A change is coming

I am just popping in after a really long day with two very wild children.   I was planning a  much larger post but I am afraid that my eyes aren’t going to stay awake for that one.  I just wanted to tell you all that I am really excited about an upcoming change here at DoubleBugs.   I have some really cool things planned for my site and am looking forward to the change.   Keep an eye out because I am getting new duds!  I am hoping that the new site will be easier to navigate, be much brighter and bolder, and make a statement.  Blogging has become such a passion of mine that I want  to reflect that in my new site.  I am not giving any set date or time, but come back often and check up on me.  I love change!  Ok off to bed…mommy duty will be back knocking at my door bright and early!

Play Doh Weekend

This weekend me, my husband, and the boys broke out the  Play-Doh.   It has been years since I have done this, and it was so much fun to just sit around the table as a family.   Not only that, it encourages young minds to be creative and inventive.

I found myself making snakes, One of my bubs wanted a watch, and cars and dinosaurs.   Some of the stuff I made, didn’t look remotely like any of these things but to the boys, they were the best thing since sliced bread!

About Play-doh

Play-Doh is a soft modeling compound principally used by children, both at home and in school. The compound is composed of flour, water, and salt, among other ingredients.

Initially a wallpaper cleaner developed in Cincinnati ,Ohio by N. W. McVicker, the compound was reworked by his nephew Joseph McVicker in the mid-1950s, named ‘Play-Doh’ and sold to Cincinnati-area schools as a modeling compound. When prominent department stores opened retail accounts in 1956, and Play-Doh television ads appeared on influential children’s shows in 1957, the product became a hit in the United States.

Play-Doh is non-toxic and non-staining, and, though its exact composition is a trade secret, the compound’s current manufacturer, Hasbro, reveals it contains water, salt, and wheat flour.

Since its introduction, Play-Doh has been manufactured in 50 different colors and has generated ancillary merchandise such as The Fun Factory and The Play-Doh Creativity Table. In 2003, the Toy Industry Association named Play-Doh to its Century of Toys List, and, in 2006, a perfumery released a fragrance inspired by Play-Doh’s distinctive odor. Play-Doh is currently manufactured by Hasbro and is sold around the world.

I did not know any of this and it fascination to learn about where some of the classics are derived from.  We pulled out our rollers, and molds and whatever else we could find about 4 times this weekend.  This is such a perfect activity when you are stuck indoors.  It was such a blast, and I even took a pic of one of my creations.  Yes, folks I am a big kid at heart.

Sorry about the quality it was a spur of the moment thing!

Wordless Wednesday

Joe Satriani Eat Your Heart Out

Ok, this is my twin son bubs playing his guitar. This is serious business for him, and he even goes to get his safety goggles LOL! I have never laughed so hard in my life he even does the handle jerk just like a real guitarist. He used to get his Leap Frog guitar but when daddy got Rock Band for the Wii…bubs was in seventh heaven and it’s the only guitar he wants now. Joe Satriani eat your heart out there’s a new kid in town.

Conversation Hearts….Ever wonder about them?

So I got the boys some conversation hearts the other day as I remember them from my childhood.   I got the standard Necco sweethearts which are my favorite and well I tried an off brand (they all tasted like toothpaste to me).  So here I was driving down the road pondering these cute little hearts with sweet little sayings on them, and wondered just how these came about.  So I did a little investigation of these sweet little gems that you can only find around Valentine’s Day.   I polished off the box by the time I hit the front door.

History

Daniel Chase, brother of the founder of NECCO Oliver Chase, began printing sayings on the candy in the 1860s. He designed a machine that was able to press on the candy similar to a stamp. The candy was often used for weddings since the candies had witty saying such as: “Married in pink, he will take a drink,” “Married in White, you have chosen right,” and “Married in Satin, Love will not be lasting.”

Sweethearts got their start in 1902. Back then, they were not only hearts but postcards, horseshoes, watches, and baseballs. Some of the sayings, such as “Be Mine,” “Kiss Me,” and “Be True,” are still in use. In 1997, the saying “The One I Love” was brought back in honor of NECCO’s 150th anniversary.

In the 1990s, NECCO vice president, Walter Marshall, wanted to update some of the sayings and retire others. NECCO receives hundreds of suggestions a year on new sayings. Including “Call me,” “Email me,” and “Fax me.”

NECCO still uses the same formula to produce the candies. The recipe includes battered sugar, corn syrup, gelatin, gums, colorings, and flavorings. The recipe is brought to a consistency of a dough, rolled out, imprinted with sayings, stamped into a heart shape, and then put through a 45 minute drying cycle for consistency.

NECCO produces the hearts from late February though mid January of the following year. Approximately 100,000 pounds of hearts are made per day, which sells out in about six weeks.

That is a lot of conversation hearts!   I still love them now.  How fun would it be to leave little sweet messages to your special someone, or you can just message yourself and get a nice sugar rush.  So there is a little tidbit for the day  😉

A Toddler’s Creative Way to Remedy a Stuffy Nose

So over the last week the boys had colds.  For Christmas, they got a workbench from Grandma and Grandpa, and a whole bunch of  tools.   This seems to be their new thing, and they use anything and everything as a tool to work on their cars and even mommy’s feet (I guess they think they need help).

I was cleaning up some dishes in the kitchen and bubs was quietly playing with his power screwdriver, when I peeked around the corner to see what he was doing.  When I looked, I instantly had to hold back my laughter and ran to get the camera!   I guess this is one way to relieve a stuffy nose!   Too Funny!

Long day

I love the Christmas holidays, but it sure can be tiring when you are a mommy. I wish that I was Mary Poppins some days lol. Don’t you just wish you could wiggle your nose and the house would be cleaned, the laundry done and put away, a full course meal on the table, dishes done, gifts wrapped, shopping done? A girl can dream cant she? If only there were about ten more hours in my day, I think I could get it done and have time for a long bath, a massage and a 4 hour nap. This sounds good, but then somebody pinched me.

Mom Central Holiday Gift Guide

I know with Christmas fast approaching, I am in a scramble to get everyone’s gifts. And usually my problem is what to get everyone and I am almost inevitably searching for the perfect gift idea. And with having twin two year olds to look after in the mix, it can make finding gifts even more stressful. That’s why it is so nice to have a place where you have gift ideas all in one place for everyone!

Mom Central has done all the brain racking work of finding the perfect gift in their 2008 Gift Guide. They have reviewed hundreds of products for everyone on your list right down to your favorite furry friends in your life. You are sure to find something that will put a smile on that special someone’s face this holiday season. Mom Central will also give away thousands of dollars worth of prizes in multiple daily drawings!

To be eligible to win the daily prizes, participants must register on Mom Central, log-in, and leave a comment on the post. In addition, if participants tweet or email friends about the giveaway, they can earn another entry! In order to earn the entry, they simply go back to the Mom Central Review blog and leave a second comment letting them know.  Plus, Mom Central is such a cool place to be a part of!

Head on over to Mom Central and save your sanity by making your holiday gift buying a breeze!

So Funny and True

I ran across this on another board and thought it was so true.  A little humor for the day!

Thinking about having children?

True preparation for parenthood at any age….

Lesson 1
Go to the supermarket.
Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their head office.
Go home.
Pick up the paper.
Read it for the last time.

Lesson 2
Before you finally go ahead and have children, find a couple who already
are parents.
Berate them about their…
1. Methods of discipline.
2. Lack of patience.
3. Appallingly low tolerance levels.
4. Allowing their children to run wild.
Suggest ways in which they might improve their child’s sleeping habits,
toilet training, table manners and overall behavior. Enjoy it. It will
be the last time in your life that you will have all the answers.

Lesson 3
To discover how the nights will feel…
1. Walk around the living room from 5PM to 10PM carrying a wet bag
weighing approximately 8-12 pounds, with a radio turned to static (or
some other obnoxious sound) playing loudly.
2. At 10PM, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight, and go to
sleep.
3. Get up at 12 and walk around the living room again, with the bag,
until 1AM.
4. Set the alarm for 3 AM.
5. As you can’t get back to sleep, get up at 2AM and make a drink.
6. Go to bed at 2:45AM.
7. Get up at 3AM when the alarm goes off.
8. Sing songs in the dark until 4AM.
9. Get up. Make breakfast. Keep this up for 5 years. Look cheerful.

Lesson 4
Can you stand the mess children make? To find out…
1. Smear peanut butter onto the sofa and jam onto the curtains.
2. Hide a piece of raw chicken behind the stereo and leave it there all
summer.
3. Stick your fingers in the flower bed.
4. Then rub them on the clean walls.
5. Cover the stains with crayons. How does that look?

Lesson 5
Dressing small children is not as easy as it seems.
1. buy a live octopus and a small bag made of loose mesh 2. Attempt to
put the octopus into the bag so that none of the arms hang out.
Time allowed for this – all morning.

Lesson 6
1.Take an egg carton. Using a pair of scissors and a pot of paint, turn
it into an alligator.
2. Now take the tube from a roll of toilet paper. Using only scotch tape
and a piece of foil, turn it into an attractive Christmas candle.
3. Last, take a milk carton, a ping-pong ball, and an empty packet of
Cocoa Puffs. Make an exact replica of the Eiffel Tower.

Lesson 7
Forget the BMW and buy a station wagon. And don’t think you can leave
it out in the driveway spotless and shining. Family cars don’t look
like that.
1. Buy a chocolate ice cream cone and put it in the glove compartment.
Leave it there.
2. Get a dime. Stick it in the tape or CD player.
3. Take a family size package of chocolate cookies. Mash them into the
back seat.
4. Run a garden rake along both sides of the car. There. Perfect.

Lesson 8
Get ready to go out.
1. Wait outside the bathroom for a half an hour.
2. Go out the front door.
3. Come in again
4. Go out
5. come back in
6. go back out again.
7. Walk down the front walk.
8. Walk back up it.
9. Walk back down it again.
10. Walk very slowly down the road for five minutes, stopping,
inspecting minutely, and asking at least 6 questions about each
cigarette butt, piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead insect
along the way.
11. Retrace your steps.
12. Scream that you have had as much as you can stand, until the
neighbors come out and stare at you.
13. Give up and go back into the house.
You are now just about ready to try taking a small child for a walk.

Lesson 9
Go to the local supermarket. Take with you the nearest thing you can
find to a preschool child (a full grown goat is excellent) If you
intend to have more than one child, take more than one goat.
1. buy your week’s groceries without letting the goats out of your
sight.
2. Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.
Until you can accomplish this, do not even contemplate having children.

Lesson 10
1. Make a small hole in the side of a melon and hollow it out.
2. Suspend it from the ceiling and swing it from side to side.
3. Now get a bowl of soggy Cheerios and attempt to spoon them into the
swaying melon by pretending to be an airplane.
4. Continue until half the Cheerios are gone.
5. Tip half of the remainder into your lap. The other half just throw
up into the air.
You are now ready to feed a 9-month old baby.

Lesson 11
Learn the names of every character from Sesame Street, Dora the
Explorer, Barney, and Disney. Watch nothing else on TV for five years.

Lesson 12
Make a recording of Fran Drescher saying “mommy” repeatedly. (important:
no more than a four second delay between each “mommy”) An occasional
crescendo to the volume of a supersonic jet is required.
Play this recording in your car everywhere you go for the next five
years.

Lesson 13
Put on your finest work attire. Pick a day in which you have an
important meeting.
1. Take a cup of cream, put in 1 cup of lemon juice, and stir.
2. Dump half of the mixture on your shirt, and saturate a towel with the
other half.
3. Attempt to wipe off your shirt with the towel.
4. Do NOT change. You have no time.
5. Go directly to work.

Lesson 14
Go for a drive! But first…
1. Find one large tomcat and six pitbulls.
2. Borrow a child safety seat and put it in the back seat of your car.
3. Put the pitbulls in the front seat of your car.
4. While holding something fragile, strap the cat into the child seat.
5. Run some errands, removing and replacing the cat at each stop.
You are now ready to run errands with a toddler.

I’m a bloggin fool, showing some bloggin love

Thank you to Tanya over at Mommy Goggles for nominating me for this lovely award!  I luv ya girlie, you are the best!

Here’s the scoop!

1. Slap this baby up on your blog. Don’t be shy.
2. Link to the giver
3. Nominate up to seven other fab blogs.
4. Post links to those super fly blogs your nominating.
5. Leave messages for your recipients on their blogs…so they can feel as special as you do!

So her here are the blogs I pass this award on to.

1. Adventures in Mommyland
2. Frog in My Soup

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