nightstand!

Here is a picture of the nightstands and new lamps! I took it from my phone so it is not the best picture but I was taking it to show family cause they asked to see it. Today, my dresser is getting picked up at Ikea! Super excited we have never had furniture that matched in our room we have had handme down stuff (which was awesome) and stuff we bought and none of it matched. This go round everything is going to look great together!

Today is New Years eve and I am excited for 2011. I can put 2010 in the books it was one of the worst and rewarding years of my life. I learned alot about me and I am stronger, wiser, and growing in so many areas I am glad that my life is where it is now. :)

fast forward to almost a new year

Christmas was fun and the kids had a great time. They got tons of presents and I am trying to figure out where to put them all! This year I did carrots and cookies for Santa and his reindeer and the kids and I had fun with that. They were so suprised what was left on their plates when they woke up. It was a very early morning for some reason Hunter woke up at 4:30am and wanted to know if it was Christmas and Larry said when we woke up at Christmas it didn't matter what time it was it was time to check to see if Santa had come. So we woke up Grace and went out in the living room. They had a few presents under the tree but just watching them experience it was fun to see.

We got a gift card to Ikea from my mom and Wayne so I bought new night stands and lamps for the bedroom and it is starting to look good! We just have to get two dressers and than it should be done! I have my eye on some at Ikea too. I love Ikea it is in my budget plan and my house is small so their stuff fits. I will post a picture of the night stands and lamps when I get home I am writing at work :)

Grace has been doing awesome in her big girl bed in her and Hunter's room. It was such an easy transition that I am very suprised on how well it went. She even sleeps the night through and sometimes sleeps in after 7:30am! This is usually my girl that wakes up at 5:30-6:00am! So I am getting some more sleep, finally!

I think that is about it. No New Years plans laying low I think and going to drink some wine :)

big girl bed

It is official! Grace is in her big girl bed! She slept in it the night she got stitches and than I took her out at midnight for my piece of mind and she slept in it Saturday night and than I took down her crib on Sunday am and she took a nap in her big girl bed during the day for nap time and slept all night and I had to wake her up this am! Grace falls asleep before Hunter does cause she is exhausted but at least she can sleep through his talking and yelling. She actually stays in her bed and when she wants out she calls for me to ask if it is time to get up. My big girl is so good! I can't believe that my kids are sleeping in the same room! I have talked about doing this since March and now it is December and I did it! Whoo hoo! It is so nice to have a bedroom with no crib in it and now I can make it a bedroom instead of a master bedroom/kids room. All I have in it right now is my bed, Hunter's old dresser and the kids toy box. Once Christmas is done the toy box will come out and I have to put Hunter's old dresser in the shed and buy new matching night stands and dressers! Everything will match instead of not matching and hand me down furniture! So excited it is a work in progress! Maybe by Grace's birthday or Hunter's birthday the bedroom will be done :)
Here is the view going into the bedroom. I removed the toy shelf and now this is the toy box that will go out after Christmas where the tree is currently at.
This is the other side of the room. Grace's crib used to be right in front of the window where Lucy is at. And the white dresser on the left is Hunter's old one. This is what it looks like now and I hope to put white dressers with black drawer handles on them or get black dressers still unsure and the same with night stands either way. Super excited! This will be the first time that I have decorate my/our room and everything will be coordinated. Crazy! Exciting! Can't wait!
And than curtains! Not sure what color yet or what I am going to do but I would love to get the blinds out and have nice curtains that cat hair will not show on. :)

Stitches!

I never would have thought it would be Grace who gets stitches first! Last night she got to get 5 stitches under her chin :( Both kids are getting snotty noses and when they had their bath I put in Eucalyptus oil to help open their sinuses, which we have done a lot the last couple of months. Well Hunter got out and was brushing his teeth and Grace was coming out but I didn't get to her quick enough cause I usually lift her out and she slipt on the tub and landed on her chin on the side of the porcelain tub before falling to the bottom. There was hardly any blood and she was more stunned I think than hurt. I put her pj's on and told her she had to go the hospital cause her cut was smiling at me so I wasn't sure if they could just glue her or if she needed stitches. She kept saying I gotta go to the hospital when we were in the car going up the hill. Then she was more twitter patted about her crocks not fitting over her footed pj's like I said it didn't even phase her that she cut her chin. My mom came and got Hunter and so it was just Grace and I. I thought it would go quick but it took us awhile because the doctor wanted to use lotion lidocaine and wait 30 minutes for it to work and than he wanted to have her drink some meds to make her loopy. Well I told him she has a gag reflex and I didn't realize how bad it was going to turn out for her. I gave her the meds and she instantly did not like the taste which made her puke and she said she didn't like it and then when she was done we forced the rest down her but it wasn't enough for the doctor and so we forced more down her and she was not happy at all and puked again. She did get some in her cause she was pretty loopy. I told the doctor to just do the stitches and get it over with. She was pretty fun on the way home she was herself but very loopy but in control of her environment and didn't want anything to change she had to watch a whole Dora and sit in her spot on the couch before she would go to bed. She didn't want to go in her crib she wanted in her big girl bed so I let her. That lasted a few hours and she tossed and turned so much that for my piece of mind I put her back in her crib. Today, she doesn't even remember her chin has an owie on it and I haven't reminded her cause I just know she is going to pick at it or mess with the stitches. My baby girl is one stubborn trooper she made me very proud for what she had to go through at the ER. She even said goodbye to the nurse and doctor. She is such a good girl. :)

"Ziploc" Art bags

One thing I love to do is organize! The kids have two places where their crayons, paints, and paper are at. One is on the wall in their bedroom that I love and then one in an unorganized fashion in my bedroom. The bedroom one needed to get moved out cause I am trying not to have kids stuff in their with the new look. My plan was to use Ziploc big bags and put their art stuff in it, aka anything crayola and paper and whatever. I love these bags! But I got XL and L and they were too big and I kept looking for Mediums and I gave up well today I looked on the side of the Large box and they only come in Large, XL, XXL. No wonder I couldn't find Mediums! But I thought why not use the Large so I did and I used my Ziploc freezer bags that I have stalked up from Costco! So here is what I did! I am so excited and I hope it inspires you too!

My kids get one of almost everything it makes life easier for me or whoever watches them. So each child has the same thing or almost the same thing. You put all the items that are paper, pencils, crayons, pens, or paint and seperate them in the freezer ziploc bags.Then if you have more then one child, like me I put on the Ziploc big bag their name and I wrote art bag and put their initial on it so they would know which one was their's. This one is Hunter's.
Then you put all the stuff in the bag. Awesome, huh! Easy storage easy for them to get at and they get to choose what they want to do!

Pretty cool! I even have Grace's ponies in one and they are great for putting toys in. You just have to make sure they do not put them over their heads so I just watch my kids when they have them or just take the stuff out of the bag and put the bag up high and when the kids are done just have them put their stuff back in. :)

new bed pic

Here is my new bed! I didn't make it up perfectly and it is a work in progress needs more pillows but you get the idea. Grace's crib is on the left and I think this next week I am going to transition her into her big girl bed. I have Thursday and Friday off so if I lose any sleep over it I don't have to go to work. I can't wait till her cribs out and Hunter's dresser is out than I can get nightstands next, then dressers that match and curtains! Alot more to do but it will take time but here what it looks like now!

Here is a picture of our bedroom with the old king size bed and we had to move Grace's crib over to the left for pictures to put on the flyers for when we tried to sell our house. This is the first time I have had a headboard since I was a teenager and had a waterbed. Super excited about the new bed!

Goodbye to old bedroom maybe in a few more months I will have a new bedroom to show you all!

my secret weapons...

Here are my secret weapons for getting through this Canada time. Don't laugh! :)

1. Trader Jo's wine (why cause it is cheap)
2. Trader Jo's tamales (again cheap, easy to make and it isn't pasta)
3. Pretzel M & M's
4. Music
5. Candles
6. Books by Barbara Delinsky, Luanne Rice, or Jodi Picoult (at the moment)

So there you go. Crazy I know. I used to always get processed cheese in a jar when Larry would not be home for a day or so but my stomach doesn't like that anymore so these are my other vices that make me happy.

me and the present.

Hello all. So here is a recap of what is going on with me in a nut shell...

**Larry and I are in marriage counseling.

**We are working on us. Rings are on so that is a plus :)
**He leaves tomorrow for Canada .

**Canada for me isn't my favorite I don't want to be a single mom, but I have to see the positives of it. I am paying off debts and get quality me time with the kids. Do I like it, nope. But is making Larry happy one of my goals, yep and this is what he needs to do right now so I do it. Will see how it all turns out. Do I have alot of issues with Canada? Yep, but I am working on them and dealing with them and communicating more. Am I a stronger and different person than last December? Yep, I am and watch out family and friends cause I am only getting stronger :) Mean that in the nicest way, I promise.
**Have I learned alot about myself? Yep, I realized that I didn't stand up for myself, I didn't take charge, I didn't learn how to fight, and I didn't communicate and learn and now I am. Am I sorry that I didn't? Yep, but I am not perfect nor will I ever be but I am learning. I have to figure it out so that I can teach my kids what I didn't do right and how they can learn from me and be a good example.
**So, that is the skinny on me. Watch out world I am just beginning to learn about me and I am getting stronger and fiestier if that is even a word. :) Also, I got alot of sleep in the last two days with my vacation that I feel like a new woman!

**I love music and can't get enough of it.

**I might be addicted to words with friends on my iphone but I am not that good like Larry and Corey! (I think they might be cheating). :)

**I am trying to use up all my old candles for new ones especially ones on timers love those and the ones that plug in. Love those!

**I think I found my new calling...home decorating. Love it!

**I love wine. There is something about it that just calms me. Is that bad? Probably.

**I am addicted to reading Pioneer Women and coupon blogs.

**I am so close to another debt being done that it is killing me these last couple of months. Darn the holidays! I mean that in a good way but it makes budgeting just a tiny bit harder but I love to get gifts and shop!

**I am back to my regular weight just in case you all were wondering. :)

**I wear makeup now when I get a good nights sleep and the kids aren't bears in the morning and if the animals let me sleep.

**I have tomorrow off!

**I get to go celebrate my Grandma Worthington's life tomorrow! She was a great woman and I wish that I took more time to get to know her but under the circumstances of life I didn't. She was a great Christian woman. She walked down the aisle for me with the other grandma's at my wedding and came to showers that I had. She had the meanest cat ever but she loved him. She had a great basement that all the grandkids would hang out at cause they were bored and older and didn't want to hang upstairs with the parents. Grandma Worthington, you will be missed but you left some pretty great people to take care of us. :)

Night everyone!

New bed

I bought a new bed! I have to take a picture of it but I just sold the bed my mom was letting me use it was a twin bed and I was to long for it so I bought a bed at Ikea last weekend and I love it. Larry gave me some Christmas money to get it and selling my mom's twin bed on Craigslist today has helped pay for it. I love it but I have to take back the comforter cover and get a smaller size than I will take a picture of it! My bedroom is my next project to tackle. Once that is done I think that the house will finally look homey and not miss matchy. My goal is to have it semi-finished by Grace's birthday next month. The kids had fun with the box that came with the bed. Larry put it on their bed and they colored it, stickered it, painted it and put holes in it and toys in it. It is their fort spaceship and Grace's bed is the main part of the fort spaceship. She is still in her crib but maybe soon she will make it to her big girl bed. I have the rest of the week off so I want to make sure she gets naps so maybe this weekend will tackle her crib and take it down and get her in her big girl bed. I love vacations. I am getting things marked off my list!

Here the kids are painting over their stickers and coloring job.

Finished project!

I think that I might be addicted to selling items on Craigslist! I love doing it and getting cash to buy things we need! I also am loving buying items on Amazon! There is something cool about getting packages in the mail! I bought two Xmas items for the kids and another two for family. It is so much easier then dragging the kids out and standing in lines with them. I love online shopping!

been a long time since I posted...

Sorry everyone I haven't posted in forever! New fresh look for the holiday's on my blog now. I have been very bad in taking pictures and have none for November and I am amazed that I didn't and alot when on in November like Hunter doing soccer! Bummer, I will just have to be better at taking pics I was mostly taking pictures on my phone that is why. The kids are huge and talking up a storm. Larry and I are working on fixing our marriage. Rings are back on which is awesome and communication is much better. Looks like he will be back in Canada next week so back to single mom until Christmas but I have done it this long I can do it some more. It was nice to have him be with us for longer than a month. I am working on my debt maybe in 2 months I will be done with another credit card debt. Can't wait for that! Trying to not spend alot on Christmas this year trying to budget for it but it is hard when I want so much and to get the kiddos so much but I keep telling myself they are good in the toy department. Grace is getting alot of hand me down toys for Christmas so that helps. Hunter, I am going to have to get a couple things but that is better than buying so much for two.

Here the kids are decorating their sugar cookies they had a blast and Grace ate more of the sprinkles and frosting than she put on the cookies. Hunter was a pro at frosting and decorating.
Here is one attempt at getting Hunter to pose for Christmas card pictures. I gave up cause both kids were not in it. But this one sorta came out. :)

So there you go. Just a little update on my blog. I will try to be better about blogging but we have been so busy just doing things here and there.