built to last

we got out

2012-03-07T14:07:00.000-06:00

We got out yesterday. It was gorgeous and by the end of our walk we had all shed our jackets. There was some mud and some peeing outside and it was just what (this) doctor ordered. I could tell James felt it, too. He kept stopping to hug me and wanted me to take lots of pictures of him. He was happy.

Oh, fresh warm air. We love you.

xoxo

me, in a nutshell

2012-03-06T08:11:00.002-06:00

Just a few quick updates this morning as I have all of my (seemingly) 100 children home. (Ruby's eyes look a little suspect this morning so I am keeping her home and starting her on James' drops just in case.) (Oh, I forgot to tell you. James got pink eye just in time for our doctor visit yesterday. He has a double ear infection, too, and is on the same medicine as Nicky. Matchers!)

I failed to meet my 21 day exercise challenge. The last day I exercised was the day before we left for Duluth. I think I got to 11 or 12 days in a row?? Oh well. It was just too chaotic while we were gone and since we've been home it's been so. much. sick. I am feeling better today but am still way too snotty. Last year I was Marching through March, remember?

That's when it all started and it was so fun! This year I'm Blowing My Nose through March and it's not as great. :) I think I can breathe enough to exercise again now, though. I'm not ready to say I'm going 21 days in a row again (or trying to) but I might be ready to say that soon-ish.

It seemed like there was something else but maybe not.

It did just hit me yesterday that Spring starts this month. Boy, was that a wonderful realization and relief. I think we're going to make it! At least we weren't sick all winter but this is sure going out with a bang. :)

I have to go now. I need to make coffee and make Ruby a sunbutter sandwich, folded.

xoxo

thrift share monday

2012-03-05T08:37:00.001-06:00

I cleared it earlier in the week with Patrick that I could have Saturday for thrifting. I'm not going to lie...it's been a long 2 weeks with sick kids home every day and a 700+ mile trip in the middle of it all. I needed a break and some inventory! He was fine with it so I headed off Saturday morning at 10am to try and get in as many stops as I could. I found lots of stuff and had such a nice day. I got home around 6:45 with Noodles for all and everyone was happy. :)

I'm not sure where this will end up yet, or if I might even keep it! Love this vintage fabric, though. It's a pillow cover with a zipper.

vintage village mug on etsy now:

vintage chicken mug on etsy: (I found 3 of these so one is going to a good friend who also happens to be a chicken girl.)

cool vintage tray for etsy:

mini mushrooms, etsy:

I read somewhere that these SAS shoes sell really well. We shall see! :) On ebay:

vintage keds! for ebay:

vintage hallmark placemats, for me: (this was my favorite song as a kid and these totally remind me of Christmas in the 70s)

I could not resist this vintage stoneware candle holder. for etsy:

vintage doll quilt, anyone? on ebay:

more tiny and darling swanky swigs! I will sell them on ebay as they're not ones I collect: (not listed yet, though)

cool vintage turtle mug/soup bowl. I've heard there are crazy turtle people out there. :) (not listed yet)

I also got myself a bunch of clothes and a cute summer bag and lots of other clothes for ebay and the children's sale. Too lazy to take pics this morning...need coffee. It was a tiring but really fun and productive day.

I decided I'd share my ebay link here in case anyone is curious. I consider myself a beginner again but am doing lots of research and thinking about how I can improve my listing and fees and all of that. It's a lot of work, but I enjoy it. I made $200 the week before last between etsy and ebay...not bad!! I ordered a mannequin, too! Yay! :) She should be here this week and I read that it really helps clothes sell well. I'll keep you posted. I started my auctions last night and sold one item (pair of shoes) last night with a Buy It Now and have 2 bids on other items, one of them (the little green creamer) that I realized had a hairline crack so I am super happy about that! (of course I listed that info in the auction. almost didn't list it.) Some of my buy it now prices seem high but I read you should just go for it with the buy it now. :) You never know! (My mom might notice that I listed her books for her!) (And that those Denby mugs we got years ago can sell really well.) (shhhhhh.) :)

I'm going to link up with my favorite Thrift Share Monday today. It's not up yet but later on you can go see all the weekend scores...it's so fun!

xoxo

(off to take James to the doctor for his cough. hope he is feeling better soon. :( )

the few pics I do have

2012-03-01T13:30:00.001-06:00

(in this last one, that is Patrick standing to our right of Erin, the bride. He went and joined that group to chat. Patrick. chatting. It was a good night! :) )

I have a bad cold. Nicky's eyes are no longer oozing green stuff but he still feels pretty crappy today. I'm so glad I brought him to the doctor yesterday. Today is the first day he's napped in his crib since we've been home so that is awesome. Hopefully he will feel well enough to sleep there tonight. I will miss his little hands on my cheeks tomorrow morning, though. sweet way to wake up...his deep little morning voice saying "hi mama" while he pats my cheeks. xoxoxo

still alive & (mostly) well

2012-02-29T15:21:00.002-06:00

I'm back! Kind of. You know how it is after you've been gone for a while? You might very well be back in your normal spot but you still feel kind of "off." That's where I'm at. Feeling good, though.

For now.

I'm still waiting for the stomach flu to strike me as it struck Ruby and Nicky last Sunday. Thankfully, we made it through the wedding virtually illness-free. And I am so thankful for that as it was a wonderful wedding. Thomas and Erin seemed so happy and relaxed and they both seemed like they were having a great time.

I wish I had better pictures to show you but I only took a few with my phone and I don't have them online yet. (they all kind of stink, anyways.) They rented a huge lodge in Northern Wisconsin for their wedding and we had the whole place to ourselves for an entire 24 hours. It was fully staffed and included things like a pool, outdoor hot tub, firepits, pool & ping pong tables, tunnels, secret rooms and all the coffee you could drink. (among other things. ahem.) They said their vows in a candlelit ceremony in front of a huge fireplace...so sparkly and romantic...I just loved it. The kids had an amazing time running free with all of their cousins and pretty much did what they wanted. James and Ruby actually had their own room!

For me, the the hours flew by. I adore my family and could just talk and laugh with them for hours, which is pretty much what we did. :) Patrick also had a really good time and didn't mind staying in the room with a feverish Nicky on Sunday morning as he was a bit "under the weather" himself, if you know what I mean. I'm not sure, but staying up until 3:30 am talking and drinking might have had a little something to do with it. :)

Sadly, Ruby followed Nicky in illness as the day wore on and I woke up Monday morning knowing we had to get out of dodge. My Dad's immune system is suppressed due to his chemo and it made me so nervous that we would get him sick. (so far, so good...he's fine) I hated saying goodbye to everyone, though. We all had plans to get together Monday night (me, patrick, thomas, erin, seester, ronan & dad) and I was very sad to miss out on that time together. It was sooooo good to see my pregnant sister, Ronan and little Jacob. He is so flipping cute and James and Ruby just loved him.

Ruby had a double accident (puke and poop...poor thing) a few minutes after we left my Dad's that morning and it had Patrick and I just holding back the laughter. We kept joking about what was going to go wrong next but luckily, nothing did. We made good time getting back and it was soooo good to get home. I spent the next 36 hours mostly holding a feverish Nicky. He finally slept well last night and I took him in today and got him some antibiotics for an eye & ear infection. Poor kid.

Now it is time for a hot cup of coffee and some slippers. They day started out warm and sunny but now it's raining and chilly again.

Love to you. Especially my aunties who seem to be my biggest fans. :) xoxoox

more thrifty finds (and other stuff about my also-very-important family)

2012-02-23T09:29:00.002-06:00

The day got away from me yesterday, somehow. How are you?

Ruby was home again yesterday and will be today, too. She has a mild cough but a raging fever that comes and goes. Her temp was 104.4 yesterday afternoon...she seems to be okay during the day but then the fever flares up again in the afternoon. I'm curious to see if today will be better. I sure hope so...we are leaving tomorrow! Thomas & Erin invited everyone over for pizza tomorrow night (hello, bride and groom hosting a get together the night before their wedding...can you say organized?? :) ) and I hope we can go but if Ruby's still sick we will stay home and hope she's better for the wedding on Saturday.

Last night after Patrick got home I left to go vacuum and wash the van. He loves to do this before trips (well, anytime but especially before trips) but would have a hard time with it because of his back so I went and did it to surprise him. I also might have accidentally driven to the thrift store and found these awesome things:

Some little Skechers that Nicky won't take off this morning:

A pair of $50 See Kai Run shoes (in EXCELLENT condition) for Nicky next fall, a pair of build a bear skechers for Ruby (well, for one of her bears), a vintage asian swanky swig, some animal craft sticks to bring along this weekend and an Encyclopedia Brown book for James:

I paid $11 for all of it and was very happy, especially with the shoes for Nicky. It was so nice to just be out after being home for 2 days with the kids.

The glass was also a good find...I haven't found a vintage "painted" glass for my collection for a long time. They are all packed up now but I will bring them out again this summer...I wrote a little about them here if you want to take a look. You might notice I have a small swanky swig in this same pattern...I am happy to have a large one!

Last Saturday I took Ruby out for a girls day. She chose the mall (of course) so off we went for lunch and the play area and some Paciugo (my favorite part!). I also found a dress that I love (more than my other dress) for the wedding and Ruby got her hair cut. I was thinking how much I love and need time alone with her...I can totally see how middle children fall through the cracks somewhat. Now, of course, I've had LOTS of time alone with her and we are all good for a while. :) Just kidding. I think yesterday was my favorite...she wanted to watch "Buddy Elf" (Elf) and take a nap with me. Loved that.

(Ruby eating her sub...she can pack it away at Subway.)

We had conferences Tuesday night and it was hilarious hearing about what she told her teacher last Mon, Tues, Wed during our stand off with James. SO funny. :) She gave her teacher updates each morning and was like, (in a totally serious voice) "Mrs. Fahey. You are never going to believe what happened at my house this morning!" hahahhahahhaah. So glad her teacher knows me so well. :)

(do you ever think about what your kids tell their teachers? they tell them a LOT, that is for sure. I am actually glad Ruby trusts her enough to give her the low down.)

On Monday Nicky and I met Susan and her kids at that play place again and again it was lots of fun. At first, Nicky only had eyes for this semi full of cars...the same kind that James loved when he was little:

(I am almost done with my random catching up...)

A friend emailed me the other day after reading my update on James. She said a lot of it sounds similar to what they're going through with their own 8 year old and told me to hang in there. :) It was very sweet and I really appreciated it...it's always so good to hear you're not alone in these things. Thank you, friend. :)

Ruby just got up and is currently putting the new shoes on her bear...very happy little girl. :) (she got her other bear a pair on Saturday but didn't have enough to get 2 pairs.)

I've totally lost my train of thought now. I have LOTS to do today and better get started. First on the list? Fold laundry and watch Survivor.

Oh, I just remembered...some recent notes from Ruby:

On Tuesday she woke me up from a nap to tell me she had written me a note telling me to have a good nap. :)

And this one for James, which is a little bit easier to read:

Have a good weekend, dear ones. I will be back next week sometime!

xoxoxo

sleepy yet excited

2012-02-21T09:37:00.002-06:00

Greetings from Wisconsin! It is snowing, Ruby is home with a cold and I am on my second (much needed) cup of coffee. I just opened up the pots and pans cupboard so Nicky would leave me alone for a few minutes. Between Ruby and Nicky, I think we were up 6 or 7 times last night?? Nicky isn't sick (yet) so I don't know what the heck his deal was. It was especially rough since he's been finally sleeping all night again for the last week or two. Mmmmmm, I love sleeping through the night. :) Needless to say, there was no 6am exercising this morning. I slept in until 7:15 and it felt good. Guess I'll have to sweat it out after lunch. (which is hard because that is when my body says, "relaaaaaax, sit dowwwwwwn, relaaaaaaax.") (today will be day 11 out of 11.)

This weekend is my brother and Erin's wedding and we are all SO EXCITED! I adore those two and am just so happy for them. :)

(one of their engagement photos...love.)

Of course my sister and her family will be in town and we will see lots of our other favorite family members at the wedding, too. Yay!

I wanted to give you a quick update on James. The naughty behavior stand-off lasted for two days. He pretty much spent those two days in his room, when he wasn't at school or joining us for dinner, because he just couldn't control his mouth. He lost all privileges, including tv, wii, ds and rides to school. The first night he even had to stay on his bed! He read for four hours...his first Wimpy Kid book. :) (I was proud of him, the naughty little bugger.) He had to make his own lunch, too. By Thursday he was ready to try behaving. I wonder why?? We are now deciding day by day if he gets his privileges the next day based on how he has behaved. (previously we would take one thing away at a time if he was naughty and Patrick said it should be ALL of it and I agreed to try. I think it's smart because why should he get any privileges if he's acting icky to us??) You give me trouble in the morning? You take the bus. (I usually give them rides now.) You complain about your lunch? You make it yourself tomorrow. You complain about no clean clothes? You wear dirty ones until you learn to throw your dirty laundry down the stairs. You talk back to us? You get some vinegar on your tongue. (I had been slacking on this and it showed. so sassy.) I feel like we are being harder on him but that's obviously what he needs...how it should be. It's been nice being around him these last few days and that is saying a lot.

I am all writed out now. (I know that's not a word.) I hope you have a fine Tuesday. :)

xoxo

(Ruby is going crazy trying to clean up after Nicky this morning. I told her he just moves stuff around all day and it's not worth the effort until after lunch. She has my organizing gene. I love it. :) )

thrift share monday

2012-02-20T09:01:00.000-06:00

The dig has been mildly disappointing lately but I managed to pull out a few winners last week. My favorite is this North Face sweatshirt for myself. It had a big stain on the front but it is almost out now and I think one more bleaching/sunlight round will take care of it. I love the multi colored smocking on the sleeves and waistband. I thought it was tight at first but after washing it and just line drying it, it's fine. (I love hoodies but I've gotten 3 new ones lately and I should probably stop. :) )

This tunic shirt is for me also. So lightweight and it has that pinstripe detail on the tabs and collar, which I love.

This Lands End shirt is for resale: (it's a 2X...nice quality plus size clothes usually sell pretty good for me.)

Vintage plus size shirt for resale: (probably on etsy)

Oh no! I accidentally bought another Lands End jacket! my bad. :) This one is for Nicky and I love the red tabs with that blue.

Some super lightweight capris and plain brown tank for me. No, I won't wear them together. :) I think the capris are for over a swimsuit but I will wear them with whatever I want. (rebel in the house!!)

PJ pants, Nike shorts and mermaid tank for Ruby:

white tanks and some Levis that Heidi found for Nicky:

For childrens resale: gap, osh kosh, childrens place, gymboree and cherokee:

And some crocs for me! (goodwill, not the dig)

And a super crappy pic of 2 pretty mugs. The blue leaf one (which I think is pretty boring) is marimekko and the other is just marked JAPAN. marimekko mugs are pretty collectible so I hope this one sells. Not sure about the other one but I couldn't resist it. :)

My total for all of it? $12 and $4 of that was for the shoes. Fun. :)

Well, Sesame Street is over so I got to go. I'm going to link up with Thrift Share Monday today. I am loving that link up...it's so fun to see all the treasures.

xoxo

we're going to buy a pony!*

2012-02-16T09:04:00.003-06:00

Good morning, dear ones. How are you? How was your Valentine's Day? Mine kind of sucked for a while after the fun morning but it came around again in the afternoon. Patrick cuddled me for a long time and I drifted off for a little nap in his arms. Very sweet. That being said, I was ready to kick him to the curb this morning and quite happy that he was going back to work. :) He basically slept for most of the last 2 days and his back is better but not a whole lot so. :( I do feel so bad for him. He saw his doctor and a chiropractor and got some good pain meds so hopefully he will continue to heal, albeit slowly.

I commented on the post but wanted to say thank you here for all the sweet comments on Valentine's Day. I have come to love celebrating this sweet little holiday because A) James loves that breakfast deal so much and B) I can spend a couple hours preparing and cleaning up and that's it! It's over. Kind of nice. :)

Speaking of James, OH MY GOSH. That boy is causing some kind of ruckus over here right now. I don't have the energy or inclination to go into all of it (you're welcome) but let's just say it's a bad one. I know it will pass, though, and I am really thankful for this opportunity to be a better parent.

KIDDING! :) We are just tightening our parenting belts and trying out a few new tools. Wish us luck.

I took Nicky to Toddler Time yesterday (see above) and really enjoyed myself. Nicky did, too. He is such a little muncher. Right now he is watching Sesame Street. ISN'T THAT AWESOME?? I think so.

I will tell you about my goal right now: I want to exercise every day for the next 15 days (at least), which will make it 21 days in a row. 21 days to making it a habit for me again. I am 6 for 6 days right now and feeling really good about it. I am loving the aching muscles and haven't even minded (too much) getting up at 6am to do it. I was going to wait until after the wedding, when we'll be up in Duluth for 5 days, to start but this way makes it more challenging, I suppose. My dad has a treadmill and I plan on using it. :)

I'm not sure what's on deck for today but it needs to be something fun. I need something fun today. Nicky, too. Maybe we'll go buy a pony!

Oh, the only other area of my life that needs updating is ebay! Sadly, I only made 12 bucks last week. boo! But I am not giving up and have quite a few auctions ready to go on Sunday night and hope to do a few more before then, too.

I hope you all have super awesome days! Or at least nice ones. :)

xoxo

*not really.

hello!

2012-02-15T14:44:00.003-06:00

I am listing ebay stuff so I can't talk right now. Nicky has been asleep for 2 blessed hours and I am taking advantage of every minute of it.

Back tomorrow.

See you then?

xoxo

I am so exhausted

2012-02-14T09:35:00.001-06:00

I've been up since before dawn creating a Valentine's Day Wonderland® for my children. I made homemade pop tarts (using whole wheat flour, natch) and homemade strawberry milk. I also made heart shaped rice krispy bars with organic marshmallows and fresh pomegranate juice to make them pink.

JUST KIDDING! :) All of that sounds wonderful but, um, not happening here. Instead I got some pre-made pie crusts and a can of mixed berry pie filling and made them heart shaped mini pies for breakfast. I also got some old school Strawberry NesQuik and gave them their first taste of strawberry milk...they loved it! :) (that stuff still tastes the same and is dangerously good.) In an effort to provide something healthy they also had some fresh strawberries.

I had a little table all set up (Patrick was working on the kitchen table last night so I couldn't use that) when they got up this morning and they were thrilled. Especially James...he really loves when I do this. He kept shooting me loving glances and offering me bites of his pie. He also wanted to hold my hand and said, "This is the best day ever!" :) The other cute thing was when he said, "These are so good! Am I right??" (he loved it last year, too.) (apparently I am a one-trick valentine pony.)

I wish I would have got a better shot of James but I was also trying to just sit with them and then I had to make lunches.

A little while later Nicky got up and while I was upstairs to get him, James set his little place up for him.

He seemed to like everything but mainly looked like he was wondering what the heck was going on. :)

I drove the kids to school and then came home and quickly shovelled our sidewalk. When I got in Patrick told me he was going to stay home again as his back was worse today. :( (he is going to the doctor at noon and also...he did that thing I needed him to do!!!!!!!) I like having him here, even upstairs in bed, and brought him up a little breakfast.

(dang, those mini pies were good!)

James is going to have pizza at school for lunch but I sent him a heart shaped rice krispy treat for their party time. Ruby had strawberries, a heart shaped sunbutter sandwich and a rice krispy treat. (I used those strawberry marshmallows for the rice krispy treats and they are sickeningly sweet.) (the marshmallows themselves are actually pretty good, though.) (if you like artificial strawberry flavoring, which apparently I do.)

For dinner we are having plain oatmeal and salads. :)

The final valentine-themed tidbit I'll share is James' quick and dirty valentines we printed out last night:

Get it? Super Valentine's Day...Super Mario Brothers??!!

(I copied the idea from an image of commercial ones found online. so sue me!)

He had had all of his valentines done, down in his room, and couldn't find them after school yesterday. (sigh.) In a panic, I found this image online, added some text in Picasa and printed them out! Easy and he loved them.

I will leave you (for now) with something my friend Kathy posted on facebook this morning:

You are loved today,

whether you have a valentine today or not.

Loved that. Thanks Kathy. :)

xoxo, dear ones. (I love you, too!)

a few more things

2012-02-13T15:27:00.000-06:00

We are back and have successfully accomplished Nicky's haircut. Why do I wait so long? He looks so flipping cute again. Not ugly like he did yesterday. (ha! kidding! I re-used that line from a conversation I just had with my seester. :) )

I wanted to touch on a few more things from our weekend. But first, I totally forgot to share something on my thrift share post! Nearly everything in the photo of stuff for me was found by my awesome thrifting friend, Heidi! She passed that Lands' End jacket and Janie & Jack fleece my way, too! What a girl that Heidi is. :) When I was thinking about my post I was planning on mentioning that but totally forgot in my haste this morning. It is so fun to dig with a friend...thanks, Heidi!

Now, about our weekend. On Saturday morning I went shopping and had some breakfast with Wendy. Wendy used to stay home but went back to work this year (teaching) and is sooooo busy now. (how do moms work full time??) I am so happy whenever we get to hang out because I just miss that girl. We had a lot of fun and I came home with a new necklace and a yearning for spring. (cute clothes alert! they're everywhere!) Later on, James and I baked a cake for him to decorate for his Boy Scout cake contest the next day. He read the recipe, measured and stirred it all up by himself and was SO PROUD. (and it was SO MESSY.) Later on he had a friend over and I took Ruby to her Girl Scout dance. The girls just basically ran around in their dresses for 1.5 hours. Oh, and ate cupcakes and got their faces painted. Works for me. (I'm so glad I got her that Lands' End dress earlier this winter because she wears it all the time!)

On Sunday morning I made baked hotdogs for James to take, along with his cake, to the Boy Scout luncheon. They are so delicious that I'm going to make them again soon for us (meaning me) because I didn't even get a bite! After I put the base layer of frosting on, James decorated his cake:

I think it turned out so cute but he was bummed that he didn't win like last year.

After the boys got home we took a family trip to Target for some essentials.

Like tall skinny mochas and hot dogs. (nothing makes James happier than a Target hot dog!?) (and yes, that was a lot of hot dogs for one weekend. :) )

I guess it doesn't seem like you could fit some boring in there but we did. I also fit in some laundry, a nap, making a quiche (Patrick loved that last one), and some reading. Oh, and I can't forget some words with friends. :)

I love weekends. And just think, we are only 4 days away from the next one! :)

xoxo, dear ones.

thrift share monday

2012-02-13T09:23:00.002-06:00

Good morning, friends. I hope you all had very nice weekends. What did you do? I had a fun/busy/boring weekend, which are the best kind to me...a bit of everything. :)

I'm linking up again with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday today.

My pictures are kind of poopy but I was trying to get them taken before Nicky got up. Without further ado, here are my finds:

Stuff for the children's sale in April: (justice, old navy, ed hardy, gymboree and gap)

for my kids: James: Lands End jacket for next year (woot!), Shaun White shirt, Tony Hawk shorts. Ruby: cherokee shirt, generic shorts and gap shorts. Nicky: halloween janie & jack fleece and osh kosh shorts.

For me: navy linen dress, cozy green hoodie with button pockets, silky black and white shirt, lacy tiered tank, nike shirt and lands' end swim top. (I have plain black bottoms already.)

Also, more of my favorite vintage playing cards:

I just love these graphics. One pack is Whitman and the other is some brand I haven't heard of. I will probably sell some on etsy and save some for my own creations.

I paid $10 for all of the above and also one pink linen shirt for the consignment store. Not a great week for finding items to resell but I got a lot of stuff our family will really use and that I really like.

I am especially happy whenever I find a summer shirt that I like and that is different from what I usually wear. I never wrote about my "shirt collection" last summer but it made me so happy. :) It was so fun after I lost some weight to be able to fit into a lot more of what I found while thrifting. If something only costs a quarter or fifty cents it is easy to bring it home and try something you wouldn't normally pick out.

((((I can't wait to wear summer clothes again!!!!!))))

I am taking Nicky for a hair cut now (finally.) but can't wait to click around later and see all the other thrifty finds from the weekend.

xoxo, dear ones.

happy frogday

2012-02-10T07:47:00.001-06:00

Patrick added this treasure chest to the frog's tank last weekend. He said they looked bored. :)

I'm off to volunteer and then do a little treasure hunting myself. (yay!)

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

p.s. new header! finally. James loved that I used his picture. xx

I will save this school work.

2012-02-09T09:54:00.001-06:00

(I adore this school-work that James brought home. He had to write a sentence based on a given word (food, earth, leave, etc.) and draw a corresponding picture. I love his little stick guys. I re-typed his sentence onto each picture for this post. xxoo)

disjointed thoughts

2012-02-08T08:44:00.000-06:00

You know how I started my valentines back in January? Um. yeah. Still have to finish them. Like today!

Patrick noticed all the tidying up and purging I did yesterday and said it "looks really good in here." That means so much to me, when he notices. It felt like there were piles of crap everywhere but I didn't bother with it because of Christmas and stuff. Well, Christmas was a long time ago so I had no excuse anymore. I love that it's all gone. My next job will be the basement because it's a mess again. I have piles of resale clothing and ebay stuff stacked all over and am going to put it all in one section on some shelves that I have. If I have a dedicated spot in our home for my stuff, I can take a tax deduction for that square footage. It won't be much but it will all add up. I can also deduct for part of our internet service, my new phone (that should arrive any day!), all the miles I drive to thrift and a portion of a new camera purchase, whenever I get some more $$ saved up. I'm glad I started this in January because it is so nice to start out organized and keeping track of everything. I will be so happy when tax time rolls around.

These were the treats I made last night and they are delicious. They really are like a thicker sugar cookie. I baked mine the whole 20 minutes and they are very done but thankfully not dry. I think to get them more like a Lofthouse cookie, you might want to check them at 17 or 18 minutes. I don't know if a couple minutes matter but I don't want to underbake anything with egg that James will be eating. He is doing so great with baked egg! I am so happy! Every week I've been baking something with one egg in the recipe and he's never had a problem. I made one larger batch of brownies with 2 eggs and the first time he ate them he said his tongue tingled a tiny but he asked for more and ate them the next day just fine.

Here are some pictures from our weekend. I apologize if you already saw them on facebook! :)

at the zoo:

Ruby, designing her 100th day of school shirt:

frosting some brownies he made for our superbowl "party":

and one of Nicky and Ben at the play place on Monday:

Cheers to Wednesday! xoxo

tuesdays suck! boo tuesdays!

2012-02-07T21:00:00.004-06:00

Okay, not all Tuesdays suck but this one did. It's too bad because I had such an awesome Monday. Maybe I had it coming?? :) (I am better now which is why I can joke.)

Yesterday we met Susan and her son for some playtime and it was so very nice. (And not just because she brought me Reese's hearts, freshly ground coffee beans and tiny peppers! Oh, and lots of clothes for Nicky!) (it was like my birthday or something! :) thanks, Susan.) It was great to catch up and drink coffee while our boys played. Afterwards Nicky took a loooooong nap which is also always appreciated. I don't remember how I spent the rest of the day. Oh, wait. That is a lie. I played way too much words with friends yesterday. I kind of OD'd on it. But now my sister and brother, along with my sister in law and some really good friends are allllll playing and it is fun! But it was a lot of WWF for me. I also watched the Bachelor which I always enjoy.

Today kind of sucked from the get go. I won't elaborate because it's not that important and also, I don't know for sure who reads this blog, you know? :) Let's just say I let little things get to me. And I was tired. So I spent the late morning filing (finally!), purging art supplies and coloring books and cds and school papers and artwork and magazines and it felt really good. I also took a nap but didn't feel much better when I woke up. You know what made me feel better? My kids came home from school/woke up from nap and they all hugged me and talked to me and we sat on the couch together and I felt better. (and that made me feel good.) So the day ended up pretty good. I just made some yummy sugar cookie bars and swept and mopped the kitchen floor and yes, played a little WWF. Now I'm going to go read for a while and talk to my husband. (oh, I forgot to tell you that I was a total bitch to him at one point earlier but later apologized and he forgave me. and I think he might actually do what I was mad at him for not doing?? we will see...) (don't tell him that he shouldn't reward that kind of behavior, okay? :) )

I hope you all had brilliant Tuesdays. I have to say, I am really looking forward to tomorrow.

xxoo

thrift share monday

2012-02-06T14:45:00.002-06:00

Last Friday night I found some thrift centered blogs via Apron Thrift Girl and had so much fun browsing around. I loved reading about other thrifty scores and how people are doing reselling on ebay and other places. It was so inspiring! My auctions ended at $97.00 for the week so that was fun as well. My cost for the sold items? $6.00. Of course this week you can hear crickets chirping over there but whatever. :)

I decided to link up with Thrift Share Monday this week and share some of what I found during my latest trip to the Dig. All of this is for ebay or the consignment shop and I paid approximately $7.50 for it:

Included are: 2 pairs J. Crew shorts, Columbia shorts, Horny Toad capris, North Face pants, Cabela's pants, Nike pants, Max Azria skirt, vintage Jockey shirt, Avenue sweater and skirt, Anthro brand tunic shirt, Gramicci pants, NWT Slimsuit bottoms and some Banana Republic capris. Everything is in beautiful condition...it's amazing what I find! I got a lot (a lot!) more but I have everything else separated or put away already.

I will be back later or tomorrow with my usual drivel. Happy Monday, dear ones.

xoxo

toddler. sigh.

2012-02-02T08:42:00.004-06:00

My camera may not even focus anymore. What a piece of crap it's been. I hate to buy another camera but I can't see how I can live without one. For sure I need one with shock protection. :)

Anyways, toddler time was a hit. I knew one woman who was there (kids are ages 0-5) and I guess Nicky's babysitter brings kids up sometimes, even though she wasn't there yesterday. There were a few girls Nicky's age but all he cares about still is just running, running, running. I enjoyed watching him (my little nicky!) and chatting with some other moms. I babysit next Wednesday but plan on going every other Wednesday.

The rest of my day was kind of wonderful. We walked up there and back, had lunch, read books, went down for a nap (nicky), read for a minute, and then decided to take a nap myself. Oh, it was nice. my bed is so awesome. Last night I went to Target for some things we needed and ended up getting one week's worth of groceries. My bad but I'm so glad I did. :)

I woke up at 5am and exercised. 6am would have been sufficient but Nicky needed me for a minute at 5 so 5 it was...lucky for him he went back to sleep. I did a cardio/weight workout and it was hard. I am pretty much back to beginner level but my muscles will remember soon enough. Feels good to be back, no matter what.

Patrick is upstairs shaving and Nicky is right there with him. He loves his dad so much. It's mutual...Patrick's eyes get so soft and sweet when he talks about him or looks at pictures of him that I took during the day. I asked him if he did that when he thought/looked at pictures of me?!?!?!? He said yes.

good answer, even though I don't quite believe him. :)

xoxo

she's got ja-ars

2012-02-01T08:31:00.001-06:00

she knows how to use them

she's a sta-ar

she knows how to choose them

((I apologize. I just couldn't get that ZZ Top song, Legs, out of my mind when I was thinking of a title for this post. If you don't know that song, you should probably go read another blog

as I must be old enough to be your grandma. :) ))

Sometime last year I embraced my love of empty jars. Not just any old empty jar, well, okay maybe any old empty jar, but mainly empty food jars. I spoke of it first here and then here and if I remember right, I brought some of you over to the clear side with me. Are any of you all still here? I certainly am.

I noticed a funny thing a couple of weeks ago. Every cabinet I opened up seemed to have an empty jar in it...just sitting there and staring at me. I had lots of them in use but the empties were starting to take over. First, there was one innocently resting in the canned goods. It seemed fine so I let it alone. The next day there were 3 of them there and they had the poor tomatoes cornered. I knew I had to do something...this was getting serious!

Alright. I'm going to stop the jar gone wrong story right there. It gets pretty ugly and I don't want to bring you down this morning. My main point in bringing this up was to let you know that I still love these jars.

I use them for everything! I did notice they were starting to pile up though, so I gathered the unused one and stacked them all together in my pantry and now I feel much better about it. They are like little glass soldiers waiting to be called up for service. (am I too dramatic about these jars? maybe a bit.)

I have to say the jelly ones are my favorites but salsas are a close second. Spaghetti sauce jars are great for freezing leftovers or bringing a drink along in the van or even on a walk. The mini garlic jars are darling but I can't get the stank out of the lid so I'm going to use it for something else.

Shown below are my 3 favorite jars that I use for drinking water at home everyday. I do feel a sense of loss when I think of their lids, which I so carelessly tossed before I understood their value. sigh. Live and learn, I guess.

Also, I HATE plastic storage things. HATE THEM. My storage drawer for them was always a jumbled up mess and the lids were always missing and I just hated them. So, I threw almost all of them away after Christmas. I started using my jars for left over storage, along with this set I got at Target last year, and I am so much happier. I kept 2 small plastic containers for the kids' lunches but the rest are gone. That was so freeing.

To wrap it up: don't throw your jars away! They are diamonds in the rough! Their value is yet to be known! They are like free awesome gifts from the food manufacturing gods!

I need to get a life, no?

xoxo

say click!

2012-01-31T15:48:00.000-06:00

Ruby went to an all-out carnival themed birthday party on Saturday. They rented a popcorn machine and my friend wore a clown suit. Now that is dedication. :) It was awesome.

On Sunday morning, before Patrick hurt his back, I finally finished these little jammies I made for Nicky. I made Jacob a pair for Christmas and now the boys can be twins at Uncle Thomas & Erin's wedding next month.

I might need to sew a mini pair for the new little boy nugget in my sister's belly. (IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!) :) xoxoox

Nicky on a walk yesterday afternoon.

I also finally hemmed this calendar I ordered for my sister and myself from Spoonflower in December. I love it and it's on my bedroom wall.

I found my new scarf in the holiday Cath Kidston catalog. The colors are reversed on mine...mostly navy with red. I saved a mere $61.75. :) What I love most about it is it's a very thin and lightweight non-scratchy wool.

I had the best day. It is gorgeous out. We walked forever and I hung our bedding on the line. I needed to use up some fridge stuff so I made a quiche, green smoothies, 2 loaves of zucchini bread, an apple galette (because I only have one pie pan. haha) and some bacon. Tonight will be pancakes for dinner and tomorrow is grocery shopping day...

...or maybe Thursday as Nicky and I might go to Toddler Time tomorrow morning. A few months ago I said I'd rather die than go to Toddler Time again but here I am, with a toddler who really needs some time to run and play. I would also love to connect with some other moms of littles that stay home in my town. Our playgroup was such a huge part of our life when James and Ruby were small and I am suddenly missing that support system. I'm grateful to still count those women as friends but we don't all hang out and let our kids play anymore...they are all in school! I'd like some of that again, for myself and Nicky.

speaking of Nicky...he's up. xoxo

hellooooo?

2012-01-31T08:25:00.002-06:00

I may or may not be avoiding this place but I may or may not be back. We shall see how this "back in the saddle" post goes.

I'm trying to get exercise back in on a regular basis (where it hasn't been since Christmas) and might be slightly bitter that there doesn't seem to be an easy way to do it. I like to exercise in the morning (around 9am) but that's also when I normally blog but that's also when Nicky is all around me and I just don't know. I feel like I need to get up early again to do it but am dragging my heels. Luckily, I am exercising while dragging them. Just not in the early morning hours and not as seriously as I'd like to be. This week is about trying some things out. Like, how does the boy respond to mama in the plank position, sweating. Will he leave me alone or jump on my back? I'd put my money on 2 but we will see.

I was also sick last week (a head cold) which I knew but didn't really realize until Saturday when I could finally relax and let myself feel crappy. I took two naps on Saturday and felt better on Sunday. Luckily so as Patrick threw his back out Sunday, mid-morning. He stayed home from work yesterday (yay! it was fun to have him here...we watched Moneyball. Truly awesome movie.) and seems to be a little bit better. I'm guessing he'll go in today but he's not up yet so I'm not sure. oh. He just got in the shower so he's going in. I can't wait to see how he's feeling. He sure was sweet to me last night. happy sigh.

This is something I really like about Patrick: I can tell him any old horrible thing I do or did or think and he doesn't judge me. Like, at all. He might tease me a little bit but I appreciate a good joke so that's alright with me. I feel so fortunate.

Oh, I also asked him last weekend how much he thought I had spent at the thrift store this month. His answer? Twenty five bucks. OH! how I laughed. :) My grand total was $206 and guess how much I made? So far, $215.00. Woo hoo! And I still have all that stuff for the sale in April and I brought two bags of women's clothes to a consignment shop yesterday. A very good month, if I do say so myself. I had fun shopping all month, had fun hanging out with my friend Heidi while shopping, and got TONS of stuff for myself and my family for not a dime out of pocket. Well, wait. My ebay fees were $15 so I guess I spent $6. Pretty dang nice. I wonder how Feb. will go???

Here's a partial list of what I thrifted for us in January, just in case you need proof (ahem. mom.):

dress for Ruby for wedding
dress for me for wedding
jeans, shorts, shirt and heavy duty mittens for Patrick
3T columbia jacket for next year, nicky
fleeces for all 3 of my kids (lands end and old navy)
at least 6 summer shirts for me (old navy, calvin klein, gap, banana republic, etc.)
4 summer dresses for me
2 summer pants for me
multiple shirts for ruby for now, summer and next year (like, at least 18)
pants, skirts and dresses for Ruby ( at least 2 of each)
jeans, shorts, swim trunks and tshirts for james (1 of each)
hoodie and shorts for nicky
art supplies
mini ironing board
lovely picture frame
ruby's desk and chair
hoodie for me
nwt cath kidston scarf for myself
cashmere scarf for brother in law
2 shirts for seester

Okay Nicky is up. Have a good day, dear ones.

xoxo

grumpy

2012-01-26T17:30:00.003-06:00

I am so flipping crabby. I haven't slept all week due to Nicky getting up a zillion times a night (his cold) and I've had appointments or babysitting or volunteering to do every day, including tomorrow.

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. I hope your week has been better than mine! :)

xoxo

i whaley do

2012-01-25T15:15:00.001-06:00

So. Awesome weekend. Friday was the usual thrifty heaven but made even better by being there with Heidi. She shared all sorts of knowledge with me about re-selling clothes and we talked so much that 3 hours passed by in a blink. My monthly total is at, wait for it, $175. yikes! However, I've made $148 so far on Ebay and Etsy in only 2 weeks. And this weeks' auctions aren't even over for 2 more days so it could end up with me breaking even. Also, a lot of my money spent so far (probably about $60+) is for clothes that are going to a consignment store and to a children's re-sale sale in April so I won't know for a while if getting those things is worth my time.

On Saturday I took the big kids to meet friends at a fun play place and then out to dinner at Culver's. I kind of ate 2 dinners because a while later I met my friend Susan for (cough) dinner and drinks at a brewery in Verona. We listened to a local band that I really like and again, 3 hours passed by in a blur.

Sunday was started with a crabby Patty (Patrick) but improved as the day went on. He was being creepy again on Monday though, so I called him on it. He was slightly bitter that he can't just go get whatever new car he wants but I showed him where all of our money goes and that seemed to help. I want both of us to be involved in our finances this year, it's a big responsibility, so I hope we are off on the right foot. He was very sweet last night and again this morning so hopefully he's over it. I also told him that I had even told my sister I wanted him to go get the new car that he wanted...but that was when we were still assuming he'd be getting his usual bonus. No bonus = smaller down payment, you know? Sometimes it's hard to communicate with Patrick because it has to be done in 10 minute intervals, spread out over days, or he shuts down. I am accustomed to this now but it becomes an issue when he is being icky about something that we haven't fully talked through yet because we can't talk longer than 10 minutes! men. I love them. :)

Today has been a long, slow day. I watched my friend's baby this morning and spent a lot of time reading and playing with Nicky. He is still not feeling 100% so he's a bit needier than usual. Great! haha. :) I did set up all my "making" stuff on the kitchen counter (out of his reach) so when I could grab a few minutes I could play around a little. (I am a messy crafter. Are you?)

I went to Jo-Ann's yesterday and found 2 more packs of Martha washi tape on clearance for .97! woo hoo! I also got three little rolls of paper (also for .97) that I thought were colors I might use.

Here are some of the little things I came up with: (as you can tell, I got kind of hung up on the whale stamp. so cute!!)

I photocopied some vintage Clue cards to use:

inside:

I think this will be cute for James. He likes word-play jokes and things:

And, here is a cute picture of me and Nicky. Not traditionally cute of me (morning face) but I really like it of me and him together:

His skin is soooooooo smooth.

xoxo

such hard decisions in life...should I use aqua glitter or brown?

2012-01-24T06:42:00.000-06:00

My kids had the day off yesterday. The dynamics of the three of them together can be exhausting but we had a pretty good day.

James went to the library for some Mario Kart tournaments for a couple hours during Nicky's naptime so Ruby and I got to get our craft on.

I glittered my front door key! It's so cute and I'm happy with it. Found the idea from this blog via Pinterest.

I used some of my new Martha Stewart washi tape that I found at JoAnn's a few weeks ago. The small green one is my favorite. (I even shared with Ruby. That was hard.) :)

We made some little tags. I love them.

I tried another Pinterest idea and made some glittery tape. Lovely idea found here, originally.

See? Sparkly.

I love collecting random inexpensive bits at thrift stores to use for crafting. Here are some of the things we used today. Typewriter paper is so awesome. Too bad I don't have a typewriter anymore. I think a craft date is in order, Teresa. :)

Ruby had originally wanted to make beaded necklaces (again!) but I lured her over to my side with the paper puncher and glitter.

It was a fun little break to the day.

I wanted to write more about my awesome weekend and ornery husband but Nicky is up. He got a cold this weekend so I need to determine his snot level. If it's not too bad, I volunteer in Ruby's room this morning.

Have a good day, dear ones.

xoxo