Here are some pics of Hailey taken yesterday. She can't stand being on her back and rolls over to her tummy right away. She's already trying to crawl and she just turned 4 months. My guess is she's trying to keep up with everyone else around here!

Here's my latest "art" pic. I saw a pic of this sign in my Digital Picture Art for Dummy's book and hunted it down to photograph it.....yes, I *am* a nerd! I did change the coloring a bit to make it more retro-looking.

"Some of the secret joys of living are not found
by rushing from point A to B, but by inventing
some imaginary letters along the way!"

-Douglas Pagels-


I came across this quote tonight over on Heather's blog. I though it was a good one so brought it over here to share with ya'll.

My dear friend Almerry brought it to my attention yesterday that if you click on the "next" button up above this that within a couple of blogs an X-rated one comes up. I know people can choose NOT to go surfing and such but I'm not altogether comfortable with pages like that being accessible from my page. I'm still pondering over what to do. Should I move again? Can I get rid of that bar above? So, if I end up moving soon, you'll know why:)

De'etta, I did make my weightloss ticker. I just made up a graphic in my program and saved it "blank", then every week when I weigh-in I just add the white star and how many lbs lost and upload to my blog. Not much more work than going to tickerfactory.com and changing the weight ect. and it matches my site! If you would like something like this, I'll make one up for you. Let me know!

We finally get our van back today. They fixed the AC compressor and replaced two belts that were dried and cracked. The compressor was under warranty but the belts weren't....another $120 for car repairs. ::sigh:: The Lord provides though. Michael's commission check was $150 more than what we were expecting:)

I had to take back one of my books since it was a 7-day rental, no renewals. Went back last night to get some crocheting books and checked to see if they had a copy I could check out again, they didn't. I'll have to check back next time, I'm halfway through and want to finish!! Oh, that reminds me, I've got to update my reading list!

Ok, baby's crying and need to go!

Hmm, Becky my blog is working for me. Not sure what was going on:) Blogger blipped out on me a few days ago but I refreshed and then it worked. Maybe they're having growing pains or something.

Yesterday was a very LONG day. We had church of course and between services I had to clean that office that I didn't get done on Saturday. From the office I headed to evening service and met the family there. Hubby had to count the offering so we left church 1 1/2 hours "late". Got home and got everyone in bed and zonked out on hubby in the chair. That rarely happens, usually it's HIM zonking out on me! Hailey slept most of the night, she woke up at 5:30am to nurse and we went back to sleep. I got a good night's sleep last night. I didn't realize how crummy my sleep has been lately. My fault, no one else's. I'm a night owl!

Today we got school done. After that we headed to the movie rental store and picked up our 2 movies. Then we went to Walmart get a new 3-hole punch for school. Hubby called while we were there and told me we had an extra one in the garage. I ended up getting a black dress though. I have the hardest time buying dresses for myself. Anyways, I got the black one, there were 2 others that were patterned. They look great with my new heels and a necklace that I got at the mall last month for $0.50. I'm all set for this fancy dinner coming up!


Well, I better go. Got some crocheting to do and some book to read!

Sushi anyone?

Hubby got my van fixed up today. They (Hubby, Hannah, and Jake) waited for 3 hours, then hubby went to find out why the van hadn't been taken back yet. They thought "someone else" had already taken care of it. After they installed the tires we found out that we needed new brakepads badly, they were down to the metal. That was another couple of hours as they had to order the pads from Kia or something. Also, our battery was almost out of juice, they had to replace that. We also discovered that our struts were going out, but that we had another 6 months or so. So, they were there a total of 8 hours today, we spent $700 today and we can expect to spend another $700 in six months. Fun day! It was reported that Jake behaved very well considering the circumstances. Yay Jake!

Whilest they were bored to death at the dealership, Me, Brandon, Matthew, and Hailey stayed home and played Nintendo...the OLD one. Michael traded in the game cube a couple of weeks ago for an old Nintendo system. I earned some "cool mom" points today with Brandon that I could pass so many levels on Super Mario 3. I got up to World 7 and had 28 "lives". I got stuck and paused it though until hubby got home. I couldn't remember for the life of me how to pass a certain level, hubby figured it out!

Since the van took so long today, I wasn't able to clean my client's office (hubby's work :P) so it looks like I'll have to do it tomorrow between services. I'll probably have hubby drop me off on the way home from morning service and pick me up on the way back to evening service. Not an ideal way to spend a Sunday but oh well.

Ok, now for the meaning behind the title. Tonight hubby and I had no clue what to do for our date. We ended up getting my skirt pattern at Joann's since it was on sale for $1, then we ate dinner at a sushi joint. This was my first time eating sushi. It wasn't too bad I must admit but by the time I had my 4th roll or whatever you call those little things, I had reached my limit of raw fish. I ordered california rolls (albacore, rice, seaweed, avocado), and Michael ordered spicy tuna rolls and a thing called "red mountain" (tuna and salmon over tempura fried california rolls). I also had edemame and mizo soup, those were good. I think I'd go back sometime, just gotta know when to stop (g). Hubby has sushi all the time with that famous VP. I've been bugging him to take me, tonight he fulfilled that obligation. After the great sushi adventure, we stopped at Ross Dress for Less just to browse. I found the cutest heels there. I needed some for this famous wool contest and they had some Nine West ones that matched a Nine West purse that I had gotten at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago. We also have a fancy dinner coming up for hubby's work. Thought I might actually try and dress up a little this time (vbg).

Hubby came home early today. Like 3pm early! We went to run a couple of errands and "oh joy!" the AC went out in the van. It was *only* 111F. We made a trip to the dealership hoping it was still under warranty and it still is. This is the second time that the system has gone out, it went out on me last Summer. My van's only a 2004 so it looks like the AC system is only good for one year at a time, LOL. Our warranty runs out next year, so we at least have AC for one more year....

Tomorrow hubby is going to get the front tires and an alignment done on the the van. We've been meaning to do this for a couple of weeks now, tomorrow he's finally getting a chance to do it. That means that I can drive further than Walmart again:)

Tomorrow I've also got an office to clean and then tomorrow night Michael and I will be going on a "date". We haven't been on a date for probably 6 months now. I can't even remember the last time. Anyways, we're not real sure what we'll do but it will be nice to just spend time together. Quiet time.....with no kidlets interupting our conversations......you KNOW what I mean!

My wool "capelet" is coming along nicely. I think I'm about half-way done. My reading challenge is suffering though. I spent some time tonight looking at vintage buttons on Ebay. I want to find a nice one. Maybe Czech glass or something. Anyways, I'm really liking the way it's coming out, I might make some more in different colors. I told Michael tonight that I think I might start making some of my clothes. We'll see, in all my spare time and all! Here's a picture of the capelet that I'm making from their website. Mine's in a nice dark grey-colored merino wool...not soft but not scratchy either. Isn't it pretty!? Old-fashioned but kinda chic too:)

I've really not had much to blog about this week, forgive me. Today we got out and went to the library and movie rental store. I took most of my books back but didn't get anymore so as to allow myself to finish the couple that I still have. The kids were pretty well-behaved again, I think we'll keep this library thing going.

As far as my weight, I'm down to 176. I was at 177 when I went home to Wa. I've been struggling a bit but have not strayed too far. I'm really just trying to figure out *what* it is that I'm going to do as far as eating plan and then stick with it. Lately I've been grabbing a Wendy's chili if we're out and about, it could be a lunch or dinner depending on the time of day. Trying to keep my fiber intake up, they are filling, they're cheap ($1.09), and portion controlled:) Breakfasts have been a LC shake. I think I'm basically still doing a lower carb diet but not down to the 20gr/day that I have done in the past. With me nursing it was just not working for me, I ended up literally feeling like I'm starving and then I'd blow it. So that's where I am with that. I've been doing weights with my little 5 lb'rs and trying to get up the courage to attempt some situps. I know that's going to be tough and I'm avoiding them. I really wish I had access to a treadmill but will just have to suck it up and go walking in the heat.

I've changed up my project for the wool competition a little again. I'll not be sewing a jacket but am crocheting a "capelet". I came across a really pretty old-fashioned chic looking pattern. I was struggling with how to sew something for myself if I'm going to be losing weight. The skirt I think I can do the 2 weeks before deadline (mid-October) but the jacket I'd really need to start much sooner and I don't want to really halt my weightloss for this project. The capelet should fit whether I lose a little weight or not.

The "famous" VP of hubby's company has been in town this week. He's re-shuffled again, always fun. Michael won't be working down in Tucson anymore. They are moving him back up here and into his old position as Operations Manager. The current Ops mgr is moving out of state and things are a mess so they're having hubby come back in and fix things, once again! The company is trying to buy out a competitor that has businesses in Phoenix, Tucson, Albuquerque, and Las Vegas. Hubby was told that if the buy out happens that they'd need a District Manager right away in Albuquerque so be prepared for that move. We'd kindof changed our minds about wanting to go there, but he'd step into that office and hit the ground running, that company has $6 million in business there. He wouldn't be having to start an office from scratch. He was also told that he might end up the VP's assistant here in the next couple of years. That would actually be great for hubby. Office politics stink, that's where the majority of hubby's stress comes from. Becky, I know you know what I'm talking about.

Well that's all that's going on. That banner on the church near us is some 6 week workshop that they are having on Sunday mornings, not an ad for the church itself. Still, I think *if* you're going to have a workshop like that, it should probably be done on a weeknight. Not on a Sunday morning. You wouldn't be able to have your kids with you in that service that's for sure. Plus, call me old-fashioned but I feel Sunday sermons should be reserved for teaching about Jesus, salvation, faith, or some other "meaty" doctrine. Really, if you are truly following the Lord you shouldn't need specialized instruction on your intimate life. My Pastor up in Wa always used to say, in fact it was in the benediction for our wedding, "If you have your eyes on God and are obedient to what He wants for your life, everything will fall into place." Your "love-life" will not be out of whack, you'll be living your life to God's glory. This above mentioned workshop included messages titled "What Happens in Vegas doesn't stay in Vegas". Well, if you're truly living for the Lord, you wouldn't need a sermon to tell you not to sleep around. Those are surface issues that are indicative of a much deeper problem, are those people even saved? If so, are they living for the Lord? Preach those things and this world would be getting better--not worse. Ok, stepping off my soapbox!

A Controversial Post....warning!

Ok, I'm gonna post a blog that's a little controversial here....

What would YOU do if you received a flyer like this in the mail?

(don't run off and look at this site quite yet, stick with me!)

*I* didn't even bother opening it. It sat on the floor of my van with all the other JUNK mail waiting to be thrown out.

What do you think this flyer could be about? Lingerie? Plastic Surgery? Something X-RATED?

What would you do if I told you that there is a full-color banner that looks just like this hanging up on a building not too far from our house? Would you want it removed? Would you be worried about what conversations might come up when the inquisitive eyes of children see it?

Now, what if I told you that this banner and advertisement were from a church. Yep, you read it right, a C-H-U-R-C-H!

I was literally physically ill. I saw the banner on the way to church yesterday so I picked up the flyer and opened it to see "What in the WORLD!" this was all about. I am just completely appalled, I don't know what else to say. I DO feel like I needed to say something though. It is just so wrong on so many levels. I think sometimes in our little circles, we don't realize just HOW bad the Church is getting and what is really out there. I mean we have seen some doozies while visiting various churches with all our moves over the years but I think by FAR this takes the cake! The Church, in an effort to make themselves feel better about their sinful state, are trying to bring God down to their level, and appeal to human's fleshly desires to "bring people in". It has gotten downright disgusting! If you go to this website they even go so far as to advertise that you can come early, grab some Starbucks, while leisurely perusing the bookstore. Umm, isn't that merchandising of the saints??? I'm going to just quit now because I am just way too emotional over this thing and am not quite verbalizing and organizing my thoughts on this very well but I just felt the need to stand up and say "That is NOT right!". We have such an attitude of "You do your thing and I'll do mine." and "Don't judge what I do, I'm not hurting anyone." in this country. There is that old cliche' "If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything." Well, church's are not taking a stand and they are definately falling for a whole lot. What's sad is that these people are getting their weekly "shot in the arm of feelgood" and leaving there thinking that they are in favor with God. Are they even preaching the need for a Saviour in these churchs or have they all reduced themselves to topical messages on "this is how to live right and be a good person" messages? If this is what is going on, woe to our nation. We are not far from the anti-Christ and sadly some (and dare I say most of) these people will fall for his lies...they are falling for everything else!!!

Their advertising slogan is "Bringing Sexy Back". (taken from a popular secular song)

Don't you all think their next banner should be...

"Bringing Jesus Back!"

Saturday I cleaned an office. Came home and took a nap LOL.

Sunday was church as usual. Well, actually we missed SS but we made it to church and evening service. Between services I went to the library by myself. Checked out a few more books. I'll probably be adding some to my reading challenge list and removing some. Right now my focus is on diet/losing weight and my reading list is reflecting it.

Today we got some school done. I read the rest of the day, well in between caring for kiddos. Tonight we went to Walmart and I was going to get the pattern for my wool contest project. I didn't end up getting it. I'm just not sure what I want to do as of yet. Well that's not true I guess, I want to do that one that I posted but I'm not sure it will look good on me and I'm not sure how hard it will be. I'm not afraid of working hard on it but I am also not going to pretend that my sewing skills are better than they are:) I also need to measure my body so I know what size to buy....

I came across this contest on Bridget's blog. Dana is giving away one of her homemade aprons. To enter the drawing go here: http://www.xanga.com/Jude1_22/608431804/i-won-now-it-is-your-turn-to-win.html go check it out:)

Proof that "art" can be found in the strangest places.....this was at Wendy's LOL.

(Doing my homework on shadows, lighting, and lines)

Nothing too exciting to blog about.

Sunday was a typical Sunday. This is hubby's month as deacon to "count the offerings" and do the deposit afterwards. He BROKE the safe and couldn't get the money out LOL. He really dreads this responsibility because it literally takes over an hour to sort, count, whatever everything out. I told him that he broke that safe on purpose to make it to the fellowship we were having that night. (g) The fellowship was for a family that has been coming to our church for about a year now. They hit the ground running and got very involved in our church, everyone is going to miss them. She was the one that took over my SS class for me BTW.

Yesterday we got some school done. It really wasn't the best of days. I've been incredibly cranky the last week or so and yesterday I just wanted to be left alone. I'm incredibly stressed out about a few things and having some health issues right now (nothing serious) and I really was just tired of the whining, fighting, climbing on me etc. Oh, and it was one of those days where when I was helping 2 kids with their schoolwork, another was off in the other room cutting up packets of mayonaise and pottying his pants...on the carpet. After that was cleaned up, I came back in to finish helping said schoolkids and one had decided that he wanted to remove a page from the middle of his comb-bound math book....taking it all apart. It was a Calgon sortof day. I'm over the grouchiness now though:)

Today was errand running day. Went to the bank, movie rental store, Goodwill to return something and found actual school desks for our schoolroom. The tire store (I need new tires on the front) and back home. We cleaned and picked up the house for daddy. He came home and we went back to Goodwill, meeting mom there so we could bring the desks home in her SUV. Went back to the tire store so hubby could get an estimate (so I don't get ripped off) and then hit Wendy's for dinner. I promised the kids they could get a frosty since they had leftover tuna sandwiches and cereal for dinner since I was busy cleaning. Tonight me and hubby watched a movie called Montana Sky (Nora Roberts book) after the kids went to bed. Now I'm blogging and after this I'm going to finish reading my Digital Art Photograpy for Dummies book. Finished the Abs Diet one yesterday. Not quite sure what I think of it yet, still mulling it over in my head. It's basically a South Beach menu but on the premise that you're feeding your body constantly (3 meals, 3 snacks/day) to fuel it to build muscle and get lean doing these excercises in the book. If you don't eat enough then your body burns your lean muscle which in turn leaves you burning less calories therefore actually gaining weight in the longterm. Ugh, I'm really confused about all this diet stuff. I just know I wanna lose weight, there just seems to be so many plans, and they all work if you stick with them, I just need to find the one that *I* can stick with long term.

Ok, I've decided to finally join De'Etta's Summer Reading Challenge. I'm a bit late in the game but I've got books that I need to get finished and I'm hoping this will help me out:)

I have 2 goals for this challenge.


#1) To read to my kids for at least 20 mins/5 days a week. I *should* be doing this already but right now it's sporadic.


#2) To myself for at least 1 1/2 hours a day/night besides my Bible time.



Here's my list of books for the challenge. There's roughly a month left so my list can't be too long! I'll change the font color to blue when I am finished reading the book.


Non-fiction

Digital Photography-Just the Steps for Dummies

Digital Art Photography for Dummies (reading, almost done!)

The Maker's Diet (reading, almost done!)

Curves (reading, almost done!)

Sewing for Plus-sizes

The Abs Diet for Women (David Zinczenko, finish)

Fiction

Second Chances (Janet Green, reading)

Bumped to Fall Challenge list

Created to be His Helpmeet (Debi Pearl, re-read)

Ministry of Motherhood (Sally Clarkson, finish and then re-read)

Country Brides (Debbie Macomber, read)


If you want to join in, click on the graphic above and it will take you to De'etta's challenge page.

Today we went to the Botanical Garden in Tucson. Went down there last night since hubby was pulling a late night and we hadn't seen him since Tuesday morning. I'm going to post the pics of the kids first, then the "regular" pics, then my "art-worthy collection" ones. Thought I might try to sell some prints on that Etsy site to save money for a bigger and better camera.

Ok, just uploaded and I uploaded them in the wrong order. The last ones to the first. Sorry, too tired to do it over again:)

This is Hailey, happy that momma nursed her and got her into some air conditioning!
This was at the entrance/exit, had the kids pose for me at the end.

Brandon and Jake loved the "forts" that were there.

Matty posing for me finally. He kept wandering around muttering "Me not like this place..." the heat and the bugs were getting to him:)

Hannah thought the bamboo was cool.

Each of the kids had to pose as a butterfly....the phrase from "A Bug's Life", "Look at me! I'm a beautiful butterfly!" keeps running through my head... LOL

These are some of the things that we saw there today.

I couldn't get those stinkin' butterflies to pose for me correctly. :snort:

I'm REALLY pouting over this sunflower not making it into my "art-worthy collection". Anyone know how to edit out the glare with a photo program??? Hey, a girl can hope right?

Oh, they had the most amazing tiling artwork throughout. I'm not gonna post them all but wow they are pretty.

This is a sage bush in bloom. Purple, my favorite color....

These are my "art" photos from today. Posted some in color and some in black/white. I was practicing some of the tecniques that I was learning in that Digital Picture Art for Dummies book that I got from the library the other night.

Ok, I learned alot last night on the web. I've come up with my final project...

This will be the skirt and the outside of the jacket.
This will be the lining of the jacket.
(Notice the jacket is sybolic ME as a person, conservative on the outside...wild on the inside!)

This is the pattern that I finally decided on. I'll be doing the suit on the far left. I think it will suit my body shape. (no pun intended!)


I'm going to be making a lapel pin similar to one of these. Probably a red rose out of wool to go on the jacket.


The fabrics I was able to get at fabric.com on clearance + another 25% off! The wool is regularly $18.85/yd, on clearance for $6.95/yd, then another 25% off that. The lining was regularly $5.98/yd, on clearance for $2.77/yd, then another 25% off that. Hannah is going to be using a fabric that she won last year in the contest. It's a cream, teal, pink, and lime green plaid. Very cute!

Today was a boring day. I had cabin fever badly so we headed out.

Our first stop was Mom's work to say "Hi!". She loved that pink dress that I made last night for Hailey, she was wearing it today.

After that we grabbed some food and then some movies from Hollywood Video. We have a plan there that we can rent unlimited movies for $20/month, we go almost everyday or every other day to get something new. Tonight the kids got "Shark Boy and Lava Girl" and I got "The Devil Wears Prada".

We came home and picked up the house a bit. Then, we decided to head to the library. We haven't been in awhile because of the kids' behavior. I must say that tonight they were perfectly behaved, even in the "Grownup's section" while I was getting myself some books. I got two on digital photograpy, one dieting one, and one fiction novel. The photograpy one I've read about 1/5th of and am already learning a TON. The fiction one I'm getting into but it has some bad words in it which is why I don't get many fiction books. We'll see how "bad" it gets, it's not a romance so it shouldn't get TOO bad! LOL

We came home, watched "Shark Boy/Lava Girl" and read some of our books and the kids went to bed. I watched my movie, read some of my book, now I'm on here blogging.

After this, I'm looking up wool garments on the net. Still sortof pondering my project. I forgot that I had to make an "upper" piece as well. Not sure I'll do well with a jacket quite yet but what else could I do??? I don't know either, that's why I'm surfing:)

Bye!

Here are the kids after VBS ended last week. Don't they look thrilled that I'm taking their picture....

These are Hailey's "happy feet". Me and Hannah couldn't help it! We're not gonna make a habit of it but they are too cute:)

Anyone remember that tie-dye outfit that I made for Hailey last October? Here she's wearing it along with a squeezy (aka brain squeezer) that I made to match...BTW, the camera really does add 10 lbs. Hailey is not this chubby looking in person.

This is my project that I worked on tonight after the kids went down...took me about 4 1/2 hours total.

This dress was made using a yellow onesie and a ladies crocheted tank top from Goodwill which I cut down of course. This one was HARD and took me the most time to do tonight...

This one came out cute, I think. I found the onesie and found a girl's skirt that matched pretty well. Cut it down and attached a skirt.

This one's not quite done yet. The shirt will have a black "Mickey Mouse" sillouette on it. The skirt I left separate because I didn't want it to bleed onto the white shirt.

This one is cute but nothing special. I'm thinking about embroidering a cute SOMETHING onto a white circle and attaching it to the skirt in the lower corner, we'll see. This was a 24 mos. size jumper type one piece outfit, the name escapes me right now, but anyways I cut it down to make the skirt.

Ok, going to bed now!

Ok, I'm totally addicted to this site called Etsy. It is basically a place for people to sell their "art" or other handmade goods. There are the cutest dresses on there for babies and toddlers made from vintage pillowcases or hankies. There are also ones on there called "t-shirt" dresses, basically a onesie or t-shirt with a skirt attached. Anyways, I hit the thrift stores today so I can make Hailey a couple of t-shirt dresses. I'll take pics when I get them done. Here are some examples of some really cute ones using vintage stuff....

This one uses a vintage hankie as an apron for the front.

This one is made using a vintage embroidered pillowcase. Isn't it adorable?! I want to make her some of these but really have to hunt down some cute pillowcases.