Blog Hops

Taking part in some blog hops today! Join in the fun!

Bathroom Project

Here is a picture of the first hole knocked in the wall...now it is down to the studs and the guys are here right now working on taking out the floor and the rest of the wall that didn't get finished Friday.  I will post an updated picture later today.  Can't wait to see things start coming back together! 

Christmas Scrapbook

I know Christmas is long past but I have been meaning to post about this project since then!  If you are like me you get lots of Christmas cards and pictures.  I used to keep them until the next year and then toss them.  Well then I stole this idea from an old friend and I love it!  I put all the pictures in a scrapbook so that I can look at them from year to year and see how people have changed. 

Here's what you need:
- A scrapbook
- A glue stick
- A scissors
- Your Christmas cards/pictures

First I separate the cards from the pictures.  I use the pictures on the cards as decoration on the pages.  Because I don't like to write on the pages I find a card that says the year and maybe "Merry Christmas" or something like that to use on my first page for the year.

Then I start cutting the pictures out of the photo cards.  I also cut out the name so that in years to come I can remember whose children I'm looking at. 

Sometimes I do not cut the pictures apart if I can't bare to destroy the pretty card.


 
 
 
 
 

Sometimes I cut out fun shapes from the card to add a little extra 'something' to my page.




As you can see I arrange each page different.  I cut everything out and lay it all out before gluing anything in place.

And of course I add our own Christmas card so we can remember that from year to year as well! 

So that is how YOU can go from a pile of cards like this...

To an organized book like this...

ENJOY!

Bye Bye Bathroom!

Today begins the demolition of the bathroom. I wanted to take this time to say good bye to the teal tile that i have so disliked since we moved here nearly 6 years ago. We've had a good run but really it is time to part ways!

Singing...

I love to sing although I am not good...don't worry I won't be trying out for American Idol and making a fool of myself. I had the tunes cranked the other day during daycare and was singing with a wooden spoon (can't you just picture it?) to the kids. These are the kind of looks I was getting. Can you see the blank look in their eyes? Yes kids, your daycare lady might be crazy!

EEWWW!

Sat down on the toilet this morning and my butt got wet.  At first I thought it was pee from a little boy who had been in there just before me.  I jumped up and looked at the seat and it was dry...so upon further inspection I noticed that the toilet water was up nearly to the top of the toilet bowl.  So my bumm was soaking in that water!  EEWWW!  I'm kind of a germ freak so it grossed me out totally!

Points for Creativity!

Over the weekend all of us went to visit Mike's grandma for a day.  She is very old school and only has only recently purchased a washing machine.  Up until a year and a half ago she only had a wringer washer until she got her fingers caught in it! 

When we came she asked that we got to the back door.  As soon as we got into the house and settled we realized why!  We saw the creative way she had blocked the drafts on the door.  It made me laugh so hard.  I asked Mike if it was rude if I took a picture...I made sure that she wouldn't see me and I did it anyway!  Just looking at this picture gives me a good chuckle.  She gets points for creativity!

Confessions

Alright everyone I am here to confess!  I put on a facade that I am with it and organized and ambitious but I think I will feel better to get this off my chest.  Let me tell you about my house right now...

Kitchen:  I just finished sweeping and mopping my kitchen floor for the first time in probably two weeks.  I don't even necessarily sweep it every week which I will admit is kinda icky but hey I can't do it all.  Along with the dirty floor my countertops are also cluttered.  There is a never-ending stash of clean dishes on the counter because our dishwasher is portable and a pain to wash so it is easier to wash dishes by hand sometimes.  And speaking of said dishwasher it too is covered with many items.  It seems to be our 'catch-all' area!

Bathroom:  As we are busy waiting for construction to begin on the main bathroom I have done as little cleaning in it as possible since it will soon be a disaster area anyway.  The shower hasn't been used since our curtain rod broke about a month ago and we decided we could just live with using the basement one instead of buying a new one for only 4-6 weeks of use. 

Living Room:  The carpet in here could certainly use a cleaning with all the spit up, dog pee, baby drool and formula dribbled on it.  The furniture has not been dusted in at least 3 weeks and I am hoping to convince my 7 year old to do it for me.

Bedrooms:  These are not too bad although the dusting has not been done in a while.  The kids' rooms are kind of cluttered because they don't like to put things away and my organization skills have apparently not rubbed off on them:) 

So for those of you who think I have it all together please know I don't!  I feel much better getting this all off my chest and hope that having everyone know this about my house will give me the motivation to get it all figured out!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Now I know lots of people just think of this day as a Hallmark holiday but I think it is what you make of it and I choose to make the best of it.  I take it as a day to let all the people in my life know how special they are to me!  I think we should all take the time to tell our loved ones how much we love them every day but in this busy life we forget how important it is.  SO...go tell them how much they mean to you.  HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Heartbreak

It amazes me that a person can feel so connected to another without ever even meeting them.  I never had the pleasure of meeting this apparently amazing woman myself but have heard from lots of people about how wonderful and inspiring she was.  I have followed the CaringBridge site for Becky Hewitt for several years and cannot believe that the time has come that she has gone to her maker.  She has struggled with breast cancer since her youngest daughter was just small.  Her youngest daughter is the same age as my Blake and it is hard to imagine, as a mother, having to leave your child and not get to see them grow up.  That is one of my biggest fears in life and my heart just breaks for Becky and her family!  I cannot imagine the affect it will have on her girls and everyone she has touched. 

Even though I have not ever met her or heard her speak I want to say that she has touched my life...it really makes me re-evaluate how I live my life.  I will hug my babies a little tighter every day and just remember that every moment needs to count in life!  You have inspired so many!

Vote for Me!

Please consider voting for me to win this online mentoring in photography.  I would love to win this so much but can't do it without your help!  Thank you in advance.

http://francephotography.com/blog/let-the-voting-begin/

Valentine's Day

I had to share this fun Valentine's craft I did.  I don't have a lot of decorations for Valentine's Day and so when I found this on the One Pretty Thing blog I had to try it.  For directions you can go here.  It is so simple and I did 4 of them from one roll of the heavy wire so cheap too!

Date Night

So Mike and I decided to take the kids on individual dates tonight.  I was taking Blake out to eat and let him choose where we went before we headed to Wow Zone.  Blake chose to go to Culvers to eat.  I thought Mike was taking BW3 before taking him to the hockey game.  As we were eating in walks Mike & Avery.  Of all the times to show up at the same place.

We had a good time at the Wow Zone.  We did the black light mini golf and Blake had a good time but I felt like it was kinda dumb (not about me though right?).  We finished up our date at Cold Stone with some ice cream. 

Unfortunately our night ended with some attitude being thrown around....guess it was bed time.  Avery and daddy had a great time watching the Mavericks beat the Beavers and he even got a puck.  I wish I had a picture of when Mike told him that is where they were going...you'd have thought he was getting to go to Disney World!

Long Awaited Frame

I have been looking everywhere in town for a panoramic frame to fit this picture I had the photographer take when Avery got his team hockey picture taken.  A mom behind me suggested a picture of all the kids' skates because Avery's were so high off the ground while everyone else could touch (in case you didn't know he's kind of a peanut).  So I asked the photographer if they could do that for me and they obliged.  When they came back I wasn't thrilled with the angle they'd taken it at, but after a little cropping and making it black & white it was perfect!  The only problem was finding a frame. 

I couldn't find any in town so I finally looked online.  I found one at Amazon.com and it is exactly what I had in mind.  It fits perfectly, is black and just simple.  It looks just like I envisioned it...LOVE when that happens!

Valentine's

I am working on making Valentine's for Blake's class and Avery's daycare friends.  Last year I made them by hand and they turned out so great so I decided to do them again.  These are the ones I'm working on for this year...

Do me a favor...

Do me a quick favor and scroll down and on the right side click on my 2007 posts.  Go and watch the video of Avery saying 'Happy Halloween'.  It is so adorable.  I miss those moments!  Not that they aren't still cute at times but not like when they are almost 2.  I miss my babies!