It's Still Monday...

I'm doing better this week! Today actually went OK. I bought the kids a new shelf for their room, I was sick of their old one that was bright primary colors. I got one of those "utility like" shelves from the hardware section at Wal-Mart, filled it with green bins from Target, and called it a day! Once I'm finished I'll take a picture, right now it looks like a whirlwind went through their room because I also decided to get rid of some (and by some I mean A LOT) of their toys. I don't know how it happened, but they have accumulated so many toys.....they both got so excited as I was digging through the bottom of the toybox...Mom, I haven't played with THAT toy in forEVER! And that's how I explained to them that they needed to get rid of some toys and give them to some other kid who doesn't have a mountain like they do - when you don't even know what toys you have, it's time to go through them. I think they actually got it!

I think this week might actually be OK. I went to church on Sunday, which really helps me make it through the week. I hadn't gone for 2 weeks, one because everyone was so sick for a while, and two because Sue was here last week, and I'm not sure about her feelings about me taking the kids to church, so I decided to just avoid the subject altogether. I'm great at that.....groan.

So here's my weekly list:

1) finish laundry (yes, that was on my list last week....get over it, I did!)

2) finish boys' room

3) start doing weekly menu planning and checking out freezer meal ideas

I'm sure there's more I should be doing, but I'm tired and can't think of anything else. My pillow is calling my name.....I'm coming pillow!

Motivate Me Monday-A Little Late

Well, technically it's still Monday for me since I haven't gone to bed yet. I cannot sleep without Adam in bed! I never thought it would happen. All through the blanket and bed hogging I would think, man, if he ever goes TDY, I'm gonna LOVE having this bed to myself! But no, my brain decides to be all dumb.

So here's my list for this week:

-mop kitchen and dining room floor (it REALLY needs it, just ask Sue, lol)

-finish laundry

-go through kids clothes and give PILES AND PILES of them away (anyone need 2T clothes??? Anyone??) UPDATE: DONE!

-call Adam's new troops' wife to welcome her to the base...well, before I do that, I need to find her number....

-go to bed at a normal hour

-try not to go crazy with Adam in FL for a month

Sounds easy enough right? Heh heh heh. Heh heh.....I think I'll probably accomplish everything except the last one.

Updated Shrinky Dinks, and Other Random Stuff

Well, I actually had a request for pictures of my project! Yay! It's exciting to me that someone else (who isn't family, lol) has read my blog! Woo hoo I'm famous!!! Lol. OK. Enough of that.

So here is the keychain I made. I wish I had fancy handwriting or something, but....we all have to work with what God gave us, lol.



I couldn't find my regular hole punch, so I used a heart one. This thing is indestructible! I can't believe how thick the plastic gets when you bake it, it's awesome.

And here's the little plaque I made for the boys. I love this book, my step mom gave it to them (I think for Christmas?) and we read it all the time.

Again, fancy (or even straight, see the lines, lol) handwriting is still wishful thinking, but I love it. The funny thing is, the finished plaque is about 2 inches wide. I started with a piece of plastic that was about 6-7 inches wide-this stuff is called "shrink"y dink for a reason. I'm just amazed by cool stuff like this-we never had shrinky dinks growing up, we were too poor. Ew....I just noticed how dirty that window is.....disregard please!

I've been making the yummiest bread...now get ready, you're going to drool.....

Mmmm, I'm hungry for it just looking at it. It is the best bread, and it is SO easy. My kind of recipe! It's from this site, which I mentioned in a previous post. I love the recipes on that site, they are great. Now I just need a wheat grinder for my 500 pounds of wheat (well, not that much...but pretty close!). For the bread, I made it in this tiny pan a couple of times, then after it was scarfed down in a day or less, I started using my big bread pan. Yes, I'm going crazy with the linking, I know. But I'm too lazy to just write the whole link out, lol.

I decided last night that I want to redo the boys' room. It is really mismatched, and kind of.....I don't know....childish maybe? They're both getting older, so I think it needs to be more mature. I want to get rid of their HUGE train table, which is really just hiding a whole buch of toys under it, and get them a nice, solid wood table and 2 chairs. Now what I really want is for Adam to make it, but he's so busy I doubt it will happen. The one I came up with that I really like looks like this:

I'm hoping I can find one at the thrift store, or Airman's Attic, or even better, the side of the road (yes, I'm a garbagepicker!).

Well, I need to clean up the house a little bit, Adam's mom is coming down for the weekend, and as it is.....well, let's just say my house looks bad. We'll put it at that. No more info needed, lol.

Something to write.....

Yay! I have tonight off. And I got hubby away from WOW for a little while so I can have the computer. I should be sewing right now, I have a lady who is considering a very large order of crayon rolls and I need to send her pics. But I'm taking a break for a few minutes.

I finally got the dining room done! I am very proud of myself. Here it is in all its' glory, I had to take a picture fast while it's still clean, lol.



And here's my cutie pie making faces at the mirror after his bath tonight. I couldn't resist, he is just too cute!



B is such a trooper. He has two holes in his bottom lip, and it doesn't even slow him down! He still eats drinks, nurses, and acts crazy with his brother, and it doesn't even phase him. He is so funny. He is the total opposite of A, A was so quiet and shy and reserved....not this kid! He is just a big HUGE ball of energy. I think mostly he feeds off of A, but I also think he takes after hubby with his stubborness, lol.
Well, it's late, and I'm tired. Off to sew.....

No More Candy Please!

So I've decided that candy is the devil. Seriously. It makes my children into little screaming demons. Even more than usual, lol. My kids have not had as much candy as they have had this weekend, ever.

Oh, and wonderful, A just came running into B's room and says there's a cockroach in the living room! So I go out there, and say "A, where did you see the cockroach?" First he says "It's dead. It's in the window under the blinds." I look, nothing there. I say, "A, are you telling stories?" Then he says "It was a cockroach riding a four-wheeler!" Yeah. Love-ly.

I just figured out how to upload videos to YouTube - yay! I'm proud of myself. Yup. Here goes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgPV9iSlGhQ

We had a busy weekend. On Saturday...hmm, I can't remember what we did on Saturday. So I guess Saturday wasn't busy, lol! Sunday we went to breakfast at Good Sheperd, then went to the service. Well, the kids and I went to church, hubby stayed home. The kids were crazy, too much sugar already, and were really antsy during the service. I had to leave a few minutes early, but oh, well, that's life! Then from there, we went to an Easter party at BJ's friend C's house. The kids had a TON of fun there! She and her hubby have this gorgeous beach cottage with huge windows and a vintage kitchen. They had an Easter egg hunt with over 100 eggs! The kids were exhausted from all the hunting and playing, so we took them home, and I took a nice long nap. I missed BJ coming over by about 2 minutes, hubby said. Then we went out o dinner at Cici"s Pizza. If you've never had the pleasure of eating at Cici's, I'm sorry! It's not that the food is all that great, but until July 11th, it's the only place we can feed our family of four for 10 dollars total. And A LOVES IT. He asks to go there ALL THE TIME.

I've almost finished the dining room, it's only been like, 6 weeks, lol! Seriously, though, I''m really trying to get it done. I figured out last night, when I was sitting out on our swing at midnight, after cleaning out my van and the carport, that the reason I haven't had a lot of time to do extra things lately, besides the fact that I'm working at night, is because I spend so much time cleaning. So if I do a little cleaning a few times a day, and get the whole house done, and keep it that way, it will be much easier. We'll see how that goes.....A's home from preschool this week, so maybe that will be easier because B will be occupied....maybe.....

Well, speaking of cleaning, I think I'll go finish the dining room, A has a dr. appt today for his cough, and I'd like to get it done before then. Wish me luck!

Eggs, eggs, where are the eggs????

We went to the easter egg hunt at the marina playground on base this morning. We went last year, and there were hardly any kids there. This year, yeah.....there were a lot more. The kids had fun, though. J was there with C and S. A and S kept walking around holding hands, it was so cute! Here are some pics...







I was surprised, A caught on really quick to the fact that he was supposed to pick up the egg and put it in the basket. I shouldn't be though, he is so smart, and he's got a great brother to teach him.





So today I'm going to try and work on the dining room. I can't believe I'm doing this...but....here's a before pic.....yikes (hanging head in shame).




In my defense, it has only looked this bad for about a week. I decided to finally try and consolidate my sewing stuff into the cabinet Bobbie gave me, then I got sick and stopped. So, by the end of this weekend, my goal is to finish it up. It's going to take a lot of work, but it has to be done before we move anyway. Speaking of moving, there was an article in the Keesler News about the new housing. The first people get to move in in 5 days on March 20th. I'm so frickin jealous. I can't WAIT to move. They are so nice....
Anyway, hubby is bugging me about getting on the computer, he wants to go play WOW. Wow, what a dork, lol :) I like that. And I need a nap. Badly. I'm still feeling kinda gross and stuffy, but I think the worst part of being sick is over. I also need to call my sister and discuss some ideas for this summer......

Prayer of the Day

It is so nice out today! I have all the windows open, I can hear the birds.....I love living down here, in the wintertime, of course. The summer sucks ass.

A has this movie called All About Big Red Fire Engines that he LOVES, and he wanted to watch it this morning, and well, I feel like crap still, so I said OK, and I decided to do something I've wanted to do the first time I watched this movie with him. It was shot in New York City in 1993, and I've been meaning to look up and see if any of the firefighters were killed on September 11th. I don't know why, just....I guess so I could pay tribute when I watch the movie maybe? Seeme silly now. So anyway, I found this website, and this is what I'm going to be thinking about and praying about today - all the families of these 343 firefighters. The sad part is, out of all those 343, only 29 are confirmed dead. Gives you somethin' to think about, huh? Here is the link in case you're interested:

http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/091101rescuers.html

Just looking at all those faces, I can't even imagine. They could be your husband, your neighbor, your husband's buddy who comes over to drink beer and play pool. It's crazy. You never know what will happen. Just a normal day, I was driving to school, I was just passing Star Dental Center on Rte 13 going towards Dryden coming out of Cortland when I heard about the first plane crash on the news. By the time i got to school, every single TV was turned to a news station. I think I went to one class, then they closed the school and sent everyone home. I remember going to the Skillet at some point that day, I remember sitting on the couch watching the news, actually glued to the news, I remember watching people run on TV, but I don't remember what order all that happened in. Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know what I was thinking about today.
I'm also going to try and make wheat bread. We'll see how that goes....if it turns out good, I'll post pictures. I have a (supposedly) really good recipe:

Wheat Bread

Dissolve 2 packages dry yeast in 1/2 cup water with 1/2 Tbsp honey or sugar. Mix the following ingredients (with the dissolved yeast) in a bread mixer.

3 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 cups powdered milk
1 cup oil
4 beaten eggs
3/4 cup honey
2 Tbsp salt
1 or 2 cups white flour
about 10 cups whole wheat flour

After kneading in the bread mixer, let rise until doubled. Divide into 6 small loaves. Knead and shape. Let rise in greased pans. Preheat oven to 400F. Reduce to 300F and bake 1 hour.
I think I will probably halve the recipe for the first time. Nothing worse than 6 loaves of gross bread :p
Oh, and here are the long awaited pics of my bathrooms! Yay. Enjoy!

Bathroom 1 Before


Bathroom 1 After


Bathroom 2 Before


Bathroom 2 After


Yup, they weren't that dirty before, but....oh, well, it was fun anyway! Oh, and by the way, I didn't find anyone from his movie on the list. Thank God. I'd never be able to watch it again without crying!

Whoops, I missed a day! I've been meaning to write something every day. Oh well, you can't win them all.....

I am loving Sirius radio that hubby started up again. They have a "Spa" channel, and it plays really relaxing music. It's on all day at my house! I actually have today off, for some reason, the only day I really WANT to work (because I get to wear jeans to work on Fridays), they never schedule me! Go figure. I'll have next week off, though, cause hubby is on stand by.

The house is looking better. I'm doing pretty good on keeping it clean, just still have that mountain of laundry, argh. I wish it would just do itself :s But speaking of doing itself, this lady came through my register the other night and bought a Black and Decker Scumbuster, which was on clearance for $10, down from $30, and said it was the best thing for cleaning your bathroom! She said it did all the work for you. Well, she actually said it to her friend, but I was listening....anyway, I bought one last night, and I can honestly say this is the only time I have ever sat in anticipation wanting to clean the bathroom, lol. I also bought a whole bunch of placemats on clearance for.....drum roll please......10 cents each! Can you believe it? They are normally $1.50 or more each! I bought probably 50-60 placemats, 6 kitchen towels, my Scumbuster, some pretty napkin rings, a new rug for the kitchen, some silicone potholder gloves (4), and a rack to hang my potholders on, and I spent only $25! And in case you're wondering WHY I bought so many placemats, it's to make
http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=JC&Screen=PLACEMAT placemat purses. Fun and easy. Well, my dishes are calling me, maybe I'll write more later. Hubby took the boys out to look at new trucks (for him), so I'm taking advantage and I have the whole house, with the exception of the dining room, clean. Happy Friday!

New Day, New Stuff

Well, as many of you may know, I am addicted to finding a great bargain.

Translation: I LOVE FREE STUFF! (Who doesn't?!)

A family down the street just moved in last week, and they have had a race car bed sitting outside since they moved. I've been eyeing it, thinking, hmmm, I wonder if they're getting rid of that.... Well, on the way to preschool this morning, I saw a big box that said "Salvation Army" on it, and the race car bed was right next to it! Score! I stopped over there when we came home and asked the lady if I could have it. She said go for it, so I tried to pick it up, but I couldn't take it apart, so I had hubby go over there and get it later. I also picked up some boxes of toys and clothes to put on freecycle. And she also was giving away an exercise ball, a really neat stand up candle holder, and 2 self inflating mattresses! Yes, I feel accomplished.

This week I'm really trying to work on the house. With us moving into the new base housing soon, I have got a lot of stuff to go through. I'm starting with the closets. I've gotten the linen closet, the blanket closet, and the front hall closet done so far. Now I need to start on our closet, the boys' (which aren't that bad anyway, surprisingly), and the shelves over the washer and dryer (which are REALLY bad!) Plus, I'm also trying much harder to keep the house clean. Dad and Kay came and spent the weekend with us while they were on vacation in Florida, and I think some of Kay's good housekeeping skills rubbed off on me. It was like a breath of fresh air to have them here. We've lived down in MS since September of 2003, and this was the first time dad has been down here. I really miss him. The kids had a blast with both of them, and I was really glad, cause B has had stranger danger lately, and I was afraid he would scream when dad tried to play with him. But it was the total opposite! They had so much fun playing together. I got a chance to talk with dad about some things I've needed to talk to him about for a while, and it was nice to be able to do that. I'm still not sure how I feel about it, and I don't think he is either. I'm hoping that time will help. We'll see.....

Well, that's about it for today. I've got a growing mountain of laundry to fold and put away...blech....my least favorite chore, and you can tell. Plus, I have to work tonight, so I need to get a little rest. Until next time......