Works for Me Wednesday

A couple of months ago, I walked into my mom's bathroom, and there sat the cutest little contact case. I don't wear contacts, but I figured that shouldn't stop me from having that cute little thing to carry around in my purse, right? It came to me almost as soon as I saw it...I could scrape out the bottom of my favorite lipstick, and get many more uses out of it! It even has a little mirror!







Check out what works for other bloggers over at Rocks in my Dryer!

no TV update

It's been nearly three weeks without a tv, and I have to say, it's going great! I always thought it would be worse on me than it was on the girls, but it's not been bad at all. Mary Helen has spent a bit more time on the computer, especially at first. She is playing more, and her imagination seems to be soaring. She is following me around the house more, but that's something I've wanted...to talk to the girls a lot. It's not alway convenient for me, but that's my selfishness!

She's started doing chores, and she loves that. I'm sure it will pass.

Anna's begun her terrible twos. She is trying to see who's boss in this house. Parents win. She's spending a lot of time on the bathroom rug. In fact, she fell asleep there last night during a battle. She woke up and went there within minutes, then we did it again after nap time. When we get her ready for bed, and up from bed, we send her with her diaper to throw away. This week she's decided that she doesn't like that job.

Tomorrow night, I get to go out to eat with my very best friend growing up. We were in the crib together at day care (her grandmother was the leader and she saw to it that we were best friends). We took swimming lessons together, we went through puberty together, we went through the drama of boyfriends together, we fought about a boy, we made up, we rebelled together, and after highschool we drifted. We kept in touch sporadically, and last summer she got married. Now, I am not an emotional type. I don't cry at weddings or most funerals. It's life. It's happy, it's sad. But, at her wedding, when her bridesmaids started walking in, I started crying. I didn't know any of them. I should have been right by her side. She should have been at my side when I got married. When we went to her house for the reception and she and her dad danced to "Butterfly Kisses" I totally lost it. The guests at our table thought I was real nice until that moment. Then they (along with Joel) thought I was just plain nuts.

Anyways, we've been through so much together, and I can't wait to catch up with her!

Happy Birthday, Anna! and projects from the week. . .

Today we celebrated sweet Anna's birthday. She doesn't actually turn two for another week or so, but this was the only day we could work out for everybody to get together. We had a gardening theme, so the kids painted flower pots. We decided not to plant flowers, and it was a good thing because it started raining just as they finished up painting, and rained the rest of the party. I am not complaining about rain, we were glad to see it!! We had planned to be kind of in and out, we just went with mostly in! Of course, Joel had to grill hamburgers in the rain, but he didn't melt!

Here are a few pictures from the party. Notice the new chalkboard addition to the kitchen...that is going to be our homeschool zone. Under the chalkboard is a curtain rod with curtain clips to hold misc. papers and charts for school. The next to last picture has nothing to do with the party, but is a project that I've been working on for a few weeks (I got delayed by a broken sewing machine!). Also, the very last picture is what I decided to do with the back entry.

Enjoy the pictures!

















This is a laundry sorter, and I have another one just like it. I hope it will save me tons of time!!

Fun Swap!

I got my package from my swap that was hosted by Kelly. What fun! Here is a picture of what I got:



This was a favorite things swap, where we send some of our favorite things to another blogger. From left to right, here's what I got. The welcome sign because she loves red, white, and blue together and she loves stars (this sign totally matches my house, and I can't wait to hang it!! The coffee mug (that I'm already using!) is because she loves chunky mugs and funky art. The KoolAid is her favorite summertime drink (that's what Mary Helen and I are going to make in just a few minutes). She also loves cute pencils, although her collection has been turned over to her daughter. The post it notes are stars in her favorite colors, yellow and orange. Finally, the album, refill pages, and background inserts. I can even do that kind of scrapbooking!

She also sent a whole box of rice krispie treats and a bag of reeses pieces!!

You can see what everyone else got by clicking here.

Moving on...

That's what my neighbors are doing today. The girls and I spent the morning helping our neighbors do a few last minute things (mostly we entertained their 2 year old, so they could do some last minute things!). They pulled out around noon to move up north.

When we moved in last October, they dropped by and introduced themselves. Nice enough people. A couple of days later, the girls and I were outside and Mrs. Neighbor and her son walked over and played and chatted. So began a friendship. The last place we lived, we had neighbors, but I still drove to walmart if I needed a cup of sugar. Not here. I don't know if everyone has good neighbors, but this couple topped the charts in my book!

We enjoyed meals together, time letting the kids play, and just chatting. She could walk in, without knocking, and step over all my junk and I wouldn't get embarassed. That's a real friend!

Mary Helen is trying to process that they're moving to a new house, but I don't think she realizes it will be a long, long time before we see them again. I do hope we'll see them again, so I'm not going to say never!

decorating help, please!

Alright, I finally have some pictures of things going on around the house!

The first picture is just to show off the wonderful deal my aunt got at our favorite thrift store! Arent' they beautiful? Wanna guess how much she paid for them?



This one is my back entry (where everyone comes in). We no longer have the tv plugged in, so I stuck it in a closet. Now I have this wicker armoir practically empty! I moved it to the back door so we could throw-i mean hang- our coats in it. So, my question is should I paint the armoir, the bench, or both? And if I do, what color should they be?



Finally, this picture shows my new cross I got from Hobby Lobby for $4!! (I made my first trip there last week...I'm hooked!) The problem, obviously, is that it is very sad and lonely there where he is! So, any wonderful ideas of what I can hang there? I am thinking of two collage frames (like the one over the bench with 3 pictures) with some family pictures...whaddaya think?



My aunt and I have been painting some trays for my grandparents, and today we are hopefully going to start working on painting a border in Anna's room. I'll post some pictures as we finish. I love having my aunt here to do fun projects.

By the way, my aunt is here to stay with my grandparents while my mom is on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Please keep her and the team in your prayers!!

Update on the TV situation!

Well, we have been without a tv on since Friday. So far, so good. Mary Helen hasn't even asked for it! She's been on the computer a bit more, but not too much. She's been playing outside, painting, doing puzzles, and playing with Anna a lot. It is great. I was always afraid of what it would be like around our house without the tv, but it's not as hard on me as I thought it would be!

I am working hard on getting our homeschool stuff set up and ready. Hopefully soon Joel will make me a chalkboard to hang in the kitchen. I'll post some pictures when we get our space set up.

Anna has been taking swimming lessons for the past two weeks, and she has done great! I can't believe how well she's done! She will be turning two in a couple of weeks, and we are getting ready to have a birthday party soon!

My aunt is in town and we've got some fun projects planned. Forgive me if I'm not around too much the next couple of weeks. We've really got a lot going on, but I'll try to pop in some!

I hope you all have a great week!

~Hadley~