Mouse in a bucket

Yesterday I found this little jewel in a five gallon bucket out in our shed.

I was grabbing a shovel and bucket for our trip to the park and saw something in there at glance. When I leaned over to get a better look, the little bugger jumped, trying to get out. I flipped out and then called for Cane to come look. It was quite the excitement.

I wasn't about to mess with it, and it couldn't get out, so we just let it chill in the bucket all day and wait for its demise when Levi got home.

The boys were a little upset when Levi went out there, so as far as they know, the little guy is roaming free in the field.
( I felt kind of sad too, but not enough to beg for its life :))

Levi is my hero. So brave. And not scared of mice :)

Oven Baked Tacos

I have made several recipes I have found on pinterest, but this one was awesome. And this one was amazing. And this one will be made over and over again.

Sweet little Jeffery suggested that we should start having Taco Tuesday a while back. I was excited to have this little tradition for our family and we have done it kind of hit and miss because I don't always remember :( We normally just do the regular taco thing with all the fixings, but this recipe seemed to be so much simpler, and so much better tasting!

And of course, I will include the recipe. And I am now realizing I should have snapped a pic. The original recipe is huge and will make 18-20 tacos, so I halved it. Sort of. I will write the original and then side note what I did differently.

OVEN BAKED TACOS

2 lbs. ground beef
1 can refried beans
1 8oz can of tomato sauce
1 packet of taco seasoning
Shredded cheese
18-20 hard shell tacos
lettuce, salsa, sour cream, jalapeños, etc. for toppings

Brown the ground beef, drain if needed, then add the beans, tomato sauce, and taco seasoning and mix all together in the same pan you browned the meat
Stand the shells in a 9x13 dish (this was kind of tricky) and put the filling evenly in all the shells. Top each shell with shredded cheese. And then bake at 400 for 10-12 mins. Voila. Then top them however you wish :)

My variations were that I used only 1 lb of meat, but still a whole can of the beans, tomato sauce, and a whole packet of seasoning. I then only used a box of 12 taco shells.

This is definitely the way we will do Taco Tuesday from now on.

Craigslist Creeper

Just telling this story creeps me out.

I had dealings with a creeper/possible robber, raper, and all the unthinkables I hate to think of.

I posted a classified for my grandmas buffet. The same day, a man responds, interested in knowing when he could come look at it. I checked Levi's schedule to make sure he would be here, and then told the man, Tuesday. This was on Saturday, by the way. He did not respond.

Then Sunday evening, he sends a very lengthy response, about how he would have loved to come and looked at it but he is out of town, but he absolutely wants it and will even go as far to add $30 so I will remove the post from Craigslist and hold it for him. He asked for more pictures of it. He then inquires my name, phone number, and address because he will have to send me a cashiers check and upon my receiving the money we will further discuss arrangements for pick-up.

Mind you, this is him telling me all the proceedings to take place. I am thinking this guy is pushy.

Thank the Lord, I was at my mothers and was giving her a play by play on all this, and she suggested I give him our churches PO box, so he won't have my address. I didn't feel comfortable giving my address, but this genius idea had never even crossed my mind. So, I will give him a PO box and then insist that we deliver to him in a public place. Problem Solved!!

All the while, I am feeling super creeped out, gut feeling. He responds that he is sending the cashiers check via Fedex, so he will have to have my street address.

NO WAY, MR!! I honestly replied, that I didn't feel comfortable giving out my home address, so if he could not send payment to the PO box that I could not do this transaction.

And guess what.....I haven't heard from him since.

My mind was still cooking up stories all evening about how he already knew where I lived and I scare myself with stuff like that all the time. So, lots of prayers for safety and protection went up last night from me and my momma!

Canicus

Cane is my go to guy when I want to get out my camera and play. I am still very amateur at this photography thing, and still prefer to shoot on full auto....well most of the time anyway. I do stray from the easy out, time to time.

All my photos are mostly of Cane because Jeffery is at a stage, when the camera comes out, he runs the other way or his face is instantly covered. He has got to get over this. Momma needs more pics of him!

But here are a few of my sweet bum bum just having a time with his markers! That baby loves to color, paint, and marker!! Sometimes he makes it to the paper, hee hee.

This guy is HILARIOUS!! I got the camera, and said, "Show Meemo your face." (that's what he calls me), and this is what I got. I love it!


Goodness, I was blessed with such amazing cuties, with gorgeous eyes.

Music

Music, I feel, heavily influences my life! Right now my repeat bands are MGMT, Kings of Leon, and Vampire Weekend. I will put them on the playlist and just listen over and over again. They are my go to music. If the boys start getting whiney or bickerish, I will go turn on the tunes and like magic, all is better. They come a running and we all just start dancing.

Faves at the momento. Vampire Weekend's - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. I don't care what is going on at the moment, you are instantly transported somewhere tropical and carefree when this song begins to play!

And MGMT's Money to Burn, it's kind of seductive in it's own way, and makes me just want to sway. Lovee!

Reunion

Reunion is such a great word! It feels so good to reunite with people you haven't seen in a long time or just not enough.

Levi's class reunion was this past weekend, and I had such a ball. He did too, mind you, but he really came from a great class. He keeps in contact with all of his buddies and I have become close with all of their wives. It is so fun! I loved getting to see Levi remember all the old times with his friends.

It is so important to do these things because it takes you back to a point in your life that seems so long ago, almost like a dream maybe. It's nice to be able to remember and know that it was real. I am soooo looking forward to seeing my old classmates again.

Going Green

I absolutely love the fact that everyone is more environmentally conscious nowadays!!I have always strived to be as environmentally friendly as I could. In fact, that was my new years resolution, to live as sustainably as possible this year.

Quite frankly, I come by it rather honest though. My grandparents and parents used to always have gardens. One set of grandparents still does, I mean the whole shabang! Their garden is huge and impressive and they are close to 80!! That is what a life of activeness will get ya, good health in your years.


They all always hung out their clothes on the line. It is a great energy saver, which I like the fact that it makes my electric bill smaller more than anything else. I feel it is me doing my part to earn some money.

Levi hates this one, but I wait as long as possible before I kick on that air conditioner. It's windows open and attic fan on. I just tell him to take off some more clothes if he is that hot, in a totally non-risque context. Same in the winter, it's dress warmer around the house and use blankets, however I am more lenient with the heat usage because I am cold natured. Hmmmm, this makes me seem selfish. Maybe I should rethink this one.

These are just a few of the ways that I try to be earth friendly. I even plan to plant an apple tree on Earth Day this year. And believe me, If I could drive an electric car, I sooo would, but I wonder if two car seats would fit in the back of one of those things?

Oh oh, and one of the most important is I never ever ever litter. I can't stand it!!
I was actually traumatized by one of my Granny's when I was younger because after I would finish my Happy Meal or whatever other fast food I had when I was younger would be chucked out the car window. The whole bag!!! I never felt right about that, but never said anything. I mean, we wouldn't even be three miles from the house, and out the window it would go. Come on, wait for a trash can!! Oh Granny, I love ya! (This is not Granny with the garden, by the way :) )




This is my little garden. I had so many more things I wanted to plant, but obviously didn't eyeball the size right. Needless to say, this garden is going to grow yet again next year. I never account for all the spacing and hill making that is involved. I also have another spot farther out in the yard that is devoted entirely to watermelon. This will be my first attempt with fruit.