Kind of Blue

Eli was feeling

 kind of blue {and sticky}

 after finding a blue candy cane

 that had been hiding since Christmas!

**On a more serious note**

My heart is blue today as I head to the funeral for my friend Tonya's mother who passed away Friday after a 3 month battle with Meningitis. Please remember that family in your prayers today as they say goodbye to their mother, grandmother, sister, and friend.

A Little Bit of Randomness for Friday

If you missed it yesterday, I was over at Amanda's place doing a SUPER fun interview! Hop over, check it out, and leave some comment love it you have the time today!

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Also don't forget to enter the giveaway from my new sponsor Say It On The Wall!
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I have been in a major crafting slump lately. I honestly have barely stepped foot in my craft {aka dining} room in at least two weeks, and there are still remnants of Valentine's projects all over the table. I haven't had a whole lot of St. Patty's Day craft inspiration, but I do have some fun food ideas so stay tuned for those next week:)

Henry brought this paper home from school one day this week. His teacher thought it was interesting...I think it is a little weird! Can you imagine naming your kid Gum!?!

Grant lost another tooth last week bringing his totally up to 4! Apparently he is a bit of a anomaly because most 5 year old have only lost one or two teeth at this point! I honestly think he was just trying to keep up with Henry {who has also lost 4 teeth as of now}!

 Eli spent more than hour yesterday running around wearing Grant's old superhero cape saying "To the Rescue!" It was more than just a little cute:) First thing this morning he found the cape and insisted I tie it for him! I think maybe he needs one of his own, because Grant's has a big G on the back:)

I am going on a mission today to find a King Cake from Paul's Pastry Shop. They make the most wonderful King Cakes ever, but their store is close to two hours from us. I saw on their website that a few local stores are carrying their King Cakes this year, so Eli and I will be hitting up a few convenience stores today in hopes of finding our favorite cream cheese variety! If you've never had a King Cake you should check out their website....they ship anywhere in the U.S.!

Me Put My Pants on Momma

Heard From the Backseat

Henry: Boys have red lips even if they don't wear chapstick or lipstick.

Grant: Yeah, and you can't wipe it off because that's how God made you!

This is the Stuff...

...That Drives Me Crazy!

*Got out of bed 30 minutes early because all 3 boys got up early*

*Had a battle before school because of socks...and probably not why you would think*

*Dropped the boys off*

*Walked a couple laps with a friend, while Eli begged to go home*

*Burned my egg for breakfast*

*Quick trip to Target for a few weekend items*

*Browsed the Dollar Spot*

*Bought Eli popcorn and an icee...he is much a much better behaved shopper if he has food*

*Stole a few pieces of popcorn even though I'm still on my diet*

*Looked for sugar...Target was out of sugar*

*Browsed the little girl's section at Kohl's with my friend*

*LOST (like really lost) Eli when he ran off in Kohl's*

*Ran around like a crazy person trying to find my child who thought he was playing a game*

*Found him in the back of the store smiling and waving*

*Got a call that my grandma was in the hospital*
*Headed home to unload grocery and put Eli down for a nap*

*Showered...because I really needed it*
*Got ready to go the hospital and Jason left work early to pick up the kiddos*
*Got a call that everything was fine with my grandma and that she was probably going home soon*
*Looked for a video of the song that inspired this post, but couldn't find one*
*Listened to some music on the computer*
*Looked again and found a video to share with you:)*

This post was inspired by the song "This is the Stuff" by Francesca Battistelli and my SUPER fun Friday:)

This is the Stuff You Use!

A Ruffle is a Ruffle is a Ruffle

This crazy contraption attached to my sewing machine is called a ruffler.

 Just in case you weren't sure from the name, it makes ruffles...and it does it's job really well I might add! After multiple failed attempts at making ruffles following some online tutorials, I asked for this little beauty crazy looking contraption for Christmas. It has taken me almost a whole month to figure it out, but I finally got a few SUPER cute ruffles made.

 As the {really loud} ruffler was working, my head was swirling with all the possibilities. The first project on my list was some pretty Valentine dish towels, then I thought I might move on to a ruffled camera strap or one of the cute ruffled clutches that I have seen on other blogs. But thanks to my ruffler and this broken needle:

...all those ideas will have to stay in my head until I find my replacement needles!

I think my sewing machine hates me!

Adventures in Laundry

Alternately titled: The Joys of Doing Laundry with a 2 year old!

 Yes, that is a tinker toy in my washing machine. It was found after the washing cycle was completely finished!

 At least he does help sometimes:)

Apparently this is what happens to little kids clothes when you fluff them in the dryer a little too long!

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What kind of laundry adventures have you had lately?

Unoffical Review of The Cinch 5 Day Fast Forward

**Edited to add...I totally forgot I managed to get a few pics of our yummy food from last week. Scroll down a little to see:)**

Somehow I forgot that yesterday was a holiday...which meant that the boys were out of school, Jason was off work, and we {mostly Jason} spent the long weekend working on a few home improvement projects! That also means that I didn't manage to type up the post I promised on Friday! So here is my take on the new Cinch 5 Day Fast Forward diet plan.

**disclaimer**

The first thing I have to mention is that I didn't actually read the book {it is at the top of my shopping list though}, but I do recommend the book to anyone who is going to try this diet/cleanse. I watched the Rachael Ray segment with Cynthia Sass the creator of the Cinch plan, and then I did a little research online. I tried to buy the book, but my Target didn't have it in stock. Jason & I were ready to start last Monday morning, so instead of waiting for the book to be mail or searching all over town to find it, we just worked with what we knew and took it from there.

The Basics

This is a type of cleanse that allows you to eat 5 foods for 5 days, and the program promises that you will lose 8 pounds.

From Cynthia Sass's website:

"I selected these foods because each is filling, rich in detoxifying and health-protecting nutrients, and has been scientifically shown to specifically support weight loss. You’ll eat these five superfoods in specific combinations daily for five days to give your body, mind, and taste buds a fresh start and achieve the results you need to feel motivated and confident - up to an eight pound loss in five days."

The Food

The 5 foods that you can have on this program are spinach, eggs, almonds, raspberries, and plain yogurt. Jason and I bought all these things for the week, but we did end up modifying the plan to work for us. From what I researched you are allowed:

breakfast: one egg scrambled with one cup of spinach

berries and almonds

lunch: yogurt parfait with berries and almonds

dinner: large spinach salad with berries and almonds

boiled egg

snack: yogurt smoothie with berries

Again I have to say that because I didn't read the book, this is just what I have gathered from researching online. Jason and I ended up substituting blueberries for the raspberries because we aren't fans of raspberries and we also ended up mixing half flavored yogurt with the plain yogurt because the plain was a little to bitter for us.

The Results

At the end of the 5 days, Jason was down 8 pounds and I was down 9 pounds! A huge success if you ask me! During the week, I found that I wasn't nearly as hungry as I thought I would be. I actually ended up not eating all the spinach that was allowed per day {because I wasn't a big fan and because I really wasn't that hungry}. I highly recommend this plan to anyone who wants to see quick results but also to anyone who is trying to not just lose weight, but to eat healthier too! I plan on getting the book soon so that we can start the rest of the 25 days of the Cinch diet plan!

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If you have any other questions about the diet or just want to know more before you purchase the book, there is a great Q&A section on Cynthia Sass' website HERE!

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Oh I Wish I Were an Organized Person

Apparently January is all about organizing.

Great! Who doesn't like a little bit of organization in their lives....less clutter & more space sounds good to me. But where do you start when you feel like you may just be as far from organized as any one person can be?!? Well if you are me, you start small...really small.

Magazines.

I have a bunch of magazines. I know it is kind of old school to save magazines, when it is so easy to have a folder on you computer to store all of your found inspirations. BUT, I love that I can pull out a Martha Stewart magazine from 3 years ago and get a great idea for a Christmas craft that 3 years ago I completely overlooked.

My only problem was I had two shelves of very unorganized magazines, so if I wanted to find a few inspirations for a Valentine's Day project it took a while to find all the February issues. My very simple solution was to sort all my magazines by month, thus making it much easier to find exactly what I was looking for. I made twelve different stacks and got busy sorting.

I started on the left hand side of the shelf and placed the magazines January through December...with a little extra room for a few more magazines:)

When I finally recover from the craziness that was Christmas, and I decide to work on Valentine's Day crafts, all of my February magazine are all in one place waiting to inspire me!

What kind of organizing projects are you working on?

linked up at:
Jen's Weekend Wrap Up Party:)

Back to Reality

We are back to real life today after a LONG two weeks! Back to reality around here means:

*Woke up had to drag myself out of bed at 6:30*

*Dropped Henry and Grant off at school*

*Jason left for work{late}*

*Eli and I headed to the walking track*

*Correctly portioned way too small bowl of Special K for breakfast*

*A couple hours of cleaning and laundry in my future*

*Forcing myself to eat healthy and somehow avoid the tons of leftover Christmas candy*

I have been such a bad blogger lately. Not only have I not posted anything or commented on my favorite blogs, but I also haven't done anything blog worthy either!! That means it may be a while before you see anything good posted here:) My craft dining room has been stuck in a time warp since a few days before Christmas aka there is still glitter everywhere and except for attempting to use my new ruffler that I got for Christmas nothing has moved for at least a week! What's even worse than not crafting, is that I also haven't taken ANY pictures! I think the one and only picture I have taken since Christmas morning was taken with my cell phone!

Jason and I went to Jacksonville, Florida to see the Mississippi State Bulldogs play in the Gator Bowl last weekend. It was a great trip made even better by the fact that State beat STOMPED Michigan 52-14! It was good for us that State won, because we were almost completely surrounded by Michigan fans....we were the only State fans on our whole row and we were really close to the Michigan band:) It was a quick trip, but fun! I did the math on the way home, and we were gone for about 37 hours and 14 of that was spent driving!

Do you make resolutions?!? I don't really...I think I just start out the year telling myself that I want to be better. Better at everything...diet, exercise, prayer, family, cleaning, blogging. It usually works for the first few months of the year, and then I get lazy and give up:) I actually managed to lose 10 pounds during the first 6 weeks of 2010, and then a little more during the summer. BUT the "evil trinity of diet-busting holidays" {Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas} hit and weight loss turned into weight gain. I'm making a few new goals this year and hopefully they will last longer than last year:)

I linked up one of my craft projects at Sew Dang Cute with the hopes of getting to participate in Crafting with the Stars:) Sounds like fun huh?!? Plus it would be great motivation to be more crafty this year! Go over and check out all the great projects and don't forget to click on my Recycled Frame Wreath {# 98} that I linked up:)

Eli is watching his most favorite cartoon ever {Diego}, so I need to go take advantage of this little bit of time and get busy cleaning and maybe a little crafting and picture taking too:)

Please Tell Me...

{I'm not the only one who still has a list a mile long.}

 {I'm not the only one with a sink full of dirty dishes.}

 {I'm not the only one who still has a ton of baking to do.}

 {I'm not the only one who has one sad present under the tree...and no tree skirt.}

{I'm not the only one who can't believe we only have 9 days until Christmas!}

2010 Christmas Cards

It took a few hours of browsing, but I finally picked and ordered our Christmas cards!

Can I just tell you again how much I LOVE Shutterfly!

Here is our card for 2010:

Color Me Merry Christmas Card

Click here to browse hundreds of Christmas card designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

If you haven't ordered Christmas cards yet, you still have a few more days before Shutterfly's deadline. Hop over and check out all the great cards they have to offer, and while you're there you can also check out all the great gift ideas too!!

Helpful Holiday Hint

The day your hubby gets the Christmas decorations down from the attic is a TERRIBLE day to get a stomach virus!

Beds, Baths, Burns, and Boring Blogs

Last week while the boys were out of school for Thanksgiving, we decided it was time to turn their two twin beds into bunk beds:) Henry and Grant are loving it...and surprise, surprise their favorite part is the ladder! Eli is loving it too, even though once he gets up he can't get down! And just in case you weren't sure from the picture, the boys' bed rarely get made:) I do have a question for any bunk bed veterans out there...what kind of blanket or quilt do you use on the top bunk?!? I really wish there was something that fit the top without hanging down or having to be tuck under the mattress.

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This little piggy had to take a bath.

I'm pretty sure most of you moms can figure out with two guesses or less just why this little piggy had to have a bath:) Apparently the massive amount of raisins that Eli ate last night before dinner didn't sit well with him, so around midnight last night they violently make a reappearance. Needless to say little piggy got caught in the crossfire, and into the washing machine he went along with Eli's blanket, sheet, pajamas, and the dust ruffle off his baby bed.

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This bandage:

is covering up a disgusting burn on my thumb caused by my hot glue gun. Yesterday while making new Christmas wreaths for my front door, I thought I was doing to die from attempting to make ruffles:) Now I think I might die from the huge open wound caused by HOT GLUE! Here's  a little tip for anyone who isn't sure just how much damage a hot glue gun can do:

Never attempt to wipe a big glob of hot glue off your flesh while it is still really hot...you might just take your skin off with it!

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And now that I've bored you {with three thing that start with B}, I have to say that I'm afraid my blog is getting boring! I'm a little bored with it, and it is obvious from the {very few} number of comments on my last couple of posts that you all think it is pretty boring too. The thing is, I'm not quite sure what to do about it. Do I take a break and hope that the boring goes away on its own, or do I trudge on with my boring-ness and hope that at some point the boring turns back into interesting? Any suggestions?!? Or is there something that you find interesting that you would like for my to blog about....I'm open to {almost} any suggestion for getting rid of the boring:)  Well, have a great {hopefully not too boring} weekend!

And just to make things a little more intersting, I'm linking up with Amanda's Weekend Bloggy Reading:) Go check out all the fun links!

Project in Progress...

Besides eating lots of turkey and staying up all night to shop, I also spent part of the holiday week being productive. You may remember the old school desk that I picked up last year for only $5...I had big plans for all three school desks back in January. Well, it is November and I'm finally getting around to working on them.

They are painted....blue for Henry, green for Grant, and orange for Eli!

I've also added some chalkboard paint to the desk tops and I put the boys' names with on the backs with vinyl. I still want to add a few more fun details to make them a little more special. Hopefully I will use the rest of the weekend {if I'm not too wiped out from shopping all night} to finish these up and I can share them with you next week!

Did you do anything productive this week? Or did you just enjoy the holiday with family while eating lots of good food:) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving...and Happy Black Friday!

Busy Days and a Couple of Winners

Just went I thought a few lazy days were headed my way, I am just as swamped as ever!

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Yesterday I went with Henry's class on a field trip to a corn maze/farm.

Today I am headed to the ENT with Eli for a check up.

Tomorrow I am taking my mom to the dentist.

Thursday the boys are out of school for Veteran's Day.

Friday I am volunteering at the boys' school...cutting out Thanksgiving vests:)

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I spent Sunday and Monday baking cookies for Staff Appreciation week at church. I made two batches of chocolate chip and one batch of peanut butter....probably close to 10 dozen cookies! Now I just have to cutesy up the cookie jars I got at Hobby Lobby for 50% off {a good sized jar was only $2.50}!

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I finally chose the winner for the CSN Stores giveaway! The winner was...

AMANDA!

She really earned it too! I went back and counted her comments....54! I'm SUPER impressed, and SUPER excited that random.org was kind to her:) Amanda I'll email you the information for you Gift Certificate soon!

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Also, Sunday I posted a little blurb about a Del Monte giveaway...I was going to use that post as extra entries for the actual giveaway, but since only one person left a comment I decided to give her one of the two $25 gift certificates! Congrats to Dani! Email me your address and I will get your gift certificate to you! Look for the other giveaway to post on Friday!

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Now, I have to get my inbox cleaned out and start working on some crafty projects so I have something to post about:) I hope you are all having a great week! I'm enjoying the little bit of cool weather we are having right now...I just hope it will stick around this time!

Teacher Monday sponsored by Del Monte

DEL MONTE FRESH SUPPORTS TEACHERS
WITH CASH & FRESH FRUIT IN

"TEACHER MONDAY: CASH FOR CLASSROOMS"

Del Monte Fresh Produce is running a new program this fall to help support Kindergarten through 12th grade public school teachers. Their new program will provide cash to teachers to help them purchase school supplies and fresh fruit. The program is called “Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms”. One hundred prizes totaling $1,000 each will be awarded to teachers who get the most votes in the online contest at http://www.fruits.com/.

You can read all about Del Monte's Teacher Monday: Cash for Classrooms program on their website. You can also get more information on their facebook page or on twitter mailto:%7B@DelMonteFresh}! While you are checking out the contest, don't forget to explore fruits.com. The website has all kinds of great things to offer like recipes, nutrition information, and even free BlackBerry and iPhone apps!

And thanks to Del Monte, I will have a great giveaway coming up later in the week!

I Love a Rainy Day...

if we don't have plans for the day...

 if the lightening is not too bad...

 if the wind doesn't blow away my garden flag...

 if there are a few breaks in the rain...

 if we can still go on the porch...

 if I can take a few pictures {without my camera getting wet}...

 if the power stays on...

 I love a rainy day. Do you?