{ Adam }

This my adorable nephew, Adam.

Isn't he just beyond cute?!!! When he was 13 months old, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. His mom & dad have to give him shots of 2 different kinds of insulin daily and check his blood sugar every 2-3 hours 24/7. His beautiful mom {my sis-in-law} is riding in the Tour de Cure, put on by the American Diabetes Association.

Last year, more than 38,000 cyclists in 78 Tour events raised nearly $16 million to support the mission of the ADA: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

If you're interested, you can make a donation here. It's for a good cause & a cute little guy!

{ Wild Hair }

So, I got a bit of a wild hair yesterday & ended up stripping the wallpaper off in the guest bathroom. It all started because Peanut {the 5 year old} ripped a little 3 inch piece off one day. That was about 3 months ago. You can imagine how much it bothered me to walk in every day and see that 3 inch white blotch in the middle of the cranberry wallpaper. I just couldn't take it anymore & ripped it all down.

before

Well, almost. I couldn't get behind the pedestal sink or behind the light fixture, yet. Now what? It looks like I have a new project. Exciting? Yes. Ready to go? No. Since this was so spontaneous, I'm not quite prepared for what I want to do in there. No idea. Any suggestions? :)

after {actually, more like during}

edited to add: The first picture was from a previous post. It's not you, that stool is broken. :)

{ 72 Hour Kit Supply List }

My kiddos are so sick. It is such a bummer. But, I am happy that so many of you were interested in the 72 hours kits. It's a good idea to have them according to my church, our city & the Red Cross. Here, in Southern California, we have had a few close calls with fires & there's always the possibility of a big earthquake. You never know. I like having the peace of mind of being prepared.

Here is the supply list that I used. I didn't add everything that was on the list, but pretty close. Remember, the kids may have to carry them so, don't make them too heavy.

72 HOUR KIT SUPPLY LIST

1. Backpack/Duffel bag for each family member (water resistant if possible)

2. Food & Water (3 day supply)
* water (1 gallon/4 liters per person)
* protein/granola bars
* trail mix/dried fruit
* crackers/cereals (for munching)
* canned tuna, beans, meat, etc. ("pop-top" cans preferred)
* canned juice
* candy/gum

3. Bedding & Clothing
* change of clothes (short & long sleeved shirts, pants, socks, underwear)
* rain coat/poncho
* cloth & plastic sheet

4. Fuel & Light
* flashlight
* candles
* lighter/water-proof matches

5. Equipment
* can opener
* dishes/utensils
* shovel
* radio
* extra batteries for radio/flashlight
* pen & paper
* whistle
* pocket knife
* rope

6. Personal Supplies & Medication
* first aid kit
* toiletries (roll of TP-remove center tube to lay flat in Ziploc bag, feminine hygiene, folding comb, toothbrush, toothpaste)
* cleaning supplies (hand sanitizer, soap, shampoo, dish soap)
* medication (ibuprofen, children's meds, etc.)
* prescription meds (3 day supply)

7. Personal Documents & Money
* copy of legal documents (birth/marriage certificates, will, passport)
* copy of vaccination records
* insurance policy info.
* cash (in small bills)
* pre-paid phone cards
* credit card

8. Infant needs (3 day supply)
* diapers
* wipes
* formula
* bottles
* diaper cream
* toys
* baby food
* any other baby items needed

9. Miscellaneous
* small toys/games
* anything else you feel is necessary for your families survival.

Remember: This list is for each backpack

**NOTE: Update kit every 6 months to check: water, food, medications, clothing fits, batteries, documents & credit cards are up to date.

I got my list from here but, you can find other lists here, here and here.

I got my backpacks on sale at Target soon after school started one year. And I found Wal-mart to be one of the cheapest places for camping supplies & food items. Plus, you can find almost everything in one store! Let me know how you do & good luck!

Oh, and just so this post isn't all serious, here is a picture of Boo with her most favorite new umbrella, when we went for a walk last week...

Have a great day! :)

{ Safety First }

Phew! I just finished my week long project of putting together a 72 hour emergency backpack for each person in our family. I had 4 that I completed about 7 years ago, before Peanut & Boo were born. So we pulled them all out, dusted them off & replaced all the food, batteries, toothpaste, etc. Then I put together 2 new backpacks for the little girls.

Ahh! It feels so good to have it done. I pray we won't need them but, at least they are there if we do. Maybe I haven't felt very creative lately because of this project. I am hoping to get a project of the creative, fun type done this weekend using some items from Wal-mart that I found yesterday. I'm crossing my fingers. Have a happy & safe :) weekend.

{ Bathroom Woes }

I hope everyone had a great valentine's day. I know I've been gone for a while. I guess, I just didn't have anything to blog about. I suppose I'm in a little bit of a creative funk. After so much sewing {I still need to show you the super cute skirts I made for the two little ones} and finishing Ms. Sassypants' room, I'm taking a little break. Not completely, of course. There are still a billion things on the list in my head.

The last few weeks, hubby & I have been working on ideas for our master bathroom. It is in serious need of a makeover. Would you like to see it? So this is totally embarrassing but, here you go...


Yikes, huh?!! You can see the lovely carpet & there's pink & turquoise linoleum in where the toilet is. How do you like the little 80's pink tiles? And that lighting? Oh yeah!

But, let's not dwell on the negatives. Let's look at the positives. It is a nice big space, we have a double sink & okay, I can't think of anything else. Of course, because of the wonderful economy we are dealing with right now, we've been racking our brains to figure out how to remodel on a very small budget but, get the bathroom of my dreams {did I say "my"? I meant "our" :)}. Hmmm. And there's the other problem. What is the bathroom of our dreams?

Yesterday I read Just a Girl's post about her guest bath inspiration. She is having trouble finding the perfect inspiration picture. I know just what she's talking about. There are elements in pictures I like but, not a complete look. The closest I can get to what I want in our master bathroom {and bedroom, for that matter} is this...

I know, it's not a bathroom but, I love how it "feels". A beautiful, yet comfortable & homey feel. A mix of old & new that I love. For the life of me, I can not find where I got this picture from. I'm pretty sure it came from a blog. Please, if anyone recognizes it & knows where I can find it, let me know. I am hoping she has pictures of a bathroom too.

So, I wish you luck, Just a Girl. I know just how you feel.

{ Made up for Valentine's Day }

I can't believe Valentine's Day is this week. I feel like I just put my Christmas decorations away. I'm not a really big V-Day decorating person. Okay, I don't have any V-Day decorations. I've never really found anything valentiney {made up word) that I loved enough to buy & display & I was okay with that. That is, until I read your blogs and see that there are some pretty cute decorations after all. Then while I was at Michaels I came across some very inexpensive wood hearts & my creative juices began to flow. This is what I came up with...

and this...


Here's the package. I can't remember how much these were but, I think it was around $3 for the package of 12.
And this larger one was around $3 also.


I took off the beaded jute hanger from the larger heart & covered it & 1 smaller heart from the package with scrapbook paper & glued them together. Added some ribbon from my stash & wah-lah...

For the second project, I started with a left over canvas from Ms. Sassypants' room & covered it with scrapbook paper. It's a 5 inch square canvas & I thought it was so cute with it's littleness {made up word}.
Covered another one of the little hearts with scrapbook paper & made one of these accordion circles {made up word}...

Glued it all together...

and added a self-adhesive clear jewel in the center...
I don't really love the traditional bright pinks & reds of Valentine's Day so, I decided to use this more muted palette. I love how they turned out.

{ Such Nice People & Waffles }

Wow! Thanks for all the wonderful comments on Ms. Sassypant's room. Ya'll are so nice!

And I was especially excited to get a comment from the whatever girl herself, Meg Duerksen. This is what she said...

"it looks SO GOOD! i love your curtains and the shelves and those A decorations. LOVe the A's. looks great. good job. :)"

Yay! I was so happy! I really do love her ideas & I completely, 100% copied those curtains BUT, I did comment on her post about it & she gave directions on how to make them in her next post so I knew it was okay. Phew!

There were two questions about the room that I would love to answer:

1. Where did you find the lower case "a" on her side table?

I found it at Michaels for like $1.50ish. They were on sale for $1 off! It is paper mache' & I just covered it with scrapbook paper & my favorite thing...Mod Podge.

2. I saw your comment on Meg's blog and wondered if you had "real" directions on how to make your curtains. Can you let me know how you made them (pleated bottoms?)?

Meg, actually, posted the how-to's on her blog here. Like I said, I just copied her, but kind of had to figure out a few things as I went along. My edges turned out a little different than hers. Hope that helps.

Also, in the comments, there were a lot of great suggestions & ideas. I thank you for that & again, thank you for all the compliments.

Now, this is so random but, I love breakfast. Yep, I said it. I especially love waffles & when I was at my sister, Canary's home last week she made waffles for me. And they were good but, not as good as what she cooked 'em in. Check this out. A Cuisinart 6-slice waffle iron...

Isn't she beautiful?!! I gasped & decided I had to have one. Don't you hate how long it takes for waffles to cook? Now you could make 6 at a time! 6! And it has a doneness setting {I'm sure that's not the technical term}! And it beeps when it's done! Okay, maybe you have a fancy wafffle iron that does those things already. Mine is an old thrift store find that has served me well but...this beauty is now on my Valentine's Day, birthday, Mother's Day wish list.

added later: All this talk about waffles made me want some so, we had waffles for dinner {we do that sometimes}. It was a new recipe I tried from this month's Sunset Magazine.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Waffles:

1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups low-fat milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
About 2 tsp. vegetable oil

1. Preheat waffle iron to medium-high. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, mix eggs, milk, and butter together, then add to flour mixture and stir just until combined (batter will be a little lumpy). Add oats, cinnamon, and sugar and mix just until combined.

2. Using a pastry brush, coat grids of waffle iron with oil. Pour 1 cup batter at a time onto center of grids and close iron (or add batter according to waffle-iron instructions). Bake until golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Use a fork to lift waffle off grids and serve immediately.

My kids loved them! I couldn't believe it!