Remember my "too good to be true dress" from eShakti?

I loved that dress so very much.

But then I lost 100 pounds.  And would you believe that my custom fit dress no longer fit perfectly??

I had promised myself a new custom fit dress as a reward for losing the weight.

eShakti must have known my plans because they sent me an email asking if I would like to try out another custom fit dress.  For free!

I clicked that yes button so fast!  Didn't want them changing their minds or anything.

The hardest part of being offered a free custom fit dress is choosing the dress.  eShakti has so many beautiful options.  I just couldn't decide.

So, I narrowed them down.  And narrowed them down some more.  Then I asked my family and took it to Facebook.

The overwhelming advice I got was to get the black sheath dress.

I figured since I shared my gift ideas for kids, I might as well do a little window shopping for myself the moms out there.*


Just a heads up.  I tend to like more practical gifts.  I know lots of people complain about practical gifts but I prefer to get something that makes my life easier.  Yes, Sometimes it's really nice to get something that's just for fun but if it's one or the other I lean practical.  I guess the important thing is know the receiver and plan accordingly.

Dwija has started a linkup asking homeschoolers to write about their favorite homeschooling item.

The answer seems pretty obvious.

Pinterest!  I mean how on earth did my mother manage to homeschool before Pinterest?  But then Cari used her super ninja blogger powers to write about it before anyone else could.


Ok, I might have to go with my printer.
It's the best printer ever.  Dual sided printing.  Like, it sucks the paper back in and prints on the other side.  I don't have to flip it over and somehow always manage to flip it the wrong way, resulting in printing upside down or worse, back over the original side.  It's a pretty awesome printer.

Especially for printing all those great worksheets I find on Pinterest.

Right.

Well, maybe I will pick my laminator.
Love that thing.  So awesome to take the worksheets and laminate them so the kids can use dry erase markers and write on them over and over again.

Awesome for all those great worksheets I find on Pinterest.

Umm...

You know what I like even better than dry erase markers?  Dry erase crayons.  They don't dry out or leak.  No spots on clothing or carpet.  Good stuff.

Especially for all those great worksheets I find on Pinterest.

Sigh.

Think, think, think.

I walked over to the Peanut's desk to take a look at some of the tools we use regularly.  Hoping it would trigger a stroke of genius.

Hmm.

His math book was on his desk along with his math manipulatives.
I do love Math-U-See.  But is that really an "item?"

Inside his desk he had his other schoolbooks.
Hmm.

If there was only something on his desk that we used every day and couldn't do without.

Something he used every day while sitting at that desk doing his schoolwork.

Somewhere on or in that desk.

Oh, right.

There are certain household tasks that I consider utterly unnecessary.

For example, ironing.  Really.  Clothing gets wrinkled so we iron the wrinkles out.  Then we wear the clothing and it gets wrinkled.  Then we wash the clothing and it gets more wrinkled.  So we spend extra time and effort to iron the wrinkles out and repeat the cycle.

I really want to know who decided at some point in time that wrinkles were undesirable.

What did the wrinkle ever do to you?

Is it really hurting anyone?

No.  I thought not.

You know what has hurt someone?  An iron.  That's right.

People have this aversion to wrinkles drilled into them.

If everyone stopped ironing their clothes then no one would even notice the wrinkles anymore.  No one.

Also, that's what the dryer is for.  And did you know they now make wrinkle free clothing?  That's right.  Problem solved.

Dusting.

Dust settles on stuff so you swish it off.  It all flies up in the air, swirls around a bit, and settles right back down on the thing you just dusted off.  Big fat waste of time.

Vacuuming.  I mean how bad would it be if I just stopped vacuuming?

A couple of weeks ago, bright and early on a Saturday morning, my husband and I packed the kids up in the car and drove the hour drive to his mother's house.  After dropping off my husband, the kids and I then drove an hour and a half back, past our house, to a birthday party for one of my son's best buddies.  (My son was rather dismayed that for some reason it took 2 1/2 hours to drive to the birthday party!)  While we were having fun splashing and eating cupcakes, my husband and his mother were in her van, driving the five hours to my parent's house.  They stayed for a few hours and then turned right around and drove back.

At around 1am I got a call from my brother asking me if my husband had arrived home yet.  I looked outside to check and discovered, to my surprise, a vehicle in the driveway containing my brother and sister-in-law!

At around 2am my husband arrived home.  He had dropped his mom off at her house and we would be taking her van back the next afternoon.

Why?

You realize your daughter has grown out of all her clothes.

And realize they were almost all winter clothes anyway.

And it's 106 degrees outside.

So you go to buy her some t-shirts and shorts.

And wonder when clothes, for her, got so expensive.

Wasn't it just last year you were buying cheap t-shirts and shorts for her for $3 & $4?

Now they are $7 and up!

So you buy her two t-shirts and two pairs of shorts to get by.

New outfit.  She picked it out herself!

And you consider going through your son's old clothes.

She could get away with wearing a Hulk t-shirt with a skirt.  Right?

Then as you are rummaging through the closet you find . . .

Oh yeah.  I got it!  Doing my happy dance!

Remember the shelf I wanted so badly?  And the day I told you I was working on "a project" but wasn't finished yet?

Well I can't say I am entirely finished but I am going to just tell you about it anyway.  Because I know how you have all been holding your breath waiting and I just couldn't keep you in suspense any longer.

So, the shelf I wanted was a little more than I wanted to pay.  I considered getting the four tier shelf for $70, even though I really wanted the $80 five tier shelf.  So basically I just kept wishing.

This weekend was spent installing a new floor in the kids room.

You may recall our incident with the pipe gremlins that resulted in one ruined carpet and two kids without a room of their own.


After all the plumbing was repaired and enough time had elapsed to be relatively sure (holding our breath) that there would not be a re-occurrence (again) the time had finally come to install a new floor.   I still really wanted to put cork in but we were and are still wary about possible future leaks.  Excess funds haven't exactly been flooding in (pardon the pun) either so we had to come up with a more economical solution.

I recently bought a bookshelf from Walmart for my kid's room and I love it!!

It was $25 for a tall Mainstays 5 shelf bookshelf.  Usually the little 2 or 3 shelf bookshelves cost more than that!  When I bought it I assumed it would be very narrow but I was happily surprised.  It is perfect for the kid's bedroom!  I am putting all their decorative items that I don't want them playing with up on top.  They have a couple of books I want to keep in good condition like a few signed by the author so I will put those on the top shelf.  Then I have baskets and plastic bins to organize their toys in for the rest of the shelves.  I am tempted to buy another one for their room.   I have also gone around the house finding all the places a bookshelf would fit perfectly.  I just need 7 or 8 more so far!  At that price how can I resist?