Random Craziness and Mr. Bombdiggity

So.
 
It's been an interesting week, to say the least.  A weird, sometimes frustrating, when-is-the-anvil-going-to-fall-on-my-head kind of week, concluding with my currently throbbing thumb.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Our saga begins last Wednesday evening.  After praise team practice at church, I had to run to Walmart (ugh) for a few things.  As I pulled out of the parking lot to leave, my gas light blinked on.  No problem.  I'll just drive home (4 miles) and get gas in the morning.  Or so I thought.

I stopped at a red light not quite halfway to my house, and when the light turned green, I pushed the gas pedal and nothing happened.  Yay.  After muttering angrily to myself for a few seconds, I grabbed my cell and called Mike.  Little did I know, life at the casa had been nuts, with 7th grade homework drama, bickering brothers, and a pee-pee accident (ridiculously rare) on the part of the 4-year-old.  Mike had just gotten the little ones in bed and Seth settled in with math homework when I called.  So he was less than pleased.  However, being the awesome husband he is, he came to rescue me.  

As I sat there in my van, waiting, counting how many cars passed right by (and even stopped behind me for two traffic light cycles, DUH!) I watched for Mike's car to hang a U-turn and park behind me.  I was in the left lane, with a turn lane next to me.  Instead of turning around, he just came straight at me and parked behind me, facing the wrong way.  Traffic was sparse, so it's not like he was playing chicken with anyone.  I leaned out the window and, after thanking him, said, "I bet the cops are going to get a call about you with your parking job!"
Mike:  "I'm not too worried about it.  This won't take long."

A few moments later, two cop cars pull up behind Mike's car.  Fortunately, the officer from the first car, who gets out, turns out to be someone we know.  He laughed and told us they'd gotten a call about a drunk driver going the wrong way down the road!  That would be my husband's car, thank you.  Ha!  Anywho, we finished up and went on our way.  That was Wednesday.


Thursday wasn't too bad, until the bottle warmer I use for the little duck flipped over with an 8 oz bottle in it.  Score.  Milk all over me, all over the floor, and a very confused baby, who did NOT want to go back into her chair while I cleaned it up.  Bonus:  my mop was nowhere to be found.  I guess it found its way out during the last garage cleanup?   So, I used a wet mop cloth and pushed it around with my hands.  I became the mop. 

How Zen.

Friday, Mike told me that he had been invited to hang out at a friend's house for the evening.  A guy thing. Here's the best part:  he wanted to take the kids!  Seth went to a youth weekend, so it was just Luke and Zoe.  They each have a friend at this particular house, and there were going to be four additional kiddos there, as well.  Rock on, Mr. Bombdiggity!!  So, they went, and I got to spend the evening all by my lonesome....it was great!  Except for the fact that I had to spend 45 minutes looking for the remote because Zoe dropped it inside the couch. Yay.

Saturday was date night!  Mike cleaned the entire house while I was at dance!   See?  Bombdiggity.  We went to dinner and a movie, and had a wonderful time together.  Of course, Saturday wouldn't be complete without something wacko going on, such as nearly getting hit by a car while walking in the parking lot.  When I say nearly, I mean I'm surprised I didn't get silver paint on my shoes.  When your car is moving, stay off your phone!!!


Sunday was church and relaxation.  Church was great, and I even got to share my running-out-of-gas story, to which my friend gasped, "That was you???"  Yup.  Thanks for stopping. :P


Monday, the kids were off from school.  Seth went to help my dad work at the Christian Care Center for the morning, I had little duck and my two little ones to entertain.  Got Seth back at 1, took him to a friend's house, then took the others to another friend's house, where we hung out and played until about 4:15.  Got home, Mike was home from inservice, and my 2 nieces and nephew were already there.  We were watching them while my brother-in-law and his wife went to a viewing for her grandmother, who had passed away Friday.  We had them until about 8:45.  So Monday was FULL!


Nothing major happened Tuesday or Wednesday, so I thought things were calming down, until the thumb incident tonight.  I made baked potato soup from scratch, people...scratch!  It cooked all day, and the only thing left to do was to blend in the cream cheese using the blender.  I carried the base over to the counter and plugged it in as I was setting it down.  


It was on.


My thumb got caught in the little rotating thingy that turns the blades when the whole thing is put together.  Thank you, Lord, the blades weren't on it!  As it is, just the black thing sliced my thumb pretty badly.  


I cried.


A lot.


Mike was so sweet.  He turned off the blender, which I had thrown down on the counter before doubling over in pain.  Then he came right over to me to see how bad it was.  After a few minutes, it looked like things weren't ER-worthy, and I went to the bathroom to wash it (ow, ow, ow-ow-ow) and he told the kids to get shoes on and get in the car.  He was taking them to pick up pizza.  My sweet man.  While he was gone, I calmed down and bandaged myself up.  My soup turned out really well, but we will eat it tomorrow. :o)  My thumb really, really hurts.  Really.  It throbs with every heartbeat.  Ouch.  


Insult to thumb injury?  I am in the middle of a huge rush order for a customer, and this doesn't help me get things done!  Argh!  Hopefully, the next several days will be calmer, quieter, and will not include injury by kitchen appliances!  


P.S.  I have kept my kitchen sparkly clean since Saturday, thankyouverymuch!  Martha would be proud. :o)

Nothin' Says Lovin' Like Heart-Shaped Bacon

Somewhere, Martha Stewart's head is exploding, because my kitchen looks like this:

I love having a clean kitchen, but doing dishes seriously grosses me out.  I approach it in the same way I approach dirty diapers:  just hurry up and clean it, while trying not to think of what I might be sticking my hands in.

 My intention yesterday was to clean the kitchen after the kids went to bed.  Instead, I sat down "just for a minute" and PASSED OUT until after midnight.  Oops. 

By the time I post this, the mess will be long gone.  I'm not a barbarian, I promise. :)

Before I can clean, though, all my ducks must be in a row.  This is also true before I can pee, shower, think, make a phone call, finish a sentence, etc.  Can I get and "amen" on that one, mom peeps?
Here's what the ducks  were doing while I did dishes:

Littlest duck isn't mine, of course.  I take care of this little cutie during the week.  Sometimes it stresses me out, since it's like having a fourth child, but she's a doll and generally happy. 

Zoe drew a picture for her friend who lives down the street.  She thinks about her friends often and is always talking about them.  It's so sweet to see them together and listen to their little conversations.  I met my childhood bestie when I was 5 and we're still close now.  When she was done, we walked down the street so she could deliver it.  Her little friend was so excited!

Luke's new favorite thing to do after school is play the Wii.  I don't let him play for too long, but he really enjoys it, especially when he's doing well. :)

After the baby went home, I made breakfast for dinner for the kiddos:  heart-shaped pancakes and bacon, also heart-shaped! 

                                            

It was a hit!  Mike and I couldn't go out, so he went to the store and got a special dinner just for us: five cheese ravioli, garlic parmesan tomato sauce, fresh french bread, and salad. It was delicious. We put the kids in bed a little early, made a fire and ate next to it, using the piano bench as our table.  Nice, quiet, and just the two of us!  
I'm totally not doing the dishes until morning.  HA!
I hope your day was wonderful, too! 

I LIke Big Words and I Cannot Lie

I like big words and I cannot lie...you otha brothas can't deny...when a girl walks in with a....AHEM...sorry.  Today's smarty-smart word is "encaustic!"  Say it with me:  en-caus-tic.  Awesome sauce.


Ok, so I have been wanting to do this project for SUCH a long time!  I know the word "encaustic" sounds all fancy-shmancy, but all it means is a painting done with hot wax.  In other words, MELTED CRAYONS!  Why didn't I just say so, you ask?  Because I live amongst littles all day long and rarely get to use big, smart words like "encaustic."  :o)
Soooooo...to get started, all you need is a canvas, some paint (spray or brush-on, whatever you want), a foil muffin tin, and a whole mess of crayons.  I'm going to use all the random crayon bits that have accumulated over the years.  *Make sure you take the wrappers off. (DUH.)

I had a canvas left over from an art class I taught last year.  It was a collage that a student didn't want to keep, and there was a really cool picture on there...at first, I didn't want to cover him up.

 
I wanted some texture on the canvas, so I used torn-up pieces of tissue paper and mod podged them on.  Once dry, I put a coat of white paint over everything to even out the color, and cover up Mr. Face.  
Once you know what you want your background color to be, paint your canvas and let it dry.  I wanted a wash effect, so I diluted my paint a bit and brushed it on, making a streaky look.  I used two colors, French Blue and Pool Blue.  

Here comes the fun part:  Heat your oven to 200, then put your muffin tin(s) on a cookie sheet and pop them in.  It takes a while for all the pieces to melt, so feel free to go play on Pinterest while you wait. :o)

You'll need to work somewhat close to your oven, so you can pop your crayons back in there every so often to re-melt.  They cool pretty fast!
Now go all Jackson Pollock on this thing and start dripping wax in random patterns, all over the canvas.  This can be a great project to do with kids, as long as your kids take direction well.  Add as many or as few drips and colors as you want.  You can leave at that, and have an awesomely textured, colorful piece of art, or you can be like me, who can't leave anything well enough alone.  I wanted more. :o)

I was making this for Zoe's room, and decided to put a butterfly right in the middle of the canvas.  I started with the outline, dripping the darkest colors around until I had my basic shape, antennae, and body.  Then I just filled in the wings with color, and voila!

Zoe approves. :o)  If you try this, I want to see!  Send me a picture!  Also, try to use the word, "encaustic" when you tell people about your masterpiece.  They'll be impressed...you know you like big words.

Something To Do To Your 'Do

So.

I tried a new hair trick for my mane.  My hair is nearly waist-length, and there's a lot of it.  Over the summer, I was ready to cut it up to my shoulders and start over, but after looking around the web for some hair fixin' ideas, I've decided to keep the length for a while...after all, you can't really pull off long hair forever.  
One of the ideas that has been circulating around the internet, and especially Pinterest, is the sock bun.  I love wearing my hair curly, but there is so blasted much of it that it takes forEVER to curl it with a curling iron, and I haven't had much luck with rollers....they tend to 'fro me out.  

I do not look good with a 'fro....I look nuts.

The sock bun is a surprisingly simple concept.  Here's the tutorial I used:

The first time I tried this, it didn't really do much...this time, I misted my ponytail with a bit of water, and it was second day hair....as in, washed the day before.  Freshly washed hair doesn't curl quite as well, at least for me, and I even have some natural wave.  Here's my before and after!

 It doesn't look quite as long in this shot...it's belly-button length when hanging down my back.

                                                               

These two pictures were not actually taken on the same day, but the outfit is the same, so don't go thinkin' I wore the same threads two days in a row.  


I only do that if I'm not leaving the house. :o)

On a different note, I promised on my Facebook page that I would give away another Rosettes are Red necklace. :o)  You get one entry for each separate comment that you leave on THIS post.  Here's the 4-1-1:

1st entry:  I will post a status on the facebook page with a link to this post.  Share that status on your own wall and leave a comment here, letting me know you did that.

2nd entry:  Become a follower of the blog, if you aren't already.  Let me know if you are new or a repeat offender in a comment here. :o)

3rd entry:  Become a fan of Fiddle 'N' Bow on Facebook.  Let me know if you are a new fan, or a golden oldie in a comment here.

BONUS entry:  Refer a NEW fan to Fiddle 'N' Bow on Facebook and have them tag you on the page, telling me you sent them!  

The winner will be chosen one week from today, which is next Wednesday!  WOOT!

P.S.  I absolutely HATE my glasses...they have a crack right in my line of vision in the left lens.  I've been wearing them full time for the last couple of years, and it's driving me nuts!  I'm planning an Office Space-style beatdown on these babies when I get new ones next month.  Complete with gangsta rap.  Represent.

Refashioning in the Hood

I did a quick little project yesterday that's been on my mind for a while, but, of course, hadn't gone any further.  Zoe has this simple little hoodie I picked up at Walmart for $7.50.  Very basic, good for the playground.  I took some gray/zebra burnout knit and made double-layered ruffles next to the zippers.  Here's the before and after:

 I'm super happy with the results.  I kind of want to add a ruffle around the edge of the hood, though. Once you start ruffling things, it's hard to stop!
I also made some more porch decor for the mushy love holiday.  I used some upcycled bottles that I had salted and spray painted to use at Christmas time.  I drew hearts with my glue gun and added fuzzy red yarn.  Super easy, took 5 minutes.

Sweet!  I am totally crushing on red and turquoise right now!  Have you made anything for Valentine's yet?  I'd love to see!  I'm linking my hoodie project to the linky party at The Train to Crazy!

A "Love"-ly Wreath and a WiN!

Well, helloooooo there!  Happy Sunday to ya!  We had a great morning at church, followed by a relaxing afternoon.  Kids in quiet time, hubs snoozing on the couch, and me cleaning while rockin' to my 80s Pandora station.  
I even had time to change out the embellishments on my wreath to get ready for Valentine's Day.  Yeah, I know, I never did a Christmas wreath.  My porch was all kinds of boring...but, whatev...the inside of the house looked awesome. :o)
Here's my LOVE-ly wreath all cute and gracing my front door:

 I took some lace trim and pinned it every couple of inches, sticking the pin through a black button.

 I dumped out my button jar and selected just the right buttons:

 

I used some zippers to make hearts and added some little heart buttons. :o)

I then took some more buttons (see a theme here?) and strung them on crochet thread so they would dangle in the middle of the wreath.

I used some random rope trim I had (NO idea where it came from!) to hang the whole business.  The whole project took me about 30 minutes. 

 

As a side note, I must tell you that the dangly buttons needed a little support on the back to keep them straight.  I hot glued a toothpick to the back. :o)

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for:  The winner of the giveaway!!!

I used Random.org to choose the winning comment. 

WHOO HOO!!  Congratulations to Ashley, who said, "and I follow your blog now :) I thought I already was but I guess not..."

Shoot me an email at FiddleNBowBiz@gmail.com and you'll get your beautiful new necklace! :o)

A "Green" Tea Party

Zoe and I just had a tea party.  :o)  We drank from fancy glasses and ate freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  She is my little sidekick.  Zoe doesn't really care what we do or where we go, as long as she gets to be with her Mommy and help out.  She is such a sweet, loving, smart, silly little thing.  She constantly makes up songs, especially when someone around her is feeling down.  She sang to Luke the other day when he was feeling scared.  Sweet girl!
So back to our "tea" party.  We didn't actually have tea.  We had some super yummy and amazingly healthy juice that I made with  my new juicer! 
I was a SUPER picky eater as a kid.  I'm still kinda picky now, but I've definitely gotten a LOT better.  I literally went years without eating a single green food, and really didn't eat fruit too often. 
I'd say Zoe is my least picky eater.  She's the most willing to try something new, even if it looks different.  I've  found that I actually have to make sure I juice enough for both of us, as she always wants some of whatever I've made.  Her favorite is apple pear.  One large Honeycrisp apple and two pears.  Delish!
For our "tea," we had a lovely concoction of apple, lemon, and baby spinach.  You totally just read that right.  Spinach.  Juice.  Indeed. 

 I know, I know.  I'm weird.  Who drinks spinach?  THIS GIRL!  I do like to eat spinach in salads, but I've found that you can cram a lot more in when you're juicing than if you tried to sit down with a fork and eat it.  We used half of a brand new container of spinach in our juice, 1 whole lemon, and two and a half apples.  There's no way I could sit down and chew all of that, so I drink it instead.  A super boost of nutrition in 5 minutes! 

The lighting is all funky in here, so the picture doesn't really show how bright green this stuff is.  Did we eat cookies with our healthy juice?  Yah.  Do I feel bad about that?  Nope.  Know why?  Because my kid just guzzled a glass of what works out to be almost 2 servings of fruit and 2 servings of veggies.  How many veggies has your kid had today?  :oP 

By the way, don't forget to enter the Rosettes are Red giveaway!!  A winner will be chosen next Sunday night!