A Very Blessed Nest

Cabin Fever and some Love

2011-01-13T18:03:00.000-05:00

Since, I have been stuck in the house forever and school has been out ALL week because of the snow. I woke up this morning and saw this on my patio. It described exactly what I was thinking!

I LOVE that the snow is melting, although I'm pretty sure this is the only spot that melted all day! Oh well, schools out tomorrow too, ~~whoohoo,~~ boohoo!

Here's hoping for a very warm weekend!

-K

Freezing Cold Fun

2011-01-11T16:34:00.004-05:00

After thinking we were getting snow a couple of days before and waking up to nothing....

This is what we woke up to yesterday! 6 inches of freezing cold F-U-N!!

and after putting enough clothes on for 25-30 people we were ready to have a Snow day!

                            We don't have a sled so we drug the old air mattress out of the attic....

        Our driveway is pretty steep but not as steep as the road up next to our driveway...

                                                   So we thought we would give it a try...

Definitely better!!!

                                                 Buuuud enjoyed digging in it more than anything!





Random I know...but I think trees like this look so pretty and unreal with snow on them! Don't they remind of those little fake trees you put in your miniature Christmas village?

And after about an hour it was time to get warm again. We had a blast...it was like a little vacation, but without the travel time and packing. Although the same amount of laundry! Hope your day has been filled with freezing cold fun!

Hustle and Bustle

2010-12-13T17:42:00.001-05:00

Wow, my apologies to all that ~~used to~~ frequent this blog. I love to blog but it has just not been on the priority list. I have been caught up in all things Christmas, just like you I'm sure. You know, trimming the house, shopping, parties, banquets, etc. I was thinking of making a fresh start, so things may change come January. I am still on the fence. Anyway....I feel like playing catch up so here it goes...

This was our annual Christmas Banquet at church. Eli and cute little Natalie right before their performance.

Eli, in case you were wondering is on the other side of the beautiful blonde.

Next up was the Jr. Choir and Kennedy is the one in the black and white! She was excited!

Then yesterday it was snowing for the first time this winter. I could not believe all the snowflakes that really looked like snowflakes! And for some strange reason my niece wanted me to take some pics of her and her new beau, Chris. Not sure if they are doing their own Christmas cards or what. Here are few samples...

That's snow not dandruff : )

It was FREEZING!!! So, I "double dog dared" Rach to see if her tongue stuck to the pole...it didn't!

Like I said this is what we woke up to this morning!

And after 30 minutes of getting dressed, we spent about 4 minutes total outside.

Just long enough to do this : )

I hope everyone out there is having a wonderful winter!

Six-year-old Drama

2010-11-22T11:29:00.002-05:00

Kennedy is into having her hair fixed...if she had it her way it would be curled and fancied up everyday for school. On Sundays I do fix it for church. But instead of curling it yesterday, I thought I would try something a little different for her...let's just say the pictures below will tell you if she liked it or not.

But she's like her momma and can't stay mad very long !

Sorry for the blur, I was laughing while trying to snap these ;)

Oh, yes and she has lost those since the last time we talked!

Heaven help me...we have a long way to go!

October {updated}

2010-11-01T13:11:00.002-04:00

Well this has been a busy month that has seemed to FLY by! For cryin out loud we are in the month of Thanksgiving already and should I dare mention that Christmas is just 7 weeks away!! I know right? So, I need to play catch up a bit.

Oh, and by the way....I despise how Blogger does the picture uploads now. So some things might be out of order because I'm sick of trying to place the picture where it belongs but it won't stay there, UGGGH!

Well, one day daddy played hookie(?) from work and we went downtown and played at the library and park

The Library

The park where we feed the ducks!

Site seeing... Its funny that we took our kids around our own town to show them things...Kennedy didn't even know this was our Courthouse. Note to self, do this more often! I think they need to know our town before we travel and educate them on other places!

Grace spent the night, during Fall break! and requested pancakes.

I caught E having a blast with some baby powder...He was so proud I could barely spank him! We are completely out of baby powder now!

Jacob cut out some foam words for a women's conference...then we painted and glittered them ....I will have purple glitter in my garage FOREVAAH!

And of course Halloween...the theme this year was FREEEE! And as you can see I recycled E's birthday outfit, so he could be Clark Kent and got my mom to sew the yellow trim on K's skirt and made the felt collar with just a piece of Velcro on the back to go around her neck for Olive Oyl!

We had a block party at church outside, our choir sang and our pastor preached a small message. After that we had booths set up in our Gym with inflatables and free food! Each booth had candy to put in your bucket after you played the game...it was "buckets" of fun : )

Below Reagan Sarah's little girl with Kennedy! They're best bud's!

And this is one of Eli's friends...Bradyn, Jennifer's Cutie. His dad was Woody, how cute!

And of course my niece's were there...Rachael!

And GRACE!

The Queen of Heart's had a booth, Kennedy loves her!

And we had 2 booths...Hillbilly golf and below bobbing for pickles!

This is Andrew, my nephew. He was the first to get a pickle! I was really surprised at the number of kids who actually WANTED to do this...it was pretty funny ;)

And below are the pictures that Blogger does NOT want me to move..

We took Kenners to KK because she made straight A's...don't forget they give you free doughnuts for every A you make!

And last Thursday was costume day at school...my mom hadn't sewn Olive Oyl yet, so we had to think of something on the fly..she was a stay at home mom!

And once again...Halloween courtesy of Blogger or me just not knowing how to work this thing yet!

October was fun and stressful, as are most months, but I'm glad it's finally November!

SPECIAL THANKS to my MOM...who is extraordinarily talented and GENEROUS (wink)!

-K

Fall Break, Day 1

2010-10-20T11:40:00.001-04:00

Well, it's Fall and it feels like it was Spring the last time I blogged. Sorry, I have been a very bad blogger, got some things in the works though.

Anyway this week is Fall break and I wish I was blogging from some tropical island somewhere. But, we are here at home. So, we went on a little photoshoot down the road for some updated pics of the kiddos! Hope it inspires you to go take some pictures, the weather is GORGEOUS! Although, the mosquitos ARE still out!!

Well, that and a little bribery for the pictures and 16 mosquito bites was it for Day 1.

HAPPY FALL, YA'LL!

-K

My Unfortunate Toy Story

2010-09-16T18:48:00.000-04:00

I have unfortunatly discovered shaker cars are dangerous when spontaneously dropped on your back with your hair down : )

I only wish I had a picture of me crying for someone to help me find the OFF switch, even though I was all alone with my 3 year old, who was by then in another room not caring a bit that I was in tears : )

Shaker cars are now on my hitlist!

-K

Life changing decision

2010-09-13T13:22:00.007-04:00

Disclaimer: It will be informative ONLY

First of all let me just start by saying...I am not one of those people who like to know ALL about someone, like if they got a root canal that day or had to go to the gastroendorologist, but I am 30-something and realize that I would want to know about this particular post. There are a lot of couples out there that are in that decision making time of their lives.

My youngest just turned 3 and we felt like it was time to make a decision...baby #3 or no more at all. Obviously, you can see what we decided.

I know most of us go through this decision process after you have 2 or more babies and if you have a BOY and a Girl, it seems like it can be even harder. Lot's of pro's and cons to weigh. When it came down to it though, I think I liked the thought of having a baby more than actually having one.

This is Jacob right after the little, well you know! He was definitley Loopy and loving that he had an excuse to play Xbox for the next couple of days!

Overall it took about 3 days before he could get up and about, hardly compares to what we woman go through, RIGHT? But, he was a trooper and I really did hate that he had to be in any pain at all! I got a little taste of that helpless feeling that he said he had during my Labor. It doesn't feel good, that's for sure.

WARNING: Your children will pick up on your conversation about this so, beware!

Friday morning at school during PRAYER REQUESTS my 6 year old raised her hand and asked everyone to pray for her daddy..."He was getting a "Jawstrap" today!

Obviously, she had heard the night before that we had forgotten to pick one up (a jockstrap that is).

Needless to say I am sure ONLY her teacher picked up on this, but bless her heart she was so worried about her Daddy. We ALL had a good LAUGH!

I am not going to lie, it was a tough decision. I cried several times we went back and forth, but ultimately, we felt like this was right FOR US! I love babies and told Jacob that I might have a couple of meltdowns along the way and he assured me he would do whatever it took to help me through them. Wish him luck...I can get pretty emotional : )

-K

The No Sew Way To Go

2010-09-10T11:22:00.001-04:00

OK, I have been neglecting the Blog and after PW's post about blogging, I have GUILT. So I will try my hardest to be blogging on a daily basis an nourish my blog instead of letting it wilt, as usual.

I do not sew MUCH, just the occasional hem or experiment and a pillow or two. So, when I see something that is NO SEW and I think I can do it, I am lovin' it! I saw a tutorial here for a NO SEW applique....AND I LOVE APPLIQUE'S! So here is my take on it...

Here's whatcha need. An iron of Course and

1. Some SHARP scissors

2. Fusible webbing

3. Three coordinating fabrics

I started by printing off a picture of what I wanted to applique to the shirt(a pear). I just typed it into Google images and picked the one I wanted.

Then I cut it out and placed it. I also cut off the stem and leaf separate to use 3 different coordinating materials.

Next you just follow the directions on the back of the fusible webbing package.

One piece at a time.

Next I took the same 3 fabrics and made a coordinating fabric flower which my friend Sarah sells for dirt cheap on her Etsy shop check it out!!

There you have it! This whole project took me about 30-40 minutes and it was fun!

Kenners agreed!!!

I will be buying up some 3$ long sleeve shirts and getting busy for winter, can't wait to make more : )

-K

Super "E" turns 3

2010-09-01T17:07:00.004-04:00

I have SO been MIA, with reason. Our church has a music conference once a year and J and i have been helping with behind the scenes stuff, along with starting school and Eli's birthday. It has been hectic to say the least and besides all of that not much to blog about in the process. So, here i am with a post (finally) about my little man, who, turned 3 yesterday!

We had big plans to have a birthday party with friends and such, but man alive, August has been one more busy month. So, we opted for a get-together with just my immediate family. Plus i couldn't bare for Jennifer to have to buy my lil' man a present since I missed Bradyn's Party ;( Check it out here. It was so C-U-T-E! and my friend Sarah rarely gets to come to his party since her BIL's birthday is on the same day. It just worked out better this way for everyone!

E, when asked, wanted a Superman party! I strongly dislike character stuff so i went with the color scheme.

My wonderful mom made this adorable shirt...

and cape!

He was lovin' it

While we enjoyed our birthday feast...

Dad was doing this...told you it was a busy month ;)

and Rachael (my niece) was apparently concerned about keeping her FB up to date...not sure if she really wanted Eli in the pic or not? Love you Rach!

On to opening the gifts...

Big Buzz Lightyear fan!

Does his face say it all? The boy lu, lu, loves a guitar!

Then we had a "Guest"!!!

Super E's best friend Spiderman came to deliver a present ;)

Eli was supposed to go running to him with open arms but instead he looked like this...

The funniest part was even though he was terrified when Spiderman went over to him to say happy b-day he said "Hi Daddy". Ahhhh Memories!

Once Daddy took off the mask, he was good to go : )

Best Buds! Thanks, Spidey for coming.

We sang Happy Birthday

and blew out the candles

and then he made sure that he shot everyone with his new gun before they left.

After they were all gone we PLAYED!!

E rockin out on his guitar

He had a "Super" 3rd Birthday!!!

And I quote..."First Grade Rocks!!"

2010-08-16T17:50:00.005-04:00

This was our destination this morning....

Well, actually this was! (Recognize the candy from the Jacob's guest post?)

This was one very EAGER little girl, who, actually woke up in a GOOD mood at 7:15 a.m. so that she could get there!

After all the primping took place it was time for the traditional photoshoot..

This is Kenners "pretending" as if she is about to go out the front door and we NEVER go out the front door since our car is in the garage far from the front door. And the funny part is once I grabbed my camera this is where she went, she knows me too well!

It's just tradition...everyone of my first day of school pics are this, but we actually did go out the front door, so that's probably why ;)

OK now I feel a little silly

Ok last posing pic...we had to go we were running late...I can get carried away!

This is her actually arriving at school, not my front door : )

And we have arrived...1st Grade was finally here, YIPPPEEE!

Grace was there (the BFF and first cousin) who hugged her like she had not seen her in a decade, when actually she saw her less than 12 hours before this...soooo sweet!

A few more hugs, she actually hadn't seen these girls all summer...they really did miss each other!

Thats her way back in the corner waving BYE BYE...that was a hint for me to PAALEASE quit taking pictures

Daddy and Eli wouldn't have missed this for the world, ok maybe Eli ;)

We have come to the best part...

After Daddy picked her up at school, which was a surprise...She comes flying through the door saying "First Grade Rocks"....Words I pretty much loved to hear...maybe she will wake up tomorrow as eager to get to school as she did this morning.

I thought this was a perfect opportunity to get in a few jumping shots since this is how she really felt!!! Bear with me it took a couple of tries before we really got it, but it was pretty fun!

Eureka!

After bribing her with food to tell me all about it...here's the breakdown

1.She loves her teacher

2. Her words, "Mom she is sooooo nice!"

3. Gym was so fun!

4. I can't wait until tomorrow!

You just can't get better than that folks!

She went to her room and less than 10 minutes later I found this...

One worn out First Grader ; )

Off to get ready to do it all over again

-K

OK here it is...GEEZ!

2010-08-10T12:40:00.003-04:00

Can I just tell you again how much fun it was at camp!!!

I am still recuperating

Still unpacking

Still doing laundry

and still REALLY tired

But

I made some new friends

Bonded even more with my daughter

remembered how to have fun

survived WITHOUT a cell phone

and came home to the 2 best guys a girl could ask for!

-K

home SWEET home and CAMP GOOD SPIRIT

2010-08-09T14:33:00.000-04:00

I actually arrived home Friday, but I am just getting the energy to post this. The first 24 hours of camp was a bit rough, but man alive after that I had a blast, so you can imagine how much fun the kiddos had, since it WAS meant for them!

I have a lot of pics, so I will keep my words brief and let them tell the tale!

A photo shoot with Kennedy and Sarah on the way there...

As you can see, 5 star accommodations...I kid, this is camp what did you expect ;)

and OH, how I wish I had a picture of the bathrooms, one big open room as the walk thru to the other side...ZERO privacy any where...we got to know each other REAL quick!!!

We had many activities in this old room, which later turned into a haunted kitchen in the back just for the older ones...and just so you know...it was awesome!! They came up with it on the fly, because the kitchen was old and creepy anyway. No pics of that sorry!

This was my group of girls of which all were first time campers...they had a BALL!

I had my lil' camera so this pic does not do this view justice. We were suppose to HIKE to the top of this mountain, but they had MERCY on us and loaded the kids up in the trucks and took us there! It was B-U-T-ful!!!

Us in the trucks on our way there...did I mention at the top of the mountain was the ONLY place we had cell service ;( We were really roughin' it!

Oh, and we were only there long enough for me to make one phone call and no one would answer, story of my life!

A view of the inside of the truck on the way....SQUISHED!

Wednesday night was FUN night and also the CRAZY HAIR contest!

This was my groups idea, complete with REAL sprinkles and cherry! Can't tell you how long it took to give these girls a shower!

Some more crazy hair...

For some reason I can't figure out how to get my sideways pics to rotate, sorry just gently turn your head to the right : )

More crazy hair and some games with DEAD FISH??

LOTS AND LOTS of prankin' going on!!! At one point we locked our luggage in a lady's truck who offered because of it... all in fun ; )

Popcorn and a movie at the outdoor amphitheater!!

2 water days!!!

The church services were great!! 5 kids received the

Holy Ghost, it was a great move of GOD!

Once again please turn head sideways, UGGGH! All the campers got an award specifically based on their trait or personality, they were lovin' this!

Last picture sideways...I promise!!! Apparently its tradition for the staff to make a pyramid each year. I spared you the pic of the ladies I was on the bottom if you want to use your imagination : )

This was one "Happy Camper"!

After this it was time to pack up and head home...

and if you read the last post, you know that I came home to my husband waiting in the parking lot for me, which was so great since I hadn't been able to talk to him in 4-ever. He had to go back to work after he loaded our luggage, but he told me there was a surprise waiting for me...

Man Oh Man,did I ~~ball my eyeballs out~~ cry, due to the sweetness of the hubs and the sleep deprivation might have had something to do with it too!!

He had it all set up and ready to go, complete with my favorite coffee on top! I will say it took me a while to figure out that he had ~~hacked into my blog~~ guest blogged about his week with Eli.

Honey, I know that you will see this...THANK YOU for your SWEET surprise for me...I think I would go out of town more often after that, but I missed you and E way to much!!! You ARE the best of the best!

I can't tell you how bad I needed a GOOD cup of coffee after that week : )

Also thanks to all who commented to J's guest post. Just so you know, the first thing he did when he walked in the door was check them all out!! hehe, now he understands the whole "blogging addiction"!

Next on the list...starting 1st grade, sigh!

-K

2010-08-05T21:50:00.001-04:00

Guest post by Hubbie & Eli........

My wife and Kennedy are away ona youth camp for 6-12 year old. Kennedy was going as

a camper and K was hoodwinked into being a chaperone. So that leaves me and Eli

to reek havok in the house for 3 days.......just kidding we had some male bonding together.

so as you might know Kennedy is starting 1st grade this year. We send her to our christian

school at our church. Her teacher is doing a themed room, I am assuming it is "candy land" or something. So I was asked to create some "candy". From my 32 things you didn't know about me you might have seen

the part where I said I am handy (yes that is my downfall, I get asked to do things for others which is not bad all the time). Anyway, I have a gift for cutting things out of foam, if you want to call it that. It is actually roof insulation for large industrial building. i.e Wallyworld and such

It gets messy when I cut it. ahem, WE cut it.

Here are two candy canes, and you can see the bottom of the hershey kiss, which will be wrapped in silver wrapping paper.

Here is the circle where she will put a broom handle in the circle to make a lollypop.

As you saw it gets messy, so being the manly men we are....We had to power up the 15 gallon 6.5 horse power air compresor and clean up a little.

After that, we had to do more manly things, well because we are MEN right. So little "E" helped me change some sparkplugs (1 or 2 words???).

And you cant have male bonding without video games. So we played his favorite game "Trials HD", a motorbike game (manly game). I know it's a pink controller, it's Kennedy's alright geez you people look at everything.

She has been wanting one of these for awhile now, if your reading thisSURPRISE!!! Well hopefully she won't check her blog while she is gone because this will be waiting for her when she gets back tomorrow at noon. Oh wait, she can't check it because where she is there is no cellular service. I feel like the lady science fair judge for the movie "Meet the Robinsons". I HAVEN'T SLEPT IN 8 DAYS.........feels like it anyway.

I hope you enjoyed this crazy post. I am new at this so cut me some slack.

I love you honey see you in 14 hours and 15 minutes, but who is counting right.

Fun Facts....12 years later

2010-08-02T21:17:00.003-04:00

My husband and I celebrated our 12th anniversary as Mr. and Mrs. on July 31st and on the same day one of our closest friends daughter (who is also a friend, more like family) was married.

Adorable, isn't she?

It was a beautiful wedding!!! My daughter was one of the flower girls, so I was helping with that and wedding preparations most of the day!

It was a busy day, we didn't see each other but a few minutes. I had literally forgotten it was our anniversary.

But the hubs managed to buy me a lil' something and had it waiting in the car for me after the wedding. Did I mention he is pretty sweet!

Here is a little break down of our 12 years together

5 moves
4 houses
6 cars
1 dog
1 bird
2 kids
12 amazing years!!

Doesn't seem like much when I break it down, but man oh man it really has been...some good, some bad (the dog and bird mainly)... But all worth it!

It's a beautiful thing.

I am so thankful for the 12 years God has blessed us with!!!

I found me a good one ; )

-K

P.S. Somehow I was ~~suckered~~ talked into chaperoning our Super Kids Camp about an hour away from here, until Friday. Did I mention that its for 6-12 year olds. Boy Howdy is this going to be F-U-N

See ya next week ; )

Cheeseburger Pie

2010-07-28T04:55:00.003-04:00

First of all, I had a few people ask about the cupcake stand.... I received it from my lovely mother, who, got it at TARGET. I 've also seen them at Wal-Mart in the cake decorating section.

And now for the cheeseburger pie, which I was thinking would be so cute done in a muffin pan and put on this cupcake stand for dinner. OK, really here's the recipe...

1 lb lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)...my husband hates onions, so I use onion powder tastes the same.

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 Tblsp butter-soft or shortening

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1.Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray.

2.In 10-inch skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until beef is brown; drain. Spread in pie plate. Sprinkle with cheese.

3.In small bowl, stir remaining ingredients with fork or wire whisk until blended. Pour into pie plate.

4.Bake about 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

(Rachael's boyfriend Zach, just for future reference, who obviously likes Cheeseburger pie, and who my son STALKS... seriously, he loves this guy...he named one of his action figures Zach!)

Eat and enjoy...I'm pretty sure anyone likes this stuff!!!

- K

32 more things you might not know (guest post by my hubby)

2010-07-27T00:21:00.000-04:00

My wonderful husband is officially 32 years old, in honor of his big day he is guest posting his list for me....

32 things you might not know about (me) Jacob

1. I am 5' 10"
2. I like playing Xbox
3. I was born and raised in Houma, Louisianna
4. I have never had braces
5. or glasses
6. I got my first real motorbike when I was five
7. I am pretty handy
8. I know how to ski (water and snow)
9. My wife is making me do this
10. My favorite movie is Aladdin
11. I hate jelly
12. I wish we had 7 children (at least one set of twins)
13. I love snoballs...from Louisianna
14. My mom almost named me Courtney
15. I know what its like to survive a hurricane
16. I can shake my eyeballs
17. I do not like to touch anyones teeth
18. I am scared of heights
19. I took my first steps at 6 months
20. I had the exact same name as another boy in elementary school and we were in the same class.
21. My dad passed away 2 years ago
22. I miss him
23. I wish I knew how to play the guitar
24. French is my grandparents first language
25. I wish I knew how to speak it
26. I am younger than my wife
27. I make friends easily
28. I like to make cakes
29. I draw for a living
30. I am an only child
31. My first job was a cart boy at a golf course
32. I wish I was taking a nap

-Jacob

And here is a recap of how his big day turned out...

Kenners made some cupcakes for Daddy while he was at work, man O man was she excited. I can't tell you how many times she asked me "are you excited that it's daddy's birthday?" She was my Super Big helper : )

Then my sister and my mom came over to wish Jacob a happy b-day and eat of course!

We yelled surprise as he walked thru the door, even though i know it wasn't since everyone's cars were in the driveway ; )

Probably his favorite gift ever, was the cheeseburger pie i made especially for his big day...this is the only time i ever make it for some reason.

Apparently, its pretty good

This is Jacob fake blowing out his candles cause we missed it the first time

Thats one serious cupcake eater

Kennedy had picked out 2 presents just for dad, that she was absolutely certain he woud adore...

This is one of them, the other was some Junior Mints, he was pretty excited

Then he opened his gift from our 5 year old niece, Grace, who apparently "shopped the house" for her uncle Jacob and this is what he got, this and a really flashy belt (so sweet)

Here he is modeling all his "goodies"...notice the belt

Next, we played SOME card game where you have to wink at people...that was interesting!

Andrew gave us a lil' weird Al Yankovik performance

Kennedy gave daddy one last birthday kiss right before she ditched us to spend the night with Grace

And I would have to say this toy was a smash hit with Lil' E who hasn't put it down since we opened it!!!

Man alive am i exhausted from all this fun

Happy 32nd Birthday to my honeybuns ;)

The weed you can see from space

2010-07-24T17:44:00.001-04:00

This is what happens...

(Picture taken today)

When you don't weed your flower bed all summer, Seriously!

Bye, Bye Mr. Weed ;)

It's a Photo Friday

2010-07-23T15:00:00.001-04:00

(Photo credit not found )

If this doesn't make you want to be pregnant for at least 5 minutes....check your pulse!

Have a Fantastic Friday ;)

-K

Without Further Ado...The Lil' man's Bedroom!

2010-07-21T17:37:00.002-04:00

Man alive am I glad to be posting this...it means I am finished (for now anyway). I have been a little side-tracked with wedding showers and family reunions, but here it is....The mini man cave!

First of all I have to let you in on the drama that got me to this point. After I found the striped pillows, I was thinking nautical...so after purchasing and then returning 2 quilts, 2 comforters, 1 set of window treatments, 2 sheet sets, some nik-naks from Hobby Lobby and losing my wallet (which someone turned in YAY!), I finally found some sheets (above) and a comforter. Wow that was exhausting to write and even more so to actually do!!!

After all that I didn't even use the pillows on the bed. Pitiful, I know. But, I like them better here!

Before, I get ahead of myself, I wanted to show you the before. It did have a crib, which I sold recently and other nursery stuff...you get the picture.

and here is the bed that is technically mine, but has been at my mother's for a long time, like 12 years ;). I thought it would fit nicely in E's bedroom, but as you can see, not so much. So, plan B or more like D or E kicked in and we pulled the old switcheroo with my daughter's bed because her bedroom is a little bit bigger (more on that later). OK! Moving on...

And AFTER....

I changed the "chalkboard wall" to this color blue, which wasn't smart on part because I didn't even have the bedding yet, but all worked out anyway.

I already had the stars, just painted them. And as you can see, although I have been to Home Depot many times this week, I STILL have forgotten to get the plug cover that has been on the list...don't worry not a live wire!!

This little guy is here for sentimental reasons (sniff, sniff)

Found these little tags at HL for .99 cents ;) (i added the paint)

Also Hobby Lobby finds... I want some more of the wooden boat things (waiting for 50% off)

I was letting my husband know that I was trying to think of a way to cut out some oars for the wall, when he informed me that they had some "real" ones at Wal-Mart for 10$...shows you how much I hang out in the sporting goods section. So, he picked these up for me...Thanks a million BABE!

And of course I had to sneak this little guy in, shhhhhh, our secret ;) I LOVE SOCK MONKEYS!!

NEEDLESS TO SAY, there are a few finishing touches that need to be added.... on my wish list, is hardwood floors and a big navy and white striped rug, but for now its finished!!! Oh ya and a 4x6 picture of the little guy, hehe! OK I will leave you with one more picture!

And with this, I am off to get ready. Little E has a performance at church...should be interesting ;)

-K

New Pillows and an Update

2010-07-12T17:21:00.003-04:00

After purchasing 2 TJ pillows I found this weekend. I have completely changed my mind on the look I am going for in my sons room. Shocking, I know. If you haven't noticed I can be very indecisive....nothing has just hit me except these pillows and the chalkboard wall, which will NOT be GREEN anymore!

I have rearranged his room a dozen times and made a ton of trips to the attic. I need to take a break and quit looking at these walls for at least 24 hours! My sister is always saying I over analyze everything (I am starting to see her point). I feel like I have lived in this room for 4 days and my husband would like some clean underwear LOL!

On a much HAPPIER note. We have been diaper freeeeeeee and accident free (knock on wood) for 6 days!! Even made it through the past 2 classes at church without an accident. YAY for you Lil' Man!

P.S. My husband had to take him to the bathroom at the restaurant last night...after having a girl first, I must say I have been looking forward to this moment (grin)

Thanks BABE for all your help with the potty training! LOVE YOU BUNCHES ;) Looking forward to many more diaper free days to come!

The Lil' Man cave.....SNEAK PEAK

2010-07-09T17:46:00.003-04:00

Now 2 days into my lil' man's cave and total makeover... I realize that I am indecisive to say the least. I had all these plans and they went down the tubes. When my husband who usually keeps his opinion to himself, decided to tell me the day we are going to pick up Eli's bed the he ~~hates~~ strongly dislikes the SOCK MONKEY idea.... to quote me...."GASP"! I was shocked and disappointed, not to mention back to square one. BUT his opinion matters to me! Apparently, the sock monkey idea did not ring the TESTOSTERONE bell . So, I pulled the Potterybarn catalogues out of the bathroom, and inspiration STRUCK!

There it was in all it's glory...a GREEN chalkboard wall and I just so happened to have that exact paint in my garage ;) I also love that the room is not a theme and that it has NAVY! Seeing as how painting over his furniture is not my idea of FUN!

So here it is...I definitely suggest painting a small wall with this stuff...not fun to trim twice!

I chose the wall at the entry of his room just because it was little and I wanted too :)

My man loves the DRUMS and GUITAR !! I had taken this picture the day after Christmas. I also have several of him with his GREEN TAR, as he calls it that will be added. Man, don't you love it when things just work out like that?

Eli and his Pa' Paw's guitar, making some music for me to paint by!

I must say, in all of this, I have realized that decorating a boys room can be challenging. Especially, after decorating my little girls room first...so cute and GIRLY, IT'S JUST TOO EASY!

After countless PB catalogues, I was inspired by CLASSIC...isn't this the reason we ALL HEART PB? But, hopefully I can pull this look off on a TARGET budget!!!

Fingers crossed, I will have more to show you by MONDAY, See ya soon ;)

Pottery 101

2010-07-05T01:14:00.004-04:00

The next adventure we took was a trip to Poka Dot Pottery. It was officially CAMP GRANDMAS...definition: One week in the Summer when my brother's children from Ohio come down and stay with my mom and my sister and I show up everyday and do stuff with them.

We try to cram as much as possible into 6 days. We usually have a list of things for each day and this year Pottery was on the list.

This is Tyler my brother's oldest...the best 16 year old boy on planet earth!!! Man, I can't tell you how much I love and miss my brother's kids! Eli was LOVIN him. He kept calling him TIRE...so cute!

All the kids picked their own piece to paint and then they let you pick out the colors.

Of course I had to help my lil' man. Otherwise, he would have painted the little girl to the right (Emily).

I did the classic, predictable, hand print on the plate...I know, I couldn't help it! I must say I set myself up for disappointment if I break it. But, Eli did do some art of his own on it as well.

I tried, Oh so hard to get Dee to do one on hers, but that was not going to happen. So, then it made me feel glad that I at least got one out of her brother.

The older kids REALLY got into this. After I left with my crew they stayed for another hour to finish painting theirs!

Then we topped it off with a cookie :D

I would say to anyone who has not done this before... it was a lot of fun and something that will last a long time (hopefully). They had to stay there to be "cooked", we pick them up today...can't wait!

S'more "We Did"

2010-07-03T12:38:00.003-04:00

After our big FOUNTAIN experience, we had a Bonfire with the Fam! My sister and her kids came over for some dinner and a FIRE!

Another thing on our "We did" list for the summer!

We were in luck, since we literally have ZERO trees in our yard, a lady up the street had just cut down a very large tree, so Jacob asked her if we could have some for our Bonfire. She was thrilled for us to take some off her hands ;) NEED WOOD?

It was one of those rare occasions, when my niece Rachael was there. She is almost always MIA since she graduated! So glad she and her boyfriend could make it!

There she is in all her Glory...you can see she comes by this honestly (those are her parents)

We broke out the S'mores! Which Jason obviously adores!

and so do the kids... It was my first one, they ARE pretty good! My mom made some the other night with Reece cups instead of Hershey bars....YUMMMMY!

Dee was proud of hers...she made it all by herself!

Aparently, you cannot eat these without getting them ON your face!

And we topped off the evening after

dinner and dessert with some GREAT entertainment from the kiddos!

Stay tuned for our next "We Did" adventure. It was quite interesting ;)

Oh and BTW, we are off to get my lil' man a BIG BOY bed today and the paint for his room.

Can't wait to have my bed back, wish us luck on this!

Our Summer "We Did" List

2010-07-01T02:28:00.002-04:00

We have done a few things since school has let out....the slip n slide, camp, several graduation ceremonies, but it's really starting to feel like Summer is going by fast. I have a lot to catch up on I am a little behind. This week is CAMP GRANDMA'S at my mom's (more on that later). For now it's time to go back to last Friday!

I found out that there were some fountains for the kids to play in at a local college campus. So, my friend Sarah and I picked a day to have a picnic and let the kids play in them.

We sat there enjoying our picnic while we waited for the fountains to be turned on only to find out, after patiently waiting as long as anyone could with a 1, 2, 5, and 6 year old, that the fountains were closed for maintenance. They have only been open a week, what's up with that?

Disappointed, we moved about 30 minutes down the road to another location that we knew would have their fountains open. They were more than we expected....HUGE and AWESOME!

The kids were lovin' it while Sarah and I were wishing we had some waterproof clothing on!

IT WAS HOT!!!

Trust me, we still got wet, it was hard not to.

Needless to say, they had a blast!!!

and right beside it was a REALLY HOT playground for them to play on!

It was a 2 for 1...Jackpot!

~~The kids~~ We all wore ourselves out!!!

We had a blast making memories together, I see more of this to come! Next time I will come a little more prepared, hopefully.

Now that I know the parking lot is at least a block away, I don't need to bring a gigantic camera and I need to wear clothes that I wouldn't mind getting wet!

I thought for sure I would have some NAPPERS on the way home, but it didn't happen, mostly because I broke out the Popsicles in the car. So, when we got home I stripped the kids down and started getting the really wet laundry together... about 10 minutes later I walked through the living room to find THIS!

My lil' man had snuggled up in the chair all by himself. He couldn't wait on Mom to put down for nap this time!

We had a great day!

Fireflies

2010-06-25T17:32:00.002-04:00

Have you ever had one of those moments in time when all seems well with the earth...these days they are few and far between, but last night was one of those times for me.

My mom had bought the kids some cute little bug catching supplies, so we decided we would go out and see if we could catch some fireflies.

It didn't take long, we could see them all lit up the second we hit the front porch, but that wasn't the fun part....

It was watching my kids be kids...(I know mushy), it was just one of those moments that I was so glad had my camera on me (that usually never happens).

When I was a little kid thinking about what it would be like to have kids of my own, this is exactly what I envisioned. Watching them running around on a Summer night with a full moon and just having fun without a care in the world.

I love taking my kids to places I think will thrill them. For some reason I never think about our own backyard. Sometimes I think we all just want a good ole' Thursday night catching fireflies and playing UNO, which BTW my daughter won all 5 games of last night! Way to go DEE!

I know these are the moments I will remember the most and when my sister and I get together these are the things we talk about...in fact I just told my daughter last night as she was gearing up that my sister and I used to catch fireflies and rip their light off and wrap it around our finger for rings! She was disgusted to say the least. And when I tell my son that in a couple of years, he will no doubt think that's the coolest thing ever!!!

Thank you God, for fireflies and Thursday nights ;)

Whatever WORKS ;)

2010-06-24T14:45:00.001-04:00

Well my son is 2 1/2 months away from being 3 and he is STILL NOT potty trained, mostly due to blatant inconsistency on my part!!! But, after being asked during church by an usher for a diaper, because my son had asked his teacher to pee pee in the potty and DID actually do it! I decided he was ready and I AM NOT!

I keep putting it off, excuses keep coming to mind, 2 weeks ago it was "we are going to camp" and now we are going to the beach next month and it just seems soooooo much easier to change a diaper, but I know it is inevitable....he cannot got to college wearing a diaper, so this is what I did.

He loves diapers and will con his sister into putting one on him if I won't!

So today when he woke up I took his diaper off and of course he wanted a fresh new one but instead he got the one above presented to him, and I told him that bugs ate his diaper, I know I already feel horrible just writing this, but it worked. He didn't cry or anything he just repeated bugs ate my diaper and then he proceeded to say I want underwear...EUREKA!

So I have to tell you how this started... My sister has 5 children and she used this tactic when trying to get the pacifier away...it worked, every time!

So we made him (not knowingly) one of those kids who drank warm milk before bed every night. 2 weeks ago we tried the "bugs ate it" tactic on what he called his NANA, (A.K.A. juice cup with milk in it) and it worked! I was a believer!

Once again he didn't cry, he just accepted it and only asked for it a couple more times and each time we would show him the cup and he wouldn't want it!

Now the recipe for this is.... cut holes in whatever you don't want them to have anymore (that also makes it unavailable for you to give in) and put some syrup on it just to make sure it's sticky then sprinkle some pepper on it! You can't find this stuff in books people!

I ADORE my kids and would never do anything that would hurt them, let me clarify that my son NEVER drank off this cup nor put this diaper on, just in case that wasn't clear ;)

So far we have had a successful poo poo in the potty and repeated false alarms for peeing, who would have thunk! Wish us luck at the beach, if they aren't all closed before we get there ;)

BTW your kid doesn't have to be afraid of bugs to do this, my son loves bugs!

22 hours a day for 5 days!!!

2010-06-21T13:49:00.001-04:00

Got Camp??? That is where I have been all week, my laptop died the first day I was there... and having had to stay up for 22 hours a day for 5 days straight has led me to complete and utter exhaustion...We had a blast!!! In fact, I had my camera in my car, but was too tired to think about pressing the button to snap some pictures...SORRY!

(This pic is from last years camp, just so you get an idea)

It was our annual YOUTH camp at Mars Hill College and it was AMAZING!!!! Our young people were preached to and they responded, it was an awesome move of GOD! The theme was UPSIDE DOWN and it was all about OUTREACH and turning your city upside down, it really made you see outside yourself which is so needed! We had an actual outreach on the last day and invited over 100 people to a nearby Apostolic church, yesterday they gave the report that they picked up over 15 people and 1 person was baptized last night! Outreach is addicting, I love it!

And then there was Father's Day, my husband and I do not get into it that much...it is a "hallmark" holiday to us! But I make sure that the kids and I show him and tell him how much he is appreciated! Because he certainly is!

In honor of my man, and since he has been a Father for 6 years... here are 6 things that make him an AMAZING DAD!!

1. He loves God and puts him above all (even us)
2. He is a GOOD husband
3. He is selfless, ALWAYS makes sure we have what we need/want and NEVER wants for himself!!! which can get on my nerves, especially when he is walking around with a hole in his shoe and won't let me buy him any! (honey if you're reading this please go get some!)
4. He is a good problem solver, physically and spiritually
5. He is consistent
6. He knows without GOD he would be none of these things!

I couldn't miss out on an opportunity to provide all with a picture of my dear hubs in his "blog uniform". I love you BABE, Happy FATHER'S DAY!

Super Girly Silhouette Lamp Shade

2010-06-04T13:37:00.001-04:00

My niece.... if you haven't figured it out I have a lot of them, most of which belong to my one and only sister. She has 4 girls and 1 boy and they are like my own children/sisters/friends/nieces, I have a very complex relationship with them all!

OK, so back to my post...the niece I referring to this time is Rachael(the oldest), she is graduating from high school in a couple of days! She goes to a Private Christian School and after the ceremony each senior has a table set up so people can shower them with ~~love~~ money ;) Each table is decorated by the family of each senior!

The table theme she chose was silhouettes..and since my sister does not have a blog I wanted to show you some of the adorable things that will be on the table!

This picture is actually her silhouette and was also what the invitations looked like!

And this is what really made the whole table come together, there will be 2 of them on each end.

I took this while she was still in the process of setting it all up at home to see what was needed, but these were very simple to make. First she just copied to size the silhouette on black paper and glued it to the inside and added the fake roses with a glue gun! EZ-PZ!

I am MUCHO proud of this girl!!!

I think she is pretty excited about graduation too!

Salutatorian of ACA 2010! Way to GEAUX!

Phase 2

2010-05-28T18:44:00.002-04:00

It's official I am almost the mother of a FIRST GRADER, sniff! Even though, my daughter was in Kindergarten last year, I feel as though I am entering a new phase.

No more half days of school, its the real deal all the way to 3:00. No more naptime. You are going to Camp this summer. And you even know how to read so now Daddy and I can't spell things out in conversation when we don't want you to know what we are talking about!

You are officially growing up. For some reason I thought I would have some sort of control over this, or that it really wouldn't happen, at least not this fast, but I am learning how wrong I am.

This is about as proud as one can be of themselves!

Grace your life long friend and cousin! (your first graduation together, but not the last... 2 more to go!) with Sis. Kirby the Kindergarten teacher!

The whole Kindergarten class of ACA 2010 ;)

Lined up and ready to go!

Oh I can only imagine how fast the years will fly by the next time I see you do this!

Mommy and Daddy and a whole bunch of people are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished over the last 6 years. Now on to PHASE 2 of motherhoood!

I know its not going to be as easy from here on spiritually,emotionally, and especially financially!

No matter what happens, my prayer is that God will give us the wisdom we need to train you up in the way you should go!

Proverbs 22:6, btw this is a promise, not just a possibility ;) Thank you God for your WORD and for Kennedy!

Homemade Slip and Sliiiiiiiiide ;)

2010-05-24T19:22:00.003-04:00

Here is OUR homemade "slip and slide." It is actually some sort of roofing membrane for commercial roofs. 2 pieces that equal almost 100 feet!

Add some soap to this thing for hours of fun! This weekend we rolled it out and made a Saturday of it! My 2-year-old was fearless on this thing, which was scary for Mom and funny for Dad! The kiddos live for the hubbs rolling this thing out, which he doesn't really enjoy doing, so when he says yes the whole family joins in!

Every now and then they slid completely off, OOPS, but never missed a beat! Right back on as if it never happened ;)

We had a blast!!! Summer is REALLY here ;) YAY!

Teacher Gift for the LAST day of School!!! HOORAY!

2010-05-20T22:25:00.002-04:00

It's finally here, the last day of school this year!!! And so, Kennedy and I decided to make an appreciation gift for her Teachers!

I found this idea here and it was so perfect because her teachers drink this stuff all day!

You just need some card stock, bottled water and the Crystal Light...oh and the little fruit stick-ons

The kid lu, lu, luvs to draw so we made some thank you cards to slide in with the Crystal Light!

She drew and I wrote!

This project didn't take long at all and Kennedy and I had a blast doing it together!!!

Ahhhhh, SUMMER!!!

Love!!!

2010-05-12T14:07:00.001-04:00

My niece, Sarah, HEARTS taking pictures!!! She is always stealing my camera and snapping away!!! So this year she turned 13 and is able to enter into our National School Competition and she chose photography as her main thing to enter... So she took this photo the other day of my kiddos and I thought she did an excellent job and I must say one of my favorite pics I have of them. I just printed it out and will be framing it ASAP! Wish her luck she's so adorable!!! I love her MUCHO GRANDE!

P.S. It took 3 baths before the Sharpie was off the bottom of thier feet, but worth it ;)

My Drawers are Officially on the Ground!

2010-05-07T18:25:00.000-04:00

I have had this dresser that my sister gave me while helping her move back in January... I have had the drawers out of it becasue they were all messed up. Henceforth, the reason she didn't want the dresser anymore!

I had the drawers in a pile ready to be thrown away, when I walked by my sinks in my master bath one day and had a thought...

My sinks in my bathroom are free-standing and you can see the floor underneath, I had always thought of putting baskets under there, but never got around to it, so...

I got my ~~slave~~ niece that I am home-schooling on it! It was 92 degrees today, so the paint was drying as she painted. We considered this our Art class!

While the paint was drying I cut out some stencils that I traced onto parchment paper from my computer, like always!

After that I used some glaze paint stuff from HL to distress the drawers and started to stencil. I did use some "stencil paint" that I already had from a project I never did... of course! I must say that stuff is a must if you use the parchment paper as your stencils because it does not bleed at all! Let's move on shall we?

Here it is still wet, I know because I picked it up right after this pic and smudged the "N", good thing I was going for that "not perfect" look!

And here they are in all there glory! I must say it is nice to have a place to put my towels in this bathroom since there is no linen closet in here!

I have 3 more of these drawers just sitting around, got any ideas?

Onward, to tackle the dresser!!!

What I've been up to...Ur Baking Me Crazy!

2010-04-29T15:32:00.003-04:00

Well long story very short... I am homeschooling my niece until the school year ends which is the end of May or so, and she is an adorable, 16 year-old, red-head who loves to bake and is good at it! So she has decided she wants to start a blog, which we have been working on this past week! Does that count as a home-ec class?;)

So like I said, aren't blogs great to help your self-confidence soar and don't you wish you could have started one at 16... I do! And she has been amazed at all you talented bloggers out there!

So I have been busy helping my niece get this blogging thing down, ya now all the cool blogging stuff like, how to join parties, grabbing buttons, and blah, blah blah.

Anyway, she's hooked and she's posted some scrumptious things so far...Pray for me I am going to be FAT if I keep having to be the Guinea Pig for all her stuff... its soooo good!

YOU can check her are out at http://urbakingmecrazy.blogspot.com/ and leave some comments and follow if you like...She is good at putting her spin on things and making it yummmmmeeee! Plus I know it will give her some self confidence in area she can really soar in! Thanks so much bloggers!!!

Why didn't I think of that?

2010-04-21T16:59:00.002-04:00

I can't leave well enough alone, with that said... I thought I had finished my window treatments in my kitchen nook area but...

Low and behold I was reading Centsational Girl and saw this in her kitchen...

And it got me thinking, that

1. I had the cornice board already

2. I had the fabric already

3. I could do this right now

Can't you tell I change things often!

I didn't have any ribbon that matched my kitchen

So I cut some left over burlap into strips and frayed

The material was curtain panels that I had hanging here, but they looked to heavy for a breakfast nook

This is better, for now

I love people who blog!!!

Ugggghhh!

2010-04-19T15:26:00.002-04:00

Sorry I do have family that reads this blog, so I wanted to show them the pix that didn't show up in the slideshow in the last post (uggghh), sorry about that!

Cheap and SOOOOO Easy Homemade Baby Wipes!

2010-04-14T15:22:00.005-04:00

I did this more for the FRUGALITY aspect but after looking at the ingredients in baby wipes, that had me a little concerned too!

Even the "NATURAL" baby wipes have chemicals.

Here is a list of some of the ingredients in baby wipes that are NOT natural and can be found in the "natural" wipes you buy...

Potassium Laureth Phosphate - This is a synthetic (man made) humectant. Humectants are used to keep the skin moist. Synthetic humectants create a suffocating film on the skin to prevent moisture loss. Chemicals with "eth" in the title should be avoided as it will often be contaminated with dioxane, which is linked to birth defects and cancer.

Polysortbate 20 - A synthetic emulsifier. Emulsifiers are used to keep ingredients such as oil and water together. Synthetic emulsifiers are skin irritants.

Tetrasodium EDTA - EDTA is a synthetic preservative, which can be an irritant, particularly to the eyes. Synthetic preservatives are considered by leading dermatological associations to be the number one cause of contact dermatitis.

Methyl paraben - This is another synthetic preservative, which is derived from crude oil. It is toxic and allergenic.

Okay, so here is how you make your own! I was REALLY surprised that it was so EASY!

2 Tablespoons of Natural Oil (Canola is what I used)
2 Tablespoons Natural Baby Soap ( makes them smell so good and baby-ish)
2 cups water (purified is best)

I used the paper towels that are half sheets and folded them on the lines until I had a stack as big as I wanted

This is about 1/4 of the roll, if that

Then I cut the stack in thirds to fit in the box

Mix the solution and pour it over the paper towels in the wipe box

Then I rung them out, because it was way too much solution.

I would say make half the solution for about a half a roll of paper towels.

This only took me 5 minutes tops!

I am never without baby wipes even for my 6 year old, especially when we travel!

I know this will be soooooo much cheaper for me and better on my kids skin!

P.S. If you want even MORE NATURAL do not use Bleached Paper Towels!

If you are not into the paper towel method, you can always do the same thing with thin baby washcloths and wash them I guess and/or put the solution in a spray bottle and use as needed.

This is my first batch and so far they work great, and totally worth a shot!

PHOTO FRIDAY flashback style!

2010-04-09T09:35:00.007-04:00

Since it HAS been 14 years....I thought you might not recognize me and my husband on our graduation day from High School! Excuse me while I go make an appointment for some BOTOX!

Photo scratched, Jacob doesn't usually have a big white mark by his eye, but your eyes do not decieve you on that haircut of his =)

This one's for Sarah. I found this the other day in my ~~junk drawer~~ precious keep sake box... this is about 2 years after we got married to our husbands! Why did I throw away that priceless cream shirt I have on????

TGIF!

Decorating projects in th worx...I am actually trying to sew something all by MYSELF!!! Wish me luck!

32 Things you might not know

2010-04-06T22:20:00.004-04:00

Easter Sunday I turned 32 (sigh)! I can honestly say Birthdays are no fun when celebrated on a Holiday! I feel so sorry for anyone whose birthday is on Christmas! In honor of my B-day I am letting you know 32 things about Moi just incase you care!

1. I was born and raised where I live now!
2. I didn't get my Drivers License until I was 17
3. My first job was at Revco
4. I love the beach (who doesn't)
5. I ~~hate~~ do not like Wal-Mart and avoid it at all costs
6. I deliverd both my kiddos in 5 hours
7. I am the baby of my family
8. My sister has 5 kids (Love them mucho grande)
9. I hate TV
10. I met my husband in the 7th Grade
11. We did not like each other AT ALL!
12. I am determined to know how to sew
13. My husband and I have purchased a house before that only cost 20,000
14. It was a nightmare
15. My sister never answers my calls only texts and it annoys me!
16. I still have nightmares and get scared and wake my hubs up to hold me
17. I can't hold a grudge even if I want to
18. I had braces for 5 years
19. I need to clean my toilets
20. I will tomorrow
21. My first car was a 1982 Toyota Corolla
22. My brother is 9 years older than me (love him mucho grande too!)
23. I sucked my thumb until I was 12 years old (see #18)
24. I hardly ever go anywhere by myself
25. Our dream vacation would be to Egypt
26. I do not like perfume
27. I am terrified of semi trucks swerving into my lane when we travel and freak out if I see thier signal on
28. I was engaged for 6 weeks
29. I have been married for 12 years this July
30. I used to teach Kindergarten
31. My favorite thing I have ever done is be a mom!
32. I am glad I am not older than 32!

Here are few pics of the day I turned 32....

Mom hosted the Easter egg hunt and dinner...Thanks to everyone who shared this day with me!

PHOTO FRIDAY

2010-04-02T10:07:00.000-04:00

what WE do

2010-04-01T16:01:00.008-04:00

This is what I woke up to Today! I thought it would be a great day to start our garden!

My family has been eating "whole foods" for about a year and a half now! And only about 80% of the time!

I'm not going to lie and tell you that we don't still go through Chik-fil-A drive thru on occasion and I won't lie and tell you that I don't feel G-U-I-L-T-Y every time we do!!! Because I DO!

But I will say we do it out of CONVENIENCE more than anything, not because its CHEAP or GOOD and old habits die hard! When I go to the store we purchase as close to whole foods as possible and organic when available in some things!

What got us on the bandwagon of whole foods was : A family that started going to our church invited a bunch of people over to their house for a get together and was sharing her recipes for what she had made. She even told how she milled her own corn and flour to make her bread(I don't do this)! I was floored! I honestly didn't know it was possible to eat without proceesed foods (cross my heart hope to die)!

After that I started looking up WHOLE FOODS online (thats when I found these cookbooks I love) and SO SAD to say that I didn't even know what that meant! I promise I am not a total airhead, but incase you are wondering too, it means just food in its NATURAL state. DUH, I thought to myself!

Okay to make this already long story a little shorter. I tried and am still trying to educate us on what we put in our bodies! And I can say over time our tastes have changed dramatically! We no longer look at Froot Loops and think they look appetizing. To us they look like this...

These are actually the ingredients in Froot Loops! Wow, my first thought after realizing that I let my kids and MYSELF consume this was: I cannot beleive our bodies can really function and grow if we eat this!

On the other hand this looks scrumptious, don't you think?

That is why we are starting our very first garden

I bought these seeds at EarthFare and they have no pesticides on them.

But, my husband said he saw some Organic seeds at Wal-Mart too!

We are new at this but we are trying to teach our kids that FOOD actually comes from the EARTH not here...

This is actually a pic I found of the ingredients you just saw in the Froot Loops, EWWWW! This doesn't look like FOOD to me!

And after I thought about it, you really shouldn't trust food that spells fruit F-R-O-O-T, I'm just saying!

This is just what WE do!

I know, I know it may seem like I'm bashing those who don't but that is not my intention. This is really to encourage myself to continue making small changes to live a healthier life! And maybe I can make Chik-fil-A a distant memory for them!

Oh and one more thought! A lot of people think this costs more but as far as my family goes we have a certain amount we spend on groceries a week and we don't budge (except that time we went to EarthFare) which I loved BTW! But other than that it has not cost us more. And if we would quit throwing down $19.26 at the drive thru on ONE meal for our family I could add a few more organics to our list!

So its really even cheaper if you make ever meal HOMEMADE! That is my ULTIMATE GOAL! Not to mention it makes me feel like a GOOD Mommy! Don't you love that feeling!

Here are a few blogs I know that can help with recipes if your interested!

I was a kaleidoscope

passionate homemaking

tEa PaRtY!

2010-03-31T12:47:00.000-04:00

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Burlap Table Runner in under 10 minutes!

2010-03-25T12:14:00.001-04:00

I have been looking for a table runner for a while now...with no luck! Nothing has caught my eye or been long enough to fit my table.

And with all the burlap going around Blogland I thought it would make a great table runner and best of all I knew I would NOT have to SEW it!

I had to buy 2 and half yards to fit my table length perfectly which cost me less than 7$ and I have half of it left over!

My table is black so while getting the material at HL I found these cute iron ons that match!

I just cut straight up the middle and started pulling the strings out the sides and bottom to give it a fringed edge, WARNING! This is messy!

And another reason I chose the burlap...it matched my rug and wall color! (insert tiny handclap)Yay me!

Now onto the window treatments...which I am pretty sure won't be Burlap but you never know. I've seen some really cute ones out there!

And just FYI I found these cuties to hang on my wall behind the table at TJ's!

Polka dot Monkey School-desk

2010-03-18T12:46:00.003-04:00

My little baby boy is 2 and a half. And I had mentioned a week or so ago that there was a HUGE consignment sale going on around these parts of which I put the baby crib in and SOLD! Its kinda sad but now we need a Big Boy bedroom, and some furniture!

I remembered I had an old school desk in my attic and thought it would make a cute nightstand. But it was kinda bland....

And numbers are so the hot thing right now that I thought it would be cute to put one on this school desk. I didn't want to paint the whole thing and ruin its "old Charm". O and did I mention I don't have a printer, so I found a #3 on Google images and just blew up my screen page to the size I wanted and traced it on some parchment paper.

Probably not the easiest way but I had looked for a stencil at HL and they came up short. So I did what I had to do! And as you can see in the pic above it started curling up in the middle. Luckily I had traced it on the wood first. After the first coat with the paper I took it off and just stayed in the lines.

I was pleased and at this point it had cost me nothing. I used the red chalkboard paint I had left over from my kitchen.

My theme for his room is sock monkeys, but not over kill! Just the colors mostly and a monkey here and there! The socks you see above I found at Wal-Mart for 3.00 for 2 pair and they look just like a sock monkey, but I have no idea what to do with them. So far I thought of cutting them up and making a pillow or my friend Sarah suggested hanging them on a clothes line on the wall (thats my fav so far!) Please leave me any suggestions you have! I would love your thoughts!

My inspiration for the theme was from The Shabby Nest, her first post from the So you think you can decorate series! I have thoroughly enjoyed that!

I am TRYING HARD to put my own twist on it! I saw this cute chalkboard at HL for 4$ I couldn't make it myself for that! And I already had the lamp which needs some ribbon on it!

The seat desperatly needed a cover on it and I do not sew anything more that a hem in something and I am lucky if that works out!! I was at Target yesterday and ran across this....

This adorable polka dot floor mat that was "squissshhhy" :)

So I just traced the back of it to fit the seat and cut! And badda bing instant seat cover.

Can't wait to put this beside his bed (that he doesn't have yet).

This was sitting by the door when we came home last night from church. And my hubs always complains that every pic I post of him is in a white undershirt...I told him this was his opportunity for a decent pic on the blog, so he ceased the moment!

And he loved the desk too!

The Cool Mom Award Cupcakes!

2010-03-10T12:05:00.005-05:00

I did it! I made it through another "day before the birthday party"! It took me ALL day but I made these super cute rainbow cupcakes!

I first saw the idea in the Family Fun Magazine, and then I went online to get the recipe and found one here. She has some great tips to use when making these.

15+ dishes and utensils later...this is how they turned out. I was sceptical but they worked...

I have used NO enhancements for these babies. They really are this bright!

After I had all I needed for my daughters class, I strated messing around and made a Mardi Gras cupcake...

and this one, that my daughter claimed! The possibilities are endless it really cooks up however you put them in the pan!

Party #1 complete, sigh!

6 Years Tomorrow

2010-03-09T13:41:00.003-05:00

My daughter will be 6 years old tomorrow(sniff, sniff), our first born... I always say time flies when your not pregnant!
Therefore, I have been very busy. Why does it seem like kids these days get like 3 parties for thier birthday! I will be making the most adorable cupcakes ever and getting ready for the BIG day tomorrow. If I make it through, I will be showing you those cupcakes!

Here is a little glimpse into our 6 year journey with our Pookey butt!

Daddy's girl from day one!

First trip to church. Daddy made me check your pulse and make sure you were breathing the whole way there LOL!

Your first Easter

Then your life long friend/cousin Grace came along!

Daddy would lay down with you in your crib to get you to sleep

You loved the Wiggles mucho!

2 years old

you became a BIG sister

4 years old

You are not a morning person and come by that honestly

5 years old

Our typical Family portrait!

Started Kindergarten and now its almost over

These have been the sweetest 6 years of our lives!

CHALKBOARD WINDOW FOR LAUNDRY ROOM!

2010-03-04T11:42:00.017-05:00

Things you need...

1. A window

2. Chalkboard paint Any Color!

3. Chalk

I got this one by telling my friend about the project and she went and dug it out of her dad's basement for me. Thanks Sarah!

I put it in my Laundry room JUST FOR LOOKS. I do not really go by the chart! I might want to try it sometime it might work!

It was dark outside that is just a regular window in the middle not another chalkboard ;)

EZ-PZ Custom Color Chalkboard Paint! Anyone Can Make!

2010-03-03T14:45:00.003-05:00

Yes, there is chalkboard paint at HOME DEPOT that you can have tinted. It is around12$, BUT I have found a RECIPE to make YOUR OWN and you CAN use ANY COLOR latex paint YOU WANT!

As you can see her I have used the red and the peapod green before but you are limited if you get this product!

So Below is a recipe for making your own and there are no limitations on COLORS.YIPPPEEE! Pics below and recipe are courtesy of MARTHA!

ChalkBoard Paint Custom Colors How-To:

Start with flat-finish latex paint in any shade. For small areas, such as a door panel, mix 1 cup at a time.

1. Pour 1 cup of paint into a container. Add 2 tablespoons of unsanded tile grout. Mix with a paint stirrer, carefully breaking up clumps.

2. Apply paint with a roller or a sponge paintbrush to a primed or painted surface. Work in small sections, going over the same spot several times to ensure full, even coverage. Let dry.

3. Smooth area with 150-grit sandpaper, and wipe off dust. (I didn't do this and you can't tell a difference)

4. To condition: Rub the side of a piece of chalk over entire surface. Wipe away residue with a barely damp sponge. (Didn't do this either and can't tell) Sorry, I am impatient!

This is how you see all those Pottery Barn Kids walls that are so cute with there custom color chalkboard paint. I'm surprised they haven't tried to sell that for a million dollars in their catalouge! LOL! Hope this is helpful!

-K