Fabric shopping

I made my sister go fabric shopping with me today. It was unexpected...so she wasn't prepared for the long hours of fabric shopping because she wore the wrong, most uncomfortable shoes! Anyway...we did find lots of great stuff today: a 2nd fabric for dining room, trim for dining room, fabric for front hall, 2 fabrics for family room, 2 fabrics for breakfast area, a curtain rod for dining room, and a surprise that you'll have to check out at the end of this posting! I took all the advice from people that e-mailed me back, and here's the new curtain plan so far:

Dining Room-have 2 panels on a rod with original fabric that I posted about earlier--bought this rust/red fabric to add to top?, bottom has original print, and there's "ball" trim at the middle seam. I'm still trying to decide on this plan!

Front entrance-padded cornice board covered with green silkish fabric

Family room-Make curtains that come to a point. On the front side: stripe, back side: solid red/rust

This one below is the shape I'm envisioning with the point for the family room. Thanks Elaine!

Breakfast area-scallop trumpet valence (bottom right pattern from the patterns that I posted about earlier)-front: print, back: same solid red/rust that will be used in the family room

Here's the best part of the day:

Yes...it's a ShamWOW! Have you seen the commercial for it?? I said "SHAMWOW" soooooo many times that my sister gave in and bought it for us. We split the pack so we each get to say "Wow" when we try it! Now our family has talked my sister into buying 2 "As Seen on TV" products-first a Snuggi and now a ShamWOW! It's awesome (at least that's what a lady at the store told us when she saw us picking ours up)! I'll let you know!

Weighing in after 2 weeks

Today we had our weigh-in at work for our Biggest Loser Competition. It's been 2 weeks since we weighed because we were off last week. It's NOT easy to be good when you're not in your regular routine!! Drum roll...please...I lost 1 pound 4 ounces! Yippy...I thought for sure that I would be paying this time for gaining. Total weight lost so far: 11 lbs. 6 oz. I think our final weigh-in is April 3--that gives me 5 weeks to go!

The Simple Things

You know...it's the simple things that can really make your day go right or go wrong.
Example #1: a purse hook
I'm so bummed when there is no "purse hook" in a public restroom. All businesses should have one!

Example #2: automatic paper towel dispensers
It's so great when you get just the right amount of paper towels on those automatic dispensers--not too much...not too little...just the right amount to dry your hands!

What about you reader? What small things make your day better?

new hair

Ball season is gearing up around our house. Our son is playing 5-6 baseball and our daughter is playing 3-4 t-ball. One child practices on twice a week, and the other child practices once a week--all on 3 different days. If you need us...we'll be at the ball fields for the next few months! So...with the ball season upon us, hubby was talking about our daughter's hair saying..."we'll pull her hair up through her hat for ball." Well...I was thinking otherwise...so when I brought home her home from her haircut tonight, her daddy first said..."Man...she looks 2 years older!" Then later he said..."Her hair looks so cute we should have cut it earlier." Check it out:

"ant"

A friend of mine says she's been looking for a chance to use the phrase "dorkin' around" after hearing me say it. Here's another phrase that everyone should start using that our 4-year-old daughter coined..."ant." Here's an example of how to use ant in conversation (use ant in place of am not): Mommy says-"Tell Daddy what you said at Publix tonight." Daughter responds saying- "I ant." Well--there you have it!

"Tell him where to go!"

Today my sister was telling us about how a college friend who she hasn't seen in many years was offering her "free political opinions" on Facebook. Our 4-year old daughter was listening intently, and at the end of the story told her aunt..."E, you need to tell him where to go!" WHAT??? Where'd she hear that??? Oh me...you just NE------VER know what that girl will say next!

Finally---curtains are in progress (sorta)!

I've mentioned before that we've lived in our current home about 5 years. When we moved in, we knew we needed to do some work. So...5 years later, hubby is putting down new hardwood floors--they are down in the small hall, kitchen, breakfast area, and family room. WOOHOO! Hubby started ripping out carpet in the other hall today!

We also knew 5 years ago, that we needed blinds/curtains in all the rooms. We bought blinds immediately, but the curtains are another story! We need curtains/some type of window treatment in our breakfast area, dining room, front entry area, and master bathroom. Last night, I FINALLY bought some fabric to begin sewing. Now the trouble is...I can't decide where I want to use this fabric OR what pattern to use.

Here's the fabric--a close-up shot

Here's another pic of the fabric from farther away.

Here are the patterns that I was thinking--mostly looking at the 2 on the left--the top one is pleated and the bottom is scalloped.

I bought the fabric for the breakfast area (below green), but now that I have it home...I'm thinking about using it in the dining room (below red). I'm not set on keeping the paint color in either room. I told hubby that the fabric looks more "formal" now that I have it home. I tried to talk out ideas with hubby, but he wasn't too interested. He told me to use the same fabric and pattern in both rooms! What??

If you have any free decorating advice, I'm all ears!!! Hopefully I'll get them made THIS year!

To Do List for My Week Off

This week the kids and I are out of school for mid-winter break. Yippy! So...that's always a good time to make a To Do List. Here are the things that I've checked off as complete:
1. clean out/sort sock drawer (it's been out of control)
2. put Disney photos from Sept. '08 in photo album (about 500 of them!)
3. call health insurance company to dispute EOBs that are incorrect (I've been dreading this one-yuck!)
4. spend one day at home in PJs (that's today in this rainy weather!)
5. write thank you notes for son's BD
Here's a list of some of the things that remain to do:
1. upload photos from May '07 until now to print for photo albums (I'm soooooo behind! I'm working on this now, and it's taking FOREVER! Note to self--print photos at the end of each month from now on!)
2. bathe the dog
3. pick stain for new floors and motivate hubby to finish them!
I may not get to any other items on the list with the photo printing hanging over my head!

A trip to the allergy doctor is a full day

Hubby and I took our 4-yr. old daughter to the allergy doctor this morning. Our appointment was at 9:00am, and then went to lab to have her blood drawn, and then went to hospital for a sinus x-ray.

Our pediatrician recommended that we see the allergy doctor because our daughter was sick with a yucky cough from October-January. We were at the pediatrician's office about every 2-3 weeks from Oct-Jan. So...he wanted to rule out allergies.
After testing was done this morning, we found out she does not have allergies. She didn't flinch for the skin prick allergy testing on her back. The lady told her that it would feel like a kitty cat was walking on her back. After it was over, she said..."I didn't see the kitty cat." The hardest part wasn't the pricking...it was keeping her still for 15 minutes. The allergist said he thinks it's just something she'll outgrown in another year-two, but ordered lab work and an x-ray to rule out other stuff.

The blood work will check her immune system, and the x-ray will show if she has a sinus infection. She did great except for the drawing the blood part--they had to stick her twice--once in each arm--2 different people tried. The 2nd lady got it after turning needle in her arm several times. :( Hubby almost left the room! She had tears and said ouch, but didn't do a full-fledged screaming cry. She was very brave!
Yippy...at about 12:30 we were finally through will all our doctors/labs/x-rays, and then we ate at Mellow Mushroom for lunch. After lunch, we took our brave patient to Wal-mart to buy High School Musical 3 (today's the the first day it's on sale you know!) after a busy day!!

Who Had More Fun?

Who had more fun--the kids or the adults? You be the judge:

Mr. Mark guiding the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000109

The "boys" as our daughter likes to call all males.

I'm thinking the daddies had more fun!

Especially Mr. Mark...

Our son wanted a "Snuggie" with a book light for his birthday after seeing it on TV. He was so excited about it!

His aunt may have been having more fun with it!

He also received a whoopee cushion from his other aunt that was a big hit with the kids and adults!! Thanks Aunt T!!

No loss, no gain--I'm ok with that

The week 5 weigh-in for The Biggest Loser was at work today. I didn't lose any weight this week, but I didn't gain any either! Now...with a week off of school for mid-winter break...I'm a little concerned about my will power!

It's official...

It's official...6 is the age that you start looking for money when you open your birthday cards! Happy 6th birthday to our son!!! Where does the time go??

Weekend Work

Lately, weekends equal one day of work at home and one day working helping my sister get settled into her new place. Here's hubby painting my sister's guest bedroom.
Here are the kids getting geared up to work in their dust masks.

Paint Crew: Maybe they could work a nail gun next????

New Floor Update

Hubby set the goal to finish our hardwood floors before our son's 6th birthday. Well...his BD is in 4 days! Hubby is pretty close to being done with getting the floors down, but the staining/sanding will have to wait another week. Here are some pics from tonight:

The pic below is from our front door. It shows the existing hardwood at the bottom of the photo. Those floors will be sanded and stained so everything will be the same color. You can see he is almost there--look to the left!! He's got to take the baseboard off and lay the final pieces.


This pic below is taken from our breakfast area. All of that was carpet!

So...it's finishing touches left and I also asked him to put down hardwoods in the hall by the kids' bedrooms. He's doing a great job! We're almost out of the construction zone!

Friday=Weigh-In

Today was Week 4 of The Biggest Loser at work. This week I lost 14 oz...making my total recorded loss 10lbs. 2 oz. Here's how it works...everyone who wanted to participate weighed in for the first time and paid $5 to join the 12-week competition. Then if you gain (even an ounce each week)...you have to pay $2. So far I haven't had to pay. Seems like I've been on a bi-weekly pattern--be serious about losing one week...but be super-serious about losing the next week. Last week I was serious; this coming week=super-serious again. Time to buckle down again!