Books for me, Books for the boys, and Books for YOU!

Within the past couple of weeks, I have received a couple of boxes filled with books and other goodies. The first box is for my boys. The plan was to use its contents to help fill their Easter baskets...now I'm not sure I can wait that long!

I bought all of this stuff from Bare Books for less than $32 - and that includes the $3 shipping!  I bought a set of 10 comic books, 2 bubble templates, 2 sets of crayons, 2 puzzles, and 4 Book sets (includes a book, cover, and line guide).  They also sent me a catalog, so it looks as though we'll be ordering some more books of varying sizes, bookmarks, a couple of gameboard sets, and some puzzles with more pieces.  I'm also thinking of getting some board books for my younger nephews!

I also received a shipment from Amazon that contained 5 books, and am expecting a few more over the next 6-8 weeks.  I'll be keeping some, but I'll also be giving some away in February and March, so keep checking back!

And, don't forget to check out Kindra's blog!  Gwen from GwennyPenny is sharing a super cute tutorial!

Be Mine Bonanza!!!

Today is the first day of Kindra's week long Be Mine Bonanza, so check out our hostess' project. I love this idea!

The rest of the week will be filled with projects from 6 more talented ladies:

Gwen from Gwenny Penny - Monday, Jan 31

Tonya from More Prim Than Proper - Tuesday, Feb 1

Michelle from Emerald Cove - Wednesday, Feb 2

Susan from Frou-FruGal -Thursday, Feb 3

Sarah from All Roads Lead Home - Friday, Feb 4

Heather from Summerstead - Saturday, Feb 5

Questions

Does anybody else have issues with blogger adding and/or deleting spaces when you publish a post?  Everything looks just how I want it to as I'm composing a post, but I usually have to go back and add or delete spaces after publishing a post.  I tell ya, between my computer not cooperating and blogger being a pain, I'm about ready to ignore the internet altogether!

It has been a very frustrating day, but I did hear one of the funniest (true) stories EVER. 

My sis-in-law J is expecting her third bundle in April.  She has 2 boys.  M is 4, O is 2.  J thought she had a UTI, so she went to the doctor.  She didn't have a sitter for the boys, but since she thought she would just have to "go" in a cup, she brought the boys with her.  After finding out the doctor wanted to do a full exam, J set the boys up in the corner of the room with a game on her iPhone because that usually keeps them pretty well occupied.  She gets back on the table, the doc comes back in and the second she lifts the sheet, the boys are right there next to the doctor.  M keeps asking J, "Mom, what is she doing to your butt?", "Mom, why is she doing that to your butt?"

Finally, the exam is over, J gets dressed, and the doc comes back in saying that they may as well do an ultrasound, if J is up to it.  She gets back on the table, lifts her shirt, the doctor pulls out another sheet, and M says, "Oh, geez.  Not again!"

When I was told this story, I laughed so hard I cried! 

Perpetual Calendar Tutorial

Every year I go on a search to find the perfect calendar to go with my home's decor. I can never find the perfect one, so I settle with one that is closest to what I'm wanting.  This year, I've decided to make my own, and this is how I did it...

What you need:

Photo frame with glass - mine is 11x17 ($8 at Wal-Mart)
Fabric - enough to cover the back of the frame (a fat quarter would have been more than enough for mine)
Scissors
Fine-tip Sharpie
Fine-tip dry erase markers
Photo - I used an 8x10, then cut an inch off the top and bottom
Calendar template - I used Works and just made a table to the size I wanted.  I had 6 rows & 7 columns.  The top row cells measure .5 high by 1.5 wide.  Bottom 5 rows measure 2 high by 1.5 wide.  When printing, I had to click the "shrink to fit printable area" option.

Not pictured, but very helpful:
Double-sided tape
Ruler

So, the first thing you need to do is take the back of your frame off, lay it down on your fabric and trace the frame's back. Then, cut out your piece of fabric.

Next, draw your blank calendar onto the fabric using your sharpie and calendar template. I taped the template to the back of my fabric so it wouldn't move on me. I was also able to see through my fabric well enough that I could pick out the outer four corners, and at least some of each line. First, I put a dot on each corner and using a ruler, I just played dot-to-dot. Then I put 2 dots along each line and again used my ruler to draw my inside lines.

Once you've gotten this far, take a couple of minutes and stare out your window. I hope you don't see the same thing I saw! Really, Mother Nature? More snow? At least wait till we get rid of the last 6 inches from the last snowfall?

Now it looks more like a calendar!  I didn't trust myself to be able to write out the days of the week and make it look nice, so I just used the initials.  If I were making one of these calendars as a gift, I would probably embroidered the lines - I may still go back and embroider over my marker at some point.

After you have your calendar drawn/embroidered/whatever, set the fabric aside for a couple of minutes.

Now you need the back of your frame and some double sided tape.   Put several pieces of tape around the edges of the inside of your back panel.  I also put a few strips in the middle.  This step isn't necessary, but it makes the assembly step easy peasy.

Almost done!  Now all you have to do is stick your picture on, securing it with a couple pieces of double stick tape (if you want to). 

Last steps!  Now, just pop the back piece with your photo and fabric back into the frame.  With your dry erase markers, you can write in the dates and the month & year and Voila!  You're done, and it's ready to hang!











If you decide to make one of these calendars, I'd love to see your creation!  Email me a picture or upload it to my flickr group!


Linking up here:

Fly By

The roads are getting bad, so I'm going to get ready to get the boys from school. When I get back, I'll put the finishing touches on a tutorial I've been working on for you all, so check back later this afternoon!

Monday, Monday...

drip...drip...drip...
What's that noise?
Water dripping in the house.
From where?
By the front door.
Are you sure?
Yep.
We just got a new roof. We can't be having leaks. I think you must not have turned the water off completely on one of the sinks.
Nope. It's leaking by the front door.
But, we just got a new roof. It shouldn't be leaking.
It's not the roof. It's leaking below the roof and by the window because we need new siding.
But we just got a new roof.
Yes, but we need new siding. I told you this 7 years ago when my toes froze while standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes. But, nobody listens to me...
Let's just burn the $*@%!#^ thing down.
OK.

I've never been in love with our house, but I don't always dislike it as much as I do this morning with the constant drip...drip...dripping.  Kind of puts me in a crummy mood first thing on a Monday morning!

I had also hoped to get something ready to show you this morning, but then I saw that I need to re-do my project for Kindra's Be Mine Bonanza because another, uber popular and wonderfully talented blogger just posted a tutorial for the exact same thing that I was planning!  Great minds think alike!

Until I'm able to come back to you, please enjoy this clip.  It kills me, especially around the 3:45 mark.  Shnorkie!

Warning:  Around the 4:20 mark, Mama gets a little liberal with her language, so it may not be appropriate for work or young ears!

Freedom!

Hello again!  I'd ask you to take a seat and chat for a while, but our seating is temporarily taken by Mother Nature.

This past weekend, we got some snow. We got a lot of snow. Monday morning found us all at home, watching movies and drinking hot chocolate.  The husband tried going to work.  He was outside at 6am, knocking 12 inches of snow off his truck before realizing that it would take a couple of hours just to scoop the drive.  Lucky for him, our "town guy" was out clearing the roads, and he pulled in with his tractor to scoop the long length of our drive (it's an "L" shape), so we just had a few feet right behind the vehicles to shovel.

That would be the trunk of my car that's buried in snow in the bottom left corner of the picture.  Poor hubby got to one highway to find that it had not been cleared at all.  The other one only had one lane clear.  Rather than risk getting stuck when someone else came along that one lane road, he decided to stay home.

Tuesday was another snow day for the boys, but hubs had to work.  It was sooooo cold, but I did manage to make it outside long enough to clear off the bench next to the front door and shovel enough snow to get the car out.

The red apron on the bench is a 1x4.  You could fit several of those puppies in the snow piled on top of the bench.

Our St. Berny, Odin, didn't mind the snow too much.  As long as he stayed out of the drifts, he could keep the bulk of his body snow free...

But he just couldn't resist running through the yard.

Gracie is supposed to be a black lab mix.  We don't know what the mix is, but it must have been small because she doesn't even come up to my knee!  She was not at all fond of the wet white stuff, and would only leave the doghouse to come inside or to go relieve herself.  I felt bad leaving them outside as long as I did, but one of them made a pretty nasty mess on the back porch, and Miss Gracie did one of the most disgusting things ever. 

I spent Wednesday and Thursday recouperating from the snow days and trying to get caught up on the housework that I let slide for 2 days!

I let my mom bribe me with some retail therapy if I helped her paint her spare room today, so I'll see you all on Monday - stay safe and warm!

2011...not starting out so well

Hmmm...So far, I'm not liking the way this year has started. First, we learned about the Millard South shooting, then there was the tragedy in Tuscon. This evening, I found out that a man I've never met, but have admired since reading and seeing Band of Brothers almost 10 years ago, has passed away.

"If you can find that peace within yourself, that peace and quiet and confidence that you can pass on to others, so that they know that you are honest and you are fair and will help them, no matter what, when the chips are down."

~Major Dick Winters~

January 21, 1918 - January 2, 2011

Sad Day

Yesterday afternoon, Nebraskans were horrified to hear that there was a shooting at Millard South High School in Omaha. The gunman was a senior at the high school. He shot Principal Dr. Curtis Chase and Vice Principal Dr. Vicki Kaspar before killing himself. Last night, Dr. Kaspar lost her life. My deepest condolences go out to her family, and my prayers are with Dr. Chase in the hopes that he makes a full recovery.

Under Construction

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I've been busy, first working on Christmas gifts, then spending time with my boys during their break from school. Today was their first day back, and I did some retail therapy in an attempt to find my sanity after the last few weeks. I've decided to make some changes to the blog, so please bear with me for the next few days!

When I come back, I'm hoping to have a couple of tutorials for you, including one that I'm working on for Kindra's Be Mine Bonanza!