It's been a copycat kind of weekend!

Kade has a fever again (I hope he'll be well enough to go to at least one of his last 3 days of school!), so I've had some down time these past few days. I'm sure lots of you have heard of Pinterest already. I've recently become somewhat addicted to it, and decided to make use of some of the ideas I've saved!

This first one is something I've seen all over the web,
but here is the Pin:
Crayon Monogram

And here is my version:


I found these really great shadowbox frames at Ben Franklin for only $5. I decided to add some little froggies, because Kade said his teacher loves them. I hope she likes it! She really is one very special teacher, and Kade will miss being in her class!

The second one is a series of week-by-week pregnancy photos:
Belly Pics

When I was pregnant with Kade, 8 years ago, I didn't do anything like this, and wish I had! I do have a few pregnancy photos from then, but I just love how you can really see the change happening in this series, using the same background and outfit each week. Here is my take on it, using Kade's little chalkboard to keep track of the weeks:


If only I were as cute as the other girl! Also, my picture shocked me- I think I look way bigger than 12 weeks already! Oh well, no matter how I look, I'm just SO happy that I have this little baby growing in me, I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! :)

The internet can be a great source of inspiration! What have you been inspired by lately?

Monkeys and Rainbows

That title might sound like something a 4 year old girl might be excited about, or maybe I'm just really immature :)

There is a new monkey in my shop! Hooray!
He wants to be a superhero, so I made him a cape.


While I was taking pictures, I started playing around with the cape, and found it is useful in many different ways! It can be a cool looking hat, or even a bib or apron, if he is going to get messy!


Either somebody's been a bad monkey, or he's playing hide 'n' seek!

Enough of monkeys, on to rainbows! I took these pictures on Tuesday.
I like how the rainbow is going right over that large tree. That is where I would put a rainbow, if I was in charge of such things :)

This picture shows the actual brightness better.
I took Kade outside to see it, and the only thing he said was, "I wish I could slide down it. Can we? Please? No? *sigh* Lets go back inside then."

Need some color?

This guy makes me think of Popsicles and sunshine!

One of my favorite things: Cherry blossoms

Custom sock monkey! It makes me happy to think that a little baby will be cuddling this guy soon!

BusyFingers BabyBuddies newest member, the bluebird!

Rainbow Twizzlers make everything better, especially icky medicine!

All aboard!

First week of SPRING!

Well, it's been almost 10 days since I last posted. That is entirely too long! Here are some little tidbits on my life:

• My husband is now the proud owner of a Wii! I wasn't too excited about getting it, but I have to admit... the first night we had it, I stayed up 'til 3am playing Lego Star Wars. Making all the Miis was a lot of fun, and even K was excited to play. He is really good at the boxing (which is almost like working out!), and he giggles the whole time. I can tell I'm going to have to set a daily time limit on this or he'll want to play it all the time! I am really, REALLY good at bowling... which is odd, since my average score at *real life* bowling is about 60. Oh well, I'll take it! :) I haven't played Nintendo for a billion years. I used to LOVE it... all the good old games like Zelda, Turbo Challenge, Mario Kart, and Donkey Kong. I think some of these games are downloadable on the Wii. Just what we need, something else to keep us indoors! Don't worry, I set limits that many children and husbands would claim were unfair. And, the Wii is on my side. It suggests quite often to take a 15 minute break and head outdoors. They do care!

• It is Spring already, even tho the weather might not be cooperating. The days are getting longer, the chance of snow is still there but I can see a glimmer of hope that one day it will be warm enough to go outside in shorts and a t-shirt again! Fall is my favorite season, but Spring comes in a close second. It is just so nice to get out of the dreariness of Winter. Here are some pictures of some beautiful flowers from my sister: Coincidentally, today is National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day!!! Those are one of my very favorite indulgences, so I think I will have to celebrate.
  

• I have been working on some wallets (both girly and guy types), business card organizers and holders, needles and pins keepers, and some other fun things. Once I get my designs down, I will start listing some on Etsy! I also just finished a new design for my BusyFingers BabyBuddies. He is the green dino, and he is so cute: It is so incredibly exciting for me to see my little business start to grow! My things are being featured in more treasuries, and one of my sock monkeys is even on the first page of the Children's Gift Guide!! I also got my first potential wholesale order! All of this makes me so happy, because being with my son and crafting are two things that are very important to me! It is great to see that it might be possible to stay at home and earn a little bit of money at the same time.
  

I'm off to do more fun "at home" stuff, like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, and such! TTFN! :)

Floods, flaming tea kettles, and tattoos.

My sister came over last week and we took some fun pics, so I thought I'd share them! They were lots of fun, however, I think my neighbors are scared of me now. Plus, I live next to a major highway, so I'm sure lots of people happened to glance over and do a double take at two adult women and a little boy laying on their backs on the concrete with their feet in the air. Oh well, what fun is it being normal? :)

This picture is of me, tattoo is K's exact footprint from his birth certificate. He was so tiny once!

Couldn't leave K out! He was a bit of a camera hog, he wanted to be in every single picture with his auntie. Notice his stylin' hair and sunglasses, you can even see me and my sister in the lenses!
This is my favorite picture ever! Poor girl, I made her jump a thousand times. It was worth it though! I love how it seems she is 5 feet off the ground. She is a rock star!!


What else has been going on...

Well, there was the washing machine issue. My in-laws got a new stackable washer and dryer set so they gave us their nice heavy duty side by side ones. We installed them on Saturday, I ran my first load of clothes, and the washer drain overflowed. And overflowed. While I was trying to stop/clean up the overflow (our whole house is carpeted...), I forgot that I had been boiling water in the tea kettle for some cocoa. Did you know that tea kettles can catch on fire? And melt onto your burner? And fill your whole house with horrible smoke that smells like burning chemicals? Yeah, it was fun. I hope to never again have a fire in one room and a flood in the next. I will miss my wonderful giraffe tea kettle. It claimed to make the "sound of a giraffe" when the water was boiling. I had always wondered what giraffes sounded like.

I called the plumber on Monday, they were busy.

I made an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. They never came. My mom bought me a new tea kettle and toaster (Saturday had been a bad day for appliances at my house), which was really nice! It cheered me up quite a bit.

Wednesday I called plumber again, they apologized for not showing up the day before and made me an appointment for Thursday morning. They emphasized I should get the FIRST one of the day, to make SURE they wouldn't get held up at another job and not come again.

Thursday morning came and went, no plumber. I called them again, and they said no, I don't have an appointment. Oh wait, there it is, 9-11PM. I mentioned that I didn't know they worked so late, and they said that, in fact, they do not work that late. However, that is when they scheduled me. Hmm... I got a little frustrated on the phone and told them I NEEDED someone. Today. (Between Saturday and Thursday, multiple people had been over multiple times trying to fix the drain, to no avail.)

(I know you are sitting on the edge of your computer chair, exclaiming, "but what next??? Does the drain ever get fixed??
Is there no end to the insanity??"
Keep reading - the conclusion draws near!!!!)

Finally, Thursday night at eight o'clock, a plumber drives one hour to come fix the drain. He fills the washing machine with water, drains it.... and comes out to tell us, HOORAY!! there is no problem, it works perfectly!!! He's got the magic touch! After I fainted/pulled my hair out/insisted he was wrong, he tested it 3 more times just to make sure. Yep, it is miraculously fixed. Plumber leaves. I start a load of clothes. The drain overflows. I call plumber, who is halfway home, and he turns around to come back. He ended up staying until 11:30 that night, walking around on the roof in the pitch dark, cutting a hole out of my wall, and sawing off a section of pipe. I'm sure my neighbors appreciate all that late night sawing.

The drain is now fixed! I can't believe what an ordeal that turned in to. We still have a whole in our wall, too. It is conveniently covered up by the ironing board. Life goes on.

*******

In other news, remember that purse I am supposed to be making, from a few posts down? I am half way done and can't wait to finish it and post some pictures!

Also, my sister and I got tattoos yesterday!! That is her birthday present to me, it was SO much fun, and I couldn't think of anything sweeter to do with her!! Aside from a little guy I know STOMPING on my fresh new tattoo with his dirty shoes, it is healing really well. We will take pictures soon!

That is all for now, and if you read that, thanks!! I'll be back in a few days with more pictures and some new crafty things. Have a great weekend!