They get me EVERY time!

You know that great skeleton project we did the other day.....  Everytime I come around the corner from the kitchen into the living room I think there is somebody standing in my window.  It gives me a heart attack EVERY time.  

This particular morning I had just finished taking the dog out in my pajamas in a sleepy fog and about fell over backwards when I came around the corner........  AHHHHHHHHHHHH

This makes me happy!

As everyone knows (or they do now) I am a huge animal lover and according to my mom I have been since I was little.   Right now our "herd" is small, but both pets are rescue animals.   Before kids I was very active in NERR which is a rescue organization for Rottweilers in New England.  I saw some pretty sad, abused animals come through including some of the dogs we fostered. 

I was delighted to see this video clip on Fox news the other day about animal abusers having to register with the county and a public website being created.  See link here.

Here is another link to a newspaper article.  See link here.

The long and short of it is:

"The people in Suffolk County, N.Y. have had enough with animal abusers, and now a law has been created to prevent such abuse.  Last week county officials moved to create the first animal abuse registry in the nation. People convicted of animal cruelty will be required to register or face fines and jail time.  The registry is also intended to prevent such offenders from escalating and moving on to violence against humans."

This is HUGE!!  They are working on setting up a website so the public will be able to log on and see who local animal abusers are in your town.  Who not to buy a dog from and also breeders/rescue groups/shelters can log on and see who not to adopt/sell an animal too.  Other states are now trying to adopt similar laws and I am hoping this is something that spreads accross the U.S.

Both cats rescued after they were found in a shed about 4 weeks old without their

mother who was hit by a car.

Both dogs adopted from NERR.  As you can see Tosh the three legged one was the result of animal abuse-he was our foster dog who ended up staying forever until he passed two years ago as a result from his injuries before he was rescued.  Despite their history I could not have asked for better dogs with my children and for my family.

The tooth fairy-for all animal kind.

Our dear Plumpy that cat had to have a tooth pulled last week at the vet.  He is 14 years old and had a slight infection in his mouth.   The girls were delighted when we went to pick him up after his surgery at the vet and she handed over his tooth, all nicely packaged for the tooth fairy!  See it there..... down in the lower right corner.   Not exactly what I was expecting, but after seeing how thrilled the girls were that the tooth fairy would be coming for him, I was thankful that the vet saved the tooth for us. 

Recovering in the laundry room (yes on the dirty laundry!) after he returned home.  I turned the dryer on for him and he was all nice and warm.  He still looks a little drugged up here..... 

The next morning after the tooth fairy came with cat toys for Plumps.  Now you may be wondering where did the girls place the tooth so the tooth fairy would find his tooth.  After much discussion they choose to place the tooth under the couch pillow in the living room where he spends most of his time sleeping.   Good choice!  The tooth fairy found it no problemo!!!

Paper Plate Skeleton

Thanks to my sister in law K for the great link to this blog.  Naptime Crafts!  

The Above the Dam Jam crew came over this week to help us create these great skeleton's! 

(Picture and directions here from Naptime Crafts)

First let me say- I was only able to find the brads needed for the joints at Staples.  Don't bother looking at the other two big box stores-they did not have them and they don't have anyone who works there that would know where they are IF they did have them.  You know the stores I am talking about-the one that starts with W and the other starts with T and you can't spend less than $100 everytime you go there!

Anywhoooo.  We ran into a few problems here and there and in the end had a few left over body parts-but hey they still look great!

 We had the girls color the body parts as we cut them out!

 Don't you dare try to tell this girl she can't wear her Christmas tree shirt in Oct........

I think they are missing a humerus and a femur.... or two, or three...... 

Bathroom makeover!

While bathrooms might not be a hot topic to blog about, I was very excited when my husband decided to tackle this project. 

Unfortunately, I did not take before pics-so you will just have to imagine the entire bathroom covered in this hideous wallpaper that would make you dizzy.  Keep in mind there are no windows in this bathroom!   The previous owners had also added blue plastic knobs to the vanity.  ugh

 The mirror was the second thing to go.  It was a large mirror that hung out past the vanity and was not centered.  It was also held to the wall with these ugly clips.  (Just like in my downstairs bath/laundry room in this picture).  Basic (i.e. cheap)  builder grade mirrors. 

The after shots.  A little artwork from my friend over at the Paper Stork.  See her stuff on Esty.com here.

Keeping up with the duck theme.  I did say this was the girls bathroom right?

Dave's new mirror design.  He cut down the big old ugly mirror and added the trim/shelf and painted it white.   Total cost $Free.  He had all the stuff in the basement. 

New wall color- Sandpiper from Sherwin Williams.  Love it!

Pumpkin Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting!

Abby's teacher asked for volunteer's this week to bring in snacks with pumpkin in them.   I found this recipe in the recent Parents Magazine.  I made two loaves-one for home and one for school!  It was a very thick, moist bread-very good.

 Livy showing her battle wounds with the flour and powdered sugar!

Ingredients

1 2-layer-size pkg.yellow cake mix

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup mashed banana

1 tsp.ground cinnamon

1/2 of an 8-oz. pkg.cream cheese, softened

1/4 cupbutter, softened

1 cuppowdered sugar

1/2 tsp.vanilla

Directions

1. Mix cake mix according to the directions on the box, omitting water, and adding the pumpkin, cinnamon and bananas. Spoon into one sprayed 9-inch loaf pan or 4 5-inch loaf pans. Bake at 375 degrees F for 50 minutes for 9-inch loaf or 30 minutes for 5-inch loaf or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (cover with foil the last 10 minutes if loaves get too brown).

2. In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Stir in the vanilla, and then gradually mix in the powdered sugar. Let the pumpkin bread cool completely and then frost. Chill to store.

It takes a lot of people to potty train!

Remember the compostable Sun Chips bag..........

Remember when I posted about the new Sun Chips bag?  It has been 7 months to the day and the bags have not broken down at all in our compost bin.    They just keep getting turned in and over throughout the bin-loud and crunchy.

Check outthis article from the comcast.net news hompage!

Frito-Lay Bags SunChips Bags



By Amanda Geronikos


Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:33:57 GMT


Finally.


After about 18 long, loud months, Frito-Lay is bagging five of its six SunChips bio-degradable bags immediately. Why? Consumer complaints have been piling up and sales are sliding. Sure, the new packaging has been great for the environment, but not so much for the ears. Many have compared the compostable bags’ sound to that of a lawnmower or a jet engine. I've even heard a newscaster claim the SunChips bags could wake the dead. Consumers have been so annoyed with the loud packaging that they’ve taken their Frito-Lay frustrations to Facebook, where they’ve shared their thoughts in groups like, Sorry But I Can’t Hear You Over the Sun Chips Bag and Sun Chips : The Proud Maker of the Loudest Chip Bag in the World.
"Clearly, we'd received consumer feedback that it was noisy," says Aurora Gonzalez, a Frito-Lay spokeswoman, as mentioned in a USA Today article. “We recognized from the beginning that the bag felt, looked and sounded different."
For now, the company is returning to its old bags, while it quietly, but quickly, works to create a new, less crunchy-sounding, eco-friendly bag.


What do you think of the SunChips bags? Do you like the eco-friendly bags or the original packaging? Sound off here.

We've been Boo-ed!

On our front door step yesterday afternoon we found this sign, a page with directions and a little bag of treats for the kids!

We have to post the sign above on our front door or window so we don't get boo-ed again.  We then have to copy the sign 2x and copy the directions 2x and Boo two other houses with the signs and bags of treats.  Such a cute idea and my girls were thrilled!  I have a few ideas of who it might be..........

For more info and flyers you can down load see this link here.

EASY- Ice Cream Sandwich cake

My grandmother sent me this recipe.  The kids had a lot of fun putting it together-it is a very forgiving cake.  i.e. you really can't mess it up.

What you need:

2 boxes ice cream sandwiches-12 per box  (I used a 11 x 7 pan.  If you want to use a 13 x 9 pan-use 3 boxes of ice cream sandwiches)

Cool whip

hot fudge, carmel sauce, strawberry.....whatever ice cream topping you want.  (We used carmel and fudge)

Directions:

Layer the ice cream sandwiches-8 sandwiches for the 11 x 7 pan (the girls had fun peeling them open and placing them in the pan and then licking their fingers.......   hey-only our family is eating this cake!)

Add a layer of cool whip

Swirl on the carmel and hot fudge.

Add another layer of sandwiches, then cool whip and drizzle on the toppings.  Freeze for a few hours!   Yummy!!

No dogs needed here!

Really- who needs a dog when you have this cat that sits and begs like a dog!

Garden Post #21 Fall Harvest

Another good harvest this week!  Lots of squash, pumpkins, peppers, peas and tomatoes.  Basil, tomatoes and peas are still growing as well as a few small squash.    Garlic has been planted for a summer harvest next year!

Waiting on the kids!

This is one girl who does not mind waiting on the kids.........

Waiting on the bus.

Jar swap results!

The jar swap sponsored by Sue over at Above the Dam Jam was awesome!  No other word to describe it! Check out her pictures to see ALL the jars that people brought-at one point it looked like the table might collapse!

 This might be my favorite- Apple pie filling!

These are the wonderful items I was able to add to my pantry!  Well, not all of them- half the rasp jam is gone, ALL the carmel popcorn and carmel sauce is gone already! 

Stewed tomatoes, apple pie filling, hot pickles, zucchini relish, cinnamon apple jelly, cranberry-apple jam, raspberry jam, chunky apple sauce, peach salsa, cinnamon apple butter, pesto, caramel sauce, hot plum-pepper jam, marinara sauce and caramel corn.

Alternative Pumpkin Decorating!

Decorating pumpkins without the sharp knives and mess!  Ok, well, still a mess.....

*Thanks Nana for all the supplies and patience to sit with the kids to do this!  This was a great project and it kept kids from age 2 to 11 busy and engaged for about 45+ minutes.