring for them no longer has the option to do so if the child is to ever find an adoptive family. If the child stayed with the foster family he/she would lose the benefits that came along with being adopted, which at the time in Florida included a free college education.

My grandmother didn’t work, but she lived for years on my grandfather’s pension after she was widowed. What do gay couples do?

I am on my husband’s health insurance plan during these years I am home with my young children. What do gay couples do?

More importantly, what does a person’s sexual orientation have to do with things like health insurance, taxes and pensions?

When did we, collectively, become a society of adults acting like third grade bullies? Effectively, what we are saying is, “You can’t be in our club because you like girls.”

Well, I call bullshit, America.

I am tired of seeing teen suicides all over the news because we are constantly sending our children the message that to be gay is to be less than.

This is our generation’s version of Jim Crow and it is just as ridiculous.

I’m ashamed to say that I almost didn’t post this because I was afraid I’d turn off readers or offend people from my church. Or, alternatively, offend my more liberal friends from college. If I offended you I’m not sorry.

“My generation’s apathy. I’m disgusted with it. I’m disgusted with my own apathy too, for being spineless and not always standing up against racism, sexism and all those other -isms the counterculture has been whining about for years.” – Kurt Cobain

It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs. – Albert Einstein

`GIVEAWAY: Voodootown`

March 15, 2013 By: Stephaniecomment

A few weeks ago I was asked to preview a new app and its accompanying stories. I was a little skeptical at first because I’m not usually so into the teen sci-fi scene. I’m not one to dress up and go to the midnight premiere of a new Twilight or Harry Potter movie, plus I’m getting kind of old, y’all. I’m a mom with three kids. What do I know about this stuff anymore?

Well, I downloaded the app and it was surprisingly easy and kind of cute, not super gothy and off-putting (to me as a pretty conservative mom) at all. I made a little doll and got to dress her up, chose the shape and color of her clothes and features, etc. It was almost like playing the Sims, my favorite computer game of all time. Don’t worry, there were still plenty of cool piercing options available and it would be easy to take your doll in the opposite direction of “cute.” I can totally see this app appealing to teenagers.

My favorite part, though, is that it is not only an interactive app, it helps promote literacy through eBooks. Keep reading to kind out more…

What’s a ghoul to do when she’s had enough of vamps and weres and the undead?

According to author Bruce Elgin and the fine folks at Grasshorse Studios, an award-winning animation firm, voodoo is the new vampire, and I agree. For about the same price it would cost you to order up a crap vampire movie in which the lead actors have both porcelain skin and porcelain emotions, you can own two episodes of the leagues more stimulating Voodootown series.

This brand new concept in young adult fiction is both unique and engaging. Our teen protagonists, troubled in the usual ways, try to fit in, make friends, and keep away from enemies, all the while shadowed by their stuffed familiars…voodoo dolls with special powers who settle human-world scores by night in the underground world of Voodootown.

The latest episode in the series, Episode 6, “Tattered,” is available this week for free download through Amazon. So don’t take our word for it, read for yourself.

We know you’ll be hooked, and like the stitches-and-seams super dolls that watch over the teen characters in Elgin’s engrossing serial, we’re here to help you out. Eight bloggers who have enjoyed a good young adult novel or two in their day, have gotten together to bring you a Voodootown Giveaway.

A Grand Prize winner will net a $50 Amazon gift card, which, obviously, they’d use to buy up every single Voodootown ebook BUT WHY DO THAT WHEN YOU COULD WIN THE WHOLE SHEBANG? Yes, in addition to the $50 Amazon gift card, the Grand Prize winner will get a free copy of each of the currently available ebooks, from “Episode 1, Schooled,” through the latest ebook, “Episode 6, Tattered.” The enormity of this generosity boggles the mind.

BUT THERE’S MORE.

The Grand Prize winner (there will be only one) will also get a limited edition Voodootown t-shirt.Clothes off our back, that’s how far we’d go for you, readers.

Eight otherrunners-up, one for each of the bloggers helping to promote this giveaway, willwin a copy of the very first Voodootown ebook, “Episode 1, Schooled,” as well as a limited edition Voodootownt-shirt.

Will wonders never cease? Actually they will. Enter today through Friday, March 22 when this promotion ends. You’ll have until midnight on March 22, when the Rafflecopter sign-up below will shut down. Winners will be announced later that day on Ninja Mom Blog.

Get on it, kids. You just need to leave a comment to enter,posting the name you’d want for your very own voodoo doll protector.The rest of the entry options are optional, but each will give you a greater chance to win.

Remember: The promotion ends in one week. Until then, here’s hoping no one sticks a pin in your voodoo doll.

Click to enter:

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`Oh. My. Ga. Becky, Look at Her Book!`

March 11, 2013 By: Stephanie4 Comments

It is SO big!

Remember last week when I (along with 36 other lovely ladies) announced the release of our new humor anthology, I Just want to Pee Alone??

If you follow me on Facebook, I know I haven’t shut up about it, I’m sorry. I’ll return to our regularly scheduled programming soon, m’kay?

Well, never underestimate the power of moms because in just 3 days, without a single book agent, a $0 promotion budget, and just some mad internet marketing skills THIS happened:

and then this happened

Holy. Crow.

We are officially #1 Best-Sellers in Amazon’s Parenting and Family Humor Category AND on iTunes in the entire Humor category.

And it’s all because of you. Obviously, we could have only become best-sellers if people bought the book, so we owe all of its success entirely to you.

You are amazing. And pretty. And have you lost weight? You are looking so svelte today.

THANK YOU from the bottom of our very full hearts.

If you haven’t secured your own copy yet just click on the “Buy My Book” tab over in my sidebar or click here to enter my giveaway.

I will try to shut up now.

`Dreams: I Just Want To Pee Alone`

March 8, 2013 By: Stephanie4 Comments

When we become mothers something happens inside of us that makes us put our children above anything else.

We love them so fiercely that we just want to do everything within our power to give them anything and everything they could ever need or want.

And that is great.

But what about what WE want?

What I want…

What I always wanted…

is to write.

For real.

Blogging is a fun hobby and it has given me amazing connections and wonderful friendships, but when I was a little girl I didn’t dream about blogging (mostly because no one even had the internet yet.)

I used to dream about writing. Real books. I wanted to be Judy Blume.

My friends Lauren, Nicki and I would make up our own characters and spend HOURS writing short stories in these notebooks. Then we would trade them amongst ourselves and read each other’s stories. Our character’s names were Brianna (that was me), Taylor, and Jordan. We wrote about their friendships, their first kisses, and their trips to the mall, then swapped the notebooks and did it again.

It was the original Words With Friends.

Last year, when my last baby started to get a little more independent and my oldest started school, I made a conscious decision.

It was Me time.

I decided that every day I was going to do at least one thing to get myself closer to my dream.

So between diapers and laundry and Mom N Me meetings I started networking.

I started reaching out to bigger bloggers who were more successful and they were so nice. Anna from My Life and Kids took me under her wing and allowed me to guest post on her blog. She introduced me into an amazing network of women. Leslie from The Bearded Iris became my blogging big sister and taught me how to increase my social media following and even published a piece for me on In The Powder Room. (And guess what? It became their second most popular piece in all of 2012!)

I joined the SITS girls and I started participating in their events. I even won a trip to Bloggy Boot Camp from them, so I will be going to my first ever blog conference this year!

I sent resumes to local newspapers, I wrote manuscripts, and I submitted query letters to publishers and agents, never really expecting anything to happen.

But it did.

IT DID.

An editor of a local women’s magazine offered me a freelance job and I have had 4 articles published so far, with more already in “the queue.”

Real articles in a real magazine that you can get on local newsstands. Real articles that came with real (albeit small) paychecks.

Then I got contacted by a real publisher. And they wanted MY book.

To be honest, I had forgotten I had even submitted that manuscript because I truly was doing so much work trying to get a real writing career off the ground. I couldn’t remember what I had done 2 or three months ago. (It takes a long time to hear back.)

After a lot of research and some negotiating I signed a contract.

My first children’s book will be released in 2014. A REAL book. Just like Judy Blume.

Then I got another offer.

One of those bigger bloggers in the network of women I have grown to love was looking for submissions for a new book. It was going to be an anthology of humor essays written by women on the topic of motherhood and it was being complied by Jen of People I Want to Punch in the Throat, the woman who proved just a few short months ago that a blogger could top Amazon’s best-seller list and stay there. (Her holiday book is STILL i n the Top 10 in Parenting & Family Humor. It’s a holiday book. It’s currently March. She is, like, REALLY good.)

Guess what?

My essay was accepted and the book is here!

Not only is it here, it is amazing.

I’m not just saying that because I am in it.

How could any mom not love a book with a title like this?

Yes, the book is called I Just want to Pee Alone .

Although my particular essay is fairly harmless as long as you can handle a poop story (what mom can’t?), I must warn you that this book is rated R for adult content and some foul language.

It’s also HILARIOUS.

And moving.

We’re covering everything from potty training to dealing with the death of a loved one.

My favorite contribution is from Meredith of Mom of the Year. You will laugh, cry, and be forever touched by her honesty.

The book reminds me of a mash-up of Steel Magnolias and the movie Bridesmaids.

I’m really not just saying that. Without even trying (since today is the day we all agreed to start our big online push) we got to the Top 10 on the Amazon Best-Sellers list in Parenting and Family humor this week. We are also the #1 Hot New Release in our category. Numero Uno! See? Plus we hot #1 in our category (Parenting and Family Humor) and #2 on iTunes in the Humor category!!

That’s right, it’s available RIGHT NOW on Amazon and Kindle. Just click here.

It’s also available on iTunes here.

What are you waiting for?

Oh, you want me to give you one?

Ok, fine.

Of course I’m giving away a free copy to a Binkies and Briefcases reader!

Just enter using the Rafflecopter. This giveaway is open to US residents only. Ages 18 and up. The winner will be selected at random on Saturday, March 16, 2013.

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Check out all of the lovely ladies squeezed in between the pages with me: People I Want to Punch in the Throat

Insane in the Mom Brain

The Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva

Baby Sideburns

Rants From Mommyland

You Know it Happens at Your House Too

The Underachiever’s Guide to Being a Domestic Goddess

My Life and Kids

Bad Parenting Moments

Let Me Start By Saying

Binkies and Briefcases

Naps Happen

Kelley’s Break Room

Toulouse & Tonic

HouseTalkN

Hollow Tree Ventures

The Fordeville Diaries

Snarkfest

Mom’s New Stage

Nurse Mommy Laughs

The Dose of Reality

The Mom of the Year

Life on Peanut Layne

Momaical

Cloudy, With a Chance of Wine

Confessions of a Cornfed Girl

I Love Them Most When They’re Sleeping

Random Handprints

RachRiot

You’re My Favorite Today

Funny is Family

My Real Life

`Building the Dream: Final Plans`

February 13, 2013 By: Stephanie3 Comments

We are coming to the home stretch! (And by that I mean the end of the beginning and finally being able to get started.) We received our final house plans from the builder yesterday. It would have been much sooner, but I held that up because I had a bunch of last minute changes. “Hey, can we move the laundry room over here and get a bigger pantry….” Mike, our builder, is the PERFECT contractor for me. He is amazing at taking the ideas in my head and putting them on paper and he is super patient with me about making changes.

Our plans are based on the Donald Gardner plan for the Michaelson house, but we wanted to make quite a few changes. We changed the roof line, extended the study, the bathroom on the left, and the back bedroom, changed the location and sizes of a lot of closets and a few other things. We purchased the original plans here and Mike made the changes once we owned the rights to the plans.

The bank says everything looks good and we should be ready to go with them as early as next week. Our storm water plan revision has been submitted and as long as that gets approved we can FINALLY get our building permit!!!! (It only took a year.)

We will still be waiting on the weather for another month or so, but hopefully in 4-6 weeks (or maybe sooner, depending on the winter weather) we will be breaking ground!!

Yay!

P.S. You can click the images twice to enlarge.

`The Bachelorette: Lord of the Rings Edition`

February 12, 2013 By: Stephanie17 Comments

Please excuse me while I geek out for a minute. It’s not my fault. My husband is obsessed with all things Lord of the Rings. He read the books, he has nerdy t-shirts mapping out the journey across Middle Earth, he asked for the Blu-Ray trilogy for Christmas. (And like an idiot I bought it because it was the Amazon Deal of the Day) You get the idea.

A few weeks ago we let my son watch it for the first time and he declared that Arwen (Liv Tyler) was his girlfriend. It was adorable. Because he’s 5. It’s not that cute when you’re 30. Trust me.

Anyway…because my mind needed something less boring to do than watch LOTR for the 8 millionth time, I decided to play my own version of the Bachelorette with the men of the movie.

Who is truly marriage material?

source

Frodo Baggins…no rose for you.

Sorry dude. You’re pretty annoying. It’s not cool to be constantly playing a damsel in distress when you are carrying a testosterone card. Like, seriously.

source

Gimli…no rose for you.

You’re really cranky and you need to shave. And you are way too stubborn. You seem like the kind of guy who would come home 5 hours late after being at the pub all evening while I took care of our 7 little dwarf children and mope because your dinner was cold. P.S. your finger nails are grody.

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Gandalf..what am I, Anna Nicole Smith? (Too soon?) He’s not invited to my rose ceremony. He’s old enough to be my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather. Besides, Harry Potter needs you more than I do.

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Aragorn…Ok, you can have a rose, but you’re probably not making it to the finale. You’re the broody Johnny Depp of Middle Earth. You’re hot and all, but you seem like way too much work for me. Worrying about how to get you to fulfill your potential, building your self-confidence, and making sure you do in fact save the world in spite of yourself. Nah. Also, you are taken. It’s kind of a douchey thing to do to be on my dating show when another chick already gave up immorality just to hang out with you.

It’s down to the finale. Who will get the final rose? (Do they even get a rose on the Bachelorette? I don’t have any idea. I don’t actually watch that show.)

The Runner Up

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Legolas…swoon. If I was an available elfish maiden I would quiver for you. (Get it? Archery. I slay myself. Ha! I did it again.) Also, you have the word “lego” in your name and my son thinks that’s pretty cool. But, alas, you are just too much of a risk taker and you make everything a competition. In the end, I just can’t deal with that. I need more stability.

so the final rose goes to…..

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Samwise Gangee! Yeah, that’s right. I picked a hobbit. I might not be a huge Lord of the Rings fan, but Sam is my favorite literary character of all time. He’s a perfect unsung hero. He’s got a strong work ethic, he’s selfless, and he’s fiercely loyal. Them’s the qualities that a good husband make.

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