Birthday Breakfast

Today is an important day at our house.  We're celebrating Lily's birthday!  (You can read more about Lily and her birthdays here, here, and here.)  Lily's birthday celebration is traditionally planned by her siblings, Endeaver, Justone, and Superkid.  This year, they wanted to have a special breakfast, and requested a very yummy treat.

I made these chocolate crepes for the first time last week, when we were visiting my sister.  They were such a hit that we all wanted to have them again.  What better day than today? (Recipes are after the pictures, below.)

The Sandbox

The final installation of the Bionic Man's work of playscape art was completed earlier this summer.  The long-awaited sandbox is now part of the children's play area.

This is no ordinary sandbox.  For starters, it is part of the Bionic Man's playscape design.  Remember the playscape?

Lazy Summer?

I'm back!  Back to blogging, that is.  This summer has been full of surprises (mostly good) and opportunities.  I'll have to tell you all about it over the next few days.  Here's a picture preview:

I have a couple of good excuses for neglecting my blog.  First of all, school's out.  That means my kids are home during the day.  Guess what?  I love that.  And I've tried to stay off the computer as much as possible during our few days of summer vacation.

Second excuse?  My writing jobs.  If I'm going to spend time on the computer this summer, I might as well get paid for it.  So, the paid blogging gets priority.  Sorry.  By the way, did I tell you I have a new gig?  This July, I started writing for Infarrantly Creative.  I'm writing the weekly Five Ways column.  (Check out my latest, here.)  I'm still writing for The CSI Project, and my task list has grown there.  Admittedly, free-lance writing was easier and more fun when my children were at school.  Lately, it seems I'm putting in some late nights after they've gone to bed.  Oh well, we only have one Summer of 2011 to enjoy together.

Bragging Rights

Have you heard of the "Own Your Look" Prom Dress Contest sponsored by JoAnn Fabrics?  The 2011 contest was open to teens who made their own formal attire.  Requirements included an original dress design and coordinating accessory created with fabric and products from JoAnn Fabrics.  This contest isn't something to sneeze at: the first place winner receives a $50,000 prize--something any college-bound teen can appreciate.  You can view all the entries into the contest here.

I'm excited to announce that one of my sweet nieces, Rachelle, entered her Senior Prom dress into the competition.  I couldn't be more impressed with the beautiful dress and matching headband that she made.

Girls' Bedroom Switcheroo

Last week, my girls and I worked really hard to get their bedroom cleaned, organized, rearranged, and de-cluttered.  It was a really, really big job.

Something Special Saturday - Garage Sale Edition

The kids and I hosted a garage sale this weekend.  Friday was very slow, but the weather was delightful.  Partly cloudy, not too hot.  Today we've done pretty good business, but it is miserably hot and humid.

We set up our garage sale at the last minute, after we saw the large signs posted at our subdivision entrance announcing a neighborhood yard sale.  Not sure why they don't give us any warning about these things....but it was a good excuse to quickly clear some things out of our house.  

If I'd had a little more notice, I might have been able to use some of the handy tips I found for having really successful garage sales.  Maybe you can use them sometime, instead.

The Yard Sale Queen offers a full page of tips for throwing a great yard sale.  She's got some great ideas for advertising and signs.  

The Nester offers additional tips for both yard sale buyers and sellers over at her Nesting Place.  She recommends a good, cleansing yard sale for ridding the house of unwanted clutter.  

Melissa at 320 Sycamore shares her yard sale wisdom (especially for buyers) in her Yard Sale 101 section.

First Week of Summer

It's the first week of summer, and Bionic Man has already had to go out of town twice.  That does not bode well, me thinks.

The good news is, over the last three days, the children and I have been extremely productive.  I'm totally taking advantage of their enthusiasm at being home for the summer, and working them like slaves in the salt mines.  It's such a change from school routines that they haven't complained yet.  Obviously, I have no time for blogging this week because I have to capitalize on enthusiasm like that while I can.