Decline in posts

Alright, as this pregnancy has neared an end, the amount of posts I've put up had gone WAY down. I do apologize for that. I am suddenly faced w/ the reality that I have 3 weeks till Delivery Day and a whole lot to do. I am nesting SO bad right now. I just hope my nesting doesn't cause early labor. For Memorial Day, DH and I took on a project that *should* have been a one day project. We decided to switch the kids rooms so the boys could have the smaller one and the baby would be closer to our bedroom ( a whole 50 yards closer, lol). Well, it's not like we could just switch. We decided to do the closet in the boys room. We'd bought the stuff for it like, last week, but didn't have a chance to do it till yesterday. Should have been a 30 min or 1 hr project. First we couldn't find the brackets for the walls or the screws we bought. We finally decided to re-buy them. Went to the store, got the stuff..... including paint, and fabric for curtains in both rooms,  a border to use instead of a chair rail in the boys room......

So we come home and the screws Roger bought were a little too long. So he struggled w/ those for.... like 2 hrs? Maybe longer. I started on the painting. We bought red paint for the bottom half of the boys room. Then we had doubts- the paint we bought was the discount paint- we put a swatch on the wall and I kid you not, it was HOT PINK. Yeah, not kosher for the boys room. But we decided to let it dry. I'm glad we did. I even had 2 friends come over to tell me whether it was pink or red. So we finished painting last night and got the shelves in the closet up. Tonight we're putting up the border and putting the dresser back in, which means tomorrow I can switch clothes out.

When am I going to do Juliana's room? you ask? I  have NOOO idea. I still need my mom to fix the curtains I screwed up for the boys room, then I'll have her make Juliana's curtains.

This week is crazy. Saturday I have plans from 8:30 AM till 9PM. The week after that (the 7th) my nephew is getting married. So I have the next Saturday (the 14th), but I'll probably be helping the kids w/ their Father's Day gifts (though I hope they'll be done during the week before). Then on Tuesday the 17th we're having the baby! So we're booked from now till forever, lol. Hopefully it'll help the time pass quickly.

I finished it!!

I finally finished the blanket for Vaughn. I'm very proud of it and can't WAIT to post pics (I'm at my parents right now, so I can't). After finishing the blanket, my hands needed SOMEthing to do. I can NOT sit w/ nothing to do. So today I started on the kids' car folders. I bought a folder for each of them the other day (intending to cover it in fabric for a game, but nixed that when I found a Superman folder and my son fell in love with it). Today i spent time printing, copying, transferring, and drawing activities to use in the folder. I found some great worksheets online (for preschoolers, google free printable preschool worksheets and you'll get a ton). I also copied some things out of coloring books. I really like those little activity books because they are half size and so you can fit 2 papers onto a cardstock. I then laminated the cardstock filled papers. Now I need to buy dry erase markers, somehow get elastic onto the folder pocket to hold the dry erase markers, trim the activities, and find some kind of clip or magnet strip to use. This probably does not make any sense at all without pictures. Here's a sketch:



Anyway, I'm trying to decide when to give my kids the folders. We take a lot of 45 min drives and it would be nice to have them now, but on the other hand, I would kind of like to get them each one of these trays. That wouldn't happen till Christmas, so do I give them the folders now, the trays and refills for the folders at Christmas, or hang onto ALL of them till Christmas?

The wait is almost over

Ok, I'm almost done w/ the afghan for Vaughn, so I can move onto more crafts. I also have some pics of some bows to post. I had a friend show me how. I"m still not the best at them, but practice makes perfect. And actually, I found out that humanitarian aide can use some, too, so as soon as I get more barrettes I'll be able to do some for some girls in orphanages. :D

Father's Day

Ok, so I need to start thinking NOW about Father's Day. It is on June 15th- TWO DAYS BEFORE I HAVE MY BABY!!! As for a gift, we're filling his tackle box w/ fishing stuff (he's very much a beginner). However, we still want to do some craft projects. In looking at Oriental Trading, I get lots of ideas. They've got some ok ones. So far I'm liking.... a paper/foam Toolbox Card. It's cute, you open up this toolbox http://tinyurl.com/4rm2tk (let me know if the link works or not, please)
I also like the idea of the travel Mugs, but is there a way to do it w/out ordering the kits? http://tinyurl.com/3fq9or


The HP website usually has some neat stuff, too, but they still have Mother's Day stuff up, so it's too early to find too much there.

I'm googling stuff as I type this post. I just found this: http://amazingmoms.com/htm/fathersday4.htm   
Cute, huh? Especially since Roger just started grilling this year. If I was a nice wife, I'd make him an organizer for his grilling tools. I might, still!

And look how cute this is
http://www.daniellesplace.com/HTML/mengifts.html
just a note about this, a lot you have to be a member for. I almost cried!

I am blown away by the generosity and genius and creativity of people. Here are a few more links:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/dad/
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/fathers-day-crafts-and-gifts/
http://www.kinderart.com/seasons/father3.shtml
http://www.makingfriends.com/dad.htm


Anyway, if you run across any other ideas, I'd love to see 'em/ read 'em.... whatever. :D Or pics of what you've done previous years....

Portable Art Center

Ok, so technically I don't need it till Christmas (though if I find a good one and make it before then it'll probably used as soon as it's done). So I need ideas and pictures, possibly tuts if you've got  them. So far, the best I've got is from one of the super awesome mods at Mormonchic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/12703778@N02/1336300154/

A Photo Update

Ok, so I don't update much since I work on the same things for a few days at a time now (or, in the afghan's case, a few weeks). I thought I'd let y'all see how it's coming and see if it inspires anyone.

First, here is the afghan I'm working on for Baby Vaughn

Next, here's what the Eye Spy pics look in an album. I'm working on getting all the pics ready so you can just download all of them, print 'em, and use 'em. I would, however, like you to ask permission if you're going to use them to sell at all.

And now, for something a little more random that has nothing to do with crafting..... I've been couponing again. I took about a year sebattical from it because I couldn't even afford to do it that way. Man, did it feel good to get back into it!! Here are my two most recent receipts:

You'll have to look at it up close, but we bought 2 razors at almost $10 each, then got blade refills for $12, but w/ my coupons, my total was less than $10!!!

This was from yesterday at Albertson's. I got 34 items, totalling WELL over $100. But between the sale and coupons I spent..... $34. I saved over $90!!!!!!

This is from that sale- this is JUST the things I didn't have room for in my cupboards and such. Crazy, huh?!

So boring!

I so don't update enough, but it's hard when I"m working on the same ol thing. Actually, I started yet another project last night that I will soon be sharing with all of you. I'm making my own "Eye Spy" books. I'll be posting a tut and finished project here when I"m done. All I can say is how much I LOVE photoshop! Who knew that the things I step on around the house that almost make me curse would in turn make me so giddy hand happy! I'm doing one book for my son and one for my daughter that they'll get for Christmas. I should do one for the baby, too, but I'm not sure he'll be ready for them by Christmas, I mean, he'll only be 6 months, but I"m sure he'd like looking at the pictures. We'll just see how that goes.

Want a sneak peek?