See my prize from Melissa!!

I love this!! For those of you who missed out on my crazy, deliriously happy post about actually winning something, you can go here.

Now, it's in my home! This cute little desk caddy, from Melissa at Bloggin' It, has stepped up the eye candy quotient at my "desk". Notice, that my desk is actually the little cubby between my oven and hallway. Do you feel bad for me?! Don't! I now have this handy dandy caddy to help me keep my space looking perfect!

Thank you so much Melissa! I really, really love it!

xoxo

Vinyl Love

So today starts off like every other day...crazy busy!! But, I finally get a moment to sit down with my bff {the computer} and start going thru my blog reader, and first up we have Kimba from A Soft Place To Land and what giveaway is she featuring?????...My gal, Brittany from Lewa's designs who did such an amazing job on a custom order for me!!! I love her!!

I've been meaning to tell you all about this for almost a year now!! Last year for my oldests birthday, I decided to "give" him his own room. Now most 12 year old boys aren't that big into their room. But I think on the sly, Jack was pretty excited. Let's get real, he'd been sharing a room with his 2 brothers since they were born. So there I was thinking...almost a teenager...needs his own space...will start needing more sleep than the "wake up at the crack of dawn 4 year old"...definately needs his own room!

We picked out bedding. Uh. duh. Mom. Black, red and grey. Hey, he's a guy! Oh, and we're HUGE Maryland Terps fans {red and black are their colors}!! But what do you put on the walls of a tween boy's room? Luckily the answer slapped me right in the face as we were watching tv one night. Summer X-Games!! We needed the X-Games logo for his red wall. Oh, didn't I mention that? We painted {oh, and yes, he did help paint} 3 walls are a light grey and one wall is red {4 coats later}.

So, I'm off to scour Etsy {the only place I shop} to find someone to make a huge X-Games logo for me. Enter Brittany!! She was so sweet. I knew it would be a problem to make the exact logo, due to copyrights, but she worked with me until we came up with the perfect look!!

And that's it!

Isn't it cool!!

I also bought her large "dandelion blowing in the wind" to put in my renovated bathroom, but that will be in another post. This one is long enough!!

So, go check Lewa's designs out!! She Totally Rocks!!

Extreme Makeover: Me Edition - Update

Welcome to another edition of Extreme makeover. Join us at Amber's for tips, support and lively entertainment as a bunch of ladies try to fit in a healthier lifestyle amongst everything else we do!

I've been trying to work on my running game and have transitioned to running outside. Man, that is way tougher than being on the treadmill! I can do it, but it's more difficult, and I find myself needing to stop every once in awhile to catch my breath. Today I got back on the treadmill and ran for 2.5 miles, no stopping. For now, I'll probably stick with the treadmill :)

My weight is back to slightly fluctuating, which I will just resign myself to. I'm at my goal weight now, and will focus more on getting in shape. My game plan is to be using weights and running to go from flab to fab!!

Scared Smart

Has everyone seen these cars? It's an electric car. The Smart Car

Does everyone suck in their breath every time they see a driver in their "can" of a car driving in one?

I must say, I worry about these people! I know their trying to save gas and their "carbon footprint" {don't get me started on that little conspiracy theory}, but these have poor crash test ratings!!

Yet, people buy them to "commute". Where I live, that ususally means driving with nutso drivers {can you say road rage?} all around you!!

Also, I don't know about you, but my utility bills...electric and gas...have gone up astronomically!

All I know is I'm scared for those drivers...I'm scared smart!

Happy Memorial Day

For all the men and women that valiantly have served and continue to serve our nation, I will have my entire family watch this movie today. It is about a fallen Marine and the effort that goes into "bringing him home".

I appreciate all that these brave soldiers do, so that we may live a life of freedom. This means a life where we do not have to have our children walk across a "line" that is guarded by machine gun carrying soldiers, just to get to school. We have running water, food and medicine available to us on a daily basis. I do not live in fear of daily air raids, sirens or bombs going off at any hour of the day or night.

I will pray for all the families that have had to bear the weight of losing a daughter, son, father, mother, brother or sister so that I may have these freedoms. This is a day here I will take the time to remind my children of what a wonderful country we live in and what makes it so great.

I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day and remember all those that have died so that we can live

.

Edit: Have since re-found where I first found out about this movie. Visit here.

Gone Fishing

Well, not really. But, I am gone. Long gone! We pulled the kids out of school today and are headed to see some dear friends {best man in wedding, wife and kids} on our annual Memorial Day Weekend with them! I hope you all enjoy your long weekend, whatever you're doing!!

xoxo

Tried it again...CUPCAKES

Well, since it's my baby's birthday, you know I had to try and do some special cupcakes for my guy!! Once again I turned to my handy dandy resource cupcake book.

After making these adorable ones for the Kellster, we couldn't leave Dunn out in the cold!! So what do you make a 6 year old boy? At my house, it was going to be the sharks!! They looked a little less labor intensive than Kelly's, and better for a beginner, such as myself.

Here's how they turned out:

Not bad, but not close to how beautiful they are in the book!! Why do they have to make it look so easy, and it's actually really hard?! See that shark in the lower left corner...how he's all spotted??.

Of course there was something dripping in our extra refridgerator where these were being stored.

So I get more frosting and make it gray {so I can re-dip the mottled sharks} and it comes out a whole lot darker. Oh, well!

Gotta love my Jack {he's 12}...he says the mottled ones look more realistic. So the dark gray ones are more of a blob shape due to re-dipping. I still like them but they don't look like this:

And for the record...they are so top heavy!! No matter how I tried to angle them on the top, they would fall over...can you say difficult!! Let me also state, these are expensive to make!! You have to buy so many things just to use a fraction of what you actually bought.

Example: those really expensive thin round chocolate wafer cookies...yeah, you use 3. Cut them in half to use for the fin. I found flower shaped thin wafer cookies and cut the petals off for a fraction of the cost, but still. Then there's the fruit roll ups for the mouth. Honestly, we don't buy them. Couldn't find plain red, and when I found something that had red in it, they also came with those tongue tattoo's...really had to weild the knife to get that shape right!!

But, I would do it all again for love!! He loved how they looked!! "WOW, THOSE ARE UNBELIEVABLE", not that I'm quoting or anything ;)

Look who's turning...

Six!!!

It's my baby's birthday! My sweetest baby boy! The youngest of our 3 boys, who has the heart of a lion and whose smile will melt your heart! He is "Mr. Giggles". No doubt about it! We will be saying grace at dinner and he gets the giggles. You just look at him, and he giggles. He will make himself laugh like a maniac for the simple reason that he wants to make you laugh :)







He is also tough as nails!! He loves all sports...football, basketball, soccer and lacrosse. He can't wait to play lacrosse and football because you get to check and tackle people. WooHoo!

My Finny told me one night he thinks Dunn is going to become a professional wrestler because he loves to take people down! Good to know the career path has been set :)

I tease Dunn quite a bit and say that he is full of laughter. It's just always bubbling inside and he can't help but let it spill out all the time, anytime.

He's my boy who gets so excited to tell you something that he will repeat the first few words he's trying to say, over and over, until he finally gets out the whole thought. He's my Charlie Brown {I mean perfectly round, since birth}

Happy Birthday to my funny, sweet little, oops I mean big guy :)

xoxo,

Mom

Extreme Makeover: Me Edition Update

Whaaattt?! It's Wednesday? Seriously, I thought it was Tuesday. Uh, I wasn't really ready to do this. Check out all the other people who are ready to do this over at Amber's.

The question this week:

"Name your guilty pleasure. Think of a healthier choice you could use as a substitute"

Honestly, I'm bad at this!! I'd rather give myself some of what I crave than try and find something different. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone has come up with!

Here's a list of my weakness':

Chocolate............I'll at least eat Dark Chocolate

Peanut Butter {Honestly, I think I have an addiction}.............I try to limit myself to 4 spoonfuls a day..eek, that's a lot of calories!

Desserts {brownies, cookies, cake, ice cream, etc...}.................yeah, pretty much cave on these. I just try to use really small portions

Rich food {creamy mashed potatoes, pasta sauces, etc...}............Have given these up completely. At least for awhile.

The only thing I can crave and eat healthy is mexican food. I just eliminate the shell, tortilla and rice. I just love the flavors...and those are just fillers, so it's not so hard for me.

As far as my week went. I did all my workouts and really watched what I ate {ok, except the Peanut butter} so I feel really good about that. Was surprised to find myself up a pound this week. I'm sure it's water weight, so I'm not too worried. Still it's just a bummer to see that number. It totally psyches you out, doesn't it?! I feel like my work didn't do anything.

I know that's ridiculous, but that's why the scale is EVIL!! I may throw mine away ;)

xoxo

Shock and Awe!

Get out of here!!! I don't believe it!!! I seriously don't believe it!! I'm a winner. Yes, indeed I have actually won a giveaway. The fabulous Melissa over at Bloggin It has informed me that I am the winner of her giveaway for one of her adorable desk caddys . Go and check it out right now!! I'll wait.

Did you see it? Are you jealous? I'm sorry. Don't be hatin'. I needed this. Really.

I'm not usually a gloater, but I really can't believe I won!! I don't think I mentioned it before, but I'm so shocked!! {Can you see me jumping up and down screaming whoops of delight?} I think I scared the bejeezus out of my hubby :)

xoxo

Extreme Makeover: Me Edition Update

Well, Hellloooooo there!! How are you this morning?! It's time to join the fantabulous group of ladies that are working to get healthier over at Amber's. If you haven't been by yet, I highly suggest you run, not walk, on over! These ladies are the best!! I mean it! The best ever!! I've made wonderful friends and learned a lot of tips on getting healthy and staying motivated to continue what is sometimes a difficult journey :)

I've done pretty well this week. Stuck to my workout routine, and watched what I ate. I am down a 1/2 a lb. Hey, I'll take it!! I was more worried I might gain what I lost last week, back!! This is usually the case for me! You can read about that here.

This weeks question is to show a motivational picture that you use. I don't have any out in the house. Honestly, at my age...nope, not tellin ya!...and after carrying 4 punks around in my belly for 9 months each...my body has strectched it's way into a whole 'nother realm. So I try to stay a little realistic. I'm focusing more on getting my bodyfat down. Not to say I wouldn't mind lookin like fitness model Elizabeth Anderson:

Hope you all had great weeks!!! Can't wait to see how everyone is doing!

xoxo

The winner is...

Christie in Dallas, Tx!! Congrats!! I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day, and I will be emailing you to get your mailing information.

Thanks to everyone for sharing in my 100th post giveaway. It was so much fun!!! Will have to do it again!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day! I was thinking of each and every one of you!!

xoxo

Extreme Makeover: Me Edition Update

Well, it's that time again. The wonderful and delicious Amber has put together a support group for women who are trying to get healthier, eat right, and excercise. Go over and hook up with lots of nice gals who are trying their best and need support, too! Time to own it!!

I was a little worried about stepping on the scale today :) As most of you know, I've been fighting with Doris and she has been making me miserable. She's unreliable...I never know when she'll show up, or when she'll just disappear for days and days.

I checked this morning and she's GONE!!! {She took 3 lbs. with her} So I looked out the window to make sure she had really left!?! I didn't see her...until off in the distance...there she was carrying her huge saddlebags {the ones she always makes me carry}. I think the load may be too much for her this time. I know how heavy those things are!!

I'm going to do my darndest to make sure she doesn't even want to come back. She likes ice cream...I haven't had any around! She likes popcorn with lots of butter... I haven't had any around!! She likes chocolate...a lot {she's been known to actually bring her own...witch}!!! I haven't had any!!!

I was soooo good this week. I needed to show myself that I could get over this Doris hump, and I think I have. As Amber was talking about the other day, you need a plan!

My plan has been:

Excercise a min. 5 x a week......done

Go really low carb to get the monkey, I mean Doris, off my back...done

{I tend to be carb sensitive...right around my middle}

Drink more water....done

Plan for this week...more of the same!! Just to keep Doris away. I just hope she hasn't landed on any of your doorsteps, especially with those enourmous saddle bags she likes to carry ;)

The question of the week is to share one thing that we absolutely love about ourselves. Oh, it's always so difficult for me to be introspective!!!

The one thing I love about myself is I always give 100%. To the point of obsession. This is not always a good thing. I can become so passionate about one thing I will neglect other things. Just know that I will never neglect you!!

xoxo

P.S. Still lots of time to enter the giveaway, if you're interested!

Blushing and a GIVEAWAY

Now, I'm just blushing! My dear friend Tanielle at The Polka Dot Daisy gave me the award of Super Blogger which was started originally by The Masked Mommy. I just don't know what to say because I'm speechless, except that I'm doing a giveaway to celebrate my 100th post and all the bloggy love out there :)

Heres the background of how I came to pick this for my giveaway:

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...I was very into jewelry making. I have had my shares of surprises in my life. One of which made me stop doing jewelry. After the birth of my Kelly girl my creativity kicked me into making felt hair clips. I did pretty well on etsy...made a lot of friends and then another surprise that made it too difficult to continue with my business.

Now, I have all of you!!! I love each and every one of you. I love reading your comments and reading your blogs. You've all become so special to me.To show my gratitude and appreciation I am giving away one of my beautiful, treasured spring flower necklaces.

It measures 16" in total length {that means choker for most}. Has a toggle clasp, so it's easy to put on and take off. The petals of the flower are a purple quartz that are wired into place, has tiny thai silver beads encircling the turqouise center. It's strung with purple and dark blue coconut shell beads. It will make a wonderful addition to your spring and summer wardrobe!!

Just leave a comment to enter to win. I will let this run all week and pick a winner on Monday the 11th.

Friend Makin Monday

The wonderful, smart, funny and talented Amber is hosting Friend Makin Monday. The list du jour is to name 5 toys that remind you of your childhood.

Oooooo, that's a toughie. When I was a child we didn't have a lot of toys. We had to make do and play out on the prairie. Think of rolling a whiskey barrell hoop with a stick. Think whitiling. Throwing rocks in a pond. Watching grass grow and paint dry. Ya know that kind of thing.

I also grew up with 2 brothers very close to my age...so I didn't always play with the traditional girl stuff. So I will give a nod to a couple boy items. Here's my list:

1. The Banana Seat bike with High handle bars. This was essential, people. If your bike did not have these special requirements...you were a boob.

2. The ORIGINAL Karaoke machine. This was also known as a "45 record player". My girlfriends and I would play our favorite singles and sing into our hair brushes for hours!!! Yes, we really did do that, just like in Grease :)

3. Yo-yo's. This is a nod for my brothers also. We would try and perfect our tricks all the time!!!

4. Another nod for my brothers, but honestly, I loved playing with our Rockem Sockem Robots!! I especially liked knocking their heads off {This is the object of the game}. They didn't take it well.

5. And this is certainly almost one of my favorites. We hung out at the roller rink every chance we could get. THE best place to meet cute boys :)

Boy was this fun!!

So there it is...my childhood in a nutshell. For those of you trying to figure out just how old I am...this should be clueing you in big time :)

P.S. Next post wil be my 100th...look for a giveaway :)

Heartfelt Appreciation

Well, I really am just beside myself! This is the second award I've been given in a week. I can't even believe that many of you visit me on a semi regular basis...dare I say, perhaps, possibly, maybe, daily :)

My good friend Jen over at The Harried Mom, who by the way is really, extremely, very harried this week in particular, has passed this "Splash" award on to me for being "alluring, amusing, bewitching, impressive and inspiring". Really?! You mean me?! Little 'ole me?!

Now, I don't want to call anyone out on this, but bewitching...Ooooooo! I just get goose bumps with that one. Seriously though...yeah just for a minute...I am so thankful for these bloggy friends I have made in the last few weeks! I feel like I don't even do anything except bore you with the details of my crazy life. Your visits and comments just make my day. I love to visit all of you and see the trials and tribulations, laughs, tears and frustrations that all of us go through on a regular basis.

So thank you Jen! You are one terrific gal, my fellow mom of 4 little punks :)

I am passing this special "Splash" award on to:

Connie at Fat Mommy to Hot Mommy

Katie at Katies Nesting Spot

Lynn at Seriously

Mel at The Bubble

Miss at Bloggin' It

Now, don't go forgettin your friends when you become famous and are living the celebrity lifestyle :)

xoxoxoxoxo

Mod Podge Mania

Ever since I saw this, I have been dying to try and make it myself. Not that those pieces aren't lovely, but I thought...Hey, I could do that. So I quickly looked around my house and remembered that I had these plain wood frames from the clearance rack at JoAnns. I think they were $1/ea. And of course I had TONS of fabric scraps!! So I got out my trusty Mod Podge and got to work.

I just cut the scraps, mod podged the frame, placed a piece of fabric on, and then mod pedged the fabric. I was careful when I wrapped the fabric around, so as not to fill in the groove the backing of the frame fits into. If I did get the fabric in there, I let it dry and then used a x-acto knife to scrape out the groove.

Voila!

Okay, seriously...eating popsicles, whilst my baby {at the time} is checking to make sure he's doing it right?!...stop it, just stop it!! Toooo Cute!

Be sure to check out lots of more great projects over at This is the Year's Mod Podge Mania!

Extreme Makeover Me Edition Update

Time for another update on the Extreme Makeover Me Edition. Well I won't bore you with the details of how to stop this yo-yoing I have going on with 2lbs {I think I'll call her Doris} So Doris and I keep having this spat...I want her gone..she wants to stick around. So I told Doris you try and get in my way, you won't know what hit you!

Well, she's hitting back! I just can't ditch her! Oh, well...I'm going to stay on track and keep moving forward. Eventually Doris will get bored and go away...I hope :)

Amber's question this week was to post a Healthy recipe. I love making my own version of a Chipotle Salad.

You can get the full recipe and how to make it here.

It really is one of my favorites. You can keep all the components seperate to make it easy to whip together quickly, when you just don't know what to eat!

Get to know onegirliegirl

Jen at Harried Mom Of Four has tagged me with a list of 10 questions. Read her wonderful answers here. Thanks, Jen!!! I love doing these types of questions!

Here is what I have come up:

1. What is your current obsession? I have 2 right now. Sewing and fitness.
2. Which item of clothing do you wear most often? t-shirts
3. What's for dinner? Good question!
4. What are you listening to? The birds outside my window.
5. Say something about the one who tagged you. Jen is someone I seem to easily relate to! She has 4 kids...I have four kids. She doesn't love to clean {Hey, it's stated in her profile, people}...I don't love to clean. And she has a great sense of humor!! Love ya, Jen!
6. Favorite vacation spots? We love going to the beach! The last 2 summers we were brave and drove to Corolla, N.C. So, I'll see you there Jen!
7. What am I reading right now? Thanks For The Memories. by Cecilia Ahern
8. Four words to describe myself? Friendly, Neat Freak {not that I get to live that way!!}, Slacker {yeah, you wouldn't think those 2 go together, but somehow I make it work} and Happy
9. Guilty pleasure? Anything Sweet
10. First spring thing to do? Wear a skirt!
11. What do you look forward to? Having my retirement, College funds, and stocks make up all that we lost. Oh, that wasn't what you meant? OK...All the milestones coming up for my kids...High School. Graduations. First Days of School. First Lost Tooth {Well, for one more kid}. Learning to ride a bike. Jumping off the diving board. I love living in the moment of my children.

I'll end by saying if this is a fun Q&A for you, please fill it out and let me know. So for those of you that are following along and want to play...feel free to do so!!

xoxo

The summer of skirts

After reading this post from Jen at Lipstick and Laundry. It reminded me that last summer I really wanted to start wearing more skirts. I mean, I'm a girlie girl after all, right?!

So, I found a few casual skirts and ended up not really wearing them. Now, in fairness, it may have been because I'd gained some weight and they were feeling a little tight. But, I think it was really about not feeling comfortable in skirts. Like I was too "dressy"...no matter the look. Do you feel that way?

Anyhoo...I wore a skirt today, and remembered another reason I don't feel as comfortable in them. Uh, it's a little revealing. When you have to squat down to refill the "bubble bucket". Um, hi...what color underwear am I wearing? How much cellulite do you see? Ya know...the usual. But, I will persevere, cause that's who I am, and still make this the summer of skirts.

The bonus...they are infinately cooler, at least for me, than capris or shorts. I really like the look, too! So next time you see me...excuse me for showing you my undies as I fill up the bubbles!! :)