Happy Birthday

to me! Yep today is my birthday. I usually don't focus on it too much because I don't feel my age. Sometimes I feel older (two kids will do that to you!) and sometimes younger (not very often). I don't focus on my age because many people don't believe me when they find out how young I am. It's true, I got married young (I went to my high school graduation engaged) and had my kids young, but I wouldn't have had it any other way. I feel lucky to have what I do, I've worked hard. I've probably worked harder than most other people my age, but I'm ok with that. Instead of answering how old I really am, I'll just stick with saying ... it's my birthday so happy birthday to me!

Not so blue anymore

The bright blue dresser isn't so blue anymore. I will post pictures later this week. Here's a hint ...

Volcanic Ash from Olympic

4 miles ...

I've worked my way up to running 3 miles ... now I just need to add an extra mile for my race next month. I don't expect to win by any means, but I do have a goal in my head that I want to reach. I'm pretty sad that I'll have to run alone. When I found out about the race my best friend agreed to run with me, but 2 weeks ago she moved to Florida so now I'm on my own. My first race ... I'm kind of nervous. I know everything will be fine, but I've never really entered any sort of competition so I don't know what to expect. At least it is a 4 mile run/walk so I know I won't come in dead last since the walkers should be behind me. I'm trying to fit in more training time, but sometimes sitting on the floor with my kids is way more appealing than running. I'll be attempting to go 3.5 miles this weekend, let's hope I make it!

Craft Room Idea!

I've been trying to put together our front room which is a combination of craft stuff/computer/kid's play room. I picked up a dresser to use for storing all the kid's art supplies, but I haven't gotten to paint it yet (maybe this weekend!). I've been looking for decor ideas. It needs to be fun (so the kids will want to play there), yet not too crazy since it is the first room in our home and you see it when you walk in the front door. I've seen some cute ideas for the walls, but I just can't decide what I want to do.

I LOVE this crayon art which has been everywhere on the web lately. This is one is from whatever.

ABC wall -- I would use much brighter colors. This is from 30 Handmade Days.

Again? No way!

There's no way I could be so lucky to win a contest twice! Remember the bobbin tower I won back in June, well I entered the Think Crafts Blog Free Stuff Friday giveaway and I won again! And look what I got this time, a super cute book about refashioning dresses, skirts, shirts and more. I'm really excited since I've been jealous of everyone's refashions in the blog world lately, but have been too scared to tackle something myself. Maybe now I'll have the courage to take something old and make it new again!

Personal Size Pizzas

These pizzas are a favorite at our house because everyone gets what they want! I use pitas with any toppings that you can think of. Then toss them on the grill for a few minutes until they are toasty on the bottom and have melty cheese on the top. A sure winner every time (and they take a fraction of the time to prepare as compared to take out or even a frozen pizza)!


Linking up to Thirty Handmade Days

A Handmade Christmas?

Every year I like to make a few handmade items to give as Christmas presents. I normally do jar recipes for those people I'm not really sure what they would like. I have a few standard jar recipes that I use for chocolate chip brownies, sugar cookies and bean soup, but am always on the lookout for something new. I've had A make things for the grandparents too, such as painting on matted canvas and decorating ornaments. 

This year I want to make more gifts, but don't know where to start. It's less time consuming to go shopping and pick something up, but I also like the thoughtfulness of a handmade present. But a handmade present can take a lot of time. Since the summer is winding down and we'll be spending more time inside instead of outside camping every weekend I want to get started now. What's your go to for handmade Christmas presents? Or should I just stick to what I normally do and keep on buying the majority of my presents?

The Perfect LBD

Here's the dress I've been working on. It actually only took me a week to complete and I could've finished sooner if Mary had been available for fittings at the drop of a hat. Here's how it went.

Inspiration dress from H&M

The pattern

Front and back pieces all cut out from pattern

Sleeves all pinned and ready for sewing

And then I forgot to take pictures while I was sewing, so all I have is the finished product. Mary loves her new dress (even though she didn't want to pose for a photo) and will be wearing it this weekend!

Linking up to Thirty Handmade Days

Tacos + Muffins = Tuffins

I got this idea from my wonderful co-worker. She had these delicious looking muffins one day for lunch so I tried to recreate my own. I give you ... tuffins!

These little guys were so easy to whip up after work and best of all everyone loved them! I took some crescent rolls and wrapped them in a muffin tin. Then filled with taco meat and topped with a little cheese. I baked them for about 15 minutes (or however long the crescent rolls said to cook them). We then topped them with salsa. You could really top them with anything you wanted. I made A's without cheese because of her milk allergy and she said they were delicious. These will definitely be making another appearance at our dinner table sometime soon!

Birthday Wish List

Belted Military-Style Jacket from Old Navy

Yellow knobs for my new dresser from UneekGlassFusions

Gift certificate to my favorite spa

Dark gray fabric to finish my strip quilt

Dinner out at Joseph Decuis (my fave!) with my DH

To all my friends and family: I hope you read this! :)

Something new

My new oven! I'll be happy to get back to baking and cooking like normal -- this time with no flames or sparks!

That's one blue dresser!

Here's my latest find! It's a bright blue dresser with bubblegum pink drawer pulls (gorgeous color choices, right?!). I spent $15 on this sturdy wooden dresser, the only things wrong with it are the color and one missing screw for one of the drawer tracks. I figured a new coat of paint, some new pulls and we will have a new craft storage area for A and J. They have tons of paper, markers, paints, play dough and more that is currently overflowing from the tiny rack that we are using now. The room it will live in is undecorated (aside from the tan and blue striped curtains), but I'm still undecided on what color I want to use -- any suggestions?

DIY overload!

I might be on DIY overload this week. I'm still working on my quilt (although I haven't made any more progress). I will also be picking up an ugly dresser tonight so that I can fix it up and use as storage for the girls craft supplies (more on that later in the week!). And to top it all off I agreed to make someone a dress. I haven't done any garment sewing in quite awhile so I may have just dug myself into a VERY deep hole. Mary wants to wear the dress to a wedding next Saturday. Hopefully tonight she can pick up the fabric and pattern so I can get started. This should be an interesting adventure since I haven't done much sewing for other people. {I did make my dad a button down shirt in high school that he still wears for "special occasions" aka "seeing me"}  If it works out maybe I can turn it into something -- side business perhaps? It's going to be a busy, busy week!

Baking with fireworks

After a busy morning at the bike show, A and I decided to make zucchini muffins and bread while J was sleeping. Everything was mixed up and I was just finishing up pouring the rest of the batter into the loaf pan when I heard a strange sound. I turned around to see my oven shooting flames and sparks inside. It looked like someone put a firecracker in my oven and lit it off. Then the smoke started. I got A into the other room and shut off the stove and made sure the breaker was off. The flames and sparks stopped, but needless to say my oven is a goner. When my DH got home he surveyed the damage and figured out that we had an electrical short which caused the coil to burn right through (thus shooting flames and sparks). 

We did manage to get everything baked (with trip to my mom's house!) and A was happy to finally get a taste of her muffins.

All smiles

This is what I came home to after running last night. They always know how to keep me smiling!

A inside the block box with J trying to put the lid on top

Who wants me to be your landlord?

Well we have had zero luck trying to sell our house. We had some interest, but ultimately nothing panned out. Now we have to find a new rental tenant. Since we moved out we have had other family members in the house (my S.I.L and then my mom), but now we are out of family members who want to live there. We are running out of options, so it's time to place an ad and cross our fingers that someone won't totally destroy this place or complain about every little thing. Wish us luck!

Who wouldn't want to live in this cute little house?!

Peridot inspired treasury finds

Peridot mixed with kelly green [source]

Unique collection [source]

Love this collection [source]

Stay Cool

Nothing is better to cool down after a long hot weekend than a popsicle. J had it everywhere (and of course it was red)! So she got hosed down when she was done. A on the other hand was very careful and kept hers in the wrapper so she wouldn't make a mess. What a wonderful weekend we had!