I have a MAJOR party going on in my sinuses right now. It is so NOT FUN!!!
But you know what?
I went and got me some Alkaseltzer cold medicine today. That stuff seriously rocks. No headache for the past few hours and I was able to take a nap and breathe THROUGH MY NOSE. yeah. It's cool.

I also heard back from my tax lady today. man, pulling together all my stuff for taxes this past year was a lot more laborious that in previous years. A lot of driving to different law enforcement tests, Cranium Creations expenses, medical expenses, etc... It just seemed like there was more to report this year than in years past. Anyway. I heard back from Tax Lady and good news, we're getting more than we expected.
I didn't think we would. So I'm super happy about that.

I had parent/teacher conferences for all the kids yesterday. There was some good news and some not so good news. Disciplines have been established for the not-so good news and privileges granted for the good news.

Popeye HATES his job. I have never seen him so unhappy before. Ever. So, if you know of a law enforcement agency that's hiring and they pay well enough for a 7-person family - I'll take the suggestions! I know he's being deployed. But he's already started looking at other agencies. He's not hiding the fact that he's unhappy here, either. I thought he would (I mean, I have been) but that's how miserable he is. Poor man. This deployment can't come soon enough for him.

I was hoping to get down to Denver last week for a seminar on The Neptune - a waterproof processor for Mr. Fantastic's ear. But funds didn't allow it. Hopefully I can find the funding to get him one before summer! He would love to hear while in the water.

Maddie is doing well adjusting to our family. she is REALLY good at playing fetch and destroying balls. I try to take her to the park every day. She runs and runs and runs. And when I call her, she comes back. Perfect. She's sporting 2 ear infections right now. so I've been giving her medicine everyday. The doc thinks it's an allergic reation to her food. I switched out her food and haven't seen her shaking her head nearly as much as before. I think the meds are working and the new food is keeping her happy. I take her in for a checkup next Monday.

The kids are all good. Popeye scored a free laptop from another sailor last week and we got it up and running a few days ago. The kids are loving playing educational games online. I'm thinking I should set up a time limit thing. (Thor spent 3 hours on it this morning while I was cooped up in my foogy-headed state while lying in bed.)

Hmmm. I think that's it.
have a wonderful day y'all!

Another mouth to feed.

Given my track record, I usually have another baby by this time (Grand Duchess turned 3 on Friday!).
BUT
No, I'm not pregnant. (Ha, I KNOW I totally got some of you, though, huh?)

Popeye is worried about my safety once he leaves.

So we got a dog.

The sweetest dog, too. Her name is Madeline (pronounced LYNN at the end, not LINE). She's a 2 year old german shephard. She's house broken. Can follow basic commands like sit, come, lay down and get it. She's excellent with the kids. She doesn't bark (yet). I'm told by her previous owner that the only time she barked was when someone came to the house to announce their arrival. (Anyone want to venture over and try it out with me?) She fits so well with us. And we're so super happy to have her (and her rubber chicken) in our family!

We're in love with her.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Popeye's being deployed. Did I already mention that earlier?

Yesterday we found out all the answers to the questions that have been haunting us for a few months now.

Where: Gitmo

When: June 18, 2012

How long: 9 months

I'm still processing thoughts and feelings and until I can really talk with Popeye about it (without the munchkins around), I won't be entirely clear about everything.

My brother just left for Afghanistan last week.

It's all so emotional for me right now.

But I have blessings in this - oh yes I do.

My prayers have been answered. Finally, my will is the same as my Heavenly Father's will.  I kinda wanted Popeye to go - but only if God was on board with that, too. And if he were to go, then I REALLY was hoping for somewhere safe. Gitmo is such a place.

So while I'm not looking forward to him being gone, it's going to be okay.

A - okay.

That's it. Just thought you'd like to know the news.

Carry on.

My first tutorial

I am going to attempt a tutorial here. My first, in fact. So I hope all is explained coherently and that you can see the pictures and such...
Here goes.

I've been needing a place to put all of my thread. When we moved, everything was in a box and they were all jumbled and crazy-like. I was hating it. So thanks be to pinterest, I got my craft on today and made myself something to help sort out my chaos.

Spool of Thread Holder
Step one: Gather your supplies
I grabbed a picture that wasn't being used, some random board from the basement, fabric to match my curtains, paint, paintbrush, nails, hammer, staple gun, glue, sandpaper and ribbon.

I measured the board and found that 3 pieces would fit evenly in my little frame - so I cut them down to size and sanded the edges to get the pokies off.

After that I took all the little hardwares off the back of the frame and took the picture out.



Then I painted my frame black. It went better than the primed white that was already there (from, like, 5 years ago when I bought the frames for Princess Monkey Eyes' room).

Next, I used my Go-To glue and glued the boards together. I didn't bother using nails for this project since it would all be wrapped up nice and snug in my fabric. I just wanted it a little more stable.

Seriously, this stuff is awesome.

After I glued my boards together ( I had to use three, there wasn't any wood in my basement big enough for just one slab in my frame), I positioned it onto my fabric and stapled the fabric into place.

Now, you're going to attach the boards to the frame. Grab some nails and just attach it in the corners. Don't go overboard - you're just holding the frame in place, not hanging from it.

Then you get to add all of your nails to the front of the board. I positioned mine 1 3/4" apart. Close enough to fit 4 spools across but far enough apart to get them on and off without banging eachother. make sure when you nail them in that they are at an angle to keep the spools from falling off.

Now staple some ribbon onto the back and hang it up! You are done!!!

In hind sight, I could have skipped quite a few step and just made the fabric covered board. But I kinda wanted a frame around it. I only used 4 nails to put the frame on and made sure the fabric wrapped all the way around - so really, I could take the frame off if I ever tire of it.

But for now it works for me. I will definitely need to go bigger soon because I have a lot more thread. But these are my most commonly used ones and now they're easily accessible while I'm sewing!

Thanks for looking! And I hope this was okay. :)





A HA!!!

Sometimes I feel like someone should just hit me upside the head and say, "Ya think?"
So - I'm saving all of you the trouble right now.

Let me explain.
I have a fabric stash. I've recently come into the possession of some tee-shirts for Grand Duchess and I thought I'd make a few little outfits for her. She loves twirly skirts but all of the hand-me-down outfits from Princess Monkey Eyes don't include those. Anyway - I'm making some.
And I've been having a little bit of fun with fabric paint and creating some fun silhouettes onto shirts for the kids. But today I wanted something more fun and detailed than a silhouette and I didn't want to spend the time creating a cute applique pattern.
So as I was about to peruse the world wide web for ideas - it hit me!
SCRAP BOOKING STAMPS!!!

So I busted out my stash of acrylic stamps and realized I have some that are PERFECT! I am simply GIDDY at the thought of using these on the next few shirts! This first one that I did today was simple because the skirt is so busy. I love how it turned out. LOVE.

The next skirt is for her third birthday. The pattern is yellow, gray, white and a touch of black. The shirt is yellow. I can't wait to see what I come up with for that one.

Anyway - if you hadn't thought of that before - there's your tip for another way to paint onto a shirt without having to cut freezer paper. If you HAD thought of it before, then I commend you for being so brilliant but am a teensy bit jealous that you didn't share the tip with me. (I'm not mad, though.)

What do you think?

Yeah, I like it, too.

Now, to find some yarn for a cute little number for her head!

So - go. Create something beautiful and fun!!!

Change?

My friend, Alison, has a word of the year. Instead of making a list of resolutions to try and fulfill, she chooses a word to live by for the year. Last year her word was 'Believe'. This year her word is 'Courage'. I had been thinking of what word she would choose over the course of last week (before she posted it) and it made me think if I had a word for the year, what would it be?
I came up with a phrase. 'Be Fit'.
But was that right? Each time I say it or type it, it just doesn't seem to be exactly what I'm thinking of.
As I was running this morning, I started thinking that maybe that isn't what I want my phrase to be. Maybe I want it to be "Be Strong". So let me type and think about this at the same time.
I checked dictionary.com and it says fit means: 

1. adapted or suited; appropriate: This water isn't fit for drinking. A long-necked giraffe is fit for browsing treetops.
2. proper or becoming: fit behavior.
3. qualified or competent, as for an office or function: a fit candidate.
4. prepared or ready: crops fit for gathering.
5. in good physical condition; in good health: He's fit for the race.

So then I went and checked what the definition of strong is :

1. having, showing, or able to exert great bodily or muscular power; physically vigorous or robust: a strong boy.
2. accompanied or delivered by great physical, mechanical, etc., power or force: a strong handshake; With one strong blow the machine stamped out a fender.
3. mentally powerful or vigorous: He may be old, but his mind is still strong.
4. especially able, competent, or powerful in a specific field or respect: She's very strong in mathematics. He's weak at bat, but he's a strong fielder.
5. of great moral power, firmness, or courage: strong under temptation.

So if I go on the definitions of what dictionary.com gives me - my choice is clear. BUT. When it comes to my faith, do I want it to be fit or strong? I think of, "Stand strong and immovable..." and "Be strong and of a good courage..." Will being STRONG withstand the powers of Satan long-term or is being FIT more enduring? Hmmmm.  These are all just thoughts going through my head.
But then I think of the World's Strongest Man competitors. They are SUPER strong. (Like, sickly huge muscles and able to do things that are crazy - imo.) But would they be able to endure a long-term fitness test? Someone who is strong has muscles, to be sure, and can lift heavier things than someone who is fit. But how is their heart? Would their heartrate increase dramatically in a 10k run whereas someone who has been training for it can withstand the pressures such a run bring? (Obviously I don't know anyone that strong or I'd have an answer to that question.)
As I think more and more about it. I think being strong is where I want to be.  I want to be strong and immovable in my faith - Spiritually Strong. I want to be strong in my health - Physically Strong. I want to be strong in my finances - Financially Strong. I want to be strong in my relationships - Personally Strong.
So - my new phrase is Be Strong!
Thank you, Ali, for making me think twice about the phrase I chose. (Smiles!)
I'm super excited about it now.

What an interesting year 2011 turned out to be. Shall we check out some of the highlights and lowlights of this past year?

• The biggest that had the most impact: Popeye quitting his job in April and becoming unemployed (aside from the Naval Reserves) for 6 months.
• Going to Washington to visit Sara - obviously a HUGE high!
• Grand Duchess potty training! Glory hallelujia!
• My hat business has seriously taken off which I am ever grateful for!
• The making of new friends - always a wonderful thing (in 2 different cities, too!).
• Our move to Nebraska. While I was very sad to leave Wyoming, I am ever so excited for my new big house. (One of only a handful of perks of living here.)
• Adding 12 extra pounds to the scale. (NOT cool.)

On that note: I have a goal. Actually, I've decided new year resolutions aren't all that bad. I've made a few.

In the Spiritual Realm:
Have daily personal and family prayer and scripture study. I don't know why following this commandment is so hard for me, but it is. And I MUST do better at it. So I will. Luckily for me we're studying the Book of Mormon this year in Gospel Doctrine, so I can read and study along.

In the Financial Realm:
If Popeye deploys - save $1500 a month. If he doesn't - save $25 a month. On the piddly salary that we don't get to enjoy, $25 will be cutting it tight, but we need to build up our savings again.

In the Fitness Realm:
Be a size 6 or loose 8 by May (for family pictures). It's a doable goal that will make me work just a little harder. (Thank you Pinterest for all of the motivation.) Also, I want to drive to Sidney and run in the Oktoberfest race with some of my girlies. So, by October I want to be able to run a 5k. And by the end of the year I want to have run 400 miles total. I have never enjoyed running, it hurts my knees and I get bored easily. But I downloaded some new running playlists from Rock My Run, used one this morning and pushed through. I think I can do this!

On my own Personal Realm:
Tell each of my children DAILY and RANDOMLY that I love them. I don't do that. I don't know why I don't do that, but I have a feeling that I will be able to better help my children make wise choices if they hear it and feel it and know it. The other goal I have set for myself is to not yell for a week straight. I've already failed miserably and tomorrow is a new day. But I must control my temper! If I succeed in not yelling for a whole week, I get a little reward, like some pretty nail polish, make up or monetary equivilent. (I DO need new running shoes...)

So there you go.
Today I RAN for 2 miles. I actually did it! Well, 2 miles broken up with a 60 second walk in between. But for me, this is a HUGE deal. I'm very proud of myself. I made a little calendar to tape to the wall in my office with the whole year on it. Each day I write the remaining mileage to meet my 400 mile goal on the appropriate day. Today's reads 398.
And the picture gracing my calendar? Not a scantily-clad woman with toned tummy and thighs, but this:

It cracks me up and reminds me that it's about living a healthier lifestyle, that my body WANTS to be healthy and if I look silly doing it, then who cares. I feel better and more focused afterward. (It also reminds me of that 'Friends' episode where Phoebe and Rachel go running and Phoebe runs like the girl in the bottom picture... Still makes me chuckle.)

Here's to a new healthier, happier and successful year! Goodbye 2011 and Welcome 2012!!!