HAPPY EASTER 2012

This year, we just had my mom over since Dad was working and Adam was busy. We had our usual holiday food with a few new recipes to try. Mom made "deviled chick eggs" and I made a new strawberries and cream dessert. We played Wii bowling, tennis and golf with "Gran" and we got her playing Angry Birds for the first time.  We did a little facetime with Aunt Peggy on the Ipad. Nothing too busy. I love laid back holidays where there is not a ton of stress, so this was as pretty close to perfect as it gets. Later we dug out the outside "toys" and put up the battmitton set and bid Gran farewell with her arms full of leftovers for Grandad.

My mom's attempt at craftiness! SHE actually saw this on Pinterest and decided to make it! I was very proud of her!! If you understood, my mom just does NOT do crafts or anything close to it, you would be proud of her too!

The Easter Baskets were the big "Prize" at the end of the annual egg scavenger hunt this year. I try to find cheap fun things to put in them. This year I also added an ITunes gift card for her and an Amazon gift card for him.

Gracie's

                                                     Frankie's

      
                                   Each egg has a clue to the next location....

                                         Hidden in the Dove chocolates

Hidden in the jellybeans

     
 Hidden in Gracie's "sleeping area" (she has taken to sleeping on the floor.....don't ask)

                                              Hidden in the linen closet

Hidden in the medicine closet

Hidden in Frankie's bed

Hidden in the shower

Hidden in the fridge

                                                   Hidden in the pantry

Hidden in the dog food

Hidden in the deep freeze

Hidden in the movies

Hidden in the dryer

Hidden in the dishwasher

The final hidden space...under the table

The first Egg clue.....

                     Yes it IS horrible carpet, but it's been low on the priority list to get new, as long as the kids continue to spill this, drop that, etc....but I always feel like telling people, NO I did NOT pick that carpet out!

This year I had them going downstairs then upstairs then back down....on and on wearing them out! It was the most running around they've done in a long time! It was so much fun to watch them though. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful home and family! And to have a Savior that loved me enough to die on the cross, so that my sins would be forgiven and I could go to Heaven, just by accepting HIS gift! Thank You Jesus!

An Easter suprise!

The past few weeks, I have been talking about ways we could try to cheer up my mother in law. She has been thrown many trials in her life the past few years and been particularly sad lately. So I was discussing possibly sending her some care packages. I thought Easter would be a really fun one to make the first one. However, my MIL is diabetic so she really can't have any candy or sweets. She does however love her "peeps" and so I'm sure it stinks seeing them everywhere and not being able to have one. So my wheels got to turning, which in most cases CAN be a good thing!

My first thought, how fun is it to open Easter Eggs and the excitement of what's going to be in them! So I purchased 36 eggs and filled them with ecouraging verses, some inspirational quotes and some really funny things I saw on pinterest. So each egg has something different in it, she has to open them all to find out what. Two of the eggs had something from my kids. Frankie wrote her a letter and Gracie drew her an Easter picture.

I also found some "stuffed" Peeps that she CAN have, as obviously they are sugar free! HA! I was so excited to see those and immediately thought of her! Coming up with treats that aren't sweet or food turned out to be a challenge for me...hmmm I wonder why! lol Guess I need to do things like this more often! I love making "flankies" which are handkerchiefs made of flannel. They are so soft on your nose, eyes etc... So I used this package as yet another excuse to go to JoAnn fabric and pick out some material just for her and sewed her up some flankies. Then while at the store, I passed the display of gift cards. I know how much she likes the oriental chicken salad at Applebees and that is one thing she can have! So grabbed one of those as well.  Heading to the checkout, I saw these cute little signs, (yes, I am the type of customers that they put all the end caps up for, I am a sucker!) and knowing her space is limited, I thought this would be a cute little decoration she can hang up, yet slip into a drawer to store afterwards. So this is a pic of all that went in to the box!

Finally, the card. Wanted to put one more smile on her face, so this is what I wrote:

Sending you this Easter box,

With love, care and warm thoughts.

Even though, there are no candy sweets,

It doesn't mean, you can't still have peeps!

Thought you might enjoy some hankies,

But when made of flannel, we call them flankies.

Would like you to have a meal on "we",

So we included a card from Applebees.

Everyone can use a laugh or two,

So we included some funnies in there for you.

Some words of wisdom, you'll find in there,

Along with some reminders of Our Father's care.

And last but not least, to remember the time,

We included an Easter Blessing sign.

We hope this all brings a smile to your face.

This Easter, we wish we could visit your place.

But since we can't, we send this gift to you.

We love you and hope to hear from you soon!

Dentist Drama

(Saw this Pic on Pinterest and thought it was funny)

So I went in to the dentist today (4th and last visit in the past 2 months) to get the last of my fillings done. I was dreading it! My dentist will only do one side at a time and lucky me had one in each corner! BTW, I got rid of the bubble gum, and will now only use sugar free WHEN I can chew gum again. Well the last 2 visits have left me in pain, so I was NOT looking forard to this one, but I was going to "woman up" and get it over with. I walked out the door forgetting my ipod, which I use to attempt to block out some of the drilling noise, so I was dreading it even more so. I get there and the front desk lady said she was proud of me for keeping all my visits. I guess some people decide they would rather let their teeth rot away and not get them filled....believe me, the thought had crossed my mind after the last visit!

So I get in the chair and the dentist comes in and I ask "how are you doing" to which he replies, "not too good. I have to go to the cardiologist Monday, they are talking about maybe having to put a pacemaker in". He goes on to explain how his blood pressure was really high right then, and how he started out the day feeling ok, but not so much right then. I ask, if his heart is racing, then is it hard to breathe, he said ya. OK. I did NOT go to college, but I am kinda thinking, heart racing, hard to breathe, do I want you inside my mouth with big needles and a drill....ummm, no! So I joked and said, uh, do you want to reschedule? THANKFULLY he said "really?  you wouldn't mind?" Uhh DUH! He said he would not offer to still do it if he didn't think he was able but.....   BUT I don't want to be the patient he figures out he was NOT ok to work on after the fact! LOL So, twist my arm to have to put off a visit I was dreading, + he offered to take $100 off my return visit for helping him out! BONUS!!! Heck ya, I'll reschedule, any time doc!  I am sooo glad I have a friendly dentist who tells me his whoa's so I know what I'm in for! :-)  So instead I went and did a little shopping and came home and worked in the yard (after downloading some new hymns onto my ipod). Good Day! GOOOOOD Day! Thank you Jesus for watching out for both me and my dentist!

It's the little things

This year I am trying to make more time for myself. Time to spend on making ME better so I can BE better for my family. I think it's easy to fall into self pity and martar thoughts when we give everything to everyone else and never make time or spend money on ME. Selfish? Maybe, but if I am constantly begruding giving everything to everyone else, then I might as well not do anything for everyone because it is not in the right spirit. So far this year, I have paid to have my hair colored (which included a trim). I do not think I have ever in my life paid to have my hair colored and only a few times have I ever paid to have it cut. I also decided (with my husbands blessing) to have the vaneers taken off my teeth (they were put on in 8th grade) and get braces to finally straighten them once and for all (plus afterwards I can whiten them which I have always wanted to do). It turns out, that selfish act may have saved one of my teeth. Because the vaneer was not allowing the tooth under to get very clean and it was starting to rot away....eww gross! I know, that is what I thought too!
I also have been trying to make time to excersise, but as spring has come early and that involves much yard work along with inside work, that goal has not been achieved as well. But I have done better about my water intake and my skin has shown that dramatic improvement.
Finally, today, I really went all out. I was tired of painting my nails only to have it peel off the same day. So tonite, I actually paid for the more expensive nail polish and am hoping THAT will make the difference. It's so fun to look down and see my fingers look so pretty (as pretty as big man hands can). Although, if I don't stop typing, I think it will all continue to get messed up, as it's evidently not quite dry enough. So goodnight!

Daily Grind

I am always afraid to write down my plans or goals, because it seems as soon as I do, they are jinxed. I make a long menu plan, and daily goal plans, that I have been doing really good with, but as soon as I put pen to paper, I seem to jinx it and it all falls apart. However I am determined to persevere and keep trying! I have most of my menu through to the end of April planned, and my daily to do list until after Easter down. Hopefully I will accomplish more than what I have on that list, but if I only get the things done on that list.... atleast SOMETHING wil have gotten done. I know there are several books on how to run your home like a business, but unfortunetly, I was never any good in the business world, that's why I became a stay at home mom!
Yesterday, I got alot accomplished, and it didn't seem like much until I wrote it all down. Therefor, I think I am going to start writing down all I get done in a day....Yesterday's was the following:
Made breakfast, lunch and dinner.....that is an accomplishment in of itself, as we have been eating out alot lately!~
Did laundry alllll day! ....It's still going today, sheets and blankets take a long time to wash, especially if they have piled up....
Cut out and sewed 2 more pairs of coulots for Gracie...not as simple as it sounds, as she is very particular about her shorts, and so I was constantly making adjustments. I had cut out and sewed one other pair the night before.
Worked on garden and fenced it in ... this involved putting more dirt into the beds that the dog had dug the dirt out of! Some of the dirt had gotten wet, so lifting shovel fulls of wet soil is hard work (that was probably good for me, but I can't acknowledge that) ....as far as fencing it in (to keep said dog out in the future), well my husband ACTUALLY did this, but I did start the process and hammered in a few of the stakes, but after seeing me miss the stakes and hit the fencing, one too many times, well, he decided to take over....
Weeded in between the bushes ....these bushes are the ones a few weeks ago I took the time to lay wet newspaper (per pinterest),and then put down mulch so I would not have to weed! However some persistent weeds have found their way out (probably to the tune of "I'm a survivor"). So I pulled them and then covered those areas with cardboard and recovered with the mulch.
Pruned and weeded the blackberry bushes ...hopefully I will only have to do this once this year. I am using the approach that worked out front between THOSE bushes, where I cut/pull the grass and let it lay there as the mulch to keep new grass from growing. I also watched a video on pruning blackberry bushes on Pinterest (yes some people actually put those ideas to use and not just repin them), and hopefully we will not only get more berries this year, but have better access to them.
Changed the sheets on my bed...I have been doing this often as the dogs insist on climbing in with me, no matter how hard I try to keep them on TOP of the blankets, one inevitably finds his way UNDER and the other one goes  under in search of the first. Therefor the sheets/blankets need changed often, therefore all the laundry in the above chore...
Put away clean clothes ...this is actually remarkable for me as they often sit in the basket until I need them, then I curse myself for letting them sit there getting all wrinkled when I need to wear them!
Made menu through the next month along with chore to do list (while soaking in a nice hot bath, see I can multitask) ...Let's hope I stick to it!
All this while juggling two homeschooling kids and a husband....who needs the business world, I have enough in my own little home world! Plus the benefits are much more....beneficial to me!

Spring is in the air...

What has taken up all my blogging time! I have been super busy as of late, with what you may ask, well, let me just share a few of the things that have been going on.....

First, I must say, I am dissappointed in the lack of storms we have had so far this spring. However one did produce some good thunder and lightening for a short period. It even gave us a bit of hail. Not as much as others, who got baseball size, but enough the kids and I were a little....over dramatic about it! But just like people, it came in all different sizes......

                                                      What the hail???

                                  It was even blown onto the covered porch!

Along with spring, came my husbands 2 week vacation for being with the company so long. He coulndn't have picked a nicer two weeks! We were able to get outside and get alot of the projects done BEFORE the yard got the better of us. We got the back fenced cleared and sprayed with weed preventer, we got the garden moved (3rd times a charm, right?) , 4 new raised beds made, 4 new large pots bought, and cardboard laid down, then the beds/pots, then surrounded by mulch and then filled with dirt! THAT was a long two days. Later  I planted the peas. And since we have had such unusually warm, record breaking warmth, with no change in sight, I decided to gamble (they only way I will ever be doing that lol ) and go ahead and plant things you aren't normally supposed to until later. I figure, if we do drop low enough for a frost, I should know ahead enough to cover them.

We also got to the bushes along the fence in time. This year, I layed wet newspaper down before mulching, hoping it will keep the weeds at bay. They are prickly little boogers that come up there!

And I got my tomato plants started indoors. Gracie is trying some flowers, however, I do not see her getting much farther than when Frank tried it a few years ago. Hey I admit I have a brown thumb when it comes to flowers. It may just turn out they do too!

As usual, I am now not able to let a holiday go by without decorating for it. Partly because we are finally financially able to afford for me to buy the decorations! lol. Sooo right after Valentines Day, I put up my St.Patrick's Day. Now that it is over, I have up my Easter decorations, but this was then and not now! :-)

Loved this material (it looks better in person I promise) but could not decide what to use it for. Finally after I got everything up, I decided I needed a table cloth on the coffee table and this material would be perfect, so away I went to JoAnn Fabric to get the material I had been coveting for about a week!

Little dangly shamrocks from the curtains.... There were more decorations, but that is all I wanted to put on this already full blog.

And last but not least, I have tried my hand at quilting, in ernst. A family friend was having a baby girl. And the green, pink and brown were her nursery colors. I decided to make a quilt (using my new and barely used accuquilt to cut the squares) and am pretty pleased how it turned out. So was my husband, for now I am making him one for our 15 year anniversary! After that, my daughter has requested one! Oh boy, not sure when I will get back on here again with all the "orders" my family has put in!

There have been some other things that I don't have pictures of, well not that I will be posting anyway. For instance my long desire to get the vaneer bonding off my teeth and get braces on to permanently straighten them and then be able to whiten them! Plus all the homeschool we have been doing. Our second trip to Great Wolfe Lodge, where not only did they loose power, the fire alarm went off (so they had to corrall everybody to the back of the building) and someone did SOMETHING in the wave pool which required all swimmers to leave that part of the park and an employee to go in with gloves and a net.... Not our favorite visit! lol  And finally, I admit, my pinterest addiction. However it is starting to wane a bit as I feel I have seen just about all I can. I keep seeing things I already pinned about 70 zillion times! I want to tell eveyrone, just go onto my boards and I have taken care of all your pinning needs! lol So now I am working on actually achieving some of those pins! But I would like to get better about my blogging. I obviously did not make it far on my picture a day. But that is o.k. I'm still living it, just not photographing it!