Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Sorry we've been a little absent on the blog but I have been working on a writing project.

Details on that to come.

{2}

I got the sewing machine out this weekend and completed this banner.

I initially planned for it to be a 'happy birthday' banner we could use for Kendry each year, but then decided I want to keep my options open on the wording. Instead of gluing or painting letters on, I am going to cut out an array of felt letters and attach them with velcro for each occasion:

"Happy Birthday!"

"Congratulations!"

"Happy Columbus Day!"

You get the picture.

And yes, Columbus Day is worth celebrating; it's a paid holiday for yours truly.

{3}

This week's Kendry-ism:

Kendry: "Mom, remember Mo?"

Me: "Nope."

Kendry: "B-I-N-G-O and Bingo was his name, Mo!"

How does he come up with this stuff?

{4}

I am headed to a women's retreat this weekend.

It is sure to be a great time!

{5}

I watched "The Help" on Friday.

Octavia Spencer's Oscar was well-deserved.

{6}

Confession:

Seeing home pregnancy tests on a great sale still makes me a little bitter sometimes.

Its an infertility thing.

{7}

Kendry's handprint/footprint craft for February.

This is the cutest one yet.

{8}

He wanted to wear my 'hat':

{9}

I will not buy/wear colored jeans, I will not buy/wear colored jeans...

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

The resiliency of a toddler.

Kendry fell at open gym this weekend and tweaked something in his leg. He wanted to keep playing but with every few steps he would start limping or collapse and start crying. Not what a momma likes to see. I prayed and then gave him a dose of Children's Advil before naptime; when he woke up he was back to his usual bouncing-off-the-walls self.

Rescue Me

The kiddo has recently come into a small inheritance.

Rescue Heroes!

Ahhh, the advantages of having older male cousins who outgrow their action hero toys.

{For those of you not fluent in Dr. Seuss like we are these days, that "get get get" talk was a line from 'One

Fish, Two Fish'.} 

Thank you, Gho Family!

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Purgin'! Purgin'! Purgin'!

I've got spring cleaning fever, baby!

{2}

PINNED IT, DID IT!
{As a Pinterest addict I will occasionally post pinned ideas that I have tried myself}

As part of my spring organizing/cleaning over the weekend I scrubbed my bathroom from top to bottom, Justin and I installed a much-needed new wax ring on the toilet (eww!), and I cleaned out every drawer and cabinet. Then I hot-glued a strip of magnet to the inside of my cabinet like so:


source

Its a beautiful sight.

 

{3}

Only 31 more days until the Hunger Games release!

The hubs isn't a big fan of going to movies at the theater, but since we read this series together I think I can convince him to go.

{4}

I am already doing some birthday shopping for my little man.

He reminds me at least once a week that he is turning three in May.

He's just in it for the cake.

{5}

Kendry hardly stops to take a breath these days; he talks non. stop.

Actual sentence tonight at dinner:
"Mommy, are you having a sandwich do you remember when we went camping I need to roll my sleeves up."

{6}

I have given 4 and 5 star reviews on the last 10 books I've read. Does this mean I only select books I know I will enjoy? And if so, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

{7}

Confession:
Valentine's Day has come and gone and I still have our Christmas cards on display.

See, just when I fool you into thinking I am uber-organized I admit a shortcoming like this.

Ahh well, nobody's perfect.

Did you know that you can donate used Christmas cards to St. Jude's? They recycle/refurbish the cards and then sell them as a fundraiser. I believe they are accepting all occasion cards now too, such as birthdays, sympathy, thinking of you, etc.

This is my first year doing it. So if you're like me and still have cards lying around, be sure to look at this site and see if any of your cards qualify.

{8}

We're currently on a wind storm warning, with gusts up to 60 and 70 mph predicted for tomorrow.

Wind makes me incredibly irritable.


 

{9}

The Rescue Heroes have invaded!
{I'll explain tomorrow}


 

{10}

This Week's Blessing:
A lost heirloom ring was found. God is so great!

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Etsy

{2}

I love that my kiddo's teachers have nicknamed him "Smiley".

{3}

Home ownership has its highs and lows.

Buying and installing wax toilet rings is a definite low:

Bing

{4}

In 2012 I will be keeping track of books read and miles ran.

My reading log can be found in the column on the right side of our blog. I am still working on my running log widgit.

So far this year I've read almost as many books as my total miles ran.

Dang, I'm gettin' lazy.

{5}

We made these for dinner tonight.

Red Velvet Pancakes

How's that for festive?

Don't worry, we made it a healthier meal by throwing some protein-rich bacon on the side.

{6}

Confession: purchasing plastic storage totes makes my heart go pitter-patter.

{7}

The kiddo came home today with a Dip-It candy valentine. You know I have no qualms with candy, but giving a two year old a packet of sugar to eat with a stick?

Its like giving noisy toys as a gift; someday that gesture will come back around to bite ya.

I would know.

{8}

Googly eyes are one of the greatest inventions of all time.

{9}

I MY VALENTINE FOREVER!

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

Family, family, family!

This week we had my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, our niece and Justin's Uncle Erik in town.

Splendid Saturday

Last weekend we were invited to join our friends for a day at their cabin located about 45 minutes away.

The beautiful blue skies and bright sunshine followed us up there, and we gained enough elevation to find a few feet of snow waiting at the cabin.

After some lunch and a little time warming up around the wood stove, we geared up and trekked out into the snow.

Emphasis on the the 'trekked' because that stuff was deep!

The guys were spoiled - or smart, depending on how you look at it; they were wearing snowshoes.

We were all pretty taken with how beautiful the snow was in the bright sun.

It was perfect for sledding.

Mommy's little cheeser:

And his handsome daddy:

Silly me, I did a Jillian workout early Saturday morning in anticipation of sitting lazily around the wood stove at the cabin.

A few trips up this short hill in my snow gear, in the deep snow, and pulling 40 pounds behind me was a tougher workout than Jillian. But obviously the kiddo loved every minute.

He was also pretty pleased when I showed him he could eat an icicle.

After wearing ourselves out a bit we headed back inside for cocoa, more time around the fire and a few rounds of ping pong.



Sometimes its just nice to get outta' dodge.

Thank you to Michelle, Forrest and Hope!

We had a wonderful time!

Ten on Tuesday

{1}

Our tulips are already poking up out of the ground.

Cah-razy!

I hope they aren't too ambitious for their own good because I don't think winter is over just yet.

{2}

We are fresh off a marvelous weekend, complete with a trip to our friends' cabin in the mountains on Saturday and a fantastic Super Bowl party on Sunday.

More pictures and video to come!

 

{3}

We have family coming to town this week (hooray!), which means another Red Velvet Cake is in order.

Yum! Yum!

{4}

I have found some crazy good deals on free magazine subscriptions lately. In the last two weeks I've signed up for 1 year of Martha Stewart Living, 2 years of Better Homes & Gardens, 2 years of Family Fun, 1 year of Fitness and 1 year of a Focus on the Family parenting magazine.

For free!

I usually find my offers on Money Saving Mom.
Follow her on FB and you'll see these deals as soon as she posts them.
Her site rocks!

 

{5}

I have a love/hate relationship with sesame seeds.

I love them in my food but I hate cooking with them.

Those little buggers end up everywhere!

We're tried this Asian Chicken Pasta Salad for dinner tonight.

 

{6}
Jillian Michaels videos are not for the faint of heart.
She is kickin' my butt, but I am pleased to see a difference in muscle tone already.

{7}
Playing hide and seek with a toddler is a riot.
He tells me exactly where he is going to hide every time I start counting.

{8}

Its been a year since our last IVF cycle.
Some days my heart still aches, like when I held a friend's newborn last weekend. But the joy of the Lord is my strength!


 

{9}
I am excited to do Kendry's Valentines this weekend!
We're going to make these little heart crayons:


Pinterest


And I think we'll make these Kiss rings for his teachers:


(source)

 

{10}

This Week's Blessing:

After staying home with a sick kiddo on Friday the hubs gave me a reprieve that evening. I went to the $1 theater and saw Breaking Dawn on the big screen.

All. By. Myself.

Footprint Snowmen

Our 12 months of handprint/footprint crafts continues!

This month's inspiration was, yet again, inspired by Pinterest - and quite fitting in the wake of our snowstorm two weeks ago. Kendry was so proud of the snowman we built in our back yard that day. Alas, our weather turned warm again and within a few days Bucky the Snowman (Justin picked the name) was nothing but a hat, a tiny carrot and two sticks laying in a heap in our back yard.

So even though I am more than ready to bid winter farewell, we went with a snowman theme.

I cut out the snowman accessories and Kendry glued them on. He was adamant about using the huge googly eyes, even if it did make this snowman look like a bug.

He didn't understand the concept of a top hat either, so our snowmen look like chefs.

This has been such a fun project to do with my kiddo!

 

I did an experiment this month to see if my footprint would look as cute as his.

Nope.

There is nothing cute about size 11 feet or toes that are longer than my kiddo's fingers.