It's that time again...

BACK TO SCHOOL TIME!!!!! It's the most wonderful time of the year...said very tongue in cheek. But really, school is such a God-send for Caleb as he just CRAVES the routines that I just cannot constantly provide for him. Jansen adjusts in any situation so I am really looking forward to his first year in the big KINDERGARTEN.

On to back to school shopping, of which, I did very little of. We bought pre-made school supply packages for each kid in May and are anxiously awaiting their arrival. :) We are incredibly fortunate to have extended family (Nana, Mimi, and great grandmother MeeMaw) who provide both of our kids with clothing a few times out of the year, school time being one of them. So this year, I only had to buy shoes and backpacks, and given the choice, Caleb decided to stick with last year's Super Mario backpack. They both have lunchkits and containers that are still in great condition after last school year. JOY!

So, Caleb's 2010-2011 begins with the following....

And Jansen's begins with...
Counting down the days until school and the hectic schedule begins....school, soccer, piano, PTO. BRING IT ON!!!

PS....Mommy got a little present as well...SQUEEEEEEEE

T-shirt playdate

A homeschooling friend of mine hosts a creative playdate each Wednesday afternoon and invites a bunch of other moms and kids to join the fun. Some of the activities have included jewelry making, cake decorating, painting, crescent pizzas and games, and today...T-shirt decorating.

The kids really enjoyed this because it really wasn't messy. Caleb does NOT enjoy getting dirty in any way, shape, or form. My friend found some really cool transfer papers that the kids drew all over using oil crayons. Once they finished their artwork, the adults just ironed it on and they turned out great! It doesn't have that bubbly iron-on look...it just looks screen printed onto the shirts. My boys gave it two thumbs up.

Here is us working on our masterpieces

And here is their works of art

And here are the kids' finished pieces (including my two boys on the far left, front and back row)

I even made one for a bib for my friend's daughter.

This is just an easy, fun, non-messy activitiy even for little kids. We could make shirts, bibs, aprons, hand towels, hats, tote bags, pot holders....the possibilities are endless!

Mad organizational skills....

Most of you know that I have zero organizational skills...well, less than zero. But honestly, doesn't having at least one thing really neatly organized make you feel like you cleaned the whole house?? Maybe that is just me.

I am often frazzled about trying to find things. I put a piece of paper down in a place that I am sure to find it later, only to have it disappear into the chaos. This simply won't work for school for the kids next month. Storage needs to be created for the projects, homework, parent signature pages, and last but not least, all my PTO paperwork and plans. Goal for this week: organize one thing each day.

Day one: the kitchen junk drawer. You know you have one too. All the ribbon, tape, scissors, batteries, to do lists, greeting cards just get relegated to this drawer and soon you can't open it for fear the contents might explode out and cut up your face. Maybe that is just me as well.

So anyway, here is the before of our junk drawer: (Que creepy Twighlight Zone music)

Almost an hour later (yep, I said an hour) this is the after:

Admittedly, I am kind of a drawer slob. Almost ever drawer in our house just has crap thrown into it, because that is just not high on priority list. Ranks up there with cleaning out my refrigerator. I am not going to do it. No apologies. :)

The Greatest Show on Earth!!!!!!!

Yesterday Josh and I braved the masses of haggard parents being dragged by sugared children to attend THE CIRCUS. ZING, ZANG, ZOOM!!! We arrived early so that we could all get a behind the scenes look at the animals and trainers, and what do you think was Jansen's favorite part? "I like the elephants, and he pooped and peed." Yep, that is what my 5 year-old remembered over all. Caleb laughed harder than I have ever heard him....the clowns were fantastic. So here was the lowdown. Circus tickets: $105. Light-up sword: $20. Bag of cotton candy with souvenier hat: $12. TWO sno cones with souvenier cups: $24. Taking two bites of said sno cone and spilling it: PRICELESS. Very worth our time and moolah! The kids loved it.

Cool decisions....

Getting healthy is super important for me. I have really been trying to lose weight and in the process have gotten off sodas completely, reduced the amount of sugar I eat dramatically, and eat almost no processed food. It is paying off in small amount of weight loss. Actually, 25 pounds to be exact. I have stalled this week, but feel really good about my current progress and am excited to lose my next 25 pounds.

My next goal is to step up my exercise. I started yoga and boy, I love it. It hurts like the devil, but it is really cool. It would be incredible to start running. (LOVE)

Anyway, backstory complete. I have really been thinking and praying about finding something that I am passionate about. Today it became really clear. And while I don't have all the details just yet, I should very soon. I am incredibly excited about it and will post the details when I get them. I am asking that whoever reads this, just pray for me. :)

From doors to hangers...

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been working on a project for the last week or so. Since my mother graciously gifted her corner shelving and my dad and I painted them Espresso Brown, the old shelving doors seemed very out of place. Putting them to the side, I have been looking at them for over a month.

Here is the before picture...

After spray painting them black...

Adding some glass knobs and hanging it on the wall....

And adding some of my purses...

It looks good. There is still another door sitting in my garage just waiting for inspiration to slap me in the face.

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.