i really have things i should be doing...

like laundry, oh my goodness the laundry. like packing, since i'll be leaving in a week. like dishes, because they are just gross sitting in the sink. like blah, blah, blah. Instead, I'm sitting here at the computer. Where is the devotion to a clean house? Apparently, it's been missing for quite a while, at least since Sara was born. :)

I have to applaud all you ladies (and gentlemen) out there that have small children AND have a clean house for more than 15 minutes. Maybe my kids are just crazy. Strike that. I KNOW they are crazy. But I just don't have the energy OR inclination to chase behind all 3 of them all day long. I try and make sure that when Jason comes home from work the living room is clean and the dishes are done.

So, how do YOU keep your house clean and keep your kids happy AT THE SAME TIME? Because you know they're not happy unless they are messy...

Preschool Graduation

I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that Sara will be going to Kindergarten next year; well technically, this year, but you know what I mean. My little snuggle bug is growing up FAST. So far, she loves school and seems to do really well. I sincerely hope that continues. I’m excited for her, but I’m also leery because I’m not going to be there to guide her every step. She’s been going to preschool the last two years, but that was only a few days a week and it was a Christian preschool and everyone was very nice and all the kids were well behaved for the most part. Now she’s going to be going to a public school with all kinds of children from different backgrounds and upbringings. Don’t get me wrong, I think diversity is good, but I’m worried about the little kid that knows all the swear words and the other little kid that pushes everyone around. And if you haven’t figured it out by now, I have a touch of neurosis. Please excuse me. So…anyway, here’s a few pictures from Sara’s preschool graduation. Enjoy!

duga duga

Some of you may know that we’ve been a tad worried about Austin because he is now 18 months and still doesn’t say anything. He babbles like a madman and he understands what you are saying to him, but he doesn’t even say mama and dada routinely. But this morning Austin was laying in bed with me when Jason came in to say goodbye and Austin promptly sat up and said “daaa, dada, duga duga” It was the sweetest thing. Duga duga is one thing that Austin has been saying. Who knows what it means. We think he’s imitating what we say when we’re tickling him. He also says cheese and cook (cookie), but you will only know that’s what he’s saying if you’ve been around him awhile. Otherwise, it would just appear as more babbling. Speaking of which…

And yes, he's in serious need of a haircut...

i've been busy...

I've finally finished a couple little projects I've been wanting to wrap up. The first is a cute little headband. I got the pattern from this website ( http://foofanagle.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/best-band-ever/ ) The instructions are clear and it turned really cute. They have a narrow and a wide version. The one Sara has on is the wide one and I made a narrow one for me out of the same fabric. The cool part...it's reversible and washable! Can't beat that. And it's super fast and easy to make.


The next little project was a little dress for Sara. I got the fabric at Joann's. It comes already shirred, so all you have to do is put a seam in it. Very easy. And she loves it.

I added double straps from ric rac. They don't have to be super strong because the shirring is what really holds it up. They just keep it from creeping down.

And then a little more ric rac at the bottom. I think this is what really makes the dress cute.

And of course the best part about being a stay at home mom...Pretend birthday cakes from my little snuggle bug. And it's not even my birthday. You know you're jealous. :)

I'm just curious, but for those of you that sew and have taught your children how to sew, at what age did you start teaching them? And another question. What kind of sewing machine do you have? Have a beautiful day!

the air circus

EDITED: I wanted to get the pictures up last night, but my brain wasn't working as far as adding any text...O.k. so maybe it doesn't really work that well in the first place, but let's pretend shall we...

They have this air circus every Sunday from 2:30-4. We missed the first half hour, but Jason and the kids went last year so it wasn't a huge deal. Honestly, I didn't want to go, but I'm glad I did. I like to take pictures and this gave me a good oppurtunity. I got some nice ones of the kids I'll post later.

At the show, one aircraft picked up a mail bag like they used to do, another did some acrobatic manuevers, there was a plane that climbed up to 3000 ft or so and shut off his engine and glided down doing loops and stuff. That was really cool. There was a few doing formations. And of course the highlight was the wing walker. The guys real job is a lineman for the electric company. Talk about having no fear of heights. He was great. And I'm sure I'm leaving some other things out, but you get the idea. A real barn storming. Isn't that what they used to call it? So enjoy the pics and I'll post some of the kids later. Oh, and have a beautiful Memorial Day.

Just a few pictures from the air circus that we went to today.

i was so proud of myself...

For those of you with little ones, you may understand what I speak of. Have you ever run into the problem where their footed jammies are perfectly fine except for the holes in the toes from crawling around or are just plain too short? This was driving me nuts, especially with the boys. So, I cut the footed part off and added some knit ribbing, like a cuff, in its place (I think that’s what it’s called). It not only gets rid of those pesky holes, but it adds a few inches in length for a little more wear. I was so proud of myself, until I started wondering why I didn’t think of it before. Duh! If anyone is interested I can post directions.

I got all of my kits out for Ribbon Junkie yesterday. It's kind of bittersweet. It's nice to be done, but I'm really going to miss it. But I just can't wrangle Ribbon Junkie, the move, and all of life's other issues right now. Well, enough rambling for now, have a good one.

me and my baby...

Just me and my baby today. Jason took the older two to an airshow at Andrews AFB. I really didn’t want to go and I really wanted him to take all 3 kids, but my friends, that was not happening. So Austin and I have a big day of cleaning and packing to do. I KNOW you are so jealous you can hardly keep from turning green.

I think I’m going to attack the playroom/office/server room. It would probably be a good idea since the other two kids are gone to go through the toys and purge what they haven’t played with in years. This should be fun. NOT!

And as I was thinking of a new picture that I wanted to post, I realized that Jason has the camera and even more important in this situation…the memory card. Well, there goes that idea. But here’s a picture anyway…(and yes, it’s blurry, and tilted, and Austin is in his diaper-ok so I cropped out the diaper part-, and….but I think it shows the craziness of this place quite well.)

But first a Starbucks run…

imagination and mother's day

Greetings all. I hope things are well in your neck of the woods. It has settled down here somewhat in the last few days. I won't run off at the mouth about the mundane details, but instead I'll share a picture or two.

I will be the first to admit that the kids need haircuts, but, I was just cracking up when I looked up from my desk and saw this. My only real question was how in the heck did she get him to cooperate?

This video is from yesterday at Mother's Day at school. It's just further proof that Logan really knows how to get his grove on, cast and all...and Sara is in there too looking like a ragamuffin needing a serious haircut. I swear it was in a pony tail when I dropped her off... Anywhooo. Enjoy!

uh-oh

I'd say he's a little surprised...Do you think he knows he's doing something he shouldn't? Um, yes...

And at this point, he's like "See, you just can't be mad at this cute little face..." Boy, he's got my number doesn't he.

I have to admit that while I'm not a clean freak by any stretch of the imagination (my house is testament to this), I'm really not all that thrilled with my kids playing in dirt. I know it washes off and their just kids and yadda, yadda, yadda. But it's something about the dirt underneath their little fingernails that they won't let me get out that just makes me want to twitch. And oh my goodness, the hand with Logan's cast...since you can't get it wet, let me just say yuk.

I'm sure most of you already know I'm a little strange and I bet this post just backed up that claim. So I should probably go now. Have a good one.

back to the daily grind...

which isn't always a bad thing...I went to little baby McKenna's funeral earlier this week. I am SO glad I went, but it is probably one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed. My heart just goes out to my cousin Becca and her husband Todd. I pray for them everyday. I don't worry much about McKenna because my Pap is taking care of her, I'm sure. Anywhoo...before I get so teary eyed I can't type...

The kids and I went to the bookstore today to visit Larry and Bob from the VeggieTales. The kids were off the scale excited. I got some video, but am STILL having trobles with it. So when I get it fixed you'll get to see it.

Really, I'm just checking in to say Howdy and let ya know we're all still here and kickin'. I'll get some more pics for you soon. I promise!

sharing

A quick layout I did on Logan's arm. We went today and had his hard cast put on. 2 hours later... He did a great job. I'll get pics of the new cast up soon. It's dinosaurs too!

prayers needed...

Hello all. Just a quick post to request prayers for my cousin Becca and her husband Todd. Their little baby girl Makenna Belle (I don't know if I'm spelling that right) was stillborn yesterday. They found out on Saturday that she was no longer alive. Becca was checked on Wednesday and everything was fine, so needless to say this came as an unbelievable shock. Please keep them in your prayers. Thank you so much.

my little trooper...

Well, since life just can't possibly be easy...Logan broke his arm yesterday. Technically, Sara broke it, but we won't tell her that. They were outside playing and she was swinging and he ran behind her and CRASH! She knocked him down and he just fell wrong and there ya have it. Poor guy broke both the bones in his left forearm. I feel so bad for him, but he's been such a little trooper about it. He did cry, but no more than when he trips and scrapes his knee. He didn't cry when they put the iv in or when they set it, albeit he was on some pretty good drugs, but he was still awake. He's a little cranky now since he's tired and it probably hurts, but I am so pleasantly surprised at how well he's taking it. I'll give you more of an update later, but I have got to go for now.

the word is out...

I've announced officially that I'm closing Ribbon Junkie. It was a terribly difficult decision that I've been struggling with for a few weeks now. As some of you know, I've been incredibly stressed out lately. And I started to have stress induced heart palpitations. Well, at least that's what the Dr told me. And well, he's the one with the fancy degree... So, I've been trying to pare down on my obligations and Ribbon Junkie was a big one. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED doing it, but it was an obligation nonetheless. So....that's the reason behind it. I am thinking of doing some give aways here. I still have TONS of stuff from RJ and need to get rid of some of it before the big move to CA. Anywhoo, I have to go and clean up before Jason gets home. I'll give ya'll a shout later...

School Pictures

For your viewing pleasure...

what my days consist of...

fighting over toys...


tired, cranky babies...


and super cute little kids that I can't get enough of...ok, I lie, maybe I do get enough of sometimes...As usual, things here are OUT OF CONTROL! I've been having a little health thing and not feeling quite like myself, Logan had a ruptured ear drum from and ear infection, and all kinds of uninteresting other things. But I do have a question for you.

The other day I was surfing the news sites and came across this article about grocery bills.

$900 in groceries for a family of 4? I’m pretty sure that’s what we used to pay, but we are a family of 5 with 2 in diapers. Rising prices have DEFINITELY changed the way we shop for groceries. Now we have menus, detailed grocery lists, and try to stay around $150 each week. Sometimes it’s hard, especially when you figure in diapers and that typically puts us over budget when we get them, but we try to factor that in as best we can. We’ve started shopping the ads and check prices online between the 2 major chains here. (Safeway and Giant) One thing that I think would help us even more is if we would shop at the Commissary. Since Jason is in the AF Reserves we have that option. 2 big problems with that is that it is about 30 minutes away and I lost my id card a long time ago and so I can’t go by myself.

Also, gas is CRAZY expensive. We stay home a lot. And I know it doesn’t help that I have a gas guzzling V8 pickup truck, but it was virtually a birthday present, I love it, and I am NOT willing to get rid of it.

And those of you that know me well, know that I’m a Starbuck’s junkie. But I have been cutting that back too. One, because it’s expensive and two, because it’s about a 10 mile round trip, give or take. That’s almost a gallon of gas! Oh, and three because I’m trying to cut back on calories and that’s a boatload of calories in a cup.

I can’t wait to move to California. I know gas will be more, but it seems that most other things aren’t as much as the DC area. That and we have an awesome produce store that is super CHEAP! Well, at least it was when we were there 2 years ago. Maybe I’ll have to resort to growing our vegatables. That is such a scary thought to me the horribly un-green thumb.

So, tell me how has rising prices affected your shopping, etc?

the bear rub

This is soo cute, especially about 2/3rds of the way in.

The Bear Rub

computer issues

I am having MAJOR computer issues right now. I don't think it's my actual computer, I think it's the network, but my internet is SO slow and sometimes nonexistant that I want to beat my head against the wall. And what makes matters worse, is that Jason, a brilliant IT guy hasn't bothered to help me out. Now that just makes me crazy. I sent him an email earlier proclaiming that if he didn't fix it, I was going to tear his computer apart and see how he like it. I'm not exactly sure that he got the email or not...So to make a short story very long, I won't be posting much until I get this fixed. TTFN.

i spy book

got this super cute idea from my new friends over at Quilt Taffy. However, mine didn't turn out as nice as theirs. I don't know if it's because I used smaller blocks or because I'm so lame. But I'm just not feeling the i spy book love. I had planned for a few upgrades, but it wasn't coming together, so I just ditched them. BUT, the good news is that the kids could care less. And that, my dear friends is all that counts. And just to prove how lame mine turned out. I have pictures.




so there you have it. I told you it was lame.... :)

strictly for your amusement

I STILL cannot edit my videos, so you get the good, the bad, and the shakey! But if you can see the video it'll be worth it. Let me tell you Logan has got some moves...