The Puffy Mommy

DIY - Re-covering Dining Chairs

2012-02-18T13:30:00.001-06:00

Update on us:

I got a full time job *YAY* but it's back in the Metroplex *UGH*. Our current situation is that Joshua and I spend 4 days per week at my sister's house (THANK YOU!) since she lives about half way between my house and my work. She watches Joshua for me during the day. Jacob and DH stay at our house and Jacob goes to school and DH goes to seminary an hour and a half in the other direction from the Metroplex (you don't want to know how much we spend on gas each month).

Back to the DIY:

We got this dining set five or six years ago...maybe more. The point is that Jacob went through his toddler years sitting in these seats while he ate so all our chairs looked like this:

Being the cheapskate that I am, I decided to just re-cover the chairs. I went to Walmart and looked through the fabric section, where I came across something I thought would be awesome for chairs likely to be used by kids...cloth-backed vinyl. There was little sample strip on the outside so you could feel the thickness and texture. Feeling it, I realized that it was eerily similar to the tablecloth I just bought for $5. So I went back over to the section with the tablecloths and grabbed the largest size in a style I thought would go nicely with the other tablecloth I had purchased.

DIY Re-covering Dining Chairs

WHAT YOU NEED:

Chair

Cloth-backed tablecloth

Screwdriver or allen wrench, depending on your chair

Stapler

Staples

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1:

Flip the chair over and remove the chair pad from the chair frame. This is a good time to clean out any messes that got in the crack between the pad and the frame.

Make sure you only remove the screws attaching the pad to the frame.
We're not dismantling the whole chair ;)

Step 2:
Spread out your tablecloth (or whatever fabric you choose), place the pad on the fabric for measurement and cut with enough space that you have enough fabric to cover about 3 inches on the back.

If your fabric has a pattern that you want facing a certain direction,
make your measurements and cuts with the right sides up.

Step 3:
With your pad in the middle of the fabric, both face down, bring the fabric up around the bottom of the pad and staple it as close to the edge of the fabric as possible. Repeat on all four sides.

Jacob's a super helper. Hey, he's the one that ruined them, right?

Step 4:

Bring the corners up and staple.

If you're careful, you can even avoid creases.
We weren't careful enough...

Much better!

Step 5:

Reattach the pad to the chair frame.

Step 6:

Admire your 'new' chairs!

You can use seat pads that match as back pads for extra comfort.

GIVEAWAY Small Business Saturday

2011-11-23T00:36:00.001-06:00

If you want to help stimulate the economy this year, be sure to shop at a small business. One that I personally recommend is Pumpkin Butt Creations.

Pumpkin Butt Creations is owned and operated by Jeannette and Kevin Bowie, the parents of a precious little girl named Alenya. Alenya has severe claustrophobia and is undergoing play therapy to help her overcome it. She is hitting a lot of milestones right now so a disruption to her schedule, such as Mommy leaving to get a job outside of the house, could be detrimental to her progress. Kevin is a wonderful, very involved father. However, financial obligations in addition to Alenya's phobia, have required him to put in extra hours at work, which prevents him from spending as much time with his family as he'd like. In order to lighten the load, Jeannette works from home creating adorable tutus, aprons, headbands, and other adorable accessories for kids.

Check out this adorable apron she made for Jacob:

You can help out the Bowie family, and many other families like them, by doing your holiday shopping from small businesses. In honor of Small Business Saturday, Pumpkin Butt Creations will be having a sale for 20% off your total order. This is an awesome discount on top of their already low prices! Use code sbs20 at checkout for your November 26th purchase at their online store.

Additionally, PBC would like to offer a $20 gift code to one lucky reader of my blog! Simply comment here with the name and a link to your favorite small business. If I don't know you personally, please be sure to list your email address so I can contact you if you win. For security, be sure to type the word AT instead of using the @ symbol. Entries will be accepted until Friday, November 25th at 4:30 PM CST. Winner will be drawn at 5:00 PM and the code will be emailed to you immediately so you'll be able to use it on Small Business Saturday!

Good luck!

Don't be jealous

2011-11-16T07:48:00.001-06:00

We were doing our grocery shopping and totally fell for the center display that had Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips along with assorted other baking things. I HAD to get them!

I was checking out the back and it had a recipe for some awesome looking cookies. They looked good and I figured Jacob and I could make some.

click to see a larger version

Are you kidding me? aside from the awesome peppermint chips, it's got brown sugar, oats, coconut, and pecans? Oh yeah, we definitely needed to make these. We picked up the ingredients we didn't already have and headed home. While the pizza we were having for dinner was baking, we started working on the cookies. Jacob may just open a bakery when he grows up!

He's a pro with the mixer

Cracked the egg...no shell in the cookies!

Looks gross...smells AWESOME!

We made a bit of a mess, but that's one of the best parts about baking!

First batch is in the oven!

We got the first batch in the oven. Oh Em Gee...the house was filling with the most wonderful mixture of peppermint, vanilla, and coconut aroma. This was the longest 18 minutes of our lives! We had the second batch on the other cookie sheet ready to go. Jacob put them in while the first batch was cooking.

I couldn't believe it...they even looked as good as the picture on the bag!

Your mouth is watering, I know

These cookies were so, so, so, so, so good! Plus this recipe makes so many cookies! Chad's in the process of joining a motorcycle club out here so I told him to bring the leftover cookies to the meeting tonight. I can't wait to hear how it went!

Just like old times

2011-11-13T20:58:00.001-06:00

Shadow, Joshua, and me at the walk on Saturday

We spent the night at my parent's lake house that's about 20 minutes or so from us now so in order to drop Chad off at our house and get to the Breathe Deep DFW walk before it started at 10, we had to wake up at 7:00. My mom made pancakes for breakfast and we were on the road by 8. We were in a rush so I had to feed Shadow her breakfast in the car on the way to Arlington. I got to the highway before I realized that I forgot my "camera (my old Blackberry Storm that I got service taken off of). Total facepalm.

We got there around 9:45 and it was probably 10 by the time I got Jacob, Joshua, and Shadow out of the car and over to the event. I waited in line to pick up our shirts and headed over to the kid area to change since I had a tank top under my shirt. I took Joshua off my back and put Shadow's leash around my foot and proceeded to take off the shirt I was wearing and right as I was putting on the new shirt, Shadow decided to slip out of her harness and run off. I threw the new shirt on and chased her down; she was busy trying to make a new friend with one of the other dogs at the event. I get her back into her harness and start heading back to the kids area when I looked up and saw another one of the volunteers holding Joshua! In the excitement, I had completely spaced on the fact I took him off my back! Lucky for me, the kind lady grabbed him before he could run off. She actually said she was sorry for picking him up! I guess some psycho people have a problem with a kind soul helping them out, but definitely not me! I thanked her profusely and strapped Joshua on my back again. I met up with the Jewell family and was able to hang out with them for a little bit until Shadow decided she *had* to make friends with every.single.dog at the event. So we wandered around and she sniffed more butts than she ever dreamed of. I kept Joshua firmly suctioned to my back. Jacob jumped in the bounce houses, got his face painted, and made a wooden helicopter (courtesy of Home Depot). The walk started and so we headed down the path. We saw that they also had a petting farm set up (not a petting zoo because all the animals were farm animals). The kids checked it out for a little bit before we started back down the path. The weather was so beautiful this year. Last time, it was so cold! We had a pleasant walk and arrived back at the main area where they were serving Jason's Deli sandwiches and cake. We ate then the kids took off for the bounce houses again. Daddy Jewell was kind enough to offer to hold Shadow for me so Joshua would get to stretch his legs a bit. He had so much fun in the bounce house!

After the walk, we headed to a birthday party for the youngest 2010 baby in the playgroup. Since it was at a park and I didn't have anywhere to leave Shadow, she tagged along. Luckily, it wasn't a problem; the hosts had even brought one of their dogs! We had more sandwiches and cake and got to enjoy the company of a bunch of our playgroup friends.

Building a sand castle

Joshua the Giant

Jacob spent most of the time in the sandbox while I grabbed Lucy's camera and went to town taking pictures. Have I mentioned how much I miss having a real camera? The birthday girl totally enjoyed her cake and presents. Joshua got to spend a bit more time off my back until he decided that it would be fun to run towards the street repeatedly so he had to go on the back again. I had him strapped on while I did a little photo shoot of Lucy and her kids. I kind of felt the need so since it was her camera I totally stole :P

I really miss being able to hang out with everyone as often as we used to. I definitely can tell it's been a while since I've had a busy day like that. I am so sore today! Chad got a seasonal job and has to stay the night in the Metroplex so he can pick up the uniform tomorrow, so no massage for me until tomorrow, at least :*( I guess I'll just have to take a nice, hot bath instead.

S'MORES!

2011-11-11T09:13:00.001-06:00

They recently lifted the burn ban in our county so we got to have a campfire without the camping!

Jacob and Chad got the branches together while I made dinner. After we ate, we built a fire ring with some bricks we had laying around. We just wanted to have a small fire so Jacob could roast some marshmallows and have s'mores. He had a great time!

Our first fire at our new house!

The boys.

Jacob's friend came over for s'mores, too.

Mmm...graham cracker!

I want some more!

Yummy!

Chad stoking the fire a bit.

Shadow hanging out.

Dig Deep for Breathe Deep

2011-11-08T15:05:00.001-06:00

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month

3 years ago, a member of our playgroup and a good friend of mine, Katie Brown, started the DFW Walk for LUNGevity. The playgroup has participated every year since. This year marks their 4th annual event and biggest to date! The name of the event has been changed to Breathe Deep DFW. You can choose to do a 1.2-mile or a 5k. It is a stroller-friendly, wheelchair-friendly, bicycle-friendly, and dog-friendly event. They will have bounce houses, face painting, photographers, raffles, giveaways...you name it! Jacob, Joshua, and I will be there as volunteers for the second time. We will also have Shadow with us since, this year, they are doing a new promotion called "Paws to End Lung Cancer" where dogs can get these adorable shirts for the walk.

Isn't Graycee the cutest?

I'm asking everyone to please, PLEASE consider donating or walking with us. If you wear pink for breast cancer or are growing out your moustache to raise awareness for prostate cancer, here are some things to think about (from http://events.lungevity.org/site/PageServer?pagename=v2_AboutLungCancer)

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death, regardless of gender or ethnicity.
Lung cancer impacts one in 14 Americans and kills more than breast, prostate, colorectal, leukemia, and melanoma cancers combined.
Lung cancer kills almost twice as many women as breast cancer, and more than twice as many men as prostate cancer.
About 55% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers.
Lung cancer accounts for 14% of all new cancer diagnoses but 27% of all cancer deaths.

Any living thing with lungs can get lung cancer but because of the stigma that it's a "smoker's disease", research for a cure is severely underfunded. This is why I'm asking YOU to help.

Help by coming out to the event REGISTER HERE

Help by donating DONATE HERE

Help by spreading the word about the event EVENT LINK HERE

Help by learning about lung cancer and teaching others LUNG CANCER FAQ HERE

Thank you and be sure to BREATHE DEEP!

Starting Over

2011-11-04T11:13:00.000-05:00

We've lived out here in the Cedar Creek Lake area for about 2.5 months now and I miss all the fun we had playing with other families! I went ahead and started a sister group out here called "Cedar Creek Lake Fantastic Families". I only have one other family in the group right now and our only events so far are the story time at the library but, hopefully, we'll have a rockin' group soon! I love all my friends from the Metroplex but we just can't get out there often enough to hang out like we used to. I can't wait to have our first playdate at our new house!

We've got a ton of applications floating around right now and, chances are, I'll probably wind up working while Chad is a SAHD. He's currently in the process of finishing up his bachelor's degree and then he's heading to seminary for his M.Div. so he could really use the time at home to keep up with his studies. He's been doing great transitioning from an overworked father to a SAHD and I think he will do a wonderful job at home with Joshua by themselves. Hopefully, we can get this group up and going so he will have some fun things to do with Joshua during the day and maybe even meet some other SAHDs to hang out with!

Here are some photos from the first event at the library (I was the only one there):

Reading upside down.

YAY! Beads!!

Checking out the Audiobooks

This one, Mommy!

Trick-or-Treat!

2011-11-02T15:34:00.003-05:00

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I totally get my love for it from my dad. He goes ALL OUT on Halloween!

So, of course, I have to dress up when we take the boys out trick-or-treating. This year, I was a spiderweb and Joshua was a spider. He was strapped to me in the Ergo.

Cutest spider EVER!

He was so tired by this point!

Jacob was Spiderman and Chad went as a biker. He wore his motorcycle jacket and a bandana. We had a great time! My little sister found this awesome house in the neighborhood that gets into Halloween at least as much as my dad. Here are some pics from there:

Awesome witch costume!

Skull birdbath

Lizzie Borden
Took an axe.
Gave her mother forty whacks!
When she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one!

Starting Them Young

2011-10-27T21:22:00.002-05:00

Today Joshua came in the utility room while I was washing his diapers. I was loading them into the dryer and one dropped on the floor. Joshua picked it up and put it in the dryer, so I handed him some more, which he put in the dryer, as well. Yes, my one year old was helping me with the laundry! Granted, if I wasn't quick enough with the wet stuff, he'd pull items back out and throw them on the floor, but the intention was there!

I'm a firm believer in exploiting a child's interests. LOL

Jacob started doing "jobs" around the house and earning some cash doing them when he was 2 years old. He doesn't get an "allowance". Every cent he has, he earned in some way or received as a gift from a friend or relative. Unfortunately, with our financial situation, we haven't been in a place to "hire" him very often, but when he does get a job, he gets to divide his earnings up between his banks. I got these as a gift when I volunteered at the Dave Ramsey LIVE event in Dallas at the beginning of the month. Link to bank on Dave Ramsey's site.

The cup is so you can see just how large these things are!

Before the banks, he had envelopes with "Give", "Save", and "Spend" on them. The "Give" envelope, he would take to church and empty into the collection plate. The "Save" went into his savings account at the credit union. The "Spend" envelope would collect until he had $10-$15 and then he'd go to the store and get a new toy.

Don't get me wrong, we still get him little treats every once in a while, but for the most part, if we're at a store and he asks for something, we ask him if he has his money to buy it.

Being the lazy person that I am, you can see why I really enjoy this parenting technique. At six years old, Jacob can:

Do a complete load of laundry (washer/dryer/put away...folding still needs work)
Do a load of dishes and put them away
Sweep and mop the kitchen
Vacuum
Rake leaves and bag them (with help)

However, since we can't afford to pay him to do any of that right now, Chad and I are stuck with those particular chores.

We've also told him about things that are his "responsibilities". These include picking up his room, the playroom, and after himself in general. That means taking his own dirty dishes to the sink and rinsing them off, throwing away any trash he creates, and cleaning up any spills he happens to cause.

So, if you're wondering how to teach your kids about the value of money and personal responsibility, this is how we're doing it. Feel free to do the same thing and tweak it to fit your own family if it sounds good to you.

I just hope they remember these lessons in ten years. LOL

In My Own Backyard

2011-10-24T12:20:00.002-05:00

I knew that moving out to the country would produce some interesting encounters. It seems that the most interesting ones occur when there's a creepy mist settled.

Scary fog!

I took Shadow into the backyard so she could go potty and I'm looking at the back of our house and spot this:

STICK BUG!

Find the stick bug!

I don't think I've ever seen one in real life! Just to show you how much it looks like the sticks around here, I actually got a stick that I got it to climb onto.

Stick bug on a stick

I thought it would be fun to do some backyard exploring to see what else I could find.

Web of a Grass Spider.

Big old anthill

Moss and clovers

Pretty flowers that just popped up.

Remnants of a cicada shedding

Shadow looking at me like I'm crazy. Probably because I am! LOL

Haunted Hayride

2011-10-24T12:06:00.001-05:00

HAYRIDE

Grandpa and Spiderman on the hayride.

Every year, the volunteer fire department for a nearby city (Payne Springs) has a haunted hayride as a fundraiser. My dad offered to take us and my uncle out to it this past weekend. It was a long wait from the dusk start time that they claim on the site to when the hayrides actually started boarding, but they had a concessions stand and a movie playing so it wasn't too bad. We were the last group to fit on the trailer so we each wound up sitting on a different row. My uncle was in front of me, Chad was behind me, and Jacob and my dad sat in the very back. I had Joshua in the Ergo on my back so I wouldn't have to worry about him squirming out of my arms while the trailer was in motion.

We ride the short distance to the start of the woods and as we approach, the driver turns of the headlights. Since we are in the country, there isn't any light pollution. Looking up to the sky, I decided to break into song. "The stars at night are big and bright!" Of course, the rest of the trailer does the *CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP* and we all start giggling. We pull up to a path marked with solar lights when the engine cuts out. The driver turned around and announces, "Oops! We're out of gas!" Jacob gets a very concerned look on his face. The driver steps down and lets us know that he's just waiting for the other group to start heading back before we can go in. Apparently, Jacob didn't hear this and his concern leads him to start freaking out. "What are we gonna do? We don't have any gas!" I took this opportunity to let him know that the driver was joking and to remind him that it's all pretend and just people in costumes. We start down the path and a sasquatch starts walking out of the woods and follows the trailer. Jacob turns around and, in his bravest voice, yells to the sasquatch, "I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!!!" This continues the entire hayride. Every single "monster" (as Jacob called them) got told off. I told the rest of the group that it's nice to know that he won't have to pay a therapist to learn how to face his fears!

We're on our way back to the fire station. We've waved at the group that was entering as we left. The family at the front of the hayride had 4 or 5 kids with them ranging from 3rd grade up to the teenage girl that my uncle wound up sitting next to. There were parts of the ride that the younger kids were still kind of freaking out about and one of the older boys took this opportunity to give them a hard time about it. Suddenly, two guys with chainsaw run out of the woods and jump on the front of the trailer. This boy freaked out. Of course, the guys pick up on that immediately and both stand over him revving their chainsaws. He's crying and telling them to leave him alone and, in their deepest, scariest voices, start saying, "COME WITH ME!" and grab at his arms. They tortured him for a good 2 minutes before finally jumping off. The boy was STILL crying and his younger siblings were cracking up laughing. "Stop laughing at me!!" Yeah, didn't help. All the adults were trying so hard to suppress our own laughter.

Since Jacob did such a great job on the hayride, my dad got him one of the cool shirts they were selling:

Front

Back

Teasing the Dog

2011-10-24T11:44:00.001-05:00

TEASING

The house we purchased was a foreclosure. Needless to say, it sat empty for quite a while before we were able to buy it and move in. In the time it was unoccupied, the neighbors' cats decided to claim it for themselves. They'd lounge around in our backyard, sleep on our front porch, and only seemed to go home to eat. Now that we have Shadow, they don't hang out in the backyard as much, but when they do and Shadow chases them out, they make it a point to tease her because she can't jump the fence. The other day, Chad told me to grab my camera (phone) and get some photos. Naturally, Shadow chased them out but once they got over the fence, they seemed to think it would be funny to lay as close to the fence as possible and stare at her while she tried to dig under the fence to get to them.

They're thinking, "HAHAHA...Stupid dog!"

Working on a hole.

Trying to climb the fence.

I'm starting to think the cats might be right...

Party Time!!

2011-10-17T12:56:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, we had Joshua's 1st birthday party. I was thrilled to see how many of our friends made the long trek out here to celebrate with us! Some of them did manage to get lost, but everyone made it in one piece. My parents gave us a tabletop grill that they had won in a raffle and Chad was so excited to cook for everyone. He grilled up the burgers and hot dogs to go with the potato salad, baked beans, chili, nacho cheese, and bean dip that I made. We had mini pumpkins for the kids to decorate and they also had a great time playing baseball in the front yard.

When it was time for Joshua to get into his cupcake, he didn't let us down.

I want more cake!

All done!

Hi, Grandpa!

Yep, even managed to get the back of his head.

Happy birthday to my baby boy! Thanks to everyone who came out and shared the celebration with us!

Life as a family of 6

2011-10-12T21:47:00.001-05:00

My little sister and her husband are going to a convention so we're watching two of our nephews, Gabriel (4 years) and Adrian (4 months). This also required us to borrow their van as our car only seats 5.

Tuesday, Chad dropped Joshua and me off at my sister's house. She and her husband needed to replace the break pads before I took it, so I got to hang out for a while.

Adrian

Gabriel

Joshua learning all about brakes from his uncle.

Jacob was so excited to see his cousins when he got off the bus! The boys had a ton of fun playing together and all four fell asleep by 10.

Adrian loves this bouncy seat.

Don't worry, we moved him ;)

Jacob and Gabe in the extra-long twin and toddler beds, respectively.

Today, I had a great time dressing Adrian in drag. Chad said he looked like a Treasure Troll. I can see the resemblance.

Make a wish on my bellybutton!

Jacob had Children's Choir up at church, so we loaded everyone up in the minivan and headed out! I like to call this 4-in-5 - Four boys in 5-point harnesses.

Adrian, 4 months, rear-facing in a Baby Trend Flex Loc Infant Seat

Joshua, 12 months, rear-facing in a Graco ComfortSport Convertible

Gabriel, 4 years, forward-facing in a Cosco High Back Booster

Jacob, 6 years, forward-facing in a Britax Frontier 85 SICT

Joshua has been totally enjoying the company of his cousins during the day. I think Mommy and Daddy just aren't interesting enough for him sometimes ;)

Fall Festival - East Texas Style

2011-10-11T21:04:00.002-05:00

The Arboretum's 2011 Annual Fall Festival & Blackeyed Pea Cook Off

Jacob pulling the wagon as we entered the festival.

With us being out of work, we were financially unable to make it to the metroplex last weekend as we had planned. Luckily, DH found an awesome and, most importantly, *free* fall festival. The East Texas Arboretum and Botanic Gardens has this festival annually. Incredibly, they were also having a free dog show, so we brought Shadow along. The parking was a suggested donation of $5. We didn't have that much cash on us, so we gave them $2 and they gladly accepted that. DH only had $1 left on him and Jacob was able to use that to get this awesome face painting.

Jacob's face painter.

She used his hat as a guide.

Spiderman! In true Jacob fashion, he rubbed his chin before I got a pic.

They did a rendition of Mark Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". It was really cute! They had the skinniest chick ever playing a frog and when the frog was supposed to have eaten so much it couldn't hop, they put some stuffing in her Spandex, but she was still much smaller than me!!

"Stuffed" frog

Joshua seemed a little bored with the play.

I knew I had to use this opportunity to get some fall pictures of the boys together. Apparently, Jacob seems to think he's a gangster or something.

Tha boyz

I swear I don't give him anything special to make him so happy!

Olan Mills moment

We checked out some of the vendors. One of the churches was handing out lemons that had soft peppermint sticks stuck in them. You bite the end of the peppermint stick off and then suck the lemon juice through it and the sugar dissolves as you suck, making lemonade! It was a really cool trick and a fun take on the old saying.

After we ate the lunch we brought, Chad took Shadow on a mile long hike on one of the trails while I took the boys to see Sonny the Bird Man's show.

I don't have a good zoom on my Blackberry Storm, so you can't really see what's going on in the other pictures I took so I won't bother posting them. He had a bird that could roller skate, one that could walk a tight rope with a stick of fire, one that could play soccer, etc. Jacob had a lot of fun and Joshua, as usual, seemed bored with the show.

They had this really cool playground and an even cooler slide that was built into a hill. Jacob and Joshua had a great time going down it.

WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Then, it was time for the dog show. While we were waiting for the show to begin, Shadow fell in love with an Akita named Moose. He was 10 months old and about the size Shadow will be when she is full size. Thing is, he wasn't HIS full size yet!

This dog is HUGE!

We entered Shadow in two catagories: Prettiest and Smooch Pooch (Best Kisser).

I know, I'm GORGEOUS!

Jacob trying to get Shadow to kiss him. It wasn't working.

While the judges were deliberating, Joshua decided to start up some mischief.

I wonder if anyone will notice if I steal this pumpkin right next to the stage.

We walked away with only a ribbon for participation and some booby prizes, but it was a bunch of fun.

Everyone's a winner!

Surprisingly, Joshua managed to stay awake the entire car ride home after he had taken a power nap during the festival. Jacob, on the other hand, didn't make it to the freeway.

Sure sign of a good day.

Yes, we're still alive!!

2011-10-10T21:47:00.000-05:00

This is my 100th post!!!

So...yeah. Life has been INSANE since my last post:

NEW HOUSE

Jacob in front of our new house on the first day of school.

So we moved from DFW to Cedar Creek Lake. It's about an hour and a half from our old house. My parents own a place about 15 minutes from here that they are going to move into when they retire for real (they both have 'retirement jobs' in the metroplex right now). We love it out here! Absolutely NO traffic, we have a fenced in backyard, and it's cheaper than what we were paying to rent our old place! It was a HUD home. The previous owner decided to let his brother take the awning off the front porch when the house was about to be foreclosed on, so that's what going on with that :-/

The Playroom

Unfortunately, despite many promising opportunities, neither one of us has been able to secure a job as of yet. We're currently living off of savings and the generous support of our family. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

DOG:

Shadow at 6 weeks

For Jacob's birthday, the in-laws decided to get him a dog. We decided on the name Shadow. She's an Alaskan Malamute. It's a breed very similar to Siberian Huskies. The Malamutes dogs are named after the Malamute tribe of Native Americans in Alaska. The dogs were bred to be working dogs for pulling heavy loads. Because of this, they grow to be quite large. Knowing our situation, they generously offered to cover all related expenses so she won't be a financial burden on us.

Shadow at 5 months

Meeting a 10 month old Akita. This dog is about the size Shadow will be when she's full grown.

JOSHUA:

Birthday Boy

Time flies so quickly when they are young. I can't believe he's one already!! He started walking at 11.5 months and now it's his favorite way to get around. He hasn't quite perfected it, yet, but he's improving with each day. He still had only 6 teeth as of his birthday, but about a week later, two new teeth popped up on the bottom row bringing him to a total of 8 right now. I had so much fun doing his one year old photo shoot with my Blackberry Storm as the camera! I had to downgrade to a non-smart phone so my old Blackberry is just a camera now.

Add caption

Is a one year old too young to become a linebacker in the NFL? I don't think so!

I hope to get back to posting here often. Things have calmed down for the most part and I missed sharing my life with you guys!

I'm such a slacker

2011-07-31T13:02:00.000-05:00

I'm so sorry for slacking off the past couple weeks. I needed to remove a stressor from my life and, unfortunately, this was it. Here's an update on our fun:

Howard Moore Play Pool

Parks Mall Play Area (Bottom Level in front of Sears)

QuikTrip Park for an Air Hogs game

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey present Barnum 200

Northeast Mall Play Area (Down the hall from Crazy 8)

CIRCUS WINNER Take 2!!

2011-07-14T18:57:00.001-05:00

Since Alexandria never claimed her prize, the new winner is

ATHENA R.!!!

Please reply to this thread by 3:00 pm on the 14th to claim your prize.

CIRCUS WINNER!!

2011-07-12T21:22:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay...things have been pretty nuts around here. Now, without further ado...the winner is:

Alexandra Murray

Just comment here to acknowledge that you won and your tickets will be waiting for you at WILL CALL at the AAC on the 27th. Show starts at 7:30 but I suggest you get there early. I'll be at the show, too, so if you happen to see me, be sure to say hi! Congratulations!!

Weekly Recap: Jul 4 - Jul 10, 2011

2011-07-10T19:35:00.002-05:00

Recent Posts:
Weekly Recap: Jun 27-Jul 3, 2011

CIRCUS GIVEAWAY!!

MONDAY

Happy Independence Day!! We got to enjoy the fireworks on the base with my little sister's family and our friends. It's so awesome to see absolutely everyone, even the kids playing in the water, stop and stand at attention during taps. We got a great spot right on the shore of Lake Worth and got to see a great fireworks performance.

TUESDAY

Met another new member at Parr Park. It was actually the dad of the family since he had the day off. I love seeing dads come to events! Hopefully, we'll get to hang out with them a few times before the move!

WEDNESDAY

My mom came by and took the boys and me out to lunch, then hauled off our donations. I don't care what you say, I have the best mommy ever! Later, I got a call from our broker. Apparently, HUD claims that we have purchased another HUD property within the past 2 years and has, therefore, declined our bid. Thing is, we've lived in our current house for over 7 years and have never purchased a home. We're hoping this mess gets cleared up soon. I can't believe how crazy this whole home buying thing has been!

THURSDAY
Awesome playdate at a new member's house. It's awesome to know that people can join our group and jump right into hosting events and that our veteran members will turn up in force. The boys had a blast playing in the water...as always!

FRIDAY

Went to the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History to celebrate their mascot's birthday. Ran into Johnny and Joey during the last space shuttle launch. We had to drag the boys away from each exhibit. I really love that museum!

Afterwards, we went to the North East Mall to play at the play area and met, yep, ANOTHER new member!

SATURDAY

Went to the DFW Cloth Diaper Group's July Saturday event, despite me being completely exhausted after Joshua waking me up so much in addition to the exhaustion from the week. However, I have learned that it is better to suck it up and get out than to try to rest with a 5-year-old that's bouncing off the walls. We had a great time! Jacob even made a friend and had to introduce him to Joshua. It was really sweet.

SUNDAY

Got some much needed catch up sleep, but not as much as I would have liked. Joshua's 9 month appt is tomorrow so I'll give you the stats on the next blog. Life has been so crazy lately; I can't wait until we're all moved in and I get the chance to relax!

Until next week!

Weekly Recap: Jun 27-Jul 3, 2011

2011-07-06T18:40:00.002-05:00

Weekly Recap: Jun 20-Jun 27, 2011

2011-06-30T15:38:00.000-05:00

Weekly Recap: Jun 13-Jun 19, 2011

CIRCUS GIVEAWAY!!

MONDAY

When we got home from the lake, I did some research into that house it was still on the market and the price had dropped even lower than what we had seen it for previously! We spent most of the day toying with the idea of moving.

TUESDAY

The first day of Summer, we had a torrential downpour. Since it was snowing on the first day of Spring, I've got a feeling that the weather likes to give it's last hurrah before the next season starts. This is what happens to our front yard when it rains:

I changed the day's event to McDonald's instead of Splash Island because I thought the rain would be an issue. It wasn't. It was hot, sunny, and blue sky when we got there. Oh well. The boys had a great time.

I looked up the house again and it had been taken off the market. DH was really upset about it for a couple of hours. We went to his work to pick up his pay check then he hopped on the computer when we got home to start the search. Found a good house right off of Cedar Creek Lake so we drove out there to take a look at it. It was built in 2006 and looked to be in good condition on the inside...3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, 2 living rooms, huge kitchen and dining room and it came with a really cool entertainment center. The yard had a shed. The exterior of the house needed some work, especially the deck and skirting. But overall, a good house. The day ended on a good note.

WEDNESDAY

Went to Barnes and Noble at the Parks Mall for Kids Notes Storytime. Met a new member and an existing member. IT was pretty cool. After the performance, Jacob got to check out the instruments up close. He seemed more interested in going someplace to play, though. We chatted for a while then headed to the mall's play area.

DH found another home that was even better than the one off the lake. It's 4 bedroom, 2 full bathrooms, 3(!) living areas (one of which had a fireplace), huge kitchen and dining room, and 2 sheds on over an acre of land!

THURSDAY

I spent most of the day working on getting everything together so we could get the pre-approval we needed to submit a bid. OMG it was like a rectal exam! They want to know EVERYTHING! It also doesn't help when you're trying to care for two small boys and a certain DH keeps calling to see how things are going. My mom and I drove out to take a look at the place and I fell in love! I could definitely picture us living there!

FRIDAY

Finally got a pre-approval and got in contact with a broker to submit our bid. She informed us that since the bid period didn't end until Sunday at 11:59 PM, we probably wouldn't get an answer until Monday. Met another new member at Parr Park in Grapevine, but we didn't stay long as it was ridiculously hot. What happened to that cool-down we should have gotten from the rain? The boys still had fun and I always enjoy meeting new members.

Picked my sister up from her in-law and drove her to our aunts' house to visit. Since my aunts are Joshua's Godmothers, they had to give him a little present...he got a pair of sandals and a pair of shoes. We always love hanging out with them, and not just because of presents.

SATURDAY

Headed to the Parks Mall Barnes and Noble again, this time for the 5th Annual Kids' Fine Arts Celebration. Jacob got to actually play the instruments and he didn't do too bad! Met another new member (I know, it's getting crazy, huh?)

Then we headed to a birthday party for one of the boys in the group. There was lots of splashing and some great food!

DH got off work early and met us there. Since he hadn't seen the house we were bidding on yet, we headed out to Kaufman to check it out. We invited my sister's family to join us, as well. They all loved it, too!

SUNDAY

We went to DH's grandmother's church since we were under the impression that most of his family would be there. Jacob absolutely loves that church, so it wasn't too big of a deal when it was just us and DH's grandparents. We dropped DH at home so he could sleep and went with Tamara's family up to the ranch house that Oma and Opa (the kids' grandparents) live at. We got to see the horses, pick blackberries, and swim. They also fed us a wonderful dinner. It was a great time and I hope we'll be able to go there again!

Petition to add a new word to the dictionary

2011-06-30T11:56:00.002-05:00

Post a comment here if you think this word should be added to the dictionary:

Mom-nundrum (mämˈnəndrəm)
n
A dilemma produced by having children. "She faced a mom-nundrum; should she attempt satisfy her growling stomach now and risk her meal being mostly devoured by her children or wait until nap time so she can eat in peace?"

CIRCUS GIVEAWAY!!

2011-06-21T12:45:00.003-05:00

All Aboard! Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey celebrate P.T. Barnum's 200th birthday with Barnum's FUNundrum! You can win a Family Four Pack of tickets just by posting here!

HOW TO ENTER:
Leave a comment on this blog post with your favorite part of going to the circus and your first and last name if I don't personally know you.

Legal type stuff:

Must be 18 years old to enter. Limit one entry per household, please. This contest is only open to North Texas residents who can attend the 7:30 PM performance on July 27th. Winner is responsible for parking costs (Parking at the AAC is $15-$25 depending on the lot). Photo ID will be required at WILL CALL to pick up the tickets on the day of the event. You won't know the exact location of the seats until you pick up the tickets. There will probably not be adjoining seats available for you to purchase. Deadline for entry is July 10th. Winner will be announced on July 11th at 3:00 PM. If the winner doesn't contact me by July 12th at 3:00 PM (Central), I will draw again for a different winner. Second-choice winner must contact me by July 13th at 3:00 PM (Central). Third-choice winner will have until 3:00 PM (Central) on July 14th to reply. If third-choice winner fails to reply, I will give the prize to the first respondent after I post on July 14th.

Good luck!

Want to buy tickets?

Performance Dates/Times:

DALLAS - American Airlines Center

Wed, Jul 27 7:30PM

Thu, Jul 28 10:30AM, 7:30PM

Fri, Jul 29 10:30AM, 7:30PM

Sat, Jul 30 11:30AM, 3:30PM, 7:30PM

Sun, Jul 31 10:30AM, 2:30PM, 6:30PM

Tue, Aug 2 7:30PM

Wed, Aug 3 7:30PM

Thu, Aug 4 7:30PM

Fri, Aug 5 7:30PM

Sat, Aug 6 11:30AM, 3:30PM, 7:30PM

Sun, Aug 7 10:30AM, 2:30PM, 6:30PM

FORT WORTH - Convention Center

Wed, Aug 10 7:30PM
Thu, Aug 11 7:30PM
Fri, Aug 12 10:30AM, 7:30PM
Sat, Aug 13 11:30AM, 3:30PM, 7:30PM
Sun, Aug 14 2:30PM

There is a military discount available to service members. More information can be found at http://www.ringling.com/AmericaSupportsYou.aspx?&parentID=348&assetFolderID=35

Reading with Ringling Bros. is back again! Kids from ages 2-12 can visit participating libraries and earn a free ticket to the circus by simply doing their summer reading! http://www.readingwithringling.com/CityHome.aspx?id=19178

Ringling Bros. is offering a free ticket to newborns! Check out http://www.ringling.com/TextContent.aspx?id=11738&parentID=348&assetFolderID=352 for more information.

Weekly Recap: Jun 13-Jun 19, 2011

2011-06-20T19:02:00.000-05:00

MONDAY

Spent the day at home. It's awesome to see the smile on Joshua's face when Jacob plays with him! Jacob built afort using two coolers, a stool, and a comforter. Joshua thought it would be a good idea to use the stool to pull up on and the whole thing came crashing down. The stool must have hit him in the eye because he had quite the shiner. I took this picture while he was taking a nap.

TUESDAY

Went to the Flag Day Celebration in Grapevine. Beautiful ceremony and free lemonade and cookies! Met a new member that was referred by Jehan. Afterwards, we walked around Grapevine Main Street with one of our long standing members before heading to the play area at the North East Mall to meet another new member. We had quite a few families from the group join us there and it was a great time! It's awesome that Joshua can actually enjoy the play area now. He was really moving!

WEDNESDAY

This morning, Joshua learned how to clap and he continued doing it all day! Grandma (my mom) came over and brought us pizza for lunch. The boys always love seeing her! We checked out one of the brand new spray parks in Irving. This one is at Southwest Park off Shady Grove between Belt Line and Story. The boys had a great time! This is one of the best spraygrounds we've been to. The only problem I have is that they have concrete, not rubber. Jacob was moving a little too fast (okay, he was running) and he slipped and hit the back of his head. He was fine, but I hate when they don't pad it when they have water. Regardless, it's free, so I can't really complain. Joshua met an adorable little 6 month old girl...Jessica better watch out! We'll definitely have to go again some time.

THURSDAY

Thursday nights in Downtown Fort Worth, they show a movie at the Chisholm Trail Parking Area. We had 4 families in attendance and it was a great time. They decided to "warm" the crowd up before the movie by playing the Cha Cha Slide, Cupid Shuffle, YMCA, and I Gotta Feelin' by the Black Eyed Peas. With it being so hot out and then dancing around like that, I was totally exhausted and sweating bullets. Around 9:15, they started the movie...Despicable Me. This is a cute one that's I've seen a few times before, but it's one of those that are as entertaining for the adults as it is for the kids.

When we got home, both boys were totally passed out, but I think Jacob brought a little bit of Fort Worth home with him...check out those feet!

FRIDAY

We hit up Fritz Park Petting Farm when they opened and it was still cool out. Jacob learned that even though brown chickens and roosters look very similar, the chickens are the ones that lay the eggs since they are girls. We learned that boy peacocks are the ones with the beautiful tails and that girl peacocks are relatively plain and brown. We also learned that the petting farm has a goat the likes to jump the fence.

Afterwards, we grabbed a bite to eat and then went to DAV Thrift Store to look for a bedrail and some baby gates since Joshua is starting to get himself into trouble. We didn't find the gates, but we did find a bedrail for $3 and we also found a great Father's Day present for my dad. Then we headed out to my parents' lake house about a mile from Cedar Creek Lake for the weekend. Jacob loves playing out there! My parents brought the nephews and the boys had a great time.

SATURDAY/SUNDAY

DH rode his motorcycle out to join us after work. We found an awesome house out there that we are considering getting. It's 3 bed/2 bath/1 car garage. It also has a playroom, a fireplace, and a storage shed! Best part is that it's listed at just $25K! It does need a new roof and the appliances need to be replaced, but it's a cute house and I could definitely see us living there. The bad part is that since it's an hour and a half from the metroplex, I couldn't logistically continue to organize the playgroup and we won't be able to hang out with all our friends nearly as often. We'll just have to see what happens. DH absolutely loves it out there and if he could find a job that pays well out there, we'll actually be saving a bunch of money over what we pay in rent right now.

The Puffy Mommy

DIY - Re-covering Dining Chairs

*GIVEAWAY* Small Business Saturday

Don't be jealous

Just like old times

S'MORES!

Dig Deep for Breathe Deep

Starting Over

Trick-or-Treat!

Starting Them Young

In My Own Backyard

Haunted Hayride

Teasing the Dog

Party Time!!

Life as a family of 6

Fall Festival - East Texas Style

Yes, we're still alive!!

I'm such a slacker

CIRCUS WINNER Take 2!!

CIRCUS WINNER!!

Weekly Recap: Jul 4 - Jul 10, 2011

Weekly Recap: Jun 27-Jul 3, 2011

Weekly Recap: Jun 20-Jun 27, 2011

Weekly Recap: Jun 13-Jun 19, 2011

Petition to add a new word to the dictionary

CIRCUS GIVEAWAY!!

Weekly Recap: Jun 13-Jun 19, 2011

GIVEAWAY Small Business Saturday