Cooking with my son

I got off work early today, @3:45!!  So we came home and Jacob and I cooked dinner.  First of all, it has been years since I have cooked a meal for my family.  Yes I cook for bunco from time to time, but since my kids are very picky and my husband isn't home at dinner time, well I just don't see the point in cooking for myself.  So I just eat whatever the kids will eat.

However, tonight I decided to cook dinner.  Once I started pulling stuff out, my 7 year old son was very excited and eagerly asked to help.  So we had a great time measuring, stirring, pouring and spending some great time together.  We will surely have to do this more often.  He also TRIED it.  We made Southwestern CHicken, a Weight Watchers recipe.  It had corn, tomatoes (which we pureed since I don't like chunky tomatoes), rice, cheese and chicken.  I don't think he would have tried it if he had not helped cook it.  I can't say the same for the other two.  They wouldn't touch it.  So they enjoyed a gourmet hot dog!! LOL.

Here he is with his first meal. Here is JoAnna making sculptures with her grapes. Anything to get these kids to eat!!!

Baby Birds

Last year we had a nest under our front porch. Three baby birds, two of which fell from the nest. We have no idea what happened to the third as the baby, male and female bird suddenly disappeared. I don't know if they moved the nest or if the third baby fell and the adults just left. Who knows. I don't even know for sure it was a male and female bird keeping watch. Anyway, this year they are back. They built a little addition to the old nest and now have four baby birds!! Here are a few pictures. I have no idea what kind of birds we have living on the front porch. If you know please leave a comment.

Feeding time, I think this is the female bird?

Mommy bird with wings spread

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Daddy standing guard during feeding time (I think this is the male bird)


Here are a few pictures from last years nest.  You can tell the difference in the nest from last year to this year.  The new addition to the top of last years nest is darker than the bottom.  Does it look like the same bird to you??

Here is a picture from last year

Add caption

Here is a picture of the nest from last year

Training for The Susan G. Komen 3-day!!!

I call it "training" but we are just walking and increasing our distance right now. I need to be doing some resistance training, but haven't pulled out my machine yet-hoping I can slide it under my bed to keep the kids off of it. Last night we walked 6 miles in under 2 hours. Not bad considering the farthest I have walked has been 2.5 miles. I felt great. No pain whatsoever. Until I came home and fell asleep and woke up a few hours later. My left knee and pelvis was extremely painful. Even today my knee just feels like it is going to give out. My pelvis hurts if I lay down for an extended time and then get up. Hopefully I can work that soreness out. However I am concerned about my knee since it's been hurting on/off since Christmas.

Susan G. Komen 3day!!

My sister, two friends and myself are participating in the Susan G. Komen 3day!!! It will be held in Atlanta! We will walk 60 miles in 3 days and camp in a pink tent city for two nights! It is going to be a blast!!

IF I can raise the $2300 required to participate.  So here is a link to my website where you can go and donate money!!!  Check back frequently to keep up with my progress.  Feel free to pass it on to friends and family!!!

Geocaching

I finally got a chance to take the kids geocaching!! I haven't been in months and not consistently in about 5 YEARS!!! So it was GREAT to get back out there and find some caches. We have searched for about eight in the last few days but have only found four. I hate loggind DNF!!! My 7 year old son has really gotten into finding treasures too. He mostly likes the regular sized caches with "treasures". So we decided to create an account just for him!!! He is super excited!!!!

35 BEFORE 35

So this had now become my 35 BEFORE 35 list...since I didn't get everything done on my list..yet again!!! Why is it so hard for me to set goals and actually accomplish them?!?!



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1.run a 5k (not looking good)

2.buy a backup camera/backdrop equipment

3. make stepping stones with the kids

4.do a studio photo session/trash the dress session

5.go backpacking/kayaking

6.make a camera strap I bought one. Does that count?

7.take my kids camping and canoeing

8. make “MUG” gifts yeah! Made these for Christmas 2011! Potato Soup-Super good

9.sew something cutesy for my daughter

10.make wall art for the boy's room

11.paint a canvas for the mantel

12.photograph “alphabet” art

13. make a card table playhouse for the kids

14.lose the baby weight

15.organize my art room/closet/kids art closet. (I organized it 3 times-now if it could stay organized)

16. sew a crayon cozy

17. host a Wii party

18.scan old family photos

19.have a garage sell

20.vacation in the mountains

21.pay for someone else in line

22.find a letterbox/find 100 caches

24.plant an herb garden

25.go to a drive in movie

26.decorate my grandmother's sewing box

27.take my kids fishing. We didn't catch anything...but we are working on that.

28.design my own blog banner/tags

29.knit a hooded baby cocoon for portraits

30.finish knitting my daughters scarf to match her hat i made last winter/knit my boy's hats

33.design my tatoo - will decide later if I actually get it!! Thanks to Pinterest.com I have my tatoo design picked out.....hmmmm.

34.build my photography website /register my business name

35. Go on a mothers/ladies only weekend retreat/vacation!!!!

A few odds and ends....

I am so behind on posting...so here are a few things I have been working on lately...





Been letting the kids paint a good bit lately...they LOVE it!!




My kids all doing school work quietly at the SAME time!!!



A shamrock I painted with my sister and a good friend. The three of us made up 75% of the class. The other 25% was a 6 year old boy!! BWAHHHA



Here is JoAnna's 100th day of school t shirt. She loved eating all those tootsie rolls. Sure she shared "some" with her friends, but the majority of them found their way into the bottom of her school bag, which she would sneak into her bag every few minutes to get a tootsie roll. That baby girl LOVES candy...just like her Roo (Aunt Marissa)


Here are some Valentine treats we made for the kids teachers...they were a hit..I think anyways.



Here is the chore chart I made last week for the kids. And can I just say...I should have made this MONTHS ago. The first day I had it up Jacob was racing around trying to figure out what chores he could do, how much money he would get and how much of it he would spend at candy shop (every Friday the kids can bring money to spend on junk food at candy shop). This week, the same thing!! He is even helping JoAnna pick chores so she can have money to spend-especially since last week we had a melt down on Friday when she realized she had not done ANY chores and therefore didn't have any money for candy shop. Of course the great and wonderful mother I am -HA- I allowed her to have a dollar and told her she would have to do chores that night to make up for it.

Jacob's First Junior Division Karate Tournament

Now that Jacob is 7, he competes in the junior division karate tournament. They are put into different divisions (not sure how that is decided) and they compete against each other. He was placed in the "patterns" division. There were three competitors. He was awarded 1st place!!! Very excited for him. He works very hard on this patterns and combos (of which I am not sure the difference between the two). The second division he competed in he had to fight another child. They had padded "swords" and shields. They were awarded points for hitting their opponent in the leg or stomach. No points for the head or arms. If they hit at the same time no point was awarded. He and the kid went several rounds, sometimes scoring a point, sometimes not scoring. The score was tied at 1-1, then went 2-1, then tied again at 2-2, but the other kid won 3-2. But I am so proud of Jacob for hanging tough with the kid that appeared to be a few years older. He did great!!!

He should be wearing his Tiger belt (Orange with black stripe) but he lost it the week of the tournament and we have yet to find it :(

Christmas Gifts 2011

Here are a few things I made for Christmas gifts this year. I really wanted to make handmade items for cost reasons and for to add a piece of me to my gift giving this year.


Some treats we made at our annual "baking day". A day we get together with family and friends to make Christmas treats!! I gave these as gifts to the kids teachers.



I LOVED making these little note/picture holders!! These were scrap pieces of wood from my in laws-they recently had their kitchen redone. I just pain
ted, added eye hooks, ribbon and a small clothespin to hold pictures, recipes or notes. Super cute!


Even Jacob got into the homemade gift giving. He painted a canvas for his sister, CC and Nana.



This is melted crayon art the kids did for CC and Papaw. It was super fun and super easy. Wish the writing was cuter...but I am terrible with handwritting!




This is upside down and I am just too lazy to go back and fix it and upload it again. You get the idea. Another frame made with scrap wood. I loved making these too!!!



Mug Gifts!! Something to mark off my 35 before 35 list...which is actually the same list as my 34 before 34. I am terrible at getting things done on my to do list.



LOved making these crosses! They looked GREAT in Saints colors too!! I will surely be making more of these next year and for other gifts.




Nana's Bragboard. I wanted to make something for Nana to hang all her grandchildren's artwork. Especially since her new fridge is stainless steel and is not magnetic. However after it was made and ready...I really think its way too long......




The big cross I cut out at my Uncle's house. The smaller cross and fleur de leis was bought at Hobby Lobby. I spent a weekend at my Uncle & Aunt's house cutting out crosses and scrap wood. With the intent of making MANY of these!! I loved the 3D effect. I only got around to making 2...but plan on making many more!!!



Here is the other one I made!!




Not a Rebel fan but I did like the way this one came together. Super cute for some friends of mine with terrible taste!! LOL!
Yeah I am behind on my posts....

New Project

yeah like I really need something else to start...and never finish!!

I found this post on a fellow bloggers site Glow in the Dark Soul.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif and I fell in LOVE!!! I use to LOVE scrapbooking, but with kids and then going back to work, I just haven't had time. So hopefully this will be a great way to reignite that passion and start documenting the lives of my children. I have ordered some cutesy pages so hopefully that will get me running and I can FINALLY use some of my scrapbooking stash for something other than showcasing dust!!!!!

Gatti Town Closing

Gatti-Town Closing

My baby girl is the one with the purple peace sign and she is sitting with a family friend...

Ringing the Salvation Army Bell

Jacob and I volunteered to ring the Salvation ARmy Bell for an hour at Kroger today. It was so cold but it was so much fun. The church we have been attending does this one week during the Christmas season. So we may make this a family tradition!!!!

Christmas Cards 2011

Trying to decide which card to use...will run it by the family tomorrow for the final decision...

One more craft

didn't turn out as well as I had hoped but it wasn't bad for my first try. Didn't help that my modge podge is now tinted an army green...lol.

An artsy kind of night!!!!

I have had a night full of arts and crafts!! I started off this afternoon with the kids trying some "melted crayon" art. It was FANTASTIC!!! wE extremely enjoyed it, I am SURE I enjoyed it the most!! Tonight when my husband got home from work I made a mad dash to Lowe's to pick up a little something to complete a project I have been wanting to make. While there I also found some cute glass tiles and thought hmmm.. I know what I could make with these!!!

So I have made this tonight...

Still not happy with the necklace, but this is what I have to go with around the house. When I get ready to make them for gifts I will have to do a little more research.....

And this, wasn't happy with the results, will have to try another method next time...


I also made this....
another melted crayon art project I saw online....isn't it just adorable. I am so happy that some people come up with the greatest ideas, so that I can copy them!!!


And finally. I have been wanting to make this for sometime now but had not decided on a frame. Plus I needed to buy the screen. Well today I went to the Old House Depot and found this for $5....



all I did was add cup hooks and a hanger on the back and.....

cabinet

i don't know if I have blogged about this or not-and I am too lazy to go back and check. I got a cabinet from a friend several months ago, she is moving and just wanted to get rid of it, so it was FREE!!! I painted it, sanded it and here it is!!!! I am using it to store movies, games and electronics.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Catching Up

I realized while going thru some photos on FB that I haven't blogged about some of the events of the summer/fall. So here is a quick summary ....


JoAnna's first ballet recital...just love that face..LOL...


JoAnna's apron she painted at the homeschool Art Co-op


a little project I made with newspapers...I have an abundance of those these days LOL...

Pumpkin Patch

Visiting Daddy at work
Touring the ambulance
playing with the radio
grilling hot dogs and marshmallows in the backyard....


Our little picnic in the family room...while watching a movie....
JoAnna's first field trip...to the pumpkin patch....
A little project I made for JoAnna's school teacher....

Jace and JoAnna painting...