Finished projects & purple smiley faces!!

OK.  When I comment that I am going to post an update on a project the next day I really mean......

7-10 days.  Does anyone else's life seem to work that way too?  This week has literally been one project/task/issue after another. I have been going non-stop from 6am to 10 pm most of the week.  I am soooooo glad it is Friday!!!! It has been a rainy (not stormy, just a nice rain) day!! Natalyn was excited this morning (after I dressed her while she was asleep!) because it was her first day to go to school with an umbrella. OH......the mind of a 5 yr old!  She did look very cute marching up the sidewalk towards the school with her leopard umbrella.  Very POSH!

Natalyn's teacher uses a color system for behavior issues.  I believe that everyone starts on green and if you finish the day on green, that is pretty good.  The only color better than green is purple and Nat has gotten a purple smiley face on her daily calender the past 3 days!!! We are very proud of her!!!!

Her teacher even called our house this evening, just to see if we (as parents of Kindergartner's) had any questions or concerns.  I was impressed that she took the time to do this.  I am very thankful that Nat has the teacher that she does.

OK. Back to my projects.  The pics are awful, but I had already drug the 6 ft ladder back into the garage and refused to bring it back in the house (oh- how I love being 5'2"!)  So these pics are from ground level. 

This is a dry-erase board I made.  I used a cheap Hobby Lobby Frame and scrap paper. Total cost=$4.99!!

 Candle holder- finished!  I plan to get an "S" decal to put on the plate.  Also I need to get some floral sprigs to add some color to the ivy. I already had all this stuff, so total cost was $0.00!!!

 The glass jar-thingy was my great-grandma's  (my Nannie).  I just put in some decorative wicker balls to add some color (half off at Hobby Lobby=$5.00).  I also need to find a platter with some color/pattern on it.  I had this one already, so it works for now.

 Here is the frame I had posted about yesterday last week.  I painted the white mat brown (it almost looks like it is trimmed in stained wood).  Then I duct taped (very professional, huh?) a place mat that I got from Target to the back of the mat.  And wha-la! Artwork that cost me $3.99!!  We got the vase as a wedding gift. I love it because it is just plain.  I stuffed some moss in it and some faux wild flowers.  Total cost=$2.99!!

 This was supposed to be my first picture to post, I have no idea why it ended up at the bottom.  Basically, this pic shows the pattern on the paper that I used.

 

 

Play date & Potty Time!!!!

OK. I know, I know, boring title post!! I can't think of anything snazzy (spelling?)!!!

Elerz had her first play date without Nat around.  She had Anderson, one of her church buddies, over for awhile yesterday morning.  Elerz is still having a hard time without Nat at home during the day.  She actually cried and wanted to sit on my lap for the first hour that Anderson was here, then she finally "chilled out!" Elerz is still on her kick of "every friend is named Mia." Soooo.... Mia, I mean Anderson was a good sport about it ad "entertained" Elerz's craziness!!!

Here they are eating a snack. Don't they look like such big kids!!

 Anderson had one of our old cell phones.  He is playing like he is taking my pic while I am taking his!

 On to other things.....like I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE POTTY TRAINING!!!!!! For several months, Elerz has let me know immediately after her diaper is yuck (that's what we say around here!).

Even though I still think she is alittle too young, it's probably time for her.  Elerz has the type of personality, that if it's her idea, she's ok with it.  So.....Sunday we headed to Wal-mart and bought a pink potty.  She has used it once each day.  WAY TO GO ELERZ!!!!!

 



A little of this & that!

Nat has done remarkably well this week (still one more day to go this week!)  This morning, I am pretty sure she was eating her cereal asleep though!!! She really seems to like her teacher, and the specialty teachers as well (i.e. PE!!) She told me yesterday that they had learned about the color red and circles.  She said that she knew all about both so the teacher told her to learn how to spell the word red, which she came home doing!! I was impressed!! She also learned her 5 digit lunch account number in one day flat.  Too bad I can't get logged into the system to add any $ to the account though!! Tomorrow is PIZZA DAY, the ONLY DAY that Nat will consider the school food and I DON'T HAVE TO PACK A LUNCH!!!!!!!!  I WILL tape $2.40 to her arm tomorrow morning if I have to!!!!!!!

I would show a pic of how cute Nat looked today, but it's late and my camera is MIA.  I may add it in tomorrow!!

Nat's BFF Mia got a hair cut from another classmate.  Per Katie, it was more of a trim than a cut-thank goodness!!  Kiddos are crazy fast with scissors!! And why is it that when you hand a young child a pair of scissors that the logical thing to do is cut someone's hair of all things?! Hmmmmm....

I am working on a few things for the kitchen, here they are:

This is an old frame that I had.  It is a kind of antique goldish color. As you can see, I started painting it before I took a "BEFORE" pic.

 I have had this basket for ages. I decided to not spray paint it (that would have required a trip to Wal-Mart),  but use red acrylic paint to distress it a bit.  I put about a million more coats on it. 

 This lonely candle stick was originally a brassy color, I just slapped on some turquoise-ish blue paint on it.

 OK. Here is layer 1 of the frame painting process.

All of this stuff is going above my cabinetry in the kitchen.  I have no more step by step pics. (Nice tutorial, huh?)  I hope to have everything completed and in place tomorrow.  I'll just have to leave you in suspense until then...............



First Day of School- Kindergarten Edition!!

OK.  I, Natalyn survived the first day of school. 

I can't believe it,but Natalyn jumped right out of bed at a bright and early 6:30am!! (Let's see if she is still doing this by Friday!ha)

She even ate cereal WITH MILK, which is a miracle in itself!!!

OH! What a big girl!!!

 Elia was all up for the excitement of the morning. She even has her very own Minnie Mouse backpack, that she insisted on wearing.

We parked a block or so away from the school and walked Nat over, the car line was at least a 45 min wait to drop off today!!!

 Nat's classroom. I am rather impressed with myself, as I DID NOT ( I repeat-DID NOT) CRY!!!

oh- and Nat was super brave too!!!

Ol' Elerz was not happy about having to go with us and not getting to stay at school with Natalyn!!!

 This last pic is of Nat and her teacher, Mrs.Maute after school. I just love the smiles on both of their faces!!! We got in the pick up line at 2:30 and got to the front of the line for pick-up at 3:20!!! (and Elerz refused to take a nap today-so it felt more like 18 hours in line!!!)

I asked Nat what she did today.  She said that she made new friends. I asked what their names are, she had no idea! Geez!!  She also said she played with dominoes, but overall she had alot of fun!!



Kindergarten Open House

OK. This morning we went to Nat's school for Kindergarten Open House.  Nat was equally scared/excited as we were walking through the doors of her new school.  There will be 8 Kindergarten classes so it took a little bit to find Nat's class.  Nat walked into the room and looked around and said "I was wanting a room with a purple wall."  Nat's room has a blue wall.  Each grade has a focal wall color.  Nat wanted to know what grade had the purple walls? I told her I have no idea, except that it isn't Kindergarten.

Here is Natalyn meeting her teacher, Mrs. Maute.  This is the only picture that I have of them, since I then started crying and had to leave the classroom and pull myself together.  How was Nat you ask? Oh, she was perfectly fine!

The teacher across the hall gave me a tissue and then almost started to cry herself. I know, I know, I am pathetic!!!  

 OK. back to Nat's classroom.  Here is her cubby.

 Nice bug eyes Natalyn!!!  Can this smile be anymore fake?!

 Nat's teacher gave her a workbook of activities.  Nat says it is her homework and she must complete the book by Monday (totally not true!)  All I keep hearing is Nat yelling at Elerz to keep her hands off her school book, it's for big girls only, not babies!!!

The principal advised us parents of Kindergartner's that there will be a "Boo Hoo breakfast" immediately following dropping our kiddos off with their teacher on Monday.  She said it will be a great place to cry on each other's shoulders.  I think this sounds more like torture, I will probably skip it!  Scott plans to take the entire day off from work on Monday to help with Elerz just in case I am mentally unable!haha



Friends-n-boots!

Yesterday my girls had their BBF's over, which are also sisters. 

Natalyn and Mia have been great friends since they were 2 yrs old.  Katie (Mia & Libby's mom) and I met at the gym way back in the day when we used to take Zumba.  Mia is also starting kindergarten on Monday but at a different school.

 The younger girls aren't so smiley!!!! Elerz just pooped and Libby Lou is snacking on a Dora map.

Overall, all 4 girls play really well together. Elerz decided that everyone's name was Mia, which was a little confusing when she was trying to tattle and such.

This morning, I moved the kitchen table to make room for my new table to be delivered this afternoon. The girls really enjoyed the empty space.  Natalyn watched Puss in Boots and decided to do a little salsa dance on her own (in her red boots of course!)



Our weekend!

OK. We had a crazy busy weekend.  How about you?  We spent alot of time outside because the weather is back down in double digits only! YIPPEE!!! It was so nice to be outside yesterday evening at 5pm and not feel like I was going to melt on the pavement!!

Here are some of the weekend high-lights!!!

On Saturday, Aunt K-K and Uncle Tom came over from Springfield to see the new house and visit.  K-K has been an elementary art teacher for 36 yrs-ish (which I told her that the math just doesn't add up since she is only 29 yrs old! She let me know that I am her favorite!!! Sorry Kelli and Scott!!!)

K-K always shows up with the best books and/or crafts.  She brought Natalyn 4 or 5 4x6 canvases that are 95% complete and Natalyn was given instructions on how to complete them.  Of course I have not taken pics of them yet, I'll just have to save them for another post! I plan to put them up in the toy room once Natalyn completes them!!!! They are going to be soooooo cute!!  She also brought Elerz a book called Story County Here We Come!  (For those teachers out there- are titles of books supposed to be underlined or in quotes? I can't remember.......) K-K had Elerz saying most barn-yard animal sounds within like a 15 time-frame.....and she (as in Elerz) has not stopped!

Then of course Natalyn made K-K cut out Rapunzel and Cinderella outfits out of paper to decorate.  We all had a great time!!

K-K giving Natalyn the instructions on how to complete the paintings. 

I stand corrected! I did take pics of the canvases I was talking about earlier. 

 Natalyn was told to paint the bunny gray, the lion orange...that sort of thing....

 Elerz got in on the action too! She found some stickers and put them all down the side of my kitchen table.  Only an art teacher would think that it was beautiful!!!

Next week is promotion Sunday at church and Natalyn will be moving to the Kindergarten class.  Here is a pic of her teacher, Natalyn has been with her for 2 yrs.

 OK. If anyone can tell me how to get this video clip upright, let me know.  Otherwise tilt your head and enjoy!! This is Natalyn's class at Children's church (yes, we had nursery duty......but hey! only 4 more years to go!) Natalyn is the girl in the purple dress that is clapping and not singing!!!



SUYL-Displays

Hello to all the other SUYLers out there!!! To those of you not familiar with SUYL (Show Us Your Life) then head on over to KellysKornerblog.com and check out all the cute and creative things that others are doing!!!!

OK.  This week's topic is displays.  I am afraid that I don't have much to show as I have several incomplete projects going on right now in the new house. (Maybe in the next few days I will be able to add more to this post!)

Here is all I got for right  now.

This is a shelving unit next to our fireplace in the living room.



 A picture of the girls I took summer of '11. This is one of my favorite pics of the girls together.  This frame originally had a mat in the middle for a 4x6 pic and I ripped it out to make room for my 8x10 pic.

 The red family bible was Scott's grandma's, the black golden treasury bible story book was my Mammoo's and the bible on top was my Pappoo's.

    

Here is the hall bathroom.  All this stuff I already had and matches the shower curtain.  Total decorating cost=$0.00!! Ya gotta love that!!



 The girl's bathroom.  I painted the polka dot frame made the arrangement.

 Thanks for stopping by!!!

 

Paper Pizza & the Park!!

Where has this week gone?? I can't believe it is Friday already!!!!

OK. I'll get back to some of our highlights of this week!!

Wednesday, Natalyn and I cooked crafted up some paper pizza!  I know there has been many an evening that Scott would have opted for construction paper pizza over what I "created!!" And now with new appliances, I can burn food in record time!!!!! OK... to get back to paper pizza.............

This is a craft I found in a magazine.  I knew Nat would love this project since she loves to put together anything that involves ingredients (the girl loves to cook!)

Here is the crust.  This was a great way for Nat to work on her scissors skills and we reviewed shapes/colors...that sort of thing.

Natalyn's version of fractions......."OK. Momma you can have half of this pizza." (she hands me 1 slice and keeps 5).  I take 2 more slices and she says "no Momma! You took all the pizza!"  I guess we need to work on fractions, huh?

Here are our ingredients.  Natalyn selected orange cheese, yellow, red and green bell peppers, black olives and pepperoni.

Natalyn:  "Something is missing.  I think I need one more ingredient."

Me:  "What do you have in mind?"



Natalyn:  "Hmmmmm..... I got it!!!!! The pizza needs purple grapes!! YES! That would make it perfect!!!"



Delicious!!!!!

Yes.  I did brave the crowds and took advantage of the tax free weekend last Saturday!!

( I was at Wal-mart at 6:18AM!!!!) I did score some great deals for Natalyn at Crazy 8's.  I got alot of last year's winter outfits at rock bottom prices!!!!! 

 All Elerz got were PJ's!  She was not happy!!!!

So.......Elerz put together her own outfit!

Thursday morning we headed to the park in our subd.

 Elerz thinks she is such a big girl!!!

 Nat had to pose for her pic!!!



A BLAST FROM THE PAST!!!

OK.  When we were moving from the old house, the last thing we moved to the new house was the attic stuff.  Isn't it funny how boxes seem to multiply up there?  Scott brought down several heavy mystery boxes and dumped them in the new garage.  Last Thursday evening, it was only like 99 degrees outside so we celebrated the break in the heat (note the sarcasm) by throwing away the junk, organizing our treasures!!

I have to admit, we did have fun going through the boxes, they were filled with our childhood accomplishments and such.  You know all the stuff that parents keep in their attics and once you get married, the stuff gets moved to your own attic!!  Scott and I have been married for almost 12 years, so I have nothing to say as to why it has taken us this long to go through this stuff, but that's the way it goes!!

I'll start with a few pics of the girls enjoying our FLAT driveway!

Look at Scott's face, he is still proud!!

 Scott was telling me some story about how these shorts got ripped....Too bad I can't share the story with you....I wasn't really listening to him.  He did find another pair of wind shorts (pre-Umbro) that looked to be about Nat's size.  He tried to get her to try them on to possibly use as play shorts. She refused.  I told him that if he makes her wear those shorts, then he needs to get a few pair of 80's polyester coaches shorts like HIS dad used to wear and sport them around the yard.  That pretty much ended that discussion.

The pic on the left is of my dad at Silver Dollar City back in the early 80's.  The pic to the right is of his great-grandfather.  I think they look exactly alike.  How funny! (Notice the ladies are showing their ankles! I major NO-NO at that time!)

 Natalyn sporting one of my old high school cheerleading skirts.  I have no idea where the shell is.

 Eliana wearing one of my old college cheerleading tops.  I have no idea where the skirt is?  Why don't I have a complete uniform in my stash???

"and the gold metal for stuffing objects up one's nose goes to Elerz!" hahaha

Nat was convinced that Scott had competed (& won) several events in the Olympics. 

The girls got to each pick out a trophy to play with.  Natalyn chose the "most fit  boy of 1989."  I was wondering to myself, "why do we still have this?"

Now back to real important events in history.......

Oh yes, I used to be one of those crazies that taught aerobics at 5:30AM!!!! 

I even found an old schedule from the gym I worked at in 1998.  I wonder what I could get for that on eBay?.......

 No, these aren't football plays.  These are way more important. These are cheerleading formations!!! I don't want to brag or anything, but I did coach a National Championship JR High squad back in the day!!

I hoped y'all enjoyed the walk through our past!!!!