I must have forgotten what is like to have a new puppy when I finally caved to the kids increasingly annoying requests for one. In the past month we have adopted a 9 month boxer/hound mix from the pound and a 9 week old german shepherd from a breeder. last night the dogs must have came to an agreement that they didnt need sleep and neither did I. Im usually up only once or twice to take them outside, but last nights potty breaks equaled about one total hour of sleep for yours truly. I think it was about 4 am when I finally cracked.
My conversation with the dogs.......
me: its 4 am, did you drink my coffee?
dogs: blank stare
me: you know what sounds good? Well besides sleep...
Water skiing, we should try to water ski in the pool.
dogs: blank stare
me: ok, what about mountain climbing?
dogs:blank stare and a tail wag
me: well then, what do you want to do since sleep is not an option?
dog 1 farts, dog 2 walks away and hides under a bush.
me: hide and seek it is!I go hide on the other side of the fence while the dogs go crazy . I can see them through the fence discussing their next move... dog number one must have decided that we may indeed go water skiing so he decides to attack the rafts. When I sneak around to stop him dog number two decides to trip me and at this point i swear i hear him laughing as i hit the ground. I decide I no longer want to play with them so I go back inside. Five minutes later in my sleep deprived state I think I hear them asking to go water skiing. I agree, and we hea
d off we go to start this all over again...
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Wrote this many years ago......
A friend, a lover, an enemy as one.
It seems like it is ending, though it has just begun.
Each day is different, yet still the same.
Familiar faces without a name.
The clock ticks slowly, time goes by fast.
Wishing it was over, yet hoping it will last.
You love, you hate, you're so confused.
Crying and laughing, because you are really amused.
Losing it all in the passion of heat,
living life with a heart that doesn't beat.
Holding tight and letting go,
without love, you have nothing to show.
Monday, September 26, 2011
dryer vent pumpkin
Found this idea on pinterest and could not wait to try it! Very simple. Picked up a roll of dryer duct vent at walmart for around Five dollars and a can or krylon orange spray paint for around 3. Just cut the duct in half (half to use wire cutter) and placed in circle and hot glued together. Spray paint with several coats of paint and all done! ( I would use a primer, the paint did not stick that well, I had to use 4 coats each!)
Total cost per pumpkin, around 3.00, and these should last awhile, though I do wish I had remembered to weigh them down :(
Total cost per pumpkin, around 3.00, and these should last awhile, though I do wish I had remembered to weigh them down :(
Saturday, September 24, 2011
coffee filter wreath
Ive seen this idea on many blogs and just found it so adorable! It didn't look like it would take a lot of time or work and that is great for someone as impatient as me. One of my closest friends made one with brown coffee filters and it turned out so cute so I thought I would attempt it in white.
I gathered up coffee filters (100 pack of white for only 65 cents) I didn't have a wreath on hand nor did my dollar store so I cut up a pool noodle we had in storage, worked perfectly, yay!
I cut the noodle in half, and then again in half lengthwise. Hot glued and tied the ends together (just to be sure they were very secure)
Then I started scrunching up coffee filters and just hot glued them on one by one, It took about 75 of them to fill up the wreath with no gaps. I left the back plain so it would lay flat against the wall. Look at that, so pretty above my thrift store shelf!
I also think you could wrap the the "wreath" in brown packing tape to assure no blue foam peeks through. You could also use cupcake liners for different holidays.
I gathered up coffee filters (100 pack of white for only 65 cents) I didn't have a wreath on hand nor did my dollar store so I cut up a pool noodle we had in storage, worked perfectly, yay!
I cut the noodle in half, and then again in half lengthwise. Hot glued and tied the ends together (just to be sure they were very secure)
Then I started scrunching up coffee filters and just hot glued them on one by one, It took about 75 of them to fill up the wreath with no gaps. I left the back plain so it would lay flat against the wall. Look at that, so pretty above my thrift store shelf!
I also think you could wrap the the "wreath" in brown packing tape to assure no blue foam peeks through. You could also use cupcake liners for different holidays.
Friday, September 23, 2011
after the fire, bedroom redo
While we were living in the apartment, My girls (ages 16 and 12) had to share a room, so after the fire and buying a new house, we realized my middle child had no bedroom furniture at all. They were sharing my oldest girls bed, dresser, night stands, etc. I was actually quite excited to decorate a room from scratch. After getting her a new (cheap) bed frame, mattress, box spring and shelf, I was ready to get started. We set up the bed and shelf, bought new bedding and I had my color scheme laid out.
My daughter had went to tutoring all summer and at the beginning of the school year her wonderful teacher let her pick out a beautiful, soft , silk type rug from the Rug Gallery. Ive been told this runs about 100 dollars and I believe it is worth every penny , and am extremely grateful that we got this for free! I just love how it matches her room and it feels so amazing!!
Next up was curtains. I actually just found an old white lace see through curtain in one of our boxes still unpacked, and since her room already had blinds I thought it perfect. It matched her room , was girly and looks beautiful. I had some tissue paper left over from a Valentines day gift and it matched her bedding perfectly, so I just used a small finishing nail to nail it to the wall with some ribbon and it works perfectly as a curtain holder, adorable!!! (tissue paper flower was made by folding several sheets of tissue paper accordion style, wrapping a small piece of ribbon around the middle and fluffed it up =)
Next up, We realized she had no dresser (uh oh) . We had a very old, wooden one that had been in our room but we did not use as it was so small and really needed cleaned up. I pulled off all the knobs, lightly sanded it and sprayed the dresser part with krylons high gloss white spray paint (3 dollars a can at walmart) . To match her room, I painted the dresser drawers a glossy red . The picture shows it a bit lighter than it is but it turned out so gorgeous I thought. It needs some updated knobs since I lost a few and I don't really care for the gold tarnished look but it will do until I make another trip to the store.
Then just a few wall decorations. The first one is just cd jewel cases. I printed out the letters, stuck them in the cd case and used some double sided sticky tape to hang them to the wall.
This banner was just a quick easy way too add some fun to her walls. Cardstock paper cut out in pendant shape, red circles cut out with fun shaped scissors and I just used some stencils to trace the letters on white card stock. Punched holes in each one , ran some twine through it and there ya go! All that is left in her room now is to paint and finish up her nook I am working on (that will be another blog)
My daughter had went to tutoring all summer and at the beginning of the school year her wonderful teacher let her pick out a beautiful, soft , silk type rug from the Rug Gallery. Ive been told this runs about 100 dollars and I believe it is worth every penny , and am extremely grateful that we got this for free! I just love how it matches her room and it feels so amazing!!
Next up was curtains. I actually just found an old white lace see through curtain in one of our boxes still unpacked, and since her room already had blinds I thought it perfect. It matched her room , was girly and looks beautiful. I had some tissue paper left over from a Valentines day gift and it matched her bedding perfectly, so I just used a small finishing nail to nail it to the wall with some ribbon and it works perfectly as a curtain holder, adorable!!! (tissue paper flower was made by folding several sheets of tissue paper accordion style, wrapping a small piece of ribbon around the middle and fluffed it up =)
Next up, We realized she had no dresser (uh oh) . We had a very old, wooden one that had been in our room but we did not use as it was so small and really needed cleaned up. I pulled off all the knobs, lightly sanded it and sprayed the dresser part with krylons high gloss white spray paint (3 dollars a can at walmart) . To match her room, I painted the dresser drawers a glossy red . The picture shows it a bit lighter than it is but it turned out so gorgeous I thought. It needs some updated knobs since I lost a few and I don't really care for the gold tarnished look but it will do until I make another trip to the store.
Then just a few wall decorations. The first one is just cd jewel cases. I printed out the letters, stuck them in the cd case and used some double sided sticky tape to hang them to the wall.
This banner was just a quick easy way too add some fun to her walls. Cardstock paper cut out in pendant shape, red circles cut out with fun shaped scissors and I just used some stencils to trace the letters on white card stock. Punched holes in each one , ran some twine through it and there ya go! All that is left in her room now is to paint and finish up her nook I am working on (that will be another blog)
photo/note holder
This was just a cute fun project that I really loved. I found this old board in my garage with no clue what to do with it but I knew it had to be good for something. Off to scour the internet for ideas. After reading many, many blogs on crafts I kind of combined a few good ideas and had a plan. I spray painted a few clothespins, hot glued them to the board, slapped on a few scrapbooking stickers and VOILA! How cute is this? My children have a computer desk set up in the kitchen that is their work area , so I just hung it right above the computer for them to store any notes/papers on .
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Thrift store makeover
This is by far my favorite redo. I found this beauty in the goodwill store for only 8 dollars! I instantly pictured it sanded, painted and put in the entry to the kitchen which was just so bare. I just had to have this!!
I took a photo, texted it to my husband to make sure he agreed with my vision and had the workers help me shove this is my car and away I went!
I just could not wait to get home and get started but sadly, I had no more spray paint so off to the store I went to stock up. 5 cans later I was ready to get started. I dusted it off , lightly sanded it and went to work. I used a cheap black paint as my primer and one can did the entire shelf. I then went to work on my pumpkin painting while I waited for that to dry. Once dry I went over it again with a high Gloss black Krylon and oh was it looking gorgeous already! 2 coats of krylon (only one can!) and it was what I had dreamed of =) That waiting for it to dry was such a downer though. It said 30 minutes but I waited two whole hours before I risked touching it and bringing it in my house. This is the after with nothing on it yet.
And this is after all is said and done. How gorgeous is this!!!????
All in all, I think I spent about 13 dollars for this beauty ($8.00 for shelf, 1 can cheap paint $1.oo, $3.00 for krylon and tax)
CRAFTS, CRAFTS and MORE CRAFTS!!
I love crafts, I love the freedom of creating, designing and seeing recycled items become more beautiful with DIY work. I have done so many arts and crafts since we bought our house almost two months ago but sadly I did not take many before pictures or photos for tutorials though I will definitely start now. These are just photos of my finished projects but as I do more I will explain how to from now on. I will admit I am very impatient and have very little tools to work with so all my crafts are done with screws, screwdrivers, ribbon, paper, scissors, LOTS OF SPRAY PAINT and a glue gun. That is all I possess (for now)
This is my first foray back into the world of crafting. I discovered chalkboard paint (10 dollars at walmart!!) and was instantly in love! This is my daughters (both of them) and my sons rooms. I just outlined a huge square on their wall where I wanted it, rolled on the paint, waited very impatiently for it to dry and stuck decorative duck tape around it as a border. I must say, I was quite impressed with how well it turned out!
This is my first foray back into the world of crafting. I discovered chalkboard paint (10 dollars at walmart!!) and was instantly in love! This is my daughters (both of them) and my sons rooms. I just outlined a huge square on their wall where I wanted it, rolled on the paint, waited very impatiently for it to dry and stuck decorative duck tape around it as a border. I must say, I was quite impressed with how well it turned out!
Oh wow, where do I even start. So much has been going on that I actually forgot about this blog. Since my last post, we moved into an apartment to try and save money to get out of debt and build a home. We lived in the apartment for 6 months until I decided to cook and burn the kitchen down (purely accidental)
The Absolutely wonderful Red cross was able to help us find a place to stay, food to eat and even helped us to replace all that was lost. We were very lucky to find a home to buy on contract through a customer of mine and within one week of the fire we were moving into our new home!!
It is beautiful, My dream home!!! Over 1800 sq feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath, Large and spacious!
The kitchen is my favorite room.
Living room
There will be more photos in my craft blogs as I work slowly on each room :) We have now lived here for almost 2 months and I could not be happier! I have rediscovered my love of crafts and diy art, and now that I am finally a homeowner I am throwing myself full force into my hobbies!
The Absolutely wonderful Red cross was able to help us find a place to stay, food to eat and even helped us to replace all that was lost. We were very lucky to find a home to buy on contract through a customer of mine and within one week of the fire we were moving into our new home!!
It is beautiful, My dream home!!! Over 1800 sq feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath, Large and spacious!
The kitchen is my favorite room.
Living room
There will be more photos in my craft blogs as I work slowly on each room :) We have now lived here for almost 2 months and I could not be happier! I have rediscovered my love of crafts and diy art, and now that I am finally a homeowner I am throwing myself full force into my hobbies!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Christmas in august
Today we took the kids to Santa Claus Indiana ( a mere 20 minutes away).
There is a cute little place called santas candy castle that we got to visit. The kids got to make snow, play in the snow they made and I got to enjoy a nice cup of frozen hot chocolate (delicious!)
Next up was the santa claus museum,
The kids got to write a letter to Santa and leave it in his mailbox for him to write back in Dec.
John and I enjoyed reading letters dating back to 1930!(The kids writing Santa)
Next door to that was the santa shoppe.
What a beautiful place to shop or even just browse.
We sampled some delicious fudge, and the kids even got to meet Santa!!
On the way home we stopped by the site of president lincolns childhood. There are several trails leading to cabins and even Nancy Hanks grave (Lincolns mother).
There is a cute little place called santas candy castle that we got to visit. The kids got to make snow, play in the snow they made and I got to enjoy a nice cup of frozen hot chocolate (delicious!)
Next up was the santa claus museum,The kids got to write a letter to Santa and leave it in his mailbox for him to write back in Dec.
John and I enjoyed reading letters dating back to 1930!(The kids writing Santa)
Next door to that was the santa shoppe.
What a beautiful place to shop or even just browse.
We sampled some delicious fudge, and the kids even got to meet Santa!!
On the way home we stopped by the site of president lincolns childhood. There are several trails leading to cabins and even Nancy Hanks grave (Lincolns mother).
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
New camera!
Well I finally got my new camera and could not be any more excited.
Here is a sneak peek of a few quick shots I took. Shooting in raw and manual is so much better yet so much harder!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
What a joy
Last week my girls actually asked me to do a photo shoot for them. They are so used to me just snapping away that they rarely want me to do a specific one.Granted,
they asked on a day that was close to a hundred degrees, but we did the best we could......
they asked on a day that was close to a hundred degrees, but we did the best we could......
Thursday, May 27, 2010
New Beginnings
This past week has just been an emotional week.
My children have all graduated into new school, that is a huge milestone for me and them. My sweet baby boy is heading into kindergarten, into the world of unknown where he will learn rules, guidelines and make new friends. Mommy will not be able to just not take him that day and go to the park instead as we tend to do now .
My little girl will be entering the halls of middle school. This also opens up new doors for her as she is still so very young and naive and it breaks my heart to know that is about to change.
My oldest is entering the world of adulthood. High school is a huge step that no one can be truly prepared for, its different than any other school year. I know she will learn heart break, jealousy, pettiness and will be miserable at times but I also know these will be the best four years of her life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have always been a very closed off , private person and I don't let many people get very close to me. I have never really felt loved as a child or as an adult so these past few weeks when my friends, my mom and my husband made me sit down and listen or read how they felt about me, it made me cry but only in a good way.
I have only once in 30 years had a "girlfriend" that I loved as much as I could. I let her in , I opened up about everything and I gave her everything I had. She broke my heart.
Once again I did not trust or let people into my personal space.It has been 2 year since that friendship ended. It took me most of this time to let it go and move on. A few weeks ago , I had a talk with some amazing friends who had given me time and space to move on, but yet they stayed my constant (LOST reference) They stayed with me through it all and I even treated some of them poorly because I was so hurt, I blamed them.
I now see that I should have let go a long time ago and concentrated on the ones who matter, the ones who truly do love and care for me and waited patiently for me to see it. To you, my amazing circle of friends, I LOVE YOU ALL and am so grateful for your love in return. I can not imagine life without each and every one of you and I am so Sorry for pushing you away all this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To my husband: You are more wonderful than words can express. You saved me.
I was spiraling into this negative , bitter unloved person and you saved me. I have never felt as truly loved and needed as I do with you. The harder I push you away, the more you love me . You held on until it broke through that I needed you as much as you need me. You are my everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To my Mother:
Thank you for your words, they were what I needed to hear, exactly when I needed to hear it. We will work through this and become closer than we ever have . I believe in us and our family and I know it will all turn out to be beautiful if we both promise not to let go.
My children have all graduated into new school, that is a huge milestone for me and them. My sweet baby boy is heading into kindergarten, into the world of unknown where he will learn rules, guidelines and make new friends. Mommy will not be able to just not take him that day and go to the park instead as we tend to do now .
My little girl will be entering the halls of middle school. This also opens up new doors for her as she is still so very young and naive and it breaks my heart to know that is about to change.
My oldest is entering the world of adulthood. High school is a huge step that no one can be truly prepared for, its different than any other school year. I know she will learn heart break, jealousy, pettiness and will be miserable at times but I also know these will be the best four years of her life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have always been a very closed off , private person and I don't let many people get very close to me. I have never really felt loved as a child or as an adult so these past few weeks when my friends, my mom and my husband made me sit down and listen or read how they felt about me, it made me cry but only in a good way.
I have only once in 30 years had a "girlfriend" that I loved as much as I could. I let her in , I opened up about everything and I gave her everything I had. She broke my heart.
Once again I did not trust or let people into my personal space.It has been 2 year since that friendship ended. It took me most of this time to let it go and move on. A few weeks ago , I had a talk with some amazing friends who had given me time and space to move on, but yet they stayed my constant (LOST reference) They stayed with me through it all and I even treated some of them poorly because I was so hurt, I blamed them.
I now see that I should have let go a long time ago and concentrated on the ones who matter, the ones who truly do love and care for me and waited patiently for me to see it. To you, my amazing circle of friends, I LOVE YOU ALL and am so grateful for your love in return. I can not imagine life without each and every one of you and I am so Sorry for pushing you away all this time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~To my husband: You are more wonderful than words can express. You saved me.
I was spiraling into this negative , bitter unloved person and you saved me. I have never felt as truly loved and needed as I do with you. The harder I push you away, the more you love me . You held on until it broke through that I needed you as much as you need me. You are my everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~To my Mother:
Thank you for your words, they were what I needed to hear, exactly when I needed to hear it. We will work through this and become closer than we ever have . I believe in us and our family and I know it will all turn out to be beautiful if we both promise not to let go.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
yet another grown up
Yesterday my middle child graduated fifth grade and today my oldest graduated eighth . I'm not sure how much more of this I can stand:(
I still remember the day I had Kailene. I was just a baby myself , yet so amazed at this little child , this human life that I was now responsible for.
My father told me not to blink as she would be grown before I knew it, but I thought to myself, what does he know? I was so young I was convinced she would never grow up and that I would always be a 15 year old teen mom.
Well here it is, almost 15 years later and now she is the teen (not a mom though!)
and heading into the next step of her journey into adulthood, she is now a high schooler...........insane.
Kailene in kindergarten
I still remember the day I had Kailene. I was just a baby myself , yet so amazed at this little child , this human life that I was now responsible for.
My father told me not to blink as she would be grown before I knew it, but I thought to myself, what does he know? I was so young I was convinced she would never grow up and that I would always be a 15 year old teen mom.
Well here it is, almost 15 years later and now she is the teen (not a mom though!)
and heading into the next step of her journey into adulthood, she is now a high schooler...........insane.
Kailene in kindergarten
Monday, May 24, 2010
Growing up
My little girl graduated fifth grade today. It seems just a few months ago that Chelsea was this extra wild tomboy, now it seems as if she is a little lady. She fussed over her hair and clothes all morning, I can't believe it...such a sad yet joyous day.
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