SAHM I Am!

My American Girl

2012-01-05T10:12:00.004-06:00

My own sweet American girl, Miss Mae, had one wish on her list for Santa this year... an American Girl doll. Not just any American Girl. The one she thought was the prettiest- Rebbecca, the would be movie star from the turn of the last century. Santa, being such a jolly fellow, happily obliged.
It was an American Girl Christmas, to be sure. All the grandmas and aunties pitched and got Miss Mae a little something to outfit Rebbecca with a few of her many accessories. We were so happy that my grandma, who we call Grandma Darlin, was able to spend Christmas with us. So we had a little girl's night out at the American Girl Bistro. Of course, Rebbecca had to attend also!

It is the girliest place ever, and it was so fun. Rebbecca had her own special seat, and she was served a nice cup of hot cocoa. She said it was delicious, and the refills were free! Plus, she had a chance to wear her lovely fur coat that she borrowed from another American Girl.

We had an early dinner and enjoyed great conversation at the table. There was a small box of little cards with open ended questions printed on them. We took turns reading the questions aloud and each of us answered. Miss Mae and I found out that Grandma Darlin had, in her younger days, almost passed up a promotion because she did not think she would be brave enough to make sales calls. She was encouraged by her friends and took the job and was a great success. We had a big discussion about being a leader and being a follower and being a team player. It was so good to get all three generations talking.

Of course, when you go for such a fine meal, you must have dessert! Happily, we were able to order doll sized ice-cream cones that were just delicious! Yum!

It was really not much more expensive than going to a chain restaurant like Chili's, and so much cuter! We had a great time!

Kitchen Plans

2012-01-03T08:25:00.005-06:00

This is my kitchen. It has a good layout and newish appliances. It has lots of awesome sunlight all day long. From my kitchen window, I can see the kids playing in the back yard. It really is the heart of our home.

This is the nook in the kitchen. We eat almost all of our meals here. The kids do homework and craft projects at the table.

There are things I love about my kitchen, but there are a lot of things that drive me a bit batty! Like our builders grade oak cabinets- they are mostly in good shape, but need a bit of TLC and a few coats of paint. And new hinges...

Our pantry is an impossible to keep organized deep closet.

The horrible fluorescent light fixture was damaged from a leak in the upstairs bathroom. Oh, and did you notice that we have some great popcorn ceiling action going on up there?

When our dog, Shelby, was a puppy, she chewed everything, including this low window sill.

The window sills that aren't chewed have peeling paint.

And all the trim is just in bad shape in general. I think it was originally painted a cream color 30 years ago, but it has oxidized to the color of depression...

Our counter tops are the original Formica from when the house was built, and every grout line in the house is just a hot mess.

The time has come to finally DO something about this kitchen. Mr. Sahm and I have been talking about it for a long time, but he is gone so much for work, and I really have to admit that my energy level is limited, even though my ideas are not. So, we have decided to put some money into getting the kitchen done, though the amount is very limited.

Some of the things I want to have done are...

Have the ceiling repaired and scraped of popcorn and painted white.

Close up the hole where the fluorescent light fixture is and have can lights installed, with a pretty light fixture above the sink.

Have the funky wall texture sanded down and the walls painted a soft yellow.

Have all the trim and doors and window sills repaired and painted a sparkly white

Have the cabinets painted white.

Replace hinges and handles on the cabinets.

Get a new floor- laminate to look like hardwood?

Get table base painted and replace white laminate tabletop with a butcher block table top.

Buy new chairs (Ours are falling apart.)

Have pull out drawers installed in pantry and a few base cabinets.

Find an awesome dresser and hutch or china cabinet or something for the wall in the nook.

Get new dark charcoal grey counter tops.

Install white subway tile back splash.

Paint island red. Install a long towel or curtain rod on the front to display vintage dishtowels.

Replace the brass doorknobs.

Make new window valances.

I am going to do as much as I can really do, myself. I am going to hire someone to do the painting and scraping, and the installing of counter tops and floors. I think it will be so much better when it's done. If you have done this yourself, or hired people to do it for you, I would love to hear any advice! What helped you the most? Do you have any regrets? Please share!

Menu Plan Monday January 2, 2012

2012-01-02T09:17:00.003-06:00

Trying to get back into the swing of things this week- back to school, back to work, back to normal.

2 Monday- Turkey enchiladas, texas caviar (leftover from New Years), canned peaches

3 Tuesday- Pieroges and Keilbasa with onions and peppers, apple and cabbage slaw

4 Wednesday (Epiphany Pageant practice)- Turkey white bean and escarole soup, Toasted mozzarella on french bread

5 Thursday- meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn

6 Friday- (Epiphany Pageant)- deconstructed tamale pie, mexican salad

7 Saturday- Pizza Night

8 Sunday- Turkey burgers on buns, garden salad

New Year

2012-01-01T19:56:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year!

Well, I am ready for a fresh start. My favorite part of New Year's has always been the fresh start that it brings. Yes, the kiss at midnight is fun too, but I love to set resolutions. I know that they so often get broken, but that's okay. The intention and the effort are what keep us moving forward. So, here are a couple of my resolutions...

To increase our family's healthy habits.
I have been exercising and it has really helped me so much. It truly does fight depression, and I want to be more consistent this year. Mr. Sahm has also resolved to do his morning walk more consistently, so together, we'll be doing great! I could make a giant weight loss resolution, but instead, I just am going to resolve to feed myself and my family more real food and try lots of new fruits and veggies, or at least new ways of preparing them! I am hoping to find some that we really enjoy so I can increase our consumption without increasing our dinner table fights, umm, I mean discussions about eating our veggies.

To have more fun and connection with the kids.
Truth is- it takes effort to have fun and it is easy to let them stay glued to a screen (TV, computer, gaming system of one kind or another.) Not good for them and not good for me and not good for our relationships. So I resolve to do more with them and be more present. (That will take a lot of energy. Good thing I'll be getting all that good exercise and healthy food!) I do want to do fun stuff with them, but I am also seeing that it is time for them to do some chores already! I haven't made them do much because it's just easier to do it myself. I know that a reasonable amount of household chores will be good for them, and I resolve to put the energy into helping them learn to contribute to the family in this way.

To grow the fruit of self-control.
Self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, and it is an area that is an area of struggle for me. It just doesn't come naturally. This year I resolve to let it be something that God grows in me, rather than trying to manufacture it out of my own will. When I am weak, He can be strong for me.

***I have the best hubby in the world, and we are pretty darn happy together. It's not really a resolution, but I want to let him know, every day, how awesome I think he is and how much I appreciate him. I hope that it will be a deeply ingrained habit so we can always be this connected and happy together.***

So those are my resolutions. How bout you? Are you making any resolutions?

My Mother

2011-12-09T07:07:00.006-06:00

I spent two weeks with my mother, trying to help her figure out how to get care for herself and get care for her husband and how to survive financially if her husband needed to go to residential care. She wasn't old enough yet for Social Security herself- only 60 years old. Whenever we would start to get to work on it, she would be having trouble breathing and we would need to go to the hospital. Her fight against stage 4 lung cancer was going well, but the recurring pneumonia was really taking a toll.

I spent another few days with her in the hospital, wondering. On one hand, she seemed so strong and so full of fight, and the doctors said she would get better and go home. But I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach, and the nurses had this look on their faces when the doctor was talking about her getting better. And I just jumped from hope to grief, and then back again. I called my grandmother and she came to be with us. My mom would just lean on her and say, "Mama." And finally, the doctor said it was time to intubate her and admitted that her chances of survival were nearly non-existent. It was my job to say no. No tubes, no machines, no delaying what was coming soon enough anyway. So I did. I said no, and then they were able to give her enough medication to finally ease her pain and her anxiety over not being able to get a real deep breath. She was peaceful. She slept.

Grandma and I were with her. Through the night we could hear the change in her breathing, and in the morning, with her mother and her daughter by her side, she took her last breath.

Someone had told me that I would be able to feel her spirit in the room, and that she would be there for a while before leaving. I did feel her, but she did not wait. One second she was there, and the next she was gone. She did not wait, but flew! She went to heaven so fast, and my heart was so filled with joy for her sake. I could feel how happy she was. She was reunited with my dad, her true love. She had people waiting there for her. No more cancer. No more fighting. Just Joy.

My Mom

2011-11-08T06:20:00.003-06:00

As some of you may know, my mother has stage 4 lung cancer. She was given 6 months to live 2 1/2 years ago, and has been going strong since then.

She has been not so good this week and has been in the ER and needed a blood transfusion. I am going to California to see her and help her get some care issues figured out. It is a HUGE thing for my mom to ask for help, or say that she needs care.

Please pray for her and for me to be super energized and really smart to get things well taken care of. Also, Mr. Sahm is taking care of the kids for a whole week- he may need more prayers than anyone else!

El Fiesta Del Dia De Los Muertos!

2011-11-03T10:08:00.007-05:00

Every year, we have a big Halloween party for our kids. The basics are always the same- awesome kids and their families are invited, we play some silly games, we eat a big potluck, the kids run around and play like crazy and the adults stand around and visit like crazy. This year, our theme was Dia De Los Muertos- The Day of the Dead.
Really Dia De Los Muertos is not the Mexican version of Halloween; It's more All Soul's Day with a kick, and is not considered to be scary at all. Perfect for us, cause we have tried to keep the scare factor pretty low till the kids are older.

Miss Mae and I spent a lot of time crafting to prepare for the party. We made cheaters "papel picado" by folding and cutting sheets of construction paper and then taping them to curling ribbon to hang from the ceiling and across the yard. It is such a bright and cheerful decoration! We also made a ton of tissue paper flowers for decorations and a lot of orange tissue paper marigolds to decorate the "cemetery" with.
I was able to use a lot of dollar store Halloween skull items, which I decorated to make them brightly colored calaveras, using colored permanent markers.

I also used inexpensive white poster board to make large calveras (skulls) to hang around the house and yard for decoration.

Mr. Sahm emptied out the unused playhouse and transformed it into the adults-only beverage area, Dead Man's Cantina, where cervesa and margaritas were served.

I started out our activities by reading a little book about the Day of the Dead, and then we played "pass the calavera"...

...and the kids made their own calvera masks with paper plates. We also put together a plastic skeleton and had a failed attempt at pin the skull on the skeleton. They are too old and smart for that. Every one figured out how to peek and got the skull right on the mark!

We took a trip to the "cemetery," so every one had to get ready.The girls got pretty tissue paper flower head bands, and the boys got...Moustaches! Doesn't Little Dude look great? He has the attitude to pull of a fake moustache if ever anyone did!

After an awesome potluck dinner of queso and enchiladas and some of the yummiest beans ever, we broke open the pinata.
And then we had our sugar skulls- okay, my cheater version of sugar skulls. I was a little intimidated to use merengue powder and make something that might not come out if it was too humid...it just sounded scary. So, throwing tradition to the wind and praying that I wouldn't offend anyone, I bought some giant marsmallows and used my kitchen shears to sort of shape them into skulls, I added chocolate chips for eyes, and then we decorated them. Mr. Sahm is such an artist- his came out so much prettier than mine!
It was such a fun party, and I learned a lot about Dia De Los Muertos. Now I have to come up with a new idea for next year's party...

October Monthly Menu

2011-09-29T08:21:00.010-05:00

S 1 (World Vegetarian Day) Penne & beans with roasted tomatoes, garlic bread, salad

S 2 Hamburgers on buns, oven fries, crudite

M 3 (Baseball Practice) Chicken Enchiladas, mex salad, fruit

T 4 (Soccer Practice) Hot ham sandwiches, Greens and apple salad with sweet mustard dressing

W 5 Pork roast, applesauce. roasted potatoes and carrots

T 6 (Baseball Game) Apricot chicken, rice, veggies

F 7 Pizza

S 8 (Church Fall Festival) Turkey sandwiches, chips, fruit

S 9 (Moldy Cheese Day) Grilled steak, baked potatoes, wedge salad with bleu cheese, bread

M 10 (Columbus Day) (Baseball Practice, No School) Shredded pork soft tacos, rice, beans

T 11 (Soccer Practice) Cheese steak sandwiches w/ grilled onions, salad

W 12 (Farmer's Day) (No Dad) Chicken wings, crudite with ranch dip, potato salad

T 13 (No Dad, Brownies) Out at Jason's Deli

F 14 (No Dad) Pizza

S 15 (Mom & Dad at out to dinner and a concert!) mac & cheese, canned fruit

S 16 (World Food Day) Lentils and rice, bread, fruit

M 17 (Baseball Game) Applesuace chicken, brown rice pilaf, veggie

T 18 (Soccer Practice) Crock pot tortilla soup, quesedillas

W 19 (No Dad) Out at Joe's Crab Shack

T 20 (No Dad) Breakfast for dinner: scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, toast

F 21 (No Dad) Pizza

S 22 (School Fall Festival) Eat at school- lots of JUNK!

S 23 (Mother-In-Law's Day) Deconstructed Tamale pie, salad

M 24 (No Dad, Baseball Practice) Grilled PB & Apple sandwiches, sun chips, milk

T 25 (No Dad, Soccer Practice) Italian Sausage Soup, bread

W 26 (No Dad) Out at IHOP

T 27 (Brownies) Crockpot Lasagna, salad, bread

F 28 Pizza

S 29 (Dia De Los Muertos Party!!) Awesome Party Potluck!

S 30 BBQ chicken, baked potatoes, veggie

M 31 (Halloween) Mummy dogs with bloody dip (hot dogs wrapped in bread stick dough with ketchup), monster mouths (Apple wedges with almond teeth) , witches toes (roasted baby carrots)

How To Make a Month's Meal Plan

2011-09-18T20:07:00.006-05:00

I rely on meal planning as a sure-fire way to stay sane when life is crazy. The more I have going on, the more I need a meal plan!

I have heard people say they could never think up 30 meals all at once, but it's easier than it seems.

FIRST STEP
Gather what you need.

I personally can't make a first draft on the computer, so I need lined paper and a couple sharp pencils with erasers.
I also bring print outs of any recipes I've been wanting to try.
I make a print out of any holidays or silly celebrations for the month. I Google it and it's pretty easy to find.
I need my phone, because my calendar is in there (very important!)
I go to the pantry and freezer and make a list of what is in there so I can use it over the following month.
I try to also have the sale flyer for my favorite store too.

SECOND STEP
Make a list of the days in the month. You need to write the date as well as the day.

August

M	22
T	23
W	24
T	25
F	26
S	27
S	28

THIRD STEP
Fill in any recurring events or calendar items.

Kid's activities in the late afternoon or evening, such as soccer practice every Tuesday or Wednesday nite Church.
Calendar items, like your husband's business trip on the 21st.
Then fill in any holidays you celebrate that month and any of the other celebrations from the list that might be fun to base a dinner on. Did you know that Dr. Seuss has a birthday and that there is a Something on a Stick Day? I pick the days that make sense to us as a family and inspire a dinner idea. On Dr. Seuss' birthday we have green eggs and ham and star belly biscuits with a truffula fruit salad. (Yes, I 'm a fan.) Something on a Stick Day is corn dogs, of course!
August

M	22	(First Day of School)
T	23	(Soccer Practice)
W	24
T	25
F	26
S	27
S	28
M	29	(No Dad)

When all this is on your list, you are ready!

FOURTH STEP
Now I start filling in things that are easy.

Friday night is pizza night at our house, so that's where I start.
On the days that my good man is travelling, I plan to make easy dinners, like breakfast for dinner or grilled cheese and tomato soup. My kids love frozen dinners, so as a treat, I plan those once in a while when dad is out of town.
If there are any holidays, there is typically a traditional food, so that's easy to fill in. I have made up traditional foods for lots of days that don't have traditional foods. We have hot dogs in crescent rolls with macaroni & cheese on the first day of school, every year. We have mummy dogs on Halloween and heart shaped meatloaf with pink mashed potatoes on Valentine's Day. It makes it easier for me to plan and it's fun time for us as a family.
On birthdays- it's dinner out! No cooking!

August

M	22	(First Day of School) Hot dogs in crescent rolls, mac & cheese, garden salad
T	23	(Soccer Practice)
W	24
T	25
F	26	Pizza Night
S	27
S	28
M	29	(No Dad) Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, fruit

FIFTH STEP

Now I start filling in the rest.

On days that we have evening activities for the kids (seems like every day lately!), I plan easy dinners or crock pot meals. This is probably the most important nights to have a plan, because it's just too easy to fall back to running through a drive-thru or ordering in Chinese food, cause you are just worn out already!
I try to plan something everybody will really like for Sunday evening, and I make enough to re-invent the left-overs for another meal. Mr. Sahm just loves it when we grill steaks on Sunday and then have steak burritos later that week. Leftover roasted chicken can become chicken enchiladas and leftover meatloaf can make "meatball" sandwiches. So that takes care of a couple of days.
I fill in the recipes that I want to try on nights when I should have the time and energy to discover that Rachel Ray's shepherd's pie recipe is yummy but makes about 25 pans to wash.
I fill in our family favorites that we have every month, like tacos. TACOS! Yum yum yummy! Tacos! Yum.
I keep in mind what I have in the pantry and the freezer and what I can get on a great sale, and I try to make sure that I base meals on those ingredients.
August

M	22	(First Day of School) Hot dogs in crescent rolls, mac & cheese, garden salad
T	23	(Soccer Practice) Tacos
W	24	Teriyaki Chicken skewers, rice, asian salad, mandarin oranges
T	25	Crock Pot Italian herb chicken, spaghetti, grilled veggies, garlic bread sticks
F	26	Pizza Night
S	27	Grilled Salmon, couscous, honeyed carrots
S	28	Grilled steaks (cook extra), spinach salad, watermelon, bread
M	29	(No Dad) Grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, fruit
T	30	(No Dad, Soccer practice) Kid's cuisine
W	31	(No Dad) Breakfast for dinner: Choc chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, fruit
T	1	(Curriculum Night) Steak burritos (use leftovers from Sunday), watermelon

FINAL STEP

Now, if there are any days left, you have to come up with some ideas. I try to keep copies of past month's meal plans so I can get ideas for these days. But honestly, by the time you have holidays and easy meals and family favorites and stuff, there should not be many days left. And then you are done, and you have a whole months worth of meals planned! Yay! If you are not doing any meal planning at all, start with a week and see how it feels.

Sometimes, stuff happens and you will not be able to prepare what you had planned. It happens! I just do it later that week, swap weeks, or push it off to the next month!

The planning is a bit of work that pays off for a whole month. Totally worth it to me! You can see this complete menu here.

Come check this out!

My New Cute Flip Flops

2011-09-15T21:18:00.010-05:00

This is our sweet puppy girl, Shelby Montana. We love her so much, but I do not love what she does to any shoe he can get her teeth on. It's terrible how many pairs of flip-flops I have had to just pick up the pieces and throw in the trash can. I found these flip flops at the 99 cents store. Plain but serviceable.

Grey, brown and navy are pretty good neutrals, but I thought maybe I could make them better, so headed off to one of my favorite places- Hobby Lobby. I Picked up some special flip flop glue (with a coupon of course!) and a couple of pieces of pretty trim, about 2/3 of a yard each, but I have pretty big feet.

I cut the trim to size and folded in half to find the middle.

I started from the middle and just started gluing the trim on.

I used clothespins to hold the trim in place while it dried.

And look how cute they turned out! So much better than plain 'ol flip flops!

I also did some daisy trim on the navy flip flops with a daisy in the middle. So glad I had those in my craft room!
I also had some white silk flowers (leftover from my wedding!), so I glued 4 of them at the center point on the grey flip flops. So pretty!
I can't figure out which pair I like best! And since it was 107 degrees on Tuesday, I'm pretty sure I will still get some use out of them this year. There's no way I'll put these anywhere that the dog can even find them! Poor puppy!

I spent $3 for the flip flops and about $4.50 at Hobby Lobby, plus I used some stuff out of my own supplies. My total is $2.50 a pair, with about 2/3 of my tube of glue remaining. Good thing, cause Miss Mae wants some too!

I am linking up here:

The Dread Laundry (Room) and How to Get Rid of the Popcorn

2011-09-13T15:26:00.013-05:00

My least favorite chore is doing laundry. I really just don't like it. I kinda dread it...

I am pretty good at the washing and drying, and okay at the folding, but the putting away? Not so much. And, I have to do laundry in this teency tiny little laundry room that also serves as a kitty potty room AND first dumping place on your way in from the garage AND place to put the broom and the mop and stuff AND where I put all the pantry overflow AND where the iron and ironing board live AND where we put dirty clothes that we are to lazy to take upstairs to put in a bedroom hamper. That's a lot for a tiny little space. And, it's really not pretty...

So, I have decided to make this oh-so-important room my first project that I do MYSELF. I have not asked Mr. Sahm for any help at all. (I think it's kinda freaking him out a little, but I'm hoping that when he gets used to the idea, he'll be proud of me.) And I have gotten a start!
I decided the first thing that had to go was this:

Yucky Cottage Cheesy Popcorn Ceiling!

It was really pretty simple. I did not follow the bazillion step directions that you are supposed to do when removing this stuff. I lightly sprayed it with water and lightly scraped it, being sure to leave a little of the texture stuff on the ceiling. After I was done, I painted it with 2 coats of ceiling paint, and LOOK!

Not a great picture, I know, but look how smooth! The bit of texture you leave on there makes it look like the orange peel texture that is on the walls. In this picture, you can see the ceiling is white and the wall is yellow, but they both have texture. Isn't that so much better than popcorn!?!
Speaking of yellow, I also painted the walls the sweetest yellow- Tigger's Tummy. It was the same color that was in Miss Mae's nursery. My next job is to sand and paint all the baseboards and door trim. They are in pretty rough shape and are going to look so much better after some love and attention. Can you see that little peek of white baseboard sticking out from behing the dryer?So much better!

Here's some of the things I plan to do:

-finish painting trim and door
-paint door to garage with chalkboard paint
-paint wall cabinet white.
-install a countertop over washer and dryer
-purchase or make a "house" for the kitty box that will fit between the washer and dryer and will contain any sand that the kitties want to track all over the place (not that it's a problem or anything...)
-put pretty hooks on one wall for backpacks and jackets
-put up hooks for broom/mop/ironing board behind the door
-organize and decorate
-someday get a new floor

I'm sure more will come up, but that's the plan for now. I'm pretty excited to get started!

Gratitude Sunday 9/11

2011-09-11T12:42:00.006-05:00

The whole week leading up to this ten year anniversary has been filled with news reports and online articles and images everywhere you look. This day is on every one's mind. Looking back, we are sad and proud and angry, all at the same time. It is a day that all of us will remember.

At Church this morning, we had bells tolling, one every 10 seconds. The bell will ring 2996 times. The Bishop was visiting, and he spoke about 9/11 and its impact on us as a nation. He also pointed out that all of Scripture readings for the day were concerning forgiveness, and it was true. Joseph forgiving his brothers for their awful actions against him. God removing our sins from us, as far as the east is from the west. Jesus telling us to forgive not 7 times 7, but 70 times 7. So, along with our hearts and our minds full of words of forgiveness, we had baptisms and confirmations. Three babies and a mom and her 2 sons were welcomed into the family of faith. Three young teenagers confirmed their faith while 5 adults re-affirmed their faith. My heart was so full! It seemed so appropriate to me to spend this day welcoming people into God's family and remembering His love. The evil actions of evil, misguided men can not separate us from God's love, and we will not stop loving Him.

I just love seeing those babies in their long white Christening gowns, so I thought I would show how precious my own babies were on their Christening days.

Miss Mae and I at her Christening. Mr. Sahm's mother had Miss Mae's gown made, and it was the prettiest thing I had ever seen, made even more beautiful by the love that we all shared on that day.
Look at my precious Little Dude! His dad and godfather both said that he was NOT going to wear one of those long girly gowns, so we had this sweet little smocked outfit made. It's so masculine, right?

I am so grateful today for all that our remembrance of this day brings, even the sadness, because with it comes a call to forgiveness and the courage to continue.

Frugal Finds

2011-09-09T19:00:00.004-05:00

I got out to a few garage sales and one estate sale, and I found some treasures!
How cute is this little bag!? So sweet and feminine! It was $1, so I figured it was perfect for a date night coming soon! I also got the gold candle stand, soon to meet some spray paint, for 25 cents and 5 wooden disky thingies for $1.

I really like the big Christmasy tin, and it was only 25 cents! Also got 8 napkin rings for $2 and the wooden brackets for $1.

This map was 50 cents. It is a world map on the other side, with USSR and lots of other countries that no longer exist! It's pretty fragile, and I'm not positive what I want to do with it. I think I may take it to be laminated for safety, and then tuck it away until I get a great idea.

I got the glass jars with lids for $3 each, and $2 for the milk glass vase. That's kind of high end for me. I guess I got carried away...

I got all this stuff for a Dia De Los Muertos party that we are having in October. The pumpkin planter was $1, and the 4 straw mats were $1. I got the greenery for 50 cents for 2 bunches. I just fell in love with this little tin nativity. It comes in a little tin box- so cute! I am sure that I can use it for our party, and I think Little Dude may want it when that's over. It cost $3, which felt like a lot, but it was so sweet!

This is a queen size bedspread in good condition, and I got it for $5. It will go in the master bedroom eventually. I'll get there eventually...

I'm very happy with my frugal finds! Yay!

The "I Told You So!!!" Dance

2011-09-08T14:17:00.004-05:00

Isn't this the cutest Little Dude Ever!?
Honestly, I always knew that he was sweet and kind hearted and creative and funny and charming and so many good things. With Mr. Sahm for a daddy, how could he not be? Yet, there we were, lost in frustration and anger and fear because of his seriously bad behavior. It was so scary. I never knew when he would blow up and start hitting me or his sister. I knew I would never abandon him, but the thought of dealing with him every day until he turned 18 made me not want to live that long. It was really that bad.

We had a bunch of theories and ideas of what might be going wrong with the Little Dude. Mr. Sahm had a very far-out, crazy idea that Little Dude had sleep apnea. He based this idea on the fact that poor Little Dude had 8 cases of strep and 6 ear infections in one school year and the ENT doctor told us that the tonsils were unusually large and obviously needed to come out, along with the adenoids and the addition of some tubes in his ears. Mr. Sahm figured that if the tonsils were unusually large, then the adenoids probably were too, and that was causing sleep apnea, thus causing poor attention and bad behavior based on lack of good, sound sleep. Can you say wishful thinking? I knew it had to be ADD or ODD or ADHD or PMS (...oh wait, that last one is me...)

On July 29th, Little Dude had surgery. It was a rough recovery, but he got past the pain and we finally had to cut off the ice cream and make him eat some real food.

In the last month, we have seen a miraculous change in Little Dude's behavior. His anger is rare, and when it does pop up, he has so much more self-control than I have ever seen him have. He isn't fighting with his sister, but they are playing together, sometimes for a couple hours! There's no hitting, almost no yelling, and he is eager to be helpful and he really tries to be obedient. He is sweet to me and has been giving me so many hugs and kisses and snuggles.

Yesterday he got a note from his teacher about how excellent his behavior has been and how kind and helpful he is in class. When I read it, I cried tears of joy and Little Dude got ice cream after dinner. I always knew that he was sweet and kindhearted and helpful, and now other people get to see it too.

So, Mr. Sahm was right. He gets to say, "I told you so!" and he gets to make up an "I told you so!" dance, and dance it all around the house. And I think I'll join in, cause for me it is a dance of joy and deep gratitude.

WIWW #3

2011-09-07T15:57:00.005-05:00

It's What I Wore Wednesday again! Check out all the pretty ladies with the cute outfits at The Pleated Poppy.

On Saturday, Mr. Sahm and I took the kids to see Spy Kids 4. He hated it, but the kids LOVED it. So much bathroom humor, which is always a big hit with the 6 and 8-year-olds. I wore this...

T-shirt: Walmart ($3!) Skirt: also Walmart Sandals: Payless Purse: Ross

We had a real Taco Tuesday Lunch- with tacos! Our friend Liz is having her baby, Rose, by c-section on Friday, and she wanted tacos. I guess she can pull the pregnancy card, right?! I wore this...

Top: thrifted! Shorts: Walmart on sale (a juniors plus size...the fit is very different.) Shoes: Walmart

And check out the little side pony- I kinda liked it.

Today, I did the aqua aerobics class, and then some grocery shopping.

Top: thrifted! Denim skirt: Walmart Shoes: Payless (a long time ago!)

Lindsey, thank you so much for this linky party each week. I am really starting to feel so much better about how I look and how I am presenting myself to others. Even my Little Dude has noticed and told me that he likes how my eyes look with make up on. How sweet is that!?

Gratitude Sunday

2011-09-04T19:59:00.007-05:00

I woke up this morning thinking...

I need to lose some weight. I want to. I really like the auqa zumba classes at the gym. Wonder if I really can get a little self-control with the food? As the thoughts of what I need to do tripped through my brain, I was struck by how different these thoughts are now than they were when I was young.

So I thought I would share my first ever post, written when Miss Mae and Little Dude were just babies-
Not A Hater Anymore...

Like most women I know, I have spent years worrying and complaining about my
body. My hair too straight, my feet too big, and the weight, the weight, the weight! I truly hated my body, and no matter what, that didn't change. I lost 150 pounds after gastric bypass surgery, and still hated my body! But, you know, I just can't anymore. This body has done the miraculous. This body has birthed two children. How could I hate something that has given me such beautiful gifts? This body has become an instrument that I use daily to express love to this family. It is these hands that work for them and these arms that hold them when they cry over boo-boos, big and small. It is this chest that they lay their heads on when they are tired and need a soft place to be. Being a mom has given me so much appreciation for all the beauty that I possess in this body and all the love that it allows me to express. The hair, the feet, and the weight still bother me, but I am too wrapped up in holding my kids for it to matter so very much.

I am so grateful that the shame is no longer part of this internal conversation.

WIWW and Best Laid Plans

2011-09-01T10:21:00.007-05:00

Well, the week started so well. I took pictures of this...

Thursday- Blouse: THRIFTED! Shorts: Ross (and I decided not to wear this belt. I didn't think it worked...)

Friday- Ended up in my bathing suit most of the day... wore this Land's End cover-up: THRIFTED, belt is a strap from an old camera bag.

Monday- Shorts: Ross, Top: Old Navy

...for WIWW. I think I fell down on the job this week, and I 'm hoping to do better next week.

I was also going to show this yucky little laundry room, and tell you that I have plans.

I was going to tell you that it started with this icky popcorny cottage cheesy ceiling...

BUT, then, this happened...

A pipe in the upstairs bathroom sprung a leak. Of course this all happened a mere 4 hours after Mr. Sahm left on a 3 day business trip. I found the shut off valve for the water, but it didn't work either. By morning, the kitchen ceiling looked like this...

(Notice that here is more yucky popcorny cottage cheesy stuff on the ceiling? Gross!)

So, I called the plumber to fix the pipe, and he brought some very nice water abatement people with him. Now the kitchen looks like this...

The kids' bathroom...

And my closet...

It's noisy and a little hot, and the only easily accessible potty is downstairs. We can't cook, and we can't wash dishes. My plans for this week have fallen by the wayside, but I am trying to just roll with it. Soon enough, everything will be dry again, and we will start to get back to normal.

In the meantime, I am feeling particularly grateful. I have awesome neighbors that came over to help at 9 at night. They couldn't really help, but they sure tried! I have homeowners insurance, so this whole financial thing will not be on us alone. A bunch of popcorny cottage cheesy stuff came off the ceiling in the kitchen, and this may just be the time to rid ourselves of some more of the grossness and get a nice smooth ceiling (at least in one spot.) That's my week!

Menu Plan Monday- Monthly Menu

2011-08-29T15:46:00.004-05:00

M	29	(No Dad) (Baseball Practice) Grilled cheese & tomato soup
T	30	(No Dad) (Soccer Practice) Kid's Cuisine
W	31	(No Dad) Breakfast for dinner: chocolate chip pancakes, turkey breakfast sausage, fruit
T	1	(Curriculum Night) Burritos, watermelon
F	2	Pizza
S	3	Chicken & fettuccini alfredo, ceasar salad, garlic bread
S	4	Grilled Hotdogs/hotlinks on buns, chips, fruit
M	5	(Baseball Practice) Hamburger Buddy*, veg, biscuits
T	6	(Soccer Practice) Quesadillas, taco salad
W	7	Oven fried chicken on a stick*, crudités, oven fries
T	8	Chicken piñata, buttered angel hair, broccoli w/ lemon zest, garlic bread
F	9	Pizza
S	10	(TV dinner day) TV dinners
S	11	Grilled steaks, smashed potatoes, corn on the cob, watermelon
M	12	(No Dad) (Baseball Practice) Breakfast for dinner: Bacon, eggs, toast, juice
T	13	(No Dad) (Soccer Practice) Out at Subway
W	14	(No Dad) Nachos
T	15	Steak sandwiches with caramelized onions& provolone, fruit
F	16	Pizza
S	17	(Apple Dumpling Day) Spaghetti w/ Italian turkey sausage meatballs, salad, garlic bread, apple dumplings
S	18	Grilled turkey sliders, chips, fruit
M	19	(Baseball Practice) Broccoli, Beef & potato hotdish*
T	20	(Soccer Practice) Chicken enchiladas, mex salad
W	21	Pork chops, stuffing, apple sauce, veg
T	22	(Last day of summer) Grilled chicken, angel hair with fresh pesto, salad
F	23	Pizza
S	24	(M&D at a party) Mac-n-cheese, canned fruit
S	25	(No Dad) Kid's Cuisine
M	26	(No Dad) (Baseball Practice)(Johnny Appleseed's Bday) Grilled Peanut butter and apple sandwiches, sun chips, milk
T	27	(No Dad) (Soccer Practice) Out at Chick-fil-A
W	28	(Rosh Hashanah) Cinnamon Chicken, buttered noodles, honey baked apples, rolls with honey
T	29	Salsa fish, rice, veg
F	30	Pizza

Mr. Sahm is travelling some this month, and we are back into the swing of things, with two practices a week, so things will be busy. I am so happy to have this all planned out and taken care of. I am trying a couple new recipes this month, so I'll be sure to tell you if they turn out well. I am linking up with Laura at Organizing Junkie, where you will find lots and lots of menu plans.

Gratitude Sunday

2011-08-28T19:09:00.003-05:00

I am grateful for my good man...

(I thought he looked totally awesome in his 80's outfit for his birthday.)

I am so grateful that he still looks at me like I am the most wonderful woman in the room. I am grateful that he holds my hand while we watch TV. I am grateful that he looks me in the eye and tells me that he loves me. I am grateful that nine years after that first kiss, I still get butterflies sometimes. I am grateful that he is my best friend and my husband.

Poo Poo Bags

2011-08-25T10:18:00.006-05:00

Please allow me to introduce the newest member of our family. This is Shelby Montana.

She is mostly Red Heeler, which means she is mostly DINGO! She is a wild thing, but she has grown to love us, and we have grown to love her...except Mr. Sahm. He adores her! He feeds her and pets her and takes her to puppy class and buys her treats and gets her pretty leashes and takes her to the dog park to play. And every morning, he takes her on a walk. And every morning, she makes a poo poo while on the walk. Twice. So, we need poo poo bags (we are nice neighbors!), and Mr. Sahm uses plastic grocery bags.

We've been storing the unused bags in a red basket in the pantry. What a mess! Plus, eventually a sack of onions or potatoes gets thrown in the basket, and the mass of plastic bags covers them up so we don't see them. We usually find them cause they get a little stinky. Not good. I needed a more contained place for those bags.

I had this really neat box that Miss Mae's soccer uniform came in...
So, I cut a hole in the top. then I went through my scraps of scrapbook paper, and got out anything red and cut it in random squares and rectangles.

Then I just started decoupaging it on. And here is my box for the poo poo bags...

I've got a zillion of 'em stuffed in there, and we just grab one through the hole in the top. Easy-peasy.

Doesn't that look cute in my old red basket? Plus, it leaves room in the other half of the basket for onions and potatoes. We can actually see them and use them.

Total cost was ZERO! (I've still got Little Dude's uniform box. Wonder what I could do with that one...?)

What I Wore Wednesday 8/24

2011-08-24T10:25:00.004-05:00

I did pretty well this week with getting dressed and getting put together. Mr. Sahm noticed and was appreciative, which was really very nice.

On Thursday, we had playdates and a post-op appointment for Little Dude's tonsillectomy and Meet the Teacher Night. What a busy day!

top: Lane Bryant

shorts: Lee, purchased at Ross

flipflops: Old Navy

On Saturday, Little Dude and Miss Mae had their last Upwards Soccer game, and afterwards, a trip to the grocery store...

top: Macy's clearance rack

skirt: Walmart

flipflops: Old Navy

On Sunday afternoon, we went bowling...

top: $3 clearance at Walmart

shorts: Ross

shoes: bright pink converse! Love them! From Ross for about $11 or so.

purse: Ross

Hope necklace: Brighton, purchased with a gift card.

Monday was the first day of school...

top: Ross

shorts: Lee, purchased at Ross

shoes: Walmart

The first taco Tuesday Lunch of the school year! (I have a small group of mommy friends that get together every Tuesday for lunch-strict no kids policy. It isn't neccesarily tacos though...)

top: Old Navy

skirt: Walmart

flipflops: Old Navy

I have still not managed to really "do" my hair, blow dryer and all. I did use some hot rollers one day, but even then, it got pinned up before an hour had passed. After pondering this a bit, I have decided that blow drying may not be a daily neccessity when it's so hot. Seriously, it even sounds miserable. I did discover some marvelous twisty, pinny hair-do's, and I have dug out the bobby pins. I'll just work on making it cute and interesting and off my neck.

Over all, I'm feeling pretty good about this week. How about you? Do you wanna link up with me over at The Pleated Poppy for What I Wore Wednesday?

Next week's challenge is to wear something from a thrift store. Ummm. Yeah! I'm goin' to Thrift Town today!

Back to School

2011-08-23T20:09:00.006-05:00

The wonderful day that we have all been waiting for has finally arrived! The kids have gone back to school!

We have a few first day of school traditions to make the day even more special. Every year, since pre-school, we take pictures in front of our front door, with the new outfits and the new back packs and the bright shiny faces.

After school, we share a special snack with our awesome car pool buddies/neighbors/good friends. This year we went for frozen yogurt, and so did the rest of the school! It was super crowded, so we decided that next year we would go to swim at the car pool friends' house and I would provide an awesome snack, thus avoiding the mad house at the yogurt shop.
In the evening we have the first day of school dinner- hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls and mac-n-cheese. Yum for everyone. I love our first day of school traditions!

One of the projects that I did to prepare for school was to clean out the area where I store all the lunch stuff. I keep all the lunch boxes and and thermoses and plastic containers here. Isn't that so nice and neat?!

I have been seeing lots of really cool and creative and healthy lunches, and lots of them are made in bento boxes. So CUTE! However, I did not want to spend $25-40 on a containers to pack a lunch. Nope. Not gonna happen.

So, I took myself on down to the Walmart and got two of these...
And two of these...

I already had two of these.

This was my first packed lunch of the school year. I put a big ol' glob of peanut butter in the middle. We all love some peanut butter!! I gave them apple slices and baby carrots and goldfish, because all of those things taste awesome when dipped in peanut butter.

This, along with some juice and a little treat (chocolate animal crackers, also great with peanut butter!) and we have lunch!

Like last year, I have made a schedule for lunches. The kiddos have decided that they want to buy lunch on Wednesday, cause it's pizza day, of course. So, here's our new schedule that will start next week:

MON: PB&J

TUE: Mom Lunchables (meat and cheese in bite size chunks with crackers)

WED: Cafeteria pizza

THU: PB&J

FRI: Wild Card

Well, they're back to school, and I've got a plan for lunches, and it's gonna be a great year!

Menu Plan Monday

2011-08-22T17:02:00.003-05:00

M 22 (First Day of School!!) Hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls, mac n cheese, salad

T 23 (Soccer practice) Tacos

W 24 Teriyaki chicken skewers, rice, asian salad, mandarin oranges

T 25 Crock pot Italian herb chicken, spaghetti, grilled vegies, garlic bread sticks

F 26 Pizza

S 27 Grilled salmon, couscous, honeyed carrots

S 28 Grilled steak, baked sweet potatoes, spinach salad, bread

I'll be linking up with Laura at Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday. You will find LOTS of menu plans and meal ideas there!

Gratitude Sunday

2011-08-21T20:15:00.005-05:00

Look at those kid's crazy faces! We went bowling today to have one last hurrah before school starts tomorrow morning. It's been a long summer and I should be so grateful that school is starting tomorrow, and let me tell you, I am! But I woke up this morning feeling so grateful that I get to stay home and take care of my kiddos.

Do they drive me nuts nearly every day? Yes.
Do they make me crazy with bickering and whining? Yes.
Do I ever wonder if they will ever pick up their own towels, legos, dishes, Wii remotes…? Yes!

In spite of all of that, I know that home with them is where I need to be, and I am grateful that I am able to do it. I am grateful for a husband that sees the value in staying home to care for the kids and our home. I am grateful to live in a community where I have a network of other SAHM's. I am grateful for my friends that laugh and talk honestly of the joys and the frustrations of being a SAHM. I am grateful for every sweet moment that I can get before they are just too cool to hang out with Mommy.

I am grateful.

I'm linking with Cha Cha's Sentimental Sunday at the Heartfelt Home.

What I Wore Wednesday

2011-08-17T13:18:00.005-05:00

So, I am assuming that you may have heard of this awesome blog party called What I Wore Wednesday at The Pleated Poppy. I understand that it was started to encourage those of us at home to get dressed and not hang out in the same old jeans, sweats, pj's or ratty shorts that we wear everyday, not putting any effort into how we look.

I have already confessed my failings in this area, and have made a committment to myself, you, and everyone that has to look at me that I will do better. So, today is my first attempt at doing better...

The photo is not great, but I did shower, shave my legs, pick out this easy to stay cool dress, and put on a little make up. I didn't have time to blow dry my hair, but I did try to make a cuter ponytail than the usual. I live in Texas, where it has been 105 degrees everyday, forever, so I will be wearing pony tails and flip-flops and the coolest clothes possible for quite a while!

Next week, I'll try to have more pictures, and it would be awesome if you would join me with your cute outfits at The Pleated Poppy.

Happy! Happy! H-A-P-P-Y!

2011-08-15T14:04:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm working on it anyway.

I have very nearly survived summer vacation. One week from today, my sweet kiddos go back to school. I am not one of those moms that laments the first day of school, wishing summer vacation was longer. I sorta envy those moms just a bit, but I am longing for a return to the structure of school days. Miss Mae loves school, and Little Dude does so much better when he has that structure. And me? I admit it. I like having the time. Time to do grocery shopping, have lunch with friends, get the house in reasonable order, be creative, think. To do the things that make me happy.

As moms, we spend so much time looking to the needs of others, and I truly want to do that. But, sometimes we get a little lost in doing that. I think I have been a bit lost, and I have wasted so much of the time that I have to care for myself and care for my family. So I have a New Year's resolution for the new school year. No more wasting time in unmindful hours of zoning out with TV or a computer game- basically doing nothing. I want to spend my time doing things that will ultimately nourish me and make me happy, so that I can be strengthened to be the wife and mom that I want to be.

So, I am not sure exactly what makes me happy, but I have a few things that I think will help me get started in figuring it out. Some of them are areas of discipline that don't seem like fun, but will help me to feel so much better. That's where I'm going to start…

Get enough sleep! I'm not a good sleeper, but I need to follow Mr. Sahm's example and get to bed by 10. No more late night Real Housewives and raiding the fridge. Missing sleep just makes me cranky and groggy, and gives me an excuse to zone out all day. I'll feel happier all day if I get my 8 hours.
Get moving! I know I need to exercise, and I know I feel happier when I do. I have the gym membership, and I am going to try to have some fun doing this. Zumba. Today.
Get pretty! When I'm not happy, I don't take care of myself. When I don't take care of myself, I'm not happy. It may seem silly, but I need to take the time to get myself clean, and dressed, and looking decent. Style my hair once in a while. Put together a cute outfit. Grooming. Just do it.

So I'm on the road to happy, and here are the first steps. I'll be working on these for the next 2 weeks or so, and all y'all will keep me accountable, cause I'll be so embarrassed to tell you that I spent every day exhausted from late night TV, laying on the couch, and never washing my hair. OK?

Where've I Been and What's to Eat?

2011-06-27T16:02:00.003-05:00

Well, where have I been? It's been months since I have reared my bloggy head. I guess, long story short, I have been here and just way too sad to post anything at all.

Sad?!? A fabulous husband, two healthy children, a home in a nice neighborhood,... what have I got to be sad about?

Well, we all have STUFF, don't we? I think that depression is something that can always come up for me, and it's been a rough couple of years. Lots of loss and anxiety over my mom's illness. And the daily rigors of parenting...well...it has left me exhausted.

Yes, I love those kids with all my heart and they are blessings, but I'm not having fun. My Little Dude's behavior has gone from naughty to "something is really wrong here!" He is so difficult and so defiant and so physically aggressive with me and his sister. He does ok at school and with other people, but I get about 90% of his anger.

I took him to a therapist last year, and she said that he is fine, he's just reflecting my anger. Now, let me tell you how I long for this to be something that I am doing wrong. I would LOVE to be the problem. If I am the problem, I can fix the problem! After a lot of beating myself up and a lot of really hard looks in the mirror, I can say that I am not the problem. I am not a perfect parent, but I have been a good parent and a very loving mommy. The therapist did nothing to help, cost a lot of money, and turned Mr. Sahm off to getting further professional help.

So, with no help in sight, I started wondering if I really could move the Little Dude out of the house the minute he turns 18. Twelve long years. I honestly hoped I would die before then. I figured dying was the only way to escape.

Then, one day, I started crying. I cried pretty solidly for three days. I drove and cried and cooked and cried and watched TV and cried. On the third day, I saw my counselor, and she sent me to an intensive program of group therapy and recommended that I get some medication for depression from the doctor.

The group therapy was amazing, and the medication helped a lot. I can feel some hope now. I finally remembered that I have a Friend that is walking me through this fire. I have started to be interested in things again. So, here I am!

Little Dude is no better. Today, he tried to punch his sister in the face at Costco for taking his straw. I still don't know what is wrong or what to do, but we found a therapist that is actually going to help me learn how to more effectively deal with his behavior. He also has an appointment for an evaluation with a diagnostician in August. Nearly every day with him is a struggle, but when we have good times, he is the sweetest, most charming, most loving little boy ever. And I am trying every day to be the wisest and most patient and loving mother I can be.

So...what's to eat? After all, it is Menu Plan Monday, and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things!

Monday
B:Oatmeal muffins & milk
S: Goldfish and raisins
L: Eat at Costco
D: Terriyaki chicken skewers, rice chopped chinese salad, mandarin oranges

Tuesday
B: Waffles with PB&J, milk
S: Yogurt with strawberries
L: Egg salad with crackers, carrots & ranch dip
D:Brisket tacos, salad

Wednesday
B: Cereal & milk
S: popcorn at movies
L: Toasted cheese sandwiches, apple slices
D: Roasted tomato and garlic with penne and white beans, caesar salad, garlic bread

Thursday
B: Cinnamon toast and milk
S: Ants on a log
L: Leftover pasta
D: Corn dogs and oven fries, grapes or strawberries

Friday
B: Waffles with PB&J, milk
S: grapes and graham crackers
L: Nachos
D: Pizza night!

Saturday
B: whole grain pancakes, milk
L: Turkey sandwiches, fruit, chips
D: Grilled lemon garlic chicken, orzo salad, green salad

Sunday
B: Cereal and milk
L: leftover pizza
D: Daddy cooks!

(I love Daddy cooks night!)

March Menu Plan

2011-02-23T11:12:00.007-06:00

We begin Lent this month, and I am planning to try some new things (to us) in observance of it. Last year, we moved our Friday night pizza to Sunday, and this year, we will actually have meatless meals on Fridays during Lent. This won't be much of a struggle for me or the kids. Poor Mr. Sahm!

I have, as usual, included lots of special days...like Something on a Stick Day. That is a day worth celebrating! Adding these silly days, as well as holidays from other cultures gives me an opportunity to be a little creative and try something we haven't had before.

T 1 National Pig Day- Mini pigs in blankets, potato salad, green salad

W 2 Dr. Suess's Birthday- Green Eggs and Ham, star belly biscuits, truffula fruit salad

T 3 Sloppy joes on wheat rolls, green salad

F 4 Pizza Night

S 5 Brisket tacos, mexican ceasar salad

S 6 Daddy cooks

M 7 (t-ball/puppy training)Mardi Gras Eve- Red beans and rice with sausage, cornbread, greens

T 8 Fat Tuesday- Pancake Supper at Church

W 9 Ash Wednesday- Penne with roasted tomatoes and white beans, garlic bread, salad

T 10 Chinese chicken salad, ready made egg rolls (keep some out for kids: chicken chunks, mandarin oranges, carrot sticks)

F 11 Lenten Meal: Veggie Pot Pie, fruit salad

S 12 Girl Scout Day- Hobo dinners, salad, french bread

S 13 Pizza Night

M 14 (t-ball practice/puppy training) Curry chicken, rice, veggie

T 15 Turkey sliders, sweet potato fries, salad

W 16 Pork chops, stuffing, applesauce, veggie

T 17 St. Patrick's Day- Corned beef and cabbage, soda bread

F 18 Lenten Meal: Fish tacos

S 19 Purim- Reuben sandwiches (use leftover corned beef), chips, cole slaw

S 20 Pizza Night

M 21 (t-ball practice/puppy training) Italian sausage soup (made with turkey sausage), french bread

T 22 Cream cheese chicken and broccoli over pasta, garlic bread

W 23 BBQ brisket sandwiches, salad

T 24 Tacos

F 25 Lenten Meal: Vegetarian lasagna, salad, garlic bread

S 26 Grilled burgers, sun chips, salad

S 27 Pizza Night

M 28 (t-ball practice) Something on a Stick Day- Corn dogs, fruit kabobs, carrot and celery sticks with ranch dip

T 29 Passover- Roasted Chicken, noodle kugel, veggie

W 30 Tater Day- Shepherd's pie, salad, bread

A Small, Unexpected Blessing

2010-12-10T08:58:00.003-06:00

Sick! Sick! Sick!

Everyone in the house has been sick! My very beloved Grandma came to visit, and even she was sick! My energy level has been at an all time low, and I have just doing what I really "had to" do. Needless to say, my cheer quotient was low going into December.

But then I had a good morning. I felt a little pep. I found the one important bin of decorations and set a few things out. Changed the tablecloth to something a bit cheery.

I went to pick up the kids for carpool, and knowing that my neighbor had a sick baby and a ton of work to do, I called and offered to keep her older kids at my house for the afternoon. (Lest you think I am angelic or something, not really. Her kids keep my kids busy, happy, and entertained, and leave me quite free to get dinner started...)

I promised the kids a snack, and my festive cheer from the decorating just kept going. So I made hot chocolate and got out some graham crackers, which were served in holiday style on my Christmas tree paper napkins from Target.

In the moment of calling the kids in for their snack, I was so happy. So filled with cheer. For one little time, I had managed to bless my children, I had helped a friend, I had made my home a happy place to be.

This just may be a perfect December day!

A Silly Feast

2010-10-31T20:47:00.004-05:00

Before we moved to Texas, we were the house for every holiday. We never made a holiday meal for less than 12. It was awesome. I hardly had any room, but we squeezed in and it was great!

Then we moved far away from all our family and friends-like-family to the land of inexpensive housing...

The first year, people came to visit, and we had company for every holiday that year. The next year, we were alone, just us four, on Thanksgiving. In order to make traditional memories for our kiddos, we made a traditional turkey dinner. The kids didn't eat a bite and were, shall I say, less than pleased with the nights' dinner.

So the year after that, I had a brain storm...everyone would pick one thing that they would be truly grateful to eat. And that's what we had. I set the table with the good dishes, and we ate in the formal dining room with candles burning, and everyone cleaned their plates.

And that is called The Silly Feast. It is our Thanksgiving dinner tradition.

Here are some pictures from last year... see the happy mom and her happy kids? The happy mom didn't slave all day making food that the children won't eat, so she's happy. And THANKFUL.

The kids are thankful they don't have to eat any giblets.

The happy dad got to have steak.

And the Little Dude had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Happily, he shared, cause we all like these. And we're thankful for them.

And, oh, the happy mom picked that plate full of cholesterol, because she is so thankful for cheese, no matter what it does to her arteries. Mmm, brie...

Miss Mae has a love of pasta, and angel hair is her favorite. Look at that deliciousness!

That was last year. What will we have this year? Well, who knows? Everyone has until Monday of that week before there is no changing your mind. I will venture to say that the happy mom is still pretty thankful for cheese...

I am linking with a Countdown to Thanksgiving Party at Domestically Speaking. What fun!

Spookstock!

2010-10-31T06:44:00.011-05:00

The Brick House was invaded by Monster Rock Stars! And we had a blast!

We got everything ready. All the cushions were covered in vinyl tablecloths from the dollar store, so we could stay in our color scheme.

The playhouse was redecorated to be a Rock Monsters' Lair.

The stage was set.

I used a backdrop from Oriental Trading (the posters came from there too) and added the black curtains with four black plastic tablecloths and a stapler.

We prepared some snacks and drinks...

...and set the tables for dinner

Then I gathered up the children to play some games.

We were visited by a Monster Rock Star (My friend's husband, Jamie. He is so great with kids, and so much fun, and always willing to help out.)

Unfortunately, he lost control of his appetite and tried to catch a kid or two so he could eat their fingers and toes for a little snack.
When we had gotten rid of him, we turned some Daddies into Mummies.

All the children were transformed into monsters. It was so scary.

The masks also came from Oriental Trading Company. Look how cute those little monsters are!

Our instruments were stolen, and we had to search all over to find them. When we did, we gave a great concert.

The Little Monsters sang "I Want Candy" and were given numerous standing ovations. Truthfully, it was just mayhem by then, so we had dinner. Everyone brought awesome food for the potluck, so there was plenty of good stuff.

The rest of the evening, the kids played and the parents visited. When everyone got too tired to play anymore, they went home. We had a great time. Now I just need to figure out what to do with all that leftover candy...

I am linking up at Weekend Wrap Up at Tatertots and Jello, & the Weekend Wrap Up Party at I Heart Naptime & Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now & The Creative Party Place

My Haunted House

2010-10-23T13:44:00.004-05:00

Welcome to my haunted house!

OK, it's really just the formal living room and dining room, which doesn't get a lot of traffic. Now it's spooooookkyyy! Most of what I used is from the dollar store, plus a few sheets from Walmart. I just love that creepy cloth. I wrapped throw pillows with it and hung it over the curtains. Of course, a liberal helping of spider webs makes everything just right.

The little white pumpkins came from the 99 cents store. Mr. Sahm had this small collection of Edgar Allen Poe books...so appropriately scary for Halloween.

Cocktail anyone?

A monster snack buffet with blood spatter. Yum...

Skeleton soup anyone?

I know the shiny brass is scary enough, but I love adding a little more scare into it.

Little Dude and Miss Mae are loving going in there to look at stuff. Yeah, me too...

2010-10-19T22:05:00.001-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Pets and Pirates

2010-10-11T21:33:00.002-05:00

October is so super busy, but just cause it is full of the most fun stuff! We have had a couple of really fun things going on at Church that the kids (well, yeah, and me too...) have really enjoyed.

St. Francis of Assisi is well known for his love for all of God's creation, especially animals, so we have a pet blessing on his day. We brought Sweetie Darlin, our kitty, who was not really feeling particularly blessed to be there. We figured she was better off if we just left her in the carrier for her blessing...
Little Dude brought his "Puppy" to be blessed too. How sweet is this?!?!

He really loves that puppy. Sleeps with him every night. Precious boy!

Our big Fall Family Carnival and Chili Cook-Off was this last weekend. Mr. Sahm, who is outwardly mild-mannered and inwardly SUPER competitive, wants to win that Chili Cook-Off so bad! Everyone decorates their little chili booth, and our theme this year was "Pirates of the Chilibbean."

Mr. Sahm did all these graphics and wrote this funny little thing about the pirate roots of his chili recipe...

Everyone dressed as a pirate, including the kiddos. Of course, I got all our pirate wear at thrift stores. I actually really liked my pirate outfit. I guess I don't wear a full swingy skirt that often.

The kids had the best time ever! I got them their wrist bands and set them free to play and do games and eat candy and bounce to their hearts' content. What a great time we had!

Unfortunately, we didn't even place for our chili and only got third for our chili booth. Mr. Sahm is already making plans for next year. He is determined! He will win! Maybe next year...

Monsters Rock!

2010-10-05T10:28:00.006-05:00

Every year, we have a Halloween party for all the kids friends and their families. This years party theme started last year, at an after Halloween 80% off sale. I found these cute gift bags for something like 25 cents...

(I used this scan in our Evite. I would love to actually make invites, but I am no good at keeping track of RSVP's. LOVE the Evite!)

Super cute, huh? So, this year, we will have a bunch of Monster Rock Stars running around our back yard.

Please, don't be too specific- I don't mean Poison and Whitesnake and the official "Monster Rock" bands that Mr. Sahm was thinking about. I just mean monsters and rock stars and a concert venue in the back.

So, remember my mistake I made? Yup, measure twice. Measuring once would have helped too!

I tried to just use some good packing tape and stick them up on the wall. They didn't stick...

I really wanted to use those darn things, so I just had to keep at it. I had this frame from the $1 store.

It seemed a little narrow, so I wrapped it with newspaper and scotch tape to beef it up.

After it was wrapped up, I used numerous glue sticks to glue on a bunch of moss, and then I use black paper crinkles on the back. I had both those things stashed away.

I also decoupaged my little Frankenrockstar to some cardboard from the recycle bin, and then cut it out.

Then I glued Frankenrockstar and my "Monsters Rock!" letters to the wreath along with some ribbons to hang it on.

Finally! I used those little decoupaged tile thingies! And I didn't have to go out and buy anything. Cost: $0 Yay! It's hanging in the front entryway where people will come in to the party.

That's a sick little monster checking out our first party decoration. Even Monsters get ear infections, it seems. Even Rock Star Monsters...

October Meals

2010-10-01T20:21:00.003-05:00

October is so busy, so I'm planning ahead…

F 1: World Vegetarian Day: Vegetarian pizza

S 2: Mom at GNO (Girls Night Out)!!! Dad takes kids out to dinner

S 3: St. Francis Day & Pet Blessing: Barley vegetable soup, rustic wheat bread and cheese

M 4: Taekwondo: Tacos

T 5: Mom & Dad out for work dinner: mac & cheese and fruit for kids

W 6: Spaghetti and turkey meatballs, salad, garlic bread

T 7: Honey mustard salmon, salad, french bread

F 8: Pizza Night

S 9: Chili Cook Off and Church Carnival: turkey sandwiches, fruit (we'll need something fresh after a day of chili and carnival food!)

S 10: Cinnamon chicken, brown rice, homemade applesauce

M 11: Taekwondo, Columbus Day: Penne with roasted tomatoes and garlic and white beans, sautéed spinach, garlic bread

T 12: Chicken wings, baked fries, crudite with ranch dip

W 13: Turkey sausage patties, fried potatoes, fruit

T 14: Brownie Meeting: Fish tacos with cabbage and black beans

F 15: Mom & Dad out at work dinner- spaghetti stars and fruit for kids

S 16: Dad away at car show- Kid Cusine for kids

S 17: Pizza Night

M 18: Taekwondo: Autumn vegetable beef stew , biscuits

T 19: Baked pork chops, stuffing, applesauce, roasted cauliflower

W 20: Monster Mash Day: Monster meatloaf, mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, witches fingers' bread sticks

T 21: Fish and chips, cole slaw

F 22: Pizza Night

S 23: School Fall Carnival- eat hot dogs there

S 24: National Mother-In-Laws Day: Tamale Pie, Orange fluff

M 25: Taekwondo: Tortilla soup and quesedillas

T 26: Steak, baked potatoes, salad, bread

W 27: Leftover steak burritos

T 28: Brownie Meeting: Salsa Fish, brown rice, steamed broccoli

F 29: Pizza Night

S 30: Our Big Spookstock Party!: Potluck! Woo-Hoo!

S 31: Halloween! Jack o' Lantern cheese burgers, sweet potato fries, orange slices

Busy Week

2010-09-23T20:48:00.005-05:00

What a crazy week it was last week! Little Dude has had minimum days all week, so I had all the hassle of getting everyone ready and to school by 7:45, but I have to be back by 11:45 to pick him up again. Just not my usual week!

It was also a week of crafty flops! It seems that everything I did just didn't turn out right.

So, I had some tea bags that needed a place to go. So, I found this tin at a thrift store for 25 cents.

I remember when this would have been considered super cute and the height of fashion...

So, I tried decoupaging it with some scrapbook paper and using some stickers, and it was not so great...

Oh well...

Then, there was this board that I wanted to use to decorate for Halloween. I made all these little "tiles" and didn't measure...

Of course, they didn't fit.

The good news is that I've also been doing a lot of closet transforming. They start out looking like this...
(Seriously, how embarrassing! Yes, I open the closet door, throw junk in and then close the door fast so it doesn't fall out.) Now it looks like this...
All organized and stuff! I have been going crazy, ripping through closets and piling up all the massive amounts of stuff that I have decided we don't need anymore, getting ready for a garage sale of my very own! I have till Friday to get finished with the BIG PURGE. So, of I go to work on my Little Dude's room. I know there lots of good stuff up there!

Maybe I'll have some better luck with my crafting this week. I think I have an idea for those too big tiles...

Monday Menu Plan

2010-09-20T21:51:00.002-05:00

Monday: (Little Dude has Karate) Chili and Cornbread and Monday Night Football

Tuesday: Bean and Kale Soup, Toasted Cheese Sandwiches

Wednesday: Lasagna, Salad, Garlic Bread

Thursday: (Miss Mae has Girl Scouts) Hot Dogs and Beans, Beer Bread, Fruit Salad

Friday: Pizza Night

Saturday: Mom & Dad-Out to dinner for date night!! Mac-n-cheese and Fruit for kids.

Sunday: Fish Tacos and Black Beans (Have you tried Amy's organic refried black beans? They are so super yummy!)

Bathroom Reveal

2010-09-16T19:29:00.014-05:00

The kids' bathroom used to look like this...

It was even worse up close!

Now, it looks like this!

The best decoration in there is the cute Little Dude in the tub!

Mr. Sahm did most of the serious work in here, and what a fabulous job he did! He didn't miss a single detail. He scraped the cottage cheese off the ceiling and put up crown molding. I found the vinyl wall decal at a thrift store for 99 cents. Cute, huh? I also just lovelovelove the pom-pom trim on the valance.
We put up beadboard on the bottom part of the wall, and Mr. Sahm made this beautiful skinny shelf to go over the top of the beadboard. The black hooks were purchased at Hobby Lobby at 50% off. I got a plain white shower curtain and used fabric glue to attach the rick rack, and I really love how it came out.

We have the frames up, but our artists are still working on the artwork. I found these big frames on sale at Joann's for $10 each, and then I had mats cut to put in rather than the collage mats that came with the frames. Gotta get those kids to work!

On top of the potty is my little decoupage bucket with rolled up washcloths. I also had to include the tushy wipes, cause this is a bathroom used by kids, but I did set them on top of some vintage books.

Above the potty is this shelf. I found it at a thrift store and gave it a paint job. I still need to get some photos put in that frame, huh... The bath sign is from Hobby Lobby, on sale of course. All the other little toys were things we had. The other decoupage bucket holds flossers.

When we replaced the vanity, there didn't seem to be a great place to put up a TP holder, so we put the rolls in this basket. So much easier! And don't you just love that tile on the floor? I searched high and low for rugs that I liked, and finally found these at World Market.

I have to say that this faucet was the absolute cheapest one at Home Depot, and isn't it totally cute!? I put the kids dixie cups in an old silver cup that someone gave me when Little Dude was born. It's really old, but it has Little Dude's name engraved on it. Sweet, huh? For now, I am really fine with the green store container of hand soap. I didn't find anything I liked that wasn't breakable, so this will work till I do.

I got these baskets and labeled one for each of the kids. This is where they have space to keep their hairbrushes and other stuff. So far, they are doing a good job keeping their stuff put away. Mr. Sahm installed the sink himself, and no leaks at all! Have I said that he did a great job? Cause he did!
I found the mirror at a thrift store for $7, and doesn't it look right at home next to the brand new medicine cabinet? And there's my getting ready subway art, sitting on the shelf.

We are so happy with how bright and clean and cheerful our new bathroom is. The kids love it and are trying hard to keep it nice. This is the first room in the brick house that I really like. Now that it's done, I think I need to find a new room to make happy!

I am so happy to be linking up with:

Show and Tell Fridays at My Romantic Home
Transformation Thursdays at The Shabby Chic Cottage
Strut Your Stuff Thursdays at Somewhat Simple
Before and After Party at The Girl Creative
I'm Lovin' It at Tidy Mom
Weekend Wrap Up ay Tatertots and Jello
Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now

Office Dilemma- HELP!

2010-09-14T19:56:00.007-05:00

It took hours and hours of work and lots of organizing and sorting and throwing away, but it is cleaned out and usable. Not pretty yet, but usable. I just gotta get the computer guy up there to hook up the computer, and I can get to work! I did hang my poster right away to help me remember to keep my head when I get frustrated.
It turns out that the electrical panels cannot be hidden or disguised in any way AT ALL. I had this great idea to put magnets on the back of artwork and just cover the electrical boxes, but that is a for sure NO. We recently failed a fire inspection, and part of the reason is that I had bins stacked below the electrical panels, in no way blocking access to them. But you gotta listen to the Fire Marshall! And I have way too much stuff that I need to store to get it all in the cupboards- just a bunch of big plastic bins sitting around and 7 or 8 big electrical boxes on the wall... so sad and so not pretty.

So I had this idea...

I pulled the bookcases off the wall and used them to divide the room in half. The first half (which you're seeing pics of) is the "office" and the hidden part behind the room divider is storage and electrical boxes. This solution should fix a lot of the problems- don't have to look at electrical boxes or plastic bins, and it is possible to paint the office portion quite easily. The negative is that it blocks a lot of the natural light.

Oh, and these old metal bookcases are just ug-ly.

So, here are two things that I need help with.

I want to paint these bookcases, but spray paint is out of the question, cause I can't carry them down the stairs, or back up again! So, how do I paint them? What kind of paint do you use on metal? I think I want to cover the brown with white and leave the turquoise on the inside. I kinda like it.

I also want to paint the walls. Now that the area is so much smaller and I no longer have a vaulted ceiling to deal with, it will be so easy to just clean it up with some paint. I am open to suggestions for color. It has to be a very pale neutral color, but I just don't know what.

HELP!!!

Back To School

2010-09-13T08:25:00.004-05:00

I have been on a cleaning out and organizing binge! It feels really good to see drawers and closets getting emptied out and put back together in such a more useful and more attractive way. I also have a giant pile in my living room that looks like a garage sale pile shaping up. My kids are quickly getting to old for many of their toys, and I have bags of stuff to go. I also have a plastic bin that has some toys to save. For our grand kids. That is such a weird thought when your kids are only 5 & 7, but I wanna save something for them!

One of the areas I emptied out was the shelves above my homework drawers. They used to be filled with lots of Fiestaware. I love my Fiestaware, but it was too crowded and to junky, and just didn't look good. So I took it all down before I realized that I ought to take a before picture. I am a bad blogger!

I made a quickly thrown together display for September and back to school. It turned out pretty cute.

I love Vintage Children's books, and these just came out of my stash. Under the kindergarten book is a book called "Back to School With Betsy" and I just got it at a garage sale with 4 other Betsy books for $2. I remember reading "Betsy's Busy Summer" when I was little.

I put my little barn bank tin up here with some apples. I don't know what barns have to do with school, but the colors were right, so...

More garage sale finds... An old milk bottle from back when there were still milk men, and a little fall tin tray that I got for 50 cents. The bird is a pie bird, but I don't make a lot of pies, so he's living up here on the shelf.

This is the best part! I made a jar for each of the kiddos, and when I "catch" them "being good" I put a poker chip in their jar. I keep the spare chips and the list of chip rewards in the milk glass thingy in the middle. They can use their chips to buy things like computer time or extra story time or, if the save up to 40 chips, a trip to the bowling alley! So far, they are trying very hard to get some chips in their jars. Miss Mae has already spent her chips a few times, and Little Dude is saving up. I think he wants to go bowling.

At some time this week, I should have a big reveal. It's really way too cute! I can't wait!

Good News and Good Buys

2010-09-10T15:58:00.004-05:00

I have some good news! Remember when I showed you this Getting Ready subway art? Well, I linked it up with the CSI Project Back to School Challenge. There are a bunch of great projects there. Definitely worth checking out. And...I made the Top Ten! Yay!
Well, that made my day! Happy girl!!

Yesterday, after being home all week with a sick Little Dude, I was set free to go thrifting after I dropped two healthy children off at school. I went to my very favorite thrift store, and I found so many treasures! A trove! See...

I have been needing a place to put those little Box Tops for Education things that come on the box of cereal and the tubes of cooky dough that you eat raw with a spoon when no one is looking. You do that too? Don't you?? Hmmm, yeah, well, anyways... I saw this little bank/tin, and thought it was perfect! Small and cute and red, with a little slot to stick the little box tops in! Now I'll be a fund raiser in my own kitchen.

The last shutter I saw was on someones trash heap, and I have regretted passing it up for a long time. So when I saw this pink shutter, I didn't want to regret anything, so I grabbed it. I don't remember which fabulous blogger I saw that made a shutter into a wall decor/memo board, but I think I'm gonna do that in my office.

I fell in love with this giant broken cup. It has a broken handle, which is sad. But it is so pretty! Inside is beautiful and has the words of the song Auld Lang Syne. I figure if I display it (at Christmas time) so that the inside shows and the broken handle doesn't, it's okay. Part of me says I'm an idiot for spending $2 on a broken cup, but I just loved it! Couldn't walk away.

Little Dude is suddenly all about Star Wars, and wants to be a storm trooper for Halloween. And here it is, complete with mask and belt. It may need a little refreshing, but even so, $3 is better than the cost of this costume new.

By the end of summer, I usually feel that I desperately need new shorts, and I'll be wearing them through the end of October, at least. I found these brand new khaki shorts with the tag still on them. Love that!

Funky little frame and jars with lids. I know I will do something with these...

Assorted fall decorations. I am so excited about starting the fall decorating! I am getting ready for a Halloween party, so it's nice to have some stuff to add to my fall stash.

And, the GRAND TOTAL was $20!

My limit for treasure purchases, unless there is a specific reason or larger purchase, is $20, so no garage sales for me tomorrow. I have enough treasures to keep me busy for now. Guess I'll get started on that fall decorating...

Getting Ready Subway Art

2010-09-08T06:55:00.010-05:00

Everyone, everywhere is making the most fabulous "subway art," and I wanted to make one too! I actually had an idea of what I wanted to do for quite a while, and just waited for the right size thing to make it on. So, I was out looking through junk, um, treasures at a garage sale and I found this... It's cute, but I knew it wouldn't match my house, but it was the perfect size for my subway art, so I plopped down my $2, took it home and grabbed a can of black spray paint that was just hanging out in the garage.

Then I gathered all kinds of scrapbook papers in blue and green, and cut them to size. They were just a little too bright, so I used a scrap bit of fabric and dabbed it on a black ink pad, then dabbed and rubbed it over the paper. I've also done this with brown to "age" paper.Then, when everything was looking good and arranged nicely, I decoupaged it all down with some lovely Modge Podge. I love Modge Podge!

Since my craft room is a TOTAL shambles, and my cricut is buried (seriously, what a shame...), I used stickers. Yes, I did go buy some, but some were left overs from another project. I also found some black cricut letters that weren't used, and I used them. I really wanted to be able to see where things would be before I started sticking, so I cut out each letter still on it's backing and arranged everything.

Then I got to sticking, and gave it a final coat of Modge Podge to seal everything. So here it is, my getting ready subway art to put in the kids bathroom. Just a loving reminder to get in gear and get ready for school.

I am linking up with:

CSI Project

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design

Weekend Wrap Up at Tatertots and Jello

Homework Organization

2010-09-06T22:19:00.002-05:00

You know, drawers just seem to collect junk! These two drawers are in an old buffet in my kitchen that I am hoping to replace eventually. But for now, this is what I have, and what I need is a way for the kids to keep their homework organized.

What a mess!

Miss Mae and Little Dude, being in 2nd grade and Kindergarten, respectively, still need me to be near when they do homework. Sometimes, I even need to be an active participant. So, they do their homework at the kitchen table and need supplies near at hand. This seemed to be a perfect solution- 2 drawers, 2 kids.

So, I cleaned out the drawers. 98% of the stuff in there went straight to the recycle bin. The rest got put away where it really belongs. I gathered a few pencils and a couple pair of kids scissors and a couple glue sticks. I ran to Hobby Lobby and bought brand new colored pencils, which I know they will need. I put all their supplies in the little plastic baskets that were already in there. I threw their sight word supplies in there also, cause you know we are gonna work on sight words- big time!
Homework Drawers! Everything they need is right there. Now, Miss Mae and Little Dude are ready to study and develop good study habits and organizational skills.

Lazy Labor Day

2010-09-06T09:12:00.002-05:00

Well, it's 9 am, and the kids and I are still lounging around in our PJ's and haven't done anything constructive at all. What a lazy Labor Day!

It won't last for long, though. The kids just started eyeing the Wii, and I must actually do the dread laundry that is all sorted out in piles on the living room floor. Mr. Sahm has already moved the car out of the garage to get ready to set up his saw horses and paint a door. I think today might be the day that he finishes a big project that he has been working on for a LONG time. He has done all the hard work and left the decorating part for me.

Since I had that little job, and I had so much fun with decoupaging the christening gift, I did a couple more little projects yesterday. I did this little frame, but I still need to get some pics printed to go in it. I had the paper and the Modge Podge, so I just had to pay for the frame.
I also made just one chipboard letter. Just one sweet W. I love the polka dots!
I guess it's time to get up and start the dread laundry...bummer!

Christening Gift

2010-09-03T18:54:00.007-05:00

What a busy week! On Monday, we finally did something we've been talking about and planning for 3 years. We bought a NEW CAR!!!! For me!!! Sweet, sweet Mr. Sahm sold his beloved muscle car so we could pay off some bills and get this lovely thing for me. I am truly blessed to have such a sweet husband.
It has everything a mommy could need. It has 3 rows and seats 7, so I can carpool and drive everyone around. It has a back-up camera and a DVD player and it gets great mileage for a car of this size. It is just awesome! Everything I wanted! Yay!!

I have spent most of this week getting my office cleaned up and organized. I'm almost done. Whew! It's still ugly, but now I can use it. Pretty will come in time.

This weekend, we are going to a christening for a sweet baby. I found this pretty little cross, and thought it would be a nice gift.
It seemed a little lonely by itself, and I was at Hobby Lobby getting some stuff for another project, and I had an idea...so I picked up some more supplies.

I decided to make the baby's name with some chipboard letters, and make a frame to match.

First thing I did was trace the letters and the frame (upside down) on the back of scrapbook paper.

Then I painted the sides and back of the letters and the frame. While it dried, I carefully cut out the scrapbook paper letters and frame. I tried to cut just inside the pencil line.

When everything was dry, I decoupaged the paper onto the letters and the frame with some Modge Podge. (Yay Modge Podge!) I trimmed where I needed with a single edge razor blade and added a few embellishments. Done!

Here's the frame...

Doesn't it all look cute together? Now I just need to let it dry and wrap it up. We are ready to share Maya's special day.

I am linking to:

The Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tater Tots and Jello.

Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now

Hooking Up with HoH at House of Hepworths

Hodge Podge Friday at It's a Hodge Podge Life

What a Mess!!

2010-08-26T06:04:00.007-05:00

I have been spending some time in my storage room/office, just trying to make heads or tails of how on earth I can make this room work. There are years of books and boxes and craft supplies stored up there. It's a mess! But I have faith that I can get it organized if I purge, purge, purge!

This is what you see when you first walk in the door. Happily, a group of strong men came and took away the 3 file cabinets and a table I didn't need, so you can see the floor. We have a great group of men with servant's hearts, and I appreciate them so much!

But when you turn the corner, you see this...notice the pretty giant fuse boxes on the wall.

Yikes. It's just a lot of stuff. I guess I wasn't fully aware of the bulk of stuff it takes to do a big Epiphany Pageant and a big VBS and an Easter Egg Hunt and all the fun stuff we do with our kids every year. But each of the activities we do with our kids become traditions that remind them of God's love for them, year after year, and are remembered long into adulthood. And I am so grateful for the women that have gone before me, gathering all this stuff so the kids could have these activities. So, I'll find room for all the stuff that we need to keep and use.

But, seriously, it's a lot of stuff! Look at this pile!
sigh...

First Day of School!

2010-08-24T18:30:00.007-05:00

Yippee!!

Oh. Hmmm...well...

Yes, school has begun, and I would be untruthful if I said I wasn't excited. The summer has been too long and hot and way too unstructured for my kiddos. They are pretty excited to get back, and I am just needing a little rest...

Each year we get a special new outfit for the first day of school. We are blessed with hand-me-downs, so the first day of school outfit is one of the few new outfits that Miss Mae and Little Dude get. Then, of course we have to take a picture of the kids dressed in their brand spanking new outfits and shoes and backpacks. We always take the picture right by the front door on the first and the last day of school. It's so funny to see how much they have grown and how much they have worn out their backpack by the end of the year!

Little Dude started Kindergarten this year. He was so co-o-ol about it. Not worried at all. He got the same wonderful teacher Miss Mae had, so we are all pretty happy about that. With Miss Mae, we hung out for quite a while before we left her there. Little Dude was ready for us to just get out already!Doesn't he look embarrassed?

After school, we always have a special first day of school snack. Last year, we invited our neighbors over to share our snack, and this year, they invited us out with them. We all went to a frozen yogurt place and had some frozen yogurt. Little Dude, of course, had chocolate. Miss Mae had strawberry, and I had pistachio. Yum!!
Those are our first day of school traditions, along with a dinner of hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls with mac & cheese. Do you have any special things you do to celebrate the first day of school?

Back-to-School Meal Plans

2010-08-19T09:33:00.006-05:00

So, I have just a few days till the bell rings and BOTH my babies need to be up, dressed, and at school by 7:45 am. That is just too early!

So, I've been thinking how pleasant Thursdays were last year. Last year, I never had to come up with creative ideas for lunches on Thursday, because every Thursday was peanut butter & jelly sandwich day, for everyone, even Mr. Sahm.
Yes, I pack his lunch. My friends tease me and say I just stepped out of the fifties, but that's cool with me. If I don't pack it, he might just not eat anything all day long and come home grumpy as a bear, which is really not in his nature. If he does eat, it will be fast food, and I don't really want him eating that and having a heart attack in the next five years. So, out of love, concern, and self-preservation, I pack him lunches. His are usually dinner leftovers, and he likes that just fine. He also loves PB&J Thursdays!

So, I'm thinking that Mr. Sahm will continue to have his leftovers, but I am gonna make a day of the week lunch plan for the kids, to be repeated every week. Here goes...

Monday: Mom-made lunchables (chunks of cheese, rolled slices of lunch meat, whole grain crackers, plus a fruit and a veggie with dip.)

Tuesday: PB&J sandwich, fruit, veggie, snack food (chips, crackers, cheddar bunnies, you know, something snacky)

Wednesday: English muffin pizzas, fruit, veggie

Thursday: PB& J sandwich, fruit, veggie, snack food (this one is worth repeating!)

Friday: Alternate- egg salad and crackers OR yogurt with granola bar or mix-up. (Mix-up is a mom made snack mix. I start with cheerios and just start adding stuff: raisins, dried cranberries, other types of cereal, cheddar bunnies, whatever I have...) A fruit and a veggie too.

OK, that seems like a good plan. In fact, I like it so much, I think I'll do breakfast too! Here goes!

Monday: Vanilla yogurt and smooshed fruit

Tuesday: Cereal and milk

Wednesday: PB&J waffles (I make a bunch from whole grain mix and freeze them. Then just pop them in the toaster.)

Thursday: Oatmeal muffins and milk (I make big batches of these and freeze them too. You can find my recipe here.)

Friday: Cinnamon toast and milk

Well, now that's taken care of; I just need to go to the grocery store!

Miss Mae in the Sunflowers

2010-08-18T18:35:00.011-05:00

One night in July, my neighbor, the super awesome photographer, called me and said, "I have an open slot at 8. Will Miss Mae come and let me take her picture? It's the very best light just then." How could we say no?
I love these photos. What a beautiful girl! I am so proud of her!
As pretty as she is, I am even more proud of some wonderful things that these photos could never show you.

Miss Mae has the kindest heart. She watches out for the special needs child in her class, without ever babying him. She makes sure he has someone to sit with and that he stays with the rest of the class, but she never leads him by the hand or talks down to him. She treats him as the peer that he is.

Miss Mae is a good student and works hard at her school work. Last year she earned grades that reflected her hard work.

Miss Mae is a math whiz! She gets it from her grandma, not me! She thinks in numbers, and puzzles out math concepts in her mind before they are ever presented to her in school.

Miss Mae is an artist! She draws and paints and colors and crafts all the time! She even entered a photo in a photography contest. She wants me to re-decorate her room as an art room.

Miss Mae loves all kinds of animals and wants to be a vet when she grows up. Nothing makes her happier than meeting a new dog or petting her cat. She likes lizards and all kinds of creepy crawly things that she finds in the back yard.

Miss Mae is a child of faith. She wiggles in Church and wants to leave before the last hymn is sung, but she has true faith in God. She initiates conversations on spiritual topics and loves to sing songs about Jesus. My own faith can be so tattered and wavering and imperfect. I see why a little child shall lead us.

She is my beautiful girl, inside and out. I am so happy to be her mom.

Office Space- Denied!

2010-08-16T08:18:00.003-05:00

Well, I have been visualizing and planning how to make my part of the storage room into an office, and it has been decided that the school really needs the whole room. Office space- denied!

A number of alternate spaces have been proposed, but none of them are appropriate for one reason or another. So, after much discussion, the Children's Ministries office will be in the attic storage room, next to the choir loft. It leaks sometimes, lots of people dump their junk there, and it's not air-conditioned when school is out, but it will be permanent, and I will not have to share it with the school. So, I'm satisfied.

Right now, it is seriously ugly. Old metal bookcases, costumes on racks, a spotlight, and a bunch of stuff that was put up there years ago and forgotten about. So, my job is to figure out what is trash, what belongs somewhere else, and what needs to stay. Then I have to make it work, and look good. I figure, if it looks like an office and not a storage room, people will be less likely to dump more junk, right? As soon as I get enough garbage out of the way, I'll take some pictures, cause I am going to need lots of ideas to make it look presentable.

Dishing It with Amanda!

2010-08-10T21:15:00.008-05:00

Amanda has these awesome blog parties, and today I am happy to be at Dishing It, the Summer Rewind Edition! So I will do my best to remember what I did all summer, except wait for fall.

~Best activity you participated in this summer.

Hmmm. For me or the kids...?

For the kids, well, they had a lot of fun activities this summer. After our trip to Cali, they spent a week at Adventure (day) Camp, where they got to swim and canoe in the lake and do archery and dig clay out of the ground and play and be outside all day, and crafts and games, and... (Little Dude's all star favorite) shoot a pellet gun. All things I personally would never do with them, cause I am not adventurous like that. They also went to 2 VBS's and a music camp and swim lessons. We went to the children's museum a few times, thanks to my sweetest ever grandma, who gave us a memebership for Christmas. Both Miss Mae and Little Dude have been playing in an indoor soccer league that we do every summer. They have so much fun! I highly reccomend Upward Bound Sports. It's a Church sports program, and it rocks!

I have been trying to keep them busy and interested and not spending entire days with the TV or the Wii. Some days I have failed miserably, but some days have been awesome.

For me, I was in charge of VBS at our Church this year. I have never been "in charge" of VBS before. I have taught the Bible lesson for the last 4 years, and that has really been so good, but this year, I had to step up and take the big job. And it was great.
We had 85 or so kids and, even though it was exhausting, I felt renewed. So many of our parishoners were so amazingly willing and happy to take part and help in some way. Even the retiree set was coming to me asking what supplies they could purchase for us. The support from the people of the Church was amazing, and I am so encouraged and ready to start a new year of Sunday School and ministry for the kids. I have to say that I really love and appreciate these people. They blow me away with their love for God and their commitment to our Church and to bringing up their children to love God.

~Did your family go on any trips this summer? Which was your favorite?

We went on a quick trip to California, and happily, we didn't even have to pay for most of it. Mr. Sahm's presence was desired at a work-related thing in Long Beach, so someone else paid for us to fly and for our hotel. And, oh, the hotel!! It was the most stunning place! A resort on the beach in Laguna. Just amazing. The service at the hotel was fabulous, and we felt completely spoiled. We tried to really enjoy it, cause we could never afford to do it on our own!

The people that sent us out there insisted that I have a spa treatment. Really, they insisted! So, a manicure was $85, and a 90 minute pedicure was $105, and the next price was something like $285. Insisting or no, that was just too much for me, so I had a pedicure and called it good. That is a lot of foot massage for $105, with a view of the ocean thrown in. Aahhhh... it was good.

Oh, and we managed a day at Disneyland while we were there. The temp never went above 75 or so, and we never waited more than 25 minutes in any line. Chip and Dale made us laugh at breakfast, and we had a nice conversation with the Mad Hatter (cartoon version unfortunately, not Johnny Depp!) The only drawback was that Little Dude was still too little to get on the Indiana Jones Ride, so to show family solidarity, none of us rode. It was pretty much as good as a trip to Disneyland could be!

~Best new recipe you tried.

I actually posted recently about trying some new recipes. I went out and bought a Cooking Light magazine, and tried two recipes; chicken shawarma and summer squash & corn chowder. Since those were the only two new recipies I tried, I have to say the chowder was my favorite.

(photo: Cooking Light Magazine)

Next time though, I will saute the veggies longer before I add the milk. You can find the recipe here. I know, it's strange to talk soup in August, but it really was yum, and isn't that why we have air conditioning?

I am going to be trying some more new recipes, cause I am tired of eating yucky, boring food for dinner!

~Most exciting thing you've done this summer.

Does it mean I'm a bad mother if I say that the most exciting thing I've done this summer is sign my kids up for school? Buy backpacks and lunchboxes? First day of school outfits? New tennies? I am so really, really happy that they will be back in school soon.

Ok , I also had a fabulous birthday in July. The number 44 is not particularly pleasant, but Mr. Sahm really knows how to take the sting out of dealing with that number. He completely suprised me with tickets to go see Rascal Flatts in concert. I love them, and the song Broken Road is sooo Mr. Sahm and I. But sweet Mr. Sahm didn't stop with getting the tickets. He also made dinner reservations and ARRANGED THE BABYSITTER!!! Exactly how did I get blessed with such a man?! It was super fun, and even if it hadn't been, just the fact that he did something so thoughful and kind was quite a present to me.

~Coolest crafty thing you made or home decor thing you tried.

Well, most of my crafty energy went to Vacation Bible School. The curriculum tells you all these fabulous ideas, but we had extreme budget constraints, so I had to make it happen on the super-cheap. I had lots of people helping me, but I made this space station on my own. The whole stage set cost less than $30, and that includes the gorilla puppet and the DVD (which I bought second hand from another Church that had already done their VBS, and then sent with our mission team to use on their summer mission trip. That monkey gets around!)
Mr. Sahm made the rockets, cause he is crafty too.

I also made this awesome space walk area, but lots of people helped. We borrowed the black lights and someone hung them for me (zip-ties rock!) The kids painted the planets in Sunday School with glow in the dark paint, and an awesome mom cut hundreds of stars from tin foil. It all came together really great, and it was so cool that even the littlest kids didn't notice that it was way dark, and they weren't even scared.

More recently, I've been working on transforming this ugly little chair that I found on someone's trash pile. I have learned that when it's 105 degrees, not only am I miserable, but the spray paint dries before it gets to the chair. I think I have more sanding to do...sigh...

~Best book or magazine issue you read.

I read the sweetest book ever! The Geurnsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows is about the people on one of the Channel Islands and how they survived nazi occupation during WWII. Yes, a bit sad, but so sweet and hopeful and really a great read.

Well, of course, my new favorite magazine is Cooking Light. Their approach is not extreme at all. They realize that once in a while, a little butter makes life good. I think I'm going to get myself a subscription.

~Coolest new (to you) blog you've found.

Oh, I'd so love to give you a link to some new awesome blog, but I have been so happy with all my favorites, and so limited on screen time, that I haven't branched out to any new ones this summer.

~Favorite bargain or shopping find of the summer.

The six pairs of shoes for my big size 11 feet from a garage sale- $2 a pair! I even got some black boots in great shape and the prettiest turquoise beaded mules with kitten heels that I ever saw. (When you have a size 11, pretty shoes make you very excited!)

~Your best post of the summer was...?

I didn't post a lot this summer, so I think the first post that got me going again was my best, not cause it was best, but cause it got me going! I also really loved writing Oh Gladys! which was a post about a woman that had a big influence on my life. I think of her every time I sand.

~What's left on your summer to-do list?

School starts in a week and a half, and Little Dude is starting Kindergarten. Wait while I stop jumping for joy... I feel very happy that I have gotten them both through this first part of their lives and they are still alive and reasonably well adjusted and ready for what comes next. I also feel a little sad that I can no longer pretend that Little Dude is a baby.

So, I have a week and a half to get everything ready- get their rooms cleaned up and their closets and clothes organized. I also really want to figure out a place to keep their backpacks and jackets and school STUFF. Everything usually ends up dumped in the entryway and drives us all crazy.

I also want to take the kids to the movies and JumpZone and one more trip to the museum and...have some fun.

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to read about your summer!

Oh, Gladys!

2010-08-10T07:37:00.003-05:00

On Sunday, I had a block of time to sand and sand my little ugly-but-soon-to-be-beautiful-chair-from-the-trash-heap. Every time I sand, I think of Gladys.

Gladys was a mom in my neighborhood when I was a teenager, and I was her kids' babysitter. She had five girls that I adored, so babysitting was way too much fun for me. Gladys had the prettiest house I had ever seen. It was reasonably clean and mostly orderly (especially considering there were five kids in the house!) and was just pretty. She had a way of putting things together. I loved being there.

As time went on, Gladys and her family took me in. They were the first people to actually take me to Church, week after week, for a long time. This family showed me a way of living that was completely different than what I had seen at home. I loved them.

When I was in college and totally broke, they put me to work one summer. I did a bunch of stuff around the house. Gladys had found a big old oak office desk somewhere, and she put sandpaper in my hand and showed me how to sand with the grain. After lots of sanding and some tung oil, she had a beautiful desk. Then we did the chair. Then I spray painted outdoor furniture. Then I painted walls. Then I did some other stuff. I didn't always do it well, but Gladys and her husband would patiently correct me (and sometimes my attitude.) That summer I learned so many skills that I still use today.

So, whenever I sand, I think of Gladys. I learned so much from her about being a mom and making a home. I learned things about working that helped me more than I can say. I learned much about God. I learned how to sand and paint and see what could be done with things other people were ready to throw away. Thanks for everything, Gladys.

Dinner...YUM!

2010-08-05T18:51:00.003-05:00

I have noticed that dinner has just become so blah. I have a picky boy and an exquisitely picky girl that only want spaghetti or mac n' cheese with chicken nuggets. And I guess I'm picky too, cause nothing ever tastes good to me. Seriously, unless it's tacos (for which I have an undying adoration!) it just doesn't taste good. Sometimes it's so horrible that I just can't eat it, but usually it's just boring and not yummy.

I have been watching Top Chef, and their food looks good. I mean really good. So, I decided that I need to do something to make dinner more exciting and fresh and yummy. I found an old copy of Cooking Light magazine and looked through it. It's not a diet magazine, it just presents some healthy recipes, and I found one I wanted to try...Chicken Shawarma. It's basically chicken with tomato, cucumber and red onion in a pita with a tahini and yogurt sauce. It nearly killed me to pay $7 for the tahini, but I did it, and here is how it all looked...
I threw some hummus together (since I had the tahini...) and served some red grapes. When you put the sandwich all together, it looks pretty yummy. OK, so I don't plate everything as nicely as the top chefs do...

And it was so yummy! I am not a fan of chicken, but this was delish! I made it less spicy than the recipe calls for, so the kids could eat the chicken, the pita, and the grapes. It they were willing to actually eat veggies, the could eat the wonderfully fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. They weren't willing, but Mr. Sahm says it was great. I actually enjoyed my dinner! It was yum! Yay!

So, on Saturday, I am going to try a summer squash and corn chowder. I'll let you know how it goes...

Treasure Hunting

2010-07-30T08:02:00.007-05:00

I went treasure hunting for my new office in the old storage room at Church. It is a serious dumping ground and needs some cleaning out, but look at some of the sweetest treasures I found! Vintage children's books, all about God! There is some seriously precious artwork in these!

I just love Little Golden Books. These two are really sweet. (Sorry, this picture doesn't want to flip for you...I tried 3 times and it keeps showing up like this...)
This one is an old Sunday School book...

...and this is a sweet story book.

I'm not sure what exactly I'll do with these treasures. I may display them in my office. I may scan some of the artwork and use it as clip art. I may use some of the prayers or poems to fill in corners of the monthly newsletter. I might just do all of those things! I'm just excited to find treasures among the junk! I also found pamphlets with young child friendly home services for Advent and Lent. So excited about that!

I also found this ugly, disgusting, filthy chair on someones trash pile...

Does anyone else see the adorable office guest chair hiding under all that dirt and grime?

Working On It...

2010-07-27T12:28:00.005-05:00

I spent some time working on my new office/storage room, and I am making some progress. I got some big strong men with a dolly to move the bookcases in. I could have maybe done that, but it would have been hot and taken a long time, so I decided to let the big guys just take care of that part for me. This is my bare bones picture. That TV over my head will make me crazy, but it's there to stay. (I know the picture quality is poor, but my camera died and I used my phone to get a couple pictures. Sorry...)

Here's my white board and bulletin board. I'll need to come up with something good for the bulletin board...

I was able to stop at a couple garage sales and take a trip to the dollar store and Tuesday Morning to look for stuff... I found these paper stackers at a garage sale for a buck.

I got this tin container at a thrift store for $3 at a thrift store. I'm planning to use it for VBS stuff that we will be using from year to year.

And here's my other fun new stuff... I just love the color of the trash can!

Next, I'm going to go to the storage room and shop for free! I still need a chair, and I need my computer moved over. (Haven't been able to check that e mail for a couple weeks! Yikes!) Pretty soon, I'll be able to work!

Office Space Dilemma

2010-07-23T08:16:00.002-05:00

Some of you may know that I have a part time job at my Church as the Christian Ed Director, and they have decided to give me some office space- I get half a class room that is currently being used for storage. Isn't that funny?! Having the Church and a school makes for space concerns always being an issue, so I am truly joyful at getting an office in the storage room!

They are dividing the space with a long set of wooden bookcases that I can't paint white...bummer. I have a computer and a little computer desk- you know those white, put-em-together-with-an-allen-wrench computer desks. There is a large white board and a bulletin board on one wall, because it is a class room. That's about it.

Of course, I want to make it cute and special, and I have very little budget. This picture...is a sweet little vintage Sunday School book that I picked up at a garage sale. Is it the sweetest thing ever!? Mr. Sahm is going to print it for me on foam core whatever size I need for wall art. Isn't that perfect? It is so conveinient to have a printer in the family.

I want it to be bright and colorful and vintagey. I want it to be evident that children are important. I want to store the supplies that the Sunday School teachers will need and actually be able to work in there.

So, this is my project right now. I have so many thoughts running through my head, and I would love feedback from you. Any great ideas? Anything that has really worked for you guys in your offices or craft rooms?

Menu Plan Monday-July 19th

2010-07-19T11:08:00.006-05:00

I know life must be getting back to normal, cause I made a menu plan! For the rest of the month even! Here goes...

19th M: Pasta with marinara, focaccia bread, caprese salad (tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, and fresh mozzarella, drizzled with a bit of olive oil. Oh. So. Yummy.)

20th T: (Miss Mae cooks) homemade chicken strips, mac & cheese, carrot & celery sticks with ranch dressing

21st W: (Early soccer practice) Kids picnic: PB&J sandwiches, grapes, pretzels, milk. Mom & Dad: orange chicken, rice, potstickers

22nd Th: (Late soccer practice) Out for Mommy's B-day!! (What should I choose???)

23rd F: Pizza night!

24th S: Mom & Dad: out for date night, Kids: mac & cheese and fruit

25th Su: Steak, orzo salad, green salad, bread

26th M: Turkey Sliders, chips, salad

27th T: (Little Dude cooks) Oven fried chicken legs, corn on the cob, watermelon

28th W: (Early soccer practice) Tacos

29th Th: (Late soccer practice) National Lasagna Day Lasagna (frozen), salad, garlic bread

3oth F: Pizza night

31st S: Grilled brats on buns, green salad, fruit salad

Well, that's the rest of the month, and that gets me back on the road to business as usual and a little peace in the house...but how much peace can there be with two wild summer children roaming around?

I'm linking with Laura at Organizing Junkie, of course!

Where Have I Been?!!

2010-07-14T20:23:00.006-05:00

Oh my! It has been sooo long! I missed my little blog and all my sweet bloggy friends.

We had a long visit with my mother, and shortly after she returned home, my grandfather passed away. After that, the end of the school year craziness came along and then...VBS.

I have taught the Bible rotation for our Church's VBS for the last few years, and I LOVED doing it! But this year, I was in charge. IN CHARGE!! Yikes!

We have a VBS for about 85 or so kids, and I have never run a VBS before, so I was pretty overwhelmed with the whole thing. Happily, it turned out pretty fabulous, and the people at our church were so good about volunteering. I love them.

We did Galactic Blast, which was a space theme. All the ideas are in the curriculum, but the challenge is how to make it happen with what you have, so it doesn't cost anything at all, or as close to that as you can get. My good man gave us end rolls of white vinyl from work, which would have been tossed in a dumpster. Free. Love that price! He also printed the awesome space backdrop and donated it. Sweet man!

I used tables and cardboard and poles to construct the "space station" and then I covered everything with the white vinyl. The control panel was just a bunch of lids and things from the recycle bin. It was a feat of engineering, and you can see that I had one panel that just could not stay up where it belonged. Eventually I taped it and stapled the tape and that seemed to work.

Every day we talked to this sweet little green gorilla.

And walked through outer space...how cool is this!?! We used glow in the dark paint and black lights. Even though it was dark, even the littlest kids were not scared, cause it was just so neat-o!

A couple years ago, a science rotation was added, and it is pretty fun. The kids love it. Our awesome teacher this year made everything VERY hands on with centers for the kids to try the experiments themselves.

Look at this awesome tin foil rocket in the craft room. So cute. The pre-packaged crafts get expensive when you have the number of kids we do, so we had to modify their ideas or just buy our own craft supplies (with coupons!) to make them more affordable. Everyone's favorite was the cross necklace made from glow-in-the-dark pony beads.

Of course, there was a Bible story every night. This one is Elijah hiding in a cave and learning that God speaks to us with a still, small voice. Our youth act out the story, and the kids really love it.

Well, that was a complete obsession for a while, and now...my house is a mess, my husband is cranky, and my kids are tired. I need to get back on track! I need to make a meal plan and organize and clean a few spots up before we go back to school. I need to have some summer fun with the kids. I'm back.

Ancestry Fun

2010-04-25T19:45:00.003-05:00

Thank you so much to everyone that prayed for my mom and for me and my family. I appreciate it more than I can say.

While my mom was here, I thought it would be fun to put my new Ancestry.com membership to use. She used to be very interested in genealogy, and she has a tree on that site. As it turns out, she was only slightly interested, but I had a BLAST!!

Of course I found the things I knew, like my great-grandmother and great-grandfather, Hazel and Glenn. They passed away when I was 12 or 13, so I actually knew them and got to spend time with them. This is a picture of them on their wedding day in Oklahoma. He was 22 and she was 13 (yikes!)

Then, I found lots of other things that I did NOT know. This info is based on other people's research. When a person on my family tree links up with someone else's, I can copy their info. By doing that, I was able to go back many centuries on some branches, and only a bit on others. It was pretty much a dead end on all my German ancestors.

I did find out that on my mom's father's side, I am descended from a number of people that came over on the Mayflower, including Myles Standish and John Alden. How cool is that!?
A bit further back on that side, is Scottish nobility. There is a tartan and a castle and everything! Here it is, the beautiful ruins of Dunnottar Castle on the coast of Scotland.

Now after finding so much on that side, I went over to my mom's mother's side. Again, some German dead-ends. More colonists. Some serious religious reformers that were willing to leave everything they knew to follow their faith. And, well, a king of England! King Edward I, to be exact. I have always loved history, so this has been sooo much fun!

This is Edward and Eleanor.

So, it doesn't change my life in any way. There may be royal blood flowing in my veins, but I still need to sweep the floor and do the dishes. However, I am going to wait for a servant to come take care of the Dread Laundry!

Sharing My Heart

2010-04-20T12:48:00.002-05:00

Sorry I haven't been around much. My mom is visiting. For those of you who don't know, she has been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. At this point, her care is palliative, and we know that her time with us is limited. Perhaps a year, maybe more, hopefully not less.

Our relationship is not an easy one, and this is her first visit to see my kids in 4 years, or there abouts. Whatever has gone on before, I wanted her to see her grandchildren, for her sake.

It has been a tough trip. She's tired, and she sleeps a lot. She's not in pain, but she's weak. She's throwing up a couple times every day. The kids have been sick, and I have too, and I'm so afraid that she is going to catch whatever kid virus has been wandering around the house.

I am finding myself in tears for the smallest reasons. Don't know what to do. Don't know what to say.

Miss Manners Tea Party

2010-04-16T11:35:00.007-05:00

I have been planning this special Tea party for a while, so I'm linking up with Finished for Friday at Lit and Laundry. I am happy to be on the finished side of this for sure!

Miss Mae is a Daisy Girl Scout, and I help out the troop leader when I can, so I hosted a troop meeting and tea party at our house. I got to plan and run the meeting, and it was so much fun! We were working on the orange petal of the daisy for "I take responsibility for what I say and do." We decided that we would do a lesson on having good manners to earn this petal. The lesson was last week, and this week we put our manners into action at the tea party. It was a special occasion, and the girls all wore their best frocks...

(My Miss Mae)

After a short opening circle, we went to the table and decorated our best bonnets with silk flowers and glue dots. (Everything was from the Dollar Tree, except the glue dots)

Each girl decorated her hat as she wished while we talked about why manners are important (to show respect and make people around us feel comfortable.) See how sweet these girls are with their lovely tea time bonnets...

After we completed our hats, we practiced making introductions and then played a please and thank-you game. They loved the game and wanted to play more at the end of the meeting. While the game was going, the table was cleared of all the craft supplies, and was set for tea time.

The girls drank their "tea" (cherry fruit punch) out of these loverly cups. You can read more about them here.

The buffet had been set up especially for them. Girl Scout cookies were served, along with cucumber sandwiches. Of course, in serving cucumber sandwiches, we had an opportunity to very politely say, "I don't care for any, thank you." Some girls very politely took some and tasted it, and then quietly placed it on their plate without further mention. Not one girl said, "Eeeww! Gross!" Or made faces. Such well-mannered girls!

All the girls had fun and thought it was wonderful to use their best manners. Cheers!

Not Mine...

2010-04-15T21:07:00.008-05:00

Oh, just look at these beauties...

Miss Mae's Daisy Girl Scout troop had a tea party at our house, and we needed some tea cups. The troop leader volunteered hers, saying that her china was not her taste, and really no big deal if anything got broken.

This is what she brought over to my house...

Aren't they just beautiful?! All you china addicts out there (like me...) just look how pretty. I actually served tea (fruit punch) to nine 7-year-old girls at a tea party. It's Haviland Limoges and it is just lovely. I didn't want to pack it up and give it back!

Just to comfort myself, I will also show you the teapot that poured the fruit punch. This is mine.
It's pretty too! It belonged to my dear Auntie, and I cherish it.

Pretty, huh?

I am linking up with Vintage Thingy Thursday, one of my favorite days! Go see Suzanne and check out all the cool stuff!

Mommy’s 1 Corinthians 13

2010-04-15T12:11:00.002-05:00

I would so like to take credit for this, but I can't. My friend Celia wrote it. I was typing it out to put in the Church newsletter, and it touched my heart so much. If I could remember these things every day, I would be such a better mom. I think I'm gonna hang it up by the kitchen sink…

"If I speak openly of ethics and moral virtue and even boldly proclaim the gospel, but do not show kindness to my children and mirror God's love to my family, I speak an empty rhetoric that will eventually crush because it is hollow.

If I spend time in the Word and faithfully attend Church and even counsel those who speak spiritual guidance, but do not show and speak love to my family, I am two-faced and untrustworthy.

And if I give to others, help at school, disciple young teens, and be sure to exercise, but do not spend time helping, training and having fun with my family, I gain nothing but pride and future heartache.

Love teaches the same lessons again and again for years without defaming a person's character in a moment of frustration.

Love gives hugs, kisses, and sympathetic words instead of lectures about consequences.

Love doesn't envy the athletic, academic, or social ability of someone else's children- even if they are better behaved.

Love does not assume I have the answers for someone else's child because people and families are different, and that is good.

Love does not scream or make idle threats.

Love does not ignore the children when they interrupt a task, or make them feel ashamed when Mommy's work is not completed in a day. Love includes them.

Love doesn't sweat the small stuff, especially since life is mostly small stuff.

Love forgives quickly, and doesn't bring it up again, even if it's a hopelessly broken collector's item.

Love does not say, "I told you so" when hard things result from bad choices, but acts like a cheerleader when right decisions or improvements are made.

Love does all this because it is given to do, believes a sovereign God will help, hopes for godly changes, endures the failures and trials, and never gives up.

-Paraphrase by Celia

Dishing

2010-04-13T07:45:00.008-05:00

Oh, Amanda just has the best parties!

We're gonna all get together to talk about our blogs. What fun! I'm sure there are some pretty great stories out there, and I can't wait to read them. Here's mine...

-How long have you been blogging?

I actually started my blog in October of 2007. I went pretty strong through most of 2008, and almost completely dropped off in 2009. At the beginning of this year, I started reading blogs of some great creative people, and it motivated me to begin again. So I started blogging, and here we are.

-Why did you start blogging?

Well, Mr. Sahm read an article about people who make a nice living from blogging, and he looked at me with dollar signs in his eyes. He had so much faith in me! I looked at how to start a blog, and it was so easy, and I had a few things to say, so I started blogging. But I knew pretty quickly that nobody but my family and friends were going to read my little blog, and I started writing for them. Not a penny of revenue, ever. Poor Mr. Sahm.

When I returned to my poor neglected little blog, I was coming off a year of really struggling with my health and energy levels. I had been diagnosed and treated for a sleep disorder, and it is amazing what a few good nights sleep will do for your creativity and motivation. It was also right on the heels of my youngest going to pre-school 3 days a week. Not only did I have a little energy, I had a little time, all my own!

I was kind of bugging my husband to buy a new house, cause this one just didn't seem to be meeting our needs, plus I just didn't like how it looked. Ugly everywhere. My good man decided that he would rather sell his hot rod 1970 AMX and let me park in the garage, than move. It is a huge sacrifice for him. I could see his point about staying in this house. Great neighbors. Fabulous schools. We are here to stay, for quite a while.

I needed to do something. I needed to make this brick house with all its 1980's details (yucky) something I could live with. I started searching the Internet for inspiration. I found some great blogs, written by some amazing, frugal, creative women. People that shopped at thrift stores (like me) and garage sales (like me). Crafty people. And I was so inspired. I wanted to be more content AND happier with my home. So I started blogging again with the idea that this community of women could help me do what I needed to do. And so far, so good!

-Tell me about your blogs title. How did you choose it?

First- I always wanted to be a stay at home mom. That's all I ever really wanted to be. I waited and waited for it to happen . I didn't marry and have kids till I was in my late 30's. Even then I had to wait and work for a couple years. So part of the title is a joyful proclamation- I am SAHM. SAHM I am!

Also- Someone long ago told me that I didn't have a creative bone in my body. She had graduated from film school, and she thought that anyone not involved in "the arts" was just not worth mentioning, and certainly film making was really the only creative art worth pursuing. I have long ago forgiven this comment, but have never forgotten.

I feel so strongly that the things we do everyday at home (to make our home a warm place, to raise our children, to offer hospitality) are such creative pursuits. (Read The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaffer if you can find it. You will be convinced and motivated.) As a new stay at home mom, I wanted to encourage other sahms to recognize all their creative powers. That was the original thought. As it turns out, I am the encouraged one. I hope that I am an encouragement to others.

-What do you blog about?

My cute kids,
my super cute husband,
my not so cute house,
my attempts to make my house much cuter,
my over the top parties,

crafty stuff I do
organized meal planning,
trying to organize everything else,
and whatever other nonsense comes to my mind.

-What is your favorite thing about blogging?

Favorite? Like, pick one favorite? Awww man.

We find people that we connect with, sometimes on the other side of the world (yes, sweet Sarah Lou and Daph, that's you...) and we support each other and encourage each other. It's the people who read, the people who comment, and the people that I read. It's the people with beautiful homes, and the people that are working towards beauty. It's all of us, our efforts, and how we share with each other.

Plus, it's nice to know I'm not the only crazy woman out there gettin' happy over garage sales!

-If you had to choose one famous person to become your blogs next devoted reader, who would you pick?

OK, people. Please don't get hung up on politics here.

I would totally pick Michelle Obama. What a job to be a mom to two young girls with every move and breath being scrutinized every moment of the day. I like how she makes her girls her big priority, how her mom has stepped in to help, how they sit down to dinner every night, and how they go out on date nights. I like how she talks about her husband and how he talks about her. Way too many families in our country do not give so much attention to their children and their marriage, and I think they set a good example. I would love it if she was a reader!

What is the funniest comment you've ever received on a blog post?

If you don't have a Chik-Fil-A near you, I am so sorry. They are just great. In July, they have a Cow Appreciation Day to celebrate their cows that tell you to eat more chicken. If you go in dressed like a cow, you get a free lunch. Well, that was fun and my friend and I did it with our kids, and I posted about it.

Here is one of the comments:

"Moo moooo moo,

Moo moo, mooooo ha ha moooo. Moo moooooo, moo moo cluck cluck moo, phew! Moo moo Little Dude mooooo, moo moo moo Miss Mae. Moo.

Moooo,

Bessy"

To this day, I do not know who sent that comment (It was anonymous, other than the signature of Bessie). Still cracks me up.

So that's the story of SAHM I Am! So happy to meet you all!

Back Yard, Ready To Go!

2010-04-09T08:20:00.009-05:00

This post is about a lot of stuff...

How much I love a great deal...The amazing power of spray paint...Mr. Sahm's incredible green thumb...the glories of spring... just to name a few!

I found this set of patio furniture at Curby's a couple years ago.

(See! I said I would use that name, and now I did! Some other, very clever, blogger calls the curb where people throw out perfectly good stuff- Curby's. Kinda like calling Target, "Tar-jay." I thought it was cute and told her I was gonna steal it, and now I did.)

So, I could see a few flaws...like lots of rust. And peeling, flaking paint.

But seriously, we all know what a few cans of spray paint can do! Plus, aren't those cushions just awesome! I got them for $30 each, which isn't exactly frugal, but my skills in the sewing department are not so great that I could do this. I have seen other cushions for $75 each, so I figured it was a good price. So $120 for cushions and about $15 of spray paint for this...
Not bad, huh? This is Mr. Sahm's favorite place to sit and enjoy a glass of wine.

Speaking of Mr. Sahm; he is the dude with the green thumb. Just look at his beautiful work in the back yard.
This is one of those cheapy mini-rose plants you get at the grocery store for $2.99
on sale, and then they die. He potted it and it is amazing.
The little pot at the bottom that is sprouting is bird seed that Miss Mae planted and is carefully nurturing. Funny girl.
We have the tiniest baby strawberries. Oh boy, how cool would it be if we actually get to eat these little things? Mr. Sahm's interest is flowers and plants. The food producing plants are my thing and my thumb is yellow at best. We have kind of a hard time actually getting things to the point of eating them. We have failed with pumpkins, tomatoes, corn, carrots, oh, you name it. I say it's a drainage problem, not me. It couldn't be me!
All our rose bushes are covered with buds and about to bloom. They keep roses on my table almost daily, all summer long. I love them!

This is Mr. Sahm's little fountain. It has a quiet little sound and is so sweet in the evening. Plus, it provides fresh water for the birds.
We planted some new flowers in the hanging baskets.
The rosemary is blooming.

See the bright blue flowers. So pretty. We keep the water barrel to gather rain water for gardening use. It's so easy for the kids to go fill their watering cans and water the pots on the patio.
I wish we had smellovision, or whatever, cause this Carolina Jasmine is so fragrant. You come around the corner and there she is, smelling like heaven, and so bright and pretty. Her blooming time is almost over, but it has been lovely!

So, the back yard is ready for spring and summer. Well, maybe I will give the tomatoes a shot again, and just a bit of basil... A girl's gotta have her pesto, right?

I am linking up in these places...

Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest

Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

AND!

Flaunt Your Flowers Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time. She has an absolutely GORGEOUS garden! Worth checking out for inspiration to get your hands in the dirt.

Kickin' Karate Party

2010-04-08T08:01:00.009-05:00

Birthday Parties at our house are kind of a big deal. When I was pregnant with Miss Mae, I went to a three-year-old birthday party and saw how happy that child was, and it affected me so deeply. You know, I was pregnant, and emotional, and it stuck in my head. I decided that I always wanted to make birthdays super special, and I have always tried. People told me that the kids were too little to even remember such a birthday party. I think that a special day like that becomes part of who they are, even if they can't actually remember it.

This year, Little Dude wanted a karate party. I was really hoping for the fire fighter party, but no, he wanted karate. He has never taken a karate class in his life, but this is what he had his heart set on. I found this little domain free (is that the right words?) image online, and thought it looked a lot like my Little Dude, so I used it! Cute, huh?

It is surprisingly difficult to find karate party goods without ordering online. So, I decided I'd have to be a little creative and make something unique for party favors and decorations. I found these little drum thingys at the 99 cents store. Cars. Not karate.

So, I made a plan. I measured them.
Then on the computer, I made a bunch of round text boxes and put the cute little karate boy in half and the words "Little Dude's Kickin Karate Party in the other half. I printed them on white scrapbook paper.

I cut out the circles and glued them to each side...

There you go... personalized party favors!

That's not really enough, so I did basically the same thing with some bubble bottles. You can usually get three or four bubble bottles for a dollar at The Dollar Tree, and they are great as party favors. It's a bigger bottle of bubbles than you would get as a favor from the party store, and you can personalize it so much more.

So, I measured...

Printed and cut...

Glued, and there you go!

I had the party at a karate studio, so the party favor was my opportunity to send the kids home with something really special. I used clean containers from my favorite Chinese food take-out place. They gave them to me free. Wasn't that nice? Then I put in the drum and the bubbles and a top that I also found at The Dollar Tree. It's some anime character that I don't know, but it had a dragon, so I figured it was close enough. I looked up the closest Asian grocery store and went there to buy candy and cookies to put in to round out the favors. I sampled them all first, and YUM! Of course, I had to throw a pair of chopsticks in too. Here it is...

And here it is at the party, ready to go...

So, I wanted all the kids to look like they were in a karate class, so I decided to make them t-shirts. (Last year for the super-hero party, I made each child a t-shirt, and I hear they are still wearing them...) I printed out my little karate guy on iron-on transfer paper (4 to a sheet) and ironed them on the t-shirts. I just bought packages of bigger sized T's at Wal-Mart. So they were just over a buck apiece.

I know that it is probably some kind of karate blasphemy, but I also made the kids "black belts." Oh, well, I didn't get struck by lightening or anything and the karate guy just chuckled... I bought a yard of wide black felt at JoAnn's (with a coupon of course!) and cut long strips. When the kids arrived, I gave them their t-shirt to change into and then wrapped their belts around and tied them. So simple.

Here's Little Dude in his. It turned out even better than I imagined.

The karate studio is already a karate studio, so almost no decorating to do. I did hang a couple dragon kites (from the Dollar tree) over the cake table and spread a red table cloth on the cake and gift tables. The kids just sat on the floor to eat their cake, so I didn't have to worry about tables for them. The kids had a great time doing Karate stuff, including giving Little Dude a birthday "spanking" with a padded paddle.

The cake was part of the party package, and it came from Sam's. I thought it was so clever to have a dragon on it! They also provided that big scary sword/knife thing to cut it with. Happily it wasn't sharp. But it was such a cool idea!

Little Dude was so happy with his party and had such a good time. The karate guy (Master Rob) was just great with kids and he gave them such a workout! Little Dude fell asleep right away that night! Happy birthday, my precious boy.

I'm linking up with LOTS of other people with LOTS of really great ideas at Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple. It's worth checking out, for sure!

Also one of my favorite blogs with so many dollar store crafts! I just love Tator Tots and Jello! Ya know, the blog, not the food.

A Busy Weekend

2010-04-05T08:09:00.004-05:00

Wow! What a weekend! We were on the run the whole time, with lots and lots to do!

On Friday night, we dyed our eggs.

Lots of eggs.

7 dozen, more or less. What else are you gonna do when you have 7 kids hunting eggs on Easter Sunday? Happily, Mr. Sahm loves to dye eggs, and he had just as much fun as the kids. Little Dude is getting old enough to really be able to participate with out dropping and cracking every egg he tries to dye. He was so happy to figure the whole thing out. Miss Mae, as usual, tried lots of different methods and creative ways of getting a multi-colored dye job on her eggs.
On Saturday, Little Dude had his birthday party. I'll tell you more about this later, but here's a clue...

Tough guy, huh?

On Sunday, we got up early and went to Church. It was, of course, a beautiful service. Afterwards, there was a giant Easter Egg hunt. I was blessed to have help from our awesome youth group, and they stuffed about 1800 of the 3000 eggs we had. Yes, I did the rest, but I had some help from a good friend and Mr. Sahm. Turns out, I didn't need nearly that many, but the kids were so happy!

Doesn't Miss Mae look lovely in her new Easter dress? I shoulda bought her a hat, cause she put every Easter basket right on her head. Silly girl!

Under the plastic eggs full of candy, Little Dude's basket is lined with cookies from the reception in the parish hall. Talk about sugar overload! He was in heaven!

After Church, we had some company over for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. We don't have any family nearby, so we feel very blessed to have good friends to share special days. Altogether, there were 18 of us! The kids had a blast hunting eggs and playing with their friends. We had a huge dinner and yummy carrot cake for desert. It was a great day, and I'm exhausted now!

Kitchen Towels

2010-03-31T20:55:00.004-05:00

Do you remmeber when I showed these sweet little things. I said they were the begining of my love of red and vintage. They were the first. They were not the last!
Over the years since then, I have collected a few more red kitchn-ey things. I just love these little potholders. Of no use for protecting your hands from hot things, but so cute!

I've got a couple old aprons. This one is embroidered with red flowers and white lattice work. I really love it.

This one has fake ric rac. I LOVE ric rac, and it cracks me up that this ric rac is just printed right into the fabric. So silly. I guess it needs a little ironing...

I've got some dish towels too...

(I assume that this is part of a set, and somewhere, somebody has the one that says "He Loves Me." Is it you?)

The colors are still pretty and bright. I have a plan for them when we "do" the kitchen, which will be who knows when? So. I take them out once in a while to be inspired, then I put them back in my box of pretty things. That's where they live.

I'm linking up with some lovely linky parties!

Rednesday at It's A Very Cherry World. Go over and see all the pretty red stuff! It's so much fun!

Also Vintage Thingy Thursday at ColoradoLady. Too much fun!!

April Month of Meals

2010-03-28T07:30:00.004-05:00

It is a super busy month ahead, so I want to get a jump on it and plan out all our meals, so I won't have to think about it again for a long time. Just for fun, I looked up a bunch of not very well known holidays and observances, just to give me some funny ideas for dinners. I also want to make sure we have lots of yummy stuff for my mom to eat when she comes to visit. My Grandfather and Aunt are also coming, so I need to plan something extra special for the nights they're here.

1st Thu: (April Fool's Day): Spaghetti & meatballs, focaccia, salad- NO UTENSILS ALLOWED.

2nd Fri: (Hans Christian Anderson's birthday) Split pea soup, grilled havarti on pumpernickel

3rd Sat: Pizza Night

4th Sun: (Happy Easter!)- Easter Potluck at our House

5th Mon: (Dyngus Day/Easter Monday)- Kielbasa & Pirogi, green beans, rye bread

6th Tue: Leftovers from Easter

7th Wed:(Daddy Travelling) Frozen Kid Cuisine Dinner

8th Thu:(Daddy Travelling, Daisy Scouts) Chicken Nuggets, Mac and cheese, crudites

9th Fri: Pizza Night!

10th Sat: Hamburgers, sun chips, fruit salad

11th Sun: Chicken parmesan, spaghetti, veggie, garlic bread

12th Mon: Hot dogs in crescent rolls, mac and cheese, veggie

13th Tue: (Gramma Visiting) Smoked brisket, roasted red potatoes, veggie

14th Wed:(Gramma Visiting) Fish Tacos, fruit

15th Thu: (Gramma Visiting) Ham & cheese quiche, salad

16th Fri: (Gramma Visiting) Pizza Night

17th Sat: (Gramma & Poppa Visiting, Husband Appreciation Day) Steaks, baked potatoes, garden salad, garlic bread

18th Sun:(Gramma & Poppa Visiting) Brisket tacos, fruit, mexican salad

19th Mon: (Gramma Visiting) Pork Loin, baked sweet potatoes, veggie

20th Tue: (Gramma Visiting) Steak burritos, fruit

21st Wed: (Gramma Visiting) Grilled chicken thighs, pesto bowties, veggie, focaccia

22nd Thu:(Gramma Visiting, Daisy Scouts, Earth Day) Chicken stir-fry, brown rice

23rd Fri: Pizza Night

24th Sat: Italian Turkey Sliders, oven fries, salad

25th Sun: Tacos

26th Mon:(Intn'l Macaroni Day) Prosciutto Pasta with peas, salad

27th Tue: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn

28th Wed: Roasted chicken, brown rice, veggie

29th Thu: Deconstructed tamale pie, fruit

30th Fri: Pizza Night

I'll be linking up with Laura, the Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

A Winner!!!

2010-03-27T08:14:00.004-05:00

Today is the day! My very first giveaway! Thanks to all the people that entered, and a big thanks and welcome to all my wonderful new follower friends.
So, I wrote all your names down- cause we did this the old-fashioned way. Put all the names in this orange bowl. I just love these big pobbly fiesta ware bowls. (I made up the word pobbly- it means kinda roundish and generous and, well, pobbly.)

Little Dude (still in his jammies) stirred around and then pulled out a name.

Can you see...?

It's Leslie from The Butterfly Cottage!

Leslie, send me your mailing info as soon as you can so I can get your m&m's to you before Easter!

This whole giveaway thing is super fun!

Was I Bad?

2010-03-26T08:54:00.007-05:00

First, before I forget, let me remind you to sign up for my Springy Giveaway! Little Dude will be drawing a name on Saturday, so get in on the action.

Ok, time for confession...

I think I was bad.

Truly, I rarely buy stuff for myself, unless it's a $3 clearance item on the rack at WalMart. But that all went out the door yesterday. I bought three things, and I think all of them are for me.

I wear a size of shoe that is not sold in just any old store. Man, I got some big feet, and the lack of cute shoes is a curse on my life. Occasionally, Ross will have a pair in my size, but more often, it's just something really cute and really cheap, but a size or two too small, but I always check. Yesterday, I got lucky. Look at these smokin' hot shoes!

I know they are fancy, and I won't have a lot of chances to wear them, but they fit really well (not- I can fit my feet in and they pinch everywhere- they really are comfy!) and LOOK at the price tag!!!

Can you see it? $4.99! So, I was weak, and I bought the pretty high heels that I don't know when I'm gonna wear them.

Was I bad?

Then, these were right on the shelf below- also really comfy.

Real Converse- hot pink- my size- $19.99. I will wear these a lot. I wore these last night to Miss Mae's 50's skate night for her school. They made the outfit. Even though they cost more, I'm not feelin' much guilt about these. And how cute are they!!?

Here's the real kicker...

This is a sweet vintage doll trunk. I found it at a thrift store for $24.99. It's a great price, and I could probably re-sell it for more.

There are four handmade doll dresses on the cutest little blue hangers. They look like they will fit an American Girl doll. They would be perfect for Kit.

There are even two pairs of shoes...

I could give it to Miss Mae. At some point, I am planning to buy that Kit doll for her (not frugal, but will be an awesome Christmas for her) and I couldn't buy four dresses for $25 at American Girl, that's for sure! But, she's a kid, and I'm not sure the trunk and dresses will survive her. Does that matter? Plus, I kinda really like this whole thing. I play dolls with live dollies now, so I won't be using it myself, but I like it! I want to see it survive! So, now that it has had it's picture taken, it's going in the closet while I decide what to do with it- sell it, give it to Miss Mae, or keep it selfishly for myself.

Was I bad?

I'm not sure how frugal it is, but I'm linking up here...

And here.

Weekly Menu Plan

2010-03-24T07:47:00.003-05:00

I usually try to post a menu plan on Monday, so I can link up with Laura's Menu Plan Monday. But, I don't grocery shop till Wednesday, so sometimes, I let it slide... I'm sure I'm the only mom out there that does...

Right now my cupboard is bare, so I need a plan, and here it is.

24th-Wednesday: Turkey tacos, cantaloupe

25th-Thursday: (School Activity) Hot Dogs, etc.

26th-Friday: Spaghetti and meatballs, salad, garlic bread

27th-Saturday: (National "Joe" Day) Sloppy Joes, sun chips, roasted cauliflower

28th-Sunday: Pizza Night!

29th-Monday: (Hannah's night) Chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, salad

30th-Tuesday: (Take a Walk in the Park Day) Picnic- oven fried chicken legs, potato salad, rolls, strawberries, carrot sticks & celery sticks.

Gotta go to the store now...

Oh! If you haven't already entered my giveaway, you should check it out here.

Springy Thrifty Treasures and A Giveaway!

2010-03-22T08:27:00.013-05:00

I have some Thrifty Treasures to share. Just look how cute and spring-y and Easter-y...

These are some really cute scrapbook embellishments from The Dollar Tree. I love the Hydrangea. That woulda cost a bundle at Michaels. These dishtowels with the bright stripes also came from The Dollar Tree. I just love that place!

On to the thrift store finds...

I found this tiny little flower dish at my favorite thrift store. It's the perfect size to put your rings on while you wash dishes. Isn't it just too cute!

I also found this bunny there. It's just perfectly chippy.
This little egg shaped bowl was originally from Target I think. My Goodwill is rather expensive, for a thrift store. But I did find this pedestal thingy. It's pretty much perfect as is, already painted and distressed. These little Easter pancake molds came from a garage sale. The molds are still wrapped in the original packaging plastic. I know, I know, I already showed you all this little vintage embroidered runner, but it seemed to go with the Easterish stuff, so I thought I'd just include it too.

Oh my! How'd that get in there? Not a bargain...straight from Target. But what would Easter be without speckled M&M's? yumm....All pretty good deals...And they can all be yours! I said I would do my first ever GIVEAWAY when my lil blog had 25 followers, and here it is!

As it turns out, the 25th was my dear friend Kelly, who I have known since she was one-year-old, and I was her babysitter. Now we are both stay at home moms taking care of our own kids (I got a late start...)

So, if you think that chippy little bunny, or anything else here, belongs at your house, just enter a comment by Friday (March 26th). You don't have to be or become a follower of my blog, but these are some of my favorite people! I'll have the Little Dude draw a name on Saturday and announce the winner. Please make sure I have a way to contact you, either through your blog, or an e mail. Good Luck!! Thanks for reading!

I will be linking up with Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality and NiftyThriftyTuesdays at Coastal Charm. I just love to see the deals everyone got.

Saturday Night Crafting

2010-03-20T22:05:00.007-05:00

Look at this not-so-lovely thing...

I found it in a thrift store for 65 cents, and I was in the mood for more decoupage, so I snapped it up.

It had two layers of paper on it, so I sliced the top layer off with a razor blade and gave it a little sanding. Then I took it outside for some primer.

I happened to have this soft green spray paint in the garage left from another project (a botched one, I am afraid...), so I used it to paint the plaque when the primer dried.

I found some really awesome vintage Easter images at Two Crazy Crafters. They very generously share some of the sweetest things! I printed it out on some white paper and then I went through all my scrapbook paper and found some bits I liked to go with it. I used this handy dandy little sepia ink pad and a bit of batting to distress it a bit. I rub the batting over the ink pad, and then over the paper, especially the edges, just to tone it down a bit.

I started with the bottom piece and modge-podged it on, then added a couple more bits, and then added the little vintage chicky. Then I covered the whole thing with a layer of modge-podge.

After it dried, I added some trim (Oh, how I love ric rac!) and some flowers and buttons, and here it is!

I want to change the button flower in the bottom corner, but haven't figured out what I do want there. Maybe I need a little trip to Michael's or Hobby Lobby? As it is, I have only spent the 65 cents for the plaque. Everything else came out of my supplies on hand.

Running Water!

2010-03-20T15:31:00.004-05:00

We have running water in the green bathroom!

Look at that! Mr. Sahm (who is not now, and never has been, a professional plumber) hooked up the faucet. It runs perfectly. Of course, I looked under the sink and felt all around, and nary a leak. I just think it is wonderful to have a handy husband. Seriously. Lucky. Me.

Now on to the baseboards and other such types of trim.

A Visit From the Tooth Fairy

2010-03-16T23:24:00.005-05:00

(Thanks to The Graphics Fairy)

My baby boy. My LAST child. He lost his first tooth. Before you know it, the teeth that I see when he smiles at me will no longer be his sweet baby teeth. He's going to get permanent teeth. ADULT teeth.

I am one bummed out mommy. I don't want anything adult going on yet. I'm not ready.

My only comfort is that the tooth fairy is coming. Do you think she can leave me some kind of magic under my pillow? Something to slow down all this growing up? I sure hope so.