Not Enough Time In My Day

Bathroom Redo Project

2011-03-06T12:18:00.000-06:00

I have been after my husband that I think we should put a frame around the mirror in our main bathroom, the girls' bathroom. He didn't agree. he did not like the examples that I showed him like here. Finally he admitted that he just didn't like the wide framing around the mirror. Oh, silly boy, we can do thin framing instead. Then ideas started to flow of what we wanted to do: a new shower curtain, paint, move the shelf, redecorate, put in a new light fixture, and restain the cabinet. I meant and said that I wanted to do all of this over summer vacation. Nope, not my husband. When he has a project in mind, he wants it done then and quickly. So over Christmas Break, he decided to get started on the project while I was sleeping. In fact, he wanted to complete it all in one night. This did not happen. He completed almost the entire project by himself. I was recuperating from a surgery and could not help. My husband did an amazing job. I can't wait to show you. Here is a link to the before.

Now for the reveal:

Looking into the bathroom, this is what you see. Doesn't it look like a completely different room with the frame around the mirror? Oh how I love to look in this room now.

We moved our Target shelf to the wall above the toilet. We looked for something different to use, but either did not like anything or it was out of our price range. I don't mind the white and actually like it in there, but my husband would prefer something that was the color of the cabinet and frame. Each of the buckets from Target Dollar Spot are labeled using my Cricut. They are from left to right and top to bottom: neosporin, clippers, temps (thermometer wouldn't fit), q-tips, floss, and band-aids.

Below the towels are the basket to hold toilet paper rolls. It's a tight squeeze for three, but it works. The basket came from TJ Maxx for $6.99 and is called a kitchen basket.

I found the printables online (I can't find from which blog right now. If you know please let me know so that I can give proper credit.) and the frames are from Costco.

Another bucket from Target's Dollar Spot (love those). This has the essentials such as mouthwash, lotion, hair detangler, and deodorant.

Another basket from you guessed it...Target's Dollar Spot. This is to corral the hand soap, toothbrushes, and timer for brushing the teeth.

A printable for the definition of bath online (I can't find from which blog right now. If you know please let me know so that I can give proper credit.) and frame also from Costco.

Shower curtain purchased on Black Friday from JCPenney.

The view sideways from the doorway.

The view with me included. Just realized that this is the only picture with the light fixture partway in there. Ooops forgot to take one. Trust me it's much cuter than the builder's special we had going on in there.

Under the sink, another basket from Target. This one contains a basket holding ponytail holders, brushes, and a hairstyle book.

This basket holds curlers and cleaning wipes. The drawers hold the hair things.

Here's the cabinet after the restaining. Isn't it gorgeous? My husband really did an amazing job!

And a side view of the cabinet.

Angry Birds

2010-12-24T00:56:00.000-06:00

The family has become obsessed with Angry Birds. I downloaded the free app without realizing what I was doing. I thought this would be something for the girls to occupy themselves with when we are somewhere and they are ready to lose it. But little did I know the obsession that would also involve my husband. We actually have bought the apps, which we never pay for apps. So that in itself is pretty amazing. The girls and Thomas are constantly asking to use my Ipod Touch in order to play the game. They are in competition with each other to get better scores. The three of them have no idea what is going on around them when they are playing Angry Birds.

Bells went off in my head when I found a tutorial for making your very own Angry Birds. I knew this was the perfect gifts to put in their stockings.

If I had more time I would have made a variety of the birds and pigs. But if you are interested there are tutorials for each of the birds and pigs.

You can find the pig and blue bird here.

The yellow bird can be found here.

The patterns were easy to follow and I am using my junior high sewing skills. (Shout out to Mrs. Whiting for providing those skills.) I did get a free motion foot for my sewing machine and that was a whole experience learning to use it.

Now the area I had difficulty with was closing up the seam and sewing on the beak. My hand sewing skills are non-existent. I made something up and it looks okay. Of course I found a tutorial after I finished all three. So I linked up the tutorial hoping others will not have the frustration that I did.

Reindeer Cake Pops

2010-12-13T18:57:00.000-06:00

Two years ago, I discovered Bakerella's site for cake pops. I fell in love. I wanted to make every variety. Then I discovered she had a book. I ran out to get it the week it came out. My first cake pops were the Hello Kitty version. Last night I decided to make the reindeer version for the teachers at work.

I had fun making them. It was just time consuming making over 70 cake pops, but not hard.

Rudolph and regular reindeer were made.

My dad made a board to hold the cake pops which was a real help. The board says "White Sox" for my husband. My husband actually makes cake pops every week for his student, but doesn't decorate them.

We had a snow delay today, which never happens for my district. The girls didn't have school due to the snow. So they came to school with me. Cake pops were eaten at lunch, but there were quite a bit of leftovers due to people not being there because of the weather. I believe I am going to use the leftovers as presents for the neighbors.

Christmas Decorations

2010-12-12T09:50:00.001-06:00

I love Christmas. I love the decorations. But every year I feel overwhelmed with the clutter. This year we did things different. Our tree was put in a corner instead of in front of the window. We have so much more room this way. We spread the decor throughout the house instead of only in the living room. I think that has made the largest difference. So on to pictures of our decor...or at least some of it.

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Our tree....I would like to change the angel to something that matches better...meaning silver instead of gold, but I haven't found anything in the after Christmas sales yet. I have been looking for a couple of years. I will find one, I will like it, and I will not pay full price for it.

The ornaments hanging below the tree have since been moved because Princess, our cat, liked to play with them in the middle of the night.

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The ornament Melodye made in Kindergarten. So simple, yet so precious. Ever since I have been doing this project with my kindergarten kids. The kids are so proud of their creations and I assume the parents love them just as much as I love mine.

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I went to a local craft fair this year. (Side note...I was not impressed with the craft fair. This was the only booth I liked out of the whole thing. In fact my dad and I talked afterwards about how the craft fair seemed to cater to crafts from the '80's.) But I did love the work of this lady, but she only seems to do local craft fairs. How I wish she was on Etsy. But this was an early present to my dear husband, who just loves the White Sox and has passed that love on to the girls.

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The stuffed animals and noisy ones were moved to the basement on the shelf. This is where the girls spend the majority of their time playing Wii. So why not have their decorations with them and keep the noise away from the rest of the house. Win, win situation I think.

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This centerpiece was made out of a candle holder and bowl from Ikea. We put this together during the summer/early fall, but haven't put anything inside of it. Couldn't make up my mind what I wanted. Melodye and I decided to take ornaments off of the tree and put them in the centerpiece. I am so glad that we did. It looks festive and has actually given me ideas of what I can do at other times of the year.

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The nutcrackers are a staple in our house. This is Melodye's collection. Some have broken through the years. They are well loved and played with like dolls. I love when a collection is used instead of collecting dust. The third one from the end was her first nutcracker. I know it's hard to see, but it's navy blue. We picked up at Walgreens that year, probably in 2003. Melodye slept cuddling with that particular one for many years. She would even wrap her blanky around it and she did not share her blanky with any other doll. She carried that nutcracker everywhere she went. That particular nutcracker was probably the cheapest, but my favorite by far because of the memories connected with it. (I really think I need to find a picture of her and that nutcracker and make a scrapbook page.)

Visit With Santa

2010-12-10T23:43:00.000-06:00

Wednesday we took the girls to see Santa at Bass Pro Shop. This was well worth the time. We had never been before, but had received recommendations many times before. This was the best set-up I have seen. When you arrive, an employee gives you a card with your time and tells you to come back 10 minutes before your time and to stand in either the left or right line. While you wait for your time, there are crafts, games, and activities for the kids to do for free. The girls loved shooting the guns, racing cars, and writing letters to Santa. They didn't do the craft, a snowman mask, during the wait.

While waiting in line I took pictures of the girls and they were willing which is amazing anymore. While taking these pictures, I realized that Melodye's glasses are quite crooked. Guess we need to take them in to be fixed. Luckily we bough two pairs this time.

So I took individual pictures of the girls, but Mel's didn't come out due to the crooked glasses. I asked the girls if they wanted to wear something else to see Santa. but they told me no and just wore their clothes from school.

Melodye has loved nutcrackers since she was really young and Barbie and the Nutcracker movie came out. She has been collecting certain ones ever since. (We make her be picky so we aren't overrun with nutcrackers.) So of course the girls had to take a picture with the nutcracker. After the crafts were cleaned up, Brooke decided she wanted to do one....sorry charlie I asked you earlier.

I love this photo of Brooke and Santa chatting. Melodye asked me not to take a picture of her and Santa. I respected her wishes even though I didn't want to really. The family took a picture with Santa, but I will not be posting it here. Santa had a reindeer next to him and this stuffed reindeer looks like he is "goosing" me in the photo. Needless to say, that is not a good photo.

Christmas Card 2010

2010-12-09T21:00:00.002-06:00

Dotty And Nice Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for unique, personalized Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

This is what we ended up making as our Christmas Card.

Christmas Cards

2010-12-05T09:55:00.001-06:00

Working on my master's program this year has left me with not enough time to do the things I would like. Isn't that always the story. But I feel I need to start anew and focus more on the things I enjoy. Things like taking pictures, learning to actually use my camera, scrapbooking, crafting, knitting, new things in my classroom, and the basic thing is that I just need and want to create. I have made sure that I have spent time with my family even if that means I have spent the time after bed doing homework and operating the next day on 3 to 4 hours of sleep.

Where this is going....normally I try to make my Christmas cards. I don't think that will be happening at all. I resigned myself to doing photo cards. Of course I still need to take pictures to use. I have looked at some, but have not been totally thrilled with them....until today. (Such drama there.) But seriously I found out about a deal that Shutterfly is currently having for bloggers. If you blog and post about Shutterfly and their cards, they will be giving out 50 (yes you read that number correct, 50) 5X7 photo cards to the blogger. The cards are amazing. And just the style I have been wanting to create. You don't believe me or think it is too good to be true. Well here is the link. Now to see some beautiful eye candy.

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I love the colors and the Happy Everything...covers everyone no matter their beliefs.

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I love the colors, the polka dots, and the asterisk above the Happy Holidays.

In fact I bought some address labels that are similar. Hmmm that may be why I like this one.

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I like the idea of a whole photo card depending on the photo.

I like Christmas being in different colors and another asterisk as the bottom.

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I like the list on the side.

A nice way of adding journalling to make this sort of a scrapbook page.

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Of course I love this because of the colors, asterisk, and polka dots.

I am sensing a recurring theme with the cards I have picked.

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I like the colors, patterns, asterisk, and the black background.

Simple yet busy at the same time.

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I like this one for the three picture slots.

The brown background is nice along with the little Christmas tree.

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I like the whole photo look with the tag and ribbon look.

Just finding the perfect picture that will fit around the tag is the problem.

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I like the polka dots, black background, and colors.

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I didn't realize until I was typing this, but I really am leaning towards the same colors, polka dots, possible black or white background, and the asterisk. Now I just need to take the pictures and maybe that will help me decide.

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At the same time I am also considering getting cards for New Years. Every year we have family over for New Years. I also try to do cute cards, but I think these are just adorable. Take a look.

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I like the blue and the square shape of this card.

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I love the black background and the countdown numbers.

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Of course if you are interested in cards that will benefit others, Shutterfly has those also. The cards can be purchased that will benefit Livestrong, American Lung Association, and Heifer. The cards can be found here.

Happy Holidays and enjoy looking at all the possibilities at Shutterfly.

Desk Chair Redo

2010-08-04T09:28:00.000-05:00

I have not jumped off the face of the earth. I debated on deleting this blog and did for a week or so. I decided to put it back up and keep the organizational and craft things here. My hits are generally on those items thus my decision to continue those things. I am not going to make any promises, but will do the best I can for posting. I am currently on a week break before I am back to setting up my classroom. I am also working on my masters and will finish this spring which means my life has been crazy. If anyone EVER considers taking three master's level classes in a 8 week summer session...don't. It has been crazy, but my wonderful husband made it possible. While doing all of this schoolwork, I desperately needed to complete a craft project.

I decided to work on the desk chair my girls use. Let me tell you.....it was disgusting.

See... disgusting. I hated seeing this thing, but never thought to recover it until this summer. I used dish towels that I purchased at Target last year. I have used these dish towels to make curtains last year. I wish I had bought more so I could do more projects, but alas I did not.

We went with the darker towel on the seat to maybe help with the staining. The girls have also been told that they are not to eat in this chair, but we will see how long that lasts. This project took about 20 minutes including gathering materials and cleaning up. I wish I had done this earlier, but at least it is finished now.

Cleaning, Project 365, Scrapbooking, and Grandmas

2010-03-03T22:41:00.002-06:00

Well, I did it. I went into the scrapbook room to clean. Let me just say that a layout I did on Halloween was still sitting on the table covered by a pile of stuff. It got so bad that the girls just started putting things on the floor when I asked them to put something in there.

More than one I have wanted to create something, but I didn't want to do the work necessary to make an empty spot on the table. I even had Christmas presents that I hadn't put away yet. Now the room is not organized completely, but then I honestly don't know if it ever will be.

After putting things away, I actually made a layout.

The journalling says: Why do I go so long without creating something? I love to craft, I have a space, I have lots of supplies, but I don't create. I love how I feel after i create something, but I still don't do it often enough. Why? So hopefully with this new clean space, I will actually go in there and create. Even organizing my pictures would be wonderful.

Project 365 March 1 and March 2 did not occur. I do not know what happened. I thought I had only missed one day, but it actually was two. The way I see it is that this is my project. If I miss a day, I can extend the project that much longer or I can use more than one picture from another day. Less stress that way.

I did take pictures today, but I can't decide which one of these two I would like to be my picture.

I feel blessed to have this quilt. I can remember my grandma telling me about this quilt and seeing it on her bed. All of the patterned fabric was from my grandma and her sister's clothes growing up. I am not sure who actually started the quilt. But I do know that ladies who were in the nursing home with my great-grandma helped finish the quilt. My grandma loved this quilt and wished that she could sew. In fact she wished she could sew beautiful clothes like a girl that she grew up with was able to do.

After my grandma died and my grandfather was going into assisted living, their house was put up for sale. Family members were allowed to take a few things after the auction happened. Different people wanted different things. I didn't plan on taking anything. I went so I could take pictures of my favorite parts of the house. I did get those pictures and I have scrapbooked them. While I was taking pictures, I noticed the quilt on the floor. Different people were either walking right by it or even on it. I don't think they realized what it actually was. At that point, I asked if I could have it. As you can see, I got it.

I do have plans for it. The quilt was made into a bedspread. I want to cut the ruffled sides off and bind the quilt. Now I have to figure out what fabric to use for the binding and actually complete the binding. Then I want my family to use the quilt and know where it came from. I miss my grandparents and this quilt makes me feel just a little bit closer to them.

Late on the Program

2010-02-28T10:21:00.012-06:00

I keep telling myself that I am going to try to participate in Project 365. So far this year, I have taken one picture and then take a few days off. Well I have taken pictures for the last three days and I think that is a great start to completing the project. By doing this project, I am hoping to take more pictures of who we are as a family, but also improve my picture taking skills at the same time. In the process, I will blog more often. At least that is how the plan is supposed to happen.

So now to my first three days of Project 365:

Day 1/365: February 26, 2010 - Melodye performed in her school's 4th grade musical, The Nightingale. (She is in the silver and blue dress.)

I had to include a close up picture of Melodye. Look at those eyelashes. They are amazing. She is blessed with my eyes and her daddy's eyelashes.

Day 2/365: February 27, 2010 - Maddy stayed the night with the girls. Melodye was reading to Maddy and Brooke. I love when I find them doing this. I need to learn the controls of the camera so I can take this kind of picture without them knowing that I am doing it.

Day 3/365: February 28, 2010 - You know there are girls in the household when you find My Little Pony's in the medicine cabinet.

Tutorials on the To-Do List

2010-02-23T20:44:00.000-06:00

I am wanting to try the following three tutorials. I thought maybe some of you would like to try these also.

1. A Grocery Cart Caddy - I so need this. I usually end up having the coupons all wrinkled from being held in my hand. Plus the fabric that was used just makes me want to create also.

2. Apple Butter - and homemade on top of that. Mmmmmm I can taste it already. I just need to get the supplies and find a day that I can really focus on doing it correctly.

3. Envelope Clutch - Functional and just so fashionable looking. We are just getting ready to start the envelope system. We will see how it goes before putting the time in to create this.

***** I tried to add pictures of each tutorial, but I am getting an error message. Each time I click on the photo icon, I get a message that the link cannot be found. So trust me the links are worth going to and spending time to look at the finished products.

SwagBucks Recommendation

2010-02-16T20:40:00.001-06:00

Well, I have been trying out Swagbucks. I wanted to try it out before blogging about it. After becoming a Swagbucks member, I downloaded the Swagbucks toolbar. Now I do all of my searches through Swagbucks. Searching will earn you swagbucks. Most times it is 1 swagbuck but can be higher. Sometimes there are codes that can be entered to earn free swagbucks. The swagbucks can then be traded in for prizes. I am trading my swagbucks for Amazon gift cards. So far I have earned $10 in Amazon gift cards. I have done this in only a few months time while doing my normal searches online. If you are interested go to swagbucks through my referral links so that I will get referral credits. I would appreciate it. I am trying to see how much I can earn towards Christmas presents.

2010-02-10T00:52:00.000-06:00

These stamps are just too cute to pass on sharing. The site is 2 Cute Rubber Stamps.

It think my favorite might be the turtle sundae digi stamp, but that is hard to pick.

The stamps are quite cutesy, but in a good way. Right now the site is offering the first 50 people who follow the site by February 22 through Google Connect a free digi stamp. It has not been posted which stamp will be the free one, but from what I have seen it really won't matter because they are all adorable.

Here are some other favorites:

Owl Miss You ---Oh, I love the glasses on the owl.

Mermaid and Friends---Perfect for those girly girls.

February Goals

2010-02-07T10:12:00.000-06:00

Sorry there are no pictures in this post. My laptop, where I had all of my pictures, had to be rebooted back to factory settings. I am still trying to get things reinstalled. I am getting what I can done without stressing myself out too much.

I have 5 goals for February. They are listed below here.

1. Exercise more than 12 times in the month.

2. Organize scrapbook room.

3. Read at least four books this month. I have really been slacking in my reading and that really makes me sad.

4. Complete a budget and stick to it.

5. Work on February Lady Sweater.

January Goals Update

2010-02-06T22:00:00.003-06:00

Last month I set goals for January and here are the results.

1. Complete Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred ---- Completed 12 days throughout the month, also shoveled snow 2 days which equals 14 days of working out. Almost 1/2 month completed, not the 30 days, but still better than the months before with no workouts. I did lose 8 pounds during January.

2. Do not eat out for the month ---- This was a fail. We went for 1/2 the month, and then things happened that got in the way with us eating at home. The way I figure it 2 weeks is beeter than what we have been doing previous to this.

3. Savings Account ---- did not occur, but we have made the decision that our tax check and any extra pay from tutoring will be going into the savings account.

4. Cleaning and Organizing ---- not bad cleaning wise thanks to my wonderful husband. Organizing did not happen. We both started tutoring twice a week which means that we come home, eat, and get the girls ready for bed. Thank goodness Mel gets her homework done at drama club practice.

5. Work on February Lady Sweater ---- Did not happen at all.

I do like this setting goals for the month, but I think I need more specific goals which are easier to keep track and measure. So now to come up with goals for February.

Blue is For Nightmares

2010-02-06T21:56:00.002-06:00

Blue Is For Nightmares by Laurie Faria Stolarz

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Stacey is at boarding school. She starts having nightmares predicting the death of her roommate. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but Stacey has had nightmares before that correctly predicted the murder of someone close to her. The problem is that the nightmares are not as clear as she needs in order to find out who is the villain. Who can she trust?

View all my reviews >>

Laundry Room Organization

2010-01-13T21:00:00.001-06:00

Over Christmas Break, the husband and I reorganized the laundry room. This is after the previous organization that I had posted earlier.

Now some things are not that different, but really needed to be redone due to lack of keep-up.

We were able to get some cherry slot/slat board for free. So that was put up quite a bit ago, just never pictured. Adult coats and jackets are on top with children coats on the bottom. Adult shoes are on the two racks to the left. Children shoes are on the twirling rack. We just went through the shoes and donated what didn't fit. Somehow the girls grew out of almost all of their shoes seemingly overnight.

Close up of the coats and shoes.

The container to the left holds the beach towels. the green basket has goggles. These are only used during swim lessons during the summer, but I really don't feel the need to move that stuff into storage and then back out when we need it because it really doesn't take up that much room. I FINALLY labeled the bins so there is no reason for things not being put away correctly. I used my Cricut Expression and vinyl for the labels. The brown basket on top is for gloves that do not have matches at this particular time. Melodye's and Brooke's bins are for soccer stuff.

Here is the storage area. This area was my nemesis. I hated it. It had gotten so I would have to pull boxes out to get to the ones behind them. So I then just started throwing things wherever there was room. Now each row of bins is for a particular holiday with Christmas having two rows.

These bins were also labeled. The taxes bins, of course hold previous years tax information. When I put a year in, I take the oldest year out. So my tax information will not ever be any larger than these two bins. The bins with the girls' names are for school papers. There is a hanging file folder for each year of school. When the girls bring home papers I want to keep, I put them in a drawer of the buffet in the dining room. Every few months I go through the papers. The ones I still want to keep go into the file. I keep things with their handprints, special writings (especially showing their personality), etc.

In order to make present wrapping better, I bought two more bins and labeled them. Now we can grab the bin for exactly what we need without having to dig through other things.

I convinced the hubby that I needed a better bookcase. I had a little bookcase and books were piled in front of each other. We bought one white bookcase, moved the old one in Melodye's room, and moved her white bookcase downstairs. I love the look of the books all arranged. The bookcases are behind the heater and water heater. They fact the storage area.

So now it is January 13 and the laundry room is still looking like this. In my book that is a successful reorganization.

Wicked Lovely Book Review

2010-01-12T20:35:00.000-06:00

Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This ended up being much better than I thought. I wasn't too sure about the book, but picked it up on a recommendation. It got where I didn't want to put the book down. I love that Melissa has the characters be not your typical characters in looks and actions. This was my first book about faeries and I do think I will be looking for others.

View all my reviews >>

Witch & Wizard Review

2010-01-09T09:05:00.002-06:00

Witch and Wizard by James Patterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this. Like always, James Patterson's books are easy reads. But there was something about this one that kept me up reading past my bedtime. Wisty and Whit are teenage twins unaware of political changes occurring around them. The political environment has changed. The New Order (N.O.) is in charge, banning books, music, and artwork. The N.O. basically wants to decide everything someone does including how they look and what they do. The first time Wisty and Whit became aware of this is when they are arrested for being a witch and wizard. They deny this, but during the arrest Wisty becomes surrounded by flames. Could they really be a witch and wizard, but did not know it? This book is perfectly set up to be a series.

View all my reviews >>

Toy Room Reorganization

2010-01-02T20:00:00.001-06:00

Tommy and I spent some time in the toy room organizing it. The girls had semi-quasi-cleaned it. Which meant that they picked everything up off of the floor and shoved it somewhere. At first glance it was straightened, but I could not handle the way it was. Also, the girls said that they could not be able to tell their friends where to put everything. So reorganizing had to happen. Now the toy room was organized previously as shown in this post, but things had to change with all the things the girls had grown out of and donated.

This is the view to the left of the door. Now I didn't get any close up pictures of the basket and art cart, but they are labeled. This is quite an accomplishment that all of the labeling did occur. The basket categories are Build-A-Bear clothes, Horses, Mr. Potato Head, Super Hero Stuff, Animals, People, Vehicles, and an empty basket. The cart with the pink drawers holds all of the art materials like crayons, markers, glue, etc. The white carts hold odds and ends right now. The kitchen stuff used to be in them and we have not repurposed them other than holding coloring books on top and construction paper in a drawer.

This is the right far corner. The train table does not hold trains anymore. It is now the lego table. Stuffed animals are on the shelf. They have an addiction to small stuffed animals, especially dogs and cats. Swords and light sabers are in the bin next to the lego table. Baby dolls are in the beds. Brooke got rid of all of her baby dolls except for her American Girl Twins.

This is to the right of the door. The closet is in the corner. Then we have an easel from Ikea.

The closet finally has a rod to hang the costumes. There is a stool for the shorter kids to be able to reach the costumes. The container on the shelf is holding the trains until we can give them to someone who will use them. The white cart that hold the dress up jewelry and crowns from the earlier post is still being used on the right side of the closet, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

And then we have the door to enter and exit the room. I love it being a pocket door. I love being able to see what the kids are doing without going in the room. I wish that the kids would learn not to put their hands and faces all over the door.

January 2010 Monthly Goals

2010-01-02T00:43:00.000-06:00

The New Year has officially started. 2010 ... amazing ... and going to be difficult to remember to write. I have thought long and hard about New Years Resolutions. Deciding how I would like to do them and keep them with keeping them being the ultimate goal. Well I read something earlier today and sadly I don't remember where, although it might have been a Facebook post or not. Basically it said why set New Years Resolutions only once a year, every day is a new day with all these possibilities. I really like that thought, but setting resolutions each day will get old really quick. So I have decided to set goals/resolutions a month at a time. I figure in that amount of time (28 to 31 days depending on the month) I will have time to achieve my goals and if I don't achieve them completely I am able to adjust them for the next month.

So here are my goals for the month of January 2010:

1. Actually complete Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. I have completed Day 1 and that is a real start.

2. Do not eat out for the whole month. Now this is a whole family resolution. Tommy has said that he is on board. Now I just have to get the girls on board. I figure this will be beneficial in eating healthier, spending less, and planning our time better.

3. Get our savings account built back up to a comfortable amount. Now this means watching our spending, continuing using coupons in the combination with sales, but mostly being mindful of how we are spending our money.

4. Keep up with the house cleaning and organization. Now don't get me wrong ... the house never gets that bad, but enough to annoy us. We spent our Christmas Break cleaning, organizing, and purging. I would like for us to keep up with this and in the process all of us will be in better moods. (The only room that didn't get done was the scrapbook room so I am going to make that a priority. Who am I kidding? It is always last on the cleaning priority list, but I am going to try to get it cleaned and organized by the end of the month.)

5. Work on the February Lady Sweater. Now I would love to say finish it, but I do not know if that is realistic. I started it in the spring and it has now been sitting for months and months. So I am not even sure where I am on it right now. Good news though, I did finish my Alice scarf which had no reason to take so long other than laziness.

Good Girls and Boy

2009-12-26T10:57:00.000-06:00

We must have been good in this household. Santa treated all of us well. The girls were cuter than ever with their hair all curly.

Christmas Eve was a busy night. We had fun at Aunt Pat and Uncle Dave's house. Although, we did have to leave after a rousing game of Farkle. then we went to Aunt Pynki and Mike's house. We arrived after a lot of people had already left for the night. But we did get a family photo together.

Then we came home and went to sleep. During that time Santa was busy leaving us all of those presents.

And of course you cannot go wrong with SpongeBob Legos in this household.

2009-12-21T23:48:00.000-06:00

This my new favorite commercial for this Holiday season.

And on of my new favorite shows and music.

Christmas Lights in MC

2009-12-20T16:52:00.000-06:00

We took the girls to a local park to see the lights that were set up. The girls were pretty amazed by the lights. I don't know why we haven't taken them in the past. The pictures are not the best, but not bad for a little pocket camera.

Myself I preferred the lighthouse and the grist mill. Melodye liked the grist mill. Brooke was happy with anything that had to do with Santa of was moving.

Strange and Curious

2009-12-19T08:12:00.000-06:00

Obviously I have taken a blogging break. I wasn't feeling the blogging spirit for awhile, hence the lack of posts and the type of posts that the last ones were. I think about blogging, but I haven't. The curious part is that my visit stats have skyrocketed. I really don't know why they would. I know I wouldn't want to come visit my blog with the way it has been lately. The searches haven't shown anything unusual. In fact it shows that most people are coming from the "next blog button on blogger." Strange and curious that this has just started happening.

Now that I am on Christmas Break, I am thinking of blogging again. What do you think I should go back to blogging about? Off to Melodye's basketball game now. We have to leave early due to the snow that is still falling, but looks beautiful.

A Prairie Tale review

2009-10-27T21:35:00.000-05:00

Prairie Tale: A Memoir by Melissa Gilbert

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
If I hadn't been such a big fan of Little House on the Prairie when I was young, I probably wouldn't have finished the book. But I did finish it. My biggest problem with the book was that there seemed to be a lot of name dropping. Sometimes to me names were used that didn't really matter if they were there or not. I know Melissa knew lots of famous people, but do we really need to know every person her parents or grandparents hung out with or every person who attended the same party that she did? Now I did find myself surprised at some of the actors (older) that tried to hit on her while she was underage considering Melissa was young looking for her age. I also don't think that the book really showed why Melissa felt that she had alcohol or substance problems. They seemed to be glanced over as yes I have a problem so this is what happened after.

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Untamed Blood Promise

2009-10-20T20:32:00.000-05:00

Untamed by P.C. Cast

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I don't know what happened with this book, but some of the characters seemed a little flat and stereotypical. In fact, I found it annoying that it was thrown in my face over and over what the characters are supposed to be like. But don't get me wrong I still can't wait for the next book to find out what happens.

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Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I couldn't put this book down because I had to find out what would happen with Rose. But at the same time I didn't enjoy this book as much as I did the others. There is quite a twist at the end that does make me want to read the next book.

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Hot Pursuit review

2009-09-26T12:25:00.002-05:00

Hot Pursuit by Suzanne Brockmann

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I always enjoy the Troubleshooters series and I did this time. Some of my favorite characters returned for this story. The returning characters over and over are a big part of why I enjoy this series so much. The book ended with some characters futures undecided so of course I can't wait for the next book, but in the Author's Note Suzanne said that she will do one more book in the series and then take a break to work on something else. Disappointing, but I know she will do something else that I will find enjoyable.

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Alex Cross's Trial and Shadow Kiss

2009-09-21T23:48:00.000-05:00

Alex Cross's Trial by James Patterson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow, James Patterson hit a homerun out of the ballpark. This book was amazing. I had to stop, process, and think about what I was reading. The book was about Alex Cross's great uncle, a Washington DC lawyer, and Teddy Roosevelt. The way the race relations were written about really made me examine what I see around me.

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Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy, #3) by Richelle Mead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Amazing, I didn't want to stop reading. Rose is going through so many changes that do not make sense. At one point, I had to stop reading because I was so emotionally effected by what I had just read. I can't say what effected me because it is at the end of the story and super super important. I wish I had already ordered the next book so that I could read it now.

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Chosen (House of Night)

2009-09-15T16:32:00.000-05:00

Chosen by P.C. Cast

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Zoey is learning that the choices she makes effect others and they may not like that she is hiding those choices from them. Zoey's boyfriend problem is solved, but not in a way that she wanted. Zoey's relationship with her mom escalates. The situations with Aphrodite and Stevie Rae change in ways that no one could ever expect.

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Frostbite Review

2009-09-10T22:26:00.002-05:00

Frostbite (Vampire Academy, #2) by Richelle Mead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow, the last couple of chapters were amazing. I was shocked, I cried, and I think the ending was wonderful. Rose goes through a lot of emotions in this book. She knows that she needs to stay away from Dimitri, but has trouble fighting her feelings until he starts a relationship with someone else. Mason enters the scene at this time. But will Mason keep Rose happy? Rose is also in really grumpy moods especially when her mother shows up on the scene. On top of all of that, the Strigoi are working in groups which is unheard of and killing large groups of Moroi that were protected by Damphirs.

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Labor Day Pipe Dreams Revisited

2009-09-07T15:50:00.000-05:00

Now I knew I wouldn't meet all of the goals that I set for myself for this weekend. But I did meet some of them. After I eat at my parents this evening I still have a chance to meet a couple of the small ones. I mostly worked on the large goals and here are the results:

I met 50% of the goals for around the house.
I met 44% of the goals for school.

I think I did pretty good since I do tend to make my list way beyond what I could ever accomplish in the time period that I have.

Latest Goodreads Update

2009-09-06T23:11:00.000-05:00

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
At first I wasn't sure if I would finish this book. But then about 1/4 of the way into the book, I really got into it. At first it was hard to remember the differences between the different type of characters. But the author explained the differences throughout the book. Sometimes while reading this book it seemed as if there was a book previous to this one. I even checked to see if I had mistakenly picked up a second book instead of the first. But as the book went on things were explained that had been referenced as already happened.

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Marked by P.C. Cast

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I am so glad that this is a series. I really want to see what happens with Zoey Redbird. Zoey's grandmother is such a likeable person. It's too bad that her mother couldn't be that kind of person for her.

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Betrayed by P.C. Cast

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Zoey is having difficulties with her new responsibilities as the leader of the Dark Daughters. On top of that humans that Zoey knows are ending up dead next to the Academy. Zoey with the help of friends has to figure out what is the cause of all of these deaths and why.

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Labor Day Pipe Dreams

2009-09-05T10:52:00.000-05:00

I don't know about other teachers. But for me, Labor Day is viewed as a chance to get things done at home and for my classroom that I do not normally have time for. Oh picnics are nice and wonderful, but I dream of whole days getting things done because everyone else has plans and then use Monday as a day to do stuff at home that I enjoy. Now this pipe dream never comes completely into fruition. But I can always hope and dream because that always makes my day better if I keep hope alive.

Here are some example of things I would like to accomplish:

I would like to go through Brooke's closet and dresser to pull out all of the clothes that she has completely outgrown which is most of them. She has outgrown clothes that were bought at the beginning of summer. GRRRRR stop growing so fast!!!!! (You are supposed to be my baby not my amazon girl.)
Clean Brooke's room so that she has no excuse as to why she can't keep it clean.
Go through Melodye's closet and dresser. Give Brooke any clothes that will fit her that Melodye still hasn't worn and has tags on it. Get any skorts that are too short for her out of her room. She thinks if there is still room in the waist they fit. But she is so skinny they never fit in the waist, her butt hangs out instead and no just because there are shorts under there does not make it okay.
Organize Mel's room so that there is no reason why she can't keep it clean.
Go through my clothes.
Transfer all pictures off the cameras (I have to find the little one first). Label and order all of these pictures. Back up the pictures.
Cut and file coupons. (I am so behind it is not funny.)
Go through organize and label boxes for school. I had help packing last year and all of the boxes didn't get labeled.

Now that was just home stuff. For school, I would like to:

Get Tommy to make dividers for my big book rack. The ones I have will not hold up the books.
The boxes for school also need to be listed here.
Make homework packets.
Redo my lesson plan form.
Set up my grade book.
Update my grade book.
Get some decorative things for classroom done.
Make some center for next week. (I need to start looking further ahead to see what I need.)
Some other stuff in my bag that I can't remember off the top of my head.

Once I get necessary stuff done. I would like to:

Scrapbook
Read
Sew
Just enjoy myself
Go to Lopez family picnic on Sunday.
Watch the first disc of Veronica Mars Season 1.

Of course, I won't get all of this done, but I do like to have those pipe dreams and hope that I can become a super hero and finish all of this. I also would like to start blogging again. I am missing it.

The Titan Sisters Series

2009-08-14T15:37:00.000-05:00

Straight from the Hip by Susan Mallery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This series is really fun to read. I can't wait to read the fourth one.

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Lip Service by Susan Mallery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I accidentally read this one first, but that really didn't make a difference in the series.

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Under Her Skin by Susan Mallery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I like that the love interest isn't the typical caucasian. I love that Cruz is from the wrong side of the tracks but in a good way. Everything he has done has been to protect those he loves even if it doesn't seem that way from the outside.

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Reading Must Have Websites In My Opinion

2009-08-09T00:44:00.000-05:00

I did not read that much lately and I am not so sure why not. These are some books that I did enjoy recently. If anyone is a member of Good Reads add me on as a friend. I believe I can be found under jlniksich. If you like to read and have not joined Good Reads, I would definitely recommend it. Good Reads is a wonderful way to keep track of what you read and to find recommendations from others.

One other recommendation I would make is for Dear Reader. A lady named Suzanne made this wonderful service. You sign up for what type of books that you like to read. Then you will get emails Monday through Friday with short excerpts from a book. By the end of the week you will have 5 emails that equal to approximately the first two chapters of a book. Just enough of the book is given to you to know if you are interested in getting the book or not. As a bonus Suzanne writes something in each email. Suzanne is a lovely person and a wonderful writer. She leaves you feeling as if you had just sat down with tea and cookies together. I really wish I had her talent for written expression.

Vision in White by Nora Roberts

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Took me a little bit to get into the book. I am glad that I gave it a chance. I will read the next ones in the series as they come out.

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Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Hilarious, couldn't stop laughing. The last couple of Stephanie Plum books weren't as funny and I was worried that Janet Evanovich was losing her touch. But this took those worries away. There were times I was laughing so hard that I could not breathe. This is definitely a must read.

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Swimsuit by James Patterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is a true James Patterson book ... short chapters, chapters end with you wanting to know more, twists, and leaves you at the end of the book questioning what you know about your own little world and safety. I don't know how he comes up with all of these ideas. Amazing. There is an excerpt of the next book that really sounds interesting.

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E-Bates Really Works

2009-07-16T01:23:00.000-05:00

I was referred to e-bates as a way to make a little extra cash doing what I already do. I didn't want to post about this until I knew that it really worked. Well it does! I just received my first check for $10.59. Now that doesn't seem like that much, but that is from doing my normal shopping online in a couple of months time. By doing what I normally do I received extra money to use, a nice little bonus. E-bates gives you $5.00 in your account to start off when you register.

Twin of Ice, Twin of Fire, and Dead and Gone

2009-07-09T09:55:00.000-05:00

Twin of Ice/Twin of Fire: Two Classic Novels by Jude Deveraux

Not Enough Time In My Day

Bathroom Redo Project

Angry Birds

Reindeer Cake Pops

Christmas Decorations

Visit With Santa

Christmas Card 2010

Christmas Cards

Desk Chair Redo

Cleaning, Project 365, Scrapbooking, and Grandmas

Late on the Program

Tutorials on the To-Do List

SwagBucks Recommendation

February Goals

January Goals Update

Blue is For Nightmares

Laundry Room Organization

Wicked Lovely Book Review

Witch & Wizard Review

Toy Room Reorganization

January 2010 Monthly Goals

Good Girls and Boy

Christmas Lights in MC

Strange and Curious

A Prairie Tale review

Untamed Blood Promise

Hot Pursuit review

Alex Cross's Trial and Shadow Kiss

Chosen (House of Night)

Frostbite Review

Labor Day Pipe Dreams Revisited

Latest Goodreads Update

Labor Day Pipe Dreams

The Titan Sisters Series

Reading Must Have Websites In My Opinion

E-Bates Really Works

Twin of Ice, Twin of Fire, and Dead and Gone

My review

My review

Living Room Redo

Today Is The Day!

Really Not Enough Time In My Day, Week, or Month

My review

My review

My review

My review

My review

Dead to the World

My review

The 8th Confession

My review

Weird

New Moon Trailer

Thanks, somewhat

Club Dead

My review

Living Dead in Dallas

My review

Ipod Touch Question

Somtimes I Am Just Lucky

My review

My review

My review

Mother's Day 2009

What A Day!

Belated Dude Ranch Highlights

Just Take My Heart Brooke

My review

Dead As A Doornail

My review

Sneaky, Sneaky

Promises Kept

Driving Me Crazy

Cumberland Falls Part 3

Cumberland Falls Part 3

Cumberland Falls Part 2 and Three book Reviews

My review

My review

My review

Cumberland Falls Part 1