Popsicle fun

So I had some popsicle sticks JDub decided to wash and hold on to for some sort of craft... I've had them for a while... and then thought of this!

It was super easy to create... yes I am a freak and already owned all of these colors of felt! I know there aren't any gray and black popsicles... but eh... I had the felt! The boys had fun being quiet and playing with them during church today! So I'd say they were a success.

And of course they are educational too!!

Who wants a Popsicle now?!

I have an announcement

Well folks.... its that time again... time to have ANOTHER baby... oh jeez. I'm starting to wonder what we were thinking... JDub and I... even talking about having another baby... because its like once we have the talk then BAM! I'm pregnant... It literally was that fast! I guess God knew all along it was time :)

I'm not gonna lie. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really hope its a girl. I mean obviously I will be happy with whatever God gives us.... but I can hope right?!

There goes my hot bod :( Oh well I suppose I got it back after 2 babies..... so I can do it again right?! I just might have to join Kosama again when its all said and done! I am already showing... which is quite ridiculous... I'm not even fully through my 1st trimester and its like there's the belly. I know part of it is b/c I have to eat every 2 hours... I know some of you are like yea right... you don't HAVE to eat every 2 hours... and you're right I don't have to... unless I want to feel all pukey and light-headed! And the other part is I have not worked out in forever... like pretty much since I posted about working out 4/5 days... it was like oh wait... I have no energy what is my deal... oh yea I'm preggo. I know you can still workout when you're pregnant.... I just haven't had the energy to! I'm hoping I'll get some here soon though...

hot bod after 2 babies

And to all you people who don't gain 50+ pounds when you are pregnant.... that's awesome... I'm jealous really... I don't know how you do it... well maybe you just don't eat like a cow and you workout too... and that's great. But for me... I'll just gain it all and then hopefully lose it by working my butt off after the baby arrives.... So don't tell me to only gain 25-35 pounds.... cause I might just punch you in the face :) Blame the hormones!!!

this will be me in 7 months...

Anyone want to make predictions on when my belly button will pop? They try to say its like a turkey thermometer popping out... once that happens the turkey is done!.... yea not so much with me... I'm guessing month 4 it'll be out..

Also just a fun little fact... BOTH of my sister's are pregnant right now too?! Joke's on grandma I guess :) Love you Mom!!

School, Lies, and Bedtime

Oh my goodness... where do I even start?! Bubba is in full-swing of preschool. Thank goodness he is loving it. At first he was very hesitant.. He said something sweet like "I don't want to go... I want to hang out with you Mommy...." and normal mom's would probably be all "Oh isn't he just the sweetest I don't want to send him off?!" Yea... well I'm not normal! I look forward to a couple hours away... And if you ask me... 12:45-3:15 really isn't long enough.. I mean Ceej barely gets a nap in with all his tantrums... but oh well... for a free preschool I guess I shouldn't be complaining!

Bubba has turned into a liar of sorts... JDub says I shouldn't call him a liar... but that's what he is?! Why sugar-coat it?! Just today he's eating lunch (hot-dog, peaches, and broccoli) and I'm trying to look somewhat presentable, getting ready in the bathroom because even though I start lunch at 11:30 my children rarely finish before we need to leave no later than 12:35...... when he's all "Can I get down?!" I left him with 3 pieces of broccoli to finish.... so I ask if he's eaten his broccoli... he says he has.... I go in to confirm and lo and behold his plate is clean! I praise him for finishing his food (knowing he was whining about having to eat his broccoli for about 10 minutes...) And proceed to the trash to find THE 3 PIECES OF BROCCOLI SITTING ON TOP?! Ok... where do they learn this from? And I'm sorry if he really wants to get away with it he has to do a better job than that (at least hide it under the rest of the trash....) I do have to give him props for admitting he lied... but still he has to get that little smirk on his face the instant he knows he's caught! Just like his father that one is... whenever we get into an argument about something or I'm angry he's instantly laughing and I just want to punch him in the face! (his father... not Bubba...) Anyway... he's been lying about the dumbest things... but I'm not really sure how to deal with it. I've tried reasoning with him, I've tried time-outs, I've tried taking things away... nothing is really working yet...

Oh Ceej.... my cute little punk Ceej.... The "blu paci" as he calls it... is gone... I kind of made him get rid of it cold-turkey... I know its a bit mean considering how much he loved it... but I was getting really tired of him waking up in the middle of the night frantic b/c he couldn't find it (If you know me at all you should know I don't like my sleep to be interrupted...) Bubba is going to bed a little earlier now that he has school in the afternoons and can't take naps. We hadn't been making Ceej go to bed any earlier b/c he can still nap during the day. Well a couple weeks ago Ceej made me go through the drill of putting him to sleep to only get out of bed and say "no sleepy". Yea well I wasn't in the mood so I said "you can go to sleep now... WITH your paci.... or you can go to sleep later.. WITHOUT it..." I repeated it several times and he just laughed and smiled running around like crazy. So later that night he went to bed w/o it. Only he didn't go to bed. He proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs and cry and carry on forever. That first night JDub was a trooper and he laid with him until he fell asleep. The second night I tried to lay with him until he fell sleep after lots of explaining... but apparently I am not a ninja and can not get out of his bed the way JDub does and he woke up clinging to me for dear life. Let's just say its been a couple weeks now and we are still struggling......... we've stopped the laying with him and moved on to the holding the door shut keeping him in his room. I believe it went on for over and hour 2 nights ago... and last night was a much shorter-lived tantrum. I can only pray God will help him through it (and help me not break down) because it is exhausting every night and every nap-time to go through this. Its hard to believe some stupid piece of plastic used to make him curl up in his bed and go right to sleep no fuss!

At least I had a nice surprise this morning.... Bubba slept in til 8:00! He NEVER does that... and Ceej slept in til 7:30 :) Well technically he came into bed with me around 6:20... but he fell back asleep until 7:30... I really do love my kids... I just also really love my sleep :)

Pirate Birthday Party

Well folks... its what you've all been waiting for!!! (okay... maybe its just what I've been waiting for....)

Bubba's Pirate Party is complete!! Yay! I have to thank my mom for all of her help... she did soo much the day of the party (I owe you!) And for my sis for helping me with the cake, and for JDub for helping with the boat, and for everyone that came! It was a blast. I have to admit I did not do a great job of taking photos... (I was pretty frantic the day of the party) but thankfully my mother-in-law took some wonderful photos for me to share!

goodies for the kiddos included duct-tape and cardboard swords, mini-treasure chests, beach balls, and eye-patches.

orange boats floating in a sea of blue berry jello!

pirate ship cake

How cute are these cookies! Emi's Treats did an awesome job!

pin the parrot on the pirate

Beware of sharks!

So when I told JDub I wanted a pool full of water he did a double-take.... Really?! He said.. Let's just say the kids had a blast... but it was a mess! Ceej's pants came off quick and he was swimming around before you knew it. My niece got in on that action as well. 

Didn't JDub do an awesome job on my boat?! We had part of our swing set behind there so each kid could get up tall and "be on a boat".

a view from inside the boat... this was when we were setting the party up! See Ceej already diggin in the sand?!

each child dug for a rubber duckie, some beaded necklaces, gold coins, and buccaneers!

I think the kiddos loved digging in the sand for their "trasures". All though between that and the water it sure got messy! But really can kids have any fun if they're not making a mess or getting dirty?!

I'm not sure why some of the pics are so grainy... but anywho it was a lot of fun!

I got the banner, eye-patches, mini-black treasure chests, rubber duckie pirates, pirate beach balls, and some temporary tattoos all from Oriental trading. Everything was really great quality I thought. A few of the treasure chests were broken... but I figured that would happen.

I found the idea for the jello orange boats from Pinterest!!! Jell-O orange boats

I also came across the Pirate Ship cake recipe on this link. Pirate Ship Cake I have to say I put the cakes in saran-wrap and put them in the freezer for about 4 hours and it all came together great. I did also use some straws inside the cake for extra support.

Those awesome cookies were from Emi's Treats. If you are in the Cedar Rapids area and in need of delicious/cute cookies you should check her out! Here's her fb page... http://www.facebook.com/EmisTreats


Well folks... I tell you what even though the party was yesterday and we had a lazy day today... I am still pooped! I know some of you might be thinking I went a bit over-board for a 4 year old's birthday.... but eh... Bubba loved it so much! And with his birthday being so close to when school starts... I figure he wont' be able to have all these elaborate parties when he's in school right?! Or maybe if I'm crazy enough he will... who knows!

Refashionista inspiration

Ok... So I know I haven't re-fashioned much lately... for myself anyway... I just hadn't been inspired much I guess. Well thanks to my friend TJB!!!!! I found http://refashionista.net/ She is good!!! And so freaking tiny. So of course she can take just about anything (a pillowcase) and turn it into some sort of dress. It would take one gigantic pillowcase to do that for me... but anywho... her stuff is cute! You should check her out. I'll admit a lot of her dresses are duplicates... but they sure are cute!

Well I mentioned we had a garage sale a couple weeks ago... it wasn't too bad! I, personally, made over $100! Sounds good to me. Well of course not everything sold... and my mom had a few shirts in there too... I snagged this one!

it was a XL before

I don't know why I had never thought of it before.... but the refashionista just turns her stuff inside out and pins along where it needs to be taken in... and then sews along the pins... so much easier than cutting and repinning like I've usually  been doing. It does however make me wish I had a dress form!

see the yellow pins?!

i started where the flowy part of the sleeves started and moved on down....

however... i should have sewed on the other side of the pins!!! oh well...

So it turned out allright... not the best... but the material is soo soft and comfy! The boob area is the problem... See an XL obviously has room for some XL boobies... and mine are not so XL... I might have to go back and tweak it a little.

the boob area needs some help....

But hey, it is super comfy! It was still a little warm to wear for today... but I will def rock it in the cooler temps!

2012 Summers ending....

Allright folks... I've been a little M.I.A. lately. My apologies! I've been watching kids, having garage sales, and JDub's been working over the weekends lately.

This summer just flew by didn't it?! Ok... so technically its not over, but its getting close! JDub has one more week of vacation coming up so that should be good. I'm a little sad we haven't been camping though... (we broke my parents camper last summer.... so maybe its a good thing b/c once you go camper, you don't really want to go back to tent...). I have a feeling we'll hit up a zoo somewhere... and get out and enjoy the weather.

Bubba starts preschool in a few weeks?! I can hardly believe it. He's growing up so fast. It's 4 days a week, but only in the afternoons (what is up with that?! They really just have it for like 5 hours...) He's a little hesitant about it, but hopefully will enjoy it! And don't you worry.. his birthday party is approaching fast! You'll get to see all the fun pirate stuff in September :)

For the last 2 weeks I've been watching a co-worker of JDub's daughter. I watched her earlier this year and she's such a sweetie. I came across this shirt I bought at a garage sale a while back.....

It was a Large, but still ran a bit small.... The arm holes were kind of tight you can see some holes that were forming on the sides from the straps that tied in the back.

I took it in a lot, b/c she is a tiny thing! And turned it into a dress. I put the straps back on so she could tie it in the back to have a better fit. It was pretty sweet when she wanted to wear it immediately and then she proceeded to wear it every day she came over! :) I'm not gonna lie it made me smile!

I also made a lil something for Bubba's "fort"

i backed it with fleece to make it a little heavier for hanging

and of course had to add some ties again!

Are you ready for summer to be over?!

Smoothie anyone?!

I've been managing to work out about 4 days a week... sometimes its 5! And then sometimes its only 3.... but still... at least its something right?!

I have been making shakes/smoothies for my post-workout snack. They seem to be doing the trick! (keeping me lean and not hungry :0) This is one of my favorites; and its really simple.

Ingredients:

2 scoops of shake mix (I'm using Sweet Cream Visalus mix, but I'm sure any protein mix with a vanilla flavor would work)

1 banana

blueberries (I really don't measure but I'd say its 1 cup?)

about 5 or 6 ice cubes

and top it off with Vanilla Almond milk!

And did you know Mason jars will fit right onto your blender so you can make a shake right in the jar?! No worries about cleaning a big huge blender?! (Thank you Pinterest for that sweet nugget of info!)

Oh and a little side-note... not all mason jars fit my blender. I have one with a handle and it will not screw on tight enough.....

Anybody have a few mason jars they want to pawn off on me?!

Pirates, nails and ice cream

I am slowly but surely getting prepared for Bubba's upcoming 4th birthday! I am terrible at keeping things a surprise. I almost always want to give people their presents prior to the occasion (whether its Christmas or birthdays). So yea since I'm working on all of these things and the party isn't until August I just can't contain myself! Here's a few things I've been working on!

pirate bird house $8 at Hancock Fabrics

When I was at Hancock picking out some fabrics I saw this little treasure an just couldn't pass it up! There's what it looked like when I bought it.....

And here's what it looks like now!

I'm pretty proud of it! I was debating whether or not to put red and white stripes on some of the sails... what do you think?! Should I stripe it up?!

Can't have a Pirate Party w/o a pirate flag flying! I found some scrap black fabric for the flag and the backing on my table runner. It was hard to find any cheap striped fabric!!! But I saw this gold and black and thought it would look nice on a table setting. The parrot and smaller, wooden pirate flag came with the boat/birdhouse. I just bought a cheap dowel for the flag pole and used white fleece for the skull and cross bones.

The bad thing about having all of these fun things around is the boys want to play with them constantly! I'm starting to worry they are going to get broken before the party even gets here... Its a good thing I haven't shown them any of the things I ordered from Oriental trading!

In other news.... I tried these awesome nail wrap applique things....

I have had them on for a week now and they still look great. I am loving them!! It took a little finesse to get them just right, but I didn't have to wait for them to dry! That is when I usually mess up the polish. I haven't applied them to my fingernails yet... I'm wondering how they'll hold up on my hands since I wash and use those a lot more than my toes! I'll have to find out soon though. I highly recommend them. Make sure you have some small, sharp scissors to trim the edges.

We have a new frozen yogurt place around here called Orange Leaf... its pretty sweet!!! I like it better than Cold Stone Creamery mainly b/c I don't feel like a brick is sitting in my stomach after I eat all that rich ice cream! But it gets a little expensive so when I saw this at Hy-Vee I thought I'd try it.

I tell you what..... IT IS GOOD!!! JDub doesn't really care for it... but he doesn't have a sweet tooth like I do. It is very comparable to the Birthday Cake Remix flavor from Cold Stone. And a whole lot cheaper too! Bake yourself a brownie and slap that on top and you'll be good to go!

It was a weird night last night....

So hear's what I mean..... yea it was the 4th of July... and we got home a little late b/c of the fireworks! JDub had to be at work at 4:00 am...

Well sometime between going to bed and that 3:20 wake up call I did something I don't think I've ever done before?! It runs in the family... because my oldest sister does it... and my mom does it.... sleepwalking/talkin! Now I didn't exactly walk... but I did swat!

We have an infestation!!!! A Cicada Killer Wasp infestation. They are buzzing around like crazy in large numbers.. (or at least it seems like large numbers...) And I actually woke up screaming and swatting at one of those! I might have even swatted at JDub.....

So needless to say it was a restless night! When that 3:20 alarm went off and JDub "woke up" and showered.. and then the snooze proceeded to go off several times while I was laying there... I was still pretty out of it... until I thought I heard the door close... like he was leaving w/o his cell phone! So I proceeded to run outside.... in my underwear..... to flag him down to give him his phone..... lets just hope since it was nearly 4:00 am.....no one saw that!

But now after stocking up on hornet killer and reading up on these ginormous guys I'm hoping I'll sleep better tonight! (Turns out the males don't even sting... and the female one that should be around rarely stings... humans that is.. if you're a Cicada you're dead!!!)

Thriving... not just surviving..

So I have to admit I did not come up with this idea on my own. My neighbor was nice enough to lend me a book they just finished reading....

Now I am only on chapter 8! So I know I am jumping the gun a bit. But man I like this book! I have to admit I was skeptical at first... I am not one to read "self-help" books.. which in reading the title is what I immediately thought. While it is a bit of a self-help book... I'd like to think its a positive message of faith and a book filled of hope! We all need a little hope don't we? I know I do. I haven't really had much time to read lately, but when I do get a chance... my mood alters to a positive one once I get going in this book.

Chapter 7 is about Thriving and not just surviving. What he means is getting out of that "survivor" mentality. I do have issues with that... I think... "Oh Lord, just help me get through this day... these kids are driving me crazy...." "Lord, if you'll please just end this sickness then things will be fine.." God doesn't want us to think this way. I mean he is the Almighty God?! He created everything... He wants us to go above and beyond, not just scrape by!

I loved how Joel mentioned Abraham and his nephew Lot moving with all their family and belongings to a new land. But once they got there they found the land was not fertile enough to supply enough crops for both of their families... Abraham, being the better person, said Lot could go where ever he wanted and he'd go the opposite way. Of course Lot picks the most fertile area and basically leaves Abraham out in the desert.... Now if I was Abraham I'd prolly be what the crap?! Because obviously I need to work on some stuff and I am not the better person all the time... But thankfully Abraham understood what was important... He knew as long as he put his faith in God, God's favor would be on him and he would see the blessings. Lo and behold, Abraham's land starts transforming into luscious green pastures and the scriptures even say Abraham became the wealthiest man in the East. Genesis 13-16 (Lot was a different story...) 

So I'm gonna work on thriving... and not just surviving. I'm going to work on NOT complaining and keep counting my blessings. Help me ok?! Seriously, b/c I know I complain ALOT!!! Tell me to stop!!! But I'm going to try to stay positive... (not that I really have much to be negative about b/c I am soo blessed.)

Joel even says (and I'm quoting his book)

The good news is that no matter what happens to us, God is still on the throne!

I am happy to report that all is well in His kingdom. Here is the key: As long as our Source is okay, we will be okay. If we stay connected to the vine, keeping God first, believing and expecting His favor, then as His branches, we will not just survive, we will thrive!

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'