Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Happy Birthday Zachary!

3 years ago today I was looking at this little face...

this morning I was looking at this little face...
Happy birthday my sweet boy!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Musical Monday: There Goes My Life

So bare with me on this one... it could get a little wordy!

Tomorrow is Zachary's 3rd birthday.
I've been spending the last couple of days remembering as much of my pregnancy with him and his first year as I possibly can, and all I can think of is this song.

Finding out we were expecting him came as a huge surprise to us. We had recently decided (as in a week before we found out) that I would go back to school, hubby was considering changing his career plan into a trade of some sort and that babies would be on hold for 4 years or so.
We made these decisions, life continued, and then I thought something was wrong with me. My body was acting different, I felt horrible and I was achy in places I didn't know could ache. I was planning on booking a dr's appointment to have some tests run but thought I'd try a pregnancy test first... more to rule out the option. Shockingly it was positive.

I was so concerned that my sweetie would be mad at me and accuse me of secretly trying behind his back so I cried... and cried and cried and cried.

He had been out with his brother for the day so when I went to pick him up, I looked at no one, told him I'd be in the car, and tried to find the words to tell him we were having a baby. When he climbed into the car I burst into hysterical sobs! My hubby, naturally assumed it was because of my horrible driving skills and thought I had been in a car accident on my way over. He hopped out of the car, ran around it checking for damage and climbed back in looking me over for possible injuries. I managed to pull myself together enough to blurt out that I was pregnant and then I froze.

He silently turned forward to look out the front windshield, turned the key to start the car and then looked back at me. A sly little smile crept across his face, he did a little fist pump and said "I got you pregnant!".
Go figure!

My pregnancy with Zac was stressful for us. Being as unexpected to us as it was we didn't feel financially ready to begin caring for another person! My hubby started working a night job in addition to his day job, surviving on whatever little sleep he could grab in the evenings between the two and I also picked up a part time job that I would go to right after I completed my full time day job. I was working roughly 12 hour days, while growing a baby and hubby was working 16-18 hours.

In the end, we were able to make enough money to buy a home that fit us and a new baby, hubby had the courage to leap into the career he is currently in despite the challenges he first encountered getting into the field and we have had 3 amazing years falling madly in love with a little boy who's personality develops more and more every day.

During my pregnancy we would often hear this song and cling to it. Hearing how scary it was in the begging and then the loving change that develops as the life of the little girl goes on.
Every time I hear it now I remember sitting in the car driving home from work, starring out the window wondering if having kids was really like the song described it.
3 years later, I wouldn't change the timing of Zac's arrival for anything in the world.

Hope you enjoy the song!
and that you stayed awake for my whole story!!

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Paintings

As I've said before, I'm working on making my craft/sewing/laundry room more of an inspirational place for me.
I've decided I want a painting/picture in there, so last night I went on an etsy search and found a wonderful artist with fun and adorable paintings.

I'm having troubles deciding between two though...
I LOVE this one and think I'm leaning towards it
(the fact that it's called "The Adventures of Cut and Paste Girl" are really doing wonders for my opinion of it!)

il_fullxfull.160933505.jpg

(source)


but I think this one is really sweet too...


il_fullxfull.168965161.jpg(source)


I'm pretty torn actually... I might end up getting both...


Which one do you like best?

Leave a comment and help me decide!!


**update**

I am having an incredibly hard time keeping the photos loaded to this post, so should you view it and there's little boxes with question marks in them, I apologize and would encourage you to click on the "source" button to see the pics, if you don't want to do that, just hang in there and as soon as I notice the pics are gone again, I'll re load them...

computer savvy I am not!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Slippers

One of the things I often worry about with my boys is if their feet are cold.
I know... it's weird... and random... but true!
I always put socks on them in the morning when they get dressed and am lucky if they remain on them once they start playing. I have discovered that they will wear slippers though!
I love that about them, I think it seems so old man-ish so I support it entirely!

Getting cute slippers for kids once they are over 12 months can be a surprising challenge, so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make some for them... well decorate them I suppose.

Zac loves pirates.
LOVES pirates!
So I really wanted to make him pirate slippers. They worked out so well and he loved them!
I surprised him with them one morning and he couldn't wait to get them on!
Eli enjoys trains. I did find these train slippers,
but decided they needed a little extra love so I cut out some felt trains to plop on the top.
Instructions for this one could not be easier!

You'll need slippers that fit your little one, pencil and scissors and sticky back felt. The glue on the back of the felt is AMAZING so no extra glue is required. If you can't find the felt with the sticky back then you'll need to use fabric glue.

Clean off the top of your slippers to make sure there's no loose lint or other cruddies.
Draw your picture onto your felt and cut it out.
Peal off the backing on the felt (or put fabric glue onto the back of the felt) and stick it onto the slippers!
BOOM! Done!
(if you need to use fabric glue, you'll need to wait for it to dry...)

Have fun!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Inspiration Board

The walls in my craft/sewing/laundry room are a tad depressing.
I decided a little while ago that I need to spice it up a bit and make it a nice inspiring cozy space that I love, especially since I spend most of my "me time" in there.
(sad that I consider doing the laundry "me time"!)

I wanted to add some colour to the room and put some things up on the walls. The walls in that room are completely bare, so my plan is to eventually have them covered with wonderful fabrics and adorable art.
My first project was an inspiration board.
I love how it turned out and thought I'd share some of the "how to" with you!


You'll need some sort of board for the backing (I had a cork board that the previous owners of our house left)
Fabric
Staple gun
Scissors
Quilting batting
Scotch Tape
Ribbon
Pins (picture includes push pins, but I ended up using satin sewing pins... I liked the finished look better)


Cut your quilting batting the same size as your board and your fabric roughly 2-5 inches bigger then the board.


Fold the fabric over the board and staple gun it to the board.
When your doing this work opposite sides together. So staple gun the middle of the bottom, then the middle of the top. Sides of the bottom, sides of the top. Then do the same on the sides. Always start from the middle and pull it super tight. If you don't work from the middle out your fabric can go all wonky and look funny when you're done. Once you have the fabric all stapled on you can trim up your fabric.


The corners can be a bit tricky, I usually pinch the fabric together and then lay it flat and staple it down once it's flat.
Another method is to fold the corners like you would with wrapping paper when wrapping a gift.
Flip it over and it looks like a lovely square pillow!
Now it's time to place the ribbon!

I find it easiest to work one direction at a time, so lay the first layer of ribbon down and scotch tape it in place (this will help hold it in the right place when you flip it over to staple it down... it's also WAY easier to get the right placement of the ribbon doing this right side up)


Staple the ribbon down, flip over the board and do the same steps laying the ribbon the opposite way to form diamond like shapes with the ribbon.
You could weave the ribbon a bit if you wanted... I didn't...

Flip it over and it looks so pretty now! I pushed a pin into every spot the ribbons crossed which made it look lovely and bubbly because of the quilting batting that's under there.

Hang it on your wall and start filling it with things that inspire you!
I'm so excited to FINALLY have something up on the wall in that room that I can't stop planning what my next project should be long enough to actually do it.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

On My Own

My mister has gone on vacation for the next 4 days.
You see, football is VERY important to my male in-laws and hubby. So when my father in law was left with tickets to an NFL game and no one to go with him it seemed silly not to send my hubby.
It wasn't right away, but my brother in law also decided to join them, so my man and his dad and brother are going to have a bit of "guys time".

I have no real complaints about him going, I would have loved to go "home" for a weekend, however financially it just didn't make sense at the moment for all 4 of us to pile into the car, transfer to a plane and have a cozy weekend filled with family luvin'.

I've already claimed a weekend this time next year for a trip to ON to go to the One of a Kind Show, so I'll just hold on to that promise for now!

All that to be said, I am extremely productive, it seems, when I'm all alone in the evenings.

I have big plans this evening to make a glorious cup of coffee once the boys are down and eat one too many Peppermint Melt Aways (recipe to be shared shortly),
sew myself into a tizzy and then possibly clean.

My house gets a little messy during the days (refer here), so my one and only goal while single parenting is to try and keep up with the cleaning as much as possible. After I've met that goal, I have blankets, dolls and owls to sew, laundry to put away, crochet to finish, crafting projects that have been pushed aside for far too long, and embroidery to tackle!

Should make for a busy, but fun filled weekend!
I have some craft projects planned, music class and church to keep the boys busy as well so hopefully they wont cry for daddy too much.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

"kuh-ooo"

Eli said he loved me tonight!!
It sounded more like "kuh-ooo", but I made him repeat it just so I could be sure and there is no doubt in my mind that that's what he meant!

Funny how such a simple gesture from a child can make you feel like you are on top of the world!

Eli

I feel like I'm always showing pictures of Zachary or telling stories involving him.
I feel like I've been leaving Eli out of blog land.
So this post is dedicated to him.
Unfortunately he's at that age that he doesn't have any real stories.
(Except that he likes to eat the bubbles in the bath tub...)
He's just cute...
and I love him.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

New Bike

This past Saturday the local college was holding a flee market/craft show, so we popped in.
There wasn't much "craft show" going on, but the flee market had a ton of stuff.

We bought Zac a new bike for $5 and he is beside himself with excitement!

It came with training wheels, that needed to be put on, a flat tire and it was more then a bit dirty, but all those things were so fixable, we couldn't pass up the deal.
Zac had the time of his life using his tools, Kevin's tools, and fighting Eli off if he came within 6 feet.

I do love amazing deals! Especially when they make my little guys so happy!

Monday, November 22, 2010

Musical Monday: Don't Stop Believin'

I love Glee.
I really, really do!

It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, and I always giggle.
So today I decided to make my musical Monday a Glee day!

Don't Stop Believin' is totally "the" song of last season, but I do so enjoy it.
I dance around my house singing it...
...too often I will admit...
I'm trying to make my life a musical!
(...If only I could sing...)

Here's your video!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

First Snow Fall

This weekend seemed so busy and yet so wonderful!
Hubby was off work so I took advantage of the extra set of hands and started my Christmas baking while he played with and amused the boys.
I got SO much baking done, and I gained an embarrassing amount weight in an embarrassingly short amount of time!
While I was baking on Saturday I had a wonderful surprise when I looked up and out the kitchen window.
The first snow fall has officially happened in my little town!
I'm told it's not really the first... but it's the first that has stayed...
I love the winter. I love the cold, I love the smells, I love the snow. I just loooove the winter.
And this
makes me SO happy!

Friday, November 19, 2010

Hair

Yesterday we got Zac's hair cut.
Normally they just use the razor over his whole head, cleaning up the length but not really giving it any "style".
This time they actually styled it though!
So I dropped him and my hubby off and came back to a little man with jelled hair!!
Seriously, it broke my heart all day!
He's growing too fast...
such a little man...

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Lovely Night

Tonight I bought chocolate brownies, with icing and a fudge filled chocolate on top, sugar cookies and egg nog.
Eat those wonderful treats while watching my favorite movie, ever (Stranger than Fiction), and it makes for such a lovely evening.
I have always loved egg nog. Something about it takes me back to my childhood at the holidays. You see, my dad always got it as a special treat around Christmas and we only ever drank it out of small cups.
Small tupperware cups.
Red, orange, yellow and, if you were lucky, green.
The green one was the biggest.

I still can't drink it out of a big glass.
It just doesn't taste right out of a big glass...

The weather has cooled and you can smell the holidays in the air. Although it hasn't snowed yet, there's something about the smell of crisp "winter" air that makes it feel like the holidays.
Curl up under a blanket, with a glass of egg nog, sweet treats and a good movie...
I think we need to put up our Christmas tree tomorrow, because in my mind, the holidays just began!

Blankets

A little while ago I saw a flannel blanket on Etsy that was being sold for over $100 and I really couldn't figure out why... it just seemed so... simple.
Although I'm new to the world of quilts and blanket making I thought it looked like a lovely blanket that I could whip up in no time.
One night when my hunnie was working I decided to try one out. Just to see if it was as simple in practice as it was in my head and to time how long it took me.

I LOOOVE how it turned out!


Simple, simple, but comfy and cozy and just all round wonderful in my opinion!
Everything a blanket should be.

This past Sunday I went to a baby shower and decided to include one of these blankets as part of the gift.
I found this adorable mountie fabric that worked so well, especially since her husband is an RCMP officer.
I also made up a cute "boy" one that my boys love.
They snuggled right into it the morning after I made it and have cuddled up with it everyday since!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

How's YOUR Movember going?

I quite enjoy the idea of Movember...
Trouble is, I can't really participate... not being able to grow facial hair and all!

Today I had a huge hankering for a mustache on a stick but when pricing them was not really prepared to spend over $5.00 for one.


I went on a hunt through my craft room drawers and was able to find everything I needed to make my own and let me tell you!

They are WAY more fun then you'd think, especially if you have kids!

Would you like to make your own mustache on a stick?
It's easy peasy!


You'll need:
Scissors
Glue (I used a glue stick and a glue gun)
Pencil (perm. marker optional)
felt
card board backing (an empty cereal box will do quite nicely!)
lollipop sticks

Draw your mustache on the cardboard and cut it out.
You don't really have to outline it with perm marker, but I have this thing that if I'm cutting anything out I like to have a bold line to cut around... yah... I know it's weird...

Glue your cardboard mustache's down on your felt and let dry.
I put a couple large books on top while it was drying just to ensure they dried flat.
Once the glue is dry (I waited about an hour), cut your felt around the cardboard.

Grab your lollipop sticks and felt mustache's...

and hot glue the sticks on one side of the back of the mustache.

Then PLAY!
It makes for good times!!




Monday, November 15, 2010

Musical Monday's!

Music plays a pretty big part in my family's everyday life.
My husband always has something on if he's home, the boys are in a music class and I too enjoy a good song or two.
For that reason I have decided to start doing up a "Musical Monday" post every Monday!

I have friends who participate in Wordless Wednesdays, and while I enjoy them to the core, "wordless" just isn't me! I always have LOTS to say!

Along with each song I choose to share I will probably share a little ditty about why I like it, or something it reminds me of... we'll see! It will include my usual ramblings along with a music video for your viewing pleasure!

I've decided that my first, official, "Musical Monday" should include one of my current favourites. I've shared this one before but I really think it's a beautiful song and it gets me every time.
"What Love Really Means" by JJ Heller



Tune in next week for another fave! I'm not sure what it will be just yet... but I'll try to make it a happy upbeat one!
...could be something from Glee...
I do love Glee!!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Another Introduction

This is Bertha.
She's my closest friend these days.
We spend ridiculous amounts of time together and tell each other all kinds of fun secrets.
We also fight.

Right now we're fighting.

You see, I had plans to sew this evening.
I really want to make a blanket for a baby shower I'm attending on Sunday.
I got all set up and ready to go,
and then Bertha threw a temper tantrum!
I said a few... ahem, encouraging words to her and then she got REALLY mad at me and is now not speaking to me... or working for me...

I suppose I'll just clean up the shows I've got waiting for me on the DVR instead and try and kiss and make up with Bertha tomorrow...