I'm Back!

Imagine my surprise when I logged on tonight to update this blog and saw that I had a guest blogger!  Thanks Honey!

After my scrapbook adventures on Saturday the Hubs and I ended up taking care of a sick little one.  We were so excited that she had made it 2 WHOLE weeks without getting sick.  We had our fingers crossed but it wasn't enough.  Back to the doctor we went yesterday.  This time it was a diagnosis of bronchitis and a sinus infection.  Poor Babycakes!  She can't catch a break. :-(  Here she is on the way home from the doctor yesterday.

Not sure what those red marks are on her face.  I think her cheeks are chapped with all of the cold weather.  :-(

The day before she was dressing up like a little fashionista.  Her Auntie Karen got her some new pants (she is wearing one pair on each leg) and she just had to try them out pronto!  The scarf belongs to me and the hat is her winter hat.  By 9:00 that night she was running a fever.  How quickly things can turn.

The good news is that she is on the mend and is starting to perk up now that she has antibiotics.  Although I do worry about the long term impact of having so many antibiotics in her system at such a young age.  I guess as a mom you are always worried about something.

I've also been trying to finish up some craft projects.  Some of which have been going on way. too. long.  Like this gem...

I started this when my best friend found out she was pregnant nine years ago.  Seriously, nine years.  Who takes this long to finish a project?  That would be me.  When I found out I was pregnant I started working on it again for Babycakes. I am so close to being finished.  The little girl in the top right corner is all I need to finish.  I finished the top left but it has all of her information on it and I don't feel comfortable posting it for all the world to see.  But I promise you that part really is finished!  I put it on my "to do" list for March so hopefully I will do it since I wrote it down.

I also wanted to show you what Cleo the cat does when I get up to grab a snack while I am catching up on my blog reading.

Apparently the Susan Branch blog that I enjoy reading isn't nearly as exciting for her.  

Finally, I posted this pic on Facebook.  It's my new 'do.

I still have to "deal" with it each morning but my hands on time has significantly decreased.  With all I have going on right now this is a definite plus.

Hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

  

Good Morning from the Husband!

I will 'post' on this for the first time - I'm not much of a 'blogger' or anything, but will share some info. about our goings-on.

"Mama" went to scrapbook for the day, so I'm at home with Babycakes.  Grandpa Bill, (Mama's Dad from Texas), dropped in on his way to the airport to pick up his wife later today.  They will then go on to PA to see both of their mothers, who are at an assisted living place there.

All is fairly good here, but busy.  There's a lot of cleaning and home chores to do, so while Babycakes is napping, I can hopefully get a lot of that done.  For now, we wish all of you well and enjoy the weekend.   Jeff (a.k.a. "Hubs")

Project Updates...

After my VERY blah day yesterday, I thought I would update you all on some of the ongoing projects I have been working on.  Earlier, I mentioned a project I was working on for the Hubs for Valentine's Day.  The inspiration came from Pinterest.  Since there was a $5.00 limit I re-created this on my limited budget.  It's the words to our First Dance with out initials in the bottom left corner and our wedding date in the top left corner.  The frame was on clearance at Wal-Mart.  The Hubs definitely went over budget for me but I'm not complaining.  :-)

The other project I have been working on are some curtains for our family room that we moved to the basement this past summer.  I saw the fabric at Hobby Lobby and debated for a couple of months whether or not I should buy it.  I finally broke down and got it with a gift card I received. 

Sorry about the picture quality.  I have to use my cell phone because my crappy camera isn't working again. :-(

Anywho, my younger sister just found out last week she will be having a girl in July.  So I started on a blanket for my newest niece.

I'm not known for giving my handcrafted gifts on time but there's a first time for everything, right? 

On Saturday we took a trip to Lowe's where they had a lot of great stuff on clearance.  I mean like $1 and $2 stuff clearance!  So we went ahead and loaded up for Spring projects and Easter.  Babycakes will be getting some gardening goodies from the Easter Bunny.

So maybe the "My First Garden" was a little self serving, but I know for a fact she is going to LOVE the Elmo gardening stuff.  That kid can't get enough Elmo.  I've thought about decorating her room with Elmo but I'm pretty sure she would be so overstimulated that she would never sleep.



Finally, my favorite little "project" on Friday night.

We all went out for dinner because, quite frankly, no one wanted to cook.  So this was out Valentine's date.  Babycakes loves her catchup!  She didn't get that from me.  I can't stand the stuff!

So that is a project/weekend update.

Happy President's Day!

Blah!

What a title, right?  But that is how I am feeling today.  I'm normally out the door around 9:40 on Sunday mornings with Babycakes hot on my heels as we head to Sunday School.  The Hubs usually meets us there for Worship Service at 10:45 but not this morning my friends.  I just couldn't do it.
 I'm not ill and I got a full night's sleep.  I just have a case of blah.  I'm too tired to do much of anything today.  The Hubs took Babycakes to church and I laid in bed and read research studies for my dissertation.  So I wasn't entirely unproductive, I just don't want to leave the house today.  Who can blame a girl with when temperature is a balmy 27 degrees and the windchill is 12? 
So with Babycakes napping and the Hubs at our Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class I decided to take a little "me" time.  So I will enjoy a mug of Earl Grey tea, a good book and the company of this beautiful girl...

I hope everyone enjoys their Sunday!

Happy Valentine's Day!

So today is Valentine's Day.  Not that this is a hugely romantic holiday in these parts anymore, but I'm really okay with that.  Who needs romance when you have this?

It was a balmy 50 degrees in the Valley today and Babycakes asked to go outside.  She hasn't asked to go outside since late summer/early fall.  So we bundled her up in her coat and headed outside for some fresh air.  We started off by walking around our 2 acre yard.  Eventually she got bored with that so we headed over to her swing set. I held her as she went down the slide and she LOVED it.  Giggling and signing, "More! More!"  Eventually Mama's back started aching so we headed over to her Little Tykes slide where she could climb up on her own.

  She was having a blast but couldn't quite figure out how to get back to the top so she could slide down again.

Eventually she mastered climbing up, but she still needed help getting in position to slide down.  But Babycakes is well on her way to being a slide expert!  She also enjoyed discovering her shadow for the first time.  She kept watching the shadows.  It was pretty cute to watch.

After a while Daddy came out to join the fun.  We headed back over to the swing set and played some more.

She isn't quite big enough to do this on her own without close supervision but she had a blast for the brief time we allowed her to play on this.  Not that you can tell from her face...

I also wanted to share a quick (as in less than 5 minutes) craft project I completed a couple of weeks ago.

I really like the hurricane vases that are so popular right now.  But they are so expensive!  I mean $20 for the "cheap" one at my local Wal-Mart.  So I headed over to the Dollar Tree and picked up 3 vases and 3 candlesticks for the whopping total of $6.30.

I cleaned them using dish soap and water and removed the price tags.  Then I fired up the glue gun and glued them together.  The result...

I put conversation hearts in them but that's not very smart for a person like me who has a terrible sweet tooth.  I ended up going out and buying more candy.  Next time I'll go for something that isn't edible. Maybe. I'm thinking about green glass globs for St. Patty's day and maybe jelly beans or plastic eggs for Easter. I'm sure the local dollar store will have some ideas for me. :-)

Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

Resolutions Continue...

Another day off for bad weather.  Living in a rural area where flooding can be an issue allowed me to have another day off today.  I bundled Babycakes up and took her to "school" (read: daycare) so I could get a few things done around the house.  So far I have finished a novel I was reading, paid some bills, and caught up on my blog reading.  I still have a mess of stuff to do but it will get done.  On to the point of this post...

I have been working on decluttering my home during the month of January.  While I haven't made as much progress as I anticipated, I need to focus on what I have accomplished.  So here it goes...

The upper cabinet beside my stove has been a disaster up to this point.  So I brought home some baskets that I had in my classroom that were not being used so I could organize my cabinet a little better.  This is what I came up with...

 The top basket is for my baking supplies, the middle basket (shown below) is for my hot teas and the bottom basket is for things I use on a fairly regular basis when I am cooking.

While not a great picture, this is where I decided to put all of my hot tea accoutrements for easy access.  While I consider myself more of a coffee drinker than a tea drinker, I better start using some of this tea so I can free up that shelf!  (Don't worry, we have an entire cabinet devoted to coffee)

I also used some of my decluttering mojo to work on my nightstand.  Since I spend my quiet time before bed reading, sewing,etc, my nightstand has a tendency to get out of control.  But here it is after a little clean-up.

 

My remotes for the tv and DVD player (love me some Golden Girls!), pens, lip balm, tissues, and foot cream are all easily accessible. 

Truth be told, I forgot about the foot cream and discovered it when I cleaned all the crap out of this drawer.  So I went ahead and put a date on it.  If it isn't used up in 6 months it goes.  I even put a date on the bottle to remind myself!

I also decided to clear of the top of it while I was in a decluttering mode...

I know it looks cluttered, but these are my night time must haves - ice water, glasses (so I can see aforementioned Golden Girls), hand cream, Bible, alarm clock, current novel.

And just because I miss her, here are a couple of recent pics of Babycakes...

Both of her Grandpas and her Daddy all served in the Air Force.  This is her late Grandpa Gene's toboggan.  She had a blast wearing it around the house last week!

And her she is with her entire family of bears (Mr. Bear, Mr. Bear 2.0, and Mrs. Bear)

Hoping all of you are enjoying some decluttering/resolution bliss!

 

Resolution Update

Whew!  Hard to believe the weekend has come and gone and it's Monday again.  We have a 2 hour delay due to some icy conditions so I have a little extra time this morning to update you all on my resolution project progress.
While my goal was declutter every single day, I'm not sure that was a realistic goal.  With the Hubs in class on Wednesday nights, the excessive amount of illnesses we've battled this Fall/Winter, and life in general I feel that was a little ambitious on my part.  But I haven't given up.  I keep plugging along getting rid of excess as I go.
This weekend I decided that my planner was not working for me.  While I do use Google calendar, I still need a paper planner to get me through everyday life.  When I went to Staples on Saturday to get a refill for my Franklin Covey planner I started talking to the cashier about trying to get myself more organized.  She shared with me that she uses the ARC system.  I immediately went to check it out.  After looking over their products and seeing what I had purchased for my FC planner, I made a decision to give the ARC system a try.  I was able to put together an entire system for less than the refill items I had purchased for my FC system! 
Without further adieu,  I give you my updated planner...

I thought about getting something a little more "fun" than brown, but felt this looked a little more professional.

 I love the front pocket that I can tuck notes/documents into, I just hope it doesn't get out of control!

 I love, love, love that it has dividers so I can organize my paper life a little better.  I think I'm going to change a couple of the labels though.

I sub-divided my "to do" list into work and home in order to make things a little more manageable.

In the front pocked I tucked a couple of hair cut ideas.  In this push to simplify I'm thinking shorter hair might make things a little more manageable.

Dissertation notes...

My grand plan to update our kitchen.  I did finally finish scrubbing that awful floor last night. Yay!!!

And also tucked in the pocket is the beginnings of a Valentine's Day gift idea for the Hubs that I saw on Pinterest.  (Shh!  Don't tell him!) Cleo had to make sure she got in the picture too!  See her cute little paws?

 I have other projects I have worked on and completed.  I will post those later.  But for now, I need to see if I got a snow day!

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!