Snow-less Snow Day

So I took the Munchkin to school today at 7:45.  At 9:40, I got a phone call that due to winter weather, school was closing at…wait for it….9:40.  Oh yeah, thanks for the heads up.  So I immediately got up from my nap on the couch (shhh, don’t tell anyone) and took off for the school.  And as I did, I noticed that the temperatures were above freezing and it was barely raining.  What winter weather?  And then two hours later, the sun was shining and the temperatures were (still) above freezing.  Um…okay. 

But since it was a snow day, how bout some snowy layouts (photos from when we DID have snow…lol) from this new Snow Friends Kit by Simply Susan. 

I think you can click on the layouts below to see them larger. 

Credits for below layouts:
All papers/elements from Snow Friends available at Faith Sisters, Scrapbooks Gone Digital, & Pretty Scrappy.
Fonts: Times&Times Again, Pea Sadie, VT Portable Remington

And it’s really kinda getting late, so I’m gonna hop off here.  It was another day full of painting (after my nap) and I’m kinda bushed.  Later! =)

A New Leaf?

Well, I’ve been hesitant to talk about this for fear of jinxing it, but after she brought home a book her class made for her today, I couldn’t resist sharing. 

So we were a little worried that with the transfer to the new school, we would have more acting out (and possibly worse) because of all the changes.  I wasn’t so worried about her making friends because she will walk up and strike a conversation with anyone and everyone, and she didn’t appear to be worried about it until the last week at her old school, when suddenly she just KNEW that she wouldn’t like her new school and she wouldn’t make any friends and yada yada. 

Well, the first week of her new school, she had all good days, and she said she’d made ONE friend.  And it was evident in the way she talked, that she was reluctant to admit that it wasn’t nearly as bad as she wanted it to be.  In the second week, we had some mild battles about her lunches and what she wanted to be packed in her lunchbox versus what COULD be packed in her lunchbox, and I finally found something she would eat without complaint (1/2 a sandwich – ONLY bologna and mayo, NO cheese and NO mustard and ONLY a 1/2 of a sandwich plus baby carrots, yogurt, applesauce, or an apple).  She still had all good days though.  Third week and the trend continued, and she even got Queen Bee of the day one day, plus a AAA student medal (which now resides proudly on her backpack).  Fourth week and not a single bad day. 

Got the report card and her scores in math, reading, and science were great, and her behavior was perfect.  We were in seventh heaven, especially after the way the first part of the year went…I mean, I had a note almost every single day at her old school because she just wouldn’t follow the rules, so this is a wonderful switch, let me tell ya!  I love getting smileys instead of x’s across the smileys.  (lol)

And now we’re ending week five and today she came home with Queen Bee of the day award again.  And today, the class all drew pictures for Queen Bee and a statement of what they thought of her (Munchkin is _____) and signed their names on the back.  Quite possibly the most adorable thing ever.  She had a lot of “BFF”s (which I pointed out and she admitted that, “Yes, she does have lots of friends now.”) and then almost the last page….I laughed out loud.  A boy said she was “hot.”  Oh dear.  LOLOLOLOL!  Here are a couple…of course, I blanked out names and inserted anonymous references.  ;-)

1.2.

1. I really like how in every picture, they drew her wearing a skirt.  LOL.  Kids are so observant…and yet, she’s still “fun.”  You go, Munchkin!  =)
2. This girl can DRAW.  she put adorable little princess crowns on their heads.  Munchkin said that the first girl is Munchkin and the other girl is her friend (BFF, no less) from school who drew the picture.  One other thing to note is that they are exceedingly tall…and most of it is legs.  LOL!

3.4.

3. Munchkin is cool.  LOL…cute or what?
4. Munchkin is hot.  BWAHAHAHAHA.  She’s also bald, according to this little boy, but oh well, hot is hot, right?  I thought it was funny that all the boys used adjectives like cute, hot, sweet, etc, and 95% of the girls said she was BFF (which according to Munchkin means “be my friend forever” LOL) So funny!

Anyway, here’s hoping I didn’t just jinx this whole new leaf of hers.  If I had to guess at the cause of this turn around, I think there are several possibilities…

• Challenge – this school seems to do much more challenging activities during the school day and she has very, VERY little homework when she comes home, because they do all their work AT school.  I think this is a plus for both of us (lol).  Consequently, I think she’s too busy to get into trouble.
• Classmates – at her old school, she happened to get 4 of the kids from her preschool in her class.  Her preschool teacher winced when I told her which kids were in her class and suggested that I give serious consideration to moving her.  She didn’t say it in so many words, but knowing the kids from her class at preschool, they may not have been quite the positive influence she needed. 
• Change – I’m thinking maybe just being something new and a new teacher, maybe it was a fresh start for her and being the new kid and going in on her best behavior, maybe she realized how much nicer it is to get smiley faces than X’s.  LOL. 

Whatever the case, I like it and *knocking on wood while saying a prayer* I hope it continues.  LOL.  =)  And there it is.  An update on my girl…and while life in our house hasn’t changed all that much (at least not as dramatically as school), with the exception of a few things we’re still dealing with (normal issues with five year olds), things are rather peaceful.  LOL.  To quote one of those major fast food chains, I’m LOVIN’ it!

And now I’m off to SCRAP this joyous occasion…just in case I did jinx it, I’d like it to be documented in two places so that I will never ever forget.  LOL! 

Looks Can Be Deceiving…

Like this foyer for instance…
It looks like it was a fairly simple job to go from the “before” to the “after”

It also looks like the door was whiter in the “before” but actually, it wasn’t.  I used flash in the before photos because it was very “dark” in there before and in the after photos, I used natural light only. 

In the before photos, the chandelier looks brown…it’s actually almost black, which I discovered when we were up on the scaffolding and I decided to dust it while we were up there. 

It also doesn’t look like it would be that tall of a room…and you wouldn’t think that when you’re up on the top of the scaffolding, that it would be THAT high up…but yowza!  It was tall.  And that skinny little board didn’t feel very substantial.  Here’s some pictures of the process of getting rid of the old color (what we affectionately dubbed the “self-tanner disaster”).  Fake tan, meet high-hiding primer!

And yah, a full day later: high-hiding primer, meet neutral gray-green.  As a side-note, the close-up of the door and trim is not the gray-green, it’s the difference between the fresh white trim and the dingy (still needs to be repainted) front door.  And the picture just fit in that spot, so put it there even though it doesn’t go with the rest of these.  LOL
   
AHh…my mother took a picture of me on the scaffolding over the stairs.  She said it was me cleaning my ear.  I say looks can be deceiving.  I was….um….it was a balance issue…I was standing on a single skinny board and by tugging my ear, I was able to retain my balance…uh…yeah.  LOL!

Oh and it LOOKS like Snowball decided to help us.  Um…but then she saw us watching her and hurriedly ran back down the ladder.  LOL!

Oh and while I’m here, let me just go ahead and post one more before/after.   
There were all kinds of holes in this bathroom…I had to patch several times before I could paint.  And then I had to prime it twice to get rid of that awful teal/aqua/green whatever it was.  I am MUCH happier with it now!  It looks Mahhhhvelous!  And I really like how the cabinet turned out in black.  We also painted that mirror black (originally wood grain), which I found at a consignment shop for $9.  This bathroom was mirror-less when we got here.  LOL. 

Anyway, two more projects crossed off my to-do list.  (Except KC got home and said I hung the mirror too low.  I said, tough cookies, you want it moved, YOU get to do it.  LOL…except we were both nicer about it.  LOL!  But I’m serious about one part…I ain’t gonna move it.  If you’re tall and wanna see in the mirror, bend over.  Ya gotta bend over to wash your hands in the sink anyway, so just look in the mirror while you’re down there.  HAH.  LOL!)

Well, it’s time for the kids bath and bed, so catch’a later!  =)

Hang On To Your Seats!

It’s finally here!  What you’ve anxiously been awaiting…or maybe not.  But anyways, I finally have an AFTER to post!  Wahoo. 

It’s the Master Bedroom:
Before:

After:
 

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that there is an ironing board in the corner that I moved for both of the above pictures because that just wasn’t….ah, ya know…anyway.  SO when you look in our room, the below shot is the “actual view” (ROFL). 
The color is Eddie Bauer “Wicker” and while it looks really similar to our last bedroom color, it’s actually a lot lighter.

Not included in this post, is the “during” picture of KC’s mom in her painting hospital gown…left that out upon threat of death.  Also, while we’re on the topic of KC’s mom and us painting, when we were painting this “master bedroom,” we had to do a lot of patching on those walls.  And you know how you can tell the furniture arrangements because of the way the carpet is flattened?  Well, a lot of the patching was on the wall closest to the bed imprints.  Well, I really can’t say much on here because this is a G rated blog, but SOMEBODY said something and it wasn’t me…and it was after we found handprints on the ceiling over the bed imprints.  *gulp*  *wide-eyes*  Moving on. 

Anyway, I still have this cough and tired junk hanging on, but I’ve managed to somehow keep on going.  Well, part of the time I’ve managed to keep on going.  Yesterday I pretty much passed out on the couch until lunchtime, but today I managed to paint the ceiling and crown molding in the lower hallway, primed the upper hallway, scrubbed the paint off the stairs, finished unpacking the master bedroom, painted the vanity in the 1/2 bath, and…oh, a few loads of laundry, grocery shopping, dishes, cooked supper….ya know…just little stuff like that. 

Oh yeah and yesterday evening (after I forced myself to leave the couch) I put this together: (I finally caved to peer pressure after seeing them all over the web…like here, here, and here) and took these four items from the $ Tree plus super glue from Wallyworld (I’m only counting $4 since I needed the super glue to fix other things, too…lol)
And turned them into this:

I’m really thinking this could use a tray or something under it to tie it together, but I like it so far.  And here’s a little sneak peek on the master bath as a bonus…lol. 

I didn’t take after pics of the master bathroom yet because it’s not perfect yet and I’m anal like that.  LOL.  Also it wasn’t quite clean.  And…ahem…I didn’t feel like cleaning it.  LOL. 

But this corner looks quite peaceful and clean, don’t you think?  LOL! 

Well, that’s about it for today.  I know it doesn’t make up for all the lack of posting, but there’s only so many ways to say “yeah, I’m sick and we’re still painting” before it gets a little old, know what I mean?  LOL.  So. That’s about it.  =) 

Later!

Desktop Freebie

Here’s a free desktop with a space for a photo for you.  Sorry, didn’t find a good cartoon to do a non-photo version with…

This desktop is made with the latest kit from Simply Susan Godfrey (Love & Blessings) available now in her shops: Pretty Scrappy – FaithSisters – Scrapbooks Gone Digital 

Also used the date pieces from Merkeley.

A Casserole KC Will Eat =)

Aha.  I found one!  My two picky eaters loved it.  Actually, we ALL did.  Nice to have another variation for taco night because we LOVE taco night around here.  And hey…I’m nice, I’ll share.  =) 

No idea where this came from except that I wrote it down on a post-it note, so I’m sure it came from the internet somewhere. 

Taco Casserole (yeah, I know…catchy!  HAH)

1 lb ground beef (or turkey, but I used beef)
1 package taco seasoning (and I added a couple shakes of cayenne)
onion (optional…I skipped)
1 cup (or more…I used more) grated cheese
1 can refried beans
1 or 2 packages of cornbread mix (I used one and it was corn MUFFIN mix…don’t know if there’s a difference or not)
various toppings

Preheat oven to 425.  Brown meat (and onion if you’re using it), drain, and add taco seasoning.  Spray 9x13 dish with non-stick cooking spray, spread beans in bottom of dish.  Spread meat mix over beans, then cheese.  Prepare cornbread mix according to package directions and spread over top.  Bake 20 minutes until cornbread is done.

Serve with shredded lettuce, diced tomatos, sour cream, salsa, ranch, etc. 

KC isn’t a fan of cornbread, but he liked it!  =)  And I loved it. =)  I think it serves around 6 or 7 but we all had seconds, so maybe 5 is more accurate. LOL.

Lifetime Story Challenge

I decided to unofficially participate in this challenge that is running this year at FaithSisters, and since I’m a few layouts behind, I’m trying to catch up.  I still need to do the title page (which is started, but not finished), the Family Tree page, and the page on parents, but this is my birth page.  I’ll post them as I do them.  Some of this stuff my mom did for me in my baby book, but I’m trying to compile other pieces into a book about me (and not just my childhood).  It should be fun.  Kinda picks up on some of the Stories In Hand stuff that I did in that class last year…maybe this will force me to scrapbook some of that stuff.  *grin* 

Credits:
Template: 365 Templates – Set 1 by Cara of Sweet Tomato Designs
Kit: Grateful by Sweet Tomato Designs
Fonts: ChopinScript, Pea Ink & Post, Century Gothic

Credits:
Template: 365 Templates – Set 8 by Cara of Sweet Tomato Designs
Kit: Grateful by Sweet Tomato Designs
Fonts: ChopinScript, Century Gothic

Well, Humph!

I guess I should have signed up for an organizing challenge sooner, cuz I’ve already checked off one of my “spaces.”  Granted, it was the smallest and least challenging “space,” but hey, I’m not feeling good, plus I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment without having to spend all day on it, so here we go:

The Medicine Cabinet:

Before:                                           After:
             

Okay, so it’s not that “amazing” of a transformation, but the shelves are clean now, one of the large drawers went to the upstairs linen closet (it was extra lotions and toiletries, not medicinal stuff), and all the medicines are back in their correct containers with the “most un-safe” ones on the very top shelf since we have not got the lock on the door yet.  That’s on the to-do list, but haven’t got it done yet.  There’s a lot of wasted space in these cabinets thanks to the large distance between the built in shelves, but I’m not worried about it right now.  LOL.  I’m just happy to check of one thing as FINISHED…with a before AND after!  Yay!  *grin*

1. What was the hardest part of the challenge for you and were you able to overcome it? This one wasn’t really that hard, I just had to reorganize everything back together. 

2. Tell us what kind of changes/habits you have put into place in order for your area/room to maintain its new order?  Making myself put things away when I finish with them.

3. What did you do with the “stuff” you were able to purge out of your newly organized space? Not much to purge…

4. What creative storage solutions were you able to introduce in order to create additional space as well as establish some limits and boundaries?  Small baskets to hold little things on the shelf.

5. Why do you think you should win this challenge? Well, I’d love to win the organizational tools because I still have quite a bit of organizing left to do, but I’d say all in all, I’ve already won because it’s easy to find stuff here now.  =)

February Stuff

Okay…let’s see here.  I’m gonna lump all these things into one post for the beginning, but at the end of the month, they will be in their own separate posts. 

First up, thanks to this new house, I have lots of areas in need of some major re-organizing.  So I’m hopping on this challenge in hopes that while I’m re-organizing, maybe I can win something in the process.  Here are the areas that I’m gonna try to do this month:

The office: (otherwise known as the dumping grounds during our recent move…yikes…desperately needs some work!)
K-man’s bedroom: (and here’s where you get a sneak peek at his “star wars blue” room color that we painted last weekend.  =)  His closet “threw up” and there is nowhere for his toys or clothes, until we get an organizer hung in his closet and organize all his stuff on it.  All the stuff sitting around his room has no home, and the last picture is the rest of the stuff that used to be in his room in the old house, just waiting in limbo in the “smurf room” which is also known as the bonus/extra bedroom upstairs)

The Laundry Room: (most certainly NOT the most pleasant place to do laundry)
The Kitchen Desk: (another dumping ground during the move)
The Medicine Cabinet: (just needs to be put back together and reorganized because when I packed it, I just wanted it to fit in a box, and I had to scramble the whole mess to do it.  *sigh*)

And then last, but certainly not least….February Photo Hunt! 

I’m hopefully gonna finish it this time, and I signed up because I need to pick up my camera and get going again.  ;-)  So…care to join me?  =)