R is for Reading Material

I just went to the library with my sister today and got this book. I hope it's good.

Q is for Quiet

I think one of the reasons I like working with children is that they aren't quiet. I know it's weird but I feel comfort in the noise. When they are quiet, then you know they are doing something wrong. It never fails.

There are some people out there who hate all of the noise that kids tend to make. They get irratated by it but I've learne to tune it out. I just get uncomfortable in silence. I can hear everything. I think that is why I started listening to music at night. That and it's safer than having my earbuds in while I sleep.

Anyway...on to music

Q is for Quietdrive. And again, the Internet isn't working but the weather hasn't been great here so that is probably why.

P is for Pain

Yeah, pain. Why pain? Because there has been a pain in my lower back and left leg for weeks. It wasn't so bad until recently.

It has been killing me lately and everything I do to try to temporary dull the pain doesn't work. I'm starting to suspect that it isn't back pain...or I should call my doctor to make sure that it isn't anything serious. It's hard to lift children with this pain. I'm lucky Little One is so light that I don't need to use much strength to lift her.

I've been having a few pain free moments... Hopefully, it's coming to an end.

My internet is a bit spotty but I managed to get it to work!

So, the band for today is the Pink Spiders.

O is for Oddities

*I posted the wrong thing yesterday without realizing it. I thought it was my O post.

Oddities. Everyone has them. I have quite a few.

When someone is shaking my hand and they touch my wrist in any way, I get a little freaked out.

I can write, draw, or do anything on the very first page of a notebook or sketchbook.

I practically have a panic attack when I don't have my iPod...maybe that should go under obsession.

When the weather is bad, I like to blast my music while I drive.

I eat fruit snacks by color, depending on my favorites and which has more.

I'm sure there are more oddities that I have but I can think of any.

Now for music

O is for One Less Reason. 

N is for No Bake Cookies

My brother Lee is the best No-Bake cookie maker I know. I swear he had the recipe memorized.

From what I can tell, there are several different ways to make it. This is how we do it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups Oats
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt (only if you use unsalted butter)

Directions:

Pour everything into a large saucepan and mix over medium heat. It will start boiling but that is what you want it to do.

Once the mixture is very thick and not running scoop out spoonfuls to place on wax paper and let cool. If you are uncertain about the readiness, let boil for a little longer. Make sure it's thick. Just don't undercook it. It will stay soft and runny.

Cooling times differ. It depends on how long you let the mixture cook.


....

And once again the Internet isn't connecting. I'll try again in the morning to add a song.

M is for Making Things

I've been in the mood to make things...like food and stuff. I made those grapes, this Elephant Ear Bread stuff, this Mac and cheese dish my dad used to make for us as children, I want to make lasagna again, I made pasta bake, jello fruit snacks, and tomorrow, I'm making cookies. I've just been in the mood. There are so many things I want to try to make.

Unfortunately, my Internet isn't working so I have to use my phone. This means I can add the music from YouTube until it starts working. And I need to do a catch up day where I go around and really to comments as well as comment on other blogs.

Anyway the band for today...

M is for Mayday Parade. Specifically, their song Jamie All Over. You might also like Mariana's Trench (that is a band).

L is for Lee

Lee with my guitar

Here is another sibling dedicated post. A short one. I could write a lot about Lee but napping in the middle of the day tends to leave me with little to write.

Lee is the brother I never really got along with. He is 11 months older than me, and, for most of our childhood, we fought. Bickering mostly. He is kind of full of himself but it's usually all in good fun...usually. Sometimes I'm not so sure.

Lee rocking out my scarf while we listened to my iPod...just a normal sibling outing.

He's in the navy and he seems to enjoy it. Frankly, it seems to suit him. When he comes up to visit us, we usually go out...you know, like we Glass siblings like to do because we are awesome like that. Yes, we still bicker from time to time, but usually when he calls, I can't get him to shut up about stuff. He usually tells me things that happened to him or we talk about Disney movies. Franklin might be the one to memorize Disney movies but Lee collects them.


L is for Ludo

K is for Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus

Yup...just a song today. For some reason, I couldn't think of a post for today. Tomorrow's will probably be a fairly substantial post but for now, you get a song from Lilo and Stitch. It's my favorite song from the movie and the kids I watch love it just as much as I do.

I just realized that my J post was never published...I thought I hit publish...

...I hate it when I do that.

J is for Just Visting

I went to the place where I used to work and visited the kids' grandmother. I stayed for a few hours before the children actually had go to bed but it was still nice seeing them...and their grandmother. Over the six years working there, she and I had spent a lot of time together - well, whenever she visited. She still gets on me about going to Flagler College. She really wants me to go there.

...this might be my shortest post yet.

J is for Jonathan Coulton. 

I is for Imagination and Inspiration

Part of the reason why I love working with children, is because of their imagination. I find it inspiring and that's where I get a lot of my novels from. When I used to watch triplets, we had come up with this very elaborate story about a princess who had to save a prince.

...Of course, while making this story up, we used their puppets and toys to create the world and went through the whole story...even the ending. The only thing we didn't have was a toy pelican. That pelican was very crucial to our plot.

I actually plan on typing up this story for them one day. It will probably be something for the four of us to enjoy, even if they might not remember most of it. 

I is for IAMDYNAMITE. Hate the video but I love the song. 

G is for Grapes

I'm a picky grape eater. If the grape is too soft and squishy then I can't eat it. It doesn't matter which kind of grape it is either. Also, if it's a green grape, I prefer to eat them frozen rather than just refrigerated but I'd still eat them if they were refrigerated. I just like them better frozen. Red grapes I can eat anyway (as long as they are squishy).

There is a reason for this post, I swear. I found a recipe on Pinterest for Glittery Sour Patch Grapes. When I saw that they needed jello, I jumped right on that because I have a lot of jello. The post I found was on a blog called The Spotted Pony. And I admit that this recipe isn't mine but it's something I wanted to share.

Here is what you need:

• A pound of GREEN grapes
• Watermelon Jello
• Lemon Jello (sugar free)

Directions:
- Mix Watermelon Jello and Lemon Jello in a bag, and then pour a little onto a plate.

- Pull the grapes from the stem and rinse. Once the grapes are damp but not dripping, put a few onto the plate and coat them with the Jello powder as thoroughly as you can. When you finish, place coated grapes into a bowl and repeat the process until all the grapes are coated in the Jello mixture.

- Let grapes chill in the fridge for at least an hour. According to the blog, "the longer they sit, the better they taste."

They are pretty good. I forgot how sour some of these green grapes could be but I like them. I might stick them in the freezer though.

G is for Get Set Go

F is for Franklin

This is Franklin, my oldest brother. He is probably the nicest of us Glass siblings. I mean, he bought Vanessa (my sister) and I our own Kindles because we kept saying things like "When I get my Kindle..." or "I think I can get a Kindle next week..." etc. We said things like that a lot. It was also because he saw them, thought of us, and bought them. There was another reason but I'm sure he bought them just to shut us up.

Most weekends, we all hang out. We go to craft stores, out to eat, grocery shopping, or do other really random, yet fun, things together (like Camera Days).

Oh, and he is a fantastic artist. This tree is apparently a doodle (so he told me). I love my brother's art work but unfortunately, he doesn't draw (or "doodle") as much as he used to. Occasionally, on Art Days, he'll draw random stuff but we don't have those very often.

So, anyway, this is Franklin. Older brother. Crazy awesome artist. And the guy who can recite the Lion King word for word off the top of his head.

F is for Family Force 5.

D is for Doodles

I love doodling. They are imperfect and quick. I never doodle with pencil. I use my cheap ball point pens for doodling. It's okay to mess up from time to time and I, kind of, like the messiness of it all. I've decided to share some of mine with you. These are all from a year or so ago. They are a bit messy but they were fun to make. I

This is a doodle of a world my sister and I created for fun one day.

 

D is for Dion. This song (Runaround Sue) gets stuck in my head a lot.

C is for Crafting, Cleaning, and Chaos

Those three words describes my day in a nutshell. Mostly chaos and cleaning. I watch both girls, plus the neighbor girl today and it was insane. Thankfully, they weren't as bad as they could have been. They were mostly just crazy and had way too much energy.

When I got there, the girls and I started out with a craft. We made puppets. We also tried to make bracelets with Popsicle sticks...but we failed. Oh well. I was going to make cold porcelain but I didn't bring the stuff....same goes for the cookies.

Anyway, the day was crazy. I had to clean the house a million times because the girls are nuts. I'm extremely sore from the insanity of the day but thankfully it was nice enough to go outside. We all needed that.

A doodle we all did today on a poster board

Maybe I should have titled this post C is for Children instead.

C is for Cartel. This is my favorite song by Cartel

B is for Babysitting

I've been watching children for a good portion of my life and as of late, I've realized that it isn't something I would like to do for the rest of my life or even for the next year or two.

Don't get me wrong, I love children and I think they are amazing but after the 7+ years of working with children, I think it's more than enough.

Babysitting isn't always so awful. Today, the girls and I made books out of paper...all day. it was rather relaxing compared to what we usually do when the Older One is home.

B is for Band of Skulls

A is for Art

I haven't always been into art. Sure, I did photography and photoshop but nothing that really stood out. Nothing I created with my own hands. Art, drawing, and the like were things that weren't for me. Heck, I didn't even take an art class in high school. I just filled it with science, foreign language, and English.

My older She-Art attempts from when I first started creating.

My sister, Vanessa, introduced me to an art workshop called She-Art years ago. I had no idea what it was but I liked the lack of structure and perfectionism in the class. This is where it started for me. From there I was to knitting, then to jewelry making, sculpting, and then to watercolors. I went from photography to a wide range of mediums. And I still have a lot of things to learn.

Some of my Art Work - Note: I'm not the best artist but it's all in fun.

• Cephalopod Sketch
• Clay Masks and Elephant
• Some Jewelry

I guess some of these could be considered crafts...but I think it's still art.

These two are from this random series I started months ago. I haven't done a full page in a while I doodle her from time to time. This is only part of what I have in my sketch books from when I started painting. My skills are very limited.
 
A is also for...Alkaline Trio. You can't go wrong with music.