Saturday 24 December 2011

Marc is wrapping in the dining room for me and I'm wrapping in the living room for him. Having a big house is weird (in a good way)!

That is all!
This year's Christmas picture of my children, proved to be just as lackluster as every other year's. It took me about 15 minutes to even locate all 4 of my children at church, then I quickly snapped 2 photos and let them loose. This was the best I got. *shrug* I'm sure one day I'll look back at all of these sweet  under posed, overly thrilled, medicore photos and love them just the same. For now we're just hoping for some good shots on Christmas morning!
These children are getting ginormous,
and I don't like it one bit!
Merry Christmas!

Thursday 22 December 2011

Adventures in Mothering

Look at me blogging every other day!

  • We baked cookies for my art classes, today! I'm not sure how Christmas-y owls are, but my kids insisted we cut some out. 


  • Xavier and I started building a gigantic K'nex set he got for this birthday. We're on step 29, out of 105, and it's taller then I am when it's on his desk. 


  • I'm trying to shoot all my photos in manual. Some stuff I've learned has stuck, and some has not. 

My main accomplishment so far is being able to shoot without flash! Love it!



  • We still do not have any snow to speak of, it's weird. I'm pretty sure I can count all the times we've had a green Christmas in my life on one hand. This is going to put a damper on the sleds I bought for my kids for Christmas. 
  • Now that I've moved into town, I think I've seen more wildlife then all the time we lived in the country. So far I've seen a skunk, a fox, 3 raccoons, and a turkey. I'm not exactly sure which one is getting into my trash cans at night but I wish they'd stop.  
  • My baby daughter is into EVERYTHING! All my other kids went to get into the car last night, and I found her upstairs in the dark, just walking around. Then today we found her up to her elbows in toilet water with her sippy cup floating. Unfortunately, it wasn't the toilet I had just cleaned this morning either. Eeeew! Oy vey! I think I just found the source of my grey hair! (Yes, I have some! See I KNEW i didn't want to get into the thirties!)
  • One of Marc's Christmas gifts, I ordered 2 weeks ago, still hasn't shown up. I'm a little nervous it's not going to make it in time. :-(
  • Tomorrow starts our week and half long Christmas celebrations! Half of Marc's family tomorrow. Our regular Christmas Eve tradition (each of us chooses one favorite food, I make it and we watch a Christmas themed movie together)! And this year even Marc gets to be here with us! Then there's Christmas (ours at home, church, and then the other half of Marc's family). Monday Marc has off. Then Thursday we cash in my birthday dinner from my SIL. And Sunday we have Christmas with my family!  I think I might love this schedule! I always feel kind of let down the day after Christmas because you work so hard to get everything done and it's all over so quickly! So hurray for long drawn out Christmases! 
The End!
*Two shopping days left until Christmas!*

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Miracle on I-81

During our reading lesson today there was a question, Have you ever prayed for a miracle?

 Leia's response was, "Yes, every night I pray that Daddy gets home safe from work!"

It made me laugh! I don't even want to think about how many times it probably really is a miracle!

Sunday 18 December 2011

DIY: Draft Stopper

Today I made 5 of these (yes, you read that right, 5). The Sears House is super drafty now that NY has finally realized it's December. So I went on a quest to find a good, reasonably priced Draft Stopper. The best price I could find was $10 for 1, that adds up when you have as many doors as we do. So I started looking for tutorials on them. I saw a bunch that required you to put a whole bunch of beans in a tube of fabric. That seemed doable, but I didn't have many dried beans so I kept looking. Then I came across these:

They seemed like the perfect idea since we use most of the doors that need them. But then the price tag ($10-$15). I just knew I could make it at a fraction of the cost, so this is what I came up with.

First you need some foam to go on each side of your stopper.
I used 1/2" plumbing insulation.
It cost $1.09 for a 6 foot piece at my local hardware store.
I measured it against the bottom of the door I was working on and cut it with scissors.

Then I cut some fabric (I used corduroy, wool, and this cotton)  into a 14"x 33" (the length of your cut foam plus 2") rectangle

Folded the fabric in half the long way (with right sides together) and sewed the whole thing into a long tube and sewed across one end.

























Then I turned it right side out and sewed a straight line 2 1/2" from each side to form pockets for the tubing.
It's hard to see but it's a white line and a red line.

Inserted the tubing into both pockets.



Hemmed the open end.

And I was done!
I wish every sewing project was this easy!
Once I had the dimensions down I could make these (cutting and sewing) in about 10 minutes. Not bad for only costing me a little over a dollar, huh? 

Helpful Hints:
  1. Your foam can be a little smaller then the door, but not bigger or it won't open and shut properly.
  2. To keep a semi straight line for the foam pockets I marked my sewing machine arm where 2 1/2" was, I used a Sharpie (it'll wear off quickly for me), but you might want to just use tape so you can remove it.
  3. I used push pins to keep my draft stopper in place on my front door. We have a lot of traffic through that door and I knew that we'd be fighting with it every time.


So if you're piggies are cold, go out and make one of these! 
Sewing doesn't get much easier then this!


Family Highlights:
  • Three of the kids were in the church Christmas program tonight (all 3 had lines!), they did great!
  • My kids are all very wound up for Christmas, I wonder if we'll get any school work done this week?
  • I love when Christmas falls on a Sunday! I feel like it's a lot easier to focus on the true meaning of Christmas (Jesus Christ!).
  • We barely have any snow, I wonder if it's going to be a green Christmas.
  • All of the Christmas shopping is done and mostly wrapped. I'm just waiting for a couple things to arrive in the mail.
  • I guess the kids gave Marc these suggestions for gifts for me: Make-up, chocolate, and Jewelry! Sounds about right to me! :-)


Friday 16 December 2011

The Mama Files: Products I Love

I've recently found a few new-ish cleaning products that I wanted to talk about! I wish there was a blog or something that would review cleaning products so that I could get an in-depth opinion before I go to the store and waste my money (there probably is one somewhere, I just haven't come across it yet). Anywho, here's what I like:
Cedar ProMist Wet/Dry Mop
This thing is awesome! You can put your favorite cleaner in the bottle and use the trigger to spray it onto your floor. It's a hand and back saver! Plus you can just take off the mop head and throw it in your washing machine, easy peasey! I haven't tried using it as a dry mop, I have a different mop I like for that! I think  I paid about $20 for it at my local hardware store. To get another mop pad is about $10.


Dawn Power Clean


 This stuff is AMAZING! The first bottle I used I didn't notice that much of a difference, but then I actually read the label. If you give it the suggested 5 minutes it will take off almost anything (even cooked on eggs)! I think it's about the same price as any of the other Dawn Ultras, about $3. 


Zout
 I know this is nothing new, but this stuff is the best stain remover for all my children's stains. I do, however, prefer the kind that isn't in the spray bottle, it seems to penetrate the stain better for me. I honestly have no idea how much it cost, but it doesn't matter, go buy it! :-)

So that's it! I considered putting a little disclaimer at the bottom saying how this is my own opinion and I'm not getting paid to talk about it. But since I have like 3 followers (who I know in real life), I think I'm going to skip it!  In all honesty I'm $26 poorer after reviewing these products then I was to start! :-)

Happy Friday!

*Seven shopping days left until Christmas!*

Thursday 15 December 2011

Gaius Says:

"Mom, I just saw something run across the floor upstairs!!!"

How big was it?

"It was this big!"- holds hands about a foot apart.

Are you sure it wasn't just a mouse?

"Well it could be...or it could've just been my imagination!"



**So far we haven't found anything..**


Tuesday 13 December 2011

Internet Craft Reviews, Part 1

My goal this Christmas is to give at least 1 handmade thing to every person we buy for, I think I did/will do it except for 1 person (a really hard to buy for BIL)! In case I have some PEEKERS that read my blog I'm only to share a few of my projects. I think all my ideas came from online inspiration this year (isn't that convenient?!), but I'm really happy with the end result of all of them.. :-) 

I made a very minor adjustment to this. I just bought a belt that had the right kind of buckle on it. I found one at a dollar store that had a rhinestone encrusted bucket, which I had to pry off (it took me 2 days, and I was questioning my miser ways the whole time). It did, in the end, turn out really great though and I hope my nephew loves it. This project took less then 10 minutes to complete (once I finally got those pesky rhinestones off), because I used good ol' super glue!

I made Shoey 3 of these and they turned out really adorable!  I made a few adjustments on this also.
  1. I used an old baby towel for the backing instead of flannel (did I mention I'm a miser?)
  2. When I bound the whole outside I started in the center bottom front, I have no idea why they would start on the top it would seem like you would be fighting to keep it flat the whole time. *shrug*
  3. I questioned the instructions when they said to use the 31" piece for the whole outside, but that was, in fact, correct. 
To sew 3 of these it probably took me 90 minutes, but I think with practice and no pinning you could whip them out much faster.

I ended up making 3 sets of these. They were super easy and very simple! I followed the directions exactly (see, I CAN do that). There's a version of these going around that you adhere velcro to  the ends to help it stick to the carpet, it's a good idea I just didn't bother. I used fabric paint (the kind that doesn't bump up), and it probably took me about a hour (counting drying time) to make 20 pieces.


Happy crafting!




Saturday 10 December 2011

And we have...

  • SNOW!!! Lots and lots of it! Last night when I was driving home from Christmas shopping it was snowing on and off the whole way home. By this morning the lake effect machine had left it's mark, and went strong all day long. I think we have 2 feet so far.
  • Christmas presents! I FINALLY got my shopping started (and almost completed)! I'm so happy and relieved! Bring on my favorite part, the wrapping! 
  • Lots of Asthma medication...which Gaius is supposed to take until the snow is on the ground....which I just refilled 2 days ago...which now I don't need...
  • Diapers! Do you know how cheap the Target brand diapers are?! It's $14 for a case! S-W-E-E-T!
  • Heat. Love it!
  • A Christmas tree, and it's beautiful! 

Friday 2 December 2011

Friday Five

  1. I LOVE this blog CLICK HERE, and especially this post in particular! I couldn't agree more about handmade things. I actually have a favorite quilt my mom made me when I was 2 that I've loved my whole life, and have made my kids each a quilt when they are born which they all still sleep with (even my big, grown-up, 10 year old. *don't tell him I told you*).
  2. It snowed today, as in lake-effect-wet-slushy-pull you into a ditch-type snow. Thankfully I remembered how to drive in it from 6 months ago and we all got home in one piece.
  3. Christmas is coming....and fast!
  4. I'm almost done with all of my Christmas projects! I have no idea what I'm going to do with my free nights.
  5. Tomorrow I'm trying my hand at making homemade rolls. I must admit I'm a little nervous, bread making intimidates me.

Wednesday 30 November 2011

Wordy Wednesday

I haven't really blogged much because I've been busy getting "my craft on" for Christmas! All I can say is the internet is an AMAZING, crafty place and I'm really excited about a couple gifts I've made this year (in fact I REALLY want to keep them for myself). This must also be the year of the coupon cause everywhere I go I keep getting more and more (can you say marketing ploy?), I think I have like 5 for Bath and Body Works alone! Which FYI they have been running some amazing online deals lately!

Last week we hosted Thanksgiving for the first time ever! It was fun and not really stressful at all...I guess that's what happens when you have an enormous family who all get together a lot, the crowd really isn't that big of a deal. I also turned 31 *gasp!* last week, and had a lovely birthday that started with very excited children and ice cream cake and ended with Christmas shopping and a date night! Whoohoo! Now we're counting down until my oldest turns 10, (7 days *wah!!*) and finishing off the leftovers (split pea soup tonight!).

Our dog has been down right terrible lately, and he really has no excuse because he's not a puppy (in fact he's down right middle-aged). Unfortunately I'm thinking he's going to have to reacquaint himself to his crate. Ah, pet ownership!

I received 2 Bath and Body Works candles for my birthday and I've got to say LOVE them! They are so strong their scent will fill my whole downstairs! 

Shoey had her 15 months check up. She's 24lbs (50-75%), 33 inches (95%), and healthy! Yay! She was not too fond of the shots or having her ears checked. But other than that it was uneventful.

And that's our life in a nutshell....a very large and lengthy nutshell! :-) 

P.S. We've been having an unseasonably warm, and wonderful fall with no snow in sight (other than that little bit I showed you a few weeks ago)! It's awesome! 

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Be Thankful Come on Everyone, be thankful from the bottom of your heart...


As I've mentioned before we were working on a thankful project as a family, it started out great but then life got really busy and we fell behind. It seems to me that it's so easy to get busy and just forget about being thankful. It's not like we're  choosing to be ungrateful for all the little blessings we have on a day to day bases, it's more we just expect all those little things to just be there or they seem too significant to praise God for! When we lived at the Gingerbread House our laundry room was in the basement where my kids rarely would go. I would tell them that I was going down to do the laundry but I never really thought to mention what that meant. Well when we moved here we have a 1st floor laundry room and my kids for the first few weeks were so amazed to watch me fill the washing machine with water, add clothes, remove the clothes, and put them in the dryer to dry. They would ask me to explain the process to them over and over and they would peek into the top of the machines just to see what was happening. I guess before they just thought the clothes magically smelled better when I brought them up from the basement. I don't want them to be that way with all the things we have on this earth. I want them to know that things don't just magically appear and that we need to praise God for every little thing he chooses to bestow on us whether it's small, boring, or gigantic. I'm vowing to make that a priority in my child-rearing! And with the I WANT...er, I mean... Christmas season coming up I'm sure that's going to be a challenge! :-)

Friday 18 November 2011

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

We have snow! AND my kids have their, sort of, Christmas concert for the little private school they attend once a week. It's putting me in the spirit of the holiday....now I want to get our tree!

Monday 14 November 2011

The Mama Files: I sound like a broken record edition

This is probably going to end up in bullet form just because not a lot has been happening...or not really a lot of interesting stuff anyway. Isn't that always how it is as a mom, you have so much going non-stop that you forget what's exciting because even the mundane is busy?!
  • I've been wanting to get back to exercising regularly for awhile (like since we moved here), but haven't' had the motivation. Then I read an article on Michelle Duggar and she said she exercises on her elliptical machine everyday. Now that's motivation! I just figure if a mom to 19 (soon to be 20) can find time so can I! So I've started walking/running my block...which is not just a normal city block. It's 5k and it's extremely hilly (hence the name of this blog, sears house on the HILL),. My goal is to one day be able to run the whole thing. I'm not really setting a particular day to do this by, just because we're right on the cusp of getting feet upon feet of snow. So that's sure to slow the process down. But I AM GOING TO DO IT ONE DAY! :-)
  • Marc and I helped chaperon a youth event. It was fun, but man am I happy I'm not a teenager anymore, there's why too much drama for me...even when there isn't drama there's drama. But one thing definitely stands the test of time and that is this, the coolest people in the world have NO idea they are cool! I got to watch a lot of kids try WAY too hard. :-) 
  • My kids crack me up every single day! I love being their mama! 
  • The Jets lost to the Patriots last night, it was a sad.
  • I've started on one of Leia's Christmas presents and it's super cute and I can't wait to give it to her! *pics coming eventually*
  • And last but not least! I pulled out and washed all of our winter coats and now it's been consistently warm (60's). I guess I should have done that weeks ago! ;-)
And that's about it! Now to get back to this crazy life of mine!

Friday 4 November 2011

Fabulous Friday!

We've been doing a family thankfulness exercise for the month of November. 
Everyday we write on a construction paper turkey or maple leaf one thing we are thankful for, then hang it on our chalkboard as a decoration. It's been rather *insightful*! :-) 

Everyday Gaius picks a different person and writes their name on his leaf. 
Xavier's have been all grown up and thought out (big, grown up boy *blegh!*).
Sho's have been semi-made up (we just pick things we think she's thankful for).
And Leia's have been HILARIOUS! 
So far she is thankful for God, electronics, Mad Libs, and the color yellow! 
I can't wait to go to her everyday just to see what new random thing she's going to come up with!

 I love that my kids are so stinking funny! 

Wednesday 2 November 2011

Time Flies When You're Having Fun...or is it just when you have a bunch of kids?

We just had a super crazy week that turned into a hectic weekend. But it was a lot of fun. 

We hosted one of our church's missionary families. Shoshannah was in fine form, with temper tantrums and all. But in general their family fit right in with ours and things couldn't have gone smoother.
(BTW the Sear's House fit 12 people splendidly!)

Xavier learned a couple new things, like; how to kill a mouse with a broom (thank you Bryan!) and how to play Risk (thank you Josh). 
Leia learned how to respond to sarcasm and teasing, "Do you know how to spell dog? Okay spell it!": I-T :-) 
And Gaius learned how to play with a rambunctious 8-year old, and a very sweet 5 year old!  We had a blast learning new things about Mexico
 (did you know that they eat their pizza with ketchup and mustard on it?! Eeew!). 

We can't wait to host our next Missionaries! 

Monday 24 October 2011

Monday Meandering

Today is gloomy, it puts me in a bad mood. Isn't it weird how weather can do that to you?

We started jacking the house last week, as always it's turning into a bigger and more expensive project that anticipated. It's going to take several weeks for it to be completely done.  *sigh*

I finally decided what I wanted for drapes in the living rooms. I love them, as in LOVE-love them. Now to just paint the walls....another project for another week.

We finally met our new nephew/cousin, Jackson, this weekend! He's a cutie! It's hard to believe Shoey was his size last year at this time. She's such a- huge, get into everything, "talk" your ear off, baby now. 

Gaius told me this morning "Mom! I love you more". When I asked more then what, he said "Peanut Butter"! I like it! I think that might end up being a long standing family joke!

We're having our first house guests this coming weekend...it should be interesting. We'll see how 12 people fit into this house...you know just in case we decide we want to have 6 more kids! :-) Just kidding....no really....I'm kidding!!! :-)

SO I should probably get back to my cleaning. 
grouchy Happy Monday!


Tuesday 18 October 2011

Recipe for Disaster

Ingredients:
A Helper

Peanut Buter


 Vinegar

A sense of adventure

green chilies
sugar
 flour
 peanuts
 salsa
 artichoke hearts
 truffle oil
 Mix and bake at room temperature.


"Ah! Now there's room to fit!"

Tuesday 11 October 2011

The Day Roo Made a New Friend

Sometimes in life all I can do is laugh....not because something is particularly funny but just because there's no other reaction I can possibly muster. Tonight I had one of those moments!
   
    Today when I came home from a staff development day at school I came home to a stinky house. At first I thought it smelled like skunk and then I thought it smelled like dog poop. I didn't find either so I just assumed my dog was having a terrible case of intestinal gas (which is fairly normal for him). <----Can you already guess where we're going with this story?!
   Later Xavier told me he thought he saw a skunk crawl under the neighbor's shed, to which I just shrugged and said "Are you sure? Because, I doubt there would be one out at 2 in the afternoon." He dropped it and I didn't really think about it again.
   So at dinner when the dog asked to go out I thought nothing of it, I let him out and went on my merry way. When we were just about ready to sit down to eat Xavier went to take the trash out and comes in hysterica,l saying "There's a skunk! There's a skunk! And it's after Rufus!" I look out the window and sure enough there's a Hooded Skunk (I googled it) following our dog around the yard. First thing I did was (think"Man! Why couldn't have been NEXT week when Marc would've been home) text Marc. Then I  started tracking it from window to window inside my house trying to decide the best course of action. I realized that if I yelled through our window the command "Leave it" to our dog then he would back away but the skunk would just follow him to where ever he would go. At one point the skunk took off toward the woods and I thought we were in the clear...but then it turned right around and headed back into Roo's boundaries. At this point I knew I was going to need some help of the grown male variety. So I texted one of Marc's brothers and thankfully he came right over with another brother right behind him. They were able to get our dog and leash him to the front porch and then eventually kill the skunk and bury it up in the woods. Thankfully I don't think our dog actually did get sprayed but he did smell mildly skunky so I washed him down anyway. Unfortunately our house wasn't so lucky and the whole left side of it REEKS!!! It's seriously so bad I can barely stomach it. Lets hope the predicted rain comes soon to wash the stink away!

Oh my life!


Seriously.Never.Ever.Dull.

Tuesday 4 October 2011

MOPS

Today when we where leaving MOPS Leia asked me "Mom, why are you so happy?" This sort of caught me off guard but i responded with "I don't know, I guess because I got to spend time with my friends. Why are you so happy?" "I'm happy because you're happy" she answered. :-)



Seriously i can't say enough about our MOPS group! Everyone really needs to join their local chapter, you can find it *here*! And if your kiddos are too big, then see if  you can get involved in another way (volunteers?!) you won't be sorry!




Off Topics:
  1.  I am LOVING the updates to blogger! But then again I didn't mind the recent changes to facebook that everyone seemed to loathe so much, so maybe I'm the only one.
  2. Gaius is doing a lot better and we now have a plan for managing his Asthma so next time it won't be so traumatic. 
  3. I love fall- and the fruits and veggies that come with it!
  4. For some reason I have this one line from a song running through my head over and over "When I was 17 it was a very good year..." Frank Sinatra is haunting me!
  5. Less then 2 weeks and Marc finally has some vacation time!!!! It's been a loooong summer.

Monday 3 October 2011

Day 3...

...of Gaius on Prednisone.
 Life is definitely interesting! 
I've been on Pred a million times before because of Asthma attacks so I can relate to my little guy. 
**Enter side effects amplified by 1000!** 
We are on an emotional roller coaster people!!!
When Gaius is not laughing or crying hysterically over anything and everything, he is flitting from one thing to the next in record time. For example, yesterday Gaius comes running into my room with his piggie bank screaming at the top of his lungs "MOM! YOU'VE GOT TO HELP ME GET THIS OPEN SO I CAN GIVE DADDY A DOLLAR FOR HIS BIRTHDAY!!!"
But before I even had a chance to pry the cork off the bottom of the pig he was running off to his room to "get dressed for church". Five minutes later when I went in to check on him he's standing there in only underwear playing trains with his church clothes in a pile forgotten on the floor.
Today has been more of the same except for, the icing on the cake, when we went to my parents and he literally ran from one side of their house to the other for 20 minutes straight!
He resembles the boy from the movie "The Incredibles"!
Thankfully hyper activity sort of cracks me up and I know after tomorrow we'll have to deal with the emotional carnage known as "coming off of steroids"!
Today I'm just going to bask in the craziness that is known as my life!
It would be quite frightening it if wasn't so entertaining! 

Friday 30 September 2011

Friday Five *Weezy Edition*

  1. Woken up at 5am to a weezy 4 year old
  2. Gave a Nebulizer treatment to said 4 year old and took to Grandma's for the day so I could teach art.
  3. We painted in art class, all grades, even my K-1 (8 little boys), it wasn't a good idea.
  4. Got a desperate call from Grandma that the 4 year old wasn't doing well and needed to go to the Doctor's 
  5. Went to the Doctor's, and found out that Gaius has Asthma. Long story short after 2 neb treatments and a steroid shot he's doing much better. Long story long, 4 year olds and steroids should not mix. He was literally crawling all over everything in the house! We'll see if we get any sleep the next 5 days.
And that's my Friday, wanna trade?!

Monday 26 September 2011

"They Call Me Mello Yellow"

Here's your chance to give me your 2 cents!
Which color should I paint my bedroom?
You can leave me a comment OR click on the poll in the sidebar!
BTW "C" is my front runner at the moment!

Friday 23 September 2011

Remember when you were 11? I think when I was 11 my main interests were playing various games outside with the neighborhood kids after school, playing with my baby nephew, having sleepovers, and playing Barbies.

Here's a conversation I had with an 11 year old today.

L- "Is that a Blackberry Mrs. Steele?" -while looking at my phone

Me- "Yes"

L-"How do you like it?"

Me- "I actually don't like it that much. I'm waiting for the iPhone to come to Sprint."

L- "What?! Why don't you have Verizon?"

Me- "Well because Mr. Steele uses a lot of data so we have to have a good data plan"

L- "Oh!" - Shrugs in complete understanding and walks away.

I guess it's a sign of the times, but it still made me laugh to think about having that conversation with a child.

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Gaius just came in looking for barn boots so that he could jump in mud puddles. After i told him he needed to check the coat room I hear him talking to himself saying: "Okay, you're okay. I'm fine. It's not too scary!" It made me smile!

Friday 16 September 2011

Movable Window Pelmet

This is my first ever tutorial.
I'm sorry in advance and I'm sure someday I'll look back and cringe at this post.
*Man am I having 4-H public presentation flashbacks!*

I started with:
  • a very large sheer window panel
  • fabric glue (FYI: The "Ok to Sew" brand is not my favorite because it dries with a slight blue cast)
  • 2 spools of 7/8" wide black grosgrain ribbon
  • 1 spool of 7/8" wide antique white grosgrain ribbon
  • 2 yards solid black cotton
  • duct tape
  • 2 cardboard boxes
  • a curtain rod with a very deep arch (bend? pocket? whatever you call it).


The first thing I did was split the panel in half and hem the raw edge. Then I glued the black ribbon over the seams all the way around. *Why I didn't just sew it is beyond me and next time I'll just do that because the glue took FOREVER to dry*

Next I split open the boxes
Since my pelmet was going to be exactly the width of the side of the box I just cut them down each fold and I cut off the top and bottom flaps on all but 2 because I wanted it to be as stiff as possible.
For this particular project it took 4 and half sides. I actually don't know the measurements of this window because I used the rod as my guide. After I measured and double checked I duct taped all of the box sides end to end leaving one flap on each end.
Then I taped my black fabric onto the cardboard trying to keep it as tight and smooth as possible.
After that I took a ruler and chalk and marked the lines for where I wanted to glue the white ribbon on. I did this because I KNEW I would never be able to keep it straight that whole distance. After I glued the white ribbon on and let it dry all night I found out that my glue was showing through even though it was dry. So to cover that up I used some black satin ribbon I had on hand and glued it on top.

Then I taped the daylights out of the back of the pelmet and the rod.

After I hung it up I realized that the corners were pulling away slightly, and although probably no one else would notice I knew it would annoy me. So I bought some corner brackets.
I ended up just taping these on too because the screws were too long and would poke through to the front.
Then I hung the whole thing up on the existing curtain rod brackets.
*Closed*
*Open*




I really, REALLY love how it turned out! And I'm starting to get a vision for what else I want to do for this room!
I'm planning to paint the walls a Terra Cotta color which will hopefully be done by Thanksgiving! I also have a lot more ideas but you'll have to wait to find those out later! :-)



*You may be wondering why I didn't just make the pelmet out of wood. The answer is. 1.) I don't have a saw, 2.) I wasn't sure I'd like it and it would be permanent, and 3.) I wanted to be able to craft it!*


Happy Friday!

Thursday 15 September 2011

It's Coming!!!...

My very first tutorial that is!
I refashioned some old curtains and made a pelmet!
I can't wait to show you because I really love how it turned out!
But it still needs a little more tweaking.
And FYI having to keep stopping and taking pictures while you're in the middle of a project is super annoying, but I did it anyway just for you! I hope all 3 of you feel special! :-)

Stay tuned!



Tuesday 13 September 2011

What do you know. I start a new blog and then life goes and gets busy so I have no time to post anything.

So far this week has been both heartbreaking and beautiful all rolled into one. One of my friend's 17 year old son died late last week in an ATV accident. The last few days have been filled with funeral and burial services.
Death and sorrow are very interesting topics to explain to children... this year it seems like I've been explaining it to them a lot.
One thing I do know for sure is, I have so much awe and gratitude for my Lord Jesus Christ.
I was talking to my kids today and we were talking about how Jesus knew 2000 years ago that "Aunt Ren" was going to feel this way today and that his death made it possible so that she wouldn't be separated from her son for forever. Jesus made it so that we could all be together again someday because the people we've lost this year have also been children of God.
It is kind of nuts to think about it from a mother's point of view. To think Jesus cared enough for this one mother and son (out of the 106.5 billion people who have lived on this earth *take the number with a grain of salt*) enough that he made it possible for them to be reunited one day. Blows my mind!
How much love is that?
John 15: 13
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend.

I feel hopeful for "Aunt Ren" and her family. Because death really is not the end, in fact I think it might be just the beginning.
And I'm praising Jesus for his love tonight!

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Friday 9 September 2011

The Week Known as Crazy

This week has raced by so quickly I was barely able to keep up.
It start with the deep cleaning of the Gingerbread House for our "tenants" (a.k.a. Marc's brother and his wife). Then there was soccer, soccer, soccer, and some prayer meeting thrown in. It's taken all week but I DO have my bedroom all rearranged and unpack *YAY!*. Which also resulted in me finding the other half of wardrobe! *It's almost like Christmas!*
I'm back to teaching Art at a local private school. At first I was dreading it but I'd forgotten how fun it is! Even my K-1st grade class of 6 little boys wasn't too scary they were just happy to be cutting and pasting!
Now I just need to make it through the weekend! :-)

Friday 2 September 2011

Friday Five

  • We received our first tax bill for this house. *YIKES* Signing up for STAR asap.
  • I stopped at a random garage sale today and it happened to be all complete outfits from Gymboree in Leia's size!!! SCORE! And the woman running the sale was really nice so I invited her to MOPS!
  • I'm ready for the weather to stay consistently cool so I can change over everyone's wardrobes.
  • I REALLY need to unpack our bedroom so I can find all my clothes (in fact I think I'll work on that as soon as I post this!)
  • The Gingerbread House is rented! *Yahoo!*


Wednesday 31 August 2011

That's So Random

I had a couple interesting conversations yesterday with random children that I came across during my day. The first was with a 15 year old boy and his mother in the ped's waiting room and the other was on the sidelines of a soccer field with 2 little 5 year olds.
We'll start with the least disgusting story first.

At Sho's Dr appointment there was a 15 year old who was talking to his mom about his future plans, it wasn't a usual teenage boy conversation. He started by talking about what he was going to name his children one day. This instantly makes me start ease-dropping stop and think how odd it was for a boy (who I would have guessed to be 13) to be thinking about. In case you were wondering, if it was a girl it was going to be Gabrielle and if it was a boy it was going to be Ius (I can't remember how he spelled it, but YES he did have the spelling all planned). Upon hearing the boy's name I immediately piped in that I had a Gaius at home (he wasn't impressed) so his mother started telling me about all of his other plans. Like how he was going to get married on his birthday (during a specific year) so that he could have his first child on the Easter of the following year, which would be 9 months later. He also went on about how he was going to have to find a girl that would want to have 3-4 children, like muscle cars, and be a certain nationality (I dont' remember what it was now). I can honestly say I've NEVER met a teenager who had this much planned out in their head at 15, let alone a boy. I do wonder, though, how he's going to handle it if things don't go exactly as his plan.

My other story is of a totally different nature but still rather funny!

I was sitting on the soccer sidelines waiting for soccer pictures to finish up after our practice and 2 little 5 year olds come up to me. They look around at my blanket with all of the trash mayhem that used to be snacks my children consumed while we were waiting. One of the boys picks up Gaius' half empty Powerade and tells his buddy "I'm really thirsty" then looks at me with big puppy dog eyes. Of course I tell them no they can't have any because it has germs on it. So they look out across the field and spy a Mt. Dew bottle sitting under a bench and take off. I didn't really think much of it because A.) they aren't my kids, and B.) I figured it was empty, so I start packing up our stuff. Well they come back with the soda bottle and promptly ask if I'll take the top off for them. Just to be sure I ask them where they got it, and they reply "Oh we found it over there". This leads to my next response of "Um, I don't think you should drink that since you don't know who's it was. What if they're sick?" They try to convince me that they won't put their mouth on it and just pour it into their mouths. This instantly reminds me of an article I read once about how the last few drinks in the bottom of a bottle you're drinking from is mostly just back wash. So I tell them what any slightly nauseous mother would "You better go ask your mom or dad". The one boy quickly says okay and calls for the other to come with him. The other's textbook response; "No we can't, she's [mom] going to say we can't have it." So with relief and thankfulness (and all of my supper still inside me) I get my kids all packed and loaded and leave thinking "Well that was weird. Thank goodness whoever left their trash on the field at least screwed the top on tight."

And that was my very odd Tuesday!

Oh! And here's Shoshannah's stats
21#14oz (65%)
31¼" (85%)
47 cm (93%)
She's my big bobble-head! :-)

Sunday 28 August 2011

Shoey's First Year

0. The I'm out of the womb and not happy about it stage
1. The I'm new and everybody loves me stage
2. The I'm a smiley baby stage

3. The I'm a new baby and everybody loves me part deux stage

4. The baby's first Christmas stage

5. The I'm a brand new bottle guzzler and pretty happy about it stage

6. The I just found my tongue stage

7. The I love "Lala" stage

8. The look at me I'm sitting up stage

9. The I'm ignoring the weird black box mom keeps sticking in my face stage

10. The look at all the crazy ways I can bend my body stage

11. The I love water stage

12. The I'm the baby and everybody loves me stage, part 1000

My heart aches to think that a whole year has gone by already.
One down, 17 more to go. *sigh*