Faithful Readers, Lurkers & Everyone Else!

I know I have a few faithful readers, but I suspect that I have a few lurkers. I, too, am a lurker to a few other blogs out there. But - I'm calling you out of the closet, lurkers! Leave some comments! Let me know if you're reading. Or, even better, let me know if you have a blog I can follow. I'd love to give you some link love and add you to the Party of 4 links. 

Whether you come out into the party and be known or keep hiding in the lurker closet, I hope you're getting a bit of entertainment from us.

Love is in the air & the Peanut Butter

We've never celebrated Valentine's Day at the Hardy house, due to the silliness and contrived nature of the day, but Abigail has chosen this year to become excited about the day. Honestly, it doesn't take much to cause excitement in a child, and the idea of an ice-cream party at school and candy was not surprisingly enough to do the trick this year. She was disappointed that her school party was not on the actual celebratory day, so the kids and I had a pajama Valentine's party today. 

Lunch was a special treat of sandwiches cut into hearts. Who knew a cookie cutter could impress someone?! If you have kids, remember that it doesn't take much to do the trick. 

While Cooper was napping this afternoon, we gathered up Abigail's valentines she received at school yesterday...

...and made them into a wreath for her to hang in her room!  (This is another idea I stole from someone else's blog.)

And, it was certainly intentional that all the Hannah Montana and High School Musical cards ended up on the bottom and covered up! What are these kids into? They're 4 and 5 for goodness sakes!

The candy attached to the cards was bagged and hidden in the pantry. I'm not sure if I was trying to hide it from the kids or me and Daniel...

Of course, we spent some time writing thank-you notes for the Valentine treats the kids received from grandparents and others. It's too bad there's not a day of thank-you instead of love. I think people need to be thanked more than they need to receive chocolate and expensive flowers.

And, because I'm a big spender... he he he... The big fun of the day was $2 worth of balloons that are providing hours of fun!

Germs, Cooties & Bacteria, Oh My!

I didn't forget the teachers in my wave of Valentine's craftiness last week. My sister and I worked much of the day last Friday to create V-Day treats for her co-workers (doctors' office) and Abigail and Cooper's teachers. Again, I mostly copied this idea from another blog. 

We started off with these hand sanitizers. We found them in cheap bundles at Target and also resorted to picking some up at the Dollar Tree. Either way, they were each just $1. However, some labels were more stubborn than others. Kelly Ann was a rock star when it came to removing all the labels and any leftover adhesive.

Michael's Arts & Crafts was the source of our decorating accessories. This fun ribbon was perfect to add to the Martha Stewart stickers and tags we used.

We added the stickers and this cute tag.

I also dressed up a few bottles of lotion to give as sets to teachers.

The bottles turned out so cute that we ended up making some for my mother's clients and a few of my mother-in-laws co-workers. In the end, we were a Valentine's sanitizer factory. Nothing say love like germ fightin' gel!

It's in the Bag

Please excuse my long absence in blogging. Daniel was working to create a newly designed laundry room at his parents' house over the past week, and the kids and I accompanied him to enjoy a lovely week in the big city of Odessa. That's right, Slowdeatha. We saw all the sights, or at least Taco Villa, Rosa's, Yana's... now I'm beginning to wonder if we did anything but eat. BUT... Don't forget that we are dieting. Who knew Rosa's and Taco Villa served salads?! In all my years of bean burritos and chips/queso, I had never partaken of either establishments' salads. But, that's enough about the food.

I did take two days off work in the week we were gone, and was able to use one of those days to get ahead in the Valentine's game. We don't celebrate the silly commercial day at the Hardy house, but that doesn't stop the kids' schools from having blowout parties that require our participation. Since I had the time, and I've had the itch to do something crafty, I copied this idea I found on another blog.

I started by making treat bags of yummy jelly beans and gummy Sweet Tarts.

Remember, I've got two kids, so that's two classes, a few cousins and some neighbors who need to know we love them...

Then, my first owned stamp was acquired.

When I searched the Hobby Lobby and Michael's stamp aisles, I was amazed! (Heather D. - are you reading this?) I had no idea the complexity of stamps. I've known quite a few people who are into the stamping crafts, but I've never had anything to do with it. Does anyone know what a clear stamp is? I just didn't get it. Both stores had an aisle of stamping paraphernalia that was befuddling to my meager crafting mind. I just wanted an itty-bitty heart and some cheap red ink. 

Anyways, the stamp was used to pretty-up this commercial-size coffee filter.

I stuck the treat bag in the coffee filter and then tied it up with some cute, gingham ribbon.

The pleats in the filter make a cute flower at the top of the treat. 

I know, I know. These are mostly going out to 4/5 and 2/3 year-olds tomorrow, so I'm not anticipating any impressed recipients. But, I had fun making them and I relish the idea of not having to send Dora or Veggie-Tales paper Valentine's with some cheesy saying that none of them can read with the kids tomorrow. And, I now own a stamp and have enough filters left over that I can make the same treats for both Abigail and Cooper's  classes every year until they complete their doctoral programs.

Call to Action

Here I go again with the political blogging. But, this time I'm including a challenge. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that President Obama is trying to push a "stimulus" bill through congress. This bill is the supposed help America needs to recover from the economic slump, or recession, or depression, whatever you want to call the current status of the economy.

However, this bill is far from stimulus. In a time of financial crisis, this bill contains more pork than any bill ever passed through the U.S. Congress. Take a look at this list of proposed excessive spending:

• $2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Department of Energy defunded last year because it said the project was inefficient.
• A $246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film.
• $650 million for the digital television converter box coupon program.
• $88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship).
• $448 million for constructing the Department of Homeland Security headquarters.
• $248 million for furniture at the new Homeland Security headquarters.
• $600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees.
• $400 million for the Centers for Disease Control to screen and prevent STD's.
• $1.4 billion for rural waste disposal programs.
• $125 million for the Washington sewer system.
• $150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities.
• $1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion.
• $75 million for "smoking cessation activities."
• $200 million for public computer centers at community colleges.
• $75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI.
• $25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction.
• $500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River.
• $10 million to inspect canals in urban areas.
• $6 billion to turn federal buildings into "green" buildings.
• $500 million for state and local fire stations.
• $650 million for wildland fire management on forest service lands.
• $1.2 billion for "youth activities," including youth summer job programs.
• $88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service.
• $412 million for CDC buildings and property.
• $500 million for building and repairing National Institutes of Health facilities in Bethesda, Maryland.
• $160 million for "paid volunteers" at the Corporation for National and Community Service.
• $5.5 million for "energy efficiency initiatives" at the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration.
• $850 million for Amtrak.
• $100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint.
• $75 million to construct a "security training" facility for State Department Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
• $110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems.
• $200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.

Yeah. That's a lot of pork, especially for a president who said there would never be special interests in his administration. 

Please take a lot at this bill and what it means for our nation's debt. Is it worth it to you? Is it worth the abundance of taxes we will eventually have to pay forth? That's not to mention the payment future generations will pay for this excessive gluttony. 

After you take a look at this bill, please take action and write your congressional representatives. You can go to congress.org and easily find the contact information for your senators and representatives. They need to know how we feel about this "stimulus package." There is also a petition on nostimulus.com that you can sign if you are not in favor of the current spending package being proposed. 

Movie Monday - Swing Vote

Daniel and I were grasping for a cheap rental from our favorite Red Box vending machine and could only agree on mild interest in Swing Vote. We weren't expecting much, and it delivered just a bit more than our expectations hoped for. A pleasant surprise...

I do find it difficult to be entertained by horrible parents, even when it's just a movie, but once I got past Kevin Costner's character's terrible fatherhood, I was pleasantly entertained.

The end of the movie led into the obvious discussion of what's happened to Kevin Costner. A few days later the question was answered by a local radio DJ. Apparently he's attempting to develop a music career with his band, Modern West, and recently released a new CD, Untold Truths. The DJ claimed the music is good, but I've yet to hear it myself. 

Don't we all wish we had careers that had been so lucrative that we could take time off and make a go of turning our hobby into another lucrative career? Ehhh... Oh, well. Anyways, in Swing Vote, Costner convinced me that he was a worthless, dirt bag father, so I hope that means he's perfected his first career of acting and he's actually a nice guy in reality. 

Last Sunday we set out to lunch after church and found ourselves meandering around without cravings or an idea of somewhere we wanted to eat. After much driving, indecision and rumbling tummies, we headed north to the small town, or maybe just a blip on the map, of Walburg. It's 35 miles north of Austin and does have a couple of stop signs but not even a red light to alert you of its existence.

I had read about this German-American restaurant, cleverly named The Walburg Restaurant, and we were interested in trying something different so that's where we headed. The Sunday buffet of bratwurst, schweinebraten, sauerbraten, and wienerschnitzel, followed by red cabbage, sauerkraut, catfish, shrimp, grilled Salmon on rice, homefries, spaetzle, brisket or ribs, meatballs, jaeger gravy and baked bread was right up Daniel's alley. I wasn't so adventuresome, but the chicken fried steak was one of the best I've ever had. Yummy! It was a pleasant adventure in the quaint little town. 

This building was built in 1882 as a mercantile supplying the local farming community with dry goods. The original owner had migrated from Walburg, Germany, hence the name of the town. Now, it's a restaurant that seats 250. There can't be even half that many residents in Walburg, so it must be popular in the surrounding areas. 

We hope to go back sometime on a Friday or Saturday night when they have live music. It looks like fun...

In the warmer months, they have an outdoor biergarten I'm interested in seeing. For all you future visitors, I hope you like German food!