Erin's Christmas Money

This is a post for my relatives, so those of you that arent interested can just X out now.

Erin spent her Christmas money today. So, I figured that Dad/Sammy and MeMa and PaPa would want to see what she got with the money/giftcard.

She got a Barbie Hug 'n Heal Pet Doctor with her Christmas money

And she got a B. Meowsic Keyboard with her giftcard.

So there you two go. Figured you guys might want to see what she actually got with the money/giftcard.

30 Day Challenge - Day Thirteen

A picture of your favorite band or artist

30 Day Challenge - Day Twelve

A picture of something you love

Baking. I love to bake. Cookies, pies, bread, etc. I dont know why, but I just love to bake.

30 Day Challenge - Day Eleven

A picture of something you hate

 I realize this isnt exactly of what it is I hate. But it -is- of splashing water. See, I hate hate HATE water being splashed in my face. I despise it. Showering is a pain because of it.  I can get my face wet, but it cant splash my face. Ugh. I climb up the wall. It's a feeling I just dont tolerate. #shudder

Now, for a pet (pun not intended) peeve of mine: Pets in costume. Now, I dont care if YOU dress your pet up. That's your choice. I just think it's silly. I fully understand dressing your chihuahua up in the winter cause it's cold. That's different. I'm talking about dressing your Rotti up like a ballerina, etc. I think it's unbelievably silly. But hey, it's your pet, not mine. Your money, not mine.

Like father, like son

Eric thought his dad would want to see this photo, since I know he checks the blog...

Here you go Dad! Eric thought this might remind you of him at this age.

30 Day Challenge -- Day Ten

A picture of your house

This is currently where we are living in Groton. Who knows where we'll end up next. That's why I love Eric being in the Navy.

Curtains, children and a closet.

Yeah, stupid title, but that's what this post is about. Today was a domestic day for me. Eric and I converted a coat closet into a pantry. Going from a kitchen with over 30 cupboards to one with 15 leaves a lot to be desired. Especially when the old kitchen had a HUGE pantry. It was a converted laundry closet, so you can imagine the size of it. So, we converted the closet so that we'd have storage space for food, since my Fiestaware fills every cupboard in the kitchen. Please, dont judge what's IN our pantry. Not everyone is a health nut and I love to bake. :)

So if you look to the top of the picture, you can see the original metal shelf that was the coat closet part. We added the black shelves. It was fairly simple. We got some 5/8 inch plywood, some 2x3's for bracing and some faux leather Contact Paper to cover the shelves with. Now we have a LOT of storage space for food.

The second project I did today was convert a fabric shower curtain into regular curtains for the living room. Our living room window is oddly sized and I couldnt find curtains to fit. Not only that, I didnt find any I liked enough to hem. So we bought a fabric shower curtain in a pattern we liked and I made the curtains from that. What do you think?

I think they turned out pretty well, but I'm biased cause I made them. The final thing I'm gonna leave you with are pics of the girls (and Eric) playing in the snow.

30 Day Challenge -- Day Nine

A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

I hope you like this one Grandma. :)

My grandma. No matter what the situation has been, she's been there for me. Through the good and the bad.

Snow - December 26/27 Part II

I'm so dissapointed. We got maybe 6 inches total in the "blizzard" that wasnt. We got horridly high winds. A gust of 68 mph was reported in Groton, but very little snow. :( Oh well, you win some, you lose some. At least we got snow.

 In the afternoon, Eric happened to see movement in the trees behind our house. It was a gorgeous hawk, we think. We know it's a bird of prey, but we're not certain it's a hawk. It looks like one.

 And I'm throwing in a random pic of the dead tree in our backyard just because I think it's gorgeous.

30 Day Challenge - Day Eight

A picture that makes you laugh



Yes, this picture makes me laugh. It's of me in 1999. I was bored and when I was bored back then, I tended to mess around with my hair. This is the result of that boredom one day. Yes Grandma, I posted this picture for all the world to see.

Snow - December 26/27 - Part 1

Well, since we're supposed to be expecting MASSIVE amounts of snow here, I thought I'd take pictures. I love snow, btw. I was excited to hear that we're expecting 11-16 inches or more here. Woo hoo! Blizzard! Bring it on!

 This is currently what it looks like out my backdoor. If you notice, it's almost all the way up the little bump that leads in the back door. So, we're right at 4-5 inches in snow right now.

 And this is the view out over the back common area behind our house. Snow, snow everywhere!

30 Day Challenge - Day Seven

A picture of your most treasured item

Since it's supposed to be a THING, it would be my wedding set. It's platinum and diamonds. Eric got a 3 stone engagement ring to symbolize me and the two girls. Since he was marrying a family and not just me. Awesome isnt it?

Christmas!!

I know that I am truly blessed with wonderful children. You see, they sleep in on Christmas morning. No, not til 7am or some such nonsense. They truly sleep in. 9am is pretty normal. Today it was 10 am. Yes, I'm serious. 10 am on Christmas morning! When they finally awoke, they were treated to the sight of a well loaded tree.

Then they were forced to eat breakfast before they were allowed to open their gifts. We did bend on that rule a little. We allowed them to open their stockings while the sausage cheese balls baked.

Then after they devoured their breakfast, it was on to the main event: the presents under the tree. They had sooo many I was amazed. Gifts from Santa, from us, from Grandma, from Grammy and Grandpa, from MeMa, Papa and Aunt Many, from Grammy Sammy and Grandpa Rich. They were loaded with presents. They had a good time of it though.

30 Day Challenge - Day Six

A picture of a person you’d love to trade places with for a day

I really dont know why, but I'd love to trade places with Reese Witherspoon just for one day.

30 Day Challenge - Day Five

A picture of your favorite memory

Unfortunately, I dont have a picture of my favorite memory. Perhaps my Grandma does, but I looked everywhere and I dont. My favorite memory is walking the trails through my Grandma and Grandpa's old place in Negley. My Grandpa would take me and my brother on these long walks all over there land. It's my favorite memory period.

However, since I'm supposed to post a picture, I'm gonna go with my second favorite memory: My wedding day to Eric.

It was the day I truly KNEW that my life was forever changed. Now, 4 years later, I cant imagine my life being any different than it is now.

30 Day Challenge - Day Four

A picture of your night

We spent the night making sugar cookies and 'painting' them. The 'paint' is a simple sugar glaze with food coloring added. The kids had a grand time frosting the cookies this way.

Now, just because it's my blog and I can, here are more pics of the sugar cookie decorating.

 The kids 'painting' the cookies.

 Alvin had a great time.

How Alvin (and the girls) cleaned up the 'paint'.

30 Day Challenge - Day Three

A picture of the cast from your favorite show

If you'll notice, there is no cast. Hoarders is about real people, with real hoarding issues. I've not missed an episode of this show yet. Never fails to inspire me to clean house all day Tuesday too.

However, Star Trek: The Next Generation is my favorite show EVER. I love spending lazy days watching old marathons of it. Yes, I'm a dork. It's ok, cause I married a dork too.

30 Day Challenge - Day Two

A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

Yep, that's me and my Emali. So many things have changed in my life over the last 10 years that she's one of the few that have remained from my life before then. (Grandma, I know you've been there too. You get your own post later on.) I love this child of mine more than she'll know. She irritates me but it's because she's so much like me personality wise. I hope that we remain as close as we are now for many years to come. Especially the trying teenage years that are soon to be upon us.