Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Worldess Wednesday... Not what you want to find in the produce department!

I know they keep floral and produce next to each other, but this should NOT be sitting next to your fruit!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Craft closet organizing (and opening Pandora's wall!)

A few weeks ago we finally got around to making the front closet into a proper craft closet (where we can actually FIND the items we need for a craft!)


This is what came out of the closet (and sadly that's about what it looked like while inside). Hubby started ripping out the wood that held the poles (there were several in there) and he found this behind a board and shoved into the wall.

Surprise surprise! Not only was it working (hubby checked it with the electrical tester), but it was the only 3 prong outlet that came with the house that was wired correctly and grounded correctly!

We decided to change out the light to an LED can light since hubby was rewiring the outlet, and that's when we discovered that this outlet was the evil tree from Fern Gully (or Pandora's box, whichever you prefer!) Hubby cut himself reasonably badly cutting the drywall. Then, after patching him up and cleaning up I tripped over a tricycle while bringing tools back out to the garage and broke my toe! This stupid outlet is going to be the death of us!

Outlet changed out and light switch added... no more pulling a chain above my head!!


Walls textured, holes filled, 2 coats of paint, shelves and organizer boxes makes this now our beautiful craft closet!


Sorry, I didn't clean out the cubbies on the back of the door before I took the picture, so they look kind of junky still. But now everything has a home, is labeled and easy to find. I LOVE it!

One weekend's work, a couple reasonably evil injuries and $100 in supplies (we already had the shelf pieces from another closet) and we have a gorgeous usable craft closet that the kids can actually find what they need... and put them back afterwards! Now craft time is fun again!


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Wordless Wednesday... When Minecraft and Lego meet

If your family is as obsessed with both Minecraft and Lego as mine is, you should love this too! Instructions are found here.

Friday, August 10, 2012

LoveSac Event Blogger Signups


Sponsored by LoveSac & hosted by Mom to Bed by 8


Prize: Four Cushion Chaise Sectional with Chocolate Rhinoplush Covers {RV$3,260}

The event dates: 9/10 - 10/1

Free Event ~ Sign-Up Here - LoveSac Event Bloggers Wanted






*No giveaway yet... This is for bloggers to sign up to participate. Come back often to keep an eye out for the giveaway!

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Truly amazing!

He is incredible! Here's his website with more photos if you're interested.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush...

In my mind, leave them in the bush!!

Earlier tonight I heard a crazy squealing and went running into the kitchen figuring one of the kids was really hurt. Apparently Dozer the cat brought a bird into the house and let it go. So I had a bird flying around my pantry and crashing into everything! It took over 20 minutes for me to shoo him out of the pantry, but I couldn't catch him because he kept to the ceiling.

He flew all around the house, crashing into ceiling fans and finally flew behind a bookcase in the living room (it's angled across the corner, so there's space behind it). I thought it kicked the bucket, since it stopped making any noise but about an hour later I heard flapping.

I waited until I put the kids to bed before getting ready to empty the bookcase and unscrew it from the wall and planning to chase it again. Luckily for me my procrastination paid off and the bird flew out and landed on the floor, where I could throw a sheet over him and bring him outside.
The cat in question (on a homemade chaise) a couple of years ago.

Throughout the whole ordeal Little Miss was crying and hysterical (and too scared to go to bed), Bok Boy kept making meowing sounds, thinking it would scare the bird into doing what he wanted, and Scooter kept saying "quack" (her word for bird) in a super dejected voice and making sad faces. They're so helpful...

And hubby was super helpful too, his idea was to tie a rope around the cat and drop him behind the bookshelf to get the bird out! Now I get to do a full clean of the pantry and kitchen to get all the feathers and who-knows-what germs out of my food storage and prep areas!

August Walking Goal and Breakdown

So last month was a total waste for me walking. Too much (lazy) vacation, 2 messed up knees and a broken toe made for a rough month trying to come anywhere near my goal. I know, I know, it's a bunch of excuses, but it'll have to do.

My goal for August is again 8500 steps a day, which is 263,500 steps for the month. I'm already behind (and since my shoes still don't really fit due to the broken toe), I'll probably be more behind very soon.

So here goes:

Aug 1: 4543 steps. Hobbling along.

Aug 2: 3683 steps. Still hobbling.

Aug 3: 2094 steps. I was probably closer to 7000 but we had a wedding to go to, and I had no place to put the pedometer on my fancy dress! I only wound up wearing it for about 4 hours.

Aug 4: 3323 steps. Sore and achy from overindulging and over-dancing at the wedding!

Aug 5: 3521 steps. TOTALLY lazy Sunday! We played games and built Legos (and hung around in my big bed reading books!)

Aug 6: 3967 steps. Catching up on housecleaning but no major walking.

Aug 7: 6049 steps. Shopping and errands add up fast! I'm incredibly behind, but typing this up has renewed my need to walk! I'm heading out in the morning... hopefully my tennies fit, I've been wearing flip flops since the break.

Aug 8: 8943 steps. Managed the walk (although parts of that trail are creepy when it's just the baby, me and whatever guy walks past!

Aug 9: 12482 steps. Great America is killer, especially when you're there for 7 hours!

Aug 10: 6742 steps. Exhausted after yesterday, but a couple shopping trips add up.

Aug 11: 5682 steps. Celebrating my brother's birthday.

Aug 12: 4934 steps. Had neighbors over for dinner, so I spent a long time cooking!

Aug 13: 4221 steps. Running kids around to two summer camps!

Aug 14: 4924 steps. Vegging out.

Aug 15: 8498 steps. Managed a decent walk, but I didn't look at my pedometer before bed (or I would've taken those 2 extra steps!!)

Aug 16: 6974 steps. To and from 2 camps is a lot, plus we had karate and girl scouts!

Aug 17: 8756 steps. Helping at physics camp... Apparently 4 hours teaching is a LOT of steps!

Aug 18: 4990 steps. Celebrating the little one's bday (family style, party to come later) and prepping for back to school.

Aug 19: 12892 steps. Last day of vacation! Off to Great America. I had several thousand more steps while I wasn't wearing the pedometer because of being soaking wet.

Aug 20: 17943 steps. First day of school, first day of getting back to my walks without dragging big kids along!

Aug 21: 5085 steps. Slow day and fussy tot.

Aug 22: 3269 steps. Total laziness!

Aug 23: 4799 steps. Running errands and catching up with school stuff.

Aug 24: 12645 steps. Managed another walk!

Aug 25: 4556 steps. Party at a friend's house, sitting around and visiting.

Aug 26: 5190 steps. Running kids to bday parties and house cleaning.

Aug 27: 12945 steps. Decent walk, Walgreens and Home Depot, then painting my bedroom ceiling.