Dancin'

There is absolutely nothing better than having fun with my kids.
Santa brought us Just Dance 3 for Christmas.
We play it nearly every night.
Check out their moves :)

Betcha can't pick what their favorite song is?

My Heart Runneth Over Wednesdays!

my heart runneth over with.....pure joy, sprinkled with giggles.

I started our evening prayers last night:

Mom:  "Our Father who art in heaven...."
H: "Our Father who works in heaven"

Albeit the truth...........it still kinda made me giggle.
And then I reveled in the innocence and pureness of my daughter.

It's gorgeous!

Here's my thrift store find of the year!
For $4.38, I bought this beautiful chandelier, complete with light bulbs and shades.
For about $2.00, I bought some shiny black spray paint.
For $0, my fabulous husband transformed this old, tacky gold light fixture into this stunning beauty!

If only I can get him to remember that in the blogging world, we like to see 'before' and 'after' shots.   He's so eager to make my vision become reality, that my camera is just too slow.

Non-Conventional Therapy

I've been so stinkin' busy lately!
This is the first time I've turned my computer on at home in over a week. 
Not just...haven't gotten on Pinterest, haven't blogged, haven't read the several blogs I follow...haven't turned it on...at all.

I apologize to the what, maybe 6 followers, I have :)  I promise to do better!


Today, I was lucky enough to have lunch and see a movie with my aunt (who I think ROCKS!) 
Good conversation, good movie (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), and kid-free, stress-free time equals some good therapy for me!

C -  How much do you charge an hour?  And when is your next opening?
Love you!

My Heart Runneth Over Wednesdays!

my heart runneth over with......Awe!

Last night I had one of those moments that puts it all into perspective. 
I was reading a Caring Bridge site for a 14 year old who has recently been diagnosed with cancer.
It just gave me goose bumps. 
Then I looked at my three babies...in awe......how did I get so blessed?
I have three healthy (and very loud) children :)
Yes, we've had plenty of medical ups and downs the past year....but nothing like cancer. 
We never had to hear the word 'terminal'.

It really bothers me sometimes that life is so crazy and busy that it takes moments like this to realize how Good God is and how Good life is.
Stop and take a moment to realize it today.

I'm jealous

Sometimes I'm jealous.
And it's not about what you might think it is.



I'm jealous of my dog.
Could you imagine being this relaxed?

You know why I'm jealous.....

because I haven't been able to be this relaxed for at least the last 7 years and 3 months

My Heart Runneth Over Wednesdays!

my heart runneth over with..............blurriness.....
Blurriness because I have NO TIME.
Not enough time to:
-spend the time with my kids that I want to
-see/speak to/or spend quality time with my hubby
-get the crap ton of work sitting on my desk tackled
-sleep the hours I want to
-get the house organized or clean
-put all the laundry away
-blog about the stuff I really want to
-pick up bread....cuz we are almost out
-read my book (The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo)
-call my family and friends....just to talk.....

Calgon....take me away......
or at least give me 3 more hours in the day
Please...

Overthink....no, not me!!

Those of you who know me are rolling on the floor laughing right now........
I over think, um....pretty much everything!!
It's only taken me 35 years to figure that out, but accepting I have a problem is the first step, right?
So I'm trying.
And today I found this:

Hope you find what makes you happy today :)

Activity #3 - Cell Phone Holder

Seriously this is fabulous!
A place to shove the charger cord while your cell refreshes its battery. 
No more cords all over......and i think it's cute.

I started with an empty bottle from baby shampoo and a scrap piece of material (it was probably about 10x10).

I removed the label (which came off really easily).

Then I measured how tall my cell phone was and drew a straight line across the bottle with a marker.



Then I drew this arch shape on the back.  I initially messed up....so I just drew it again.

Now...thanks to my fabulous hubby, I was able to cut the bottle with an X-ACTO knife.  Check out his fancy set:

I then drew a square with rounded edges on the bad of the bottle.....and then cut it out.



Next, I sanded the edges that I cut, just to smooth them out.

I also sanded the bottle so that it would hold the Mod Podge a little better.

I covered the front of the bottle with Mod Podge and put the fabric on.  I then wrapped it around the bottle and cut off the extra.  I folded it over the bottom edges.  I then trimmed the excess around the top.   I put on a good layer of Mod Podge OVER the fabric and then hung it to dry.

Then I cut an oval shape and glued it to the bottom.  I then trimmed all the strings and fray edges and cut the material out of the square.

That's it....it was done.  It took me about 15 minutes tops....pretty cool I think.

Here's what it looks like on the wall.  Can you see my phone glowing with pleasure with it's new home.



Can't wait until we have another empty bottle.

I'm going to make my husband one with burlap.

Activity #2 - picture ornaments

I have made photo ornaments each year since we were married. 
Normally it is purchasing photo ornament frames and putting pictures in.
This year, we (my girls and I) decided to make homemade picture ornaments.

Prior to starting, I printed 2x3 pictures of the entire family on regular paper.  I then cut squares of cardboard that were approximately 4x4.
Then we selected a scrapbook page for the back of our ornaments.  here's a few that the girls picked:



We then used Mod Podge to adhere the scrapbook paper to the cardboard

Then we folded the paper over the cardboard and held the paper down until the Mod Podge was a little dry.  Then we folded a ribbon and placed it on the paper, then placed the photo on top....securing them with the sticky stuff.  Then we put a layer of Mod Podge on top.

I had cut out some circles and printed 2011 on regular paper.  After the fronts were dry, we flipped them over and pasted the circles on the ornament and covered with a layer of Mod Podge.

You can certainly tell the finished products were 'manufactured' by a 5 and 7 year old girl...but that's what makes them so dang cute.







My Heart Runneth Over Wednesdays

My heart runneth over with........Pinterest activities during the recent Christmas break.
I'm going to start with the t-shirt scarves for the girls.

(Note: I am obviously still a novice blogger. I haven't mastered the ability to multi-task with my 5 and 7 year olds and take pictures of every step of my project.....please bear with me....)

We started with old t-shirts.
The purple shirt was plain and the red had an emblem on the front (have to use your imagination).



We cut off the bottom hem (and discarded) and then cut 1/2 inch strips up until the arm pits. 

Once all the strips were cut, we stretched them.

The last strip that we cut off the shirt, we cut in half and wrapped around the pile of strips (you can see it best on the red shirt below). 
Then our scarves were complete! 
Here's my models showing them off:

They are super cute and literally took us about 7 minutes to make!

King of the Jungle (the Jungle that is Our House)

I LOVE this!!!!

2012!

Holy crap....is that right....2012????
It's really hard for me to believe it is 2012.
Where have the past 12 years gone?
I remember when everyone was freaking out about Y2K.  How were our computer systems going to switch from 99 to 00?  I spent that New Year's Eve in Las Vegas on vacation.  It was a riot (Thanks R, C and J for that!)....and shockingly, the world did not end because of our man-made computers.

Since that New Year's, my life has happened....
move to Vegas
new job
marriage
bought a house
2 daughters
move to Nebraska
new job
bought another house
1 son
And about 1000 other major life events

And probably most shocking is that I literally DO NOT remember over half of 2011. I was able to spend the first few months home on maternity leave, then the majority of the rest of the year is a blur.  Doctor appts, monitoring, documenting, worrying, praying, crying,measuring, pumping, freaking out, more doctor appts, a couple hospital stays and a MAJOR surgery later....and poof..... it's 2012. 

What I've learned is that life's about LIVING, no regrets, solely trusting God, and my blessings are bountiful....I mean, burst at the seams, my heart runneth over kind of bountiful. 
Happy New Year to each and everyone of you! 
May your 2012 be filled with peace, joy and blessings!

Spend some time today reminiscing about your past 12 years......thinking of old friends, laughing about poor decisions, trying to figure out HOW you even made it this far in life, crying about those we've lost and being thankful that God gave you 12 years. 
Then start dreaming about what the next 12 years can be!