Blurry photo and weight loss

After feeling so good about myself yesterday when I saw that photo I decided to step on the scale yesterday. All time high. 207 my friends. UGH.

So I still feel good about myself, but this weight is out of hand. I don't have any good quality recent fat girl photos. This one my son took on Christmas. Sorry for the blur. But you CAN see my huge gut. Which is the most dangerous place to store fat of course. So it's got to go.

I have been praying and researching what I want to do for about a month. Today I made my decisions.

I rejoined my gym. I loved the gym, then sort of started slacking off, eventually I convinced myself I'd just run from home. That lasted a few month and then it was done too. But I really miss the gym. And my gym has Kids Club where I can drop my little monsters off while I work out. It is hugely stress relieving for me to get a bit of time away from the kids and to work out. I included classes in my membership so I can do the Zumba class I miss so much.

I'm also signing up for Weight Watchers. I'm going to do the combo thing where you go to the actual meetings AND have access to all the online stuff. I actually found out that a friend of mine is in the same meeting time that I plan to go to. She joined in October and has lost 26lbs. That is AWESOME.

So that's what's up. I'm not going to make this into one of those cool weight loss blogs, but I'll do occasional updates. I hope this is it. I'm not depressed, but I'm a bit desperate. I am motivated. In the past I've started because I was depressed, or felt pressure from my husband. I don't feel that now. I feel encouragement from Brian and I honestly feel GOOD. I'm happy, I feel pretty, but I want to feel better. And look better. I won't lie to you, I am concerned about my health, but my main concern is my looks. Might be horrible of me, but there you have it. I want to look good. In clothes and *gasp* out of them. And I want some new clothes. Cool, cute ones. And I want them by this summer!

Photo magic and a train table.

 Usually in photos I look bad. I don't SHOW you those, so don't mention the millions of good ones you have seen. But in the vast majority of them I look hugely fat, with terrible skin and lank, oily hair. But sometimes I look amazing. And this is one of those times. THIS is how I look in my mind by the way. When you see me with unwashed hair, no makeup and sweats on and wonder who I think I am walking around with my head high, it's because in my mind I am this girl. Unfortunately Calvin didn't get the memo that we were taking the best photo of Mommy in years, because he has the, "I'm not too sure about this, and also the sun is in my eyes" look. If he had smiled I'd get this put on billboards around town. It's photo magic. This was yesterday. We went to a park in St. Augustine. It was just a wonderful day.

This is a train table I made. It is WAY smaller than one you buy, but I like that. I didn't want to loose half my room to a stupid table. I made it out of an old coffee table that had broken legs. I nailed down all the pieces. I painted the table this simple white so it would take up less visual space in my new screen room because I want it to stay looking huge and open. Calvin LOVES it. Ethan likes it quite well too, as you can see here. So I'm happy I made it.

That's about all. Home School is not my most favorite thing ever. I love seeing Ethan advance so quickly. I love that I feel like his time is not wasted. But I don't really like it for ME. I find it frustrating and somewhat boring. Also my house is not as clean as it could be now. And it is oddly tiring for me. But for right now it is what I'm doing and it is doing a world of good for him so that's good.

Bookshelves

So I saw THESE SHELVES and had to have them. And the people put a cool diagram. Easy peasy!

Well they were easy. But mine do not look like theirs. Mine are not so perfect and lovely. But they will do.  Every time I build something I wish I could take a carpentry class. I think of cool projects, but when I go to actually make them they are a hot mess. I wonder if my tools are part of it. I don't have a power sander, maybe if I had one I could have made these so much smoother. Anyhow I'm going to love them just as is. They look so cool with the books on them. This is in the narrow hall to the kid rooms. That is the bathroom door you see, then there is a bedroom on either side of these shelves. (I painted that flower thing, by the way.) These are to hold library books that we have out. Then we see them easily and keep them segregated from the other million books we own.

So I told you yesterday that I was teaching the 9 and 10 year olds. It got changed. Changes are very common at the beginning of the year and with a new Presidency, so it wasn't a shock. I am now teaching the Nursery class. That is babies from 18 months to 3 years old. BEST CALLING EVER. I've been saying for about 5 years that I'd love to serve in the Nursery. You get to supervise playtime for a while, then give a super short and active lesson, there is snack and singing. It's basically toddler play time but at church. And my own toddler is in there, so that's super fun! On the other hand I was super excited for the other class. And that's the awesomeness of my church, because we fill all the positions ourselves everyone gets many opportunities to serve in different ways. I bet someday I'll teach that other class, and it will still be awesome then.

Random, with new doors

Look at this photo Calvin took of me: 

 Bootsie loves to sleep with the boys. 

 At our favorite restaurant. Pepe's Hacienda in Jacksonville, is AMAZING, cheap, authentic Mexican. 

 Here are two wreaths I made for a Valentine's Day swap I'm in. They are hanging on my NEW DOORS to the office! I love the doors so much. 

In other news:

Homeschooling Ethan is going well. There is a learning curve for both of us. I love how much material we can cover in such a short time. He loves sleeping in and not being told he is a horrible person at school. Which, by the way, has not ended. Several kids have asked Stephen if Ethan is out of school because he is so bad he got kicked out or told Stephen they are glad Ethan is gone because they hate him. Stephen is horrified and shocked by this, of course. I kind of hate kids sometimes. 

Speaking of kids, I have a new calling at church! I'm not the Primary President anymore. I'm now a teacher of the 9 and 10 year old kids. Super fun! I love teaching. I have enjoyed being the Primary President so much, but I'm also happy to have a chance to do something different. Change is good. 

Terrible Twos still going on. Calvin is great in a million ways, but TROUBLE. It's mostly fun though. 

Updates

Ethan, as you may know, is having issues at school. It is a long story, but he's being verbally bullied. I cannot seem to get the school to take it seriously. It is affecting his academics. He actually reads less well than he did at the end of last year. So I'm pulling him out and home schooling. I am going to waitlist him for a charter school that I think will serve him better. Stephen is still doing well so I'm leaving him but I am putting him on the list for the charter school too. We shall see. 

 Terrible twos are still in effect for Calvin. He is the sweetest but he's also driving us all insane.

Here is one outdoor shot of the house in the daylight with the new paint. I have to get a better one soon.

Home Reno

Because I have not been posting you have missed out on all the fun of us loosing our minds and deciding to move. Well unless you are my facebook friend, then you got every painful moment. Basically we decided we wanted to move because our house felt small. Also it's not on the water. Or historic. Basically it's boring. 

So we looked at some cool houses in Springfield. This is a neighborhood right near downtown. Every once in a while it tries to come up in property value. The houses there are AMAZING. Huge 100 year old historic charmers. That need work. The area is marginal. Some homes have the work done and people live in them and are happy. And the other half or so are vacant and barely livable. There is also a good bit of crime. Not terribly serious crime, but it's not really a play outside unsupervised area either. But it's so beautiful. Oh and the schools for that area are dreadful. But not the worst ones we saw... Anyhow the house we liked there needed a terrifying amount of work and we gave up on it. But it was beautiful and I still dream about it. 

Then we found one on the water. Real water, deep water. With access to the huge St. Johns River. The house was very large too. And the water! Oh and cheap. I mean really cheap. REALLY CHEAP. Of course there are reasons for that. It is about a mile from the MOST TERRIFYING NEIGHBORHOOD I HAVE EVER BEEN IN. Springfield felt economically depressed. Ken Knight felt like it wanted to rip me out of my car and kill me. In front of my baby. Then kick him down a gutter. I'm not kidding. I have never felt such hostility. But, like I said, it was a mile from there and on the WATER. So I bring Brian out to see the house too. And he loves it. It is Brian who wants water. We discussed for hours first the safety of the area and came to terms with it. The schools are absolutely not going to happen. Home school or Private. PERIOD. But I'm still game. Brian looks over it, there is some water damage, needs a new roof. Still cheap enough to justify that. So he goes in the attic. And there was an attic in the attic. I should have taken photos, you are not picturing it right. We figured out that they did an addition and instead of tieing it into the old roof, they just build an entirely new roof over the old one, using the roof rafters going into the top of the old, smaller roof. Like the old roof is the support for the new one. Is that even code? Anyhow it just decided it all for us. We decided not to put an offer. 

In the mean time I was collecting quotes on work we wanted to have done here. You know, if we were to stay. We wanted a huge super pool enclosure and covered patio. Do you have any idea how much money that was going to be? Like twenty thousand dollars. So I got quotes on just making our existing patio into a screen room. Bingo: 

 Nice right? And it's plenty big. We also got a brand new pool motor and filter. That was a disaster. It cost more at every single turn and I had to argue about the price and I don't think we will work with them again. But it's done, so that's good. The screen room, by the way, did not go over on price.

At the same time as the screen room we had our house pressure washed and painted. We did the garage door white, black trim and a bright red front door. I've always wanted one. Oh and we did the soffat (sp?) white. It looks amazing. Here is the door.

I can't seem to turn my photos right. They look right on my computer then are sideways on the net. Sorry about that.
Also I'm getting a new camera. Mine died. Stephen got one for Christmas and he loves it but I do not love it. So I bought a new one from Amazon, my favorite store.

Next up is doors. Brian works from home a good deal. In our totally open office/craft room/sports collection room. The problem is that I have several children, one of which is 2. So the no doors is hurting my marriage and sanity. I literally, several times a day, have to take the kids into my bedroom and hide so Brian can do his conference calls. So this week we are having EXTERIOR grade doors installed. We need a HUGE span for the one opening because it's 72 inches and the other opening is 32. Wide for interior, but standard exterior. So that works well. We are all hoping this provides a good buffer. Screaming children still will not be allowed, but we could talk or watch TV quietly I hope. Also it will look so much nicer than the baby gate and book cases that I'm currently blocking that off with. Yup, making a wall out of book cases. Sounds awesome, is terrible.

Calvin is in the TERRIBLE Two's. The other two didn't do this. They were horrid at 3 going on 4. But darling at 2. Calvin is darling, but also horrid. He throws stuff, and the kid has wicked aim and is strong. He bites and scratches. He says no. He thinks he can live on candy and fruit. He whines. He is super loud in sacrament. He breaks things. He climbs. He can get stuff off the top of my fridge. I have a knot on my forehead that is from him. He wakes up every day at 6:30am and will not consider going back to sleep. Also he ONLY wants me at that hour, no one else can give him breakfast and cuddle him. He is also a sweetheart. He can really play well now. He says, "I love you" and "Thank you" and "You're welcome" all the time. He suddenly doubled his vocabulary in the past few months. He makes funny faces. He has the best laugh. And we love him to pieces. But he is also driving us nuts.

Well that's what's up. I'll post good pics when I get a camera. :)

Felt Board

 Did you know that felt boards are back in? Oh yes, so super retro trendy hot right now. Of course I don't have the skill or patience to cut things out of felt. (watch I'll be doing it next week) So I decided to make a cardstock version. I used my Cameo to cut things with cardstock, then "laminated" them by covering them with packing tape. Attached a bit of the felt on the backs of them and there you have it!

This Nativity Scene is by Lettering Delights. You can also put your fingers in the holes and make them a little finger puppet set. Cute!

 In this picture you can see the whole board. I put fleece over a sheet of foam board and taped it to the back. With packing tape. Also you can see the 1-10 counting set I made. Took forever but how stinking cute! I'm not going to credit all these, because they are from all over. Most are from Lettering Delights though. They are my favorite.

I'm going to make a smaller board too, then I can grab a baggie of a set and the board and have something quiet to keep him occupied on the go.

Blogging

I don't know if I'm going to continue blogging. Clearly, it has been over 6 months. I miss it, but I don't. Does that make sense? Honestly I don't make as many things as I used to. I might make this an everything blog instead of just a creative blog.

In the mean time look at this silly picture of my family. I'm the crazy one.

Farms and Food

So I've been trying to loose weight. As usual. But good thing is made this amazing salad:

 I also finally placed a Papertrey order. I wanted to, then read that they were falling apart on Customer Service, which concerned me. Then one of the main stamp sets I wanted was out of stock for over a month. Sigh. But then they made a farm set and I'm a sucker for a farm set so I finally ordered. I'm happy to say it got here in 3 working days and all was well. Hurray.

 Made a cute duck card.

And this chicken card, which I FREAKING LOVE.

So in other news:
Calvin is growing up too fast for me. He's crazy and into trouble and climbs all over absolutely everything. But he's stinking cute for days and very loving and so all is forgiven.
The other boys are excited that there is only a week of school left. We have several different memberships for the summer to keep us busy and out of Brian's hair. (Brian is working from home more and more.)
Ethan's Birthday is this Saturday. He got to pick the restaurant of  his choice... He picked McDonald's. We don't go there much, so I guess in his mind it's a treat. So that will be awesome I guess.
We are getting a fancy new computer. It comes tomorrow. It is the most we have spent on pretty much anything so I'm hoping it is fantastic. We do use our computer a TON so we sorta splurged.
I got a bike. It's a red schwinn cruiser. I love it.

More rejects

Here are some more publication rejects. 

It's a funny thing with magazines. Some cards that I thought were stinking awesome got no interest, while projects that I thought were just ok made the cut. You never know what editors are looking for. Which goes back to my earlier point, Send a lot in.

Apparently I'm giving advice like I'm some sort of publication expert. I'm totally not. But I will say that I used to be terrified of the rejection, and think I could never do it and now I have. And I'm totally normal. I'm not one of these mega amazing girls, with perfect blogs and outstanding photography and shiny hair. (actually I have pretty awesome hair.) So you can do it!

thanks. (Pub Reject)

This card is a publication reject. I just love it though. And I LOVE the matching envelope. So FINE I'll just keep it then! LOL.

Actually for me, all my publication has been after sending TONS of stuff in. I have one little project in the next issue of Papercrafts Magazine. It's a sweet little thing, you'll see it soon. But I sent in about 30 projects to get that one chosen. I know girls who make a handful of things and they mostly get picked up. Not for me. But that's ok, I'm so thankful for all the opportunities I've had and feedback I get. I'm very thankful for a fun and rewarding hobby.

OLW 88 and a new vanity

First here is my new vanity table. I found the child's desk at a yard sale for $20 and painted it SUPER PINK. I need a little stool for it still but I love it. :) 

 Next I have not made cards in forever! I've been really busy, happy busy but still busy. But I saw this week's OLW88 and HAD to make a few.

 This flower is in one of my favorite cards I've made in a really long time. Masked with post-it notes, stamped, colored, sentiment under. Simple and sweet.

I like this octopus one. A lot. But I'm not sure I love it. I think it maybe is too dark? I'm also not sure the font really works with the image. But I still will call it a useable card. :)

It felt good to get crafty again.

Chore Chart

Tonight I made a fun chore chart for the kiddos. 

 Each kid has every day chores that are in their color. Stuff like "make your bed" and "put away dishes" are in there.  Then the "take one" chores are special things, they only have to do one of those a day. These include, "wash dishes" (which is a new chore so they are not all the time doing it yet) "dust baseboards" and "clean your bathroom". As they complete their daily chores they move the sticks to the "all done" envelope, so they get to see their accomplishments for the day.

I have hanging issues with it. If I put it on the wall high enough that the baby won't pull it apart Ethan cannot reach his sticks. So this fridge thing seems to work for now. :)

Nails and more Hello Kitty

Here are my first Easter Nails. I will likely have to re-do them before Easter. And here is a super cute Hello Kitty card. :) I think that squirrel is just the most adorable thing ever. (btw squirrel is a horrible word to spell. Doesn't look right at all, I move we change it.) I also love these Paper Smooches stamps, the words and word bubble. :)

Really CAS Hello Kitty

My mother-in-law, who also happens to be a very good friend of mine, loves Hello Kitty. And my cards. So when I saw a set of cute Hello Kitty stickers the other day at Michael's I picked them up to make her some cards. Here are a few.
I never think to make get well type cards. I'm making a concentrated effort to make more of them. And I really like how these sweet stickers worked out.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Mine was pretty stinking good. Some fun thrift store shopping. Found a GREAT home for one of my chickens who was not happy here. Got a new fridge. It was a good weekend.

Oh and I set a goal. I REALLY want to know how to play the piano. I always have. So I'm setting that as a 5 year goal.

Kitchen is done!

This is my last "before" picture of the kitchen. It is showing you my old fridge. It's not just that it's ugly, it was also on it's last leg. So here is my kitchen with the curtains and a new door for the pantry.
And here is the new fridge!
With that the kitchen is pretty much done. I might do something decorative, but I don't see what. Maybe replace the rug? I still want to rip out the protective calk around the sink and replace it. Just a maintenance thing there. I am just overjoyed about the kitchen redo.

Curtains

Still working on the super kitchen redo. Oh I figured out I have spent a grand total of $336.09 on the kitchen so far. That doesn't count anything I already had or my countless hours of labor. :) CHEAP!

So I wanted to do a curtain for over the window. Break up all the white up there. My mom convinced me that a red stripe would be fun. I'm not sure I'm in love with this, but it is definitely ok and I will likely leave it for a while.

Oh and I'm gonna leave that caulk sitting out in plain sight until I get around to ripping up the old and redoing it.
In other news I've been doing my hair a fun new way. I do no heat curls by twisting it around a stretchy headband and leaving it overnight. They last about two days. It is exciting because I have never gotten curls to stay in my hair. I used this tutorial to figure out how to do it: No Heat Curls. Each time I have done it I've gotten different looking curls, but that's fun too.
Oh and if you were interested, yup, that's me without a bit of makeup on. And yes, you can still see the pink stripes I put in. I like them though.

Angry Birds!

Stephen is having an Angry Birds themed birthday party in a few weeks. I saw this website and loved a bunch of her ideas. I especially loved her favor bags. I don't have a color printer so I had to hand draw templates for the pieces and trace them on colored cardstock, cut them out and glue them. Actually I made Stephen do most of the work, his party and all...

So here is a sampling of our bags! It is cool in this pic how it looks like Red Bird is peeking into the pig bag. He's all, "Are my eggs in there?"

And a closeup!

Chemistry and Kitchen Progress

I will be glad when my kitchen is done. I have saved a TON doing the work but I'd like to get back to crafting!

I did have this to share with you. I have not shared it yet right? Maybe I have... ugh! Anyhow:

LOVE the chemistry set by There She Goes. LOVE LOVE LOVE it. My son loves science stuff so I like to make him stuff with it. This time I made a love card. I used crystal lacquer on the vials. Fun!

And here is about where my kitchen progress is at. I have actually grouted all this tile and installed undercabinet lighting in the area where I do my food prep. You cannot see the lighting and the grout is white so it looks pretty much the same.

Don't you love how my orchid bloomed to celebrate the occasion? So thoughtful.

Cabinets

I'm happy to report that painting my cabinets white is complete. Painting cabinets is a MUCH harder job than I thought. I cannot say I regret it, I love the finished job, but oh man it took a while.

Now I have tile to do on the backsplash. I am looking forward to that going in because I think it will make such an impact.

At this moment everyone is in reasonable health. Brian and I are still tired from being sick. But guess what? I woke up with a sore throat! I feel fine, just a sore throat. UGH.