It's Been a Week

I'm thankful that the week is coming to a close. I always long for weekends...the relaxing, the games, the fact that "daddy" is home for 2 whole days!!

This week, the baby got some sort of "bug"...the Pukies, we like to call it...and I guess you might as well add the Poopies too! It's been a mess. And I'm a disinfecting freak to boot! I have bleached and lysoled and pine soled just about every inch of this house twice, and have redone all the laundry, bedding and pillows. Therefore...It's Been a Week!!!

I think we're on the mend though and I look forward to some sort of normalcy for awhile. I've been really caught up in a lot lately and I know God is just calling me to just slow down. I have a hard time "being still". I'm a doer...If I'm not in constant motion, then I'm doing something while sitting down...my mind never seems to stop. I've had fun with all these projects and I feel a neat sense of accomplishment once they are complete. I'm anxious to finish those Narnia dresses, the girls beg to try the pieces on every morning. But, once they are done...it's my time to be still I think.

I'm also person who has high expectations for myself. Whether it's a clean house, well behaved children, homeschooling, spending money, projects, even blogging...I sometimes push to the point of exhaustion because I want to give my 100% in everything...yep, it's time to slow down...time to sit back and listen...time to be God's little girl and see what He has in store for me.

I'm starting a new Beth Moore study in March...The Esther study...I'll have to let you know how that goes...

anyway...that's it for now...

Project Pictures

I guess I sort of dropped my Project 365 and turned it into "how many can I do in one week"?

Here are the pictures of the things I've been working on:

I walked into a Pottery Barn Kids and saw this cute canvas (pic on left)...it was made out of buttons and wallpaper circles. I thought, " I can do this..." Came home that night and created pic on right. It's not as pretty, but it's $0 versus $179...so I'm happy with it!

This was Daddy's Valentine gift. The girls and I painted these huge letters...we had so much fun. Then we took turns taking pictures of each other...insert this all into photoshop and tada...there you have it!
Here are the Narnia dresses that I'm working on...actually just finished the bodice to the Susan dress this evening...so hopefully I can put it all together soon and show you the finished product. This is all crazy to me...I'm driving my mother and mother in law nuts with all my phone calls for "HELP"!!! But, we're slowly making progress!
Lastly are these adorable little books. I found them at Michaels for a $1 each. They are about 3.5 inches tall...They have little photo slots. The girls had a beautiful Colonial Tea party and I just journaled and put in their photos..each girl will get their own book...so fun!

So that's been my week...hope you enjoyed the pictures...I need warm weather to come soon so that I can get back to normal!!! Have a Happy Valentines!

Happy Valentines Day...

I'm enjoying my family at the moment...but, will come back soon and post some pictures and relay the "events" of my week! Have a LOVEly day!

We've had a great morning so far: red, heart shaped waffles for breakfast...valentines for the girls...a surprise board game that we've already played a zillion times...and lots of hugs and kisses!!!

This was BEFORE we remembered the red food coloring...

This was AFTER...

Pictures are coming...

BUT...I started yet another project...I'm telling you, I have completely lost my mind...

The butterfly canvas is done and hanging on the wall...
My husband's valentine gift from me and the girls is framed and ready to go...
Narnia "Susan" 's dress is cut out and ready to begin sewing...(poor Lucy will have to wait a bit)
And...project #4: ???

Well...my mother in law had an incredible idea that she carried out today...Earlier in the week, she "invited" my older girls and their two cousins to a Valentine Colonial Tea Party at her house. She picked them all up at noon. They got dressed into their shifts, colonial dresses and those little cap things on their heads...She had an elaborate tea set up in her dining room. They had "tea" sandwiches in the shape of hearts, chocolate covered strawberries and chamomile tea...Each girl got a little red tulip to take home along with a valentine goody bag. She had them begin "samplers" and make friendship bracelets, all this after they watched the Felicity movie together with their dolls. It was just an incredible afternoon...

I gave her my camera (I didn't want to come over and interfere) She got some great shots...well, while I was at Michaels picking up a frame for my husband's little gift (again, picture this weekend...gotta give it to him first!) I saw these adorable 3 inch photo slot books...I thought, "huh, why not put together a little memory book for each of the girls about their Colonial Tea" And thus...project 4 began...the pictures have already been sent to be printed...so I just have to print out the journal tags and put it all together...I'll take a picture of this as well...

I can't wait to share it all with you...but, I'm not sure how much longer my body can handle doing this many things at once...gotta take a breather soon...but those dresses are gonna take forever!!!

One day I will be back to being "still" and contemplating things...but for now, I'm on a short sprint and I just feel like writing the "facts" of the day...thanks for bearing with me!

Cabin Fever

I'll start right off with a promise to post pictures after Valentine's Day...You see, I've had cabin fever. I told this to a friend the other day and she stared in disbelief, "YOU...cabin fever? I don't believe it!" I'm usually the homebody...I don't necessarily like going out all the time or running from one activity to the next. I just really like staying home.

That is, until I've been INSIDE for days on end with 3 little ones running around and laundry piling up!!! So, with my cabin fever I've gone a bit "project happy". As if I don't have enough going on throughout the day with homeschooling, cleaning, playing with baby, running, not to mention attempting to get a shower by 3pm, fixing dinner, getting one or the other child to swim lessons or ballet (IF the weather permits)...NOPE, I go and get project happy...

Over the last 4 days I have started three(and finished 2) projects. On Saturday we went to get our "family photos" taken. Now, I'm usually the photographer in our house, for all the kids yearly pictures, etc...but I just can't seem to figure out how to take a picture with ME in it and expect everyone to be looking at the camera and smiling...so, I got a coupon and off we went. Needless to say, photo shoots that are "scheduled" never really turn out all that great...so while we waited, because they were backed up about a 1/2 hour, we went over to PBK. I love going there because I get all sorts of ideas...and I was not let down! There on the wall was this cool canvas...it had buttons and wallpaper samples sewn onto it in a shape of a butterfly...you can go to their site and check it out potterybarnkids ...it's really sweet. But, immediately I thought, "I can do that"...and I did!

I came home that night, ignored the dirty dishes, laundry on the couch and playroom disarray and I sat down with all my collections of buttons, an old canvas I had behind a couch and some multicolored foam and I made my own version of the butterfly...(again, I will post pictures soon...)

I want to wait for this reason: I started and finished the 2nd project tonight...it's a Valentine's Gift for my husband...dont' want to post pics until he gets it...but, it will come soon. All the kids were involved...it's pretty cool!

Lastly, and this one is really quite "amazing" for me...I shouldn't really be attempting it at all, but I threw caution to the wind...I'm stuck inside anyway...so here we go! I went to Joanns and bought the coolest material for both older girls (only spent a total of $26 on all supplies) and I'm planning on sewing (yes, I actually said SEWING) Narnia Lucy and Susan dresses for them...I plan to start the pattern cutting tomorrow night! They play Narnia CONSTANTLY! They eat, live, breathe, dream narnia...I swear, they ARE Susan and Lucy right now! So, what better way to act the part than to really dress like it! We'll see how far I come by the weekend...

And so I conclude this blogging this evening, exhausted, but happy! I like that sort of stuff and although if you came to visit, you may have to move over some folded clothes on the couch in order to sit down...just know that I'll pretty much stop everything and sit and have a nice chat with you! We can talk projects and kids and keep hoping for spring!!!

Needs Vs. Wants

No need to say that the economy is tough right now. I think everyone feels it, whether you feel it directly or your heart breaks as you watch others having to deal with layoffs, loosing a house, calling off vacations for that year, selling your own possessions...etc. etc. etc. My husband has always been a frugal person...not just frugal, he's really wise with regards to money (at least in my humble opinion) He just always strives and is conscious about being a good steward. He had to teach me a lot when we first got married, about being on a budget and what that "actually" meant...he taught me about catagorizing and saving up and prioritizing and the freedom that that brings (which completely threw me at first...how does a budget bring freedom?) Anyway, in turn, with our young girls we talk about money things as they come up...like in a grocery store, or if they see a commercial or espeically now with friends who's parents are loosing their jobs, etc. I guess, even more so now, we've been discussing how to save our "tooth fairy" money and tithing and spending.

In Social Studies we've been touching on economics...you know, needs, wants, consumers, producers, goods, services, etc...on a level that an elementary child can understand. So, my oldest has been trying to decide whether she wants to start saving up for an American Girl doll or a digital camera (like Momma:) We've discussed the prices of both and what it means, etc.
We've talked about how while we're saving our money, Daddy has to make sure we budget for all our needs before we can go out and get our wants. Because of this she is ALL about sales and coupons and keeps me on track at the grocery store, "No, Mom don't get that this week, it's not on sale, we'll just wait till next week." or today, "Kroger has milk 10 for $10...let's go there before we go to Meijer"...cute huh?

Yeah well, we had to stop at Office Max to pick up some ink cartridges for the printer...while we were there, she was staring at all the cameras...looking at the prices...asking questions...and then she just got quiet for a bit...and then,

"Mom, a camera is a want right?"
"yep, honey...and the most inexpensive one that is still a good quality is about $100 babe!" I replied.
"Mom, how much was YOUR camera when Daddy got it for you?"
"Umm...well, Mommy's camera is a rather big one and it was probably around $700-800 when Daddy got it"
She got quiet again...
"So, did Daddy take care of all your needs first before he went and bought you your want?"

Smart girl...definitely her daddy's girl at that!!!

SLOUCHER

No, I didn't say "slacker"..I said slOUcher...I tend to "slouch". In other words, I don't sit up straight, nor stand up straight. I've done this for years. I can still remember my dad tapping me on my back, "sit up straight little girl or you're gonna wind up with a big hump back"
Ha! I thought...that'll never happen...well, fast forward a decade or 2, and holy cow, I still slouch and it's harder and harder to stand up straight anymore...whaddya know, dad was right! He may be pleased about that, but I'm not so much. What to do with a rounding back in my "early" 30s?
Enter: Pilates! My MIL swears by them...my response: OUCH! I drink a ton of milk and get plenty of calcium for my aging bones. I run, get my blood pumping...but what I have not really done is any strength training for those flabby muscles, especially the ones that if I suck it in, it would hold my back up straight...and so, I started doing pilates recently.
If you ever want to feel like you are pitifully out of shape, like a weak-ling, or want to feel incredibly sore ALL over for days afterward, I suggest you try PILATES! yippee!!
Sounds enticing doesn't it? The thing is though, I'm sitting up straighter, my shoulders seem to want to stay back and dare I say, I "might" have an inch or so off my waist? (insert gasp!)
I would put a picture on this post but it would be terribly embarrassing...we'll see what happens once I can actually hold a pilates position for more than 3 seconds...
I'm off to run and then do the wonderful pilates routine...sore body, here I come!