Thoughts

Christmas was great, I enjoyed spending time with my family and got lots of neat gifts including a Hastings gift card, Blokus-my new favorite game, , Avon bubble bath, shave gel, chapstick, and hand lotion, Adventures in Odyssey cd set #2, a card table and chair set from my parents, and a dressmakers dummy from my hubby :)
I have wanted a dressmakers dummy for the longest time and am so happy to finally have one!!!

I also got a nice amount of cash and so far have used it to buy,

Bath and Body Works stuff


- Pink Stripped Tote
- Coconut Shower Gel
- Coconut Body Lotion
- Coconut Fragrance Mist
- Wallflower
- 1 Wallflower Scent Refill
- Look Ma, New Hands!
- Pocketbac hand sanitizer w/ holder
- lip gloss
- 2 Black Amethyst Shower Cream's
- 1 Strawberry Lemonade Body Lotion
- 2 Carmel Apple Foaming Soap
- 1 Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin Foaming Soap
All for only $35 including shipping!

Tree Hut Shea Sugar Body Scrub










Cocoa and Strawberry Got Milk? Magic Milk Straws (the coolest things I have ever found at a gas station!)














4 Maternity tops and 2 dresses from Old Navy on sale for $55 including tax (free shipping).














Today I started the flylady baby steps. This is technically the second time I've started but this time I got all the way through step one, lol.

Alright, I must stop messing around and get some things done.

Have a great Monday!

The post no one should have to write

Last night I stumbled on the blog post of a woman whose 21 month old son died in a sudden and tragic accident http://roscommonacres.com/2010/12/in-memory-of-our-beloved-son/

Reading her story and watching the above video tribute broke my heart. It also made me aware of how wasteful my time is and of how much I take for granted.

I am blessed with a beautiful, energetic, healthy, 8-month old son. And if, God forbid, I were to lose him, I would regret not getting down on the floor and playinog with with, not reading to him more, and simply taking the time to cuddle.
I read a lot of different blogs with focuses on everything from crafts to daily living to leading a healthy lifestyle. But for all of my readings nothing, really, has helped me to live a more purposeful life.
And so, that is what I pray I will begin to do. I don't want to look back one day and wonder where the time went and why I took what I had for granted.

I want to live a purposeful life and I want to be proud of all I do.

No.

I'm a nosy person by nature; If I've ever been to your house I've probably looked in your bathroom cabinets. More than once.

I have a tendency to put myself into the middle of situations and to take things a little too personally when I really just need to step back and say no.

No, I do not want to go to your child's birthday party.

No, I will not help you write an email, you are 24 years old. Please act like it.

No, I will not tell you personally, this is the way everybody found out and if you don't like it then maybe you should take a long hard look at our friendship and realize that you have been backing away ever since I got married and had a baby.

No, I will not come to your Christmas party. In fact, I think it is very rude that we already invited you and your husband to our house on that night a couple weeks ago and your response is to throw a, no children allowed, Chiristmas party. Yes, I am offended by that and no, I will not be coming.

Whew, big breath.

Why don't I have the guts to say those things to people's faces?

(Another) One of those days

I have had enough.
It has been one of those, go ahead, just piss me off, kind of days.
It started out ok and then somewhere along the way it just fell apart.

I'm exhausted, I have the worst headache.

If E would just GO TO SLEEP I could take a nap to help my headache but noooo . . .

I'm doing a table at a ladies night out tomorrow so I'm trying to corall all my craft stuff and get everything ready.

I'm also trying to get the house picked up so that when Karen comes over tomorrow to watch E it won't look like a tornado just hit.

Oh, and then there's the laundry that I'm trying to finish which, own it's own, is no big deal. But combined w/ everything else . . . ugh!

Etsy Coupon

I'm busy updating and restocking my etsy shop and for the month of December I'm offering 15% off to my blog readers :)
Just enter coupon code TRABLOG12.

Cloth Diapers- the BG's

Just a quick post,
I received my Bumgenius! diapers and was soooo excited!
And then the excitement vanished :(
I received 5 pocket diapers, they are pretty good, more on those in another post.
I also received 6 Bumgenius! organic OS AIO's and 1 Bumgenius! organic AIO size small.
All the reviews I read said they were awesome, one of the best nighttime dipes available. Sadly, they are not for us. They barely fit E and they seem to be just as absorbant as any other CD we own.
After only 2 nights I have listed and sold 4 of the organic OS AIO's and the one sm organic AIO on Craigslist. I think I'll keep 2 of the AIO's to try on the new babe but for now I'd just rather have the cash. :)

Cloth Diapers: Part 2 - Getting those puppies clean!

From the research I've done I've found that a lot of people use a special cloth diaper detergent. Be it Rocking Green or Bum Genius most CD mom's have a detergent they swear by.
I've chose not to spend the extra money on purchasing a special detergent. Instead I make my own :0 I use it on all our laundry, not just the CD's.

Michelle's Homemade Detergent

1 bar Zote laundry soap
3 cups washing soda
1 & 1/2 cups borax

Place the soap bar into a small saucepan and cover with 10 cups of water. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the soap completely dissolves.

Put washing soda and borax in a 5-gallon bucket. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well, until all the powder is dissolved. Fill the bucket to the top with more hot tap water. Stir well.

At this point you can leave the mixture in the bucket, it will turn into a medium-firm gel and you would use 1/3 c. for a large load of regular laundry and 1/4 c. for a large load of diapers.

I like to transfer it into smaller containers. You can use old store-bought laundry containers for this but I prefer to use vinegar jugs. We use a lot of vinegar since it's my main cleaning agent so I've got a lot of gallon vinegar jugs hanging around.

To transfer it into a container you will mix 1 part soap solution to 2 parts water. You want to work quickly as it is harder to do once the soap mixture gels. One thing I do when it starts to gel is use a separate bowl, bucket, etc and a whisk to mix the soap and water together before pouring it into my jugs.

If you choose to dilute your soap and transfer it to jugs then you will use 1. cup for a large load of regular laundry and 1/2 cup for a large load of diapers.

This makes a LOT of detergent but it only take an hour or so to make once you get the hang of it and it saves a TON of money!!!


If you have trouble finding any of the ingredients you can order online. Also, I found my ingredients at a locally owned grocery store, not a mass retail store.

Good luck and let me know what you think!

True story

#1) If you go to bed feeling angry and unappreciated you will most likely take it out on your husband when you find out that he ate all the chocolate chip cookies.

#2) I currently have a line from a book stuck in my head. Some people get song lyrics stuck in their head I have the line from a book. I think it's from the book, "Dangerous Wonder" by Mike Yaconelli. The line in my head is, "Meet me in the crashing waves".

#3) Ethan went to bed for the first times in weeks without a major fuss/production. At least one thing went right in my day.

Cloth Diapers-Part 1

I love cloth diapering, it's something I'm very passionate about.
We've CD since E was 3 wks old and I plan on CDing from the get go with our new little one.
This week I'll be going over some basic CD info to, hopefully, help clear up any questions anyone may have.
There are a lot of different kinds of CD on the market today. The kinds of CD's that our parents and grandparents used have been overshadowed by all the newfangled kids available now.
The best description that I have found of all the different types of cloth diapers cahttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8592644183983133450n be found here she gives great details about the different styles, fabric choices, etc.

I did a lot of research before E was born as to what kind of CD's to buy. We ended up purchasing 7 flip covers - Love these covers, they are one-size covers so they save a lot of money vs buying diapers in multiple sizes

1 Econobum Cover - I only bought 1 to try and I'm glad of that. this cover is pretty thin and doesn't contain E's runny BM's like the flip does. It's definitely one of the covers I grab last.

25 Indian Prefold's-Infant size
20 Indian Prefold's-regular size - We fold these in thirds and place them in the diaper cover, top with a liner and we're good to go!.
1 Chinese prefold-regular size - I bought 1 to try and found out I like the Indian prefolds better because they are softer and unbleached.

2pkg's bummis fleece liners - When these first came I love them but after washing them for a few weeks they became thinner and now they are too small to use on my 24lb 30" tall 8 month old. After purchasing these I realized I could simply buy a yard of fleece and cut it into rectangles to use as liners. It was cheaper and they have held up MUCH better than the bummis liners.

1 pkg BumGenius! Stay Dry Doubler - These are nice for adding an extra layer of absorbency but they don't help E stay dry at all.

1lg Hemp Babies Diaper Doubler - I had read that hemp was supposed to be absorbent and help your lo stay dry but I have been less than impressed with this liner. Once again, I'm glad I only bought one. Perhaps if it were 100% hemp instead of 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton I would like it more.


I also picked up
2 Bummis super snap diaper covers-Medium size - these are alright, I prefer 2 rows of snaps and they do no work for night time, E leaks through them in 2 to 3 hours.
and
3 Proraps Classic diaper covers-newborn size
at a garage sale when E was about 2 1/2 months old. - I haven't gotten to use these yet but plan to as soon as this lo is born.

I also just ordered 12 BumGenius 3.0 one size diapers and 36 Premium Indian prefolds.
The BG's are from cotton babies cyber Monday last chance sale so they may need the elastic repaired and they don't come with inserts, I plan on using prefold's as inserts, I'm really excited to try them! I'm hoping that the Premium Indian prefolds will help E stay dry at night.
I'm in the process of making 2 wool shorties to use on E at night to help keep him and his sheets dry.
As soon as the BG's come and I get the shorties finished I'll review them here.

So, there you have it, my Cd stash.
Sure, Cding is a bit more work but we haven't had any diaper rash from the CD's and it is sooo much cheaper than buying sposies' all the time!

Happy.

Messing around online.

Watching "Nothing But Trouble"

E sleeping in my hubby's arms.

A new little baby growing in my belly.

Yup, we're expecting another little miracle, due June 18th! That's 2 days after my birthday. :)

But, we haven't made the FB announcement yet so please don't say anything on FB until after this Monday. Thanks ;)

Confessions

I love my son to pieces.

But, nap time is my FAVORITE time of day.

I love to sleep in but I hate getting up late.

yesterday I ate 1 piece of pizza, 4 slices of pumpkin roll, and chips and dill dip. And when my husband got home I went out for asian food at 11:30pm.

E is currently fussing because he doesn't want to take a nap.

I am blogging and eating more pumpkin roll.

Before I had kids I showered (just about) every day. Now I am lucky to shower 3 times a week.

I am addicted to hancock fabrics.

I spent over $100 there in September.

I felt incredibly guilt and haven't been back since.

I guess maybe my addiction is lessening.

I am now going to go calm E down.

Where was I . . .

I hate to clean.

I would rather do just about anything than clean.

I wish I was more organized.

There is a small piece of me that believes that if I were more organized my life would be better.

Grapefruit is my favorite fruit.

I am slightly add.

I don't like the church we attend.

If I wasn't so lazy I would try other churches.

I screen ALL my calls.

As soon as E goes to sleep I'm going to take a bath and watch Bones.

Once I am done I will pick up the living room, empty the dish washer, re-load the dish washer, and switch out the laundry.

There is nothing better than climbing into a nicely made bed between fresh, clean sheets.

Goodbye MacBook

I've got my computer back!

I finally bought a new power cord for it, just in time to sell it. lol.
My husband has been wanting a laptop for awhile now so it we sell my laptop then we can buy 2 cheaper laptops on WalMart's Black Friday sale.
While I will be sad to see my computer go I'm glad to be able to do soething that will make my hubby happy :)

So, if you're in the market for an AWESOME MacBook take a look here and leave me a comment!

The Dentist.

I really do not like going to the dentist. There is something about someone getting that up close and personal, digging around in my mouth while generally causing me slight pain and discomfort that just does not excite me.
With all that being said it's been well over a year since I've been to the dentist. I know I've got a couple cavities and we are blessed to have great dental insurance through my husband's job so there isn't really any good excuses as to why I haven't gone.

Oh yeah, except for that fact that I hate going . . .

I actually made appointments with 2 different dentist today. The last dentist I tried I just didn't like, I felt like they were very superficial and just after my money. Not cool.

My husband goes to the same dentist he's gone to since he was a kid, he's not a big fan of the dentist either, but he's also not a fan of change.
I'm not sure if I want to go to the dentist he uses. I don't like his picture on the website and they don't have tv's to watch while you get your teeth cleaned. Pathetic, I know.

Growing up we always went to the dentist my mom picked and they were always these tall men with big jaws that slightly freaked me out. The picture of the dentists where my husband's goes slightly resembles those childhood dentists . . .

Appointment #1 is with his dentist/dental group. The lady never told me which dentist I was going to see . . .


I made appointment #2 with a dental office I chose by going to our insurance carrier's website, looking up who they covered and then checking out different websites.

The dentist at the dental office I picked are all younger, there's even a woman there!
Sadly, dental websites do not readily proclaim if they have tv's in the exam rooms. What is up with that? If I was a dentist I would advertise like motels - 36" flat screen! full cable with HBO. I mean, come on, that's the only reason I go to the dentist. . . well, it is. ;)

So, what should I so? should I go with my husband's dentist or should I go with my pick?

Last year I went to the eye Dr. he goes to . . . this year I'm trying a new one.

The bottom line is I don't want to offend my husband.

Shoot, I guess I'll just ask him when he gets home from work.



BTW, anyone wanna borrow a super cranky 7 month old for the day? he comes with diapers & formula :)

What a day

Apparently, if your child is sick and fussy you should . . .

Clean out your freezer

Make 3 meals to freeze for later in the week

Make a triple batch of laundry soap

Do laundry

and

Do two loads of dishes in the dishwasher


I need a nap.

Thursday's Thoughts

E is now pulling himself up and standing in his crib and playpen.
Last night I bet he did it at least 3 or 4 times before finally settling down and going to sleep.
That boy wears me out . . .

My mom and brother are coming to visit today which means I need to clean the guest bathroom, vaccume the floors, and finish picking up the kitchen . . . :(

I was thinking yesterday about all things domestic and I came to this conclusion, as a "homemaker" I can cook delicious meals, mend clothes, sew new clothes, & create crafts out of thin air. Now, with all those skills I really shouldn't be expected to keep the neatest house on the block, right? ;)
Because, let's face it, why would you want to mop the kitchen floor when you can make you son a super cute sweater vest? Not that I did that yeasterday . . .

My house really is clean, it's just cluttered. I'm working on getting rid of all the extra nonsense we have laying around, it's just taking awhile.

Enough rambling, I need to make lunch and get to cleaning :P

I can't wait until naptime, I'm going to take a nap and then a long hot shower, it's going to be glorious! Hurry up 12:30!!!

Just another day . . .

I'd love to say that today was a huge improvement over yesterday. But that would make me a liar.
Blah.
That pretty much sums up how I'm been feeling. Physically tired, mentally frustrated by situations outside my control and my own stupidity.
I am ready for next week. Not this weekend, no I've still got 1 1/2 halloween costumes to finish before Saturday night. But, come Monday I will be done with all of this obligatory sewing and I will finally be able to concentrate on my etsy shop. Good. Cause we need $$$$.

Oh, and my Mac is still down for the count :(
It probably will be for the next couple of weeks. Sigh.

All right enough fun and games, E is screaming for me, I best go tend to my suddenly very needy baby - please, God, let this stage end soon!

A day when everything goes wrong

I am exhausted.
These last few weeks have been crazy and today is no exception.
My computer cord won't work. I found E chewing on the end of it yesterday and now it refuses to work which means my laptop is dead so I'm using this old windows based dell which I hate. I miss my Mac!!!
I'm going to take it in to the mac store tomorrow to see if it does just need a new power cord. Not that I'll be buying one anytime soon. I think they run around $120 . . . ugh . . .
For as much as I love my Mac I am seriously considering trying to sell it and buy a new, cheaper. wondows based laptop on an after Thanksgiving day sale. It's only 3 years old so I'm thinkinh I should be able to get about half of what I paid for it, right?

I have an old iBook that I would rather be using (instead of this dell) but I need to run the software for the airport card and I don't have the disks and can't find any software for free online . . .ugh.

I'm trying to finish up our halloween costumes. Mine is being ridiculously difficult. The zipper keeps sticking and I don't think I bought enough fabric so I've got to get creative.

E is currently boycotting nap time by laying in bed &spitting, his newest trick. At least he's not screaming bloody murder.

This day started out so well but has managed to quickly spiral out of control . . .

I need a vacation.

It's raining

When it rains, it pours.
And right now, I feel like I'm in a torrential downpour.

At about 3 o'clock today I realized I hadn't eaten yet and I was hungry!
There isn't a lot of quick meal food in the house as tomorrow is grocery day. Ethan was napping at that time and I decided that once he woke up I would go get something to eat.

Sadly, my food trip didn't exactly go as planned.

In retrospect I should have just gone to sonic (it's across the street) but I couldn't stop thinking about McDonalds and the fact that they have the monopoly game going right now swayed my thinking.

About a mile and a half from home, while sitting at a red light, my car died.
I tried to re-start it but it just wouldn't stay running more than 5 seconds.
So, I turned on my caution lights and tried to call N at work.
No answer. Left a voicemail.
Thankfully after not too long two super nice men cam and pushed me, quite a ways, into the Walgreens parking lot.

Ok, so now I'm thinking about how to get Ethan and I home.
I try starting my car again and notice that the low oil light is on. Sreiously? I just took it in to Jiffy Lube yesterday morning and paid $27 to have the oil changed! Ugh, not cool!
I add 2 quarts of oil and I think it's going to get me home but it dies again as I'm driving through the Walgreens parking lot. Luckily, I'm able to coast into a parking space.
I then call the $7 cab company (who actually charge $8 - per person) and after a 15 minute wait Ethan and I are on our way home.

So here I sit, still hungry, out of cash, throughly frustrated, and out $10.

I should have just ordered a pizza.

Huh?

Just woke up from my nap and am feeling much better!

Now, for a funny story.

First let my explain a few things that help this story.

1) My parents are married and live together.

2) While my dad occasionally goes out-of-town for business he has been home for at least the past 3 weeks.

3)My dad likes to talk, it's pretty rare for me to have a phone conversation with him that lasts less than 20 minutes.

4) My dad is a pastor and my mom also works at the church (which is right next door to their house).

5) My mom has been pretty sick (flu/cold/achy,etc.) for the past week and a half.

Ok, I hadn't talked to my mom since Friday and I wanted to see how she was doing so I called my parents house and my dad answers

D: hello

Me: Hi it Michelle.

* silence as though I am a stranger*

Me: It's me, Michelle.

*with slight recognition*

D:Oh. Hi.

Me: Is mom there?

D: I don't think so.

Me: Well do you know how she's doing? Tam (my aunt) texted me because she couldn't get a hold of mom so do you know how she is?

*sounds of chewing*

D: Uh, no. I haven't talked to her in awhile, not lately, I really don't know. I think she's over at the church.

Me: Ok. Thanks dad. bye.

D: bye.

It was the oddest conversation. ever.

I'm not sure he ever fully realized who he was talking to.

And, how does he not know how she is feeling? My dad isn't always the most perceptive person (it took him 3 months to realize I had pierced my nose, while I was still living at home) but come on . . .

The whole conversation was just . . .odd.

Oh, and I tried calling the church and got a fax machine sound :s.

What a day

I don't have any yummy recipes or cute craft ideas to share with you today.

We had a busy weekend and now I am laying in bed feeling sick.

E has been so fussy today, nothing was right for him.

Bills are due.

The dish washer needs to be emptied and reloaded.

Laundry needs to be done.

I have pushed myself as far as I can.

My throat hurts, I'm achy and tired.

Enough rambling.

I'm going to sleep.

Weekly menu/meal planning

Since today is Friday, my weekly menu/meal planning day, I thought I would share some tips and tricks for how I plan my weekly meals while staying on budget.

Step 1)

Every Thursday I clean out my fridge, all edible leftovers get put on the same shelf and I take an "inventory" of what I have, I also glance in my cupboards and jot down what I have on hand.

For instance, this week I've got:

Celery

Tomatoes

Cheddar cheese

bacon

mushrooms

6 eggs

rice

carrots

applesauce

red cabbage

spaghetti sauce

macaroni & black beans.

Ok, so I know that Im going to use some of those things for next week's meals, thus saving me some money and ensuring that food doesn't go bad on me.

Step 2)

Next, I look at last week's menu to see if there are any meals we didn't get to. For instance, we had burger king one night and McDonalds one day so that's two meals that I can throw onto next week's menu that I've already got the ingredients for. :)

Step 3)

I sit down with my computer, a couple cookbooks, pull up excel and start planing.

Saturday afternoon's are always leftovers and nights are frozen or homemade pizza.

Sunday lunch is something I can put in the crock pot before church. Sunday night is taco's, nacho's, or both. I make sure to put in the meals from last week that we didn't eat. I also plan in 2-5 meals of leftovers.

Step 4)

I make out my grocery list and next to each item I write down what I believe it costs.

i.e. onions $3

honey $10

7 sm. frozen pizzas $7.50

eggs $2.50

etc . . .

Don't forget to include staples like milk. Also, I don't meal plan my breakfast's so items like Oatmeal get added on as well.

Step 5)

Add it all up. I try to keep our weekly budget below $75 for 2 adults and a 6 month-old.

Some weeks, like this one, I'm way over my budget. The first thing I do is look at my menu to see if there are any pricey meals that I can get rid of. Next, I look at my list and make sure I've only got true essentials on it. I also brainstorm for substitutions.

For this next week I need 40oz of canned tomatoes. I take those off my list because I know I've got about 3lbs of roma tomatoes in my fridge and I can easily use those instead of buying the canned one's. I also cut down on the amount of cheese I'm buying. I've found that you can easily cut the amount of cheese in half for a recipe and it will still taste great.

Step 6)

Re-Add it all up. Today I was able to cut my shopping list from $76 to $65 including tax.

Now, I've got $10 leeway so that if I see anything extra I want at the store I can buy it without feeling guilty. :)

There you have it, my Friday weekly menu/meal planning strategy. I know some people plan 2 weeks or even a month in advance but I've found that one week at a time work's best for me. When I do more than 1 week I tend to have leftovers and fresh produce go bad which is a big waste of money.

Because I know you're just dying of curiosity - lol - here's what we're having next week.

I made it! hot/cold rice bag

I made it!

hot/cold rice bag

I used feed corn instead of rice and I made mine out of a soft flannel I've had lying around.

I had one like this when I was younger and I loved it.

I've been meaning to make one for a couple years now and I'm glad I finally got it done!

Maple Glazed Apple Nut Bars

Today, in the midst of deep cleaning and rearranging my kitchen I had a sudden urge for something maple flavored.

Enter Maple Glazed Apple Nut Bars. These are so delicious you will want to eat more than one but the rich ooey gooeyness just may stop you.

Step 1

Find the cutest helper(s) to assist you.

Then, preheat your oven to 350

Step 2

Peel 3 medium or 4 small apples, enough to make 4 cups chopped

Step 3

Chop Apples

Step 4

Set Apples aside and pour 1 stick melted butter into your mixing bowl

Step 5

Add 2 cups sugar and mix throughly

Step 6

Mix in 2 eggs

Step 7

Add 1 Tablespoon vanilla

Step 8

Add 2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Step 9

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt

Step 10

Blend together throughly

Step 11

Add 2 cups flour

Step 12

Add 4 cups chopped apples

Step 13

Stir in 1 cup chopped nuts. Just use whatever you have on hand. I threw in pecans and almonds.

Step 14

Pour into greased 9x13 baking dish

Step 14

Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes until done

Step 15

You can make your own maple glaze but I like to use maple butter. Maple butter is so deliciously amazing - I highly recommend it!

Warm maple butter in microwave for 45 seconds, until warm enough to pour.

Step 16

Cut bars and drizzle with maple butter/glaze

Step 17

Enjoy!

Maple Glazed Apple Nut Bars

2 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 T. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick melted butter

2 c. flour

4 c. raw apples, chopped, raw with or without the peel

1 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350

combine first 6 ingredients. Stir in Flour. Add apples and nuts.

Mix well and pour into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until done.

Frost when cool (or slightly warm) with maple butter or a maple glaze.

Maple glaze

3/4 cup hot water

1 Tablespoon maple flavoring

1/4 - 1/2 cup powdered sugar to make a glaze that is thick but pourable.

I'm linked here:

Rearranging

I've decided it's time to rearrange my kitchen.

I love rearranging rooms. When I was younger, a lot younger, I used to rearrange my bedroom furniture all the time. As soon as I was strong enough to slide my dresser from one end of my room to the other I was off and running.

While some people don't like change, I crave it!

I also love going new places, exploring new things, trying stuff that I've never tried before :)

So, while I REALLY want to rearrange my living room that's just not going to happen anytime soon due to the massively heavy and super complicated TV/video game/stereo system my husband has concocted.

Luckily, all is not lost, the kitchen comes in second and it is very feasible for me to rearrange.

I'd also like to paint it. I actually painted it yellow this summer but I'm not loving it. Oh, and right after I painted it I read a statistic that couples who have yellow kitchens tend to fight more. Go figure.

So, I really want to paint it a warm creamy beige color with deep red accents.

I'm actually taking my color inspiration from this sign that hang above my sink.

I know we've got some random paint in the garage. Maybe we have enough left of the tannish color we painted the living room and hallway to pain the kitchen. I'll have to have N check when he gets home from work - I don't like to go into the garage due to this summer's mice infestation. I hate mice with a passion! Ugh . . .

Whew, alright enough for now, I'm gonna go plan out my new kitchen layout! And do the laundry . . . :(

Before Pictures

- Please ignore my messy kitchen, I tend to let things slide on the weekends and then get my cleaning done on Monday's -

Paring down

I just finished paring down the blogs that I follow.

It was getting ridiculous.

Every time I see a cute craft or project I tend to add the blog and then one day (today) I realize I'm following so many blogs I'm really not paying any attention to any of them.

So, I'm down to *only* 27 hopefully I'll be able to pay more attention to my favorite's instead of sifting through needless (sorry old blogs) entries. :)

Have a great Sunday!

Sink Baths

I'm trying to figure out what possessed me to stop bathing E in the kitchen sink.

I think it was because when he was first born it was too hard to support him since the sink is too small for him to lay flat and get him clean at the same time.

Therefore, after just a couple of Kitchen sink baths I started bathing him on his sponge in the tub which worked when he was little but now that he's older he's always trying to flip over, he doesn't like his bath seat, and it hurts my knees to bend down :(

Enter today's stroke of genius!

I placed his 2 bath sponges in the kitchen sink, filled it wile warm water, added 1 (almost) 6 month old baby, a few toys and voila! He loves it, I love it, everyone is happy :)

Yup, I think the kitchen sink bath is making a big comeback in our house!

Tutorials to love

Ahhh Tuesday, the day when many of my favorite blogs come out with link parties for lots of great tutorials. :D

There are so many thing's to learn and do and see.

For instance, I now know how I'm going to make the magnetic menu board that's been on my mind for awhile now.

And, while I'm not sure how these would fit in with our decor, perhaps a scaled down version, I am in love with Love Note Pillows. Now, if only I had some love notes to turn into pillows . . .

These Yarn Sheep are so cute, perhaps an item to add to my craft show repertoire . . .

And, have you seen all the cute pumpkins that everyone is making?

Wooden Pumpkins

Fabric Pumpkins

Rope and Wire Pumpkins

There are a lot more pumpkin tutorials out there but my internet is being persnickety right now and won't let me pull them up :/

Oh well.

LIke I said, lots of great things to add to my "someday I'm gonna make that list".

What are some tutorials you've fallen in love with recently?

My First Craft Show

Last Sunday my friend Karen and I did our first ever craft show.

Boy was that a learning experience!

I wish now we had taken a picture of our "booth" but sadly we did not :( I am, however, doing another craft show next Saturday w/my mom and I'll try to remember to take pictures to post.

I think the best way to summarize the craft show experience is with a list of personal pro's and con's.

But first, here's a list of items I took to the show: Aprons, Fabric Bookmarks, Hand Painted Signs, and Hair Bows

Pro's:

~I printed off really nice labels/price tags for all of my items on pastel colored card stock. I think that helped them look professional

~I had a nice long pink twin bedspread that I used to cover our table. It looked nice and we were able to stash our extra stuff under our table.

~I printed up business cards with my name, etsy shop and e-mail, on them and had them prominently displayed.

Con's

~No tent.

~I had my fabric bookmarks laying flat on the table and it seemed like people just didn't notice them - next time I'm going to put them in a basket and make a large "Bookmark's $2" sign to put on the basket.

~I also had my hair bows/flowers laying flat on the table. Next time I'm taking pegboard and hanging them from that so they are more visible.

~Most of my aprons are 1/2 aprons (no top piece) and several women commented on how much they liked them but how they needed a full apron. Luckily I can easily change them into full aprons. That's what I'll be doing next week. :)

~The Stands I had for my signs kept blowing over in the wind so my signs also ended up flat on the table - flat is NOT good. Next time those will also be hung on the peg board.

The biggest con of all?

~The only thing I sold was 2 set's of hair bows. :( Not cool. Not cool at all.

There's probably more but it's Saturday and my brain is foggy . . .

One thing I did was walk around the show and "check out the competition" I'm glad I did that I was able to get a good idea of what else is out there, how other's priced their products, etc...

For anyone that is thinking about jumping into the craft show circuit I definitely recommend doing your homework first.

www (dot) craftster (dot) com how a lot of good information on craft shows.

I went into my first show looking at it as a learning experience and a way to get my name out there. I didn't expect much, which was good - lol, but I did learn a lot.

And lastly,

If you can do a booth with someone else make sure their stuff is of the same caliber as yours, you don't want someone looking at your nice stuff and then looking at their stuff going, oh that's cute, and . . .oh . . . oh :(

I'm glad I did it with Karen, she is an excellent crocheter and her items added a nice contrast to my sewn things.

And of course,

sharing a booth cut's your fee in half ;)

I'm hoping that my second craft show will go better and will give me more tips, tricks, etc, to pass on to you!

- Wish me luck!-

I got out of bed for this?

Today started out fairly promising.

I was able to sleep while E took his morning nap :)

I actually had lunch around lunchtime :)

Yeah. That's about all that has gone right today.

When I woke up I had big plans to re-do a crib bumper for E. I was even going to make a tutorial out of it. How cool am I?

And then I looked at the huge pile of baby clothes by the front door and it hit me.

Today is the day to drop off baby clothes for the consignment sale.

Crap.

I had meant to tag all those clothes a couple weeks earlier. Only, every time I went online to create the tags it wouldn't let me create an account to do so. Stupid Mac hating websites :(

So, at around 12:45 today I realized it was now or never. I got on E's non-Mac computer and was able to create an account. Then, I had to sort the clothes by size, toss the summer clothes back in the box to store for the spring sale, put E down for his nap, create price tags, print tags, realize I need packing tape and safety pins, load up E, run to Wal Mart (grrrr that place is NOT my friend), come home, deal with E, cut price tags, start to attach, realize I printed them on paper and they have to be printed on card stock, re-print tags, cut new tags, eat a cherry push pop for desert, raid E's closet for store hangers to hang clothes on, start attaching price tags, eat 1 snickers bar and 1 milky way, deal with E, finish attaching tags, load up stuff, load up E, drive to consignment sale location, take stuff inside, stand around, hang stuff up to be inspected, stand around, get stuff inspected, sign my life away, come home, sit down, look at cold coffee that I brewed this morning that I forgot to drink, wonder if coffee would taste ok re-heated in the microwave, decide against it, sit down, type this post.

Whew.

And that is why all the way more interesting posts will have to wait for another day.

A day when all my plans don't get de-railed . . .

A day when I can take that long-awaited bath I'd been planning during E's nap time . . .

A day when I don't feel completely spent.

This sale had better be worth it.

Chiefs Game

Last night my dad, brother, older sister, N, and I all headed up to arrowhead stadium for the Chiefs game.

We tailgated beforehand and feasted on grilled chicken breast, beef brauts, cheddar brauts, hamburgers, homemade potato salad, chips, brownies, cookies, etc . . .

I definitely ate waayyyy too much!

Then, we walked a good half mile up to the stadium and climbed what felt like a million steps to get to our seats.

The game was a lot of fun. Sure, it started raining an hour in and the cold wind was not helping matter. But, at the end of the day we won! And that's all that matters in the end, right?

Oh, and this lady was way too cute! She was so into the game! How can you not love her with her denim embroidered chiefs shirts, rain hat, and radio so she could listen to the game. :)

Here's a quick tip for all the women out there like me that are sports ignorant: before you go to a game find out who the other teams is and make sure you don't wear their colors . . lol.