Five-things that keep you busy/eat your time

It is sad to me to think that somedays I am so busy...I forget to just get down and dirty and have fun with my babes. I have been trying to be more fun and play with them more...with fingerpaints and playdoh...digging in the sand and collecting leaves.

Here are some of the things that keep me busy...and I just need to be more aware of it.

1. Crocheting. I love it. It's a challenge, it's relaxing, it's fun, it makes a little bit of extra $$ for us. But it takes my time away...like crazy.

2. Cleaning the house. I wish I had a routine or a "recipe" if you will for how to do this in an efficient...non dreadful way. But I hate it...and I think it hates me too...because I am constantly vacuuming, washing and cleaning, sweeping and mopping...and sometimes it doesn't even look like I have lifted a finger.

3. Going to the post office. I sure do wish the lines weren't so long...and that I owned a scale. So I could get the postman to just come pick up my packages. but i don't.

4. Laundry. Seriously? Like I just finish a massive undertaking of cleaning 4 human beings laundry...and I already have a mountain of dirty clothes...snickering in the corner.

5. Technical junk/tv. I think we need a hiatus from techy stuff. We are almost always online or watching tv to relax. That needs to change. It shouldn't be on my list..but it is.

Do you have a list of things that eat your time?? Are there changes you have made in your life to be less busy? Do you have any helpful housekeeping hints?? I'm all ears.

I'm a Baker

I love to bake cakes, cookies, pies, cobblers, you name it, I've probably over the course of my life baked it.

So how come nobody told me about this?? Kirkland Signature Ground Saigon Cinnamon. I just picked up my first container of it today at costco...for $2.99. It's huge. It's Amazing. I'm hooked.

With the winter baking season fast approaching, I found I would be remiss for not mentioning it to anyone else who hasn't tried it yet. Sweet. Spicy. Strong. I cannot wait to make biscochitos with it this year!!

Five- Things that make you smile

Sorry I didn't get my FIVES done on Friday, but my hubby had a little health scare and we were at the hospital. My blog was the last thing on my mind!!

Today, though, I think about all the things that I have to be thankful for and here are some things that make me smile.

1. My daughter. She is one of the funniest little people I know. Yesterday we were driving somewhere in the car, and she was making a sleeping sound...like snore...shooooooooo...snore.. shooooooo. And her brother said, "No sissy, not that noise." But she kept doing it. Totally straight faced, looking him right in the eyes....and even more exaggerated. "snore...ssssssssshhhhhhhooooooo." I said, "Sissy, you are so funny." and started laughing...she kept up her sleeping sound...staring right at her brother and cracked the tiniest smile on the corners of her mouth.

2. My son. He is so smart and has just the best personality. When the fire rescue men and EMTs came to our house on Friday night, instead of being afraid, he says, "Hi Guys!!" We went to a restaurant yesterday and there was a little baby in a high chair at the table next to us. He says to the baby as we are leaving, "Hi baby. Smile big." (The baby smiles) " Then he says are you having fun?" I just love his sweet little personality.

3. My hubby. He really is such a sweet man and so supportive. There was never any question about me becoming a stay at home mom. He never complains if he comes home to a crazy house...and me sitting next to a pile of yarn. :) He's my best friend and so funny, smart and loving. He is such a good Daddy and knows exactly what to say to the kids when I am frustrated or at a loss. This little episode we had on Friday really made me think about how fragile life is and how every moment we have together is precious.

4. Finding a new pattern that works up really well. I love when I really want to find a pattern for something...like booties, slippers, a bag...and I find one that looks really cool...and I try it...and it works out so nicely for me. I have so many times found a pattern that I wanted to make and it sooooo doesn't work out for me. Hate that. So when it works, it is a very happy moment for me.

5. Hearing happy news. It really makes me so happy when I hear from a friend who has been lonely for such a long time who finally met their best friend and are getting married. Or a friend who says they are only having one babe...and they find out they are preggo with number 2...or somebody who is really hurting for money gets a wonderful promotion. Gosh I love happy news!!

What about you? What makes you smile?

Five-times you have been scared out of your mind...

No particular order here...

1. When I was little I could have sworn Spider man was looking inside my window as a little girl. I promise...It sounds hilarious now, but I was frozen with fear and couldn't even scream for my mom or dad to come help me.

2. When my husband and I were on a walk before we had married, we walked through a neighborhood with a lot of dogs...and big properties (like small farms). This pit bull came running around the house of one particular property...my heart sank when I noticed the gate was open...he came right to the gate, began snarling, then circling us. I looked all over the ground for a stick or a rock...there was none. I noticed tears were streaming down my face...and I didn't even know I was crying. I kept screaming at him to "GO HOME" and felt his nose on my leg...his hair was bristled...his owners...WERE WATCHING what we were going to do TO their dog!! G called 911 and very soon an off duty officer and his family pulled up and yelled at the owners to get their dog. Boy were my knees weak after that experience. I don't even remember how we walked home after that!! Needless to say, we always bring a walking stick with us out on walks now.

3. On our honeymoon, we drove several hours from our city to Las Vegas. We had to drive through Hoover dam. At night. At first, we were all touristy...taking pictures...parking...the whole shebang. In just a few minutes the darkest, heaviest, creepiest feeling just settled on us...We seriously scrambled to our truck and couldn't drive through fast enough. It even felt like the walls were closing in on us. creepy.

4. Driving home from college with one of my dearest friends and our friend from Bermuda, Nikki. We begged my dear friend (the one with the car) to leave late one afternoon...I think she had wanted to stay one more day...Well, it was pretty easy going...and my friend was getting tired so Nikki volunteered driving...No more that an hour after she started to drive it started sprinkling, then raining, then pretty much it was a torrential downpour. Nikki was a trooper and was doing so well. until the snow. Yup. It began to snow like crazy and the more we drove the thicker and stickier it became until Nikki began to pass a humongous semi-truck and turned into the left lane right onto a thick layer of black ice. Nikki was already scared because she was from BERMUDA for crying outloud and had NEVER driven on snow. It was seriously like a horror movie....all three of us were screaming..and praying. Needless to say we made it..but they closed the highway just a little down the road and we had to stay the night in a hotel before finishing the hour and a half drive home.

5. Anticipating my second c-section. The first one happened so fast, I didn't have time to think about it. #2, however...well I had time to think about the whole process. I think my heart was in my throat the entire drive to the hospital.

Well...that's my five. What scares you??? Any creepy stories to post?

You know what makes me happy??

Just the teensiest bit of organization in my life...With a one year old and a two year old running around like crazy monkeys...I'd have to say my crocheting helps keep me sane!!

Meet Nettie the Notebook...

She holds every one of the patterns I have torn out from magazines, printed out and loved...or printed out and wish to try...I love my notebook.
Haven't tried the afghan yet. But I love the whole seventies vibe I get from it!!

And this sucker is full!! I was just reorganizing it today and putting some new patterns in...that's 50 plastic page savers...I need more.

I highly recommend a notebook to any pattern or even recipe follower...and no..mine really doesn't have a name.

A fun giveaway

My friend Steff has just opened her etsy store in the last couple of months...She's new so give her some love (hearts) http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5884924 and she's got a great giveaway too...check out her fb page! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Indianapolis-IN/Designs-by-Steffanie/162429169706?ref=nf

Five Faves- Handmade Items You Own and Love

I would so love it if you would participate with me on these Friday "Five Faves" posts. I admit, I am copying this from a blogger who is copying this from one of her friends...but she doesn't know it yet. LOL.

Handmade is so wonderful. I love making things for people and hearing about how they love it, I love buying handmade...in fact, my new tradition (starting last Christmas) was to buy as many of my gifts for family on etsy...or handmade.

So I've been making a wonderful pattern from Mamachee on etsy and thinking about what handmade items I love in my life.

Here is a sampling of FIVE handmade items I own and love.

This is just a fraction of the handmade blankies for either of my babes...(mommy and daddy have some too) My son LOOOOVVVVVEEESSS his blankets, and will tell me...pretty much on a daily basis that he does. Thanks to the effort and time from Grandma and others that created these handmade goodies of daily use.

Next item up is this wonderful wooden toy box that my dad made little man for his second birthday. My mom was telling me just yesterday that she and my dad were so worried that it was too big...um. nope. Hopefully little sister gets one for her second birthday too. *wink wink*

Next is kind of two fold...Since my ladybug has TONS of hair...and has since birth, she has accumulated more than the average amount of clippies one little girl should have. I was running out of room...and didn't want to spend too much money on a clippie holder, so I made one myself. I just bought a ladybug plaque for like a dollar at Michaels, some wide polka dotted ribbon and used a narrower green ribbon I already had and glued them all together to make this holder. Matches her room to a tee and keeps all her handmade clippies safe and sound. Some of my favorite clippie makers are fellow March Mommies I met on my birthboard. Steff, Angelhairclippies, and Kenzie's Klippies and of course I had to try my hand at making some too...just not my favorite thing to do. I would much rather pay someone else to make them!! :)This ring is one of my favorite etsy buys... Not being the tatooing type (not yet at least) I wanted something to commemorate my "motherhood" if you will...so I searched high and low for a mother's ring that I liked. So many are soooo gaudy. Have you ever done a search for one?? Well I came across the Sweet Familia Ring in Farafield's shop on etsy. I loved how simple and just plain cool it was to me. So one little glass bead represents my babe's March birth and one represents my other babe's December birth. I love it.

Lastly are my newest crochet project. I mentioned I was working on a new pattern...and it is for slippers. Gosh I love these slippers!!! They fit so nice and keep my toesies so toasty!!! I am working on them now for my etsy shop. LOVE them.

So there you have it...My five handmade items for today...Like I said, I would love to know your five faves for today too!! Post yours on your blog and link to me or just write them into the comments!

It has been forever.

I have been such a busy momma. My eldest has decided that sleeping in is for the birds, so my early mornings have been inundated with breakfast, sippy refilling, and PBS kids.

I have been scrambling to get housework done each day and to get my store stocked up with goodies for the coming cooler months, so I pretty much have no time to collect my thoughts and blog.

I have, however, had time to think about what to write about...and I am going to start something each Friday, beginning today...called "Five". Look for a post later.

See you lovelies later!!

Up and running again

That was not fun...to not be connected for a bit of time...
In the meantime...I totally lost the charger to my camera battery...ordered a new one and it should arrive soon. :(
I've made some new hats but haven't been able to post them because, well, no camera...howwwwever, I bought a styrofoam head to display my hats!! It arrived today in the mail! Yippee!
We've been watching The Unit season one...getting excited for the premiere, and I just found out tonight that it's not coming back for Season 5. boo. :(
Well, that is about it for now. I will get back to more regular posts once my camera is charged and ready again!

I'm sitting here

At a local cafe/diner/bakery with free wi-fi and using my hubby's laptop because we had an "incident" involving lightning and thunder on Thursday and haven't had our modem working ever since.

It started to lightning and thunder right over our house, and I was smart and shut down the computer, went downstairs and crocheted while the kids were napping...and I kept thinking...Is it only storming over our house?? It was so intense and so crazy! My babe woke up so she and I layed on my bed and watched the storm from my window, when suddenly, I see this lightening bolt reach its long finger from the sky and strike the powerline across the street. A poor unfortunate bird had just settled down there and was blown to smitterines...I saw it fall in a flurry of feathers to the ground and watched a brownish, greenish, blackish smoke cloud rise to the sky.

After the storm was over, I went to check out a recipe online only to find that I had left the modem on , and it decided it didn't want to work anymore. :( We have to wait this loooooong weekend for a replacement to make it's way to our mailbox.

In the meantime, I am able to check my online "stuff" one time a day...and thus, here I sit at my favorite diner...plugged into the wall and wi-fi-ing it here.

I want all of you to check out my friend's blog. She is a wonderful up and coming photographer in the Houston area and she is going to be doing a crafty corner every week. She chose to make me her first featured crafter! :) I am so honored!! http://stephanieshirley.com/blog (And I'm sure if you are a crafter and interested in being featured, she would love to work you in!!)

A quick story about the boy:

We tucked little man into bed and said prayers and nite nites...shut his door and were in our room. We could hear him having a hard time in his room...kind of sounding frustrated, whiny...so my hubby decided to stop at his door and listen.
Here is what he heard, "Oh I so thirsty. Mommy...I so thirsty. I need cold ice water. Oh Daddy. I so thirsty." Long pause.
"Oh Jesus, please I need cold ice water."
Needless to say, we ran downstairs and got him some.
I sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his back. I had been for the last few months been trying to teach him that if he ever needs anything, if he is ever scared, that Jesus will always be there for him. I told him all he has to do is talk to Jesus and He hears. How PRESH that he did. And seriously, that Jesus did answer his prayers...we didn't ignore his whiny whimper..but we heard. I was so happy to know that my little man will, when he needs Him, call on Jesus.

Little lady is pretty much a talking machine. She is the cutest thing. Yesterday she told me, "I Daddy geeeuuurl." (I'm Daddy's girl) She has him wrapped around her little teeny tiny fingers!!

Lastly, be on the lookout for fun new items in the shop. I am trying to have some fun variety as we get closer to Christmas.
Ciao!