Pictures of my niece, Elise.

Newborn Pics of my newest niece are on my photo blog (click here).

She was born Dec. 10 and she is the cutest thing!

Decorating a Tree With a Three Year Old

The kids and I decorated our Christmas Tree yesterday. It was a much more pleasant experience than last year. Henry has been talking nonstop about our Christmas tree since Thanksgiving. I didn't have the heart to tell him we wouldn't be getting one this year. I just couldn't justify the cost when we are struggling to get by right now. I have the best family in the world! My mom gave me money to go buy a tree, but I get to give that back to her because my Mother-in-law isn't setting up her big tree this year and let us use it. Henry was so happy.

He just kept saying, "I love you sooo much mommy" and

"Merry Christmas Mommy"
Zoe tried to eat the decorations

she really tried to eat them. (don't worry, I took this bag of Christmas confetti away after I took this picture!)

The Sun was coming through the window so beautifully

I really love this one!

and this one

and this one too!

and the tree. (Henry did most of it, I did the higher branches) I think I might add some more to it.

Thanks for looking!!

Sailing

Yard-saling that is, My friend Tabitha was going to yardsales Saturday and asked me to go along. I had this as one of the goals on my list so I jumped at the chance. She picked me up at 7:00 and we drove to about six or seven sales. I got a few good buys, an old suitcase, to use as a photo prop, a big stuffed shark for Henry for Christmas, a baby doll and doll stroller for Zoe, some kid bowls, and Glass light shades for the ceiling fan in Henry's room. I got to cross one more thing off my list too.

Working on the list, thoughts on life...

I finished reading my first of 5 books last night. It was "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner. It was a good book, it made me laugh and cry and I read it in 2 weeks (that's fast for me). I would definitely recommend it. I also met one of my neighbors today. He is an older man and we wave politely to eachother often but have never actually met. I was outside playing with the kids and he was raking leaves in his backyard so I decided, what the heck! We talked for a few minutes. He was very friendly and I'm glad I finally introduced myself to him. His name is Henry and his wife passed away right before we moved in the house, her name was Sarah. Coincidence? I already know the neighbor across the street and on the other side of me so now I need to decide what defines "neighbor"? Is it everyone on the street? Two houses on either side? hmmmm. I'm getting closer to having a logo. I eventually will change the logo a little but I really need something now!

Getting laid off has put a kink in my goal of walking to work once a week. I don't know whether I should call it a failure though since it was beyond my control. I guess I could still walk there once a week, the only difference is that I would just turn around and walk back home, that would be funny!

Matt is going to discuss the making of Jupiter Wind's first music video tomorrow. Seems so strange...I can't wait to hear about it when he gets home tomorrow. It would really be extra awesome if this album would be a hit, then I won't have to worry about getting another job. I'm excited to see what God has in store for them. I listened to the finished mix of the album and there are some really great songs that I know people will really like if they can just get radio stations to play them.

Didn't get much done today since Matt was working. I spent a lot of time with my kids though. I Hope to be more productive tomorrow.

Family portraits

New family portrait session up on my photo blog!
(click here)

First Band Photo Shoot

I photographed My Husband's band for their upcoming album. I'm excited about being a published photographer! And I guess I'm excited for Matt's band too...LOL! Check out some of the pictures in my new photo blog (click here)

Winning Logo

Wow! I got an overwhelming response to my post yesterday! Thank you so much to everyone who voted and had good suggestions for me. Between my blog comments and my comments on Facebook I had 46 votes! Number 6 got the most votes with 26, the second place logo wasn't even close (number 3 with 6 votes) I had a lot of suggestions of how to tweak the logo to make it better and I am using those suggestions to try some different ideas. I hope to be able to have another post soon and I would appreciate it if you all could vote again! Honestly, I was surprised with the results yesterday, and did get my feelings hurt by one anonymous commenter that doesn't know the definition of "constructive criticism" which is probably why they commented anonymously. I need to get some thicker skin I guess! LOL To that person, obviously, I'm not a graphic designer but I did the best I could, that's my excuse! If you are interested to know 3 and 4 were my favorites, boy was I outvoted!! I know that ultimately it's my decision but I am glad to have the input from everyone! Stay tuned for some more logo options in the next few days!

It's logo time, help me choose!

I sat down and worked hard on my logo yesterday and I have several options. I need you all to help me to, a. give some constructive criticism (is there something I should do differently?) and b. choose your favorite.

1.

2.

3

4

5

6

The Lord Works in Mysterious ways

I had a very surreal experience today. I'm not even sure when it's gonna hit me. I was laid off today by my employer of 6 years. It was very sad, but I'm not worried. I know that God will take care of us. He will get us through this. With the Holidays coming I'm hoping that Matt will be able to get more hours at the Gap and I'll of course get unemployment benefits. The positive side to this is I'll be able to spend some more time with the kids and Matt. I know that God has something in store for me. I am excited to see just what it is. I am thankful that God has kept my job safe for this long. People have been getting laid off for over a year at my company and I avoided the chopping block up til now. I am hoping that I may be able to do something with my photography to earn some extra money.

Warning: this may be boring for you....

I just wanted to write out some thoughts on life and my kiddos, I cannot promise that this post will not be totally self centered and maybe even uninteresting for you.

Henry is getting so big. He went to the Dr. Tuesday for his 3 year well check appt. he is 40" tall and 36 pounds, to all of you who don't have a chart nearby that's pretty big for a child his age. A height predictor online predicted that he will be 6'2" when he is 18. He's going to tower over my 5'3" frame! He surprised me the other day when we walked in the library, they had a little window decoration that said "Happy Fall" on it. Henry pointed at the window and said "that says Happy!" I was shocked. I said "yes, Henry it does say happy, I didn't know you knew that" he surprises me so much every day. We have started a sticker chart to encourage him to be good. He is struggling with trying to gain independence and get attention from me and be good. He sometimes pushes Zoe or takes a toy from her and then runs to tell me that "I pushed Zoe" he tattle tales on himself. He always gets in trouble for it....how much attention can I give him!! I'm only one woman! He can be so sweet too. The other night I let him stay up late and watch "So You Think You Can Dance" with me. He just snuggled on my lap the whole time. On one dance he looked at me and said "maybe I can dance like that girl" I said, Henry you want to dance like the boy not the girl....My favorite thing about Henry is when he looks at me and says "Mommy, I wuv you so much!"

Zoe is so sweet, she is learning to talk. I need to write down her words sometime like I did for Henry. She has no where near the vocabulary that Henry did at her age but she is right on track and smart as a whip! She is so good at figuring out how toys work. She's going to do something mechanical when she grows up. Zoe loves to dance with Henry. We put on the Wiggles and she lights up and starts shakin her booty. She loves the dogs so much. She pets Abner and says "abby, woof woof" We are constantly having to stop her from kissing him because he would lick her face off if we didn't. It's so sweet because I remember the first day we brought Zoe home from the hospital she was sleeping in her carseat and we set her down. Abner stayed as close to her as he could and if Henry came too close he would growl at him. They have been best buds ever since. Buster is our Beagle and he doesn't really know what to think of the kids. We tell Zoe, "leave buster alone, he's a grumpy beagle" He has snapped at Henry and accidentally bit him before so we don't want to take any chances with Zoe. Zoe also has a great imagination. I caught her making a bottle for her baby doll the other day. She held the bottle under the sink in her play kitchen and made a Shhhhh sound like she was running water. She is always bringing me something (pretend) to eat in between her thumb and index finger. She is a clown, always trying to make people laugh. I love her tremendously!

Pumpkin Carving

Last night the kids and I carved pumpkins. I cut off the tops and Henry helped scoop out the guts. Zoe was not interested in carving the pumpkins, she just enjoyed being outside and being a cute model for Daddy. Matt took some pictures of our pumpkin carving (below). Henry proclaimed that Zoe wanted to have a scary pumpkin and he wanted a happy pumpkin. I don't know how he knew that Zoe wanted a scary pumpkin, but to keep the peace I complied the best I could. I am not, you see, a pumpkin carving artist but King Henry declared that they were passable. Now I just need to get some candles, Last year I bought these "fake" candles but I made the mistake of leaving them on the end table in the living room. I should have known by then that anything left at eye level of a 2 year old was free game. Henry somehow managed to break them both and unfortunately birthday candles do not stay lit for very long and that's all I have in the house!

Halloween Week-and memories of Halloween

Saturday is Halloween and I'm really looking forward to bringing the kids trick or treating. Last year I brought Henry but Zoe was too small (she was 5 months old). This year I think she is big enough to enjoy it. They are both dressing up like pirates. I am debating whether I should paint a mustache on Zoe or let her be a girl pirate. I think mustache would be funnier and could be used as blackmail later. Tonight I plan on carving jack-o-lanterns with the kids so stay tuned for pictures tomorrow.

I loved Halloween as a child. Every year I told my mom what I wanted to be and she would create wonderful costumes! I was so lucky to have a mom that could sew and was willing to take the time to! She could have just bought a cheap plastic mask. Two of my favorites were a poodle skirt, and another year a long red southern belle dress. Those two costumes got used several times by my little sisters.

My elementary school was in a small town in the Catskills called Phoenicia. When I say small town I mean don't blink or you may miss it!

Every year on Halloween all the kids in the school dressed up in their costumes after lunch and we had a big parade through the town. The old people would sit out on their porches and watch the parade go by. There would be fire trucks leading the way and the percussionists in the band would play a drum beat the whole way for us. It was truly one of the highlights every year. That night we would go trick or treating through the town. Some kids would just cause mischief; shaving cream, throwing eggs etc.. I never participated in that although it did look fun. You would drive down main street and see dozens of kids covered in shaving cream from head to toe. (and your car would be covered in it too, they showed no mercy!) One year my dad filled a fire extinguisher with water and we squirted the kids as we drove down the street. It was hilarious!

Newborn photos!

If you are interested, newborn session from Sunday is up on my photo blog.

ABC's of me....for Katie :)

A - Age: 31

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: emptying the diaper pail P-U!

D - Dog's name: Abner, the weiner dog (full name is Abner Dabner Long-dog Cox) and Buster the beagle

E - Essential start your day item: Breakfast!

F Favorite color: Red

G - Gold or Silver: Silver (white gold)

H - Height: 5'3"

I - I am: eating smarties at my desk.

J - Job: Admin Assistant for an industrial construction company.

K - Kids: Henry - 3 and Zoe - 1

L - Living arrangements: House

M - Mom's name: Linda

N - Nicknames: don't have any

O - Overnite Stay in the hospital: when I was 12 I was in the hospital for 3 weeks with pneumonia, When I had my babies, and when I had my gall bladder out last year.

P - Pet Peeve: smoking

Q - Quote from a movie: I can't think of any...

R - Right or left handed: right

S - Siblings: 3 sisters, Kelly, Katie and Becky

T - Time you wake up: 6:30 ish

U- Underwear: yes

V - Vegetable you dislike: squash

W - Ways you run late: umm I have 2 kids, need I say more

X - X-rays you've had: lots

Y - Yummy food you make: cookies, ziti

Z - Zoo favorite: Elephants

I crossed one thing off my List this weekend!

I crossed number 63, "take newborn pictures", off my list Sunday! Some friends of mine had a sweet little baby boy a couple weeks ago and they gave me the opportunity to do a photo shoot Sunday. I forgot how tiny and delicate newborns are! I think I got some very cute pictures. I haven't gotten a chance to really look through all of them yet because I went to So You Think You Can Dance in concert last night. It was very fun. My mom treated me to the show which was awesome. Great dancing and some very funny parts to it as well.

Anyway, I digress. I hope to be able to share some of the pictures from the shoot Sunday within the next day or two.

I did pull a task from a jar on Friday which was to design a logo for my photography "business" I did work on it but I have not come up with something I really love yet. I have a few ideas in my head that I'm going to try to put into action very soon. Hopefully I'll be able to post a few options soon to see what you all think.

987 days and counting

hmmm, I read through my list last night and I want to cross something off of it so badly! so many of my tasks are in progress but I have yet to cross one off (besides inspiring someone else to write a list) I think I may write down a few of my tasks that I can realistically accomplish in a weekend, put them in a jar and pick one to finish this weekend. Any time I know that I'll have some free time I'll pull another task from the jar and try to finish it that week or weekend. Stay tuned for what task I pull from the jar this week!

Always kiss me goodnight...

Sorry it's been a while since I have blogged last. I have been sort of busy and haven't really had anything going on that I deemed interesting enough or "blogworthy". I have some things going on that I think will be great blog fodder in the coming weeks and months. I have been keeping up with my list. The drinking water thing is the hardest one! Kissing Matt everyday for a whole minute is the most fun one. Sometimes I don't do it til I go to bed at night but I always have a good "goodnight kiss".

One minute is longer that you think. I never set a timer I just kind of guess and stop when it seems like it's been a minute. Luckily I haven't had a day yet where I didn't feel like kissing him or was not able to. If one of us is sick it probably wouldn't be a good idea although I guess I could kiss his hand or elbow or something. I think that if we were not liking eachother very much one day the one minute kiss will make us literally "kiss and make up"

This task has made me realize how much we didn't kiss before, so sad really. I would suggest this to all my married friends out there. Maybe start with a 20 second kiss and then work your way up to a minute. Have fun!

First Full Week of my 1001 days

Although I started my 1001 day countdown last Thursday, Monday was the beginning of the first full week. Weekly goals include, exercise 3 times a week for 30 minutes and walk to work once a week. I exercised Monday night and Tuesday night and it felt good (although my muscles are feeling a little bit sore).

I have not exercised for months and I'm glad I'm getting back into a routine again, I can't wait to do my workout tonight. In the past I have gotten bored with my exercise routine after a month or two but now I have Netflix which includes a "watch it now" feature that allows you to watch movies streaming on the internet. Luckily we also have an XBox 360 which allows the Netflix movies to stream to our television. There are a lot of workout videos on the "watch it now" feature on Netflix. I think that by using those it will help me, both my mind and body to not get bored like I usually do with working out. (have I mentioned that I love Netflix!?)

I will probably walk to work later in the week. It has rained every day this week and I would much rather walk when it is a non-rainy day thank you very much! (If it's rainy tomorrow and Friday I'll just walk twice next week to make up for it)

1 year old Photo Shoot from Yesterday

Some pictures are up from my photo shoot yesterday here if anyone is interested in looking at them!

Day 2 - 999 days to go

OK, don't worry, I'm not going to give daily updates for the next 999 days! I just got back from the store and am excited. I have decided what Advent calendar I am going to attempt to make. It's this one. I think it is so cute! I bought a cookie sheet at the dollar store today for it, now I just need to decorate and find some cute things to use for numbers. I also bought a coloring book at the dollar store to color (for #29). I can't wait to get started. I mowed the lawn today and I totally am counting that as 30 minutes of exercise, because, well, I make the rules!

Last night, as I promised myself in item # 98 I wrote a letter to myself on day 1 and I will read it again on day 1001. It is tucked safely in my nightstand drawer. I will type it out so that everyone can read it....on day 1001.

Day 1 - 1000 days to go

I am really excited about this journey I am about to embark upon. I hope that I will look back on this challenge that I have set before myself as life changing. I hope to become a better wife, mother and person because of it. I hope to reach some goals that I would have otherwise put off til "tomorrow" but of course tomorrow would never come. Thank you for joining me on this journey for the next 1000 days! and as I like to say "Let's do this!"


To kick off my 1001 days I decided the first thing on my list would be #76 to bake a cake and bring it to work. Of course I need to do this 4 more times before I cross it off as completed but I thought I'd share what my first step was in reaching my 101 goals.

I made this recipe and it was delicious!


oh wait, what's that?


I've never made that recipe before?


Huh?


I guess I killed 2 birds with one stone. I can count this cake as my new recipe for the month(#3)! Of course to be fair to myself I probably will do another new recipe this month because what I really wanted to get out of that goal was some new dinner time recipes. I think I'll try this one. or ooh ooh this one.

Water Reminder

Drinking enough water is a challenge for me. I don't think to drink if I'm really busy at work or at home unless I feel physically thirsty. I read somewhere once that by the time you are physically thirsty you are already becoming dehydrated. You should drink 8 - 10 8oz glasses of water per day and I am nowhere near that!

Goal # 78 on my list is to drink 6 glasses of water a day. I hope that I will do more than that but I wanted to set an atainable goal too. I found a gadget on Google desktop that is a water reminder. I have mine set to remind me every 10 minutes to drink some water. I was afraid of it being an annoying alarm or something but it is just a sound affect of swishing water. Very appropriate and somewhat soothing. I just thought I'd tell everyone about it so that if you want to try to drink more water you can try it out too!

Read your Bible in a year with help from this site

I found a cool Bible reading site called Christianity.com. It has a tool that tracks your reading for a year, it has every possible version (I chose New American Standard). I think this will help me to reach my goal of reading the entire Bible. Just thought I'd share for others who want to read the Bible cover to cover!

Waiting for the First of Octember (ahem October)

I got a book out of the library for Henry yesterday, it was Dr. Seuss' The First of Octember and this was a page out of the book. It reminded me of my little list that I'm starting on the first of October.

If you can't read it, it says "You'll get all that you want, You just write out your list. Everyone has an Octember First list. Write slowly now! Don't break your wrist."

I love it!

Countdown!

Has anyone noticed my countdown on the right side of my blog (for those of you reading this on FB you obviously won't see it unless you go to my blog. http://hawklady-sarahsblog.blogspot.com) Even though I have not started my 1001 days yet I went ahead and did a countdown. I have 1008 days left right now. So on Oct 1st it will say 1001 days I also put 0 / 101 tasks complete. I hope that I will keep up with updating that as I complete my tasks and hopefully when June 28th 2012 rolls around it will say 101/101 tasks completed! I am itching to start but I know I have others that are going to start with me so I'm waiting til October 1st!

The List, My 101

Here is my list!

Code: Completed
In progress
Failed to complete

Let's broaden our Horizons!
1. Read the whole Bible
2. Read 5 books (5/5)
3. Try one new recipe every month (20/32)
4. Pray every day
5. Order something new off of a restaurant menu 10 times (3/10)
6. Learn how to crochet a hat
7. Get a Tattoo
8. Enter a Photo contest
9. Get a Passport
10. Beat (win) a video game I have started playing Little Big Planet
11. Participate in post crossing
12. Plan and host a scavenger hunt
13. Try letterboxing at least once
14. Learn to drive a stick shift
15. Send a secret to post secret
16. Do the "Love Dare"
17. Get good at french braiding
18. Make homemade chicken soup
19. Sell something on Ebay
20. Sell a photo
21. Go yardsaling at least once
22. Get up early and watch the sunrise.

Let's make something!
23. Sew a dress for Zoe
24. Sew a quilt
25. Paint a picture worth framing
26. Take a self portrait for 365 days straight
27. Get ABC book made
28. Make an advent calendar
29. Color an entire coloring book
30. Do a 365 project with Henry and Zoe.
31. Write a song
32. Finish Henry's scrapbook (to date)
33. Finish Zoe's scrapbook ( to date)
34. Frame a photo of something other than a person that I took.
35. Sing on video and post it to youtube
36. Do an ABC project of Zoe
37. Come up with a signature recipe
38. Make a loaf of bread from scratch
39. Paint a shark for Henry
40. draw a picture of my kids.

Let's get together!
41. Take the kids to the aquarium
42. Take the kids to the zoo
43. Make Matt breakfast in bed
44. Invite someone over for dinner
45. Plan and execute a progressive meal
46. Make 3 new friends
47. Spend an evening with each of my sisters, my mom and mother in law 1/5
48. Spend time one day a month with each of my children (their special day with Mommy)
49. Find Willow and write her a letter
50. Meet 2 more Pink Sheep
51. Send all my "Pink Sheep" friends a letter
52. Meet all of my neighbors.
53. Kiss my husband every day for at least 1 minute straight (unless he's traveling)
54. Have a bread bowl party
55. Have a big party for Matt's 30th birthday.

It's all about the Benjamins!

56. Pay off Credit cards (0/3)
57. Save $500 just for me to buy new clothes (guilt free) (0/500)
58. Have $3,000 in savings by day 1,001 (0 / 3,000)
59. Start a college savings account for Henry and Zoe (yes, I know I should have done this by
now!)

Let's start a photography Business!
60. Create a logo for my photo business
61. Get business cards
62. Get a business license
63. Take newborn pictures
64. Get a website

Let's make our house better
65. Organize the garage
66. Put baseboards in the dining room / hallway
67. Put moulding in Henry's room
68. Hang some pictures in my bedroom
69. Get new couches or at least a nice slip cover

Let's give back!
70. Give flowers to someone "just because"
71. Send a shoe box at Christmas (1/2)
72. Donate blood
73. Get on the bone marrow registry
74. Send a carepackage to a soldier
75. Do random acts of kindness on a regular basis
76. Make a cake to bring to work and share 5 times (2/5)

Let's get Healthy!

77. Get 30 minutes of exercise 3x a week (at least) (1/429)
78. Drink 6 glasses of water a day
79. Drink only water or milk for 1 week
80. No sweets for a week
81. Lose 20 pounds (20/20)(WOOT!)
82. Walk to work once a week or 143 times (4/143)Failed!
83. Go on a hike
84. Take a vitamin every day for a month.

Miscellaneous
85. Go away for a weekend with Matt without the kids
86. Go the whole time without cutting my hair (split ends, shape ups and bangs excluded)
87. Get a family portrait made
88. Spend one day a month internet and tv free (0/32)
89. Write a will
90. Go on a picnic
91. Clean out my cars
92. Plant a vegetable garden
93. Plant flowers in the spring
94. Potty train Henry
95. Read Henry all Dr. Seuss books (0/64)

List related actions
96. Save $5 for every task complete
97. Donate $5 for every task not completed
98. Write a letter to myself on day 1 and read it on day 1001 Letter written!
99. Blog about each item as it is completed. (2 / 101)
100. Inspire one person to complete a list(1/1)I think I've inspired more than 1! Yay
101. Make a new 101 things list and start all over.

New Project: 101 in 1001

I have my list completed! What list? You may ask. Well my list of 101 goals that I want to achieve in 1001 days! I am going to share my list in the next couple of days but day 1 will not be until October 1st (10/1). It seemed like an appropriate day (10/1 - 101 get it?) I want all of my readers to consider doing this with me. Make your own list and play along! We can encourage each other to keep going.

The Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria: Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part). Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.Once you have created your site, you can add it to the master list here at Day Zero.Calculating the End Date
You can easily find out when your project will end by using this handy tool at timeanddate.com.
1,001 days from October 1st 2009 is Thursday, June 28, 2012

Get more information on Day Zero. you can even look at other people's lists for ideas!

Nine Eleven

Today is 9/11, Nine one one, Nine Eleven, Patriots Day.I don't feel like there is anything I can write that would be worthy of this day. I just want to say I hope that we all remember this day. Remember the innocent people who lost their lives and remember how blessed we are that we continue to live in freedom and liberty. Remember the Men and Women in our Armed Forces who have protected us since 9/11/01 from any more terrorist attacks.

Treasure Hunt!

Here is a short video of the treasure hunt ending with singing Happy Birthday. After the video are the clues that I wrote out. We had a chest that had a lock on it so before the treasure hunt I put the key on a string and tied it around the birthday boy's neck to hold for safe keeping. I think that added a nice touch to it.

Here are the clues I used for the treasure hunt, these were for 3 and 4 year olds (and one 6 year old) if the kids are older at your party you may want to make them a little more challenging.

The front door is where ye greet yer hearties
Sometimes we call 'em friends
Welcome to the pirate party
This is where the hunt begins!


This is where you get your mail, packages and bills
Go there fast and get your clue or else the scallywags will



Go to the place that ye watch tv, movies and other shows
This is where ye find yer next clue that is where ye should go.


This is where you find your snacks salty, sweet or fuity
You’ll also find your next clue to lead you to the booty



Avast me hardies listen up! you’re almost there you see.
Go to where you swing up high underneath a tree.


This is where you walk the plank and take a swim for pleasure

It’s also where you should look if you want to find your treasure!

I got lazy with the you / ye's toward the end but you get the picture!

I found this website that had a lot of pirate verbiage that can help you with your clues.

I have the best family!

Yesterday was Henry's Birthday Party and it was a lot of fun. We all got together at my Mom and Dad's house for Labor day and I threw in a couple pirate decorations and games for the kids. We had a treasure hunt. I wrote out clues to lead them to the treasure. I will post the clues in another post if you are interested in doing a pirate treasure hunt sometime.

Let me just tell you, I have the best family that anyone could ask for!

My mom made a great cake with sharks and a pirate ship. My sisters, Becky and Katie helped me fill up water balloons. It took them about 30 minutes to fill them up and they were all destroyed within 3 minutes. Kelly brought some yummy food and half of Henry's guests. :)Henry got a lot of shark / pirate themed presents from everyone that he loves! He also got some new play-doh which I know he will have me shape into sharks for him. Thank you to everyone who came, thank you for Henry's gifts. Thanks to my Mom and Dad for letting me crash their Labor Day cookout! Thanks to everyone for all the yummy food and especially thanks to my mom for the beautiful cake!

I will post pictures and a video of the party later.

Henry is Three! Happy Birthday Henry

Henry Patrick Hawkins was born 3 years ago today. I love him more than I ever knew I could love something or someone. I thank God for him every day. Here is a video montage I made for him. He loves watching it over and over again. I hope you will enjoy it too!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A perfect party

Henry's birthday party is Saturday and I am still without a present for him and I have yet to figure out what I am going to serve our guests for dinner. At Henry's 1st birthday Matt smoked a pork butt (sounds weird, right?!) last year at his 2nd birthday I served pick up type things instead of a meal. I am thinking of doing Hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill but haven't decided yet.



Last year we got Henry a fishtank which needs some serious attention, it looks more like a breeding ground for algae than a fishtank.

Busy Week

Now that August is behind us and I have a plan for keeping my house clean, I have a birthday party to plan / get ready for. At least my house is clean, last year at this time I was scrambling to do in 5 days what I just did in 30. I am scrambling this year trying to finish Henry's video / picture montage that I traditonally do every year. I had my heart set on using the Dixie Chicks' song Godspeed (Sweet dreams) but I just could not get it to work. I think it was not meant to be. That song makes me break down in tears every time I hear it and I'm not talking getting misty eyed, I'm talking full on sobbing so it probably would be embarrassing for that to happen while everyone is gathered around the tv on Saturday.

So anyway I found a substitute song, which I won't reveal at this time. I think it will be cute. I can't wait to share it with you all on Saturday.

Of course I'm a perfectionist and need the timing of the photos to go perfectly with the music so I foresee late nights this week. I should be a zombie by Friday for sure.

30 days to clean - A success!

Well, my house is clean and it only took 30 days to do it. Now the challenge will be keeping it that way. Winston Churchill once said: "Success is not final, Failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts."

My maintenance plan is simple. Each day of the week I have assigned a room or area of the house.

Monday - bathrooms

Tuesday - dining room / Living room

Wednesday- mop the floors

Thursday- Kitchen (obviously dishes will be done daily. This day is for clearing clutter off of the counters, cleaning out the fridge etc.)

Friday- Toyroom

Saturday - bedrooms / laundry day

Sunday - Rest, family fun day



Now I will be flexible on this to a point. For example if I come home from work on Tuesday and I just am tired and don't feel like doing anything I can double up on Wednesday or if we want to go to the Zoo on Saturday I can do the bedrooms on Friday and Sunday etc..



September is going to be my 30 days to organization so I will be doing a little mini project each day on top of the cleaning.

Ya know how most people have a "junk drawer" in their house? Yeah, well I have hmmm, roughly....five or six.

This month I want to give my "junk drawers" a purpose and a meaning in life.

I would like to organize my garage too but I might save that for another month when it's not so hot. Maybe October would be a better month for this.

30 days to clean - Pictures of my bedroom!

I thought this day would never arrive! It seemed as though my bedroom was a never ending black hole of clutter. It seemed like cleaning my bedroom was some torture that Al Qa'ida had thought up. "hahahaha, she'll just clean forever and ever and it will never be clean, there will always be boxes full of clothes and other random items that she wants to keep but doesn't know what to do with" (I guess they speak in run-on sentences too.)

Can you see the overflowing boxes, the hastily hung curtain on the window, and the tables covered with clutter? By the way, don't you just love how I made the bed before taking my "before" pictures? I think it really accentuates the clutter.

Now for what you've all been waiting for.....

I give you my new bedroom!

Look I can close my closet doors!

Look at that smile!
She is so glad to be done!

Not only is it clean but Matt hung some new curtains for me. (thanks Matt!) Well, that doesn't sound too impressive, let me explain...there was no way to hang curtains so he had to get out power tools and install curtain rods on the windows before he could hang the curtains.

So on day 26 I finished my bedroom. I've got 4 days to go and my house is clean. The toyroom could still use some tweaking. It's not quite worthy of before and after pictures yet. But, when is a toyroom ever clean when you've got a three year old and a one year old there to help you keep it messy?! I'll still post before and afters of the toyroom in the next couple days.

Say Hey!

I am totally loving this song right now! Such a happy song...get up and dance and enjoy!

If you can't see the video here is the link

Wordless Wednesday - flashback

I love this picture of me and Henry. He is barely 3 months old in this picture. He will be 3 years old next Saturday(9/5). Monday was the day he was supposed to be born (8/24). He was a little late....

30 days to clean - Before and After Pics of the Living room

The living room has been clean for a while but I realized last night that I hadn't put pics up yet. This first picture is of all the laundry I had to fold the first night of cleaning the living room. Luckily Matt helped with that. I don't even know how many loads this is.

The messy living room!

This is a place where things seem to congregate. They are things that had no home, well, they do now!


Tada!! my clean living room!



Now, if I could get some new furniture.....