Neatokimmo

We are back :)

2011-07-15T22:19:00.002-05:00

I was going to lock down the blog so I could copy the parts and pieces that were my favorite and make a book. Well you can guess how far along I got in that little project.

So instead, here we are. All is well. Let me see if I can do a quick recap....

Natalie =
awesome!
starting 4K next month. It is a full day program and she is going with her little BFF. They are so stinkin cute together.
has been moved into the "Star" team in gymnastics which is the first step to being on a competition team. I am super excited, she's just 4! lol

Me =
engaged, getting married April 28th
big house closing next Friday (has been rented for 2.5 months now)
started a second biz selling hairbows, fluff and anything twirly
on facebook as Super Twirl and online at www.supertwirl.com (I am still setting everything up!)

I will post a new Natalie pic soon, see ya!

Bow Making Mama

2011-04-05T23:08:00.004-05:00

(close up, hot pink)
(seafoam, light aqua, light blue, gray, peach, orange, beet, golden yellow, dull yellow, yellow)
(baby pink, pink, hot pink, french pink, red, raspberry, deep purple, medium purple, bright lighter purple, wisteria, navy blue, royal blue, turquoise, turquoise-green, dark aqua, emerald green, spring green, yellow green, neon green, sage)

I know, I've not posted in forever and now I'm doing an ad for my bows. I'm a bad bad blogger.

I have stuff up on Etsy but thought I'd throw this out there for any bloggie ladies who like ribbon as much as I do (it's a wicked addiction).

I have a 4 inch triple loop bow that is my favorite. I have it in 34 colors. Right now I have a package going on, $98.50 including shipping if you buy it on Etsy, $95 if you buy it off my blog instead (darn those Etsy fees!).

I know that is quite a bit purchase bow wise, but think how fun it would be to have one that went with everything. This is the lot you'd get. Not pictured, ivory, black, dark brown and white.

This is the size of it on Natalie's noggin.

Email me if you are interested and please tell any bow addicts that you know about my deal lol

Thanks! - Kim

2011-03-21T23:32:00.001-05:00

Happy Spring!

Mr Sun

2011-03-07T01:12:00.001-05:00

Always singing, always happy :)

Happy Birthday, Part 2

2011-02-05T22:32:00.003-05:00

Natalie's BFFs :)

Natalie's future cousin from Hubei.

Amazing changes in 3 years!

At 4, Natalie's favorite things include playdough, coloring with markers, cutting paper with fancy scissors, gluing stuff together, sprinkling glitter on everything, doing puzzles and playing with her tag reader. She loves working the wii and loves to mop the floors (woot!). She was just moved to the advance class in gymnastics and goes twice a week now. She is also taking ballet and will be moved in with the older girls in the fall. She is very flexible and is all bone and muscle. The child has 6 pack abs. Overall she is sweet, funny good little girl :)

Happy Birthday Natalie!

2011-02-02T00:02:00.002-05:00

4 years old today! :) We went on a playdate today to celebrate a little bit. Her friend party is on Saturday, she is very excited about going to chuck e cheese again!

(lesson learned today - do it all on the birthday or nothing - Natalie boo-hooed after the playdate because she though that was her party and she didn't get a present from Mama to open. I had to run home, wrap everything and take it to my Mom's to open to make a big deal out of it. The shoes of course made up for any tears lol)

:)

2011-01-20T11:34:00.003-05:00

Natalie is being moved to the advanced gymnastic class next week and is being moved in older girls in ballet in the fall. I'm a wee bit proud of her lol

Merry Christmas :)

2010-12-26T19:17:00.002-05:00

Her first picture with Santa. My camera was on the wrong setting, that is why its shadowy. I can't wait to get the better picture from her teacher.

One of her favorite gifts was the used vsmile I got from a garage sale. It was a whole $10 and had three games. I got her two more and Stephen got her another one.

The carnage. The bags are valentines day ones but she liked them anyway lol

Her Christmas Eve present.

Playing in the snow after playing with her face paint set today :) Happy girl!

$1 for a year of Disney's FamilyFun Magazine

2010-12-15T06:17:00.000-05:00

$5 for a One-Year Subscription to Disney FamilyFun Magazine ($10 Value) See Below for Two-Year Subsc

deals.mamapedia.com

Today's Mamapedia Sweet Deal in National: $5 for a One-Year Subscription to Disney FamilyFun Magazine ($10 Value) See Below for Two-Year Subscription Offer
Use coupon FATWALLET4 to bring the price down to $1. Enjoy!

Fall 2010 Pictures- Halloween & Silk

2010-12-13T21:01:00.003-05:00

Toy Story mania for Wii $19.99

2010-12-13T13:05:00.000-05:00

woohooo (like I've not spent enough this year? haha)

25% off Crocs

2010-12-12T10:25:00.005-05:00

CROCS SALE

25% off today, Sunday until midnight eastern.

Code: FRIENDS10
Link: CROCS

Hi, remember me?

2010-12-04T01:19:00.007-05:00

So if you look at my blog you'll think the only thing I do any more is shop. That's about right. I've spent a ton this Christmas and don't feel a bit bad about it. I...drumroll please... bought myself a wii. Not for Natalie, not for Stephen but for me me me. And it's red! And I bought Epic Mickey! Yippppeee! lol Anyway, stay tuned to view the carnage on Christmas morning!

We went on a cruise, it was a lot of fun. It made the cold weather when we came back unbearable though. Yuck! Send me to FL please!

Cozumel - Mr Sanchos

Isle Roatan - Mayan Princess

Stinker on the atrium staircase.

The Mayan temple we climbed in Belize. See the people way below it? I climbed almost to the top before vertigo got me.

This is the side of it almost at the top. I climbed the other side up to the cool carvings.

(why oh why does it take so long to upload pictures to blogger? it's painfully slow! I have tons of other pictures but can't stand the wait)

It took 3 hours to clean and purge the playroom tonight. I wanted to take a picture for proof that at some point in her childhood it was clean(ish). I took out 6 bags of toys to sell in the spring. Actually, I am thinking about selling all the little kid stuff. Cheap Kim wants to hang on to it so I don't have to rebuy it. Shopping Kim wants to sell it all and rebuy limited matching items when the time (if it ever) comes. Decisions decisions! Did you all keep all your baby loot?

So this shot doesn't look too bad. But...

This wall really needs help. I had a bunch of stuff hanging on there before the dresses so the mails aren't where I want them to be. I want to hang the expensive gowns up high until she's old enough to not mess them up. The everyday play clothes, I want those lower to the ground so she can get them herself. I'm also not a fan of the apple crate bookcase thing I have going on. All the assesories are in the pink bucket, that doesn't work well either. I plan to buy a hanging hook for her bike. Any suggestions?
And there is now a music corner. I'd like any ideas on how to make it cute!

Also, that pile of red plastic is about 10 fisher price little people farm sets from her 1st birthday. Any ideas on making that pile look better?

I won't even show the other wall. It has a stainless shelving unit with boxes everywhere. It's not pretty lol

That's all for now, its super late, bye!

Shopping

2010-11-07T22:08:00.002-05:00

I don't know why I do it, but I like to wander around on Amazon looking at all the Doug and Melissa toys. These are all on sale. I got the cheap safari puzzle and I'm trying really hard not to order that awesome pink dollhouse.

This is $100 here and never on sale. They can't keep it in stock, I wonder why people don't save almost $50 with tax and get it online??

I will prob break down and get these before Christmas. Its a smidge over $1 a horse and they are lot better than anything you'd get a dollar tree.

Cheap alert! This is under $6 with shipping. Some states you might have to pay sales tax. I got this :)

I thought this one was pretty. I want to start a hard puzzle with Natalie and keep it on cardboard, maybe under the sofa.

I'm on a medieval sort of kick.

I want this bad. So bad it hurts. I'm just saying.

I need your help

2010-11-06T09:23:00.002-05:00

A co-worker's little boy is dying. He needs a bone marrow transplant. Be the Match will mail you a free cheek swab test to add you to the database of donors.

Donation is easy. You take a couple of shots the week before donation. One needle in each arm. That's it....a tada! You've saved someone's life.

here is the link:

http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/index.html?src=tabjoin

If you have a blog, or facebook page, will you post something about registering there? I have 40ish unique hits on myblog every day. If everyone posts to their blog plus facebook...well that is at least 80 posts there. Then if just a few of their friends do the same thing...we could bring in hundreds of new registrants!

(if you remember, I matched and they didn't get the donation set up in time and he died.....this little boy is too young to die)

Fall 2010

2010-11-04T22:10:00.000-05:00

Halloween Pictures

2010-11-04T22:08:00.002-05:00

She was bell=ish all the way, Tinkerbell and winter Belle.

Here she is with one of her BFFs, Tia!

Mexico - 1950 something

2010-11-03T19:46:00.003-05:00

My travel bug comes honestly. Here is my Dad on a zebra (or poor painted horse) in Mexico when he was around 10. I am scanning old family photos. So far I have pictures from NYC, Washington DC, Detroit, California, Chicago, Miami, Canada & Mexico from his childhood. And I found postcards from the Bahamas from my Grandparents who used to cruise! I had no idea.

This picture makes me smile :) I put it on a yellow background to help hide the cracks and chips.

Meal Plan November 2010 Updated 11-4

2010-11-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Does anyone want to join me in meal planning for a month? I am trying to clear out the freezer and pantry. This is my plan for the month:

1- L-PBJ, D-ham & carrots
2 - L -Chicken and dumplings w/peas and carrots D- Baja chicken pasta
3 - L- Baja chicken pasta leftovers D- bbq chicken sandwiches w/pickles & oranges
4 - L - School & Work D -breakfast (turkey sausage, eggs, baked apples & french toast) Nevermind, we out with the boy! Froze the chicken and stock yesterday too.
5 - cod & frozen veggies D -breakfast (turkey sausage, eggs, baked apples & french toast)
6 - dumplings & egg drop soup
7 - chicken stir fry
8 - hamburger pasta
9 - stir fry (I might try to make something from my thai cookbook)
10 - ham fried rice
11 - breakfast (turkey sausage, eggs, baked apples & french toast)
12-20 vacation
21 - meatloaf hamburgers w peas/carrots
22 - spaghetti
23 - fried chicken legs & whatever veggie
24 - breakfast (turkey sausage, eggs, baked apples & french toast)
25 - thanksgiving (I am going to make muddy buddies and chex mix for snacking- I already have the chex and cheerios)
26 - Mexican rice
27 - hot dogs, chili, mac & cheese
28 - Japanese chicken, carrots & rice
29 - tuna pasta salad
30 - breakfast (turkey sausage, eggs, baked apples & french toast)
31 - chili baked potatoes

We are eating a lot of breakfast because we like it and it is sooo easy on me!

Shopping list for breakfast
bananas

Shopping list for lunch
barley
clove of garlic
can of black olives
bread

Shopping list for dinners:
wonton wrappers (unless I can learn to make them, I have a cookbook for them)
2 pds ground beef
1 pd rice
hot dogs
block cheese
sour cream
butter
mayo
2 large potatoes or a sack depending on the price
a few bags of frozen veggies as we need them
powdered sugar
Worcestershire
seasoned salt
garlic powder
onion powder
pretzels
cashews

The rest I have in the freezer or pantry. For all my chicken dishes, I have two large whole chickens that I'll dice up and make stock. I think I'm out of boneless chicken (but who knows what I'll find when everything is out of there lol)

Pack and Go Specials for Wed Nov 3rd

2010-11-02T08:05:00.002-05:00

These are pay in full no refund bookings (that is why they are cheap!). If you have time to burn up before year end, hanging on a cruise ship isn't a bad way to use it up! My pick is the Inspiration out of Tampa in red. You can also book the Dream (new big fancy ship) out of Port Canaveral for under $500 pp for 7 days including taxes if you have sailed before. The insides are mostly on deck 9 fort hat price. This is for Saturday Nov 13th. Email me if interested!

Ship Route Inside Window Balcony

Carnival Imagination	3	MIA	11/19/10	Nassau	$169	$189	N/A
Carnival Imagination	3	MIA	12/03/10	Nassau	N/A	$189	N/A
Carnival Imagination	3	MIA	12/10/10	Nassau	$169	$189	N/A
Carnival Paradise	3	LAX	11/26/10	Ensenada	$239	N/A	N/A
Carnival Ecstasy	4	GAL	12/30/10	Western Caribbean	$699	$789	N/A
Carnival Fascination	4	JAX	01/27/11	Freeport & Nassau	$259	$289	$429
Carnival Imagination	4	MIA	11/15/10	Key West & Cozumel	$159	N/A	N/A
Carnival Imagination	4	MIA	11/29/10	Key West & Cozumel	N/A	$179	N/A
Carnival Imagination	4	MIA	01/24/11	Key West & Cozumel	$179	$219	N/A
Carnival Sensation	4	MCO	01/16/11	Freeport & Nassau	$189	$229	N/A
Carnival Inspiration	5	TPA	11/29/10	G Cayman & Cozumel	$199	$229	N/A
Carnival Inspiration	5	TPA	12/18/10	G Cayman & Cozumel	$399	$449	N/A
Carnival Inspiration	5	TPA	12/27/10	G Cayman & Cozumel	$619	$749	N/A
Carnival Triumph	5	MSY	12/06/10	Western Caribbean	$209	$259	$359
Carnival Freedom	6	FLL	01/09/11	Western Caribbean	$359	$429	N/A
Carnival Spirit	6	SDG	01/03/11	Baja Mexico	N/A	N/A	$499
Carnival Conquest	7	GAL	12/05/10	Eastern Caribbean	$519	$549	$719
Carnival Glory	7	MIA	11/28/10	Exotic W Caribbean	$399	N/A	$579
Carnival Liberty	7	MIA	11/20/10	Western Caribbean	$399	N/A	N/A
Carnival Liberty	7	MIA	11/27/10	Exotic E Caribbean	$399	N/A	$649
Carnival Liberty	7	MIA	12/04/10	Western Caribbean	$379	N/A	$529
Carnival Pride	7	BWI	02/13/11	Pt Can & Bahamas	$449	N/A	$629
Carnival Splendor	7	LAX	11/28/10	Mexican Riviera	N/A	N/A	$579
Carnival Valor	7	MIA	11/21/10	Exotic W Caribbean	$429	$479	$679
Carnival Valor	7	MIA	12/12/10	Exotic W Caribbean	$349	$429	$549
Carnival Valor	7	MIA	12/26/10	Exotic W Caribbean	$749	$1049	$1199
Carnival Victory	7	SJU	11/21/10	Southern Caribbean	N/A	$449	$549
Carnival Victory	7	SJU	12/05/10	Southern Caribbean	N/A	N/A	$549
Carnival Victory	7	SJU	03/06/11	Southern Caribbean	N/A	$499	$699
Carnival Miracle	8	FLL	12/13/10	Exotic S Caribbean	N/A	N/A	$579
Carnival Spirit	8	SDG	11/12/10	Mexican Riviera	$379	N/A	N/A
Carnival Spirit	8	SDG	11/28/10	Mexican Riviera	N/A	N/A	$599

Legal mumbo jumbo...

Terms and conditions: Cruise rates are in US dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, capacity controlled and subject to change at any time without prior notice. Government taxes and fees are from $17.83 to $279.52 additional for each guest based on itinerary. Full payment is required at the time of booking for all guests to secure confirmed accommodations. The full payment is non-refundable and non-transferable. Offer is valid for new individual bookings only made between 11/03/10-11/05/10. Offer is not combinable with any other discounted or promotional offer. Rates are capacity controlled and subject to change without prior notice. No name changes allowed. Offer is applicable in guarantee categories IS/OV/BL only. Carnival will assign the stateroom at a later time. Some restrictions (including stateroom/category availability) apply.

Early Saver Specials

2010-10-27T21:45:00.002-05:00

New Early Saver specials. These are non-refundable big time reduced fares. If you want extra info, just email!

SHIP	PPortORT	DUR	SAILDATE	ITINERARY	Inside	Window	Balcony
Carnival Sensation	MCO	3	04/21/11	Nassau	$299	$329	$449
Carnival Imagination	MIA	4	04/25/11	Key West & Cozumel	$259	$299	N/A
Carnival Sensation	MCO	4	02/27/11	Freeport & Nassau	$259	$299	$469
Carnival Destiny	MIA	5	04/09/11	G Cayman/Ocho Rios	$399	$479	$609
Carnival Elation	MOB	5	04/23/11	Western Caribbean	$379	$429	N/A
Carnival Fantasy	CHS	5	03/18/11	Freeport & Nassau	$349	$399	N/A
Carnival Inspiration	TPA	5	04/23/11	G Cayman/Cozumel	$379	$439	N/A
Carnival Glory	ORF	6	05/29/11	Bahamas	$529	$699	$829
Carnival Spirit	YVR	6	05/04/11	Inside Passage	$499	$599	$749
Carnival Dream	MCO	7	04/23/11	Eastern Caribbean	$539	$719	$859
Carnival Elation	MOB	7	05/14/11	Western Caribbean	$529	$629	N/A
Carnival Fascination	JAX	7	04/30/11	Eastern Caribbean	$499	$569	$799
Carnival Glory	MIA	7	04/24/11	Exotic E Caribbean	$499	$609	$799
Carnival Splendor	LAX	7	04/24/11	Mexican Riviera	$459	$579	$799
Carnival Valor	MIA	7	04/24/11	Exotic W Caribbean	$439	$569	$699
Carnival Victory	SJU	7	04/24/11	Southern Caribbean	$439	$569	$749
Carnival Freedom	FLL	8	07/02/11	Exotic W Caribbean	$829	$949	$1179

Picture Day

2010-10-22T21:10:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited! Today was Natalie picture day for the year. Last year I missed it because of Dad and I wasn't in the mood for pretty pictures. This year we did her traditional Chinese outfit, the only silk one I bought...it finally fit! Then the photographer set a second appointment so I could come back with Halloween stuff.

And buddy did I! I already had it in my mind that I was going to buy the CD. So why not cram as much stuff on it as I could?

We did winter Belle (above), the fancy Tinkerbell (what she wore in Disney awhile back) and her Barbie bride dress from a yardsale (never has a $1 dress been loved so much). It was fun and she was super agreeable the whole time.

So in a couple of weeks I am going to have some super duper deluxe pictures. That makes me happy!

Wed Cruise Specials

2010-10-19T09:56:00.004-05:00

Every Tuesday I get a list of discounted fares, called Pack-and-Gos that I can book on Wednesdays. These are last minute, let's fill up the ship, prices. Email me if you want more info. The ones in red are my pick for price and fun-ness. Especially the Destiny one, it goes to Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk.

SHIP	DUR	PORT	SAILDATE	ITINERARY	INSIDE	OCEANVIEW	BALCONY
Carnival Ecstasy	4	GAL	12/16/10	Western Caribbean	$419	$459	N/A
Carnival Imagination	4	MIA	11/01/10	Key West & Cozumel	$179	$199	N/A
Carnival Imagination	4	MIA	11/29/10	Key West & Cozumel	$179	$199	N/A
Carnival Inspiration	4	TPA	12/09/10	Western Caribbean	N/A	$249	N/A
Carnival Triumph	4	MSY	12/16/10	Western Caribbean	$309	$349	$379
Carnival Destiny	5	MIA	01/10/11	Eastern Caribbean	$329	N/A	$479
Carnival Ecstasy	5	GAL	12/11/10	Western Caribbean	$339	$379	N/A
Carnival Freedom	6	FLL	10/31/10	Western Caribbean	$329	$379	N/A
Carnival Freedom	6	FLL	11/14/10	Western Caribbean	$329	$379	N/A
Carnival Dream	7	MCO	11/20/10	Eastern Caribbean	$499	N/A	N/A
Carnival Fantasy	7	CHS	11/20/10	Key West & Bahamas	$429	$509	N/A
Carnival Glory	7	MIA	12/12/10	Exotic W Caribbean	$379	$469	$599
Carnival Pride	7	BWI	12/19/10	Pt Can & Bahamas	N/A	N/A	$649
Carnival Pride	7	BWI	02/13/11	Pt Can & Bahamas	N/A	N/A	$629
Carnival Pride	7	BWI	02/27/11	Pt Can & Bahamas	$449	N/A	$629
Carnival Spirit	7	SDG	12/19/10	Mexican Riviera	N/A	N/A	$649
Carnival Triumph	7	MSY	12/27/10	Exotic W Caribbean	$879	$1039	$1339
Carnival Victory	7	SJU	12/19/10	Southern Caribbean	N/A	$499	$649
Carnival Victory	7	SJU	12/26/10	Southern Caribbean	$599	$779	$999
Carnival Victory	7	SJU	02/20/11	Southern Caribbean	$499	$629	$779
Carnival Freedom	8	FLL	12/04/10	Eastern Caribbean	N/A	N/A	$779
Carnival Spirt	8	SDG	11/28/10	Mexican Riviera	N/A	N/A	$699
Carnival Dream	9	MCO	12/23/10	Exotic W Caribbean	N/A	N/A	$1299

(plus tax which varies depending on the cruise)

Free Landscaping

2010-10-11T08:00:00.003-05:00

I think I mentioned I am about 5K short for next year with all the things I want to do. In the budget for next year I have a landscaping column. My poor little house isn't very decorative on the outside because I've had to do so much on the inside. So I allotted $500 to get about 90 linear feet around the house landscaped. nothing too fancy, just some nice evergreen shrubs, bulbs and pine bark.

So yesterday, we went to the boy's hunting cabin. It is a little 500 Sf house in the middle of nowhere on a mountain in VA. He has about 5 acres with 4 of that being wooded. As we were driving in to mow (it is really overgrown and it so hard to mow - that is a different post tho) he points out the shrub I was going to buy at home depot was growing all over his property! So I was able to dig one up to bring home and saved $18.

Then I started on the ferns, there were thousands of them. Then he had the great suggestion of collecting the rock moss that they sell here at landscaping stores for a ton. You just pick at an edge of it and it comes up in sheets.

This isn't the best picture, but this is one of the three fern groupings I dug out, along with some of the moss. I have about 50 feet that is shaded enough to have ferns and moss so next week we are going back armed with trashbags and shovels.

I can't use ferns and moss on the front of the house because I have a lot of direct sunlight. But this has knocked $300 off my landscaping column for next year. Only $4700 to go!

2010-10-09T21:50:00.001-05:00

Bargain Clothes

2010-10-08T19:15:00.002-05:00

I've not done one of these posts in a long long time! Except for the pink sweater, all of these are for next year and the year after. Sometimes I get grief for buying Natalie's clothes this way but at least she always looks cute (unlike her mama who looks like crap most of the time).

This has super cute buttons, they are clear and have fabric in them. Sort of a country floral pattern.

I so love this sweater. It is for this winter and spring, Janie and Jack (or is it the other way around) with the tags, $44 originally.

Two basic skirts with shorts inside of them. Can't have enough of these. I think they are target brand.

These pants are fun and convertible. They are way too big though, unfortunately she'll be wearing them before I know it.

Cute little Land End and some cheapo brand skirts. She loves skirts.

Gymbo capris like her blue denim ones from this year. They are skinny cut, they will look great on her.

A cute little blue dress, can't think of the brand. The on on the right is actually a shirt from Gap, I liked it so much I'll just pack it away for a couple of years....

The one of the left is zumba or something like that and are slim cut (yay!) The ones on the right are Levis.

Gymbo top in a larger size that she'll wear in a couple of years.

Pretty church dress for next summer.

Two basic sweaters.

I thought these were cute with the rhinestones. And the are NWT gymbo - score!

Whew - these are loud. They are NWT and Natalie liked them so I bought them. Yikes...

She love love loves this shirt :)

NWT for next summer.

NWT for next summer.

NWT for 2 summers (maybe three haha). I love it.

NWT for next summer. Came with flip flops that she has been wearing constantly (I'm a mean mama, I don't like flip flops on little kids, they fall. So it's like Christmas in Oct around here.)

NWT for next summer.

NWT for next summer. This is a huge 2T.

NWT for next summer.

NWT for maybe 2 summers.

NWT for next summer.

NWT for next summer.

NWT for this winter and probably next. Her new winter shoes match the flowers so I am a happy camper.

And the finale - a dress she picked out on her own and has worn it for 2 days. I had to pry it off her. Drop waist, poofy bottom in a semi sheer crepe. Really for next summer but she loves it and we've been at home for two days so what does it hurt? lol

Cost of my little spree? $29. yup, I'm that cool :)

DC, School, Ballet & More...

2010-10-07T20:52:00.005-05:00

We went to DC with the boy. We saw the Air and Space & Natural History Museums. We went to the Washington Monument. We ate at three Irish Pubs. We went to the zoo. I'm sure we did more but I'm drawing a blank right now. We stayed at the Kimpton in Arlington - it rocked! We rode Amtrak for the first time, that was cool.

Natalie started preschool for the third year. The school system so far hasn't been super helpful in helping me get her enrolled for Kindergarten next year but I'm still trying. She went on her first field trip yesterday with her BFFs Tia & Meisha. Tia was in our travel group, Meisha is my BF's first cousin's little girl from Hubei.

Picture day at school.

Natalie is still loving gymnastics. I hope to be buying a bar and balance beam in the near future to practice on at home.

Natalie started ballet. The green leotard was her first day. I told her if she tried really hard and paid attention then she could go every week and wear a pink leotard like the other girls. She loved it.

(I can't get good pictures at ballet, I am taking pics through a window way far away!) Look at my skinny minny. She is a whole 30 pounds now. Anyway, I am hoping to take her to see the nutcracker and to go to a special tea before a performance this dec. It's a little kid thing.

My kitchen is still moving along. I have a plumber coming next week to do my sink (which I screwed up and don't want to talk about haha) and install the new dishwasher. We installed the over the range microwave last Sunday, that wasn't too hard once we figured out how to do it. I had a wicked urge several times to resell my white appliances and go with stainless but talked myself out of it. You just don't put stainless in a house in my price range. I am going slower than slow with this remodel. I wish I had just hired someone to do it all and quickly. But I'm just too cheap.

I am putting on a new roof this month or next. I think I'm going country, since I live..umm in the country (well city - but the country side of it sort of). The house is all white siding, white window trim etc so I think I'm doing green. It will match the grass and be lovely :)

I am making hairbows to sell. I am perfecting my technique now with a simple triple loop bow in solid colors. I am going to group then in large packs and sell them on the blog and on etsy. And, if I get faster at it, I can open a little booth at the farmers market next summer. I'm trying to make a little extra money next year. I've got several trips planned (cruise, NYC, Disney, MB) and I want to max out my 401K. I'm about 4K short of doing that if I stay perfectly on budget....which I'm not very good at. Anyway, let's say 5k then lol. I don't think I can sell 2500 bows next year, but this will help I think. I'd really like to get several of my crafty friends together and share a booth. We'll see how that works out.

Bye for now! - Kim

Resolution

2010-08-16T23:22:00.002-05:00

I am going to make a late year resolution to post more on my blog. I have all kinds of updates on facebook and such, but this is supposed to be my journal so I can print it out for Natalie and show her I really WAS a fun mommy to have. I need to back date a bunch of posts!

So what's new with me? I guess the biggest thing is I work from home 3 days a week. I also moved Natalie to a different school. Now she can do gymnastics twice a week and my Mom gets to spend more time with her during the week. When you added up the cheaper school and gas savings it came out to $3338. Ya, that is three THOUSAND bucks. It is a delicate balance between work and childcare but it has been going well. I really like how quiet it is in my house and if I ran the numbers, I bet my productivity is up too!

I had tonsillitis for the first time in my life last week. Talk about pain, I couldn't breathe. They put me on antibiotics and steroids. The steroids are messing with my weight and my sleep. So yes, I am fatter and crankier - leave me alone!

The boy and I almost bought a house last week. It was a 1970's brick rancher on 6.5 acres of land. The house was a gut job down to studs (had a great layout and outside shape tho) and the land was overgrown. Really overgrown and that wigged me out. Plus being in TN, it was a sloping lot and I seriously didn't want to raise the goats needed to keep the land cleared (there is a barn). After walking around on it for 2 hours I realized I couldn't put in a pool. Call me petty, but I want a stinkin pool. Especially with 6.5 acres of land. And then who would take care of the goats while I cruised? See how me me me I've become in my old age?

Natalie is great, I mean seriously what a good little kid she is. She sings and dances everywhere. She is very articulate and can tell me these wild and crazy stories and actually put together a plot, it cracks me up. She never stands still, always twirling or flipping off of me. She loves gymnastics and I think she'll be excellent at it. I'm amazed at her little leg muscles and how high she can jump.

She is wild about the boy too. We've taken several short trips this summer with her, but our long weekend trip to DC in a couple of weeks will be our first out of state adventure. We are picking up Amtrak in VA and going to union station. I got a great room in Arlington right down the street from the metro. I am excited, it will be fun!

I guess that is it for now. I am going to synch up facebook and blogger now :)

2010-07-27T20:21:00.001-05:00

Cirque De Chine

2010-07-21T23:31:00.003-05:00

2010-06-30T08:49:00.001-05:00

Princess Palooza

2010-06-27T23:53:00.001-05:00

I can't believe the blue one almost fits. I bought it for her when I could still tell her age in months.

Summer bits and pieces

2010-06-27T21:57:00.003-05:00

I know I am neglecting my poor blog. Now that I have the text thing figured out, I'll do more updates. Here is some stuff bullet style....

Vacation was fun, you can see some of the pictures in my header.
While on that trip I decided to start writing short books for Natalie about our adventures. She'll like that lots. You know, after I actually finish one.
Natalie has grown like a weed. We tried on the fancy princess dresses tonight and they almost fit. I almost cried. I bought those when I could still tell people her age in months.
The second kid is on hold.
I have a BF (one of the reasons DD2 is on hold).
I am cutting granite on Wed. Plumber maybe by Friday? One thing or another has been delaying the entire project. I'm sick of the entire thing.
We are going to travel as much as possible this summer (well really, year). I am suffering from bored-ites. I am rethinking my cash hoarding tendencies and I'm creating a pretty decent travel column in the budget. I'll still travel cheap though.
We went to Harrahs this past weekend. They have been sending me all sorts of things, like long weekend trips to Reno. They finally sent a NC offer so we (bf & i) went and stayed there for 2 nights. I had a coupon for $50 in slot moola and it took 2 days to loose it (much to the irritation of BF who thought I should have quit while I was ahead. But it wasn't real money, it was freebie money therefore you must make it as fun as possible!). Then we went to Cirque de Chine and Soul of Shoulin (sp?). Two fun shows, the first is acrobatic in nature. The second is a bunch of guys beating the crap out of each other. Fun times for all.
We are going to Pigeon Forge for the big adoption event in a couple of weeks. That will be fun.
We are going back a couple of weeks later to see the Star Trek thing at Dollywood (Kim = nerd) and to trout fish in Cherokee. If you like creeks, Cherokee NC is the place to be. Tribal fishing permits are $7.
We are going on a cruise in Nov. Carnival Dream, western route - woohhoo
We are going to DC & NYC next April/May. It will be a 2 week adventure. We are driving to a station and taking Amtrak the rest of the way. I think it will be fun!
Assuming Amtrak wasn't a nightmare, we are thinking of taking a loop around the US with an Alaskan cruise in the middle next Sept. If any of you have done this, do you have any ideas on how to make it go smoother?
I really thought I had a buyer for the big house this past week. But they just wanted to play games with the price. I am still optimistic that it will be gone soon!

I guess that is it, I'll try to upload pictures from my phone. It doesn't send error messages but it doesn't post them either?

2010-06-27T21:55:00.002-05:00

This is a test

(this is from my phone - I feel so smart!)

2010-06-19T23:52:00.001-05:00

The kitchen granite. And nope, I'm not done. I shouldn't have tried to accomplish such a big project on my own. Now my whole goal is year end without having to hire someone.

So today...

2010-06-02T20:22:00.003-05:00

I decided to become a travel agent. Just for cruises. Just for Carnival.

How fun is that?

I've already completed state requirements and small business requirements for the state of Tennessee (very few requirements - go Tennessee!). I've applied at Carnival's site to become a registered TA with them. I kept the name neatokimmo. Not because it's the best name in the world, but it is my member name on several travel sites and I do have the blog. So clever? no Lazy? eh...maybe! I'll probably think of something better later lol

Why just Carnival? Because I only cruise Carnival. Right price and the type of stuff I like to do. I also really like their food. And the shows. And I've been known to waste some major pennies in the slots. I've also been known to waste major time just watching the ocean go by.

So I'm anxiously waiting to hear back from Carnival so I can price out our group cruise for next year. I've got my client spreadsheets designed on the other offline PC ready to go (I am a documentation analyst in real life, this is so up my alley). I have my funship Freddy poised at the top of my monitor. I'm ready. Hurry Carnival - hurry!

I feel stupid

2010-05-31T22:38:00.002-05:00

I can't figure out the mobile posting thing.

So if a picture of corn pops up like 8 times, you'll know hitting the send button REALLY hard doesn't make it work better :)

(btw, 300 ears of corn, 5 bushels "put up" today...peaches and cream - yum!)

Kitchen Update - Long

2010-05-31T19:58:00.004-05:00

Soooo like the 4 of you following my kitchen destruction are probably wondering what happened?

Water damage my friends. Lots of water damage.

I started taking out the kitchen sink side. Once I stuck my head under the sink, I smelled something funky. It took TWO DAYS to take out those cabinets. I bet you I pulled out 30 4 inch nails. Anyway, when I got to the sink my oak subfloor (the one on top, I have another wooden floor underneath) was dirt instead of oak. I guess I've had a slow leak for who knows how long.

Not covered by insurance because they said it was a maintenance issue. I really agree with them and didn't push. Besides, I had already planned to get the kitchen replumbed because the bath was already done.

So for several days I cleaned. I was picking up pieces of subfloor with my hand. I had to tear out drywall, remove insulation, cut out all the bad floor and replace it with concrete board. My plumber dude also came by and removed the old bad plumbing that came through the floor and put it in the wall where it belongs. Cost wise, it didn't cost me anything extra to repair the damage. Mom gave me a piece of scrap drywall. I had a piece of scrap concrete board and a leftover roll of insulation. But boy did it take a TON of time.

So now, on the sink side, I have one cabinet to hang up and a frame to build to hold the countertop where the new dishwasher will be (I pulled the old one, it sucked). I already have my plywood and concrete board for the countertop tile that will be in sometime this week (I did order the granite!). I bought a new sink, a huge single bowl. I have to still pick out a faucet. But anyway, sometime next week I should be able to call the plumber to finish the copper line stuff and install my sink and faucet. A little bit of paint/drywall mud and that side will be done!

Now, remember the side that was so gross that I primed? Well I had an idea. Visualize this...a living room that shared a wall with the breakfast nook, but in order to get to the kitchen you had to walk through the bedroom hallway. Well I fixed that first thing, several years ago with my handy dandy reciprocating saw. Now my living room feeds into my breakfast nook.

So really, the hallway was handy but in a 1040 SF house, it was wasted space. So just as soon as I get the kitchen done, I am knocking down a wall in my bedroom and I'll gain an extra 3 X 10 in my room. Also, the hall closet is much larger than my current closet. My current closet will be...wait for it.... transformed into a built in area with another bathroom sink. THEN the kitchen closet which only holds junk (that can go into the basement) will now be accessible from my bedroom. Are you following me here? Yup, shower stall and potty. Now I know it is weird to have the sink away from the toilet area like that (they will be about 6 feet away), but you work with what you have.

So that will create a 3 foot weird area in the kitchen. Well I've already slid my fridge into that spot and I have to move the cabinet that goes with it after I build a wall. That will give me a place to put my last wall cabinet that was going to waste and....drumroll please.... a 7.5 foot countertop to the left of my kitchen stove. The 3 middle feet will be my home office and it will get it out of my bedroom (going from 100 sf to 130 SF and losing the home office part - my bedroom will be HUGE lol). I'll add in storage organizer type things for laundry (my washer and dryer are across from this). And it will be lovely.

So anyway, when I finish I'll post pictures.

In like 2 months. haha

Meal Plan Monday Week of 5/31/10

2010-05-31T11:28:00.002-05:00

I've been slacking lately. My kitchen isn't done. My house is a wreak. I've not been planning out anything at all. Heck I barely managed to make it to vacation-land (and notice I've not even uploaded pictures from that yet? slacker!)

So in an attempt to get back on track, I am doing Meal Plan Monday again. Ohhh ahhhhh

Now keep in mind, I can't boil or bake in my kitchen for another month easy (don't you love home improvement projects that take like 4 months?).

Monday
B - Eggs & Sausage
L - Home made Pizza and corn @ Nana's house
D - Spicy rice (They marked down all the precooked shrimp yesterday to 2.99 a pound. So I am going to throw some of those in with some sausage, chicken breast, zucchini, onions and carrots. I'll prob use some Tabasco in it too.)

Tuesday
I have three pieces of white fish to do something with. More than likely I'll just steam it a little in the electric skillet. We'll have a salad and cantaloupe too. I'll also make cucumber/onion slaw for the week.

Wednesday
D - Marinated grilled chicken and corn on the cob (using Ken's low fat Ceasar on the chicken, it is good!). I'll also save a zucchini to grill. Oh and cantaloupe, we have two of these to eat up this week.

Thursday
I'll take one of the Wednesday chicken breasts and make chicken salad out of it. We have fancy rolls to put it on. We'll do the salad and cantaloupe thing again.

Friday
I'll grill ham slices and make mini sandwiches out of them. I'll also make broc salad.

Saturday
Chicken Casserole (chicken breast, carrots, gravy, broc & stove top top all mixed up together. Sounds gross but it is tasty). This might turn into leftover day if i have lots of leftover.

Sunday
I am going to do a pot of navy beans with sausage bits in it.

Whew I think that is it. And that should use up all my fresh stuff.

What are you cooking?

Back!

2010-05-22T20:39:00.001-05:00

Back from vacation! I will post pictures soon :)

We are still here

2010-04-13T21:34:00.005-05:00

(splits on the back of the sofa)

Not a lot going on.

still tearing up the kitchen
still going to work
still going to gymnastics

sold the condo, closes in 2 weeks
pretty sure I've sold the truck
pretty sure I've sold the camaro
that just leaves my big house and I am getting a lot of interest in it so I'm not upset it hasn't sold. It will be soon.
I am trying to catch up on 18 months of neglect on the little house. Lots of yardwork to do, lots of crap to get rid of. I pressure washed everything, that made a big difference. Not only is the kitchen getting redone, I am having the last of the plumbing redone. I also also getting a new roof and getting the 2nd driveway resurfaced. I am also adding a little concrete walkway from the 2nd driveway to the front porch. I should have money leftover to remove the sliding basement door and replacing it with a steel door and concrete block wall. And really,I should have money left over to redo the wiring in the basement and start sub diving the area into rooms for future expansion. My budget is 10K, it will be interesting to see how far that will go.
we had a candy free Easter. It really can be done! The eggs have quarters & stickers in them.

She cried when she saw the videos which made me cry. She slapped those little hands to her face and was like "it's just what I've ALWAYS wanted!" then did a rather good soap opera sob fest. I should hide presents in her bed more often!

I think that is it for now. We leave for vacation in like 3 weeks!

Dollywood

2010-03-28T08:58:00.005-05:00

Ready to GO! (in my favorite summer outfit, hippos!)

Waiting patiently for her tram.

My child could live off of pickles.

Dolly was there. There are some very scary looking people there :)

On the zebra (I am going to get a picture of her on all the animals this summer!)

On Rosa! (she loves to name things)

On Flowery (I love it when the names make sense!)

On the pig

(No picture of the rollar coaster that I rode with my child TWICE. I get like super duper bonus mommy points for that. Little daredevil loved it.)

On the elephant, that is 2 times faster than Dumbo. Um yikes. We call this Dumbo's cousin.

Osa Dality the duck (not all names make sense) . Feverlla is the duck behind her. Beverty is wearing the the green shirt.

Riding Juju-ja Canada. Can you tell she sits on my lap when I do updates? Tell them this, tell them that - what a stink!

Check out what I won in the giant crane game! Yay me! The pink one was $12 LOL BUT the yellow one was $2 woot! lol They are 2 feet tall. They let us take our season pass picture with them lol

Shopping Spree

2010-03-25T18:50:00.006-05:00

I did try to do a budget for the year. But it didn't work out. I'm a junk store, thrift shop, yard sale, consignment junkie!

First, Big Lots has several styles of real Crocs marked at $10. I bought Natalie one pair in purple, one in turquoise. Yay!

Her purple is darker and prettier!

Second, hit up the big consignment sale tonight. Look what I scored!

(I know, if you don't cloth diapers you are like what the heck? Tie Dye diapers! Love em! )

I also got a swimsuit with the built in floaties, 2 Little Einstein DVDs (Easter basket!), 2 Dora DVDs and an Elmo DVD. I got $80 worth of movies for $18. YAY I also got a cute disney skirt for the kiddo.

Then I hit up the $1 tag sale at my consignment store. I am buying up to size 6X right now. They had 18 pieces of clothing from 4T-6X in winter styles. Lots of gymbo! I have all her clothes for next winter now. Anything else I find between now and next year is just gravy.

I got Natalie 5 leotards at the consignment store. The purple long sleeved was $3, the two tank (she picked out that leopard one instead of mama's favorite blue one) ones were $2.50 and another short sleeved one not pictures (green and purple) and long sleeved fuzzy pink were just $1 each. Fancy leotards can cost $30! eeck! (BTW, have I mentioned how much my child rocks gymnastics? lol I'm so excited because she's so stinkin good!). I think these will last a couple of years, she is an XXS now and the largest one is a small.
Bye for now!

Art

2010-03-19T18:04:00.003-05:00

This is her friend. The skirt wasn't long enough so she extended it. She is a cowgirl with a lot of money, that is what she has so many hats. The skirts on the left are her laundry. The yarn is her lasso. The fan, in case she gets hot. The umbrella, in case of snow. And yes, the friend seems to be packing a revolver and a shotgun along with her perfume and purse. This is what happens when you buy the wild west and pretty girl sticker packs.

I blew $50ish on art supplies. She's been putting together some interesting things!

Quick Post

2010-03-18T21:08:00.002-05:00

We are still here. This is the update bullet style!

House(s)

I have a buyer for the condo. She is looking into her financing options tomorrow.
I have all my cabinets and appliances from the woman I bought them from now (it was three truckloads - yikes!).
I still do not have my electrical done on the stove side. I have to wire the stove cord because THEY TOOK IT OFF. Yep. Nice huh?
I took down one of the two wall cabinets on the sink side and was ecstatic to find normal plain drywall! WOOT!
I am going to build granite tile countertops. That will take my 1940's kitchen to at least 1998!

Natalie

She rocks gymnastics!
She can do a backbend for a little bit then she loses her balance.
She can balance on the bars on her belly and swing just a bit.
She can do full splits and lay her belly down on the floor. No other kid is close to being able to do that.
She still does not like the floor tramp so I am going to buy her a mini tramp.

Misc

I am ready for vacation.
We are going to the adoption event in Pigeon Forge in July. Anyone else going?

Day Three - I mean oops - Four

2010-03-09T22:03:00.003-05:00

I didn't get to any kitchen work on day three. We were running around town on errand after errand, it was crazy.

Tonight I put the cut up cabinet on the wall. It probably looks fine but I can pick out all the places I messed it up. The hardest cabinet to put up is the one after the fridge, it is SO HEAVY! I pulled the fridge out and got the temp screws in there but my arms just can't handle any more. So I'll put the permanent ones in there tomorrow hopefully. I rolled the fridge back to catch it if it falls lol

My plans for tomorrow are to visit THD, get drywall anchor screws and a drywall mesh thingy. The cabinets had TWO screws holding them up at their previous house. I am way more paranoid than that. Not only do I have at least 4 screws on the studs I am going to add a few drywall anchor screws too. If I ever want to replace these cabinets, the drywall will have to come out hehe

I am happy to say the fridge cabinet is the last one for this side. I'll have to make something for the area to the left of the stove. And on the other side I'll only have to hang two cabinets and only ONE will be cut! YAY!

End of Day Two

2010-03-07T21:42:00.004-05:00

This is how my day went:

7am - mama, wake up! (nooooooooooooooooooooooo)
mubble around the house until 10am when Nana picked her up so I could work (she doesn't like saws/sanders/drills)
10-12 back in bed - oh yes I did!
12-4 got ready for my open house. One guy showed and was very pleasant. I spent the time mostly cleaning my car.
4:30 - make my first cabinet cut. Crooked.
4:33 - cry
4:35 - make my second cabinet cut. Crooked.
4:37 - cry. get a beer. play games online
5:00 - try to even out the cuts - it is looking better
5:02 - cut through a nail or something and the entire cabinet falls apart
5:03 - learn exactly how cabinets are put together - sand/cut and mess with cabinet
6:00 - mom picks me up at we go to THD to look at countertops. I buy glue. A BIG BOTTLE of glue.
7:00 - we go to Lowes. I find a granite tile for $3.48 a tile and I am thinking about doing granite tile counter tops. It is cheaper overall than laminate and I think would look better. Lowes would do the cuts for me and I wouldn't even have to rent the saw.
7:30 eat dinner
8:30 - back home. I cut and sand that cabinet. I nail and glue that sucker back together. I am a little worried. I bypassed the regular gorilla glue for wood gorilla glue. The fact the glue smells and felt like elmers doesn't give me a ton of confidence in it. I guess we'll see if it works.

So this one little cabinet is all I did today. I really did think I'd be done with that side by the end of tomorrow. Now there is NO WAY. I still need to sand the trim at the top and bottom so it will fit flush. (flush-ish, my walls aren't straight)

And what I cut off (plus a mound of sawdust)
To non-kitchen to do list tomorrow is a mile long. So my kitchen goals are to buy small drill bits, reinforce this cabinet (because I took a big chunk out of it inside), hang it, and hang the other cabinet. That's it. Anything else is gravy.

End of Day One

2010-03-06T19:10:00.004-05:00

Crazy how this took like 4 hours to do. I brought two more cabinets from my Mom's tonight so after I get my saw from the big house tomorrow, I'll have more to hang. I have to cut down a corner cabinet, the kind that has a blind corner, to a regular single cabinet. Let's hope I can get it halfway straight.

So tomorrow, the plan is...
Open house for the big house
cut down a cabinet to a single and hang it
scrape the stucco wall above the fridge to make it flat
hang the cabinet above the fridge and put the fridge back where it belongs
wire the outlet
patch the big holes
put another layer of stucco on the wall

Then all I need to do is decide on a counter top (the green one was the previous owner) and a paint color. I'll also need to do the stove outlet thing. Oh ya, and stain the side of the cabinet that you see in the picture. What a PITA.

(I've edited this post 3 times now. I also have to put up the crown molding!)

I'm pooped! And I have two more days to work on this stuff. Yuck

Day One of Three

2010-03-06T12:55:00.006-05:00

Linoleum is gone. Concrete for under the cabinets is finally dry. The soffit mounting wood strips are gone too. I knocked a new hole in the ceiling. Oops.

Wall primed. Big difference huh?

After the primer is dry, I'll hang the first cabinet. Then I'll hang the second one that goes above the built in microwave. There is an outlet hole in that cabinet for the microwave plug. So I'll cut the drywall (and after a trip to THD) I'll put in the plug in a floating receptacle box (I think I said that right). It is a nifty little box that grabs the drywall so you don't have to screw it to a stud.

Then I'll drill a hole in the stud that is to the left of the huge rectangular hole to pull the wire through. That wire will connect into a regular outlet. Then the wire will go through the hole in the floor to to live in the basement until I have time to tack it to the joists and connect it to a breaker.

The rest of my cabinets are at my Mom's so I won't be able to hang any more today. But I'll mark the wall where the other two will be hung. Then I'll start stuccoing the walls and fixing the 3 big holes in the ceiling.

I hope to get all of this done today.

Gynastics!

2010-03-01T20:10:00.003-05:00

She rocked gymnastics tonight! They did a lot of stretching and she was way more limber than all the other kids. She also followed instructions WAY better than everyone else. She jumped just a little bit on the floor tramp, I don't think she liked it.

THEN

I'm messing with my camera. I look up. My child is STANDING ON HER HEAD. Then she sort of flips forward. I'm thinking - wow!- world record! Broken neck 20 minutes into first class. But nope, she just knocked her headband sideways. I've asked her not to do that anymore. She was mimicking the much older girls across the room!

She could already so all the bends, splits, rolls and jumps. She didn't play on the bars a lot and I'm not sure why. She loves pulling up and swinging on stuff (me). She also did very well on the balance bar and wasn't scared at all. I will see if the gymnastics thing continues - if so I'll get her a balance beam for the playroom (and put it on the floor).

One thing I noticed that she did, that the other kids didn't do at all, was constantly point her toes. She also walks and prances on them. I don't know if I've just not noticed this because she's wearing shoes or if she was mimicking the floor routine girls.

I am anxious to see what she does next week :) She just wants to wear a pink sparkle headband!

Disney Store Deal of the Week

2010-02-28T10:59:00.004-05:00

I have a $15 store credit and $25 GC for the Disney store burning a hole in my pocket big time. So I've been surfing the outlet section!

You can get this cute purple coat for $14.99 right now. Sizes XXS-M. I don't have Natalie's coat for next year, I think I am going to order this one. They also have a pink & silver version of it. Go to the outlet and filter it by girl's clothes.

You all know I stockpile clothes for future winter/summers. I am surprised I DON'T have N's clothes already for next winter. I have like 8 pairs of jeans but only a couple of tops. They have all kinds of hoodies for $12 and tops for under $10. So for about $100, I could totally rock out Natalie's wardrobe - Disney style! OOOHH THE TEMPTATION! lol

Cute Crocs of the Week

2010-02-28T08:22:00.006-05:00

The Keeley in bubblegum/fuchia. $24.99, available in all sizes. cute cute cute!

Blitzens have been marked down. Now is the time to buy them for next winter:

Like a moc but with a strap. Natalie loved her mocs! $19.99

And because you all know me, here is your cheap Croc of the week:

Purple, size 10/11 is in stock for just $9.99.

Coupon Codes: 10off60 (16.66% discount - not too shabby)
CROCSAFF10 10% off
shipping is always free - zero tax too!

Click me! Click me! lol -----> Crocs.com

2010-02-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

2010-02-27T19:19:00.001-05:00

Kitchen Update

2010-02-27T18:23:00.003-05:00

I've not done anything since last Saturday. I got a wicked stomach thing on Sunday, was sick for 3-4 days, had snow, watched the Olympics then - blink- a week gone with little progress.

So here is the first side, I have a galley kitchen. I didn't want to take a picture of the other side - it has everything piled to the ceiling :)

I don't think it looks that bad in the pictures. It looks old, but fine you know? What you can't see, is the super crappy quality cabinets, hinges that are loose and wobbly, an oven that cooks hot and can't hold a turkey, a stove range that has been known to shock me. So buh bye!

And the nasty surprise I had when I took it all down:

Does everyone see the ^*(^&*%%4 linoleum on the walls? It was all over my kitchen. Why would someone do that??

Anyway, this is my todo list to get this side in ship shape:

Remove a piece of wood off the floor and the loose linoleum.
Screw down a piece of concrete board.
Remove the wall linoleum.
Move the outlet and actually attach it to a stud. You know, like to code and stuff.
Use the wire in the ceiling for an exhaust fan, like a white bathroom one.
Cut through the drywall so I can have a switch for that fan near the existing outlet.
Patch the huge hole in the ceiling.
Remove the wood strips that held up the soffit.
Move the random wire that comes out 3 inches below the ceiling on the wall then loops back into the ceiling. There isn't any wood there, all I have to do is beat out a little drywall, push the wire in, then patch it.
Run a new wire from the box for the "new" range. The breaker is already newish so this will be super easy.
Run another wire from the box for the built in microwave. I have extra room in the breaker box so I might as well give it a breaker of it's own.
Patch & prime the wall.
Hang the cabinets. Put in the base cabinets too.
Mount the microwave.
Find/buy/build some sort of shelving unit for the area left of the stove.
Figure out my countertops. If the cabinets look great, I'll install granite tile countertops. If they look "meh" I'll go with the in stock in expensive tan specklish countertops at THD.

So all this should take - what - like 6 months? LOL I feel confident I can do all this myself except for installing the microwave breaker.

Then I get to start on the other side, it is twice as long. I've got the demo staged out on paper so it shouldn't be as bad.

I have to say, I'm enjoying NOT having a stove. The pressure of 3 hot meals a day is gone. We are living off of sandwiches & fruit and I LOVE it lol

Cheap or smart?

2010-02-19T21:52:00.002-05:00

Sooooo

My kitchen is a wreak. It has old cabinets, old counters and old appliances. The only thing I love about my kitchen is the sink. It is white porcelain and deep, I love it. But anyway, I did a mini makeover when I bought the house. I took the linoleum off the walls (yes, the walls) and put down concrete board and tile on the floor (which I really hate now). I also kilz and painted the cabinets big time. They went from orange aged sticky yuck to nice and white. The only problem, the cabinets were beat all to heck and the white paint didn't hide that. I have wobble doors that drive me nuts too. Since the cabinets were "custom built" they don't have backs, just the drywall. Even though I painted the drywall (and you couldn't really see it), the incomplete look of my base cabinets always bothered me.

Sooooooo

Today I bought kitchen cabinets, a stove and a built in microwave.

All used.

A woman my Mom works with is totally gutting her kitchen and knocking out walls. She took out her 6 year old oak cabinets and all her appliances and is selling them at firesale prices.

For base cabinets, I got a single, a double, a triple, a sink and a fancy corner one. For the walls, I got a single, 2 doubles, a triple, the over the fridge one and the over the range one. They come with matching crown molding. The stove is a Kenmore in white, self cleaning. The microwave is just a year old, can't remember the brand.

These cabinets do not match up exactly to the configuration that I have now. I wanted more open space on the stove side so I might not use all the wall cabinets. I think I'll have to cut the triple down to a double. I really want a wall mounted pot rack so I can display my good pots. And I want a shelf I can grown herbs on.

So I paid $600 for all of this (the appliances were $665 new). I planned on buying a chocolate stained maple cabinet when I upgraded. I also planned on getting stainless appliances. But I think this plan makes more sense, I'd doing a yardsale makeover instead of an HGTV one lol I'll be sure to do before and after pictures, the cabinets are being delivered to my Mom's garage tomorrow. Demo of my old kitchen will start in 5 minutes :)

Crocs Outlet & 10% off code

2010-02-17T22:50:00.002-05:00

Code: CROCSAFF10 for 10% off
Free shipping all the time!
These are 14.99 - with the 10% off, just $13.49
I bought these for Natalie for this summer. Aren't they cute?

Here's a hint when shopping for little girl shoes at crocs online. The best deals are NOT in the outlet. I'm not sure why, but go to the regular category for little girl feet.

YAY! I'm a CROCS affiliate too! lol

2010-02-17T22:29:00.002-05:00

I don't know if I'm more excited for me or ya'll. Wait, it's me!

I've bought tons of crocs for the kiddo. Now I'll get the codes and swoop in while her size is in stock! Woot!

(same as before, PLEASE use my link if you don't already have a shopping link!!)

YAY! I'm a Disney Store Affiliate!

2010-02-17T22:21:00.003-05:00

I'm feeling the love people!

I'm happy to say I'll be getting all the good coupon codes and specials for the Disney Store now. I'll post them on the blog when they hit my email :)

If you are a Disney Store shopper and you don't shop through someone else, will you use my links?

PLEASE? :)

(yippeee!)

Island Fever

2010-02-14T16:32:00.003-05:00

I have an insane urge to get the heck out of dodge. Maybe permanently. One day last week when I was sick, I started searching coastal communities in the US to move to. I do like TN, it is nice and green. But I do despise, with my whole being, snow. We've not had a lot of snow over the past 10 years (I've been back in TN about that long) but this year has been a doozy. I do not like being cold, I do not like sharp biting winds, I do not like gray dull skies, I do not like bare naked trees. Ok, so I admit it, I am a winter hater.

So, if you are going to play in fantasy land, it is always fun to see what you can do with your real budget. Want to guess one of the most affordable, house wise places for me to pack up the kiddo and my Mom and run away to?

Hawaii. No, really. On the Big Island, you can get a 2000 SF house with views of the ocean for under 300K (that is the equity in my two houses plus my Mom's house - I don't have that much on my own). The realtors add fruit/garden info to the listings, I love that. Banana, papaya, star fruit, pineapple, lemon, grapefruit, tangerines, lychee...the lists are endless!

Gas, milk and bread are expensive on the island. Everything else is grown there and local. Ahi is $7.99 a pound and fresh caught that morning. Grass fed beef is $5 a pound (you can't get that here for $5 unless you buy the whole cow). Eggs are free range, chickens are growth hormone free and natural sized. The waters are full of ahi, mahimahi & red snapper.

Hawaii really is paradise. Blogs like this don't help either...

http://myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com/

Aloha!

CNY 2010

2010-02-14T10:51:00.004-05:00

Last night was our big event. I won't lie, I didn't enjoy it. The kids couldn't play, it was too dark and there were too many people there not associated with our adoption group. You could barely walk through the room and there wasn't anywhere to take pictures. The speaker of the night was also very un-PR in his statements (I didn't save my child btw) that really ruined the evening for me. We left early and won't go next year if the format is the same. A lot of people felt the same way.

But here is the kiddo in all of her CNY glory with her buddy Katie. These two are the posing princesses, they take direction, smile, turn, bend and all that on command lol

The highlight of the night was seeing Olivia from our travel group! They live in NC and I was so surprised to see them.

Birthday Week!

2010-02-06T14:37:00.006-05:00

We made it to THREE!

When your Birthday is on a Monday, you really get to stretch it!

Monday...
It's my BIRTHDAY!
Good Chinese food - burp!
Not messing around - hungry girl!
My belly is full!
Mines!

She was all over this!

She liked - didn't have a clue what it was, but she liked it :)

Super duper cheesy smile for her favorite toy ever!

Saturday - PARTY TIME!

Chilling out before the big event!

Rockin the tutu and fancy hairbow. All 9 girls wore tutus :)

Her favorite car!

I only got this action shot because my right pointer finger is pretty buff from playing timed bejeweled!

Pony!

I'm three!She won the jackpot spin on a game - 100 tickets!

She had a great day, 8 little friends came. They were so cute flying through CEC in those tutus. It also made them really easy to spot lol

Happy Birthday Natalie!

I shall call them George....

2010-02-05T17:47:00.003-05:00

So most of my composting worms showed up today (I ordered 2000, I think I got 500) and they are waking up from the cold and adapting to their new home.

I decided to just do one container for now. The bottom 3 inches is a combo of coffee grounds from work, banana peels, egg shells and apple peelings. Like 5 pounds of stuff. I figure the coffee grounds will rev them up and eat everything else faster! :)

The next 3 inches is made up of strips of damp newspaper. The instructions said to place them on top of the bedding in a dark place and it would take 24-48 hours for them to make it to the food. I decided to put them directly under a light and those little buggars took off. I've already got some hyper ones on the grounds.

I'll be nice and include the name George on all my worm posts to those of you with the heebie geebies can just skip them.

Watch out for the mud

2010-01-30T20:18:00.002-05:00

The sun going down is a constant source of wonder for Natalie. The first few times she asked where it was I told her Jesus put it to bed (the lazy mamma's response!). After her asking over and over and not buying the bedtime bit, I told her.

I went on and on about how the ground we walk on is just a big ball (I figure sphere is too high tech) made of rocks with dirt on top. And that our ball was called Earth and it was really big. We stick to Earth because of gravity. It spins around in circles in space and goes around the sun, a bright shiny ball. When we are facing the sun, it is bright and sunny. When we turn around, it is dark.

I spoke for about 20 minutes on the subject (we had just gotten in the car on the way to work). And this is her summary...

We live on a big ball mama, its name is erf. We stick to it like grabbity tape so we won't fall into the big mud puddle in space.

Hmmm... I think we need to talk a little more! :)

Where's my tree??

2010-01-27T20:14:00.004-05:00

Who would thought I'd be so excited to buy worms? lol

All those banana peels will be toast with these little suckers.

Now assuming I don't kill all of them (that would totally suck, they aren't cheap) I'll buy them a condo in 6 months:

But for now, I am going to use the rubbermaid method:

http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Easywormbin.htm

Now I just have to figure out the yard, over the next couple of years, I am going to zero scape it and add fruit trees. Wheeeeeeeee

Kim (<--- tree hugging wanna be)

poooor thing - what ever will she wear?

2010-01-26T19:02:00.004-05:00

I organized clothes. The baby stuff isn't as bad as I thought, I had a single layer of clothes over a bunch of Natalie's stuff in a tote. When I sorted it by size, I have about 6 days of clothes in each size for DD2. That isn't too bad!

This is Natalie's pile for summer. This is the Old Navy summer, where I got all those pieces for practically nothing. Add in some serious yard sales, a few hand me downs and consignment and tada! A pile of clothes! All in all, like 25-30 outfits or two loads of laundry. Miss skinny butt still fits into a lot of clothes from last year because she lost the diaper. Get this, a lot of her shorts? Size 18 months. I'm glad I tried everything on her, normally I wouldn't of even tried that size.

Even the bathing suit I bought in advance fits! So for this summer all she needs is one extra bathing suit and a pair of pink crocs. Woot!

2010-01-24T10:42:00.002-05:00

Her cute little apple outfit. Top, $1.50 from penny's, skirt, $4 from ON, tights, 50 cents yard sale, shoes, hand me downs. So $6 total and she gets to wear tights (her favorite).

My 2010 Resolutions - a little late

2010-01-24T10:14:00.005-05:00

I've got the other blog going again, something I do at the beginning of every year it seems lol It is tracking spending and noting just how ~~cheap~~ frugal I am (or want to be).

Part of my goals for 2010 is to:
1. Cut down on the consumption of paper goods by using cloth substitutes. Our household is a simple one and we wipe our mouths at dinner using a square cut from a t-shirt or a bandanna.

2. Cut down on the purchase of toys for the year. Natalie prefers a box still. For her Birthday she is getting a board game, musical piano and a book pillow thing from a yard sale.

3. To go with #2, I am going to try to give more home made or used items as gifts. Think of all the times you've seen something brand new with tags at consignment sales or yard sales. I want to give those items new good homes where they'll be used.

4. To get a part time job. I won't lie, I don't need the money. But I have this urge to make more. Can't explain it. I am going to ask next week if I can't work part time at Natalie's daycare so I won't spend more time away from her. Maybe I'll find another kiddo to babysit? I think it will be something child related that I can take Natalie too.

5. Cut down on our grocery bill by using up leftovers and planning out meals. I throw away more food than we eat. That simply has to stop.

6. Grow a garden. Or at least try!

7. Start a compost bin for the garden. I had the realization while watching sid the science kid. He said we should scoop up all the used banana peels and make a slide. I eat a banana every day of my life. Natalie eats one at least every other day. That is 546 banana peels going in the trash every year. yikes.

8. To donate to Salvation Army. Like everything. Minus Christmas decorations, if I don't use it once every week or two, it is going. My tax write off this year will be monstrous to the point of making me nervous. So I am making a very detailed itemization list and I am taking pictures!

9. Organize the playroom, even if it is with cardboard boxes, so Natalie can access everything that is age appropriate. I still need to hang decorations and her princess gowns that are too big.

10. Go through my huge piles of baby loot and trim it down, tag it and get it ready for the consignment sale. I am going to make sets of all my separates and get rid of things that don't go. If you are wondering about the longie pieces below, I am ordered those pants for DD2. I'll seek out matching tops from consignment or yardsale. Or maybe I'll learn to applique.

11. Cool it on baby stuff. Seriously, is there a 12 step program? I have a wicked addiction to all things small and pink.

12. Stop putting feelings into stuff. Stuff is stuff, simple as that. Memories, in the form of pictures rock, and are the best things you can have in your life.

13. Transfer all the home movies from reel to DVD. This will cost me hundreds of dollars. But it is my childhood and worth it. I also plan to scan hundreds of pictures, all the way way to my great grandparents on my Dad' s side. I also need to make a better effort at getting all our pictures on DVD and the copies put in the safety deposit box.

14. Make an inventory of the clothing I have stored for Natalie so I won't end up with 27 pairs of 4T jeans.

15. Buy more used clothes for myself. I was able to get 2 pairs of jeans the other day at the consignment store for $6 (NWT) and $1. So I do look, I'm just not often lucky.

16. Make a sign of my 5 year goal. List the steps I need to accomplish to make it. Then put it above my computer as a reminder (I won't post my goal yet, it's a secret! lol)

17. There are more. I'll have to keep adding to my list at a later date!

What are you resolutions? Mine center around waste. Do you have a theme?

2010-01-24T10:09:00.001-05:00

Disney Recipes! YAY!

(I'm going to Orlando for 14 days. Going to do lots of fun stuff. But I'm most excited about my one measly day at Disney!)

Birthday Plans

2010-01-24T00:55:00.003-05:00

We are going to the mouse - not the one I love, but the one I tolerate - Chuck!

I've invited 12 little girls under the age of 4. The plan is to fill them full of soda, pizza and cake. Then arm them with tutus and tokens. Fun!

My work in progress. I have three made and need more ribbon before I make them all.

I can't wait to see action shots!

We are not going to do the party through CEC but at CEC. I'm going early to snag a big table. I have princess hats, plates, tablecloths, napkins & goody bags ready to go. Oh ya, and pink balloons. In true Kim fashion, I have coupons for all the food and tokens. It is going to be a fru fru as you can get at a mini arcade!

On her birthday I am sending Mickey Mouse cookies to school! I have a Mickey cutter, I am going to do multicolored sugar cookies. Fun huh?

2010-01-24T00:53:00.002-05:00

tada! (can't turn three and still pee pee in your panties you know!)

vacation

2010-01-21T20:58:00.002-05:00

So I had $400 planned for vacation this year. An off week at the beach. Ha

Now we are doing 2 weeks in Orlando. I got a Baymont room on hotwire for $29 a night. With tax, $470 split in two.

Then listen to this!

Hotwire emails me and says they had a typo on the listing and the children's program had been canceled. They offered a cancellation and $50 hotwire bucks or keep the ressie and get 50% hotwire bucks! Hot dang! I now have $235 in hotwire credits to use on another trip! Woot! I didn't know there was a children's program lol

We are going to volunteer for a day to get the Disney ticket. We are also going to get the $99 Seaworld/Aquatica unlimited 14 day pass. A shuttle launch is scheduled for the first week we are there so we'll drive over. I've requested Kenney Space Center passes from my Senator (that is supposed to work) . We'll hit the beach several days. We'll also go to the Disney salvage store!

So my $400 trip? Eh. Maybe $750 if I am lucky. But it will be fun, I've never gone to Orlando without focusing on Disney the whole time. Natalie will get a kick out of Seaworld. Aquatica looks super cool!

We are going to "room cook" which is fun if you've never done it. First, you need to be poor. If you have any money, after day two, you'll be like screw it! I'll just eat fast food! Room cooking involves planning out what food you can take with you and what food needs to be purchased there. It requires a hot pot, crock pot and electric skillet (oh ya, we ARE that redneck family). It requires adding a few items to your shopping list everytime you go so you don't have that $200 pretrip run to the store. Some popular things "room cookers" make is:
Sandwiches - well duh. PB&J, ham, turkey. We'll get fancy and use the electric skillet to make some of them hot!
Baked potatoes - nothing says "ohh I'm on vacation!" like a big old baked potato in your hotel room. This delicacy is simple to make when you have a microwave. One night we'll do ranch and canned chicken breast, another night we'll do chili and cheese.
Spaghetti - yes we did go there. On one of our pool days, we'll put our precooked frozen ground beef (brought from home, remember it is in the plan) and mix it in with all the traditional sauce fixings in the.....crock pot! Yay for the crock pot! And guess what? We'll make noodles in the....hot pot! Are we having fun yet?
Breakfast for Dinner - Electric skillet? Check! One night we'll have sausage, eggs & toast. One night we'll have french toast and bacon. Who doesn't like breakfast for dinner?
Chicken fingers - why not? We have an electric skillet.
hamburgers - um hello? I said we have an electric skillet!

Add in the fruit, salad fixings, raw veggies, snacky salty foods & chocolate and it's not too shabby!
(I know three of you just said - she has to be kidding - but be assured, I'm not! I already have the cooking layout planned based on the room. I already have the shopping lists and cooking items lists ready. I know what type of containers I need to store food (in FL, you double store food and wipe all your counters down three times!) Shoot, planning out your room cooking is half the fun of planning.)

AND overplanning-control-freak-kim isn't going to research anything past the times when the parks open. I'm not going to preplan our meals at the parks, I'm not going to search for uber super things to do. I'm just going to ....go. On vacation, like to relax. And if we miss a super show/parade yada ya, then so be it. It won't be the end of the world and we'll be back at Disney in 2 years anyway!

2010-01-17T09:26:00.003-05:00

2010-01-13T21:32:00.000-05:00

Bargain Cutie

2010-01-10T22:10:00.002-05:00

Jacket, gymbo, $1 consignment store
top - hand me down
jeans - Levis, $1 yard sale
socks - included with the jacket (with tags!)
Croc Mocs - $5 (Cabellas Blowout!)
-----$7

She thinks its funny her socks match her jacket :)

tutu cute :)

2010-01-09T20:25:00.003-05:00

I made this in about 45 minutes tonight :) She is pretty pleased with herself!

Hi Bernadine :)

2010-01-09T09:53:00.002-05:00

I saw your comments on the clothes post. I am adopting again this year, domestic bi-racial or AA girl. there are several agencies in the US that specialize in it, I have two in Utah I like and one in GA. The wait time is very short! I am hoping for an Oct birth, I'll be turning in my paperwork in March/April (I am selling a house and a condo, I want one of those sold before I send in papers). I've been told not to turn it in too soon because I'll start hearing about situations and I'll want them all :)

The cool thing about domestic, you can sign up with an agency and not pay anything until you are matched. So I'll probably get into the system of all three agencies and see what happens :)

Yes, we like purple - why do you ask?

2010-01-08T13:09:00.002-05:00

Consignment Fun

2010-01-07T00:01:00.002-05:00

Ya, I went again. It is a disease :) Yellow tags were $1. I did buy baby clothes that I didn't need, but I got some great pieces for Natalie that she'll start wearing next winter.

My Crazy Kid

2009-12-30T21:28:00.002-05:00

She puts her little finger on her mouth when she is thinking :) and she steals my hat all the time!

She takes no less than 10 toys to bed every night. I have to purge the bed before I go to sleep. One night I rolled over on a block and about had a heart attack.

Acting crazy
She likes putting bobo on her head - she thinks it is the funniest thing ever.

Pooped

Garden Dreaming

2009-12-29T20:15:00.002-05:00

I love Burpee emails!

I am not going to grow tomatoes because I can get "seconds" for $6-10 a box (30-40 pounds). I am going to do my own organic lettuce (I'm over paying $7 a pound for it) and beans. I am not sure what else, but look how pretty the cauliflower is :)

Meal Plan Monday

2009-12-28T10:54:00.001-05:00

With the first being on a Friday, and my meal plans running to Sunday, this is the first official meal plan of 2010.

I am off of work this week so this plan is a little different than normal. We eat fresh and dried fruit for snacks. I am going to make a cake sometime this week for our sweet thing.

Monday
B - egg biscuits
L - leftover chicken casserole (2 stove tops, 1 cream of chick soup, 2 chicken breasts, 2 shredded carrots, 1/2 head of cauliflower) & broccoli salad
D - home made pizza (1 large tortilla topped with tomato paste, Italian seasoning, pepperoni and pizza cheese) & salad

Tuesday
B - bacon biscuits
L - chicken chili (2 cans of northern beans, 1/2 can of green chilis, 1 chicken breast - plus whatever seasoning it needs) & steamed cauliflower
D - Leftover chicken casserole (freeze the rest) broccoli salad

Wednesday
b - egg biscuits (the batch on Monday makes 6)
L - tuna salad sandwiches & broccoli salad (use brown and serve rolls)
D - Sliders & fries (use brown and serve rolls, freeze the rest)

Thursday
B - apple oatmeal
L - Chicken nuggets (homemade) & cooked carrots
D - Bean burritos (canned pintos, salsa, onions & cheese)

Friday
B - Cheerios and bananas
L - Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
D - Ravioli & Salad

Saturday
B - Blueberry Waffles
L - Chicken Broccoli Alfredo leftovers
D - Pizza and salad (ground beef and onion this time)

Sunday
B - Cheese Omelets
L - Beenie Weenies
D - Tuna Noodle pasta salad (or any leftovers I have floating around)

Shopping List
Milk
Apple Juice (if a good price)
Eggs (if a good price)
ground beef (1-2 pounds)
bananas
lettuce
carrots
whatever fresh fruit that is on sale

This meal plan should use up all the fresh veggies, fruit and bread in the house. It should also use 14 things from the pantry. YAY!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T22:06:00.006-05:00

The day wasn't bad at all. I fully expected to cry most of the day because Dad wasn't there. Instead I focused on Natalie and how happy she was and how much fun she was having.

She was a wild child for most of the day. Eating chocolate for breakfast can do that to a girl. She was pleased with all her presents and once it was all unwrapped, didn't look like a whole lot. (the pictures in the previous post included 9 presents to my mom from me and like 6 from her to me). She has already used her new playdough sets and has played with her transforming rocket quite a bit. The zippidty requires EIGHT C batteries. So tomorrow I have to go to walmart and get a rechargable set. It is going to cost $30-40 to get set up for batteries for a $60 toy. DOH

Anyway, the biggest hit of the day?

Chapstick.

Um - ya, chapstick. Last night in bed she rolled over and said with such passion, Mama, I hope Santa brings me chapstick, I REALLY want it. Well lucky me, I had bought her a tube for her stocking. She carried that chapstick in her pocket all day. Now she is sleeping with it.

Chapstick.

To recap, last year could of been a big wheel and cardboard house. This year could of been rocket and chapstick. I don't think next year will be as gift-y!

Her shirt says good things come in small packages :)

Ho Ho Ho

2009-12-24T23:11:00.003-05:00

We started early....

2009-12-24T09:39:00.003-05:00

Christmas picture

2009-12-22T21:18:00.004-05:00

This might be all I get to this year. My little one hamming it up in front of the tree tonight before we went to her school for her Christmas dinner. I do have a great red ruffle dress that I hope to get Olan Mills pictures in.

2009 Blizzard

2009-12-22T21:03:00.003-05:00

To us it was one... 5-6 inches of snow over two days. It was really pretty and we enjoyed it. But of course, we didn't loose cable, power or have our water turned off for a repair. I know a lot of people that were big time inconvenienced. We just stayed at home for three days straight.

ready to play

my angel making angels

frosty - we have seashells in the flowerbed btw

SNOW!!!

2009-12-18T12:04:00.001-05:00

THE WINTER STORM WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM EST SATURDAY.

RAIN WILL CHANGE OVER TO SNOW THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY. SNOWFALL WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES TONIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING.

TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES EXPECTED BY SATURDAY EVENING... WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHEST ELEVATIONS.

We've not had more than an inch or two since....hmmmm. 10 years? 15 years? YAY!

Mines

2009-12-17T16:03:00.002-05:00

as Natalie likes to say it.

Two years today I signed the papers to adopt Natalie. All the way up until signing the papers I just knew China would change their mind and take her away. When the papers were all stamped and signed I was like NA-NA you can't have her back! in my mind :)

The Tree

2009-12-16T16:42:00.001-05:00

Sewing

2009-12-16T16:22:00.002-05:00

I went to a new thrift store today and got a few wool sweaters to turn into diaper covers. I especially love the last one. This is going to be my winter project.

Put Natalie back in cloth again. She just won't potty train. Yesterday she told me she was wet and I asked if that was ok. She said YUP! It keeps my butt warm!....now how am I supposed to argue with that? She did come back about 10 minutes later saying she was cold and icky. I really hope to have her trained starting on Dec 23rd when she is off from school for 1.5 weeks.

Snow

2009-12-16T16:12:00.003-05:00

Yes, those are socks on her hands. And yes she is wearing PJs. And she probably froze her rear end off but she had fun!

Call Waiting

2009-12-16T16:08:00.002-05:00

She talks on the "phone" quite a bit.

Thanksgiving

2009-12-16T14:45:00.002-05:00

Her plate. Um ya, I did eat most of it.

No longer afraid of puppies!

Some of the herd that showed up in the back yard. There were about 12 of them.

(I am playing catch up btw)

Old Navy

2009-12-16T14:38:00.002-05:00

I am feeling the Old Navy love. The reddish one was spent on Mom's jacket for Christmas, it was free ($10 off of ANYTHING!). The yellow one was used for a pair of PJ pants and a top. With my additional 15% text message, I paid like $2 for it. The hot pink one was used to buy a work shirt for me and slipper socks for the baby. I paid $.54. I am hoarding the green and blue one until after Christmas, my ON is empty, I hope people return some good stuff.

We have almost moved

2009-12-09T14:09:00.003-05:00

The little house is 75% set up with the things I decided to keep. I've got a few things left in the big house that I am moving as I go back to clean it up so I can show it. Never did I think I'd take so long to get it ready to show. I just knew that I'd have it ready to go by the first of Nov. Now I'll be lucky to hit the beginning of Jan. But I tell myself, money wise, it will all work out in the end.

I've already started trimming the budget. The $84.84 cable bill is now $19.99 plus tax. I can only pic up ABC with my digital rabbit ears. I might try one more brand before I give up, I'd like to get PBS too. My first power bill for 20 days in the little house was $15. For some reason, I freeze at 70 in the big house but I'm very comfortable at 63 in the little one. I have the big house heat set high enough so nothing will freeze, so that will help quite a bit with that bill. I am trying to decide if I should turn off the water once I am 100% out. It is a minimum of $70 per month, I have to pay a premium to the city for sewer services. I'll get to cancel the $30 a month trash service next Wednesday after pick up.

Tomorrow I find out if I get paid for the time I am taking off of work. If I don't get paid, I will still take the month of Dec off under FLMA and just suck up the cost. Can you tell I'm just over money in general?

But anyway, back to the little house. The playroom is fantastic, Natalie can spend hours in there with all her toys. I've found all of the lost pieces and parts and put sets back together. Her bedroom only has clothes in it. I've set up the changing table for DD#2 and I've got all her cloth dipes organized. I have infant clothes in drawers, Natalie clothes hanging in the cabinet, all the clothes that are still too big hanging in the closet (what an impressive collection that is) and all the clothes 12 mon-24mon bagged in the bottom of the closet. My room is still a wreak but that is ok.

So I'm just plugging along. My to do list is a mile long and very overwhelming but I try to do a little bit everyday or it will just grow.

2009-12-03T12:40:00.002-05:00

http://orphaned-no-more.blogspot.com/

Broken

2009-12-02T13:50:00.003-05:00

I pretty much broke Friday night. All the stress of my Dad, plus additional stress from my brother (who has serious issues) was just too much. So I am taking time off from work. I am not sure at this point if it is paid or not (FLMA secures my job, unpaid, while short term secures my job and pays me), but I've decided not to worry about it either way. This is what emergency funds are for right? I was given pills to help with my excess adrenaline (which was causing irregular heartbeats, chest pain, shaking and chills) and I'm going to a therapist to work through my grief issues. Who knew I had grief issues? (ok I knew, I am mad at my Dad for dying on me and I am paying someone to tell me why). I'm not much of a pill person but I have to admit, it did help with the chest pain so I will take them exactly when I am supposed to, like a good girl.

So if you know me in the real world and I look whipped, you know why. I've already been told by two people I look like crap. Gee thanks.

Moving - Some More

2009-11-27T13:37:00.003-05:00

I am picking up another Uhaul on Sunday. I actually hired 2 movers for 2 hours to get all the furniture down the stairs.

The little house has had a facelift. The front porch rails had finally "cured" enough to get their paint. Natalie's room was redone from top to bottom, it looks the same color wise, but it got all new paint, the crown molding was prettied up and her hardwood was refinished. The playroom got new paint and new carpet. It needs a new light, I hope to move her fan from the big house to the playroom. I have a plain three tulip fixture to put back in the big house. It is sort of like musical light fixtures.

The bath got all new paint, the hall too. My room's hardwood, the hall and living room were refinished too. Tomorrow my room will be painted light blue I think. I have Dad's dark furniture and white bedding so I think it will look ok.

But anyway, the point of the post was to say we are close to being out of here. I've not been actively selling the big place because everything is just a wreak right now. I am cautiously optimistic that things will fall into place by the end of Feb. My official flip out date is Feb 28th. If the house/condo/cars are all still around, I reserve the right to flip out for as long as needed.

DOH

2009-11-27T13:31:00.003-05:00

Don't you hate it when you buy something then find something else that you like so much better?

I got Natalie a kitchen last year. It is really nice and cute, but it isn't red and retro! I got this in my email this afternoon. Boo!