Mysteries of my 6 year old!

Damon has been sooo tired lately. I'm not sure if he is fighting off sickness or if he is just worn out from all the monster fits he's been throwing. It could be social stress at school. 1st grade is pretty intense. The other day we were talking about his day and I asked about his bus ride home. He said he sat by himself today and I asked why. He said, "Because Hunter sat by Conner, my arch enemy." (some names have been changed, mostly for fun, because anybody who knows any of these 3 boys probably knows who I am really talking about.)

My current arch enemy? Our yard!

I wish I was one of those "green thumbs" who really loves yard work, but I'm not. Our yard could actually be pretty nice it is just such a beast to take care of.

Quest for organization

still on!

A few weeks ago I picked up these simple carboard magazine storage boxes at IKEA for just a couple of dollars. They had cute patterened ones for a few bucks more, but nothing I liked. So, I bought the cheeper white ones and covered them with some wrapping paper I like. They fit in with the rest of our office and I think they are going to help keep me more organzied. Time will tell.

We also picked up these industrial shelves for our storage room awhile back. We have since started filling them with cans, boxes, bags, and other food storage items. I really like how sturdy they are, but I am worried that they might become cluttered and unorganized if I don't come up with some kind of system, soon! So, does anyone have any good tips on keeping everything in order and rotating items effectively? Please let me know.

It may have felt more like Christmas...

but we had a happy Easter!

Now, where is the sunshine and flowers?

Free time projects!

A few weeks ago Tyler and Damon went to a Jazz game. That left me with a good 8 hours to do whatever I wanted. I spent way too much time telling myself it was ok not to clean or work while they were gone. Then I had to decide what I wanted to do. After all of that I spent quite a bit of time on the computer and I made 2 trips to the craft store (after I decided what I was going to do.) This is what I worked on.

This chair was resting peacefully at D.I. with an $8 price tag. I walked past it more than once before I talked myself into considering it. I was afraid to touch it. I found cereal under the cushion. It scared me a little. I brought it home anyway. I painted the legs, bought a button kit and used left over fabric from something else to make the black button. After I sewed and stapled all of the fabric into place I attached cute black piping over all of the unfinished edges. And, it's comfortable which is the best part.

While I had the black paint out I decided to refresh this photo screen. It has been stored away since we moved into our house 4 years ago. I have always liked it, but I just couldn't find a place for it. After a few minor adjustments it fit right in next to my new chair. It was also lots of fun to go through all of my pictures and decide which ones I wanted to use in each of the 15 openings (that may be what took the most time of all.)

Remeber this post about these little wooden accents? This is one of the projects I had in mind for them. They were such an inexpensive and simple change that made a big difference.

The boys got home completely exhausted and went straight to bed. It was fun to have some time to myself, but I was so glad when they got home. I went straight to bed myself.

A Happy Birthday!

What a fun day I had!
It all started when two cute somebodies made me breakfast.

We spent some time the park. Then we went to the pet store to look at the cute baby animals.

We played hot/cold and I found a little something from my littlie in the air vent. Sneeky! He was very excited for me to see that he got me some lotion, which he picked himself. He told Tyler he wanted to get it because he knows, "Mom has really dry skin." Awesome! He doesn't miss a thing.
Then the same two somebodies made me dinner. It was so yummy. Steak (on the grill) and potatoes (twice baked). Garlic bread, salad, and snow crab legs. Mmmmmm!

Happy Birthday to my sister Lori today!

Happy Day!

St. Patrick's Day!

The day that means my birthday is in exactly 1 week.

The day Damon woke up to a little something from the toothfairy. (She visited us for the first time the night before.)

Corned beef and cabbage and Irish Soda Bread for dinner (I like to put green food coloring in the buttermilk.)

The day I finally got to run outside. (It was so nice, and everyone knew it. There were kids all over on bikes, people walking their dogs, the smell of BBQ....)

The day before I hear it is going to snow again soon. :(

Glad I got to enjoy it!

Spring?

What's your first clue that spring is on its way? I think I usually smell it first. That happened a few weeks ago. I got excited, and then it snowed this weekend.

These furry little guys helped though. It may be freezing outside, but new, cute little birdies mean spring is just around the corner.

2nd Generation Needle Nerves

This is the guy that I thought was going to start crying when his mom wanted to do a little finger prick for a blood sugar level test.

This is also the guy that told me he had to fight the urge to punch the nurse who had to give him a tetanus shot.

Now here he is donating blood. All grown up.

Damon was the one making jokes and acting silly to mask the fact that he was uncomfortable. I assured him he had to be 17 and 110 lbs. to donate. But I also had to let him know that the food table was for people willing to bleed for the cause. He didn't meet any of the criteria.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

When Damon was asked at school what his favorite book was he said anything Dr. Seuss. But even so, when he came home from school speaking in rhyme I knew something must have triggered the silly talk. Dr. Seuss's B-day, of course. Yep, on this day in 1904 "Dr. Seuss" was born and aren't we all glad.

But now about some yummy cookies and a loud game.

Damon had the treat for Family Home Evening and picked "cookies with white chocolate in them." So I made a couple of batches of these yummy cookies. We finished up, played a game, and tucked Damon into bed. I sent Tyler out the door to a study group and I realized I had some free time on my hands. I put in the last batch of cookies and ended up singing my heart out on Rock Band. I couldn't do just one song so I picked another. After I felt like I had wasted enough time I decided to turn off the XBOX and find something more productive to do.

That is when I heard a buzzing from upstairs. "The cookies!" I raced to the kitchen to find these in the oven. Opps! I can't believe I was so distracted.

While I am on the Rock Band subject I thought I should post a couple of pictures from a few weeks ago.

I love that Ellie's ears are plugged. It makes me laugh so much. This is why I needed the practice while I was alone.