Yep!

I'm hoping for a better day today!

The age of...

My little guy has become Mommy's cheer leader.  I love that he thinks I am "perfect", but it is becoming apparent that he is becoming a bit of, let's say... a... brown noser.

We all know what that means.  It breaks me heart.  Whenever his sister is calling me a mean Mommy and I am really upset, he shouts out;  "You are the best Mommy ever!"  A part of me says he really does and he does love me, but it is very apparent that he is doing it to stay in my good graces when his sister is most definitely not there.

Mr. Finn pointed this out to me yesterday and I wasn't as eager to embrace this new way of thinking, but I see that it is true.  My son is going on that road to be a politician.

If I liked politicians I would be shouting from the rooftops, but they remind me of slimy, oily reptiles.  I don't want my precious little baby boy to belong to that race of human being. 

He is too sweet.  A little misguided at the moment, but I think, well, I hope he means well.  He likes when Mommy is happy with him.  I can't blame him in some ways.

The part that gets me is that he is learning this stuff faster than his sister.  Maybe because of her?!  I want my baby to stay my baby as long as possible and mostly I just want him to stay...

INNOCENT!

Wannabe Thrifty Chick

I follow the Thrifty Decor Chick.

She is a superhero of DIY on the cheap.  That at least makes her my hero.  I love doing great and wonderful things for next to nothing.  She makes it look easy.

I long to be her, well... at least have her talent.  She can also make things beautiful.   As I was out at a yard sale on Thursday, (Did you know that our entire town has a city wide yard sale once a year on the same day?  Cool, huh?  You want to be me on that day, huh?)

Well, on that day I was thinking about the cool stuff she makes and I saw this wreath, so I bought it and hung it on my door with a Command strip.  For $3.00 I got a beautiful wreath and I didn't have to pull out the hot glue gun once.

Thrifty Decor Chick... NO!  But, I am thrifty and if I can't be her, I will pat myself on the back because I have read enough of her blog to know when I am getting a fabulous deal.  That and the "cheap" gene I inherited from my Grandma.

Thanks TD Chick!

Don't shlump me...

 Miss Boo has proven to be a worthy opponent.  She has officially lost her 5th tooth in less than six months.  Isn't that the most adorable smile?  (I should add that this is how she looks minutes after waking up.  I snapped it pretty early this morning.)  The tooth fairy circled the neighborhood and landed quite early in the evening because those adorable children will go to sleep early when they know that fact.  I am tempted to grab a hammer every time I need some quiet time and knock out some teeth.  

Not really!  

Well, maybe.

Truly... I am for that thought.

I would miss out on rousing games with Miss Boo.  

Such as the one above.   

She has killer instinct.

That could be good when she is older.

I was definitely not that kind of child.
I remember being a more reserved child.

That's the way I remember it.

I'm sure I will not be challenged on that!

I'm serious.  Don't challenge me on it.

Too much water...

I wanted to!

I really did!

But I didn't!

What kind of mother would I be if I had pushed him in the pool?

According to the Dude, I would have been a very MEAN Mommy.

My leg was swollen to twice it's normal size.

I might have kicked too hard because it was so heavy!

YUCK!

What was up with that?

I don't usually retain water in my legs, but I could barely walk it hurt so bad.

Sorry to subject you to that picture, but it was funny and horrifying at the same time.

Any ideas why my legs would suddenly retain that much water?

Sad Day

Two years ago in November we boarded a plane and then another and then a ferry to visit my Grandmother and favorite Aunt in Canada.

The children still talk about this trip and the Dude is always asking when he can go visit his two grandma's that don't have a grandpa living with them.  It is too cute!

When Miss Boo was born we asked my Aunt Lois if she would be her Grandmother on that side as my Father passed away when I was four from Hodgkins Disease.  I wanted my children to have a connection with that side of the family that has always loved me and kept close to me.  Besides, she didn't have any children and this way she gets the joy of grandparenthood without having to go through raising teens, etc.  (tiny bit of envy... sigh)

She is wonderful grandmother to our children and we named our Miss Boo after her great grandmother, who is a very special lady.  We love them so much.

Anyways back to our story...  When I go visit, they always gift me with a box of Rogers Imperial Mints because they are my favorite treat in the ENTIRE world.  I eat them slowly and savor the dark chocolate that melts in my mouth as the creamy peppermint floods through bursting onto my taste buds in such a way that I am complete.

And then...

I ate...

the last one...

and...

I am no longer complete...

and sad...

and hungry!

We miss you both!  And not just because of the sweets.

It felt a bit like Mission Impossible...

An update on my list of ten things in ten days.

1 & 2.  Remember all those bows I made (term used loosely) for Miss boo?

Well, I didn't know what to do with them.  Where do you put them so they don't get squashed and end up like this?  (I can't believe I showed you my messy drawer.)

Thanks to a very talented friend, this was a much nicer solution.

See how that brightens up a very pretty blue wall. (even though the wall looks yellowish in the photo.) Do you see the vinyl lettering I added thanks to vinylizeit.com.  I feel like Holly and I are great friends.  You will see later what she did for our young women's Christmas project.  She is so patient and professional.  

She designed something that was in my head.  That is no small feat.

Every time the Dude sees it he says; "got to wash my hands cause Mommy said so".  

It took care of a problem we were having if you know what I mean.

He was so amazed the mirror had written that to remind him... hmmmm.

Gotta love that boy.

3.  A gift for someone to help them through some rough times and thanks to Michaels, I have 7 more for Christmas gifts.  I love BOGO!  Especially when they are willing to substitute something because you can't find the size you need in individual packs. 

The idea came from Shannon, who sent me one last year with a beautiful saying on it.  I have looked at it most every day and thought to myself, "I can do that".  

Thanks Shannon for the gift that keeps on giving.

(And thanks to Glidden for my free quart of Robin's Egg Blue paint.)

4.  The guest/Mr. Finn's bathroom.  Not a very big room, but one of my favorites.  I painted it a warm tan, added the delightful magazine rack so those wonderful newspapers and magazines will have a home.

Isn't this the mostest?  Thank you Southern Living.

 I have had this boat for around 15 years and it never gets old.  Goes well with the painting.  We know the artist personally.  If you love boats and lighthouses, etc. this is your artist.  Steve gave this to us as a gift for Mr. Finn exterminating the Bamboo from the hill behind his house.  It is actually one of two pieces of art that he gifted us.  We were blessed with really great neighbors in Washington.

5.  It was Mr. Finn's and my birthday on Sunday.  

My talented "bow" friend made me this for my laundry room as a gift.  

Hanging it up accounted for "1" thing.  Cheating?  Of course!  I call it improvising.

I believe it is more of a warning sign.  I can't seem to keep this room cleaned up.

It should say "Yikes, What happened here?"

6.  The book I read was "Hard Times and Holy Places".  A delightful book and a very good read.

7.  Mr. Finn's shirts got ironed.

8.  Cleaned up kid's art wall.

9.  I actually painted the temple picture frame and then decided that I had to have this picture in it.  Totally gorgeous, huh?  Which one do you like the best?

OR

Can you see why a change is needed?

The frame still needs to be distressed, but I have put that on hold as I can't afford the picture for a while.  They do all temples, so check this website for your favorite.  

They won't disappoint you.

Google has been my best friend for a while.  Oh, the things you can find!

10.  I swept out the garage because it hadn't been done in a year and I was tired of getting dirty feet running to the trash can.  I know it wasn't on the original list, but those projects are a bit more than I can handle this week with my allergies in overdrive.

I even went to the gym this morning.  Do I see a change in the future?  Don't hold your breath, but I really have a desire to exercise and since my hip has been out for almost a month and I am totally miserable, I figure I should start strengthening the muscles a bit.

I still have the dresser, the master bath and the basement stairwell to do.  Let's see how next week shapes up.

Thanks Shannon for getting me started on my list of projects.

A lesson in honesty

Can you guess what the Primary lesson was on yesterday?

Miss Boo is very literal and sometimes it is

extremely amusing.

Thank you for making me laugh.

Even though it upset you.

Someday when you are older you will understand

WHY.

Mini Finn

How do you say Daddy in spanish?

"Papa", I respond.

Daddy says it is Rafael!

A fish story

 

 

 

 

Our children love to fish.  I can credit/blame it all on Mr. Finn.  He takes them out patiently (one at a time) to share this great sport with them.  This is the first time that I have ventured out with them, but since Mr. Finn thought it would be great for FHE, I thought I could handle it.  Besides, Mr. Finn can't handle being the man slave for two children at a time.  Imagine what that would be like ladies.

Mr. Finn drove me to the chiropractor before our great adventure because I had been gimping around for about 3 weeks.  Can I say that I love that man?  The Chiro dude.  Is that too weird?  He totally puts my body back in shape and I feel like a million bucks.

We didn't catch anything.  Well, not quite true.  I couldn't catch anything because I don't have a fishing license and the kids just caught branches.  But, they had fun!

Until the weird drunk man came back again to lurk about.  I instantly locked our offspring in the car and left Mr. Finn to pack it up for our safe journey home.

I didn't say it was an interesting fish story, now did I?