My Monthly Challenge

Making time for me! ;)

2014-02-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

Okay so I’ve been back and forth lately and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m worn out from work, kids or just this winter weather, most likely a combo of all 3.

I have two big goals I want to work towards. My first goal is to be on a good workout routine one year after going back to work from maturity leave. The BIG one for me is in just 1 year and 7 months I will be 40!!! My hopes and dreams is to weight the same as I did prior to having kids.

March 18^th. 2014 is my 1 year mark for returning to work after having my 3rd and last buddle of joy… I’m down about 10 pounds, but I had hoped to be down about 20 to 25 pounds. I’m pretty typical in the fact that I’ll start a program and within a week or so, I’m back where I started. I know what I have to do but, I just have a hard time staying on track. I’m hoping with the warmer weather I’ll be a little more motivated.

So I’ve tried a couple things… I got a treadmill, but its sitting in the living room not getting a whole lot of workouts in. I also tried working out during my lunch hour and I did really well for about a week. The following week I had all the intentions of going to the gym and I was excited for my accomplishments and efforts. However, each day I would come up with a reason why I couldn’t go and now I‘m not even bringing in my gym clothes.

I really want to be at a good routine by my 1 year mark, so I think the next thing I’m going to do is get up early enough for a 30 minute jog each day. I plan to follow the Body for Life eating program and allow myself only one cheat day. The hardest for me is going to be wine!! J I’m going to follow the workout plan lightly, as I’m a lot happier when I’m running than lifting weights. I’ll plan to do some weights though and want to add the activities from the picture above to me daily routine.

So here's my first week’s workout and meal plan!! I can do this!!!!

Week 1

Pre-make all my meals for the week.

4:30am get up and get outside… Cardio/jog 30 minutes!

Breakfast - 16oz of water, Coffee, Boiled egg, Banana and Slice of whole wheat toast.

Snack - 6oz hot tea, 10oz of water, hand full of grapes and small portion (about 3 teaspoons) of cottage cheese.

Lunch - salad with chicken. Lite dressing, 16oz of water

Snack- apple, 16oz of water

Dinner – Lean protein, veggie, 16oz of water, yogurt.

And that’s it. It’s not much but I know if I make it too complicated, I won’t stick to it. So I think this is something I can start with. I hope to post next Sunday with my results and I look forward to taking on this 12 week challenge.

October 2013

2013-10-15T09:54:00.001-07:00

Okay so it's October 15th and I'm just now posting my challenge this month :)
here we go....
-finish quilt!!!!!
-workout after work each day
-drink more water
-do a quick workout each morning
Well thats it folks...I've been really busy this month and I have a feeling it's going to get worse before it gets better... Happy Tuesday

Pop Art Painting

2013-09-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

Here is the orginal photo and below is the photo cartooned

This was created on http://cartoon.pho.to/

It was really easy to use. Just upload your pitcure and they do the rest! :)

Here I just took the copy of the cartooned picture and blew it up to the size I wanted to trace onto the canvas. I did 200x’s on the copier and used some tracing paper to copy the image on the canvas. The pictures on the right side are the photo and the cartooned picture to use as a guide when I start painting

and here is the ROUGH draft of the image traced and drawn. I think I may change the size of the title RYDER and make it larger (any thoughts??)

So that's where I'am at right now...I did get some pianting done the other day and hope to do some more this Sunday :)

September's challenge 2013

2013-09-01T04:48:00.001-07:00

YAW~~~ Back to school this month! :)
I know, I know but I can't help myself...not only does Ryan start 1st grade this year, but Mr Ryder starts preschool 2 days a week! :)
I'm excited for a few reasons. I'm excited for the boys to start a new phase in there life. I'm excited to be back on a schedule. I'm excited for the fall weather, and I'm excited to have some well needed time to do somethings just for me!

Overall I'm really happy with all the things I completed in August. There were just a few things around the house that I didn't get to...painting the house foundation....finishing the side yard....and moving the book case (I'm planning to get that done this coming Tuesday!) Either way I really happy to have gotten so much completed last month!

So what's on the list for September...
-Finish all back to school shopping (I should finish this up today)
-Start college classes and complete my course requirements
-get those darn t-shirts already
-finish Ryder's painting! (I'm starting this today and look forward to sharing the process on my blog)
-pay for vacation for October
-get pool safety cover
-finish side of yard
-continue with planning meals for the week and start my workout program (I was doing really well with this but had a set back the last few weeks, so I'm going to get back on board with this)
-and last but by far not least...... RYDER'S BIRTHDAY PARTY!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Sunday all and I hope everyone completes all their goals for the coming month!!!!

Recap August goals 2013

2013-08-23T08:40:00.001-07:00

Well I'm pretty stoked on how much I've completed this month!
I'm getting the rest of my river rock and plants today and tomorrow! It's about time; I started this project back in June!!!!! I also plan to get a bunch of scrapbook pages completed this weekend :)

This is want I've been able to complete so far....

-~~NBC Monday and Wednesday~~
-~~Work on river rock~~
-~~Open Bank account for Ryan and Saving for Reid/ update direct deposit info~~
-~~Start School??? (waiting on money! fingers crossed)/~~
-~~Go through Baby clothes (doing this tonight)~~
-~~Start planning Ryders 3rd Birthday Party (already started)~~
-~~Plan Vacation in September~~
-Upd~~ate PTA membership on Facebook~~
~~-Got my dayplanner~~

and here's some of the things I still would like to do

-Finish "Forgotten God"(Ernie is keeping me from this :))) )
-Complete 5 scrap pages(doing that this weekend!)
-Get t-shirts and Canvas(going to try and get the canvas today!)
- driveway rock and plants - flocks and knock-out roses
-Work on leaves (I hate the leaves!!!!)
-Move book case to living room/ make a study area for boys(hopefully this weekend if not tonight)
-Paint house foundation (Maybe Tuesday or Thursday next week)

Last, I looked over my 101 things to do 1001 days list and was able to cross some of those goals off today.... I've got intil April of 2014 - to update that list , but I may do it in the next few months :)
Here's a quick recap of that list as well...........

****1. ~~Use all body lotion, body wash, soap, shower gel, and body scrub before buying more~~

2. Put $1,000 into savings

****3. ~~Get 8 hours of sleep every night for 2 weeks~~ **** (started 06-20-2011, I tried to away and I think I did a pretty good job... I may try this again very soon :))))

4. Go for a picnic in a secluded spot

5. Read three new books of the Bible

6. Dine out, just the 2 of us, once every 2 weeks for 2 months

7. Make homemade ice cream

****8. ~~Plan a treasure hunt~~ **** (We had a great treasure hunt for Easter 2012)

9. Find a new restaurant worthy of becoming a new favorite

10. Don't say anything negative for 1 day

11. Support a charity walk/run

12. Fix master bedroom closet door

****13. Stay within holiday shopping budget for ~~2011~~, ~~2012~~ and 2013

14. Watch the sunset from the top of a mountain

15. Build a scarecrow

*****16. ~~Complete all my craft projects before I buy any new ones~~ *****

17. Don't complain about anything for a week

****18. ~~Answer the "50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind"~~**** Completed 06-14-2011

19. Tie a note to a balloon and let it go

20. Send a message in a bottle

****21. ~~Identify 100 things that make me happy Completed~~ **** 06-20-2011

22. Buy something from Etsy

****23. ~~Make a list of my 50 favorite movies~~ *****Completed 06-15-2011

****24. ~~Make a list of 25 things I like about myself~~ *****(I did it and even found 100 things I like about myself ;) Completed 06-13-2011

25. Become a bone marrow donor

26. Take a picture for each letter of the alphabet

27. Do the polar bear swim on New Year's Day

28. Take a photo of the same place every month for year and then turn it into a calendar for the next year

*****29. ~~Keep a “My Day in Six Words” journal for 6 months~~********

30. Plant a tree on Earth Day

31. Make some Fourth of July cupcakes

****32. ~~Make a wish at 11:11 on November 11, 2011~~****

33. Watch a movie at a drive-in

34. Play classical music during meal preps

*****35. ~~Make my bed every day for a week~~.*****

36. Put one piece of fine art in each room

37. Make and hang flower boxes

****38. ~~Visit a church on Wednesday night~~**** (March 28th....I just started attending a women's bible study on Wednesday nights at my Church!!! I Love It!!!!!!!!!!!)

39. Go camping at three state parks I've never visited each year. (Westmoreland-2013)

40. Plant grass in the fall

41. Write a yearly letter

42. Take an adult ed class of some sort

****43. ~~Buy Christmas presents in advance~~ **** (I'm right on track this year!! 2011)

44. Be able to run 3 miles without stopping

45. Make something for my best friend

****~~46. Decorate half bath in the kitchen~~**** (Started Saturday August 13th, 2011)

****47. ~~Sort the mail when it comes in, instead of letting it accumulate into a huge pile firs~~t***** (so far so good!! November 18, 2011)

****48. ~~Take a multivitamin every day for a week~~ ***** (Prenatal vitamins)

49. Use those teeth whitening strips and finish pack

50. Have a spa day

51. Pay off 3 credit cards (2 so far...YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!)

52. Take kids to the Easter Egg Roll at the White House

****53. ~~Do all the lessons in "A Course in Miracles~~"**** (Started August 11th, 2011)

54. Paint a wall mural

55. Work on children’s book and Publishing

56. Go back to school and complete degree

*****57. Pull out “The Creative Artist” book and work on some new ideas *****(2011 September and October, Made a still life drawing using my left hand, and journal my weekend with drawing's) Still have more to do though*****

58. Go white water rafting

****59. Take kid’s to the beach once each summer****(~~2011 August 9th and 10th, August 6th 2012~~, 2013)

60. Run a ½ marathon

61. Visit a Renaissance fair

62. Make stained glass windows

****63. ~~Go to “Drive Through” Zoo~~ *****(Completed, July 9th, 2011, I think we will do that again...lots of fun!!)

*****64. ~~Finish baseball books~~*****

65. Finish back deck and get furnishings

66. Complete master bath in upstairs bedroom

****67. ~~Get rocks for back yard~~ ***** (finally found a guy on craigs list giving away his landscaping rocks!! April 2012)

68. Buy produce at farmers market 10 times

69. Finish baby books and older scrap books and photo books

70. Get new carpet and floor for living room and kitchen

*****71. ~~Redo full bath downstairs~~*****

72. Get solar film for back windows and skylights

73. Get a safety cover

74. Spend the weekend without any phone or TV

75. Upload videos into on-line saving system

76. Go through old 8mm video’s and watch them outside during the summer

****77. ~~Start an allowance and chore list for Ryan~~ **** (Started September 12th, 2011)

78. Have one day a month for each kid, just them and me!

79. Get my hair cut and colored without being concerned about money

80. Buy a pair of red flannel pajamas that you wear only on Christmas Eve

81. Take a holiday photograph each year in the same spot, such as by a favorite tree in your yard. In years to come, you’ll have a wonderful record of the growth of your family, as well as the growth of the tree

82. Before going to bed on Christmas Eve, read by candle light about the birth of Jesus in Luke, chapter 2

83. Fill a basket with photo’s from past Christmases. Put it in a prominent spot

84. Take a family portrait

85. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years

****86. ~~Send a secret to Post Secret~~ (August 16th, 2011)****

****87. ~~Find a personally inspirational quote and work it into a piece of art or home décor~~**** (Finish my Picaso Cubism and added a quote..turned out great! Feb 2012)

88. Read a book in a day

89. Trace my Family Tree

90. Go to a Rocky Horror Picture Show showing at midnight

91. Finish a 500 + piece jigsaw

92. Go to at least one concert

93 Achieve my goal weight

94. Watch an entire season of a television show in a weekend

95. Try a new recipe every month for a year

96. Sky Dive

97 Visit five local restaurants I've never been to (Crazy Greek of Midlothian July 30th, 2011)

98 Complete the 100 push-up challenge

99. Complete the 200 sit-up challenge

100. Attend a book reading

101. Make snow angels

I really need to update my list :) HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 2013

2013-08-06T10:15:00.002-07:00

My oh my, it's August 6th ALREADY!!!!
July flew by and in just 4 weeks the kiddos will back to school/preschool. (smiling inside:)))))
We finally got the pool completely cleaned and we can now SWIM in it! It took about 2 weeks total to drain it, refill, and get the chemicals right! I'm so glad to finally get it straight and get the new safety cover on this Sep/Oct.
I was able to get a lot done in July, but still have a long list of things I want to complete by this summer. While my list is long, many of the things are easy goals that will only take a little bit to complete! So here we go:
-Finish "Forgotten God"
-~~VBS Monday and Wednesday~~
-~~Complete 5 scrap pages~~
-Get t-shirts and ~~Canvas~~
-~~Work on river rock~~, driveway rock and plants (flocks and knock-out roses)
-~~Open Bank account for Ryan and Saving for Reid/ update direct deposit info~~
-Work on leaves
-Move book case to living room/ make a study area for boys
-~~Start School??? (waiting on money! fingers crossed)/~~ Get boys school supplies
-~~Go through Baby clothes (doing this tonight)~~
-Paint house foundation
-~~Start planning Ryders 3rd Birthday Party (already started)~~
-~~Plan Vacation in September~~
-Upd~~ate PTA membership on Facebook~~
.
Well thats the big list !!. Happy Tuesday and best of luck with your monthly goals!

July 2013

2013-07-01T08:33:00.001-07:00

JULY!!!!!

Well I really didn't do very well with completing my goals in June... I did manage a few things and I've decided to reevaluate what I'm doing and how I'm spending my time.

There’s a ton of stuff I want to get done this month and the summer, so I'm going to try and really knock it out of the park the next few months, but ironically I plan to be less busy!

So here are my hopes and goals for July!

- read 1984

- clean/ detail car

- ~~wake-up by 4:00 am on work days and get things out the night befo~~re

- ~~work on scrap pages, and baby books~~

- ~~work on Ryder’s quilt and art project~~

- ~~continue weekly meal plans~~

- NO alcohol

- Photo a day

- Finish river rock, fill dirt and add 3 plants and flocks to front... get driveway rocks added

- Beth Moore study

- ~~backyard teepee~~

- July forth cupcakes or cookie

- Make homemade ice-cream

- ~~continue workouts after work~~

So there it is, my monthly challenge ;)

June's challenge... 2013

2013-06-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, sorry I haven't been on blogger for a few months. I wanted to share a few of my goals for June and hope you all get a little inspired or if nothing else, enjoy my families monthly journey....
Sorry I'm posting this a bit late:
- first I m planning to work on Ryder's art project this month and I would also like to video log some of my progress. I'm hoping to start working on that tonight :)
- I have some shoes and a new workout program coming, so as soon as I get those in the mail, I plan to tackle and new workout program along with preparing my meals for the week...
- I've been trying to get up every workday by 4:00am and I've been slacking on that the last few weeks. This month I plan to challenge myself to get up by 4:00am and get more things ready the night before.
- I want to finish the river rock around the front of my yard.
- add some much needed compost around the flower beds in the front and back yard.
-work on my Beth Moore, Stepping Up study!
-start a vlog... Which I will start with Ryder's art project or the bamboo tepee. (Stay tuned)
And last but not least build a bamboo tepee for the boys... We are going to do that this weekend!
Happy baby Friday to you all and best of luck with goals this month:)

Here's a you tube video of creating a backyard tepee, hope you enjoy
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9SkcMu8pC6I

Spending the day organizing my social life :)

2013-03-21T07:32:00.000-07:00

November's Challenge 2012

2012-11-01T05:56:00.002-07:00

I always love the start of a new month!!! I’m just one of those people who like to have a new start each day ;)

With Halloween behind us and just about all the trick-or-treating fun done, I’m looking forward to moving towards the Thanksgiving Holiday and working on some new and not so new goals. Around this time of year I usually start to do an inventory of the things I had hoped to accomplish during the year and check the things I acutely did… I’ve still got many things I didn’t get to this year and like most some of my goals changed based on my life events ;) Early in October I posted a quick list of things I would like to check off before the end of the year and here is a recap of those:

Finish Christmas shopping and Christmas craft gifts; get back brake pads replaced; detail car; get last few items for baby 3; work on Scentsy business (get business cards and contact list completed!!); paint hallway, stairway, and wall in kiddo’s room; finish bathroom remodel; clean out Laptop; scan photo’s; pre-register @ hospital; list Cows to sell; finish all current scrapbooks; and finish Ryder’s quilt.

For November, here is what I hope to complete… finish Christmas gifts, get car in order, paint Ryder’s and Baby’s wall, finish quilt, clean out laptop, put cows on e-bay, or other auction selling site. Of course there’s got to be a CHALLENGE for this month, so my Challenge is to keep-up with the never ending laundry, and try and get things for the next day ready the night before. This all seems easy enough but for some reason we still have not made it a habit…. Google says it take somewhere between 21 and 28 days to form a habit, so let see if they are right :) Happy November everyone and may you achieve all your dreams and goals this month!!!! :)

Mid Month Review... September

2012-09-18T07:52:00.002-07:00

Review for September... during my vacation/ staycation... no, I’m not going anywhere just not going to work!!!! ;) Yippy for me!

Just a quick recap of some of the things I would like to get done while I’m on vacation

- get the kitchen scrubbed down and go through cabinets.

- get dining room the way I want it. Check out curtains

- manicure the back and front yard and power wash both front porches, and paint and stain

- Ryder’s birthday party.

- Look into flooring for living room

- Work on Ryder’s quilt!!

- Go through Halloween stuff

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Pinterest Monthly fun for September ;)

September's Challenge

2012-08-23T07:53:00.002-07:00

Alrighty… folks, I can’t believe I’ve been away for so long. July just hit me good and since coming back for my 2 weeks of military training I feel like I’m still playing catch-up.
I’m hoping the start of school and new month well bring me back to my normal self. I have noticed that know that I’m in my 20^th week of my pregnancy I have had a lot more energy and seem to be in a nesting phase, which for me is almost going into overload, when it comes to “getting things done” and planning projects. Hope you guys are ready for me :) I’m making myself tired… LOL
~~Right now I started working on my filing system @ home. I’ve just about finished up and on Tuesday I should be completely done with that. It felt great to get rid of so much unnecessary paperwork!~~
By the end of this month I hope to finish getting Mr. Ryder transitioned into a big boys bed. I have plans this weekend to pickup his mattress, and a friend from work gave me a great captains bed. The only thing left for the bed to crib transformation will be getting his bedding together. So this means a fun shopping trip :)
So what are my plans for September: Hope you’re ready?

- Ryan starts school, so I’m joining the PTA and hoping to get connected with that the 1^st week of the month.

- Start ~~buying the bedding for baby #3~~ and find a dresser/ changing table

- Have new blog/ group up and running on facebook…. The Thrifty Scavenger: A local group of folks who love shopping @ thrift store, yard sales, flea markets and auctions. (I’m really excited about this group and hope it turns into a fun past time)

- I want to get the kitchen scrubbed down, and finish getting the dining room the way I want it. I really really hope to finally get new curtains.

- I want to manicure the back and front yard and power wash both front porches, and maybe get them stained finally.

- Mr. Ryder’s birthday is this month as well so I’ll be working on getting everything together for that!

- ~~I’m becoming a Scentsy consultant in just a few days, so I’m looking forward to starting that and really getting my feet wet this month.~~

- As for something to do during my light duty time: I hope to finish up my home inventory I started back @ the 1^st of the year and start working on going through my husband’s baseball cards and organizing those.

I know it sounds like a lot but I hope to get most of these things completed if not all of them….
As for my challenge this month! I’m going to challenge myself to get things ready the night before to save time in the morning and hope to wake up by 5:00 every work day!!!!

So that’s it! This is my hopes, dream, goals and challenges for September….What about you??

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Oh Yeah and start working on Mr. Ryder’s Quilt :)

More Pinterest Crafts, May 2012

2012-05-27T08:50:00.003-07:00

Hey guys, sorry I’ve been a bit out of the picture with my blog this month. I’ve had some unexpected but good news and I’ve been doing a bunch of research to see just what I want to do with my blog. I have so many ideas and I’m not sure if I should put them all on this blog or create a new one. Anyway for now I’m posting here and going to see how it goes.
So here is what I’ve been up to in the last month or so… and I wanted to share:

We made some handmade edible finger paint and I think it came out really nice, and it was super easy to make:

Recipe:

1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
2 cups cold water
food coloring

Mix all ingredients except food coloring well with a whisk. Set over medium low heat. Stir about 15- 20 minutes until thickened. The mixture goes from water consistency to thicken very quickly towards the end of the time period, so don’t worry – you will know. Let cool. Distribute evenly into bowls or cups. Add food coloring — a little bit will do — and mix with a spoon.

Next I found a spoon to use as a hook outside. I didn’t think of it at the time, but when I found this slotted spoon, I knew it would be perfect. No drilling required :)

And here is a cute idea I found using a bird cage to house some flowers. I had this bird cage for about 2 years and moved it all over the house trying to find the right place for it. Soon it ended up in the attic... until I found this idea on Pinterest. I think it came out really cute ;)

Another cool idea I found using Pinterest was taking old brass candle sticks and spray painting and distressing them. I really like how they came out!

This idea turned out better than the original idea in my opinion. The original idea was to use a cap from your plastic dish soap container on a glass bottle. Here is the link I found this old milk/beer bottle at a local thift store and thought it would be perfect for my dish soap!!

And last but certainly not least, my two favorite kiddo's...Ryan and Ryder. We made this photo for our Mother's Day gifts for my Husband's and my Mom...Of course I made one for me as well ;)

Hope you enjoyed viewing my crafts :)

Mid Month Review…

2012-05-16T11:11:00.001-07:00

In just 8 days my oldest will be graduating from preschool and I’m really excited for him! I have a feeling this month is going to blow by and before I realize it, it will be the start to the summer season... OH MY!!!!
Gosh!!! I feel like I’ve done so much, but when I review my list, I really have only done a few things. Guess I need to get going with some of my goals. So here is what I have done:
I managed to finally get Ryder’s 1^st year scrapbook completely organized. I only have about 4 more pages to scrap and I still need to get more photo pages and upload the DVD, but hopefully by next weekend I will have it completed. I also organized our 2011 Scrapbook and have just a few more things to do on that one as well. I hope to scan more photos next week while I’m off for 3 days, but I’ve still got a lot to do with those. My hopes are to at least finish uploading photos from 1997 – now. I’ll most likely start working on the others sometime this summer :)
So where does this leave me with my other goals???
Okay I decided to not do the May photo a day challenge, and the window boxes are looking bleak. My Husband doesn’t think they would be a good idea… honestly I just don’t think he wants to do them. I’m going to see if I can find some at the local garden store’s and go from there, but I may have to wait until this fall :(…
I’m still hoping to clean the rest of the back yard, but I don’t know if we are going to open the pool this summer.
In the next few weeks I hope to Read a book in a day, Start sorting through my yard sale stuff and decided what I’m going to do with it all, and organize my bedroom closet.
Well Happy Wednesday all, and best of luck with all your goals this month!

Mays Challenge :)

2012-04-27T07:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome May flowers!! :)… I love this time of year! I’m excited to start working on many of the goals I have for May, so I've decided to post a few days early. I’m hoping to get just a few more projects completed from April, and as always some of my projects will carry over to the next month.

For May I have all sort of crafts I want to try out: Here are just a few:

DIY Glass straw cups

Giant Outside Chalkboard

As for my goals for May…Here are some things I would like to continue to work-on or complete.

- Continue to upload and scan photos.

- Work on finishing up Ryder’s 1^st year Scrapbook

- Finish Cleaning the backyard

- Get all the knockout roses planted

- Read a book in a day.

- Start sorting through my yard sale stuff and decided what I’m going to do with it all.

- Organize my bedroom closet

- Finally get new curtains for the dining room!

- Do the May photo a day challenge

- Make or buy window boxes for the front yard!

Best of luck to the rest of you all. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and a successful month!

How to root a knock out rose

2012-04-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

I found this wonderful video on youtube, looks super easy and I can't wait to try it!!

Please let me know if you try this and how your results are... I'm going to start rooting some today or tomorrow! :)

Here is another video and in this one the guys mentions using a "dome" to help increase the chances that the steam will not dry out!!

Enjoy.

A recap of my goals for April

2012-04-23T09:01:00.004-07:00

I’am really happy with all I accomplished in April. We planned a treasure hunt for Easter morning and made a really fun map, marking the spots to find the “riches” for Mr. Ryan. The Easter Bunny even brought Ryan a Backyard Safari Vest with all sorts of gadgets to find cool stuff in the yard, which he used to locate all is eggs!! It was a blast for him.
I was able to get a lot done in the front yard and I’m happy with how everything is coming together…I hope by the end of May I will have the driveway lined with Knockout Roses...and maybe be able to buy one or two Hydrangea’s (I’m still trying to decided if I want white or blue…but right now I’m thinking I’ll go with blue.)
I started My Day in Six Words journal…and so far I’m doing a really good job keeping up with it. Not sure if I’ll make it 6 months, but so far so good!!
I started taking a multivitamin on Saturday April 21^st, 2012 and hopefully I’ll make it the entire week without forgetting. I’m hoping to make it a habit (I think the experts say, it takes about 21 days to make something a habit… so we will see) for now…. baby steps!! :)
I haven’t cleaned the backyard yet, but I spent one night burning a bunch of twigs and cleaning up some of the yard… my plan is to work on the back yard tomorrow, even if it just a small corner or a flower bed.
I never got around to working on a jigsaw puzzle and honesty I really don’t think I’ll get around to it any time soon, so I’m going to put that back on my “to do “ list.
Last and certainly not least is scanning photos and finishing Ryder’s albums. I did get about 150 photos scanned and uploaded...so I consider that a success. As for Ryder’s books…well I didn’t do as much as I had hoped, but I did finish up his big brother book for know and updated his “baby’ book. The only thing I wished I had worked more on is his scrapbook. Luckily I have one more weekend of working before the month ends and I think I can put a big dent in getting it done!
So that’s about it… I got lots of new Pinterest finds completed and hope to have lot’s more fun with that!!!
So there it is… Happy Monday all, I hope you’ve been successful in your goals for this month…
I’m looking forward to wrapping up my April “to do” list and moving into May!!!

Hopping Down the BUNNY Trail… Easter 2012

2012-04-10T05:37:00.012-07:00

Welcome Back after the Hoilday Weekend. Easter this year was a bunch of fun at your house… I think because I had to work the weekend; I was motivated to do more crafts and other fun activities for the Holiday and during the week before Easter.

We made Easter cupcakes, which later become a big hit with the local ants, an Easter tree using sticks from the yard and spray paint. Which Ryan and I painted a light blue and hung some cute vintage paper eggs I found last year. (I think I’ll try and find more trinkets for the tree next year). And last we colored and decorated Easter eggs.

I had some other things I was hoping to do, but I just never got around to it.

One of the big hits for the boys was the Bunny footprints I did the night before. I wasn’t there in the morning to see everyone’s reaction…but from what I was told, my boys loved it and my husband was left cleaning up LOTS of baby power :)……

Here’s a few before

and after

I think it’s super cute that they had so much fun with everything.

The last thing I did was an Egg Treasure Map for Ryan. It was really simple and he had a blast using his new backyard adventures gear to find all the treasure eggs….

Here he is showing off his map:

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter…we did ;)

More crafts using Pinterest

2012-04-03T05:44:00.002-07:00

Here is the frame I did last week, using an old frame, some photo tacks, picture hanging wire and binders clips. I love how it came out and I think the combo of the binder clips and black and white photos look great together. I used a gloss brown spray paint first and then did a quick spray using black. :) Happy Pinning!!!

Aprils Challenge

2012-03-31T09:20:00.004-07:00

Just a quick look at what I want to complete in April. Happy Saturday everyone ;)

~~Plan a treasure hunt~~
~~Keep a “My Day in Six Words” journal for 6 months~~
~~Take a multivitamin every day for a week~~ (started Sat. April 21st, 2012)
~~Get rocks for back yard~~, finish cleaning both ~~front~~ and back yard
Finish a 500 + piece jigsaw
Finish Ryder’s albums!!!!!!
Continue to scan Photo’s

Best of luck to you all in achieving your goals this month!

March in Review..... 03-31-12

2012-03-31T08:17:00.001-07:00

So a quick update on where I’m at with March’s challenges…. I sent up auto pay for two bills and right now I’m in the waiting period for one (which is stressing me out a bit.. but oh well, it is what it is…either way I hope to be breathing a little bit easier by Tuesday of next week)

I started scanning my printed photos and so far I feel like I have a nice start to getting this done. I’m not going to fool myself that it will be done by the end of this month, but I hope to have it all completed by the end of this year.

I did get with family members and made lots of progress in finding some cool family history. However... I’m sad to say, I didn’t pull out any of Mr. Ryder’s 1^st years albums :(

I was able to get my screened porch decorated and hope to still do the glass bottle plant hangers soon (I need a glass cutter??)

Last, we’ve gotten a little bit done to the back yard, but it needs lots of work for me to check that off the list.

Still nothing on Esty ;((( but hopefully soon. (still trying to decided if it’s right for me?????

Overall I’m happy with my goals for March and I’m looking forward to April, hoping it’s full of great things.

Vacation Fun

2012-03-19T10:00:00.003-07:00

Well today is my 1st full day off from both jobs and the start of my vacation..Since I don't have major plans and my travel plans fell through, I decided it would be a good chance to catch-up on some much needed TLC for myself and the house. Here is my 1st project for this week. Just using one of the foaming pumps and a canning jar, I have a fun soap pump for the kitchen The canning jar has fruits on it so I thought it would be perfect for the kitchen. Super easy to do; here is the link to the idea that inspired me to takle this project.
Here is my soap pump

Here my next project: Hope to start and finish this today ;)

here's the link if you want to see how they did it.....photo frame Enjoy the day!

Pinterest... Pined It and Did It #15

2012-03-12T16:54:00.003-07:00

I didn't have extra fabric for this but I found some cheap fabic at Walmart. The entire project cost me less then $6.00 :)

just take a wire hanger and shape it however you like. Then cut your fabric into 1inch by 6 inch scraps and tie away...
If you would like more information on the orginal idea, check out this site... Happy pinning ;)

Pinterest. Pined It and Did It # 17

2012-03-12T16:47:00.003-07:00

Another cute idea from Pinterest. Take you New Year's goals and frame them, so you have a nice reminder of the things you want to accomplish.

not so shabby, if I do say so myself ;)
here is the orginal idea frame you New Year's Goal

Pinterest... Pined It and Did It...#18

2012-03-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

I made this bird feeder, using a clay dish I got at a local craft show for 15.00, a old grape vine wreath I found in the attic, some left over ribbon from another project and some hemp. The dish was a bit smaller then the wreath so I had to wrap the bottom of the wreath using the hemp, but I think it came out looking really cute. If you decided to do this using a clay plate, just remember to bring it in when it freezes outside or the clay will crack.

Here is the link to the site on Pinterest where I found the idea for my birdfeeder, they made a Birdbath.
Enjoy :)