I found another one!

Okay, I went over to Just Another Day in Paradise to check out what else she had on her wonderfully cute little blog and found this hat that she made.  Yea!  Something else I can make for my boy!  If you would like to check out more of her pictures for this adorable little guy hat, visit her here!  I'm very intrigued to make this!  I might have to make one for me as well!  It is pretty freakin cute!

Another crafty idea

Okay, so it is late and I have insomnia (don't know if I really do or not but I am up late again!) and I like to peruse the blog world while my family dreams of sugardrops.  I always find adorable things for my baby girl to make for her, but I rarely find things for my boy.   He isn't a baby anymore, unfortunately, so the majority of boy things I find are geared for the very young boy.  Well, I found this tutorial over at Ucreate on one of her guest blog tutorials here by Larissa at Just Another Day In Paradise. 

Shhhhh, don't tell CX, but I think I might whip one of these out for a little sumpin sumpin for him.  He always gets bummed when I make something for Lil' Sis.  It's just so hard to find awesome things for boys.

What do you think?

I think he will totally dig it!  I'll be posting pictures soon!  Thanks for looking today.

Laundry room cabinets

I got my cabinets for the laundry room installed, finally, last Thursday.  I really love the way they turned out, but man, they take up a lot of room.  I thought that I had a huge laundry room, and I still do, I just have storage space now.

I'm waiting on the trim to get installed so that we can move the washer and dryer into their new home.  Don't want to have to move them once they are already in place.  Hopefully that will be happening next week.

Today I am waiting on the tree trimmer guy to show up.  We have a tree that we have to get removed before our excavator can move our retaining wall.  Our yard will look very weird without it, but I still have a hard time recognizing my house anyway.  The only thing sad about the tree being removed is the fact that my husbands best friend, Zeus, his dog, used to lay at the top of the hill underneath the tree and watch guard.  He was the best dog!  The kids still talk about him. 

My tree is kind of sad looking, but at one time it was very full and round.  That is, until the utility guys came by and hacked it up.  I understand that they have to do that, especially since we are so prone to ice storms here, but it just makes the trees so ugly.  Guess I'll have to plant me some trees, away from the power lines.

Update

So, just a quick update with what has been going on with my life.  My friend, Aimus, went thru her surgery with flying colors.  Just like we all knew she would.  She is back at home recovering and will be up and running around in no time.  My husband was concerned, since they were rooting around in her brain, is she still gonna be the same?  Her humor, her smile, the way she wrinkles up her eyes when she is getting ready to zing you with a sarcastic remark (which she is very good at, by the way.)  Well, all you have to do is talk to her and she is exactly the same, minus some hair on the back of her head!  She wasn't able to see out of her left eye right after surgery and it is still very dark, but it is slowly getting better.  She had so many people praying for her and the doctors, this has all been a blessing and she is a miracle!

Sooooo, anyway, I have been having an itch that I need to scratch and I wanted to share it with you! 

I know, it doesn't look like much, but I made it out of one of the MANY pallets that I have in my yard from all the bricks and stones that were put on my house.  It was my first time using a sawsall and man, was that an awkward tool to use.  Well, I then found out, that the blade was on backwards....no wonder it was such a pain in the rump to use!  Geez!  Anyway, I have this blog that I love to check out, called knock-off wood.  She gives you very easy and simple plans to make furniture that you can make for a fraction of the cost.  Seriously! 

I was so excited with the shelf that I wanted to try my hand at something else.  Soooo, I went to lowe's, took my material list and spent about $20 on wood and a bit for my drill.  I cut all my pieces, which took about 20 minutes and then I had to paint them.  That took forever!  If you are going to put furniture outside, she recommends painting it before you put it together so that all the cuts are sealed.  So, here is my pile of pieces before I got to put it all together.  I painted them sand and then used a black glaze to antique it.  I love the look of worn pieces, it makes me feel like they have a story, as if they have history and have been loved.

I followed the instructions and now I have this adorable little bench for my new front porch.  My kiddos love it and now think that I need to make a pillow for it.  "It's great mom, but it's kind of hard after a while."  Rotten kids! 

Seriously, I rave about this site to all of my friends when they say that they want new furniture, but can't afford it or find exactly what they want.  "Just make it!", I tell them!  So, for plans to the simple bench above, go to knock-off wood or just check out the blog, knock-off wood.  You won't be disappointed!

Laundry room

Just wanted to up date you all on what my our new laundry is looking like.  Yes, that is purple on the walls!  I will be the one spending the majority of the time in this room and I wanted it to be the color that I like and would enjoy. 

So, my husband has been laying tile like a mad man.  We are getting the cabinets this week, so we definately had to crack the whip and get this stuff done.  Anywho....this is what the room looks like right now.  Wait until the end of the week.  Soooo excited! 

We have the water all ready to go and we have power!  So, once we get the floor all done and the cabinets in.  The washer and dryer will be moved and then, viola, it is done!  Yea!!!!

My nutshell

So, I just realized that it has been over a month since I last put an entry in.  Yikes, am I a slacker or what?!?!  Just a little busy actually.  I kind of wanted to update you on what has been going on in my life for the past month.  I'm sure everyone else is just as busy, I just want to justify my absence to you.

First off, my mom just got done with a loser of a husband, (it's okay, she knows how I feel) and got her divorce finalized a few weeks ago.  This marriage of hers has been a huge strain on me for quite some time.  He was very controlling and mentally abused her.  Alienated her from the rest of her family and I lost my mom, for what seemed like, an eternity.  That issue is getting much better and my mom and I are as close as ever, again!

Second, my best bud of many years, Aimus, has been dealing with massive head aches for quite some time.  Since the first of the year...she has been dealing with migraines and such, getting tested and trying all sorts of drugs to find out that none of them were working.  Then she went to get her head scanned and found out that she has a tumor.  It is benign, which is a blessing, but it is still there and must come out which means brain surgery.  She is such a strong woman it is unreal to me at times how she pulls thru, but God only gives us situations that we can handle and he knows how strong of a woman she really is.  I have been praying for her and her family and am scared to death for her, but I know she will pull thru with flying colors.  I just love her and her family so much. 

Okay, keep going??  Of course!  Another really good friend of mine, for many years as well, just left her husband.  There are many issues that has brought her to this decision.  This is once again, a blessing, but it is still hard when you are friends with both parties.  You hate seeing them hurt, but you know in the long run, that this is better for everyone.  The only one that I really worry about is their little guy, but he is strong and kids are resilient to things.  Besides, kiddos pick up on everything and if you aren't happy, they know it, even if you try to hide it.  They are like little sponges and just absorb everything.

Alright, well, there is the obvious, of course, my casa and all that goes along with it.  The electrician came today to hook up all the lights!  It is getting there!

My babies both got out of school for the summer.  Lil' Sis ended her preschool career and is heading into kindergarten in the fall.  Holy smokes, how time goes!  I don't know if it has really hit me yet that I won't have a baby at home with me anymore, but I am sure that it will and I will be a mess!  Then CX graduated out of kindergarten and is starting first grade in the fall.  This one really bothered me, I can't explain it, but I balled on the last day of school.  It could be that there was a picture of him in a cap and gown from the little graduation ceremony they had for them the day before.  Can you believe that he is going to be in the graduating class of 2022.  That seems like so far away, but I am sure it will be here in a blink of the eye.

Then, my babies started summer school the very next week.  Yep, I am that mom.  The one that is mean and puts them into education over their break from school.  Although, I must say, they both say that it is soooo much fun and don't understand why more of their friends aren't there.  I think it helps with lil' sis getting adjusted to the school schedule in the fall and it keeps CX from playing Wii all day or his DS. 

Okay, another thing, all the women in my family, on my moms side had a little womens retreat planned for the end of May.  We all went to my Aunt CC's house.  It was my momma, her momma, my aunt and my SIL to-be-one-day-hopefully!  We shopped, ate, got pedis and just had a really good time together. 

Then, a friend of mine asked me if I would design a few necklaces for her.  She was putting a tea party together for the women of her church and wanted to have a few door prizes.  So, of course, I came up with a few and let her pick the ones she wanted.  She wanted them all, but ended up taking the two in the middle.  Which lil' sis was happy about because she really loved the one on the right and didn't want me to sell it.  I think that I didn't do too terribly bad.

Okay, I almost forgot, don't know how I could forget, but CX is playing baseball again.  He really enjoys it and I think sometimes some of the parents get a little too wrapped up in the winning or losing of the games, but if he is having fun, that is all that I really care about.  He is only 6, that is way too young to get worked up over a bad call or whatever.  They are just learning and if they don't enjoy it, they will end up resenting it later down the road.

And last, but not least, it was my husbands birthday.  Why is it so hard to buy presents for your man?  Does anyone else have this problem?  If he wants something or needs something he just goes out and buys it.  Which is great, but it also wrecks havic during holidays and such when you are trying to get them something that they will like and actually use.

So, that has been my life in a nutshell for the past month.  It's been a little hectic, but that's how life is, right?!?!?

yes, I still exist

Sorry for the long hiatus from blog land.  We have been very busy with the addition on the house and are trying to a bunch of stuff by ourselves as to try to save some money.  You'd be amazed at the things you can do if you have the right tools.  I am sure that it takes us longer to get certain things done, but there is such satisfaction when you complete a project by yourself.

Call me crazy, but I love working with power tools!!  Seriously!  Over the long weekend we were finishing tiling the new laundry room and I got to use the tile saw!  Yep, I am a nerd, but you should have seen the smile come across my face. 

Anyway, I am stoked that it is coming to a close, but then the remodeling on the inside will be starting soon and I am looking forward to it, but then again, I have mixed feelings on the issue.  It's just because it is a change and I don't deal with changes very well.  I very much like routine and normalcy.  Yep, that's me, miss boooorrring!  I'm getting better, but it still frightens me at times. 

Alrighty, thats what I have for right now.  I promise to come back sooner!  Thanks for checking in with me!