Fabric, cinnamon rolls and cabinets

Yesterday, Jack and I went over to Champaign to do some shopping. Jack hates shopping--really he hates anything that takes place outside of our home--but he rose to the occasion and was a great shopping buddy. Although he did say more than once, "This is the LAST store we are going to!" Anyway, I have recently become of a student of the design school of THE NESTER and I have been inspired to find yummy, but inexpensive, fabric to add to home in the way of pillows and window "mistreatments." So, Jack and I went to Hancock Fabrics and found some lovely remnants that would look great in my soon to be stylish master bedroom. (Calling it a "master bedroom" seems a little ridiculous considering it's size.) Well, Hancock came through for me. I hit the remnant table which is ordinarily cheap, but yesterday, it was 50% off. I got 2 yards of fabric for $8.50. The first picture is a true representation of the goldy/tanny color. The second one is so you can see the texture. By the way, we went to Hancock and I saw these fabrics and talked myself out of buying them. After lunch, I talked myself back into them and went back. If I hadn't purchased them, I would have been trekking over to Champaign again today!

Doesn't this cinnamon roll look delicious. I made them for the boys this morning. Then I checked it's WW points value. 8 points. For one. I can have 18 in a whole day. I didn't eat it. Dang.
Just to prove that I am, in fact, painting my kitchen cabinets, here is a picture. It is a slow process and the hinges are going to be the end of me. I bought new ones and they are the EXACT same size as the ones I took off. Do my doors shut properly when I replace them? No. Of course not. Why? Just to drive me crazy, I guess. Hopefully the project will be done tomorrow. But I wouldn't count on it.

Jack

The sunroom was actually warm enough to play in yesterday. I peeked out and saw Jack playing quietly by himself. He has always been really good at entertaining himself. Obviously, we have a million toys. Look what he's playing with--the Little People doll house. How sweet. In a year or so, he won't be caught dead playing with that thing. Sad.
He also made his own lunch. Cheetos, red & green tortilla chips, oyster crackers and marshmallows. Mmmmmm.....healthy stuff! Obviously Cheetos were the main course!

Falling apart and Kitchen Re-Do

We are in one of those "our house is falling apart" times of our lives. We need:
-a new dishwasher. (ours has been recalled and we will receive a $150 rebate after we purchase a new one. I suppose that's better than nothing, right?)
-2 new garage door openers (not the remote, the whole thing)
-a new screen door for our front door
-new windows
-I'm scared to have our furnace looked at because I'm afraid they will tell us we need a new one.
We did get a new computer and hopefully it will arrive today. Ours does not have any word processing on it and it's been killing me. It also won't let me leave comments on blogs--also killing me.

On another note--I have started painting my kitchen cabinets black. I'm a little scared because I would swear that the kitchen already looks smaller. I'm hoping it's an optical illusion. Anyway, see this little piece of decorative wood under the cabinet. I hate it. Always have. We had it in our old house and I hated it there too. Lots of people have them. I just hate it. Well, it isn't there anymore. I took the power saw and cut it off. It wasn't pretty and I was just sure I was going to cut my hand off, but I did it. However, I did learn one thing. You should wait until your paint is totally dry before sawing and making tons of sawdust. Oops! I think I managed to take care of that little problem too.

Copy Cat

I saw this idea on another blog, but I read so many of them that I have no idea where it was. If you know, I will gladly give credit where credit is due. (I have more to say on that subject so keep reading.) Anyway, I have had my eye on some cast iron birdies at Hobby Lobby for quite a while but I just didn't want to buy them. I think they would have been $3 each with a coupon, but this is even cheaper. These are from the Dollar Tree and they are resin. I sprayed them with gray primer (which I have on hand) and then painted them with cream acrylic (which I have on hand.) They look almost exactly like the ones I liked originally. And don't they look lovely in my cloche? I'm still trying to find a better home for that thing.



I made this 16 x 20 canvas for Parker's teacher for Valentine's Day. I completely drew inpiration from HERE.

I wrapped it up in bright pink paper and put what I think is the cutest little owl ever on it. The owl is copied from all of the super cute, but too girly for my boys,stuff they had at Target this year for Valentine's Day.

So, you can see that I do a lot of copying. I try to give credit where it's due but I don't always remember where I've seen things. Anyway, I'm a crafter, so I rarely buy anything crafty that I think I can make myself. I also wouldn't start selling something that is copied from someone else--at least I wouldn't go on line and open a shop selling it. I would, however, make them for myself and for gifts. If you are my kid's teacher, it is highly likely that you will get something that I have made that has been inspired by something I saw on someone's amazing blog. That's one of my favorite things about blogs--the sharing of fabulous ideas!

Birthday Pictures

Jack taking a birthday phone call.
Getting ready to blow out candles on his birthday cupcake.
At his birthday party with his Indian cake. He said he wanted "lots of green grass and a river and sand."

Jack Jack Attack turns Five

My baby turned 5 yesterday. Sigh. I cannot believe he will be going to kindergarten in 6 short months. Where does time go!? If you knew me 5 years ago, you might recall that Jack was a very difficult baby. He had reflux and if he was awake (which was most of the time) he was either crying or projectile vomiting. I thought he was going to be the end of me. Luckily, we got him figured out and now he is something special. He is the best little brother a kid could ask for. He would do anything for Parker and misses him like crazy all day. He tells me he loves me at least 50 times a day. He has awesome kissy lips and gives the best kisses to his mommy. We are sooooooo blessed to have this awesome little boy in our lives!

Lego builders

One of Parker's favorite things to do is build a whole fleet of tiny Lego ships. I like to help and can I just tell you that it isn't as easy as it looks! We did some building the other night.
Jack got in on the action too. These are the best things I've seen him build. Usually he builds a "wall" or a "square."
I had to take a picture of Jack playing Xbox. He is sort of half in an empty storage tub. Weird. And you can see the tornado of a mess that is surrounding him. Both of my kids are like walking tornados--they leave a mess in their path wherever they go!

Crockpot Brown Sugar Chicken

***click on the word THIS below and it will take you straight to the recipe

I made THIS last night for dinner and it was a big hit with me and the boys. (Travis rarely eats dinner with us---long story.) Anyway, my kids eat very little "grown-up" food. I do the short-order cook thing with them. Bad parenting? Yes. No doubt about it and I am working on it. Anyway, they loved THIS and I highly recommend it. It sounds strange, but it is sooooo good over rice! I used chicken thighs, but next time I will use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I also used plain white vinegar, but next time I will use apple cider vinegar. Honestly, you gotta try this!
This is the first recipe off this blog that I have done, but I intend to try many others. I love the crockpot!

Baby William

Congratulations to my lovely friend Maureen and her new baby, William Ryan. He was born on Jan. 31st (which was not according to his scheduled arrival on February 3rd.) Maureen is my college roommate and she is now the mother of two precious little boys--just like me! How cool is that!? She is going to kill me for posting this picture, but I think she looks beautiful--especially since she just gave birth to a 9 lb 2 oz. baby!

UGHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We HAVE to get a new computer because I'm about ready to throw this one out the window!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How can I share all the everyday nonsense in my life if my computer won't cooperate!?

To my bloggy friends:

I just wanted to let my blog visitors know that if you leave a comment for me and you have your own blog, I ALWAYS come and visit you. I have been trying to leave comments, but my crappy computer keeps kicking me off whenever I try. So, please know that I absolutely love getting comments and I love "meeting" new people in the little (or big) blog world! Thanks everyone!

Almost 5 years ago..

I thought I would put up some oldies but goodies. Jack will be 5 years old in less than two weeks! Hard to believe!

Sigh.....

So, the decision has been made. McGaughey Elementary (currently K-3) where Parker goes now, will become a preschool, oops, I mean Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade. Mt. Zion Grade (currently preK-3) will become 2nd and 3rd grade. Then on to Mt. Zion Intermediate for 4th, 5th and 6th. Next comes Junior High for 7th and 8th. Finally, high school for the last 4 years. Whew....are you exhausted because I sure am. In my head I see a big pinball machine where my children are bounced around from school to school for the next 10-12 years. They will not be in the same building until Parker is in 6th and Jack is in 4th. While I certainly don't like the inconvenience that will cause me, that isn't what has me upset. It just doesn't feel "right" to me. This just isn't what an elementary school looks like. I believe that schools are about so much more than curriculum and vertical articulation. School is more than test performance and technology. A successful school is a sum of all it's parts. By limiting children's exposure to only two grade levels at a time, I believe you limit their possibilities. Anything that puts limits on my child's educational opportunities doesn't feel like an improvement to me. I will be the first to admit that there are benefits to this change. The biggest will be that all the kids in their grade will be in the same building. Obviously, with 200 kids in each grade, there is no way in the world they will get to know everyone--or even half--of their classmates, but they will meet kids they might not have met otherwise. It will be nice to put an end to the "competition" between the schools but that has always been a parent-fueled problem and didn't have anything to do with the kids or the teachers. It will be good that families will not have to choose which school their child should go to. Everyone has always agreed that our lack of school boundaries was just nuts. So, I am going to give myself a few more days to be angry and sad and then I will move on for now. I want to see this concept work because it is my children who will pay the price if it doesn't. I'm sure that most of us who have children who are being forced to leave the school they love will adjust and do everything in our power to make it work. Here's to hoping.....

A Very Girly Christmas Indeed!

My friend Joni is the mother of 3 daughters and she mentioned that they have a white Christmas tree with mostly pink, girly ornaments. That inspired me to create a girly Advent calendar. The pictures just don't do this one justice because I used glitter paper on every square. It is just so sparkly. I don't get much opportunity to make girly stuff, so I had a lot of fun with this. Dontcha love how these look in a picture frame easel!? Of course, I have a boy version in the works too! ;-)

Some fun stuff

I was inspired by the uber-cool Jenna and her uber-cool sisters who all have one of these. I bought this pretty cloche at Hobby Lobby (on clearance for $10.00)and I have visions of all the pretty stuff I will put in it. However, somebody else got to it first and put a treasure in it. *EDITED to make Jenna uber-cool too!
I was asked to make an album for one of the kindergarten teachers. The idea is that she can put a snapshot of each year's class in the album. I love the idea and I like how it turned out. Hopefully Mrs. Orris doesn't read my blog. :-)

I have made several of these tin boxes for people. This one took forever because I had to hunt down the box itself. It took months! It's very sparkly in person which Miss Kayla will love.

A Blog and a Prayer

One of the neat things about reading blogs is that you really feel like you know people. I like know that most of us have the same struggles and challenges and the same triumphs and joys. Today I came across a blog that has really touched my heart. KELLY'S CORNER Kelly gave birth to her daughter, Harper, less than two weeks ago and Harper is very ill. She is fighting for her little life and improving day by day thanks to God's healing powers. Anyway, please say a prayer for Kelly and her baby and all the other mother's out there who have babies that need healing!

Blog potpourri

Jack, who never wears a shirt and rarely wears pants when we are at home regardless of the sub-zero weather, was very proud of his Mega Block build so, at his request, I took a photo and blogged about it.
We love these pretzel "hugs". Couldn't be easier and they are just so good. I usually put 4 M&M's on each one, but I think these looked kind of cupcake-ish with just one little M&M! In response to the comment from Anonymous: Here is the recipe. Place mini pretzels on a baking sheet. I use square "waffle" pretzels, but regular pretzel shapes or circles would work too. Place an unwrapped Hershey's Hug on each pretzel. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes at 250 degrees. DO NOT BAKE THEM ANY LONGER!!! Place M&M on top of the Hug. The Hug will be very, very soft so you have to be careful not to make a big mess. Now comes the hard part. Leave them alone for many hours while the chocolate sets up. It takes quite a long time. I don't recommend putting them in the frig because it will discolor the M&M's. Yummy!!!

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and let your little ones "help" even when you know it will end up making more work for you and might even affect the end result. This is a perfect example. Yes there was paint everywhere. Yes, in the right light you can still see some of their handiwork. BUT, they loved every minute of helping and they are proud to show off the new paint job. That, my friends, makes it all worth it. I know it looks white, but it's actually a very creamy shade of yellow which I LOVE!

And this just makes me laugh. We have a costume for every conceivable scenario. On this particular day, they were obviously pirates. Don't you love it when your kids play nicely together. I'm sure this only lasted for a few minutes until one of them stabbed the other with their sword.

This and That

Parker always wants me to paint his face with some camo stuff we got around Halloween. So, I comply. Then two minutes later he wants it all off.
I bought this adorable cake plate at the Target after-Christmas sale. I paid $7.00 for it. This is a terrible picture because it is sooooo cute and it only looks sooo cute in the picture. I don't know exactly what I am going to do with it, but I don't think it will holding any cakes.
This is how I displayed my Christmas card pictures this year. I like it. I just tape them up with a little roll of painters tape on the back. No damage to the walls and plenty of room to keep adding them as they came in. Christmas cards with pictures are one of my favorite things! (Just in case you are the type that notices details, I am in the process of updating the pictures of the boys which is why one of them has a different mat. This process has been ongoing for about 6 months.)

Version II

Remember my muffin tin Advent calendar? This is my second version which is a little more traditional. I have a few other versions in the works too. I'm hoping to sell some of these in the future.

Kitchen Makeover

These are going to my "before" pictures of my kitchen. Of course, they will probably be "current" pics for quite a while because it always takes me a long time to ACT on my projects! It doesn't look too bad in these photos, does it? Well, don't be fooled. It is. It is a big yellow box. Yellow floors, yellow walls, yellow table, yellow chairs and yellow counters. That's a lot of yellow. It used to have red walls but with the yellow counters and such, I just couldn't get past it looking like McDonalds. I hate the floors--I loved them when we put them down, but they are looking pretty beat up. A perfect example of "you get what you pay for."