Hobbit Door Necklace

We took a trip to our nearest Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago.  Which isn't really near at all.  I stocked up on some crafting supplies.  I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do.  One of them was a Hobbit Door Necklace.  I've seen a few around the internet but since I am an avid crafter I wanted to come up with something myself.  I found these blanks at the store.  These were easy because they didn't need any glue or anything.  You just take a picture and place it in the middle.  I used Bilbo's door on one side and Sam's door on the other side.  Bilbo's because I love the Hobbit and Sam's because he was my favorite in Lord of the Rings.  So it's really a cross over necklace.

 
p.s.  I will admit that I randomly opened the book and snapped a picture as fast as I could.  I wasn't really paying attention to the text.  Apparently Bombur falls in!  Oh no!

A Big Number On My Little Blog

The little counter in the corner is telling me that I'm almost at 10,000 views.  Wow, that's crazy.  I feel like this deserves a celebration.  A little one maybe.  Maybe a give away?  What do ya'll think?  I have some crafty stuff laying around...I could whip something up.

Crock Pot Monday - A Day Later

Yesterday was busy.  As busy as a Monday can get.  Highlights were home made Chicken Noodle Soup, watching my baby girl dance (I know I know she is almost 5), afternoon movie break and fudge in the shape of a Mickey head!

Since I knew it was going to be a busy Monday, after grocery shopping I threw some stuff in the crock pot and made some of the easiest and most delish Chicken stock.  I wanted to do a whole chicken but all of the chickens out in the case were frozen, so I went with bone in chicken breast.  I threw five in there knowing I could use the chicken in something else later in the week.  I threw in the chicken, an onion, and some carrots and celery.  I covered that with some filtered water.  Then I added a bay leaf or two and some salt and pepper and left it on high for five hours.  I strained the stock before I used in the Chicken Noodle Soup.  It was the best chicken stock I have ever made an I didn't have to babysit it or anything.  I think the crock pot method is going to be my new stock method from now on.

On a side note, my darling Clover and I had the meat discussion in the grocery store the other day.  She had finally put together that the animal and the food we eat are both called Chicken.  So she wanted to know where they come from and what happens.  I had that "Okay, what do I tell her?" thought.  I thought about lying to her but I really didn't want to do that.  So I told her the truth.  It was the condensed version.  Farm to Processor to Grocery Store to Kitchen.  Then she asked me if I have ever killed a chicken to which I answered No.  I don't even like cutting up chicken to cook it.  Seriously it grosses me out.  She was a little grossed out too.  She ended the conversation with "Mom!, That is so gross!"  I am pretty sure that she is going to be my little vegetarian.  She's always eaten more veggies than meat so I'm sure I will not be shocked.  I am already anticipating it in the 10-13 year age range.  It will be interesting to see if she gives up bacon though.    

Acting Your Age Is Overrated.

Tonight dessert came in the form of Pez inside of Princess dispensers.

Who wants to guess who I chose?

Yup, mine was Tiana!

Yes, I'm Crazy Enough To Try

I like to try my Pinterest fails while my husband is at work.  That way if they fail I have time to clean up the mess.  So I have tried some stuff and posted that last very sentence on Facebook only to have my husband come home while I was in the middle of my Pinterest experiment.  And what was I doing?  I was spraying the shower down with Dawn and Vinegar.  Yeah that made the whole house stink.  Not only did he come home during the middle but he brought a co-worker home unannounced.  That was a fun day.

The dawn and vinegar thing works.  It works on soap scum.  So if you have soap scum I would say give it a whirl.  The instructions I tried said to microwave the vinegar, which is what stunk up the house.  So you get it hot and then add the dawn and then pour it into a spray bottle.  Spray wipe away with a towel and rinse.  But I don't have soap scum.  I have hard water.  Pretty much every one of my faucets has been replaced since we have lived here due to the scale build up.  That leaves cleaning all the other surfaces that it accumulates on.

And yes, I am just that crazy or dumb enough to try random things I found on the internet.

So today Hubby came home and noticed a coke in the fridge.  Since I have told him I will no longer be purchasing sodas for our household he was a bit confused.  So then I told him that it was for cleaning the shower and he just looked at me and then gave me this "oh geez not again" kind of an eye roll.  Don't think I didn't see it!  I don't blame him though.

So I found this link last night and thought I would give it a try.  Cleaning the shower with Vodka and Coke.  Sure, why not?  Sign me up.

So you pour equal amounts in a spray bottle and go at it.  Again with the spray bottle.  I'm not sure if people think about it when they suggest that you use a spray bottle.  You are vaporizing vodka basically.  It smells better than bleach but not by much.  I'm pretty sure I sanitized my nose.

I only sprayed a once over and I didn't get a chance to let it sit very long.  Hubby wanted to take a shower.  I just gave it another round.  I guess I will report back and let you all know if it worked.

I don't know if my husband can handle any more home concocted cleaning recipes.  

*Edit in the name of science:  Did you really think it was going to work?  Just another one to add to the FAIL list.

Finding a Little Magic

We took a quick trip to the Mouse House to get a peek at some Limited Time Magic.  It's their theme for this year.  They are doing some special shows and letting some classic characters out of wherever it is that they keep them.  We specifically went for the Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue.  It was so much fun.  The show was funny and very entertaining.

We had a great time.  I was a little worried about the weather since it was a little drizzly.  When I say drizzly I mean misty.  Not really a sprinkle or even really rain but everything was wet.  It seemed to be enough to keep some people away for awhile.  Just us hardcore disney fans out there in the wetness.  The mist kept the cold away so I was out there in a thin sweater.  I am always surprised by what people wear to the park.  While some people were out in shorts there were people out in parkas.  Seriously?  We were in Anaheim, not Alaska.

While we went for some Frontierland fun, my favorite part of the trip was the time we spent with Periwinkle.

Clover always seems to have a list of things she wants to do when we are there.  This time she really wanted to meet Periwinkle.  And she just happened to get a Periwinkle costume that she picked out before Christmas.  Which she wore all day.  I was surprised because she is very picky about her costumes.  She did however snap her wing while she was playing with it.  And that was the first thing she told Periwinkle when we got into Pixie Hollow.  Well, Periwinkle was not hearing that so they tried  putting their wings together to see if they would glow and heal.  They concluded that because they were the same people that it wouldn't work.  She spent a good amount of time with us.  She talked to Clover as if they were old friends.  There was a breeze and Periwinkle told Clover that Vidia (the fast flying wind fairy) must be out making it a bit chilly.  So Clover got really excited and said she saw her flying around up there.  Then for the rest of the evening any time she felt a breeze she looked for and called out to Vidia.  That was my favorite part.

Sometimes it seems like she is in such a hurry to grow up and be an adult.  She is really not the kid who enjoys being a child.  She has started telling me that she will be so much happier when she is a teenager.  So to see her acting like a kid and getting caught up in a little bit of Disneyland magic, that part really made me happy.    

          

Get Knocked Down, Get Back Up Again, Repeat

No, not the tubthumping song.  But you are welcome for the earworm anyways.

It always seems like there is something that knocks me down whenever I'm doing good.  I guess that's why everyone out there calls it a weight-loss struggle.  There was one year that I was convinced that whenever I mentioned the word "diet" something bad was going to happen.  But now I see that it's just bad timing.

Right now I'm in the middle of this acid reflux business.  I'm on prescription grade meds to keep my stomach from eating itself and all I really want to eat is bread.  Yeah not exactly on the okay to eat list for many many diets.

I'm once again discouraged and disappointed.  But that will pass too.  I'm really trying to not end up in a chocolate and ice cream induced downward spiral.  Chocolate is on the do not eat list.  Along with no coffee, tomatoes, or citrus.  That's like half my diet right there.  Seems like it's time to readjust and move on.

Looks like it's calorie counting for me.