no t.v. week

What was I thinking? That pretty much sums it up.
During the long winter break, the boys became addicted to the television. In my defense it was freezing and half of the days were red air days. Sure they also were playing with legos or coloring along with the t.v watching, but no matter what they were doing, the t.v had to be on. So between parental guilt and a concern for their little minds, we decided to see if they could go a week without t.v. (yes there is some bribing) Now here is the what was I thinking part. Every single day has been a red air day. Not just any red air day, but the kind that you start hacking and wheezing just looking out the window. So that means no bundleing up and playing outside. (Monkey is mildly asthmatic and Z-Dog has been sick) Lego's are awesome, but they can only last so long. Books are there. Art projects get done. Fighting is often. There has been a swimming party in the giant bathtub every night (huge mess and soggy swimsuits everywhere) No computer or Wii too. There are only 2 days left, but it is the weekend. I just may have to go spend money just for a reason to get out. McDonald's playland is out of the question, gross. Hooray for Joyschool, 1st grade, dentist appointments, cooking class, church and institute. I have finished my book from Daddy Man, taught a friend how to make hair things, made some for my self. Listened to a lot of Pandora radio (mostly the Disney station), so there has been a lot of dance breaks.

A book lasts longer than a dozen roses.

My huzzy-bunz is amazing. I got a package in the mail today and it was a book from my favorite author that daddy-man ordered for me. Some girls get flowers (which I love, don't get me wrong), but my man buys me books. Now every time I read it, or rearrange the book self, (which happens a lot, I love organizing the Terry Pratchett books whether it be alphabetical or chronological or according to the characters, who knows I get weird ideas) I will think of that cute man. Plus I don't have to feel guilty for throwing away some dead flowers, or try to hang them to dry (which I can't stand) and let them gather dust. Unless he gives me alive flowers, I really like that too.

breakable objects and other christmas items

For some reason, I got it into my cute little head that glass ornaments and glass plates would be prefect gift ideas for family and friends. I ended up etching the initials of some friends onto the ornaments and I was brave/foolish enough to let the boys stuff them with feathers. We had a lot of fun and only broke a few. (I ended up breaking more on my own later on) They were pretty cute and I may end up making them next year for my own tree.

I also ended up making more of these plates for my side of the family and some of the families we go to church with. These were less fragile(thank heavens) So far my glass etching projects this winter has reached a total of 46 items. That's 21 ornaments, 13 vases for a wedding, 11 plates and a glass cake pan for my mama. I am officially putting away the etching cream and taking a break.

I saw the plans for this cute wreath made out of scrapbooking paper on some local daytime news show. If I could remember which one, or even which company sponsored it, I would post a link. But I can't, I think the fumes from the glass etching cream have gotten to my head. This is the near finished product. There ended up being so much glitter and sparkle that every time I walk past it I smile. Man, I love glitter. It was pretty easy. All I had to do is cut out a few hundred leaf shapes and push pin them into a Styrofoam wreath circle. It took a bit to do it, but it was easy and fun. And hey, It sparkles!

birthdays

We have had a couple of birthdays since the last time I was on here. Bear turned 1 and is the cutest little monster ever. He reminds me quite a bit of my brother. No wonder my mom lets Brother get away with so much. There is a twinkle in Bear's eye just like Brother's. You can just hear Bear's thoughts "Yes I know what I am doing is naughty, but gosh darn it I am cute, so you will just have to let me get away with it." And most of the time we do. I am in so much trouble.

I had so much fun making these cupcakes. I got the recipe from the Hello Cupcake Cookbook, my new favorite. http://http//www.hellocupcakebook.com/ Bear loved them so much, he ate 2. I made a ton, but lost all the pictures. Luckily my cute neighbor had taken a few of the one I sent over to her.

Today is Z-Dog's 7th birthday. Last night we had a huge party with a bunch of his friends. The theme was legos. We borrowed a TON of Legos from our friend and all the kids loved them. We had a couple of games and pizza. It was amazing how quiet 13 kids can get when they are busy building with legos. Other than the utter exhaustion I felt after I was done, it was actually an easy party to plan. The legos pretty much took care of the whole evening. Those little blocks are just amazing.

Z Dog is an amazing kid. He is ultra charismatic and super smart. He loves to read, a fact that I am so excited for. He has tried starting Harry Potter, but I asked him to hold off for a little bit. I am anxious to share my little book collection with him. I have been collecting all the books I loved as a kid. He has started Sideways Stories from Wayside School, one of my favorites.

projects galor

Sometimes I wonder how many times people have started out their blog with the sentence "It's been a while since I last blogged" or something similar. I could start out my blog with a statement like this, but I don't think I will. After all, It's pretty obvious. If you cared , you could just look at the date of the previous blog. Plus "a while" is just a matter of opinion. To some a few weeks isn't really all that long. Right now, to me, It seems like forever. The only reason why is because I actually have finished A BUNCH of projects.

First we had Monkey's birthday to go overboard on. I ended up sewing and appliqueing 16 tunics for all his guests. I made a cake complete with castle and battle scene. I also modified a dinosaur pinata into a dragon. It was so fun seeing baby Bear battle the fierce balloons in his little knight's tunic. The guests all had so much fun Running around in their tunics fighting with their foam swords and popping the balloons. Daddy Man ended up helping Monkey slay the pinata dragon with a massive replica sword from the Lord Of the Rings. Monkey had a great time, but I was glad when it was over.

A few days after that I started, then eventually finished, 13 glass bowls for a friend's wedding. I used my Cricut and the "Sure Cuts a Lot" program to cut out a bunch of circles with R's in them out of vinyl. After the tricky part of trying to smooth the circles on the rounded glass, I used etching cream to etch them onto the glass. They turned out cute and will look great with the cranberries and candles they plan on using(probably a lot better than the rocks and single ribbon I used in the picture).

I also made all the Christmas gifts for Daddy Man's side of the family. I etched their last names onto glass plates. I don't have any pictures of these because they have already been given out(I know it's early, but I am done) :) I had a ton of fun with these and plan on making one for myself.

It's so fun trying out new techniques and I love seeing my friends and loved ones smile when I give them something I worked on. I guess that's the best part of crafting. Working on a special gift is probably the best way I know that I can tell someone how important they are to me.

Happy birthday daddy man!

just wanted the world to know that it's daddy-mans birthday in 16 minutes. he will be 30 years old. Hope that this isn't a shock to your system like it was to mine!

love you !!!!

pirate ships and castles

We have been so blessed these past few years. Daddy Man has been going to school full time and while he has been in school, we have been living in the Campus Mobile Home Park. The place is getting set to close in 2011 (thankfully we should be out and in the real world this coming spring). In the mean time, people are slowly trickling out and the old trailers are being left empty. There has been a company moving them out and it has been quite an experience. Our front yard has been getting bigger and bigger. Daddy Man Pulled over the back porch of our neighbors so the boys could climb on it. A couple of days later the guy in charge of tearing down the trailers had his workers bring over a matching porch(how thoughtful was that?). Well Daddy Man and I got uber creative and made the Boys a fort. I know, the board in the middle doesn't look too steady, but it can hold daddy man, not to mention Monkey and I dueling with light sabers. We had so much fun building it and have so many more ideas to do, we just need a little more time. And how about all that reusing? How green are we? Now Daddy Man just need a job locally so we can take it with us. It now gets used more than the swing set ever does.

so here is a list of a few of the projects that are in the process of getting done

I am etching some monograms on some glass vases for the center pieces for my cute friends wedding. I have found a program for my cricut called Sure Cuts A Lot and I totally love it. It enables me to cut out basically any true type font I have on my computer(not to mention dingbats, and A Ton of different picts I find on the web). I have been having so much fun with this program!

Another project I've been working on is stuff for Monkey's birthday party. He is turning 4 in a couple of weeks and we are going to have a knight party. I am going to be making tunics for all the kids and we are going to make swords. I will be posting a pict when I get them done.

There is still the old couch I found. Right now it's sitting in the yard peeling. The main problen is that the way I want to change it doesn't match with my current decor. So if I bring that in, I will have to paint, and get a new rug, change out pictures, etc. And we plan on moving in the spring so I am not going to waste the money on a house that is just getting torn down in the summer.