Where have I been?

Pulling wallpaper off the walls in the bathroom! What a JOB! That said, I am soooooooo happy to have those little blue and yellow flowers GONE!! My super wonderful DH took me today to get a new sink so the yellow countertop will be GONE as well once everything is installed. I am so happy. I will no longer have to try to clean around that annoying sink edge. We go a one piece sink and counter top and it is beautiful!!! Although my bathroom is currently in shambles, I am definitely doing the *happy dance* at my house!! :)

Look what I made!!!

That is homemade, not from a mix or the breadmaker with butter (the real stuff) melting on top, bread! And it only required three phone calls to my sister in the process. Well, four if you count the one when I let her know they turned out :). This was really a lot of fun, inexpensive (love bulk bins) and the bread turned out tasting pretty yummy. Will certainly do this again!!!

Summertime

I wanted summer, but this heat is amazing! Not that we have it, but that we have it again this year. I believe that the climate in our area has truly changed and that this multiple days of 100 in July is now normal. Not fun, but normal!
I am looking for additional ideas of activities to do with my kids during the little bit of time we have left. We love the dollar movies and swimming. I also have a trip to the Discovery Center on my short list and some more picnics. Any other ideas?

Motivated Moms

I am so very, very excited! I have a friend who directed me to this site. I LOVE them. I printed out the samples and used them for a few days. I have now decided that they are worth every penny and happily gave them my $4 for the rest of the year. Motivated Moms. What a great name :).

Now I know that for many of you this would seem like a complete waste of $4. Please know that I have tried over and over again to create these on my own and have been completely unsuccessful. I just couldn't get it quite right and was continually starting over. I am very happy to just add a bit or skip a bit with these and they cover the important things :). I still love FlyLady and her concepts, but these lists are a lifesaver (house saver) for me.

Next on my "list" is to delegate some things to my children. I know that I am not doing them any favors by not teaching them how to care for a home and that the responsibilities are shared in the family, but it is also pretty hard for me to let go. Soon, very soon.

Quote for the day

Never give up what you want most for what you want at the moment.


Just think about it :).

Back to it.......

The vacation is finished and the catch up time at home is finished and now it is time to return to your regularly scheduled programming.
It was great that we got to see so many people. We had the opportunity to visit with three different groups of family. They are all wonderful people and were fantastic to spend time with. If would have been nice to spend more time with all of them, but it was just not possible.

I did some self examination and learned a bit while away just because of all the events and surroundings (trust me, this was not planned soul searching :)). Things in life seem to take time or money and occasionally both. There are trade offs for each and I haven't been able to balance them well with the constancy I would like. I also seem to think that I can have both and so haven't made decisions as to which is more important and exactly what that means both day to day and long term. Now I know my "problem" I can get to work on it. Hopefully that will mean resolution on some internal conflicts soon and with that will come peace!

Worry and Stress

So I saw this saying today that struck home-

"Worry is a waste of imagination"

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, makes you think doesn't it? Things have been a tiny bit stressful lately and I am working diligently to let go of what I can. I am very much looking forward to my upcoming vacation. I am disappointed that I need to go into the office the morning before I leave AND that I need to be able to periodically access email AND take my cell phone so I can be reached. I am pretty sure that it won't happen often, but the thought is just sad.
Enough worrying about it though :).

Superman

Can't do it. I know it is not a remake, but a furthering of the story. I know it is meant to be flattery. I can't do it. Superman is and always will be Christopher Reeve and I can't see the new movie. I hope everyone who does enjoys it as much as my friends who have seen it. It is supposed to be wonderful!

Los Angeles

I spent Friday in LA for a conference related to work. It was a quick trip flying down and back the same day and classes the entire time I was there so the only parts of LA I saw were on the shuttle between LAX and the hotel and from the plane. On the way home it was dark and the sight from the plane window was easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. After we had been in the air for about 30 minutes I looked out and it was pitch black with the lights below. It looked like someone had dropped a bottle of glitter onto black velvet. AMAZING!!! I spend a good amount of time yesterday trying to recreate the look for a spread in the altered book I am playing with, but I wish you could all see the picture captured in my brain!

Balloons and more balloons

Once a year the "Spirit of Boise" happens. This is a big gathering of hot air balloons and they launch for four mornings (weather conditions allowing) from a park in town. They let the public down in the launch area and it is AMAZING!!! In the past I have gotten the boys up and we have sat by the rim that surrounds the park and watched the balloons go up. This year we went into the park and were right next to the balloons as the inflaited and took off. So very, very cool. It was worth getting up super early and being exhausted now. The colors were breathtaking. I hope some of the pictures turn out. You can view photos from the event on the website. The 50th anniversary Mickey Mouse with the golden ears was there as well as the Energizer Bunny (HUGE!).

More cards!

I had a great time making these cards from a single sheet of double sided paper. I was so happy with how they turned out and the owner of the store where I purchased the paper had asked to see them when they were completed. She was pretty thrilled with how they turned out as well and asked me to create a set for store display. This exact paper was sold out, so we selected something similar and I had a ball playing with that paper as well :). Of course I forgot to take pictures of those as I was so excited to deliver them. She loved them and that did my creative soul good.



Now, to decide what pictures to trade out for the Trading Faces Swap. I am having a very hard time deciding which to either let someone do or ask for help with. Think anyone else wants to do some of my 47,000 Christmas photos? LOL!
Hmmmmmmmm, must decide soon, the deadline is looming!!!

Father's Day

This is a tough one for me. I am married to a wonderful man who is a fantastic father to our boys. I am so grateful for this and words can't express how blessed I feel. I try to make certain he knows this as well not just today, but everyday.
I also miss my own father a ton. April was 8 years since his death which was very sudden and unexpected. I am glad it was fast and there was no suffering involved. I do hate that I never got to say good-bye. I have many wonderful memories and I am in the process of trying to document some of them to share with my children and others, but it is a long and at times painful process.
So, today I combine my love of both my father and my children's father and try to make certain my husband knows how truly special he is.

"Fathering is the most masculine thing a man can do." Frank Pittman

gowns

These are two burial outfits that I mailed out to TLC today. It has taken me months to get them completed due to some pain issues in my wrist and joints as well as just how crazy life has been in general. I am excited to have them finally done and mailed. :)

ATC

I joined an ATC swap and the theme was birthstones. Basically, just use the color of your own birthstone. This was super fun!!! If you have any interest, I suggest giving ATCs a try. Remember, the only rule is 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches and not so lumpy bumpy so that it wouldn't fit into a trading card holder (but dimension is fine). They also can not be sold, but only given away or traded. Pretty cool :).

Be nice to the crazy lady

For those of you that scrapbook, have you ever had a layout that you worked on for days? You wanted it to be just right and it took some time getting there? This one is mine. I spent almost all of last week working on it in bits and pieces. I would leave it on the table and look at it as I went by. As an idea hit me, I would give it a try and then accept or reject (mostly reject) it. I am very happy with my final product. I was shoving it in everyone's face at the crop on Saturday and just telling them to tell me they liked it :). Thank you ISers for your patience!!!

Bird Intelligence

There is this bird couple at my house and I can not decide if they are really stupid, super smart or just plain lucky. I have hanging baskets of flowers that hang from the covered area of the walkway to my front door. Every year I fill them with flowers, attempt to remember to water them and hope they look as good in real life as I hoped when the project began. The last two years this bird couple has built a nest and raised a family in one of the baskets. Since they are high up, the first year I didn't know this until the babies started making noise. I had been watering not only the flowers, but the nest, the eggs and the babies! Year two I knew what was going on and was more careful, but something scared them away from the nest when the babies were just hatched and so no baby birds :(.
To this year-I got lazy and decided I wanted the baskets to look good and less stress so when Michael's placed their silk baskets on sale, I bought some. I have beautiful flowers and if someone has a problem with them being fake, turn around and walk away from my door. The birds are back. I thought for certain the would pick another place for their nest after last year. Nope! And, they are better off than ever because I won't water them and there is this great fake moss stuff in place to start the nest building.
So what do you think, stupid, smart or lucky? My vote is a little of all three!

Recent Comforghans

These were sent out last week. They should be comforting someone by now:).
Thank you square donators! These contain not only squares from members of HMB, but also members of CrochetList and readers of The Crochet Dude.

Completed LO

I have completed two more LayOuts to sell at the Charity Crop. I don't yet know what Charity, but I do know myself well enough that I would do it regardless and that I better make them when I have the time/inspiration!
This does bring up the point of photo quality, however. It is pretty sad when a scrapbooker can't post decent pictures on her BLOG. That digital camera is moving up the priority chain very quickly. Summer vacations are playing a part in that as well. If anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I do know that whatever I get, it must have a bunch of optical zoom. That is the one thing I don't love about my film camera. The zoom is almost negligible and since I keep the same camera forever I intend to fix that issue the next time around.

Doesn't get better than this

I know that tomorrow is Mother's Day, but today was really a fantastic day! It didn't start out that way and it was about 3:00 before I could move much without feeling sick. Once I felt better though, I was all better and the weather was fabulous! It got to mid 80's, Woooooooooo Hoooooooooo!!!
We went to the garden store as a family, that was nice!, and got what I wanted to get the garden in. Then my youngest actually helped me get it done! So, the garden (not a big one, but still) is in and I got to spend the day outside! GREAT DAY!!!

National Scrapbooking Day

First- My final is FINISHED!!! I am soooooooooo excited. I was so sure I was going to have this on my shoulders and giving my guilt all weekend, but it is DONE!!!!
Since I finished it, I took some time in honor of National Scrapbooking Day and worked on some pages. I have another layout completed for the charity crop (once I get some repositionable adhesive that is) and one finished for my family. It was great fun! I hope you are taking time to play with some paper :).