Blogging?

What's that?!

Oh, is it that thing where I sit down and write about completely random, unimportant things and ramble on like a crazy woman-

kind of like what I'm doing right now?

I must admit, I've lost that blogging feelin'.

(sing it with me now)
Whoa, that blogging feelin'.

I've lost that blogging feelin'
now it's gone...
gone...
gone...
woooooah!

Just not much going on.

So today, as I laid on my couch contemplating nothingness,

Abrie walked in from school.

I greeted her with my toes.

(that means I love her)

And when she frantically pushes my feet away with wild laughter

it means she secretly likes it.

(it also means she loves me back. I think.)

Don't you wish you could be greeted by my toes every time you walked in the door, or better yet, came to this blog?

So then Abrie took my camera, the one that weighs roughly the size of a small over-weight child.
She proceeded to direct me,

"Mom, show me your smile"
"Now you're really sad"
"K, now pose"
"Now be silly, really silly"
"Now look away from me"...

How about an outtake?

I'm not quite sure what pose your getting here. I think it's the turn-my-face-to-hide-my-zit-and-be-careful-not-to-show-my-steamy-hot-braces pose.

See what I mean? There's not much to blog about.

And now for more excitement, I'm about to watch Drag Me to Hell.
(if you're Nate it's called Drag Me to "H".)
Stay posted for my official review. You know it's going to be good when I use the word OFFICIAL.

She's Thankful

Said randomly while watching [an educational packed] Dora the Explorer:

"Mom, thank you for warming up my

sghetti-O's for breakfast."

Two seconds later she's zoned right back out
watching Boots & Dora save the crystal kingdom.
(Again, very educational.)

Just imagine the thank you's I get when I actually cook in the morning instead of warming up yesterday's left-overs for breakfast.

In my defense, she requested the spaghetti'O's. It was either that or the hot dog and ham & cheese sandwich she so desperately wanted. She hasn't quite figured out that breakfast food is the best kind of food.

.

Dear Kaleb,

Today was a rough one.
Especially the part where we were driving in the car & I threatened you with your life and then you called me on it yelling,

“You can’t do anything to me. We’re driving!”

You’re a smart one, you are.
And cute-- which is a great survival tactic. Heavenly Father sure knew what he was doing when he made you.

‘You might want to wrap me up in duct tape,
but I’m so cute the only thing you’ll manage to do is kiss and hug me to death’

You continue to teach me patience.
You continue to teach me unconditional love.
You continue to teach me to speak soft.
You continue to teach me how much better of a person/Mom I need to be.

And all this time I thought I was the one that was supposed to be doing the teaching.

Before & After :: Mi Casa

Dear Internet,

Let me welcome you into my home.

If I knew you were coming I would have cleaned up a bit, maybe even done a couple of dishes and then spray my house with Lysol so you would think I just cleaned... but I didn't' have time to do all that and I'm way beyond trying to make a good impression.

So here is my kitchen, well, at least part of it. Wet wipes... legos anyone?

One of the first home projects I so lovingly added to Nate's honey-do list was our bar. The bar just happens to be one of the main focal points in our home and it was feeling sad, and blah, and it needed some love- desperate love.

And who am I to withhold love from any person and/or bar?

Before the bar was just plain thin pressed wood.
It was OK, but it was sad. Very sad. Remember?


I/we had a plan for it. And that plan included:

- bead board..... $30
- 11/16 in. x 2 1/2 trim..... $30
- custom decorative trim..... $20
- new corbels..... $32
- a little distressing (my kids did that for free)
- and white paint with an antique glaze..... $10 & $15

We put the plan into action and this was the end result:


First thing we/Nate did was frame around the bar with the 11/16 in. x 2 1/2 trim. (we used larger trim for the bottom)

After the trim was in place we cut the bead board to fit,
slapped on some liquid nails,
and then used some small finishing nails to ensure it stays in place.

My brother-in-law, who is an amazing carpenter, helped us out by making us some custom decorative trim to place in between the lip of the 11/16 in. x 2 1/2 trim and the bead board. Not only does it give it that extra little somethin'-somethin', but it covers up and mistakes you might have made, say like accidentally cutting the bead board a little crooked. ;)

If you don't happen to have brother-in-law who also is a pro-carpenter, no fear. You can pick up some decorative trim from your local home improvement store.

The last thing to put up are your corbels. The price of corbels varies in all ranges. We got ours for a great deal of $8 each. I wanted to keep it clean and simple and I think that's exactly the look the corbels give it.

After that you just fill in any of the nail holes and gaps with a little putty and paintable caulk, sand and distress, and you're good to go!

Total cost of the whole project = $150(ish)

I say, totally worth it! It changes the whole feel to the house.
Not sad, not blah, and it's definitely feelin' the love.

Things I've learned:
- When buying a house make sure a Home depot is at least within a mile radius.
- Sponge brushes are my friends.
- Don't use home depot paint.
- Glazing is hard.
- Making it look like Macie didn't paint the whole thing is harder.
- Keep lots of paint thinner on hand.
- It's good to have a husband who's handy.
- Having a hot handy man is the next best thing to a good looking pool boy...
- Just minus the speedo.
- Unless your handy man likes to wear speedo's.
- Mine doesn't.


More before's & after's :: Mi Casa's to come...
(I can only post them as fast as we get them done and at the rate we're going it's not very fast)

Joining the Masses

Not to be confused with going to mass.
(Not that there's anything wrong with that)

Just thought I'd join all the other bloggers
and do my obligatory Halloween post.

Macie was a princess (and a mighty cute one might I add).
Abrie was a cowgirl with 6 freckles (all real cowgirls have freckles... I think)
Kaleb was a half hearted pirate with a case of the swine flu
(self diagnosed... I'm pretty much like a doctor,
just minus the massive amounts of schooling and a degree)

Halloween highlights:
Hanging out with family
Chili-dogs and donuts
The kids waiting by the door to pass out candy
(I used to love to pass out candy when I was little. It made me feel big)
Watching the world series.
Having my couches full of bodies to sit on them.
(I love having people over in my very own home)
And watching Macie skip carefree down the side walk
in her bright hot pink army boots,
with her little kitty trick-or-treating bag in tote,
and the biggest smile across her 3 year old face.

Free candy? Dressing up like a princess? This must be heaven.

P.S. I photoshopped (swapped) one of the kids head in the above picture.
P.P.S. Can you guess who?
P.P.P.S. Never mind.
P.P.P.P.S. Don't guess.
P.P.P.P.P.S. You might hurt my feelings.
P.P.P.P.P.P.S. I posted some more Halloween pictures HERE.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. I've eaten way too much of my kids candy.
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Don't mind all the P.S'
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. And the (parenthesis).
P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. It's just a mild side effect of the sugar high.