a few of my favorite things today

I am sick. Achy body, runny nose, sore throat, dog tired, sick. So I have been lazy today. Kade is having a movie marathon, and I am sipping green tea, reading books, and browsing the internet. Sounds like fun, right? Not so much fun when you swallow and your throat totally sticks together, and you can't breath because your sinuses are also stuffed up! At least I don't have what Jer has dubbed, "death disease," where his uvula (dangly thing in the back of his throat) puffed up 10 times the size it's supposed to be. Are you grossed out yet?

So, I thought I'd share some fun things I have found. They help make being sick a little more bearable.

I LOVE this owl fabric! I think it will be my next fabric purchase. I am afraid that I won't want to cut into it, though! That is problem with really cute paper, cute fabric, cute ribbon... I want to save it for something "really special" and then end up not using it. I'm trying to break that cycle by not buying new craft supplies until I use what I have. But these owls might be the exception...


We (well, Kade technically) got a hamster from a friend for Christmas! He is a panda bear hamster named Po after this guy:


I haven't got a real picture of Po yet, because he is only awake at night and I don't want to blind him with the flash. But, he is really cute, and VERY clean (seriously, he cleans his cage every day!), and pretty funny too. I was looking up some info about what treats hamsters can have, and came upon this video. Kade loves watching it! Cute!





Speaking of broccoli, I'm going to make this broccoli cheese soup. So easy, and a great comfort food especially when you're not feeling well!


My SIL sent me a link to this awesome website! It's called Starfall.com. It is GREAT! Kade and I have already spent lots of time there already. We are mostly still working on the ABCs. I've been adding in some of the level two little stories, for instance Zac the Rat is great to read after learning all about the letter A. They also have lots of other fun activities, movies, etc. They even have some really inexpensive journals and books you can buy too.


Lastly, my new favorite song. I don't usually like country very much, but this song is a bit country or folk, and I can't stop listening to it!



Jer is gone for the weekend at a Mens Retreat with our church. So tonight, I am going to make some soup and have a movie marathon of my own! See you next week!

Mix Tapes - not just for the 80's and 90's!!

I made some zipper pouches for my teenage nieces and nephew for Christmas. I saw this idea on Etsy, it's not my own. These were fun to make, I loved choosing colors and buttons that matched the kids' personalities! I used the zipper pouch tutorial at Heart of Mary. I had to change it a little bit, because I used a different material for the outside and the lining. The tutorial was so easy though, I think anybody could make one!


(click on the pictures if they are too small)


I think next I'll make Jer one. He likes the green one with the owl button best. I'll have to find some more many material for the lining though! I am so addicted to making zip pouches! Besides these, I also made some beautiful wristlet zip pouches for some other family members, but I forgot to take pics.

Speaking of pics, I got tagged by Riah over at My Life With Boys! Looks like fun, so here we go!

Here are the instructions:

1. Go to your documents file.
2. Go to the sixth file.
3. Go to the sixth picture.
4. Blog about it.
5. Tag six friends to do the same.

Here is my picture:


This photo was taken in August 2006. Kade was about 3.5 years old. We went to Jetti Island with some friends for the day. Kade was SO grossed out by the seaweed floating around in the water! I was trying to get some cute pictures of him, and then some seaweed floated around his leg, and he gagged right as I took the photo. I thought it was so funny! (I'm such a mean mom! "Hold on Kade, I'll get the icky seaweed off you as soon as I stop laughing!") Kade went on to enjoy the rest of the day with only a few more seaweed entanglements/gagging. I later made this scrapbook layout:

"Seaweed is Gross"

The journaling title is "these are a few of my least favorite things" and it says...

1. Seaweed - whenever it touches you.
2. Bananas - ever since infanthood you shudder.
3. Things you think are garbage (even if not).
4. Moles and beauty marks on mommy.
5. A stray hair somewhere on your body.
6. Owies of any sort - "don't look, mommy!"
7. Grass or dirt on your hands and feet.
8. Creepy crawly "spider mans" and bugs.
9. Baby slobber - "eeeewww!!!!"
10. Stay tuned...

It's one of my favorite funny layouts, makes me smile every time! Silly boy :)

Thief in the Night

I was up late Thursday night, catching up on some blog reading, Etsy surfing, and such. Everyone else was asleep and all the lights were off, just the glow of the monitor shining on me. Suddenly I heard a rustling, some footsteps, and a crash!

My first thought was that a wild animal had gotten into our trash (this has happened at least 3 times before). I didn't want to open the front door and be face to face with a hungry raccoon, so I just turned on the outdoor light and peered out the window. I could see nothing, but I could hear something moving around the side of the house.

I tiptoed into the bedroom and woke Jer. He too thought it was just an animal, and told me to check and see if the noise I heard was the trash can tipping over and everything spilling out. I gathered up the nerve to open the front door. Nothing! The trash can was sitting in it's spot, undisturbed by furry paws.

Upon finding nothing wrong and hearing no more strange noises, I went to bed. I awoke the next morning, the crashes and footsteps no longer on my mind. (Even the dream I had about a giant squid knocking over my Christmas tree and taking over my living room was quickly fading.)

I took Kade to the Post office and the grocery store, and spent the majority of the day doing chores and sewing. Kade and I went to our neighbor's house for a quick visit. She gave us some GIGANTIC Fugi apples to take home with us. I mentioned to Kade that the apples were almost as big as his head, and he wanted me to take some silly pictures of him with the moster apple.






After the silly photo session, we headed to Grandparent's house for a New Years celebration. We returned back home around midnight. As Jer pulled his car into the car port, he noticed something strange.

SOMETHING was missing.

OH!! Kade's Harley Davidson Power Wheels that he got for Christmas last year! Just gone.... That is when I realized that those noises I heard the night before were not raccoons at all. It was some thief STEALING a little boys favorite toy, just a few days after Christmas.

Very upset, we put a sad Kade to bed and started putting things away. Jeremy went outside again and spotted something across the yard next to the fence-


the Power Wheels!


We followed some large adult footprints across the snow to the bike and brought it back. We figured that
1. The thief saw the light turn on and heard the door open and got scared away. (Yay me, I can scare away burglars. Good thing I did not open the door face to face with HIM! I don't scream in panic situations, I freeze, sucking in a huge breath of air and just holding it in. Screaming comes later, perhaps when I run out of air and actually have to breath again!)
2. The thief did not realize how heavy it was, and possibly being alone, could not lift it over the fence in as much of a hurry as he would have liked to.

I was SO glad to find the bike. It is one of Kade's favorite things. Who steals kid's toys right after Christmas? Really?

We brought the bike inside and put any other "valuables" that were outside into the shed and pulled the car up close to the door. We now have padlocks, and will not ever leave anything outside again!

I also feel rather silly that I didn't notice that huge thing gone earlier, considering Kade and I were outside a few times that day. I realized later that I even caught a picture of the missing bike. Look at the fourth Kade + Apple photo and you will see it behind Kade in the background. Why didn't I see that before?! At least it turned out alright in the end! Considering our car was stolen from our driveway a couple years ago, and now this, I think we have had our share of Thiefs in the Night!

Health, Sanity, and Accidental Law Breaking

It's a pretty good Friday!

I don't have to work, Kade let me sleep in until 9, my cold is going away, and it's the New Year. I usually don't do the whole resolutions thing. Only because I never stick to them, and it's depressing to think that I always fail my resolutions! But this year, I NEED to make changes in my life. For my health, and for my sanity. ("What sanity?", some of you may ask...)

So this year I have two resolutions decisions:

#1 (For my health)-
Get healthy. I have PCOS, along with every single symptom that comes along with it. I am supposed to exercise like CRAZY and go on a special diet (basically the same diet as diabetics are supposed to keep). When I found out a couple months ago, I was doing really well for a while, but then I kind of "fell off the wagon." Today I started again, because if I don't get control of this, I have a higher risk of diabetes, cancer, strokes, heart disease, and other scary stuff, on top of the problems that I ALREADY have because of this. I don't need any more problems!

#2 (For my sanity)-
Get organized. I have a very small house, and lots of stuff. Some of it I guess I could get rid of, but there is a LOT of stuff that I just can't get rid of - crafty supplies is one example. I don't have a craft room. I have my kitchen table, and a little spot behind my couch. I think what I lack most is storage. If I had some kind of system for everything, it would be much easier. What I need is someone who is very organized to come over to my house and help me! Heeeellllp! Need help!

It's only 10:30 am, but so far... doin' good :) Woohoo! Only about 8,740 more hours to go until next year. I can do it!

Oh, by the way - it is illegal to do fireworks on New Years Day. Kade didn't stay up on New Years Eve for the fireworks and he was REALLY sad he missed them, so we did two late afternoon on the 1st. Cops showed up, but decided against coming into our driveway (big piles of snow make it a tight squeeze) so they just used the loudspeaker. Oops.

See, Kade, mommy and daddy are willing to break the law (unknowingly!!) for your happiness.

I'll leave you with a treasury I made a few days ago. I love the color green, and all these plushies are so so cute :) I want the giraffe and the squid hat!!

A snuggly pair of creatures

These two were a custom order. The socks were very hard to work with, but so worth it for the end result!


Happy New Year, I wish you a wonderful 2009!