Tied Up with String: Five Favorites {Vol. 1}

Finally linking it up with Hallie over at Moxie Wife for her Five Favorites fun, so when you're done here,
head over there to see what other folks are lovin' today! :D

1. These flip flops. The brand is Okabashi. 

They are MADE in the USA! They are flip flops WITH AN ARCH. ...and (best part?),
they cost me $10 at Wal-Mart! I don't usually
shop at Wal-Mart, because it's just too huge and crowded and...everything there is made in China anyways, right? BUT...I found these!
And since I have to have something to put on my feet quickly when Leo or Daniel is running into the road or terrorizing a goat, or falling on his head...voila. Mine are dark brown with gold straps. 

2. I found this soap at World Market, which is a really fun 

(AKA dangerous if you're trying to follow a budget) 

store that sells things from all over the world (kind of like Pier 1). 

Anyways, this one is RHUBARB scented. It is delightful. 

And, let's face it, with all of the farm animals and boy-babies 

around here, I have to wash these hands A LOT. 

As I've said before, motherhood is 70% about #2.

As Leo put's it, "There's a cow on there!"

3. Since I'm washing my hands so much (because
there's also that little side job I do as a visiting
nurse...SO MUCH hand-washing in my life!),
and because I already have dry skin, enter stage
left this wonderful stuff. It's light, non-greasy,
and wonderfully effective at easing the dry cracked
horrible-ness of winter/nurse/mom hands.
Warning: it contains lanolin, which according to
my Aunt Janet, can cause you to start bleeting. ;)

4. I really enjoy this blog. Grace over at Camp Patton light-hearted-ly

blogs about life with her 3 under 3 as the wife of  a OB-GYN 

doctor in his residency (nice term for 'let's work the guy for 60+ 

hours/week for a few years at the high-pressure physically 

and mentally demanding job of caring for women in childbirth 

before we let him say that he's *officially* a doctor')

--and you thought you had it rough! It is a delightful read,

especially when she quotes her 2 year old or her husband,
and always makes me smile. 

Grace and her littles

5. I read this quote here and then also somewhere else I can't remember,

so I made it my Facebook status, hoping that I wouldn't forget it so quickly.
I'm putting it on here so that I read it again :0).
I guess I just cannot be reminded too often to let go and let God.
"Must you continue to be your own cross? No matter which way God leads you, you change everything into bitterness by constantly brooding over everything. For the love of God, replace all this self-scrutiny with a pure and simple glance at God's goodness." --St. Jeanne de Chantal

The Terrible Twos

 I’m pretty sure that I announced the arrival of Leo’s terrible twos when he was, oh, 17 months old...and I was going to give you an update about life from his point of view now, at 2 ½ years old...but this tumblr already did it for me.

Leo’s list would also include the fact that his hair has nerve endings in it (...and Mom kept on trimming anyways...). He screamed the whole time, and that was after I had bribed him with M&Ms (which then got hair on them, giving him reason to scream some more...). I pretty much figured that my in-laws would be rushing down from their house to check on why he was screaming so much, and I probably should make investigations into why they didn’t—so much noise from a mere tenth or two of a mile away, and no response?  What kind of emergency system are we running here anyways?! :P

Since he's always wearing his Davy Crockett hat, no one actually knows what his hair looks like (a skater boy), but here's what it looks like now!

Steve says I should have left his bangs a little longer. I'm just thinking, the shorter I cut it now, the longer I get to put off the next scream-fest!

Also newsy and important in the world of the two little guys: Mom tried to be one of those clever moms-like-you-read-about who do educational things with their kiddos...and, just sayin’, Sarah Ortiz, you made this look *way* easier, and also *way way* tidier...but they had a lot of fun—when  Leo wasn't busy saying “NO Daniel! That’s MY spoon!”, or otherwise trying to circumvent the paparazzi ("NO! Don't take a picture me!"). J

And, in Sarah's defense, Daniel wasn't distracted enough for me by mere flour in a pan...so I added water...and spoons...and paid for it later in the form of a floor (and a baby--look at that face!) that needed to be scraped clean...and I was mostly just trying to get some dishes done. Mom: 0 Boyos: 500

Oh, and Daniel turns 1 on Thursday. Nope, not kidding. :P