Social Networking & An Apron

2 topics this morning: social networking & an apron

First, social networking, Twitter to be more specific. On Sunday I thought I'd see what the hype is all about, I'm not sure why, most days I hardly have time to breathe, much less "tweet". Anyway, I created an account. I honestly don't really know how it works... basically Facebook status updates, right? Well, it prompted me to see if any of my friends were on Twitter. So, I thought "ok". So I entered my email address and it started cranking out people who were on Twitter from my email account. Man, there were a lot of people. A lot. I made my little Twitter page look pretty then the kids woke up, I made breakfast, we went to church, went to lunch, came home, put kids down for naps and I checked my email. This is when I fell out of my chair and decided that Twitter was not a friend of mine. I have come to understand that Twitter pretty much emailed every person I've ever emailed and every person who has ever emailed me in my life and told them I want to follow them on Twitter. I can laugh now, but then I wanted to cry. Doesn't Twitter know I'm months behind on responding to emails? Several of my "contacts" use Twitter, most probably don't, those that do politely accepted my request to "follow them". But then there are those who don't tweet, and they emailed to politely thanking me for wanting to follow them but they don't use Twitter.

Dear Twitter, Our relationship was very short lived. During our time together I learned that Vince Edge went on a 9 mile run with Charles Buntin on Sunday morning. That people are tired, hungry, going to Walmart, at the beach, going to take naps, eating tacos, going to the pool, watching the rain, and watching tv shows. It's probably just me, but I also can't figure out how you work. I see links and I can't figure out where they go to. Twitter you are over my head. For those of you who politely accepted to follow me, you can do so here.

Next topic, the apron. Before I talk about it. Have you ever taken a picture of yourself? I don't know about you but it makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. I opened the back door, looked both ways to make sure no one was coming. I kept thinking, what if someone comes to my door and here I am in an apron posing in front of a camera mounted on a tripod. How would I explain this? John Martin was trying to climb the tripod and all I wanted to do was get a halfway decent picture of the apron. Of course, before I took these pictures I was still in my pajamas and the apron looked ridiculous over my jammie pants, so I had to go throw on some cute jeans and red flip flops so that you all would think that I actually have my act together and get dressed during the day. If I was still on good terms with Twitter I would have had to tweet: Woke up, got dressed, set up tripod, and photographed myself all while the children fended for themselves and forged for nuts and berries.

The apron. I made one back in January and told you I'd show you how I did it. Little did you know it would be 7 months later. I'm working on the tutorial... I'll be back with it soon.

From the archives & elsewhere...

I hope this finds you enjoying your weekend. We sure are enjoying ours. I've been digging deep into the archives of my computer... which really isn't that far at all but I came across these. Ok, so they're not exactly archives, but they are from our time at the farm.

Please have a chocolate dipped ice cream bar this weekend and I certainly hope you'll enjoy yours as much as he enjoyed his.

I've mentioned before that we accomplished a major feat earlier this year: we overcame THUMB SUCKING. As I went through the archives of my computer I couldn't believe how much Morgan's teeth have moved in 4 very short months without the help of orthodontics. I mean this is as good if not better than any of my house "before and afters".

Before:

After:

Be encouraged if you have a thumb sucker, there is hope!! We put bandaids on her thumbs {both} for 30+ days and did a lot of praying. The first week was hard, I won't lie. But after that it was much easier. We made a calendar and she got a sticker everyday and a BIG PRIZE at the end... which was a swingset, which we're hoping to get soon! Now, I just need to get up the nerve to get rid of Raiger's pacis.

The very easy recipe for the popsicle {pictured with Morgan above} is featured on Wiregrass Christian Family this month. I will be contributing different recipes and craft ideas over there and I'll be sure to point you in that direction when the site is updated. We had the pleasure to meet with and get to know the editor, Laurel Griffith, a few months ago. Look around their site... you might just see some people you know! :)

and now a word from our...

... sponsors.

It is with some reluctance and a snippet of excitement that I write to all of you and offer my blog as a place for others to promote their businesses. I've been stewing over the idea for over a year and have finally decided to bite the bullet. I spent some time this morning in Proverbs 31 and was encouraged that the wife of noble character "saw her trading as profitable" and clearly was a blessing to her family. My hope is that the rewards of doing so will be multifaceted; that the benefits would not be for me alone, but also for those who advertise and those who read {because I can justify more posting if it pays for itself, right?}.

If you have any interest in purchasing an ad space please contact me at darby613{at}gmail{dot}com.

**The pictures are completely and entirely unrelated to this post. But some of you asked about John Martin's polka dot diapers: they're Up & Up which is the Target brand.

Apples & Oranges

Mom sent me an email and was terribly disappointed she only got to see Rover's fingers and toes in the last post. Here are some sweet cheeks for her and you.

When he goes outside in the humidity his hair gets a little crazy.

I like to think he's sprouting his wings... being the sweet angel he is.

I know, I know, he's Rover one minute and angel the next.

Regardless of his disposition, I love the little man just the same.

And guess what other squirrels I love too {besides the one holding him}? The swimming squirrels.

These pictures were taken with my 50 mm 1:1.8 lens. While Marla is still stewing over her answers I will answer a few that were aimed towards me. One being, "which lens do you prefer, your wide angle or your 50 mm?" This is a hard question for me to answer because comparing the two lenses is like comparing apples & oranges. They both are wonderful for capturing different things and I find myself often switching between the two. For example, the wide angle is great at capturing wide shots. Imagine that! Both of these were taken with the wide angle.

In the girl's room, I was standing ON their beds. In his room I was just a few feet from his crib. It really is amazing how much more you can capture with it. The 50 mm is really a very reasonable lens so if you're budget conscious I'd suggest you start with it... but then save up for the wide angle because it really is a fabulous lens too. And just like my children, these lenses have different talents, strengths and weaknesses.

I also had the "what software do you use" question pop up a few times. The answer is: I'm still saving up for Photoshop. I currently edit and crop {but rarely crop} my pictures using the Canon software that came in the box with my camera. It is user friendly and so far I've been quite pleased with what it has to offer.

I've got more photography thougts on my brain but I think I will incorporate more of my thoughts/advice with Marla's.

In non-photo news, I've been cleaning up barf today. Morgan's under the weather and a terrible shot. I'll spare you any details. But really it hasn't been that bad... I think I hate the idea of vomit or perhaps I fear vomit more than I really hate vomit itself. Well, it is pretty nasty, come to think of it, and I did almost vomit myself while cleaning it. So, yes, vomit stinks, and I've cleaned up lots of it. Just be so grateful I didn't take any pictures!

Last but not least, the book from yesterday was published in 1967! Glad to hear of so many Golden Books and Baby Dear fans out there... I knew we had a lot in common.

We Also Like Books

I inadvertently left "books" off our list of favorite things to buy at thrift stores. I'm not sure how I overlooked it, the book racks are usually the first things I hit.

Someone asked how I go thrift store shopping with three kids... the answer is, I don't. These finds were from last week when we were down at the beach for Erika's baby shower. I think when the kids are a little older it will be great to take them along but for now it's much easier to leave them at home.

The first thing I look for on the shelves is that golden foil binding. I absolutely love Golden Books, especially any illustrated by Eloise Wilkin.

Such as

Her illustrations are so real, so precious, so perfect for children. The girls always choose her books first. We especially love Baby Dear... we don't have an original of it but it is in a fabulous Golden Book Collection of Eloise Wilkin stories, if you don't have it, add it to your list. I think ours even came from TJ Maxx.

I'm just now entering the world of trucks, trains, and other boy toys. So when I came across these, how could I pass them up!

Because Rover is bound to not only pursue knowledge but also be a destroyer of it I found a Golden STURDY book that he can actually be left alone with.

And it just so happens to have the first animals that he can identify {with a precious fat little finger}. Birds...

and dogs...

There was one book we knew we couldn't leave without. What Do You Say? We got a good chuckle out of it... we couldn't get past the pictures to see if the words were of any value. We were sold on the pictures alone.

Tommy and his mom, Mrs. Hill, pick up Cindy and take her to the carnival... but you probably already know that from the pictures. Anyone want to guess what year it was written? No "google" cheating.

Thanks, Mom for treating us to these wonderful books! They've already provided hours of reading and listening enjoyment for all!

ps- The trays in the last post came from Michael's {or Hobby Lobby} and I used paint pens to write their names on them.

room service

A Thrifting You Should Go!

It's been raining today. After I finished dishes this morning we tried to swim, but got rained out.

So we came inside had a picnic in the family room and watched cartoons. After serving her lunch I asked Paige how much she loved me.

It joys my heart when she does this. Then she said, "I WANT MY MILK NOW!" That doesn't joy my heart.

I also let John Martin have an Oreo. He scarfed his down and made his way to his sister and managed to snag hers out of her hands. Rover!

She snagged it back.

And he completely fell apart.

So what is the responsible mother to do? Strip him down...

And take pictures of him.

And give him another Oreo. And this, my friends, is how you spoil a child rotten. Don't do as I do. Please.

So, what does all of this have to do with going to the thrift store? Nothing.

My intentions were to also show you some great deals we found at the thrift stores this weekend. First, I didn't find this at the thrift store... but it was cheap and I think it's cute. I also found a little black knit cardigan to wear over it. It's from Walmart and I paid $1 for it. I buy most of my clothes at Walmart. I have no problem admitting this. They're cute and they're cheap. And their jeans come in lengths. Our local store is "rearranging" resulting in clearance racks that are overflowing. $1. Packs of gum cost more than that. {They have it brown and white too.}

These are the precious curtains panels we found for $4. I haven't completely decided what I'm going to do with them but they sure are fun and colorful.

I also found a handful of really great clothing items for me and the kids. And last but not least... the most exciting find was a new stroller. A rockin' {literally} new stroller.

It's called a Rockstar Baby Stoller {Infinity model} and I paid $10 for it. It's by Jon Bon Jovi. Seriously. I didn't know he was in the business of designing strollers but apparently he is. It's basically just like a Bugaboo {with a smaller price tag} and in my case... a MUCH smaller price tag. The picture above is the toddler seat completely reclined. It also comes off and can face forward. Like this...

It was fairly nasty when I got it. But a little elbow grease and it's like new! I also found this YouTube video that shows all it's bells and whistles. I may have to loan it over to sister for a while... with a Snugride clip and a pram attachment she probably would use it more than I would. I don't think they make it any more.

I'm not a very big fan of the "graffiti-ish" logo but I can very much get over it, especially since you can't really see it when he's in it. And while he rides in it his new nickname shall be John Bon Martin.

Ok, you should hit the thrift stores this weekend.... just don't go to the ones I like to go to.

FYI: rover is a word

ROVER- [roh-ver] –noun
1. a person who roves; wanderer.

ROVE- [rohv] --verb
1. to wander about without definite destination; move hither and thither at random, esp. over a wide area.

He fits the definition, whew. I could add a few more adjectives for a rover though. But I'll leave the defining up to Webster.

Be back soon... I just wanted to enlighten you this morning. Please use the word ROVER a lot. It's a great word.

He's such a complete and total rover.