Cleaning Your House

"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing." ~~ Phyllis Diller

Yes, that is the reason I never clean my house!! My kids are 7 and almost 8 years old. They can rip through the house and leave a trail of devastation behind! I get so lazy and frustrated that I can't keep up with the mess. Other than locking them in a closet so they can't ruin the house, any one have any ideas for me?
I've tried setting up a chore chart, but it is my fault that it fell through. I kept forgetting to put the stickers on it! The kids hated that. LOL!!

Too Much Chocolate!

Hope everyone had a chocolatey (is that a word?) Easter!! It just wouldn't be Easter without a chocolate Easter bunny. My kids had to get at least one, YUMMY!! THE Easter Bunny visited our house and then we had an egg hunt in the back yard with 2 nephews. Too cute. We also received close to a ton of chocolate from family members. It is great but I don't really want it in the house. I'm trying so hard to NOT eat sweets and carbs, but now what am I going to do?? I hid all the goodies from the kids last night, but the problem is that I KNOW where they are hidden!! Hopefully I will forget about the huge box of sugar soon and then go on with my life.
Enjoy your day!

Check this out!!!

I found this excellent idea for a QUICK bandana bag. Smilemonsters created this cute bag, and shows the instructions on her blog. Check it out, can't wait to try one myself!

YUMMY Crafts

Here are a couple Valentine's day gifts I made for my kiddo's teachers. They are SOOOO easy to make and make a great WOW impact! I can show details in another post. The teachers loved them. After I finished these, I thought it needed some types of "leaves" or something, so I added some curly ribbon on each stem. It made it look much better. ENJOY!! Have a yummy day!

Botanical Gardens

Took my little angels to a botanical garden today! It is the 3rd day of spring break and they are getting ready to go back to school! I'm trying to find things for them to do that will use up TONS of energy - not an easy task!!! It was pretty chilly out today but the kids did a great job of walking around and seeing all the gardens. Had a great job, now I have to think up something for tomorrow!!

True Character

"The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out."
-- Thomas B. Macaulay


I just like this quote, it can really make you think about your actions to others. This is kept in the back of my mind when I'm out with the kids and I want to make sure they see me doing something good for others. It is the whole - be a good role model - idea!! But it also makes me feel good to brighten someone else's day.
I can remember my mother doing something so nice but meaningful for people she didn't even know. One day we met for lunch in her hospital cafeteria (she worked in a hospital laboratory for many years) and there was an older gentleman sitting alone many tables away coughing. It was the end of the lunch time crowd so there weren't many people eating. The man was having a hard time catching his breath, and seemed to have something caught in his throat. This went on for a short while when my mom stood up and brought the man a glass of water. That was all he needed to clear his throat. He was so thankful and it made quite an impression on me. I heard the gentleman coughing but never thought of helping him. My mother's true character was to help others! She had 5 kids and devoted her life to us and our father. She was stronger than I think I can ever be.
Do something today when no one is looking that makes someone else smile. It doesn't have to cost anything, even share a smile, make someone else feel just a little better today.
Have a good one.

Just saw this funny quote in an email, don't know who it is from:
If you can't be a good example -- then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.

A Better Tomorrow

Just a thought for today. Have a better tomorrow. Believe that every tomorrow is better than today.

Every day do something that will inch you closer to a better tomorrow.
Doug Firebaugh

Some other crafts

I made some folding "TV tables" for my mother's birthday in Oct 2004. I used my kids hand prints to make different pictures. At the time they didn't like getting their fingers dirty, but the tables turned out so cute!! She really loved them! Unfortunately, I now have them at my house because leukemia took her life in February 2008. They make me smile every time I look at them because I knew that she enjoyed them for a while.

The fourth table is of a butterfly using my daughter's hands. Can't believe I don't have a picture of it. I'll have to add that to my TO DO list.

Book of Life

Charlie Brown said it the best....

"In the book of life, the answers aren't in the back."
-- Charlie Brown

My poor husband has been suffering with a knee injury that just won't heal. Last year he had 2 surgeries on the patella tendon, both on his right knee. He fell twice and is still recovering from it. I wish I had known about this in my "book of life" so I could look up an answer in the back! I was a teacher for about 17 years before my kids blessed my life, so I'm used to having the answers in advance!!! But this one is beyond my reach. Wish I had an answer for him, he is so frustrated and hating his crutches. I know he wants to go play catch with our kids, or help them learn to ride a bike, but he is seriously restricted by what he can do. It is a blessing that he can drive because he doesn't feel so trapped in the house. It has been more than a year since the second surgery and his physical therapy has run out. We may be going to get a second opinion soon. We pray every day for his knee to get better soon, I hope it is this month!

Short and Sweet

With spring in the air, and birds chirping, pollen floating everywhere.... I found a great saying to help everyone look forward to spring and summer.

"Colors are the smiles of nature."

-- Leigh Hunt

Enjoy the colors of your spring time and nice weather.

Better things to come

I enjoy reading and thinking about inspirational sayings. They can make me think about my life and how I can make my life better. Here is a saying that makes me think of brighter days to come. A couple weeks ago I had a car accident and our mini van was totaled. Currently I am driving a rental van, but it is very frustrating when looking for a new (to me) vehicle when the money we were given will cover barely half of the cost! BUMMER!

"Hope is like a bird that senses the dawn and carefully starts to sing while it is still dark."

~~ Anonymous

Some of my Favorite Cards and Creations!!

I have been a long time stamper and card maker. For the past 5 - 6 years I have been creating cards and crafts for my friends to enjoy. Currently I have about 6 shoe boxes full of handcrafted cards just waiting to be shared with friends!! It is such an outlet for me to hide away in my little craft room and come up with new ideas for cards and crafts. I wish I could say that all of my ideas come from my brain, but my other love is craft surfing - seaching for new ideas from other crafters. One of my favorite sites is SplitCoast Stampers. They have so many ideas and AWESOME members with the best ideas!!! My gallery has most of my creations shown there. Check them out to see if anything inspires you!

Snow Today - forgot how hard it is to shovel!

It snowed here today in Northern Virginia (as it did all over the East coast!). As a transplated upstate New Yorker I thought I liked the snow, BUT that was years ago before kids!!! We had a good time playing in the snow and making angels, but then my little angels came in the house with snow all over their pants and boots! YUCK! It was fun watching them and I would do it again in a second just to watch them play and have a good time.
Used my $100 electric snow blower to clear the driveway and sidewalk. It is a small (but powerful) machine that got the job done. Saved my back some trouble, and the driveway is pretty much clear!! That makes me happy!

Coming up on Christmas again..

Can't believe it is almost Christmas again. It seems like just yesterday we were planning for the big day and making sure the kids are good for Santa! That is always a challenge. As most of us this year, we will be cutting back on the gifts becuase of the economy. My little guys are too young to understand the big idea of the economy so we will be emphasizing the fact that family is the most important thing. Unfotunately my Mom passed away this past February and it will be extremely difficult without her in our lives this season. She was definitley the glue. As long as I can remember all my siblings and their kids met at her house in NY. This year we have no plans to meet up with any of them. My heart aches at the thought of this. This is the start of new traditions in our family.

I pray that everyone has a healthy and safe holiday season.

School Daze

My kids are back in school. Actually they started at the end of July because they go to a year around school. We only had 6 week off for summer vacation, and boy did that go FAST!!! As a former teacher, I was used to the 2 months off - and I loved that when I was a teacher. But now that I have to keep a 6 & 7 year old busy during the hot summer days the 6 weeks off is pretty sweet. :)
It is funny when my little guys are back in school and there are so many kids in the grocery store and just around town. At first I think that there CAN'T be this many kids homeschooled!!! It takes a minute to remember that we are the ones with the mixed up schedule!
Hope everyone is having a great September, and enjoy the time when the kids are in school. Also remember to enjoy the kids when they get home from school, the time slips away to fast!!!