Memorial Day

Let us take a few moments this Memorial Day to reflect on the meaning of the day, to observe the day and be mindful of the sacrifices of others before we go and enjoy the freedoms they bought for us.

Butterfly

This little guy spent most of the day on our blue bush yesterday. That has to be comparable to a year at least for us, butterflies have such short life spans! I was honored to be able to witness his beauty :) This is why I was so supportive of Big Kid planting a butterfly garden a few years ago. I cleared a good sized area for him and helped him order two butterfly bushes (pink and blue), scarlet and magenta bee balm, and some dianthus. The dianthus didn't make it through the year, and never came back. Three years later the blue bush is HUGE, the pink one is doing alright! The bee balm is just lovely, and comes back thicker every year. They attract tons of butterflies, it's so fun to watch!

I have discovered gluten free cookies - that taste GOOD!

I have tried the crap that is offered as gluten free cookies in our area, and it's a joke. Pamela's cookies fall apart in the package before you even get them home, and feel grainy for some reason when eaten. Eating sand is NOT enjoyable. I have tried a few other brands I found around, and they were just ... lacking anything a cookie should be. Vitacost had a coupon out and a great shipping deal, so I ordered some Kinnikinnick oreo type cookies and Schar shortbread cookies. I really miss buttery shortbread cookies, and I seriously have considered the consequences of eating a few oreos, I miss them so! The Kinnikinnick oreo type cookies gave me the worst indigestion I have had in years, but I still find myself eating one every few days... glutton for punishment I guess. The Schar are AMAZING!!! They're buttery, not sandy at all, and taste JUST like those girl scout shortbread cookies I used to devour. FINALLY!!!!

Thank you Schar, for making one of my food dreams come true :) Now I just have to find a place locally to purchase them, since there is no way I'm spending $6 on shipping alone for shortbread cookies. They're amazing, but I'm still somewhat of a cheapskate and don't "need" cookies to survive. Yet.

Octonauts Project

My twins love the Octonauts. They watch the show daily and pour over the books. Yesterday I started our ocean life theme, and read a few books - Fidgety Fish and Commotion in the Ocean. We made octopus as a project, and while Thing Two was finishing putting the "suckers" on his octopus legs, he stated that he wanted to make a Captain Barnacles project. I was totally caught off guard, but managed to cut out enough pieces to make Captain Barnacles, Kwazii Kitten, Peso, and Pinto. Thing Two is a perfectionist to a degree, his eyes had to be straight etc. but Thing One just went at it with the glue bottle and had a blast! I was impressed at their finished results - they look pretty darn great if you ask me!!! Thanks to this show (ok and a few Diego episodes) the boys know all about whale sharks, oar fish, sea stars, it's just amazing how much they retain and enjoy learning from tv shows and books! I'm glad there are so many nice educational shows on tv these days, because while we don't watch a lot of tv it's really nice to know when they do sit down to watch a cartoon they can watch Little Einsteins, Octonauts, Doc McStuffins, Wild Kratts!

Do you make folder games?

We love folder games! We have tons of them, but the boys' favorite has always been the pickle game. It's simply pickle jars with dots on them, and they put the pickle in with the right number on it! They love all the games, and have been playing them for at least two years... I know I should introduce more challenging games, but they so love the ones we use now!

Raid Bug Barrier is AMAZING

Ok I can't say enough good things about this product. I spray around the outside bottom of my house every spring, summer and fall. I rarely see a bug in my house. The few that I do usually are either dead, or a sign that it's time to spray again! This specific wolf spider (the largest I have ever seen by the way) wandered in somehow and died right out in the open on our carpet. I had cleaned that area not fifteen minutes before Big Kid found it, so I know it was a recent visitor!

This morning I found a small trail of ants coming from our front door down the hall to our kitchen, they were happily stealing bits of dry cat food! I have battled ants every year, and knew exactly what to do - got out the raid bug barrier and sprayed outside, and the interior doorstep and jam. No more ants. Before I found the raid spray I tried everything from ant traps to cinnamon to mint. Don't laugh, ants can drive a woman over the edge!

So if anyone is in the market for a good bug barrier, check out raid bug barrier spray. It's cheap, the sprayer is reusable, and you can spray it inside or outside. I have only sprayed inside twice, and simply sprayed the doorstep and jam. I kept my kitties away until it completely dried for safetly.

Thought I would share an email I recently got from Rudi's bakery, for all my Rudi eating readers :) I had no idea May was Celiac Awareness Month!

Did you know May is Celiac Awareness Month? At Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery, we want to help you and your readers celebrate through our second annual Spread the Bread campaign—we’re going to give up to $30,000 back to the amazing organizations making a difference in our community and we need you and your readers’ help!

Starting today and through the rest of May, fans of Rudi’s Gluten-Free on Facebook will be able to select one of four celiac organizations (Celiac Disease Foundation, Celiac Sprue Association, Gluten Intolerance Group and National Foundation for Celiac Awareness) to receive a $1 donation from Rudi’s Gluten-Free and will then be able to download a $1 off coupon for any Rudi’s Gluten-Free product. It’s as simple as, “Get a Dollar. Give a Dollar.”