Job skills

Given the tough economic times we are in I have decided to start working with the kids on some skills that might come in handy when they are ready to start looking for jobs. They have so many options!

(Sorry the first set of pics are small)
Story teller
Window washer

Customer Service
Personal dresser

House cleaner


Baker

Bell hop
Babysitter
Carpenter
Professor

Underwear model - not sure about the flip-flops though!
Comedian

As you can see my kids are well on their way to high paying, fullfilling jobs. Nothing to worry about - yeah right!!

For April Fools Day I decided to try a meatloaf recipe that you bake and decorate so they look like cupcakes. You are supposed to use foil cupcake liners, but I didn't have any so we just put them right in the pan. The blue is mashed potatoes with blue food coloring.

Teagan thought it was hiliarious when she told Brad we had cupcakes for supper. April Fools!!

What to watch?

With the end of regular season programming wrapping up I am starting to wonder what I am going to do with all my free time (maybe I should think about laundry, dishes, and the mess that is my bedroom). But what fun would that be? I have seen a couple of previews for the children's show Yo Gabba Gabba that interest me a little.

Let me preface this by saying that this show creeps me out and I find it disturbing - that being said Jack Black is going to guest star on the show on April 3 at 1:30 ET/PT. I think he is hilarious and I am sure he will fit right into the weirdness that is Yo Gabba Gabba. And since my DVR isn't getting its usual workout I think I will add this to my list just for curiosity's sake

Here he is with one of the creepy characters. In this episode Black rides into Gabbaland on his mini-bike and runs out of gas. Lost and scared, Black meets each of the Gabba characters who become his friends and refuel the mini-bike so he can head home. Here is the link to a video of Black on the show.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20265490,00.html?xid=rss-fullcontent

Seriously? I will give him a little bit of a break because he has a 2-year-old who loves the show.

Tony Hawk also guest starred.

And so did Sugarland. I am missing something here?

There are also some movies coming out that I would like to see.

This one is a no-brainer!

I also saw today that they are making a movie of the book "Where the Wild Things Are". I was a huge fan of this book when I was in elementary school and the movie stills look really good. Hopefully it can live up to my expectations.

Don't feel too bad for me - I still have a couple of shows that are still on.

Amazing Race - still my favorite

Dancing with the Stars - go Shaun!!

This could change my life!

Ok - so maybe it won't change my life, but it could make me a whole lot happier about where I live, which in turn could make me a happier person. I got a call from a friend asking about countertop paint I talked about in an earlier blog. I had to admit that I hadn't attempted it yet. I got off the phone, threw caution into the wind, and started painting.

Here is a picture of the sink before the transformation.
And the wonderful gold laminate that I am trying to get rid of. By the way - this is what is in my kitchen so if this works it could really make me a happy person!

The countertop before...
And after. I have a fan plugged in to dry. It feels dry after only a couple hours, but the box says 3 days! I am thinking that is how long to wait before putting stuff on it. I guess we'll see. I am going to do one more coat because I noticed some streaking and some little bubbles. I think they are from the fan (I had it on while painting). All in all I think it is going to be $17.99 very well spent. Hooray!

Stupid Basketball

Stupid college kids! Don't they know that I spend $10 of my hard earned money betting they would win basketball games?

Well, I am done with it. But you know I will keep checking my status just to see! Yeah - I have a problem!!

Brad left for a golf weekend this afternoon and before he packed Teagan left these on the bed for him. You've all seen the cell phone commerical where the little girl puts her stuffed monkey in the dad's briefcase and takes pictures of it wherever he goes? This is Teagan's attempt at being that little girl. When she saw the commerical last week she said,"Dad I am going to give you an animal to take along with you so you can take pictures of it when you are gone golfing." I am thinking to myself - "how many pictures can you take of a pink poodle on a golf cart?" Not to mention the inappropriate places a pink poodle should not visit!

Harvard Here She Comes!

Teagan has been "practicing" tying her shoes for awhile, but all of sudden Sunday she almost had it. By the time she got home from school and daycare yesterday she pretty much had it down. Not too shabby for someone who isn't even in Kindergarten yet - what can I say, she is brilliant! Here is the play-by-play:

Making the initial tie
One loop
Two loops

Pull it through

Concentrating hard on the finish
And here it is! She said,"Mom, are you proud of me because I am proud of myself." I said "Of course I am!" But was thinking "where did my baby go?" Some of the proudest moments for a Mom are also the saddest! Enjoy the moments!

These moments happened yesterday (Monday). The kids were both wound for sound and being naughty together. Tate is screaming in this picture (for those who have been around him lately that is nothing new!)

The whole problem started when Teagan let him pile on top of her and they started wrestling and both thought it was great.

Earlier in the night Tate discovered his love of both ranch and ketchup. Now, I am sure he has both of these before but he is officially at the point where has asks/screams for them if they are within eyesight. And everything gets dipped in them. Luckily he still eats the bite with the condiment on it - he hasn't figured out yet that he could just suck it off and go back for more. I am sure that is soon to come!

Dipping broccoli in some ranch. Notice the ketchup on the side.

They did slow down for a little while to get some decent together pictures. Tate is going in for a kiss here.
Having a drink after a great night at the Sundown with friends. Yes - I said Sundown. We went up for supper with some friends and there ended up being a ton of kids there. It was fun to watch. By the end of the night we had cars on the floor and kids out on the dance floor. We make white trash look good!! Our kids are true Schaefers!! Have a great Wednesday!

A couple more things

Before rumors start flying - yes, i did pose for Saving Abel's new album cover. It was just to good to refuse. I didn't know how it would turn out so thats why I didn't tell anyone sooner. Sorry!

As of last Monday I am officially done with the Twilight series. Now I can concentrate on my gift for the party, watching the movie until it wears out, and reading all the blogs and posts about the movie. Just not enough hours in the day. If only I were a vampire!!!

We Do All Our Own Stunts!

We Schaefers decided today was family day, so we spent it being lazy, watching basketball and taking a decent Sunday nap. After all of that down time the kids (and their dad!) started getting a little stir crazy.

At our house that means time for tricks and acrobatics. You know - because all Schaefers are so flexible and nimble!! It started with Brad trying to convince Teagan to do some new trick where she flips over his head and hangs upside down.
All was going well until Tate decided to join in on the fun and jump on Brad while they were doing their "act". Needless to say, Brad wasn't expecting this and got the wind knocked out of him a couple times! I found it very enjoyable!!

So I think this is close to what the "finale" was supposed to look like. Tate moved angles so he could reach Teagan's head and pull her hair while hanging in mid-air. It got a little ugly, but everyone got over it!

While Tate was playing on the chair (see a couple pictures down) Brad and Teagan moved onto headstands. I know this brings back some kind of memory for all of us, but it is just a little different when it is your kid - and she is within legs reach of my newest addition to the livingroom. All I could see was everything getting wiped out with those long legs of hers. Wonder where she gets those!
She managed to do it on her own, so lucky me I am sure I will find her like this numerous times each day. And my Easter baskets and table are sure to fall victim to the occasional fall!
Tate loves crawling on furniture and thinks it is hiliarious. That is until he falls off or someone (Teagan) takes him out. This would explain the 3 (yes 3) times he gave himself a mind concusion today. If any of you do not have a boy yet, just wait - might as well invest in a padded room because that is the only way to contain them!
Welcome to the Schaefer Gardens! Sadly enough this landscaping (done by Teagan while Brad was grilling supper) is the best display of yardwork our house has to offer. I can just never get motiviated to do projects outside.
Tate says "I've had about enough of this family togetherness. I am off to bed. Wheres my paci?"
After a hard day of working (yeah right) Brad thought he needed a little chiropractic care and being the cheapskate he is, hired some pretty inexperienced work! Sad huh? Thats it for tonight. I need to catch up on some laundry and tonight's episode of the Amazing Race - a mom's job is never done!