A morning of beauty

First let me start by saying that a morning of beauty can be painful! We had to arrive for our nail appointments at 9 a.m. which for Allie and me, required that we get up waaaaay earlier than we would like to!

Jeff had given me a gift certificate for a massage and mani/pedi for Valentines day. I used the massage part of the gift certificate a few days ago and made the appointment for the mani/pedi so that Allie could go get her nails done too. We had a nice morning of beauty and little miss Allie did great and sat so still while they did her nails. She picked pink for our hands and a lovely electric blue for our toes. :)

It's too quiet....

I miss my kiddos a little ;) It is too quiet in the house. In the past 12 hours or so I have not helped anyone to the bathroom, poured any milk, changed any Wii games or picked up any toys. I have 2 more days without my children. Grandma and Grandpa swiped them for spring break and I am sure it is crazy and noisy at their house 5 hours from here. My big plans are to go purchase new stuff for their bedrooms and get them redone while they are gone. I will be doing that as soon as I get my behind off this computer and go shower.

Birthday celebrations

Tonight we joined Jeff's family for a birthday celebration honoring Jeff and his dad. Before dinner the kiddos got to visit the putting area of the golf course for a few minutes.

Happy Birthday Jeff and Rocky!

Funny Breakfast conversation!

Ryan and I got into an interesting discussion while eating our Frosted Flakes before he left for school this morning. Out of the blue my guy mentions that **** (one of the girls in his class) eats paper. This was news to me! The way he said it, kind of like it was a top secret item he was sharing made me smile. This comment about *** eating paper started us on a discussion about how that is probably not good for your digestive system and might stop you up! Then I began asking if anyone else in the class consumed school supplies. Apparently there are no glue, play dough or crayon consumers in the morning PreK class because Ryan kind of looked at me like I was crazy for asking. But hey, who would have thought that there were paper eaters? I will now be looking at all or Ryan's art projects to see if there are big chunks taken out of them. If so, I will know which child he was sitting by in preschool that day :)

After over 2 months of patiently waiting...

Ryan finally got to break out his tools and help dad with an outdoor project. Those tools that were a Christmas gift for Ryan came in handy helping daddy work on the deck during the nice weather this weekend!

Geared up for spring and baseball season!

At our house you have to "dress" the part complete with the uniform that matches the season/sport! Miss Allie takes it one step further by putting her own personal touch on her hand me down uniform she got from her big brother. Please notice the pink leg warmers with the baseball shoes. Later in the day she added a yellow teddy bear sweatshirt and a pair of adorable black riding boots she looooves. Gotta love a Baseball player with a flair for unique fashion!

mISS aLLIE

First of all, who can resist a face like this?


When it come in from playing baseball in the backyard with her brother and daddy. Digs into the fridge to pull out a package and asks you if you would let her help you make these.

Then you invite the rest of the baseball team in to enjoy and snap a cute picture like this.

Spring decor and busy weekend

First I did finish my shamrock garland just in time for St. Patricks Day Tuesday! I didn't do any laundry all day Friday and my house looked like a tornado hit, but I did get those darn little felt shamrocks sewn! ;)

Here is a photo of them hung on some twine. I think next year I'll redo this and include some pots of gold (maybe use gold buttons for the "gold" and make the pots out of black felt somehow???)

As my other post mentioned, I went to the antique store in town for the first time in a long time on Saturday. One of my other treasures was this white bowl for 50 cents. I filled it with easter eggs from the craft store and added some faux flowers in glass bottles (got the bottles on clearance at good ol' walmart) and now I have a touch of spring in my entry area.

I also found some CUUUTEEE tea pots with adoreable rabbits on them and will post pics of those antique store bargins later! I plan to do a cup cakes and tea theme party for Miss Allie next month and those little Rabbit baby tea pots will fit in perfectly!

New table!! will post pic later :)

I made a stop at a local antique shop today and got an amazing bargin! For the low price of $5 I found this really sturdy Children's table. It is perfect for our living room and will replace the cheap children's folding tabel that has seen better days. I had been looking for a new table for the kiddos and about fell over when I found this bargin. There were old wooden chairs I could have purchased seperately, but they were not in very good shape and I didn't want to take the time to have to fix them up. I'm not really fond of the wooden look and am still trying to figure out just exactly how I want to put my personal touch on it. As of right now, it has been cleaned up and has already been used by the kiddos for a laid back Saturday evening pizza meal.

On a side note: While I was out bargin hunting (and I did find several other bargins too!), Jeff was watching our kiddos and two grandchildren of our neighbors. Before I left Miss Allison and I had made some chocolate chip cookies and Jeff the kiddos and I had all enjoyed several cookies with glasses of Milk (at around 11 a.m.). I returned at about 2 p.m. and asked him what he had fixed the kids for lunch. He gave me a blank look. So, the kiddos had spaghetti O's at 2 in the afternoon ~ there first "real" food of the day. BAD babysitter, I think he was trying to get fired! ;)

Dollar Store Platter & Recycled Candlesticks

Here is my Dollar Store Platter (purchased on sale for $2.00 and my old bookcase legs (painted black) turned candle sticks.

I have them on display in my masterbath on a shelf and think they look great! I might add some rubon transfers to the center of each indention in the platter. AND eventually I plan to paint my bathroom :)

I Love Organizing!

I admit it, I love to organize things. The only problem is I can never seem to find anything once I'm done, and I change my mind about my organizing system about every 5 minutes. BUT, I did find a site I loooovvveee!!!! It is an organizers dream come true!! The site is called Organize.com and you can find some many neat storage containers, furniture, cleaning stuff, etc. I could spend forever there (and big $$$$ too!). Just don't tell my hubby o.k. ;)

craft room organization ideas.....

Miss Allison's glitter paint. She has painted everything that moves. The paint is on the table I was making for her. When the weather warms up I have big plans for that piece of wood on legs!!! BIG PLANS.



We have been crafting a great deal around here. Yesterday Allison painted everything in site (including my toes and fingers) with her glitter paint. The fact that my craft closet looks like it threw up bothers me. I have carved out a space for my creativity in the closet area of the playroom by taking off the old bifold doors and installing shelves in the closet. A computer desk sitting empty in my basement has made the area a great crafting spot. BUT, as the evidence shows, it is not so organized, which bothers me. My mission for this weekend is to figure out what is going to work and start to get that place cleaned up!

Oh! and I think all the little crafty things in there are having fun and multiplying when my back is turned :) Somehow I end up with more craft items each time I turn around! Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will have a photo of a nice organized craft area and I will remember that I already own 2 bottles of fabric glue and don't need to go out and buy a bottle (or 2). Which is exactly what happened to me the other day.

Tooth Pillows - Done

I have completed the tooth fairy pillows! Now I just have to wait for the next round of teeth to fall out :) And, yes, Miss Allie has a dirty face, glitter on her hands and is still in her princess PJ's (the photos were taken earlier this morning).

Wanna print your blog into a book?

I found a link to a site where you can print your blogger, wordpress or typepad blog into a book format. Here is the link: http://blog2print.sharedbook.com/blogworld/printmyblog/index.html
The same company also does create your own cook books and legacy books (guest books). Here are the links for the guest book: http://legacy.sharedbook.com/pilot/enterBook.do?bookId=Legacy2006_001
and the create your own cook book : http://allrecipes.sharedbook.com/pilot/enterBook.do?bookId=AllRecipes2007

I really love the idea of printing my blog! The blog2print site says you can customize and select your posts, photos and comments you want to include in your book. The only downside: you are limited to 350 photos. The site does say they are planning to lift that limit soon and will e-mail interested individuals when the lift the limit.

So, go on now, Make your amazing blogs into books that will last forever!

~ Jen

Don't touch Breakables

Last night I was sitting with Ryan waiting for him to actually fall asleep in his own bed. In case you missed it or didn't realize it our family has a habit of nocturnal roaming and we become nomadis when it is time to go to bed or at various times during the night. In other words no one goes to sleep in their own bed OR, if they do go to sleep in their own bed, they don't seem to stay there.
Anyway, Ryan and I had a discussion earlier in the day about how it would be nice if we all slept in our own rooms ALL night long. He was fine with this thought and excited about the promise of new bedding/bed if he did accomplish staying in his own bed for 15 days straight. When it came time to tuck him in read the 4 books limit and leave him to fall asleep in his own bed, that was a different story. He didn't cry and scream and fuss, he was rather calm, but nervous. That in itself made the whole thing hard I think. I could tell he was trying to be brave about the thought of sleeping in his OWN bed ALL night by HIMSELF, but he had those silly thoughts of what if... running through his mind. I promised to sit in his room and talk to him a few minutes until he felt better.

We started talking about things and he brought up ghosts and monsters. I tried to reassure him that they weren't real and that I hadn't ever seen any in the 30 years of my life. I then tried the ol' change the subject tactic by saying that I have seen more rainbows and snowflakes in my life than I have ghosts and monsters. That prompted Ryan to ask if Rainbows are real and if so, how they are made. I did a brief and choppy science answer about water and light and how rainbows form and then mentioned that although we can see rainbows we can't touch them, just like stars. Ryan responded with the wisdom of a five year old by saying "kind of like breakables, huh?". It took me a second to understand what he was talking about and then realized he was saying that not being able to touch a rainbow or a star was like not being able to touch breakables! Made my heart melt!!!!

I then told Ryan that I wanted to name a star after him someday. He promptly asked me if he could wish on the star. I told him that would be a great idea and he decided to make his wish right at that moment. He closed his eyes tight and scrunched up his nose for what seemed like FOREVER (I told Jeff I think he might have been wishing he hadn't agreed to this stay in my own bed thing). When he opened his eyes, I asked him what he wished for and he very seriously told me "I can't tell you mom, 'cause if I do it won't come true". Then he offered to let me have a wish on his star.

After a little more conversation, I left him in his room saying I had to go check the laundry. He didn't protest and was sleepy enough. I think he fell asleep as soon as I left the room. When I came back to check on him he was sleeping soundly. He made it through the night last night and got to have daddy tuck him in tonight. I know that the conversations tonight didn't revolve around science, stars, rainbows and breakables, I think the conversation revolved around teams, mascots, sports and players.

Weekend with Grandma & Grandpa

Note to Grandma & Grandpa - Here are a few photos from the weekend. I am adding the videos and other photos to my dropshots account tonight :)


We got to spend 4 days in Wichita with Grandma & Grandpa while Jeff attended the Region Basketball tournament and meetings. We had such a great time and appreciate Grandma & Grandpa following the kiddos and I around for all the shopping, eating, swimming, Chuck E. Cheesin' and fun! :) Hope we didn't wear you out too much.

365 Day 2

O.K. for my second edition of 365 days of grace I am going to cheat and write about 1 topic ~ Facebook and include 5 things on that topic that I LOVE!
As a stay at home mommy with no real life outside of preschool, playdates and kidde TV facebook has become my social networking addiction. The following parts of facebook fascinate me.
1.) I find it interesting to see how many friends the people I know have. I once heard that Facebook caps your friend list at 5000 people. I am only imagining how many of those stupid little news feeds I would have to read if I had anywhere near the 5000 friend mark. It might seem kind of high school(ish) to compare friend count, but I do find it interseting to see who has accumuliated major friend numbers.
2.) Speaking of those little news feeds. It amuses and amazes me what people post on their news feeds. Apparently my friends take great pleasure in letting the world know they are clean (ex: ???? is taking a shower), that they sleep (ex: ???? is going to bed), they have clean teeth/healthy bodies (ex: ???? is at the Doctor, dentist, Gyno, etc) or that they do their shopping (ex: ??? is at the Fill in store name here). The thing that leaves me the most confused is the posts about sleeping or showering. I mean, really, come on do we really think they are posting on facebook from the SHOWER! I am thinking that if these people really are updating their status while in the shower they are a bigger face book addict than me and am feeling quite smug because I must have more of a life than they do. However on second thought, I am the one sitting there reading their facebook status of being in the shower, so maybe my life really isn't that exciting.
3.) The third thing that tickles me about facebook are the photos and the whole tag someone in a photo thing. Profile pictures some people select crack me up! I mean do I really want to see a "sexy pose" picture of someone or a photo of their cat/dog/fish/kids, etc. The back in the day photos are also quite hilarious. Many of those photos should be locked up, or better yet, burned. I am sure I have some old photos of former friends and classmates from back in the day that could be used as great blackmail material.
4.) Item four that brings me great facebook joy are the "virtual" gifts people give. I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the thought and symbolism behind the sex on the beach drink that is sent my way. But, really now, I would be much more giddy about the appearance of the individual on my door step, blender in hand with Strawberry flavored Master of Mixes, Ice and Alchcol. I mean there "ain't nothing like the real thing baby", right?
5.) The final thing I find really funny about facebook are "groups" created and joined by people or the things people are "fans of" I believe I am part of many of these interesting groups. My question is how do people come up with these groups and why am I really a part of a group called "max and ruby where are your parents". Really, Where are Max and Ruby's parents. That is another post all together, but I find it interesting that someone found the time to start this group and other people found it a group the needed to join! I am wondering what my social networking status says about me when I am part of groups like the secret society of moms who have to go out and drink. And on the topic being a fan of something, how about jumping on over to facebook and logging in to become a fan of drinking or join the 901 people who are fans of eating. I guess the rest of us on the facebook network aren't really that into eating. Or, better yet, I highly recommend doing a seach for breathing and becoming one of the 32,000 plus fans of this bodily function. I know my social status will be greatly elevated when I join these groups!

365 Day 1

5 Hobbies/Activities I love, attempt and appreciate the chance to do. I read about the 365 days of grace project and thought I might give it a try. I might even make it longer than I did on the 365 day photo project! I selected an easy 5 to start with. To read more about the 365 days of grace idea, click on the logo/symbol on the right bar in this blog.

1.) Blogging & reading other blogs
2.) photographing EVERYTHING ~ People, food, nature, etc.
3.) Digital Scrapbooking
4.) Listening to music - Especially enjoyable when I am driving alone and can turn the radio up and sign at the top of my lungs like I am a superstar.
5.) Reading. I read all types of books (self improvement, fiction, non-fiction, etc) and LOVE my magazines. I think I now subscribe to and purchase about 30 different magazines a month (Parenting magazines, family and home magazines, craft and scrapbooking magazines, fitness, nutrition and/or cooking magazines ~ you name the topic and a magazine on that topic has probably come in my mailbox during the past month!).

** Please note, my hubby would say that shopping, browsing, deal hunting should be the top activity/hobby on my list, but in reality that is more of an obsession and probably should not be considered a hobby. More like a sickness or disease :)An old photo or Ryan and I having fun for the camera one evening in February 2008

~ Jennifer

Tooth is gone!

Jeff brought Ryan home from school today and they had a suprise for me.

Apparently on the way into school Ryan was eating a doughnut his tooth fell out. I guess he was a little upset at first and then excited!

We have the tooth and plan to put it under his pillow tonight.

I wanted to make a tooth pillow but didn't get around it making it in time! I didn't think the darn thing would fall out that fast :) I do still plan to make the pillow next week because I know he will have many more teeth fall out in the near future.

More teeth

Please ignore the crumbs and such on this video and the next. The kids were having a snack and then trying to show me their teeth that are about to fall out :)


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Teeth....

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Retire my Jersey

This morning while trying to get Ryan ready for school I told him that this year daddy would be taking him to buy new springtime clothes. He thought that when I said "you boys will be going shopping for clothes" I ment Grandpa too. I explained that if that happened, Ryan would be the only adult on the trip and he thought that was really funny. He was ready to go get new jersey's (because, let's face it if he and daddy go shopping we all know that will be the only thing they buy) today. I told him that we have to wait and try on his old clothes to see what will fit. He then asked what we would do with the old jersey's that are too small. I explained that we would pass them onto another little boy who might be able to use them. He was kind of bothered by the idea of someone else wearing his precious jersey's and then asked if we could just keep them and hang them on the walls of his room! I guess he thinks we need to retire each of his jersey's :)

Daddy Daughter Date night part 2

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Daddy Daughter Date night Video Part 1

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

More daylight....

As I was looking at my massive pile of laundry this morning I started to wonder if I will get more accomplished when there is a longer amount of daylight next week? Unfortunately, I have a feeling I will not! The outdoors and kids who want to play baseball will be calling.

Recycled Project - Old Bookcase - New candlesticks

I took apart an old bookcase (wishing I had pictures of it) and recycled the beautiful legs for new candlesticks. The legs were the only beautiful part of the bookcase and with a fresh coat of black spray paint, they have become awesome candlesticks. I am going to have Jeff get them cut down so I have different heights and will post pictures of the final sticks on display when they are completely finished!

Make your own Pot of gold

We made our pots of gold today. It is so simple and a great way to re-use those Halloween cauldrons that might be in storage somewhere!

I got my cauldrons at Target for $1.00 during Halloween and had them on my porch with Mums in them for October. This morning I pulled them out of the storage closet in the basement to use as Kettles for pots of gold that now sit in front of our fireplace.

The kids helped me gather some rocks from the road and then we just used a can of gold spray paint to create our "gold". We placed crunched up newspaper in the bottom of the pots so that they wouldn't require so much "gold". Then once the gold was dry, we stacked it on the top of the newspaper. A simple project to decorate for St. Patricks Day!

Now if I could only figure out how to make a money tree :)

Reading book can rough at our house.

I was checking my e-mail before we go outside to play this afternoon. When I looked over at Allie in the living room I saw her reading. Apparently Reading can be a tough thing to do at our house, so she has on her football helmet for protection!

Garland Project

I need to make a st. patrick's day themed one, but this is the rag garland I finished last week! It has the colors beige, brugandy and black in the color scheme.

I hung it on my mantle below the 24x36 framed canvas of the kiddos (which is one of my favorite pics of them ~ simple with great smiles from both!).

Allie's New tutu

Allie got this adorable tutu from a friend yesterday after church. Their little girl (Who isn't so little anymore ~ She has grown so fast!) has outgrown it and so they passed it, a red sparkly dance skirt and a pair of tap shoes onto miss Allie. This skirt has become the new favorites around here! She accents the outfit with her dancer leg warmers that have pink and white stripes. A great outfit! Thanks so much Susan and Abby!

Project - Allie's dress

I am not yet finished with Allie's new dress, but she tried it on and wants to wear it today. I just have to finish the words on the top and the buttons around the middle, but I am letting her wear it today. It is a little big (the shirt was too big). I bought some smaller shirts and more fabric and just need to wash the shirts before I make another one. And yes, my model has a dirty face! I am not sure there has ever been a time she hasn't had a dirty face! :)