Five Question Friday! 10/29/10

Holy moly, Rockie! I'm tired. It's late. I had a margarita with friends...and I'm kind of a lightweight.

Sheesh...

What are your big Halloween plans? I'm looking forward to relaxing and (not really looking forward to) trick or treating!

Okay...no small talk this week, let's get a move on with Five Question Friday!

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning! Feel free to answer in the comments if you don't have a blog or already wrote a post (although, for the record, I leave the linky open until Sunday, so you have plenty of time!!) ;)

Questions for Friday, October 29th: (Special thanks to Bethany, Sandy, Pam, Jesslyn, andJill for their question suggestions! If YOU would like to be linked in a future Five Question Friday, c'mon over to my community and offer up your best question suggestions!)

1. If you could be a fly on any wall, which would you choose?

2. Do you budget your Christmas shopping or just get it done without budgeting?

3. What is the craziest fad diet you have ever done?

4. Is there a TV show that you have seen every episode/season of?

5. What one song always pulls at your heart?

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1. If you could be a fly on any wall, which would you choose?

Hmmm...interesting. Well, my first thought, would be the White House.

I sooooooo wanna know what really goes on behind closed doors over there. Forget this whole "tip of the ice berg" business, I wanna know the whole freakin' enchilada!

Er...wait. How did we just go from ice bergs to enchiladas?

Heaven help me.

I'd also love to be a fly on the wall...no, no...a fly on my teenager's shoulder...and find out what on earth goes through the minds of 14 year old boys.

Er...wait again.

Maybe I don't wanna know that.

Nevermind.

Continuing on...

2. Do you budget your Christmas shopping or just get it done without budgeting?

Well...typically, I spend without concern. Somehow, we always make it work. I shop 'til I'm done (which is, really, never...I shop 'til I can't shop anymore, and then I call it done!) and I try to get the best deals that I can, but I don't necessarily pay attention to what I spend.

Until...

This year. With a hefty tax bill (thanks, Obama...oops, sorry, I try not to get political.) this spring, a vacation that cost more than we thought, and a giant oak tree that got tired of reaching for the sky and instead decided to settle on our home...we've gotten behind.

Christmas will be budgeted this year.

And, that makes me just a little sad. :(

3. What is the craziest fad diet you have ever done?

I can honestly say, that I've never been a fad dieter!

I know, deep down, that it all comes down to calories in and calories expended. End of story.

However...I've seen my parents attack the Atkin's diet with a passion I've never seen before! (Ewwwww...I just said "parents" and "passion" in the same sentence. Grody.)

The saw quick results, but then my dad stopped peeing. And, that's not a good thing. My mom, however, still somewhat adheres to Atkin's...as in, "I'll have a double bacon cheeseburger, hold the bun but gimme some mashed potatoes instead of fries, please".

Mom. Listen to me. You can not have the best of both world's.

But, wait. You're skinny. So, um...maybe you can.

4. Is there a TV show that you have seen every episode/season of?

None.

I don't think.

Started out with a goal of watching 24, which we received as a gift (and, by "we" I mean, Mr. Wonderful)...but, somewhere around season 3 I discovered this horribly addicting thing called, "blogging"...maybe you've heard of it?

Anyway, blogging and 24 don't get along so well...since they usually happened at the same time, in this household.

I came close. And, I think I could catch up...but, now that I hear so much about "Glee" and/or "Lost"...I think I wanna try to catch up on those too!!

Decisions, decision...

5. What one song always pulls at your heart?

Well, the one song that always, always brings a tear to my eye, is "Proud to be an American". It is so true and strong and makes me so full of pride I can hardly stand it.

But, now...I've recently fallen in love with "Mama's Song" by Carrie Underwood. I've decided that when my baby girl's get married, that I want to dance with their husbands to that song. "He is good...so, good. And he treats your little girl like a real man should..."

*tear*

So, so pulls at my heartstrings!! For the record, I just watched the video for the first time right now. What a touching video. Amazing...

And, now...what song gets you all choked up? Let's hear it...

Thursday Night 5QF Sneak Peek!!

It's almost Halloween!!!! I'm not sure if I should be excited, or annoyed. The weather here has been blustery...which means my kids will be wearing winter coats over their costumes...which means that I'm not spending gobs of money on costumes for my kids.

Does that make me a monster?

Well, the good thing is, I've already got most of Belle's costume done, E.W wants to be the same thing as last year (and I'm not gonna argue that!), Hambone wants to be a ghost (easy peasy) and Baby Girl? Well, in complete juxtaposition of her personality, she will be an angel.

A recycled costume from her big sister.

Done deal!

And, now? It's time for Five Question Friday! Well, not officially, right now, this is just the preview post, dontchaknow! Your chance to get a sneak peek at the questions and get your post ready for the linky post tomorrow!

Rules for 5QF: Copy and paste the following questions to your blog, answer them, then watch for the linky post to appear Friday morning! Feel free to answer in the comments if you don't have a blog or already wrote a post (although, for the record, I leave the linky open until Sunday, so you have plenty of time!!) ;)

Questions for Friday, October 29th: (Special thanks to Bethany, Sandy, Pam, Jesslyn, and Jill for their question suggestions! If YOU would like to be linked in a future Five Question Friday, c'mon over to my community and offer up your best question suggestions!)

1. If you could be a fly on any wall, which would you choose?

2. Do you budget your Christmas shopping or just get it done without budgeting?

3. What is the craziest fad diet you have ever done?

4. Is there a TV show that you have seen every episode/season of?

5. What one song always pulls at your heart?

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Have a great night, and I'll see you tomorrow!

The Reception Part Deuce...Wedding Weekend Part 4.

So, I promised more on the reception, and I just KNOW that you've all been dying to know about it.

Biting your nails, wondering WHAT on earth is taking me so long to post it.

Oh, er...you weren't?

Well, here you go anyway!

Remember when I said the kids had plenty of time to bonk heads and smash chins and run crazy and make me noivous and kick groins and cut a rug? See, proof:

The "Dollar Dance"...and as I'm typing this, I wonder...is this a nation (world?) wide wedding activity, or is it specific to the upper MidWest? (And, here's where I resort to flash photography. Oh, well...)

My handsome husband, giving his best man speech (awww...look! He can't keep his eyes off me! Hmmm...maybe 'cuz it's that we had been fighting and had just made up a few hours before and he's thinking about "sealing that make up" later in the evening? No? TMI? Sorry...):

One of my (many...for the record, my husband is one of 10 children! 6 boys, 4 girls, he is #6...so, I have MANY in-laws!) brother's-in-law...stealing the spotlight, as always. ;)

And, the highlight of the night...the "garter" event!

One of the bridesmaids (above, dancing with the bride) suggested making the groom have a "dance off" for the attempt at the garter.

He had to dance down an aisle of people, and his new bride had to give him the thumbs up or thumbs down.

Thumbs down meant he went further back down the "aisle" to try to dance his way to the garter!

Let's just say that there were many thumbs down...which brought LOT'S of laughs...he was a great sport! Finally, as a final attempt to win his bride's acceptance...he staged a fall...

...and that did the trick! He finally got his hands (teeth?) on that garter!

The party continued...somehow a "dancing hat" was created, which resulted in it's wearer dancing in the middle of a circle, here is one ridiculously gorgeous cousin takin' her turn with the hat:

And, a nephew, jammin' like a rock star:

And, a whole mess of my sister's-in-law...(oops!! Sorry I cut you off, E.! One too many Mike's, perhaps?):

I would like to point out the adorable necklace on the second from the left SIL...it was sooooooo cute! And, aren't they gorgeous?

Phew. I'm tired just reliving that! It was a fun, fabulous wedding...welcome to the family, L.!!

And, there ya have it! The final (*collective sigh of relief* Hey, I heard that!) installment of the "Wedding Weekend"!

Fun...Fall...Playing Hooky...

Disclaimer: My brain is frozen and my hands are numb with cold (how will I make it through winter?!!!), so I dredged up this post from the depths of the draft dungeons of my blog. Forgive me. And, really...it wasn't all that long ago, so you don't need to worry about cobwebs or mildew or anything. /End Disclaimer.

I let my kids have the day off.

We played in the woods and hung out with California cousins.

Aywah spirits were released (I have no idea if I even spelled that right...but, apparently, milk weed seeds look like something from the Avatar movie. I wouldn't know...I'm not cool enough to have seen that movie.).

CA uncle taught the kids the lizard. Or upward laying dog, or something.

Baby girl can't possibly imagine leaving her "pack pack" at home...even tho I end up carrying it 97.4% of the time.

There was lot's of giggling and bonding amongst the children.

I felt left out without my husband walking by my side.

CA cousins are goofy...like their dads.

Sometimes, when you think about where you are supposed to put your tongue, it just doesn't really fit anywhere.

Playing hooky...everyone should do it!

Spilled Milk...I might've cried. Maybe.

Spilled milk.

All over.

Running down the table, chairs, floor.

And, oh fabulous home maker that built this home...why is the milk running in a little rivulet across the floor? I'm no carpenter...but that tells me that things aren't level and square and plumb and "right on the nuts". No?

You know how they say there's no use crying over spilled milk?

Well...what if you bump your head.

Twice.

On the same cotton pickin' corner of the table while trying to clean up the stupid, God forsaken, running in a rivulet, spilled milk?

Huh?

What about then?

'Cuz I might've cried.

A Note to FedEx.

Dear Mr. FedEx Delivery Dude:

I've been standing by my door, picking my toenails, awaiting your arrival.

That package you have for me in your truck? Yeah, I want it. Bad. Like 5 days ago.

It appears as tho my beloved parcel was in Brooklyn Park two days ago. TWO DAYS!! Last I checked, it didn't take me two days to get to Brooklyn Park. At the most, maybe two hours.

So, WHERE ARE YOU?!

All my best,

PS-If you get here before I leave, I can call off the dog. Just sayin'.

PPS-Drive safe! Muah!

A Tutu Tutorial...No-sew style!

So, you wanna make a tutu? Well, let me tell you...if you'd've told me that one day I would be writing a post on how to do something crafty, I'd've died from laughter.

Then, I would've composed myself and told you that, surely, you must have the wrong person.

Me? Crafty?

Ha!

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hahahahahahaha!!!

Alright, tho. If you promise not to laugh too hard, I'll show you how I made a "No-Sew Tutu".

First, cut many pieces of tulle. And, let me warn you of two things, 1. Tulle is hard to cut and 2. Tulle is not fun to cut and 3. You can never cut enough tulle. (Ooops. That was 3 things.)

However, if you can survive the cutting of the tulle, you can breeze through the rest of the tutu without any problems! I'll be honest. I couldn't stomach cutting the tulle all in one sitting. I needed a break.

A two day break.

Continuing on...

I cut the tulle strips into widths of about 3-4 inches. Partly 'cuz I was lazy and figured the wider the strips, the less cutting and partly 'cuz I was basing it off of a tutu I had purchased.

Once your tulle is all cut into perfect, even, not at all jagged or squiggly strips the fun can begin!

Grab your self a length of ribbon. If I remember right, ours was about a yard and a half. (Oh, and for the record, I used just under 4 yards of each color tulle for this tutu...more on this later...)

Take a length of tulle, and double it.

Place the looped end under the ribbon, and pull the two loose ends of tulle through the loop, securing it to the ribbon.

(PS--Am I the only nurse that sees big, bulging veins and dreams of tossing in a large bore IV? Please tell me I'm not alone.)

Repeat until your tutu fits the person which will be sporting your newly created crafty DIY tutu. Remember to leave enough ribbon so that you can tie the tutu with a cute bow.

And that, my friends, is a "Tutu Tutorial"...just for you! (Sorry for the poor photos...it was a last minute shot...)

What I'd do differently:

• I'd double up the lengths of tulle...so that when doing the "secure loop maneuver" you'll have two strips of tulle you're securing at once. I think it would look "fuller" this way, and not so sparse at the bottom.
• I'd have something sharper than an old, rusty, sticky, opened one too many freezies scissors with which to cut the tulle.
• I'd buy more tulle. In this case, more really is more.

Enjoy!

Oh, and if you hadn't guessed...this is part of Belle's Halloween costume...a "pretty" witch! For a Halloween costume, I'd say I didn't do half bad! Not half good, either...but not half bad! ;)