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Technical Support
If you are personally familiar with our family, you probably know that we are a very technology heavy bunch. My kids each have tablets, and they are only 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. I’m a Mac girl as far as computers go, but my husband uses PCs and we’re all Android, all the way, for small devices. My husband is a Developer & Software Engineer and we each have our own websites(s). We are who our parents call for input when making a purchase or trying to fix something. We are often the source of hand-me-down technology, as my husband’s field requires staying up to date with current options. I’ve…
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Fire Ants in My House
When I see ants in my house, I panic. I’m not sure why. I picture, in my head, all of those tiny, germ carrying feet crawling all over everything… and I cringe. And then I remember that many types of ants, even ones that aren’t fire ants, bite, and I react. I try to hide my fear, but my kids are both tiny heroes, at 1 & 3, stomping every creepy crawly thing they see, for me. So… I don’t think I hide it well. This fall (or spring #2, as we jokingly call it in our house,) we had ants start migrating inside again. This time, however, they didn’t…
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Pineapple Guava
This is a plant that I had never seen, and certainly never heard of, until Texas. For that matter, the first time I learned of it was through Ison’s Nursery & Vineyard. My husband had ordered a few Muscadine grapevines from them and we had been happy with the prices and service, so we were looking around on their site to see if there was anything else we “needed.” There are so many cool options! We ended up ordering a Persimmon (sadly, this one didn’t make it, despite our best efforts) a Fig, a Goji Berry, a Seedless Grape (this one we killed all on our own,) and this beauty –…
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Sometimes, You read something you really NEEDED to hear…
The other day, a friend shared a link on Facebook, to an article by Alissa at Creative with Kids. It was entitled You Know What Will Ruin My Kids? or Banishing the Should Mama I am such a “Should” Momma, at least in my head. I look around my house and think, “If I was a good Momma, we wouldn’t have fire ants (more on that later,) our windowsills wouldn’t have dead mosquitos on them, there wouldn’t be dirty laundry, we wouldn’t be out of fresh carrots and the new seedlings would already be planted. When we are at a playdate, I think,”If I was a good Momma, my children would sit quietly for Storytime,…
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Gathered Clutch Purse : Tutorial Link
Christmas isn’t all that far away, especially since we generally exchange gifts with my parents at Thanksgiving (airfare is FAR cheaper then… and it isn’t total overload for the kids.) This year, I’m hoping to get most of our holiday preparations done at home, instead of through stores. This is going to mean a lot of sewing for a while. Bummer, right? Ha ha ha! Today, I tried out the Gathered Clutch Tutorial at Noodlehead and I had a blast. Okay, in normal Momma Melanie style, I followed the tutorial for a few minutes… I did the end tabs for the zipper, the gathered side, and then I took off on my…
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IMAGINATION MOVERS!!!
Our house is a Netflix House. We don’t have cable (or we sort-of do, but it isn’t hooked up to our television – on purpose) or antenna television, so we don’t see anything unintentionally. As a result, until yesterday, I didn’t even know that Imagination Movers had a show on Disney Junior. Apparently, they do. And… from what I’m reading, it’s pretty cool. Anyway, Miller Outdoor Theatre, in Houston, Texas, had a FREE concert by Imagination Movers this morning! Yeah, you read that correctly. FREE!!! We got there early (almost an hour early) with our friends, fully expecting that all tickets for seats would be handed out, but they weren’t! There weren’t…
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Sewing Machine Cover
My sewing machine is a keeper. I absolutely adore it. I don’t know what the parts are called, or the names of techniques I use. I don’t generally know what foot I have on my machine, or even the name of the stitch I chose to use. BUT… I can sure use it. And use it, I do! The thing is… the machine came with a cover. A rip-stop, bright white, very useful cover. Fast forward, I dunno, 5 years or so… and the cover isn’t so bright white, and looks filthy, and ugly. Or it did, anyway. My machine has lived in Alaska, in a townhouse and in an…
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The heat is fading, and it’s time to plant!!
When we lived in Alaska, we anticipated snow on the ground (snow that would stay) by Halloween. My friends are already mentioning frosts and cleaning out their gardens. Meanwhile, here in Texas, we’re finally getting out of the 90s and, by golly, I’m ready to garden! Despite our family being sick, I’ve tried to get out in the yard every day or every other day and weed and prep beds. A lot of what we did in the spring stuck around, while some didn’t. The summer crops are over and it’s time to plant for the fall. I love that we can plant year-round. So exciting! I started a few seedlings…
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The Hand-me-WAY-down Dress
When this shirt didn’t fit, I wasn’t surprised, or upset. BUT… I KNEW that fabric would be great for something! There had to be something that I could use it for, right? When I happened upon this 20 minute ruffle dress tutorial today on Baby Making Machine, I knew that I could turn it into a dress… and probably without much work. It wouldn’t look like hers did… but it could turn out super cute! So… I got to work. (I didn’t use the tutorial, but if you check out the link, you’ll see why it inspired me…) The first thing that I did was use a ballpoint needle with a big hole…
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There’s Something Fishy about That Boy!
We’re all getting over a nasty cold in our house, so we’ve been doing a lot of freezer runs for popsicles. Today, when my son went searching for a popsicle, I jokingly asked if he wanted a “fish popsicle.” My husband had dried anchovies in the freezer for some Korean recipes that he has been trying lately. When he was a child, he and a friend used to eat them like chips. {If you could see my face right now…} Anyway, my son said, “YES!” What?!?!? He was totally serious. We gave him one, expecting an “eww” and things didn’t go as expected… at all. My son asked for more.…
