Smells Like Tween Spirit

Snips and snails,
And puppy dog tails,
That's what little boys are made of...

What does this even mean?  I honestly have no clue.  I also have no clue what makes tween boys tick (I really wish they had let us watch the "boy" movie on adolescence in 5th grade - it may have helped).  The only tween I've known before was my little brother.  Being 7 years older than he, I observed, from a distance, his tween years with curiosity.  Questions came to mind like:  why does he always wear sweatpants with holes in them?  Why is there dirt smeared on his face and he doesn't care?  Shouldn't he shower after his game?  He outgrew this, of course (thank god).   Now, I'm living with a tween 24/7.  This is MY tween.  And I am once again observing him with curiosity - just at a much closer distance.

Since he did get to watch the 5th grade boy movie - pamphlets came home - HUZZAH!  Now I can learn!  And it seems, he actually read/listened particularly well on the topic of personal hygiene.  While I am by no means complaining, this new, heightened sense of aromatic concern has really added to my grocery shopping time.  What used to be a 30 minute shop time has escalated into 1.5 hours.  Why you ask?  This...

This, my friends, is a 1/2 aisle dedicated to men's body wash/shampoo.  Gone are the days of 1 scent of Head & Shoulders.  Now there are 8 different brand names - with 10 different scents.  Scents with names like:  Swagger, Kickstart and Wolfthorn.  What. Are. These. Smells?  Well, just ask my tween...

Oh yes, we smelled every. single. one.  25 minutes of smelling to select the "right" one for the shower.  Head & Shoulders was "lame".  Kickstart smelled "bad".  All of this lead to choosing:

Axe:  Apollo.  Since I associate this name with the movie, I was glad to know it did not smell like what I assumed: rocket fuel, influenza and near death.  At this point, I had reached my limit, as did my olfactory nerves.  $7 for a bottle of this stuff?  Fine.  Shove it in the cart and let's move on.  30 minutes into grocery shopping and this is all I had to show for it:

In the end, 1.5 hours of shopping wasn't bad - we got to bond and laugh over this sensory experience.  And now, every time I hug him I smell his hair, think of that moment and laugh all over again... I love his tween spirit (and smell)!!

Hunger Games Themed Party (kid version)

6 months from today, I turn 40... so it seems fitting on the day we have Sam's "kid" party (Hunger Games Theme, of course) - I spend the morning getting my hair braided to look like Katniss.  I'm all for themes as much I am all for embarrassing my kids, hence the costume.  Needless to say, I did not embarrass Sam (he thought it was cool) BUT the party theme went just as I thought - awesome! 

Here is what I did to turn Zoink's Fun Factory into The Hunger Games - with the help of my amazing hubbie and sons and Etsy :)

Favor Bags:
Black paper bags filled with...
Bow and Arrow Bracelets: using charms from Bohemian Findings and cord from Supplies Plus - Sam and I put these together in 1 night - the stickers I made and printed using Publisher
District 12 "Coal" Soap: using "coal" soap from Burnt Mill and arrow stickers from Banana Splits Boutique - the tags were again made on Publisher
Training Tattoos: Tattoos from Draw Abiding Citizen and washi tape from Banana Splits Boutique put on cards I made on Publisher
Straw arrows: Straws came from Michaels  and topped with craft paper point and leftover feathers from my wedding.  The tag was made on Publisher

Arrow Bracelets

Favor Bags

Favors

The cake was designed by Sam and I using inspiration from the movies.  Huge thanks to hubbie for once again helping roll out the fondant!

A last minute tablecloth transformation happened this morning.  Thanks to a Dollar Store gold tablecloth and some black craft paint, the party table fit the theme!

  

And if this smile doesn't sum up how he felt about the party, I don't know what does.  The odds were DEFINITELY in our favor!

Don't fret, you get to see the Katniss "costume"

Rock Wall = Reaping (in my opinion - ouch!)

Storage of my life

My boys do NOT like One Direction.  I couldn't even tell you what they look like, but I do know every time their song "Story of My Life" comes on the radio, it has to be changed.  So, while hubbie installed our stair storage, I came up with lyrics of my own - just to annoy the kiddos (extra awesome parental unit points for me).

This stair storage project was all hubbie's idea - cuz, well, he's a genius in my opinion.  I said (in typical fashion) "I have an idea... let's add shelves to the wall going to the cellar".  He said (in his typical fashion) "I think we should add a faux ceiling, drywall it, add shelves, install a new light fixture, frame out and paint the breaker box, put molding up to cover all the wires and paint the whole thing."  I then said "my ass will be on the couch with a glass of wine, let me know how I can assist from there."

Here you catch a glimpse of the exposed wiring, the before of the breaker box, the ceiling and drywall.  I will point out that I did get off the couch to use the power drill on some screws, so I wasn't THAT lazy.

Pretty breaker box, super cute hubbie

And with that, I have 4 shelves for extra storage!  Look at them fill up!!  My case of seltzer has a home!  It's been empty like this for a week!!  I feel like running to BJ's so I can buy in bulk... but instead, I'll just sing my altered One Direction lyrics:

Written on these walls is the storage that I can't explain
All this space open but it stays right here empty for days

The storage of my life
Is in my home
I drive all night
To fill them more and I'm
Shopping