Busy Little Beavers....

We have been some busy little beavers in this household! Sorry its been so long since I've posted :( I really will try to be better this summer. Is everyone else's summer just crazy? I mean its only technically been summer for like 6 days... but yea its been hectic. Here's what we've been up to...

Vacation time!!!
JDub took a whole week off for vacation! Yes.... we were still sick... I'll spare you all the details... but lets say pneumonia was the main culprit! We hung around our house for a couple days... and headed to Dubuque, IA!!! Whoo hoo... I know some of you might be like what?! But the kids really had a blast. We stayed at the Grand Harbor hotel right there on the Mississippi.

It was all right... I wouldn't say it was fabulous... but it was decent. And the main attraction was the indoor water park!! (you can see the tube slide coming out in the picture above)

I know.. I won't be getting "mother of the year" letting my child with pneumonia go swimming... but he had been on antibiotics for a week! And you should have seen Ceej's little face!!! He had SOO much fun. The park was just about perfect for our 2 year old and almost 4 year old. It probably would have been better if they were a little older to enjoy all of it (we did not have life jackets/floaties for them so the areas that were 3 feet and up were off limits unless we were holding them.. and they weren't up for that). But they really loved it. They wanted to go back to the water again the next day... but Bubba was throwing up for some reason... and Ceej's cough was pretty bad so we just did it that first night.

We were within walking distance of the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium as well. 

The boys loved looking at all the fish( I got the idea to go here for the vacation b/c they actually request that we grocery shop at Wal-Mart just so they can see the fish!) The funniest part was there was a cave inside; and that and this log thing were where they kept wanting to go. I can't even remember how many times we went back to those attractions!

Bubba and me entering the cave!!

Ceej playing with the fireplace where you load the logs. You would grab a "log"
 from the back and then pull that handle down and put the log in to increase the flame!

It was really too bad we were all coughing so much. We got some lovely stares from people...and most of the pictures of me looked like this...

I'm sure JDub would be appalled to read this... but lets just say all the coughing made me think of a good movie quote.... Name that movie!!! 

"if peeing in your pants is cool.... consider me Miles Davis!" 

And I am that old lady... an average of 3 times a day.... yep you read it right.... an AVERAGE of 3 times a day... believe me I am not proud of this... but hey it is what it is... JDub says I should be more discreet... but eh... hopefully I got a few laughs!

Family in town!!!!

My sis from TN was in town with my nephew for the past 2 weeks too! We went to parks, splash pads, movies, Chuck E Cheese... so not a whole lot of down time! It was awesome getting the cousins together and watching them play :)

Oh yea did I mention on top of that I was watching a co-worker's of JDub's daughter during the weekdays too?!  She's 6... and a girl!? So I wasn't sure how it would go. But I think she had fun! We did all the girly things I don't really get to do with my boys... like manicures... braiding hair... making bracelets... I might be watching her again later this summer... she's a sweetie! I really had to dig around to find some dress up clothes for her though... not used to that with my boys!

Sewing!!!

Well I have manged to work on a few things... A friend of mine from my small group asked me to make her a couple of my stuffed dinos (if you need a refresher click the link dino bday party) for her two son's upcoming birthdays! She had seen one of the dino's at church a while back and thought they'd be great gifts! I am working well under pressure... her eldest son's birthday is July 5th... so I've been working hard. I forgot to take a picture of the other one I made... but I promise I'll update this post with a pic of the "Iowa Hawkeye" themed dino when it is complete.

****UPDATE... here's the dino!!

I'm old!!!

Speaking of birthdays.... I just had one! I'm 28 years young.... I was feeling officially old after NOT being ID'd for my wine at dinner on the eve of my birthday. We had a waiter that looked about 12 and he did not ask for my ID :( boo hoo. That hadn't happened in a while. But don't you worry!!!! I got that young feeling again when a new cable provider came up to my door and asked if the homeowner was available!!! Gotta love that. He was quite embarrassed... I suppose I should have said it made my day!

Ugh I am pooped right now... my usual take a nap.. or sit on my butt and blog time during afternoon naps has turned into me trying to squeeze a workout and shower in before the boys wake up! I managed to mop the kitchen floor as well :)

I hope you are all having a fabulous summer so far!

June 2012 updates

Alllllllllllllllrighty then...... (holla Ace Ventura!)

I figured some of you distant family out there (and anyone else who's interested!) Might like to hear some updates going on around here!

Kosama ends :(
I am quite saddened by this..... But my stint of working out with Kosama is over :( It was sooo awesome. And while I truly miss the workouts everyday, I'm not really missing getting up at 4:30 am! Here's a refresher of my new hot bod kosama-before-and-after . So what do I do now?! Well.... I've managed to do 3 workouts here at home since my last official Kosama workout (back on May 29) so not too bad.... It's hard to find the time when you're not getting up at the butt-crack of dawn! But its not like I can blare Kei$ha that early at home and hop around my living room w/o waking everyone. I'm hoping to keep up with my own workouts whether its walking, videos, different movements from Kosama that I can remember..... that way I don't lose all my hard work. If anyone is looking for a workout partner for some sort of (cheap) Yoga or Zumba class let me know?! :)

Sick again....
Yea are you tired of reading about my sicknesses? Cause I'm sure tired of it... it is ridiculous!! But yes, we are all sick and still getting over it. I hate to be Negative Nancy here... but after posting "I hope you all have a blessed Memorial day weekend" Mine pretty much blew... chunks... JDub worked Saturday and Sunday... to be off Monday but too sick to do anything fun. Ceej also developed a TERRIBLE cough that will not go away.... (yep its still here 2 weeks later!) We went to urgent care the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend b/c Bubba said his ear hurt (yep, it was infected!) Then of course I got sick Tuesday (after at least working out). I didn't develop the sore throat and cough until a week later... but did have fever/chills/feeling like someone had taken a baseball bat to my head....

So yea.... sorry if I haven't made an effort to call or write you... I've been busy with that.... and lazy; a mixture of the two really! I did manage to give myself a pedicure though!

who's got a boat? I'm ready for some smooth sailin'

who doesn't love ruffles?

So I came across this beauty at a garage sale last year.....



















It's a pretty simple nighty... pink cotton with satin around the edge of the arms and neckline. A little butterfly detail and some lace as well.

I tell you what, it looked comfortable, AND it was on a table listed "FREE"! So of course I grabbed it up. JDub instantly hated it... he said all he can picture (every time I wear it) was the "unattractive, large lady" from the garage sale we purchased it from. I will admit it did resemble a muu muu..........

But hey it was free and comfortable!? And its not like I was wearing it out in public or anything.

Any way, I decided to doll it up a bit :)

First I took it in a little on each side. Not too much.... but just a little so the armpit holes weren't gaping so much. I also seam-ripped and removed the front portion, with some satin and lace... The look wasn't bad but I just thought I'd change the neckline a bit. I used the excess fabric from taking it in and made some new "straps" for the front of the nighty. Since I seam-ripped everything the outer satin edging was already there to sew everything back on.

It still looked a bit frumpy, so I took some of the length off.

And I added some white ruffles!

Isn't it cute now? I know I'm prolly getting a bit old to wear frilly things... but eh I'm not 30......yet...

p.s. here is a fabulous link on how to add ruffles! ruffles tutorial

And the winner is.........

Blue polka dot!!!! (by a whopping 73%!) It's funny to see what dress people really like cause I was almost thinking it would be #1. Thanks so much for all of your input and votes :) I appreciate your help.... you saved me a good hour of trying to figure out what to wear!


me wearing the dress circa 2005 :)

Now let's just hope JDub makes it back in time from working out of town...... otherwise I'll get all dolled up for nothing?!

Oooo and I just bought some new Lia Sophia jewelry I'm excited to wear with it too!!

Have a blessed Memorial's Day weekend everyone!

Which Bridesmaid Dress should I re-wear?

Ok folks... its that time again. I can't decide what I want to wear?! It seemed to work out so well for my new year's eve post... I thought I'd try it out again.

Please see my poll on the right side and choose for me ok?! Cast your vote :)

Bridesmaid dress #1

This might look familiar to some of you... I did this "remake" a while back when I was obsessed with shirring everything! (see the original post here ) I wore the original dress as a maid of honor for my sister's wedding......... And I wore the remake to a friends wedding last summer and it was a hit! I had several readers at the wedding and they recognized it immediately :)

Bridesmaid dress #2

This lovely lady was suppose to appear at my eldest sister's wedding...... But then she eloped...... in Vegas! No alterations needed for this one.... and I did happen to wear it to 5+ weddings back in college...... but its cute right?! So what's one more time?

Bridesmaid dress #3

This is a dress originally worn by my sister, for MY wedding. Yep... this is the dress I chose for my bridesmaids! Looking back I'm thinking I should have gone a different route... but hey I was young... and in love.. and all that good stuff... I will probably NOT wear these shoes with it... but I was in a hurry to snap a photo! 

Assuming JDub does not have to work next weekend... we have a wedding reception to attend! I've only met the girl once... its a co-worker of his but you decide for me... What should I wear?

Please vote on the poll on the right. Thanks much!

Chalk it up

So ever since JDub ripped the wood paneling down in our kitchen I've been itching to redo the walls! We have this one tiny sliver of a wall; I thought might be cool to do something special.....

The gray area was covered with wood paneling.... there were too many different shades of "wood" going on with the new kitchen flooring and existing wood floor so it had to go anyway.

After a trip to Home Depot the lady convinced me I should try a magnetic/chalkboard wall... and get the best of both worlds... yea not so much. I hate to give bad reviews... but I did 4 (one more than the recommended 3) coats of the magnetic primer paint to find out that even the tiniest magnets would not cling to my wall! What a waste of hours of my time.... and $$ on that stupid paint. That paint was nasty too... kinda like Kilz.... it did not clean up well at all.

But at least the chalkboard top coat (2 coats applied) seems to be working great. You have to rub chalk all over the entire surface before being able to write. AND I had wait 3 DAYS  before being able to do that... try to tell that to an almost 4 year old dying to draw on the walls.... But all in all I'd say it was a success... its a mess! But at least chalk will wash out... for the most part I think....

I had picked these cute, hand-held chalkboards at a garage sale a while back... but they had lost their ability for chalk to write on it so I refinished it with the chalkboard paint and they are "good as new". I hated to cover up the alphabet letters and numbers....

I figure after the initial newness of the wall wears off I might be able to use it for reminders.... or cute messages... who knows... I might have to change to white chalk though! We have quite a rainbow going on right now....

Foosball is the devil Bobby Boucher!

So boys will be boys... and they will be rough on clothes. I rarely buy new clothes for the boys. They grow so fast, and are messy! I'd much rather buy used (cheap) clothes.... And sometimes they get a little worn out. After I patched up Ceej's jeans with Elmo..........

Bubba was getting a little jealous and requested one of his worn out pants get a patch too!

After some consideration..... he went with a football. I had some scrap brown fabric and white fleece...

It took some manipulation... but I was able to get the pants positioned so I could use the zig-zag stitch on my machine. It went a lot faster than hand-stitching :)

Its not perfect... but I was instantly gratified seeing his little face light up and hearing him say " my football pants!"

Atkins ready-to-eat shakes are delicious!

Since I started my Kosama workout... I've been sampling some different protein shakes and treats... I'm talking the ready-to-eat versions... I know you can buy protein powders and make your own shakes and all that.... but they say you should get a good serving of protein within 30 minutes of finishing your workout... and I can't exactly run a blender at 6:00 am :)

I had the unfortunate circumstance of up-chucking not once... but twice after eating certain protein bars and I just couldn't eat them anymore (my weird bout of the flu or whatever that was plaguing me a couple of months ago). They were ok... but pretty dry and I really did try to eat them a couple weeks after throwing them up but I felt like I would spew again so I gave them to JDub to keep in his work bag when he's on outages.

I have tried the Slim-fast ready-to-eat shakes (the Cappucino Delight I believe).... the Muscle Milk ready to eat (flavor vanilla creme) and the Atkin's ready-to-eat... I have to say that Atkin's is BY FAR the yummiest. Slim-fast tends to have a nasty, chalky aftertaste..... and the Muscle Milk was disgusting... I don't really know how to describe it... it was sweet... but a gross kind of sweet. I prefer real sugar myself... I like real sugar in my tea and coffee.. (I've tried stevia, Splenda, Sweet-n-low, Truvia..... nothing beats real sugar!!!) so whatever it was they were using to sweeten the Muscle Milk was not working for me. I bought the four pack and suffered through... but now I know!

As far as the Atkins varieties go... I have tried Vanilla, Cafe Caramel, and the Mocha Latte. They are all delicious! It's almost like you're drinking a real iced coffee!

The stats might not be as high as the Muscle Milk was... I believe it had 20g Protein... compared to the 15 of the Atkins... but I'll take 5g less when it tastes this good!!! I don't drink these to replace a meal or anything... I just usually chug it after my workout and then eat breakfast an hour or so later...

I know they're not the most cost effective way... but they are convenient. Just thought I'd share b/c they are sooo yummy! (I know my friend H has tried them and loved it as well!)

Shaun the Sheep Bday

Well Ceej's 2nd birthday came and went!!! Wow... I can hardly believe my little babe is 2 now... not so little anymore :(

If you couldn't guess from his party invitations we went for a "Shaun the Sheep" birthday event! Thanks to Pinterest I was able to find a few cute things to try myself!

"carrot" utensils

After all..... sheep love to eat carrots right?! At least they do on Shaun the Sheep anyway....

pom-pom sheep

Each cousin that made it to the party got to take home their very own miniature sheep! Can you tell which one is Shaun?!

Sheep craft for kiddos

It really was too bad the second I get everything in place for the party......... it started raining!

the aftermath of the rain.....

pin the tail on the sheep

We just moved the party inside and did our crafts and played a little pin the tail on the sheep! Then we dined on sheep cupcakes and sheep poop! :)

sheep cupcakes

sheep "poop" (a.k.a. chocolate covered raisins, peanuts, or almonds)

All in all I'd say the kiddos had a good time. A big thank you for Pinterest for the idea on the cupcakes, carrot utensils, pom-pom sheep, and sheep craft! The sheep poop was all my idea though!!!

I even found these cute carrot bubble containers for all the kids as well.

carrot bubbles

You can find the links for any of the sheep ideas here.............

Pom-pom sheep......... pom-pom shaun tutorial

Sheep craft................. cotton ball sheep craft

As far as the sheep cupcakes go........... the Pinterest original looked like this....

pinterest original inspiration

my version of the cupcakes

I modified mine to look more Shaun-esque. I used marshmallow fondant to form the sheep heads and ears and you can find the recipe here: marshmallow-fondant recipe . When I first looked at the recipe I was like what is icing sugar?! But turns out its just powdered sugar! I bought candy eyes (who knew they had such a thing?!) at Target :)

I have to say Ceej's Shaun the Sheep party was OFF THE BAAAAA! :)

For the Love of ELMO

So I don't know when exactly.... but Ceej has developed a love for our furry friend, Elmo. He received some Elmo pj's over Christmas (thanks Grandma!!! :) ) and the other day while I was trying to change his diaper I went to take of these said Elmo pj bottoms. He threw the biggest fit. He did not want to take Elmo off... even if it meant getting a nice clean diaper! Finally I side-tracked him enough to get them off... we were going to get dressed for the day... but instead he had to put the Elmo bottoms back on!!! I decided it wasn't worth the battle (we weren't going anywhere that day anyway) so I let him keep them on.

He did the same thing on Sunday morning when it came time to go to church.... although this time JDub got to see the wrath of our almost 2 year old... Daddy won of course... we weren't going to wear Elmo to church on Easter Sunday!!!

I think I first picked up on Ceej's obsession when we were reading our "10 Minutes Til Bedtime" book. There's a lot going on in this book for the little amount of reading there actually is. At first I was annoyed with the book (thanks Grandma!!!) but I actually like it now. Ceej points out his favorite things and sometimes uses his words... But you can count on him finding this...........

Can you see it? I didn't even notice it because there is so much going with all the hamsters... but of course my lil Ceej would find Elmo in all that! Don't even try to turn the page until he has pointed him out! And sometimes we have to go back for a second peek at the end of the book as well...

Anyway... with all the Elmo love around here I came across these pair of jeans.

I believe they were hand-me-downs from a cousin... and well as you can see they've had a lot of wear and tear on them! They are only 2T as well... I thought since we are lacking on Elmo clothes maybe I could make some!

I took my hand at drawing our little red friend....

And made some extra copies of his eyes and nose and mouth......

I just love my scraps! If JDub had his way they would be in the trash but I have managed to turn them into something! I had fleece in red, orange, and white....

Good Friday

We hear "Thank God it's Friday" (T.G.I.F.) a lot. But let us thank God for Good Friday. Honestly I don't like thinking about Good Friday. It makes me so sad and hurts my heart. To think of poor, sinless, Jesus dying that horrible death...... for me... for ALL of us. I know it was all in the plan... God knew all along it had to happen and so did Jesus. But its still not fun to think about... but we do need to remember that suffering. If you have some time this weekend you should take a look at Psalms 22. You can see how something that was written years before Jesus even came on this earth, prophesied what was going to take place on Good Friday. You can also take a look at Matthew 27:27-31,  Mark 15:16-20 and John 19:16-37.

I do thank God it is Friday today. I don't want this weekend to be all about the Easter Bunny and egg hunts..... But for the kids sake we'll be sure to have a little bit of both!

We've been doing our Resurrection eggs frequently over the last couple of weeks. If you have never heard of these you should make some! The kids really love opening and closing the eggs and its visual too! The eggs follow the story of Good Friday through Easter. Each egg represents something Jesus had to go through.

a cross representing the cross Jesus was crucified on

a sword representing the sword the soldiers pierced
 Jesus' side with after he passed

Thankfully I had 2 sets of resurrection eggs! (We made one at my MOPS group this year and we did 3 years ago as well!) Of course my boys end up running around trying to stab each other with the swords... Bubba did a better job of listening and following along with each egg patiently.... Ceej on the other hand had his eggs strewn all over the place, eating half the bread in #1.... stealing the money out of #2....  but I think its good to show our kids these things! And while they might not fully understand now... at least hopefully they'll be a little more aware.