Made it Without My Hubby

Over Spring Break, I completed a long awaited project.  Last year, Lamar and I built this entertainment center which was a knock off of Ashley's and based off of Ana White's plans.

I knew I wanted drawers for the bottom of the unit, but didn't want just plain black drawers.  After Whitney built the storage crates for her girls' beds, I knew that was exactly what I wanted.

I measured my drawer spaces and then went to HD for my supplies--plywood, 1 x 3 furring strips, Gorilla glue and a brad nailer. I had HD cut the plywood for me, but I thought I could handle the furring strips with a handsaw---wrong!  Without a mitre box, I was making a mess cutting them and it was exhausting.  So...Lamar bought me a circular saw!  Woohoo!!!

Used GG and my brad nailer to make the bases.

Furring strips added on front and back.  NOTE TO SELF---make sure to use the right length of nails next time.  I had to redo this part. :(

While I worked, the girls played outside...it was wonderful!

Finished!!!



Love, love, love!!!



Look Who's 5!!!

I'm 5!!!!!

Make a Wish!

Happy Birthday Sweet Karsyn Alyssa!!!  You bring us so much joy each and every day!  I love you to inifinity and beyond!!!

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V is for Volcano

Last week, Karsyn's class studied the letter V. They made volcanoes at school using a medicine bottle, play dough, and food coloring. When we got home, all we had to do was add vinegar (vineKar per Karsyn) and a teaspoon of baking soda. She LOVED it!!!

Showering Shannon & Easton

My nephew will be here in about 2 months!!!  On Sunday, we showered Shannon and Easton with my cousins, aunt and grandmothers.  It was so much fun!  I can't wait to see Easton wear all of the adorable clothes he got!

We can't wait to meet Easton J!!!

Yummy shower food!  All of my favorites---artichoke dip, spinach dip, quiche, sausage balls, fruit & cupcakes!!!

Baby Showers = Games!  Baby food guessing game, Old Wives Tales & Name that Baby Tune

He's going to be one well-dressed little man!

Karsyn was extra "helpful" to Shanon with all of the gifts.

We had everyone write a note for Easton or Shanon on a set of diapers.  This was the one from Landrie.  She couldn't remember how to spell Easton, so she just wrote his initials.  She is so excited for him to be here!!!

Blastball

Karsyn is playing Blastball this Spring, which could be considered pre t-ball. They use softer balls and bats and everyone hits and scores. Their first game was on Saturday--it was so cute!!! I can't wait for them to play again.

Coach Matt & Caleb with a pre-game pep talk

The parents help out on the field so the kids know what to do. Lamar showed Karsyn the "ready" position. She went after every ball that was hit even if it wasn't in her area.

Swing batter, batter!!!!

Grand Slam! The last hit of the inning is a grand slam.

Soccer

Landrie decided to play soccer again this Spring for her 3rd season. We changed things up this year, and she's playing on an all girls team. Several of her teammates have never played before and it definitely seems to be more her speed.

Landrie's playing goalie in the above picture. She seems to like that position a lot! You can see Lamar and Karsyn watching from behind the goal.

Landrie's 2 biggest cheerleaders ~ Daddy & Karsyn

Project Time

I have so many projects that I want to try!

For my birthday, I got a new sewing machine and PhotoShop Elements. Last week, I bought myself a brad nailer and Lamar got me a circular saw. Now, if I could just find the time to sew, build and design I would be thrilled.

Sewing Projects:

• A digital camera strap like this
• Pillows for my living room
• Clothes for the girls

Building Projects:

• A bed for Karsyn like this one from Shanty 2 Chic and Knock Off Wood

Design Projects:

• Maybe revamping my blog?
• Just creatively editing my pictures

I'm so excited for summer to be here so I can work on these things and more. 9 weeks to go!!!

Mind Over Matter

**Warning---this might be offensive to some readers**

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I am a go, go, go type of person. Having kids didn't really change that. When Landrie was a baby, we were home for 1 full day before I had to get out of the house. I drove myself (oh my gosh!) to Wal-Mart when she was 3 days old. Lamar went back to work that same day too. Luckily, she was a good baby and would sleep any where we went. We could go to a friends house and stay until midnight if we wanted to.

With Karsyn, that didn't change. If anything, I was even more determined to be on the go. I came home from the hospital 28 hours after she was born. 3 days later, we went to church.

We've never not gone somewhere because of the girls. We go to restaurants regularly. It doesn't always go perfectly and sometimes we press our luck** (like this weekend). But the girls are learning how to act in public. Two Saturdays in a row, we went out to eat with 18+ people. It was great! The kids had a good time, and the adults were able to carry on a conversation for the most part.

I just get so surprised when I read about people (mostly on blogs) that shut down their lives for months at a time because they don't want to take their kids anywhere. They will eventually have to go out in public. How will they act then?

I'm just a mind over matter girl. If you think it's going to be hard, or horrible, it probably will be. If you have the mindset that you can do anything, you probably can.

Just my personal ramblings and opinions...

**This weekend, Karsyn got sick in the middle of a frozen yogurt store. Not my finest moment.

Way Behind

I'm so behind on blogging. We had to go full-steam ahead at school after all of our ice days in February. Now March is here! I can hardly believe it! We just started the final trimester at school, so 11 Monday's to go! This school year has flown by! I'm having a hard time with the fact that Karsyn is going to Kindergarten next year!!!

Here are a few pictures that I forgot to post earlier:

A Valentine's treat - Chocolate covered peanut butter crackers - YUM and SO cute!!

I think she loved the snow, don't you?!?

Sleepover with Avery and Hayden

We're busy now with Lamar coaching track, Landrie playing soccer and Karsyn playing t-ball. I'll try to post more pictures soon!

Craft Project - Paper Banner

We are out of school for our 5th day out of the last 7---so crazy! I decided to work on another craft project! :)

Landrie's room needed some updates. I love her patchwork quilt, but she didn't have much on her walls. After getting an adorable cupcake print from a friend, I decided to do a cupcake theme for her room. Landrie LOVES sweets, so it seemed like the perfect decor for her!

I got my inspiration from this post on Shanty 2 Chic's link party this week.



I love the different papers used and knew it would look great in Landrie's room. Since we were iced in, I used what I had to create her banner. Plus, that made it FREE which I love!

I used my Cricut to cut out the letters at 5 1/2" tall. I used my favorite cartridge - Alphalicious. I then used my straight cutter to make 6" x 6" squares and 7" x 7" squares. After I mounted the letters to those, I decided it still needed something else. I backed all of them in 7.5" x 7.5" white squares to give it a more unified look.

For the cupcakes I used torn paper to create the bottom and cut 3 ovals on the Cricut for the icing. Instead of a cherry on top, I put a heart!

I hung them over her bed with white tulle. I may eventually mount them onto wooden plaques, but this works for now.

What do you think?

Karsyn's begging for a banner in her room too. Maybe we'll have another snow day soon??

ICE Day Project #2-3

I find it so crazy that we're out of school for the 3rd day in a row due to ice. Normally we'll have one snow day and the next day it will be 60 degrees and it all melts off. This week, we're struggling to get out of the 20s, so we're still at home. It's not a bad vacation except that everything is closed! We went to the mall yesterday and there was hardly anyone there!!!

I finally hung up some shelves that I painted for the girls bathroom a LONG time ago. I bought them at a tiny antique store for $12. They were already white, but I decided I wanted to crackle paint them.

I used some free Glidden paint in a Watermelon color (Thanks Missy!) and then crackled them with white on top. I love the way that they turned out. It definitely added so much to their bathroom.

Project #3 was to Mod Podge a K to coordiante with Landrie's L. She got the L for her birthday 2 years ago, and it's been in their bathroom ever since. Poor Karsyn felt left out and I finally came through and decorated one for her. I had most of the same scrapbook papers that our friend used, so for $2.99 she has her matching K now. I also framed a picture of them for the top of the shelf.


I love going to my friends houses and seeing personal touches in every room. I'm trying to do the same here now--little by little and on a budget!


I'm posting this early for Shanty 2 Chic's - I Made it Without My Hubby! For once, I'm ahead of the game! :)

Ice Day = Project Day

Texas is known for it's crazy weather...especially up here in the DFW area. Saturday it was 76 degrees and the girls were riding their bikes everywhere.

Today we have wind chills near/below zero and are having an Ice Day at home!! The girls braved the weather for about 15 minutes. They were trying to round up snow balls, but it's mostly packed ice. Several schools have canceled school for tomorrow too. We're waiting to find out if we have school or not. While the break is nice, it will be disappointing to lose Good Friday and Memorial Day as our holidays.

I worked on a project this morning and have a couple of other things I'm going to do tonight/tomorrow. This is our door leading to the garage. We've never had a good place to hang backpacks and purses, so I found these hooks at Hobby Lobby and hung my new Shutterfly canvas. I love the way it turned out - and so does my little apprentice!

I hope everyone is staying warm and safe out there! I'm beginning to go a little stir crazy!