It's curtains for me!

Remember, way back when I painted my bathroom and then realized how horrible my curtain was in there. Well, last week I finally finished making the panels for the bathroom.
First I purchased these from Target. They were on clearance for $11.00 for the pair. I didn't really want tab top curtains though. So I chopped enough off of each panel so that they would reach to right above the tub (cutting off the tab side and leaving the finished edge on the bottom.

I bought some really cool orange fabric at Jo-Ann's. I added a strip of it to the bottom (really the old top) of the curtain.
I love the way they look and they bring together the whole color scheme. I hope y'all are having a great Sunday!

Before

After

See...Travis still hasn't put up the beadboard around the bathtub...busy busy busy.

Cookie Anyone?

Jonah turned 18 months old yesterday. He's becoming such a little boy. He's the first "picky eater" that I've had and I'm at my wits end. I still keep putting the food he won't touch in front of him and he still refuses to eat it...might have something to do with the fact that his dad spoils him rotten. He is talking a lot more now.
At 18 months he can say:
mama
dada
cereal
shoe
cheerio (sounds the same as cereal)
cookie (free cookies at Smith's have made him a coniseur)
bye bye
kitty
thank you
go
hi
uh-oh
uh-uh (with an adamant head shake) As in, "Do you wann go night night?" "UH-UH" shaking head side to side
poo poo
ball
milk (but the "k" is practically missing)
he tries to say all of the kids names but they're still pretty unintelligible
He still throws fits and screams when he doesn't get his way but he's starting to do that thing that toddlers do...where they babble on endlessly and you look at them and say, "Oh, yeah!" "That's great!" "Wow, really!"
Well, I do anyway.
Have a great day.

Lucky: beyond words

So I did this challenge where I had to use the word "Lucky" in the title. I could have went with pics of my kiddos but I have so many layouts with them. I decide to make a lo about some friends that are my bestests. We've built our friendship through the years and our kids have grown up together. Many miles now separate some of us but that connection is still there. I hope we'll still share this bond when we're old and gray. Have a great day.

Jonah's First Day

Sad to say but I haven't done very many layouts of Jonah and he's turning 18 months old this week. Having four kids really does something to your free time. This was his first and second day here. I loved his little smurf nose. He had a rough little first couple of days with TTN and we spent an extra day in the hospital while they ran tests but everything was fine and he's a wonderful example of the perfect little boy now...and I'm also grateful that Travis shaved off that awful beard the day he was born! Have a great day.

Grandma: #3 in series Aaron

Here's the page I made for Aaron with his Grandma Holly. Only one more to go and I'm fin.
Have a great day!

My baby boy turns 5 today

My third born, the laughter of the house, the stubborn snuggler turns five today. This boy has the comedic timing of Steve Martin...I'm not lyin'. I can't believe he'll be leaving the nest this fall to head out to kindergarten. We have so much fun together...I'll totally miss him.

Aaron saw this cake in Family Fun a couple of weeks ago and was in awe. "That's the cake I want for my birthday mom...a dirtbike cake!" Some of you who know me may know that cake making is not really a skill I possess but I was determined to give my little man a cake he would be proud of. Something like 13 dollars later I was ready to make this cake...sans the donut holes because if I bought them I'd eat every last one...trust me.

I did not make mine as large as the mag...they called for FOUR nine inch round cakes...that's just WAY TOO MUCH cake. So I did it with two. Large pretzel rods for the logs to line the track.
Tessa crushed hydrox cookies for the dirt on the track.
Fruit roll ups for the finish line and the flags on the small pretzel sticks.
Cocoa puffs for rocks and cookie crisp for stones. The finishing touch was the "dirt bike". I believe this is actually a street racer but as the man doesn't seem to notice there's a difference I'm not going to point it out.

I think someone REALLY likes their cake and I guess after many past failures with cake making I'm finally getting better.

Tessa wants a poodle next month...hmmm we'll just have to wait and see.

Shey B

These camera straps are so beautiful.

Go to Make it and Love it for a chance to win one.

Chair Project: ReUpholstery 101

So, Tessa has had this little rocker for quite some time. It was okay to begin with and then she decided it needed some color. Hence the green marker and probably some food too. I was at Jo-Anns the other day and I saw this pretty rose fabric on clearance so I grabbed 3/4 yd with this project in mind.
First I pulled out the innumerable staples from the other pad. I then used the old fabric as a pattern for the new chair cover. Look how much cuter already!
I sewed a pillow with loops for the chair back...that was a little frustrating. First I sewed the tabs facing out (so when turned right side out they would be INSIDE the pillow grrrr) RIPPED out the stitching then I sewed the tabs in too far...totally finished...turned it right side out and it wouldn't stretch to hang on the chair GRRRRR. TORE out ALL the stitching once again. Lastly, I made sure the tabs were going to fit AND that they were facing the correct way and got the job done.
Here is the completed project...stapled all pretty (with innumerable staples) and so cute for Tess to rock in and read her favorite book.
Or for Jonah, the crumbmuncher to take over, or for her to read a book to her favorite crumbmuncher.
Linking to Shanty2Chic and TeaRoseHome and Someday Crafts

Books: I love BOOKS!

Check out this great book giveaway.
Just finished reading Incarceron thanks to my friend Kathy. Really enjoyable. I wouldn't mind having my own copy!
http://presentinglenore.blogspot.com/2010/03/dystopian-february-survey-3-mega-prize.html

Sew Me

Spent some time with some wonderful ladies yesterday and learned a bit more about sewing. Honestly, why do I find it so difficult? These ladies are masters and make it look so easy. I made a table runner for my coffee table. We probably did more talking than we did sewing.
I think it turned out pretty nice and it looks great in the living room now. I'm glad I get to learn and be around such wonderful women. I am truly blessed.
Have a great day!

Fresh Floral...things I want

I sent a little package to a friend of mine...she lives across the country...I miss her. I made a little card to go with that package. Honestly, mostly scraps laying around on my desk (it was a total mess) but look how cute they all came together.

Things around here are good...gearing up for the spring. Things I'd like to happen this year.
I want a garden with TONS of SNAP PEAS in it this year. I want to can more SPICED PEACH JAM. That was so yummy. I want to figure out a way to KEEP MY BOYS ROOM CLEAN??!?!?!?! I see all of these pictures on the internet of these beautifully clean and orderly kids rooms and I wonder why the heck that can't be my house. I get their rooms clean and they look great...for about three days and then everything starts to go downhill again. I'm a pretty organized person and EVERYTHING has a place so why can't it be put back in that place when they're done. HMMM? Any ideas. I'd want to PAINT OUR HOUSE. It needs it.
Hope you're having a super duper day!

Wrap it up!

Making jewelry is fun to do, fun to do, to do to do to do. I wanted to make an off center necklace and I wanted a wrap bracelet. The one I saw in FL was like 15 bucks but I knew that making one myself was a possibility. I just randomly beaded some wire and then looped it into a flower shape and attached it to the necklace. Hope y'all are having a great day...more mud here. ugh.

Linking to TeaRoseHome

Watercolor Roses

I had such a time making this card. It was so late getting to my friend. I hope she likes it. First I stamped the flowers with my versamark and then heat embossed them in white. I then colored in the flowers using my blender pen and Regal Rose. I love the way it turned out. No mass producing these beauties tho. Have a great weekend.

Brother's Birthday Card

Oh, I forgot to post this card I made for my brother's birthday. I so enjoyed making it. Monkeys remind me of my little BIG brother. I miss living near him. He's always the life of any get together. He turned 32 this year! We shared a bedroom until I was in High School...I know his deepest, darkest secrets! Hah. Happy Birthday Bro!

Are Y'all Ready For This?!!?

Today...da da da daaaaaaaa... da da da daaaaaa... is FINAL WEIGH IN MONDAY! I'm going to put it all out there for you. I'm so happy I took this challenge to be a better me and SO MANY BIG THANKS to my friends JENN A. and SARAH C. who did it right along with me. They're who really kept me going when I wasn't really losing. This week was a doozy but I let it be because it was the last one I lost a total of 6.8 lbs. Officially that's 15.2% of my body weight lost in 8 weeks and honestly I worked out a lot and honestly I didn't eat sweets (hardly at all) and honestly it really wasn't THAT HARD after the first two weeks. Total weight lost 24.8 lbs. My body has been retrained.

My husband even said at dinner last night while chatting with my younger brother and eating Asparagus and chicken soup, "After tomorrow we're still going to eat like this." I was happy that he didn't feel like what I was making to eat was sacrificing anything. However, I think we WILL go back to having some "treat meals" every once in a while. We need some comfort foods in our lives. Really though, my kiddos have complained of having TOO MUCH SOUP, cries of "soup again" will not be heard for a while.

The proof is in the pudding right?!?!? So here goes...

First pic is me a year ago. Second pic was me a couple of weeks ago after a workout. Same shirt (just looks different) now is so baggy.

This is me today (Aaron was my photographer) Those were my goal pants that I bought after having Jonah and I was so happy to FINALLY be able to squeeze into them but now they are so baggy they don't even look good anymore. I now where a size 8 easily and size 6 in a lot of things. I bought a size small shirt the other day too! THAT is a first!

I can't find the measurements I took a couple of weeks back to compare because I actually cleaned my desk but if I ever do I'll post the inches lost from midway through the comp 'til now. I didn't think to measure myself in the beginning.

Super Strict Crazy Woman On Board

I'm being really hard on myself this week seeing as it's the last week of the Biggest Loser Competition. I'm still eating healthy, but I've cut out all bad carbs, NO SWEETS, just veggies, fruits and lean proteins. I'm hoping for my biggest loss yet. I'm doing something a little different with my workouts too. Hopefully changing it up will be a shock for my body and it will "like" the changes. I only have two more days 'til final weigh in and I'm feeling GREAT! Excited for the big reveal. I'm so appreciative for all of the support I've received these last eight weeks. I'm also grateful to all the ladies in this competition...their devotion and hard work has truly inspired me. It's been so good LOSING alongside them. Hope you have a great weekend and here's a little tribute to creative cropping...
Yeah, I know this is just about unbearable to look at and I wouldn't even be showing you all this if it wasn't for how secure I am now in my body. I can't believe my husband didn't say..."Hey, honey, maybe you shouldn't wear white...I REALLY love you!" Oh well, I shocked a bunch of tourists in California...sorry for the sore eyes.
Thanks to Photoshop, I now look at least half way presentable...for posterity and all you know.

Decorate ME!

I saw these pins on clearance at WM the other day and I picked one up with a hair bnd in mind. I think it's fancy shcmancy and I like it a lot. I used my SU Blossom Party flower die, a piece of jean material from Aaron's HOLEY jeans, and a piece of white thriftstore fabric to make the flower. Then I placed the pin on the flower and hot glued to the headband with a circle of felt underneath. Isn't it lovely? I'm sure Tessa will love it when she see's it today! Have a super day.
Linking up to Someday Crafts

Sick, Sick, Sick

Some cuteness for you!

Last week started out okay but Tuesdy Tessa came home from school saying she felt terrible and Aaron wasn't acting right either. So I took them both to the doctor. Tessa had a temp of 105.3 and Aaron was 105.8. They checked them for strep but it was negative, then they did a flu swab (had to wait on that one). I just had to keep them doped up with Tylenol and Ibuprofen to keep the fevers down. The next day I took Jonah and Jakob in to see if they might have the flu, just in case. They didn't have the same symptoms BUT they both had ear infections! YAY for me! Travis went to the doctor the same day because his ear was hurting...ear infection TOO! Eventually the flu results came back negative so it was just some crazy virus. So yesterday Tessa came home from school complaining of ear pain...took her to the Dr....EAR INFECTION in both ears! SO That's FOUR out of FIVE people in my house with in ear infection which leaves Aaron and me without one BUT Aaron can't get ear infections because he has ear tubes so he probably would have gotten an ear infection. My house is brimming with antibiotics and I can't WAIT FOR SPRING!!!! So tire of the snow and the sick.

I made a pretty card though...wanna see...

So happy to know you!

I just feel happy looking at this card. It's so vibrant and feminine. I've been trying harder to make sure the store is stocked with cards and so I sat down the other day and made a few. Hope you all are enjoying your day. My kiddos had another 2 hour delay in school and they're playing babies now. FUN!

Weigh In Monday: Week 8

A little frustrated...I was REALLY good. I ate well (wondering if I'm not eating ENOUGH?!?!, but I'm not hungry ever) and worked out extremely hard but the results were just not there for me.

I lost less than I wanted to and I'm wondering if my body is just slowing down because it's getting to a comfortable place of weight. I feel pretty amazing but I'd like to say goodbye to at least another 4.8 pounds.
I began this weightloss journey knowing that I wanted to do it "the right way"...sustainably...no pills, no cleanses, no fad "diets". I wanted to work out, eat healthy, cut out the sugar and still be able to eat with my family. It has worked so well so far. I know it's something that I'll keep doing once the eight weeks are over. Even though I may not win this competition, I'VE WON... I have gained power over my body again... I'm in control.
I'll continue on this journey and see where I end up.
This week I lost 1.2 lbs. I know, it's a pound +, it's something, but it's not what I wanted to see. Maybe last week's 5 threw my body off. Who knows. I was also super stressed about the cub scout Blue & Gold banquet and pulling it all together. I have now lost 11% of my bodyweight in seven weeks, crazy! I'm grateful for the support of my friends and my husband who has been an amazing help this go 'round for me. Here's to the final five!!!!! Wish me luck.My honey and I at the Grand Canyon. I can't believe I thought this shirt looked cute. I'm practically bursting out of it! I am happy with me now.

Happy Anniversary

A fun little card I made for the store. I really like this cute little tree. Kraft cardstock, white ink and prismacolor pencils.

Thank You

Super simple thank you card for a sweet person I met in my recent travels. If it weren't for her I would've ended up sleeping in the Atlanta airport. Hope she likes it. Have a great day!

Weigh In Monday:Week 7

It's weigh in Monday again and it's a happy one. Last week I recorded no weight loss...well it was really .2 but how could I count that as an actual loss?!? That's okay though because my body was good to me this week and actually did what I wanted. I was so good, even for Valentine's Day. The best part is that I'm never hungry. I eat all good stuff and I never feel starved.

This week I'm down a total of 5 pounds. I am just amazed, really, amazed by what my body has been able to do...what I have been able to control about myself...namely my chocolate obsession. I never thought I could get through a day without chocolate but now it's no big deal. I want to be the best me that I can be and I'm getting closer and closer to my goal weight. I have to say that having my hubby support me in this has been a HUGE help. He still eats what he wants , but luckily it's not stuff I crave, he makes sure of that. Well, here's hoping for another great week. FYI: That's a total of 16.8 pounds in SIX WEEKS. I have now lost 10.3 % of my body weight! If I can do it, so can you. Keeping track of my food intake has been THE BIGGEST HELP.

Here's a pic of me last year on Valentine's Day. We had Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet and Jakob earned his Bobcat. I thought I looked pretty good, I mean I had just had a baby six months previous. I'd like to try that shirt on now and see what I look like in a picture.

Hair Band Rosette

Tessa is going to the Father/Daughter dance at her school tonight. I wanted to make something special for her to wear in her hair. While I was in Florida I picked up this beautiful ruffly ribbon at Michael's. I'll be the first to admit that it's a little tricky to work with. I ended up using my glue gun along the way to hold the folds in place. I just used the turn/fold back method I learned way back when, and on the last go round I just glued the ribbon flat against the bottom and let the ruffle be the edge. I cut out a circle of felt and glued the rosette to the head band. Whalah! I think it turned out darling and I hope Tessa likes it. She needs a belt to go with the simple black dress I found her at the thrift store and I'm going to look up some options online. TTFN! Hope you're having a great day!

Florida: I miss YOU!

Just a fun little collage of the goings on in Florida. You can tell we had fun together!

Weigh in Monday:Week 6

SOOOOOO. I JUST got home from a little jaunt to Florida that started on Thursday. I JUST weighed myself and I have mixed feelings. I'll start by saying that I spent probably a total of 48 hours of the trip either in a plane or WAITING to get on one! That's not good for weight loss, right. BUT I was still pretty good in the eating department and I did work out while I was in Florida, but I also missed a workout too. I'm just recommitting myself for this week. I'll begin again finnigan.
I've registered NO WEIGHT loss for last week. SAD, I know. Not too bad considering I spent a bunch of time on my butt (I would've done more walking but I was required to be dressed up due to the type of travel I was using). I know excuses, right!?!? Oh well. I DIDN'T go UP. So that's good. I'm exactly the same as last Monday. I feel ready to go, so bring it on!

Weigh In Monday: Week 5

Another week has come and gone. I was REALLY good this week. I worked out six days out of the week and I didn't cheat at all but unfortunately that didn't translate to bigger numbers on the scale. My body only wants to lose around three pounds a week...so far. I know that's really good in the scheme of things because I'm not taking any supplements and I'm doing this au natural. I feel so much better. I wore the cutest outfit to church yesterday... a skirt I haven't been able to fit into in quite sometime AND a jean jacket I've NEVER been able to wear since the day I bought it (it was too cute to pass up on sale). I kept telling myself that I'd slim down and be able to fit my chubby arms into the sleeves WELL it FINALLY happened...two years later. I did not want to give up on that jacket, darn it! I should've taken a picture, I guess I will when I wear it again.
I hope this week is just as good for me as last but I feel like Mother Nature is calling and I'm feeling really strong chocolate cravings which I haven't had in the past two weeks. I'm just going to push through it though and find alternatives.
So last week I lost a total of 2.8 lbs. In four weeks I am down 11.8 lbs...I like that myfitnesspal ticker just rounded up! I like seeing a nice round 12, that'll be tomorrow though. So wish me luck for this next four weeks to be as positive as the last four. WE CAN DO IT!

Like I said...Mother Nature...so here's a recipe that calmed my craving and didn't make me feel guilty.
Chocolate Chip Cookies made with white beans/no butter (I didn't use sugar either).
1 cup white beans1 cup splenda, truvia or stevia1 cup brown sugar or brown sugar splenda blend2 eggs1-2 tsp vanilla2 c. all purpose flour ( I used wheat flour)1 1/2 cups to 3 cups oatmeal finely blended3/4 tsp salt1 tsp baking soda1 tsp baking powder6 oz chocolate chips
Cream the beans and sugar together just like you would butter, add eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and oatmeal ( I used only a cup and a half of blended oatmeal). Add the flour mixture to the bean mixture and blend well. Add enough water to make the dough sticky but not runny. Add chocolate chips. Blend. Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes. Do not overcook or they'll become crispy. Enjoy these puffy chewy cookies without feeling guilty.