The importance of resolutions.

Back in January, I made some very serious resolutions for the new year. I posted them on my facebook page in an effort to document them and to make myself accountable to those that read my posts.

Again, I share.....

We had a great 2011-we got a return missionary, our daughter married a great guy, our baby started her senior yr, Craig won a couple of very prestigious awards, and we became grandparents. With that being said, I set a few goals for myself for 2012.....
1. marry off one or both of our remaining unmarried children. (Any takers? Just message me.)
2. acquire another one (or two) grandchildren. (I'm ju...st SO good at it....)
3. find a pair of boots that will fit over my man calves. (I don't want any guys getting all jealous.)
4. take a daily nap whether I need it or not. (Beauty sleep. Duh.)
5. have Ragan throw me a party after she graduates. (It's the least she can do.)
6. exploit my husbands fame and notoriety for financial gain. (Money really CAN buy happiness...in the form of a tummy tuck, I do believe.)
Oh ya....and,
7. bring sexy back.

Happy New Year! :):):)

Well, I am so thrilled and happy to announce that I have already accomplished two of them......

Goal #2......




Kyle and Makenzie are having a baby!!!


We are so excited. This little bundle will be arriving in September.

And....

Goal #1.....
It appears our Mark has found his one true love.

Meet Makel.





They have talked about getting married the end of August.


I am working feverishly on the other five goals.
I am doing a fine job on #4.
Number #3 is proving to be quite difficult and we are right on track for accomplishing #5.
Number #6 is coming along and quite frankly, #7 has been, well...... just WAY too easy.

Before and After

I got this sweet cupboard from Craigslist for free.

It was a mess!!

The veneer was peeling off and it was missing the back.

 But it was just so quaint and cute.

 I knew it would be perfect for a makeover.

I scraped of the peeling veneer, sanded the holy junk out of it, added a back piece

 and painted it a lovely purple.

I sanded the edges and wiped stain over it. Then, finally added some glass knobs.

Done.

She's a little beauty.

She lives in Ragan's room.

Amongst the rubble.

And, yes, I shoved clothes and other paraphernalia out of the way to snap this picture.

(smiley face)

Seriously?

Ragan and I had a nice discussion while driving the other day....

(R) "Mom?"

(me) "Uh huh?"

(R) "Danielle's mom asked me if you like to party."

(me) [chuckle] "Oh ya? What did you tell her?"

(R) [eye roll] "I told her you didn't. Duh."

(me) "That's good."

(R) [overly concerned] "Mom...you'd like her. Miss Debra is really fun."

(me) "I'm sure she is.....apparently she likes to party." [laughing]

(R) "SERIOUSLY......Mom. I think you need to find some friends."

(me) [confused] "I have plenty of friends. Why do you think  need more?"

(R) "You never do anything! What are you going to do when I move out in a few months???"

(me) "Well......anything I want. I don't know yet. I'm certainly not going to start partying. Unless it's a party at the Goodwill store!" [laughing]

(R) "I'm just worried that you're going to be  [pause]  all.alone."

(me) [sigh]"I don't mind being alone. Really. I have a lot of things that I enjoy doing. Maybe I can go on some track trips with Daddy. Or....something."

(R) "Mom.  I'm serious. You need to do something with yourself. You just can't spend all your extra time at the Goodwill store. 'Cuz seriously, I don't want to see you on an episode of Hoarders."


Busted.

Apparently, Ragan feels I am one Goodwill trip from going bat.crap.crazy.

 Especially without the positive influence of her company and loving attention.

For all I know, she is planning an intervention as I type.



I suppose I better start thinking of some things I can do with myself once she's flown the coop.

Just in case she ever brings it up again.

But I'll start by jumping back on the crazy train.
Evidently, Ragan thinks I never jumped off.

Seriously.

So much to be thankful for.

It really has been a month since my last post.

I didn't think it was that long,

but hopefully these next photos will help everyone forget all about my generally incompetent blogging.

I am pleased to announce the arrival of our sweet grandson,

Cooper Matthew Carter.

 

He graced the world with his presence in the early morning of September 22nd.

He was (and still is) the epitome of perfection. 

He is such a good baby.

He hardly cries and sleeps very well. 

Here he is today.

2 months have flown by. 

Love isn't a big enough word to describe what we feel for him.

:)

With this being the month of Thanksgiving celebrations around the country, I have been pondering the many things that I am thankful for. I have made an extra effort lately to thank my Heavenly Father for all of my blessings.....those that I recognize and also those I  miss.

I am blessed with.....

 a wonderful family that just increased by one-

and that it is eternal.

a husband that loves and supports his family.

wonderful, smart, kind and  healthy children.

a job that lets me love other peoples children.

friends that give way more than they receive.

extended family that care for and love my children.

the knowledge I have of my Heavenly Father and my Savior.

our comfortable home.

my life.

Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

I

a DIY chalkboard table

One of my favorite things to do is write on chalk boards.

I know, I know, that's a strange admission.

But, I just like the feel of the chalk and the fun of being able to erase and re-write.

Here in preschool we use small chalk boards to practice our writing of letters and drawing of shapes.

The chalk is easy for their little hands to manipulate and the erasing helps in building the muscles

that will help them write with pencils later on.  

Well, the time came that I needed another preschool table.

I had a rather brilliant idea (if I do say so myself) to have the mister build me one....

BUT instead of having a "normal" top, I wanted to paint it with chalkboard paint.

It works so well that we use it exclusively as a chalkboard table.

I let the kiddos stand around it and doodle to their hearts content!

AND....it was so easy to make!

Craig cut out a regular old piece of plywood the length and width that I requested.

He framed it and supported it with cut 1"x4"s.

 He attached the legs, which we picked up at Lowe's, and I painted the top with chalkboard paint.

I masked off the edges when I painted, and then after it had dried for 24 hrs.,

I masked off the top and painted the edges.

Every couple of years, I touch up the paint using the same technique.

Chalkboard paint comes in a spray paint option, as well as by the quart or gallon.

You can use the chalkboard paint on anything.....

walls, doors, cookie sheets (for a cute magnet board!), etc.

 It's so fun!

What a busy couple of weeks!

I've been absent because of several factors, but I will blame most of it on the fact that we

 have been painting the whole house.

I am now of the opinion that huge painting jobs are better left to the professionals.

We have two more rooms to finish before we pronounce it finished, but at least now we can see the end. We came to a good "stopping point" and I set out to do some other things that required my attention.

During this time, I ordered a case of apricots from Bountiful Baskets.

When I got home and opened the box, I discovered that about a third of them were moldy.

I was pretty disappointed. However, I was determined not to waste the rest and I knew they wouldn't wait for me too much longer. I hurried and made up a few batches of apricot-pineapple jam.

MMmmmm! It's yummy.

I also loaded up my dehydrator, thinking about how much I looooove dried apricots.

I put the dehydrator in the preschool room so as to not be disturbed by the sound,

shut the door and forgot about them.

For TWO days.

There was no happy ending for these apricots.

I also have been using the "you know what" out of my new toy....

It's an Accuquilt GO! fabric cutter! :)

I was given a very generous gift card to JoAnn's from my preschool mommies this year for Teacher Appreciation Day. (I was so surprised and touched! :):):) Thanks again!!!)

Craig also subsidized this purchase.......in the name of Mothers Day, of course! haha!

I have cut out so many shapes that I should have enough to have quilt top going until the end of time!

I can cut up to TEN layers of fabric at a time! Cutting out a quilt top takes just minutes! There isn't a lot of measuring...just layer the fabric on the die, put the cutting mat on top and crank it through the machine.

I love it so much.....

I could marry it!

hahaha! :)

Multi-tasking.

There used to be a time when I could have several projects going and

be able to finish them all in a timely manner.

That ability has somehow, strangely and inexplicably, left me.

It must be my advanced age of 40-something...(yes, it's finally time to stop pretending I am 29),

 or the fact that I am in the throws of dealing with my fourth teenager,

 or I have developed some sort of "project ADHD".

Since deciding to stay in Arizona, we thought it might be "fun" to paint the inside of our house. We had previously painted the bedrooms but the monumental job of painting

the rest of the house has been procrastinated.

We have VERY high ceilings, and it just seemed like too big of a task

for our resident princess and yours truly.

Craig generously offered up his services and we dug in. We did get most of it done before he left for his latest track meet, but there is still so much to do. The trouble is, now I want to do other things instead of painting, but I HAVE to get this project finished now, or it just might stay in its present state forever.

And, that is a prospect that makes me feel just a liiittttlllle but crazy.

So yesterday, I was doing some touch up when I happened to walk past a mirror and saw this.....  

A big ol' smudge of paint in my hair.

Then I remembered a conversation that Ragan and I had

a few months ago while coming home from school.

Enjoy....

(Ragan) "Mom.....have you been painting today?"

(Me) "No, Why?"

(Ragan) "You have something white all in your hair."

(Me) "What? Where is it?! Can you get it out?"

(Ragan) "It's on the underside of your ponytail. OOoooo, I don't know if I can get it....It's a lot."

Ragan reaches over to touch my hair

(Ragan) "OH.MY.GOSH!!!"

(Me) "What?!? What is it?!?"

(Ragan) "Mom. You have a HUGE chunk of gray hair! Actually, it's WHITE. Here, let me pull one out so you can see."

She, (not so gently) plucked a hair and handed to me. Sure enough, it was white. Actually, "translucent" was probably a better word. Miss Clairol and I had an early morning meeting the very next day.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I just walked past the mirror again. This time, it looks like I have a little "crazy" in my teeth. As soon as I get that out, I start painting again. ;)

good news and bad news.

Bad news:

I haven't accomplished much lately except for a few little projects here and there.

I did do a lovely job devouring a half of a bag of tootsie rolls though.

Here's the thing.....I don't really even like tootsie rolls.

How's that for some epic emotional eating?! :)

Seems like I have lost most of my gumption.

I think a lot of it has to do with thinking we were going to be moving for the last 9 months and then suddenly we weren't. I even had a few boxes packed.

That'll teach me to not "count my chickens" wont it?! Haha!

We are truly happy about our choice, but the complete turn around in our thinking

kind of messed me up a little.

I haven't felt like doing much of anything

except letting my poor old brain rest from all of its decision making.

But I did participate in a fun pin keep swap. I gave a little teaser to my partner in my last post. 

This is one that I originally made for her, but I after I made it,

I thought it might be a little too "cutsie" for her tastes. 

It's made from an egg cup that I picked up at Easter time.

I don't mind a bit keeping it for myself. :)

As some of you have read, we are expecting our first grandbaby in October. We are so excited!!!

I reconnected with an old high school friend on facebook

 and she was so sweet to send me some cute gifts for Cameron and Crystal.

She told me about these "monsters" that she made with her Young Women's church group and asked if she could send us some. Since we didn't know if the baby was going to be a boy or a girl, she sent one for both! She also included a burp rag for each! Aren't they so fun?!?

 I think they are so cute! Thanks so much Angie! Angie has a set of boy/girl twins too.Her son is getting ready to leave on a church mission, so for her to do that for us just means so much.

Here's the GOOD NEWS!!!

We found out today that Cam and Crystal are having a.........

BOY!!!

We couldn't be more thrilled.

 If you need me, I will be at the fabric store buying blue fabric.

i can't find the off switch.

For my tired old brain that is.

Craig and I have been in quite a bit of turmoil about the recent job offer he's been given.

We haven't stopped talking about the possiblity of this job for about 9 months.

This job opportunity has been something that we have been hoping for and praying for.

We have been wanting to get back to Utah since we moved to Arizona 5 years ago.

Now that the choice was ours to make......

......we felt it was finanlly going to happen.

At least that's what we thought.

We wanted this.

We prayed for this.

Seriously, I felt like I might die if I couldn't get back to Utah.

I missed our kids.

And for reasons beyond our control, the new job  just.wouldn't.fit.

And, suddenly, Craig's present job seemed to fit perfectly.

Now, although I will continue to miss our families, especially our grown children,

I feel a peace that I know, comes from my Heavenly Father.

I feel he is letting me know that he is aware of our feelings.

He knows me.

He knows my family.

And more importantly,

He knows what we need.

All of us.....

What you need.

What I need.

 What everyone needs.

For that perfect knowledge, I am exceptionally thankful.

So, we begin our journey anew here is sunny (and decidedly hotter than I prefer)

Tucson, Arizona.

With all of this decision making, I haven't felt much like creating.

There isn't anything that sucks the creativity out of me more than a stressful situation.

It seems like I've had my hands in several different projects but haven't completed hardly any of them.

Sooooooo, I decided I would show some of the things I am almost done with! :)

Here are two quilt tops waiting for me to finished up.

I sure hope they don't have to wait too long!

 I joined a pinkeep swap over at Ravenwood Whimsies.
My swap partner is Patti from Raspberry Lane Primitives. This is a little sneak peek for her.
I am sending this off to you tomorrow Patti.
I hope you like it! :):):)

 And here is a finish that I just got done today.

This is my "sewing chair" It is also the "hair cut chair" and the "extra guest at dinner" chair.

A long time ago, I started painting it red, but I didn't like it so I cleaned it all off.

 But, it seemed that it was meant to be red, because this is how the old gal looks now.

I believe she's much too pretty to have her "after" picture taken in the garage,

 but, due to her smelly stain smell, that's where she'll stay for a little while longer. 

I have big plans for all of these chairs I have been making over.

Now that I know we are staying put, I have to get busy filling up these empty bedrooms.

I'm thinking a guest room........and a sewing room........and a master bedroom re-do..........and a whole house paint job........and a......................

A Love Affair.

You may remember me mentioning my fondness for chairs.

Some might call it a borderline obsession.

But for the sake of argument, let's just call it a love affair.

My dad gave me a box of chair pieces several years ago. There were the makings of four matching chairs. The backs were in tact, but the seat and legs were all in pieces.

We brought them back from England in the late 70's.

They are so old that they were previously put together with dowel.

Craig and I (mostly me) got a wild hair to put one of them together. It has just gotten to the point that we had to do something with them or toss the whole bunch. This was the third house I had personally moved the box of parts to and I know my parents had moved them that many times or more.  

So we cut some dowel pieces and started wood gluing and clamping one of them back together.

It was a bit of a puzzle but we did it.

There were bits of the old upholstery, nails and tacks on the pieces.

We pulled them all out and filled the holes in and sanded it really good.

I  love the detail of the top piece.

Isn't it pretty??

The open part in the back is supposed to be upholstered

but the chair back is curved we didn't have any
"bendy" wood. ;)

My very handy hubby cut me a seat bottom for it. I sprayed the whole thing with a gloss black. I bought

some foam at Jo Ann's using my 40% off coupon. It ended up costing about $3.50. The fabric I used for the seat was a remnant of upholstery fabric. It was around $4.

Not too bad for a make over under $10!

Now I'm excited to get the other 3 done! My plan is to paint them all black but cover the seats in similar, but different fabrics. We will use them with the table in our kitchen nook.

Fun stuff!

It's been a while...

Ho-leeeeee Smash!

It's been a tough couple of weeks around here. We have been knee deep in some pretty crazy stuff.

Craig has been offered another job in another state. It's our "home" state and all of our family are there....most importantly, our three oldest children and our soon to be grandbaby. 

The problem is, that the salary they offered is less than he is making here. As soon as the university he works for now found out, they gave him a raise so he would stay here. It's a very long story.....but suffice it to say that it's been a gut wrenching couple of weeks. The back and forth negotiations are miserable.

But as it stands- at this very minute- we are staying here.

I would like to be 100% certain of that, but there is a small (very small) chance that the other university just might pull a few strings, but I am certainly not holding my breath.

I haven't done too much crafting or make overs because of all of this.

Seems I just can't concentrate.

But I have a couple of things that are juuuuust about done that I will share soon.

I will share a picture of our beautiful daughter Ragan.
This is before her date picked her up for Prom.

Have a happy day! :)

some more make overs

Well, it's April 1st, and I hope everyone is playing nice April fools jokes on people.

The mean ones are just not as fun!

My Craig sure was the victim of a mean one this morning.....

One of his athletes came up to him this morning with big tears in her eyes,

asking him to help her tell her parents that she was pregnant.

As he went to give her a consoling hug, telling her that he would do what he could to help her,

she started laughing and said, April Fools!

Needless to say, he didn't think it was funny.

I have always told my kids that playing a joke on someone is only funny if everyone has fun.

Anyway.......I have a couple of new make overs to share.

This bowl was a thrift store find that I got a while ago. I really liked it's size and shape.

 It was only $1.99 and I knew I could sand the edges to get rid of the few blemishes it had.

 After I spray painted it black, I did just that. With a nice coat of stain, it turned out real purdy!

 I put some paper grass in it and it made a nice little nesting place for my new grunged eggs.

I got the idea to make these eggs from Linda, over at Parkers Paradise.

Linda is such a sweet blog friend and has the funnest blog.

These eggs are so easy and fun to make and they smell delish!

If you've ever grunged up some candles, then these will be a piece of cake for you.

I keep my wax in an old coffee can and heat it double boiler style.

I put a pan of water on to boil, and set the can inside of the pan.

I use plain old wax that you can buy at the grocery store and colored it with black and brown crayons. I have also put bits of old candles in it (I melt what's left in the jar in the oven (checking often) on about 150* until they're liquid, then pour it in the coffee can) and they help with the yummy smell.

As for the smell, I have added all kinds of spices....cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, etc.

After all of it is melted, I take the wax off the heat, and start dipping.

I stir the wax  often (with an old wooden spoon) to ensure the spices haven't all sunk to the bottom.

I use rubber gloves and just dip the eggs with my hands

and then set it on wax paper until they have cooled.

 I also rolled them in more spices that I have in a bowl.

It took about 4 dips and rolls before I got the consistency I liked.

As the wax cools, it sticks a little better.

I used my hands to help mold the wax around the egg.

 After I'm done, I peel the drips off of the wax paper and put them back into the wax along with any left over spices. SO fun! :)

The next little make over is for Ragan's bathroom.

I have been looking for a little clock to put in there for a long time,

but couldn't find the right one for just the right price.

BUT----she NEEDS one in there, on account of her chronic lateness.

I remembered this clock that my mom gave me about 100 years ago that I had out in the garage.

I figured I'd see what I could do with it.

I took it all apart......glued some round beads to the bottom for legs and painted it.

And here it is.

I painted it a hot pink first. Then I painted black over the pink. Her bathroom has bit of a shabby chic look to it, so I didn't want to prim it up too much. I spray painted the gold rim around the clock silver. After everything was dry, I lightly sanded the edges to show a tiny bit of pink, then sealed it with a spray sealer.

I think it turned out perfectly for Ragan's bathroom counter.

I have a feeling she will still be late though.

She never has really embraced my 5 minute beauty regimen.

It's official!

Craig and I are so happy to announce that we are going to be grandparents!

 Our oldest son, Cameron, and his wife, Crystal, are expecting in the fall.

This is a picture of our little grand baby!

Isn't he/she the cutest thing you've ever seen??

I am going to give this precious little sugar anything he/she wants. And when I say anything, I mean anything. And everything. ;)

Now, for the hard part.....what exactly, should a 29 year old grandma be called?

Some thrifty finds.........

I haven't been hanging out at the thrift stores too much lately.

I know......weird.

Explanation....

There is a chance that we might be moving and the mister has been saying words like "downsizing",  "thinning out", "getting rid of" and "reducing" in regard to our household belongings.

I suppose he thinks because his children are moving out, one by one,

 we don't need so much of everything.

So, in an effort to be a good, and supportive wife,

 I have been controlling the urge to stop at every Goodwill and/or thrift store that I drive by.

However,I did make a quick little stop the other day. I was bored and had a little time to kill. (excuses, excuses)

I didn't find much, but I did find some fun things!!!

I picked up this little bag full of star shower curtain hangers. 

 I needed some for our guest bathroom.

I had some hideous plastic rings on the shower curtain and I knew these little babies were the answer!

AND, they were only $2.99!

 

 Some black spray paint and, TAH DAH!!!

See!?  Sooooo much better.

And someone, who shall remain nameless, (but has the initials C.C.), didn't even notice.

Same day.....I found these patterns.

I almost missed them.

Had I not bent down to look at something else, I would have missed them entirely.

99 cents a piece.

Can you believe that!?

The best thing about these patterns

is that some of them came with the fabric, thread and other necessities!

Seriously...when I find stuff like this, I get a little giddy.  

See how easy it is to finish up a project when someone else does all the preliminary work! :)

These will be so cute in a little bowl for Easter.

Moral of the story-

Find thrifty treasures that are small so that they can be brought into the house virtually undetected.

A Sampler...or two.

Recently, I shared a cute little sampler that I found at a thrift store. In that post, I mentioned that I have a fondness for samplers.

I thought I might share some of the ones I have with you.

This first one I also found at a thrift store. I tea dyed it because the colors were very light. I re-framed it to suit my house. The frame was purchased at a Goodwill and then spray painted black.

I found this at a local Goodwill. It's not a sampler, but I love the little house on it! Same story with this frame. It was gold in it's former life. I would like to think it feels so much prettier! ;)

The rest I have made. I never follow a pattern.....I just make it up as I go. (Story of my life.)

 I say that so you will understand any uneven bits and counting mistakes that you might notice. :)

I saw this in a magazine and made it to my liking instead of following the pattern.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my samplers.

Happy Day to you! oxox

What a weekend!

This past weekend was the indoor conference championship for the track and field athletes that Craig coaches. One of his athletes, on both the men's and woman's team won the shot put event. That means that he can add 2 more conference championships to his resume. Julie Labonte, the female shot put champ, is from Canada. In the course of winning the shot put event and being a conference champ, she also broke the Canadian national record. And, if that wasn't enough, she broke the school record as well. That record stood for 28 years!

Craig left Seattle after that meet was over and instead of coming home, he headed over to Albuquerque New Mexico where Jill Camarena-Williams was competing in her indoor championship meet. She was going for her SEVENTH championship. Which she accomplished and in the process BROKE THE AMERICAN SHOT PUT RECORD!!! She is ranked #1 in the United States and currently ranked #2 in the WORLD!

Here is the video with her winning/record breaking throw. (the first guy she hugs is her husband, Dustin...the second guy is Craig) :):):)

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.runnerspace.com%2Fvideo.php%3Fdo%3Dview%26video_id%3D37658&h=40611

Here is another article about Jill if you would like to read it.
We are all about as proud as can be! :)

Wedding photos

We recently got the CD's with all the wedding pictures on them.

Luckily we have a wonderful photographer in the family. She is my youngest sister. She hooked us up with the "family discount" and told Makenzie and Kyle she would take their wedding photos as a gift to them. We are so grateful and she did an AMAZING job.

We are also grateful that she was patient with our crazy family and our inability to stop messing around in all the pictures. 

She took over 1,000 pictures so this is just a small sampling of them.

If you would like to go over to her blog, she has a link to her photography blog there, too.

She doesn't just do weddings, so of you live in Utah and need any kind of baby, graduation, missionary or family pictures taken, let her know! :)

Both sets of proud parents.....

 (Those are her REAL eyelashes, by the way....)

Mark and Makenzie. You don't know how many pictures I have with this same pose. :)

And, a couple of my favorite......

L-R-Craig, Kyle, Ragan, Makenzie, Mark, Me, Cameron and Crystal

My beautiful girls.....:)