What I Learned in May

What I Learned in May

HERB ROBERT IS A DIRTY WORD

This nasty weed has totally tried to conquer my lawn. It is EVERYWHERE.  I just want to go around everywhere and tell everybody I have a Class B noxious weed. That sounds super scary. More details about Herb Robert. Luckily this is an easy weed to pull.

I AM THE SWEDISH CHEF



I have decided my baking style is completely the Muppets Swedish Chef.  I make the best mess EVER!

CHANGING LIFE INSURANCE

Have you ever changed Life Insurance?  Holy cow, those people don't want to let your money go.  We have literally gotten 8 letters from one company that we are making a GRAVE mistake.  See how I worked grave into a life insurance conversation.  Guess what 8 letters later, we are still changing our life insurance. But seriously, they make it seem like we are making the worst mistake of our life. I literally makes me wonder how hard it would be to get your money once you loved one passed.

I am linking up with Chatting at the Sky for What I Learned in May

Memorial Day Linky

6 Signs You Are Not Living The Life Your Meant To

To Boost Happiness, Stack the Pain

Modern Mrs Darcy's Summer Reading Guide - You know you got to get it.

Diary of a Mediocre Homemaker - Spotless

Dear Diary
I am sick of hearing the question "What do people do ever day who have spotless homes?"  Well duh they don't have KIDS  # 1 and they must not live there.  I think spotless is a little overrated but maybe that is because I have never achieved it. I love this perspective from the The Pool Life - Do Men Even Know Who Marie Kondo Is? Don't know who Marie Kondo is?  Read my Who the Heck Is Marie Kondo.

11 Things People With Spotless Homes Do Everyday

7 Ways to Create a Self Cleaning House

10 Creative Ways to Declutter

How to have a perfectly Clean House


What I have gleaned from the above mentioned  links is this basic principal -

PICK UP AFTER YOURSELF, SKIPPY

Is School Out Yet Linky

I think Nonna might of predicted this right.  This might be the "it " country hit of  summer or at least early summer

Lessons from "The Goonies" and the Lost of Unsupervised Time for Kids

10 Ways to Give Your Kid a 70's Summer

A Thousand Rivers - What a Modern World Forgotten about Children and Learning - long article but really good

Going to Church Could Help You Live Longer - Amen to that

Don't Quit on Me - this talks about high school drop outs.  I thought this was interesting.  I think it is so important to mentor youth.  My boys are both very lucky that other people invested in them.

Got Rhubarb?

I have one mother of all rhubarb plants.  IT is HUGE.  This is something my grandma had in her garden but I don't remember eating anything  rhubarb. I am sure she made stuff with it but I just don't remember.  I recently told someone it is a grandma vegetable/fruit. (Ha, Ha)

I like making a strawberry/ rhubarb crisp or my favorite is orange rhubarb quick bread. My favorite is a taste of home recipe - Orange Rhubarb Bread. This quick bread freezes great.

The Pioneer Woman has a great Rhubarb 101 post. 

Birthdays and Chalk Art

There is a little tradition at our house of writing birthday wishes in chalk on our driveway. This works because we have a lot of late spring and summer birthdays. I usually do this the night before.  Yes, I am the weirdo out there in the middle of the night doing graffiti in my driveway. It was a lot easier when kids went to bed early. The one pictured below was washed away due to rain before the recipient saw the message.  BUT  I have photographic proof. My son said I should of made a sign! 

For my husband's birthday, I left the message below. I don't know if he appreciated the heartfelt message.

I love the temporariness of the art and how economical the making of the art. Pinterest has some great examples of much better driveway art.  Check out my pinterest board  - Driveway Chalk Art

What I read May

Oh, I have been reading.  When things get stressful, the stressful read. Well they do in my case. Below are my reads for the month. I also got a chance to attend a preview some coming releases with a Book Buzz from Random House. 

The Silk Worm by Robert Galbraith - Ahh, I struggled a bit with this one.  I had to renew and incurred a late fee as well. I really love the main characters Strike and his assistant Robin but this story took a bit to unfold and a lot more graphic than the first book.  I guess I had trouble with the pace of this book but the characters kept me reading. This is the second book in the series.

No Baggage by Clara Bensen
Would you go on a trip with no baggage such as an European adventure with only the clothes on your back, passport, and bank card?  The tag line for the book is -3 Weeks, Eight Countries - Zero Baggage. Well, that is what Clara did with her new boyfriend, Jeff.  Evidently Jeff did this type of travel frequently but it was new to Clara.   I found this a refreshing interesting read. Clara describes how this all came to pass and how freeing this type of travel was for her.  There are a lot of great insights in this book.  I found myself marking them with post it notes.

The crucial caveat that never makes it into the inspirational "follow your dreams" prints is simple: Follow your dreams, but let go of the outcomes. - Clara Bensen

I can't get away from that wonder is inextricably married to risk. - Clara Bensen

I am a firm believer that the books you need to read show up.  This is one that I needed to read. The video below reminded me a lot of the book. The book was about risk taking.



Lastly but not least, The Lake House by Kate Morton.

This has been on my to read list FOREVER. I loved it.  I could not put this down.  Definitely lived up to the hype. This was a twisty mystery of the best kind.  This would make a fabulous summer/vacation read.

Check out what everyone is reading over at Modern Mrs Darcy's quick lit link up.

Linky Love

OH INSTANT EARWORM ALERT

Why I'm a Romance Evangelist - Why you should read romance novels. I totally agree.

Simplifying Childhood May Protect Against Mental Illness - Is really that easy?

Hana Williams Died 5 Years  Ago Today (May12) - This is about the Ethiopian Child that was starved to death by her adopted parents and left outside to die

Here's What Happens When You Stop Complaining for 21 Days - This was pretty interesting. 

Mother's Day Linky Love

Happy Mother's Day!  Love YOU Mom!

Allrecipes reveals the enormous gap between foodie culture and what Americans actually cook - this is really interesting

No Dear Husband and Kids, You're Not Cleaning for Me

Motherhood Matters: What if I don't like playing with my kids

Book Buzz- Spring 2016 and Donald Trump

I was lucky enough to attend a Book Buzz at my local library that was sponsored by Random House.  They gave us these cute tote bags but best of all they previewed all the upcoming releases of new books. Several selections peaked my radar.

June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore due out May 31,2016
Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger due out June 7, 2016
The Girls by Emma Cline due out June 14, 2016
The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown  due out July 12, 2016
Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L Rosen due out July 12, 2016
Dark Matter by Blake Crouch due out July 26, 2016

The last one Dark Matter is one that the presenter from Random House really liked.  The author is the one who did the Wayward Pines trilogy.

The funny thing of the night however was all the overheard conversations about Donald Trump.  He is having a rally today in a nearby town.  I actually heard a Mom say to her 5 kids that were going to go and protest.  They were really exited too.  I don't know if our county can take this much excitement

The Band Marches On

Our youngest got the opportunity to march with the combined middle school bands of Horizon and Vista at the Holland Days parade in Oak Harbor, Washington on Saturday.  This is a parade I have never been to. The parade was opened with a town crier and bell ringer. The parade included lots of people in Dutch dress complete with clogs. It was a great day for a parade with several local middle school bands. 

Chuck said he had a great time but marched half the parade with a tootsie roll stuck to his shoe.  They gave  time after the parade to visit the carnival.  The drummers acquired plastic hard hats from the group behind them - the ReStore. For the first time out as a group this season, they did well.

May Linky Love

Everything you ever heard about iceberg lettuce is NOT true

Generation X Parenting Problem

25 Year Old is Turning a Profit Selling Pencils - Oh I would love to visit her shop.  This is a really cool neat business

Life-sized Noah's Ark Replica to come to Seattle- Wow!