something creative to share

wow. two posts in one day. amazing. considering i often do two posts within several months.

yippee for me.

just a little something i worked on last night out on the porch while camille knitted and we chatted. 2 cute cards. no stamping, but i did use ink to roughen up the edges. punches, and scraps and a few embellishments. totally easy to do. :)

who wants one????

any of my friends who never leave comments can say HI and i'll send you your pick. :)

good times.

happy stuff.

xoxox

i am actually up at 6am again.

just a note to self really...

i am finally up at 6am. buster is out roaming the yard, the dishwasher is running, ive already checked my email, and now i am about to sit on the porch with a nice fresh mug of coffee. it has been at least 2 weeks since i got up this early. --the reason being, both dogs were having issues with living in this house. henry kept getting up because i assume the noises were affecting him. and poor sweet annoying buster, well, he has some serious allergies that have turned his skin all nasty...and it makes his immune system falter, as well as his ability to stay asleep for 14 hours a night. its more like 3hours now...so up i go each night letting him in and out and then in and out. by the time the morning rolls around; i have been tired and cranky and everything else not so happy. camille has even taken to getting logan to swim team for me on time cause i just cant seem to do it. but TODAY is a new day. i feel tired but i got 6 straight hours of sleep last night-- and i am happy with that. :)

today i will:

clean bathrooms, wash/dry a load of laundry, help cams spray paint her bulletin board, put up logis poster, and paint izzys mirror. those have been on my list of to dos for at least a week. it is time.

happy tuesday all!

and cheers to me for getting back my sleep and my morning quiet time before kids get up. :)

xoxo

ps. how nice are those polka dot ribbons from stampin up?? i adore ribbons. yeah, it sounds cheesy, but really how could you not simply love ribbons that look that good?? :)the crushed curry (yellow) is my favorite.

beach. snowcones. sharks. yes, i said sharks!!!

yes.
there were sharks at the beach today. alex came home for the day and so we headed out for some time together. the state park at the water is as good a place as any to go. water. sand. trees and grass everywhere. trails. playground. bathrooms. little snack shop to eat burgers, or have a crazy flavored snow cone. yes. a great place to retreat as a family on a summery saturday.
as alex and the kids took off their shoes to walk in the water...i noticed something blackish or grey sticking up in the water. at first i didn't think anything of it, but it kept popping up. and then i got this funny scaredy-cat feeling inside and i told alex--there is something in the water. and i dont just mean, way out in the water...about 12 feet away from us...and as we are all looking to see it again, more and more of them pop up. good lordy...there are sharks in the water.
i'll have you know this mama got her babies out of that water something quick. and so we spent some time safely on the sand looking and hollering back and forth at each other...oh there's one...oh theres more oh look---what a commotion we were causing. alex finally decided we needed to leave.
the kids did warn the bunch of teenagers who showed up after us...and they began their own hollering etc...

good times.
good stories to hold on to.
xoxox

ps. if i can remember i will come back to add the photos i took of us at the beach...and a few of the water pictures that do not have sharks in them, even though i tried and tried...they were just too quick for me. but believe me--they were really there. my kids are still talking about it.

$3.50 dinner tonight

i am so proud of myself tonight. i just had to share. i fed the family (minus A-dog) for $3.50. seriously. now, it wasn't my best meal, and it wasn't packed full of vitamins etc. but it was quick and easy and cheap and they ate every single bite. a loaf of soft french bread from the deli for a buck, a box of ricearoni chicken flavored:under a buck, and an applesauce cup for each: a six or 8 pack I cant remember which, for like $1.26. it was most likely under $3.50 for the total meal, and I paid with it in change only. yup. it can be done. :) I only went in for an iced coffee that probably cost more then the meal, now that I'm thinking about it...but i wanted to see if i could feed them on what was left in change in my purse. and i did it.
there have been days where i spent a nice chunk of change and time on a decent meal, and either I A. burnt it, B. undercooked it. or C. the kids didn't like it. so today dinner was good and cheap and it took all of 15 mins to cook up. :)

for dessert they had bananas...so there's the nutritional part. high five to me.
xoxo

sum sum summertime

yup. the lazy days of summer. though not so very lazy around here. we are moved in. although we still have things to put away...once a home for those things shows up. my cousin kelly and her family just spent a week with us. SOOO wonderful to have my children spend time with her children. kelly is my one cousin who i spent time with growing up and she is beyond special to me. i love that the kids will have memories of their time together too. :)

its been just me and the kids for the most part. Alex is off doing whatever it is he does for the world. and pops in on us every so often.

we are working on projects for the kids rooms. posters, little decorating things like painting bullitin boards, frames etc to match. crafty fun stuff.

it seems like every second of each day i am busy doing something. the house is so much smaller and so if i dont keep up with things like laundry and cleaning...well everything goes to h double L. and i just cannot live like that anymore. i have enough chaos with my own mind, and the kids and the dogs. i need the house to run smooth.

so I hope to be back to posting soon, but ya never know with summer. keeping kids busy and everything is a lot of work, regardless of their age. :)

anyone still reading this thing?? say hello!!

xoxo

still moving in...

yup, that's about all we are doing these days. all day...swim team in the morning, moving the rest of the day. a little food thrown in to keep us going. passing out tired and bruised? at the end of another day.

i will never move our entire family again. well that's not true, but i will not do it unless the army moves us...which i know they will, and i'm fine with that as long as i don't have to. cause this SOOOO sucks. my new house is jam packed with everything --in every place it doesn't belong. and so the hard part begins: finding space for everything we own in a house too small for all of our current possessions. i think its time to simplify --and get rid of half of everything we own. yes- its time...or i need to get very creative with wall space and corners and storage bins...
back to work.

*edited. here is a pic of the front of the house. its a split level house...kinda strange for us cause we are not use to having a house like this. i keep calling the bottom rooms, the basement, even though it is NOT a basement as my kids so CLEARLY point out each time i say it. :)

oh, my birthday is tomorrow june 18th and i turn 35.

whats up with us?

i've lost track of the date completely. i wanna say its may 25 but i think i'm off somewhere. this usually happens to me. i need a watch. my last one fell in the toilet and was ruined. i need one that can tell me the time as well as the day. i usually just find my phone and check, but that could take days to do...and so here i am off a bit. :)

we had a nice memorial day weekend. spent with our best loved, most honored veteran. so happy to have him in our home, blessed to hear his stories of war, service and sacrifice...even if he tells it every day of his life. :)

the neighborhood had a mini kid bike parade and pool opening. logi & izzy did that, and alex helped control traffic. camille & i walked down to watch and take pics. it was super hot here. the parade kids got to go swimming, so that was nice. we hung out with our neighbors yesterday for a lil celebration. it was fun and nice to get to know everyone more.

today the kids are back to school and alex is back to work. i am sitting here with my many lists trying to figure out which to start on. the doggies are currently asleep, though i'm expecting them up any minute.

i think there are about 10 days of school left, give or take a day or 2. and about just as many til we close on the house we bought.

so i really have so much to do. we are moving a few streets away in the neighborhood, but still means a move. it still means a ton of work.

i am not even close to being ready. its hard when you have day to day stuff to take care of, on top of big things that come along.

so if anyone is wondering what is up with us...that's it. super busy, all the end of the school year activities and a big family move to boot us in overdrive.

chat soon.

xoxo