{ODDS AND ENDS}

T had a baseball game yesterday, so in honor of Easter, he decided to lay an egg. {Ha ha}

Bad joke, I know. But it's fun to watch him as he gets older learn new things, be challenged, and rise to the occasion. As he has little victories: throwing the runner out in baseball, running into home, or even scoring well on a test, I can see his confidence grow. And hopefully that will help him have the courage to conquer bigger things.

Or maybe he just likes baseball.

And I like having matching aprons with my little girl. Cheesy? Absolutely, but it makes cooking with her just that much more fun.

And J is such a sweetie. Seriously, try to not be happy looking at that face. I dare you.

Big brother couldn't resist either . . .

Perfect Brownies

I made my "perfect" brownies, and they were everything I expected and more.

As Seen on TV

I made my very first "As Seen on TV" purchase today. I was at the grocery store and found "the perfect brownie pan."

Call me gullible, but I just couldn't pass it up. I have seen it on TV several times, each time thinking, "That would be great!"

Tim is a "corner lover" and will always take those pieces first, so having every piece be a corner piece sounds ideal. And me, I really like seeing all those pieces perfectly squared and all exactly the same size. (Can you see some OCD tendencies here?)

Right now it's sitting in the box on my counter, and every time I walk by I get a little smile on my face. I know what we'll be having for desert tonight.

I can't wait to try it!!

Keeping Busy

So, I finally decided to replace the queen-sized bed in Hannah's room for a twin bed to give her some more space to play in her room. Tim and I were looking online for beds we liked and found this one at Pottery Barn Kids:

I love the furniture and decorations at Pottery Barn, but they are nearly always overpriced. The bed at Pottery Barn is about $550 plus tax and shipping. I wasn't willing to pay that much, but I thought it would be fun to try to make one.

I spent just under $100, and here is the result:

Although it's not quite as cute as the original, I like the result!

Crash!

So, I'm more than a little upset right now. A week and a half ago our computer crashed. On Friday I received a call letting me know that the hard drive was irreparably damaged and would have to be replaced. The last time I backed up my computer was almost exactly a year ago, so pretty much anything since then is lost. I only have a handful of pictures of Jake now, and seeing the pictures of Hannah from a year ago that I just downloaded brought some tears to my eyes, because she is so much bigger now! The ironic thing is that Tim and I had just been talking about registering with an online back-up service. If anybody has any pictures of my kids within the last year, will you please email them to me?

And learn from my mistake and back up your computer.

It's raining

It's pouring

The old man is snoring

He went to bed

With a bump on his head

And didn't get up in the morning. . .

. . . so he couldn't get ready for school!

Or so sings Tommy and his friends.

This is our backyard at the moment. This is the most water I've seen in it during the nearly 5 years we've lived here. And we're supposed to get more rain tonight! Skimboarding at the Pughs?

How could you not love this face?