The Last Hooray

We went to the Little Rock Zoo and a day of shopping before we have to get ready for school to start again. We picked the wrong day. It rained on us the whole morning. But we were basically the only people there. Literally, we ran into 3 other families while we were there. The main reason other than the rain, we went on Tuesday, but found out when we got there that Wednesday is half price day. Oh well. 

This is the entry to the park. See, no one around!

Sahara and Brittany said it was like a creepy movie. 

Canyon took this picture of me. 

This is Canyon in the bird house. 

In the reptile house he liked the snakes. More so if they were moving. 

All Canyon wanted to see was the zebras. Once there he could care less. 

To make it more creepy, the walkways were all over grown. I think what happened is the weight of the rain was weighing the grasses down. But it seemed like a place not taken care of anymore. I liked it because it was more natural and safari like. With a packed zoo it would probably cause problems because there were areas that the grass from both sides touched in the middle. 

The giraffes didn't want to come out in the weather (neither did the elephants) but we got to see them in their houses eating lunch. 

Canyon Hawke got to meet a Red Tailed Hawk. 

Every pond had fish. Some had LOTS. 

We got there in time to watch the penguins eat lunch. 1 vitamin packed fat fish per penguin (3 x a day). The zoo keeper checked off their numbers as they took their fish to make sure no one was missing or going without. I forgot to take pictures!!

The lion was enjoying the rainy weather. 

But I think he was bored with us. 

These kitties are so pretty. 

Back around for a better shot of the zebra. 

This old turtle was nearly 3 feet tall!!  Sahara got to pet it. The sign said he may bite but the fence was low to touch him. 

And last is the monkey house. This guy was sticking his tongue at us. 

We stayed about 2 hours. Which for our zoo is all it takes. Specially when you have the place to yourselves!!

Next stop was the mall for our late lunch and shopping. Canyon was introduced to the plasma light. He thought it was awesome. 

I assume they pose no danger, but he held on to that thing for 10 minutes straight. He loved it. 

I found an iPhone and $40 in the bathroom. I wanted to return it directly but the phone had a password so I couldn't do anything. I turned it in to the mall office. I hope that lady gets it back. 

Then on to Conway for more shopping. There, at TJMaxx, I found a set of keys. I turned them in too and the lady who lost them, in the store 2 down, asked the worker if she had left keys there. So I told her I turned in keys at TJ Maxx. At least I know she got hers back. 

Switch-a-roo

I have known for awhile that Facebook has local sale/swap sites and I've used them to sell some things in the past. I never bought before. I got a little crazy with it last weekend though. 

I was so tired of my pillow back couches. The pillows never stay where they are supposed to. And even tho the color and texture of the fabric looks nice, it doesn't feel so nice. So after about 6 months after I bought them new, I had made slips for the cushions and that's the way they have been for the last 21/2 years. 

These are the couches (minus the slips on the cushions).

Nice to look at but not comfy really or practical for us anyway. 

So I found some on the sale sites. This is the first one I bought. 

Really comfy oversized love seat. It was $65 and barely used by a family whose daughter is getting Make-A-Wish and her wish is a theater room. So they sold this love seat from their spare room to make room for the new theater seating. Sweetest family too. 

Then I got these

Plus a coffee table and the sofa has a hide-a-bed

Score!! All for $100!!

I realized after loading the furniture and driving away that it looks like hotel furniture. Oh well, its my hotel furniture now!!  The good thing is that they are very sturdy ( the sofa weighs a ton ) and the fabric is very durable. 

I listed my couches. 

I had to get rid of them fast because they were now in my kitchen!! So Right away I got someone interested but she couldnt pay that price. I lowered the price and lowered it until she finally agreed. Then she couldnt come get them because she didnt have a truck. Finally I offered to deliver them to her after holding them for 3 days and she said she didnt have the money. I guess she planned to hold me out  till next payday. I finally told her I had to relist them. And guess who jumped on them next?? The lady I bought the couch and chair from!!  I couldnt believe it. The lady who bought them lives in an apartment and I think they were made for an apartment.  Very light weight. 

Now my living room looks like this. 

With more furniture, it actually feels like we have more room!

 

So for $5 ( the difference ) I got seating for 7-8 instead of 5-6. A coffee table ( we may make a project with or paint- not a cherry person ), a queen size bed - great for sleepovers!  And no more hassle with pillows that don't want to stay lined up right. 

And when I get sick of this set up...I can just do it all over again. I don't think I'll ever buy new again.  

Then, I found this for $40. Canyon needed more clothes drawers and this goes with his other dresser. It took me a lot of stores, but finally at The Container Store in Little Rock, I found 2 black buckets that neatly fit into the cubby holes at the top. You can hardly even see them in the picture. 

The Container Store is pretty cool!

About TIME

We ordered this adult size swing for canyon back in March. The frame was delivered the beginning of June. No seat. We waited and waited and called and emailed the company. Finally it arrived. It's 180 degrees out today but we're supposed to get a cool down next week so Canyon will get to enjoy it for a week before school starts in the mid 80's. 

Playing with my food

I decided to try tofu. (We also got Morning Star soy hamburgers and they aren't too bad... Just really small)

After a little research I bought the extra firm kind because the websites I found said extra firm would be less spongy. 

First I put chopped yellow potatoes and baby carrots in the micro for 6 minutes to speed their cooking. I sautéed green onion and sliced mushrooms. 

Then I diced the tofu. ( ahead of time, you have to set the tofu on several layers of paper towel and cover with paper towel. Then place something heavy on top. I used a plate and put Canyon's money jar on top. Do this for 30 mins to absorb a lot of the water out of it that it comes packed in )

Then I added the carrots and potatoes. 

Still I think this would be too bland so I used what I had which was mandarin sauce. 

Looks good!  Sahara was disgusted that I used the sauce and the mushrooms. I thought the tofu had a mushroom like consistency which is probably why she didn't like it. Canyon had no complaints!

If I get again I think the pieces need to be smaller, possibly grilled or pan fried for more of a 'cooked' appearance, and I need to find some recipes instead of just winging it. 

Back 2 School

It's that dreaded time of year again. Back to school shopping. It's tax free weekend in Arkansas for school supplies so we headed out and it was just about as bad as Black Friday. 

Canyon really doesn't have a list this year because his situation is unique. He's in 9th grade which is still in Jr High but he will be in the High School building and bused to the Jr High for Art and PE and probably lunch.  We didn't get a list from his new teacher and she is also new to the position. So we got the basics. As a 9th grader he should be getting a Google Chromebook. He won't be carrying it class to class but we got a padded case for it anyway which is required. If his stays in the classroom I will just return the case. 

Sahara of course doesn't have a list either so we got her a binder and pencil case for each class plus the basic pens, pencils, paper.  This system has worked well for my classes so it should be good. 

Good enough. A lot of kids show up with nothing so this will be a good starting point. 

Neighbors

It appears that we will be getting new neighbors. The houses on my street are mostly 35-38 years old. But now the field has been divided into 3 acre lots and a few houses are going up. So far there are 5. These 2 are closest to us and I took these pictures from my driveway. I zoomed in so they look closer then they really are. 

The other 3 aren't as far along and a bit father away. They all are also small like mine with about the same square footage. 

Swim time

Sahara's friend has an apartment and her other friend has a LifeProof for her phone. They took Canyon swimming there and sent me this cool underwater shot of Canyon. Makes me see why a LifeProof is a good investment. I would still be really nervous submerging my phone!

It also makes me want to have an apartment so we can have swimming opportunities like this all summer!

Personal shaver

It was finally that time to take control of the boy's whiskers!

At first he was really nervous and even talking about getting a shaver made him shut down and get sad. I gave him the choice of colors at the store and his pick was blue. 

After I did the shaving for him, he was ok with it and was whisker free!!  

Now mom can kiss his little chin again :)

New modem

Had a storm last week and the power flickered. My modem bit it. Today I went to Walmart and bought the only modem they carried. It was exactly what I all ready had. I thought that was a good thing since I knew how to mess with this one to get Internet back after storms. 

Don't buy this modem!! 

After getting it hooked up and messing with it for over an hour (still no Internet) I clicked on something that brought me to my Internet provider and plugged in info to activate the modem. Yay! Not yay :( I was given a phone number and called to find out this model is no longer supported! 

Back to Walmart it went. No wonder why it looked like all the boxes were returns. They were!!  Went to Staples and ended up getting the same brand but a newer model. These little things are spendy!!  

After hooking it up and messing around with it for another hour, I finally managed to click on whatever I did before to activate. There can't just be a simple 'activate' button to click on. You have to find it through troubleshooting pages.  Then I get the phone number again but this time success!!  We have wifi again!! YaY!!

Score!!

I had wanted to get Canyon a used stationary bike (maybe for his birthday) for hopefully under $50. Today a friend had posted on Facebook that she had one for sale, along with tons of other exercise equipment. She only wanted $10 for the bike!!  Someone wanting to create a workout room could make a killing at her sale. 

He loves stationary bikes so hopefully he will have fun with it while watching his movies. 

Sunset Cinema

Movie night at the park has been going on for 7 years now. This is our first time going. It's $1 admission for adults 12 and up and that gets you the movie ( tonight was Despicable Me), hot dog, soda, popcorn, snow cone, ice pop, and frisbee. It was 100 degrees when we got there and I'd guess around 300-350 people attended. Cooled down to 78 by the time the night was over. 

Sahara's friends Taylor and Brittany came. 

Canyon ran over to get a picture with the Chick Fil A cow. 

The screen looks really tiny here but it was about 10 feet wide. 

This is one of the pictures the park took for promotion. Canyon, Sahara and I are sitting in the back of this picture on the right behind the lady with the brown shirt. 

It looks like we were in the back but actually there were way more people behind us then in front of us. 

If we're in town next summer for the showings, its a definite do again!!