Spring on a cloudy day

So it's been cloudy around here, and it has made me want to decorate.

 I love hanging anything from the ceiling...flowers, butterflies..

And seeing even faux paper flowers lying around...

 Or glittery ones...

And ORANGE!

And of course, sheep.  And peeps!

Excited for eastertime...

Rough

It's been rough around here.  Emilie has croup, and this pic was taken right before she threw up IN her bed.

While I was taking a shower, so I didn't know until 10 minutes later.

None of us have been getting much sleep around here - for the last week!

 But they're still so cute together, even when sick...

And it doesn't stop her from being her usual, goofy self!

Here she is, sitting in her sister's room on her bench.

Happy day - feeding ducks at Rio

I am so blessed!

Mitred corners!!!

My mom asked me to put a backing on an original piece of African art she purchased a long time ago.

So I did it, and added my first bias tape binding with mitred corners!!!  WAHOOOO!

I had to read 2 tutorials to figure this out but once I got it it was so easy!  So happy.   :)

The little things make me happy!

Here you go, Momma!

Snow dream

I don't knit, but if I did, I'd try and make something like this cuteness.  Found here.

SOAP.COM

I always appreciate good customer service.  I ordered about $50 worth of items from SOAP.COM and the FedEx man dropped off my box down the street (Country Ridge Road???  Not even close!).  The kid's son opened my box, but thankfully the dad brought it over today.  So I called and complained and SOAP.COM refunded $20!  Now that made the annoyance totally worthwhile.  $20 for us goes a long way these days, with me not working and tons of expenses!  And I really believe these little things are God's way of taking care of us.  :)  When you tithe, and then some, it REALLY comes back to you, in FULL measure! 

splish splash

Spring rains require rain coats and boots! 

I wanted to remember them wearing these before they outgrew them.

Happy lamp

 Happy IKEA lamp with a new crystal trim...

Even happier mamma who finally owns a glue gun.  :) 

(Yeah, I know, don't know why I never bothered to buy one.  This stuff is great!)

Speechless...

Someone from church - same lady who's given me so much in the past - put this in my hand yesterday after service. 

Oh. My. Goodness.

Tears...

And lastly the madness - Lent

Ok my third and last post for the night... lent.  Another reason why March is so hard!  I've never really given up much for lent (and haven't this year)... but my dear husband has been on a spiritual growth spurt (see post #1) and is giving up all kinds of things - alcohol, sleep, only to name a few... So he asked me to join him on internet-free Sundays until Easter (what??!?!?!).  Sigh... I mean, only one day out of the whole week, I know is NOT a big deal at all... (would it even make a difference?)... but I was shocked to find how hard it actually was to do this, and how addicted I am to the internet.  Sigh.  We decided to just use that extra time we'd normally be on-line to spend with the kids as a family -- and to my very pleasant surprise, it was by far, one of the nicest days of the entire week!! It made me realize how much time I waste checking my email and facebook and other sites... and how much more I could be doing if I just got unplugged!

I actually managed to sew a little crayon bag on Sunday because I wasn't wasting time on-line.  Haha!

And the girls had fun with it. 

Must do this more often -- less time on-line, more time with the kids, more time making stuff. 

And with that, I'll bid you all a goodnight!

See you... in April???  LOL

Continuing the madness - St. Patty's Day!

I had no idea how big St. Patty's day was for preschoolers!  Starting from the week before, making Mardi-Gras masks (eeks) at school, rainbows and pots of gold, going on Leprechaun walks during playtime, etc etc... Emilie has been enjoying all of this!  I confess I TOTALLY forgot about the day when the day actually arrived... and went to CBS with pink shoes on only to find everyone in green. OOPSIES!  So I came home and made cupcakes with green frosting and green signs (printables) and shared them with a sweet gal who just had her third baby!!  :)

I'm not sure what's going on with her "chandler" smile these days (lol)...



GREEN!!!



And she didn't like them much, I guess!! 

But this one did!!  And don't know why she's licking off the frosting like a doggie... but hey, whatever works!

March Madness

Well hello blogworld!  :)

I guess I should try and catch up on the past few weeks now that we're nearing the end of March, the month of madness, and not just because of college basketball, to which I've happily turned a blind eye this year (sorry bball fans).  Heehee!

March is a tough month for me (hence the madness).  Maybe that's why I haven't blogged much.  March is the teaser -- almost spring, but not quite -- the in-between that always makes me feel in limbo when I don't know whether to put on a coat or walk out with no socks on.  And not to mention we're just so dang busy!!  Busy with church stuff primarily, and/or hosting family from out of town, and celebrating belated birthdays, and trying not to catch spring viruses (ugh), and dealing with my ever-worsening seasonal allergies!!!  So I'm neither here nor there and almost always, exhausted from these allergies!

We did get to have a little party for my dear husband who turned 35!!  And I forgot to take a picture of my gift to him -- a silly shirt I made with appliqued cars on them and the word ZOOOOM painted on the front with the numbers 35.  Zoooom, of course, in reference to how life is passing  by so quickly; to the mazda commercial (zooom, zoom, zoom!) since we drive a Mazda5 at this point in our life; to the ways Jee is growing so much spiritually and going on his first missions trip this summer!  So many zooooms as you see.  Anyhoo... it was a fun party with silly hats and ice cream cake and I think everyone had fun.

Great day

It's my husband's 35th birthday today and I felt like it was my birthday today!  What a great day.... Jee was home -- took the day off work since his dad came over to visit.  It just worked out, between Jee picking up his dad at the metro and taking him out to run errands, that I didn't have to drop off or pick up Em from school at all today... and I just stayed home and made lunch and chilled with little girl... then since no one napped in the afternoon, we all went to the playground - and then strolled after to the library and sat outside and had juice in the sun... I can't remember the last time we'd done that!  So fun.... Then my FIL bought us an awesome Thai dinner from Sabai Sabai, with a nice glass of wine and dessert from whole foods... yummmmmm-o!  Kids are in bed and I have the TV to myself... what?!  Days this good don't even happen on my real birthday, haha.  So I'm just thankful for a super duper day.  Thanks, God.  :)