Busy, Happy, and did I mention busy?!

Kids, school, homework, music lessons, orthodontist appointments, drama rehersals, music practice, more homework, cleaning, laundry, cooking, cleaning, did I mention cleaning?, school parties, two birthdays, son broke a wrist, husband tore his knee to shreds, family nurse, pain management, chauffeur, exercise, and not enough sleep.  

Feeling SO blessed and so very happy!  :)

I know I could feel overwhelmed, this winter has been super eventful, but I just feel blessed.  I know someday that the chaos will slow down as the house gradually empties, so I try to enjoy and embrace all of the craziness.  Sometimes I shut myself in my room and take a breather, sometimes I take the time to read a good book.  I'm grateful for the help, seen and unseen, that I have been given.  

In the meantine….my sweet daughter is learning the art of embroidery.  {gasp!!!}  

She's so amazing and will make beautiful things of her own!!  I love nothing more than passing down these rare arts - our young girls need to learn hand sewing, crochet, knitting, and such.  We need to keep these beautiful traditions alive!

Baby Girl turned 4.  {sniff……hold me……}

Like every little girl all over the world, she's obsessed with Frozen, particularly Elsa.  She loves the frozeny-type and I think it's because she was born in the middle of winter in Michigan!!  haha.  She also likes characters with white-blonde hair and blue eyes like her.  :)  

Remember last year's Periwinkle birthday?  

Puh-recious.  Goodness, I love this crazy, fun, adorable little girl!

My heart is breaking because she is growing way too fast - faster than most kids, I think.

And….just because it was so stunning to me the other day….every evening, the sunlight comes through my living room window, creating a drippy, sunny glow.  I lived in the gray darkness for so long that it's still a novelty to have buttery-golden sunshine flood my home. It's something I look forward to every day!!  I am hoping that I never grow tired of it.  

Whelp…kids coming home soon, so I better get some more chores done!!  

Have a happy day, everyone!  I hope to post some fun projects soon!!!

Breakfast ???!!! help.

Image courtesy of The Captain's Manor Inn

What do you feed your family for breakfast on a daily basis?  I mean, not those days you're feeling all uppity and ambitious, but those days when you can't peel yourself from your amazingly comfortable, warm, delicious bed? And you have kids who need to be nourished before they head off to various degrees of greatness?

HELP!!!  I really need some help on this, because cold cereal isn't working and my kids don't love my Coach's Steel Cut Oatmeal....THAT I LOVE!!  Because....let's be honest here...I'm not making pancakes, eggs, and sausage every day.  Maybe Saturdays, if we all get good rest.

Any ideas?!  Let me know what you fix for your family when you're really, really tired & just want to lay in bed...

Making Me Happy

Totally tickling my heart!

It's the little things that entertain and excite me.

 

I love these.  Santa brought them.  And the fact that they're called "lollypops" makes them even better than a standard "sucker".  Suckers are so lame after you've had one of these. Back in the olden days, when I was young, we had a See's Candies in our shopping mall.  Mom would buy me a Happy Meal from McDonald's because I was always collecting a toy of some kind....(Muppet Babies and those cute little Stompers trucks) and then we'd happen to mozey over to See's for the daily sample.  Never have I ever had chocolates this good.  EVER.

If you're feeling like an early Valentine treat, go on over to See's and getcha some.  (and if See's sees this....I like the milk chocolate coconut truffles.)  Too bad I don't get endorsement kickbacks....this would be one place I would be first in line to sign up with!!!  haaaahahaha!   But seriously...  

The other thing making me happy...

the Sunburst Granny Square

Well, these are going to be square eventually.

When I get a little time to myself, I stitch a few here and there.  Long car rides, lazy Sunday afternoons - it's the perfect activity.

{GASP!}

Aren't these darling?!  I love this pattern, I love the colors, and I'm thinking of stitching the whole thing together using a light aquamarine color.  I haven't found the right yarn, but I'm looking.  It's for my daughter's birthday {don't tell her!!!} and the colors are perfect.  (Vanna's Choice by Lion Brand yarn)

I found the original idea on Pinterest....crazy, I know!....and fell in love immediately.  Head-over-heels in love.  Jenny from Nittybits posted the perfect instructions (and gorgeous photos) so it was super easy for me to learn how to do these.  I LOVE her colors, too!  I want to make a bright, colorful one next!

Super exciting - I'll post more photos as I go along.  I can't wait to see this all finished up!  It's so rewarding to create something beautiful, to watch the progress, and see the finished product.  

Have a happy day!!

-Abby

Until Next Time...

SAYONARA to the Christmas clutter!  The next time I dig this stuff out, I'll be settled in a new home in my warm, sunny, beautiful hometown in Arizona surrounded by beautiful mountains and desert.  ahhhhhh....  I wasn't just excited for the new year to begin, I was ELATED!!!   After living away from home for 10 years, we're finally moving back to AZ this summer and we couldn't be more excited.  It's taking all of my willpower not to pack up the whole house, along with the Christmas crap, and load up a moving truck right now!!  {aaaakkk}

...but anyway...I can't get myself too worked up...I need to exercise control.  I do have six months left to enjoy the most beautiful place in the world.

My baby...my pride and joy...my beautiful Advent Calendar...being packed away into storage.  On account of the crazy toddler living amongst us, I can't really use the pockets, but it was fun to hang this up and admire it for a few weeks.  It has been my MOST fun project so far!  {you really should make one...}

Do you really have to go back into storage?  Yes, little friend, you do.  Because if we see you all of the time, we'll get bored of you.  {sigh}  We never want to get bored of you.

Until next time, my little lovey...

Down, down, down it all goes.  Did I mention that I had everything down, cleaned up, and back to normal BEFORE the New Year even struck?!  It's not that I didn't enjoy having Christmas splendor all around me...but I have been SO ready for 2011 to end and I thought that maybe I could speed up time a little bit by un-decorating quickly.  

Do you know what it's like to clean / un-decorate, and organize a fairly large space with a baby chimpanzee running around creating chaos and confusion?  I can honestly say that I do.  I do know what that is like.  

You can almost feel her chaotic energy through all of the debris.

I don't even have to tell you what's going on here.  You can see it.  She's challenging me here.  Can you believe that?!  Can you see that on her face?!  Blatantly challenging me.  

But then she turns on that whole 'cute face' garbage and I just cuddle and love on her like some kind of gullible fool.  I am her fool! 

 {but oh how I love, love, love that little precious, face with snot and dried food on it! kissykissykissy}

ahhhh.....normal again.  Feels good.  And what could be better to offset the horrifically depressing winter blahs than a precious little lemon tree?!  It's precious!!!  

  {cute story about this...}  So last year I was hunting and hunting for a dwarf lemon tree, but to no avail.  I began my hunt too late in the season {rats!} and couldn't stand the thought of paying $75 for the tree plus shipping from like Georgia or somewhere down that way.  Anyhoo--my BFF Kadie has this really cool, supernatural power of finding the most random, specific objects at yard sales...and after hearing me blab on and on about how bad I want to find a dwarf lemon tree, she finds THIS LITTLE BABY....at a yard sale....for $1.00.  {WHA'?!}  I told you.  supernatural.

You CAN buy happiness - and for me it was a $1.00 lemon tree!  I wake up in the morning, look at my precious little lemon tree (it's fake, but don't tell my kids...) and feel joy, energy, and excitement coursing through my veins! Okay, it's not that dramatic, but I sure do feel joyful and happy when I look at it.  Even a little bit sunny....

And now, with not even a shred of Christmas left behind, I feel renewed hope that I can get through this winter without going insane.  Light is visible through the end of my long tunnel, and I'm so happy about that!

...and....I know what you're thinking, and yes - I moved all of Brooke's toys and junk over to a different space so as to keep my living room as bare as humanly possible.  I LOVE it.  Clean, bright, and no clutter.  yesssssss.

Full Plate

Hungry?!  Is your plate full like mine?! 

Here's what I want to do:

Have a perfectly clean house

Get plenty of sleep

Exercise like a maniac 6 times per week

Never have to go grocery shopping

Make cute pillows

Finish my embroidered seasonal tree

Scrapbook each of my children's life in a digital album

Sew cute dresses for my girls

Make cute hair crap for my girls

Make cute Easter/Spring decor

Organize my basement

Take amazing spring pictures and spend time in Photoshop

Here's what I have to do:

Taxes (barf)

Cleaning as much of the house as I can

Grocery shopping (barf again)

Take care of kids, do homework, oversee piano practices

T-Ball & Softball practices & games

Feed my family, then clean up the mess

Laundry, then clean up the mess (barf some more...I get sick of barfing...)

Something secret that I can't talk about, which is taking up a huge amount of time but is going to be amazing.

Baby shower for the Adorable Kristine {gasp!} ...between you and me, out of all of this crap on my to-do-list, this one is my favey fave!

My Relief Society calling - planning, following up, lots to keep track of

Clean, organize, and de-junk the entire house on account of LOTS of company coming in May

AND....

the kicker....

loose 20 pounds by May.  ???!!!  hmm.  

So my plate is full, but it's full of great things - I just have to take it one bite at a time, I guess!  Now off I go to barf at the grocery store...

It's hard being busy...

(...just kidding - I know there are much busier people than I am---but time is indeed a precious commodity of which I seem to run out of quickly.)

HEY EVERYONE!!!  I feel like it's all I can do to keep up with everything going on lately, so I apologize for being so absent.  I feel like I'm constantly trying to squeeze in my exercise with the bazillion other things going on.

So how are my Fitness Challengers doing?!  I hope you're all doing better than I am - I'm only down 7 pounds total and I finally got real serious at the beginning of March.  {eeek!}  Needless to say...I'm not planning on winning the challenge, but it has helped with the motivation.  WE'RE ALMOST DONE!!!  Only 22 more days left to go - this will be exciting!!!  

Something that has kept me motivated is this picture of my ADORABLE skirt that I made 2 or 3 summers ago.  (sad that I can't remember when I made it---the last 2 years have been a fog)  It is my goal to fit into this skirt at some point this summer, which would mean that I would need to loose about 20-30 pounds.  {gasp!!!}  It's doable, but going to take some work, which I'm finally ready for.

I keep this skirt and these {adorable} jeans hanging on the front of my closet door to remind me "you can do it!"  and "just think how cute these are going to be on you!"  I sometimes wish my skinny clothes would talk louder because it just doesn't sink in some days.

Let's see...other random, unimportant stuff:

Check out this gorgeous specimen!!!  

I got it at the Pottery Barn Outlet...we had candlelight with our dinner last night and the kids LOVED it!!!  How am I going to survive when I don't live near the Outlets?  {I love you, Pottery Barn...}  I also purchased the larger one (below) - I have yet to fill it with something fun.  I'm thinking about putting a little spring scene in it - but that'll have to wait.  I am excited, however, to use it during the summer nights with candles!!!  

Time fillers that have kept me busy:  Along with SIX other projects going on, I've  had to keep up with my entire reorganization of the visiting teaching routes - THAT was a job!!  I also attempted to read a book for heaven's sake.  This book is way overdue at the library and I'm barely on page 35?!  I'm just going to return it and try it again some other time.

And, as usual, my days are filled with this little precious...

LOTS of this...I have to be right with her every second...and if I walk away, she becomes very disagreeable. {eww! gross!}

Oh, and she loves ink pens. ???  Fantastic.  What's with pens, anyway?  It's all I can do to keep them hidden.  She MUST have one in her hands at all times....maybe she's going to be a writer?  

Aaaaand now I get to go clean up her mess that she created whilst I was typing this entry.  Fantastic!   

(I thought I closed that bathroom door....wrong-o.)

Precious thing.  Notice (above) the crayon/pen thing she's holding.  She's trying to color on that piece of paper.  Cute---if only that is the only thing she's going to try to color on.  Looks like I've got a problem brewing...

Have a great day!!!  

need...spring...

I'm done with February.  And March, for that matter.  GIMME SPRING!!!  It's not going to happen for me, no matter how hard I cry.  I can't even get excited until mid-April.  SO...while the rest of you are enjoying ever-warming temperatures and a gradual thaw from here on out, I'll be freezing--impatiently waiting my turn.

In the meantime....in desperation, I dragged (or drug?) two of my little ones all over town with me yesterday, popping in to several floral shops looking for something cheap, beautiful, and cheery.  Goodness, do we really have to resort to that?!  Yes.  {I'm so sick of dead stuff--everything around me is dead, gray, and covered in white slush.} How pathetic that I have to actually go to floral shops or else I'm going to loose my mind!!! haha!

However!!!  Momentarily, I was transported to a warmer place...full of flowers, grass, trees, birds chirping....a picnic blanket, bare feet, and children laughing outside.  ahhhh...someday....  


here are my beauties from yesterday:

Strep, Fitness Challenge, and Snow

Okay, first things first - I've been on 'break' for the past few days on account of my strep throat issues.  {gag}  Have you ever had strep?!  It's strong enough to knock a horse down.  Luckily I've got some good meds and feeling SO much better, so now I can peel myself from the couch and shower for heaven's sake.  Gross.

In the meantime...I'm still collecting and logging in all of you who have paid thus far.  Because I've had kids clawing at me all day and because I'll have kids clawing at me all day tomorrow, I'm moving a little slow but I'm hoping to have a final list posted by tomorrow afternoon.  Stay tuned!!  If your check is in the mail, DON'T PANIC.  If you need to use Paypal, feel free to use my email address.

And whatta whopper of a snowstorm we got over here!!!  I don't think my area got hit as hard as most of the country, but we got a good amount of snow.  I love it!!!  If we're going to get a storm, for heaven's sake, make it a good one!!!

Here's the wall-o-snow out my front door.  It doesn't look like much in the photo, but if I were to stand in the snow right there, it would be up to my knee caps.  Yeeeeahhh.

Can  you see the snow blowing?!  Well, it is. 

...and here, too.  All that white fuzz is a whole mess of snow coming down.  

...speaking of messes...my little Baby Spaz.  I realize she doesn't look like she could trip you up, slap you sideways, fling slime, and destroy anything in her path, but she can.  She can also laugh so hard, dance like a maniac, and snuggle.  I love this little creature!

She walks now. Totally.  On her own.  What has happened to my little baby?!  She's practically an adult now.  One year old in a couple of weeks.  My goodness.

aaaand...this is what I do when I'm trying to loose weight in a blizzard. {cringe!} 

 Chocolate Chip Coconut Cookies.  {heaven in your mouth}

Don't you want one?!  They're warm, gooey, and so incredibly rich and chocolatey with a tiny hint of toasted coconut.  Heaven.

mmmmm....what a good day!

Winter Blah and other stuff

First things first -  fitness challenge info coming soon when I get more than 5 minutes of spare time - eeek!  I have WWAAAAAYYY too many irons in the fire but at least it keeps my mind off of winter. {ugh! with emphasis!}   I have a big stack of your jackpot money and I will post a list as to who has paid up.  Don't fret - if you sent it, I probably have it.  When my little busy-body baby goes down for a nap, can go over my list.  Or I can sit in silence. hmmm...

Anyway - does anybody else feel done with winter?!  I'm completely done with it.  Snow is falling with big, fat, slow, beautiful flakes and all I can think about is springtime blooms.  So what do I do?!  I go to my fave Etsy artist, Katie Daisy at  The Wheatfield - and order some prints for my collection to hang on my walls to remind me that life is beautiful, bright, colorful, and happy!  This is my collection thus far - I think I'm her biggest fan!!!

...I love this. This is it, isn't it?! Life isn't always perfect, but this is it, so make the best of it, right?! And the colors in this are amazing.  Makes me giddy.  It's pretty much all of my favorites in one place.

 {gasp!} Don't you LOVE this little birdie?!  I've got a chocolate brown guest bathroom and that's where he lives.  It brightens up the place!

This just makes me smile looking at it - still looking for the perfect spot on my walls...

This one was my first print - I ordered a huge one to go in a 11 x 14 frame AND I ordered a custom oval-shaped mat from JoAnn's to frame it with - that's how much I love this print!  When I get it hung on the wall I'll show it off to  you.  OH how I love this painting - it completely takes my mind off of the bleak, gray days here.

Ahhh.  I feel more cheerful now!!

Oh, WHAT do you do?!

Workin' on a project.  {GASP!]  Well, that is, between chasing my baby all over the house removing small items from her chubby little hands and her soggy mouth, peeling poopy outfits off of her (I SWEAR...how does she produce all of that?!), doing dishes, fighting my desire to lay down and sleep, feeding people, cleaning up random messes that seem to multiply behind my back, and many more exciting and fulfilling tasks.  I'm trying to squeeze in a Christmas project here and there, which is why I remain madly in love with embroidery right now because you can set it down and pick it up whenever.  perfect!

But what do you do when you're ready to step out of your funk, leave the house, breathe in some fresh fall air, stop the madness for a moment, and escape?!  

You RUN over to the bakery, grab two gorgeous looking specimen, go home giggling, put the little ones down for a nap (or, for heaven's sake, find something mindless and numbing for them like cartoons) and have a TASTE TEST!!!  (by the way, I was totally wearing my 'cookie pants' and slippers with my hair pulled back and no shower!  How rad is that?!)

SO....today's challenge is...German Chocolate vs. Coconut Cream.  (notice the absence of fondant...haha.)

As you see here, both are beautiful with their own desirableness.  (is that even a word?)

Of course, I'm a chocolate addict, but I'm also a coconut freak, so between the two cupcakes, this should prove to be a difficult competition. aaakk! I love a tough challenge!!!

 NO BRAINER.  The German Chocolate wins hands-down.  The coconut cupcake is merely so-so because they used that nasty Crisco-like frosting, which, frankly, creeps me out.  Sorry, coconut cream.  (It needed cream-filling, that's what, and there might have been some challenge here.)

The German Chocolate has more flavor, the frosting isn't whipped Crisco, and, well, just look at it!  It's heaven!  What am I going to do when I don't live by this bakery anymore?!    

There you have it, folks.  A perfect way to escape reality, if just for a moment.

  

(side note:  because I'm trying to eat 'smarter', as hard as that might be to believe, I'm actually done tasting the cupcakes and I'm going to put them in the fridge and/or throw them away.  I only needed a taste.  It's a good feeling when you can do that.  A few dollars is worth my sanity!)