Save the snowman!

We are supposed to have an ice storm.  

My husband went to the grocery just in case.  Blah blah blah!  I hate that you really never can tell if you will get these storms or not.  I hate going to the grocery when it is packed!  When i was younger and child free i would take my ipod to the grocery and totally ignore everyone and everything.  It was actually relaxing for me (probably not for everyone else in my aisle who had to endure my nonstop singing to songs they could not hear, lol).  It is no longer relaxing.  I couldn't bring myself to headphone it even when elli was only a few months and practically slept through our shopping.  It felt like i was ignoring her presence... it just felt wrong.  Now if i can concentrate long enough to buy the right spaghetti sauce i pat myself on the back!  So as i said, my husband went to the grocery today on his way home from work. 

 I greatly appreciated it :)

 I love these pictures of my little girl last winter in the snow!  We haven't been out in the snow much this year, although there has been a lot actually.  The baby is so small it is hard to take him out for long and i worry he will get cold despite the huge snow suit we have for him.  Elli asks constantly to play outside and my response lately is "maybe saturday" (my hubby will be there to help, lol).  Now you can fully understand why she was so happy to go to the Y.  We did make a snowman this year :).  My husband went out after he got off work (in the dark, lol) to make a snowman with our daughter :).  My love for him grew that day!  That is just so sweet.  After about an hour he came inside stomping his feet, with a red faced but smiling elli on his heels!  He looked at me and said "do you know how to make a snowman?"

It was hilarious!  My husband is from Arizona!  I looked out in the yard where he and my daughter had been snow shoveling the yard into a huge heap.  I handed him the baby, donned my coat and gloves to go out and save our snowman!  Bless his heart, the snow was the most awful snow to make a snowman. It was soft and not at all wet.  Elli and i carved out a round bottom and middle from the huge pile of snow in the middle of the yard.  I had to scrape snow from the street to make the start of the ball for the snowman's head.  After trying several different object for the facial characteristics we ended up with a tinsel mouth a carrot nose and grape eyes, lol!

Elli didn't mind at all that it was the ugliest and not to mention, shortest, snowman i had ever seen in my life (and i have seen and built a lot of snowmen).

On a different note, there are some things heavy on my heart lately.  I have that uncertain feeling that only comes from change.  I am hoping and praying that this change will be for the better.  God give me direction.  All of my church family out there please be praying:)

Night!

 P.s.  I haven't even started my rug project other than taking out the material... slacker ;)  I'll try to get on that tomorrow... or maybe next week, he he he!

A little of this and a little of that :)

My kids are in bed.  That was kids... with an "s".  Yay!  For once they are sleeping at the same time.  Not only are they asleep at the same time, but also early enough that i am not falling over myself to get to bed and late enough that my husband is home :).
There are so many things on my mind today.
I come from a divorced family.  That is to say my biological Dad and Mom haven't been married since i was almost one i believe.  My mom married this really good guy when i was 3 and ever since he has been my Dad too.  I love them both, my Dads.  I am rambling a little i know lol.  My stepdad seems really gruff on the surface.  People mistake him for someone who really doesn't care enough, i know i have a time or two.  But this simply isn't the case.  I think he cares so much that sometimes things are tearing him up inside and he just doesn't know what to do, or really can't do anything to fix the situation (which is especially hard for him since he is a little bit of a control freak, lol), so he gets mad.  Mad at the world, his lack of ability to change things and the people who keep hurting him or his family, however well meaning they are:(.  He was hurting this week.  I just wanted to say to blogland out there that even though he is misunderstood often and a little gruff at times, that i love him and that he has been an excellent father to me when he didn't have to be.  He will always be my Dad too and i hope that his heart heals soon.
Onward to other issues!

I have never really been an advocate of cosleeping but for some reason both of my kids have slept with me as babies.  It is soooooooo annoying, lol.  Really i think it has a little to do with my choice to only breastfeed and a whole lot to do with my lack of sleep.  They fall asleep while feeding.  I know this is the issue but i haven't been very successful at pumping.  It seriously takes me like two days of pumping to save enough for one bottle feeding.  And did i mention it doesn't feel very nice either.  Since i have issues pumping my husband, who is actually willing to help with feedings, (so I can sleep) can't.  I really do want my bed back though so i am ready to try almost anything.  I am shooting for at least nine months of breastfeeding  so i need to find a solution.  Anyone have any suggestions?

I have decided to try a new recipe every week.  I will take a picture of the finished product.  If you like to laugh, you should seriously check in to see them.  I am not a good cook... really.  I am more of an enthusiastic burner :)

Fun Projects!!!

I really like to paint.  Mostly acrylics because, lets face it they are the most forgiving.  Pretty much you can cover any mistake you make.  Don't like the color- cover it with another, his head looks more like a pumpkin-add a little here and shave a little there and presto he has a perfectly angular jawline and piercing brown eyes.  :)  My brother gave me this huge canvas that he had painted red for an accent piece in a former apartment.  I had been waiting for inspiration to strike me as to what i should do with it when i came across this awesome blog, Under the Table and Dreaming http://www.bystephanielynn.com/.  Follow this link www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/01/pb-inspired-playroom-wall-art-numbers.html to a picture of a PotteryBarn piece of artwork that is the inspiration for my project today!  Check out her blog for instructions on making something just as inspiring on a tad smaller scale.  :)

This is the huge canvas painted white, cream and touches of brown.

I taped the outside edges of the canvas to make the cream "mat"  around the numbers.  After taping, i sketched the numbers in with a pencil and began painting a mixture of india ink and brown acrylic paint around my pencil lines

Pull of the tape on the edges and voila!  It makes a nice addition to my little boys room :)!

FUN PROJECTS TO COME (hopefully)

My husband says i like to be busy.  Maybe that is true :) but i like to think that i like renovating because i can see something beautiful in an object that everyone else has given up on.  Anything can be beautiful.  I think about people in the same manner.  I don't give up very easily.  I am currently trying to convince him to let me try a blue wash on one of our cabnients.  he is not as enthusiastic about this as i am so we will just have to wait and see if he caves in or not.

  Since i have not yet secured the go ahead from my hubby (yes i do try and involve him in these decisions, lol) i have another project in mind!  I love this rug i purchased from Target!  They do not sell it in a larger size.  Since i have a really huge amount of a similar material in my sewing supplies i have decided to try and make a painted rug with a similar pattern for my dining room.  We have wood floors in that room and it is not as easy as i thought it would be to clean up after a four year old with wood floors under your table :).  I hope to make the rug large and durable enough to fit under the table but still be washable.  Wish me luck!

Mama said there'd be days like this

Is it me or are some days just plain difficult?  As i said before i joined the y.  Elli is joyous over the fact there is a pool and just like with her gymnastics class she has began to ask nonstop when we can go.  The only difference between gymnastics and the pool is... the pool hardly ever closes and gymnastics was only once a week.  Gymnastics was an easy fix after a week of counting down to the day we had gymnastics she would only occasionally ask when her next class was, and genius that i am, i just failed to mention that the day was gymnastics day until about 2 hours before class started!

We went to the pool today.
Preparation took all day long, not to mention the baby was not really cooperating.  And do you have any idea how hard it is to find infant swim trunks in the winter... not just swim trunks but infant swim trunks?  Also unless i would like to be kicked out of the pool for orange poo floating around as we swim, i had to find swimmy diapers.  Let me tell you neither was easy to find especially with elli in the back seat asking "how many more minutes mommy?" and did i mention little man isn't fond of his car seat, lol!  I survived though, with a near meltdown in the locker room after swimming (mine not elli's, lol).  I just have to say though, my daughter is an amazing little girl.  By the time we reached the pool she had not had a nap and was visibly tired but through the whole ordeal she never lost her enthusiasm.  Whether mommy was tired and crabby or micah was screaming... i would look back in the rearview mirror to see her smiling face!  I hope i remember to tell her how special and inspiring she is to me so she grows up confident and just as happy as she was today!

Publish Post

Although today i really feel like i fell short, i pray everyday that i can be as great at being her mommy as she is at being my little girl :)

I should know by now never to set a deadline, especially with a newborn.  They just won't be ignored, lol! Take just now for instance, here i am trying to type and breastfeed at the same time.  Yes i am super mom!  Of course he loses his latch and i think okay i will help him get back on after i finish this sentence... yeah right!  As i reach for the keyboard, in his fast-tempered way, he begins kicking my arm.  Not the one time but over and over like he is saying "just try and ignore me, ha ha ha":)  Just in case you were wondering, yes it is impossible to type with a newborn kicking your arm.

Elli and i did manage to finish our flower mirror project yesterday.  I did not manage to post it then, but as my momma always told me, better late than never!  Here are the finished frames, sans mirror, painted cream and filled with my daughters artwork.  Enjoy!

  After hours, yes i mean hours, of self motivation i signed up for a membership at my local YMCA!  My daughter is ecstatic!  They have an indoor pool and a daycare, need i say more?  For a cooped up four year old it is like heaven!  I certainly didn't mind the fact that they provided childcare either :).  Although after the hustle and bustle of the actual sign up process, during which elli alternately crawled or ran through the lobby while i "calmly" asked her to hold still at least 20 times and Micah, bless his car seat hating heart, cried until the receptionist asked if i minded her holding him :), i found myself extremely reluctant to leave them at the childcare.  Really i do long for twenty minutes of silence or at least a break from the barrage of the same question that seems to come every two minutes..."why Mommy".  Sometimes i wonder if my moments of blissful silence would come at too high a cost.  Some people do really awful things to innocent children.  I know i am overprotective and anxious, i hope my children never notice this, it is not something i want them to emulate, but i can't seem to stop.  After a few cautious moments in which i watched my children play through the glass childcare window,  Elli's enthusiasm won me over.  She was honestly enjoying herself and little man wasn't even fussing.  I left to find the ellipticals whispering a prayer to the only one i fully trust with my children's life, my heavenly father.

New Beginnings

I have no idea what i am doing... But it's fun!

When i was in 8th grade, before we could "graduate" to high school, we were required to fill out this career guide.  In it you were supposed to choose 3 occupations that you would love to pursue.  Mine were singing, writing and anchor woman( he he he, anchor woman, i know).  I think i can cross anchor woman off the list!  I am by no means eloquent and well... i'm extremely clumsy.  I also really have a preference for days sans makeup, clad in blue jeans.  I still do love to sing though, and do every other Sunday with an awesome group of kids that I lead in a children's choir.  Then there is always the occasional lullaby for little man or princess, my two amazing kids!  I really enjoy writing.  I know, i know, there is a certain group of you out there audibly groaning, lol.  Let me clarify this by saying i enjoy writing when it is something i would like to write about!


Hopefully this will scratch the itch!

In my frugalness i have started an awesome project for my little girl's room.  We need pictures on our walls!  Heck we need anything on our walls.  It has been a year of renovating for the Denton family.  Bathroom gut and redo.... check, buy and install new windows (18 windows!  I would totally insert the knife stab or fingernail on the chalkboard noise if i could)... check,  install carpet upstairs... check,  rip out carpet and redo hardwood floors downstairs... check!   You get the picture.  So after extensive work on our home and the hustle and bustle of welcoming home our newborn, we haven't exactly made our new house very homey... yet.  Since we budgeted money for reno but not for homey, you guys are in for some major frugal home decorating secrets!  Yay!  So i found these awesomely ugly flower mirrors (1$ each at a local dollar store) and have began to transform them into really cute picture frames for my daughter Elli's room.  I will post the whole project tomorrow!
Night!