Bunking the Beds

We finally decided that the girls are big enough to have bunk beds. Well, actually, I was the hold out on the whole thing. When we redid their room this summer, Colby wanted to bunk their beds, but I thought they were just too little. They weren't too little, Mama just didn't want to admit it.

Saturday was windy and snowy, so it was the perfect day for Colby to fix up the ladder and the guard rail and them bunk the girls' beds. They have a ton more room now for all of their toys and junk. Sidenote: clothes baskets are the best toy ever. I bought like ten of these when they were on clearance, and now they don't take my useful clothes baskets (often dumping whatever clean or dirty clothes are inside). Not only that, but they fit underneath the beds and it the closet shelves for easy storage.


Evelyn was happy to strike a pose for the photos.



Of course, Mo was there to supervise and test out the new arrangement.

This Week in Extra Stuff

Sometimes little things happen around the Vescapapdes home that don't warrant a whole post of their own, but I still want to share these moments. Here are a few of this week's moments.

Now that the weather is cold, Soren is enjoying lots of time playing Boowa and Kwala on the computer. She also loves to play Just Dance on the Wii. She does not want anything to do with all the preschool work I prepare for her. She hates it.


Dade has been so great about playing games with the littler kids when we ask him. As far as I'm concerned it's one of his most important chores because everyone knows I hate playing board games. In all fairness, I do pay him for his services.


While Soren and I were at Once Upon a Child, I found an unused watercolor paint book for a mere 50 cents. Soren got through a whole four pages before all the paint was gone. I think it's her new record.


Friday morning Indigo Bridge bookstore had a special story time event featuring a hedgehog from the local zoo. Soren wouldn't pet the hedgehog, but she did have a lovely time making the paper hedgehog afterward.

Oh, Now It's On Like Donkey Kong

I just read a little news clip about the uproar in Britain over tuition hikes. People are so outraged that college tuition was raised that they took to the streets, rioting and burning and pummeling Prince Charles' motorcade with whatever was lying beside them on the streets.

This is our political heritage people, and it is AWESOME. If the will of the people isn't being heard, by god they are going to SCREAM! What has happened to us, America? Our Founders had this same fervor and fire. They didn't just sit around bitching about stuff; they acted. They took to the streets. They took the battle to the enemy instead of waiting around for shit to happen. They didn't have Glenn Beck asking them to join him on his pity potty. Hell no! They said, "Fuck you, England!" (metaphorically speaking). It looks like the English haven't lost their will to act (even if they are acting just a little crazy).

So again I ask, what the hell has happened to us? Have we become so jaded and cynical that we just don't give a shit anymore? Has the system really become so warped that we honestly feel we are helpless? Are we just left now to bitch and moan and point fingers? I thought during the last election that Obama may have snapped us out of our lethargy. Now, I find myself screaming at the t.v. half the time, "Who elected this asshat?!" Even I am so disenfranchised that I voted for president and just expected that he could do everything all by himself. He can't. I see that now. He needs our help, people.

We need to start fighting. Let's go English on their asses.

Chinese Park, or Mom is Always Wrong and Soren is Always Right

Soren: Mom, I want to go to the Chinese park.

Me: What are you talking about?

Soren: THE CHINESE PARK, MOM!

Me: Soren, I have no idea what you are talking about.

Soren: MOM, it's the CHINESE PARK. You know, mom, that park with the tire swing.

Me: You mean Pioneers Park?

Soren: Yes, mom, Chinese Park. I told you that.

Cricut

Anyone who's into scrapbooking knows what a Cricut machine is: it slices, it dices, it makes die cuts and so forth. It was my only wish for Black Friday: to get a Cricut machine. The line at the craft store wasn't long, and when the doors opened we all rushed for the Cricuts (which were, I might add, $10 cheaper than listed in the ad....SCORE!!). I just noticed as I viewed the photo that follows that I had the cutting mat loaded backward. Awesome. I have a college degree, you know.



My first cuts with my new die cut machine weren't pretty. The paper stuck all over the cutting mat and had to be torn off in little bits. Okay, lesson learned: brand new cutting mat is realllly sticky so only use heavy weight paper for that first cut.



Having learned from my mistake, the next cuts were awesome. The girls and I experienced love at first sight.



I made my sister-in-law a nice birthday card which I failed to give to her while we were at her house on her birthday. That's how I roll: always prepared, never ready.



Perhaps my finest work is this set of letters made at Brody's request for his bedroom door.


I'm sure Colby's glad all his hard-earned money is being put to good use.

Laundry Soap

An old high school friend of mine introduced me to this recipe for laundry detergent. I thought it sounded interesting and easy, and it's really inexpensive to make. So far I've found it's performance acceptable, and I especially love the fresh, clean smell of the Zote soap. I don't have babies in the house anymore, so I'm not sure how great it would be on breast milk or formula stains. I generally pretreat major stains anyway.

So without further ado, here is homemade laundry soap:

Ingredients:
2c. Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soap
2c. Borax
1/2 bar Zote soap, grated



Put all ingredients in an old ice cream bucket or other container and mix well. You only need about 2 tablespoons per load in a front loading washer and maybe an extra tablespoon in a top loader. From experience, if you own a front loading washing machine, do not put this soap in the dispenser because the Zote will stick in the dispenser and not make it into the washing tub. I just dump it on top of the load inside the washing tub.

I bought a cheap cheese grater at the dollar store; it works just fine. Zote is pretty soft, and you can also substitute a whole bar of grated Ivory Soap if you can't find Zote. All of these ingredients may be a little tricky to find, especially the Washing Soda and the Zoat. I suppose Wal-Mart carries all of this, but you all know how I feel about Wal-Mart. I found everything at Super Saver. Zote comes in pink and white, so in the photo of the completed laundry soap you will see flecks of pink from my previous batches.

Catching Up

I feel terrible that I haven't been keeping up on my blog. I love blogging. I'm just busy all.the.time. Not like I have to go to work all day and then come home and keep a house busy, just always occupied with something. Lots of those somethings are fun somethings (like visits with friends, going to the gym, shopping for Christmas gifts), but many of those somethings are mundane (cleaning up the 100th pile of cat puke, sanitizing the toilet, doing yet another batch of dishes). Now, I'm suffering through a ridiculous cold, a cold so bad I even went to the doctor. I never go to the doctor when I'm sick.

So, here's a quick update on Vescapades events:

I already mentioned that I'm sick. Colby is bowling tonight in my place which makes me really sad because I look forward to bowling night every Monday. Colby has been fantastic the past few days as I lay on the couch contemplating death by snot. (Really, how much snot can one person make? Is it possible I might drown in it?) He came home from work early today to help me out. He took care of the kids and put up the outdoor Christmas lights yesterday.

On Saturday we all went to Omaha to babysit our nephews/cousins Ethan and Kort. I didn't feel bad when we got there, but shortly after we arrived my body started to suffer the effects of this cold. I only hope little Kort isn't a victim of my sickie germs. Kort and Colby were best buddies, and Colby got right back into the groove of caring for a baby.

This week will be filled with fun activities, as long as this Mama can kick this cold. We have two different story times to attend, and our friends Gavin and Reese are coming on Thursday to spend the day again.