Ever heard of Euless?

Bathroom remodel, Demo Day 1

2012-02-17T12:11:00.000-06:00

My wonderful hubby is patient enough to put up with my crazy ideas. Although he has NEVER done any construction work, he believes me when I tell him we can completely gut and redo our bathroom without hiring it out. Why do I think we can do this?

Because this awesome, very funny man, just happens to be my father. He was county building inspector for 30 + years, plus laid tile professionally for decades. If it has to do with construction, he knows it. And he’s willing to fly out to help us!

So, let’s start out with the before:

Here’s what we’ve been living with. It’s better than the original!

But obviously this is something that has to be fixed up correctly before we ever try to sell this house (not that we plan on moving any time soon, but still, it’s something that needs to be done!)

Hubby was CONVINCED that it would take him 2 weeks to demo it. I laughed. He obviously has never done demo! We had a friend come over for some grunt work, and in 5 hours it looked like this:

Wow. It’s kind of amazing how much bigger a room looks without a tub in it!

Hubby did accidentally cut a pipe. And it did take another 4 hours to figure out how to fix that pipe. Finally, since I really rather needed to have water for the next 2 weeks! We decided to just cut it off and cap it. We’ll be replacing that whole section anyway!

Demo isn’t done yet, we still need to take down this whole wall:

But we decided to leave that for a while so we have a way to keep our 2 year old out of there!

I also picked up a roll of that sticky plastic stuff to cover up some of our carpet. I like this carpet, but it has such a crazy thick mat:

That It’s hard to get junk out of it!

So now I’m without an upstairs toilet for the next two weeks (well, two weeks until we start construction!) Middle of the night bathroom runs aren’t too fun, but at least we have running water!

A very big undertaking

2012-01-29T18:25:00.001-06:00

What is this very large addition hiding under this blanket?

Why, it’s a large new bathroom vanity!

Why would I have a vanity in my kitchen?

Because this:

Is about to change to this:

(not actually mine, but found here)

and then eventually this!

(again, not really, but it’ll be awesome! source)

Demolition starts early Monday morning, and I’m sure I’ll have lots to share in the next weeks as we completely gut our main bathroom (including moving one and a half walls!)

It will be an adventure for sure!

Good friends

2012-01-25T06:27:00.000-06:00

Life is busy.

I know that. I'm busy. You're busy. All day long there are so many things that need our attention. Really important things (bills, kids, church, chocolate). Not so important things (awesome new tv shows, finding new recipes to try, playing on pintrest). There is never a moment when you don't have something to do.

Yesterday my email was hacked. It's not too big of a deal, just everyone in my inbox started getting those stupid spam messages from me. As of 3 minutes ago (so less than 12 hours after it happened), I have had no less than 6 friends let me know this happened.

One of them even called me (she was the first to let me know). 6 friends (ok, some are family, but they count as friends!) took time out of their busy schedule to let me know so I could fix my problem.

How often do you take time out of your busy day to help someone else. Something little, like this, that is a huge help, and took only a couple of minutes on their part, but was huge for me. How often do we take time to lend a hand, lift someone up, ease some one's burden.

If it's been a while, try something today. Open a door for someone else. Send a card to a friend you haven't seen in a while. Let your Mom know you love her.

You'll feel good.

And so will your friend.

(thanks guys!)

Ponderings #3

2012-01-20T19:00:00.001-06:00

How a doctor visit and a weight watcher’s meeting have more in common than you might think.

*originally written Jan 4

Several months ago I first went to my OBGYN to talk about fertility treatments. We had tried on our own, but it just wasn’t working for us, again. I had put off this visit for one reason only: I only weighed 5 pounds less than when ‘Lil was born. UGG! I was super embarrassed about it, but finally decided that we just needed to get things taken care of.

As the doctor and I talked about what my body was doing, and how to help it out, he ended the conversation by saying “and then, of course, loosing so weight might help.” I hung my head in shame. Of course I knew that it would help. And I was SO bad at actually doing something about it!
But that changed in November. I was determined to get into shape. Of course, two weeks later I found out I was pregnant – but at my weight, it’s not harmful at all to loose some fat while pregnant. Especially because the number 1 way I’m accomplishing it is less chocolate and more apples. No doctor in the world is going to get mad at me for loosing weight by eating fruits and vegetables!
I was doing great – awesome even. I was down about 5 pounds just after I got back home from visiting family. Thanksgiving didn’t mess me up. Even Christmas wasn’t too bad.

And then New Year’s hit.

FOUR POUNDS. I gained back four freakin pounds in two days! I can’t believe it! I had been doing so great! And of course, my first doctor appointment is only a few days later (today, in fact Jan 4th!). So just how much can I do to get that back off in three days?

I walked – and walked and walked and walked – on my treadmill. I ate SUPER healthy, and didn’t let myself splurge until I’d eaten at least 2 fruits/veggies before hand and still wanted that treat. I chugged water. I did everything you’re supposed to do.

Now it’s the great day of reckoning. My appointment is at 2:00. If I drink only as much water as I can possibly squeak by with, and eat really light for both breakfast and lunch, and only just as much snacks as I can to stop me from throwing up, and what clothes do I have that are really light weight . . . This is the EXACT same situation my thought processes would go through when I was in weight watchers! What can I do to make it look like I had a good weight loss week!

Wish me luck! My scale says I’m back down 2.7 lbs, which is about 3.5 pounds less than that very first appointment!

*UPDATE:

I just got back – THEY DIDN’T EVEN WEIGH ME!! All that stress, and they didn’t even do it. I
wonder if I can stay down for another month until the next appointment!

And . . . Introducing our little peanut:

They did change my due date a couple of days, which is fine. But I got to see my little baby moving its hands around, and the little heart fluttering, and I’m already in love!

For those not fluent on your fuzzy dots, I edited the picture for you (it’s SO much easier to see in person than in a picture! and the other leg is hiding behind the cord right now, but it’s there!)

Ponderings #2

2012-01-18T12:41:00.002-06:00

Or, spilling the beans too many times!
*originally written December 22

With my other pregnancies, we’ve been so good to not tell a soul until that first doctor appointment. Until that first real true confirmation that a child is really growing inside you. Our first hang up was with ‘Lil, when we had to tell our dentist at only 6 weeks along.

Well, things aren't’ going so well this time. Yes, I had to tell my dentist again. And all the nurses wouldn’t stop talking about it, even after I told them that our kids don’t know. I know Girly-Lou is going to figure things out.

I also told Happy Mom. It just kind of slipped out. Twice a week at our church, we have a killer exercise class. Only now we have a personal trainer coming that’s seriously kicking our trash. Only a few days after I took the test, I was just dying – crazy dizzy, blacking out, just not being able to give as much as she wanted! Happy Mom asked if I had any idea what was wrong. Of course I knew what was wrong! And since no one else was around right then, I told her. So, at 5 weeks, two people know now.

Then Hubby lets it slip to Happy Mom’s Hubsters. So they BOTH know. The funny thing is, they never told each other that they knew!

Then I had to tell that personal trainer, so she would understand why I just couldn’t do everything that I had been doing. So know, at 6 weeks, 4 people know.

I just keeps on going! Everywhere I turn around, there is someone, for some reason, that just needs to be told. Around the dinner table last week, Hubby started talking about a pilot he was flying with, and telling the story about how we have 4 kids and how surprised the pilot was and . . . UMMM STOP TALKING IN FRONT OF THE CHILDREN DEAR! Remember that little ears listen and don’t know things yet!

But I know Girly-Lou is going to figure things out. I’m surprised if she hasn’t already. Hubby and I talked about it, and we’re going to tell the kids for Christmas. I picked up a plain stocking and stuck a giant question mark on it. Then I found an old rattle and attached the following poem to it, and put it all inside the stocking.

One more present for three wonderful kids.
(We’ll explain it soon, don’t flip your lids!)
Why would a stocking have no name?
And a rattle? Is Mom playing a game?
No, it’s something much more.
An announcement of something you can’t buy at the store.
Our family numbers only five for now,
But next year six, do you know how?
Yes, a baby is on the way.
Mommy will be getting bigger every day.
A brother? A Sister? Who knows yet.
But a sibling for Christmas - how lucky can you get!

I cried the whole time I was writing it. I bet I sob when I read it to them (*update: I TOTALLY sobbed!)

Ponderings #1

2012-01-16T12:27:00.002-06:00

*Originally written December 10
Since all my thoughts are currently centered on my condition, I thought I’d go ahead and pre-publish some of those thoughts. So my regular posts might be slim for the next while, but I’ll still be doing lots behind the scenes!

Now that I’m six weeks, I feel more confident that all will be well, and maybe I won’t miscarry. I’ve even figured out a reason why. When I don’t ovulate, my longest cycles are 41 days. Do the math here, that’s 6 weeks along. I think part of me has refused to accept that this might work out until I passed that cycle mark. It’s starting to feel more real.

And it’s real in more than one way. I already don’t fit well in my jeans. Yes, I can still button them up, but by noon I’m super uncomfortable. I wake up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. And the most surprising of all, I’m dizzy all the time.

That’s the one that confuses me more than any other. Why would I be dizzy? And I’m not talking just a general lightheadedness either. I range from a constant that-feeling-you-get-right-before-you-see-stars to the whole room is spinning to my vision blacking out. Occasionally this has been brought on by needing to eat. More common though, it’s because I looked over my shoulder too fast, or nodded my head in a conversation too much.

Let’s just say I’ve got some questions for my doctor!

Forgetfulness and stressing

2012-01-12T07:54:00.002-06:00

*this is again a super pre-post (as in done months in advance)

Guess what.

I’m pregnant! Thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, we’re expecting number 4 in August.

But I’m writing this in December. December 1 to be exact. It has only been 4 days since I took my pregnancy test. And I think I’m getting pregnancy brain already.

Twice – hear that TWICE – in the last three days, I have lovingly made Buddy’s lunch . . . and then left it sitting on the counter. Its MY job to make sure it gets in his back pack, and I’ve totally, completely blown it. The first time, I saw it early enough to get it to him. Today I didn’t see it until a full hour past lunch time.

Today, I put 7 envelopes in my mail box . . . without a single stamp on any of them.

I am not even 5 weeks along – isn’t it WAY too early to be having this happen?

And speaking of too early . . . this pregnancy terrifies me. I want to be pregnant. I’ve wanted to be pregnant for more than a year now. But this is pregnancy number four for me. I’ve never had a bad miscarriage* . . . and I’m terrified that it’s my turn.

I want to shout it to the world – I’M PREGNANT!!!!!!!! But it’s still so early. The idea of needing to tell everyone that I lost the baby just makes me feel sick. I’ve got 8 more weeks of my first trimester – and I’m still giving my mother a present that states my condition. What if I miscarry while I’m visiting her?

And if I do miscarry . . . what then? I only get 4 c-sections. My body can’t labor normally – could I even have a “normal” miscarriage? What if it ended up being my last pregnancy EVER ended only in a feeling of emptiness.

Of course, if you’re reading this, it means I’m past the super worried part. Because if I actually DID miscarry, this post would never be read. Instead there would most likely be silence from me for a very VERY long time while I came to grips with my situation.

I hope this worry is only because it’s just so new. And I’ve taken too many failed pregnancy tests in the last year for this to really feel true. (I’ve never been so glad that I took a picture of a urine based test in my life! But I keep on needing to reassure myself with the picture I took of that beautiful positive staring up at me.) How I hope this worry is only me feeling guilty that I AM pregnant, when my good friend is not. I hope my fears are rooted in my own imagination that everyone has to have a really bad miscarriage – and not in premonition.

So here’s MY Christmas wish: That all my followers have a wonderful season . . .and actually get the
chance to read this post, instead of an unbelievably painful one that I hope I never need to write.
*I think I might have actually had a miscarriage a few months ago. But I was only 3 days late, so I’m not actually sure. But I did think I actually ovulated that time, and it was a rather heavy period, so that’s why I wonder if I did.

How much fun can YOU have with a pin?

2012-01-10T19:28:00.002-06:00

Parents often dream about what their children will be like when they grow up. We discuss our dreams for them, our wishes and joys and expectations. But none of that can happen unless your parenting inspires those attributes.

In an attempt to help my children excel in some of the most important things in life, I’ve introduced them at a young age to some of the these ideals. Foremost of which, naturally, is Harry Potter and Narnia. The books of course, not the movies. Girly-Lou still can’t make it through a movie with actual people in it without major fear tears. (yes, I realize you thought I was talking about more than being an amazing geek. But this is ME you’re talking about!)

Over the last few months, we’ve been reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. (Yes, I said months. Their attention span is not huge, and we often go a few days in between readings)

Tonight we read Harry’s ordeal with Norbert the Dragon. My children gasped as they discovered Malfoy spying. They cheered when Charlie’s friends flew away. And they worried when Harry got caught.

After the chapter was over, Buddy wanted to know just what a cloak was anyway (you may recall, the invisibility cloak plays a rather important roll in that chapter). My attempt to explain that it was like a long coat, only without sleeves or a zipper did not go over so well. Instead I received even more questions. Finally, I had Buddy grab his blanket and I draped it over his shoulders in proper cloak fashion. This was better. I even left a corner that could pretend to be the hood. Light bulbs figuratively flashed above their heads. Girly-Lou wanted her blanket done in the same fashion.
Three safety pins later, we had this:

It does this geeky mom’s heart proud to see her offspring cavorting around in cloaks.

Girly-Lou decided to howl at the moon in hers (I don’t exactly know why.)

Buddy couldn’t stand still, his was sooooooo cool.

Even ‘Lil thought it was an awesome idea.

“Look, Ma. I’m a hobbit!”

It was a full 60 minutes that the three of them played together. There was much cheering and joy and silliness. And even requests to sleep in the cloaks. (but reason prevailed, and this did not happen.)

If only I’d known just how much fun 3 safety pins could bring, I think they would have received some in their stockings!
So, what little things have brought joy to your family lately?

cooking

2012-01-05T12:20:00.003-06:00

Apparently this Christmas was the year of the kitchen. I received new mixing bowls, two amazing cookbooks, a giant electric frying pan (to replace our 25 year old one!), a huge george forman grill (with removable plates!) and Hubby got a waffle iron.

With all this new gadgetry and information at my fingertips, I’ve just been itching to do some cooking. Real, amazing, food, coming from my kitchen.
I haven’t shared too many recipes with you – partly because I never make up my own. But this one needs to be shared . . . and it was created by little ol’ me!

A couple of years ago, for Sadie’s Test Kitchen, we made curry. Now, it was yummy, but only my Hubby and I would eat it, and it was fussy, and I’ve just never made it again. A few months ago, I was wanting a new recipe, and wondered if I could make something up. (When you’re obsessed with cooking shows, it’s bound to happen!) I wanted to use up some spices that we never use, and gram masala was first thing I thought of.

I have no clue what gram masala is. ~~If I wasn’t so lazy I’d go look at the jar~~ I think it’s a mixture of Indian spices. But it’s yummy, let’s just say that. A very sweet, tangy aroma awaits you when you open the jar. And it was my kicking off point.

Now, obviously, this recipe is up for interpretations. Use what you have! But after several months, and many tries, this is our family’s favorite version.

Gram Masala Chicken Salad

1 can cooked chicken (or use fresh about 1 breast I’d think)
2 cups macaroni noodles
2 slices bacon, cooked and diced (optional)
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
1/4 tsp gram masala
1/4 tsp dried onion
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper (5 or 6 good grinds should work)
Salt to taste
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp lemon juice

Cook pasta according to package directions – making sure you salt the water really well (HUGE difference in final taste!). While that’s cooking, combine chicken, gram masala, onion, garlic, pepper, and salt in a frying pan. Cook until the chicken is dry (not like dehydrator try, but not soupy like it is right out the can.) In a separate bowl, wisk together oil, sugar, and lemon juice.

Drain the noodles. In a large bowl, stir together hot noodles, chicken mixture, bacon and oranges.

Drizzle oil mixture on top and gently toss to combine.

The bacon addition is what finally made Buddy like this dish. It’s even better to eat it cold the next day!

Finally ready, and a silly story

2011-12-22T15:22:00.001-06:00

Hey all! Sorry it's been so long since I posted. But between a whirlwind trip to Utah, hand making 70 ornaments for the Relief Society, teaching the Christmas lesson, and figuring out just what the heck I'm giving people, I haven't had much time to blog.

But I'm finally ready for Christmas!

Yup. Everything is bought - even stocking stuffers. Everything is wrapped. Baking is done. I do have to run a couple presents over to people, but that won't take long.

Let's all breath a huge sigh of relief, shall we?

WHEWWWW!!

Now that feels better! This has been a super crazy season, but with school getting out today (hooray!), and now everything being ready, I’m going to spend a ridiculous amount of time being silly with my kiddos!

So, since this will most likely be my last post for the year, I thought I’d leave you with a super silly story, as told by ‘Lil

*and yes, I know she can’t talk. So just pretend that this is the way she’d tell it!

There was this really BIG doggie that I love and I just can’t stop following around.

But wait,

there is something else to follow over there – it looks much more my size!

Just what is this thing? It keeps walking away from me!

Look! There’s a bunch of them now!

Come back! I want to figure out what you are!

Uh-Oh! You weren't supposed to come that close!

Too many birdies! Why are they following me? Go somewhere else!

Akk! No where else to run! What should I do . . . .”AHHHHHHHH Ma Ma Ma!!!!”*

So much better!

*actual quote when we found her cornered by the ferocious chickens.

The great chicken experiment

2011-12-01T20:38:00.003-06:00

I still remember the first time I ever ate Chinese food. I was a junior in college, working at an ice cream shop. We also sold soups and sandwiches, which as workers, we also got to eat every day. But anyone who has worked in foods KNOWS how sick at tired you get of your own food.
One day our manager decided to try a food swap. Basically, one food place calls up another food place and asks if they want to trade meals. The Chinese place got 5 1/2 gallons of amazing ice cream, and we got 5 lunch specials.
It was DEVINE! I couldn’t believe something could taste that good. Despite the name, Tiny Spicy Chicken was not spicy at all. It was just pure bliss.
Hubby, on the other hand, ate Chinese food about every other week growing up. He’s a real connoisseur of the stuff. Every rainy day he turns big puppy dog eyes on me, pleading for some egg drop soup.
So I’ve been on a quest to actually make really good Chinese food at home.
Of course, Pintrest was my friend for this!
Contestant Number 1:

Found HERE
I only put the source there to credit it. DO NOT GO AND TRY TO MAKE THIS ONE!!!
This was my first attempt. Mostly because I already had all the ingredients, and I’m a huge fan of recipes that require little more than dumping things in a crock pot.
But this is what it ended up looking like:

Not exactly appetizing is it!
It was more like soup. And the flavor! Ugg! It had the most unbelievably bitter, almost metallic aftertaste. I tired HARD to salvage this. LOTS more sugar. Tons of cornstarch to thicken it up. Salt (to cut the bitterness). While there was some improvement, I still will never make this again.

*but it did photograph rather pretty!
Contestant Number 2:

Found HERE
I was very hesitant to try another crock pot version. But I was pleasantly surprised at the results. While nothing like what you can get at a restaurant, it was actually edible – enjoyably so. There was a little bit of fuss with the frying of the chicken first, but still, worth my time.

I forgot to get a shot of this one looking all pretty. But let me tell you, I was super excited it didn’t look like soup!
However, it still wasn’t that AWESOME orange chicken flavor that I was craving.
Contestant Number 3:

Found HERE
I saved this one for the last. It was MUCH more involved, and I was pretty sure it would end up being the best of the bunch.
Oh BOY was I right! THIS is the recipe I wanted. This is the chicken I crave on rainy days. This one, THIS ONE is making it into my permanent collection.

The whole family thought it was perfect. (ok, so Buddy didn’t really like the sauce. But he did love the fact that I let him dip the plain chicken in ketchup!) In fact, I had to scrape together the very last bit in order to take a picture of the thing!
So, if you’d like a FABULOUS homemade orange chicken recipe, don’t waste your time with #1 or #2. Just head strait for #3!
*I guess I should mention the changes I made. I’m a total cheapskate, so I didn’t buy everything I needed. I used just white vinegar, left out the orange zest and pepper flakes completely, used ground ginger instead of fresh. And I was somehow completely out of soy sauce (and yes, I did spend a very long time wandering around saying “SOOOOOOY SAAAAAUUUUCCCEEEEE!” from Thoroughly Modern Millie), so I ended up substituting teriyaki sauce instead. It was awesome!

Gyp

2011-11-28T14:53:00.002-06:00

What I thought I bought:

The bestest happy treats ever.
What I actually bought
:
Just plain! I was SOOO flippin disappointed! Why on earth put them in the same color bags?!?!
*and no, this was not to blow my get healthy plans. This was to fill my awesome advent calendar. So, yes, it's just my kids that will be eating them. But I really wanted to snitch some leftovers and now I can't!

run

2011-11-21T07:01:00.002-06:00

5:21. Alarm goes off. Just enough time to snooze once.
I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to move. I’m cozy snuggled up under the covers.
5:30. Beeping fills the room again. Sigh. Shoes on. Hair up. I can do this.
Movie on – with captions, the sound is so quiet. I do my best to keep the rest of the house asleep.
And I run. A very old treadmill insists that I – not it – sets the pace. I have to force it to keep going as fast as I’d like. But I run.
Not far. Not fast. But for 30 minutes my heart beats faster, sweat beading along my hairline.
I hate getting up early. But I hate not doing something about my weight more. I watch the time tick closer to that thirty mark more than I read the captions on the movie. “60 more seconds” I chant. “You can do this!”
40 now . . . just 19 more. . . 3 . 2 . 1. YES! I slow to a walk and begin a cool down.
I feel more awake than three weeks ago. I feel confident, capable, like I can actually make a difference this time.
I will not be down 10 pounds by the first of December. Too much baking and not enough will power. But I can be down 5. And 5 is a beautiful number.

Confessions

2011-11-12T12:25:00.001-06:00

Ok all, it’s time for some confessions.

I’m fat.

Whew! I said it.

I currently weigh 30 lbs more than when got pregnant with ‘Lil. Actually, I weigh about 2 lbs less than I did when I DELIVERED her. Even more disgusting, I weigh 13 lbs more than when she was 8 weeks old. Yup. I lost 15 pounds, and then gained most of it back. And since then I’ve just been playing with the same 3 lbs.

And I’m done. I’m tired of feeling just gross and big. I’m done making excuses. I’m ready to really change.

Last time I felt this way, I lost 25 pounds in about 4 months. (this was just before my last pregnancy). Part of that motivation was the idea of “well, if I can’t get pregnant, at least I can make my body healthier to prepare it”.

And here I am, 3 years later, in the exact same situation. It’s just dumb to weigh this much AGAIN!

As of today, I have 21 days until I head to visit family. My goal: 10 lbs off by then.

*in true confession mode, I thought I posted this when I had 25 days left. I’m already down 1 pound!

I know that’s a big goal – especially considering Thanksgiving is in the middle of all that. But I also know it’s really easy to loose 5 lbs the first week or so of trying, and 7 just is hard to remember (I’m at a nice round number now – in more ways than one! and 10 is easier math to figure out!)

A few weeks ago, I ran a 5k. My time was much better than I thought it would be, especially considering how much I ended up walking due to the world’s biggest charlie horse. Now my goal is to actually RUN the whole 3 miles. This week, I’ve run four mornings out of five. I’m up to running for 30 minutes (plus 10 more walking). According to my little ticker up top, that burned 400 calories. I also threw in a 25 minute bike ride to the grocery store with ‘Lil in the trailer behind me, for another 150 calories. If I keep this up, and stop snitching all the leftover Halloween candy, 10 lbs should come of without much of a problem.

I promise I’m not going to turn this into a weight loss blog. But being accountable to someone is such a HUGE motivator to me! I won’t post every day, but I am going to try to check in several times a week. I re-did my ticker at the top of my blog, and this time – THIS TIME it’s going down!

and staying there!

keepin busy

2011-11-08T15:37:00.001-06:00

Hey all!

So, I’ve been MIA for a little while. Nothing big, just a very full, crazy life. Want to see some of what I’ve been up to?

Frist off, remember that bag I made?

Well, I was hired to make three more.

Yup. People actually paid me to make bags. Now, two of those . . .

I DID NOT PICK THE FABRICS!!!!

And they are not at all what I would have chosen. But, my friend wanted them, and so, there you go.

But that last one,

I do like.

I got to pick it out, and it was very fun! (and Em, I’ll try to stick it in the mail soon!)

Next up, I’ve been working on a website! Hah! like I have a clue how to do a website! But I DO know how to blog. I have a couple of friends who own a craft business. They wanted a blog type website so people could see all they offer.

(aren’t those gourds so fun!)

Only problem – it was a Wordpress blog.

I know, EVERYONE says wordpress is the place to be if you want to grow a business, and it’s so much better, and blah blah blah. But let me tell you – it’s freakn’ annoying to use! I can’t find anything, adding pictures was a nightmare, and it was literally taking me over an hour to do a single post.

So instead, I spent 5 hours figuring out how to change it over to blogger. It’s not an easy process! But I finally got it to work! (If anyone wants details for how I did this, just email me). I still have a lot of work to do on it, but at least now I CAN work on it!

Then, I’m in charge of a big progressive dinner for the ladies at my church this Thursday. That’s been another HUGE time spender. I think it’s going to be awesome. . . as long as people actually show up. Everyone is out of town this week! What’s up with that! But, I’m very excited about it, and I’ll be sure to post pictures when we’re done!

So that’s my life right now (along with being a mom and cleaning and helping my sister’s kids out and digging up 239473 lbs of lava rocks and planting and all that!)

What are you up to?

Not too scary

2011-10-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

One of the blogs I follow makes the most A.MAZ.ING! costumes for her kids every year.

from make-it-and-love-it.com

I don’t.

I’ve never actually made a costume for my kids. Either someone has given one to us, or I bought it on clearance after the holiday.

Last year, she made THIS costume

from make-it-and-love-it.com

I filled it away, hoping that I could be a pregnant skeleton this year.

Well, that’s not happening (grumble grumble stupid ovaries grumble!), so we did the next best thing.

Buddy gets the skeleton this year.

For her husband, she put his favorite food in his belly. Buddy originally thought that was great, but then changed his mind and wanted it blank.

The only problem I had was finding a solid black long sleeved t. Lots of navy. Lots of already decorated. No actual T’s. I did finally find some men’s shirts. So I took one of his shirts for a size guide, cut down the man’s shirt, and sewed it back together.

Some freezer paper, paint, and patience later and. . .

Tada!

He LOVES it. It is a bit big, but will also fit him next year that way.

And his favorite part . . .

It glows in the dark. I picked up a bottle of this

at joann’s for $3. One very cramped hand later, we had a glow-in-the-dark skeleton boy.

Costume breakdown:

men’s t-shirt $6

thrifted pants $2

glow-in-the-dark paint $3

Freezer paper, white paint, brushes, ect: on hand

Total cost: $11

Girly-Lou gets a $10 garage sale queen costume:

And ‘Lil, I think this year she gets to be a skunk.

the little stinker!

Fall decorating

2011-10-27T12:51:00.000-05:00

. . . I’m just a little late on this one!

I’ve wanted to really decorate my house for fall for months weeks now. I just haven’t gotten around to actually DOING it. Last week, however, I had a book club at my house. Finally, a reason to get my act together and make it look cute!

I had way too much fun getting everything ready.

First off: food. Do you think I’d waste a good excuse to make super yummy food?

Mmmm – you can almost taste these Oreo truffles!

And a yummy pumpkin roll (thanks, Happy Mom for letting me borrow the plates and platters!)

I’ve wanted to do some kind of tray for my coffee table for quite a while. What’s stopped me, you ask?

Oh yah. I have a 21 month old! But I did pull one together fast: just a spray painted frame with some fun fabric (hooray for having supplies!), a candle, SUPER easy wire pumpkins, and of course, dollar store silk leaves.

I don’t have a mantle – but I do have my awesome sofa table.

The runner is a $3 clearance scarf I found a few months ago. I don't get anything new this year for my table (well, except the pumpkins – you have to buy new mini pumpkins!). The dollar store leaves and pumpkins really make it look pulled together (something I’ve NEVER achieved before!)

This ghost I made 10 or so years ago – still looking good!

Pretty candles make my life happy.

And my adorable 2x4 creatures.

I also have my tp pumpkins (made 6 or 7 years ago) up on my bookcase along with a leaf garland I’ve had for 8 or so years too.

And that’s my room! Of course, Halloween is almost over, but still – it looks good for a bit anyway!

Who doesn't like a freebie?

2011-10-19T12:17:00.000-05:00

I don't usually get into deals and such on this blog. But I'm excited about this one, and thought I'd clue you in on it too.

As most of you know, I LOVE digital scrapbooking. Today, the company that makes the software I use, is also giving away embossing card making kits - you just have to pay the $2.50 shipping.

Check it out HEREHERE

Alack! Alack!

2011-10-17T14:42:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, I was busy cleaning. I brushed off my hands, and felt something stuck on my wedding ring.

I looked down, and saw what I thought was a hair wrapped around it

It wasn’t a hair.

IT WAS BROKEN!!!!!

How could my wedding ring be broken! But it is, split right down the center.

Now we get to go find a jeweler and see how much to repair it. With gold prices as high as they are . . .it’s not going to be pretty!

The Weekend

2011-10-11T06:53:00.000-05:00

*for the about 1% of my readers who don’t know, I’m a Mormon – which means I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Twice a year we have the opportunity to have a General Conference where we listen to talks given by our Prophets and Apostles. With the wonderful internet, this two day conference can now be watched in the comfort of our homes, instead of dragging our kids to 8 hours worth of church over two days. This post is about my conference experience October 1 –2.

The time was about 11:12 (or 12 minutes into this 8 hours of religious instruction). I was alone – Hubby still flying, In-Laws still driving to come. Just me and my 3 children. In the past 12 minutes, my older two had already become bored with the 7 different activities I had planned, I had broken up 3 fights, changed a diaper, and was now carrying my 20 month old like a football up the stairs as she kicked and screamed at the top of her lungs.

Conference can be fun.

Fondly, I cast my mind back a mere 7 years. Back to when I still sat every conference with my parent’s family, tieing quilts, my notebook close by ready to write down all my thoughts and feelings. Conference meant peace, instruction, time well spent in service and family.

That was not today. As I lugged ‘Lil up the stairs, Girly-Lou still sobbing from the bite she received at her sisters mouth, those memories of conferences growing up overwhelmed me. Even with two younger sisters, I never remember MY mom dealing with screaming children. Even growing up with 20 or so nieces and nephews, I never remember MY sisters dealing with this many fights and sobs in conference.

“What am I doing wrong here?” I asked myself. “I’m sure my sisters broke up fights, but in spite of everything I do, my children are not happy. They haven’t grasped the joy that this weekend should be. Why? What more could I do? Is there a point of even trying anymore?”

And there, standing on that stair, I received one of the largest outpourings of the Spirit I have ever had. I was overwhelmed with the sweet feeling, that today again brings tears to my eyes. My sacrifice was acceptable before the Lord. It was important, these things I was trying to teach. It was good that I tried to show my children how wonderful listening to the words of God is. That eventually, they too would find conference an uplifting experience. It may take years, but the seeds I was struggling so hard to plant, would eventually take root and grow, and my children would someday thank me, like I thank my Mom for showing me how to live and listen to the Spirit.

Being a Mom is tough work. There is SO much that MUST be learned at such a young age. There’s the regular stuff – how to get dressed and tie shoes and make beds and clean up after yourself. There’s the mental stuff – letters and numbers and how to be nice and manners. There’s the spiritual stuff – that you are loved by God, and the Atonement, and not to lie, and all of the wonderful things to remember. The younger you teach ALL of these things, the better off your children will actually remember and believe them. It’s a lot.

But I had forgotten one important part. I wasn’t actually alone. That these things were all important to their Heavenly Father too. And if they were important to Him, then He would help me if I would only ask.

So I did.

First, I gave up on ‘Lil. When she gets super ornery, the only thing to help is a big dose of Elmo. So, with her on a different floor of the house happily watching on the portable DVD player, the rest of us could actually hear what was being said. I paused the stream (love that feature!) and explained to my children, again, just why we were listening. Informed them that I had prepared activities for them, but if they didn’t like those activities it was up to THEM to keep themselves quietly entertained. I reminded them of our treat bowls (inspired by this post), and if they were not quiet enough to hear the words, they would not be able to pick anything out.

One hour later, when my in-laws arrived, they came to a fairly quiet house. My children were all paying attention (to their level), and I actually knew what was going on.

It was one of the best Conference weekends I’ve ever had.

Stick it.

2011-10-05T10:08:00.000-05:00

Life has been a zoo around here. I've been working on an amazing thoughtful and profound post on my weekend.

Hopefully it'll be done before next April.

IN the mean time . . . Hubby is attempting to teach me how to drive a stick. We've done a grand total of 3 lessons so far. While I can drive it, please don't ask me to drive at an intersection with 4 other cars!

At one particularly horrible stuttering shift, I realized, every time the car jerked around as I yet again failed to smoothly release the clutch, 'Lil was in the back seat proclaiming "U-u-u-OH!".

Even my 20 month old knows I need more practice.

Learning Gratitude

2011-09-22T12:50:00.001-05:00

As I flew the short distance from my falling bicycle to the mud splattered paved trail below me, there was just enough time for three thoughts to race through my head.

1. No!! how can this be happening!
2. 'Lil! she should be safe in the trailer
3. Noise! make some noise so Hubby will hopefully hear and come back to help

Isn't that an interesting order? First, denial that I was in the predicament in the first place. Then worry for my child, and finally a bit of worry for myself.

The mud came out of no where - And on such a steep incline, there was little chance of me getting stopped safely, even if I hadn't had 50 + pounds of trailer and child pushing me faster. But, 'Lil - who, with a 7 month speech delay instead of the needed 9 month one and therefore won't receive speech services (grumble grumble!)- was perfectly safe inside that trailer.

After much thought, I'm grateful for many things that have occurred about the entire incident.
I'm grateful

That the same rains which made the mud, made the slides at the park very wet. So wet that I had packed a towel to dry them off with. That exceptionally wet towel was wonderful to clean my hands off so I could at least grip my handle bars without slipping.
That, out of the 3 days in a week I take this bike ride,this was the one where Hubby came too.
That my grunts were loud enough to alert Hubby to my predicament.
That, at the time, the worst of my injuries was having the wind knocked out of me.
That the whole thing occurred only 1 mile away from my house so I could quickly get home.
That I thought to put the whites in the dryer before I left and actually had clean dry underwear to get into.
That I hadn't started any other laundry so my mud covered clothes could go straight in the washer.
That my shower is literally feet away from my washer, so the distance I needed to streak wasn't far.
That there was plenty of warm water, which felt so soothing on my now skinless patch of forearm.
That my cute Hubby was there to take care of 'Lil - and even hosed all the mud off my bike and trailer.
That my biggest plan for the day was to fold laundry, so I could take it easy.
That 'Lil still takes 2-3 hour naps so there is even more rest time for me.
That, as I came to realize just how beat up my knee, back, and shoulder actually are, all I need is some painkiller and a few days of taking it easy instead of something much, much worse.
That here, on my blog, I can tell of my stupidity and you won't chew me out for it. Yes, I was probably going to fast, but I bet anyone coming off that hill with a trailer would have been going at the same speed. And instead of telling me how stupid I was, you will commiserate with my stupidity, and let me know that I'm still a decent person instead of a complete idiot.

That last one is really big to me. Thank you for reading my ramblings. Thank you for keeping judgments to yourself - I've never had a mean comment on my blog. Thank you for putting up with my craziness.

Thanks for helping my gratitude day.

Turning up the heat

2011-09-19T10:47:00.000-05:00

One day, Hubby ruined my ironing board.

Ok, that sounds bad. Hubby is a delightful man who does all his own ironing. So I really can't complain too much. And in his defense, our iron was acting up and ended up completely shorting out. I just wish he hadn't laid it down on the ironing board when he realized it was happening.

So, for months now, we've tried to iron around this:

It even went clear through to the pad underneath.

Now, I've never liked this cover. And it was yucky and stained all over too.

So I thought I'd make a pretty one with this fun fabric:

There are lots of tutorials out there to recover your ironing board. This one and This one were the two that I used.

Trying it on for size before the elastic

All in all, I'm super happy with the results!

And a bonus - I actually learned how to use bias tape right!

I found a tutorial on making your own bias tape - something I've done lots of times before. And then, I read her instructions for actually sewing it on. It was life changing! I've always just sandwiched it in, and never been very happy with the results. This is so much better!

Of course, you don't actually see the bias tape on the top:

But it still, I love the contrast.

The only thing I'd change is the amount of elastic on the cover. You do actually need 4 yards, but only to thread it through. Once I pulled it tight, I used only about 2 yards.

Whose wish will Come?

2011-09-14T07:16:00.000-05:00

This child.

This long awaited for child.

Is not perfect.

No child is.

But there's a problem. A minor problem. One that I want to be fixed so desperately.

She doesn't talk.

I take that back. She never stops talking. Unfortunately, it's not real words that she speaks.

'Lil has a total of 4 words, and only one of those is a "real" verbal word. She waves goodbye; She signs please; She excitedly proclaims "Mmmmmmmm!" if something tastes good; and she says "uh-oh".

That's it. No "mama". No "dada".

By this point, she should have about 50 words.

My major in college was Communicative Disorders. I know she has a language delay/disorder (the only difference between the two is severity). I know she's smart. I know with some therapy, she'll get it, and I think she'll get it quickly.

For a very long time, I didn't really think about it. She was older when she figured out how to crawl - but then started moving super fast. She didn't start walking until 15 months - but then three days later was literally running after Grandma's cat. I thought she'd do the same with talking - nothing, then start talking in sentences.

Then I realized that I'd been waiting for more than five months.

A month ago, we started the process to see if she qualifies for early childhood services. In all the testing, I realized that she's just on the line. She might qualify, but she might not be delayed enough. We should hear back any day now.

I want her to qualify.

Hubby doesn't.

I want my daughter to talk to me. I want the screaming frustrations to stop. I want to hear her say my name for real. I want to understand what she's trying to tell me.

I think Hubby doesn't want his child to be "diagnosed" with a problem. He doesn't think she needs help. He doesn't remember just how much our other children were saying at this age.

I wonder if it's my background why I accept the idea that she has a problem so easily. It's not a major problem - she just needs a little instruction to learn to talk. But Hubby hates the whole idea. Hating it and hiding your head won't help her, though.

Whose wish will come true? We'll just have to wait and see.

One of those days.

2011-09-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

Do you ever feel like laundry is slowly taking over your entire world?

My bed is somewhere under all that. But at least I know I'll finish folding laundry if I want to actually sleep tonight!

Pumpkin Roll Winner!

2011-09-05T07:44:00.000-05:00

Ready to find out who gets the newest Sadie book?

And who is #2?

It's Paily!

See, the luck finally comes through girl!

Let me know your physical address and I'll send it out when I finally drag myself to the post office!

my big church bag- and a GIVEAWAY!

2011-09-01T07:00:00.003-05:00

A few months ago, I was "upgraded" in my church calling. I now have way too much responsibility (though, at least I'm not president!) and a big honkin binder I need to lug everywhere.

My cute really cheap tote bag was now not adequate for all the stuff I need. So I was on the hunt for a nice huge bag to take to church.

While looking for a fabulous purse to maybe sew, I stumbled up on this tote bag pattern:

Super easy, and cute too.

I mostly followed her easy instructions, with just a few changes.

First of all. I needed it to have a much wider bottom. So instead of making the bottom triangles 4" (it will make sense when you read the pattern), I made mine 7".

I also added pockets and an extra bottom pattern like she did in her other version.

While finding a purse to sew, many people suggested using plastic canvas to make it stiff and stand on its own. The tote pattern suggested fusible fleece. After seeing the price tag on that stuff (it was almost $8 a yard!), I went for the plastic canvas option ($0.45 each!). Here's how I did that part.

I made the lining just as the pattern instructs. After cutting off the bottom triangle thingies, I lined up a piece of plastic canvas with the bottom corners:

And pinned it all over to keep it from moving around.

Then, I just VERY SLOWLY zigzagged around.

No, my stitch length didn't exactly line up with the openings of the canvas. That's why I went slow. I could actually feel the needle slip off the plastic into the squares once and a while.

I wasn't sure I could actually sew around all 4 sides on both pieces, so I just did a bit along the top & sides to make sure it didn't slide everywhere.

I repeated this with the other side

And . . .

Tada!

I'm super happy with it. I didn't think about the fact that increasing the bottom would decrease the sides, and I wish it would have been about an inch taller:

But still, it's so nice that I can actually fit everything in there!

So, on to the giveaway. . . I bet you guys are thinking I'm giving one of these bags away, right. WRONG!

Guess what came in my mailbox the other day . . .

Yup! Book 6 in the Sadie Hoffmiller series.

Guys, don't read this one at night. It's kind of creepy. And there's a big old plot twist, again, that I did NOT see coming, but changed a ton for me. You'll love it. And,

To win your own signed-by-the-author copy, leave me a comment with either the title of a book you love, or a book you'd like to read. Comments will close Sunday, Sept 4 at 7:00 central time, and I'll announce a winner Monday morning!

*disclaimer shma: I received two copies of this book as part of my participation in the test kitchen. But I only give one away, 'cause I want to keep one too!

Clearance SCORE!

2011-08-24T15:24:00.000-05:00

I've been on a hunt for a fabulous new purse now for about 5 months.

For the last 6 years, I've actually been using a scripture tote for my purse. It's been great - but it's just not big enough anymore. I want to be able to fit in my wallet, a spare diaper, AND a pack of gum. So I've been looking.

My better than what I had before 6year old purse.

However, I haven't been willing to pay much for it. As in, I want a fabulous purse for less than $20. Not an easy feat.

I finally decided I might just have to make myself one. I now have this huge file of bookmarks of purses.

Before my trip, I'd narrowed it down to to a decision between this one:

And this one.

I was leaning towards the awesome organization of the second. But my big hang up was the 3 yards of upholstery weight fabric, not to mention all the super duper interfacing and magnets and zippers and such. Unless I found a killer sale, it was going to cost me about $30 to make the silly thing.

I was hoping I could find some great cheap fabric on while visiting my family. I found something much better.

Every store we went to (which was way more than we should have!) I would look at handbag selection offered. I finally found one that was kind of sorta ok at wallyworld. It was $16, but I knew to actually like it I'd need to add some magnetic snaps, so it would push it over my magic $20 mark. I also knew I could get the exact same bag back home, so I put it off.

Then, we went to a craft fair. I found the most amazing bag ever. I'd tell you the kind - but I don't remember. But it's this awesome brand that has great magnets on the outside, and changeable shells that you can just slap on and change the whole look in a few seconds. I loved the style, I loved the pockets, I love everything about it.

But not the price. To get it all the way I wanted to, even with the fabulous deal she had going on, would be close to $100. Um, yeeeeaaaaaaaahh. That's not happening.

We continued wondering on. I found other adorable offerings, but nothing I couldn't live without. Then, I noticed another purse booth.

I knew right away, I wasn't really interested in her stuff. The name of the booth was something along the lines of "purse bling" and everything was super big and showy - not my style. But I noticed a big tub labeled "clearance." Well, I had to at least look, now didn't I?

Most were the same that she had displayed, but with a broken zipper or other imperfection. And then I saw it.

A cute, understated purse, with great dividers. Nothing broken, in great condition.

The price?

Nine bucks.

That thing was sold as fast as I could find a family member who had more than the dollar cash I had on hand. What? I was traveling, and all I had was my debit card. But don't you worry. I went back to wally world that night and got some cash back to pay my adorable niece right back!

Just a bit bigger than my old one!

I love my new purse. It's truly awesome just how much I can fit in there. Things are much easier to find, and it looks a lot nicer than my old one!

time

2011-08-20T11:49:00.001-05:00

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.
-Abraham Lincoln

The first day has come and gone.

No one was excited about it either.

And this one most assuredly did NOT wake up at 6:00 asking if she could get dressed yet.

At least he remembered to turn around and wave goodbye.

And with 'Lil taking a 3 hour nap during the day, I'm left with too much time on my hands.

This week I'm letting myself just read and relax. Next week, I'm going to start deep cleaning the house and working on projects.

Summer Sewing: Kid edition

2011-08-18T18:30:00.001-05:00

Did anyone start to wonder if I was still alive?

I am. Life is even going pretty well. But, with an almost 3 week trip visiting family, a massive activity to plan, and two kiddos starting school, this little blog has really suffered.

But enough excuses: on to the good stuff!

I've mentioned several times that we made a summer bucket list. We managed to cross of almost every single thing - and the three that are left are all ones that cost money (I'm cheap, what can I say!)

Before our fabulous trip (really, everyone should experience 10 hours at the airport with three kids and no stroller), I taught my kids to sew.

Every once and a while, I think about how flippin easy kids have it today. Ok, that sounds like I had it hard too. When I mean today, I mean in the last 80 years or so. No chopping wood, no hauling buckets of water, no plucking chickens. Sure, many people never learned how to read, and died super young, or had a chance at education or things like that. But little kids started doing chores - including sewing and baking - at a MUCH younger age than we would consider it today.

Girly-Lou is almost 7. In pioneer days, she would be making patchwork quilts and mending pants. And she just barely grasped those silly lacing cards.

So, I asked her what she wanted to learn to sew. I said we could do something like a bag, or a pillow case, or something like a monster or a toy. She instantly grabbed onto the monster idea.

We bought a big pack of felt, and she picked out all the colors. I did a quick pattern according to her instructions (crazy eyes, big teeth)

(why does blogger sometimes randomly turn pictures?)

She helped me trace them onto the felt. Then I showed her how to pin the face pieces together, and how to sew by hand:

She had it super fast!

Once all the face was sewn to the body, I helped her sew the front and back together. We kept it really simple (straight lines!), and just turned it inside out, leaving the entire bottom open. We stuffed it together, then sewed along the bottom (yes, you can see that seam. But since it's felt, it's not going to fray, and it's a super easy way for a first project!)

Once we were done, Buddy decided a monster would be pretty cool too. He changed his design up a bit, but we followed the same steps.

And my monsters get to show of their monsters!

There's a long way to go before they really know how to sew on their own, but it was a great first step.

I'm linking up HERE

*do you guys like linky parties? They are such an awesome place to get new ideas (and a bit of a time suck too!)

Bedroom Stage 4: everything else

2011-07-22T07:51:00.002-05:00

About a week before I showed the whole room, I actually thought I was done. And then I turned around and realized I'd never planned a thing for one whole wall! After some thinking, and re-discovering THIS tutorial, I knew what I wanted!

At first I was wanted to use this picture:

Can you believe she painted that whole thing with wall paint and kids brushes? Beautiful!

But when it was done, the colors did NOT match the room. However, after putting it on my bed . . .

I think it will be perfect for my room!

Instead, I swiped a picture off my sister's Facebook page (I still wish she would have put me in her suitcase for that cruise!), photoshopped in the tiny sailboat and the lighthouse (in real life it was right next to this ocean scene), and filtered it so it looked more paintingish.

One note for this method: plan on it taking forever. Seriously. Actual time spent isn't that much, put I had to print everything 4 times (all because I was stupid and bought the clearance square frames instead of splurging for the perfect rectangles. This led to some frustration, but eventually it worked out!)

I made my own monkey fists. I first tried to use this tutorial (and got the idea from her), but eventually found this one to be easier.

I used small rubber balls from the dollar store for the centers. I tried using jute for the actual rope, but after 30 frusterating minutes, I gave up and spent $6 on rope.

The quote under is just vinyl I cut with my Silhouette.

Lets see . . . what else.

The dresser we had before, and the shells were a gift from a neighbor.

The curtians came with the house.

Oh, paint color! It's called Lemon Suffle by Behr.

Cost:
Paint: $30
Monkey Fists: $7
Mural: $3 (canvas) + $4 (fixative w/40% coupon) =$7
raingutter supplies $10

Total this stage: $55

Grand total for the whole room: $85

Now that's a room on a budget!

If you want, you can check out the other stages.

Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Whole thing

Bedroom Stage 3: the closet wall

2011-07-20T07:59:00.000-05:00

The biggest part of this wall was just dejunking the closet. The magnet board you can see HERE, and the bookshelf is a rain gutter just like I used in THE GIRL'S ROOM.

I did the mural myself.

It was based on a project I did several years ago in my apartment. It was the first time I used fabric starch to attach fabric to the wall.

(look how little my kids are!)

I found a picture online that I liked and copied. To make the mural, I drew a big circle on the wall, and traced the different parts, and just painted in the lines. Everyone talks about needed really good brushes to do something like this. But I pulled it off with a 10 cent sponge brush and one of my kid's watercolor brushes for the little stuff. You just have to be really patient and slow.

The starfish I found at a local store. But the life preserver just might be my very favorite thing in the whole room.

When looking for sailboat decor, I found several life preservers for $10-15. But they were just painted Styrofoam. I knew I could make it for much less.

So here's my supplies.

Pretty simple, huh. I knew the rope around the perimeter needed to be thicker, so I braided 4 strands of jute together, and made sure it was long enough to go clear around the wreath.

Then I painted the wreath, wrapped the rope and wreath with jute (in single thickness this time), and secured it with hot glue. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

Price list for this wall:
Starfish: $5
Wreath: $2.50 (40% off coupon)
Magnet board: $3
Rain gutter: free (left over from girls room)
Mural: free (left over paint)

Total cost this stage: $10.50
Total so far for room: 30.50

Pleasure

2011-07-18T15:43:00.000-05:00

I just got back from Harry Potter 7.2

I'm not ashamed to say I cried.

Twice.

and I plead the fifth as to the tear content of Hubby's eyes.

Bedroom Stage 2: Name Wall

2011-07-18T07:51:00.002-05:00

I used the same foam letters for Buddy's name as I did in the girls room. But I did them just a little different than before. By the time I got around to picking these up, they were on clearance. (and I may or may not have driven 40 minutes to pick up a 50 cent letter)

Since the were all different colors, I started by spray painting the sides dark brown (that's the color I had).

After a quick distressing with ink,

I modge podged scrapbook paper onto the front.

One tip: if you are tracing letters onto the back of paper,

make sure you turn the letter over too.

Otherwise, you'll end up with a bunch of letters that just don't fit.

(not that I'd know ANYTHING about that!)

To attach to the wall: take a small nail and shove the point side into the back.

Then, take the nail out and put the head side in the hole you just created.

Stick it up on your desired location of the wall, and scratch a tiny hole.

Hammer in your nail, and put the letter back on!

The wheel and anchor were actually a door knocker from Hobby Lobby. It took about 10 minutes with a hand held tiny saw blade to cut the metal piece connecting the two, but for $5 I got two wall hangings!

The branch across the top I got several years ago, and was actually the inspiration for the whole room. I . . . convinced Buddy that he wanted sailboats so I could use it! It's just resting on a couple of nails.

Costs:
Letters: $4.50 (clearance)
Paper: 50 cents (on sale)
Door knocker: $5 (40% off coupon)
Branch: already had

Total cost this stage: $10

Total cost so far: $20

Whole room
Stage 1

Bedroom stage 1: the bed

2011-07-16T18:59:00.016-05:00

The first thing I started working on was the bed for Buddy's room. First on the list was buying an actual mattress. (he slept on that poor crib mattress/twin frame combo for a sad amount of time. He started sleeping on the floor because it was more comfortable! It was a joyous day when the mattress came!) The headboard is the same one my Hubby used as a teenager.

I used THIS tutorial to learn how to make pinwheels. I was able to scrounge fabric from my stash for almost all of it. In total, I spent less than $10 for THE ENTIRE QUILT! The white you see is from a thrifted white sheet. The backing is another thrifted white sheet that I colored with Rit dye.

I thought it needed a bit more variety of blues, so I did buy 3 different fabrics, but since I only needed 1/3 of a yard of each, that was only about $6. My biggest trick: I took this:

And used it for the batting. Yup. My old bed-in-a-bag comforter I used 9 years ago in collage now looks pretty darn cute. (it's a little hard to see on his bed. So here's a shot of it all spread out on my queen sized bed)

It's not perfect, not by a long shot:

But even with all the weird puckers where I didn't measure square, it looks great on the bed.

The yellow throw at the foot of the bed was a $5 find at a thrift store.

The Mario Pillow set me back $3.50 for 1/2 yard of fleece and THIS tutorial.

The anchor pillow I used a $2 remnant portion and more blue scraps. I did to a reverse applique anchor (just googled "anchor pictures" and found a shape I liked.

Total cost this stage: $20.

See the whole room HERE

Drop Anchor

2011-07-14T16:59:00.002-05:00

Ready for another full room before and after?

Here's the room's ~~first~~ second incarnation. (when we first moved it it was just storage). I really didn't do much decor for 'Lil's nursery. It was much more function based.

Then we moved Buddy in . . . and I didn't take any pictures! But picture the same beige walls, strange green rug, a dresser, and a twin sized frame & box springs with a crib mattress on top.

Classy, I know!

The entire time I was working on the girl's room, Buddy asked when I would work on his. So it's with great joy that I show you the following!

Over the next few weeks I'll post with the details (and tutorials) for the different parts of his room. But for today, let's just call it a job well done!

Linked up HERE

Update: check out the rest of the room

Happy blocks

2011-07-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

I've had this picture on my desktop for months now.

I found it on some linky party and have wanted to make it ever since. (sorry, I can't find the link to the source though!)

My biggest obstacle? I don't have a saw to cut the wood. Yes, I have a fabulous sister who would let me cut any old time at her house, but that required to have enough motivation to actually go get the wood and figure out sizes and such.

Last month our church did a craft night. We made these beautiful temple blocks with pictures of our local temple. When I took mine home, I realized I had just enough blocks to make the saying. I'm a fan of double duty crafts (less to store!), so I flipped those blocks over, modge podged some scrapbook paper (I also inked the edges), and slapped on some vinyl cut with my Silhouette.

Swoon! I adore the way it turned out. Now, obviously, I didn't do it exactly like the inspiration picture. But I had just the right about of room, and I'm very happy with the results!

(and since I know someone will want to see the temple side too)

Linking up here

*in case you're wondering, the paper came from Michaels and Hobby Lobby. The fonts for the vinyl are Pea Aimee, Century (the &), and Bookman Old Style (the love).

Preponderance on Paper

2011-07-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

Growing up, my sisters and I knew my Mom was somewhat of a toilet paper snob. Not that she'd ever call herself such, but she was very picky about her TP.

We even had discussions on toilet paper. Not frequently, but we had them.

With that history, I find myself aware of the selection in other bathrooms. I notice textures, thickness, how well it holds up.

I lean towards the brand I knew as a child. But I am not exclusive in my paper purchases. I've dabbled with other thicknesses, other textures (but never other colors. Really, matching your tp color is just going a bit to far!). I recently discovered a store brand that exactly mimics my favorite childhood brand and have felt much happier about the current price point of my tissue.

It's just so annoying to be doing your business and discover you are out of the precious stuff. And on my quest to raise my children to be self-sufficient, I have become uber conscious of the level remaining on every roll. I change every single roll myself. I check the level of supplies in each bathroom. I do NOT want my children to be without (they are still grasping the whole cleanliness thing anyway - I've got to make it as easy as possible on them!)

But . . . I just realized I'm taking something away from them too. My kids don't know HOW to change a roll of TP. That's not being self sufficient. So, today, as I notice the almost empty roll, I pledge to change my ways. Today I will teach Buddy this all important task. I will make him in charge of changing every empty roll he sees.

And someday, his wife will be grateful that her husband is so thoughtful.

Ok, so I'm sure most mothers have attempted to teach their sons this. And I know that in all likely hood, he won't do it at all once he's a teenager. But for today, I'm going to go with my lofty dreams and be at peace!

Summer Sewing

2011-06-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

I've never done a ton of sewing for my kids. I like making dresses the most, but currently both of my daughters have 6 EACH. Not exactly something they need!

The biggest problem with sewing clothes, is by the time you pay for the pattern, the material, and all the notions, you can usually buy it cheaper.

But if you find a free pattern on line . . . it changes everything!

I've been following Sewing in No Man's Land for several months now. When she posted this pattern, I knew I had to try it!

One note on her patterns: they are NOT super accurate. She talks about that on her patterns page. She doesn't have any fancy program or anything, so you need to do a bit of "intelligent sewing". Just go with your gut for how things should go.

So here was my first attempt:

This one turned out to be free: I bought the fabric like 7 years ago when I was pregnant with Girly-Lou. The white was leftover from my maniac sewing back in November, and I already had the Velcro too.

I love it . . . except for the sleeves. They stick up so high I feel like they are trying to eat her ears! But it's still awesome. I also really changed the pants. My first attempt looked like clown pants instead of shorts. So I cut off several inches on all the pattern pieces - both length and width. They were MUCH better the second attempt!

So I thought I'd try to change the sleeves so they stuck down more.

I first tried shirring the hem. It helped, but they still went weird. I finally ended up sewing in a 1/4 inch elastic strip and tucking the sides of the sleeves back into the bodice to help them stay down.

This one is not my favorite, but she sure is cute!

It's also a freebie (I already had the fabric and everything)

But #3 was the charm.

I did buy the fabric this time, but since it only took a yard (with a 40% coupon), that only set me back $2.

For the sleeves, I took a 7 inch strip of 3 inch eyelet and just attached it to the the shirt bands. It's my favorite by far! The eyelet was on clearance for $2 each, and it took two spools for it all. So total this one was about $6.

To make it sound even better, let's combine all of them. So I can say I made 3 full outfits for $6. Not bad at all!

*no children were hurt in the staging of this post. Although many bribes were used, the author is not liable for the aggravation of trying to pose 17 month old adorable girls!

Today

2011-06-26T12:45:00.000-05:00

Today I learned that it IS physically possible to get 5 individuals (two adults, 3 children) awake, clean, fed, dressed, and out the door to church in 40 minuets.

It just takes a LOT of cooperation on every one's part!

And next week, I'm setting my alarm. It was not a morning I'd like to repeat any time soon.

Every Girl Needs a Tea Party

2011-06-22T22:50:00.000-05:00

At least Girly-Lou is sure of that. For her 6th birthday, she got this cute porcelain tea set. And she's been bugging me for real napkins for it. I finally got around to sewing some. That same day, she made personalized invitations for Happy Mom and her two girls. She even started making goodie bags.

Since she was going all out, I decided to join her. After all, if something is worth doing, it's worth doing right!

So, to complement her mini tea set, we had mini everything. I baked mini muffins:

I made pb &j's, and cut them out with mini cookie cutters.

I even mini-fied some homemade cookies with the help of an empty spice jar.

Girly-Lou was in heaven getting everything ready - complete with a seating chart.

I don't own a cute tray. But I fake DIY'd one. It's only fake 'cause its all just sitting there, not actually attached. But it worked for today.

Everyone was asked to dress in "nice clothes" which meant something different for everyone.

Girly-lou went all out. Buddy felt that a regular shirt and shorts would be best.

All in all, I think it was a successful venture today!

Taste testing, family style

2011-06-14T12:51:00.001-05:00

This year was the first year we've tried a summer bucket list. I've seen dozens of these in blog land over the last few years, but this summer was the first time I've been organized enough to jump in!

On our list was to make homemade ice cream. And since I needed to make some ice cream toppings (for the Sadie Hoffmiller test kitchen - we're working on book 7 people!), I thought we'd have some fun with this!

First of all: our homemade ice cream was a flop. I'm not sure what was wrong with it. But for some reason, all we made was chilled cream soup. Maybe my bowl wasn't frozen enough? Oh well!

I divided the "soup" into 5 different bowls - one for each of us. One stayed plain. One had chocolate chips mixed in. One had pineapple topping. One had homemade caramel topping. And the last one had homemade chocolate sauce.

The rules: you got one spoonful of the bowl in front of you. Then you had to vote for how many smiley faces that flavor got. After a sip of water, we passed the bowls around and tried the next flavor!

The kids thought it was such a cool night! Even 'Lil was happy with this arrangement.

The results:

I was shocked that I liked the pineapple one, but the caramel was my fave. Buddy loved all of them. Girly-Lou was a bit pickier, and didn't care for the chocolate chip. Hubby was the most picky of all, and really only liked the chocolate sauce.

All in all, it was a successful (if messy) family night!

Book Review: Breath of Angel

2011-06-12T16:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, guys. I'm bugged about this review. See, I was one of the first people to get this book. And I read it really fast. And, while it had some great things in it, there were things that bothered me. Things that could have been fixed if I would have reviewed it quickly.

But I wanted to think about the book for a few days. And then I lost it. And I've read a dozen other books since then. And now, here I am 3 months later, finally re-reading it and reviewing. Way too close to publication for any good to come of it. GRRRR!!

So with that beginning, here we go!

First off: from the back of the book: "

Melaia, a young priestess, witnesses the gruesome murder of an emaciated stranger in the temple courtyard. Just after she discovers wings on the stranger, the murderer enters the temple, and what Melaia has known only through song and story suddenly takes on flesh. Angels and shape-shifters were myths and stories . . . until now.

Melaia finds herself in the middle of a blood feud between two immortal brothers who destroyed the stairway to heaven, stranding angels in the earthly realm. When the feud turns violent and Melaia becomes a target, she finds refuge with a band of wandering angels attempting to restore the stairway. But the restoration is impossible without the repayment of an ancient debt, the “breath of angel, blood of man,” a payment that involves Melaia’s heart, soul, and destiny."

Angels, magic, and myths? Right up my alley! I liked this book. The plot is complicated enough to keep my interest, but not too much that I couldn't follow it. The book unfortunately has that slightly unpolished book newer authors typically have. Nothing horrible, but just the occasional awkward phrase.

More than anything, this book NEEDS a glossary. I think almost any book involving more than 5 main characters could use one, but especially if they all have names like Pym and Paullus and Peron. It could also really use a map. The directions may seem clear in the author's head, but not in mine!

There were also several plot points that needed more explaining. For example, what was with all the Comain's disappearing? Where are they going/why is this included? Why/how/what about the trees echoing Melaia's thoughts? Can they actually speak to her or not? How did Trevan know who Melaia's father was? Or Livia for that matter!

I hope most of these points will be cleared up in future books (this is planned to be part of a trilogy.) But in all, it was an intriguing premise, and I enjoyed it both times I read this!

*I received an advanced reading copy of this book from WaterBrook Press

Miracle Suit

2011-06-03T18:14:00.000-05:00

8 years ago, I was engaged to be married. My fiance did not tell me where we were going for our honeymoon, but he did inform me that I'd need a swimsuit.

I felt I needed a good one. Previously, I'd only ever bought $15 jobbies from wallyworld or other such places. They were . . . suits. But nothing I really enjoyed wearing in public. And they died really fast too.

A neighbor brought over a catalog for lands end. I'd never heard of it. But back then, they had this AWESOME website where you put in your measurements and they created a virtual you. You could then "try" them online. I LOVED it!

Everything was way too much money. But I found one that actually covered me, and looked decent. So I bit the bullet, and splurged $60 for a suit.

That swimsuit has been the best splurge ever.

After much searching, here's me on my honeymoon.

Ok, so you can't see much of the suit. But I looked good. I loved this suit. It covered what needed to be covered, but left me shapely and awesome.

The only other picture I can find is from two years later:

(how cute is Girly-Lou!!! I know it looks like it's crazy deep here, but we were about 12 inches away from dry land,

and the water was only about 3 inches here. She was just really little!)

By this picture, I was 20 pounds heaver. And it still fit me just fine! While it wasn't the same beautiful silhouette I had before, I still felt good in it.

I just finished trying it on for this summer. I currently weigh a disgusting 40 pounds more than that awesome Caribbean cruise. And the suit is 8 years old. But it still fits me. The seams are strong, with no straining. I feel modestly covered, and not as whale-ish as I thought I would.

Figured out per year, I've spent about 7 bucks a year for this suit.

Now that's a bargain!

Miracles happen

2011-05-27T15:04:00.001-05:00

Today, I accomplished something I've wanted to do for at least 2 years now.

It's probably been longer, but for the last two years I've been passionate about it.

I'm a good cook. I really am. I don't get super fancy with main dishes, but I'm capable of following a recipe to make something divine.

And my desserts . . . I'm good at desserts. I can do a cheesecake with no cracks. I can dip smooth chocolates. My pies get great reviews. People get excited when I bring dessert.

But there is one thing I never bring. I never make to give away. I only make at all if my kids beg for them.

The humble chocolate chip cookie.

Seriously. I've never made a decent one. They look funny. They spread like crazy. The texture is weird. They have odd aftertastes.

Chocolate chip cookies are the most basic thing ever. And I can't make a good one. On a scale of 1-10, my cookies hit about a 3. My kids (and Hubby) think they are fine. But they just aren't worth the calories.

I've tried literally more than a dozen recipes. I've googled "best chocolate chip cookie" for more inspiration. I've emailed back and forth with an award winning cook for what my problem is. I've asked friends. Nothing has really helped.

Everyone has told me the same thing: just stick the dough in the fridge. yah. I've tried that. It bumps my 3 cookies up to about a 3.5. Still not that great. On my own, I've deduced that there is something wrong with my flour portions.

A few weeks ago, I tried again. And I finally nailed the looks. They didn't spread like melting ice cream. But the taste. Ugg. Not what I wanted.

Yesterday, I found this recipe. Now, I've tried putting in pudding before. And they are good tasting cookies. But they just turn into puddles of gunk when cooked.

This time, though. Something worked different. I added a full extra cup of flour. I followed her directions to a T. The difference in shaping the cookies, adding the flour slowly, the perfect cooking time.

At last. I made a great chocolate chip cookie. A cookie I would actually want to eat.

I may have gone a bit crazy with pictures, but I'm just so excited!

Ahh. Life is good.

A special place for special things

2011-05-26T14:35:00.000-05:00

I may have mentioned it before, but Girly-Lou is a bit of a hoarder. Every paper colored at church, every note given to her from anyone, every card/letter/gum wrapper she's ever received, she wants to keep.

Add that to the fact she's in kindergarten . . . let's just say the clutter in her room needs some working on. For the last year, I've wanted to make a magnet board. Somewhere she can keep some "special" papers.

And today I finally did! One for her and Buddy.

It started with these thrifted frames (90 cents each!).

White works well in the girls' room. Buddy's frame got a quick coat of dark brown spray paint. Then I used a roll of metal flashing (I think it was about $7). I measured, drew a line with a sharpie, and cut it with my kitchen shears. Then I hot glued it onto the back of the frames. I covered this in some at hand fabric, and stuck it back in the frame.

Tada. Two clutter catchers for about $3 each!

They needed a little something more, so I pulled out my Silhouette and made up a little vinyl for the corner.

Why did it take me this long to do this!

That's the last thing I want for the girl's room. And the first craft done for Buddy's. You'll be getting a bunch of stuff for his room over the next while as I finish it up!

Linking here.

*yes, I know you can see my kid's names. I'm ok with that. I've decided I don't really need to hide all names. But I'll still call them by the codes here, 'cause it's more fun that way!

is it just my kids?

2011-05-18T13:33:00.000-05:00

Buddy keeps falling.

I think he's trying to run faster than he actually can. But in the last 2 days he's had 3 bloody scrapped knees.

Being a ~~softy~~ good mommy, I've cleaned, bandaged, and kissed all three.

But he now refuses to bend those knees.

Girly-Lou has always been the same way. Whatever position skin is in when you stick a bandaid on, it is impossible to move. So elbows must remain bent ~~for the next week~~ until they forget. They either walk around hunched over with completely bent knees, or with perfectly straight ones.

Anyone else have kids that are so super aware of bandaids? At least Buddy rips them off after a few hours. Girly-Lou leaves them on until I ~~hold her down and rip them off, relishing in the screams the whole way~~ convince her to take them off.

Fixin up a really cute chair

2011-05-12T23:58:00.000-05:00

Happy Mom is out of town this week. Since school is still going, I'm living at her house to help with her kids. Since her 3 children go to 3 different schools, it's easier for me to stay there, than for them to come here.

But have you ever stayed at someone else's house for a week. When that person isn't there to keep you company?

It's kind of boring. There just isn't as much for you to do.

I learned this the last two years I've done it. So this year, I had a plan to keep me busy.

Several months ago, I found this little chair at a thrift store for 5 bucks.

I don't know why anyone would want random cowboy antics all over such a cute chair. And the fabric was ripped in several places too.

But I've wanted to try reupholstering, and I thought this small chair would be a great place to start.

Before I came, I removed all the old fabric and a couple hundred staples.

The fabric was on clearance at Joanns. If I remember right, I got 3 yards for around 9 bucks! Add another buck worth of staples . . . .

Yup, this now adorable chair was right around $15 total. One of the big reasons I wanted to do this project this week is the fact that Happy Mom has an awesome electric staple gun. It made fixing this puppy up super fast.

And as soon as I brought it upstairs, someone wanted to come try it out.

I think she approves!

I link up here

My Painting Lesson

2011-05-07T10:23:00.002-05:00

How long have I been promising pictures of my new kitchen color?

Too long, I know. So today, I finally cleaned my kitchen enough to feel ok about, AND it stayed that way long enough to actually take pictures.

So let's talk about where I started with in this room.

Lots and lots of wallpaper. Which I hate. With a passion.

Back in august, I ripped it all off. It was a messy process, but was really quite easy.

And then it sat. For months. 'cause I had great plans for it. Plans that require lots of funds that I spend on diapers and apple sauce instead. Plans something like this:

(ok, so my photoshop skills need some help here, but you get the idea, right?)

Not exactly a quick or inexpensive change. And somehow the Magical Money Fairy keeps missing our house.

About a month ago, I was staring at the walls in the dining nook, and I kind of lost it. I KNEW it had to get finished already.

I've been staring at these half finished walls for too long!

It took a LOT of trial and error, but I eventually found my great color! Since this post is already getting too long, let's just say it was 5 different samples, all of which I used to cover the original really dark green, kind of like a primer.

Painting causes major messes!

The eventual color I ended up with is called Alexandrite (by sherwin williams), mixed to only 50% power.

I love it. It looks so perfect in my kitchen!

I ended up with an entire extra gallon. So I thought I'd paint the living room too.

ummm, anyone else feeling like this looks like a crazy mess?

It's almost the exact same color. I did mix in some white to stretch the paint a bit. But in here . . .
It doesn't work. I've thought and thought about why it looks so funny.

I finally realized what it was. It's the accents. In my kitchen, everything is a white/light accent. In the living room, everything is black. It just doesn't work.

Not quite what I was hoping for! But I also don't want to change every single accent in the room.

So what's my lesson? Sometimes, the perfect color just needs some tweaking (like working with accents), and sometimes the accents need a better perfect color (which I'll find someday!)

Yakkity Yak

2011-05-04T21:35:00.001-05:00

Hi friends!

You may have noticed I've been absent from the blogging world for a bit of time. Or maybe you didn't miss my ranting/snarky/funny/weird/sarcastical voice. But I have, in fact, not typed a published word in 13 days.

Why, you ask?

'cause I ain't had nothin' to say.

Life has been truckin along. I've done lots of driving, lots of playing, lots of reading. But not lots of crafting. I kind of lost my muse there for a week or so. And now I'm getting it back, but making personalized stuff (with last names even, so I really REALLY can't post pictures), or projects that are going to take WAY longer than expected.

So instead of just remaining silent, I actually came up with a discussion question. And I'd really love to hear from all of you on it.

How do you feel about comments?

Now, some of you, I already know your opinion. You in fact have wonderfully thought out comments about comments already on your blog.

But most of you, I really don't know about.

When do you leave comments? What makes you NOT want to comment? Do you over think them? Under think them? Ramble too much?

My two cents: I LOVE comments. I love reading them, I love leaving them. I happen to think I'm pretty smart, and my thoughts are worth reading. But often, someone starts crying, so I don't get the chance. Or I don't know how to phrase what I'm feeling.

Or more often than not, there's already a bunch of comments. And really, I'm just a silly little housewife, without much to say, and everyone else can say it better, and who really has time to read the 63rd comment on the exact same topic, and I'm just wasting my time 'cause someone else noticed the exact same thing as me and why bother.

Hmmm. I'd say I've got all the symptoms of having too much to say, and too many insecurities to just say it.

I want to be one of those people that my bloggy friends know, because I comment on their thoughts.
I want to have conversations, let people know who I am, what I'm all about.

If 12 people all said the same thing on my blog, I wouldn't be bugged. I'd take it as a sign that their words are true.

This whole post is more of a pep talk to myself. Which I've decided I'm going to be better about taking to heart.

Who cares how many comments there are.

My words still count too.

*please please PLEASE chime in. 'Cause I want to know you all too. This blog has more than tripled in followers in the last few months, but I really only hear from the same people. I'd love to know everyone's voice!

Hush

2011-04-22T19:22:00.003-05:00

I pause on the stairs, one foot above the other. I listen. I hear the fridge kick on. A car passes outside. Thunder rumbles (~~again~~ still).

But nothing else.

For slightly more than 24 hours, I have been the only living thing in my house. (ok, to get technical, there are three houseplants, and probably some bugs hiding out, but you get the idea.)

A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law called. In a nutshell, she told Hubby that she moved to our state to see her grandchildren, and she was going through withdrawals. Seeing as how they had only closed on their house three days earlier, I was thinking they might want to get out of boxes a bit.

But with a marvelous long weekend in sight, we planned a mutually beneficial trip. She got to be Grandma. I got time alone.

This is the first time in my married life that I've been alone in my house.

(and the sky is now green outside my window!)

I've painted my entire living room (two coats). I've sewn something just for me. I've watched non-animated movies. I've sang random songs at the top of my lungs. I've cleaned out our new freezer. I've eaten random bad for me food. I've seen how long I can sleep in.

And it's been awesome. I would not want to do this all day every day. But for a chance to recharge, it's been one of the best times I've ever had.

Tomorrow Hubby comes home. And we'll have time, just the two of us. Then, Sunday afternoon, we'll go see the kids. And I'll be ready to be a Mommy again.

Ready

2011-04-19T18:23:00.000-05:00

TO start this post off, I'd like to make it perfectly clear that I am NOT pregnant. Ok? Just so there's no mix up here.

Since I've been married, the majority of my friends have been older than myself. As I've thrilled with each aspect of being pregnant, they have sighed with relief that it wasn't them. They had their time, but now it was someone else's turn. It's always taken me back a bit. I've been so excited to be pregnant, the concept of being happy to not be so has been light years off my radar.

But I'm closer to understanding it now.

Last fall, Hubby and I decided to not have a baby in 2011. So of course I got baby hungry the month after we changed our insurance, and have stressed every. single. month. about our choices.

But that deadline is just about up now.

And I'm ready.

I'm ready for my last pregnancy to start. I thrill at the idea of the last stretch marks. I'm ready to know what color clothes I need to stock. How happy I'll be for that last catheter! I'm ready for the last round of "firsts". I'm ready to be done with car seats. To plan the last round of toilet training thrills my soul. I'm ready to not have little people crawling all over me. I'm ready to start this last trip down babyhood.

I don't know how long this trip will take. Last time it wasn't so great. But I thrill at the idea of finally starting it.

I know that this will be the very last time I go down this road. Physically, I only get four pregnancies, and we plan on doing some permanent choices regarding that. Waiting these last few months for the timing to be acceptable has been agonizing - I just want to start this path!

I don't know how much I'll talk about it. It will depend on how hard it is this time. I don't think it will be - I know my body and cycles so much more thoroughly now, that I don't expect too much hassle .

So here's to a new adventure. One I'm very ready to begin!

Wish I had a good title to put here . . . !

2011-04-13T13:07:00.001-05:00

But I don't.

Last Friday, I painted my kitchen. I'm in love with the color. But you don't get any pictures.

Nope. That would require cleaning my kitchen. And I'm apparently incapable of doing so right now.

Actually, I kind of am. You see, I have this crazy cold. My head feels like the size of a watermelon, my nose is raw from blowing, and any physical exertion causes window shaking coughs to emerge from my scratchy throat and scare my children.

Not so fun around here. But my kitchen is pretty - and I'll eventually show you. For now, just so you know I'm doing more than taking 3 hour naps (yes, I've been doing that also!), here's what I've been working on:

(See, sewing is not NEARLY as aerobic as sweeping or doing dishes. Much more my current speed!)

Buddy's quilt is almost done! Now I just need to figure out what the back is going to be, do all the quilting, and binding, and all that jazz. Then he'll just start bugging me even more for when his room will be finished. Someday little guy. Some day!

ranting

2011-04-04T18:44:00.002-05:00

Just typing at 300 words a minute, which means 12 billion mistakes, to relieve my stress and frustration that my Hubby updated our browser AGAIN and now it's completely different, and I can't find anything, and everything is moved around and stressing me out and I really don't want to bother learning a new system, but he insists that every single update is better, so we have to update as soon as it's announced.

I know there are real problems in the world. But the fact that I just spent TWICE as long to check my bank account because I can't find the tabs anymore is seriously BUGGING ME!!

AND my baby threw up tonight.

AND I've got a headache from having my pupils dilated all day long.

AND I got almost no sleep last night.

AND my alarm clock didn't' go off today.

AND . . . Ok, I'll shut up now. Complaining won't make it better!

More strange adventures of 'Lil

2011-04-01T15:33:00.001-05:00

'Lil just gave herself a bloody nose.

By sticking a pen up her nose.

Now there's some fun days.

The door that just may save my sanity

2011-03-28T14:05:00.007-05:00

Or at the very least my clothes!

My house has two bathrooms. Two small bathrooms. I've talked about the upstairs one before, but never really the downstairs bathroom.

MY bathroom.

That's where I shower, do my hair, keep my supplies. Of course other people use the facilities, but I'm the only one that showers there. (I can't find the pictures from when we moved in. But suffice it to say, it was the cutest room in the house.)

The worst part about my bathroom is the lack of counter space. As in - THERE FREAKIN ISN'T ANY!!!

The only place to put clothes for showers is the back of the toilet. I've dropped more than one shirt into the open toilet after showering.

My hand mirror is melted and twisted from being too close to my curling iron in the sink. Yes the sink. It's the only place to put brushes, mirrors, irons, and blow dryers - usually all at the same time.So I've been looking for a solution.

Happy Mom and I are trying to get together every 3 months or so and have a sister craft day. Our first one was Thursday (which was quite the adventure). We had several ideas for what to craft, but ultimately decided on making some shelves using this tutorial. The best part about it - Happy Mom did this a few years ago. Which meant she already had the doors (FREE!) and they were cut in half already (no scary table saw!) The worst part about this craft was not measuring right (GRRRR!), and I had nothing to show when I left her house. But it's all good!

We did change the instructions just a bit. Happy Mom's previous shelf tends to lean down in the front. So we added side cleats to help with some stability. On a door, there's a thick piece of wood at the top/bottom. Since I couldn't drill through that, I put one cleat out from the wall that it will just slide over (kind of like these plans)

How I assembled: I predrilled some holes in my cleats (the wood that goes on the wall). Then I put the wood on the wall and drilled the same holes again. I took the wood off and TADA!! now new where to put in my drywall anchors!

Then screw those puppies in!

You do need to dig out a bunch of cardboard from your door (did you know that's what is in there?)
Once your door is painted and dry, you can put it on the wall!*

I also screwed it to the cleats in the two corners (so no little people try to climb up and fall to their doom)

Then slap up some junk from around the house (which will never stay there!) to stage it

and you're done!

And look! it's even level!

My sink dilemma was even easier. I found a little shelf at a thrift store, and just nailed it to the bead board.(I'd been trying to come up with something to go between the chair rail and the mirror. This was a heck of a lot easier!)

Hooray for organization!

*Moment of honesty: I put my shelf too close to the chair rail. So it didn't fit. I had to unscrew everything, dig out the anchors, and move the whole thing 1/2 inch higher. Some days projects are just crazy!

LINKED HERE

Laree and the no good rotten very bad day

2011-03-25T16:58:00.001-05:00

Some days disappearing to Australia really does sound rather nice.

To start off, 'Lil woke up twice screaming last night. To be fair, the first time she'd managed to soak clear through everything, but changing everything in the middle of the night doesn't make waking up in the morning any easier. And then she woke up for real at 6:30, which my body did not agree with. (apparently, it didn't agree with my alarm either. My alarm failed to go off at 5:51, so I didn't get to exercise today too).

Then I had a boy who could not cope with ANY trial today. There were 3 episodes of running away sobbing just before breakfast was over.

And it snowed today, which made everyone cranky.

And my Valspar paint sample - which I've been trying to get on Facebook for weeks now - finally came. And instead of the pretty soft green I thought I clicked on, I got neon grass green. Which after attempting to mix with other paint colors at my house, the best I was able to come up with was a dingy forest green.

So a trip to the store was in order. And while I got a better sample color mixed, I had a crazy hard time finding almost everything else on my list.

And then I forgot to go to the two other stores I've needed to go to for a week.

When we got home, everyone was starving. And my house looks like a giant picked it up, spun it around twelve times, and then tossed it back down.

But I finally got everyone settled and attempted to sample paint my kitchen. The color I love; the paint not so much. So I'm going to have to try to get a different brand of paint tinted to just the right color to match (yuck!)

And my baby has learned to sob whenever she can't get her own way, so my head has been pounding all day.

And then I tried to hang up my new shelf - which I somehow made yesterday at Happy Mom's house (in between helping her clean, cook 1495 things, and play with all the company she had). This super cool shelf . . . I measured wrong. And it's 1/4 and inch too big to fit on my wall.

So I finally FINALLY got a minute to myself to check emails. And kohls is having this great sale and I find this awesome bedding that I love to try for my new bed. (yup, I got a new bed. It's awesome, but I haven't blogged about it 'cause it looks really stupid with my deader-than-dead bedspread on it. And I tried to get a new one online, but when it came it looked really REALLY stupid, so I had to send it back and I haven't been able to find anything better until today that didn't cost an arm and a leg).

And instead of telling you everything I tried to do in the next 90 minutes, lets just say kohls didn't have it at their store, their charge cards are stupid, and since my house is 45 years old, I'm pretty sure my city and zip code are right, no matter what their data base says, and no I don't want to take a phone survey about it!

And I forgot AGAIN to go to those two stores I've needed to for a week.

And the bread I was making for dinner rose too long so it's going to taste funny.

And I seriously SERIOUSLY wish it was just bedtime right now so this no good rotten very bad day could just be done!!!!

2.5 hours and counting. Anyone know a good movie about Australia?

Jewelry illiterate

2011-03-12T19:04:00.005-06:00

In all my crafty endeavors, one area I've never really delved into is jewelry making. I love looking at pretty jewelry, but I don't really wear it too much. I don't want to spend much money on something my baby is just going to chew on.

But I do love entering contests for pretty things. I admire all the wonderful etsy shops full of creative necklaces, bracelets, and rings.

Today I entered that fray - just a tiny bit.

See, I have this watch:

I got it on clearance a couple of years ago, and I love it. The cute flowers, the neutrals - it just makes me happy. I don't wear it very much (since having kids I've gotten out of that habit), but it lives in my church bag and saved me more than once when I taught primary.

Two weeks ago, I pulled it out, and actually started wearing it again. I wanted to get back in the habit of being a watch person. The next day, it broke.

I guess that's why I stopped wearing watches! But I wanted to still wear it. I wasn't sure what to do, until I saw this post. Yes, I realize that an adorable St Patty's day necklace doesn't have much to do with a watch band, but she introduced me to crimp beads. I've never used - or even heard of - them before. But I knew it would be a huge help in my band endeavors.

I headed off to Joann's. $6.74 later, I had these:

(I did have a 50% coupon for the beads)

My before and after isn't very hard to accomplish. I cut off the leather band. Then I looped the elastic string over the remaining post. I added a crimp bead, strung on some pretty beads, and finished off the other end the same way.

But I have a pretty band now. And a watch I can actually wear.

*You want to make your loop as small as possible so the band doesn't slide around too much!

linking here!

Scherenschnitte and other new vocab words.

2011-03-10T12:00:00.006-06:00

(yes, I want to say bless you after that title too!)

SO I should be packing for a fabulous trip to see some family tomorrow. But, since the plane is now full, we aren't leaving until Monday. So instead I thought I'd kill some time on the computer.

'Lil has Roseola. It's one of those diseases that I've heard about, but never really thought about before. I had no idea she had it until last night, when she broke out in this weird rash all over her body.

On the plus side, I know why she had a pushing 105 fever for a couple of days. And, once the rash shows up, they aren't contagious, and are pretty much over it. And since there isn't a thing a doctor could do for it, it's really ok that I never took her in.

A few months ago, I learned about scherenschnitte from this site. Her work is amazing! (even more amazing, check this place out!) Scherenschnitte is basically German for really REALLY fancy paper cutting. I love that she posts free templates. She does it all with an exacto knife. I prefer to let my silhouette do the work!

(this was totally Happy Mom's b-day present. The first one was cuter - with blue paper. But it was too big for the frame.
So she got the less cute cream paper instead!)

My son is currently declaring every toy in the room as a "bad guy." This of course means that he then gets to knock them over and make strange sounds. Listening to boys play is always interesting!

A project 3 years in the making

2011-03-03T07:32:00.001-06:00

*Those of you joining this party from a linky: I ramble A LOT! Keep on scrolling, you'll get to the good stuff soon!

Back when I still lived in Euless, I came up with a couple of different growth chart ideas. I wanted it to be on a board so we could take it with us. I had great intentions of adorableness - a personalized for each child. But I never worked on a single one. I never even bought a board to start. I just dreamed.

When I was drooling over getting a Silhouette SD, I entered a couple dozen contests to win one. Every contest was the same format "go to the website, look around, then come back and tell me what you'd make first if you win!" After about the third contest, I stopped going to the website (I had it MEMORIZED by that point!), and would just say that I wanted to make a growth chart for my kiddos.

When I got my silhouette, I had great intentions of whipping out a growth chart. It even came with vinyl!

Then I opened the box. And realized that it came with cream vinyl. Which really only looks good on darker paints. Which is totally not conducive to a growth chart.

So I had to order black vinyl. And wait for it to come. Once it did, of COURSE I had to let it sit on my counter for three weeks before I got around do doing anything about it!

Once I finally sat down to make it, I had to come up with something for the top, which of course took another week or two. Then I had to actually cut the vinyl. And paint the board. And . . .

Anyway, it's finally done. And I love it!

First off, some fun pictures of the end result:

I wanted to have it go up to about 6 ft 4 and then the art work. But my ceiling height did not cooperate.
Instead I cut off about 7 inches from the bottom - who needs the bottom foot anyway! I plan on putting in everyone's birth height, just for extra cuteness!

It's screwed straight into the wall (with drywall anchors to please my hubby), so it's not going anywhere.

Want to make one of your own? Keep on reading! If not - just scroll through and fall in love with the pictures! (or go make cookies - whichever will make you happiest!)

Step One: grab a board. Mine is a 1x6x6, and set me back about $5. In hindsight, I kind of wish I would have gone for the 1x8, so choose wisely. Go ahead and paint it your desired color now.

Step TWO: if you have a Silhouette, you can use this jpg to take out a lot of the hassle.

Step Three: Get the file ready to cut.

Yes, I do realize that I left out the actual cute part. Here's the scoop. I did a lot of searching to come up with that idea. And I mean A LOT!! I finally found it at a digital scrap booking store. Yes, I could have just stolen the idea and done it myself. But that didn't feel exactly honest, and it was worth $2.67 for my integrity. So you can feel good about yourself too, pick it up here.

You back? Great! Ok, so the size of the GROW png is totally wrong. So here's what you do.

First open up the Silhouette Studio. Then go to file>open. Change the file type (at the bottom) to all files, and find your .png grow file. This is what your screen should look like:

First I re-sized it a bit, so it was taller (2.945 x 7.075 to be exact!) Then, to change it into a cut file, grab your trace button (right hand side, 5th from the right.) click on "select trace area", and drag a box around the shape. Your screen should look like this:

Uncheck the high pass filter box. I also changed the threshold to 86% (this helps to get all those little lines in)
Now click "Trace".

Hooray! You did it! You can get rid of the black copy - it won't do anything from here on out.

Now let's size it.

Right now, it's one giant element. We need it separate. So select the whole thing, then Then you need to release the compound path (I do Object>release compound path).

Now we've got a whole bunch of little elements. You'll want to go and make the following compound paths:

the letters g and r with the two circles in the letter g
the word "verb."
the words "to increase"
"in size"
"or substance."

Sometimes it hard to know if you got all the little parts selected. I make it a compound path, then move it around. If all the word moves, just hit "undo" so it moves back to the right part and go on. If you missed something, hit undo so it goes back and then select the part you missed.

Now play with the spacing and size until you're happy. My final sizes were as follows:

the outer box (included in the .jpg earlier) is 3.115 x 5.165
The gr()w portion is 2.220 x 4.565
the definition is 1.465 x 1.325

You'll want the definition to be as large as you can. This helps a TON with cutting out. I eventually made just the definition one compound path (more on why in a minute).

Step Four: Cut it out!

This is where I had some problems. My vinyl wanted to curl up and then letters were getting sliced in half. Eventually, I moved the speed clear down to one and the thickness up to 10. This helped, but didn't solve it. So I cut out just the definition portion 5 or 6 times, and was able to piece it together into one end result.

Step Five: Weed it!

Weeding is removing all the vinyl you don't need. DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO THE TINY LETTERS. Just cut them out and set them aside.
This is key to my cool step.

Step 6: Put on transfer tape - but NOT on the tiny letters.

Step 7: put the vinyl on your board. This is obvious for the regular stuff.

Now, for the little words. First weed out the centers of the letters.

Do not remove any of the other vinyl. Remove all the vinyl together from the backing.

Place on your board and rub to make the whole thing stick. Now peel off the extra vinyl.

This is the only way I was able to get all the little things to stay in line!

Tada! Now it's all there, and you didn't scream in frustration at all those tiny letters moving around and making a mess while you're weeding. (not that I'd know anything about that, all FREAKIN SEVEN TIMES I DID IT!!)

I'm a Link'n up here!

2011-03-02T19:34:00.004-06:00

Places I like to link up to

had to share

2011-03-02T16:25:00.002-06:00

I really am working on posting a fab tutorial, but I had to share this. My daughter just got a pretzel rod stuck in her mouth.

My 13 month old daughter.

Stuck like you'd prop open that man eating crocodile to save your life.

it was freakin' hilarious!

*She's totally fine. It's not like she was eating unobserved or anything. She just bit off enough to make it the wrong size, then wedged it in there. At least, I sure thought it was funny!

30 to 30 wrap up

2011-02-26T09:54:00.008-06:00

hey all!

Sorry it has taken me so long to report back on my big day! I've been trying to finish up the prizes, and it's taken a bit longer than expected!

I got a lot of very positive comments on my posts. To be honest, after about 10 days or so, I thought you guys would be sick of hearing from me. And in case any of you actually thought I was that dedicated to write every single day, I totally started writing those back in November. My goal was to have them all done before the series even started. I did NOT make that - my favorite post of all (day #30) was written the day before my birthday. In other words, I deliver on time, but need to start months in advance!

Biggest thing I learned - goal wise: I really stink at keeping track of things. I only had seven goals. I made myself a little chart so I could check of each day when the goal was completed. I think I managed to pick up a pencil and mark something like, 12 of the days or something. But I actually worked on most of my goals every single day!

Quick run down of my goals:

Water. I rarely made my 100 oz goal. But almost always made the 72 mark. And my body craves more water now, which is always a good thing.
Waking up at 6:00. I'd say an 80% success rate. My body is used it the time now, and it's easier to still do this.
Scriptures: about a 98% success. I missed a day or two, but I'm in a much better place spiritually now!
Exercise: about a 90% success. I've been very happy with how well I've been sticking to exercise. I lost 4 lbs the first two weeks, and then gained 2.5 back when I got a nasty cold. But it's coming of again!
Getting ready: Huge improvement here! Before, I waited to get myself ready until the dirty work was done - exercise, cleaning, etc. But I was using that as an excuse to not get ready. I can mop the floor in jeans just as well as pjs. While I still don't always make the 10:00 mark, more often than not, I'm ready for my day about 9:30.
Indexing: I did more than 400 names!
Scrapbook: I managed to finish 'Lil's first book, and I've got 5 months done on Buddy's.

It's amazing what having a real goal - that I really work on - with a concrete deadline has done for me. I love where I'm at so much more now than where I was before.

Now the fun stuff - PRIZES!!!

I finally decided on 3. The "grand" prize is a love of books. Second place is a love of crafts. Third is a love of chocolate. (you can't tell in the pictures, but I put everyone else's name in a big bowl and my kids picked them out. Nice and random!)

The Grand Prize goes to the person with the most comments (I told you to comment lots!) Which is : Grandma Nelson!!!! Yeah Mom! You win:

The new Josi Kilpack book! It came right in the middle of my series, so I thought it would be a good prize to throw in there.

Second Place: A love of crafts (random pick) goes to:And you win:

inspired by here

This cute plate I whipped up with my silhouette. (actually, this was one of the most frustrating things I've made in a long time. I'll explain a bit more when I do a vinyl tutorial next week.)
Hooray you!

Third place:(another random pick) Love of chocolate goes to:
You win an Oreo Truffle kit (a $5 Walmart card to buy yourself some oreos and cream cheese, the recipe, and a bar of Aldi chocolate to dip them in) Of course, you can do what ever you want with the gift card, but I REALLY recommend doing the recipe! (Mommy J, please email me a mailing address!)

Thanks for playing along with me. It's been a great ride!

#1: hubby

2011-02-19T05:59:00.002-06:00

Once upon a time, a young girl had the most awesomest college class schedule. Then she realized she still needed one more English class to graduate. Not wanting to mess up her amazing schedule, she picked a once a week night class.

Two days before the class began, a young man was reviewing his schedule. To his dismay, the jet propulsion class had changed time, and he now needed one English class to graduate. He looked at the options, and picked the only qualified class with an opening - which just happened to be a once a week night class.

The first night of class arrived. They happened to sit next to each other. Both were struck with the other's thoughtful comments and insights.

He asked her out.

She said yes.

They fell love and got married.

But that was not the end of the story.

That was the beginning.

Together they started off on a grand adventure called "life". They became parents. They grew and changed.

And stayed together.

When he would ask why she loved him, she'd reply "because you're worth it." And he believed her.

When she was a crazy person who over scheduled herself and thought absolutely everything was important and stressed over the stupidest little things, he held her and helped her realize what was really important. And she calmed down.

And today, on her 30th birthday, she remembers her favorite thing of all. Her Hubby. And all the goodness he brings. His strengths and weaknesses - which become strengths - and loves and silliness. All those things she fell in love with, and those that she had to learn to love.

And she finds herself very blessed indeed.

#2: temples

2011-02-18T05:58:00.002-06:00

source

Have you ever had a massage? That feeling of your back adjusting, relaxing, that all is right and whole? I feel that when I go to the temple. I can physically feel the worldly weight leaving my shoulders as I forget about the daily grind of life and change my focus to the eternities. My spiritual spine adjusts itself as the muscles let their tension dissipate.

I love the joy found inside. Everyone you meet has a smile on their face. You are accepted, no matter what your circumstances are, just for being there.

I am so lucky for the opportunity to attend and worship in such an amazingly beautiful, peaceful place!

Book Review: Lady in Waiting

2011-02-17T20:36:00.005-06:00

A few months ago, I received a copy of Lady in Waiting, by Susan Meissner to review. In all honesty, I finished the book 5 weeks ago, but never got around to writing a review. So now I've read it twice, and you'll get a more detailed experience!

Basic plot summary:
Jane manages an antiques store. Her husband is living in a different state, and she's lost as to why he left or what to do about it. One day she finds a very old ring in the binding of a Protestant prayer book. The original owner turns out to be Lady Jane Grey. The book follows two stories, one of the modern Jane and her quest for enlightenment and reconnecting with her husband, and one of the historical figure of Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for only 9 days. (remember, this is a FICTION book, not a fact book. Jane Grey was real, but the story of the ring is not!)

My thoughts:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The passing of the story back and forth was just suspenseful enough to make me want more, without driving me crazy with breaking off the story line. I especially loved letters at the end, plausibly tracing the ring.

This is how Christian fiction should be. No one is preachy. No one is blatant in their oblations. Just everyday people, living their lives, full of faith, and standing true to their convictions.

The pace of the novel is slower - think of the movie Sabrina instead of Princess Bride. I loved the introspection and growth the two Janes show. Either story is capable of standing on it's own, but entwined together, they produce something magical. The author does such an astounding job at imagery, symbolism, and foreshadowing. (and yes, I'm feeling rather happy using words I haven't even thought of since 11th grade English!) The way the stories unfold - through despair, grief, and finally triumphant understanding - is inspiring. This is what good literature is all about!

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered "what if", who has ever made a choice, or who has ever wanted to test their own convictions.

*I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#3: my 3 kids

2011-02-17T05:58:00.001-06:00

Almost 6* years ago, I landed my dream job. I became a Stay-at-Home Mom.

I don't want to go on about how hard my job is. I don't want to go on about how phenomenallywondermous** my job is. Suffice it to say, it IS hard, and it IS wondermous.

ze bebe pics(in age order)

I love my job. My kids make me happier than almost anything. I hate the fights, but love the kisses. I hate the messes, but love the giggles. I love the way the help me to grow. I love the way they teach me.

ze current pics

I just love 'em!

*yes, I know that Girly-Lou turned 6 in November. But I worked for until June that year, so I can't count it until I stopped working, got it? **Yes, I know that word is spelled wrong. Actually, I think it's spelled right, it's just a made up word. Just go with it, ok?

#4: reading

2011-02-16T05:58:00.001-06:00

I may have mentioned before (about 23856 times) that I like to read. Really, really, really, REALLY like to read.

I enjoy learning new skills and facts. I appreciate a well constructed sentence. But more than anything, it's the story. I want to forget my problems and escape into a world unlike my own. I want to discover new ideas about myself by reading others. I want a touch of magic. I want to rediscover old story friends in new dressings.

My favorite are retellings of Fairy Tales. Wildwood Dancing, The Princess and the Hound, Snow White and Rose Red - I love the new worlds, and new issues, and new thoughts these stories present to me.

*I'm always looking for new good books. Anyone have some recommendations for me? Even if you think I've read it, chime in. I'd love ya forever!

#5: The Scriptures

2011-02-15T05:57:00.001-06:00

Have you ever had a perfect moment of clarity? A moment where something touched you so strongly you couldn't contain it within yourself? A time when with your mortal understanding, you gained a glimpse of something divine?

Remember that feeling. How often does it accompany reading the words of God? How often do you treasure doctrine, feast and come away filled?

My favorite scripture changes depending on my mood. Here are my two favorite today:

Doctrine and Covenants 84:88
And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Psalms 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God

What are your favorite moments with scripture?

#6: chocolate

2011-02-14T05:56:00.001-06:00

How appropriate on Valentine's day that my favorite would be chocolate!

Mmmmmmm chocolate. Is there anything more perfect? Nope. Not really!

Think about it. Is there any dessert that couldn't be made better with a garnish of deliciousness? To be completely honest, any dessert without chocolate isn't really dessert in my book! When I'm splurging, I want it to be good.

I'm not big into dark chocolate - give me milk all the way. But, I'd rather have good chocolate than cheap waxy stuff. I love Aldi's bars, not so much into regular hershey's. (symphony on the other hand . . . and let's not forget Cadbury too!)

In honor of the holiday and subject at hand, I thought I'd list some of my favorite chocolate recipes!*

Brownies
Adapted from Lion House Desserts

1 pound margarine
1 ½ cup cocoa
4 cups sugar
9 eggs (really!)
4 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a large jelly roll pan and set aside. In large saucepan, melt margarine and cocoa over low heat. Pour into large bowl with sugar and mix until creamy. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in flour. Pour into pan. Bake for 25-30 min.

Oatmeal Fudge Bars
Adapted from Lion House Desserts

1 cup margarine
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups oats

14 oz sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup margarine
12 oz semi sweet chocolate chips
2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9x13 inch pan. In large brown cream margarine and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. In separate bowl mix flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture.

In heavy sauce pan mix sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips and margarine and heat just until melted. Stir in vanilla.

Spread 3/4 of dough into pan. Spread with chocolate mixture. Drop remaining dough on top bay spoonfuls. Bake for 25 min. Cool, and cut into bars. Makes 36.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Bars

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups peanut butter
1 lb powdered sugar
chocolate chips
1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

Mix above ingredients together. Pat into 9x13 pan. Cover with chocolate chips. Bake in 350 oven til chocolate melts. Cool at room temperature. Cut into squares. Do not refrigerate.

Cookie Dough Truffles

½ cup butter, softened
2 cup flour
¾ cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
14 oz sweetened condensed milk
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup chocolate chips
1 ½ lbs dipping chocolate

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add flour, milk and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Shape into 1 inch balls. Lace on waxed paper lined baking sheets. Loosely cover and refrigerate 1-2 hours until firm. Dip into melted dipping chocolate. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 min. Store in refrigerator.

*so I found out how to post not-my-own recipes in such a way to not worry about copy rights. So here's that doughnut ball recipe I talked about a couple of months ago as a bonus!

Doughnut Balls
Adapted from Lion House Desserts

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
2 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups oil for frying
1 cup powdered sugar.

Dump everything (except oil and powdered sugar) in a large bowl and stir it up (it's going to be really soft and sticky.) Heat your oil - make sure it's not too hot. Drop by the tablespoon full into the oil. It should take 3-5 min to cook. Turn them over at least once. Drain on paper towels. When all the balls are fried, pour powdered sugar into a big ziplock. Add 3 or 4 balls and shaka-shaka-shaka!

#7; friends

2011-02-13T05:56:00.001-06:00

As a tween, I dreamed of having a "bosom friend" (I may or may not have been SERIOUSLY obsessed with LM Montgomery for several years!). But I never did. In fact, I despaired because I didn't have that glorious bond with one other female.

It wasn't until after I was married that I realized why. I have lots of friends. LOTS. I make friends easily. But if your circle of friends numbers in the dozens, it's a bit tricky to get that tight with just one person.

I now have people that I count as friends living in a dozen different states. Some I've known as long as I've been alive. Some I met just a few months ago. But everywhere I've been, every where I've lived, I've been able to find some very good friends.

I love making new friends. I love finding like minded people to play with. I love my crafting friends. I love my cooking friends. I love my reading friends, my same-stage-of-life friends, my not-even-close-to-stage-of-life friends. I love my bloggy friends. (yup, that's you!)

I learn so much from my friends. I find inspiration in their trials. They help me figure out my distresses. They enlighten me with their tips, and words, and crafts, and love.

Thanks for being my friend!

#8: affirmation

2011-02-12T05:55:00.001-06:00

In the attempt to get a really good definition of affirmation, I googled it. Don't do that. There's a not very happy site with that word first. After some digging, I came up with this site, which states that affirmation is the "confirmation or ratification of the truth or validity of a prior judgment, decision, etc."

Hmm. Not quite what I was going for. However, if you click on over to the thesaurus portion of the site, the second entry is for acceptance.

That's what I want. To me affirmation is feeling like others don't' think I'm a babbling idiot. That I could make a difference in someone's life. That someone else can relate to my experiences, take them into their heart, and make it their own.

Occasionally, I go back and re-read my old posts - what an amazing skill this blogging creates. I'm pretty darn great sometimes in this thing. I can be funny. I can be profound. I can be crafty. I can be babbling - just enough to keep me from thinking I'm really cool! Don't think I'm getting a big head hear; I do know how stupid I sound sometimes. But when I write, when you read, and then you write back to me . . . that feeling of interconnectedness. That sense of awe, of not being alone.

That's what I'm talking about.

*And I totally get the prize for longest word use today - 18 letters!

#9: Learning a New Skill

2011-02-11T05:54:00.001-06:00

One of the best things in life is learning something new. I loved school. (ok. let's be honest. I loved learning. The cramming for tests/writing boring papers/stupid parking rules not so much!) I love finding out new things, gaining new talents, finding new passions. I remember the first time I ever baked a loaf of bread. I had been married for 3 years, and decided I wanted to try something new. I loved it. We have homemade bread/rolls/bread bowls around here about once a week.

Since I started this blog, I've gained skills in:

crocheting
painting (furniture and walls here people! Painting art is a whole 'nother ball a' wax!)
carpentry
machine quilting
sewing a doll
lots of scrap booking skills too!

I love the learning phase - finding sources, gathering tips, that stuff. I love the actual doing part - chopping wood, slicing fabric, pouring paint. but most of all, I love the sense of accomplishment when it's done. When you can stand back and say "hey, I did that!", and then walk past it every day and fall in love with it all over again!

What skills have you learned lately?

#10: a really good night's sleep

2011-02-10T05:54:00.001-06:00

Is there anything better than waking up from a solid night in dreamland? That glorious feeling of your bed softly cocooning you as you let your cares slip away. The sensation of your head cradled on your pillow, that drowsy sensation falling upon you. And then in the morning, as you reverse it all - coming back out of that peaceful land. Mmmmmm. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Of course, it's not exactly something common around these parts. Our mattress has been dieing for about 3 years now. I still have little ones who frequently need caring for. There is a giant street light streaming through our windows (which only have cracked mini-blinds for coverage).

But still - what is better than a good night's sleep!

#11: Extended family

2011-02-09T05:53:00.002-06:00

Hubby's family

There is nothing better than family. I love spending time with my little family of 5. I love the giggles, the smiles, the wonderful times. But I also love my extended family.

I love my sisters. I've got a lot (six actually, plus one brother). I love the crafts, the happy tears, the stories we share when we're together. I love the joy and comfort that surrounds our adventures.

I love my in-laws. I love how welcomed I feel when I'm around them. I love the laughs and inside jokes we have. I love that they've taught me how to be ruthless when we play games. I love the teasing, the new experiences, and the different insights they provide.

I love Hubby's Grandpa. My own grandparents passed away when I was very young. I love the short chance I've had to get to know a grandfather in my life. I know he won't be around much longer, but I treasure the time I've been able to spend with him.

I love my nieces and nephews. I grew up with them, more like cousins than an aunt. The silly plays, the tickles, the games, the smiles. And now, as they marry and start their own families, I love reading their own words at finding joy.

I love Hubby's aunts and uncles. What a variety apparent there! From the most gullible people I've ever met, to the sillies, sarcastic individuals - it's always an adventure to get together with them!

Who do you love to be with?

#12: the wind

2011-02-08T05:53:00.001-06:00

*have you ever tried to find a picture of wind. Not exactly an easy task!

The wind makes me happy. It invigorates me. It fills me with contentment, joy, excitement.

Have you ever spent the afternoon running through a windswept field? Or flying kites with a strong warm wind blowing? To feel the air buffeting around me, sweeping my hair away, filling my heart and lungs with motion.

How's that for a crazy favorite? I don't know why I love the wind so much. But I love that sensation of movement washing over me.

That might be why I love The Goose Girl so much!

#13: Modern Medicine

2011-02-07T05:52:00.001-06:00

Raise your hand if you should be dead.

Or blind.

Or lame.

My hand is sure up there.

100 years ago, the average life expectancy was about 48. If you had 4 kids, there was a 50-50 chance one would die before age 5. And by the time you were 21, half of the population had already lost a parent. source (ok, I have no idea how accurate it is, but the numbers sound right to me!)

I would have died in childbirth. My two little sisters would have died in infancy. Another sister would be blind. My husband would have died as a teenager. Girly-lou would have likely been one of those minuscule graves.

I remember discussing childbirth while sitting at a table with 8 other women. 5 of us would have died without modern medicine.

I didn't because my condition is easily solved now. Thousands of other people are also alive because of the miracle of medical knowledge. Now that's something to be grateful for!

#14: a really good joke

2011-02-06T05:52:00.001-06:00

So this is a bit of a tricky one, 'cause now you're all expecting something funny. And funny on demand is not a skill I've developed.

But I love to laugh. I love to hear my kids giggle. I love finding something new, something fresh, something funny.

And anything can be funny if you're with great people. I learned this on a date once. We bought a bag of laughy taffy. Then the four of us would take turns reading off the jokes. The trick to it, is to make yourself laugh after each one. After a few minutes, you no longer have to force yourself!

My favorite laughy taffy jokes: What do you call 100 rabbits walking backwards? a receding HARE line!

(hahahahahahahahaha!)

How do pirates know that they are pirates?

They think, therefore they ARRRR!!!!!

(hahahahhah!)

That's all I've got. Have you got any good jokes for me?

#15: dishwashers. And washer/dryers.

2011-02-05T05:52:00.001-06:00

This is kind of along the same lines as the indoor plumbing one. But there are many MANY days I'm happy I was not born 200 years ago.

I did not have a dishwasher for the first 3 years we were married. My mom didn't have one until she was in her 40's. The daily, constant demand of dishes is so draining. Espeically when you are big and pregnant and have to bend around that giant ball of a stomach. One of my goals in life is to never live somewhere without a dishwasher again!

Laundry belongs in the same category. I've lived without a dryer. Twice, actually, for a combined total of about 2 years. It's anoying, but doable. The washer, on the other hand, is not. Line drying takes time, but little effort. Hand washing is a nightmarish prospect!

So I am very, VERY grateful for my modern appliances!

#16: My House

2011-02-04T05:50:00.001-06:00

Buying a house is an awesome (scary) thing. You now OWN property. (ok, so the bank owes it. But someday it will be yours). You are responsible. You don't have to ask anyone else for permission. You can do WHATEVER you WANT to it!!!

And I am. I rearrange furniture. Scrape walls. Slap up paint. Tear down paneling. Someday, I'm going to gut the bathroom. I can bang holes where ever I want to. I can plant whatever I want outside.

I love having my own place. Full of my family. Full of my memories. Full of my hard work.

I know this isn't our forever home. But I want my home to feel . . . homey. I want to make this dwelling the best it can possibly be. And it's lots of fun too!

#17: Hot Chocolate

2011-02-03T05:50:00.002-06:00

Is there anything better than curling up with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and a great book when the wind is howling outside?

I don't think so. I love a good cup of hot chocolate. I sometimes make my own. Sometimes I use whatever I can. But a good steaming cup can make the whole day better.

Anyone have an AMAZING cocoa recipe for me to try?

#18: My Coffee Table

2011-02-02T07:12:00.001-06:00

I have never lived in a house with a coffee table - not growing up, not in my first apartment, not in the 7 years since then. This didn't really bug me until we moved into this house. Now I actually had more than one room to decorate! My kids had space to move around! And I seriously wanted that pulled together feel the right table can give a room. But I was a bit picky. Glass was forbidden. Sharp corners were unacceptable. No stupid features. And it had to be super affordable. I was very open to the idea of fixing one up, but there just were not any tables in my price range that filled the bill.

A few months ago, I was looking at a consignment store and saw the most perfectest coffee table ever. It was a bit more than my desired price, but it was PERFECT. As in, I wouldn't need to spend a nickel fixing it up to my standards. And it was adorably shabby chic, which is so perfect with little ones!

But it was more than I could spend that day. I have NEVER been so tempted to whip out my charge card for something! I went home and talked to Hubby about it. He agreed that if there was enough from the next pay check we could go look for it.

10 days later, we headed out. I was sure I was going to be disappointed and it would be sold. But instead I did a rather skillful happy dance!

I love the feel it adds to my room. I love having a place to stick my feet when I read with my kids. I love not having my water knocked over every time I put it down. 'Lil loves having something else to crawl through. The older kids love having a better place to play board games.

This table makes me happy every time I look at it.

Crafty Crafty part 3

2011-02-01T14:40:00.006-06:00

This one has been crazy to get done! But after 60 bajillion trips to the store, dozens of setbacks, and several glue gun burns, I'm ready to post!

A couple of years ago I saw this birthday calendar at my nieces' place. I love the idea of having all my family's birthdays in one place. And this was such an adorable idea. I filed the idea away, and have been looking for the right frame since. I finally found one.

Supplies:
a big frame. The opening on mine measures 19.5 x 9.5 You want a frame that is decidedly longer one direction.
Jute. A LOT of jute. I needed about 100 feet for this.
Mini clothespins (1 3/4 inches long). I found mine at joanns.
Ribbon, about 4 yards worth.
1/4 yard cute fabric
Full sheet clear address labels (like these ones)

Start off with your frame. Take out the glass and whatever old picture is inside. Save the cardboard back for later. Use some needle nose pliers to pull out all the little tabby things that hold it all together.

Now get ready to wrap! Ok, so you could just paint it. Or leave it the way it is. But I wanted something different. Start with the corners. It took some figuring out, but his is the way that worked for me. Cut 6 or 7 -3inch strands. Glue onto the left side of the corner and let the ends hang out over the end of the frame - like this.Shoot. Blogger won't turn the picture the right way. But you get the idea, right?
Now take 6 or 7 more 3 inch strands. Glue them the opposite way and also let them hang out over the end.
Fold the strands over to the back and glue down. One side:

And then the other:
Trim up the ends so it looks all neat.

Repeat for the other 3 corners.
Now take your jute, get cozy with a good movie and start wrapping. I tied a loop with a knot to start out, and just patiently wrapped up the whole thing.

Whew! We made it! Now take the cardboard back and cover it with your cute fabric. DON'T cut your cardboard smaller. It will fit. (not that I'd know that from experience or anything!)

Grab your ribbon, and cut 12 pieces your needed length (just hold it up to your frame and measure it.)

Ready to work your 7th grade algebra class? Measure the length of your frame. Divide this by 13. Cut a scrap of cardboard (or something else stiff) EXACTLY this width. Mark (on the BACK!!) 12 dots along the back of your frame. *if you measure wrong, grab a different color of marker from your kid's stash and try it again. I only had 4 colors on mine!

Repeat on the bottom of the frame. (Still on the BACK, right?)

Grab your glue gun. Squirt a dab on each dot and stick your ribbon on.
Pulling VERRRRRRY tight, repeat on the other end.

The tighter you pull it, the better it will lay later.

Glue your fabric covered cardboard onto the frame. Cut about an 18 inch piece of ribbon and sew it onto your frame. Do not try to use your glue gun. There is a distinct chance that the glue will give out, make the frame fall, break your clothespins, and rip the month ribbons off too. (Not that I'd know anything about that either . . .!)

I used my favorite word processing program to type up my words. The name of the font is My Own Topher. The months are size 24, "Cake Time!" is size 52, and the names are size 9. Make sure you print it out on regular paper first to check for sizing. Then print it out on your full sheet labels. Cut them out, stick them on the appropriate place, and step back to enjoy your craftiness!

Cost breakdown
Frame: $3
Jute: $1.50
Ribbon: $4
Fabric: $1
Clothes pins: $2.50
Labels: 10 for $12, so $1.20

TOTAL: $13.20

#19: that perfect shot:

2011-02-01T07:12:00.007-06:00

#19: that perfect shot: the one that makes your children look like angels

- or devils depending on what you wanted.

Having your camerea out at the right time,

with the right angle,

with the right glint.

I am a total amateur at photography. But every once and a while, I get a shot that makes it all worth while.

#20: The Internet

2011-01-31T07:03:00.003-06:00

How often have you ever made the comment "what did we do before google?" It comes up all the time around our place. The internet is an amazing thing. There is so much knowledge at your fingertips. You can find almost anything!

Because of the internet, I had the courage to spend 19 hours sanding my living room (and I finally found my inspiration source too!). I've found old friends. I've made dozens of new ones. I've switched my laundry detergent and now make my own dryer sheets (I use #3). I taught myself how to crochet some tricky stitches. I've learned how to make furniture. I've been super crafty. I've learned what platypuses eat.

Because of the internet I've grown, and stretched myself. I've gained knowledge and courage I'd never had. I've become such a better person.

Like any good thing there are drawbacks and pitfalls. (and major wasting of time too!) But I am very happy that I have a world of knowledge, a world of friendship, and world of assistance all at my desk.

#21:White soup with bread bowls

2011-01-30T07:00:00.002-06:00

This may be my favorite dinner, EVER. It's a combination a couple of recipes, and my whole family loves it when I make it. It's fat free, fairly easy, and super yummy!

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

2 cups nonfat dry powdered milk
2 Tbsp dried onion flakes
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon powder (or 12 bullion cubes, but that’s super annoying!)
½ tsp black pepper
4 cups water
2 cups (approx) noodles
1-2 carrots, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1-2 chicken breasts

Combine milk, cornstarch, bullion and 2 cups water in a blender. (If using cubes, use very hot water. Mix the cubes and the water first, then blend in the rest.)

Pour into very large pot. Add onion, pepper, and remaining water. Cook over low heat until begins to thicken. Do not let boil. (If it boils, it will separate and look really nasty. Still tastes good, but looks awful!)

Meanwhile, place chicken, celery, and carrots in a medium pot. Cover with water. Bring to a boil. Add noodles. Cook approx. 15 minutes, or until noodles and chicken are fully cooked. Drain. Shred chicken (Cooked chicken shreds really easy if you just kind of mush it through your fingers, almost in a “money” sign motion, just very firm.) Add to soup base.

Bread Bowls: I use my favorite 2-loaf bread recipe, dividing into 8 balls of dough. Cook like normal (try not to let them touch each other), cut a small slice off the top. hollow it out, and fill with soup!

#22: indoor pluming

2011-01-29T07:13:00.002-06:00

source

This one may be a bit of a no brainer. Raise your hand if this is something you're grateful for! No umpteen trillion trips to the outhouse in -20 winter middle of the nights while pregnant! No crazy stench in the middle of summer! No flies buzzing around your derriere!

Very, very VERY happy for this one!

#23: Mineral makeup

2011-01-28T07:19:00.001-06:00

I'm not a big makeup wearer. But still, I need to feel pretty sometimes. A couple of years ago, something strange happened to my skin. I still don't know what. When I'd put on makeup, within an hour I'd be clawing at my face, feeling like I was suffocating. I tried all kinds of things, but nothing really helped. So I stopped. I didn't wear anything for a full year.

Then I found mineral makeup. Everything said it was supposed to be much lighter, much better for your skin. I was hooked. I still don't wear a ton, but I love that I can still feel pretty and such without feeling like my face is trying to get off my skull.

Craft Crafty part 2

2011-01-27T16:04:00.007-06:00

This project I was super excited to do. I've been seeing these little paper roses in blogland for a while, but it wasn't until I saw this topiary that I really fell in love with it!

I don't know if you've seen the tutorials for this one so I thought I'd post my own.

Supplies:

Foam ball (I think mine was 3 inches. Actually, it was a decor ball on clearance for a buck!)
Stick (wooden skewer, on hand)
Foam disks ($1, from dollar store)
paper (I used 5 sheets, so about $.25)
Flower moss (also from dollar store)
Can (mine's a corn can)
Something to wrap the can
Lots and LOTS of hot glue
Patience.

Total cost: $2.25!!

Here's the foam disks I used.

I got them from $ tree, and they had a ton. I've seen the balls there before, but they were out on this trip. So I found mine at joann's instead.

It's just too annoying to try to get the flowers so close together that you can't see any white at all, so to start off, cover your ball with something. I used some red tissue paper.

Next, cut your paper. Out of 3 pieces, cut strips 2 1/8 wide. Then cut these into 2 1/8 squares. Out of 1 and a half pieces, cut squares that are 1 1/2 inches. I needed a total of 65 big squares and 60 smaller ones.

The tute I saw had you draw a swirl on the paper. That works, but I didn't find I needed it. Instead, just start at one side, and cut a long long swirl towards the center.
Don't' cut clear to the center, but leave a circle in the middle.
Then cut off the extra so you have a circle that looks like this:

Take the outside of your swirly and start rolling it up.

Keep on rolling until you get to the center circle.

And look, a cute little paper flower!

And the back:

They will be super tight when you start, but will unravel a bit.

You'll need to put a dab of hot glue on the circle of the flower. This will keep your flower together, so you won't wake up one morning and have a bunch of springy papers sticking everywhere!

Now repeat 150 times!

To assemble the topiary: First, stick your stick on the ball. Then start gluing all your flowers on! Use a combination of small and big ones. Place them as close together as you can.

Once your adorable ball is complete, place several disks inside your corn can. Wrap the can with something cute. (I used ribbon. I wanted some cute paper or something, but it was 10:00 at night and I just used what I had. I ran out. (this is the back of the can)

If your observant enough to notice it, you deserve a cookie!

Glue on some flower moss, add a cute little bow, if so inclined, and step back to admire your craftiness!

I also decorated my table for valentines.

Isn't it cute!

On this side, my cute topiary, a candle, and the BEST valentine's day book.

This side, a valentine subway plate, another candle. I decided it needed just a little something else, so I stuck some raspberry kisses (delish by the way!) in a little jar.

And we're all ready for the big day!

Crafty Crafty

2011-01-27T15:50:00.004-06:00

I've been very inspired for the last few weeks. I've had a crafting bug that just needed to be scratched. With that in mind, I've made 3 very fun crafts in the last two weeks. I've actually been done with two of them for almost a week now, but I've been waiting to post about them until the last one is done. But I'm getting too impatient with that, and I'm posting now!

The first one I finished was a hair bow holder. I've wanted to make one for years now, but never found the right frame for it. There are something like 10845763 tutorials already out there in blog land, so I won't bother with that.

But I found this frame for $3 at a thrift store.

Yes, it's never been opened. And judging from the height of the woman's hair, I'd say this was siting in some one's basement since 1992. Look at her haughty smile. I can just imagine that face tormenting someone. Every time they opened that closet, she'd be there, taunting them. "Look at my beauty. Look at my grace. Why can't you find a use for my perfection?!?!"

There really are some fun details on this frame.
So anyway, I slapped some white paint on, covered the back in a fun fabric I had, and strung up $1 worth of ribbon. I wanted to try glazing to get those fun details to pop out. Instead I got impatient and just stuck the whole thing together!

So here's my $4 bow holder. It won't win any awards, but I love it!