The first final pirate blog

Well, after much dilly-dallying and a day of furiously feverish painting, I can finally, proudly annouce the competion of one Wall Story Pirate Treasure Mural. Last Saturday, I really decided it was time to fulfill my promise to the lovely people at Magic Mural Factory, and complete our friend Roger the jolly pirate. I went to Roberts for one more bag of DecoArt Americana paint and a couple of new brushes (which, to my everlasting joy because I love a bargain, were 75% off) and came home to get down to some business.

First I added a second coat to the lighter colors and painted in some of the darker colors. I think that really made the mural come to life.

And here it is....the finished result.

Isn't he looking good? Turns out I am pretty awesome at this painting stuff.

Yeah it was hard work, but it was fun and nice to challenge myself to try something new.

And I am so impressed that it ..... what? I did what? Nuh uh, it is perfect. No? Not perfect?

Apparently this will NOT be my last post about the mural. Shortly after I left the boys' room in sweaty triumph at my successful completion of the task at hand, Sam called me back in to show me the mistakes I had made. Count on your kids to give you a nice poke in the head when it gets a little too puffed up. It looks like I have a little work to do. Excuse me while I slump, humbly, back to my task and try again.

Sugar Rush

An Ode to Candy Corn

by Jennifer J Skinner

Yellow, orange, and white

You are a sugar lover's delight.

When fall comes in, you come out

You are something to shout about.

My joy is full, my tummy too

and even though summer's through,

I enter the fall with a smile on my face.

No other candy can take your place.

Thanks to the man who found a way

to put you together in that adorable way

And make my life a dream come true.

Candy corn, I love you!!

I love fall and I love fall candy. I went to WalMart today and made a special trip to the waaayyyy back of the store just to get a nice big bag of candy corn. Yummm. I might have to take tomorrow off because I will be in a sugar coma, but I am enjoying it now. That is because it is so delicious.

Here are some delicious candy corn facts to enlighten your mind and start your mouth watering:

• The average person consumes 5.73 pounds of candy corn per year


• October 30th is national candy corn day


• Halloween accounts for 75% of annual candy corn production


• Candy corn was first produced in 1880


• More than 35 million pounds of candy corn will be produced this year. That equates to nearly 9 billion pieces -- enough to circle the moon nearly four times if laid end-to-end.


• According to the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, candy corn is no different than a slice of bread, bowl of cereal or a cracker when it comes to causing tooth decay

So there you go. Candy corn basically makes the world a better place. Go out and get some today! And if you arent going to eat your 5+ pounds this year, please feel free to bring it over here.

Grandparents Day

Last Friday was Grandparent's Day in Logan's 2nd grade class. She got to call and invite Grandma and Grandpa Amussen to join her for some fun and some yummy school lunch. To prepare for the day, Logan got to interview gma and gpa and ask them some questions about their lives when they were her age. Boy how times have changed! I am glad Logan had a chance to get to know them better and spend some special time with them.

Logan sure has some young looking grandparents. I think they look like the youngest ones there. I just hope some of those genes got passed on to their lovely daughter, and me too.

It seems like it was a pretty exciting day for everyone. Thanks Mom and Dad for moving close enough that Logan could have you there.

Please Don't Hurt 'Em, Hammer

Please indulge me while I reminisce.

I was thinking this past week about bands I have seen in concert. I was remembering the good old days of Park West concerts. Those were some good times up there. Sitting in the general admission seats, watching people urinate in public along the fence, smelling the mary jane, watching the lesbians make out. Good times.

That got me thinking of other bands I was able to see in concert.
My first concert, I was 11 and the neighbors had an extra ticket to see Chicago at the Salt Palace. We were pretty far up in the stands, and I didn't really know the songs, but I remember being there.

Some friends and I went to see the Hammer when we were in high school. That was so awesome! It was my first introduction to some of the more suggestive dance moves that were popular in the late 80's.

Anyway, we don't need to go into all the gory details. I made a new playlist of songs from those great concerts I got to see. Now, before you start judging me and laughing, some of these bands or people were VERY popular back in the day when I went to see them....yes, even Michael Bolton.

Why dont you all tell me a little about some fun concerts you have been to? That would be fun, huh?

Notes from an uncool mom

I have been neglecting my blog lately. I have gained a whole new appreciation for the working moms of the world. This working full-time gig is hard! By the time I get home, cook dinner, and clean up the house a bit, all I want to do is stare mindlessly at TV for an hour and then go to bed. It is good that nothing too exciting has been going on, so the blog hasn't really missed out on anything. Here is an update, none the less.

We have been getting ready for school to start next week. Jackson is going to be in 7th grade this year which means we have a middle schooler in the house. I've said this before, but I still can't believe he has grown up so fast. On Wednesday, he and I went to his new school for their open house thing. They did not have as much information as I would have liked regarding Jackson's first day of school, for example: where his first class is to be held, where he should go to be told where his first class is to be held, or who his home room teacher will be. I was uncomfortable with just plopping him down in a new school with no real information so I offered to take him that first day and help him out. He said that would be too embarrassing and he would do fine on his own. Yep, the day has finally come that my kids are too embarrassed to be seen with me. I think this has to be one of the worst days in every mom's life.

I have been plugging away little by little on our pirate mural. I have managed to do it without any requests for help from little hands, but they all like to come sit in the room and watch me paint. The painting process is slow going, and much more detail oriented than I imagined it would be. I think I got the completely wrong paint brushes because I have to work so hard to stay in the lines with the brushes I have. Another trip to Roberts for some new brushes is probably in the near future. The paint that our builder put on our walls must be some sort of super-duper-resistant-to-new-paint type because, like any other time we have tried to repaint in this house, the paint just doesn't go on very well. As a result, my mural might require a second coat of paint. Despite all the struggles, it is looking pretty good. I love the idea that I can appear to be quite a skilled artist, when in actuality I am only a skilled tracer. Check out the progress.

Contest Winners

Well there was a pretty overwhelmingly small response to my name that 80s movie soundtrack contest. I guess all my bloggy buddies, with a few notable exceptions, are just too young to have lived the 80s. Even still, I can't believe that none of you knew the song from Xanadu. That movie is sooo cool. I have posted the answers on the side bar of the page.

Congratulations to my lovely sister Patty for naming the most movies with 21 correct answers.
Congratulations to the beautiful and talented Katie Roberts for her noble attempt and 17 correct answers.
And Congratulations to the amazing Becca Sanchez--oh I mean Devenport--for surprising me with her 80s knowledge and coming up with 7.5 correct answers.

No one knew the bonus question. Lessons in Love was from the movie Hot Pursuit, a mid-career non-winner for John Cusack.

Patty, look for your prize some time in the next 6-8 weeks. Of course, you rarely ever read my blog so maybe I will insist that you respond to this post before I send you anything.

Next contest coming soon. Or late depending on my energy and creativity level.

Yo ho me hearties

Here is the progress so far of our pirate wall mural. I think this was the easy part. And boy was it ever easy. I wiped down the boys' wall with some water and a magic eraser (those things are sooo cool) to get off all the boy dirt. Now, witness my amazing camera skills and take a gander at the wall. How boring...let's spruce it up a bit.

We (the boys and I) taped the transfer paper to the backside of the mural pattern, and then taped them both to the wall. I wanted to make the mural just a bit bigger since the boys are getting big and the wall is so bare, so I split the mural and lengthened the pole part of the picture. Easy enough. We used some left over painter's tape so we wouldnt pull off any of the wall.

Then we got to tracing. Look how intensely the boys were concentrating. It really took no time at all, about 15 minutes from start to finish. Now our pirate skeleton head is just waiting for our painting skills to give him a bit of color.

So Saturday will be the next session. See the numbers on the picture? That is so color and design challenged folks like me can't mess it up too badly. I think the painting part might take a bit more time and skill and I am hesitant to let the kids help, even though I think they will want to. I guess it is their room, but is it mean of me to want to do it myself so I can insure that it looks good? That is assuming that I don't mess it up. But this mural seems pretty mess-up-proof. At least that's what I'm hoping.

We will keep you posted.

Oh, I also just wanted to take a minute to mention that in the past week, my email account has informed me that I have won the British lottery 12 times, the Irish lottery 9 times, and Donald Trump's personal lottery twice. My amazing luck continues!