The Roller Coaster

That is what my week has felt like and I hate roller coasters!

My MIL went to Florida with her friend for a vacation. 3 weeks of fun in the sun! She called my hubby the previous week and told him that her knee and hip were hurting. She doesn't handle pain well. This is the woman who stubs her toe and spends 3 days in bed with vicodin. When she was 18 she was in a severe car accident. She was thrown from the car and then the car crushed her. She wasn't expected to make it. She did though. My hubby told her to go to the ER and have it checked out. She did and was told it was arthritis from those injuries. Welcome to old age!

By Monday though, she was starting to swell. My hubby finally talked her into going back to the hospital on Tuesday. They admitted her. She was so swollen that they had to cut off her jewelry. Her hands and feet were like grapefruits. He flew out Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. They didn't know what was wrong but had run every test they could think of on her.

Thursday they got a diagnosis. She has streptococcal pnuemonia. Part of the problem is that from her accident she had her spleen and part of her liver removed. Your spleen gets rid of the streptococcal. They also said that she was going into septic shock. So the next 24 hours were critical. My husband cancelled his return flight to stay with her.

Amazingly, Friday morning she was much better. She didn't want the pain meds that they were giving her. She was talking and smiling. It was looking good!

Yesterday, they said that they were going to move her out of ICU. The nurse wanted to get her sitting in a chair in her room for a bit though. When the nurse got her out of bed, she almost passed out. They got her back into bed and she said she had to pee. My hubby left the room so she could use the bed pan and returned to find out that she had peed 2 pints of blood.

So now the poor lady is back to staying in ICU and getting blood transfusions. She has internal bleeding and they don't know why or how come. So.... needless to say, I have gotten nothing done. I've been consoling kids, answering all the hard questions as best as I can, trying to help out my husband with his company in his absence, all the fun stuff. I am keeping my fingers crossed that things will turn out the best. So for now, the projects are on hold. Not much is getting done around here. I do have some things planned for when I come back though!

Here is hoping it is soon!

I got nothing....

....but I wanted to thank everyone that left a comment on the sister post! You all are so sweet!

This weekend was pretty much a bust. We do have a new addition to the family though.....

Isn't she sweet?! She is my husband's nightstand now. As soon as we get rid of some of this that is still falling....

....she is going to get a spa treatment! A little exfoliating treatment, a moisture bath, a bit of a tan....

For now though, there she is. My husband says that she looks to be someone's high school wood shop project. I think that makes her even cuter!

My oldest and her BFF spent Saturday making soap and lotion and fizzy bath tablets.... You can see that the little one had to get in there too.

Then it was onto fries! These two love to make french fries. I don't get it. Keeps them entertained though!

Only 6 days left to work on the girls room!!!! I better get my butt in gear. I still have a piece of furniture to make, shelves to install, butterflies to cut......

UGH!

For Loretta ~

I have a very special person in my life. I feel guilty cause I don't mention her often. I have carried many titles in my life, but the one that I hold dear is the title of "Big Sister".

This screaming, crying, poop machine came into my life when I was 2. I gave it a whirl. 10 days later though my mom found her on the porch for the postman to "return". Hey, he brought her here. We are close, 2 years and 3 days apart.

I don't know if any of you are the "big sis", but it can suck growing up. We were the outcasts. All the kids around us went to public school and we went to Catholic schools. I think that automatically gives you coodies which the other kids can catch. So it was me and her.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't appreciate and support my little sister like I should have when I was younger. Why is it that you appreciate relationships more the older that you get? My most favorite memory of my sister is when I flew home for my mom's funeral. I was stationed in Georgia. I came off the plane and my little sister flew into my arms to protect her. I can still remember the feeling that I had. This is what it means to be a big sister.

I received from Londen a very sweet award!

Londen, you are so sweet to include me in your award! Thank you so much! If you haven't visited Londen's blog, you should do so! In honor of my little sis, I would like to list 10 things about her that makes me happy!

1. She has made me something that no one else could, a big sister.

2. I have a built in confidant and best friend!

3. I AM AN AUNT! I just love hearing "Aunt Maggie" coming out of his mouth! He's just so freaking cute anyways!

4. I can tell my deepest darkest secrets to her and know that they are safe.

5. She is a single mom and going for her degree in Accounting at U of M!

6. She has the most beautiful bed!

7. No matter what it is, she is always there to support me!

8. She saves my stuff that my dad wants to throw away!

9. She finds me free stuff! You have to wait to see her latest find for me though!

10. I can call her something that no one else in the world can.... sister. She means the world to me. She is the Yin to my Yang. Everything could fall apart and I know that she would be standing by my side. The greatest gift I have been given is my sister.

....and she has a blog!

She is big into photography! *hint hint Jacqueline*.

Now to pass on the bloggy love!

To everyone that visits and leaves a little bloggylove, this award is for you!

I mean, how could I just limit it to 10! Every single one of you inspire me on a daily basis. So this is for you!

MWAAAAAH

Beans beans the musical fruit!

Jacqueline requested my bean soup recipe. I love hearty soups where you see big huge hunks of junk in it. My mother used to make this when I was younger. I always think of her at the kitchen table with a pot and all the beans out on the table to be sorted.

Bean Soup

The day before you need to prepare your beans. I use Northern Beans. You want to sort through the beans and pick out all the undesirables and stones. I don't know why but every time I get alteast one stone. Once the beans are sorted, put in a cooking pot and for every pound of beans add 8 cups of hot water. Let soak overnight.

After the beans have soaked overnight, drain. Put beans back into pot and add 6 cups of hot water. I did mine as a vegetarian soup for Lent, but you can also add a ham bone for flavoring. Bring to a boil. At this point I added a can of mixed veggies for more flavor. Return to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cover. Simmer til beans are soft about 2 hours. Before serving, remove the ham bone.

Enjoy Jacqueline!

Now to leave you for a thought for the day.

Why are my clothes so enticing....

....to my son? I mean I expected to have to share them with my daughter. This is the second jacket and pair of boots that he loves to wear! He used my long leather coat and pair of motorcycle boots to be the Undertaker for Halloween. Now he thinks this outfit is like Shawn Michaels.

Yeesh!

3 Hours

First of all, thank you to everyone for your support and words of encouragement. Also, thank you to Jan @ Bobbypinsboardwalk for the information about Quitnet.com. I did join last night. I also did some figuring. I will be saving 6.00 every day by not smoking.

So I started a fund jar and am putting in the 6 dollars every day. My mad fund!

I also have figured that I will gain 3 hours every day that I used to spend smoking. I was not a pack a day smoker, but I am figuring like I was. What can you do with 3 hours?

You could go shopping at Home Goods and get a really cute tablecloth for only 3.00. Yup, half of the price of a pack of cigarettes.

You could take this soso looking nightstand....

....into a cute shabby piece of furniture for the girls room you are still working on.

You could also make a big pot of bean soup....

....and a batch of corn muffins for dinner.

You could also work on that duvet....

....well let's not get totally nuts on the first day....

3 Hours ~

Fat Tuesday ~

Yes people here it is. Fat Tuesday. Paczki (pronounced punch - key) day.

I don't know if anyone else has paczki where they live but thank goodness we have them here! Big old fat doughnuts, stuffed with ooey gooey jelly goodness and slathered in more sugar. You can break a sugar sweat just biting into them! Eat up! Cause you know what comes tomorrow.

Lent

Catholics last chance at redeeming themselves by resolving once again to keep the same New Year's resolutions. Give em a few days and those people walking around with the dirty foreheads will be some po'd grumps without their chocolate fixes.

I always dreaded Lent. My dad was a "big drinker". For Lent he gave that and cigarettes up. Holy Saturday, the Saturday before Easter Sunday, he could be found at the kitchen table, 6 pack of beer and a pack of Kools in front of him, his eyes glued to the clock for that stroke of midnight. I always wanted to set the clock ahead and tell him about it. Just afraid he would not see the humor in it.

This year I am giving up smoking and junk food and sweets. Yeah, I should look something like that bird. Obviously I really am as stupid as my kids think I am though. I quit smoking after 30 years of doing it for a whole 4 months. That was stupid. I know I can do it. I'm like the little train that can....

So tomorrow I will be at church. Ash Wednesday. I don't mean to make fun of church or religion so don't get me wrong. I am still trying to "find myself" and where I fit in. I have found that I have turned into one of the grumpy old people that I used to laugh at when I was younger. I was born and raised Catholic. I went to Catholic schools all my life. My parents were very active in our church. I can remember mass being said in Latin with the priest's back being turned to the congregation the whole time. We never went to Mass without our heads covered. I can remember me and my sister fighting over who was going to wear the "cool hat".

Then, they changed. They modernized. The priest faced you and spoke in English. Sometimes he even walked down the aisle during his sermon. No more hats! The "grumpy old people" did not like it. They went to Mass early Sunday because they would still say it the "old way". I thought the "new way" was cool.

Now I am the "grumpy old person". I go to Early Mass because it's the "new way" not the "new new way". I don't like the "new new way". I don't want to call the priest Father JJ no matter how nice he is. I don't like kids running around on the altar during mass. I don't like singing the hymns to electric guitars and drums. It seems disrespectful to me.

So tomorrow at 8 am I will be joining all the other "grumpy old people" at Mass.

I'm just hoping that maybe the ashes will camouflage that big zit on my forehead....

Children~

First off, I have to say that I love my children to death. They are my whole life and I am very proud of the people that they are turning into. They are thoughtful and caring, very good friends with EVERYONE, cordial and according to others well mannered.

But OMG are they stupid??!

They seem like fairly intelligent people. I mean they don't walk backwards or drool or anything. You can see a glimmer of intelligence when you talk to them. They can hold a conversation.

Soooo....

The snow day came. Kids were out of school. I tried to do a duvet cover that is now thrown in a corner in disgust til I get the itch to take out some mistakes. They played.

I am too embarrassed to show you the aftermath. The girls room that I have been working on was a disaster area. Just stick a biohazard sign on the door and walk away. So Saturday I got all 3 of the little loves to go in and clean.

ROFLMAO!

I don't think that you are allowed to use my kids names and the word clean in the same sentence. 8 hours later and it was worse then when they started. The "brains" of the group tried to use the excuse that they had to move stuff around to clean. Really?? Clean what?

Insert moment of silence here

I did manage to get 8 loads of laundry washed, dried, ironed and folded. Here is where I am the idiot. I figured they could atleast put their own clothes away. They were in there a good half hour too.

Today, I tackled the girls room. I swear that if I have to untie another stuffed animal from furniture cause the oldest one doesn't want it to run away I will scream! Oh yes she did! All her webkins were tied to her bed with belts, scarves anything she could find. I know that when she was 3 I thought it would be a good idea to teach her to tie. I now regret that. I should of just stuck with the velcro shoes and called it good. She ties up everything! She even ties her lip glosses together so she can find them. She has about 8 little makeup bags and yet she ties them together. Brushes! 6 freaking brushes for the kid that I have to scream at to brush her hair?!

Now let's go back to those clothes that I spent 8 hours washing, drying, ironing and folding. I guess that it was my fault. I should of been more specific when I said to "put them away". I was talking of putting them away to mom's standards. They put them away to their standards. They shoved them in the closet. When the closet could take no more they stashed them under the bed.

Huhhhh......

I know that did not take half an hour. I was even dumb enough to ask them what they did the rest of the time. "I just sat on my bed". I guess there is some spark of intelligence in there. They were smart enough to know they had to appear to be putting away clothes.

So today I spent the day redoing what I had already done.

Doesn't that sound like fun?!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful....

....but the quiet is so delightful....

....and since we are snowed in we can't go....

....so let us sew, let us sew, let us sew!

A vintage FULL size coverlet, a QUEEN down comforter that needs a duvet, a basement full of crap and one crazy lady snowed in with 3 kids can only mean....

....I have not quite finished so you will have to come back to see!

MWAAAAAH!

Make your own buttons!

I got in the tutorial mood after Yvonne did a great tutorial on making napkins.

So I thought I would show how easy peasy it is to make covered buttons!

I love box pleats too! Well.... pleats in general. Box pleats are my favorite though. I love putting the button detail on a box pleat. I made these valances for my room with this detail.

It's also on my bedskirt The very wrinkly bedskirt....

and on my kitchen curtains.

All you need is these kits.

Everything you need, except for a hammer, to make the buttons is in here. Buy enough button kits for the amount of buttons you need.

I use the white part you see in the package to make circles. I just draw around them plus a bit and cut out the circle.

See my circle? I draw on everything and wonder why my kids do it too! Put it over the white open end part.

The button is in two parts. One larger piece and a smaller piece with a shank on it. Squish the part without the shank into the white part. Fold the raw edges over the button piece.

Put the shank piece over with the raw edges all tucked in and squish.

Put the smaller part of your kit over the button and whack with a hammer. I suggest whacking on a sturdy surface.

Then just pop it out and voila!

A covered button!

All that whacking didn't even bother this fella. It's a Peregrine falcon right out the kitchen window. Pretty birds, but very vicious! Before I had Syrina, I was working for my husband as his Project Manager/Office Manager. I oversaw the civil work for the wireless towers he was putting a new network on. One of the towers our civil crew was out with a tower crew that we had subcontracted. In Michigan wireless towers are often where the falcons will nest since they are about 100 feet tall. The DNR marks these towers and when you are working on them you have to have a DNR rep present. The birds are protected and it is illegal to disturb them. These poor tower guys would come off the towers actually bleeding from the falcons protecting their nests.

The moral of the story is don't mess with a falcon, they are vicious!

From Blah....

..... to Taa Daa!

And.... at no cost!

One more thing off the list!

Posted at Cottage Instincts Make It 4 Monday

Woohoo! I finally made one!

Not the Sharpest Tool In the Shed!

So yesterday I took some time to do some thinking. It was pretty painless. I was surprised I didn't hurt myself actually. I needed a game plan for the girls room on how to proceed once it is crap free.

See these two pieces are going. I found them when I was cleaning under all the junk. Just kidding! But both the girls stuff don't fit in them. My much larger chest will hold their stuff and not take up as much room. You know the chest that is still in my room waiting to be swapped out with the one up north? Yeah that one.

I got these cleared off, cleaned up all the pencil drawings and weeded through the clothes. Think it is safe to say that the bitty one has outgrown the 12 mo outfits in there.

Yup, that would be the one. Don't blame me for that outfit, she dressed herself. You can see what I mean though. She is wearing an old dress that works as a shirt now.

Anyways, in my superwoman determined mode, I slapped them on Craigslist....

and sold them 2 hours later.

Now before you congratulate me, think about this. The dresser for this room is still in my room with Dad's clothes in it. Said dresser still needs to be painted also. The dresser to replace it is still up north with no hope of coming home in the next two weeks. So, the million dollar question is.....

Who's clothes get thrown in a laundry basket?

Mom's! It's all her damn fault anyways! I have no idea how I ended up getting the short end of this stick.

I can live with it though cause yesterday I had to do some thinking. I do my best thinking when I am sewing though. Don't ask why..... You can ask what I was sewing though. I'll let ya.

I did a little something for the windows in my room! See look up. I made pleated valances to match the bedskirt. I wanted to do this last month but didn't.

I do have a tutorial on how to do them coming up.

And as excited as I was about the butterfly project, I didn't do anything about it yet. I do have a frame that I am planning on using though. The glass broke so I need to replace that and have a mat cut. Then 70 butterflies....

Ramblings....

It doesn't feel like I got a whole lot done yesterday. I did get the floor in the girls room cleared off and cleaned. Thank goodness I got the green marker cleaned up before Dad saw it. His head might have spun around! I did find that the furniture is really 3" shorter than what it looks like. Why? Cause it was sitting on junk crammed under it!

Once I got all the clothes cleared off it, I remembered how cute this chair really is. Not bad for a 15.00 summer find right?!

I also moved around the furniture....

....only to decide to move it right back to where it was before.

The artwork did come down though. The bitty one had to stand there with her hands on her bips and lecture me on how hard she worked on it.

Yeah I know honey, get over it! Love Mom.

I wanted to thank Londen @ Sixty-fifth Avenue for visiting cause I now have another cute blog to drool over! Isn't that a pretty name Londen?! She did the absolutely cutest playroom with some Pottery Barn inspiration. She is so clever! I asked her if I could *ahem* "borrow" this idea cause I just absolutely loved it!

Isn't that sweet?! I just went nuts over this! She made it with scrapbook paper and a butterfly punch! Clever Londen! I thought about just doing pink butterflies in different paper. The more that I look at this though the more that I like the different colors. So now I am on the hunt for a frame and mat to copy this. Thank you so much Londen for the inspiration!

I just counted them and I got 70 butterflies to make!

I better get scooting....

I Made a Ding!

It is a small one, but I did it!

You can actually see the floor! Well some of the floor. In making my ding I found....

that the bitty one has not just limited her artwork....

....to just the walls!

Oi Vey!

I do have a funny true story for you though.

There was a man who played the bagpipes. He was asked by a funeral director to play at a homeless man's funeral. The ceremony was graveside at a pauper's cemetery. The director gave him directions to the service, but the man was unfamiliar with the backwoods of Kentucky and got lost. Being a man he didn't stop for directions.

An hour late, he finally arrived at his destination. No one was there except for 2 men digging. He got out of his car and walked to the men. He looked in the hole and saw they had already put the lid on the vault. The men were taking a lunch break so he asked if they minded if he played. The men told him "no" so he went to his car and got out his bagpipes.

The bagpiper played Amazing Grace like he had never played before over the open hole. When he was done, the bagpiper and the two men digging were in tears. The man thanked the two workers and walked to his car. On the way to his car, he heard one of the men comment.

"I have never seen anything like that before and I have been digging septic fields for 20 years!"

Have a great Wednesday!

Chalkboard Paint

Since so many of you commented on it, I thought that I would make another post about it.

I LOVE CHALKBOARD PAINT!

Part of the reasoning to paint all my interior doors black was for chalkboard paint. Both of the kids rooms have chalkboard paint on their closet doors.

One of the things that I didn't like about chalkboard paint was you had either green or black to choose from....

until now!

I found a recipe online on how to make your own chalkboard paint!

In any color you want!

Now I have to say that I have not tried out this "recipe" yet, so I can't say how well it works. Here is how you do it.

In a gallon bucket mix for every cup of acrylic latex paint add 2 tablespoons of dry, unsanded tile grout mix. You can find this at any Home Depot or Lowe's. Stir the mixture with a whisk until the paint is smooth with no lumps. Use uncolored grout mix also to keep a true color of your paint. Repeat mixing the 1 cup to 1 tablespoon ratio until you have the amount of paint desired to paint your piece. Apply the paint to your surface and let completely dry. When dry, lightly sand with a fine sandpaper to accept the chalk. After this step, rub over the entire surface with chalk. Wipe away any excess chalk with a damp cloth.

Like I said, I have not tried this since I bought a gallon of black chalkboard paint for 3 sets of doors.

Could you imagine the possibilities of making chalkboard paint in your own color though?!

And Now For February

So here it is the February room. I chose this room for the shortest month since it is farther along than the others.

The Dreaded Girls Room!

It's a small room only 9x15. Brianna and Syrina share this room for now, much to Brianna's dismay. Hurricane Syrina does go through here on a daily basis too. The first thing is some kind of additional organization for all her toys.

I also need to do some wall cleaning and possibly repainting since she has taken to drawing on her walls. This is her pic of something over her bed.

So her sister did not feel left out, she also got over her bed. She's so thoughtful!

I also need to do something with this area. That is the desk I gave a revamping to this summer. If you can see the bark chair buried under the mound of clothes that is the one I want to repaint. It may have to wait til summer though. I want to spray it with "Ballerina Pink" that Gina @ Shabby Chic Cottage loves so much. The room is painted SW Familiar Beige with white trim. The furniture is painted SW Reliable White. I plan on doing the cream and tan colors in here with small touches of soft pink. In the box is a new desk light that I got at the antique mall to replace the one in here. I also have an idea for Brianna's headboard. Not an original idea, just an idea. I also thought of putting her bed along this wall for more room. I have to think on that some more though.

I think this is going to go. I am thinking of putting some shelves up instead of this bookcase. Maybe around the desk?! My kids are garbage collectors. They love collecting junk.

The top of this has just turned into a catchall. It's Syrina's dresser and all her clothes do not fit in here. The cubby door is full of receiving blankets. I need to go through the clothes and get the ones that don't fit out. She LOVES piggy banks! I started her a collection of the. The white one with the flowers I got at a flea market last spring. I am thinking of taking this out and repainting the 2 nightstands from my room for in here. I could put all the girls socks and underwear in them next to their beds. Then condensing their clothes into one chest to save on room also.

This is Brianna's dresser that is too small for her clothes. When I swap out my chest I am going to repaint it and put it in here. It's big enough to hold both girls clothes. I also need to put that 500 lb rack that my Dad made for her Webkinz up too.

She also wants a place to put up more pics. Yeesh! If you could actually see the floor it is new also. We put the wood laminates down in here last winter. I think that I have a bit of trim to finish putting up in here though.

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to leave them. I can use all the help I can get in here. Thank you all for your sweet comments on my room! You guys just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

I'll be in here if you need me....