InspireMe

random pic

2010-09-24T14:35:00.000-06:00

on our way to fairplay, co a few years ago...

pre-tween room revamp

2010-09-23T09:30:00.026-06:00

so my little girl at 8 is no longer a little girl. not only did she transition from a twin bed to a full (thanks marie claire!), but the days of princess bedding is so over. i have to admit...i totally got into it! i'd have to say it turned out pretty cute; still need a couple pics on the wall and the glider recovered, but so far so good:

loving the bedding...was all black/white/grey so i bought some pink sheets & accents (i made the decorative pillows too - who knew?)

i painted & recovered the chair...which needed it since i helped my dad put it together in about 1987. i know, right? turned out better than i'd hoped :)

don't mind the glider...that too will get a makeover.

and lastly i recovered the lamp. think i'm gonna paint the night stand black.

oh...and my fav - the rug. love it!
so all in all i must say that it turned out really well (here's the part where i pat myself on the back!). i look around at all the DIY sites and wonder if i'll ever be that good. i mean...i only have so many rooms to practice on. *unless* i redo my rooms once a year or so. i think mike may kill me. or not as long as it keeps me out of his hair.

Halloween Projects

2010-09-22T18:31:00.007-06:00

Whew...been awhile so I thought I'd just jump right in with what we're up to these days. Um...crafts & projects. Transitioning to an at-home mom has been great, but I'm turning into one of the moms I never would have though. The project mom. Crazy, I know. Luckily I have a co-conspirator, Kelly, my sister. Although she just pretends to be an at-home mom...she really works from home watching other people's children so she doesn't have as much time on her hands as I do.

Anyhoo...Kel will be crafting tomorrow and I am anticipating photos with a detailed account of the event. My Halloween crafting inspiration came from Kaboose and Martha Stewart whilst I was surfing around on the web looking for projects for Kelly to do with one of her tykes. My crafts were completed by my youngest daughter, Tana and myself. Well mostly me; she did however glue the ghost together and paint the eyes and cheeks on him and when she wasn't busy doin that she was instructing me on how to complete the other crafts. Tana thought my pumpkin was hideous in orange and suggested blue. To which I replied "What, are you fucking crazy??? A blue pumpkin?! Ametures..." Not really, but that was fun. What I really told her was maybe next year (she'll hopefully have forgotten by then).

I have to admit the crafts were fun, but after half of a day, I was pretty much over it. I still have a couple more ideas/projects for Halloween so I'll post them if as they are completed. In addition to this I have completely redesigned Elizabeth's room. I'll put up pics tomorrow. Or next year. I'm not so consistent on the blog thing. Well, enjoy for now :)

curse you walt!

2008-10-11T16:13:00.004-06:00

elizabeth just came in sobbing...

me: honey, what's wrong?

e: simba's dad just died.

me: who? who died?

e: you know...simba's dad moufassa. all the animals ran him over and he died?

me: (kind of irritated at this point because i've told her in the past that she shouldn't watch the lion king if it makes her sad) baby it's just a movie, and a cartoon at that so it's just cartoon acting...he didn't really die. and do you know what the moral of this story is?

e: what (in a very pouty you're-not-gonna-snap-me-out-of-it tone)?

me: you shouldn't play where the antelope roam...or where there's a chance of a stampede.

e: mom - i don't think those were antelope (hands on hips at this point, but no more crying).

me: well then miss smarty-pants, what were they?

e: wildebeests.

me: oh, well same moral: you shouldn't play where the wildebeests roam or stampede or in any other herd for that matter.

e: why not?

me: cuz if there's a stampede you'll get smooshed. herds can be scary for just that reason. well...almost all herds because i wouldn't be afraid of like a herd of bunnies or chickens. although that's not really a herd, that's a flock i believe.

e: you're weird (says the girl who cries every time she watches the lion king)

she walked out of the room at this point. i am not weird - that made complete and perfectly good sense. and anyways my ramblings made her forget about the death of moufassa, so take that!

random as random comments get...

2008-10-11T15:41:00.003-06:00

"i can't find my dog's collar, but i'm pretty sure it's under the bed cuz i believe i saw it when i was having sex. it must have been a girl i was having sex with cuz the only reason i'd go under the bed is to get the strap-on."

~shall remain anonymous

mandy b's 29th bday!

2008-07-26T14:05:00.016-06:00

the birthday girl!

me and my hubby

crystal and mike

and ann & jerry...they're so cute!

yummy dessert plate and she went for it!

beat the heat

2008-07-26T13:16:00.006-06:00

the stordahl family went to the water park with the gross family and had tons of fun while we were trying to keep cool. miss elizabeth is to the right of the water post

smile molly

elizabeth acting like a tiger in the water sprays

this is what happens to tana after 5 hours at the water park!!!

lyrics...

2008-07-09T22:09:00.003-06:00

i took off my glasses
while you were yelling
at me once
more than once

so as not to
see you
see me
react

should'a put 'em
should'a put 'em on again
so i could see you
see me
sincerely yelling back

~fiona apple, parting gift

4th of july

2008-07-05T11:03:00.022-06:00

we ventured down to castle rock for their red, white, and blue celebration. if a couple hundred screaming, crying, fit-throwing children is your cup of tea you would have really enjoyed yourself.

we waited in line for about 60 minutes for face painting. miss elizabeth decided she did not want to put it on her face because then she wouldn't be able to see it. she did have a good point...

it turned out very lovely didn't it?

tana just wanted to do what her sister did. hey...when in rome...

of course, we waited in line longer than tana's stayed on her body. after about 30 minutes she picked it off, but we did manager to get a picture together prior to her scratching it off.

they had fairies, which would've been another 30 minutes of waiting to have our picture taken with her and elizabeth said (in a very irritated tone) "just take a picture of her with those kids. " so i did as instructed. i don't know who those children are, but the fairy was extremely pretty. (i insert a disclaimer of apology to the parents of those children as i posted their pics without permission...you'll forgive me, won't you?)

so this is close to the spot where we watched the 'works. they were launched from the top of that lovely hill there. we were a little disappointed though, because there was no big finale. i mean...who has a fireworks show with absolutely no finale? so we flipped off the town of castle rock with the rest of the crowd who were also sitting there in disbelief muffling various i-can't-believe-it's, got into our car and sat in the 30 minute procession of exiting vehicles. then when we pulled out of the parking area and up the main road about a 1/2 mile when we noticed that the back of that lovely hill was on fire. i would say about an acre. so we retracted our flip-off and hushed comments as a public statement to those in the car (elizabeth and tana totally understood) and watched as the talented firemen of the town of castle rock (hell ye-ah firemen!!!) put out the fire. here's a brief video of the show (not the hill on fire, the actual fireworks)...

needless to say it was a very eventful and exciting evening. balloons, face painting, cotton candy and hundreds of brats...er...i mean wonderful children running all over the place. we really did have a good time; it was fun watching the kids laugh and play together. wooh-hoo 4th of july!

t-town visit

2008-07-05T10:41:00.004-06:00

it was so nice being back and seeing everyone. thanks to mom who put everything together so quickly and the leitner's for allowing us to intrude. love and miss you all!!! enjoy...

niagra falls...

2008-06-28T15:47:00.005-06:00

this place is so beautiful. and it's right in kelly's backyard! i hope you've gotta big backyard...cuz i'm gonna put my falls in it!

boquet for you?

2008-04-06T11:10:00.005-06:00

flowers...little flowers...flowing in the summer breeze. lovely flowers...how i love thee!!!!

ali-cat dance

2008-03-25T19:32:00.004-06:00

this is our little miracle baby. death has knocked too many times on this little girl's door and she just keeps sayin' "access DE-nied!" she is just the most amazing little girl and so freakin adorable!

bowlin' babies!!!

2008-03-25T19:17:00.004-06:00

i don't know about you, but i haven't been bowling for about 7 years. wow...i am not a good bowler. the kids were beatin' the adults. beth, mike & anthony were the only one's to break 100.

tana was actually pretty good...

...and here's how she did. she's cute!

easter at grama's

2008-03-25T17:48:00.012-06:00

happy easter!!!

here's pics of the easter egg hunt. joseph made out with the most...we actually had to take some of his out cuz he's older and had 4 x's as many eggs as any of the other kids. beth handled it...she threw 'em around the yard for the younger kids to find. thanks beth!

beth & ali

miss tana

elizabeth & joseph who were connected at the hip!

here's anthony with a good find...

2008-02-25T13:52:00.002-07:00

this is her angelina lip pose. pretty good, huh?

priceless...

2008-02-25T13:41:00.002-07:00

so i'm home w/elizabeth who has a sore throat and slight fever. we're eating soup for lunch and she says (with soup dribbling down her chin) "mom...hurry, i need a napkin. my chin is leaking".

does it get any better than that?

the pain

2008-02-22T20:17:00.003-07:00

so i joined a gym...again. the last time was about 3 years ago where i signed up on a 2 year contract and i went for like the first 3 days and after that i basically donated to the gym. this time is going to be different (i think i'm experiencing de ja vu)! do you want to know why? i'll tell you - i have this layer of fat from shoulders to toe (can't really say head, cuz my head hasn't gotten fat...yet). not only do i have this layer of fat, but about a week before i signed up i was on the phone and happened to walk past a mirror. that's when i saw it...cellulite on my arm. WTF?!?!?!?! seriously...who deserves that? about 2 days later i'm getting ready for work, standing in my bra, just finished my hair, grabbed my hand-held mirror, turned around to look at the back of my hair, when all of a sudden - BACK FAT staring right at me. i'm fat from behind.

that was the last straw. so i signed up a week ago thursday and have been there pretty much every day since. but it's only the first week; i have to get over the 3 week hump. my bff, mandy works out constantly with her husband and they have so graciously assisted me in my effort and are helping me become comfortable in the gym. that's part of my problem. the gym is intimidating and i don't know how to use the equipment and the treadmill and elliptical get boring pretty quickly. so we're working with mainly free weights and some machines. it's lifting monday, wednesday, and friday and cardio tuesday, thursday, and saturday.

anyhoo, my biceps are really hurting from my workout on wednesday...only when i try to fully extend it. or trying to grab a gallon of milk. or putting my socks on. or tying my shoes. good thing i can still pick my nose with ease...

i'll keep you posted - and when i'm all toned i might even post a picture!

new...

2008-02-17T16:00:00.004-07:00

for my sisters (both biological and the one i was born without)

new t.v.

new hair (it's just a little darker...)

new guitar hero for the new t.v.

happy birthday tana!

2008-02-17T13:03:00.008-07:00

we did a dual party for tana and noah's 2nd birthday's; they're 8 days apart. we did it at chuck e cheese and the kids had a blast!

happy b-days kiddos!

1st lost tooth!!!

2008-02-17T12:59:00.003-07:00

elizabeth lost it on 2-5-08...my little girl is growing up so fast.

Halloween

2007-11-05T20:37:00.001-07:00

Seriously...how cute are they? And wasn't Clifford a clever costume. She had known she was going to be Clifford since March of this year.

And what else do we have...a baby-eating Tanasaurus!

Just too cute!

How can you not think this is adorable?

I'm telling you , hghghuuuh?

humming bird

2007-09-05T17:02:00.001-06:00

grandparent ideas

2007-09-05T16:33:00.000-06:00

so i saw the cutest ideas for grandparent gifts on the news the other day. you can find them all here, but you can see one project i've completed below; the all about me brag book. waaayyy cute! you fasten/staple brown paper lunch sacks together (one for each child you have) and decorate the fronts of them. then you create inserts to slip inside of the corresponding child's bag, with a current picture, what size they wear, likes/wish list, etc. and send them out before christmas or birthdays or what-have-you. or you can incorporate other information onto them. here is the first set i have completed:

here's the second one:

and here's one of the inserts (i did this in my picture program...they have different projects/cards you can print out):

way cute, huh? lots of great ideas on there...and grandparent's day is right around the corner(Sept. 9th)!

babies...

2007-09-05T16:28:00.000-06:00

i love this picture!