The Simple Things

Of those of you who know me, and those of you who didn't really know me very well before reading my blog, you probably know that it's the simple things in life that excite me.

Last night before getting the kids to bed we got a phone call from Lee's Hallmark. They asked if they could speak to Emma. I quickly got Emma on the phone and we learned that she won a prize for the coloring contest at Hallmark's Webkinz Extravaganza this past weekend! She was thrilled to death, and I was too. Gage, however, was not. He was mad. "Why did she win a prize and I didn't?" I was quite disappointed in his attitude about the whole thing and told him that he should be happy for her, not mad. I reminded him of how much time she took coloring this picture. And, let me tell you, she took her own SWEET TIME and did her very best job. I feel a little guilty about hounding her to "hurry up!" Gage had colored his pretty quickly and handed it in and won a Webkinz bookmark, so I assumed you just received the prize for coloring the picture. So, I must admit I was a little impatient that it was taking her so long, and I colored a few things on the picture myself to make it go a little quicker. I think I just colored the character's shoes, and his name "Goober" at the top of the picture though. If you would like a little idea of how long it took her to color this picture, I can tell you that Scott grew impatient (that's nothing unusual; however) and said he was going to run down to Eddie Bauer and look around. The Eddie Bauer store is at the other end of the mall, so he was gone quite awhile. (He also came back with a Starbucks coffee for me!) Anyway, I'm guessing it took her at least 30 to 45 minutes to color this picture, even with me helping a little. This morning I didn't even have to wake Emma up! In fact, she woke me up telling me she was ready to go to Hallmark to get her prize. I told her the store didn't open until 10am, so she had a few hours of waiting to do. On our walk to school, Gage and I had a talk about being happy for her and not being envious. I told him that even in the Bible it says we shouldn't envy. He says, "Is that one of the Ten Commandments?" I told him that yes I thought it was, and explained to him what being envious means. Anyway, he agreed that whatever it was that she won, whether it be a Webkinz or something else, he wouldn't be mad. He also said, "Besides, she said if it was something boyish, she would share it with me."

We had a few errands to run, as we learned this morning that our friends Heidi and Dave Afton had their baby early this morning, Aubree Bernadette Afton (she's not listed on the website quite yet, but I linked the web page just in case you want to check back later) and I needed to pick up a gift (we were waiting to find out if it was a girl or boy). I figured since we were already going to Hallmark to get Emma's prize, that that would be a good place to look for a gift, which leads me to another "simple thing that has me excited".

Awhile back, when I was browsing through Hallmark (yes, I admit, it was because I was probably looking to see what Webkinz they had) I noticed a display on the end of an aisle of wrapping paper. I have a thing for wrapping paper. This was not your ordinary wrapping paper, however. This was adhesive wrapping paper. I was admiring the sample packages that they had on display and thought to myself as I was noticing the crisply folded edges, "yeah right, I'm sure it really works like that!" Well, a week or so ago I got a coupon in the mail from Hallmark for a "Buy a roll of new adhesive wrapping paper and get a roll free". I figured this would be a great time to buy it, since I needed to wrap a baby gift. Let me tell you, this is one of the neatest inventions since, hmmm, let me think................since we discovered Webkinz! :-) It was amazingly easy to make those nice, clean, crisply folded edges at the end of the package. AND, the BEST part to me is, that you can actually just cut out the size of paper you need, rather than cutting all the way up the roll, because I just can't stand having a strip of the wrapping paper left wrapped around the roll, only to have it unroll again and get all wrinkled in the storage bin. (Okay, some of you may not know what I'm talking about, but I know all of my other neat-freak, label-making friends know what I mean!) You can leave that unneeded strip on the roll because you can roll it right back onto itself and since it's adhesive, it stays put!! The adhesive is like a sticky note, so you can remove it pretty easily and restick it without a problem. Anyway, those nicely wrapped packages they had on display can really be re-created by you! (I love wrapping presents!) I do want to point something out, however. It would be a wise idea to make sure that your adhesive paper doesn't fall to the floor if you own pets, because it comes up covered in pet hair, and it is impossible to remove. (I've learned this firsthand!) So, go out and buy a roll and tell me what you think!

Another new product I've been introduced to, and have fallen in love with is the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser sponge that you use for cleaning your bathroom and kitchen. (Okay, I know this isn't THAT new on the market, but you must remember, I'm Behind The Times!) My sister-in-law, Christy, told me about it probably close to a year ago (probably the last time I really tried scrubbing the bathtub clean) and was frustrated that nothing I had REALLY worked (probably because when you have a years' worth of soap scum buildup in your tub, nothing really works THAT great). But let me tell you, this sponge really is magic!!! I was able to completely scrub my tub to the point of sparkling clean, without even building up a sweat! No kidding! Here's another important note, however. Awhile back I received a very important email regarding the use of the Mr. Clean Magic Sponge, with a picture attached. You should not use this to clean your children (okay, why anyone would do this to begin with is beyond me!) because it will burn their skin. Apparently some brilliant mother thought, since it works so well to clean the bathtub, maybe it will work to remove permanent marker or temporary tattoo from my children's skin? DUH! It does have some cleaning solution impregnated into it which can burn your child's skin if used on them!! If it wasn't on the label before, it is now.

I just wanted to share a few of the simple things that got me excited today. Oh, and as I re-read back through my posting, I must tell you that Emma won a pack of Webkinz trading cards at Hallmark!! She had the choice between a Webkinz mouse pad (which Gage already won), Webkinz body spritz, Webkinz gift bag and Webkinz trading cards. She made a great choice since we are already collecting them so we can play the game, and it is also something she can share with her brother! Whew, I lucked out there!)