Lego Mania!

Our household has been in Lego heaven lately since The Lego Store opened in our province.  We are thrilled!  We even went to the opening where they asked for help creating an 8 ft brick Yoda!  Each of us made one mega brick for the Yoda.  I am looking forward to going back and seeing the completed little... I mean, big... green Jedi!

I even made a little video of our experience.

We actually went ahead and purchased a bin of Lego... for no reason except that we wanted to buy Lego!  Go figure!  That does not happen in this household very often!  The kids were ecstatic!  They set to building their own little creations right away.

And this last weekend a friend of mine asked for me to make cupcakes in a Lego theme for birthday celebration for 4 members of her family (yup... lots of people born close together.  Makes for a great gathering!).  I made a video of that as well.

I managed to make enough cupcakes that I could keep enough for one each for my family here at home... minus the Lego bricks.  The kids were very disappointed not to be able to eat a fondant Lego brick.  Ah well!  I didn't feel like making more.  Those little guys were time consuming!

And now my husband is asking for more Star Wars Lego kits for his upcoming birthday....

What is your favorite Lego series?  My husband loves the Star Wars ones, obviously.  My daughter loves the Lego Friends.  Me?  I'm more into the classics... just give me a bunch of multicolored bricks and let me create whatever my heart desires!!  I think my son follows that (although he keeps asking for Star Wars Lego now, too... I wonder why?)

DIY Gift Baskets

My daughter was recently invited to a birthday party.  She was insistent on giving nail polish as a gift, but nail polish by itself isn't very fancy, so I decided we'd go to the local dollar store and pick up a few things to go with the nail polish that would give the gift a little extra flair.

 

I don't know how many of you are into pinterest (me... I'm addicted.  I should start a Pinterest Anonymous group with how bad I am, haha), but there are so many ideas on there for making your own gifts.  I always love gift baskets with lots of fun little things that go with a theme.  So, we made a 'nail box'.  I guess it would be better termed a manicure box, but my baby brain isn't exactly great with words lately.

 

It's actually quite easy.  Just pick a theme, and go with it.  Grab a nice container to put everything in, a number of small items to go with your basic idea, tuck some tissue paper in a coordinating color into the container and add your items to it, then wrap the whole thing in cellophane and add a ribbon.

 

One big reason to keep your tissue paper, gift bags, and cellophane... makes for some great wrapping ideas later for zero cost.

 

 

 Here is the package, all wrapped up and ready to go into the gift bag.

 

 For a little added fun, I thought it would be nice to add a 'decorate your nail box' kit.  Included are various gemstone stickers, other stickers, flowers, ribbon, an alphabet sticker book (so she can put her name on it), and glitter glue of various colors.  The little girls I know (and when I was little, too) love stickers, sparkles, glitter, and pink/purple/green!

 

So, what sorts of ideas would you have for homemade gift baskets?  Here are a few of my own ideas, the sky's the limit!

1. Spa basket (bath bombs, bubble bath, loofah, facials, bath salts, perfume, talc powder, etc)
2. manicure/pedicure basket (comfy socks, nail polish, nail files, lotion, nail brushes, etc)
3. basket of ones favorite color (green basket, for example, with various items inside that are green)
4. baking/cookie basket (spoons, measuring cups, chocolate chips, baking mix, egg timer, candy thermometer, etc)
5. tea/coffee basket (tea infuser, various types of tea/coffee, mug, chocolate spoon, peppermint, marshmallows (in case you want to do cocoa), etc)
6. Lego basket (lego magazine, minifigures, lego 'soap', lego cookies, lego head mug, lego key chains or holders, etc)
7. Hello Kitty basket (anything Hello Kitty works in here)
8. Chocolate basket (yeah... chocolates of various types, hot cocoa mix in a mug, chocolate spoons, etc)
9. baby basket (booties, wipes, cloths, diapers, mitts, hangers, onesie, socks, bottle, soothers, put it all in a cute decorative box for the parents to store their diapers)
10. Mickey/Minnie/Princess basket (you could do any favorite character here)
11. Writer's/Artist's basket (art supplies, pens, pretty stationary, sketch pad, paint, clay, you could go with any specific art theme that your recipient is into at the time... beading, clay work, painting, drawing, writing, etc)
12. Office basket (cute magnetic notepads, magnets, sticky notes, cute pens/pencils/erasers, fun paper clips, mini binders/staplers/anything (because minis are adorable), office organizer, etc)
13. tool basket (I'd put this into a tool belt and include various tools the recipient needs, and I'd add a measuring tape.  As a woodworker, I never seem to find mine when I need them and I only have two.  Well... one.  I'm not sure where my blue one wandered off to.)
14. camping basket (include travelling soaps, spices, matches/lighter, campfire starters, etc)
15. sports basket (magazines, various little items that go with the sport like golf tees/balls, or gloves, tickets to a game, snacks for watching a game, etc)
16. games night (board game of choice, snacks of various kinds, playing cards, pad of paper and pencil (for keeping score), a snack bowl to put everything in, coasters, cups with drink mixes, beverage of choice, straws, etc)
17. Animal lover basket (dog, cat, or whatever animal it is, put in some food, maybe a leash, there are lots of fun recipes for dog treats online that you could put in a jar with a dog bone cookie cutter, claw clippers, etc)

I'd love to see your own ideas for baskets in the comments!  Maybe ideas for things you'd like for yourself.  ;)

Ups and Downs

First of all, let me say that this has been a very 'ups and downs' kind of week. No joke. My emotions have been rallying together for a crazy time. Par-tay... not so much. Yeah, it's been wild.

First, the bad news. Yeah, there's bad stuff in an up and down week. You must know by now how I dislike doing farm paperwork. It's so... boring. And annoying. Especially when I think "yeah, I'm all caught up" only to have my husband come in with the mail... including about 17 more bills that I need to enter 'pronto'. Sigh. Anyway, I got to work on it on Tuesday... only to find out that I had erased my cash flow. Actually, that wouldn't have been too bad. I could have retrieved it. Nope... worse still, I saved over it with another file. Now I had thought I called the new file by another name. I didn't. Somehow, last week Thursday when working with my projected statements, I saved a 'projected cashflow 2010' as 'cashflow 2010' and completely got rid of the three months of work I had done on the other file. This file is important. I use it to tell myself what I have entered into the program at a glance, and to know what I have left (according to the bank statement). It took me THREE HOURS (ok, more than that) to recreate this file the way it was (and it isn't the way it was... I had lots of 'notes' written in all over the place that I no longer have and will have to just 'wing it' when I get to that 'area'). I'm so glad for bank reconciliations on the AgExpert program as I was able to use that to figure out which items I already entered into the program, and which I hadn't. Crisis averted... for now. That is NOT to say that I DIDN'T have a complete breakdown at the realization of what had happened. It is also NOT as if I WASN'T tempted to huck the whole computer out our window and see what would happen (knowing deep down that it would solve nothing). I was livid. And the Internet causing problems while I was attempting to fix the whole problem didn't help matters either.

Ah well... c'est la vie!

Anyway, now that it's been fixed, I'm feeling much better. I didn't get as much done on my list as I wanted to, which is another downer, but not so bad. I realize that some things are outside of my control.

On to the GOOD news!

Yesterday we had a meeting with our accountant. She made me feel REALLY good about all the hard work I DO put into our books (even though I sometimes hate it)! She relies on my bookwork more than the previous accountant's work as the 'real deal'! How's that for a boost? Then we went to Liquidation world. They had a big sale on Scrapbooking supplies (Fiskars... which is an AWESOME brand). I spent less than $30, and I got 3 large stamp packs (the clear rubber ones), an oval cutting template, a foldable self-healing cutting mat (much nicer than the glass one I saw at walmart, and the walmart one was $20... this one retails at $28), a set of chipboard embellishments, a pair of scissors (with a spring in them), and a 'ruler' with a 'tearing' edge (always liked those... never willing to spend the $5 or more they cost)! SO STOKED! Later that day I worked on my pregnancy album a bit. :) Nothing like getting new supplies to get you back into scrapbooking!

Today has been pretty good too! I FINALLY finished the quilt this morning! It looks good. Not perfect, mind you, but really good for my first ever quilt (and being a perfectionist, that says a lot about today being a better day, ha ha). Then, who do I see pull up onto the yard? Purulator! Our camera is back! We mailed it on Tuesday! Express mail said it would take 2-3 business days to ship to Canon. Canon got it Wednesday and emailed us to tell us... and then today we get it back! WOW! Just WOW! And no more black spot! And I have my camera back! In FOUR days! I'm lucky enough to have it for Easter even (insert HUGE-smiley-face-with-shocked-eyes here)!! EEEEEEE!

Can you tell I'm thrilled?

So yeah... definitely an 'ups and downs' kind of week... thankfully more ups right now. Liking the idea of it ending on an 'up'... and the next week continuing on an 'up'.

Right now, I'm so excited I think I'll go take a nap! Or pop bubble wrap! >:)

File Anxiety

Lacey at Don't Make Drugs made me painfully aware of how important it is to back up your computer (if you haven't yet, check out her blog)! I do... at least I try to... regularly. Much of the important stuff is backed up as I save to close the item down (on a memory stick). Pictures I organize once I have about 4GB and place onto a disk. However, it's the 'in-between' times that I kinda worry. I have a LOT on my computer that I would be devastated to lose.

One of those things (besides all the photos I haven't yet backed up) would have to be the children's book I've been working on.

I've spent HOURS on this thing. Literally, loads of time hovering over my bamboo, drawing and coloring away on Gimp, waiting for the program to load my enormously huge files before compressing them into something a little more manageable for the program so I can proceed to make them bigger yet again... I've spent far too much time on this thing... and I would be DEVASTATED to lose it.

Sure, I've got a hard copy (aka, really old paper copy of this book I made 12 years ago in pencil and pencil-crayon), so it wouldn't be completely lost, but I've spent soooo much time on this thing already. The pages are made, the gimp files are still there so it's easier to edit anything if I need to, the cover I completed today, I've got my ISBN and my bar code... it's almost a complete book already. So, to lose it all... well...

I'd probably cry for weeks.

Anyway, on that note, I took her suggestion, swallowed my penny pinching ways, and we went out and bought an external hard drive. Took us long enough. I really don't know why. Nice thing was, when we got to Future shop, the Iomega one we wanted had an even larger one on sale! 1TB for $99! And we had a $25 gift card, too! So, for just under $90 (after tax and all that) I now have a huge storage unit for all my files... files I don't have to spend hours upon hours organizing and paring down before dragging and dropping them in and backing them up. I can just throw them right on the drive!

Talk about nice!

So, I no longer have as many worries about losing all my pictures and files. No, instead I worry about fires and all my hard drives going berserk at the same time. Hmm... I think I need to take a lesson from Proverbs and 'be anxious about nothing'. Worry doesn't help... worry doesn't help...

Yeah. Deep breath. My files are safe... for now!

I'm HOME

I must say, I had a bit of a surprise when I got home from our little trip. My dishwasher...

I
HATE
MY
DISHWASHER!

It made me cry. No joke. I started it up before we left as we had virtually no clean dishes, washed some of the things that couldn't go into the dishwasher by hand, and we left. What do I come home to?

Dirty dishes.

You could tell the dishwasher had run... the soap was used and the dishes looked as though they had been 'blasted', however one dish ruined everything. See, our dishwasher isn't very good. We need to rinse all the dishes before putting them inside, or else we may have problems. I'm usually very good with this. Somehow, one dish must have escaped my attention. That one dish, obviously on the bottom rack, caused all the cups, bowls, and saucers on the top rack to be coated in whatever-it-had-on-it. Gross. I had to soak everything in the sink and give them a good scrub this morning. I was NOT happy. And the milk jug happened to be on the top rack... which my husband filled this morning without looking at it first... and I could SEE junk inside it after some of the milk had been poured onto our breakfasts...

Sigh. Did I mention I hate my dishwasher? And that it's GE? Don't bother with the cheaper models of GE... really... save yourself the hassle.

On a better note, our trip itself was great! I don't normally go for much in a 'shopping' trip, but we spent a LOT of money. No joke. A LOT. It was all for things we either needed or really wanted but couldn't justify the Canadian price tag on. It was great! The highlights?

• I got a LOT of clothes for Baby M for DIRT CHEAP... cute pants (2 pair), sweaters (2), long sleeve shirt, jean jacket (used), dress (used), pant/jacket set (used), and 2 belts, all for about $20!
• I got myself 4 sweaters... 2 of which were maternity, and two would work for pregnancy. One was $25, one $10, one $4 and one $2.
• Baby M got a winter jacket for $4, and hubby finally got a winter 3in1 jacket for $80 (reg $250). He's been without a real winter jacket for over a year now... just using his leather ones with a sweater underneath for those really cold days.
• I actually bought myself some jewelry! A necklace & earrings set, and 3 bracelet set for $5 total.
• I found a 7.5 foot Christmas tree... for $58! And it's nice too (MUCH nicer than our old one was brand new... which was the same price)!
• We already got a Christmas present for Baby M (and our lil unborn baby) for $25... a steel red wagon! Regular price was $50... it was on sale! SO happy!
• I found my milk crates (bought 4) for $3.50 each. Here at home they are usually $7-10... or at least that's the cheapest I've seen them for. Now I can organize my deep freeze!
• We FINALLY found filters for our humidifiers. Here we usually need to search forever for the things, and the ones for the small humidifier cost $10 each, and for our large one $25-30. We found a 2 pack of the smaller ones for $8, and one larger one (at Fleet Farms) was $15. SO happy!
• I got lots of organizers for cheap. Really cheap. On-sale-from-a-deal-already kind of cheap.
• batteries (half the price as at home)... socks... stamps (I couldn't believe how cheap these were here... alphabet stamps and the clear mounting square together were $15... and these were big letters! A set like that would easily run you $40-50 at Michaels)
• I got fabric for making baby blankets! Flannel for $3/yard. Generally they run at close to $5 here at home, and they don't have as nice a selection (I'm talking Walmart... we don't even have fabric at Walmart anymore... so getting from a fabric store easily brings the price to $6-10/yd). I'll have to post pics of the blankets once I've made them. I bought enough for 3-5 blankets (1.5yds square)

Can you tell I had fun? I managed to keep our 'other' costs down to $50 for fuel, under $70/night stay at hotels (which is difficult in the northern states), and $30/day for food. And that is difficult! Really!

That said... one of the reasons we kept the food price down is due to my 'beverage' fasting. I started January 12th, and will continue for one month total... allowing myself to only drink non-sweetened beverages (not allowed juice, pop, milkshakes, etc, only water and milk). It was much harder than I thought it would be. I CRAVED a milkshake... instead I had to satisfy myself with a little bit of ice cream. It is SO HARD. I didn't think it would be... I generally don't drink much in terms of sweetened beverages. Maybe a sip of pop here or there, or orange juice once a week. Perhaps a milkshake once a month (smoothies generally instead... we make them at home). This was not easy. I wanted root beer, and smoothies, and milkshakes... and couldn't have them. I had to turn away every time. Sigh. At least that helped to keep the budget down... right? Right? Hubs stayed away from most of it too, for my sake. When he did get chocolate milk, he had to keep it away from me, as I would eye it from across the table. Poor guy. It's not nearly as hard when we're at home.

I think I'll be treating myself to a milkshake Valentine's day weekend!

Coming soon... our trip in pictures!

Guilt Free Coffee Cake - Our Weekend Away

Why the strange title? Perhaps this post will help explain.

Weekends away are always such a big deal for me. It's never as easy as 'pack a few things, leave the house, spend some money, come home'. Nope... I have this ability to pack on as much work as I can in the week heading up to the weekend... hopefully to make the return to the house as stress free as possible. And this one was no exception. I did the books (something which hadn't been done for about a month... oops), cleaned the house, hubby helped by doing dishes, I packed everything I could think of (while fitting all of our stuff into ONE suitcase... with room to spare... crazy, I know), cleaned out and re-assembled the diaper bag, made sure I did the laundry as late into the week as I could handle (so we had the most clean clothes at our disposal), etc etc.

Needless to say, I was happy to leave after lunch. And the munchkin was able to get in a little bit of a nap... although not much... on the drive (it's 2 hours... you'd think she would have napped the whole way since there is nothing else for her to do... but no... she had to wake up and cry when we were 1/2 hour from our destination and the only thing that would solve her problem was singing "Old MacDonald"... I began to run out of ideas for things he would have on his farm... and it was a BIG farm!).

I was VERY happy to arrive. And so was she.

Time to play with a compact yet full-of-fun toy I packed along.

We went to eat at Golden Corral... and it was GREAT! They have a wonderful buffet. If you didn't know, this restaurant IS a buffet restaurant, and the food is wonderful. They even have STEAK which they grill right before your eyes! I like the salad selections, and there are many desserts to choose from too (although I was full by that time). Lots of shrimp on my plate. Baby M enjoyed it too.

Our hotel room... after Baby M started playing, ha ha.

The next morning, a wonderful continental breakfast awaited us. Baby M was only too happy to walk down the hall with Daddy. I was glad to see her enjoying just about everything I had on my plate. I think she ate almost as much as I did! Yogurt was her fave, of course.

We headed a bit further south to Fargo... something I didn't really want to have to do, but with the farm needing a few items from Fleet Farm, and there being a number of stores there that I was sure we'd find interesting, that is where we went. Baby M napped the whole way there AND back.

There was a nice big play area in the mall for her to play in. Unfortunately, there were a LOT of kids too, and she was so small she actually got knocked over a few times. We didn't stick around there long.

I ended up finding a pair of pants and two long sleeve shirts at Gordman's (Motherhood Maternity brand) for $60... which is good since all my current stuff (besides my pants) are summer things. I also got to look around Hobby Lobby a bit... but hubby wanted me in and out of there in 15 minutes since he had to stay in the vehicle with baby M, as she fell asleep on the way. Sigh. 15 minutes isn't NEARLY enough. I needed at LEAST 2 hours. Ah well.


We got to swim in the pool at the hotel after supper, and they have a lovely kids wading pool with a polar bear slide. Baby M didn't care for it at first, since it was a bit cooler than she liked, and she clung to me like crazy. The floor was textured, great for little kids! However, I think she is still a bit too young to be in there, and it was really uncomfortable for us adults.

So, we headed to the big pool.

Why is this pic sideways? To throw us off I guess. To be honest I do not know, and I do not wish to fix it. Too bad, we'll all have to tilt our heads. :)

Sunday morning we went to the mall after breakfast to walk around a bit and let Baby M play in the play area by herself. It was great. She seemed to really enjoy herself, and when another baby boy a month older than her came as well, she was thrilled. Two other kids came, and we played a little longer before heading out to lunch.

Sitting on a 'rock' with her zebra.

Couldn't leave out the ladybug!

Climbing the bridge slide.

We went shopping a bit more after that. Target had the cutest little bows for girls that I couldn't resist. I also couldn't decide between the head bands and the clips... so I got both. Yippee! Things for her hair!

Oh... and she decided that daddy needed help pushing the cart!

We had a great time, spent a bit of money (I got another shirt from Walmart, and a scrapbooking tool from target too), and had no complaining from the back seat all the way home (even though she didn't nap). And the reason why I go crazy when about to leave on a trip? It takes 15 minutes to get everything back to normal once we arrive back. No joke. No dirty dishes. Nothing. Just bed and sleep.

Oh... and this is the shirt from Walmart. Isn't it neat? I think it was the only maternity item they had in the store (which bites). Ah well. Notice the bows too? I LOVE those colors. When I get pregnant, it's ALL about the BRIGHT and BOLD colors for some odd reason.

Anyway, that was our weekend in a nutshell. Sigh. I love being home, but sometimes I wish weekends would last a bit longer. Well, next weekend is a Halloween party we've been invited to (all kids are to be there too, of course) and since she has a costume already, I just have to come up with something for Hubby and me. I'll be sure to post pics when I have it.

Now I should really go and bake those choc chip whole wheat oatmeal cookies I've been craving...

Garage Saling

I decided to post a few more pics... cause I love pics, haha. This was taken on the 10th. Baby M looks so funny crawling through the grass. Notice she's not on her knees? She's always crawling hands and feet... so cute.

I haven't taken many with her in her crib, so here she is. I love the shirt she's wearing... saw it at the store on sale for $3... so I couldn't resist. "Konnichewa" it says.

And now for the actual garage sale pics. These clothes all together cost $5... and I got them from the Thrift store. Haha. Not really a garage sale, but hey, still great!

Today's garage sale was more for me than anything. I got a pattern for free, some bamboo decorative sticks for 25cents, 2 sets of Stampin up stamps for $20, a full pack of paper for $3 (24 textured sheets), an embossing pad and light yellow powder and some other embellishments for $3, and an advent calendar (playmobile... super cute, only missing 2 animals) for $5. I'm pretty happy with that! And I've got more stamps! These will be nice for cards, as there's sayings for almost any occasion, as well as pictures for anything too. So happy. :) I got some other stamps on Monday from another sale (no pics, sorry) for $32.50 (one set completely brand new, value would have been $65 total). Both were sets I really wanted too! Ok... now I've got lots of stamps, haha.

Anyway, that's all for now. Have a great weekend!

Another Garage Sale Haul!

I'm thrilled! I only went to one sale and this is what I got! All for $12.50 SOOO happy!

The coffee table needs some tightening and refinishing, but for $2 it's worth it. The toy is supposed to make music and doesn't anymore, well... not really. It was also $2, and since the middle stays put and the other piece is on rollers to 'walk around', I thought that would be a neat thing for Baby M in the office area. The clothes were all 25cents each... 5 shirts, 3 overalls, a sleeper and some socks, plus there is a huge thing of bright pink and purple fabric I thought would work nicely for something in the office too... 50 cents. Then there's all the Childcraft books... I loved those as a kid. I'm now missing books 1,2,3,5,7, and 9, which sucks, but the others were only 50cents each. There was also a cute stacking toy for 50 cents. Now to wash the clothes, the toys, and refinish that coffee table! :)

How can you tell I LOVE garage sales!

Thursday... what a day

First, I'd like to introduce yesturday's Project 365 photo... for day32. This was at Thursday Night Dinner... Baby M is playing baby while Baby C is playing mommy. Isn't that sweet?

Anyway, Thursday is my garage saling day... if there are any sales to be had, and this week there were many! I think I went to 10 or so. I got loads of deals! I don't think I've bought this much stuff garage saling in one day EVER! And I only spent $14.20 for it all! I got more dresses for Baby M, a pair of winter boots for her that should fit this year, the vanity and chair (they were only $3) for a gift later on (yes... I get garage sale items for my baby for gifts... is that bad?). I've always wanted to attempt a layer cake and there was a set for a wedding cake stand for only $1! I'm thrilled with my purchases!


Anyway, that's all for today. Baby M is napping now, so I think I should get all my work done... or as much as I can! I still need to mow lawn...

Friday Finds

I'm so excited about today!

First, I managed to do our finances after taking care of the kiddo, watching her play as I worked. Yes... and she didn't get into any trouble! Then after putting her down for a nap I managed to weed the area by the new trees I planted a month ago (all 14 are growing nicely!), watered them, and my flowers by the house. I managed to do my 40 minute Turbo Jam workout before needing to make lunch (whew... I could feel the burn to say the least... all those lunges and squats...). After lunch we went to town... more specifically to Liquidation World. There were so many deals to be had!

The photo you see below is everything I got for $1. No joke. There were two bins, you got a bag from the front of the store and could fill it with anything in those bins and only pay $1! So I got 4 really bright flower pillow shams (perfect for a kids room), an orange paper folder, a queen bed skirt in blue and a striped blue twin bed skirt, an orange, yellow and red basket that matches a set of three I bought earlier, an ornament (I thought of someone when I saw this, so I'll be giving it to them later), some leather cleaner (I can try to use it on my rather bad looking jacket to see if I can get another year or two from it), 5 small pieces of different fabric (I think 2 of them are supposed to be table mats, and the other is an unfinished ironing board cover, but they are nice fabric), a cute decorative box (see my project 365 day 26 for the 'details' ha ha), and 3 bags of Easter grass. I'm pumped!

Yeah... I crammed that bag full!

I also got a few other things that were on sale. These items were 50% off, plus buy one get one free, so I got a cute box (which I already put together... ha ha) for princess dress up (there's enough there to dress as Belle, Cinderella, Snow White, or Aurora, including jewelry) and a cute pony costume that will fit Baby M for Halloween this year. Total was $12.50. The box of dress up stuff I'll be putting away until Baby M is a bit older, then it will make a good gift. I'd been eyeing that set for ages now... just didn't want to pay $25 for it. I remember wanting something similar to that when I was a kid.


After all those great deals, we came home and hubby worked... again. They are done the field, thankfully, and were able to cover the silage pile that same day (which hasn't happened... at least not since I've been here). Anyway, I didn't do too much in the afternoon except watch Baby M... who was fussing a lot for some reason (she's teething yet again). I did manage to finally pull out the sewing machine and put the edging on a blanket I've been working on for ages now. Voila! It is done!

You probably can't see it but I bought 2 packages of double bias tape in dark brown to sew along the edges of the blanket.

So, that's my day in a nutshell. I'm thinking it was a good day. I can't wait to rest!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Garage Sale Thursday

Thursday I went garage saling, and I actually picked up a few things! I'm really happy with my finds, so I had to post about them here.

I got a pair of sandals for Baby M for 50cents, the outfit was $2 (and will be in storage quite a while), the jacket was $3 (it's size 3, has cute little hearts all over it), the stamp pad was $3.50 (half the price of a new one, and worth it), and the megablox were $5. Some things were a bit more than I would have liked (I've gotten some better deals before, like 3 pair jeans for baby M for $1), but I like them all and they are all in awesome condition.

So, have you hit the local garage sales yet? It was finally some great weather for it and I got a lot of walking in with baby M in the stroller. I'm looking forward to next thursday!

Shopping Fun

I would love to show you all pics of the trip, but unfortunetly they are on an SD card that won't read with the stuff we have right now. So, they will have to wait. They are still there (thankfully). Anyway, I do have pics of the stuff I bought, so I can at least share those pics... but first, here is one of my adorable lil girl... standing and holding herself up to the window! Isn't she the cutest big lil girl? (yup, I'm biased)

My lil sweetheart!

I got all this from Carter's (plus another item as a gift for a friend which I will NOT picture here... just in case) for $40Cdn ($35US). Everything was 50-70% off!

I got these from Younkers. Total cost was about $22Cdn. I ADORE that dress, and the giant ladybug on the bum of the onesie had me sold... for $5!

For less than $15Cdn I got these two items from Osh Kosh.

I got these at Gymboree. The onesie was $4US and the Jacket (size 2-3T) was $7US... total was $12.60Cdn. I wouldn't be able to get a cheaper jacket like that for so little!

This was the best find yet! All the items except the shoes were $1 each. The shoes were $4.50. Total was less than $14Cdn for 4 sweaters, a pair of black leggings, a pair of pink no-feet tights/leggings, two hats, and the cute lil shoes.

I got that lil white 3 drawer cabinet. It uses those snaptop containers (not drawers really) so I can grab them and go if I want (I bought one a long time ago for $8, it was on sale yet, and I got this whole thing with 3 included for $16). I reorganized all my scrapbooking stuff in a few minutes and it is great! I also got some other scrapbooking supplies for cheap like buttons and stamps and organizers... SOOO happy!

I got these baskets from Fleet Farm... $1.50 each for the smaller ones and $1.70 each for the medium ones, 3 of each. My freezer is now organized. Now to find something that will work in my deep freeze! (I can hardly believe I could hardly fit anything more into this freezer a few minutes earlier)

We spent a lot of money, but didn't go over budget! And we got a LOT more than I was expecting for a lot cheaper. I'm so happy! I don't think I'll have to worry about baby clothes now for awhile!

Don't worry, hubby and I did get ourselves a few clothes too. And I shopped at Ikea! WOO!

A Late Thankful Thursday

Didn't manage to get on the computer yesturday... I was having too much fun. Shopping, that is. Yes... fun. I don't know what has happened to me, but the "me" I knew and loved has been replaced by a deal loving, shopping crazed maniac.

Maybe that me has been there all along, just hiding and waiting for the right moment to strike... for the day I'd have a little girl to shop for... yeah... must be that.

Anyway, I'm thankful for the work I've been getting done. I'm so happy I'm getting closer and closer to finished my farm plan for the year. It's taking a bit longer than anticipated, but that's ok.

I'm thankful that garage sales are out and in session. I went garage saling yesturday, spent a total of $8.75 and got a 3 pc dress/sweater/tights outfit, a little butterfly tank top, a sweater, a cute skirt/shirt set, shorts, and swimsuit all for my lil girl, along with a noisemaking fish (it goes 'boing' when you hit it) and a cute dressed up teddy bear. Yeah... all stuff for my baby. Normal?

I'm also thankful for Liquidation World... have I mentioned that place enough in my posts already? I would never have thought to really shop there very often if it wasn't for the fact that my sis works there. Man, they have GOOD deals! I got myself another diaper bag, as my other one was beginning to fall apart (and just isn't big enough any more, since I have to carry food and larger diapers and larger clothes and things with me now), and so I picked this one up for $10. That's it... $10! I saw a similar one at the Bay for $60 before I had my daughter and couldn't bear to spend that much. Whew! I also got a number of other things there as well... almost as good as garage sales! Sometimes better!

And, of course, I'm so thankful to be a mom! I love my daughter! Sometimes I just wanna squeeze her! She has learned how to put herself into the sitting position this week... and I'm so proud! She has also been able to enjoy the outdoors with me a little bit as the weather was so nice monday thru wednesday. I even brought out her Jolly Jumper so she could play while I raked... I craved a good work session outdoors. She is getting so close to crawling... she can now move forward... but will fall on her face repeatedly due to her arms still not cooperating quite right with her! Sooo cute!

A pic of her with my sis-in-law's puppies... she ADORES animals.

Giant Baby!!! I feel bad for the bugs...

Hubby couldn't resist...

I'm also thankful for my mom. I am so blessed to have her. Thanks, Mom, for always being there for me, for being so willing to take our lil munchkin whenever you can, and for cleaning up after us as kids... I am beginning to understand a bit of what it's like... although not nearly as much as I'm sure I'll get once our lil one is walking! Thanks, Mom! I love you!

I'm thankful for my hubby. Apparently he planned something special for our anniversary... which is on mother's day this year... and so, tomorrow, our lil one is going to grandma and grandpa's for the evening and we're going... somewhere. I still don't know where... but I'm excited! I'm supposed to dress up... hmm...

Happy Anniversary, Hon!

So, that's my thankful thursday! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and a Happy Mother's day! I know I will!

What a Week!

This week has been wonderful... crazy in many ways, but wonderful.

Firstly, I finally got some of my work done in the house... see my previous post for details. We also had the Farm Management group head guy down to go over our farm numbers, using my bookkeeping as the basis for what is happening on the farm. It's been interesting, inputting all that data onto the AgExpert program, but it is worth it. Now to learn some of the other ins and outs of the program and familiarize myself with the payroll section, the printable cheques, and the budgeting area. Oh, and apparently, 'word on the street' is that my books are impeccable... I think that's the word that was used... haha. It feels really good to know that I'm doing something right!

Another thing that happened this week... my sister-in-law got her house! She's been renting a place nearby that had mould issues, and needed to find a place for herself (she was looking into renting somewhere else, but this area is known for rental places not being in very good shape most of the time...). It's a nice place, and we'll be helping her move this next weekend.

More news, yesterday I was dress shopping. A friend of mine is getting married later this year, and she asked me to be a bridesmaid! I'm so honored! I've never been a bridesmaid, and I'm looking forward to helping her out with anything she needs help with (like wedding favors, invites, anything...) and I LOVE her other bridesmaids! We all ordered our dresses already (yup... her two sisters came out from the province over and loved the dress she had picked, both ordered it... I went yesterday with the other two bridesmaids and we all ended up loving the dress on us and got it... it's gorgeous... and I forgot my camera so I don't have pics. Shoot). The color? Eggplant (gorgeous!)!

I did some more shopping on Thursday... again at Liquidation world. My sis called me up to say they just got a bunch of clothes in and I had to come check it out. I need clothes this summer, as my wardrobe last year was maternity, and my previous year's stuff needs... well... a lot of it has seemingly shrunk. Seriously. It's like two inches of length disappeared off these shirts. I know I buy cheap clothes, but really! Anyway, off I went. They had everything! I got 10 baby items... 6 for my munchkin, and 4 for gifts for a few people expecting babies this summer. I also got myself a dress, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt jacket type button up, and 3 other shirts for a grand total of $84 after tax. I'm thrilled! The following pic is of items I bought for my baby. Sorry, no pics of the clothes for myself yet. They are designer labels apparently though! Nice stuff!

Anyway, here are a few pics of my lil one. This is my SIL holding my baby... apparently munchkin loved sticking her feet in her face!

Next is my lil girl playing with the ducky she got from her grandparents (my hubby's folks)... it quacks. Although, I think she just likes how it feels.


Here she is on hands and... toes. Yup. Toes. She's getting closer and closer to crawling.


Oh, and we're getting her started early... hahaha


Butt up? Trying to crawl yet again. She's on hands and knees quite often. It's so cute!


Toes are fun!

Week Off

I decided that it would be a good idea to fast from the internet for a week starting tomorrow, along with TV. I'll still use the computer, but that is work related. However, I think that the internet is taking up a lot of my time lately and I need to focus that time elsewhere, so I'll be taking a break.

Anyway, I just had to share... yesturday I went shopping and snagged some MORE deals! I love deals! I'm a good Mennonite... (hahahaha). Anyway, for less than $45 I got all that is in the photo below: an over-the-door shoe organizer, two wood/glass candle lanterns, 4 packs of different picture hanging hardware, a 6-piece cloth dish protector pack, a calendar/organizer, a queen duvet cover and shams in chocolate brown/grey-blue (I'd been looking for a duvet cover for a long time already, and this one was just what I was looking for, and less than $20), and 3 bright colored throw blankets (perfect for picnics!). Woo Hoo! I love Liquidation World... especially when they are clearing out older stock to make way for a new shipment... my sis works there so I get 'inside tips' on when they are selling out stuff! I'm thinking of buying a sheet set for a twin bed for Marin as all their sheets are 50% off right now.

Anyway, I'll miss reading all your blogs the next week... and writing in my own blog as well. I'll see you all next week! Have a great one!