100 Things I'm Grateful For

1. Brent
2. Vivian, Sophie, Nathan & Matthew
3. Living in Indiana
4. Good Neighbors
5. Jesus Christ
6. A van that doesn't look like junk
7. Windows that roll down on my van
8. Mtn. Dew
9. Hair to keep me warm
10. Extra pairs of shoes
11. Hugs from my kids
12. Nathan always telling me he loves me, about 10 times a day!
13. Living close to family
14. Good YW leaders growing up
15. Facebook
16. the Y childcare
17. Pinterest
18. The internet! & email
19. The job I had at MyFamily.com
20. A husband who likes to watch the same TV shows
21. Hair that is easy for me to manage
22. Being able to play the piano
23. Singing along with the radio really loud with my kids
24. My kids don't think I'm "lame" yet
25. Sisters
26. Rachel
27. Mom & Dad
28. My trip to Vietnam
29. My trip to London
30. My dad teaching me to sew
31. The opportunity to practice painting
32. Brent is handy around the house!
33. Refrigerator/Freezers
34. My wall oven!
35. Hot tubs
36. My house
37. A comfy bed
38. Patient husband
39. Growing up in a small town
40. Being able to remember useless trivia
41. Getting lost in a good book!
42. Detangler
43. Makeup
44. Being able to afford my favorite lip balm
45. Not living too close to church, so that we I can enjoy a short drive home
46. My calling at church to work with the Young Women
47. Indoor plumbing
48. Brent has a job he likes
49. Vivian has a great teacher at school this year
50. Having a lot of music to listen to
51. There is snow on the ground right now and we've been able to take the kids sledding this year.
52. Fresh produce
53. Dishwashers
54. Chocolate
55. I don't hate exercise anymore
56. I have a lot of good, dear, dependable friends
57. MP3 player
55. HTPC
56. The ability I had to go to cosmetology school
57. Discount hair products
58. Digital cameras
59. I learned how to make bread
60. Epidurals
61. Dealnews.com
62. Learning to live on a budget
63. Not being a teenager anymore
64. A fun, good marriage
65. Elastic and Lycra
66. Nice silverware
67. Jeans that are long enough
68. Not getting offended easily
69. A house with enough space
70. Fun nailpolish colors
71. Fun hair colors
72. Finding a new shampoo/conditioner that works better for me
73. My mom teaching me how to bake
74. Found an inexpensive moisturizer
75. Aldi
76. Electricity
77. Nursery at church
78. Primary leaders at church
79. Grateful children who don't ask for very much stuff
80. Automatic transmissions
81. My cell phone
82. Disposable napkins
83. Allergy medications
84. Brent's surgery recovery this past year went really well
85. Having two dentists in the family
86. Being married to a nerd
87. Learning how to knit and crochet
88. Youtube, because you can learn to do anything on there!
89. Having a church I enjoy attending
90. Being able to learn new things
91. Public libraries
92. Good insurance
93. Bargain hunter mom as a good example
94. Good health
95. Internet shopping
96. Having a car babysitter on occasion
97. Living close enough to walk to the school, park, bank, library and post office
98. Desire to travel
99. Being content
100. A printer that actually works!

When Pigs Fly

I said I'd blog again "when pigs fly" because I was just over it.  Well . . .I was 6 months pregnant at the time, adjusting to #1 being in school while chasing #2 and #3 around the house.  I'm checking the sky, because I've got the itch to blog.  What have I been up to in the last year?????

I read a few really great books this year in my book group- I would highly recommend them all.
The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane - Katherine Howe
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter andSweet - Jamie Ford
The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak
Clara & Mr. Tiffany - Susan Vreeland

I had #4.  He's cute, and sweet, and my crankiest baby by a mile, BUT he sleeps wonderfully, so I can't complain much.  He's getting big and crawls now.  Oh, he smiles too!

 

Nathan turned 3!  Yes,it is January and he's wearing shorts.

We took a trip to Indianapolis.  Went to the zoo and a baseball game all in one day (I won't make that mistake again!), saw a Transformer at the Children's Museum (spent 8 hours there and could have stayed longer!), and dressed up like cows to get free meals at Chick-fil-A.

 The kids looked cute on Easter.

Vivian turnd 7 and started first grade. She's lost a BUNCH of teeth and chopped 12 inches off of her hair to donate!

Hanging out with Grandma and the girls made themselves into "Monster High" dolls.  I'm a lame-O mom and had to google it to find out what they were.

Sophie turned 5 and had her first friend birthday party- yee haw!

It was a good year :)

How Do You Boo?

I love my Halloween decorations, they're glittery, fun colors and a little on the tacky side maybe.  This year I got a few new things, and made a few new things and then added lots of ribbon everywhere.  It is fairly inexpensive and really adds a lot, in fact I think the theme of all these pictures is cheap. I added quite a few new things this year, but I only spent $10!!!   Here's what I like to do, what do you put up for Halloween?


I already had everything in this picture except for the black crow that I picked up at the Dollar Tree, I just added a strand of ribbon and colored some rice with orange food coloring, the black fabric underneath was leftover from last years Halloween costumes and its sparkly!
The garland was made with paper from my stash that I stitched together on the sewing machine.  The small black pumpkin I got last year at Michael's on clearance and I picked up the BIG orange pumpkin this year at Target in the Dollar Spot for only $2.50!!!



This banner was intended to go above my entertainment center but got way too big for that.  I used a bunch of die cuts I got at Michael's.  I got an enormous pack for on $4.  I still have lots left for crafting next year!

This is the built-in in the kitchen.  The chipboard sign I picked up last year, unpainted from Hobbly Lobby, I think I paid $.30 for it.  I added some scraps of fabric from my stash and a few bits of ribbon.  That is candy corn in the wall sconces and little "flags" tied with ribbon onto twigs, from my yard.

This is probably my favorite spot.  I made the garland a few years ago, and then I just added ribbon to everything else.


This fun sign came from the Dollar Tree- I've seriously found so much good stuff there.  All I needed to do was add some ribbon and a little glitter spray (which doesn't show in the pictures, but really looks great in person)

And, this cute picture was taken earlier in the month when the weather was amazing!  While Viv was at school, Sophie and Nathan decided they wanted to take a nap outside so they rigged up this little set-up and stayed snuggled up for almost 30 mintes.  Definitely not a nap, but I'm not complaining!

Swap til you Drop

My freezer is FULL right now.  I have so much food, but the best part is that food is literally ready to eat!  I organized a freezer meal swap last week and I'm now stocked with 4 meals for the month that are ready to go.  I used one already last week when the hubs and I went out for dinner and so the babysitter just had to pop it in the oven.  I also made an extra batch of my own meal to store in the freezer.  If you're thinking about hosting a swap, do it!  Here is how I organized mine:

1. I decided a group of 4 would work out well, so I contacted some of my friends who have similar sized families and eating habits, (ie. we're not gourmet chefs, but we all appreciate a good home-cooked meal)

2. We picked a date and time and about a week before the swap we all tried to let eachother know what we would be making.

3. Make your food and freeze it the day before.  This will make the swap much easier and also helps in transporting the food home if there's no chance of it spilling.  Also, labeling your food and heating instructions would be a great bonus.

4. SWAP!  I would try to bring a cooler or a box to transport your food home.

This was seriously so great!  I ended up with a gallon of chili, meatball subs, HOMEMADE calzones (Jenny totally outdid us all!), and a great looking lasagna.  I've already eatn the subs, which were amazing, and the calzones are scheduled for this weekend while I'm out of town so there's a nutrituos meal already for the hubs to feed the kiddos.

Give Said the LIttle Stream

I saw this on someone's blog and I thought it sounded like a fun idea. If you would like to play along send me a comment.


Rules:

1. I will make a little something for the first 3 people that comment on this post. It will be a surprise and may arrive at any time in the next 365 days (yes, a year).

2. To sign up to receive a gift from me you must play along too. Share the giving love on your blog by promising to send a handmade goodie to the first three people that comment on your blog post.

3. You must have a blog.

4. After commenting on my post, you have to post this (or similar) on your blog to spread the love.

Leave me your email address and I will contact you.

Invincible

Yesterday was a good day! It made me feel like Super Woman!

All major disasters in the household were averted, I finished a quilt that had been pieced and basted for at least 3 months, I made chili, a carrot cake and helped my sister finish a dress, I did dishes- twice. Whew, I'm exhausted. I think I'll take today off ;)

Big Girls Don't Cry

I made this shirt for Viv's first day of kindergarten and it was pretty easy- I think I'll make one for Sophie and post the tutorial. And, luckily for me, Viv was a big girl and didn't cry. Her mom on the other hand was a big old cry baby and cried the whole 2 blocks home from the school after dropping her off. She had a great day and says she loves her teacher and that getting chocolate milk at lunch is really cool! Oh, and in classic Viv fashion, she says her favorite thing about her teacher is that "she looked fantastic". What a girl!