Cheap and Easy...

Imagine how many people will Google "Cheap and Easy" and be sorely disappointed when this blog post pops up....SORRY....

Back to the point...I really am Cheap and Easy...to entertain, that is...It started today when I left work early...and me leaving work early should not surprise you...I have the attention span of a flea!

So I am wandering through the book aisle at Sam's and I'm wanting to pile like 6 books into my basket...but I am WAY to cheap for that...6 bucks a piece times 6 books...oh no...not happening...now if I was purchasing books on children's anxiety or "How to raise a perfectly mannered child" I would spare no expense...but these are for me, and they aren't exactly the "classics"...so I decide to go to the library....which freaks me out a little if I think about the boogery fingers that have read the books before me...so I try to block those out...

I could easily lose a day in the library...I can't name one author or title that I checked out today...I generally end up choosing the books that are in the "NEW" section or placed strategically at the end of an aisle to entice you to read them...yep, those librarians get me every time...Today I chose two of the books on the end caps, and I REALLY wanted to put new books in their place, then I thought that maybe the librarians LIVE for that kind of stuff, so I didn't ruin their fun...Five books for Free for the next two weeks...SWEET...just enough trash to read before falling asleep at night, but hopefully nothing good enough to make me want to stay up all night reading...that is a VERY fine line, my friend...

After the library, I went to the card aisle at Walgreens...I do prefer Target for card shopping, but I figured Walgreens would do...and I was not disappointed...I could read cards for hours...again...cheap and easy...in fact, while I was reading... and laughing at cards, one man actually commented that I must have found some really good cards...I wasn't laughing that loudly...I don't think....but laughs are contagious and he started laughing simply because I was...that is my favorite part about a laugh...contagiousness (it's a word, I think...)

So now I'm home, ready to read a book for a little bit before the girls get home from school.  I really wanted to meet them for lunch today, but with the traffic I would have missed Avery's lunch time, and made it just in time for Morgan's...that would have been ugly...so I had to skip lunch, but then I REALLY wanted to check them out of school early, but I remembered this isn't summer camp, they are supposed to be present...damn...so here I wait for them to get home....

how can I not want to hang out with these faces....

after running off the bus on the first day, these are the comments I got:

Morgan: "School was awesome!!!!"

Avery: "There was no playtime...It was not fun at all..."

ahhh...the joys of school...hope you found something to laugh about today....

Camping....

Call it Peer Pressure, A Moment of Insanity, Post Cancer "Don't Miss a Thing" attitude...whatever...

but the Bellangers are going camping with 13+ other families... and by camping, I mean a cabin at Jellystone Campground in Robert, LA...I don't want you to think I'm sleeping in a tent...as Avery says, "that would be just plain silly..."

Now that packing day has arrived, I'm realizing that a room at the Ritz would have been a MUCH better idea...Bring your own toilet paper???  Huh?  Are you serious?  I am a CITY GIRL!  My idea of "roughin' it" is Motel 6... they at least provide toiletries and what I hope are clean linens!

My girls are having a similar problem grasping this concept...Avery dressed in a dress, fancy headband and a sparkly watch...until I explained to her that she had to change...poor Avery...

It's one step forward and two steps back with this packing thing...I had a laundry basket filled with towels and sheets for the trip, and my precious Morgan put everything away...she was just helping with the laundry...didn't know whether I should hug her or cry...so I took a Xanax...everything is good now...

Big Daddy may have taken care of the "outdoor" things:  fishing poles, firewood, oh hell, I don't even know what else...(it just feels right to call Shane "Big Daddy" when we are going camping)

But I took care of the necessities: Bug Spray, Sunscreen, Benadryl, Chips, Cookies and...Skinny Girl Margaritas, Firelfy Vodka and Michelob Ultra!!!  We'll be just fine :)

May the insanity begin!!

Overheard today...

As if I wasn't even in the car, Morgan and Avery had the following conversation today...

Avery: I wish Daddy could come home before we go to sleep.  He never does...
Morgan: Do you still love Daddy?
Avery: Yep...
Morgan: We spend a lot of time with Mommy and she makes all the rules and she punishes us when we don't be good, but I still love her...the same as I love Daddy...
Avery: I love Mommy too.  But I really love that Daddy doesn't punish us...

In Shane's defense, he normally gets home before bedtime, but it's just been REALLY busy at work lately.  And I would have corrected Morgan when she said "we don't be good", but then they would have remembered I was in the SAME car and my ears work!  And I really wanted to find out how I compared to Daddy in the "love" department...

Glad we are "neck and neck"...

Just one of my laughs for the day!!

PS - yesterday I took the girls to see Ramona and Beezus.  Have you seen it?  Did you cry through the second half of the movie?  Of course you didn't!!  I'm the only emotional wreck who did that...But don't try to tell me the Dead Cat scene wasn't a tearjerker!!!

Hope you are laughing this week!!

breakfast with the Bellangers

the girls have been awake for 2 hours...and they have eaten:

veggie sausage
Golden Grahams with Soy Milk
steamed carrots
wilted spinach
and edamame

And, no, I didn't force feed them...I offered pancakes and waffles, but they chose the sausage and cereal and edamame...I happened to be making the spinach and carrots, so they asked for that too...

I know I am lucky to have such good eaters, but they don't really know anything different...who says it's a crime that they have never eaten real sausage??

before you start feeling sorry for them...look at these faces!!

See...they are happy!!  I am loving these weeks with the girls...thank goodness they are going back to school, or I might never go back to work!!

back to basics...

Believe it or not, this blog's purpose in 2007 was scrapbooking.  I was teaching classes, and this was a way to announce classes and post layouts....Fast forward...my blog posts have changed, but so has life...

Today I'm going back to my roots and posting some scrapbook layouts (I have nothing else to talk about... call this a filler...)

Click here for one of my first posts...My babies were BABIES!!

Here is the layout of our family portraits taken in December 2010...

Shane's favorite holiday...

the Lymphoma fundraiser "Wiggin' Out"...

so as not to bore people who aren't remotely interested in scrapbooking, the rest of the layouts can be found here...

Mommy Camp started today...I LOVE sleeping until 8:30!!  Tommorrow - Audubon Zoo...Last night we swam until 8pm...The neighbors may never speak to us again after hearing "MARCO", "POLO" for two straight hours...but we had fun...here are my goofballs in new bathing suits from Daddy...

 

hope you have a laugh filled week!!

it's always funny....

no matter how often they do it...

it always make me laugh...

even the "mullet"

the blanket works too....

the wig...it just keeps on giving....

the joys of motherhood...

and having girls 15 months apart...see, they are inseparable...except when they hate each other...which just happens to be 45% of the time...but even when they are fighting they can't stand to be separated... the ultimate punishment is "separate room timeouts"...

I have even caught them "facetiming" each other after being separated for fighting... (if you aren't technologically savvy...Facetime is a way to "call" other kids with I-Touches...ridiculous...but no one asked me...)

Back to the story...Morgan was invited to a friend's house tomorrow...yeah for Morgan...boo hoo for Avery...wait, let me rephrase - hysteria from Avery!!  Only complicated by the fact that Avery HATES camp...or rather, she doesn't hate camp as much as she hates GOiNG to camp.  We've made it through the past three mornings without crying because I promised her a frog...or a sleepover...I've lost track, but I did stop short of a dog...

So Avery won't be going to camp tomorrow... which would be fine if I sat home and ate bon bons while watching my "stories"...but there are these tax returns waiting for me, and I had high hopes for this week...especially since I've already promised that next week will be their last week for camp...which means a complete hault on tax productivity between July 25 and August 9...(if you are a client reading this, I suggest emailing me with your emergency next week - I have high hopes for next week...)

So I have totally lost my train of thought...I'm distracted by Morgan and a friend leading an imaginary group in water aerobics while Avery and friend try to make the biggest splash in the pool...

I should probably just wrap this up by saying how appreciative I am of my precious girls...because complaining is allowed as long as you remember to be thankful, right??  Or is that just a Catholic guilt thing?  Hell, I don't know...I do know that when my sister Ashley reads this she will call me and yell, "Just send her ass to camp!"  but I can't - I'm a pansy...especially when it comes to my girls...