Lullaby and Good Night

Our boy is getting bigger everyday. A day has not gone by recently without me saying "Right on Bubba." He is learning so much and doing so much. Since he will be a Big Boy soon (if he isn't already) he needs a big boy bed. Not just any run of the mill toddler bed will do though. He needs something cool and stylish. Here comes my confession... I spent most of yesterday's naptime looking at toddler & platform beds. I knew going in that I wouldn't buy something but was looking for something to inspire our own creation. I will be working with my dad over the next several weeks to build this bed (and chair).
These are my inspiration photos:

This is an amazing bed for a growing boy. It will allow for a little underbed storage. I love the bench feature. I think it will help when he wants to start dressing himself. Plus the low profile of it will be great for his use for the next few (4?) years. Here is the manufacturer website.

The lime green & grey are the colors we are going to paint the bed, chair and the art easel (that my dad is making).
I am also going to make this chair at the same time. Since I'll have the material and be doing all the same processes it just makes sense to make it all together. 3 benefits. 1) It will match the other furniture. 2) It will cost far less to make than to buy. 3) This is exactly what I want.

These are others I found while looking. I like the modern aesthetic. Spot on Square is the designer.
Plus this one folds up like a chair. How cool is that? Go check it out here.

Feeling blah

I am depressed. I have been here before and I am sure this isn't the last time. My depression seems to mostly be seasonal. So I think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. I am also exhibiting symptoms of major depression. So I have decided that I am going to do something about it. I will be going for an orientation/evaluation on Monday afternoon. I feel better that I am doing something about it. Since I am sans insurance I will be going to a place that works on a sliding scale. This also means that they have a waiting list for treatment.
Cheers to getting myself back to normal in the new year.

Only 364 days left to do it again.

I enjoy christmas. It is a great reason to get together with family that is not often seen together.
Next year I'd like to continue these traditions:
- visiting Santa with pictures
- baking cookies and making candies
- handmade gifts (even though this year I kinda lost momentum)
- decorating the house
- new ornaments for the felt tree

I want to institute these traditions:
- advent calendar with activities relating to the season
- making a few kid friendly crafts for A to give as gifts
- make the month more about seeing friends & family (all year long)

Bliss & Baking

I love to bake but only seem to do it around the holidays. Maybe that will be another resolution for 2009. Baking with Bubba once a week.
I'll be doing more of this today. See ya around.

We love visitors

We got special visitors today. Hubs brother & sister in law brought the newest member of the family over. Little L is only 5 weeks old. It must have been serendipity because just yesterday I was missing the brand new little stage with Bubba. Good stuff.
Bubba provided great entertainment after our meal. It was pretty good if I do say so myself. Parmesan crusted mahi mahi, creamed spinach and rice with tomatoes. Our guy had a good time as you can see above. He was rockin' the air guitar (his latest musical thing) like the rock star he is. Who knows maybe someday he will have a real guitar.

We are gearing up to the final days before the holiday. I have lots of cookie making and baking to do. Since we had visitors today and we will be visitors tomorrow I forsee a late night coming up.

What we've been up to

Christmas is the perfect time to make candies. Here are my salted chocolate caramels. I am going to attempt True Love Truffles tomorrow. And if all turns out I may even make Microwave Peanut Brittle too. (That one requires littles to be in bed.)

Bass Pro Shops put on a great Winter Wonderland. My boy did good with Santa (as expected since the kid has never met a stranger). His favorite part of the display was the train. He also loved the giant catfish in the tank. I think this was the first time we have been to Bass Pro that he has responded to the fish. He was really telling them what for. Thanks Granny for going with us. We had a great time.

I have wanted to try my hand at knitting for a while. I decided to take the plunge. While I am no where near the end of my first project, a gray wool scarf, I am pleased with the progress I am making. I certainly think this is another piece to the Liz puzzle.

Aside from the above we have been fighting off the tail end of the illness. I am happy to report that I am feeling better and the Boy is on the mend as well. Guess that means we need to get back to the usual tomorrow. I have a date with the bathroom and the mop. Good times.

I am such a follower

Mary changed up her blog and linked Izzie Grace who made the background. I liked it so I had to do mine too. What do you think? Me likey.

Obsession is not just a parfume

I get a little obsessive at times. Ok, so whenever some silly little idea pops into my head and I like it, I tend to obsess. Take today for example. It was/is SuperFreezing so we were NOT going outside unless mandatory. (sidebar: which was good to limit smoking to a single one today.) So I sat myself in front of my computer for hours! I was on a mission to find coupons. I did. Time well spent? I guess we'll see when we thaw out and go grocery shopping.
What I should have been doing? Making banana nut bread. Melting chocolate. Deciding on final food gifts. I guess those are priority tomorrow.

GERMS!

Yesterday was the first official day that our household has not been sick all week. The week started out with a super productive Sunday that included mopping, bathroom cleaning and LAUNDRY! I felt oh so good about these accomplishments.
Then germs struck. I woke up early feeling like I was in the early stages of pregnancy (i'm SO not!), ya know the sick-to-my-stomach-think-i'm-gonna-hurl deal. I though well maybe if I don't move the feeling will pass. Yeah right. Thank goodness the bathroom is right around the corner. Shortly thereafter I heard hubby with our boy. He makes sad little whimpers when he's nauseated. Poor kiddo. I felt so bad for him all day. That is when I wasn't taking care of my own issues.
Fortunately we have a good Daddy/Hubs in our world. He got us some takeout soup and Gatorade. It was so nice to not have to worry about making dinner. Thanks Hubs.
Then of course Hubs comes down with a flu like sickness on Tuesday. So all three of us were feeling pretty miserable. It would have been a wonderful day to have a tv in our room where we could all watch videos and sleep the day away. Guess the living room sofa & tv will have to suffice.
Unfortunately it took until yesterday for A & I to feel better. Hubs is fully recovered today. Now if we can only keep the germs away from us we will all be better for a while.
Between catching up the laundry pile, the housework that was neglected and a couple of friendships our time has been exhausted. We did make something for the christmas goodie boxes today. I share more about that next time. I promise it is worth coming back for. Until then, Happy Holidays!

There's a birthday coming

and I'm not ready. My nephew, J, is turning 7 on Tuesday. (Yes, Mom I still have the card you sent up here.) I am not ready because I need to make a rag quilt for his present and cupcakes decorated like bowling balls & pins for the party. Fortunately Col is coming over tomorrow to help with baking & decorating. I can guarantee it will be fun based on our cookie expedition last Friday. The party should be fun too since we were just talking about wanting to go bowling.

In other news: I have finally taken a huge chunk out of Mt Washmore (my laundry for the non-flybabies) and feel really good about it. As I was telling Mom on the phone today, I really like doing my laundry but only when I have it under control. I HATE doing it and avoid it as much as possible when the piles just keep building!

Also I signed up at Juicy Juice a while back and got a sippy cup in the mail yesterday. That was a nice surprise. I also got a Huggies #3 sample diaper. There was also a recipe book from Ragu. I just love surprises in the mail. Don't you?

In the spirit of the holiday

Today our friends came over and we made:
I got the recipe here. This is a wonderful gingerbread if you like less spice and lots of good flavor. They are okay when eaten without icing but so much better with it. This icing was very runny so we used a TON of sugar to make it thicker. We also set the icing in the freezer for 10 minutes or so to firm up as well.

This one is my favorite:
We didn't get to ice all of them so we will be doing more tomorrow.

Here is a picture taken my Hubs. We all laughed hard when we saw it.

When you wish upon a star...

I know our gift giving/receiving this year will be extremely limited but hey a girl can dream right?
In the Kitchen...
* I have been frying up a storm lately with all that Perfect Sesame Chicken and frozen mozzarella sticks. So I'd like one of these. But I'd settle for this one.
* Another kitchen helper would be a wok like this one.
* I would love to have a stack of cookbooks like Mary. That would take some doing. I'll settle for Domestic Goddess, Feast, Entertaining Simple, Grill Everyday or Back To Basics.
In my craft area...
* I have grand plans for sewing in the new year. One of those plans is to make a garment for myself each month. So I'd really like a gift card to Hobby Lobby, JoAnn's or Fabritopia.
Around the house...
* Since I ripped the sheet while making the bed the other day I'd like a new set of these beautiful sheets for winter and these for the rest of the year.

There is certainly more that I could/do lust after but this is a good enough list for now.

Did I miss it?

How on earth did I ever get to 100 posts? I knew it would happen but I figured it would take me FOR.EV.ER! since I am not a regular poster. Ah, well, here we are. Cool.

Moving On. I have a teaser shot for you from my decorations. I would have shared more tonight BUT my camera battery died. (Part of me did the happy dance because I am just not sure about the BIG decoration project yet. More on that tomorrow.) So here is what you do get to see.


Red, Silver & Blue is not my theme. I am using what I had along with a few bits from the dollar store. I think it is going to be arranged in a way that the blue & white goes into the bedrooms and the red & silver stay in the living room/kitchen. We'll see what happens.

Moving On again. The theme for NaBloPoMo (NBPM) is Thanks. So in the spirit of that I am feeling thankful for my Hubs today. He makes me smile LOTS. He also is a really fantastic Daddy. I can't imagine my life without this amazing man.

Our last topic for today is: My Oh-crap-christmas-is-just-around-the-corner-and-I-have-to-make-a-million-presents list.
I have really pared down my initally planned list to the following:
Hubs - Another hat? Who knows what I'll make.
Bug - A finished quilt
Papasan - Several photos of the kidlets framed. Some from our childhood too.
Sisterness - a skirt of our design
Mr Kitty - blanket
Princess - blanket
Gomer - blanket
Bestest Aunt & Uncle - that embroidered bit I finished forever ago.
BFF - that darned handbag that I have set aside for weeks
BFF's Hubby - wool beanie & scarf
GG (also known as The First Gilrfriend) - The doll that is already done.

The rest will be duplicate gifts: Silhouettes, banana bread, jam, and homemade candies & cookies.

Send me to bed before the weirdness that was this post infects the rest.

While the men were out

Today (as with the rest of the days this week) Hubby was home due to lack of real work. He did however venture out into the world to pick up and drop off samples for a customer. On his way out the door Little Man "ooh, ooh, oohed" his way into an invitation for the ride. So I was without men in the house for a whole 2.5 hours this morning. What does a sick chick do with this kind of time? Well, a regular sick chick would haul herself off to bed and rest. But that is NOT what I did. I decorated for christmas. I know I am strange but the sense of accomplishment it gave me made up for the constant need to use a tissue.
I am trying something new to go with the kid that gets into ev.er.y.th.i.ng. I need it to settle in before I share photos. I am thinking about tweaking it tomorrow anyway.

In the year twenty oh nine

So I am already thinking about the start of the new year. Personally I want to decide on a few goals and make meaningful and do able resolutions. Parentally (That is a word. I looked it up in the dictionary.) I want to have a plan so on January 1 I am not freaking out thinking "Where did all the time go? What am I going to present A?" There is a ton more that I am sure will be boring to everyone but me.
So what is my purpose for this particular post? It is a rough draft gathering of the many projects I want to tackle next year. Including but not limited to clothing patterns, crafting projects, sewing and paper projects. I find many times that by bookmarking a particular sight that lose interest in the project long before I have time to review and complete it. So here I will be able to give myself a little pep talk before each link and remind myself what I had in mind.
LoveBug is going to need a place special to put his artwork and other triumphs so I need to make a message/art board for him. I love this idea for our bedroom as well.
I really want to make a quilt this upcoming year. This one seems even simpler than the rag quilt I made GG. This may be a great top for our bed.
I have had my eye on fabric bins for the living room and Love Bug's room. These are the perfect solution.
These little pouches would make great little gifts for the travelers in my life.
Another (simple) quilt. This would be great for a couch throw as well as a baby blanket.
I can't get enough of shoes & handbags. I love this pattern and think it would be a nice bag.

NaBloPoMo

I decided to join NaBloPoMo and challenge myself to a post a day for December.

The theme is THANKS.

Yesterday I was thankful we were able to pay rent.
Today I am thankful for the food in our refrigerator.