The Lily Pad

Going through my pictures tonight I found that I have a lot of stuff in the works, but not too much completed, ready for reveal, or small enough to just throw in here. Interestingly enough, all of tonights pictures have two things in common...Valentine's Day and pink! First up is Madelyn modeling a lovely Valentine's dress and doing the mashed potato. Second is a little heart decoration that I made on a whim to go over my mantle. . I kind of consider this a craft fail, I'm not loving the LOVE so I'll probably be reworking these soon. Plus...sneak peak...(hint hint). Madelyn channeling her inner diva! Just a heart to show you that I LOVE comments, so leave em. Good, bad, and ugly. Well, maybe not ugly because then I might cry.

Raise your hand if you watch The Biggest Loser? I love that show! I love watching people change their lives and workout from the comfort of my couch while eating m&ms. If you don't watch, I'll fill you in a little bit. It's a weight loss competition for teams of two and they are voted off based on their weightloss percentage. This season there is a mother daughter team that is really hard core. They are the green team, Miggy and Migdalia. Those that watch are shaking their heads in agreement right now. They have been given a lot of grief because they are strong hispanic women that don't show emotion. Jillian got in Migdalia (the daughters) face last week yelling at her to feel some emotion, to cry, that crying wasn't weak. I tend to agree that feeling emotions is a sign of strength and that holding them in isn't always best. That is until I learned this week that Migdalia's husband was scheduled to leave for Afghanistan WHILE she was at the ranch (if she...

Head over to Three G's for more on the crafting weekend. Be sure to scroll down for all the posts, Denise and I were dual posting.

There are exciting things in the works for this weekend, a friend is coming over for a CRAFTING EXTRAVAGANZA! Of course that means that I need to do a cleaning extravaganza first because we've been out of town for 3 weeks, we are renewing our lease and the property manager wants to look at the house, and I'm getting tired of the clutter. The property manager thing has me in a tizzy because for some reason I have it my head that she's going to open closets and drawers, and I know that isn't reality, but that didn't stop me from organizing and cleaning out two closets yesterday while my daughter continued to destroy the house with toys. Seriously, the toys have taken over the kitchen/family room, the living room and are now creeping into the hall threatening to take over my bedroom. It's a very scary thing. Now ask me if I've picked them up. Nope! I'm going to call my local hardware store this afternoon and see if they will cut a 2x4 into 3 inch pi...

My life is a little random right now, so here are some things that don't really need a post all to themselves. 1. My daughter has a serious issue with hygeine. As in it's her favorite things to do. Wash her hands? Oh yeah! She'll wash her hands all day if I let her. Brush her teeth? I'm lucky if the 3 times a day is enough to appease her. Bath? Heck Yeah! She'll take a bath anytime, and if you mention any of the above things she will run to the associated area and try to do it. Just say bath and she starts stripping. I don't have to spell candy, or toys, or play, but I have to spell teeth, wash, and bath. 2. She's also on a serious peanut butter kick. As in she says "butter poon". Meaning she wants her peanut butter on a spoon, don't ruin it with bread or crackers. Her lunch the past three days has been 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, yogurt, and tortilla chips. Such a balanced diet. 3. Here Madelyn demonstrates how to go from...

Also published over at Three G's Crafts, head over there for some yummy lemon curd, a $0.25 project, and much more crafty and food fun! Amber over at .{aefilkins} is hosting a really fun event called Friend Making Monday! I like making friends so I'm joining in, plus her question today ties in with something that I've been thinking a whole lot about lately given my recent escapade to JoAnnes and the realization that I really need a whole lot more money to feed my habit. :) The Question: With the new year here, and resolutions & organizational goals in full force, what are some of the projects on your list? Are you working on any specific projects around the house, such as purging, organizing, craft projects, home improvement projects? In my new notebook, I have a list of projects that I want to complete for 2010, plus several pages of fun ideas for holiday and seasonal fun with Madelyn. So, here's a quick peak at my list: 1. Redo cushions for my Grandaddy...

There's a new post up over at Three G's Crafts , go check it out. Denise kidnapped me and made me shop for crafting stuff. It was just like going to a bar. Don't believe me? Go read it! Are you a follower yet? If not, you should be because exciting things are happening and there just might be something in it for you! I'm just saying. I added a cute little froggy widget over there on the right. Join the FrogBlog so that I can see when you pop by. I have decided to let Jillian Micheals kick my butt via dvd since according to the scale tonight I managed to GAIN 12 pounds over the holiday. That is just ridiculous. I swear my body goes back to caveman times in cold weather and starts packing it on so I don't freeze to death. While I didn't eat that well, I know I didn't eat so bad that it warranted 12lbs. Unfortunately I like food too much to really do much with diet this time of year so butt kicking it is. I'll be purchasing my dvd tomorrow and starting...

Last night I left Asheville with tears in my eyes, sad to be leaving family, anxious about flying with a toddler and our impending late night return home, lamenting the fact that soon my husband will be deploying and at some point in the pity party I realized that all of those things are things to be thankful for. Given the current situation in Haiti and the day to day poverty and problems facing people all over the world, I should be thankful that my "goodbye" to my family is for a short time, not permanant, that I'm able to fly and visit family and have them visit us with some regularity, that flying with my beautiful daughter (who travels very well) is a blessing many don't have, and that I still have time before my husband deploys and that he is still alive and capable of deploying are all things to be thankful for. Sometimes I forget to remember how much worse things could be and to be thankful for all that I have. I am thankful that I am able to have and to hand...

I am a huge a fan of baby wearing. It is so easy and wonderful and snuggly and keeps your hands free so you can do many many things. I wore Madelyn a lot and my sling was a lifesaver on our first flight, she snuggled in and went to sleep and I changed planes, got a hot dog and took a pee all while she was snuggled to my chest! I guess Madelyn hasn't forgotten the wonderfulness of baby wearing either: Why yes, she is wearing her baby around her neck with a pearl necklace around the baby's neck. I don't see a problem.

Hat and fingerless mitts. Go check out this cute little knitting project over on ThreeG's crafts that I completed. Become a follower over there and I'll stop posting links here. :) I promise there's a holiday recap post coming up, with pictures. To tide you over though, here's a grumpy munchkin.

Go check out my friends awesome craft blog that I am plotting to take over on my quest to take over the world! Three G's Crafts.

Nevermind the fact that I didn't blog for the last couple weeks of 2009, but something about being with family, lack of wireless, and a foot of snow just didn't lend itself to blogging. My camera is currently MIA (in either my parents car or my FIL) so no pictures for you. I thought about doing a traditional resolutions post, but I don't believe in resolutions. I feel we should always strive to grow and to better ourselves. There are a few things I want to do this year, a few things I am looking forward to and a few that I am dreading. Things I want to do: Visit San Francisco (probably won't happen til 2011 cause of things I am dreading) Snorkle/go diving Start sewing more and doing tons more crafts. Things I'm looking forward to: Crafting w/ my partner in Craft, Denise Continuing volunteering with LINKS and the Family Readiness Program Vacation visits from family Another CA spring and summer! :) Things I am dreading: deployment of my husband deployment of our fr...