Organizing and Feeding my Addiction

Back in June I posted about how I used a plastic tote bag to organize my paper rolls on my pantry door. 

As I mentioned in the post I intended it to be a temporary fix until I found a better solution. I searched for a good over the door organizer but the problem was the opening at the top of the door was too small and anything on it would keep it from closing. 

Finally I realized that I would have to use something that I could hang directly on the door.  I know, some things take my brain a while....

I found this four tier rack that is the perfect size.  It came with mounting screws but I don't want to drill holes in my door so I just used a couple of those handy little command hooks. It works great! The only thing is the sides of the shelves are open so if you swing the door too hard the rolls slide out of the side. I'll have to weave some string or something on each side to hold them in place. 

Looks so much better than this don't you think?  

Also, since Christmas is fast approaching my addiction to snowman figurines is starting to surface. I took a look at my local Salvation Army store the other day to see if they had any and I found these two:

They are super cute! While I was there I picked up a ceramic cookie jar and the lid fell off and smashed on the floor! I took it up to the cash register because I figured I broke it so I should pay for it. The cashier said I didn't need to and promptly threw it in the garbage! I felt bad but was glad because it was $6! 

I also found this snowman when we were at Bronner's a few weeks ago. 

 

The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's all sparkly and is very pretty! 

I probably should stop looking for them now as I have three new ones already and it's not even November!

Maxwell and Levi are doing really well in school. Neither one of them cries anymore. I went with Shauna to pick them up one day and they both look so little coming out of their classrooms! 

That's it for me for now. 

Next weekend we are (hopefully) going to go on a lantern lit hike at Island Lake State Park and on Sunday we'll be going trick or treating with the boys! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

Crafts and Recipies

I did a little dollar store craft the other day. I was looking for a small glass container to hold a little bit of candy.

Super easy and I thought it came out pretty good. 

I need to check out more dollar store crafts. I know there is a whole bunch of them and you all know Dollar Store is my favorite store lately! 

I got this recipe for a Chicken Parmesan Casserole off of the internet somewhere. 

It was really, really good! I used Bertolli Garlic and Olive Oil marinara sauce and Barilla protein pasta so I could eat some of it! I highly recommend it!

I also copied this off of another bloggers post, Mari from My Little Corner of the World.  (Hi Mari!)

I haven't made it yet but I thought I would show you my colorful recipe! A lot of times I will write down a recipe instead of printing it out. Just because I don't want to waste printer ink! This time I decided to use colorful pens! 

My friend and I were walking on Saturday morning and it was pretty foggy outside. 

I took this picture of the sun trying to burn through the fog! 

That's it for me now. I'm working an extra day again this week but that's going to come to an end. I want to start going with Shauna on Wednesdays to pick up the boys from school. I don't get to see them nearly as often as I used to because of work and their school. 

But we are keeping them overnight on Friday! I am looking forward to that and hoping I can get a good night sleep on Thursday so I'll be ready!

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

Fall (Kind Of)

Well it's officially Fall, at least by the calendar anyway. The temps have been in the 70's most days, which is nice except the humidity has been really high, and that's  uncomfortable at any temperature. Even more so when it's cooler out because it just feels weird! We have yet to be able to close up our air conditioner because you never know when you need to turn it on for a minute to suck the humidity out of the air! 

Maxwell is doing very well in school. He doesn't cry anymore and he tells his mom he is excited to go and has fun. 

Levi just started this week because he was sick when he was supposed to start last week

The first day he just walked in the classroom and started playing. Shauna said he didn't understand that they were leaving him. Then on Wed and today he cried but went in the classroom holding the teacher's hand.

Maxwell goes Monday-Thursday 12-3 and Levi goes Tuesday-Thursday 12-3. Gives Shauna a nice little break!

Sigh...I'm looking forward to pictures from school when they aren't wearing masks! 

I finished putting up the rest of the Fall/Thanksgiving decorations. I decided to add some orange lights to my family room built in this year.

I may see if I can find some more fall leaf garland to add to the lights. It looks a little plain to me. 

Work is going well. Occasionally she asks me to work an extra day to cover for someone. It puts me at 17 hours a week instead of 13 and that's ok. 

And I am enjoying the paychecks, too! I get paid every Friday so I always have a little extra for the weekend! 

A few days ago we went to Bronner's so I could get the boys their personalized Christmas ornaments for this year. We usually go in July but somehow the month got away from us. Between vacation and Chris being in town we just didn't think about it.  If we would have waited too much longer it would have been crazy crowded! One year we went in November and vowed never again! 

That's about it for me for now.

Until the next time stay safe and well, my friends! 

Fall Decor and More

I just worked 3 days in a row (gasp!) so today I'm off and have a list of things I want to get accomplished. One of which is to finish my Fall/Thanksgiving decorating.  

I don't put much outside but I got this fall leaves garland at At Home last year and I like it on our deck. 

I used to have a small plate rack that I hung up and would put all sorts of different plates on it.  I don't use the rack anymore but the plates are perfect to hang on some wrought iron sconces I have in the living room. 

 And of course, here is my newest Dollar Store sign to hang on the pantry door. They had a ton and I had a hard time choosing but I liked this one the best. You can't tell from the picture but it has glitter on it. 

In other news, our Levi is turning 3 tomorrow. Shauna and Brad had a birthday party for him yesterday.

He was loving us singing Happy Birthday to him! His shirt and his cake both say "Young, Wild and Three!" Very true for this little hooligan! He starts pre-school on Tuesday so we'll see how it goes!

Maxwell is adjusting to going to school. It's taken a while but he's going in with minimal tears now and actually enjoying himself too! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

The Week

Chris has been here since last Tuesday the 14th. It's always nice to have him in town and I know that boys love seeing him. 

We went to the Renaissance Festival which was a complete bust. It was busy and very unorganized. For example, you stand in a long line to get food only to find out that you have to stand in another long line to get something to drink! 

The highlight for the boys was this lady with a bubble machine. She had quite a costume on. A lot of people were dressed in all sorts of costumes. 

We didn't stay really long though. 

On Wednesday night Rich, Chris and I went to a Tiger baseball game at Comerica Park. It was a little rainy but we were sitting under a awning and it wasn't enough to stop the game. 

I love the view of Downtown Detroit from the ballpark. And I love when the lights are on at a night game. The highlight of course was that the Tigers beat the White Socks 4-3! It was a good game! 

Maxwell started pre-school last week and Levi starts on the 28th, one day after his 3rd birthday. 

He's struggling a little bit because he's so shy but once he gets used to school he's going to love it! 

We are taking Chris to the airport for his 6:30 flight tonight. I'm preparing myself for a few days of sadness like I always feel when he's gone. 

That's it for me right now. 

Until the next time stay safe and well, my friends! 

The One Where I Decide Not To Name My Posts Like Friends Episodes

We have finally cooled off here a little. The past two nights have been in the 50's which makes for some really good sleeping! 

Last week I hit another Estate Sale. When I go I usually look for jewelry and toys for the kids. This one didn't have any jewelry but the basement was full of toys!

I found two huge bags of building block tiles and wooden building blocks for the boys. Max the cat approves! 

Plus I found these hourglasses for them, too. There are 1, 3, 5 and 10 minute timers. $20 for everything!

I washed everything in a little bleach and water. The boys loved them! 

Work is going pretty good. I worked an extra day this week but I didn't mind because I had nothing else to do. I'm only scheduled for 13 hours a week so 4 more hours is no big deal. 

Here's a view of the store from the counter where the cash register is. It really is a nice place to work.

I think I mentioned that I bought a set of knitting needles and yarn at the thrift store. 

I started to teach myself to knit. I'll need lots of practice to get over my fat fingers! 

Lastly since I'm employed again I decided to treat myself today. 

I got a manicure. The last time I had a manicure was before Shauna and Brad's wedding in 2015! It's just not something I'm in the habit of doing. But I like the way it looks so maybe I'll continue. 

Saturday the 11th we are keeping the boys overnight so Shauna and Brad can go to a wedding. We promised them we would go to the park and dinner so hopefully the weather cooperates! 

Chris is coming into town on the 14 for a week. We are all going to the Michigan Renaissance Festival while he is here. It's been going on since 1979 and I have never been so I'm excited! 

That's all for me for now.

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

The One Where We Babysat For Days

I think I'm going to start titling my posts like Friends episodes used to be!

Shauna and Brad went to Las Vegas last week for four days. On Monday morning they dropped the boys off at Brad's mom Sandy's house, we met them there and took them to the airport.

They stayed with Sandy the first night. We picked them up on Tuesday after dinner and took them to spend the night at our house. 

On Wednesday we took them to a local farm to see the animals and to take a wagon ride. 

I have to say they were not impressed with either! It was pretty hot outside and not a lot of shade. I thought they would be excited to ride the wagon because it was pulled by a tractor, and they love tractors but eh....

Later that day we took them back to their house for the night because Shauna and Brad were coming home on Thursday. 

We filled their pool and and they had fun pushing each other down the slide into it! On Thursday we were going to take them to dinner and the dairy queen for ice cream but we ended up just staying at the house and getting pizza for dinner. It was so hot and to tell the truth, strapping them into their car seats is a real PITA! No wonder Shauna doesn't take them a lot of places by herself! 

Anyway, Rich picked Shauna and Brad up at the airport and they were home by 7:45.  

It was exhausting but such a joy to be able to spend so much time with these guys! 

On Friday I went to a local thrift store because they were selling all their clothes for 50% off. I bought 4 sleeveless tops, one long and one short sleeved t-shirt, knitting needles, a skein of yarn, and a bunch of pipe cleaners for a grand total of $14.84! Gotta love thrift stores! 

Work is going good. I ended up having to work on Saturday from 2-7 by myself because the person I was supposed to work with had a family emergency. It was my first time being alone but it went ok. I'm getting the hang of educating people on the benefits of CBD. A lot of people ask me if I use it and to tell the truth, I've only used gummies before to help me sleep. I think the owner, Kate, wants me to try everything eventually. 

It's possible I may have bitten off a little more than I want to chew with this job, though. Besides Kate, there are only 4 other workers and when someone is on vacation or calls off for whatever reason, everyone else has to work extra. I know it makes me sound a little selfish to say this, but I only want to work 20 hours a week. I suppose that is the downside to working for a small business. Everything else is perfect though so we'll see how it goes! 

Lastly, our community is having their bi-annual garage sale this weekend. It was cancelled last year so everyone is glad to see it back this year.  I thought this sign was pretty clever! 

I told the people I liked their sign and they told me I could have it for free with the purchase of their 40" Sony TV. 

No thanks! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends!