When the hubby is away?

My hubby was gone hunting. While he was gone I was pretty much a slob. I tend to be more like a" typical guy"....when my spouse is gone the house gets messier and messier and then the day before they get home I clean up in a frenzie! My dad modeled this so well for me growing up that I do it so well now! (Thanks Dad! I love you!) Not only is my house a mess, but my kids and I ate frozen, boxed or canned foods all week long. (pizza, spaghetti-os, mac-n-cheese, etc)

What about you? Do you clean as you go when your hubby is away? Or do you wait until the end like me?

Trying to Organize My Kids

Trying to figure out what is going to motivate my kids to stay on top of their daily responsibilities seems like a never ending journey. So over the weekend I developed what I'm sure is strategy number 208 or something like that. I set up this "information station" if you will, just off the kitchen by the door where we exit to the garage.


I used cheap .97 cent clipboards that I bought at walmart and just added labels to the bottom.



The clipboards came with little hangers on them that pulled up and then I adhered a clear 3M hook to the wall.


My label categories were the following:
Responsibility Chart
Responsibility Chart
Homework
Hey Mom & Dad - Look at this (paperwork they bring home from the school that I'm suppose to read or sign)
Return to School (homework that needs to be turned in or anything I was suppose to sign and return to the school)
School Calendar

Each child has a responsibility chart. If they fill out all the squares for one day, then the following day they have privileges like watching a tv show or being on the computer. I also told them then when they have BOTH (this way they help each other and hold each other accountable) completed three weeks worth of responsibility charts that have all the squares filled out they will get a special treat! (Maybe chuck-e-cheese, a new book, something like that)

My daughter's responsibility chart has simple things on it like "wear coat to school" and "bring coat home from school" These are the things she does not do on a daily basis that drive me NUTS. "Bring your lunch box home" "No shoes lying around" "Make Bed" "Clean Room"

My son is younger so on his chart I added some pictures as well so he would be able to identify his tasks. One of his is "No toothpaste mess" Because everyday he makes a huge toothpaste mess in his sink and it is ridiculous!

Hopefully this will work. I hung it all up last night after they went to bed and introduced them to it this morning. They seemed excited about it. Wish me luck!

Creative Closet Door

I was doing an image search and came across this painted closet door. I thought it was a pretty cute idea for a boys bedroom so I thought I'd share it with ya'll. It makes the closet look like a sports locker room. Pretty Clever!

Wow! A birthday party like I've never seen before!

I've heard that kids parties like this existed. But I've never been to one and I've never seen detailed pics from one either. (except celebrity babies in the tabloids)
To see the most amazing, elaborate, and over the top Mary Poppin's theme birthday party you've ever seen... follow this link.
http://romanzaevents.phanfare.com/album/169440/215620

This party was thrown by Risa from The Partea Planner. I love to look through her pics for ideas!

Another look into my birthday archives

Creatively speaking I've been a little boring lately. Well, I've been doing the blog designs, but other than that, I haven't been up to much. So since my present is boring I thought I'd look to my past for some creative inspiration for ya'll.

This was my son's 1st Birthday. It was an airplane theme.
I designed the invitations to look like airline tickets. I personalized each ticket with the "passengers" names, City, and even estimated how long it would take them to drive to our house for the departure and arrival time.


Since I had designed sort of a logo for his birthday for the airline ticket, I stuck with that for the rest of the party. I altered a jay jay jet plane pinata


I decorated the cake to match


I used iron on transfers and a t-shirt to make a bib to match


I found an airplane clipart that I liked and drew and painted that to make the birthday banner. For the lettering on the banner I printed out the letter in large size on paper and then cut them out and glued them down (voila...perfect lettering)


I continued with the airplane on the favor bags by just printing up stickers and adhering them to simple brown paper bags


I had a condiment container from a quizno's restaurant that I altered to match with vinyl lettering with the help of my sister-in-law (who owns a sign company)


It was a fun theme to work with. My daughter even dressed up like a flight attendant with a navy blue skirt, white blouse and a scarf around her neck. It was cute, and you can sort of see it here.


The best part of the party was when my son LITERALLY took his VERY FIRST STEPS on his own right in the middle of the party as we were opening gifts. So we have pics and video of it!

How precious is that?!

More Fun with Design

I designed a blog for my sister's good friend Dena who has become one of my blog buddies. Check it out HERE

Fun with Design

So as many of you noticed I recently re-designed my blog. I've taken one class in HTML coding and it gave me enough info to figure out how to alter some of bloggers existing templates.

I love being creative and designing stuff like this. So I re-designed a couple of blogs for my friends. Check them out:
Michele at Woodland Countrylife and Beckie at Infarrantly Creative

I created the headers too.

What do you think?

Linda at Restyled Home said that I look like Shania Twain. Hmmmm......
What do you think?



Let's not forget that Shania's pics are AIRBRUSHED!!! So I bet she has bags under her eyes too!

One more thing I know FOR SURE!!!

I look better as a brunette (which I am naturally) ...........


.......than I do as a blonde


Don't let the extra weight fool you! It's definitely the blonde hair that looks so much worse!

Oh my gosh I just came across this pic! This was in spring of 2005 when my hubby and I went to cancun together and I got a wild hair to become a blonde. Hello! You DON'T do that in MEXICO! I looked this way for 1 day and the next day I was a brunette again!

What I know for Sure

My friend LeeAnn tagged me with making a list of 5 things I know for sure. So here it goes...

1. I KNOW FOR SURE that when I gave birth my kids stole parts of my brain. I think mostly the short term memory parts! =)

2. I KNOW FOR SURE that you can love your kids to the depths of your soul while at the same time having them drive you completely crazy to the point of being willing to give them to the first person who would offer you $10 bucks for them =)

3. I KNOW FOR SURE that I am a die hard loyalist. Go CHIEFS (high school) Go 49ers (haven't won a championship in 13 years, but hey--I was raised right!). When my daughter is in HS and her team plays against my almamater---sorry---I'm gonna be routing for the CHIEFS to win!! Like I said...I'm a die hard!

4. I KNOW FOR SURE that Jesus is the son of God and that He died on the cross for my sins and because I have asked Him into my heart as my Savior that I will spend eternity in Heaven with him. I get to spend eternity with Him because of what He has done (grace-an undeserved gift) not because of anything that I can do (being GOOD enough) here on earth. (John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and whom ever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.)

5. I KNOW FOR SURE that God is the author of Resotration, Renewal and Healing. I have seen it demonstrated so powerfully in my own life. (II Corinthians 5:18 "God has restored our relationship with Him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships." and Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.")

There it is folks. Hey Kim and Michele D.....what do you know for sure?

Reunion Pics

You wanted reunion pics...you got reunion pics!

I had my camera on the wrong setting....that's why that one was blurry and why I won't post anymore of those!


In reference to the above pic, how's this for High School....
cheerleader---cheerleader----voted best figure---quarterback

I know...I'm a dork! Anyway it was fun! Did I mention that I didn't get home until 4:30 in the morning!!! Have you ever been to Montage at 2:00 in the morning for macaroni and cheese? I have now! They have a bunch of different kinds/styles of mac-n-cheese. It was pretty good. Not great, but good. And I'm really not sure I'd want to see that place by the light of day =?

Really Funny!

http://birdloversonly.blogspot.com/2007/09/may-i-have-this-dance.html

This is a really funny video and you have to watch it until the end!!

What about the inside?

After I posted my Nanny's cake Julie said she wanted to see what the inside of one of my cakes looked like. So I'm posting a cake that I did a couple years back for a friends baby shower that I hosted.

First I designed and made the invitations and then I decorated the cake to match the invites.

So here is what the inside of this cake looked like

Ok, I must confess......not ALL my cakes look like this on the inside. Usually I just do two layers with pudding between the layers. But doing the checkerboard style on this one just went so well with the invite and all the decorations that I did. It is way more time consuming to do it this way....but it definitely gives off a WOW factor!

Anyone else?

Is anyone else having trouble posting pictures? Mine keeps stalling and saying error.

85 years young!

Yesterday was my grandma's 85th birthday. We call my grandma "Nanny".
The day before Nanny's birthday her youngest daughter Patty flew in from Georgia to surprise her and she was very surprised! Then at her birthday dinner her oldest son, Barry, flew in from California to surprise her! It was fun to see all the family and to celebrate this special occasion.
I surprised my Nanny with something of my own.......a very special birthday cake that I made just for her!





I went over the top with a 3 layer tall cake instead of my normal 2 layer. But this beautiful tall cake stand was just calling for a tall cake.

Nanny was surprised and she loved it and ate it up!


Happy 85th Birthday Nanny! We all love you so much!

Thank You!

I've been honored with a "You make me smile" award by Melissa from the Inspired Room. Thank you Melissa! It is so sweet of you and nice to know that I make you smile 8) You make me smile too with all your comments and all the beautiful things that you post!

So now I get to award it to those bloggers who make me smile. I feel like I should just give it to everybody on my friends list, but I'm not sure if that is the way it is suppose to work or not. So I'm going to give it to those who post the most and comment the most....therefore making me smile the most 8)

Julie
Beckie
Lee Ann
Michele D

So grab your award girls and share it with the world!
Thanks for making me smile!

High School Reunion

This weekend I went to my 15 year HS reunion. It was fun and we had a pretty good turnout. It was fun to see people and catch up. Of course it is always makes for an interesting evening when you are a completely sober person in the midst of many non-sober people!

Ok so I have to tell you a story from the evening. I'm going to use fake names to protect the innocent!.....

So during the evening I started talking to Suzy Q who was a former classmate. She said that she had 5 kids and showed me some pictures and stuff. She had brought her friend with her who did not graduate with us, but also had kids and could use the night out. We chatted a little more.....fastforward to a little later in the evening....I was out on the dance floor and Suzy Q comes up and is dancing next to me and says "I need to dance this drunkness off! I'm not use to drinking like this!".....fast forward about 10 minutes. So I'm on the dance floor again and I look over and see Suzy Q dancing. But she is not dancing alone. Johnny B, who is also a former classmate of ours is dancing with her. As I watch them dancing I notice that Johnny B is putting his hands on Suzy Q and she is pretty much bumping and grinding with him. So I say to my friend Sandra D, "Um, I know that Suzy Q has 5 kids, but she's married right?" Sandra D says, "Yes, as far as I know." So I say, "Well then why the heck does Johnny B have his hands all over her?!" We continue to watch and they just continue with more of the same and now she is grabbing his hands and putting them on her!!! So I say to my friend. "Ok, Suzy Q just came up to me a few minutes ago and mentioned that she doesn't usually drink. I think she needs some help! I'm having a real issue with what is going on here!" By this time I'm pretty worked up. There's no way I can just sit by and watch someone make a stupid drunk mistake like that. So Nicki and I go over to another gal and say, "Hey you know Johnny B pretty well right?" She says, "Yes." So I say, "Well, Suzy Q is married and she is dancing with Johnny B and he has his hands ALL OVER HER!" And the gal says, "Ya. Suzy Q is married to Johnny B!".....Oh my gosh we all just died laughing!!

BLT Syndrome

BLT Syndrome. When BLT is not kept under control, I believe it is one of the leading causes of obesity. I have a mild case of BLT. I'd be willing to bet that YOU have BLT Syndrome. Yes YOU. Doesn't really matter who you are. Almost everyone is affected by it. BLT is different in each individual. It is highly affected by lifestyle and choices. Most mothers have severe cases of BLT. So what is BLT Syndrome....Bites, Licks, and Tastes!!!

Oh my gosh are they the downfall of your day like they are mine? I'm taking care of my nephews and my niece for a couple days and so I've got 5 kids in the house. Which of course means I've been preparing more food than usual....which leads to way more BLT's.
If you are like me, you pretend that BLT's don't really count. Problem is...THEY DO! You can't hide BLT's from your scale or your butt!

How is your case of BLT? Severe...Mild...share with me!

Delivering the blessings from all of YOU

Today I got to go to the hospital and visit Luke. I took the stars that I had and the booklet filled with all the prayers I had received as of 10:45 am this morning.

As I showed Luke how many pages (6 so far) of stars there were and how many people were praying for him his eyes just got big, his face smiled and I think he was a little embarrassed even. It was really sweet.


The family felt really blessed and overwhelmed. Vikki didn't read through any of the prayers at that time, as she says she likes to do stuff like that at night when Luke is sleeping.

Vikki said that today was a good day for Luke. He looked just great and it was good to watch him smile and play games.

I had an eye opening experience while I was at Doernbecher today. I didn't really realize that people come from all over the country to be treated there. There is one lady who has a 3 year old with a rare cancer in Doernbecher and an infant at home. They live in North Dakota I think. She comes for a month to stay with her daughter and then goes home and grandma comes to stay for a month. Can you imagine? So many kids and families are there without friends and family all around because their friends and family are half way across the country.

What a blessing for the Jensen family to be here near this wonderful facility and to be able to have friends and family dropping by all the time.

The Jensens have started journaling about Luke's battle with Leukemia on a caring bridge website that they have set up. You can visit their site by clicking here. Once you are there you can subscribe to be updated when they post journal entries.

Decorating for Fall

I absolutely love fall decorations, but I've got to confess something.....cheapness trumps love in this situation! Just about everytime I look at fall decor in the store I can easily talk myself out of buying it because I think "but it's only out for such a short time" and "then I've got to take all that stuff down before I can decorate for christmas"

So to my own surprise I actually spent a little bit of money this year. I bought some pine cones, some silk leaf sprays and some pumpkins.

VOILA.....I decorated my hall entry table this year for fall!

My Daughter the Artist

My daughter has become a published artist! Her school did a thing where they had all the kids draw pictures about the weather. Then they sent them to the local newspaper and the paper has been highlighting the artwork in the weather section.

Have a looksee....

She is very excited and we are very proud!

Guest Book

I completed the Guests & Prayers book for Luke's hospital room. It will be something the family can have there so that when people come they can sign the book and if they want they can write a prayer in there as well.

Tomorrow I'm headed to the hospital to deliver this gift as well as a binder filled with all of the prayers that have been left for Luke and his family so far. I will continue to fill the binder each time I visit with all the new prayers that come in.

I will also be bringing all of the stars with me that I have so far. It has taken 6 posters filled with stars. I used 3 different sized stars. Large for those who posted as a family, medium for individuals, and small for the anonymous prayers. I'll get a better feel for it tomorrow, but I may need to resort to only using small stars so that we don't run out of wall space!



It's been overwhelming to see all of the prayers pouring in and how far Luke's story has reached. It really shows that in this big world we are bound by Christ into one small family. Keep those prayers coming. I've set up a new blog for Luke's prayers. You can check it out here.

I'm so excited to go give these things to them tomorrow and just watch how the Lord blesses them through everybody's prayers.

It seems weird

I'm having trouble posting something after the posts about Luke. It seems weird to post a craft or something like that. It all seems so silly and trivial. I felt like I needed to clarify that, yet at the same time there is no denying that life continues to go on in the midst of everything.

I'm headed to the craft store today to get some supplies. I'm going to make a guest book for Luke's hospital room. I bought a notebook already and now I need to go get some paper and embellishments to alter it. I also need to check out my options for cutting out those 500 stars. I'm hoping to find a sizable star punch. I'll post pics of the guest book when it is completed.

500 Prayers for Luke - Will you Pray?

TO MAKE POSTING YOUR COMMENT/PRAYERS EASIER I AM REDIRECTING EVERYBODY TO A NEW BLOG I SET UP FOR LUKE'S PRAYERS - PLEASE CLICK HERE TO POST YOUR PRAYER FOR LUKE!



Our friends son Luke, who will soon be 7 years old, was just recently diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. I was talking with Luke's Aunt the other day and she told me a story about how someone asked him what he wanted. He replied with two answers. He said that he wanted "100....no 500 prayers." Then he said that "before he left the hospital he wanted a needle so that he could give every doctor a shot." Well, I don't think there's much we can do about the shots, but we can give him 500 prayers.

So here is the idea I have. If you already have been, or you will commit to praying for Luke and would like to be a part of his 500 prayers just leave a comment with your name, the state you live in and your prayer for Luke.

I am doing both of the following with all the comments:
1. Put your name on a blue star (Luke's favorite color is blue) and taking them to Luke's hospital room and hanging them on the wall so that Luke will have a visual reminder each day that he has his 500 prayers.
2. I am making a booklet for Luke with all of the names and prayers and bringing it to him to have in his room as a tangible reminder of his 500 prayers.

If you are a local...SHHHHH...don't tell Steve and Vikki. I'd like it to be a surprise. Spread the word! I'd like to get these to Luke as quickly as possible so that he can see just how many people are praying for him.

Comment Below!! If you got here by clicking on a link from an email that was forwarded to you, you will need to scroll all the way down to click on the words "post a comment" to post your comment. If you got here by just coming the the eightcrazy blog itself then just click directly below where it says how many comments have been left.

CHIEFS WIN

And the Chiefs win 28-14!

HOMECOMING!

GO CHIEFTAINS!!!!

I'm so excited because tonight I'm going to my old High School's Homecoming game!!! I absolutely love watching these games and I love the "smell" of football (wet dirty grass). The band, the cheerleaders (I was a cheerleader and a coach), the crowd, the queen! All I can say is THEY BETTER WIN! GO CHIEFS!!!

I've got my yellow coat, my purple scarf, and the blankets are in the car. My sweet hubby loves me enough to actually go with me...and go early so we get good seats! What a guy! I'm meeting a friend there who is a River Alum too. Should be fun! I can't wait to critique the cheerleaders and to hear that fight song and war dance. (I actually remember some of the dances that go to the songs because I coached for 5 years after I cheered!)

Ok, enough dorkiness! Hope it doesn't rain!

GO CHIEFS.....did I mention I'm nostalgic and loyal (read my profile)
Wow, this weekend is Homecoming and next weekend is my 15 year reunion! Good times.

Thanksgiving Dinner......Hosted by your KIDS!

I suppose you COULD go as far as to have your kids fix the meal....tv dinners or something....but that's not what I'm talking about.

Last year I decided to have my kids host thanksgiving dinner. Together we made invitations and sent them out to the family. We also worked together and made placemats, placecards, and napkin rings. The placemats and napkin rings were made with the intention of using them for as many years as they last.

I kept it very simple. I bought some heavy corduroy fabric and cut it into squares. Then the kids help glue on silk leaves and ribbon that I bought at the craft store.


Then we all worked together and made napkin rings. They were simple rings made of wire and beads. These should last for many years.



Of course you could go "fancy" and use nice plates and everything

But this is where naming your KIDS the host gives you an advantage.....
We used charger plates to keep it fancy looking, but on the charger plates we used paper plates. You can totally get away with that when kids are the hosts! And HELLO...clean up was a snap!

I'm excited to pull these items out and use them again this year. The kids were so proud last year and everybody just raved about the beautiful table.

I just wanted to encourage you to get your kids involved in hosting family events. It's fun to watch them take ownership and to see the beaming smile on their faces when they get all the compliments.

Urgent Prayer Request

This was originally posted on Trish's blog. Steve, Vikki, and their entire family are long time family friends of ours. Please pray daily for their son Luke!!!


We have some friends whose seven year old son has just been diagnosed with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. Please lift this family up in your prayers. They are embarking on a season of life that no family ever should have to endure.
Luke is beginning chemotherapy immediately, and while the statistics for this type of leukemia are scary, we believe that God is capable of miracles.
The sepcific requests from the dad at this point are:

1. A "brave heart" for Luke (he has a fear of needles!)

2. A new form of normalcy for their family, especially the two other children as their mom and brother will be away at the hospital for an extended period for treatment.

3. That God will be glorified through all this.
4. Healing for Luke

Here is a quote from Steve's (the dad) e-mail that was sent shortly after the diagnosis:

"Praise the Lord! The Lord is good all the time, and He truly has been good to us. He is strong enough to accomplish whatever He wills. He is the only One who loves Luke even more than Vikki and I. I don't know (thankfully) what lies ahead of us, but I absolutely know that God is good!"

National Blog Comment Week???

I have to agree with my blog buddie Kim, ok she's my sister too, that we should all comment on each others blogs more.

You all have to admit that you like getting comments! So don't just read everybody's blogs this week....give back. Leave a comment!

Let's pretend it's like National Blog Comment Week or something.

Go forth and comment!

Running Towards My Goal

Well, my journey has begun. I will be keeping track of my progress on a new blog called runningtowardsmygoal.blogspot.com

So if you don't get enough of me yet (ha ha), you can check that blog out to follow me as I take on this new adventure.

There is also a link on that blog which will show you the program that I plan to follow.