THE FURNACE IS ON

THE FURNACE IS ON

THE FURNACE IS ON

THE FURNACE IS ON

(insert horrified screams + fetal position here)

picture's worth a thousand words

april 09

september 09

boobiemama

Okay, so here are a few highlights from Google Analytics of the search terms that have brought people to my little blog. Most of these aren't in the top search, they're just ones that struck my interest or my funny bone.

boobiemama (from the post where nicole was wearing my bra and being like Boobie, mama! But I doubt that's what they were lookin for...)

2 year old bully (and variations of this search term. cringe. crinnngggge. she's stopped bullying, btw. she has playdates with the girl she was bullying and it's fine. She just needed to stop feeling like her space was being taken over.)

man legs blogspot, or sexy man legs (i hope people were specifically looking for me and my blog, otherwise my mind is boggled)

toddler bubble party (yay!)

toddler leggings (yay!)

funeral speech (the hubs will be pleased to hear that)

amaretto whipped cream, or amaretto black forest cake (you better believe it)

PS,

If you need me I'll just be in the other room wearing size 12 jeans for the first time since Nicole was born. And possibly crying about it. With joy. Cos in april I was pushing reeaaaaally close to a size 16.

No coffee, just Cheese Whiz.

It's Saturday morning, and I am menu planning THREE DAYS LATE. This has been a HECTIC week, even though I didn't necessarily get a lot done. Just very 24/7. My house looks pretty faboo, though... thanks, flylady! Anyways, I am menu planning while I get to drink this low-grade horrible awful nasty instant coffee. So I think I am writing coffee on the list like seven times. At least. How is it that I NEVER run out of cheese whiz, (nicole wants cheese whiz. She may say she wants jam, but if you give her jam she will say, "No jam! Want CHEESE!" Cheese Whiz is a staple in my house.) but when it comes to coffee this happens on the regular???!

Speaking of cheese whiz, it's on sale at safeway! O: I like the big jars, I wash them afterwards and store dry goods in them. I do plan on covering all the lids and making them cute at some point, no worries.

PS, I appear to have conquered my personal demons, aka either under or over-cooking cinnamon buns Every Single Time, Even From A Can. Contrary to what this picture might lead you to believe, it's actually not my fault these lasted less than 12 hours. Blame Chris for that.

Thankful Thursday - thanks for the mess! and the buttsmacking. No, seriously.

Okay, so we just had the worst rough patch of all times with this little girl. Like, I was worried to death about her. She had a high grade fever and slept like crazy and barely ate for three days. By the third day she was getting leg cramps and was weak and could hardly get out of bed. I had to help her to start, and once she warmed up a bit, I guess, she was fine and could walk and run. But at first she would be all stiff and 'ow ow ow' and it broke my heart. Words cannot express.

My house, meanwhile, looked like a showhome. Until yesterday at about four oclock when she made a huge gigantic mess and I have never in my life been more grateful for a messy house than I was last night.

She's still a little emotionally fragile, tuckered out and all that. But she's finding her spunk back today! I was working out with a girlfriend of mine and among other things we were doing a Carmen Electra workout, which doesn't involve any stripping but does involve wiggling hips and some buttsmacking.

After supper I was chatting with Chris when Nicole started to wiggle her bum and kick her legs around. I started giggling and asked, "...is she dancing?" (not an abnormal thing for her to do, although the leg kicks were new.

Suddenly, she wiggled her bum again and then SMACKED IT. LIKE SIX TIMES. I almost died laughing. I had no idea she was paying attention to us but APPARENTLY. Goes to show you. NOTHING slips past your toddler. lol. I thought it was absolutely hilarious, but I don't think I will do that particular workout routine (very fun, by the way!) in front of her any time soon.

(PS, if you look at what she's touching in that picture, it becomes a sneak peak of an upcoming project! ohoho. Plus I sewed that shirt of hers out of one of daddy's old shirts and isn't he just tickled pink. Inspired by a $$ Crewcuts shirt from thier fall lineup, sleeve length and all.)

So how totally teenagerish do I look in this picture? I've always been guessed at older than my age. When I was in junior high I got asked if I was in college or university. By my hairdresser. I was like, ".... grade seven?" But I've always been a bigger girl, that does not help. Right now I'm down to a size L, and I can squeeze into a M but it is not pretty. I'm down 16 pounds which surprised me because I haven't worked out in a week due to chris' surgery and nicole being really sick. I thought I'd gain at least two pound back but I lost another one. Go figure!

Indian Summer

Well, today is the first day of fall, and I have a lovely new hat to celebrate. Indian Summer, which you can preview on whipup.net here.

I knit it up in a bamboo/silk blend and I found the ribbing to be really loose. Very possible it's the yarn I used. I'm knitting up a smaller version in pink, fluffy yarn for nicole. This hat knits up really quickly and easily! This is actually my first knitted hat... normally I crochet them freestyle.


And yes, I do have photoshop again. The precious. It's a free trial, sadly. In 28 days a little piece of my soul dies. If only I hadn't lost my copy... sigh.

comments fixed

Okay, kids. I don't know why, but for some reason comments were not working. I took out JS-Kit and Commentluv and now my comments section is slightly more boring and infinitely more functional.
So, um. Comment away.

I have no idea how long it was down for, I got one comment in yesterday. I'll assume the rest of you tried. I'M SORRY! I'm going to go angst about it into the bottom of an icecream bucket. PMS does horrible things to my self control.

edit: Also, in this process, it would appear that I have lost every single comment you all have made since I installed those widgets. D:
I feel like I just stepped on a kitten.

ShopRuche

Okay so over at The Brightside Project today there's a giveaway from Ruche, and so I wander over to Ruche and holy yum I am in love. I could sit here and post you a million pictures of delicious clothing, but I'm too busy drooling right now so goooooooo and look for yourself. Unless you hate cute clothing at reasonable prices and low shipping. In which case, I don't even know you anymore.

www.shopruche.com

She's a Classy Broad

Doesn't that phrase sound awfully contradictory? Men, I tell ya. Anyways. So yesterday I was knitting away. You know knitters, as soon as fall rolls in they get the itch. My remedy of choice is Indian Summer (look it up on ravelry. I'm lazy. I'll link to it when I post the final product, promise.) Very appropriate, considering the fall is more summery than the summer was here this year. I'm using a yummy silk/bamboo combo I bought on sale in the spring @ michaels. My husband took a few pictures of me knitting. I almost lied there and said he decided to take a few pictures, but to be honest he was sitting in the office clicking away happily after I finally booted him away from his World's Deadliest Catch marathon when I hollered, "Hey honey? When you come in here, you wanna take the camera? And take a few pictures of me knitting??" (because when I yell holler, I end everything with questionmarks to soften it up a bit.)

Now, being a man and a not-blogger, and possibly slightly more normal than me, he hollered back, "Why do you want me to take pictures of you knitting?!" "Well, because I'm never in any pictures. Duh." That first one didn't quite work out but it's almost purdy.

This was my favourite out of the set. And I was playing with photoshop today and I was struck with the idea that after yesterday's loverly post you might not think I'm classy. Everyone knows that the best way to make a picture classy is to make it black and white and leave the eyes colored, right???

Classy is my middle name. And my other middle name is What Is With My Nose Lately. I swear my nose was fine until I hit my twenties.

boredBOREDbOrEdbored BOOOORED

Holy bouncing ta-tas, batman. I'm bored!

I think it's been forever since I've said that.

I am....

-too tired to start sewing/crafting at 7:30 at night.

-unable to drink coffee and then do the above because I have a busy day tomorrow and should not be up all night

-out of blogs in my bloglines feed. All sixtymillion of you have nothing else to say today?! REALLY?!

-totally NOT INTERESTED in the World's Deadliest Catch marathon my husband has going on in the livingroom.

-and it's a bit too early for bed, it's still light outside.

Normally I'd march right into that livingroom, which holds our only TV (and yes, I am momentarily regretting my one-TV stance) and excercise my womanly rights to watch My Pick at least half of the time. Especially when the man of the house has been gleefully watching crab fishermen since I got home from church NEARLY FOUR HOURS AGO. However, that man of the house had major surgery on Thursday. In his ear. Which, P.S., ends in you trying to get all the bloodstains out of the pillowcases and trying to figure out why the diddly doo dah day he needs to take turns bleeding on ALL THE PILLOWS. But he just had surgery so I'm allcapsing at you guys and 'thats-all-right'ing at Chris.

What I wouldn't give to have an elliptical in my basement right now. I could go for a good sweat. Instead of sitting here trying to entertain myself on the computer. BECAUSE I WORK OUT ON THE WII. ON OUR ONLY TV. WHICH IS FEATURING CRABS RIGHT NOW. FOR FOUR HOURS.

Plus I am about to float away because I keep craving chocolate with my pre-menstrual self so I keep drinking a glass of water instead of eating chocolate every time I wander into the kitchen.

me, last time I was bored, Jan 09. And me bored now. Because these moments are apparently worth capturing on film. Well, disk. PS. These are what I like to call my 'Sexy Faces'. PPS recent pic = natural hair color

So, to recap. I talked about crabs, bleeding on pillows, and PMS. No wonder you all love me. And no wonder nobody blogs on Sunday.

Two Chalkboards, A Refashion, And a Toddler Sleeping On a Ball

First of all, where do I sign up to get a blog award for best titles? Because I mean, I'm a shoe-in. Does anyone still say that? I get asked that all the time. Not where to sign up for blog awards, I mean - if anyone still says that. I have sixtybillion words and phrases and they all drive people crazy. It's good being me.



Okay, so I would have had some sort of step-by-step dohickey for the smaller chalkboard. But somebody who I will not name because she is too young to be legally held responsible for her actions anyways put my memory card in a vent in my computer and I didn't find it until just today. The same person who hid my cellphone for four days. Just sayin.

I had these two little coffeehouse-style plaques since forever, but my husband only liked the red one. So I taped off the border so we'd still have matchies, and then I gave it a good bath in chalkboard spraypaint. Now it's the daily special board! Ha. I kill myself. THE DAILY SPECIAL IS WHATS ON YOUR PLATE. Or it's a boot in the pants. Those are your choices. You're welcome.

This is the artist formerly known as Mens Shirt. I need to add straps and some lining to it yet, because the fact that you can see my ENTIRE BRA (the fact that it's really cute despite being a white bra totally withstanding) is not my cup of tea. (Now, if we skip the tea and head straight for the girly drinks... )

I would like to have it duly noted that the mirror was spotless until I took out the camera. RIGHT when I was pushing the button, and invisible gremlin smudged it. True story. Probably. The gremlin is also the one who decorated my bathroom, I think. Tres Ew. Good thing you can't really see the bathroom.

We'll finish off with a giggle. Is it not just amazing how kids can do this? She likes to roll around on a ball like it's an excercise ball. Also, she's been resisting bed and nap times lately. This was about two hours after she was supposed to go down for a nap and wouldn't go to sleep. Bahahaha. Saving this one for the wedding slideshow someday. And to pull out when boyfriends come over.

I do what I can.

Losing It

The weight, that is.

I've been asked for a few tips on weight loss. I'm down nearly 15 pounds now, by the way. And I'm anti-diet, so if you're asking me to tell you to gag down smoothies for a month you're in the wrong place.

See, I love food. I love food too much to be 'just friends'. Let's face it - most of us do. So it winds up as a love/hate relationship. We take breaks. Then we sob into a brick of cheese or a bucket of ice cream and we're back together. But it's not a healthy relationship. Every relationship needs to be a healthy one, and whether it's a man or a box of ding-dongs, you shouldn't be obsessing, over indulging, or spending All Your Time Together. Tis just not healthy, ladies!

How can something so wrong, taste so right??

So, first of all, I try to excercise half an hour a day. Don't tell me you don't have time, you're full of it. You're full of it and you know you're full of it. I'm sorry, if you're reading my blog right now, I'm pretty sure you can eke out a few minutes SOMEwhere. ;) Don't feel bad, I used to lie to me about it too.

And honestly, I don't excercise Every Day. I *try* to. If it doesn't work out that day (ha ha) then I move on and try again. Seriously, people, get over yourself. And get over excercising. It should be like brushing your hair, you try to do it every day, but if you throw it up on a pony one day because it's hectic you don't sit there either brushing your hair all night until you hate your hair, or cutting your hair off altogether. I was going to say brushing your teeth but that would be like admitting that I sometimes don't brush my teeth with my SAHM-self and i TOTALLY NEVER DO THAT.
So, tangent. Wow, okay, so a sidenote here, I've been described thusly : She does have a train of thought, it just jumps the tracks a lot. NOBODY WILL ARGUE.


Okay, so. Try to excercise every day. Even if you're just doing step while watching TV. I don't care if you don't think step is real excercise, is sitting on your ballooning patootie real excercise? Yeah, that's right. I thought so. Don't argue with me, I've lost 15 pounds. (I try to workout during naptime, for at least half an hour)

The other thing, with the eating. Try to eat more vegetable matter than anything else. And drink a gazillion glasses of water. If you're hungry, drink a glass of water first, wait a few minutes, THEN maybe eat.

Also, don't buy snacks. I don't care if your kids whine, tell them to suck it up and eat a broccoli. Just kidding, I do have a snack jar for my daughter. Buy snacks for your kids that you don't like yourself. Or even better, if you have the time, make them. But, I have the time and I sure have that jar of gummie bears, so no judgements here. But I also have super healthy muffins made with applesauce instead of oil. Just sayin. I mean, go ahead and pick up a bag of chips for movie night. But don't buy them with your groceries. THEY ARE NOT GROCERIES.

If you start off by eating more vegetable matter than anything else, and eating your veggies FIRST instead of LAST, you will find that eventually you'll start eating less. Or at least, I did. Except last night when we had pork roast, and I had NO VEGGIES. and enough pork roast to feed a small family. WITH GRAVY. FATTY, FATTY GRAVY. MMMMM. I love food. Did I mention that? But, hey, I let myself have a little date night with it from time to time.

So, that's about it I think. To be more specific about my workouts, I use the Wii Fit. I like something that feels like its sorta game-like. I'm ordering a salsa dance workout video as well, just for funsies. And I try to go for a 3k jog/powerwalk twice a week. Which has happened twice ever, before I sound all athletic-like.

You should also know, I've been the fat kid since I was five. I don't blink and lose weight. I have always had to work for it. In the past that has involved living off of coffee and oatmeal and other such stupidities. But I am a MOM now. I can't be sitting there staring off into the land of the stupid because I'm starving myself for a jean size. There's a two year old sitting here who needs to be fed, clothed, and not allowed to stick things into electrical sockets.

I lost those 15 pounds over at least six months. It's gradual but I am pretty sure it is for LIFE. I am looking better, and I am feeling better. 15 pounds ago my doctor wrote me a perscription for a weightloss pill. I'm 22, what a kick in the ass that was! (It's magneted on the fridge, if you're curious. Girl, we don't need fitness trainers and diet plans here in Manitoba. That's not how we do. DIYODS.)

Oh, and one more thing. Buy spanx and a good dress. You need to feel like the hot mama you are, no matter what your size. Work it, mama!

Spellcheck

I have a confession to make. I don't run the spellcheck very often.

I am very good at spelling, and I don't make a lot of mistakes. Not noticeable ones, at least to me. So I don't even think about it. It never crosses my mind! But, when I do stop to think about it, I feel a bit embarrassed. First of all, I know I do make some mistakes, and I make them very consistently. For some reason, for example, I cannot spell thier. Their. I'm not even sure! But a lot of people can, and I'm sure they tsk when they see my consistent misspelling. Other people reading my blog can surely see my mistakes much more clearly than I can.

There's always more words that I thought I got right, but when I run the spellcheck there will be one or two that I'm surprised to realize are actually wrong when they're checked over. I thought I was right, sometimes strongly enough to argue another person over the spelling, but when I run the spellcheck all my mistakes are laid bare.

Life is a lot like that. Often, I get so caught up in the right and the justice and the knowledge that I don't make a lot of really terrible mistakes that I forget to give my actions a quick once-over and run them past the Lord. But no matter how well I think I've done, when I take a moment to run things past Him, things pop up with those squiggly little red lines under them. There are the little mistakes I make fairly regularly and I am totally aware of - losing patience with my husband or daughter, for example. But then there are always also those things I didn't even think were mistakes. When I hold them up to His Word, and to His standard of love, many of my actions fall short. A friend once passed a quote on to me - If you had to run everything you did past God before you said or did it, would you even bother to bring some of the things you're planning up at all?

This might seem like a discouraging post, but I say this all with a cheerful heart. I know that the Lord doesn't demand perfection from us, He just demands we try. My salvation is not linked with my deeds, they are merely a byproduct of my thankfulness. If anything, the shorter I fall, the more amazed and full of joy I am that He could love and forgive one such as me!

So I will try to remind myself to run the spellcheck, as my mistakes are often more visible to others than they are to me. And I will try to remind myself to run my walk and talk before the Lord, as well. The mistakes are always there, even if I don't see them myself at first glance. ;)

note : I ran the spellcheck today, and I found two mistakes other than my thier/their. LOL.

A Few Points of Pride

So, just a few points of pride this morning.

1) I'm up early. Good. I've been struggling to get up at eight lately and I'm much happier when I'm awake by seven.

2) I ran 1.5k last night, and then powerwalked/ran back. Whoohoo! I'm pretty sure that's a personal best. It felt amazing bossing my body around like that. I'm really starting to get to the point where I Get It. When I was a teen and even a child, I never saw the point of running for no reason. Now I get it. It feels amazing to make your body work like that. It will feel even more amazing when I'm not on the upper end of overweight and when my lungs get the hang of it. Which leads me to the next one...

3) I'm not obese any more! My BMI, as you may recall, was up in the obese category and I was pushing to overcome that within two weeks. Well, I lost that last four pounds in just ONE week! Last Wednesday! I cannot believe that I didn't run and post that right away. I am a size 14/XL, and I'm currently taking my goals five pounds at a time.

Also, my husband finally cut the piece of wood I needed to put in the back of an empty picture frame I was given, so I'll have a finished chalkboard sometime soon. Yaay!

Poppy Boutonniere Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!!

Poppy Boutonniere Tutorial and GIVEAWAY!!!!

Check out this tutorial for a GORGEOUS fabric poppy. I can just picture this in a crisp white or linen fabric, adorning a pillow in the middle of my bed. yumm~

Cup of Sugar

I just couldn't go to bed without sharing this cup of sugar with you. I tried, I even closed the window. But then my desktop background, which is that black and white shot above, made my eyes soften and my mouth turn up at the corners.

What can I say - I adore this child. We had the hardest time putting her to bed tonight. But ah, who cares. A few extra minutes stolen from these quick first few years.

Right now, the sun rises and sets at my command, as far as she's got it figured. (The sun being slightly more obediant than some, apparently.)

Right now, I slip on my sunday dress and she flounces into the room, pets it reverently, and gushes on in her two-year-old nearly-english about how pretty I look.

Right now, I serve her a bowl of sunday soup, and she pauses between each slurp to hum 'mmmmm, nummy nummy nummy' to herself and to me.

She prances. She poses. She's starting to grow an imagination - yesterday she was telling me that she was in the middle of a game of hide and go seek with grandma and a monkey. (the monkey thing might need more explaination, but another day.)

I love her so much, and that love grows with her every day. But boy, I think I'll cling onto a few more moments. Let a few more bedtimes slip by unnoticed. She's supposed to be my little baby, but as you all can clearly see, this is a little girl. A funky, spunky, funny, charming little girl. And I'd love to keep her all to myself, but I think I'll share her, just a little. Just a cup of sugar.

The Truest Note

Reading the blog Handmade Homeschool and delving into the backlog a bit, which I always do with blogs I'm enjoying, I came across this in the post Thoughts On A Day and I heard the angel chorus referred to in my brain.

Somewhere, somewhen, I came across an article that stated that the cruelest thing which mothers of young children do to each other is clean the house before a playdate. Anyone who’s dropped in on a friend to discover a house in a…ahem…state of flux and felt that sense of angel-chorus-singing-relief knows how true this can be.

Yes, sir, these words do strike a chord. But yes, sir, I clean my house before playdates. Ninetynine percent of the time - depends who is coming over. My bestest buds get to see the toys scattered all over my livingroom floor.

(a quick postscript : if y'all could comment on the composter from the previous post I'd be much obliged. I told my husband I posted his composter and he keeps asking me if anyone has commented on it and he's rather quite anxious. ;) If you're super nice, he'll get excited about it and get me to photo him doing more stuff around the house all tutorial-like; like, porches and playhouses. Which also means he'll put doing said things on the top of his priority list. WE ALL WIN. Get on it!)

A few DIYs around the house

One of many sleepers - turned - dolly -sleepers. Super easy - just trace the shape of a doll sleeper, or doll if you have nothing, onto an inside-out sleeper. Adjust the neck if you have to. Cut and pin and sew with a zigzag stitch. Simple!

Have you ever heard of a table lamp? A lamp table? I'm not sure what the term is! They come in a charming mix of ugly brass and veneer 'wood'. A coat of spraypaint, though, and they're super sexy. Can you imagine if I did this in a sunny yellow or a bright turquoise? YUM. My hubby would have a heart attack, though.

LETTUCE TREE. We've had crazy rain this year. Spraypaint can for size reference. WOW.

And a quick snap of the composter my hubby made, followed by me RUNNING back inside before the camera had finished thinking about it. So. Many. Mosquitos! The way this thing is made, the boards in the front are just stuffed into slots he made, not actually nailed in place. So he can pull them all up and get at the compost! We have too very big yards so our little composter wasn't cutting it. We needed something BIG for all our grass!

Just a few things that have happened lately that I haven't blogged about. Next weekend we are going to be painting most of our living space in our house, so look forwards to the before-and-afters that will be coming up in the next few weeks!