I'm in love...

with this woman's website

This is Bakerella- she's amazing- I believe I've shared her blog before, but if you've never checked it out, you must.
Anyway, in my Valentine spirit, I was looking for more red and pink goodies I could make. And just in the nick of time, she posts this...  Valentine's treat ideas   Now which one to start with is the question?

Brennan's valentines this year

I'm working on Brennan's valentines for next week. I saw this idea and thought it was absolutely adorable, and Brennan liked it too, so we gave it a try. Here's our take on it. His only stipulation was no cutesy sayings- just "Happy Valentine's Day from Brennan" so that's what we did.  I love how they came out!

If you want to give them a try, just take a photo with their arm outstretched in a grip. Make sure the arm is off to the side a little so the sucker doesn't hide their face. Then add your text. I printed 4 per page- about 3x5 size. Then just use an exacto knife to cut a slit at the top of the fist and the bottom and slip the sucker in the slits!

This and That

Ahh... February already- a little closer to spring! I say that after one of the biggest snowstorms in decades just blew through the Midwest. Thankfully for us here in Des Moines we didn't get it nearly as bad as many around us. We ended up with about 7 inches of snow and only missed 1 day of school for the kids. It's supposed to be in the 30's this weekend, so we're headed into a heat wave!

Illness won't seem to stay away from us! I got a call from school around noon today (the third one this year!) that Brennan was running a slight fever and wasn't feeling well. He ran a low grade fever all day, but felt OK the rest of the day. Tonight, however, I heard the coughing increase. I'm not sure if that's a sign of something or not. He was quite sick a month ago with a high fever for 3 days- he was tested for flu, mono, and strep but all came back negative. I had Bradley at the Dr. on Monday. He has been fighting a cold for a few weeks now, but over the weekend, the cough got really bad. Sure enough, Mom's suspicions were correct, and he was diagnosed with bronchitus. Azithromyacin was prescribed, however by Tuesday night he had developed a horrible red itchy rash. We stopped that and now he's on another antibiotic. He was perking up and feeling better, however today, was feeling kindof crummy again. Germs, germs, go away!!!!

After a whole lot of research, I bought one of these with my Christmas money...

and I absolutely love it! Now this was definitely a big purchase for me for a couple of reasons. 1) It was pretty expensive and 2) I love paper- I wasn't sure I would want to give up "real" books for the e version. That's kind of how I feel about scrapbooking. I am intrigued with digital scrapping but I like to fondle paper too much! So I wasn't sure if I would use this enough.
I chose a Nook over a Kindle for a couple of reasons.
I liked the Color aspect.
I like the fact that many libraries have books you can "check out"- I still haven't looked into this, but I know it's an option.
I can buy magazines and newspapers as well as books. I'm not really a newspaper gal, but I do like a good magazine!
I was told by the rep at Barnes and Noble that they will have an app store coming out later in the year for the Nook! Yeah!!

I love being able to read in bed at night without having to turn on my lamp.
I love being able to stick it in my purse and take it with me.
I love being able to access the internet when there is Wi Fi since I don't have a web enabled phone.
I have enjoyed being able to be reading several books at a time, and normally I DO NOT do that.
I love surfing the store and putting books on my wish list. It is very difficult sometimes to exercise self control, however when you simply have to just push the "buy" button without ever having to get out your checkbook (of course, your credit card is on file!)

I have made a goal to read 20 books this year. I should have no problem meeting this goal- in fact I probably do that in any given year, however I don't think I've ever kept track before. This year I hope to keep track. I just finished this one last night, and it was a great read- so here is book number 1-

I am definitely a biography/autobiography kind of girl. I am hoping, however, to expand my horizons a bit this year, so my 20 will include some different genres- hold me to it!
In summary, Mary Beth Chapman is the wife of Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman. I would have to say he has been my all time favorite Christian singer- what an amazing testimony that has stood for decades. I remember seeing him in concert in my first year of college, and have been enamored with him ever since. Anyway, the Chapmans have adopted 3 little girls from China, but in May of 2008, their 5 year old daughter Maria, was hit by a car...driven by their 17 year old son Will Franklin. Will Franklin did not see his sister run into the path of his SUV. The book is powerful and gripping as Mary Beth is so transparent about how their family has dealt with the tragedy, and continue to give God the glory during this storm in their lives. I spent a couple nights staying up too late reading, not wanting to put it down!

I'm slowly trying to start decorating around here. I had Gary hang some things up on the wall the other night. That definitely helps the place to look more cozy. Window treatments are definitely on the list! And paint... builders grade paint doesn't do the job for long, so I'm getting ready to paint (UGH!!) I HATE to paint. I'm starting with the tutoring room first, then planning to tackle the main bathroom. We'll see how long those two tasks take me!

I'm back to Snap working out again. I stopped completely in Nov. and Dec. and it took me a couple of weeks into January to get back on the bandwagon. It's hard to drag myself out on cold nights (and cold mornings don't happen!!!), but I'm trying. I'm trying to log 10 miles per week on the treadmill. I'm hoping to up that as the weeks go on, but that's enough of a stretch for now since 4 times per week is about the max I get down there.

Well I've blabbered enough for now. I need to get to bed since I've been up late reading the last few nights. Now if only I can leave my fully charged Nook off so I can get a good night's sleep...

It's almost Valentine's Day!

I love Valentine's Day! It ranks up there as a favorite holiday along with the 4th of July. I love decorating for Valentine's Day and baking things for Valentine's Day- that's why I signed up for small group treats on the 13th of this month and I always try to sign up for bringing treats for Bren's Valentine's parties. I saw a cute idea on someone's blog to do a Valentine countdown using $ store materials. So here was my  take on the project- using all items from the $ Tree or things I had on hand!
Brennan saw me working on it and was so excited! He kept asking me when it was going to be done, and when the hearts would be filled. I actually had to put a couple of pieces of tape on each of the hearts to keep him from opening them up early!

 The stand, the round pizza pan, the hearts, and ribbon at the bottom are all from the $ Tree. I covered the pan with some scrapbooking paper I had. I used my scrapbooking stuff to put the numbers on each of the hearts, andd then used an acrylic sealer over them. I hot glued the bottom of the hearts to the pan, and then used some stickers, etc. to decorate.

 The title is made out of some acrylic letters I had and they are also hot glued to the edge of the pan.

Each of these hearts open up. I filled them with candy, change, and dollar bills. As I said, I had to tape the sides of each one to keep him out of them before the day they are to be opened!  It was so fun to get crafty again! It has been on hold for several months while I have been in moving chaos.