Things That Make Me

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY!!

Scoring awesome deals on diapers so that I don't have to worry about buying at full price. By the way, Haden is 16 months old and only once in 16 months have I paid full price for diapers. I am very thankful for that!

A crayon roll for Kennedy

I've been wanting to make one for over a year.

She loves it!

A crayon roll for Aubrey

I finished the second one in half the time that it took to finish the first.

You can't really tell, but the solid purple is very sparkly. That girl loves sparkles!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME NOT SO HAPPY:



This is tough!

THINGS THAT MAKE ME VERY HAPPY!!

Sorry, no picture for the big finale BUT I have finally dropped to a new low in my weight loss journey (long term goal was 31 lbs by my 31st bday)! I've lost 12 lbs since the beginning of June. I'm ALMOST half way to my goal weight loss! In an effort to help me get there quicker I've pulled Jillian out of the back of the dvd cabinet. So while it makes me not so happy to hurt the way I am, I'm so excited to be almost half way to the goal!!!

Hibernating

I took an impromptu hiatus from blogging for the month of February.

We had what will hopefully be our last snow day at the beginning of the month.

We rode the train to the top of the mountain to enjoy the snow!

We were busy making boxes for our Valentine's party.

Then we had a crazy change in the weather and it has been gorgeous so we've spent a lot of time outside.

We took a very spur of the moment trip to Texas. Appropriately, we saw where John F Kennedy was shot on President's Day.

The X marks the first shot

Another X marks the second shot



The sixth floor, right most window is where Lee Harvey Oswald fired from and killed JFK.

 I've been working on our March lesson plans. We'll be studying Saint Patrick's Day, Ireland, & rainbows and do some spring time planting.

How was your February? What are your plans for March?

Advent, how I've failed thee!

 I said on Thursday that I had not been feeling well. I am the sickest I can ever remember being in my life! I have battled a fever that will not go away and a terrible cough since Thursday. Thankfully, that fever is hanging around 100 today and the scale had good news for me this morning, too! Since I haven't felt like eating since Thursday I have lost the final 7 pounds I needed to get back to pre-pregnancy weight!

Anyways, I haven't even thought about Advent other than the guilty feelings of not being able to do it. The girls asked this morning how many days there were until Christmas and I really didn't know. I'm even going to miss our church Christmas program tonight. =(

Besides my being sick, my husband was laid off from his job on Friday. How's that for a Christmas bonus?? We are really not sure what happens from here, but we are confident (and this really isn't trite at all) that this is for the best. Our girls don't know that Daddy no longer has a job. Should we tell them? With the little bit of snow we are having today plus the cold temps it wouldn't be at all unusual for Adam to be home from work tomorrow so I don't think they'll even notice that he is here.

Ideas? Opinions?

The Day Sharpie Came to Town

The day Sharpie came to visit our dining room table started off friendly enough. His brilliant green color was used ever so purposefully to make that pilgrim have the ripest corn ever. Then when Ma is brought in to see the bountiful harvest her eyes quickly see not only a masterpiece, they also see ugly marks on her dining room table.

Ma being ever so graceful and forgiving, said "Oh dear whatever shall we do? There are permanent marker scribbles all over my lovely dining room table. No need to fret, for love is all we need and who cares that you disobeyed and used the markers you have been specifically told not to use. Let us make haste and see if we can resolve the trouble, darling." The sweet little child runs off to clean her room without another word.

Wait ... that doesn't sound believable? Would you believe this instead?

Ma being pretty ticked that for the second time in a week someone has climbed to get the permanent markers and left not only purple streaks but now green has had it. "Why don't you listen? Why did you do this? I do love your picture but you know you aren't allowed to use those markers and I don't think its going to come off the table. I understand accidents but this is a product of disobedience. Not only do you have green marker all over my table but you also have it on your forehead and all over your hands and you have pictures this afternoon. No, you may not have Polly Pockets now. Go to your room until I can figure out what to do." The broken child sits in the floor and cries. The mother cries (because she realizes she is a jerk for being upset about marker on the table) as she searches Swagbucks for an answer to 'how to remove permanent marker from finished wood.'

Sadly, the second version of this story is much more accurate. Maybe a little louder.

The moral of this story? Toothpaste and baby wipes. It really works. Not only did the fresh(er) green permanent marker come right off the table but so did the week old purple permanent marker.

Oh, and the bigger picture? I asked for her forgiveness. I should be more careful with my words and with my tone. She forgave me as we cleaned the permanent marker off her forehead (again with a baby wipe, no toothpaste). Oh, and I forgave her, too.

Christmas Time is Near

It is. Does it make you want to have a panic attack?
No?
Well, I was feeling pretty good about it. I have been buying Christmas gifts pretty much since the day after Christmas last year. I'm cheap frugal like that.
Target has an amazing toy clearance every July. It works out nicely as we have an August birthday. I try to wait until things are marked 75% so that I can be the cheapest most frugal.  I filled up 2 big Target bags by mid-August with goodies for all 3 kids and spent less than $50 total.
Last week Target had a large selection of summer toys and sporting goods clearanced out at 75% off. I bought the little man a tricycle for his 1st birthday. What, its over 6 months away? Well, when am I going to find another brand new, cute, green $50 trike for $12 again?? Its in storage. Birthday gift - taken care of!
On to my point -- its crunch time. I was feeling pretty good about myself as I browsed the 90% off dollar stop (yes, 30 cents each!!) for stocking stuffers on Tuesday. I felt proud of the fact that for once I was ahead of schedule. As I mosied on to the back of the store I got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. There, near the back, on the far left wall were Christmas lights. And an entire aisle already overflowing with Christmas cards. I'm behind. It was the second to last day of summer and I was behind.

Fear not, faithful blog followers. All none of you. I have 2 gifts stored in the sewing cabinet waiting to be sewn and wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree (which if you're counting will be going up exactly 9 weeks from tomorrow).

Gift # 1   Hooded Towels

For this handmade gift I will use this tutorial. Its super easy! I picked up 2 hot pink Ralph Lauren towels on clearance at T.J Maxx the other night. I made a couple hooded towels earlier this year using towels that have been in use for 8 1/2 years for practice's sake. I am excited to make new (bigger) ones as a surprise. With about 20 minutes of my time and a little monogramming they'll be good to go!

Gift # 2  Princess & the Pea Softie

For this handmade gift I will use this tutorial. I know a little girl who can quote word for word the entire story of the Princess and the Pea that will be beyond thrilled Christmas morning!

Are you ready for Christmas? Will you be making any handmade gifts this year? Only 113 days til Christmas!

Such a ...

Slacker   Stacker!

September has left me behind! I had intended on posting a draft post from the beginning of September 2009 but I didn't, again. After that I got so busy and my computer is still on the fritz and I just kept putting off blogging.

Lessons have continued to come from all corners!

We had homeschooling lessons:

We brushed up on classification. Who knew stacking cups would be relevant to zoology?

And went on a nature scavenger hunt with friends

I had a lesson in relaxation:

We joined up with a local Bible study on Wednesday mornings and are learning so much from our lessons on the names of God!

I can't wait to participate in this month's Create With Me project! I plan on getting my sewing machine out today after our lessons!!


What lessons have you learned lately?