The only “downside” to this particular activity is that unless your children are 10+ years of age, they’ll most likely need some supervision and guidance, especially when it comes to wrapping the rubber bands around the clothing, and choosing the dyes to use with one another. I wanted to window shop for wedding shower invitations (for a friend who wanted my input – I’m already married, remember?), but during this particular activity that just wasn’t a possibility. Oh well – Alyssa and Ryan had a blast picking out the colors they wanted on their shirts and painstakingly applying the dye everywhere, and I had a lot of fun helping them.

This morning Alyssa was semi-interested in pigtails, then perked up when I offered to braid her pigtails. The finishing touch was a sprinkling of hot pink glitter all over her hair (I sprayed her hair with hair spray first to not only prevent flyaways and wispiness, but to also help the glitter “stick”).

As much as Alyssa liked her hair this morning, I won’t be surprised if she comes home with it hanging free again, because that’s just how my child rolls.

But it looks like the warnings and talks were for naught, because Ryan was so busy playing with Alyssa and with Sophie (Amanda’s daughter) that he never once took off his pants, or grabbed anyone else’s chest (but my own). Yay! I, meanwhile, did some quick social media stuff for custom engagement rings, sympathized with Amanda over her fubared Macbook (she took it to the Apple store today and found out that the hard drive is fried), and in general had a great time with friends. ♥

How was your weekend?

Cosmetic goodies from EdenFantasys!

The shadows in the Bella in Bloom Eye Shadow palettes are gorgeous, and they’re just the right shades that they’ll work with just about any outfit, any occasion, and any season. The shadows themselves are hard-pressed, but easy enough to gather on a small eye shadow brush (I didn’t bother to use the included applicator, as I’ve become a bit snobbish in terms of how I apply my eye makeup – applicator brushes just don’t cut it, unless you’re using the tip of one to apply pressed or cream shadow as an eyeliner). The colors easily pop out, and can be applied dry for a sheer finish, in layers for a more opaque finish, or wet for a bright, color-popping finish – your choice! The colors last quite a while, and I didn’t notice any flaking or creasing.

Bottom line? For $13.99, this 8-piece shadow kit is worth picking up. Psst… use coupon code ES2 to save 15% on your order.

[rating:5/5]

For the last two years Ryan has enjoyed playing Little Big Planet. From last spring onwards he got super into playing it, and over the summer and into the fall he alternated between Little Big Planet and Little Big Planet 2, not only exploring and beating game levels and user-created levels, but creating his own unique, innovated and incredibly detailed levels. Then, out of nowhere, in early November, he up and quit playing Little Big Planet out of nowhere. Total cold turkey. It was weird, but whatever. He took up other activities, in particular coloring and note-writing.

This morning, for some reason, I woke up right around 7:00am, wondering why Ryan no longer played Little Big Planet, and what do you know? He was playing it! He was busy building a pineapple for a Spongebob level when I came out to get him set up with breakfast. Silly boy.

What. The. Hell.

So I put a lid on the dry ingredients and put them away. Tonight I brought them back out, and with the exception of using 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon of almond extract in place of what the doubled recipe calls for (two teaspoons of vanilla extract, I believe), I made everything to the letter. And damn, they are quite delicious! They’re fluffy yet firm, crisp yet oh-so-soft, and the best part? THEY DON’T STICK TO MY WAFFLE MAKER. I’ve had recipes where I’d spray down the waffle maker after each and every single waffle and the bastards would still stick and crumble and break apart. These fall out perfectly formed, totally dense goodness. Nom nom nom.

Here’s the recipe!

And now, holy crap, it’s January 1st, 2012, and another year has gone by in the blink of an eye. My mom and grandmother were right – as you get older, and especially after having children, life really does go by faster. And now all sorts of things are on my to-do list — article writing on cpa raleigh, housework, planning some giveaways for Valentine’s Day, etc.

As far as New Year’s resolutions go, I want to lose ten pounds, I want to read one book per week, and I want to be more productive and efficient in terms of work.

How about you? Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?

I hope Nemo lived a mostly happy life. I rescued him from a freezing cold, vase-with-a-plant-at-the-top situation at my local grocery store’s seafood department last April, and relocated him to a larger tank with a heater. He made many bubble nests over the past eight months, so I know that up until very recently he was happy and healthy.

RIP, Nemo. You will be missed!

Last year my mother and I took all four kids (Alyssa, Ryan, and my two brothers), but we went during the daytime a few days after Christmas, so obviously we didn’t get to see the lights lit up, and the excitement of Christmas was pretty much over. This year, since we went at night a good five weeks before Christmas, the lights were on and the Christmas music was more than enough to get me excited for the holiday.

Just like last year, Alyssa and Ryan had a fabulous time, and I really enjoyed seeing their excitement and enjoyment. ♥

Pictures (slideshow):