Poodle Makeover

Along with Oliver, we do have another dog child named Chili.  Chili was my husband's dog that he brought into the marriage.  Chili is definitely Hubz' dog.  He will follow Hubz all over the house and usually only listens to Hubz, too.  Even after all this time, I think he is just now learning to tolerate Bean and I.  Maybe it's because he's getting older or maybe he really has grown to love us, too.  I'm betting on the "older" of that equation.

Last weekend, Hubz went fishing so Bean and I hung around the house all day.  At one point, Bean let the doggies back in the house from the backyard.  She loves to boss Oliver around and chase Chili around to try and get him to pay her some attention.  I think she has figured out that Chili is just tolerating the two of us being in his Master's house and so it has become her mission to make this dog play with her.

I remember at some point that afternoon telling Bean that she needed to put the dogs back outside so they could run around and go potty.  About an hour afterwards, Hubz came home.  I was in the kitchen as he was walking through and looking out the windows into the backyard.

I heard him say "what the h....ippopotamus is that on my dog".  He does not really hold back on his bad words, but since I'm trying to maintain some dignity here on Pinkie and the Bean, you get the censored version.

He goes over to the door and lets the dogs in, grabs up Chili and says to me "Do you think this is funny?"

Well, I had not noticed it before but now that he had drawn my attention to the dog, yeah, I think it was VERY funny.

This is what happens to a dog that plays with a 4 year old.

Bean accessorized Chili.  I think it is funny but even more than that I think it is very cute!

I showed this picture to a friend of mine that is very animal friendly.  She said "is that blood on his ear?"  I had to laugh because I didn't see this either that day but nope, that's lip gloss.  She must have given him a kiss, too, or tried to apply it to him.

I have vowed to myself that the next time Hubz goes fishing, Bean and I are going to put this necklace back on Chili and also paint his nails and add some bows to his hair.  I can't wait for that reaction!

Life Well Lived: Spring Cleaning Tips

What are your favorite spring cleaning tips?

My most used cleaning tip is to never leave a room empty-handed.  There is always something in one room that is out of place and needs to be shuttled to its correct home.  When I am bustling around the house, I always try to pick up something and carry it with me to put up.  Sometimes I place a basket or two in a room and place items in it that need to be taken to another room for storage.  I will have a basket, or sometimes even a plastic grocery bag, in the kitchen and I will fill it up with items for the bathroom or Bean's room and take it all at once.
This saves steps and makes flitting all over the house a little more productive.

What about you?  Do you have any quick and dirty cleaning tips you can share?

Visit BlogHer.com join in the discussion about Spring Cleaning.  While you're there, don't forget to enter the Life Well Lived Sweepstakes.

Pinterest-Inspired Projects - Calendar Board

I hinted around last week about a project I was working on using this oil pan.

What am I using this oil pan for?

I recently found this idea by Nic and Kate from a pin on Pinterest and was inspired or pinspired to make something similar.  I've wanted to make Bean a calendar board for awhile and with recent behavior problems we've had with the kid, I thought it would be a good place for a behavior chart, too.

This oil pan was found at Auto Zone for $9.99.  It is made by Blitz.  You can find these at any auto parts store and Wal-Mart also carries them.  I could not find one that did not have the manufacturer's name stamped into it though.  This one is 25 x 36 inches.  You will have to clean the pan thoroughly front and back with something like Simple Green or similar to get the coating off of it.

To attach it to the wall, I used 3M Command velcro strips.  After you clean the coating off the back of the pan, wipe it down with some alcohol and let it dry.  Then you can attach your strips.  I personally realized I didn't like this method only because once the tabs are in place, it was really hard for me to line everything back up and get it back on the wall.  If you're not as challenged with those types of things as I am, I'm sure you won't have any frustration using these strips.

So here is the pan/board up on the wall.

I hung ours in our living room which is a central location for all of us to be able to access and Bean can change the date daily.  I found these calendar pieces on markdown at Target for $1.12.  I realized that these are for teachers to use and there are no Saturday or Sunday name plates so I will have to make those myself.  We've put the month label at the very top of our board.  Next to it we keep track of the calendar day.  Bean gets to put up the number date each day.  Then I made a day tracker from a felt flower I had on hand from an old hairbow project.  I attached a magnet to the back of the flower and Bean moves it to the corresponding day.

I want to print out some activity picture labels that we can put to the side of each day so Bean will know what is coming up in her week like a birthday party or "tim-tastics".    I also have a pack of weather labels but they are kinda big and I've run out of room on the board to use them.  Maybe I should have hung it sideways instead.  I will toy around with printing out some smaller pictures of weather symbols to use.

At the bottom of the board is where we have Bean's new behavior chart.  I found this one free to print out online at freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com.  They have a ton of different charts you can use.  It is labeled for each day of the week.  The things she has to work on in order to earn magnets for her chart are

• Not taking things that belong to other's.
• No fibbing or lying.
• Using a pleasant voice.
• Listening the first time.

Each day Bean follows these rules, she is allowed to put a magnet on that day's corresponding box.  If she can go the entire week, she will be rewarded with a trip for ice cream or something like that.  We haven't made it that far so I haven't really hammered out the rewards yet.  I will need to make some more magnets for her and I have a few bottlecaps that I plan on using for those.  Stickers could also be used but I plan on using the same chart over and over so I went with magnets instead.

So there is my first Pinterest inspired project.  I hope to do more projects from ideas found on my new addiction, Pinterest, and I'll share them here with you.

If you'd like to follow my boards on Pinterest, here is my link.

I'm nothing if not helpful!

Hubz doesn't think I'm helpful in the least.  But I think I am.  In fact, I have photographic evidence to prove exactly how helpful I can be.

We recently had to put two new tires on my car.  Hubz asked me for input several times.  I honestly didn't understand what there was to discuss.  So when he texted me his inquiry again I really couldn't help myself.

Yep, I've been holding onto this joke since Feb. 15th!
I thought I had scheduled this post but evidently you have to be smarter than the computer program.
I am not.
But I am HELPFUL!!!!

Okay, so yeah, maybe I wasn't very helpful to him but I was extremely helpful to ME by providing myself an opportunity to crack myself up.

See!  Helpful.

Check out my book review at PinkieBean's Reviews

As part of the BlogHer Book Club, I was given the opportunity to review Diary of a Mad Fat Girl by Stephanie McAfee.  I have posted this review on our sister site, PinkieBean's Reviews.  Please take a moment to read my review and join us over at the BlogHer Book Club to discuss this Southern Fried tale.

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie

I thought it was time to give you an update on the newest member of our family, Ollie.  If you remember, Ollie or Oliver, joined us at Christmastime.  He was just a wee little thing then.

Well he has grown.

Yep, that Beagle snout is filling in or out, I guess.

That position there is one that he has definitely mastered.

Whatcha Bean up to - #2?

LOL  That title definitely makes you think twice.  I promise this is not a post about poo.  Somewhere in my blogging past, I have used the title "Whatcha Bean up to" and wanted to use it again today so this is #2 in that little series, I guess.  No poo!

After I wrote my last blog post, Was I too harsh?, I got a lot of really good tips and advice.  Thank you all for that.  Most had said I should give Bean a time of how long her toys would be taken away.  I was fully prepared to tell her a time when I picked her up from preschool the following day.  I didn't get to though because there was a second occurrence of taking things so the toys remained locked up.  Then she was out of school for the next two days staying with her Nano so of course there was no chance for redemption or recidivism.

Then came that Sunday.  Bean went along with her Daddy to the grocery store and on the way home, Daddy stopped at an auto parts store.  On the way out of the store, he noticed Bean had her hand in her pocket.  He asked her what she had and it was revealed that she had slipped a pack of gum from the auto parts store in her pocket.

This kid is a real five-finger discounter for sure!

Bean got another long talk that day and spent quite a bit of time in the corner - more than Super Nanny recommends for a four year-old.

Since then there have been no more instances of five-finger discounting from Bean - that I know of.

But she still has not had her toys returned.  And it seems to me that she doesn't even miss them.  She asked one time for her doll house but that's it.  Makes you rethink the amount of things our kids have and what they can do without and what they are able to use their imagination to play with.

To be fair, this past weekend I had signed on to join in a local consignment sale and while there, I did pick up a doll set for Bean because she had been good that whole week so she has had something to play with.

Also, I am working on a project right now that will (hopefully) give us someplace to display a behavior chart, along with some other things, for Bean to see her own progress.  It involves this:

Yep, that's a large oil pan.  I am hoping to finish this project up this week so I can share it all right here with you.

So the update is there was more bad behavior but for this past week only good behavior.  Thank goodness! And thank you all for your advice.