Nutty Brunette

My little family

2009-05-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

I love spring time! I through open the windows and let the sweet smell of the blooming flowers waft in, Munchkin plays outside for hours at a time, and it is warm but not HOT.

Today is one of those wonderful spring days in which Munchkin is out back playing in the sandbox and coloring with sidewalk chalk. Just a few minutes ago he called me outside to see the masterpiece he drew. (I'm not bias or anything!)

Daddy, Mommy, Munchkin

The perfect little family!

Tasty Treat

2009-04-28T10:26:00.001-07:00

For Christmas we received some pre-packaged rice crispy treats with a layer of chocolate peanut butter on top. When they ran out, Hubby mentoned that he really liked them as a desert in his lunch. I looked at the package and tryed to figure out where they were puchaced, Target I think. But I then had a better idea, make home made ones. I was thinking that it would be cheaper to make them than buy them. I never did price the pre-packaged ones, because Hubby proclaimed the homemade ones far supiror. So I now make a batch about once a month.

If you like this treat take a look at my new website: carenscakes.net

DIY Again

2009-04-27T13:28:00.000-07:00

So the other day I went to get a glass of water from the water dispenser in the door of my Frigidaire, and this happened.

It just snapped right off!

I used some epoxy to try to reattach it but that didn't work and smelled real bad. So I have ordered a new part and will attempt to remove the broken one and install a new one. I will report back.

New addition to our family

2009-04-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

Wow it has been awhile since I posted. Facebook is soo addicting.

Anyhow, we acquired a new addition to out little family yesterday. Meet Silly the fish. It is actually a calico goldfish. My son named the fish Silly before he even decided which fish to bring home.

WELCOME to your new home SILLY!

Happy Heart Day!

2009-02-14T09:51:00.001-08:00

Flying Lessons

2009-01-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this year my BFF and I decided that this year we would stop talking about things we want to do or need to and just do them. Are slogan for the year and the feature is Shut the F*$%# Up and Do It. So in keeping with this I am no longer complaining about the chaos in my house and doing something to change it but until yesterday I didn't know how I was going to go about it.

Yesterday, came upon the FLYLady.net website thanks to Linda (All & Sundry). At first I thought what in the world is this it looks pretty silly. Then I started reading through the site and it is exactly the motivation I need. To day is the day I start my FLYing Lessons!

100 Things

2009-01-28T14:34:00.000-08:00

RULES: There are 100 statements and you bold the ones you have done. Grab it and play for yourself!!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Had stitches
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept in an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (solar)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten cavier
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chicken pox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

HaPpY BiRtHdAy to...

2009-01-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

Me! These are the beautiful roses my Hubby bought me, but doesn't know it.

This is the cake my Munchkin helped me make.

I have had enough mimosas to polish of a bottle of champagne and Hubby is cooking me a steak dinner. All in all a pretty peaceful birthday. On with another year and a better me.

Caterpillars

2009-01-21T10:41:00.000-08:00

In honor my faux nephew's nick-name I made him a Caterpillar cake for his 1st birthday.

This took 5 cakes and a tub of frosting!

This was the Birthday Boy's personal cake.

Swarm of Bs

2009-01-17T10:03:00.001-08:00

I bought Munchkin a pad of letter shaped post-its that I thought he could use to color on or make words,since he is just learning to spell words. He had another idea, he used ever single one for his "B machine" he said. He sat there for the logest time surrounded by Bs.

Sense of Style

2009-01-14T10:24:00.000-08:00

My Munchkin is all about doing things his way these days. As a parent it can be hard sometimes to let little ones be independent and spread their wings yet be safe at the same time. Well today my Munchkin showed of his style independence and it was too cute.

Grey Day Bird

2009-01-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Call to Action!

2009-01-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

This is law could have a ripple effect that could cripple many charities, small businesses, and crush those of us who make it a part of our lives to donate in hope to make the world a better place.

https://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

This link gives a good over view of what this law is about. In short the government has once again made a broad general law that is going to do more harm than good. I am all for the effort to protect our kids and give them safe toys which is why I like handmade toys bought at small businesses such as Etsy, but this law will essentially wipe out Etsy the way I understand it. So I am going to bombard my congress woman with emails and letters until this law is under control.

Please take this as an invitation to flood their mailbox, phone mailbox and email. Please call, send a letter, fax or email.

Diane Feinstein
331 HartSenate Office Bldg
Washington DC 20510
phone 202.224.3841
fax 202.228.3953
email http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.EmailMe

Update
I joined the the Change. org team and voted on this issue.

Here is the email I sent to Ms. Feinstein:

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) as it stands could have a ripple effect that could cripple many charities, small businesses, and crush those of us who make it a part of our lives to donate in hope to make the world a better place.
Please make it a point to focus some of your time and energy to make amendments to this act to save the little people who may be crushed by this act.

Girly Cake!

2008-12-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

For the past 18 years I have been making my little brothers birthday cakes. Then 4 years ago I started making my faux nephew's birthday cakes, and 3 years ago I started the tradition for my own son. Well now the tradition finally gets to go girly.

My brother's girlfriend's birthday gave me a chance to push my skills with this hat box cake.

Slight finger dents are complements of 3 year old son trying to help.

And here is the Birthday girl with her cake.(She squealed when she saw it.)

Hope this cake doesn't end up on Cake Wrecks!

What the f*%$ is up with all the Birds!

2008-10-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Every day for the past few days at 2:30pm an inordinate amount of smallish black birds gather on the roofs and electric polls in my immediate neighborhood and all start chattering at once. I know birds don't chatter they tweet, but believe me when there are this many of them it is high pitched chatter that makes the back of your eyeballs hurt! This chatter last anywhere from 15 min to 45 min. The chattering is so sudden and loud when it starts you go to the window to figure out what is going on, because it does not sound like just some feather rustling going on. And the icing on the cake is it drives my mini doxi bonkers. I am not sure if it is the noise or the fact that he can't reach them. Anywho here are the best pics I could get today.

These pics only show a small fraction of the amount of birds around my house! I may have to pull out the BB gun it they don't stop congregating! Just kidding I wouldn't use a BB gun, the birds are too far away I will need something with long range ability.

New Shoes!

2008-10-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

So new shoes are always fun, but my new MBTs are about the best shoes I have ever purchased. The look a little out of the ordinary but they feel like I am walking on a cloud! I was first introduced to MBTs by my aunt who was wearing a pair and she told me all about them (she loves hers). I was very intrigued and always looking for something to help me burn calories without a lot of effort. (Yes I am Lazy with a capital "L"). So I have been thinking of buying a pair of MBTs for about 6 months, but I wanted to do more research (and hoping I would have another job to so I would have to drain my savings for them). Don't get me wrong I don't mind paying good money for a good shoe that is going to last, but I was still unsure of how well they worked.

This past week I have been suffering from extreme back pain and sciatica and all I could think about was how to stop the pain and what can I do to prevent it coming back? So, I started further research and discovered that people with chronic back pain were singing the MBT praises. I wanted to try a pair on before committing to buying to see if I could handle the squishy unbalanced feeling, but the closest store is 30 miles away and not a mall I like to go too. So I found an online store that has free shipping and free return shipping (Footwear ect.). No loss if I return them!

Here are the ones I bought. I think they are soo cute and how appropriate that they are pink for October!

They arrived yesterday and I immediately put them on and for the first time all week my back felt better! I am so not returning these and I am telling everyone I know about them! My goal is to build up to wearing them all day long by the end of the month so I can wear them on our vacation to the amusement park.

Twitter

2008-08-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Blog,

I am sorry I have not written for a while, but I was distracted by mini-blogging on Twitter as NuttyBrunet. I promise to write a full blog post soon.

Cruzin' along on my bike

2008-07-27T00:05:00.000-07:00

Oh what a feeling it would be the wind in my hair pedaling along the lovely nature trails unwinding from the day. If only I had a bike. I am pretty sure I have the bike I want all picked out, the only problem is it is way out of my price range at the moment. So until I find an extra $300 I will just have to gaze wistfully at the photo, won't you join me.

Isn't she beautiful! She has 7 speeds ( just enough for the terrain around here) a big cushy seat and nice wide tires (to haul my big butt around). Best of all she is candy apple red! If you would like to read her full specks check out her maker Giant Bicycles.

New Addition to the House

2008-07-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

Munchkin has been pretending to make different kinds of food and serving it to DH and I on his Tupperware party set for several weeks now.

So we decided Munchkin needed his own kitchen to cook to his little hearts content, and possibly make a few new things for DH and I to eat. So we added a second kitchen to our house. (It was a steal at the children's consignment store.)

And for those of you who are wondering, yes Munchkin is secure enough in his boyhood to cook in a pink and purple kitchen!

Brunette vs Brunet

2008-07-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

As many know I am by no means the greatest speller, but when it comes to important things I try to be very careful about spell checking things. So before I chose this blog name I spellchecked it in MS Word. (so it must be correct, right?) Well I have now learned that I need to use the online dictionary to be sure I have the correct meaning as well as the correct spelling. The word used to describe someone with dark brown or black hair is Brunet or Brunette(according to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary). Well the twist is, when spelled brunet it is typically used to describe a boy or man and when spelled brunette it is typically used to describe a girl or woman. So of course I need to correct this over site being a woman and a type A personality. So welcome to the new female version of my blog.

True @#%$ Love!

2007-12-30T09:19:00.000-08:00

Is it true love when the person you love the most and hold closest to your heart also irritates the ever-living-hell out of you?

It makes since that if you have extreme feelings for a person that that the feelings can run the gamut of the spectrum. Although I don't ever recall loving a person I truly despised.

If you haven't guessed by now I am talking about my Dear Hubby. He is the sweetest, most loving, and kind hearted man I have ever met, but man does he drive me crazy sometimes! I'm sure I make him just as crazy if not more. So I guess the answer to the question is, it must be true love.

2007-10-17T10:18:00.000-07:00

Potty training, need I say more? For most Moms it is a challenge to just get your little one to sit on the potty at all. Well my munchkin has decided he loves to sit on the potty. So much so that he is refusing to put on a diaper or Pull-up and he scoots on the potty chair to go anywhere rather than standing up and walking. Here he is multi-tasking by playing with his trucks, watching TV, and sitting on the potty.

I don't think I am getting out of the house today!