don't break the ice!

beano worked so hard putting all the ice cubes in.





she broke it.

having a snice (snow / ice) day

we went out this morning to play in the snow, but it was a bit more like ice. the kiddos were sliding when they were trying to walk. i need to get the yak tracks out! here they are all bundled up & ready!!

ben loooved playing outside, throwing ice balls at me!
check out that arm!

they both loved the sled!

gracie had fun at first, but her mood changed.
when bubby tried to get on the sled with her, that was it!




back inside for some hot chocolate & to watch a kidsongs dvd. my son seems to love all the old school videos. i hope our library is stocked up!

hope everyone is keeping warm!

over the river & through the woods

to namaw & poppy's we go! we had a great time this weekend staying at namaw at poppy's house. beano is getting to be quite the pool player. and miss cecee loves talking to casey the bird. we hung out & had a nice ole time.
bath time was so much more fun there, water splashing EVERYWHERE!

we went to cousin grant's birthday /early valentine's day/ namaw & poppy's anniversary / uncle tom's birthday celebration saturday.
monica made a delectable meal and a very yummy cake!

the kids had the time of their lives with big cousin grant. thanks grant for playing so well with my toot monster! (i heard you blamed one on him though!)


11 days till daddio's home - we can't wait!!

sophie bear

we had a houseguest last week. the kiddos really enjoyed sophie's visit with us. for me, 2 dogs & being sick were almost too much, but we survived. poor sophie wasn't used to the nonstop excitement of the kiddos & she was ready to go home. sophie is the sweetest, most loveable doggie i know. unlike our dog zaky, who is 8 pounds of rotten.
while the dogs were here, i was letting them out to potty in our fenced in backyard. they escaped by walking across the frozen lake. thank goodness i was able to catch them & no pup ended up in the water. all i could think about was the dog biscuit i had seen on the news.
mom, sophie's welcome here anytime!
see ya soon sophie bear!

making faces & ugly blankies

my kiddos are quite animated. beano has been making this one face a long time now. when he's embarrassed, angry, shy; it's the same silly face.
i asked him not to make the face because it wasn't nice. he said it was, it was a daddy face. so there you go.

here's the fleece blanket i made out material i had just sitting. i had this brilliant idea of making everyone homemade pants for christmas. it's now middle of january. so, i decided to make a blanket. it is very soft & comfy cozy, as beano likes to say. i bet the whole family will fit under it. beano's only complaint was that there isn't enough lightening mcqueen on it. here's beano enjoying the warmth (making the face).

it's going to be good for playing mothra around the house for daddio! (after bath, the kids like to put on their hooded towels & fly around the house. i scream "eek, a bug, a moth!" and swat at them.)
poor kid fell down while trying to take off his shirt & hit our bed frame. he has a big owie under his eye. good thing he's tough like his daddy!

have a great weekend!

applesauce in a tube

my kiddos luuuv applesauce. sometimes beano wants to take it for the road. however, it's too messy & i try to talk him into a gogurt (yogurt in a tube). i thought how awesome would it be to have applesauce in a tube? i thought this might be my million dollar idea. guess what - it's already out there!

Smashies are the first Organic, no added sugar or HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) squeezy apple sauce pouches for kids. They seem a little pricey, but for organic & portability likely worth it.

I can't wait to try some out!

still sick.

we had a rough one last night. both of my kids have puked on me in the past week. yuck, yuck, yuck. i wasn't doing well either. i don't know how single moms do it.

this morning, i did have to smile though. when beano woke up, the first thing he said was "are you feeling better momma?" he is so caring and such a sweetie.

this one's for you daddio

here's what we do while you're away, he said he gets his moves from you!!!

painting

not too much going on here. they are feeling better, thank goodness. the kiddos painted this morning some wooden hanging pegs. poor beano, he is a bit ocd when it comes to dirty hands (i think this is due to me always sanitizing his hands after anything). we had to stop & wash his hands every time there was a bit of paint on him. not cecee though! p.s. namaw, we loove the rocker/picnic table! it has been great fun & the perfect spot for craft time.



beano took the camera & some pictures. i think i have a rockstar/photographer/president in the future.



we are actually going to hang up the finished work below where daddio & i put our coats. i hope i can teach the kids to put up their own jackets. we'll see...

these are a few of my favorite things....

in my free time, i love to surf the web. i have found a few things that i absolutely love.

charlie's soap. our clothes just come out of the wash better, softer. why, i don't know. but i love it.

funk butter. this stuff really works & it doesn't have any of that bad junk in it. the funk butter even works on daddio's funk, but he doesn't think the scent is manly enough. i also love their whipped pudding & whipped shea butter. i love to slather my kids up in both. they smell so good, you wanna eat em!

sophie the giraffe. i ordered one of these for cecee to chew on instead of the plastic phthalate, bpa containing toys. i think everyone thought she was chewing on a dog toy. it is so sweet looking & i think felt good on her gums during the teething. i for the life of me, can't find a picture of her chewing on it, but it was in her mouth constantly for several months!

california baby. it's free of all the nasty chemicals they put in the baby soap (numbing agents for tear free?). it's pricey, but we put it lasts a long time & we put it in a foamer to make it last longer. we switch between this & dr. bronner's mild soap for bathtime.

homemade all purpose cleaner. i discovered the wonders of vinegar on the web. i usually now mix together a concotion of dr. bronner's, vinegar, some lavender eo & tea tree oil for lots of our cleaning.


deal sites.. i love fishing for deals, baby bargains & slick deals. they are too addicting. i don't know how much $$ we really have "saved", but santa did get the favorite christmas gift for $25 instead of $89

etsy. handmade stuff. you name it, someone makes it. luuuv it!

sortfloorbooks. a great cheap book website. this is why our home is overflowing with reading material & a lot of friends get books as presents! free shipping on $15 of books.

i'm so happy!

check out my drink drawer!
thank you karen, you have made my day! love ya!

lots 'o fun on saturday, not so much today...

oh my kiddos have caught a bug. i was awakened last night at dee's to cecee throwing up all over me. so much for our sunday plans. beano made it almost the hour ride home before getting sick.
the good news is i think it's a short living bug. cecee's already acting better (after a handful of clothes changes for her & me). here's what she's been doing with the sick bowl (it's clean).

poor beano is still feeling rough. he is having a baad time.

we did have fun on saturday. we went to art & met our cousins there. beano made a water bowl for zaky
& some lovely pieces of art. it is so cool what happens when you use markers & a wet paintbrush.

looks like a watercolor!

we stayed all night at my great aunt & uncle's home. the playing continued there. by the end of the night, grandma deedee's lap was the place to be.
last night, as i was trying to get cecee to sleep, poor darbs ran into to tell me beano tooted in her face. he was running behind, laughing saying "i said sorry!" i'm sorry darbs!

hope everyone else is doing ok!

i'm a pepper

oh, how i love my dr. pepper. it's in my blood. i've been a pepper since a little kid. here's me & my papaw in our matching shirts.

i've been trying to give it up to cut back on calories & lose some "baby" weight (i don't know if it's called that a year & 1/2 later). i tried the diet dr. peppers, but they just don't cut it. we'll see, i've been craving a pepper pretty bad. this is harder for me to give up than smoking for 10 years!

update on papaw, he has an appointment monday with the dr & friday he has surgery to remove the cancer. thank you for your thoughts & prayers.

have a great weekend!

happy anniversary namaw & poppy!!!

happy anniversary namaw & poppy!
(pictures taken by beano)
i hope you have had a wonderful day. the love you share for each other is just awesome. thank you for showing us unconditional love and friendship. through your lives, you have given us examples of how to live, love, forgive, forget & go on. you have taught me so much in the 8 years i have been a part of your lives. here's to 39 + more years of marriage! we love you!

p.s. happy 14th birthday mr. grant!

alphabet book

for some reason, i decided to make the kids an alphabet book. i saw someone's on artscow.com , copied and modified a few things. it turned into a much larger project than i planned. i can't wait to see the actual book!
here's what i've been working on the past week instead of sleeping...

happy 1 1/2 birthday, my little one!

today is cecee's 18month birthday. it's hard to believe she's that old. it's hard to believe 18 months ago i was bawling my eyes out wondering what was wrong with her (rapid breathing & developed pneumonia). she is growing up into such a funny, loving, full of spunk little girl. we are so blessed to have her.

today, we had some if our best friends over. what a great time we all had making crafts and playing like kiddos do. the kiddos had fun (despite beano's grouchy look in the picture, he's loving to hide his face or make ugly faces for the camera now) & i love visiting with the mommas.
the kids received such an awesome christmas gift today, handmade with love. check out these puzzles! this is something i know they will keep forever. thanks melissa, derick & girls!

tonight, we celebrated cecee's 1/2 birthday with heart shaped jello, dinosaur grilled cheese and a small birthday cake made by the kiddos.


she especially enjoyed the icing.




i love to look for random things to celebrate & want to do something "magical" for the kids each day (even though i know it's the day to day stuff that really matters). i hope we are creating good memories like i have from growing up. we love to build fort tents, play pirate, jump on the bed, dance like crazy (beano already can dance like mr. mcdreamy on can't buy me love{one of my favorite movies as a teen} - the african mating dance!!), crate craps (crafts) and just be kids. i enjoy staying at home with them, albeit sometimes (ok, a lot of times)can be frustrating. but i get to relive the wonder of childhood every day.