Little princesses.

Saturday morning we were looking at our friend Dave's Facebook page. He and his wife, Nicole, took their twins to Disney World a few weeks ago. Ellie and Josie were fascinated with the photos. They couldn't believe that Emily and Zack were able to MEET DISNEY PRINCESSES!

These photos prompted a day of gown wearing in our house. Cute little buggers, aren't they?

Snow White.


Eleanor wearing her princess pajama dress. She won't wear it to bed - "It's too beautiful!"


Apparently, Snow White was having a bad day.

Country Living

Lately I've noticed the changes in my lifestyle are reflected in the magazines I read.

Gone are InStyle, Fitness and Allure. They've been replaced with Parents, Runners World and my new favorite....Country Living.

I remember reading this now and then at my Grandma Payne's house. She'd have numerous back copies on the coffee table and I'd flip through them without really paying attention to the content. Now, when an issue arrives in the mailbox, I can't wait to sit down with a cup of tea and spend 45 minutes soaking up the words and pictures on the pages.

If you're looking for a magazine that is a great mesh of modern (and eclectic) style, gardening and cooking, then pick up Country Living. Or, visit my grandma...she'd love to share!

A party at our house!

A really, really small one.

We're not football people, but every year we join friends or family (depends on who dishes out the invite) for a Super Bowl party. This year, we decided to throw our own.

Kyle made hot wings. I cut up celery. Kyle, Ellie, Josie and I ate wings, celery and chips & dip. The girls were even allowed to enjoy some of Daddy's Kool-Aid stash. We don't normally let the girls drink it, but thought 'Hey! It can't be a party without Kool-Aid!'.

The girls are now tucked in bed. The house is picked up and I'm seconds away from crashing on the couch with my husband to watch the remaining Super Bowl commercials.

Hope you all enjoyed "Super Bowl Sunday" with your favorite peeps!

It's about time!

Associated Press

Look! Am I the only one that thinks it's about time the little Heinz® Ketchup packets were redesigned?

"The new design has a base that's more like a cup for dipping and also a tear-off end for squeezing, plus it holds three times as much ketchup than a traditional packet."

Cool! I may have to hunt down some fries this weekend...just because!

(Side note: in college, my apartment shared the zip code with the Heinz® factory...15222!)

(Another side note: This post is dedicated to my friend Tracey. The only girl I know who used to keep ketchup in her purse! Love ya!)

Frugal-Lisa Friday.

Frugal-Lisa TIP #3
Measure your soap!

Dishwasher soap or laundry soap. When I started actually measuring before pouring I noticed a significant change the amount of soap I go through. (Duh.) With the soap we use for our dishwasher, when I would pour it from the box into the holder, twice the amount that was necessary would be wasted. There's a 50% savings right there! Same with our laundry detergent.

To make the dishwasher soap easier to use, I bought an inexpensive container that fits under the counter. I use an old medicine cup to measure the 2 tablespoons that my dishwasher needs. This also makes it MUCH easier for the girls to help with their "chore" of doing the dishes.

Measure...give it a shot!

"Quiet as a mouse" is never a good thing.

Yesterday afternoon, while Josie napped, Ellie ran errands with Kyle, then went with my dad to feed the cows. She was in heaven with so many important things to do, and I was in heaven with complete silence throughout the house. I was behind the 8-ball on a project and used the few hours of peace to try and catch up.

Josie had gone down for her nap around 1:30PM. At 4:45 (more than three hours later) I decided to go upstairs and check on her. With no music, t.v. or other background noise, I was sure I would have heard her walking around above me if she'd gotten out of bed.

As I turned the corner towards the stairs I heard her say "Mommy...I spilled!". I looked up to see her sitting at the top of the stairs in her diaper and sweatshirt, with a bottle of nail polish spilling over her hands.

Ugh!

The child had obviously been awake for a while. After cleaning up the mess – which included using a massive number of polish-remover soaked cotton balls on her fingers, toes, legs and LIPS – I went back upstairs to survey the damage. Josie had lined up every piece of jewelry that was on our dresser and stacked the coins. There was laundry strewn across the floor. She had apparently tried on my shoes.

She did all of this without making a single noise.

Kyle thinks she's destined to be a secret agent. I have to agree.

P.S. It was clear nail polish (thank goodness!)

Welcome!

My sister-in-law, Amy, has started a blog: Our Kirker Family Tree. Stop by and say "Hi"! (And get a peek at that new little niece/cousin of ours!)