Monday, October 5, 2009

Watch Out For Flying Snakes!

Yesterday while at my parents' for our weekly Sunday dinner, we had a humorous situation arise. I was in the house trying to get Mallory to nap, while the big kids were outside playing. Elizabeth came into the room and was spazing out. As I threatened her to get out to keep from disturbing her sister, er, I mean calmly asked what was wrong, she told me, "MOM! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" I asked what wrong. She relayed the following story:

She saw the puppy rolling around in something and went to investigate. It was a snake. A smallish, dead snake. She screamed and Ross came to the rescue. She told Ross to get a stick and flip it over the fence. He got a stick and picked it up. He flung it as hard as he could over the fence, and it landed IN THE NEIGHBORS WINDOWSILL! Oh my goodness, I laughed when I heard this.

I asked if they got it off, and they replied the couldn't reach it because the window was too high.

I chuckled and said I would take care of it when I finished with Mallory.

About an hour later (after I woke up from my accidental nap), I found Edward outside playing with the kids. I asked him if he heard the funny story, and he had. I asked him if he removed the snake, and he replied, "NO WAY! You know I hate snakes!" So this time it was Mom to the rescue. Just call me Stephanie Erwin.

As we told my dad the story, he said, "You should have left it at the neighbors!" Ross replied, "That's what I wanted to do!" I'm sure the neighbors would have loved opening their window to find a dead snake on the ledge.

Are we the only ones that these wacky things keep happening to?

Lizzy's New Glasses

Elizabeth has been telling me for a while that she thinks she needs her eyes checked. Being the attentive mother that I am, I just basically brushed her off. She came home from school a few weeks ago and told me how the third grade class had vision screenings. She told me she got to take hers twice and a second school nurse was called in especially for her. Uh-oh. I checked her backpack for a note from our beloved school nurse but didn't find one. I reasoned that if she did indeed need glasses, I would have received a note from school. Two days later I got one in the mail. Oops! She tested at 20/50 in both eyes! Yikes!

Elizabeth was VERY upset that she failed her vision test. Being the bright young lady that she is, she's never failed a test before. We had to repeatedly explain that she couldn't control failing this kind of test.

We made an appointment at the eye doctor. She was nervous for days about having to take that test again. Luckily, her anxiety lessened as she saw all the cute and trendy glasses on the wall. She was thrilled at the prospect of being able to choose her own glasses. We went to America's Best Eyeglasses where she was able to get two pair for only $70! She chose this cute pair and a fun, whimsical purple pair.
She loves her new glasses and looks darling in them. I had to laugh because she kept saying, "I can see!" and "The floor looks so close now!"

Right before Ross's diabetes diagnosis, he, too, kept telling me he thought he needed his eyes checked. And again, I just brushed him off. Turns out, that was a symptom of type 1 as well. Hmm. How about that? *Insert nervous laughter* So, if Drew or Mallory ever tell me they need their eyes checked, I guess I should pay attention!

Nothing A Little Paint Can't Fix

I've been inspire lately by some of my favorite crafty blogs (Be Different...Act Normal, Make It And Love It, A Soft Place To Land, Crap I've Made, and Mod Podge Rocks just to name a few!). I see the cute things they make or repurpose for next to nothing, and I think, "I can do that!" After 12 years of using some of the same decorations, I think I'm ready for a change.

I love to visit my local thrift shops and usually do so at least once a week. One man's trash is another man's treasure! You never know what you'll find! I found each of these pieces last week. Each one was $.25 to $1.00. All I did was use a little spray paint, and viola!

Every thrift store will have some cheesy pumpkins like these at this time of year. They all had these lovely faces, so I spray painted them entirely with the intention of using the solid sides.

L-O-V-E how they turned out! The cream colored paint pulls each mismatched piece together. 100% improvement!


I'm please with the festive, simple fall display for my entertainment center!


Check out these golden lovelies! The mirror was actually more hideous in person, if that's possible. While I was standing in line to purchase it, an older gentleman commented on the beautiful mirror that I was getting for a steal. Yep!


Ahh, much better.



For about $2.00 they finished off the spaces on my wall quite nicely!