No Taco Bell!

Really Taco Bell? I think this is a bit bold. How weird is it to get this on the damn taco sauce? 

What's got me Raging this Week?

As Xmas passes by, I can't help but think of the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I am truly saddened by this and like most of us, the what if's have crossed through my mind. What would I have done in this situation? What should anyone do in this situation? I am working on a teaching degree and hope to take on a teaching role in the future and I think that adds to my strong feelings on the situation.

I came across this article and I'm not so sure I completely agree with it. In the beginning he talks about tripping the fire alarm or turning the lights out to slow down or stop an attacker. These ideas seem ok at first thought, but tripping the fire alarm would cause everyone to leave the building and be in plain site of an attacker. Not so sure about that one. Turning out the lights might not be that bad though. It is likely that the attacker will not be as experienced in the building as the school personnel, which he does mention. Setting off the sprinkler system would certainly be annoying but would it stop an attacker?

The next part is where he completely looses me. He basically is saying that teachers should be required to directly interfere with an attacking criminal by using a trash can, a stapler, maybe even a gun, or a fire extinguisher  At one point even says that if this system were in place and you didn't want to participate then you shouldn't be a teacher. I think we can all agree that most teachers are women and most are not aggressive or confrontational. Requiring teachers to interfere, would most likely be more dangerous. The way the article is worded makes me think about how a doctor is required to help a dying person. A doctor however would go through YEARS of training to save peoples lives. So sure if I were a doctor and I saw someone dying I wouldn't mind running over to help. A teacher goes through years of training to teach. Yes, that does include fire safety and other forms of safety but requiring them to obstruct a situation like this is not the same thing. By all means if you want to step in and if you feel it will not make the situation worse, then go for it!

So what should we do? If sitting in a corner is not helping, then it is time to find a better answer. I know having an actual police officer in every school could get pricey and they are probably better put to use elsewhere but what about a security guard? They serve a similar function and would be there if ever needed in a more serious situation. How about giving all teachers tasers or pepper spray? You could attack the attacker with those types of things before they even realized it.

I guess the point that I am making and that the author of the article is making is that the current system doesn't quite work. We need to have a better system and more training in place in hopes of saving as many of these precious lives as possible.

Xmas 2012!

Ok, so this should be the last post about Xmas until next year. Here are the rest of the Xmas related things we have done.

Here is our tree again! I LOVE the black and white but I think it might be time for a change. I want to keep a white tree. NOT this one thought. I HATE it. It is thin and leaning and the branches are ugly. What I really wanted was the white Xmas tree at Garden Ridge with the glitter on the branches. That bitch cost $200 bucks and apparently anyone else who wanted a white tree wanted that one too because my local Garden Ridge sold the last one right in front of my eyes. :( I was hoping to catch it on an after Xmas sale.

Hopefully I have made it clear at this point that I am a couponer! I love to coupon and also request free samples. What you see above are 3 gift bags for family members completely made of things I have gotten for free with a coupon or a free sample. I collect these things through out the year and at the end of the year whatever I dont think I will use I give away. These can include all kinds of things toothpaste, deodorant  hair brush, cosmetic bag, baby shampoo, make up and even socks. I never do this as the main gift but so far they have been pretty well received by my family. Last year because I was a bit more into couponing and less stressed about my job status and home buying, I was able to give a filled stocking to each person about 7 people. This year I did a bag per house.

So this is pretty random but I just thought I would share it. I could not think of a cute way to wrap batteries or to give someone batteries. I mean who wants to open batteries any way? Well, I decided to just tie them together with a little ribbon and toss them in on of the bags above for my brother in law and his wife. Nothing special but I think it looks better than 2 loose batteries. Come to think of it why the hell did I give them just 2 batteries? I mean that was all the toy need but still maybe I should have wrapped the whole pack with ribbon? Any other suggestions for batteries? Do you even give the batteries or do you just let the parents work that out later?

We also went to look at all the pretty lights in the neighborhood. I hope that we can do this every year! It something that is free (or mostly free becuase of the gas) and it is nice to ride around and listen to Xmas music and look at the lights. This was by fay my favorite house! You could see it from a few streets over and  all of the lights in the tree twinkled in and out. Look at those giant statues with glowing eyes! 

One of the most fun things Zoey and I did was make Xmas cards. Inside of each one I drew an Xmas tree and had her color the "ornaments" on or we glued different shaped sequins on for the ornaments. I had lots of fun being completely random and attempting to be creative. I hope the recipients liked them!

Elf on the Shelf: The Final Days of 2012!

Wow just as quickly as this fun little tradition began it is already time for the 2012 round to come to an end. I am happy it is over. The last few days I have not been able to come up with anything. 

Day 21: Sparkly ate some nasty gingerbread cookie. 

Day 22: Sparkly had surgery!!! She finally went through the pain staking hand separation surgery and then hid under the sofa. My daughter found her almost instantly. :( 

Day 23: I tried something a bit more complicated. While she did eventually find Sparkly it most certainly was not as quick as the previous day. My daughter LOVES seek and find books. I think I should have done more activities that were a bit more difficult to find. This is about the point I ran out of ideas. I think I started a day or two before Dec. 1st, so Sparkly set in this very spot for 2 or 3 days. My 2 year old didn't even seem to mind.

Day 25 or 26 who's counting? Sparkly sits in Zoey's stocking awaiting xmas morning. I sit over here at the computer typing at 3 in the morning awaiting the next time my 2 year old wakes up. Since I work late hours we normally go to bed around 2ish. I put her down at about 1 tonight since I knew I would have things to do. She has already woken up 4 times!

Goodbye Sparkly! See you next year! Merry Xmas everyone! Enjoy the time you have!

Label Maker OMG!

So for a few months now I have been eyeing a label maker. I have been searching for a great sale on one that included the AC adapter, apparently that doesn't exist. :( I was asked by my sister what I wanted for xmas and this was the first thing that came to mind! I am so glad she bought this for me (thanks sis!). Now I don't have to spend time choosing one and being super picky! So in celebration of my NEW label maker and my LOVE for organizing things I thought I would make this post about the things I have been organizing over the last week or so!

In August we moved into our 1st home and the spare bedroom had turned into a junky storage room instead of MY craft room (and our game room). Last week I finally got around to getting the moving boxes out of there and cleaning the room up! Above you can see the main storage for all of my crafty things. I used the new label maker to make it easy for me to sort all the bits and pieces.

I have a small 12x12 clear box to store my scrapbook paper and other little extras for paper crafting. (I'm not a scrapbooker btw, I did make my xmas cards this year though.)

So maybe this doesn't really relate but... I also moved all of my user manuals from the cute, little, overstuffed, annoying binder above to the perfect little file folder below!

In my daughters room I use a coat rack on the clothing bar to keep her gazillion pairs of sunglasses and a few necklaces. I am probably the only one in the world who doesn't hang up clothes. Well, maybe just a few things, but they are all in my closet.

Last but not least my "stockpile". As a couponer people always seem to think I have a huge garage filled with  20 thousand bottles of whatever that I will never use. Luckily for me that is not true. I do have more than most I am sure. You might be able to see the 10 deodorants and the 10 shampoos and the 10 body wash but by having at least that many of those items I don't have to worry about couponing every single week. Now that I have some items saved up I can take a coupon vacation! Ahhh just relaxing... Just kidding. I still try to use coupons at the grocery store but I don't have to try so hard now, because I have these items on hand.

Elf on the Shelf: Day 17, 18, 19 and 20!

 Day 17: Sparkly is going potty! Now if only I could get my 2 year old to do the same thing. :)

 Day 18: Just hanging around!

Day 19: Trying to leave the house! Get back here Sparkly!

Day 20: Since our work schedules tend to clash (and because my sister recently broke her phone AGAIN) she was coming by to exchange Xmas gifts (more on that later!), so I had a picture of her sitting with Sparkly to announce that she was coming over. 

As you can see at this point I am running out of ideas. Sparkly has turned into a paperweight on various surfaces in our house. If you have any fun ideas appropriate for a 2 year old, share them in the comments!

How to Wrap a Present! (with scraps!)

So like most of us during this time of year, I am busy wrapping presents. One of the most irritating things about wrapping presents is the pile of useless paper that is left after everything is wrapped. YOU KNOW what I am talking about. Those annoying little scraps that you just can't find a use for. Too tiny to wrap any present but too large to just throw in the trash. Meet your resolution:

Take all the scraps and wrap another present. This would be super cute on the gift for the office party, for a gag gift or just for silly presentation for the jokesters you know.

Keep in mind you will want to have LOTS of tape on hand. 

I had so much fun wrapping these gifts. I cannot wait to see my relatives' reaction when they see their gifts! What creative ideas do you have for your leftover wrapping paper? 

Elf on the Shelf: Day 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16!

Clearly I have been a little behind with the Elf updates. Here are the last 5 days of fun!

Day 12:  Sparkly decorated our tree with a bunch of BUGS!! My 2 year old decided immediately that this was NOT the place for the bugs and took them off the tree. 

 Day 13: Sparkly is hanging out in this super water spot pot. (Anyone have any suggestions to avoid water spots?)

   

Day 14: Our elf had planed a fun event! There was a path leading to a gingerbread house in another room, which we made later that day. To make the foot prints just draw a foot shape on a piece of cardboard and trace it onto some white wrapping paper. Cut out all 1 million of the feet. Put a piece of double sided stick tape to the feet. Make sure to have the feet facing out. This most certainly is not a quick Elf activity but it is fun for the whole family!

We opted for the, "Who gives a fuck what our ginger bread house looks like?" look.

My daughter had lots of fun adding the candy everywhere on the house. 

My husband would like everyone to know that the house DOES NOT taste good! We even got him to add on some decorations.

Day 15: Just playing some Clouds and Sheep on my daughters tablet. 

Day 16: Hanging out in Daddy's boot.

Go here to view all of the other Elf on the Shelf activities we have done this year!

Anyone else out there participating in this fun yet creepy tradition that is sweeping the nation? Leave your ideas in the comments and be sure to check back frequently as I will be posting all of our Elf activities right here.