New Kitchen Floor

Oh fake parquet flooring..... how I haven't wanted you since we moved into this house many moons ago (approximately 5 years ago...). How I've hated watching your ugly, icky peel-n-stick fake tiles bubble and chip...... how I've tried and tried to clean you but you still looked dirty after my hard work... enough is enough! Out with the old and in with the new I say!!!

this was our kitchen when we purchased the home... I have to say we have not done much, just changed out the fridge, dishwasher, and the knobs (who really wants green nobs/handles AND hinges?! Weirdos....)

Isn't Mango pretty?! (not the ugly flooring....)

We began by ripping out the old.... we found that they had linoleum flooring underneath the peel-n-stick tiles. I was worried we were going to have to rip up EVERYTHING..... the glue from under the linoleum and all..... But since we were installing what they call a "floating" floor... we just ripped up what we could and laid the nice blue foam stuff down and started snapping in the new "wooden" floor! I know easier said then done... and while I am great at ripping stuff up, I am not so great at measuring and all that. So I left the meticulous part to JDub. :)

slow going at first.... and w/o a stove for a couple of days...

Rainbows and Butterflies birthday

I thought I'd post a few pictures from my niece's birthday party :) My sister did most of the work... but I did help with a few things!

I found the idea for the hanging mobiles on Pinterest (I know... you're SHOCKED!!) You can find the link to the tutorial here... diy modern paper mobiles I have to say it was kinda hard to find the special "vellum" paper. I wanted to use all the colors of the rainbow... but Michael's was pretty limited on their selection. I'm sure you could buy some online if you have the time though!

* While they looked cute for a while... the paper did start to curl and not look so cute. I substituted washers for the fishing weights... and my thread broke while trying to sew 2 of them (hence the shortness on a couple of them!!!) It was my fault for buying cheap thread (you think it won't matter what thread you use but it really does!)

*I also started cutting the paper in strips on the longer end at first (11 inches vs. 8.5) So then I cut those in half (instead of having a 1 in x 8.5 inch like the site called for..... I had a 1x11 which I then cut to two 1 x 5.5 inch strips). I have to say the paper curled less with the shorter length... so if I try these out again I'd go for the shorter length ones! They don't curl and still look pretty cute. (you can see the shorter one on the end there in yellow and green)

Rainbow shirt with scraps

Tomorrow is my niece's birthday!!! She is getting sooo big and walking too! My sister said she wanted a "rainbows and butterflies" birthday for her. I'm planning on having a post later with all the yummy details of the party decor... but for now I thought I'd show you the present I made for her!

This is what the shirt looked like before.......

I believe there's a little bit of chocolate milk and a whole lot of spaghetti sauce going on... its a size 2T-3T Boys Hanes t-shirt. I took my handy-dandy bottle of RIT Dye in Fuchsia and.........

While I was hoping the dye would take care of everything.... you could still see the grease stains!!

JDub's Iowa State Birthday

Ok... so those of you who might not know... my husband (aka JDub) is a big Iowa State Cyclone fan. Being a Cyclone fan can be kind of rare in these parts, (the Cedar Rapids area... being as it is so close to Iowa City, with the Hawkeyes) which can play to my advantage. I actually found an old-school Cy-the Cyclone- shirt from Old Navy for $2.97......... can you believe it?! I was going to take a picture of it... but JDub enjoyed it so much that he wore it right out of town yesterday afternoon. But it does look something like this!

He is an alumni.... which plays a big part on his passion for the Cyclones. So in thinking of what he might want for his birthday....... I made him a couple things.....

Yep that's right... with movable beak!

Bubba and Ceej are also big Cyclone fans.... mainly because they are too young to know any difference! But Cy -the Cyclone- is also pictured as a cyclone, or a tornado....

This is of course Bubba's favorite portrayal of Cy -the Cyclone. So this is why I chose to make JDub this.....

Now this was no easy task.... what I thought was going to be an easy boxed cake mix.... turned into quite a nightmare. I was able to salvage it! (Oh yee of little faith MOM!) But this cake was originally supposed to be the entire size of that plate.... around 9 inches.... When I went to take them out of the pans I not only dropped one of them (mostly on the counter top..) but it crumbled all over the place! Half of it was stuck to the inside of bottom of the pan (and YES I did use butter and flour to try and keep it from sticking.... I know , I know... I should have used shortening...) But the other cake shortly started to crumble along the way as well.

What I found myself doing was carving the most crumbly part out and trying to keep the surviving cake in one piece. Lets just say there was a lot of cake that didn't make it......

Its too bad I had a heavy whipping cream layer inside b/c I probably could have made cake balls out of it!

Any who, I think for the disaster this cake started as.... it turned out pretty good. Did I mention JDub bought me cake decorating nozzles for Christmas? I took it as a hint I needed to be making more cakes... Maybe I'll have to make one from scratch one of these days!

Monkey Pants

So there they are. My comfy, cute monkey pj pants. I have had them forever... but honestly they are pretty thin and the drawstring was kind of annoying me... I had to have the drawstring tight enough so when my boys decided to tug on my pants that they didn't fall down....... but then the string was always too tight to where I had to undo it every time I had to go to the bathroom! I hadn't worn them in a while and I had the idea to make my boys some matching pants!

Well that was the idea... but I got one pair finished and I couldn't wait to post! So here it goes...

I laid the pants down and realized they had 2 seams on each side... I figured my boys are little enough and these wide pants were wide enough that I could seam-rip the seams and sew me some new pant legs!

After semi-measuring Bubba and seam ripping........ I turned the pants inside out and pinned the new inside seams of the newly-formed legs. And sewed! I made sure to reinforce the seams with a zig-zag after I stitched a straight-stitch.

Then I cut across the top to make the new waist of the pants.

Bubba is so tiny I knew I'd have to adjust the top of the pants a bit.... I was really hoping to not have to put any elastic in there but I ended up cutting a strip of fabric and sewing it to the top.

Then I threaded the elastic through with a safety pin attached........

Here are the new mini-monkey pants :)

I think they're pretty cute... but JDub has informed me they are a little "girly"..... He says he's not sure if its b/c they used to be my pants... so he's seen me (a girl) in them.... or what... But I might have to find a girl to give them to.... I still have the other pant-leg to work with for Ceej, and I could maybe even keep the rest as capri's or shorts! We'll see :)

Week 4 Kosama and other Updates :)

Ok... so I have officially completed week 4 of my Kosama challenge..... its going well! I still really like it. I work really hard the hour long workout..... and I've been doing my best to eat better and to drink lots more H20. I have to say its been a little hard with things like this staring me in the face.......

mmmm have u tried these kettle cooked sea salt and cracked pepper chips?!
SOOOOOOOO GOOD (and so very bad at the same time)

But I'm doing it. The Kosama instructors sent out emails talking about becoming an "alumni". Which basically means you sign on to stay another 8 weeks or longer.... I have to say I would really like to stay on for another 8 week session... but I just don't see it happening ($$$$). I can definitely see changes in my physical body... as well as just feeling better in general. My only drawback (besides the cost) is that I could easily go to bed at 8:00 pm every night.... getting up at 4:30 am 5 days out of the week (and 5:45 am on Saturday) I am exhausted by the time the boys' bedtime gets here. I do feel like I have more energy during the day... as long as I keep motivated and moving. If I sit and cuddle for too long........ I am ready for a nap! My initial thinking for doing the early session is to get it done and out of the way for the day. I don't have to worry about finding a sitter for the boys...or taking time away from family once JDub is home from work..... but I have been waking JDub up earlier, and I'm just too tired to stay up late. I'd love to see how another 8 weeks could really improve my physical appearance more though.

check out these guns!!! ask to feel them in person too.. they are solid! :)

Another thing that was really draining this week was the food poisoning I endured last Sunday... and into Monday... UGH. I mean at least it wasn't the stomach flu... but it was still pretty bad. Here's the kicker too....... I ate a salad and fruit for lunch that day.... and that's what got me sick?! Seriously?! Poor JDub had to stay home on Monday b/c after puking (and other things) my guts out all day Sunday I couldn't handle dealing with the boys by myself. Once again even though it sucked... I am blessed to have a nice hubby who stayed home with the boys while I rested. After weighing myself on Monday and being pretty excited with the result (I weighed less than my husband for once.....) JDub declared "See you didn't need these fancy workouts after all....." Yea apparently I just needed to get food poisoning...... haha....

In other news.......
I officially registered Bubba for preschool in the fall! Its hard to believe he will be 4 in August. I have to admit I am a little excited for him to go though. Not only for his socialization and structure, but for a little more one-on-one time with Ceej. He will be 2 here soon!!

Ugh.. the dreaded potty-training.... Ceej has managed to take an interest in the potty.... sometimes... He has in fact pooped on the potty (just once) and he pees pretty much daily on it as well. It is, however, not consistent, and pretty much at the most inconvenient time (while I'm cooking) that he wants to go "paah paah" as he calls it. Ceej refuses to wear a pull up... so I find myself trying to pull the diaper down and back up while trying to adjust it correctly and not rip it apart while he wants to sit on the potty and stand to get dressed... to only want to sit on the potty again the instant I have him re-dressed. He usually goes through this routine (of de-pantsing, getting dressed, getting naked, getting dressed, getting naked, getting dressed) at least 4 times (and sometimes more!) until he feels he is "finished" going. I say "finished" because most of the times he sits nothing comes out or its only a few tiny drops of pee and then he proceeds to flush. I keep telling him he can't flush until he fully goes potty... but that just makes him throw a tantrum! But alas, there are actual times that he sits and truly lets it all out and he's very proud. He's not 2 until April (Bubba was wearing underwear the whole day on his 2nd birthday) so I am not pushing the whole potty thing... but hey if he's showing interest I will entertain it for the most part :)

JDub has informed me that I am "out of control" with the amount of clothes I have... I know... its bad... I'm fully admitting it... but.... and yes there is always a "but"........ I really like re-doing clothes! I don't want to throw away any scraps I might be able to make something out of later! I keep trying to tell him I need to just organize everything and it would be so much better. So any volunteers? I want to take a trip to the Container Store or IKEA again and get something figured out....... cause I love crafting but JDub is fed up with it being EVERYWHERE.

I did get rid of 2 plastic grocery sacks worth of clothes to goodwill today :) So its a start.... I have some cute monkey pants I don't ever wear any more that I am going to try and turn into matching pj pants for the boys. Hopefully I'll have a post on that soon. Who's excited for the Super Bowl tonight?! (And by Super Bowl I really mean the commercials!!) All the yummy food is going to make me pay tomorrow though!!!

Freezer paper stenciling

So I found this on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it out!! You'll need Freezer paper, x-acto knife, fabric paint and an iron.

First you figure out what you'd like to stencil onto your shirt. I found a nice silhouette of the great state of Iowa and traced it on the non-shiny side of the freezer paper (I held it up to the window and that worked great!)

Then you use a hot iron to adhere the freezer paper to the shirt; I also put more freezer paper inside to make sure the paint wouldn't bleed through. I ironed both sheets of freezer paper at at the same time. Then you paint! I dabbed it on with a cotton ball... nothing fancy. I was reading that to make sure the paint will stay through washing you'll need to use a fabric medium... so I guess I'll have to try that next time...

But for now this is how it turned out. The freezer paper peeled off really easily.

Cute huh?! Bubba was modeling it for me :)

Now I have to think of more things to stencil?! It was so easy and fun!

Why Me?!

Have you ever uttered these words? I know I have.... pretty much on a daily basis... or some form of the words at least... Why me?.... Why am I sick yet again? What did I do to deserve this? Why can't I just go to the bathroom w/o a child interrupting me?! Why can't these kids just get along!? etc......

I've been trying to think of it in a different way lately... When I think "why me?" in a negative connotation... I'm trying to switch it around to... "why me.... why am I so blessed?" B/c honestly, I am. I have a wonderful husband who is employed and works hard. I have 2 beautiful boys at home that I have the privilege of raising myself. I have wonderful family in town, to not only spend time with, but also helps out when this momma needs a break.

Ya know bad stuff happens.... I don't really know why... but it does. It's just life I guess...


forrest gump.... it happens.......

When something bad is happening... small or large; Its often because I am distracted or I've lost focus on what's really important. It's so easy for this to happen to me. Whether its the boys fighting b/c I'm too involved in something else and not giving them attention; (like posting my blogs, or playing words with friends... its addicting!?") Or I'm just in a rut.... I need to snap out of it!



For all the wonderful things in our lives......... "why me?... why do I deserve these treasures and blessings?"

I saw this on Pinterest and instantly thought...... (I'd be screwed...) Sometimes in life its hard to stay positive and think of the good things. Don't let the every-day crap get you down! Remember to be thankful, and Who to thank when it comes time. Because there is a reason you are blessed.... and there's possibly a reason you're not remembering you're blessed (distractions....)

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Ephesians 2:4-6 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-- it is by grace you have been saved. 

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.

Next time I'm complaining and you remind me of my blessings... I will try not to want to punch you in the face... cause I'm realizing its a good thing to look on the bright side. :)

Leftovers Change Up

I am not a huge fan of leftovers.... but then again they do come in handy when you don't really feel like making the effort to prepare yet another meal... I think one of my most hated phrases I hear throughout the week is "what's for dinner?!" Sometimes I really look forward to leftovers! Like my lasagna for example... mmmm making a lasagna can be kind of a daunting task. That's usually why I make 2... one for dinner that night and then I freeze the other one for later use. But I never get sick of leftover lasagna :) I also enjoy my chicken enchiladas leftover. Its almost like they taste even better the next day!

One of my favorite leftovers is chili :) I like to make a big pot of chili for dinner; which is what I did last night! It's perfect when its cold outside too. Even Ceej was eating it up (Bubba on the other hand is just about the pickiest child in the world... he wouldn't have anything to do with it). Then this afternoon for lunch we had chili dogs!!!!

It's pretty much become a staple now... whenever I make chili.. .we have chili dogs the next day :) Fine by me!!! I love a good chili dog! Then you don't get as bored with just another bowl of chili. (and what child doesn't eat a hot-dog?!)

Another leftover that you can do a little differently is meatloaf. Whenever I make a meatloaf there is always a huge chunk left. And while its good the first time around... I usually don't have mashed potatoes to eat with it the next time. Its just the hunk of meat. Now if you're anything like JDub (a man) he would just eat the whole hunk of meat and be done. But I like to change it up a little bit. I like some variety. So I have a meatloaf sandwich!

I think I googled leftover meatloaf one time and came across this... and boy is it worth it!! You just take a nice slice of meatloaf, top it with a slice of cheese and nuke it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds. (I like just the average slice of american cheese myself) You don't want it piping hot, just enough to melt the cheese a little bit. Then slap it between 2 slices of bread and you are good to go! I know it might sound a little strange... but really... ITS GOOD!!

So I'm wondering... do you have any leftover change ups you always use?! I can always use new ideas for cooking :)

Kosama - a new me

Ok... so its not really a "new" me per se... more like the same ol' me... just hopefully in shape and feeling good! I was in a bit of a rut before I started working out again... very irritable... crabby... just wanting to sleep and lounge around all the time! Then some friends of mine told me about KOSAMA . It's like a group workout... instead of having a personal trainer there to tell you what moves to do and at what pace and repetition... you go to a big group class and do it all together! It's an hour class 6 days a week, for 8 weeks at a time. And the music is blaring, you get pumped up. I am really enjoying it.

Initially my friends were talking about it and I was like... yea... that could be fun... thinking no way I would do it. But then they were having a "friends and family" week where you could invite people all week long to see what it was like for FREE. I got sucked in..... and signed up. I'm glad though. I really do feel alot better these days. And as we speak (or as you are reading this) both Ceej and Bubba have icky coughs, and JDub is sick... but I'M NOT!! I know, I know... I probably just jinxed myself. But whatever, I'm feeling good! I'm hoping by the end of this 8 week course I'll look like this........

Haha... I know... its not realistic... first off b/c I am pastier than a vampire.... but hey I want to resemble this somewhat... My body hasn't been the same since I had kids... but I'm hoping to have some abs... instead of just flab!

I've been doing my best at eating better too. I rarely ate breakfast before I started this workout, but burning so many calories so early in the day; I'm starving when I get home! Here's my breakfast from Monday and today :)



ham and cheese omelet, grapes, coffee



peanut butter toast, grapes, sausage (I snuck another sausage link after this photo...), coffee

Now I need to work on drinking more water! I was sooo sore the first week of workouts... I kid you not, after the 2nd day I came home at 6:00 am to take my shower and asked if JDub could help me take my shirt off... that's how out of shape I was! Getting up at 4:30 am has been a little rough, but totally worth it so far :) It kind of brings me back to those days of detassling... getting up before the sun is even up.

 I LOVED detasseling (the money was great! :) ) Although I'm not getting paid to workout... I'm paying them... I'm lovin' it!

"Grandkids" shelf/display

So I came up with this project after viewing this photo on Pinterest....

Initially I went to Stuff Etc (a local consignment store) to find a wooden plaque to paint.... well no luck finding a plaque... but I did find this blue shelf!

It had some remnants of a sticker on there so that wet area is actually goof off doing its job!

I forgot to take pics of this part but it's pretty simple... I just painted the shelf black (thanks for the extra paint Mom!) I probably did 3 coats....

Once the paint was dry I measured and printed off the word "Grandkids"...... kept it in place with a sticky note and traced over the letters with a ballpoint pen! (I learned that little trick from Pinterest as well... )

Once you've traced over all the letters, remove the paper, and paint inside the grooves! I wish I would have pressed down a little harder..... They said the indentions should act as a dam to keep the paint in... but it still took a lot of patience! Its not perfect... but it is homemade :)

Then I had JDub use some flexible wire and a staple gun to make a line to hang my cute little clothespins!

No these aren't pictures of grandkids... the one on the left is Mango after a bath! And the one on the right was Jessie, my kitty growing up (she's no longer alive :( ) I figured you'd want to see how it looks with some photos.

Anywho, this was a present for my in-laws. I figured they could put it on their wall and display photos of their grandsons along the bottom and have the shelf to display any framed photos they might have as well!

I want to monogram other wooden things now?!

Sock Bun

Surprise, surprise... I found this on Pinterest! :) Ever since I saw it I've been wanting to grow my hair out! Well I tried it awhile back and was not very successful... but then I figured out the secret! (If you have thin, fine hair like I do anyway....)

So here's the deal... you take a sock... I happened to use thin, spandex-like one that I rarely wear anymore... ya know the kind of fancy socks you wear with suits? I figured it would work best cause it's not really shaped like a sock... but just straight. And it kind of resembles my hair color too.....

Then I clipped off the toe part with some scissors. No need to be a perfectionist...

Now I've seen other videos where people just take it from this step and roll it up to look like this...

Well I tried that on my hair and it would NOT stay... it was too loose and looked weird. So then I got the idea to make into a smaller donut... b/c well I don't have a ton of hair, and its thin as well.

Here's what I did... take the sock, turn it inside out and take it to the sewing machine

Do a straight stitch all the way from the "top" of the sock to the bottom". (you can see the white thread below)

Then take your scissors and cut along the edge to remove the excess fabric.

I've learned throughout my sewing that it's a good idea to kind of "reinforce" where you have sewn. So now instead of just leaving the seams, I've been taking it back to the sewing machine and using a zig-zag stitch to kind of "lock it in". I set my machine to #2 and did it along the edge right beside where I had sewn the straight stitch.

Then you roll it up tight like a little donut!

Here's the end result...

Now you could make it even smaller if you wanted to... but this size seems to work nicely for me :)

Here's what it looks like once you get it wrapped around your hair! You slip in on like a scrunchie and kind of make the ends of your hair wrap around it and tuck underneath. You'll keep the donut at the end of your locks. Then you keep pulling the donut up and rolling it down... its kind of hard to explain... There's great video link here...sock bun video link and it really does help if your hair is a little damp.

Here's my sock bun!!

I kinda feel like a mix between a librarian... and a ballet dancer! And yea I know my kitchen is a disaster... don't remind me... I think the higher the bun the cuter it is... but my hair isn't quite long enough for that yet.

And here's the best part yet... if you wear your hair around like that all day and night... (which I did) then the next day your hair will look like this when you take it out!

My hair never holds curls... NEVER. I still think they would look alot better if I had longer hair... but it adds some nice body to it either way!

It definately takes some practice to get the bun looking just right... but then it works great!