Saving the turtles

    Stephanie Canterbury

We have a lot of turtles on our road. I mean A LOT. I guess you could say I’m the crazy turtle lady. Do normal people do this? I have to stop and get them across the road. Always in the direction they’re going, of course. No, this isn’t completely safe and you probably shouldn’t do it, but turtles.

Every time I’ve seen one and didn’t stop, by the time I’ve been on my way back home, someone has hit it. Then that makes me feel like a terrible person and if I’d just stopped and been late for whatever it’d been okay. At least the innocent turtle would still have been alive. Right?

My husband and I have already saved 2 this past week! Last Saturday while on the way to the Y,  there was one crossing the road. My husband stopped, I ran across the road, grabbed the little guy, put him safely on the other side and ran back to the car. All while my husband was parked in the middle of the road. 

Today after our daughter’s end of the year awards ceremony, there was another one but he wasn’t exactly crossing the road. He was going down the road. So what do we do in that situation?

We brought him home. We have woods behind our house. I put him in the shade and poured a cup of water over him. He seemed a little dry. Hopefully he won’t try to get back in the road.

I bought some turtle crossing signs to put on our mailbox pole. Hopefully people will pay attention to them, but who knows? If not, they’re probably the same ones hitting the poor turtles. 

Aren’t these the cutest signs ever? I ordered the signs from amazon for $12 per sign. We got the screws from Lowe’s.We screwed the signs into our mailbox pole. By we, I meant Benji.

Do y’all think this will work? Anyone have any other ideas that could help save the turtles? I’d love your input!

Get your own save the turtles sign from Amazon.

Making Play Dough

    Stephanie Canterbury

Maggie was so excited about making this play dough. I was super excited that it only called for a few ingredients. We had so much fun making this and I’m sure you and your children will too. 

What you need:

  • 2 cups of corn starch
  • 1 cup conditioner
  • Large plastic bowl
  • Measuring cup
  • Rubber spatula
  • Food coloring 
  • A quart size bag for storage

Maggie gives fantastic directions!

You may need to add more conditioner and or cornstarch, to get the right consistency.

You will dye your hands! It’s totally worth it!

The end result.

Hope you enjoyed this play dough recipe!

Cleaning stains in car seats and carpet with Pinesol

    Stephanie Canterbury

This whole inspiration came from my best friend. She came up with this to use for her own car and told me about it. This girl has been my best friend for literally half my life and hasn’t let me down yet. This hack is definitely no different from her! We’ve went from living less than 10 miles from each other to over 600. We’ve been through a lot together and even though we’re so far away, we’re still together in this thing of raising children in messy cars.  

You need:

  • 1 spray bottle
  • 1 part Pinesol (your choice of fragrance)
  • 2 parts water
  • A bowl or bucket of water
  • A cleaning rag
  • A toothbrush or scrub brush

When I first wanted to try this cleaning hack I was just planning on using it on my seats and carpet. There are plenty of stains from spilled coffee to ice cream to only God knows what. I was going to wipe everything down, but all I had with me was the pinesol concoction and quite frankly I was being to lazy to walk inside. 

I sprayed it on my dashboard, doors, middle console  and scrubbed away with Maggies help. I’m not sure what the particular name for the part where the seatbelt comes out of the door, but it was pretty nasty, so I took a picture. Then I cleaned it, woah y’all! I took another picture. So luckily I got before and after pictures. 

Before – After

It was getting dark on me so I’m going to clean the carpet and seats tomorrow. I can’t wait to see the results.

The directions are in the video.

Middle floorboard in the backseat – Before / After

 

Passenger seat – Before / After

Maggie’s drink holder / ice cream disaster – Before / After

Maggie’s reaction! 

Backseat floorboard – Before / After

Coffee stains passenger floorboard/middle – Before / After

After (There was a little stain that wouldn’t come out.)

Pinesol will definitely be my go to for stains in my car for now on! I hope this was helpful. Happy car cleaning.

Ocean Sensory Project

    Stephanie Canterbury

I’m probably more excited about maggie being on summer break than she is. It’s a little disheartening to know I’m about to have a third grader, but none the less we’re going to make this summer one for the scrapbook! We have a few trips planned and a Disney Vacation we’re in the midst of planning. This blog and a few more aren’t going to be about big trips, but the everyday days. 

Maggie and I searched Pinterest to find some fun projects to do. She decided she wanted to do the Ocean Sensory Project first. I ordered the beads from amazon, bought a 16 quart plastic container and toy ocean animals from a dollar store.

You need:

  • Water beads
  • Gallon pitcher
  • Tablespoon measuring spoon
  • Small water safe toys
  • Plastic container

 

Maggie gives you directions.

Things didn’t turn out like we’d planned, here’s more information.

These things are so neat! They’re a little deformed right now.

Before we went to bed.

After we got up the next morning. They grew a little bit more.

Time to play!

We all really enjoyed doing the ocean sensory bin! We think you will too! 

To see how we’re spending our lazy summer days check out the links under Summer Days With Maggie. I’m sure you’ll find something fun to do with your little one or just for yourself!

Saving Professor Moody

    Stephanie Canterbury

Professor Moody is a very large cat, fifteen pounds large. He’s part Siamese and has Tabby markings. He has these beautiful, big, blue eyes and super long claws.

He has a ridiculous meow and loves getting litter everywhere. No matter how amazingly soft you think his stomach looks, I’d advise you to never, under any circumstances touch it to find out. He will growl his growl. If that doesn’t make you stop, I promise you have less than two seconds before he bites or scratches. Hence how he got his name, plus we’re Harry Potter lovers.

He loves boxes and laying on the couch. He’s lazy and doesn’t play often and sleeps most days away getting his fur on everything. If he does play it’s with a hair tie that’s found it’s way to the floor. He likes to knead my blankets and lay in the sun by the back door.

He has a food bowl that has a timer in it that we got off of amazon (PetSafe 5-Meal Pet Feeder). When he hears that thing he will wake up from a dead sleep and go running and sliding down the hall. You can’t open up tuna around him without giving him some or he’ll drive you nuts. 

He loves his daddy the most and tolerates Maggie and I. Okay, he loves us but loves Benji the most. Benji is his person. 

I couldn’t tell you everything I know about this cat if I never walked into the animal shelter that had him. Benji, Maggie and I had been talking about getting a cat. A female kitten to be exact. 

In June of 2016 while Benji was at work Maggie and I went to the shelter. Of course we seen this huge cat with beautiful eyes, almost the same color as Maggie’s. His name was Pedro and seemed really sweet. 

We talked to a lady that worked there and it turns out he’d already been adopted twice and brought back both times. He apparently didn’t like other cats or kids but he let Maggie pet him and even purred. As we walked through the shelter and looked at all the cats and kittens my heart was set on this Pedro. I wasn’t crazy about his name and figured we’d change it. I took some pictures of him and sent them to Benji. Afterwards, Maggie and I went home.

The next day, which was Saturday, we returned to the animal shelter because Benji is allergic to some cats and wanted to see how he’d do. He liked him and thought he was beautiful so we took him to the play room and spent some time with him. Afterwards we went home and talked about it, while Benji took a Zyrtec for allergies from all the other animals. 

Monday Maggie and I went back, to get our kitty! We brought him home in a box and introduced him to his new home. Guys he was so moody! If Maggie walked by him to close he swatted at her feet. If one of us would pet him in a way he didn’t like he would bite.

I’m not going to lie we were a little worried, after all I was warned. We changed his name and gave him some time and space. That’s all it took, he warmed up to us quickly and now knows he’s loved and he no longer attacks feet! We are even given a warning before he bites or scratches.

I’m so glad we adopted him and gave him a chance at life. If we’d taken him back, who knows what would have happened to him? All I know is I wouldn’t have him laying at my feet while I’m laying on the couch or rubbing up against my leg while I’m opening a tuna can. He wouldn’t be our Moody pooty stinky booty. Adopt from your local shelter! You won’t regret it.