How NOT to Load a Dishwasher

Look, I know it's called WORDLESS Wednesday, but I'm seeing a lot of bloggers writing little stories to go along with their picture. I don't think that's WORDLESS, but if you can't beat them, join them ... at least for a post.

This would be how my kids load the dishwashwer. Note the sideways cups and the bowls right-side-up. So cute! Time to give a little lesson on Dishwasher Loading. P.S. If you have a 711 store near you, from 11-7 today you can get a free Slurpee! And then go back for more like we do!

Tackle-It Tuesday: Callie's Closet and the Magic Cleaning Fairy (me)

Every Tuesday, I tackle a different project around my home that's been bugging all of us!

This is my 7-year-old daughter's closet BEFORE! Actually, she will tell you it's also her 4-year-old sister's closet, too, when she's trying to get out of picking it up! Eva sleeps in our bedroom, but plays hard in "the girls' room."

The right-hand side of the closet on the floor.

The left-hand side of the closet floor.

The right-hand side. Note how I use her top shelf as scrapbook storage. I have like a zillion of them before I stopped having time to scrapbook because I'm too busy entertaining YOU. Yes, you're welcome.

  
AFTER!!!!! Sue me, I did this by myself. I find it easier to get rid of stuff when the girls are not standing over me picking through the trash! Don't worry, they have more hanging clothes than this, which live on the LEFT side of the closet. They are pretty much in order because I purge that stuff regularly.

Holy Guacamole, I can see the floor! I am magical! The Magic Cleaning Fairy!

The left-hand side on the floor is still a challenge. I at least got the shoes in a box and some toys in a little basket. Stuffed animals are in another box. Barbies are in a drawer in her dresser. Dolls go in the 1950s vintage baby crib.

I can't stand empty space and had to sneak her desk in there since it fit. It's how I roll. She can drag it out when she wants to play.

I had to give some props to my amazingly talented husband, who found this wasted space when we were redoing the girls' room in early 2011 (when he was NOT traveling). There was just a wall here, and he knocked it out and put in shelves. There's room for so much here, as well as her dress-up basket down below!

I hope I have inspired you to clean up your own nasty house. Now get on it, write about it and share the link with me here!

If you like giveaways, check out my friend Kelly's blog, where she is giving away Brave, the video game, Fit Moms for Life DVD, What to Expect When You're Expecting book set and more!

Moshi Monster Monday: Coolio Cupcakes

This was Michael's find, so we had to make it: Coolio Cupcakes. Coolio is a Moshi Monster who looks like a cupcake so these are PERFECT!

Make a white or yellow cake mix according to the directions on the box. Fill ice cream cones 3/4 full (no more or you'll have a mess, trust me), then stand them up in a baking tin and bake according to cupcake directions on the cake mix box.

Mix up 3 batches of colored frosting (using natural food coloring if you are rich and healthy): pink, orange and yellow.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, frost the top part of the ice cream cone yellow, then above that is orange, then the top is pink (see photos below).

The almost finished product, with a baby brother hanging around behind!

The girls got in on the action, too!

To make the bottom, wrap some orange paper (or color white paper) around a cone and tape it. Then cut out some little arms with hands and tape them on as well. For the eyes, use sliced almonds and black frosting that comes in a tube. (We didn't have any, so Michael colored some white frosting dark gray and applied it with a toothpick).

By the way, if you get blogs posts via email and sometimes can't see videos I post, you should be able to click on the blog title in your email message and come directly to the blog so you can then click on the video.

Porn Music in the Fisher Price Loving Family Minivan!!!!!!

Holy inappropriateness, Batman! Sorry to post this on a Sunday, but I don't have a theme for this day and finally got my butt on the new-fangled YouTube to upload this gem taken by me! Hope you enjoy it.

We Are Moving! We Love Fireworks!

*UPDATED September 2, 2019 and we found our dream house in Peculiar, MO two years ago today. See blog post here!

My county is so uptight (ahem, Johnson County, Kansas)! Heck, my CITY is so uptight (naming more names: Overland Park, Kansas). It thinks it's like the hottest thing going and is so beautiful and fabulous and smart and witty. It doesn't want to do anything to dirty its reputation.

Reason #1 to move: So someone who lives in my city can't keep hens. In all the surrounding counties where I live, THEY get to keep hens. They get to have fresh eggs every day. It's not the houses are completely on top of each other and hens would bug the neighbors. I would personally keep mine under our deck, which is a lot of feet (like my measurements?) from either neighbor. I'm not saying I will keep hens. I'm just saying I want the OPTION. I want the FREEDOM to do so.

Reason #2 to move: We live on a corner which doubles as a racing strip at times. Trust me, I know. When Aron and I were dating, his brothers went over 100 mph up our street (before we lived here) on motorcycles. Aron and I also went pretty fast up our street. These days people still speed up and down our street and don't know the meaning of a crosswalk. Someone once honked at my kid for trying to cross!

Reason #3 to move: Fireworks. We love fireworks. I just found out that SPARKLERS and SNAKES are not allowed in my city!!!!! There is a neighboring county where the big assumption about them is that they are all backwoods, poor and dumb, and yet they somehow get through the 4th of July every year without too much trouble. My city is supposed to be all smart and rich and we can't have SNAKES! Like we are too stupid to water down our grass before doing fireworks or we will do snakes on wooden decks or house roofs.

So we go to the backwoods county where my family lives and we shoot fireworks and we have never had a problems. We've also in the past gone to my Mom's backwoods county in another state and have never had problems.

Joel likes to put fireworks under a cup and light them.

I'm sure it shocks you that I am all into blowing things up.

The booty! My cousin went with us to do the only shopping I truly enjoy.

This year I was like, "Kids, your dad is out of town so we'd better not do any fun, illegal fireworks while he's gone because if the cops show up and want to take me away for doing illegal fireworks, you need someone at home to care for you." 

Every other year I'm like, "Aron, I will volunteer to go to the Pokey while you stay home with the kids. Can I just real quick grab my laptop and a book? Maybe get a coffee on the way? I'll be back in a few days!"