Standard pictures for back to school. Little Monkette had to check up on her big brother!

After getting Little Monkey to his class, Little Monkette didn’t want to leave him! She’s been begging all summer for him to go back to school but then wouldn’t leave him there. She wanted to color a picture like all the other kids were doing. Once I got her back home, she was okay with him being at school until we were at the gym. He was only gone three hours and she was ready to have him back home again! She does love her brother!

When we were back at the house, I thought it would be fun to do a line up of the first day of school for the past three years. It is amazing to see how much he has grown!

3 years of First Days of School

I am excited to line up 13 years of first days for him! So far he likes first grade but says they eat lunch really late. He is glad that they get to have a snack in class.

Results you can SEE!

It has been tough at the gym but so worth it! I’ve gotten much stronger and thinner in the process! In the beginning, I was lucky if I could do a push up or two. In fact, I often got called out, “This is not yoga class! That is a downward dog NOT a push up!” I would laugh and just keep trying. Now, I can do many more push ups! When I started working out, it was tough but now I actually feel good, sometimes even great, after working out. I’m not counting every calorie but I am watching what I eat. Thankfully working out allows me to indulge sometimes when I want to! It is so nice to fit into clothes that haven’t fit in a really long time!

I’m hoping to be able to post another picture in a few more months with even more pounds lost and more muscle gained!!!

My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business

It has been a while since I actually read this book, but I did read it! I got a bit behind on posting my book reviews (and any other kind of post!).

But I did read Dick Van Dyke’s book, My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business and it was great. In fact, after reading it, I put many of his DVDs on hold at the library so I could watch his show. The way the show was written made the dialogue funny no matter what year it was. There aren’t references to things happening in the world, it is just comedy that works any year that you watch it in. I’d say that is pretty good writing!

Enough about the show though, the book was a pretty quick read and it was cool to see how Van Dyke made his way through his career in entertainment.

I wish I could recall more details from the book but it has been about five months and another five or six books since I read this one! If you like biographies, funny stories or Dick Van Dyke, I’d recommend the book to you. I own it, so if you want to borrow it, I’ll put you on the list! (Right now it is loaned out!)

Now, through August 31, 2012 you can use this bonus code to get an extra 15%(with a maximum value of $50): AVBC64 s

So check out my review and the video below to learn about Cash4books and then send in your old books and textbooks for some extra money in your pocket!

The Littles and Me at the door to the lighthouse.

Once Little Monkey and I made it all the way to the top, I took a picture of us up against the Lighthouse. I then decided that no one would care to see the black paint of the Lighthouse, so we took another one with the beach in the background.

Little Monkey and me at the top of the Lighthouse overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

While we were up there, we tried to grab a picture of Little Monkette and Grammy waiting for us down at the bottom. I hadn’t thought about it until after they had taken our picture so they were already on the move.

I wrote their names right underneath them. It is hard to see though! They are in the middle of the picture. We were pretty high up!

The climb up wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It is 203 steps to the top. The biggest issue is how hot it is in the lighthouse. At some of the windows there would be a small breeze but that was it. I was sweating before making it all the way up (And we weren’t charging up the stairs like we do at the gym!) The climb back down was a little more difficult but not too bad. As I stood close to the inside edge, but not too close, I stretched my arms out and took a picture of the staircase with my phone.

The stairwell!

Overall, it was a fun experience and I’m glad Little Monkey finally got his wish! I don’t think I’ll need to climb up there any more but at least now I can say that I have done it. If you are ever in the Ponce Inlet area, you might want to check out the Lighthouse too!

Eat Mor Chikin or Frys and Frut!

Since Little Monkey can’t eat chicken, I made him a special PKU friendly sign for fries and fruit. Who knows, maybe we’ll help Chick-fil-a start a new PKU friendly marketing campaign!

They were very excited to meet the cow!

Shortly after we sat down to eat our food, the Chick-fil-a cow came out. The kids were SO excited. They hopped right up from the table to meet him. They got hugs, high fives and a photo op! The cow hung around for awhile, greeting people outside, going through the drive thru line, sneaking up on people eating or waiting in line, taking orders, handing out orders in the drive thru and sitting with other people who were eating. Every time Little Monkette saw the cow she would wave and often he would wave back (except when he was outside and she swore he did see her though!)

There were a few people eating in the restaurant (we got there about 4:15 to avoid the dinner crowd-turned out to be a great idea!) that were not aware of Cow Appreciation Day. One guy even asked me if something special was happening today. I told him about the event and assured him that we didn’t regularly dress like cows (Yes I was dressed like a cow too! Hello! It was FREE food!)

I would say dressing up for Cow Appreciation Day is worth it. We had fun and got to have great food for free. We didn’t spend any money on our costumes. Everything we used was stuff we had on hand. I’ve entered the kids picture into Chick-fil-a’s Cow Appreciation Day photo contest. Once I know the link of where to vote, I’ll post it here so you can go vote for them!

Update! I got the link to vote for the kids!! Please go give them your vote! Click Here! Thanks.

Johnny In A Dress’ Kindle Case

Since it is summer, I picked out some fun bright colors and followed the tutorial. I really like how it came out and it was pretty easy to make. The tutorial has you make to separate pouches and then connect them. I think I could also use our method of making gadget cozies and it would have worked out faster. I also used a hair tie for the elastic this time (following the tutorial) but it was very hard to sew over with my machine.

Finished case

It isn’t perfect but I’m pretty sure Holly will still love it. I liked being able to finally sew something simply because I had the time and I wanted to do it. Usually I”m sewing shop orders so this was a nice change of pace!

A peek inside!

And who knows…maybe we’ll make some more of these to add to the shop…if I get the urge to just sew something because I want to! I hope Holly does like it and will forgive my taking forever it get it done!

Pinterest Jolly Rancher Lollipops

The directions said to put the Jolly Ranchers on parchment paper and cook at 200 degrees for 5 minutes.

We put the Jolly Ranchers in sets of three onto the parchment paper.

Little Monkey unwrapped and selected the colors to go together for each lollipop.

Then we put them into the oven for 5 minutes at 200 degrees. Only problem, they didn’t melt. So we put them in longer. We ended up cooking them for about 12 minutes. As soon as they came out of the oven, we put the lollipop sticks into them.

Little Monkey pushed the lollipop sticks into the melted Jolly Rancher.

We probably could have cooked them a little bit longer but it worked out. I would also recommend using smaller lollipop sticks. We used these because we already had them on hand.

Little Monkey approved!

Little Monkey liked the project and it was quick and easy. Little Monkey was even more excited about the project when he found out that not only could he have the lollipops, but they are also phe free! Yay for a fun summer project for my little pku-er!

Cute flamingo cards

Check out Anna’s shop for lots of other fun cards and prints that she has available. I bought some of her Grateful cards at a Homespun Chic Marketplace show once. Every time I give one of those cards, the person responds with how much they love the card!