I'm Back {You kind of have to sing that in your head so it sounds right}

I have been Missing In Action for the whole summer.  It has been rather traumatic and I'd rather not talk about it.  No really, you can't make me.  No, No!  I am not gonna gossip about it.  I swear!  Okay, maybe just a little.  Call me later.

I'm a slacker.  It's true!

But, I am going to make an honest attempt to be a better blogger.  Maybe not a better housewife, but a better blogger!

Easter Nails

In one of my previous careers, I was a Nail Tech.  I really just wanted to do nail art.  I love painting anything and teeny tiny art on nails was a fun challenge.  But that was 11 years ago, before Abby was born.  Now my nails are horrible looking.  I don't bother even polishing them, much less painting anything cute on them.

But..... I saw the cutest Easter Bunny nails over at Eighteen25 and of course I had to talk the girls into a bunny manicure. 

That wasn't too hard to do. 

Just a few minutes later, we had the cutest nails ever! 

How cute is that?

I want to win a watch!

Check out the sweet Orient watch give away over at Livin Life Hannah Style.  She has had some great giveaways, but I haven't won any yet.  I am gonna win this one!

Click here to read her post and enter!

But don't enter too many times 'cause I want to win!

Neener, Neener! I'm Going to Florida!

To the beach!

Just for one day!

But... the beach... in Florida... where it is supposed to be 83 degrees... and sunny!

My Gram and her friend go for a few weeks every winter.  Her friend fell and broke her wrist pretty badly and they need me to come down to drive them home.  But I get to spend one day at Pompano Beach before we start home.

Making my list now.

Bathing suit (hope it fits), sunscreen, beach hat...... you get the picture.

Bathroom Remix {the list edition}

I know!  Before you say anything, I am fully aware that this may possibly be the most boring bathroom in the history of bland bathrooms.  I have never really liked the decor in here but the thought of repainting the whole thing gives me a twitch.

However.  I had an inspiration.  On a fabby shopping day a whil back, I stumbled across the cutest rug.  I snagged a shower curtain that I kind of thought might be the one to go in the bathroom.  I picked up some felt to go along for the ride. 

Then......

wait for it......

surprise, surprise..........

I made a list!

--shower curtain and rug {check}

--foof up shower curtain rings

--tissue box cover

--container for the floss picks

--artwork

--hide the ugly nails holding up the mirror

--cutify the soap dispenser

--fluff up the medicine cabinet

Off to Google soap dispensers...

My Perpetual Journal

On New Year's Day I was doing a little blog surfing (big Surprise!) and I came across the cutest journal on Design Sponge.  A couple of days later, the same journal was featured on Money Saving Mom.  Obviously Someone was trying to tell me something. 

Now, many times in my life I have had grand ambitions to journal.  I have gone out and prurchased cute blank books and nice new pens.  I wrote one entry and promptly forgot all about it.  I joined an online diary site.  I wrote one entry.  Do you see a pattern here?

But this little journal was inspiring.  It was adorable.  I wanted it!

So, within the week, I had the cutest little journal sitting next to my computer and I have written in it every day.  But here's the thing.  I don't remember to write in it every night before I go to bed, but I do write in it every morning after I do my Bible reading.  And since it is designed to only have a line or two, I have no trouble coming up with the most memorable moment of the previous day to write down.

This is my journal.  Easy Peasy!

Each month divider has some apropriately patterned paper and a cut out for the name of the month. 

The dividers are 7.5 by 4.5 inches so that they stick up nicely above the index cards.  The index cards were 5 by 8 inches and I cut them in half.

I used a date stamper to put the date on each card.  I stamped them on the right hand side so that I could stamp the year off the edge of the card so only the month and day show.  On special days I used a red stamp pad to decorate with a stamp for the holiday.  Birthdays got a little cake stamp.

The box was a really ugly Goodwill 50 cent find. 

I sent the minions outside to spray paint it white.

They had a little too much fun!

I sanded it, distressed it with some black paint, plopped my journal cards in and placed it next to my computer.

I can't wait to add a new line to each entry next year and look back and remember what I did in 2011.

Craftiness is Genetic

Sometime in 2006 I was looking through the photo albums at my Gram's house.  I was tickled to find a picture of my mom wearing a cute Valentine's Day skirt that my Gram had made for her.  Then, a decade or so later in the pictures I found a shot of my sister and myself wearing Valentine's skirts that my mom had made for us. 

Too cute.

Inspiration struck!  I sneaked the pictures out of the album with every intention of making my daughter and niece cutesy Valentine's skirts, taking their picture, and making my Gram a very fabby, super sweet Valentine's Day gift.

In my usual lack of focus way, I got a good start on the plan.  I made the skirts, got them to pose for the picture, saved them on the computer and promptly procrastinated my way into 2008.  It occurred to me sometime in 2009 to look for the picture, but it had gone missing.  Sometime in 2010, I thought about it again but Valentine's Day was still months away.  Then in January of 2011, I started looking in earnest for the picture.  I was sure that I had a print of it somewhere. 

Ha!  Apparently not. 

I looked in every file, on every disc, in every box. 

Nothing.  I got desperate. 

I prayed that God would show me where to look.  He does take care of me and He probably knew a long time ago that I would drop the ball and lose the picture.  One day it occurred to me that I had been using my laptop at the time and the picture was on there.  Of course the laptop had crashed in the intervening years but when I had it fixed to give to my son I had asked the computer guy to save the pics on it if he could. 

 I set my super smart and clever son to the task of finding the picture.  And one day, just a few days before I was going to go see my Gram, he found it!  

Picture printed.  Success! 

My Gram got the vintage and beautiful original prints, but I made copies of them and made myself a page to display also. 

My mom somewhere around 1958, my sister and me in 1972, and Abby and Chloe in 2007.

Three generations of Valentine's Cuties.  Maybe someday Abby will have a daughter.  Maybe Abby will make her a Valentine's skirt.  In a couple decades!

ABCs

Our little buddy James has been having a hard time learning his alphabet. 

Every Friday when we have Homeschool Day with our friends, we try to do a special project with James to help him learn his ABCs.
 
He pretty much knows all of his letters now, but was having a little trouble putting them in order.

I found a set of Jello Jiggler cutters that I probably got for Abby when she was learning her letters. 

They were unopened. 

She is eleven. 

She reads on an 12th grade level. 

Thank God for smart kids. 

I was obviously a slacker.

The girlies made the cookie dough for part of their home ec lesson and they rolled it out for him all nice and pretty.

James had a ball picking out the letters of the alphabet in order and cutting them out.

We practiced listening for beginning sounds and cut out the first letter of everyone's name.  We even made a B for the dog.

James made himself a special cookie with all of the letters in his name.

He iced them up and we all scarfed them down.



Yummmmm!!!!

I {Heart} Cake Stands

We had a fab shopping day this week.  Just us girls. 

I almost missed seeing this fabby cake stand at TJ Maxx.  But my super smart and kind sister sent me down the aisle to peruse the cake stands and candy dishes, 'cause she knows how I loves me a cake stand or three.
 

The $14.99 price tag may not seem like much, but it was the last stop of the day and my wallet was feeling a little pinched.  My good buddies Hannah and Sara caught me gazing adoringly, actually, drooling, all over them and sweet, sweet Hannah offered to buy this one for me.   'Cause I am such a wonderful person, apparently.

I was understandably thrilled with the whole idea and stood there envisioning different decorating options for it until they dragged me off to see other fabulous wonders.

Since Valentine's Day is only a few days away I gave the little guy a make over.  Some sheer red ribbon and a little felt heart that I whipped up gave it a whole new look.

Actually, I think she is a girl.  She seems kinda flirty to me.



How's about a little Kiss?

February??!?

What? 
Where did January go? 
How did I get here? 

Two kids' birthdays.  Snowman decorating that I didn't even take pictures of.  A trip to Cincinatti.  Girl's Day Out for Abby's birthday.  Marshall's 16th Birthday Blast.  Lots of Valentine's Projects.  90% off at Michael's after Christmas shopping.

The whole thing went by in a blur.

Somebody stop the world.

I need a nap!

My Word For The Year

All over the blogs, I have been seeing posts about choosing a word for the year. 

And since I always like to be sure that I am at the cutting edge of the newest trends.... OK, so maybe not, really, but it seemed like a good idea, I decided to find myself a word for 2011. 

After a great deal of blog surfing and perusing long lists of words, I narrowed my choices down to ten.

Diligence,  Manage,  Persistence, 

Strive,  Accomplish,  Complete, 

Maintain,  Pursue, Regroup

{It's been a rough year, people!}

Each of those words made the top ten list, but I narrowed my choice to the one word that really embodies what I want to do with the coming year.

My word for the year is.....

FOCUS.

Focus on what is important, what I need to finish, what I want to accomplish, what I want to be when I grow up, what I need to change. 

Dude, ... I need to make a list!

Lap Band Update

Looking back at my blog, one of the things that I had on my "list" was LOSE WEIGHT.  

I did have my lap band surgery on November 17th.  It went very well and I am pleased with the results. 

I have lost 40 pounds as of today.  Seven weeks since the surgery and two weeks of very restricted diet before.  That is almost 4 and a half pounds a week.  During Christmas and Thanksgiving.  SWEET!

Nope, I am not posting any fab before and after pics 'cause we are definately not "after." 

Maybe just sort of barely started, actually. 

Lap Band was a big decision for me.  I really felt for years that with God's help I could lose the weight.  But as my diabetes got worse and I felt more and more tired, I finally realized that maybe God was telling me that Lap Band was the help that I was looking for.

It hasn't been easy, but it has changed my relationship with food.  Eating is just something I do now {at least most of the time} and not entertainment or comfort.  I hope that with God's help I can completely change the destructive relationship that I had with food into a simple "Eating to Live" attitude.

3 in 30 Challenge

As I was strolling through Blogland, I came across this great challenge. 

Meghan over at The Tuckers Take Tennessee has challenged bloggers to pick 3 goals that they want to accomplish in the next 30 days and join her in being accountable to meet them.

You all know how I love me some lists, so .... here goes!

1.  Figure out a daily, weekly, and quarterly housekeeping plan that will keep the house nice with a minimum of effort.

2.  Pay off one credit card entirely!  {better be a little one}

3.  Get some 3-D cutey decor on Etsy.

Okey Dokey, folks.  There it is.  Now I just actually have to do it!

Paper Bag Palm Trees

Why, Oh Why did it not occur to me to take some pictures of these palm trees in progress?  Silly, I know!

Pool Noodles are the secret to making palm trees.  I taped two pool noodles together end to end with duct tape.  Then I spray painted them brown.  Each tree took about 100 lunch size paper sacks.  I cut the bottoms off of all of them and then smooshed them down together.  I slid the bags onto the pool noodles until I had the whole thing covered.  The bottom and top bag got taped onto the pool noodle with masking tape and kinda scrunched around to cover up the tape.  After that I took them outside and sprayed a little brown paint on them to give them a bit of texture.

The palm leaves required 24 inch florist wire, hot glue and tissue paper.  I cut the paper in half and laid the two rectangles end to end overlapping a little bit.  Then I ran a generous bead of hot glue down the length of the paper starting about an inch from the end and embedded the wire in it.  It took two pieces of wire for each one that overlapped in the middle and stuck out a few inches on one end.  Then I glued the other piece of tissue on top over the same glue line.  Next, I fringed the sides of the palm fronds.

I used fishing twine in the top of the pool noodle to hang them from the drop ceiling.  Then I jammed the wires into the hole in the end of the pool noodle and used more fishing line to position the fronds.

Clear as MUD!

Waterfall

When we last visited the Children's Church, the waterfall was a flat, one-dimensional painting on the wall. 

After wrestling several pieces of 2 inch styrofoam insulation into submission we have a 3-D waterfall with "water" and some fancy greenery.

One larger sheet of foam was carved out with a hot knife to match the general shape of the waterfall.  Then layers of foam built out the actual bed of the stream and smaller pieces of foam formed the front of the rocks. 

The actual water is made from three layers of fabric.  A more opaque base is fluffed up with blue net and then covered with a shimmery, sheer layer of fabric.  A string of Christmas lights under the fabric adds a bit of sparkle. 

Rocks carved from foam and some faux ferns make it look a little more real.

Makes me want to go find a nice quiet waterfall to sit beside and relax from this crazy Holiday season.  I need to find a recording of rushing water!  Won't be able to sit around long....I'll have to run to the potty!

Happy New Year and New Recipe

We celebrated a Fun, Frugal and Fabulous New Year's Eve last night. 

Cards and Food! 

A very nice time with my mom, my oldest son and his girlfriend.  We had homemade pizza and some appetizers.  Pretty much our typical New Year's Eve menu. 

But .... as I was running through the grocery store to pick up the last minute ingredients I remembered a post that I had read here on Make It and Love It about Brownie Covered Oreos.  So I grabbed a package of store brand Oreos and a brownie mix.  A grand total of $4.00, (which could have been much cheaper if I had some couponed brownie mixes in my pantry ... shame on me!). 

When I got home I took some time to peruse the beautiful tutorial here at Picky Palate. 

Looked simple enough! 

I was a bit nervous because my muffin tin looks a little vintage rather shiny and non stick like the one that she used, so I sprayed the heck out of it with some cooking spray.  I dipped those bad boy oreos in the brownie mix and plopped them into the muffin pan.  The only problem that I ran into was that then mix I grabbed was an 8X8 pan size.  It was enough to cover two dozen cookies, but the last few were a little skimpy.  Next time I will get the family size brownie mix. 

I shoved them into the oven and baked 'em at 350 for 13 minutes.  Ran a knife around the edge of each one as soon as they came out of the oven.  Perfection.  They popped out of there just like a non stick miracle.

The recipe called for white chocolate drizzled on top, but for some reason my thoughts turned to powdered sugar .....  Which led me to a stencil snowflake. 

Of course, I had to root around and find a stencil.  I discovered one with the "Perfect Brownie" pan we got for Christmas last year, but you could easily punch one from cardstock or cut one out with a Cricut or some such device.

A couple of minutes later I had the cutest, yummiest cookies of the holiday season. 

None of them survived the evening.