Top Ten {Tuesday}: Oooh la-la!!!

Today's Top Ten {Tuesday} is in honor of my daughter, Katherine. My second-born. My "I'm what!? How?!" baby. My drama queen. My funny girl.

Katherine likes pigs. She likes bunnies. But that pales in comparison to her love for Fancy Nancy. If you have a little girl between the ages of 4 and 10, I'm sure you know who she is.  If not, you can check her out here.  (Amazon, not an affiliate link).  Nin's 5th birthday (last year) was a Fancy Nancy Fete put on in style by my mom, aunt and sister - it was so much fun!  And this year, she had a sleep over - the guests favors were travel pillows with Fancy Nancy satin pillow cases (pillows by my aunt, cases by my mom...the women are over. the. top!!!)  Facts are, I love Fancy Nancy Clancy, too.

So, here are our 10 of our favorite fancy things. Our list is inspired by Fancy Nancy:

1. The original. The one that started it all.  Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser.  I love how Nancy Clancy gives "how to be fancy" lessons to her family.  I love how they get all fancied up to go to the local pizzeria.  It is such a precious story about loving your family.  
2. I think I squealed a little when I saw this Fancy Nancy inspired hair clip on Etsy. How stinkin' cute is this?! And she's made out of ribbon!!!
3. The Eiffel Tower.  Nancy loves all things French because everything sounds fancier in French, you know!
4. Petits Fours. Dainty little cakes covered in fabulous icing.  And an added bonus? Their name is French!  Check out these from Dragonfly Cakes. Oh. Yum!!
5. Fancy Nancy doll.  Available at Target stores.  Katherine's Christmas gift to herself (using her Christmas money) a couple of years ago.
6. The jaw-dropping incredibleness that is this Fancy Nancy birthday cake. Oh. My. Gracious! I love, love, love! (only the orange and white iced layers are real cake, the rest are cake dummies)
7. Boas. Because boas make everything more fancy!
8. Fuschia. Anything fuschia.  Fuschia is a fancy word for pinkish purple - and is also Fancy Nancy's favorite color.
9. Accessories.  That's a fancy word for "extra stuff" - and you can never have too many accessories, according to Nancy.
10. Tea parties.  "Nancy" has even written a book on tea parties! One of Katherine's favorites!!

Check out more Top Ten {Tuesday} posts on Amanda's blog.  

Latest Baking Endeavors

I've not completely stopped baking, even though I've dropped out of The Daring Kitchen.  Most recently, I baked a strawberry cardamom-cream cake in order to use some of the whole cardamom seeds I received for my birthday last year.  I found this recipe when I did a search for cardamom-infused cream.  I thought it sounded like the ideal thing to take to Care Group - since they're always my guinea pigs.  This was a supreme failure, in my opinion.  The cake was very dry, despite me watching it like a hawk and actually underbaking it a little.  The cardamom in the cream was overpowering.  I didn't like it and I told everyone that I didn't like it and I wouldn't be offended if they tossed theirs without eating it.  It. Was. Yuck.  Next time, I go with the "Heart of Darkness Brownies" from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey.   Yeah, there's something to take to church...something named "Heart of Darkness."

Brad isn't home tonight, Elizabeth is at her grandparents in TN.  I told the other three we'd watch a movie and have popcorn.  Popcorn in Brad's stove-top popper is not my strong suit.  But, I promised Nin I would try.  She said, "Kettle corn?!" since I'm the only one who will make Kettle Corn.  "Sure, I'll see what I can find."  I found this recipe from Our Best Bites when I googled "stove-top kettle corn."  I made it in Brad's stove-top popper even though it says you don't have to do so.  It is perfection!  I've gotten six "thumbs-up" from the three kiddos at home.  That's a good thing since I burned the last two batchs of kettle corn I made (one on the stove, one in the oven).

Next up...in a couple of weeks...Heart of Darkness brownies.  I'll let you know...but, um, they have Snickers in them.  So, I'm sure they won't be bad unless I burn them!

Project 52 - Weeks 32, 33, and 34

Week 32:  August 1-7, 2010

It's so hot outside it's impossible to enjoy playing out there for very long - so we decided to start school.  Harrison is doing a preschool preparatory curriculum while the big girls do school.  Annie is working on the same thing until she starts preK at the end of the month.

Week 33: August 8-15, 2010

Love this shot that Brad got of the girls at the Tennessee Aquarium! Nin went with him when he took Elizabeth over.  Since we are members of the aquarium, we don't have to pay admission. They took advantage of that and spent the morning at the aquarium. Cutie girls...gonna get eat up by that big Great White in the background!!!! 

Week 34: August 15-21, 2010

A childhood friend of mine went to Fenway Park and brought each of the kids a Boston Red Sox cap. Harrison loves his!!

Top Ten {Tuesday}: Turtles

Wow, that's a lot of onomatopoeia going on in that title!  (I love the word onomatopoeia, by the way...oooh, idea!!!)

My oldest child loves turtles.  Her 5th birthday party was a turtle theme - photos here, here and here - you have to check out the first two posts so you can laugh at me.  So, in honor of Elizabeth (who is particularly fond of sea turtles), I bring you the following Etsy finds - sea turtle, turtle, tortoise.

1. Love this Green Sea Turtle graphic. She would love to hang this on her bedroom wall and I love the style of this artist.
2. How precious are these crocheted sea turtles?!
3. Turtle bookplate stickers in pink (her favorite color) and green. Cute!
4. She loves little things for her hair. This sweet hair clip is precious!
5. Here's another thing she'd put on the wall in a heartbeat. A vinyl decal. Very cool.
6. She also loves little bags (a girl can never have too many bags, you know). This one with a zipper and that benefits marine ecology education? She'd truly love. 
7. She's already found a sea turtle ornament that she wants from the TN Aquarium - but this one is hand painted.
8. Oooh, cute!  And yummy!!!  Turtle sugar cookies!
9. This is a pretty necklace.  There is a lot of turtle jewelry on Etsy.
10. And, of course, the BEST kind of turtles...at least if you ask me. ;)  The chocolate, caramel, pecan kind...mmm, these look delicious!!!

See ya next week!!!  Between now and then, visit Amanda's blog here to see more Top Ten {Tuesday} posts!  :) 

Getting other stuff done

I have a friend ask me how I get things done around the house while homeschooling the kids.  I get that question a lot because not only do I have four kids (two of whom homeschool, one goes to preschool and one is a wild-man toddler) but I also work full-time.

I'll be the first to tell you, if you drop by my house I'll probably have to clean a path to the front door and move laundry off the sofa for you to be able to sit down somewhere.  My house is rarely neat these days.  We LIVE in our house.  And some days, it is a disaster.  Some days it's not.  I'd love to have a spotless house all the time, but that's not going to happen.  (a) I have six people living in a house that was meant for three, at the most, based on storage space alone.  (b) My children are at home 24/7 - well, except for the few hours Bitsy is at preschool and while she's at school, we're at the library. (c) I work full-time in addition to my responsibilities at home.  Thankfully I have a husband who is willing to help around the house - but he knows that we are in a season of life where it's needed.  We have a home management schedule that helps us with our housework duties, and also assigns the girls their jobs.  I've "snipped" it (may I just throw in here...I love, love, loooove the "snipping" tool in Windows 7. I love a lot about Windows 7 - mainly that it's not Windows Vista...but I digress).  In order to get the whole thing pictured, you're getting it in two pieces.  Here is the top half (click on it to see it in a better/readable size):

And here is the bottom half:

This whole process is thanks to my dear friend, Kim M., who has written a book (yet to be published) on the hows and whys we do something like a home management schedule.  And my schedule is much more detailed than many of my friends' who were in the same study with Kim.  Yes, I'm just a little OCD.  I know that "light fixtures and ceiling fans" are on the "seasonal" part of the schedule yet the dining room light fixture gets done the first week of every month.  That's because the hurricanes for it get put in the dishwasher (that little tidbit came from the housekeeper I had when I was pregnant with Harrison - had to have help then, too sick to function - love her for showing me that).  Despite initially changing the kids' sheets every other week (2nd paragraph in this post), I've gone back to changing them weekly. That's the way it was when I was growing up. That's the way it's "supposed" to be. Your mileage may vary. :)

Most of my working hours are spent at home.  I can do laundry and run the dishwasher while I'm working - though most of the time, that's all done anyway because I do most of my work in the late afternoon until late night (I'd much rather work 12 - 8 or 4 - midnight).  My kids do school at the kitchen table.  This allows me to clean the kitchen, iron, and pick up the family room while they are doing school - I'm just a few steps away.  Once Annie starts preschool - we'll be at the library several days a week.  And the number of days we're at the library is directly proportional to the amount of housework that needs to be done. Less housework pressing on me = more days at the library.  Library days also mean office work and house work get flip-flopped with office work happening early in the day (library WiFi) and housework happening later.

How do I "get it all done"?  I don't.  I do what I can and learn to live with what I can't. Is it always easy? No. Does it create conflict in my own life? Yep. You bet.  But, it is what it is and I have to learn to live with it and be content.  Ah...that's really not easy!!