Creative Juices are Flowing...

OK, I have, since I found Design Dazzle, discovered an amazing array of Crafting Blogs. WOWZA!! I am in Creativity Heaven!! I am LOVING all the ideas & how they are making me look at the spaces in my house differently. I am loving seeing women (mostly) taking old things & making them unbelievably new & beautiful!! From Mod Podge, to "Roadkill" finds (I love that term that Beckie @ Infarrantly Creative uses), from party to home decor...I am just LOVING it!!

I believe in my last post, I listed Abbey's room. I have been really thinking about it. I don't want to go too shabby, but I don't want to go too cutesy/character, either. SO, I have some ideas that I think she will love, and won't hopefully, break the bank.

I told her that this year, her Birthday present would be a new room, if she wanted. Well, a newly decorated room. She lit up like a firecracker!! She was so excited!! LOL Nothing to worry about!! HA!! She needs a new chest of drawers, where the drawers actually work. I love the look of her armoire, but the drawers have never really worked right, and they don't pull out smoothly, or push smoothly, either. One of the bottoms has cracked in two, and one drawer has just completely fallen apart. Now, I am sure that if I thought hard enough, I could come up with something, some other use for it, and, actually, something just came to mind...BUT, even if I could use it for her toys or something, she needs a place to put her clothes...

SO. A $40 4-drawer chest is better than a 3 drawer armoire (which I love, btw, don't get me wrong. It's so pretty). So, she's getting one for her Birthday... I told her I would paint her room this spring. ALSO, she needs a quilt/comforter set for her bed. That drives me crazy that she doesn't have one. It's hard to decorate without the fundamentals being there, ya know? So, colors will follow after we pick out a quilt/comforter set. I'm thinking something with a light pink, light aqua blue? We'll see where this hunt leads us...

Something that puts a catch in my planning? M. O. N. E. Y. We're doing it on a shoestring, sister...a very skinny one. You might almost say, transparent!! LOL

I'm trying to muster up some enthusiasm for Steve & my room, but it's just not happening, yet... One room at a time...

Be sure to check out the new links & things in my sidebar. I'm so excited to share this stuff!! Jodi, I can totally see you getting into some of these websites!! There's lots of "shabby"!! :)

OK, PROMISE, pictures next time!! hehehe

I am a SHE

It dawned on me that I might actually blog more if I started writing things down as they came to me & posted it later instead of doing it all from scratch each time!! LOL Now, this may seem like a "duh" kind of thing to some (like, born organized people), but I am a SHE (sidetracked home executive), and I LOVE spontaneity. But, as with most things in life, where there is balance, there is, well, balance!! LOL There is room for both.

So, some of this post is taken from notes, and some just pop into my mind!! How fun!! And, hopefully, no one else will know the difference :) LOL

Well, since that's over with, let's move on, K?

I don't do New Year's Resolutions. My resolution changes. But, having somehting on a To Do List is different. I like To Do Lists. I love them, actually, because they help me (again, a SHE) stay focused.

So, here is my To Do List, not to necessarily be completed this year. Some things are just not gonna happen this year (see #1), but I want it on there to remind me that I want to go there someday... does that make sense? Of course, not, but it does to me...

Anyways, here it is:

1. Take the kids to Disney World, and stay at one of their resorts.

2. Continue on my quest to exercise & eat healthily regardless of my feelings.

3. Become persistent about orgainizing our home. Surely there is a way to organize our stuff & KEEP it that way...

4. Paint the house (inside).

5. Re-decorate Abbey's room. She's never had a bedspread/comforter that matches her room ever since she's had the big girl bed...and it bugs me.

6. Scrapbook more. Or should that just be: scrapbook. I don't get to do it nearly enough, especially not enough lately to even refer to myself as a scrapbooker...sad.

7. Be more diligent with Flylady's methods of decluttering and keeping it that way...I can dream.

Now, what I like about this list is that it's check-off-able and carry-over-able. There is no "done" To Do list...there is ALWAYS something to do... And, with a To Do list, there's a sense of priority...Such as, what's more important, Disney World, or being one year healthier? Disney World can be carried over, but healthy living is an immediate need.

There is a downside... Accountability. That's where the blogosphere comes in, I guess. I will always have this post to refer to, and can update, I don't know, bi-yearly? We'll see...

Thanks for hanging in there!! LOL I really need to start sharing pics...like, from this year, not 2 years ago!! Maybe that should go on my To Do list!! HA!!

Love ya!! :)

Blogging

I just watched Julie & Julia, and can I just say, wow, blogging can be powerful!!

Not only that, but it's such a great outlet. I also came upon another amazing blogger earlier today, and it's just so amazing that these ladies (mostly) are out there, and they're doing such a great job at helping and encouraging other women. There are those "political" blogs, but I don't read those. (I know, shocking that I'm not that into politics...lol) Anyways, I didn't realize it, but there is "blogging etiquette" and I am probably breaking every rule in this one post!! LOL I did hear that the playlist thing can be offensive, but I disagree. I think that what a person listens to just adds to the depth of getting to know a person.

ANYWAYS, I just had to share that...more about that next time.

Tonight, Abbey is staying the night at her cousin Katie's house, and it's just Eli & I...and the Wiggles!! LOL He LOVES the Wiggles, and I'm giving a shout out to PBS Sprout for bringing them back onto our televisions. AND to Sprout on Demand...Eli just did the cutest thing...they were over, and he came marching back into my room holding the remote & said, "Me..." That boy is so smart!! LOL He's known what that thing was for since the womb, I'm sure!! LOL

Boys...

Until next time...

Is it actually possible to be obsessed with a website? Because I am. I am LOVING the Design Dazzle website...even if I can't afford any of the stuff on it!! HAHA!! I LOVE the blog & how they show you really neat & easy design tricks, not just for your home/kids' room, but for birthday parties & stuff, too.

LOVE IT!!

Anyways, speaking of obsessed, I think that I may be obsessed with Cafe World on Facebook. It's not as bad now, but, wow, in the beginning I might've been a little on the wacko side. But it is fun.

OK, I guess I needed to ramble about obsessive things, because I can't seem to get them off my mind.

Which begs the question, are they really worth being in my mind?!?!

No....but, um, excuse me, I've got to see if my Three Berry Cheesecake is done, yet... just kidding... sort of...

Homeschooling & Other Miscellaneous Stuff

I don't think I updated on the homeschooling front last time...It's going great!! I love it, actually. I have to keep reminding Abbey that she would have to do her work (even the stuff she doesn't like to do) if she went to "classroom" school, so forget about trying to get out of it!! HAHA

I had a great chat with another homeschooling Mom tonight, and I just love talking to her. She boosts my confidence & always reminds me that this choice isn't just about teaching academics...it's about building our childrens' character...and, as I'm finding out, building mine, too :)

In less than a month, I will have a 6 year old... That sounds so old!! Where does the time go?!?!? Seriously, I have no idea where it went. Sometimes I just stare at old pictures of her & tear up because there's a reason you hear so often "It just goes so fast..." It DOES. She's always gonna be my baby girl, though.

So, for her birthday party, we're having a somewhat small slumber party. We'll see how many of the girls actually sleep here!! LOL I'm hoping that I tire them all out & they fall asleep watching a movie...that's the plan, anyway. I will try not to make a big deal about bedtime, and hopefully they'll fall asleep before they even realize what happened!! LOL

The theme is "The Little Mermaid" because Abbey had already asked Mammy (my Mom) to make her an Ariel cake. So, I've got LOTS of neat decorating ideas & games floating around in my head. I'm about as excited as she is!! LOL

Eli's doing great. It's so neat to see his little personality emerging...and a little sad, too, because he's not a baby-baby anymore...he's officially a toddler. And into E V E R Y T H I N G. It's amazing how fast that boy moves from one place to another, destroying the order I work so hard to keep... I know, why? LOL Because that's what Mama's do. He'll be 2 in May, and, seriously, these last 2 years have flown by, too...

There is talk of trying for another baby, but we have yet to settle on an agreed-upon time frame...LOL...Let's keep that on the DL...I guess if I wanted to keep that on the DL, I shouldn't be posting it here on a public blog...

No definite commitment to that, yet, but we're thinking :)

Speaking of babies, I am so proud of my cousin Jodi who is now a proud Foster-Mommy to a new baby boy!! :) Brand-spanking new, too, I gather :) Congratulations, Jodi & Jimmie :) Love you guys!! :)

OK, I'd better go...I need to get to bed before midnight...LOL...who am I kidding?