Spring/Summer Season - Not what it used to be

Yesterday, I was chatting with a friend and she was looking for a new purse. She sent me some links and while I loved the purses she was looking at I kept thinking about something that I wanted for the spring/summer season.

No, it's not a purse or any cute clothes, it is actually this:

Yes, it is a Silouhette SD cutting maching. Call me crazy but I was thinking about all the cute things I could make with it this Spring and Summer! I thought maybe I could make some things for friends planning parties or make vinyl stickies for our house or create cute crafts. The best part about it, is that you don't need cartiridges, you just go online and buy the templates - like an itunes account.

As I was reading online and trying to get more crafty ideas, I noticed that I missed a giveaway of them by a week. Ahhh only if I was able to enter the contest and win won!
For now I will dream about it and hope I can find a coupon or a great ebay deal.

There is only one thing I question - does it work with a MAC? We have an old PC I could use but it would be super ideal to use on the MAC. If you have one, can you let me know and hopefully not squash my dream ;)

Wordful Wednesday at Work

This morning, I sat in my car because I didn't want to actually go into the office. I've been working at home for the past week but needed to come in to print and do some month end work. I kind of felt like Cameron in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, you know where he sits in his car and debates if he should go pick up Ferris. "He'll keep calling me, he'll keep calling me" except mine was "Can I do it tomorrow, can I do it tomorrow."

I finally dragged myself out of the car to come inside, only to get a text message from a co worker saying they won't make it because India is playing Pakistan in a cricket match and that a lot of Indians took the day off to watch. She may be in later after the match - WTF? I didn't even respond to the text message because I'm not really quite sure what to say, except maybe "Go, India?"

Needless to say I am working, just taking a little break from all my printing. I'm using the picture below for motivation to get what I need done so I can continue working from home this week.

Easy Right?

My DIY home projects are getting the best of me and well, my parents.

I got this crazy idea to make DIY cornice boards in our kitchen. Charlie laughed but agreed to help hang them. I called my parents because I knew they had some in their house. They didn't make them but at least they could look at them and figure out what we needed to do. When I called they thought I was kind of crazy but at least they thought it was a doable project.

My parents came up last Friday and we out our DIY in motion. This clearly was not going to be easy as the DIY chalkboard I made but we were ready. Sent the men to Home Depot for wood and brackets and my mom and I went on the fabric hunt.

The guys part seemed pretty easy, compared to my mom and I agreeing on a fabric. It didn't take us too long until we found a print that we loved and it was actually on sale.  My mom and I don't always agree on things like this so it was great that we were able to pick something so easily.

Alright we are ready to work......five hours later, another trip to Home Depot, two more trips to JoAnn's, because well we didn't have enough fabric, a hot glue fiasco and a lot of cookies later we have these:

The first one is for over the sliding glass door and the second one goes over the kitchen window.

I have to give the most credit to my mom, she did the most work. She was really anal about lining up the fabric and measuring and making sure everything is perfect. My dad worked the staple gun and helped calm Charlie from throwing it out the window when trying to hang them up.

This was certainly not an easy project, but thank goodness my parents were here to help! I LOVE how they turned out but I think this was a one and done DIY in this house.

Photo Shoot

This morning before taking Henry to school, I tried to get some pictures of him and the Ellie dog. Today is Ellie's 12th Birthday and I thought it would be cute.  We don't have very many of them together and I figured how hard could it be.

Please see the pictures below:

Even though I was frustrated at the time, I think they came out pretty cute. They are not be the best photos of them together but honestly it shows how the two of them interact. Ellie makes Henry laugh and they both don't sit still.

Happy Birthday, Ellie!

DIY Chalkboard

I have to say I watch too many HGTV shows and probably read too many DIY blogs. These people have incredible ideas and they make it look so easy!

We have a very small mudroom that takes us to our garage. We put a wall coat hanger in there for all of Henry's stuff. We actually hung it low so he could reach it and learn to hang his own jackets on it. The space above it was bothering me because it was just a big empty wall.

Then I got this idea to put a chalk board there. I thought it would be cute and a good learning tool for Henry. We can read it as we go out the door each morning or have a count down to something that is coming up for us.

So, I went to the AC Moore, conveniently it is located next to my favorite store, Home Goods. I must have spent 30 minutes trying to find a chalk board I liked. I bought a chalk board that just had a wood trim. You know one you would hang in a dorm room, BORING. Brought it home and realized it was too small and just not right. Then I remembered a DIY I saw where they made their own using a picture frame. Surely, I could do that!

This time I headed to Michael's because there were coupons! I dwelled over different frames until I found one that I thought would work. It took 20 mins to pick a frame and find the chalk board spray paint and that was the longest part of the project.

Here is the frame before:

In process:

After:

It took about three coats of spray paint on the glass and about five minutes to make. Assembled back together this morning and now I am waiting for Charlie to hang it.

My first DIY and I am pretty impressed.

Top of the Morning to You!

Three years of St. Patty's Day....

This is the only holiday that I could do a progression of pictures.  I'm a big fan of St. Patty Day t-shirts, there were so many cute ones this year too!

Looking at these pictures is amazing to me....last year from this year unreal!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!!

My Life...

This picture doesn't mean much to anyone except for probably me. It is something that I have looked forward to for a long time.

To you it is a window sill with clutter, to me it is how I want to be living. I have always wanted a kitchen window over the sink. I've dreamed about having the windows open, washing dishes and yelling out, Henry time for dinner. I never said I was cooking the dinner, I just want to call him in for dinner.

Tonight that happened. I actually over heard Charlie tell Henry, "Mommy has waited a long time to yell out that window, it is her dream to call you in for dinner." I kind of stopped for a minute and realized this is our house, this is our life, and he was right, it was a dream I had.

I don't dream big and I realize it is the little things in life that make us who we are. I stood there in that moment and watched Henry play outside with Charlie, it was something I will never forget.

The Apple Doesn't Fall off the Tree

The Apple Doesn't Fall off the Tree is a saying we use a lot around here, especially when we are talking about Charlie and Henry. I know the saying is The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree but these two are so much alike the apple doesn't get a chance to fall off.

Everything is down to tee with these two, from there facial expressions, to there walk, to there teeth, to the way they sit, it is scary how much they are alike.

The way they sleep is also another thing they do the same.

Having both of them in a bed together is like living through a hurricane. There legs just don't stop moving and right when you think they are comfortable, they move again and again and again. Charlie also has a tendency to sleep with his arms behind his head. Pretty difficult for when I roll over because I usually get my eye poked out.

This morning, Charlie left early for a meeting and for some reason my child is still asleep, so I went to check on him and I found this:

I know most of you have not slept with my husband or seen my husband sleep, well at least I hope not, but if you have this is what you find. Exact placement of arms and head slightly off the pillow while sleeping at a diagonal.

This picture is just another reason why the apple doesn't fall off the tree in this house.

The Perfect Chair

I don't think I will ever be able to end my obsession with Home Goods because this place has yet to fail me.

Yesterday, I went to see what new had come in. It had been a week so I needed to get my fix. Charlie said he and Henry would stay home. I think I ran out the door - shopping, child free, is not really heard of.

I barely got into the door when I found them. Four burnt yellow fabric chairs at a price that could not be beat. My eyes lit up when I realized how well they would match our dining room. I maybe even squealed in delight. I only needed two so I looked them all over carefully.

Of course, I had Charlie's car so they would not fit. Thank goodness for pay and hold. I went back on my lunch break today and picked them up.

Voila.......

The perfect chair for the perfect rug. Now I just need to get the perfect buffet.

FIrst Haircut

Okay, so he may be 2 and we may have waited too long to get his haircut, but he never really had a bad hair day before yesterday.

I give you Exhibit A:

WOWZA - look at the frizz on the back of his head. Poor thing got his mommy's thin hair, the only thing he has from me. He did get his super curls from both of us and I love them, probably why I was hesitant to cut them.

I looked at Charlie yesterday after seeing Henry's hair and told him it was time. We have passed the place in the mall 100 times but always run by it because there is about 1,000 people waiting to get their kids hair cut. I figured our only chance was to get there when they opened.

We get there and there is already a line. Of course the Cartoon Cuts is right next to the train that you can ride around the mall. I too would rather ride the train then get my hair cut but we put his name on the list. After about 15 minutes and watching the train we were called back.

We had no idea how this was going to go down but surprisingly it went very well. They have tv's at each station and had Thomas on. Henry did not enjoy getting the cape on but was great while she was cutting.

Of course I looked the crazy first time mom - camera in hand and taking pictures. The lady asked if we wanted his curls, I said of course, Charlie kind of looked at me. I wanted them, they are cute. A little weird that they attach them to a certificate but oh well I have them!

After the hair cut, we went up the carousel. We may or may not have bribed Henry with some rides if he was good at the hair place.

He no longer looks like a little boy, but a big boy. He was telling everyone he got his hair cut today. Hopefully, it won't be 2 more years until we take him again.

Disney

I'm a planner, it's in my blood and when it comes to vacation, I plan the crap out of them. I also like to plan really early, that way finances can be set aside and I can count down.

It looks like we are headed to Disney in the fall, well at least that is our plan and I don't know where to start. Henry will be almost 3. We will fly so that part is easy.

Now do we stay on poperty - is that necessary? I am sure I can get some great deals on off property hotels but then you need a car. Do you need a car if you stay on property too? We are not there for the hotel and Henry only being 3 really won't use pools and such, so that is why I question being on property. Although the transportation to the parks would be nice.

I went on the Disney vacation website and plugged in our dates. The rate was ok but I need to price more things out. They did ask about a meal plan - do I need a meal plan? I didn't know Disney had meal plans. I know I would like to do one character meal with him.

I'm planning on four days at Parks. I think anything over that might be overload for everyone. I like the Hopper pass because we can come and go and switch to different parks too. We are only planning on Disney parks so no Universal and Island of Adventure on this trip.

Maybe there is a book I can read that would help me or maybe I should call a travel agent. Either way, I am pretty excited about taking Henry. I look forward to seeing his face light up when he sees the Castle!