Cute Kid Quote of the Day

Last night when I asked my daughter what she wanted for supper her reply was:

"I want something fancy, like tacos."

Um, okay.  Guess I totally missed the memo when tacos were moved from the "regular everyday food" department to the "fancy" category.  Move over creme brulee, make way lobster tails, to the back of the line you go filet mignon, scoot over tiny little hors d'oeuvres we need to find some space for the brimming bag of Taco Bell.

For the Record.....

For the record....."you people", as in "or whatever it is that you people do" has to be one of the most offensive phrases a husband can say to his wife when referring to her family.

And as I write this I just have to laugh because mine and my husband's families are so similar.  The only difference is that half of his family are self-proclaimed hillbillies from Kentucky.

Now, a day later it's funny but at the time it sure wasn't!

Wow, Santa is crafty!

I made it....Big Sis found a cute little canopy bed waiting under the Christmas tree for her new doll.  Never mind that I was up until 2am finishing it and that I almost forgot to wrap it before tucking it under the tree ;-)  And a trip to the store (for pink thread of all things!) on Christmas Eve day was an absolute necessity even after I had really tried hard to plan ahead to avoid such things.



So this is what we started with.  Pretty basic, plain non-girly bedding.

Photo from http://www.ikea.com/

My husband took some long (maybe 2.5 inches or so?) screws and screwed them into the center of each bed post.  He drilled a hole first to make it easier to sink the screws into the wood.  Don't you just *love* that ugly old green tile in our basement laundry room area.  The house we're renting right now was built in 1959 and I think those have to be the original tiles.  I'm sure they're full of terrible cancer-producing chemicals like asbestos etc. 

He then took a piece of PVC pipe that was just about the same diameter as the head of the screws and bent each end down over the screws.  I'm sorry I don't know what size pipe it is.  All I know is that it was $1.49 at Home Depot and by cutting it in half we had enough for both sides of the bed.

This is the end result of Hubby's quick modifications. 

 I then took the bottom platform of the bed and cut some extra quilt batting to fit,

 I had some extra spray adhesive lying around and used it to hold the batting in place. 

 Then I took some extra satin fabric I had and cut a piece a bit larger than the platform and then simply hot-glued the edges down

 The finished look.  You can also see in the below pic that I painted the headboard and footboard white.

I didn't take any pics of the construction of the fabric covering to the canopy.  At midnight on Christmas Eve, I was more focused on actually finishing this project in time for Christmas morning than a step-by-step tutorial, sorry.  But it really was pretty easy.  I took about 1/2 a yard of just plain cotton fabric, rolled and hemmed the edges, and then added the ribbon/eyelet trim on both sides.

I then centered the canopy over the pvc frame and simply hand-stitched in the center and on both ends.  I was going to sew a sort of rod pocket to the underside of the canopy and then slide the pipe through the pocket.  But the later it got and the more I thought about it, a quick stitching to the frame was a better solution.

You'll notice in the above pic that there is a different bedspread than the striped one from IKEA.  I found this one at Target for about $15.  The packaging said it would fit any 18" doll sized bed but it is a tad bit short for this one.  Oh, well.  It has cute cupcakes on it and came with a few little pillows.  I also found some cupcakes stickers at Target and modpodged one on the headboard and a line of three on the footboard.

Overall, I think that it turned out pretty cute and my daughter seems to like it.  And that's all that really matters anyways, right?  Unfortunately, my son likes it too and has desperately tried to climb into it on several occasions.  Now that is a picture I needed to include in this post! ;-)

I'm linking to: Today's Creative Blog - Get Your Craft On

texasmonkey - all-about-you-link-up-party

Keeping it Simple - Motivate-me-monday

http://www.dittledattle.blogspot.com/

http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com/

Makes Me Smile Monday

I hope to make this a regular feature here on my little blog.  Just a little something that brings a smile to my face at the start of another week.  It might even make you smile too!  I would love for this to eventually become a link party where others share their smile-making little somethings as well.

So here it is, what I'm smiling about today....a clean master bathroom all thanks to my wonderful husband.  It was an absolute mess, the shower doors were covered with streaks, water splatters on the mirror, etc.  But now it is sparkling clean and I didn't have to do it, which makes me smile :-)

Today - the Redo

Today has been a better day.  The sun is shining.  Hubby's Christmas vacation starts today.  The Little Man is cashed out on the couch.  And Big Sis is playing quietly in bed and hopefully will drift off for a nap soon.  I am in my comfy clothes stretched out on the couch in the sun watching an episode of Animal Hoarders.

Ahhhhh, this is a good start to the Holidays.  I am looking forward to the next few days of just relaxing family time around the house.

Thank you God for the blessing of a new day and the chance at a redo!

Today - Part II

Today I was that wife.  You know, the kind of wife that snaps at her husband, rolls her eyes behind his back, shakes her head when he's not looking.  The wife that isn't appreciative and only focuses on what he isn't doing at the time.  The wife that bursts into tears and declares that "she's had a shitty day".

I was that wife today after my husband came home from work.  The story behind it doesn't matter.  What matters is that I acted like a bit of a brat and a small disagreement took place in front of the kids.  All of this, after we had just had a a heartfelt talk last night about communicating better, being more appreciative, working as a team.  Boy do I feel like a crappy wife, ugh.

An easily forgotten blessing is how God gives us a second chance at the dawn of each new day.  He gives us the gift of making right whatever what went wrong yesterday.  Tomorrow will be a better day, I'm sure of it.

Today - Part I

Today I was that mom.  You know, the mom you see in the store with the clinched mouth, the eyebrows pointing inward like the mean Mr. Potato Head face.  The mom that has a death-grip on her kids' hand, tugging the little one along like she's pulling a wagon full of rocks.  The mom that snaps at her kid for not listening, raises her voice so that those standing in the check-out line shoot a glance her way.

I was that mom today on our trip to Target.  I still feel just awful, downright ashamed that I wasn't able to treat my 3 1/2 year old daughter with kindness and patience.  We were waiting to check out when she insisted on pushing the cart around, sitting on the bottom of the cart, touching everything (ew, germs!) and all but licking the counter (ew, ew, ew!).  After asking her nicely several times, the "please, don't do that", "I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't...." were replaced with "STOP!", "No more....." and I may have even uttered the phrase "For God's Sake, enough!".  (Oh man, just typing that makes my stomach knot up.)

Why does the check-out have to be so stressful?  Why do stores always put tons of crap right there for little hands to grab?  And it is never fails to be 90+ degrees, the clerk a total ditz, and some well-meaning older person with a persistant cough encrouching on our space.  My blood pressure has to soar when I'm standing there putting our junk on the belt.  I worry that our daughter will step out of my sight and some creep will scoop her up and walk out the door, especially now during the rush of the holidays.  I worry that she'll pick up some nasty virus from all the stuff she can't keep her hands (and mouth, ew) away from.  I worry that my son will try for the 50th time to stand up in the cart and topple right out onto the hard floor.  I worry that I'll leave behind my credit card or keys.  And of course, there is always the concern that the dumb clerk* will totally forget to deduct my coupons or a bag will get left behind and I won't notice until I am all the way home.  (It has happened countless times).

I am really thankful that I shouldn't have to go to the store at all until after Christmas.  I'm going to think up a way to make our trips to the store less stressful because today's trip was unsettling for both my daughter and I.


*Just a quick disclaimer here....I am NOT generalizing that all clerks are dumb or ditzy.  I was once a clerk in several different retail stores.  I completely understand that it is not the easiest of jobs and that the pay is little and the appreciation even less.  However, it just seems to be my luck that I end up in the lane with the clerk that is more focused on his upcoming break, the text she just received from her boyfriend, or has difficulties understanding English.

What!?! There are only 4 days left til Christmas?

From the title you can tell how I am feeling about the holidays this year.  I thought I was doing so well.  At one point I even found myself saying, "Wow, we've got a few weeks to go and have just about everything done.  No more running around at the last minute stuff this year."  Ha.  Boy, did I sure ever jinx myself by putting that thought out there in the universe for Murphy to find.

Don't get me wrong, nearly all of our shopping is done except for some gift cards for our nephew and brother-in-law.  Half of the gifts are wrapped.  The other half can wait since we going back to the Midwest to visit family after Christmas.  All of the &*F@*(^&*(#&)$* Christmas cards were mailed out today so that *(&(*% job is done  (Can you tell I'm not a fan of cards ;-) 

Barely stir Christmas caramels and cinnamon pretzels were made this afternoon during naptime and are cooling as I type this.  Tonight I plan on baking the chocolate chip cookies I mixed up last night just before midnight.  And if I can fit in a run to the grocery sometime this evening between supper, baths and bedtime, I just might get a chance to make these oatmeal carmelitas that look especially yummy.  I decided this year I wasn't going to go overboard on the cookie/candy-making.  It just sits around, beckoning to be eaten and to be honest at this point in my pregnancy I don't need any blatant temptations.  (A doc appt this week will tell me if my weight is on track or not)

The one project that is hanging over my head and making me a bit anxious is the doll bed from IKEA that I need to sew a canopy and new bedding for.  Santa is delivering this gift so it HAS to be done by Christmas morning.  It shouldn't take long to put together, just as long as I don't screw up and miscut the fabric I have on hand for it.  I really don't have the time to fit in a trip to JoAnn this week.  I've already painted the headboard and footboard and just have to mod-podge some stickers on it. 

When I see it all written down here, it seems doable. (Is that a word? If not, oh well in my vocabulary it is!)  But there are the variables of 2 little kids' temperments at play here.  And my fellow SAHM will attest, if the kiddos are having a bad day, Mommy doesn't get much done and she has a bad day as well.  Oh yeah, and there is always the laundry, cooking and basic household cleaning that will have to get done between now and Christmas too.

Oh wait.  I just remembered one more thing....the gingerbread house we promised the kids.  Ugh, that might be the one project that puts me over the edge ;-)

Beginnings Are Scary

Several years ago I started a private blog to keep our family up-to-date on all that was happening with our daughter and to share with them family outings.  Well, it didn't take long for me to be bitten by the "blogging bug" and my blogroll gradually started to grow.

I've been kicking around the idea of starting a public blog now for quite awhile.  But there was always some sort of excuse holding me back:  I don't have the time, what would I write about, nobody would read what I have to say, my writing isn't perfect, I don't have enough experience with HTML/templates/formatting, etc.etc.etc. 

Well, I don't know what finally motivated me.  Maybe it was the encouragement of my husband or deciding on the perfect name.  Or maybe it was being inspired by some of the great blogs that are out there.  But here I am filled with excitement and trepidation.  So, I think that a quote from one of my favorite movies, Hope Floats, fits here perfectly.

....beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it's the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will...