I’m testing out the new quick press feature of my newly updated blog software….Thanks Blake! Just a little tweaking left. I love all the new features and upload tools! It’s another learning curve - again - but I think it will be well worth it! Why is it that software updates are always three steps ahead? I just figured out the old stuff and that was like 6 versions ago! *giggle*

I was just catching up on a few friend blogs and when I read this one by my friend Jamie, I had to chuckle. Every parent has a good story or two and I’ve managed to keep one of our best/worst under wraps, generally speaking, for nearly a decade. But some stories beg to be told for posterity and I fear this is one of them. Oh the training this child came with! The lesson of this story is never underestimate what your child can pick up from movies nor the influence it can impart.

My daughter, Cid was a rather precocious and mischievous toddler. Her days were all about repetition of her favorite movie, game, or activity and of course a generous sprinkling of mischief throughout. When she wasn’t spilling uncooked spaghetti on the floor or painting herself and her cousin in peanut butter, she might be found dusting her room and cousin in Comet cleaner and using a full length mirror as a slippery slide. Or better yet, going for multiple bathroom makeovers with all of mom’s makeup or my chatting buddies all time favorite - buttering the dog! Oh the memories! But I digress.

One morning she toddled into the living room with her big tin box full of play dough and old kitchen items. She sat down, like every other morning, ready to play and watch Elmo. Except this morning she lifted the lid and quickly closed it. She turned to me and stated with perfect clarity:

“I didn’t poop in the box.”

Crap. (Little did I know how literally!) The rest of the conversation went something like this:

Mom: “Cidnie, open the box.”

Cid: “No thank you.”

Mom: “Cidnie.”

Cid: “Nope.”

Mom: (clearing throat and meanicing a wicked mom raised brow) “Cidnie, open that box now.”

Cid: “Okay.” (lifts the lid and turns and drops her head)

Inside the otherwise empty box was a single turd, perfectly positioned alone in the middle of the box. It couldn’t have been very old either.

Now, for those inexperienced in the parenting curve, let me explain the great quandary in this moment. It is one of the most difficult and truest tests for any parent. You see, your first reaction is critical. It sets not only the tone but the ultimate lesson the child will remember regardless of what you say later. Control is crucial, but the element of surprise is against you. It’s an internal war zone.

In my case, I was immediately inundated with two equally strong impulses: 1) laughter and 2) the vomit reflex. I credit the incredible shock of the situation for the necessary self control in the moment to simply look at my daughter, tell her we never poop in boxes all while making a mad dash with the box to bathroom where I could safely close the door to address both initial reactions.

With the vile thing flushed, box soaking in Clorox and face cleared of any trace of laughter’s tears, I collected myself to return and question my two and a half year old. She sat frozen to the floor in the same place and position as when I left, clearly waiting for the worst.

I asked her what on earth possessed her to poop in a box. Her response was as instant as it was innocent:

“It’s funny mom, like Dumb and Dumber.”

Now, for anyone who has skillfully avoided this most stellar movie *cough, cough* the reference my daughter is making is a cross between a scene where one character pees in empty beer bottles while driving, and another scene where the other has a disastrous diarrhea blowout in a broken toilet.

I called my husband at work. I told him his movie Dumb and Dumber had been permanently shelved. He asked why and I replied that it might have something to do with the fact that his daughter just pooped in a box and said it was funny like the movie. His immediate response of laughter rivaled his reaction to that stupid broken toilet scene, which incidentally made anyone near him consider the need for mouth to mouth resuscitation. And so Dumb and Dumber left my house that day never to return, although the smart little cross reference spirit remains just as vibrant today as she was nearly ten years ago!

My husband nicknamed me the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) Queen this morning. It’s true, I’ve got a habit of taking on all types of projects on a purely “learn as you go” system. From finishing my garage, putting down a new wood floor and building furniture to crocheting blankets, creating recipes and everything in between, I’ve been known to tackle a wide variety of DIY projects. I blame Grandma Luthy. I’ve heard stories and have many things crafted by her able hands. She was the kind of woman that simply made what she wanted if it weren’t available for one reason or another. My motivation isn’t as admirable as hers; my primary motivation is simply that I’m cheap. I don’t like spending money, especially on things that I know I could do myself for a fraction of the cost. Today’s share - patio furniture covers.

I have two chairs and 60″ swing that needed done. But I was sick looking around at replacement cushions. It was easily going to cost a couple hundred dollars just for replacements. Knowing their purpose, abuse and lack of use I just can’t justify that. So I googled outdoor fabric and found a discount website. I was still dismayed to see that some of the fabrics ran an average of $12 per yard, but still $50-70 is a great deal over 4-5 times that much. Then I found their clearance section and I found some durable and heavier fabric for only $2 per yard. Score! Okay, it’s straight from the early 90’s and not what I’d choose if I were going purely on what I liked, but it was okay, and I’m learning so I ordered $20 worth. It arrived yesterday afternoon.

I cut out the old batting and used plain tissue paper (from the gift wrap bag) to trace out a basic pattern. The hardest part was sewing the closing seams after the padding was in place as I don’t have a heavy duty machine, but I made it work!

And here are the results:

I’m pretty happy with my $20 purchase. Now that I’ve done it I’d even consider paying more in the future for a pattern I really like! But for now, I’m happy knowing that’s another 5 years away. *smile*

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Shopping Homemaker Sharing Potential Talents

No wonder this has been one of my most favorite recent messages:

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Sharing Emotions Positive Impact Potential Inspiration Perspectives Motherhood Talents

This morning I was out planting my garden. I looked over and saw something that struck several thoughts in my head and heart. Inspired, I grabbed the camera.

Now the question is, what do you see?

If you’re anything like me you see beauty in this simple flower. The fact that is was a singular flower contributed to my attention being pulled to it. Having read a bit of the history of this specific type of flower there’s a certain amount of awe as well. It’s been around since the dinosaur age according to some specialists. It’s a hardy flower that manages to survive and thrive, and according to Robert Fulgham it deserves to bloom wherever it pops up given how long it’s worked to stay around. Funny how I always think of him and his books when I see any form of dandelion.

Just saying the word dandelion may have already altered you view of this picture. But wait, there’s more. What do you see now?

How amazing is that? Something with a focused and narrow perspective that was once beautiful and inviting becomes something quite different when you see more of the picture.

So here are a few things that hit me immediately:
1) Seeing more of the picture can greatly alter your perspective.
2) A narrow focus or view can greatly alter your perceptions and beliefs.
3) Even in the most unsightly and ugly, beauty can be found.
4) Company and environment have a huge influence.
5) Determination matters more than almost any other element.

Each of these is worthy of its own post. What hit you? What did you think of when you saw the images?

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Gardening Sharing Potential Inspiration Perspectives Balance Deep Thoughts Intellectual

It’s always nice when you can start a week with some momentum of positive energy from the weekend. Saturday was a really productive day for me this weekend. By 11:00 a.m. I had mowed the front lawn, trimmed the bushes, harvested the garden and pulled the weeds.

We took a break for lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. The kids weren’t sure they wanted to go anywhere until we told them we’d be hitting the movie theater after to watch the movie my daughter’s been begging to see for what feels like forever - Confessions of a Shopaholic. The lunch was great and the show was much better than I was expecting. In fact, I’d go see it again and even apologized to Cid for dragging my feet so much on taking her to it.

Then it was back home to process and store the garden goods. I pulled out the old canning stuff that’s been collecting dust since I left Idaho and got to work.

My extra effort in planting paid off with nice, big carrots to work with this season. It took much less time than last year and they were easier to work with. These were vacuumed packed like last spring’s crop as we found that worked really well for keeping “crunchy” carrots (according to my son). My vacuum packer is now over 11 years old and I’m afraid that we’ll have to purchase a new one soon, but it has sure paid its dues! I wish we’d had one of these when I grew up as it’s a great way to preserve your crops in addition to bottling.

We decided to pickle the beets this time as my hubby said it’s his favorite way to eat them. Admittedly, it took me a minute to remember how to do this even looking at my recipe card. Thankfully, I found it a lot like riding a bike and the knowledge came back soon enough.

During this process my daughter asked why we were doing this. We explained that you can’t eat everything from your garden when it’s ready because it will go bad, but we don’t want to waste it. These methods allowed us to enjoy the vegetables all year long. Her mouth fell to the floor and she said, “A whole year?!” we giggled as we informed her that all the carrots we’ve eaten since last year at this time were from that same batch we’d stored. It’s fun to see your kids start to get it.

Sunday was a nice day and I even refilled the cookie jar before bed!

There is so much to be said for seeing the rewards of your labors. It’s such a boost!

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Gardening Homemaker Sharing Food

Last Saturday we spent the morning involving the kids in household chores and cleaning. I started with the messy job of cleaning of the fish tank. This worked great because it’s a less common and frequent chore and the kids thought it was great fun. At any rate, when we were done, I noticed that I couldn’t find one of the two silver dollar fish. I looked around wondering where he could be thinking to myself there’s not that many places a fish that size can hide, I mean it’s not that big a tank nor full of a lot of objects to hide in or behind. Both Cidnie and I searched for a few minutes and finally gave up. I decided I’d let the filter work, water clear and fluttered fish calm; surely he’d be visible in a short while.

Well, about an hour or so later I still can’t find him and now I’m perplexed. I decided to move around a few objects. I lifted the pirate ship and found him laying flat against the bottom! He’d been sandwiched between the ship and aquarium floor. Now, how he managed to get in that exact place in the split second I lifted it the first time is beyond a mystery. I set him free of his burial tomb and encouraged him to move. He bounced back without incident and the picture above was taken just a few moments ago. Here’s the ship he was buried under:

It occurred to me how often I feel just as buried or pinned as that fish.

On the bright side, I recover just as he did. Time and time and time again.

I’m posting this to remind myself that when I feel buried I do recover. This week both my husband and son got the cold flu and today both are back to their normal activities. I successfully pulled off a treasure hunt, short lesson and decorated birthday cake for another activity day even though it felt like I’d never get it all done in time. And the beastly photo backup, organization, and compiling project that so frequently pins me took a hit with me scanning about 200 more photos and adding key words to well over 400 of those. While I may not get as much done each day as I want, the laundry is done, the family fed and I still managed to read 3 books in the past month. I defy the pirate ship to keep me pinned. Today I will remember my ability to triumph and tuck it away for another day when I’ll need the memory. *wink* Which I’m guessing is right around the corner at the beastly task of updating my blog software and finding a way to implement the many great tools of getting it into a book.

Swim away, swim away. Or as Dori says, “What do we do? We swim, we swim. Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.”

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Sharing Positive Impact Potential Inspiration Perspectives Balance Success Blogging

Yup, I’ve been scanning old photos again and couldn’t suppress a giggle at this memory.