Random Diva

I often refer to Hailey as a little diva - she got that name from a teacher she used to have for dance. Hailey is a steal the show kind of gal (when she wants to be), she has a tendency to light up a room (when she wants to) and one friend of mine has often said "I find it hard not to look at her". Hailey is a lucky little girl - she did not get many of her external genetics from me - (more on that another day)


Today I bring you a little bit of our random diva (all photos courtesy of my blackberry - the only way to catch all the random moments)


Hailey can't leave a store without wearing at least one of the new items purchased (notice grams in the back with the "old" shoes) and will always stop and pose for the blackberry.

Below is Hailey after a recent haircut - blown dry and loving it - she is a amazing at the salon! I think she would go daily - anyone know where I could one of those sinks and chairs for cheap?

And here you will see her outside playing in one of her best dresses and loving every minute of it. The girls LOVES her dresses!

This lovely photo is brought to you by "stop rocking so hard or you will fall)

I can't ever pass up a cute little rump view

This was the day she put on a whole new outfit before we left Old Navy - and got the shoes going in the back of my car!

This photo brought to you courtesy of sidewalk chalk and a high jumping game of hopscotch

who could forget Rock? Hailey hasn't forgotten Rock - he is still around and HE even had a baby - there is a baby rock now. Maybe it was adoption? Anyway - here she is giving Rock his bath.

This is Hailey being goofy, but I liked her hair in this photo so I had to include it.

And the final thoughts on Hailey are below. Hailey has some SERIOUS skin sensitivities and although that is a whole nother Oprah - Below you will see what happens to some of her cutest outfits.

Notice the black leggings under the cute capris and the green tinsle t-shirt under the adorable top? The pants and shirt were scratchy (fancy boutique store itch mind you)

So that was Hailey's solution - she wanted to wear the outfit but couldn't bear it on her bare skin and she went all around town with me like that...and I was ok with it.

Until she added the tap shoes and broke out her tool set and pretended to be Mrs. Handy Manny on my chair.

Diva in the making? I don't know - her sense of style is a bit off some times but she sure is needy and she does pick out most of her own clothes (because if she didn't she would go naked)

Perhaps.

Is he thirsty?

Are you looking for a practical yet funny Fathers day gift? You have to check out these sandals by Reef - they call them the Reef Dram Sandal but they affectionately been dubbed -

Flip Flop Flasks!

Because yes they hold an ENTIRE shot right at your fingertips OOOPS I mean - Foot Prints.

Now tell me...is that disgusting or brilliant?

I think it WALKS a fine line -

but it is a line I am not willing to cross!

Brain Noodles

Do you have pipe cleaners? Is that what everyone calls them? Well, in case you don't they are those fuzzy things on a metal strip that bend and curve and make all kinds of crafty things!

When we arrived in the mountains for our weekend with Grams the girls were greated by a box of these Brain Noodles




I swear they are nothing more than Pipe Cleaners on Steroids! But they have enormous playing power!

If you have a little Diva in the making she might make jewelry out them

Lauren quickly served up a Cheeseburger then got busy making a fishing rod and fish...

The girls were enjoying them SO much we picked up an extra box so there were enough to go around with all the creative things they were doing.

For only $14.00 I highly recommend these Brain Noodles - Great fun for a rainy day or any day!
My mom finds the coolest stuff! Way to go mom!

1980 what? ***GIVEAWAY***

Recently a good bloggy friend Lindsay posted about the awesome people watching to be found at her local Buffet resteraunt. If you haven't read it I suggest you go find out about the business and the party - it was hilarious!

Then, shortly after that, I walked into Justice Just for Girls (fantastically fun store though a bit odd sometimes) and I was blasted with memories of puffy paint, splatter paint and the J-Giles band.

We walked out with this outfit for Lauren

Watch out Cindy Lauper - all we need is a scarf and some of that Aqua Net on Lindsay's post.

Only difference is in 1980 what - we had to make our own splattered painted stuff....and another friend of mine (Becky) has admitted to making said clothes for all her friends way back when...

Can you name the singers of these 80's songs (without using google?)

Girls just wanna have fun
Freeze Frame
Like a Virgin
Walk like and Egyption
We got the beat
I think were alone now
Everybody have fun tonight
Heartbreaker
Summer of '69
When I see you Smile
Runaway
Juke Box Hero
R.O.C.K. in the USA
Eye of the Tiger
Take me home Tonight
Eye in the Sky
We Built this City
Burning down the house
Shout
Owner of a lonely heart
Addicted to love
Tainted Love

Ok....I could have gone on forever - I LOVE music now it is your turn take a crack at it!

Email (link at top of page) me your answers before 10pm Mountain Standard time Monday 4/27/2009 and the person with the most right will receive a Juicy Juice Goody Bag from our party, for engaging in such a wonderful Brain Development Activity!!!!


***PLEASE USE THE HONOR SYSTEM -
***NO GOOGLING -
***IF YOU CAN'T GET THEM ALL THAT IS OK others pry won't either!
(Plus I have 3 more bags to giveaway in the coming weeks!!)

LORI - over at Weebles WON! She got almost all of them right! She "rocked"

Knock Knock and the Shit List

I haven't had this much fun surfing a website in a long time. I don't remember where I saw it, I don't own any of their products (yet) - but holy moly I had fun shopping!

http://www.knockknock.biz/

You can start with this amazing little paper mouse pad (if your not familiar with paper mouse pads - you can tear off the sheets just like a notepad but they work fabulous with your mouse.) This one is for surfing the web...you can write down my blog address, why you like it or other note to self.

If that is not your cup of tea you can try the Dawdle pad - for the doodlers and time killers:

If your feeling a bit spunky, maybe angry with your hubby, or Dr. or the checker at your grocery store you could easily add them to your

You guessed it - Shit List (I spent a lot of times on my moms)

And last but certainly not least - in case your worried that you are lacking a bit in the traumatizing your children department of parenting - they have a book to help you out:

How to Traumatize your Children

Go ahead - Surf - I challenge you NOT to buy something...I think it might be impossible!

Happy Shopping!

***Update*** just when I thought it couldn't be any more fun to shop on this site...my order confirmation email started out like this:

Dear Terra,
Rumor has it you just placed an order with Knock Knock.
Here’s what you got:

HA HA HA! I love it!

Key Ring Thing

What I learned this week is brought to you by Musing of a Housewife -


This week it is also brought to you by MY MOM!

My mom, who called me today just to tell me about Keyringthing.com - you might remember when she told me about the Hide em and Find em Eggs and the wild goose chase that ensued...

Well I am happy to report that this is no wild goose chase and I am thrilled to have learned about Key ring thing.

You know all those cards in your wallet or on your keyring? The one for your grocery store, the hardware store, the drugstore, hallmark, DSW and whatever other loyalty programs you may belong too...well Keyringthing.com helps you consolidate YES put them all in ONE place! Holy cow are you kidding? NOPE. I told you I was excited. And to top it all off they are FREE, FREE, FREE!

All you have to do is login, register your cards and they send 1 count them ONE card that you carry and swipe at all those places! I registered mine tonight before I typed my post and I will let you know when I get it!

ON THE HOME FRONT:

I also learned that when you go to the Dr. to talk about your daughters ailments...you might walk out even more empty handed than you thought you would.

Yes I got the name of the ENT or Otolaryngolist whichever you prefer...Yes I called and made an appointment for a consultation but guess for when?

MAY 12th.

Are you kidding? How long does this poor girl have to suffer? Plus after the consultation it takes 3 to 4 weeks before surgery. ARGH. How come these people don't work on my schedule? Don't they know I will be waiting and worrying and waiting and worrying until I get more information? Darn them.

SIDE NOTE: The first giveaway is ending tonight over Tales from the Nightstand...stop by and enter, new one starts tomorrow so subscribe while your their so you don't missout!

Hide 'Em & Find 'Em Eggs (updated)

First of all, I have spent countless hours researching SEO for Tales from the Nightstand and can't seem to master it. At the same time, I have spent a grand total of 0 minutes trying to optimize this little family blog of mine. Yet, if you google "Hide em and find em eggs" Guess what? This little blog o mine shows up number 4 in the search! HA HA. Cracked me up when my mom told me that!

Anyway, The nice ladies on The View told my mom about these eggs (along with the rest of the viewing audience!) and my mom got all excited which in turn got me all excited and I blogged about them and got at least one other person all excited about them too!

Problem is they are harder than Wii to find. Seriously. Techno Source did such a great job Creating the Hide em and Find em eggs that they hide themselves and no one can find them at the stores.

They are supposed to be at Rite Aid, Walmart and Target except where I live none of these store managers had heard of them. Rite Aid keeps putting them in their weekly circular...but not in their stores? GO figure.

So my mom went on a mission - actually drove 20 minutes away and came home with these!

Wait? What on Earth are those? Mom, can you please send a better picture?

MUCH BETTER Thanks Mom (even though you called me "Picky Picky Picky" -Forgive me for wanting to give my readers the best picture possible and THANK YOU For hunting these down for me!)

Now we have eggs that talk...I can't wait till Easter!!!

All I want for Christmas

Ok, so yes I left my tree on the sidebar, and NO I did not intend to...I do love Christmas but normally I don't start thinking about it till around October...

However, this year I have visions of sugarplums Owls dancing in my head already...

""Inspired by nature and wildlife, this design is an exemplary execution of gem matching, color graduation and pavé technique. Brooch with sapphires and round brilliant diamonds in 18k white gold."" $49,000

Thanks to my lovely mother who sent me this link...Tiffany....for the above (you must click on the link for a full size picture.)

I will begin taking donations towards the Dreamy Owl from today untill December 15th 2009...every little bit will help. If you would like to donate just call me and tell me how much and mention Owl Dreaming and I will make sure your donation goes to a good cause!

The way I see it...with my 40 readers, a LOT of begging to "he who would rather not be named", and several strangers on the road...All I need is about $1000.00 per person - A small price to pay for little ole me eh!

Sporting a little Bamboo...

I got two cool new shirts for Christmas this year! Well, one was an accident but I got two just he same! He who would rather not be named ordered me a shirt (kind of as a joke) for christmas and just before the Holiday this arrived:

But it was the wrong shirt...he called the company and since they couldn't get the right one out in time they told him to keep it (he gave it to me) and then after Christmas I got the right one! Bet you can guess what it said!!!

That is right...It is my very only Blogger shirt! And the best part? These shirts are made of Bamboo...they are silky soft and super comfy by them selves or over long sleeves. WAY FUN!

Check em out at: http://www.onnotextiles.com/ all their t-shirts are "socially responsible" because lord knows I am not...I might as well start with something I love (clothes). I believe the Blogger version of the shirt came from here http://www.googlestore.com/category.asp?catid=5 if you want one too!

PS - why didn't anyone tell me to take the silly Christmas Countdown tree off my sidebar? I just noticed it and well...I had no intention of counting down the next 343 days Christmas on my blog...ARGH.

Dam It

Dam It. Is that really how I am starting this post? Yes it is. But there is a good reason for it. You see, my folks have a second home in Beaver Creek, CO (near Vail) - it is a beautiful on the river. We love going up there!

My dad, has a Beaver Pond. Yes he has a Beaver pond, at least that is what we call it and it is his because he works tirelessly to keep it there. Him and the Beavers have a love hate relationship.

He loves their dam, but hates the other dam-age they do around the land...Some of the Beavers have been trapped and relocated sometimes they come back sometimes they don't -

Each spring when the run off is heavy from Beaver Creek Mountain parts of the Beaver Dam wash away thus diminishing the "Beaver Pond" which is really just a pond with a cute nickname.

If there are no Beavers to rebuild the dam guess who does it?

YUP! Grandpa (my dad) He works for hours, hauling trees, twigs and other goodies he can find into the river to rebuild the dam (just as the beavers would)

So when I saw this hat over at Hatley Nature...You know I had to buy it!

And his reaction when he opened it was priceless.

There is nothing better than seeing your dad belly laugh! (sorry about Hailey's head, try to ignore and really look at Gramps!!)

bla bla

No seriously! Have you heard of them? Blablakids.com They have the worlds cutest hand knit dolls. THANK YOU BETH...for turning me onto these earlier this year! They are great!

This year for Christmas my mom bought each of us (all of us, Grandpa included) a BlaBla doll that somehow fit our personality, a situation in our lives or just made sense...

Then I wrote a short poem to go along with each to describe the motivation behind the doll selection for each person and the end result was a big Bla Bla party!

Can you guess which one is mine?

Now...for a call to action...Mom, Dad, Brad, Anna, - I need a picture of where your BlaBla is right now...is it still in the bag? Did it find a shelf to sit on? Sleeping in your bed, tucked away in storage? Wherever it may be..send me a photo

Double Vision

Happy New Year! and no my double vision is not from ringing in the new year however it is kind of a funny story:

Remember when the girls and I went to visit Santa and I discovered the fantastic Sketchers store at the mall? And spotted these must have shoes in the window?

Then I went home and ordered the must have shoes from Zappos because I didn't want to take my shoe loving diva into the Sketchers store at the mall...but Zappos only had children's sizes - which was actually a bonus because they are cheaper and they fit?

And I got the black and gray ones because they didn't have the cool colored stripes or the pink ones in my "kids" size...but I loved my shoes when I got them and even added them to this post to show them off...

Fast forward to Christmas morning when I started to open a gift from "he who would rather not be named" but is often referred to as Hubby or Daddy here in blogger land...on his gift tag it said simply "Who shops before Christmas" can you see where I am going with this? Inside the box I was thrilled to find these:

In MY size, from the Sketchers store at the mall and in the color choice I originally wanted! So now I can mix and match if I want (not really) but I really am thrilled and still get a kick out of his note to me on my gift tag but adore the fact that he not only read the blog, but also went and bought the shoes for me! Yeah him, yeah me!

I plan to milk the Christmas story posts for a while longer, interjecting to post more important things...Please if you did not read the post from Wed scroll down and read it now!

On the 3rd day before Christmas

We went to see Santa! Actually we saw him twice. The first time was at the North Pole but we didn't bother buying that picture as the girls were bundled up so tight in winter clothes you couldn't even find them!

So a couple days ago after school I had the girls quick change into jeans and their Holiday Shirts and off we went to the mall I hate, to fight for a parking spot, stand in the never ending line and eventually, hopefully get a picture with Santa that would make it all worth while.

We got there, we found a parking spot only 100 yards from then entrance, we found Santa Central and "what to our wondering eyes should appear?" But no line in the front and all was clear!

And you know what else? Well, this negative nelly needs an attitude adjustment because as we entered Santa's Lodge

and my heart started pounding, and my palms started sweating at the thought of the tantrums and meltdowns I was sure to soon see...But instead

"their eyes -- how they twinkled! their dimples how merry!" as headed down the walkway to meet old St. Nick.

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

They did it! We survived, no tears, no meltdowns and we left with 4 copies of this overpriced memory that I will forever enjoy!

Oh, and then on the way out of the mall, that I hate, I noticed a Sketchers store, a whole store dedicated to sketchers! Does this mean I don't have to go to Dillards, Macys, Nordstroms, Khols and Zappos each time I am looking for a pair of Sketchers? I sure hope so. They also had this adorable pair of sweater, shoe, slipper type thingies in the window..so now I am off to Zappos to see if they come in my size (because obviously it is far easier to shoe shop for me online than it is to take a little 3 year old, shoe obsessed diva into a shoe store!)