i want to make...

i want to make so many things right now.

it's pinterest's fault.  if you pinterest, you probably know exactly where i'm coming from...


i love the ideas i find on pinterest.  but do you ever feel guilty for not making the things you pin?

well, i'm thinking that maybe if i tell you about them, i'll really make them.  it's worked for giving up sweets...


so, here are some things on my list

an insulated lunch tote.  i actually ordered some fabric yesterday for this.  at my new job, i'm taking my lunch everyday, but there is no refrigerator.  i realized yesterday, as i was packing my lunch in C's pink lunch box with butterflies on it, that i might need one of my own.  this will get made, soon...  tutorial found here.

staying on the topic of sewing - i'm going to attempt making a dress for C this year.  i made her a skirt last year.  my sewing skills have gotten a little better, so i'm going to attempt a dress.  this pattern seems pretty basic.  i really would love to do it.  pattern found here.

and why not attempt a dress for myself while i'm at it?  pattern found here.

i would love to make something like this for C's room.  i know i can find an old shutter somewhere, i just need to commit to it.  it's this cute?!?

this would be fun and easy for C's room too.  it's a cookie sheet covered in fabric to make a magnet board.  genius huh??  this would be so easy!!

this picture gets me excited for spring.  i love having fresh flowers around.  these are just soup cans covered in pretty paper.  this would be a fun mother's day present.  or if you were throwing a baby or wedding shower.  just plant some little flowers, cover the cans in cute paper and give them away.  simple and sweet.

smoothies!  random compared to the other things, but it's still something i want to make.  i want to go buy a blender and start making smoothies.  i think C would really enjoy them and they can be so healthy!  doesn't a strawberry-blueberry-orange smoothie sound so refreshing?

what has pinterest inspired you with lately?

it's almost the weekend.  time to get busy!  =)

random wednesday

as usual, i've got a lot of random things going on.  so, i thought i would just be random and share!

last friday, C and i went up to our local ReStore to look around.  i didn't really go looking for anything in particular, so, we were just about to leave when i saw this hanging on the wall.

i loved the sweet needlepoint, and thought it would look great in C's room.  i needed a little more art in there, and this needlepoint at only $10, would work great.

but that matte.  grayish blue?  why?

and the frame.  pretty beat up and bad.

so, i bought it, but wanted to make it work for cheap.

i took it apart and cleaned the glass and the frame.  sprayed the frame white and then found a matte for $3 at hobby lobby.  and now, it looks like this -

so much better, right??  the green matte alone makes a huge difference!  one that actually matches...what a concept, huh??  and glossy white spray paint always makes things better in my opinion.

now, it's hanging in her room with a couple of other prints and frames i already had.

the smaller frames were terrible too, but i just sprayed them white.  the mason jar art was a valentine's day card.  and the smallest print is from katie daisy that i got on Craft Weekend.

all three of these cost me a total of $13.  i mostly just used things around the house.  i love finding old stuff that's not being used anymore and making it cute again.

ok - random train moving on....

this was last saturday.  we were able to get out and ride her bike!  it was so nice to let her run around outside.  it's either been too cold (because it's february!) or too rainy.  i'm not complaining at all about this snowless winter.  it's going to be almost 60 today, and we will be doing this again!  =)

later that night, i had a free night to myself.  why?  because these two went on a little date!

i couldn't love this picture more.  she was so excited!  she calls "dates", "gates".  when she spends the night at her gran jan's, she knows that mommy and daddy are going on a gate.  well, this time, it was her turn to be taken on a gate by daddyboy.  she was beside herself.  running around, getting ready.  i loved seeing her so excited.  and i am beyond thankful for that boy.  to be excited to take his daughter to a dance in a church gym?  thats a keeper right there!  ;)

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on monday i made these

 
low-fat lemon poppy seed muffins.  i found the recipe here.  they are really good.  just the right amount of sweet and a nice change from cold cereal in the morning.

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ok - here's my last random rambling...

see these?

part of my valentine's present.  yummy.

but, today is ash wednesday.  the beginning of lent.  and i've decided to give up sweets for lent.  not sugar.  sweets. stuff like ice cream, chocolate, cake, cookies.  all things i love.  but, all things that i've started to realize, have a hold over me.  i can make up a hundred excuses and always justify a little sweet treat.  but just because i can justify it, doesn't mean it's good for me.  and worse than the physical health reasons, i realized i don't have much will-power against these things.  i don't like that.

so, i'm making it public.  i'm sharing it with the world!  uh-oh....  NO MORE SWEETS UNTIL EASTER.

uh.  i think my uterus just yelled at me....

have a good wednesday friends!!

a little love day party

hey friends!  hope you all had a fun valentine's day.

the hubs and i have never gone out on v-day.  we always get a little something for each other, but we never go out on the actual day.  too many people and too expensive.

so, last night we had a little love day party at our house.  basically, we all just wanted to get together and hang out, and tuesday was a free day.  but, the girls exchanged little valentine's and we heard all about what they did at school that day.

we attempted to get a quick family photo, but this is what we saw when we looked at my phone...

hmmm...  not really a keeper....;)

i did have few decorations around.  mostly because C is at a really fun age right now and she loves to "help" me with crafts.  when i sewed the little heart banner together, she really wanted to sit on my lap.  instead, i pulled up a chair for her and she watched with excitement the whole time.

we had such a fun night!

and remember those meltaway cookies i talked about making in my last post?

well, i couldn't get a picture quick enough!

they were super yummy!  and they really did just melt in your mouth.

it was a quick little party, but things don't tend to last too long on school nights once you have kids.  but it was a perfect little catch up and a great way to spend the evening.  i love our friends and their kids so much.  and i'm so thankful for their friendship and love.

this was my valentine's present this morning

it's not so bad to drive to work and see a sky like this in front of you.

especially when this sweet thing is sitting behind you

she got a new sock monkey for v-day.  now she has a boy and a little girl.  both named "dee-doe".....=)

happy belated love day friends!

amazing week & instafriday

i'm so bummed that i haven't blogged since last friday.  hence the double title.

but tonight, i finally have a little time to sit down and reflect.  but, i will preface this by saying that i probably only got 4 good hours of sleep last night.  C is sick for the 1st time in a year.  almost exactly to the day.  she got a lot of ear infections when she was younger, but the past year she has been clear.  well, this morning, after a near sleepless night, the doctor confirmed that she has one.  let's just say, i was up a lot last night...

this week has been awesome.  we've had some pretty big things happen here.  before anyone gets their hopes up - i'm.not.pregnant.  but what happened this week is something that i've been dreaming of, kind of like a pregnancy.  as a family, we have been praying for this for a long time.  ever since C came along.  but the timing was never right.  God was telling us to wait. 

but, 2 weeks ago, a part-time job just showed up out of nowhere.  wait, let me go back 3 weeks.   3 weeks ago, shaun and i had a family budget meeting.  now, don't be impressed.  these aren't meetings we have often.  in fact, we had been needing to have one for about 4 months.  but we dread them, so we put them off.  but finally, one wednesday night we made a plan, stuck to it, and had a meeting.  and in that meeting, we ran scenarios of what it would look like if i worked less, once we had another baby.  we prayed and left it at, "we'll make it work."  but again, this was once baby #2 was on the scene.

then, out of nowhere, less than a week after our meeting, i see a posting for a part-time job with a non-profit organization i know and love.  so, i update my resume, send it over, but don't really expect to hear anything.

but then, i did.  and then, i had 2 amazing interviews.  and then, they offered me a job.  and then they told me i could do some work from home and that i could stay home with C for 3 days a week. woah!  shaun and i ran the #'s and it all worked.  perfect.  like too perfect.  like, God perfect. =)

so, in 1 week, i will be working part-time!  yahoo!  you don't know how excited i am.  to be home more with C.  to feel more like a mom that works, instead of an employee who's a mom.  and to work for an organization that means something to me.

this has been an amazing week, and God has been in every step.  so many steps of faith, so many open doors, and so much confirmation. 

thank you to everyone who has prayed with us.

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shew!  ok, so how about some instafriday?  as usual, linking up with jeannette @ life rearranged!

this was taken a week ago, but i forgot to add it to last friday's post.  we have had some crazy weather here.  it was 56 degrees, blue skies, beautiful day, sun roof open and february.  that's weird here.  the weather today - 29 degrees, snowy, gray.  that's  normal for february.  i had to capture this rare moment!

also from last week, but again, i forgot to add it.  this was C's last night in her crib.  i know it's probably weird, but i had to get one last picture.  she looks like such a big girl here.

but an even bigger girl here!  that's right - the big girl bed!  she loooooooves it.  still thinks it's the best thing ever.  when she talks about her big girl bed, it's with so much excitement.  and she is doing amazing.  the first night was seamless.  she didn't get up once.  but, she did wonder into our room at about 5:30am.  then 6:30, then finally shaun got up at 7:30 with her.  she's doing much better now after a week, but that's why we did it on a weekend.  we knew it would take some practice!  =)

saturday morning jam session.  daddyboy was holding the chords, and C was strumming and singing.  they made a pretty good team!

isn't this vase amazing?!?!?  a very sweet co-worker gifted it to me this week.  i couldn't help but snap it's picture.  and i can't wait to put pretty flowers in it this spring.  a gift from anthropologie is always a good way to start a work day!

and look at these pretty ladies!  some beautiful tulips from my amazing hubs, as a congratulations for getting a new job!  such a sweet surprise.  i'm kind of spoiled....

my sweet girl after she was really brave at the doctor today. she's not the biggest fan of the doctor, but now that she's older, i feel like we can talk it through some.  and i'm not above bribing and rewarding her with treats.  so after she did so great, we made a little stop at starbucks.  is it weird that she get's excited about and really knows what starbucks is?  is it weird that when we go to the grocery store, she knows there is a starbucks inside and gets excited?  nah...

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well, i'm staying on track with my february photo challenge.  

 

and yes - i did take today's, even though if i could have skipped one, this would have been it.  why am i like that?  i guess because it was a picture of just me.  seems weird.  but i guess, good at the same time.  i guess...

have a good weekend friends!  

i'll be back soon with a sweet cookie recipe that i found on pinterest.  just in time for love day!  

don't they look and sound amazing!  can't wait to make little heart shaped ones!  =)

InstaFriday!

it's friday, and i'm still having a lot of fun with instagram!  especially while i was at craft weekend.  so many beautiful things to photograph!

so, i'm linking up with jeannette @ life rearranged.

sparkle headband and ga-ga glasses.  pretty normal around here.  she is ALL girl.

on my way to craft weekend!!!!!!!  i couldn't believe it.  so excited and so ready.   everyone that came to craft weekend flew in as well.  pretty amazing that 11 strangers flew to the middle of nowhere to stay at a stranger's house to craft, and then 2 days later, leave as friends.  the blog world is pretty amazing!

one of the first things we saw when we walked in.  tons of wonderful fabric!!  so many choices and so beautifully displayed. 

 

 bearly makin' it antique store and barn.  so fun to walk around and dig through all the goodies.

meg has a mirror like mine!  let's be honest, i got the idea from her.  and i snapped this picture because i always loved the head-shot picture on her blog.  it's kind of hard to tell, but that's the same mirror.  =)  this isn't creepy is it...?

the aprons we made at craft weekend.  so many cute fabric combination's.  i loved mine, but i would have taken all of these home!

meg and i!  thanks amy for taking this amazing picture!  ;)

home on monday with my girl after a wonderfully exhausting weekend.  i had such an amazing weekend, but i sure did miss this little lady.  pj's all day!

snuggling under my new quilt with the other person i really missed.  i'm under this quilt again right now.  i just love it so much.  so cozy and colorful.  such a great find while at CW.

ok - so i've decided to do a photo a day challenge.  i saw january's on cuppakim's blog and thought it sounded fun!  i missed the first 2 days, but plan on sharing the other 27 pictures at the end of the month.  can't wait.  tomorrow is a stranger.  should be interesting...

have a good weekend friends!