The Verdict Is In... I'm not crazy.

A big shout out and thank you very much to all of you who confirmed that I am not, in fact, crazy. I pretty much suspected I was right, but it is good to have affirmation.  My mother has many strengths, but clearly picking out clothing for me is not one of them.  In the past couple of months, my mom has gifted some doozies of apparel choices.  This one last week was just the straw that broke the unfashionable daughter's back.  Before pulling this little ditty out of the shopping bag, she says... {clearing throat... and I quote...}
 "I walked past this sweater and said to myself... 'that is soooooo Michaela." 

Aghast, I asked "What part of this sweater, exactly, screamed my name?"  Apparently, this is my color.  Who knew.  Certainly not me.  My camera was on the couch next to me, so I said, "let me take a picture to show Gary... maybe you're right, maybe this isn't hideous... maybe it's what all the cool 32 year olds are wearing nowadays."  She then one ups me and dares me to post it on facebook to get my friends' opinions.  Oh they had opinions all right.  44 resounding No's.  So I one upped her, and posted it here too, to drive my point home.  Thank you for coming through.  I sincerely respect your fashion choices. 

Mom, I love you.  Please stop buying me clothes that were designed for the 80 and over set. 

Note to readers:  If you see this woman wandering around the mall, please steer her towards something cute.

Thank you.

Chime In... Please

Okay... I need your vote to settle an argument difference of opinion.  Even if you're new here, or have never commented before, please chime in.  I implore you!!! (that is me groveling, begging even.) 

Question:  Is this sweater something you would wear if you were a 32 year old woman? 

Once the votes have been counted, I'll fill you in on the debate.  The "other half" of this debacle doesn't want me to sway the votes with too much information.

Half Glass Full

I just got this beautiful print last week from Fifi du Vie on Etsy, and I am so excited about it!  Some people are naturally "glass half full" kind of people, but others (like me!) need a reminder.  I adore everything about this print... the color, the typography, what is says.  I love to have art in my house, and my favorite kind is simple (hence my adoration of typography!!).  This is real art people!  It is signed and numbered, and unique and high quality.  I love. You can get yours {HERE}, or try to narrow it down to just one print that you love (which might be a challenge).

Today is going to be a great day. My favorite brother and his fiance are in the air this very moment headed from Detroit to visit us this weekend. The Crazies can hardly contain themselves. Happy Friday!

30 Days

If you're like me, you love 30 Days blog for Mique's heartfelt stories about thriving after her son's autism diagnosis, some beautiful crafts, and did I mention she and her sister are responsible for the Queen Bee Market?!.  I'm guest blogging over there today with some fun (and easy... and cheap!) homemade Valentines ideas!  Head on over and be sure to read some of Mique's most recent posts, she's lovely I tell ya'!

B-List Magnet

So, not to brag or anything, but I've had quite a few brushes with fame.  Would you like to meet someone famous?  Yes?  Come hang out with me for a week and I'll make it happen. 
Who went to junior high with the STAR of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure?

This girl!  Well, I use the word "Star" very loosely here, as she was actually an extra who can be seen running past Napoleon Bonaparte in the scene at Chuck E. Cheese's.  But my hometown of Tempe, Arizona was the location of most of the filming of the movie, so I have actually slid down the same waterslide at Golfland ...bowled at the same bowling alley... even had ice cream at the same ice cream shop.

 Then there's the time I met, as in "ran to the stage past security to throw my 85 pound 7th grade body to the feet of a teal leather-pants-clad Gunnar Nelson of the early 90's band Nelson.  Jealous?  I thought you might be.

Who chased down Richard Simmons in the LAX airport?  Me again.  And yes, he was actually wearing he teeny tiny red and white striped shorts and bedazzled red "Sweatin' to the Oldies" man-tank.

In high school I walked past Lou Diamond Phillips on a bridge at a beach in Santa Monica...

...only to pose with Mark Harmon later that very same day for a picture.

Why, just last month I saw my BFF Alice Cooper at Grady Gammage Theatre on the campus of ASU to see Young Frankenstein.  I said, "Hey Alice" (in my mind), and he responded with "How's it going" (in a very friendly glance that spoke volumes).

So seriously come visit me.  I hear Gary Busey is in town, I'm sure we could run into him.

Whose Kid Is This?

Little Miss Sweetpea tells me today that eggs "totally gross me out".  She's three.

Thank you God for some good laughs with this gal, because otherwise... she's really wearing me out!  By the way, three is totally the new two.

p.s.  picking your nose totally grosses me out, so I guess we're even.

p.p.s  I just realized I used "totally" three times in one very short post.  So I guess I do know whose kid this is.

Lucky Duck

It's your lucky day!

Click {HERE} to see if you're the lucky winner of the Afterlife Rejects giveaway!

Please email me at Lalfabeto{at}gmail{dot}com to claim this cutie!

Winner selected via Random.org's Random Number Generator

The Crazies' Favorites

I love the idea of documenting my Crazies as they grow.  My goal is to ask these same questions every January until they are grown.  I bet some answers will stay the same (like Buddy Boy's favorite color... which he has shown a preference for since he was just a baby!).  Here they are, the favorite things of the two biggest Crazies.

 Buddy Boy's Favorites

Color:  Green

Food:  Chicken Wings

Drink: Sprite

Dessert or Treat:  Ice Cream

Toy:  Batman Motorcycle

TV Show:  Alfred the Hedgehog

Game to Play:  Candyland

Car:  Cadillac

Friend:  Davis

Song:  Justin Beiber

Thing to do with Daddy:  Play soccer

Thing to do with Mommy:  Get hot chocolate

About Mylie:  She's my sister

About Presley:  She's adorable

About School:  Get to learn

When I grow up:  I want to be in the Army

Sweetpea's Favorites

Color:  Pink and Purple

Food:  Applesauce

Drink:  Lemonade

Dessert or Treat:  Cake

Toy:  My Princess Dress

TV Show:  Elf Movie

Game to Play:  Candyland

Car:  Pink car with a rainbow on it

Friend:  Will

Song:  No More Lemonade (a song she wrote herself) and Throw Up Your Rock Fist

Thing to do with Daddy:  Play soccer

Thing to do with Mommy:  Go on a bike ride
About Noah:  He plays in the house with me
About Presley:  When she smiles at me
School:  Playing Starfall
When I Grow Up:  I'm going to marry Noah... and be in the Army because girls can be in the Army

Baby Cakes' Favorites

Pretty much Mom is her favorite everything... but not for long :)  I secretly love this phase when the world begins and ends with Mom, everything I do is her favorite, I alone am the expert in all of her noises and needs, the one she wants when she cries.  It won't be long until she discovers how great her Dad is, and how much fun he is to play with, then of course her first word will be Dada, and she'll have him trying to figure out why he ever thought he wanted another son instead of this sweet sweet little lady.

Afterlife Rejects Valentine Giveaway!

When I was in third grade we visited my Great-Grandma Towe in Portales, New Mexico.  She was tiny and cute, and lived in a hotel, which pretty much rocked.  I was in my "toting my doll around pretending it was real" phase (anyone besides me remember My Child?!).  Grandma Towe took one look at my sweet little fake baby, Courtney Lynn, and said, "Well, she's so ugly she's cute."  At first I was flattered, then a little devastated. 

Now, as an adult, I totally get it.  Take Pugs for instance... so ugly they're cute.  That's exactly what came to mind when I saw these adorable, one of a kind, strange little dolls.  If you know me... or have been reading my blog long enough, you know how much I adore one of a kind things.  I do love me some Target, but nothing beats a handmade gift because you know it is special.  My Crazies would totally love to snuggle with these guys!

Let me introduce you to the fun Etsy shop, Afterlife Rejects.

Meet Sidhe, owner of Afterlife Rejects.

"Afterlife Rejects are run, owned, and operated by our creative family members. Mom (that's me - Sidhe Kalas), two daughters (Catilyn and Naomi), and our son (Laurence), even the daddy (that would be my hubby) gets to help stuff on busy days. We live in the heart of the Smokey Mountains between Knoxville, TN and Asheville, NC in the great metropolis of Cosby, TN."

Cuddlebug is a one of a kind Special Edition Valentine's Day Afterlife Reject Doll. She is grey with black heart boat hat, matching pink dress, black flower pants and a red heart mouth. Cuddlebug comes with a Valentine's Day Card that can be personalized by you or for you by AFR. She is about 15 inches tall. She is made from both new and recycled materials.

Afterlife Rejects is offering this totally adorable Valentine inspired play set to one lucky reader! 

You have three ways to enter, with a total of three possible entries per person :)

1.  Become a "follower" of Life With the Crazies (leave a comment)
2.  Visit After Life Rejects' Facebook Fan Page, "Like", and leave a comment there, then come back and leave a comment here letting me know you did :)
3.  Tweet about this giveaway via Twitter, and/or follow ALR on Twitter (leave a comment here too :)

Please leave a separate comment here for each entry, and an email address to get a hold of you if you win!

Giveaway is open until Friday, January 14th. 

My Coping Mechanism

When I was in first grade, taking the Iowa Basic Skills Test (the annual standardized testing), and bored into near delirium,  I invented my coping mechanism... coping with what you ask?  Boredom.  Embarrassment.  Joy.  Life.  It was in Mrs. Haladik's first grade classroom at Rover Elementary School that I became a star.  Star of my own little on-going movie.  Sort of like the first reality television show ever... circa 1985.

In my delusional alterna-world, I am the lead character in this movie, complete with laugh track.  Seriously, try it.  It makes the most difficult or mundane moments bearable, because man, that is great tv.

Take the Great Rollerblade Fail of 2001, for instance.  I lay there on the side of the road, bloody, but more embarrassed than anything.  As I looked up at those hundreds of stares coming from rush hour traffic, at a dead stop a mere 10 feet from me,  I just remembered, wow, I bet that was quite the sight... me flailing my arms and legs, trying to save myself from falling, but alas, eating curb.  I'm quite sure it made their drive home that day quite enjoyable (speaking as one who truly appreciates witnessing a good fall).  I bet they even re-told the tale of my spectacular display to their friends and family that evening.  I'm telling you, good tv.

Other highly rated episodes of Me Tv:

The One When I Knocked Over the Display of Life Size Christmas Soldiers at Target, 1996

The One When My Itty Bitty Underwear That Was Stuck Inside My Pants Leg from the Dryer Fell Out in Front of the School Assembly, in which I was a Teacher, 2008

The One(s) When My Teacher Dad Cut the Cheese in Front of My High School Classmates, and Me, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995

Labor and Delivery, 2004, 2007, 2010

The Wedding, 2001



So... am I nuts?  Probably.  But this really does make life just a little bit more fun.  Do it.

The One Where I Gush

Babycakes.  I just want to eat her up. She is just the most precious little thing, so precious in fact that I hardly even mind the fact that she cannot fall asleep unless cuddled up next to me face to face.  Don't get me wrong... I am sooooo not a co-sleeping mama, but by laying with her I get to just soak up her little baby face, perfect little nose, teeny tiny lips, and eyelashes that curl up just at the edges.  I have learned all too well how fast it goes, and I just want to revel in her baby-ness.  The dishes can wait.  Gosh I just adore her.

{Photography by Christina Hendrick Photography}

{1-1-11} The Goals

1.  Lose 35 pounds, yep, how cliche... but seriously

2. Re-design my Etsy shop
3. Sell my wares at two Christmas boutiques
4. Run a 5K
5. Landscape our front yard
6. Finish reading my Bible the whole way through
7. Read 12 new books
8. Play with my kids, everyday
9. Start and finish Babycakes' baby book
10.  Start our "A Krull Christmas" scrapbook
11. Spend a weekend away with Gary
12. Sleep through the night... I need some cooperation from Babycakes on this one
13. Eat breakfast every morning
14.  Pray...about where God wants our family, and what He wants us doing
15.  Take a sewing class

This list is much shorter than last year's... I guess I'm not nearly as ambitious.  Or more realistic.  Or just plain tired (see #12).  A few of last year's goals didn't get accomplished, so they ended up on my new list.  Did you make a 2011 list of goals?  Resolutions?  Reflections on 2010?