Valentine's Day Decor

I have little to no Valentine's Day decor. I have a few things that my Mom has made me, and stuff from my room growing up that happens to work ok, but I really don't have that many decorations or cute things. What is not to like about pink and red decorations? Nothing! So, why don't I have any? It is baffling to me too. Here is what I have done this week.



I have been wanting to do this wreath since I first saw it on Just A Girl. She changes out the color of ribbon depending on the holiday or season and moves it around occasionally. I loved it and had just never tackled it. Well, I did and I think it turned out lovely. The only problem is that it is the same color as the door. I have been wanting to paint it black....hmmm.



This was a gift bag from Hobby Lobby that I loved and wanted to use it to decorate. I just cut one side of the gift bag off and hung it up. I think I might get rid of the ribbon and glue it to a canvas and sit it in an easel somewhere next year. Super cute and cheap!




I found this black and pink board at Hobby Lobby yesterday for $2 plus 40% off. Then, I had my sister-in-law, Amanda, use her silhouette to cut out the cute vinyl. Super cute, super easy, super cheap. Now I finally have some Valentine's Day decor.

Butterflies

For Christmas, Grandma Thomason got Catherine a butterfly garden. We sent away for the caterpillars and the girl's anxiously awaited for them to come in the mail. They finally came and the caterpillars looked like little black rice specks. Not very exciting when you are expecting to see caterpillars and butterflies. They grew so fast though, within about 10 days they had grown huge and were hanging upside down. After a few more days, a hard shell encased all of the caterpillars and they moved on to their pupa stage which was the grossest for me because I then had to transfer them from their enclosed little containers to the garden. This involved me ripping the paper they were attached to off of the lid and pinning it to the side of the net. They were nasty-looking and they wobbled and it really wasn't my favorite thing. Then, they hung there for almost 10 days before the first one hatched into a beautiful painted lady butterfly. We had two the first day, then by Sunday morning 9 had hatched. The last 3 hatched on Monday and now there are no more. We released them this morning. It was a very fun experience, but I am glad it is over. The girls want me to order more, but I think it might be a once a year sort of deal. They are so beautiful though and I got to hold them while I was letting them go which was really neat.

Matthew Mead Summer Issue!!!

I am so excited to share this information with you. Matthew Mead is doing a Summer Issue! I purchased the Holiday with Matthew Mead this past Christmas; everyday from the moment I knew they had started shipping I waited at the mailbox to see if that would be the day that it came. When it did arrive, I stayed up late pouring over every article and picture spread. I even implimented a couple of Matthew's tricks using some of my Grandmother's antique ribbons and lace. I am so excited for the Summer Issue to come so that I can get more great ideas. Head over to the blog and check it all out!

Curtains

Over Christmas break I grabbed some fabric and sewed some curtains for my bedroom and for the girl's bedroom. They already had some curtains I had made from our house in Gilbert, but they weren't long enough or wide enough for their bedroom here. I ended up just sewing the new fabric right over the old because they were blackout curtains and I didn't want to waste the fabric. Small hitch, when the light shines in, which is all the time, you can see where the old curtains end. Will fix that later. On to my curtains, love the fabric! Got it at SAS in Tempe. If you haven't been you are in for a real treat. It is quite possibly the most ghetto place I have ever been to besides the ranch market and Uncle Bear's BBQ. Both the ranch market and the BBQ turned out okay, the verdict is still out on SAS. You can't argue with the prices though. My really nice, chocolate brown, gathered fabric was $3.99 a yard. The criss-crossed champagne colored fabric was $6.99 a yard. HOW CAN YOU BEAT THAT? You can't! So, I guess it was worth it, but still very ghetto. As you can probably see from the pictures, I wanted to get them up for company and didn't line them yet. Will fix that later too. So, there you have it. One more sewing project to come...when it will happen is yet to be decided. Back to school.

BRADY'S BOOK!!!!!!

"Angelic:Beginning" is now officially available for download on Kindle!!! It is only $1, so please go read it and spread the word. Brady has been working so hard on this book for over a year now and we would be so thrilled if everyone fell in love with it the way that we have!

Monday, Monday...

Things around here are always crazy on Mondays; Catherine goes to Eagleridge on Mondays. We rush to get everything together and out the door, then after dropping Cat off, Sarah and I spend the majority of our day running errands and grocery shopping in Mesa. Anything that needs to get done, happens on Monday. It makes for one long day! Today, I have no grocery shopping and only have to go to the bank. I have a nice book downloaded to Kindle and am looking forward to sitting on Gram's couch while Sarah plays with cousins and enjoying a little "Me-Time". So, here I sit telling you about my day, while downstairs cereal was just dropped and spilled all over the floor and I still need to make Cat's lunch and pack her bag. I am getting into the relaxed spirit of my day, which involves not being worried about a little spilled milk....or cereal. Have a great day!

House of Smiths Giveaway

This is a fabulous blog that I actually just found out about TODAY! I was clicking through the posts and found her giveaway for a Silhouette. The link is here. There are already over 3500 entries, so odds are I am not going to win, but it never hurts! Goodluck!

The New Look

The sad truth is that I just could not get my old layout back. I had damaged it and edited it beyond repair. I have moved forward from the two hours of sobbing last night and recreated a personal space for my thoughts and experiences. I hope that you will love coming here as much as I do. I am still working out a couple of kinks, but I am truly loving my new look.

HEEELLLPPP!

I totally screwed up my blog as you can all see! I tried to change it from a two column to a three column and ended up messing everything up, which I now cannot fix. Please bear with me while I try to pick up the pieces of my mess.

Timing is Everything!

I had been really stressed and overwhelmed this week starting school and having my two week vacation come to an end. Brady went back to work and life resumed the monotamy that I had been trying to hold at bay. I am trying to find joy in the everyday things that I do. I am also trying to make sure that I do things that are worthwhile instead of filling my days up with mindless tasks. I hear you scoffing at my remarks and I would add that it is harder than it sounds. There are plenty of things around the house that I do enjoy; sparkling clean toilets, vaccum lines on the carpet, a squeaky clean kitchen, and no laundry to do or put away. But therein lies the problem; there is always a bathroom or kitchen to clean, laundry to do, dinner to make, lunch to make, did I mention breakfast? Where is the joy in the journey? It's in what I make of it and I am trying. Yesterday, I set ANOTHER new schedule for myself to try and stay organized and sane. Miraculously, it worked! The problem was that today that schedule got pooped on and then flushed down the toilet. A friend needed to go to the doctor and asked if I could watch her son, no big deal! Then another friend was going to run important errands, get some groceries and pick up the daughter of another friend. Our friends just had an adorable baby boy, who had to go back into the hospital. So, I kept my friend's son while she went to get our little "Squish". None of this was a problem or made me stressed out. I just felt like I got nothing accomplished today. When looking back on it (aka when Brady pointed it out to me), I saw that the fact that it didn't stress me out is a huge leap, and that all I did all day was serve other people. Christ spent his whole life in service and if I can do one day devoting my time to helping others lives run more smoothly, then I should be grateful for the opportunity. Also, it's not all about me....no really! I also was on the receiving end of service as well. My friend had actually put both her kids in the car and run me over some eggs because I was half-way through a recipe when I realized I was out ( I HATE that!). Then while she was out and about doing everything she needed to get done, she made the effort to get me some more eggs so that I wouldn't be out. It seems small, but it is now one less thing that I have to worry about. I need to be less concerned with my to-do list and worry about the things that are important. Like the precious time that I spent making pretzels with my girls this morning. It is so easy for me to get caught up in the next thing that is pressing and to tell them I am too busy. They are getting so big and I don't want to miss out and regret it later. So, there is my self-awareness for the day. Great way to start out the year...let's see if it lasts.