These are a few of my favorite things....

Are you picturing Julie Andrews twirling around in her nightgown during a thunderstorm, surrounded by children?

Humming the song in your head?

Can't quite remember the words?

Here, allow me to help:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings...
These are a few of my favorite things.

That's it....you remember now?

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings...
These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs...
These are a few of my favorite things.

I would have to say that I definitely agree with some of Maria's favorite things. Ponies. Sleigh bells. Snowflakes. Winter melting into spring. Doorbells? Not so much. No idea what a schnitzel with noodles is. :)

So just for fun I thought I'd share a few of my own favorite things....

Cl*rox wipes - love these for a quick cleanup in the bathroom. So much easier than dragging out rags, paper towels, bottles of cleaner....



Casc*de ActionPacs and Seventh Generation Natural Dish Liquid - ActionPacs because they're so easy and un-messy (and fairly low phosphorus, which is supposed to be good in hard water like we have around here).


And I LOVE this dishwashing liquid by Seventh Generation. My favorite so far is the Lavender Floral & Mint. It works well, and I love the "safety information" on the label that says, "Seventh Generation products, although not intended for consumption, aren't poisonous." It is plant-derived, safe for the environment, and scented only with essential oils and botanical extracts. What's not to love? :)


Reyn*lds Slow Cooker Liners - the box says it all!



My kids and I LOVE this CD. We listen to it all the time. Over and over. I even use it in my 3-year-old classroom at church, and they love it too. It is awesome!

Grape tomatoes - these are a fabulous little jewel of a vegetable fruit (it just doesn't seem right). They are some of my favorite things because they are great in salads - or even just as a side at dinner - and they don't have to be cut up....and they're even smaller than cherry tomatoes, so it's not so hard to eat them in one bite without tomato guts squirting all over the place. For the kids, I mean. ahem.

(photo by D. Sharon Pruitt)

Mr. Clean Magic Er*ser - takes off everything...EVERYTHING I've ever tried it on. It works MAGIC on the door handles of my refrigerator, which I can never get clean any other way because they're textured. Oh yeah, and it took PERMANENT MARKER off my refrigerator too. No idea how that got there.

Swiffer Sweeper vacuum - works tons better than a broom for picking up crumbs, dust, and hair (ewww). I never feel like I get everything with a broom, no matter how many times I sweep...

(sorry - I guess I should have kept all the cleaning products together, but I didn't think of that until now and it's too hard to move everything around.)

Arbonne Intelligence Rejuventaing Cream - I mentioned this in my More About Me post several weeks ago. Here's why I love it...

Jacob has had some sort of skin rash, that comes and goes, almost his whole life. It's related to dry skin or sensitive skin or something like that. We have tried creams, lotions, oils...you name it. Nothing really helped...until THIS.



It is amazing! As long as we use it every day it keeps the rash completely cleared up. But of course, I'm not very good about that. Once it gets cleared up I tend to get lax and let it slide for a day or six, and then it's back in full force. But once we start using the Rejuvenating Cream again, it clears right up in about two days. LOVE IT! (and if you're interested in trying it, I happen to know where you can get some....*smile*).


And last but certainly not least, this....


After all, I do live in TEXAS, y'all! :)


When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things....

....and then I don't feel sooooo bad.