non-blogging

We just got back from a great time at the ocean with lots of family, and to keep things interesting, this week we are moving. It's a whole 15 minutes away from where we live now. So who knows when we'll be internet ready at the new place? Blogging may or may not be scarce...
In the meantime, here is a great site that I am very attached to financially: mint.com It's a website that will connect to all your financial accounts, like banks & credit cards, and instead of going to multiple sites to try and keep track of what you spend where, it tells you in nice little charts and graphs. It can even send you emails when you go over the budget you set up. Love it.

Sewing

I recently borrowed my sister in law's sewing machine for a little bit and I was able to cram in all kinds of mending. Pretty much the entire pile that we have accumulated since we got married almost 3 years ago. One pair of pants turned to shorts, long skirt turned to a short one, 5 long sleeve shirts turned into short sleeves (Brandon always busts out of the elbows somehow), 4 pillows covered, 3 sweaters with holes patched, a skirt & shirt re-hemmed, one skirt turned into a bag, and I sewed a small bag for Calvin since he always tries to carry around my purse and the diaper bag, etc. Now he has one his size, that of course he has no interest in.

Toy Box paint options

Here are some of the things we put in Calvin's room, so whatever design we choose for the toy box it will be in these kind of colors. This is what I have so far, try to image them in more accurate colors and a lot nicer.

Toy Box style A:
Toy Box style B (aquarium):
Toy Box style C:

Feel free to voice your opinion on the poll ->

Special Popsicles

I bought some plastic containers to make homemade popsicles. You know, pour in some OJ or yogurt, etc. However, the company seems to be advertising for use of green pepper popsicles. Seriously? Who designed their packaging? The person was either confused, thinking perhaps the pepper was a lime?? Or maybe they only had two images available on their computer and decided apples and green peppers look appealing enough. I guess it works. I bought them, didn't I? Maybe green pepper popsicles are better I think. Green eggs and ham, right? Can't knock it 'till you try it? ....no, I don't think so.

Done

Brandon proved us all wrong and finished the toy box in a week. Now how long will it take for me to paint it .....?? I'll post some samples and maybe take a poll on some ideas.

Time to draw

Since Calvin is one now and has enjoyed playing with his friends' magna doodles, I figured it was time we got him one of his own. Sometimes I forget it's his toy though and he has to pull it out of my hands. He will be starting art lessons soon...

Chicken pox?!

Calvin woke up this morning with spots. Gradually more & more have appeared and I was thinking it was some kind of allergic reaction, I mean, kids these days get vaccines for chicken pox, right? So they don't get it anymore? Then my friend reminded me that they get the vaccine at their one year appointment - which was last week. And it takes about a week for it to show up. They said it's common to have a "reaction" to the vaccine. The "reaction" is the chicken pox.
It's suppose to be less contagious getting it from a vaccine and it's suppose to be more mild (let's hope!). It should be gone in a few days or so. However, the time he was most contagious was before today and guess who has never had the chicken pox - Brandon.
UPDATE: So the spots kept getting worse & worse and started looking more bizarre than chicken pox, so I took him to the doctor and it's not chicken pox, just some virus he most likely got from one of his vaccines. It doesn't change much besides the fact that he's not contagious now, and he is going to be looking a lot worse than chicken pox.

Toy Box

We have been looking around for a good deal on a toy box and Brandon has decided to make one for us. He says it will be really simple and then I can paint it and make it look cool. My only question is: Will Calvin still be playing with toys when this project gets finished?
You can make your guess at the poll on the side ->

Sweat Fest 2009 Champion

Sweat Fest was a big success. A lot of us slacked off towards the end, but the ones that stuck with it lost some impressive weight. As a group we lost around 185 pounds. The winner was our friend Reid who lost 14% of his body weight! It was great to be part of something that helped my friends & family & me to be healthier.
Maybe we'll have to do the competition again sometime. Or another sort of competition. Any ideas? What else would be a fun thing to compete in?