Marble magnets

Oh how I wish I could be one of these amazingly organized homeschooler moms, but I have come to the realization that it is just not in my blood. I have tried, and failed...and this is just a summer curriculum. Summer was trodding along until Caleb broke his arm and now most of our plans are canceled.

With that, we are trying desperately to keep ourselves busy....

Making hot dog cookies...

Going to the library for the reading program...

Me buying a few new things for our cruise in November...

And so today we are making marble magnets. Now that we have completed round one of using pretty much what we had around the house (minus the cost of the magnets), we can get really creative with different sizes of marbles, various pictures, etc. So I expect our second batch to be phenomenal!!!!

This one is my favorite because I just LOVE this pattern and love the way the marble magnifies it!!


On a side note, I have been working on a project involving the doors to those shelving units my mother so graciously donated to me. It has taken me two weeks, and they are 80% done! Whoop!!!!

And, I have decided on a cake design for my parents' anniversary next month, as well as one for my wonderful husband's birthday in September. Can't wait to try it. The kids will be super involved in the one for my parents....candy themed (thanks to another blogger that I will credit whenever it is complete and posted ;) )

It's Complicated....but not expensive

I would just like to begin with the fact that I love a good Nancy Meyers movie. My all time fave is Something's Gotta Give, but it is followed very closely by the newly released, It's Complicated.

If anyone has seen it, and has noticed the WAY adorable clutch that Meryl Streep carries throughout the movie, and has actually researched said clutch, you would know that this adorable bad boy is a whopping $500!!!!! OMG, $500???!!! Why does fashion have to be so expensive??


This little number is the Bottega Veneta Satin Knot Clutch as seen HERE,and is on CLEARANCE for $500.
Nevertheless, I wanted it. Bad! Now anyone who knows me knows that I love a good bargain and would never spend $500 on a purse, nor would I spend $50. But I would spend $11.99, and that is what I did. I am so excited about this purchase!!!!

Similar in color, style, and texture, this Merona brand clutch is the PERFECT alternative, and at just over $12, is perfectly within my budget. It is the same shiny pewter color, although the camera on my Blackberry fails to capture the shininess. Thank you Target!

You too can have this clutch! Just click HERE

Broken Bones....

Yep, that's right. I am officially the mother of rowdy boys, as if that is any surprise. But now I have hard evidence. I present you with Exhibit A: Caleb at the ER

I picked him up from his Summer Camp yesterday and his counselor commented that he fell while on the moonbounce. He was acting very strange and couldn't use his arm at all. At first, I thought his shoulder looked odd, but it turns out, afer a CAT scan and X-rays the verdict is mild concussion and broken arm. He should be getting his cast tomorrow.
And here it is!

The look on his face when we told him he couldn't go back to camp for the rest of the summer made me want to cry. He really loved it. I am so thankful that it was his left arm and is not his right, or worse, his leg. Now if we can get some sleep, we would both be ok. A mother's work is never done.

Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!! I am so thankful to live in the United States so that I can exercise my right to freedom of speech!!!! And thank goodness our flag has attractive colors on it...from a purely aesthetic standpoint.

Still on the search for things that Jansen is interested in. It's an incredibly short list of one thing: COOKING. Oh how I hate to cook. I am so bad at it, don't enjoy it, am not interested in learning...but I am always interested in watching the cooking shows like Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef. :) That is probably the epitome of oxymoronic. Since I am an awful cook (yet I cook three meals a day, almost every day of the week), I bake. I can at least teach Jansen how to bake desserts. He pretty much has the hang of following the recipe and dumping everything into the mixer except for eggs. We are not at that point yet. So let's show off his mad decorating skills, shall we...
He was very proud, which makes me very proud.

I got to decorate the other 6, and needed to use up some leftover fondant, so here are my 6....

Happy Birthday America!!!! (PS, we need better health care....just a suggestion :) )

Raining cats and dogs....

Here in South Texas it has been raining for 4 days straight now, and not just raining, but pouring. Thanks to Hurricane Alex that decided to enter the coast to our south. The first 2 days were ok to deal with because the kids and I had many things we could do inside the house. But now, to be perfectly honest, this is getting really old and frankly, depressing. My children are super cranky, I am getting sad and lethargic, and those two combinations are never good. My parents decided to take the kids for a few hours this afternoon after lunch and gave me some time to be alone. I love to be alone.

In this yucky weather, I chose not to do anything, but watch movies, and sit on the couch. To make matters worse, there seems to be nothing on TV but sad movies. So to wallow in the sadness (while the back of my mind dreams of sunshine, flowers, and blue skies) is to recount my top 10 tear-jerker movies of all time...well at least for me. Since I have had my boys, I cry very easily, but I think you have to have a Chandler-heart-of-stone if you don't cry at these.

1. The Bridges of Madison County-I am always screaming GET OUT OF THE TRUCK, and crying hysterically when she gets the boxes of his things after the dies)
2. The Notebook-ohmygoodness. Watching the love of your life drift away into senility...agh!
3. Beaches-Did you ever know that you're my hero?
4. The Color Purple-injustice and pain...it's beautiful
5. Sophie's Choice-who could choose? And the movie is just crazily brilliant
6. Steel Magnolias-Thank God for the comedy of Olympia Dukakis and Shirley Maclaine to break the tension
7. Mr. Holland's Opus-beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Cole....
8. Terms of Endearment-come on, who didn't cry?!
9. Out of Africa-geez, the speech at the funeral???
10. Forrest Gump-every time Tom Hanks asks if his kid is simple, I lose it.

Boy, I can't wait for a beautiful day, because I am looking so forward to posting a top 10 comedy list!

On a happy side, I did brave the torrential downpour to get my hair cut for the first time in a year. I like it. It is pretty versatile and fresh, and thankfully, makes me feel a little younger.

Creative Kiddo..sort of

As some of you may know, if you have read any of my older entries, our oldest son has been diagnosed with Autism. While it was very rough in the beginning, he is improving by leaps and bounds. One of the things we struggle with is routine and remembering what is expected of him.

Last summer, after a consultation with a behavior specialist, we came up with a visual chart made from poster board that had pictures of his morning and evening routine. Each picture had a red colored dot velcroed to it, and when each dot had been removed, he was rewarded with 30 minutes of his favorite movie. As children with Autism are very visual, and crave consistency and routine, this completely changed our lives. We had been doing a visual "schedule" with him since he was 2, but this was teaching him independence, appropriate behavior, and cause/effect.

This chart has seen it's last days. It has been ripped from the refrigerator with a frenzy one too many times. So today's art project was done completely by Caleb, with minor support from me. We talked about making a more permanent chart that he could hang in his room, and it was his responsibility to create it.

First we started with this...which I love, but didn't have any use for anymore.

I spray painted it for Caleb.

He got out his stash of stickers, and came up with this.

I glued the clothespins on (red was chosen as his favorite color), and he designed the stars, cut them out, and came up with the routine he wanted to complete each day. I wrote them in. So in essence, this project is all Caleb. I couldn't be more proud!

Pottery Barn on the cheap!

A few months ago, I saw the cutest set of plates in the Pottery Barn catalog, and as we all know, we have Champagne Pottery Barn dreams on a Generic Beer budget. For inspiration, I saved the picture and began rummaging through the plate sections at our two thrift stores.

I soon found this gem for a whopping $0.25!!!! Love at first sight!!!

Today, the trusty chalkboard paint came out to start this project. A few hours later and it looks really nice. Pardon my handwritting...but the beauty of this is that I can wipe it off and write something witty, you know, when I think of something witty!

Also, I super-love this cute fruit bowl from (YES) Pottery Barn, but super-hate the $38 price tag.

Thank goodness I found this similar bowl (although without a little pedestal) at my local thrift store for $0.50!!! Never underestimate a thrift store!