NYE runner up

And the New Year's Eve runner up is.............

What should I wear?!

Ok I can't figure out what dress I want to wear to JDub's Christmas Party in January!? I NEED your help. I am creating a nice little poll over to the right. So please take a minute to decide for me! The pics aren't the best.... but here it goes!

DRESS #1 H&M silver

This is a fabulous dress I got from H&M back in October when I attended Women of Faith! It was a steal at $7... brand new!!! It's a bit wrinkly in these pics.... but I will be sure to steam it when I wear it in public. I paired it (and all the others) with some black tights and cute black heels.

DRESS #2 Shirred LBD

This is my first attempt at a LBD... you might remember it from my previous post LBD . I haven't worn it out yet!!! So this could be a good time to finally wear it :)

DRESS #3 Peek a-boo Black

I'm saying Peek a boo Black b/c its yet another LBD... BUT this one has a sheer material across the shoulders! I took one pic with this mod shrug....if you will... and one w/o... This was a great buy at $5... from a consignment store, with the original price tag of $98 still attached! Gotta love it :)

So I need your help... I am terrible at making these decisions.... and JDub could care less. I'm pretty sure I could show up in my pj's and he wouldn't care! So what should I wear to his Christmas Party? It says dress "Holiday Style" on the invite...

PLEASE HELP ME BY VOTING ON MY POLL!!! The runner-up dress will be worn on Saturday as my New Year's Eve attire. Thanks :)

Home made Christmas presents! :)

So this year I tried to make most of my presents for people. I've been getting ALOT of inspiration from Pinterest and I was really excited to try out some ideas! So here's a few!

Oh yea... and if you're one of my IN-LAWS and haven't received your present... STOP READING (unless you want to have the surprise spoiled..... I figured you would have gotten your gift by now?!)



IIIIIIIIII'm dreeeeeaaaaming of a Whiiiiiiite Christ-mas!

Everybody sing it! I cannot believe we don't have any snow on the ground?! In mid-December... in Iowa... its crazy?! Now don't get me wrong... its kinda nice not having to worry about driving in the snow, or carrying kids around in it... and the mess that comes with it. But I'm going to be a little sad if we wake up on Christmas morning and its all green/brown... and NOT white :( Ceej was too little last Christmas to get out in the snow and I was really looking forward to seeing him walking around in his big snow suit :) And sledding too! I really hope we get some snow around here soon so I can get these boys worn out playing in it! And coming in to a nice fire and hot chocolate.... mmmmm

I already have my post ready for after Christmas! With all my home-made gifts!!! It has been so hard for me not to post it already.... but I've been trying to wait so I don't spoil the surprise..... it's been really hard.

How funny is this snowman?! Whoo ya gonna call? GHOST BUSTERS!!!

So since I am a dork and I get excited about clothes..... I get really excited about what I'm going to wear to parties/events?! JDub's Christmas party is coming up (in January) and I have a few options! I'm thinking I'll post pics of all the dresses I am thinking about... and then make you take a vote on which one I should wear?! What do you think? I mean JDub just doesn't care.... he's really no help. I need some input out there ok?! If I get a photographer I'll model them and you can tell me which one wins! Otherwise stay tuned for my special after Christmas post!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Peppermint Toes

JDub and I had the privilege of going out to a nice dinner with the couples in our small group the other night. It was sooo much fun! One of the couples lives in Anamosa and invited us out to dinner at a local restaurant and then back to their beautiful home. The food was delicious.. and the best part was it was just the adults!!! HAHA. Usually we have all of our children there running around being all crazy and trying to do a lesson of some sort... but with it being Christmas and all we got some sitters and had adult time. It was FABULOUS!

After eating way too much (the food was just too good!) we headed back to their house and had a white elephant gift exchange! Those can be so much fun! We had a $10 limit and the girls bought gifts for girls... and the guys bought gifts for the guys... I helped pick out JDub's gift (a knife) and he had those men fighting over that thing!!

I ended up with this by the end of it! (I think our host splurged and went over the $10 limit!)

I know your jealous!!! It was also fought over a few times too!!! I just love getting new nail polish! My toes were in some serious need of a pedicure....


candy cane pedicure

I am happy to say I only need to finish one more Christmas present and then I'll be done!!!! Yay! I'm in the home stretch.

Holey gray sweatpants, batman!

Ok so I forgot to take a before picture.... my bad... but if you have boys... or had "boys" at some point... you can picture what these pants looked like before (extremely holey in the knee). Boys are rough on clothes... because well... they're rough in general! Or at least my boys are. And when you go to garage sales.... and get hand-me-downs from older cousins.... clothes seem to develop holes that much quicker! These gray sweatpants were perfect for this idea I found (on Pinterest... its getting kind of embarrassing not coming up with my own ideas anymore... but I still get the credit for completing them right?!).

I figured instead of doing a usual type of patch... I'd have a cute monster mouth one! These were just scraps of fabric (Don't throw away your scraps... give them to me! ha) I had on stash... the red is from an old sweatshirt, but I flipped it and used the inside-out, to give it a different texture. The teeth are scraps from an old ribbed tank-top. The eyes are white fleece with blue puffy paint on top!

While I thought Bubba would be thrilled to wear his new Monster mouth pants... instead he ran around screaming saying he was scared of monsters........ (I blame JDub and making him watch the old-school Rudolph with the Abominable Snow Monster... which is pretty hilarious to hear him repeat.....)

On another note.... It was my father-in-law's bday over the weekend and I thought I'd get him something you can consume.... and something that was cute :)



reindeer beer

I hope you have your Christmas shopping done....I'm almost done!!

No-Sew fabric flowers

So I came across these lovey little flowers on a website I check often. She's a very craft lady!! And her pics are great. I've done a few of her projects in past.... her website is rufflesandstuff . Her specific tutorial can be found here... flower tutorial . So I won't claim to have come up with these myself..

I wanted to make a little something for my lovely ladies that are at my table at MOPS :) Here's a few ways you can use these flowers!

These were made with scraps of fabric.... fray check... a little felt... and safety pins (oh and hot glue of course)! You could easily use hair clips or some other form of clip... I just happened to have safety pins on hand. Our table at MOPS (Mother of Pre-schoolers) is yellow, so I hope they'll enjoy these :)

I may be posting this a little prematurely... but its killing me not being able to post all the projects right when I finish them!? I am NOT good at surprises.....

200th post!

This is officially my 200th post?! Craziness huh? Its hard to believe I've had something to talk about on here 200 times... j/k... I have some really great projects to post on here! Most of them will have to wait until after Christmas though.... ( sorry folks they are presents for some of my readers :) ) But I promise after Christmas there will be lots of fun things to look at. Most of which came from Pinterest!

Here is a pic of some shirts I made for the boys......

Initially I made them so the boys could wear them for a family photo for Christmas cards....... not sure if that is still going to happen or not... Here's the thing.... I LOVE doing Christmas cards! I have so much fun browsing and figuring out which one I want to use. Filling it in, positioning the pictures... Its fun! But I usually want an actual "family photo" not JUST the kids... but JDub has pretty much said he's not up for trying to get a family photo this year... the most recent one I even have is of all of us dressed up like pirates... and that's not going on the card! My aunt was nice enough to take some photos of the boys in the shirt so I do have those... but I figure I have a week or so to try to convince JDub to let us all get a photo made.... or I can try to set up the tri-pod... we'll see how motivated I get this week...

Oh yea... its going to be hard to get anything done when I have jury duty on Monday.... Here's hoping I show up and they send me home!!! (fingers crossed)

Thankful Thanksgiving

So in honor of thanksgiving... and seeing alot of people's facebook status' reading how thankful they are........I thought I'd share a few of my thankful thoughts...

T is for Time Together :) I am so thankful for the time together with family I've had over this past year. Times with family coming up to visit... birthday parties... thankful for that extra time with JDub's grandpa before he passed...

H is for my Husband. For as much as I rip on him and jab at him..... He really is a great guy :) He's smart and handy. He is there when I need him, he works hard so I can stay home and mother our boys, and hey he's not too bad on the eyes either.

A is for Alcohol! Haha :) It's been nice being able to enjoy a drink now and again. Who doesn't enjoy a little night cap eh?

N is for Naps. Who isn't thankful for being able to enjoy a nice nap. I know all you people out there prolly think that's all I do is lounge around and then take naps... but it is a rare occasion... so I am thankful when I get one!!

K is for kisses... the extra "wet" kisses Bubba gives me... the closed mouth, no pucker kisses from Ceej... I could probably do w/o the cold/wet nose kisses from Mango though!

S is for Small Group. As I think I've mentioned... JDub and I have joined a small group at church. It's a lot of couples our age most with kids our age as well.. its been A TON of fun getting to know all of them better and just spending time with other believers. We've taken a little break this month due to business... but I'm looking forward to it starting back up in December!

G is for God. He is so amazing! I can't help but thank Him for all the wonderful blessings he continues to bestow on me and my family.

I is for the Internet... I don't know what I'd do w/o it sometimes! It can be a little bit too consuming on my time... but I like being able to get inspiration from it... stay in contact with it... and because it gave me Pinterest!!!

V is for Video... I just love being able to take videos of my lil guys and watch them over and over :) it really puts a smile on my face.

I is for inspiration. Lately I've been pretty motivated to work on crafts and gifts! It's very rewarding when one of my projects is completed.

N is for Night. Once again this girl loves her sleep... or at least her time away from kiddos... don't get me wrong I love time with them too... but gotta be thankful for the break as well!

G is for God.... yes again! He should be thanked over and over again right?! :)

I hope you are all having a great week so far and that you'll be able to spend some time relaxing with family this Thanksgiving. And eating ALOT of turkey too!! Gobble Gobble!!!

p.s. We are having to miss out on the festivities this morning...... Both boys have pink eye and an ear infection........ but I'm still thankful! At least its a sickness I know will be over soon enough. Happy thanksgiving everyone!!!

Passing on

I don't really know how to start this blog entry today....... It's a bittersweet moment really. I wrote a few entries ago about how my husband's grandfather is battling cancer. And on Saturday morning he passed. It's been a whirlwind of finding babysitters and packing bags. We're back home for now until the funeral later this week.
I say its bittersweet b/c I know he was very uncomfortable being in that hospital all that time... but he will be greatly missed. Heaven is for real........ and I know he's up there right now hanging out with Jesus! So while we are really going to miss him around here... he is in a better place. We love you 'Papa Great' and we look forward to seeing you again in heaven :)

No Shave November

So JDub informed me that it is "No Shave November"......... or some people like to make it "Movember" and just try to grow a mustache....... why is everyone so obsessed with mustaches these days? I really don't get it....... you can find mugs with them on it...

you can get attachments for straws....

even babies are wearing them.......

Stained onesie + pink dye = FANTASTIC!!

So a while back I told my sis I wanted to make a lil something for my niece to wear! Seeing as I'm surrounded by boys..... I thought it would be fun to change it up and make something cute for a little girl! My niece is coming up on 9 months already! Man time flies.... So I asked her for a onesie I could dye and cut up and make into something else.

First I took the stained onesie and dyed it with some Fuchsia RIT dye. Last time I dyed I did it in my washing machine... but since then we've gotten a front-loader so that wasn't going to work this time around.... And seeing as I was just dyeing a small onesie, and not 4 big panels of curtains, I just used an old gallon ice cream bucket instead. You have to make sure your onesie is completely wet...... mix the dye and warm/hot water in the bucket first, and then add the wet onesie to the bucket. Now the directions say to stir constantly for 30- 60 min... but yea that doesn't fly with me being at home watching 2 boys... so I periodically went to my utility sink and stirred when I got the chance while the boys watched Sesame Street....

I do have to say the dye job was PERFECT!!! No blotches... and the thread stayed white so that really make the color pop! Once I was done with the dyeing and washing and drying afterward.... I decided to use my scrap material leftover from my brown crushed velvet dress :)

Tag blanket

So you give a baby a toy and what do they go straight for?......... THE TAG! I've actually had a few of the Taggie brand clothes... and the boys enjoyed wearing them and playing with all the tags too. Then I saw a gal at church with a tag blanket for her baby!? What a great idea... of course I go straight to Pinterest and search and see what I can find... I found this nice tutorial click here if you'd like to see it! Now I didn't get all fancy like she did with the crinkle material corner... and I ended up just using scraps around my house... so really next time I'll have to get some really cute stuff... but here it is!

It was beyond easy... I made the whole thing (cutting fabric to size, cutting the ribbons, pinning sewing, even ironing) while the boys took their afternoon nap! I had some scrap fleece from my mother-in-law, the white is leftover from my toga and all the ribbon I already had! I think they'd make perfect baby gifts :) I'll have to invest in some cute fabric and ribbons now!

Let me know if you see any good deals out there?! (Especially ribbon it can be insanely expensive sometimes!)

Winter Wreath

So a friend of mine is OBSESSED with making wreaths!? I believe it came from Pinterest... but she is really good at it (you know who you are :) ) I always like to see what crafts she's working on :) she sends me texts of pictures! She does a great job. I got the bug and thought I'd try one of my own! I had this yarn leftover from some other project of mine from YEARS ago... I think it was coasters or something? Any who, I figured I'd try my hand at a wreath.

It was a multi-colored thread and it was looking awesome! Until I ran out of thread.... (cue the whaaa whaaa ....) But I also had some just regular blue thread and lots of felt from my quiet book so here she is!?

I added a little sparkle and flair with some white twigs.. What do you think?! I'm planning on making some more for Christmas presents this year. Who doesn't need a little wall decor right?!

I'm calling it a "winter wreath" but it would probably look good in any kind of blue room :)

Spider Web Pumpkin

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everybody :)

Bubba and I totally rocked this pumpkin :)

We're planning on hitting up a "trunk or treat" at my parents church and then back to hand out candy to the kiddos!! I love Halloween! Hope you enjoy your day!

Greek Goddess

So JDub and I were invited to a "costume party" of sorts over the weekend... unfortunately JDub's Grandfather's cancer is back :( So if you have a minute... please say a little prayer for him and the rest of the family. We were able to spend some time with him in the hospital while he was getting treatment :)

But I still ended up working on a costume and wanted to share it :)

I didn't get it totally done...... you can see some strings hanging down cause I didnt get it all hemmed... but not too shabby eh? I wish it was a little warmer and maybe I could wear it tomorrow........ for Halloween!!! I'm looking forward to dressing my boys up and getting some candy :)

3 ingredient Goulash

Ok so I'm pretty sure a friend of mine from high school use to make this goulash and that's where I got the recipe... but I'm not 100% sure on that! My memory has been failing me since I had kids. I use to have such a great memory! Oh the days......  Anywho... here's my favorite goulash. I seriously make it about once a week!!

1 can tomato soup (condensed)
1 box of shells n cheese (I like the Hy-Vee brand... but Velveeta does the job as well)
1 lb ground beef

Start some water to boil.... and cook the shells n cheese as directed. While waiting for the water to come to a boil cook the beef. (sometimes I like to add a little garlic... it adds a nice flavor!) then drain the grease and add the condensed soup to the beef! No water necessary. Then once the macaroni is finished (cheese sauce and all) add the beef and there you go...

Now I realize this kind of looks like barf....... LOL. But I swear its delicious.. I usually have at least 2 helpings :) And the leftovers are good too! And my boys LOVE it! Ok wait.... maybe LOVE is a strong word... they will eat it 9/10 times I make it :)

Women of Faith 2011 Conference

Oh my goodness I just had the privilege of attending the Women of Faith Conference in St. Paul, MN!!! It was sooo much fun. We had a group of 13 women from our church attend. It was very inspiring... kind of like a re-charge for your christian batteries :)

We had fun in the van on the way there... it was a tight squeeze but we managed :) A BIG thanks to a local church who let us borrow the van so we didn't have to rent one or drive in separate cars!

We headed to the Mall of America and Ikea while we were there too!! I really wasn't planning on spending that much money.. but what can you do when you find dresses for $10 and under?! I couldn't pass them up! Here's some pics of the dresses..... you can still see the $7 tag on one :) The two on the left are from H&M, and the maxi-dress was from Macy's :)

Cute huh?!
Ok back to Women of Faith....

We had some wonderful speakers!
Sheila Walsh
Dr. Henry Cloud
Luci Swindoll
Angie Smith
Lisa Harper
Nicole Johnson

They were all pretty funny too! So that was refreshing. I like some good, clean, comedy myself! The Praise Team was really great too. They were all color-coordinated for every performance.

All the speakers had interesting messages. One of my favorites (and for the whole church group as well) was Henry Cloud's on "Necessary Endings" and how to have a happy, fulfilling life, there has to be "death" in certain areas in your walk. We all need to take a close look at our lives and see what areas need "Pruning"....
Just like with roses...
1. they will produce too many buds to sustain
2. some buds are "sick" and will not get any better
3. some buds are "dead" and in the way

It could be a toxic relationship....... it could be your participation in a certain club or group that takes too much time. He also mentioned that happy people are givers. But there is a difference between giving, and being stolen from. I found that to be a really good point. If you are not appreciated for the things you are giving out....... and people are just taking your talents and trust for granted you will be bitter, and in turn unhappy. Therefor take a look at your life... Are you on a road to happiness? If you're spread too thin you need to have some necessary endings in order to enter the next season of your life.

He also mentioned enabling people... and how it needs to stop. Because not only are you not helping these people become fully-functioning adults..... but you are carrying around their needs as your own! Which is too much.... we all should realize we aren't meant to carry around our burdens... but leave them at the cross with God!

Psalm 55:22 Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you: he will never let the righteous fall.

I know easier said than done... believe me... but we all need little friendly reminders right?!

Deception vs Devotion

So JDub's out of town this week... not ALL week... just for a few days. Usually I dread when he leaves... but I've been feeling pretty good lately :) And what I mean by that is I've been kinda feeling like a great mom. I know.... I shouldn't brag... but I have to say my temper has been under control... I've been trying to say "yes" more instead of just "no" like I usually do... I make an attempt to stop what I'm doing and play at times even when all I really want to do is clean up, check my email, look at Pinterest... etc!! But yea... I know its NOT all me right.... obviously.... it's God. It's because I know I have people praying for me... me included! It's because JDub reminded me just the other week about how I need to lay off the yelling! Believe you, me..... I need those reminders sometimes! Sure it ticked me off at the time... I wanted to punch him in the face?! Don't we all? haha but here's what's annoying.....

So I was thinking to myself today... ya know... you're doing a great job at remaining calm through everything. Through Ceej waking up at 6:00 am... through him pooping 5 minutes after you just changed his diaper.... through Bubba's tantrum b/c he didn't want to stop watching cartoons to eat breakfast.... Good job handling your temper while Ceej threw his oatmeal bowl across the room and messed up the kitchen floor you JUST cleaned.... Oh wait... duh you're not the reason you're doing so well... you should thank God.

And so I did..... I'm literally in the middle of saying a little prayer of thanks for the patience I've had... for the ability to listen and play and nurture my children.... and while I'm saying that prayer it all goes out the window! Bubba's just sitting there....... NOT eating, (for the millionth time) slapping his brother...... Ceej then starts squealing at the top of his lungs while I ask him to please stop...... when he finally stops squealing Bubba starts in... and then they both squeal while I ask again several times for them to stop and eat....... and finally it gets to me and I scream! Then I wonder to myself...... why is it the second I am praising and thanking God for everything... it all goes wrong?! Why is it that I can't get a break?! Why... and then I think oh yea... its Satan... being a jerk... he hears/sees me all happy and content and thinks here's a challenge........ or maybe not even a challenge but an opportunity.....

I came across this bible study regarding 2 Corinthians 11:3. I really enjoyed it...
Deception vs devotion

2 Corinthians 11:3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

In conclusion I got my temper under control... and my focus back to thanking God. Sure there are some bumps in the road... but its a good thing God's love is unfailing!!

Psalm 143:8 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.

Shaun the Sheep

Can I just tell you I've been mad at Netflix quite a bit lately?! First they got rid of Monsters Inc. on their instant viewing.... (its really hard for a 2 year old to understand how Netflix took the movie away... NOT Mommy......) then they jacked up their prices........ and now they got rid of Word World on their instant too?! You're killing me?! It was so nice to just be like ok... Mommy needs a 20 min break... I'll just start an episode of Word World (Bubba's latest obsession).

But yea they took it off there... I know its probably not Netflix... and PBS or something that did it... but still it was bumming me out. I was looking for other kid-friendly shows and JDub found Shaun the Sheep... the first time he started it I was like WHAT?............... But I have to tell you I love it now. Before I use to kind of turn it on and walk out of the room and get stuff done... and now I find myself snuggling and wanting to watch it with the kids?!

I think the thing I like best is there's no talking... sure there's a lot of "baa'ing" and some mumbling and stuff... but there's no annoying cartoony voices... and Bubba likes to sing along with the theme song which is too cute. It's pretty funny too. You should check it out if you have kiddos :) Or even if you don't! Ha! I highly recommend it!

Quiet Book #1

Ok... so much for input out there people!?! J/k.... I know my mom is just about the only one who reads this... and well she's out of town and prolly NOT checking my blog :)

I did end up doing flaps with numbers on the 2nd to last page :) It took a while to put everything together... and I had to get my seam-ripper out b/c I messed up a couple times.... But here she is!!! Or I guess I should call it a "he" since its more boy-themed than girl :)

I saw this website on Pinterest of course... and wanted to try my hand at it! After browsing around and seeing other peoples' quiet books I pulled some ideas and got started!

I really liked how clean and simple the original inspiration quiet book was... but honestly I got lazy.... so that's why you see alot more puffy paint rather than nice, felt lettering :)



I was going to add a "Vroom Vroom" on there somewhere...
or maybe a little puffy paint house at the end of the road..

So I haven't let the boys play with it that much yet.... I kind of want to save it for church! I'll have to let you know how it goes on Sunday :)

Quiet Book (in progess)

Ok y'all... I NEED YOUR HELP!!! I am currently trying to make my boys a "quiet book" to play with during church.... Here's what I have so far...

And here's where I need the help... I wanted to do a counting theme for the last pages.... but I can't figure out what to do?!

I figured the boys would like sliding the beads back and forth... but they took up a lot of space?! I was almost thinking I could have flaps on the other side with objects on top... and under the flaps would be the number "5" or "4" whatever number was on top... thoughts on that?! I need input please!!!

Thanks :)