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.

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!

It's Friday, Friday, Friday.....

That is about all I know of that 'popular' song, but it gets stuck in my head every Friday.  :)

I love Friday's. ( I love Monday's too.  I know I'm weird.)

Today is actually on the cool side.

Rocking my momfit of fleece sweatpants and puffy vest.

Loving the smell of lit fireplaces in the air.

So here is a glimpse of our Friday. 

Little Miss Maressa is home with me on Fridays.

Love me some little girl thick tights and boots.

Today we went shopping. 

 One of our favorite places to go together is Target.

We had a birthday gift to get and did some Christmas shopping as well.

I LOVE children's books.  I go weak in the knees every time I spot beautiful picture books.

Got one for M's preschool book exchange and one for a cousin.

Maressa picked the little moving kitty for her cousin and we got this awesome table set for another.

Thinking I'll make a few dolls too.

We both were smitten with the newest Target designer collection...this time just for kids.

M picked this shirt and the socks.

Totally her and will go perfectly with her black tutu and black Converse sneakers she has.

Then we traveled across town (rare for me) to Michael's.

This is all we got.

M convinced me to get these small dollar wreath frames for them to decorate for Christmas. 

And we got Holiday Smencils for preschool party favors.

I was disappointed with the Christmas crafts selection.

I was looking for plain flat pieces to make some of these ornaments for my crafty girls party.

*****

Rex is having a grumpy day.

Thinking he must be getting ready to have a big shed again.

Last time he looked like he was wearing a tutu.  lol

We're a little addicted to LaLaLoopsy.

I won't say how many more are under my bed for stockings.

And I got one of the boy dolls today.

I love how I can throw these little dolls in my tote and have instant entertainment for restaurants or other places requiring little people patience.

Been getting a little Christmas craft on.

More soon.

Love no homework afternoons.

Just a little piano practice and we're free to play the rest of the day!

Love the smiles on 4 cutie faces when I serve hot chocolate for snack.

What are your Friday's like?

Miscellany

Well summer break is in full force and we haven't slowed down yet. 

 But we're having a good time...just tired.

  I really hope to find more time to get over here to my blog. 

 I've got some tutorials, some before and afters and whatnot. 

Then there's the birthday parties coming up.  :)

So far we've posted a summer list (like many other bloggers) on our fridge.  That and a calendar. 

 I think the kids like to check it every morning at breakfast to see what's up for the day.

We're hosting a craft camp for our friends on Friday mornings. 

 Our first one we made these squid like seen on  Whatever. 

It was a little ambitious to try to do with 13 kids in one morning.  :) 

But they loved them.

I'm making a ton of iced coffee to keep up with the active schedule we've been keeping.

Brewing 4 C water over 1/3 bold coffee

Pour in 2 qt pitcher/container

Add 1/4 C vanilla syrup

Add milk moslty to the top (see photo) or to your preference.

My other fav snack is a yummy plain cheese bagel from Target bakery and a homemade cream soda.

Speaking of bagels, we hope to try our hand at making some homemade bagels this summer.

I dunno...there is just something  about making stuff yourself. 

 Plus to get the really good bagels is expensive! 

Trying to get back in creative mode. 

Scavenged the house for all cheap glassware to spray paint.

(as seen in a magazine and on various blogs)

Yeah that was fun.

Hubby says "I don't get it."  lol

Maressa had her first ballet class. 

She didn't stop grinning the whole 45 mins.

The other 3 loved watching her cute lil self too.

Mental note to self:  make sure she wears less baggy undies that day.

And we're been to the water fountains for a free splash.

For the most part they all enjoy it.

Maressa however did request me making them smaller for her.

See you tomorrow with my very happy laundry room/closet makeover. 

Just random stuff

Frustrating morning.  This morning was supposed to be fun fun fun.  Micah had a costume and fall party at school.  They were to dress as a favorite book character.  I made this SUPER CUTE Skippyjon Jones costume for my blue eyed boy to wear.  He pranced around in it last night and the cuteness made me just giddy.  :)  Then stomach pains.  Then vomit.  From the 5 year old.  BIG bummer.  No school for him this morning.  This meant a few things that made me really emotional.

First, I forced my way through making his costume through a big headache I had yesterday.

This is NOT being worn for Halloween (he's long picked out Batman).

Granted this will get played in a lot...especially since both his sisters insisted I make them ears too so they could play Skippyjon's sisters.

Second, no parade.  I have pics and memories of the first 2 doing the same parade (in not nearly as cute or creative costumes).

Third, it also meant I had to miss Maressa's FIRST preschool party of which I am room mom (a position I've been coveting for years, but unable to commit with smaller siblings) and in charge of said party and craft.

I've NEVER missed a single preschool party for anyone thus far.

I was really crushed this morning.

Not to mention I was worried that Mar would be upset being the only child without a parent there.  Hubby rescued me though by driving 20 mins across town to be at her party for a short while and able to capture cutie pie songs they sing at the end.

I really have been growing in that I usually don't let myself get upset over things I cannot change.  

But I admit, I REALLY had a hard time with this one.

So let's move along, shall we?

This is the flower that my awesome 9 year old Zachary made for me after school yesterday.  He made it to make me feel better from the awful headache I was having.  He's super thoughtful!

This little star I picked up from Target dollar spot was much happier in canary yellow to put in my newly renovated cabinet.  :)

I am SO happy that I saw this post and took up the offer.  Canvas picture (11X14) for a whole $9.99 plus shipping.  The quality is AWESOME!!  It hangs happily in my dining room. 

Slowly, slowly the dining room is coming along.  I need some serious fabric in there though...it echoes when there's not a huge pile of clean laundry on my dining room table (but let's face it, it rarely does NOT have laundry covering the table).  

Though right now it has my cutting board and fabric and pieces of homemade costumes.  :)

Finally! 

 Z's long baseball run (been playing straight since beginning of April) is about to come to an end.  

As much as I love it too, I'm grateful for the upcoming break.

This weekend is his last tournament.

Then two month break til practices begin again.

Whew!!

I'm still here.........

Sorry folks for the lack of posting.  :)  Been just busy living and being.  Not worried about that next project I have to finish so I can blog about it stuff.  May always sneaks up on me with a million and one things I need to do.  And we've been enjoying the warm, but not too warm yet weather.  And oh the baseball!

Now that my middle 2 are done with preschool and I'm not spending most of my morning taxi-ing back and forth to preschool we are spring cleaning!  Their first day home I put them to work.  Now I'm doing the nitty gritty cleaning out of rooms and closets.  I have serious amounts of stuff I need/want to get rid of.  And of course none of this is fun, creative or blog worthy.  ;)

So, for the next short while I'm loaning the computer to the littlest member of the Webkinz [Jr] world.  We only have one computer for the 5 of us to share.  I hope to remedy that one day with a lap top of my own.

Anyway, I'll be back to regular scheduled programing very soon!  Thanks for your patience!  :)

Happy Food

Hope your weekend is as happy as this food!!  lol

BTW, this was Maressa's lunch per request:
Mama, I wanna smiley face san-mich, smiley face banana and smiley face cheese.

Blah

Hello, I am alive.  :)  Just swamped and caught up in everyday life that I'm not getting around to doing much that is blog worthy lately.  Laundry isn't that exciting!  It's been so crazy, I canceled my monthly sewing class I do.

I do hope to have my craft room makeover done soon to show.  I have just a few more things to do to it.  After that I need to find my crafting groove again.  

Basketball is about to end  (though baseball is starting soon and this year BOTH boys are signed up).  We are in the midst of cub scouts stuff....blue & gold banquet last night, pinewood derby in 2 weeks.  Preschool, still heavy in the party department....I'm finally going to do a fav craft from Zakka Life for their Dr Suess party next week.  Starting on the preschool quilt (this was Kalla's class last year...Micah is now in that class...I am apparently the 'sewing mom'  :)

Oh and I've started a diet...I'm unofficially doing weight watchers to finally rid myself of those annoying last 10-15 baby pounds....been not quite 3 weeks and I've lost over 2 lbs and feeling great! Counting those points has been so eye opening!!  So I will share some of my fav snacks and healthy eating stuff we try to do around here (I've always been better about having the kids eat healthy).

Once I get my sewing room put back together I've got quite the list of girl's clothes to do and some little things here and there.  THEN I am making myself some things for ME for a change!  I hope.

Some tutorials to come.  I promise.

I'm sure if spring would just come my crafting metabolism would just crank right up.

blah blah blah.........the piles of clean laundry are waiting to be put away....ugh and sorting socks for 6 different people...oh joy!

For now enjoy this story about a toddler and a cookie...I just love Bill Cosby.  :)

Happy Friday!

Hi all,
Feeling blah today and just don't feel like bustin' my hiney to bring you my next craft project.  :)  It's almost done.  But I've played with the kids at our children's museum this morning and now it's down time/lunch time for me and I really just wanna put my torn apart craft room back together.  I think I've had a little cupcake overload.  ;)  But Maressa can't get enough.  She's played out her party with her play cupcakes and ice cream over and over.

Anyhoo, I'll be back Monday for my next cupcake project and next week will do promised giveaway.

:)

FYI

Just a quick note....for some reason I am no longer getting your comments in my email even though it is still set to do so. SO, if there is comment on a post that is not the last couple of posts, I do not know about them. Don't know how to fix this. But til I do, I will keep on the look out (I love to read comments!!) and if you have a QUESTION, please email me. That way I can be sure to see it and answer it for you!

Thanks!

Will be back here next week when we get back from our trip to see family!

Merry Christmas!!

Oh how I love thee Ikea

This past weekend at the end of our fall break, we went to visit some dear friends of ours in Atlanta. Like us they have 4 small children, so that was 8 kids 8 years and under, under one roof for a long weekend. So Saturday afternoon, me and my girlfriend left the dads with nap duty to escape do important errand running and made a trip to Ikea too. Mmmmmm! I've never been, but I drool their site often. I just knew I HAD to go while in Atlanta. It was all I imagined and more! Did you know you can drop your kids off in this big playroom for free babysitting while you shop?!? Hard for me to imagine actually doing that seeing how over protective I can be, but STILL...how cool is it that they have that option? I didn't really have much funds to spend, but I managed to wear out my friend in this huge endless eye candy of a store. And I did make out with a small stash.

One of the things I love about Ikea is that they are in the 'Three F's' category. Frugal, functional and FUN! And of course lots and lots of color of which I am so fond of. This whole pile above, cost me all of $30.
Porcelain dish playset (a future bday gift for a friend's kid), kitchen shears (I needed new ones), plastic sack organizer (see photo below)--was thinking of making one, but hey for $1.99 I decided this would work fab--, colorful nesting tins that match my kitchen, kids sized plastic cups that go with the snack plates and bowls that I received as gifts already from Ikea and these hanging organizers for the kids growing webkinz collection to give to them for Christmas.

Here's the cool sack organizer...I truely hope to one day make some reusable grocery sacks, but for now we use these babies for those dirty diapers that have to be immediately evacuated from the house. ;) My pantry is thanking me for this thing.

Here is my now complete kids snack collection. I have enough to use them for cutsie toddler parties too....already planning that one in Feb....yes I'm sick I know. Gonna live out the If You Give a Cat a Cupcake idea I'm thinking. Anyway, can't tell you how much we use the plates and bowls on a daily basis and just love them. If you go to Ikea you must pick some up...each piece is bundled in 6's for a whole $1.99.

Now I'm hoping to plan a girl's weekend to Ikea, I mean Atlanta next year...need to just find a pick up truck to borrow! ;)

**Dont' forget! Giveaway ends Friday morning!**

Just a little note

I'm going to be fasting from the computer this week. :) I'll be back the next week with more kids crafts, decorating and sewing tutorials!

While I'm gone enjoy one of my fav I Love Lucy clips!

Just Because

Well, I feel I barely survived this week! But I managed to make some rice krispie treats to console my stressed self. Not a great idea on my part. ;)

But all is back to normal (if you call it that). K has bounced back, hubby is home and that dress is just about done. I am really really struggling putting in the zipper. This dress has a full lining and piping across the middle. I can't get it in straight or without some puckering (mind you I've never done this before) so I've called in some reinforcements to help. Should get done this afternoon.

Z has half day of school today and we are going to the awards ceremony where he should get 2 awards, one for reading 100+ books in the Reading Olympics and one for straight A's.

We have a pretty unscheduled weekend ahead (aside from daddy taking K on a date tonight and a cub scout hike tomorrow if it doesn't rain) and I hope to get hubby to help me with some house projects. We leave for Costa Rica a week from today! So I need to get the house ship shape for MIL who will be staying here with the kids. :)

Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Swinging into Spring

It's been a long spring here in the deep south. Normally we go from high in 50's in early March straight to upper 80's/90's. Instead this year we have had so much rain! and many 'cold fronts'. Right now it's a whole 57F outside and windy (but sunny at least)!
In between all the rain we've spent time getting in some fun warm weather activities in.LOVE this seesaw rocker from HearthSong. Perfect for rocking action from 1 to 3 kids! It was a grandma gift for one of the kids one year.

And trips to Brewster's for ice cream.

And picking 'beautiful flowers'. I love this picture of my sweet girl in all her 5 year old glory. :)

And we've spent a lot of time at the ballpark!

Bringing along our favorite toys of course.

Today however, is blah. We are less one Daddy (business trip), sweet K is sick with fever for the 4th day. And I have an impending deadline for a bridesmaid dress I've been asked to make. We have baseball this evening...and edited here of previously posted plans.....so I'm looking for someone to take Z man to his game. Poor Kalla has now spiked to 104.5 and feels really terrible. We have a doc appt at 3:30. Please pray we don't have the flu.........

On a brighter note, my 2 and 3 yera old just cleaned the playroom all by themselves of their own idea!