Posts

Showing posts from May, 2013

A Bath Visor & New Facebook Consignment in Richmond

Image
Clyde had always been fine having his hair washed and rinsed in the tub. No issues. Then one day something switched and we battled to get the soap out of his hair. I don't need to go into all the details but trust me when I say it was pretty stressful for both of us! So after a few more episodes, I invested in this bath visor. A little pricey, yes. I thought Michael was going to croak when he saw the price. But taking over bath time didn't seem to be an option for him ;) and then he saw how AWESOME this thing is! It truly works so I am glad we splurged. Clyde loves to wash his hair now! Win! Kair Hands Free Bath Visor Silly Boy!  In other news, my friends Candice and Jennifer started a consignment page on Facebook for those local to Richmond. It is called Richmond DIY Consignment and I just posted my first item on there. It is a closed group so you have to be invited by email. If you are interested in joining, send me an email at astoakley@gmail.com and I can have Candice and

Week Recap & Menu Planner

Image
Phew! We have had a lot going on the past few weeks...Clyde turned four, preschool ended, Michael and I went to Vegas (yes...you heard that right), then we spent Memorial Day in Sandbridge! It has been fun and today is Camille and Clyde's first week day of summer. My girl Camille is sleeping in on this first day and Clyde is tucked in on his couch in his new bathrobe watching cartoons. Life is good....so far. I still have many posts to do and I hope to do one on our trip to Vegas and one on Clyde's birthday! So stay tuned and maybe I can get it all together. In the meantime, here are some pictures from our weekend. There was the most adorable Memorial Day parade and we entered a friend's golf cart and came in third place. It was so fun. Decorating in Action!  Golf Cart with Neena & Moe!  We also did some playing in the sand and cocktails by the sound! So relaxing! Here goes with this week's menu planner.... Monday - Oven Chicken Risotto   This recipe is really easy

Clyde is 4!

Image
Last year, I started creating a birthday page for each child calling out all their favorite things. Here is a link to Clyde's page last year. Here is this year's.....

We've got strawberries!

Image
And it only took a year! Last spring, I picked up some strawberry bulbs at the Great Big Greenhouse. It said they were June bearing so I thought that meant June of last year. I did some research and it takes a full year for them to harvest. Last year's garden was a bit of a disaster. You can read about it here but nothing really came of it, last year that is. Just last week, we discovered a little bit of red and one lone strawberry was ready to pick! Camille said it was delicious. Hopefully there will be more to come. I have big plans for our garden but now need to find time to plant. I am thinking of just doing tomatoes and then also a bunch of herbs.

Weekend Recap & Menu Planner

Image
We spent the weekend at Sandbridge Beach . If you have been reading for a while, you may know my in laws moved there and fully renovated their home recently. It is awesome! We are so excited for summer! The weather was so-so but we still managed to get a little beach time. Camille and Clyde were so good and had the best time running in the waves and making sand castles. Here are some of my favorite shots from the weekend. My sweet husband made this delicious Mother's Day breakfast for his mom, my mom and me. He's a keeper! Yesterday, we went to a cookout at a friend's house. My mom was so cute with all the kids playing ring around the Rosie. Here goes with this week's menu planner.... Monday - Chicken Fajitas Tuesday - Pork Loin with Mango Salsa Wednesday - Clyde's Birthday...Pizza Dinner Out! Thursday - Turkey Burgers & French Fries

Friday Deal

Image
I need to buy Camille another dress for summer like I need a hole in the head but I ran across this cute one last night on Pinterest. So adorable from Crewcuts but rather pricey at $124! Jcrew Check out Old Navy's version for $16! And right now there is a coupon code ONLADIES20 for 20% online and in stores! Old Navy What a steal and just as cute!

Family Arts

Image
Camille & Clyde both had their spring programs at school this week. So cute to see those little ones sing. They did such a great job. After each performance there was an art show. Here are a some snaps from our week. Camille also celebrated her pretend birthday (hence the crown) at school since she is an August baby.   Clyde was hilarious with one hand in his shirt pocket and the other in his pants pocket!     We celebrated with lunch at Toast after. Clyde was all over Gammy with the kisses!  My sweet grandmother, Gigi, has been taking a pottery class at her retirement home. She knows how much Camille loves elephants and this was her first creation. She named her piece, Camille. Isn't it great?  She also made this adorable bird's nest for Clyde. It looks so great sitting on his shelf. In the background, you can see a needlepoint picture of Virginia that Michael's grandmother created. Love having something from Nana in Clyde's room as well.

Written and authorised by...

Image
All that's fit to print... Housing Association Tasmania executive director Stuart Clues said it was the perfect time to buy a home. "The net result for ordinary Tasmanians is that you're going to get a house built on time and on budget at the lowest interest rates we've seen. They'd be crazy not to go for it. " Mr Clues said the cuts should show all Tasmanians that there was no better time to escape the rental cycle or build an investment property. Go on, you know you want to.

Mini Van Mom & Menu Planner

Image
Surprise! After considering and researching for close to a year, we finally pulled the trigger on a new car! On Saturday, we said goodbye to our Envoy that we had for the past seven years! Sniff, sniff. Not really! And hello to this..... Last week, we ran across a 2011 Odyssey in our preferred color of black with only 10,000 miles! The only hitch was it was in Maryland. We were nervous it would sell but luckily it was still available come Saturday when we could make the trip.  My mom had a minivan growing up and I said I would never get one. Never say never! They are so practical! We are really excited! Here goes with this week's menu planner... Sunday - Tortilla Soup, Quesadillas Monday -  BBQ Chicken Pizza (carryover from last week) Tuesday - White Cheese & Chicken Lasagne Wednesday - Kickin' Mini Meatloaves , Refried Beans Thursday - Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce & Italian Sausage

Guidance

Image
Time is beautiful. Given enough time you can get fat, bald and start to sprout hair from your ears. Suffering those indignities is worth it because time also builds something else - an artillery. As Sun Tzu said, "while you sweat an imprint into your couch, your enemies sow the seeds of their destruction." Predictions have been made and forgotten by most. Those without shame and something to sell can forever make those predictions without fear of second guessing. Welcome to Tasmania, where the print media is a contemptible landscape of irrelevant whiskey-nosed boozers and their fresh faced, empty headed underlings. You know the type, tweeting while watching Q&A on Monday night allows them to believe they're the state's intelligentsia. Luckily there's me. Thoroughly lazy, yet occasionally motivated by the chance any of Tasmania's lamentable journalistic stock will rip me off and highlight something original. The odds aren't good. The Mercury's pumpe