Just a little loopy

Hello everybody.
Just a little post to fill you in.
Lot of little things going on this past week.
First internet went down.  It's still not right and we can't get the wireless to work.

Then guinea pig got sick.

Gus stopped eating and drinking at some point this past week.
He's just pitiful.  Vet can't find what's wrong at the moment without a bunch of random and expensive tests.
So I am syringe feeding him for now and see if he doesn't get better.
Fun fun!  :)  It's actually not that bad and they kids think it is just adorable.

I got the closet done.  Organization bliss.

Much better!  May add a peg board on the wall in there too.

Oh and lastly, I had surgery yesterday.  I was going to blog about it before, but we had connection issues.
I had my yucky gall bladder removed.  I hear I will feel much better.
Yesterday was rough at some points.  Pain medicine is good.
 Speaking of if this post makes no sense, I am heavily medicated at the moment.  lol
But it does the job.  My hubby got up to find me making waffles for the kids this morning.
He thought I had lost my mind.
I have a little with this medicine...but there were only 2 egg casualties.  :)

Should be back in a few days and hopefully a little more coherent.

For now I'm going to go watch a movie with Maressa while all the other kids are at basketball.

Our family message center

This was my last project.  We have this little area between our foyer and living room.

It did have a desk.  Major hot spot.

It never stayed clean and was always piled high with mess.

So I got rid of it!

Then I thought it would be fun to paint the whole wall in chalkboard paint.

Added a metal sheet for a magnet board.

Each kid has a metal clip for important school papers.

This relieved the overflow on the front of the refridgerator.

Underneath is a strip of hooks for backpacks.

And for fun I added this ballon dry erase message area.

Inspired by this pin, I could not find the paper, but made my own.

I simply used the black and white dotted paper and printed up a bunch of conversation balloons on Publisher and cut them out and taped them on the dotted paper.

The kids have enjoyed writing messages to each other on it.

Here are some pictures after I finally let them use the area (ie chalk all over it).

We have really enjoyed this space and no more clutter!

Random Friday

I didn't get around to doing a photo a day this week.

Nor did I get around to blogging.

Sorry.

Those Monday holidays really threw me off.

Tuesdays are really busy.

Then the week rolls by really fast.

Now it's Friday.

This little chick is my regular Friday sidekick.

I'm going to really miss our days together next year when she goes to kindergarten.

OH speaking of, my baby is turning 5 in a month.

Not sure I can handle it.

Especially on top of it being my 'last' birthday...you know the one.

We don't need to mention it further.

There will be awesome cake though.

Last Friday in a long series of running errands with said sidekick, I finally got a new bible.

And a pretty one too!

I prefer the NASB and my 11 yr old one was falling apart and missing some chapters in Genesis.

Time for a new one.

Was so happy to find one in turquoise!

 I am participating in a fabulous ladies study on James.  It is a Beth Moore study.

Never done one of her studies before, but I'm impressed!

I just finished the first project of the year (not pictured) and will share it on Monday.

Here is the beginning of project #2.

The craft closet.

It used to be a very small half bath before the previous owners remodeled.

So it's a nice sized closet.

But I really hate painting these kind of doors.

But every time I see this post pinned on Pinterest, I cringe of the ugly putty color (I painted the outside, but lazily left the inside).

This is about half of what came out...spread all over my dining room.

I now painted the inside of the closet.

Over the wallpaper.

I just didn't have it in me to peel anymore wallpaper in this house!

But this will do.

Maressa happily kept me company while coloring.

Then a coffee cake break.

I was getting a little high from the fumes in that tiny space!

This year we have 3 kids playing basketball.

We do Upward.

Three games tomorrow morning.

Matt coaches all three!

Next project.

Craft room clean out.

Hoping to fit some stuff in the closet as this small room is busting at the seams!

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On another note, check out this video!

I can't tell you how much my kids are loving it (especially the dog loving 6 yr old!)

Oh and we are VW owners as well.

My very first minivan.  I got it this summer.  I admit, I'm a convert!

A photo a day--week2

Ponyville town

Wake up stretch

Obi-wan practices the piano

Report card day-free Krispie Kremes

Day 5 of rain stretch

First project of the year

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Photos from my week.

If you'd like to join me in a photo a day, I'd love to see them!

Since my mention last week had only one respond, for now just give me your link in comments.

If I get more interest I'll put a linky button up.  :)

What have you guys been up to this week??

Angry Bird legos

One morning I woke up to find a whole flock of angry birds made with legos.

The 10 yr old made them.

I was quite impressed by the detail he went into making them!

And they are giant!  lol

The white one is quite heavy.

Since then, he's made a small red one and one small piggy that he stacked inside his little sister's blocks to play his own game.

Funny, I had planned on making this for them.

But I guess he kinda beat me to it!

the waffle maker=breakfast changing

I got a waffle maker for Christmas.

It was a requested item I've wanted for some time.

It has been even more life changing than expected.

I made room for it on the counter even.  :)

No more burnt pancakes.

No more gooey pancake centers.

No more hovering over a frying pan with spatula in hand.

No more worrying about kid distractions.

See that little light there on the left?

It tells me all I need to know.

It tells me when it's hot enough for the waffles.

It tells me when they are cooked perfectly.

I can make eggs and bacon,

wipe up spills,

refill milks,

set the table so we can all sit together like civilized people,

check morning email,

or sip on coffee like a lady of leisure

and I all have to do is keep my eye on that little light.

And then I have perfect waffles.

And the smell.

My Papaw made waffles when we visited.

Stacks that went a couple of feet high.

One of my fav memories of my grandparents was the warm kitchen bustling with breakfast fixings and the smell of waffles.

AND they had squeezy butter.  Do they even make that anymore?

The inaugural batch of waffles were our 'birthday' waffles adapted from the birthday pancakes the kids love so much.

(Birthday pancakes/waffles=mini choc chips and big ice cream type sprinkles in the batter.)

And the kids approved!!

On the weekends I make a triple batch and store them in the refrigerator and then toast them on school days.

No more icky 'yellow' frozen waffles.

OK, so all you people who knew this awesomeness called a waffle maker long ago,

share your recipes and tips.

I was so excited and tried to make waffle brownies as I thought I've seen that done before.

I figured it would be no more than make brownie mix and pour it in and cook.

Well, that was a big fat FAIL.

Sadly.

Someone tell me how to do this!  :)

Ok, one more breakfast changing tip I got on Pinterest.

I'm sure you've all seen it.

Oven baked bacon.

Except I broil mine.

And these beautiful center cut pieces come out crispy and flat.

Which apparently my children have become bacon snobs?

They won't eat it fried and wrinkled up anymore.

But that's ok, with as much as a family of 6 bacon loving folks, this is far more efficient.

Oh and don't do like I did above and mark up your cute Target lime green cookie sheet and line it with foil first.

A photo a day

For Christmas Santa brought me a new lens.

Last year he brought me photography lessons.

Now that I know how to use all the buttons on my camera and have a proper lens for indoor photos, I've got a lot of practicing to do.

For me, I love photography.

I love taking pictures....lots of them.

Of everything.

But I have no illusions of grandeur so getting paid to do so...lol

I do it for me.

Anyway, I've decided to see if I can do a photo a day.

Just one of something random in our day.

The above photos are of last week.

I don't want to bore you all with these daily, so I'll just put them in a collage and share on Fridays.

Just a few notes on my pictures above.

Zachary actually took the one of me and Micah...I fixed the settings on my camera and let him shoot, then I edited them.

Kalla's bball picture...this is her very first game ever.  She finally got brave enough to try this year. :)

All photos are taken with my new 50mm except the bball where I have to use a zoom.

Anyone interested in sharing a photo a day with me?

If there is any interest, I can add a linky to my posts on Fridays.