I used this tutorial to make these and I LOVE them.
http://365days2simplicity.blogspot.com/2011/04/easy-no-sew-roman-shades.html
Monday, August 29, 2011
New window treatments
I know, it wasn't that long ago that I made curtains for the kitchen.. but those were brown and we just painted the countertops black. (plus, they were getting dirty and "old")
I used this tutorial to make these and I LOVE them.
http://365days2simplicity.blogspot.com/2011/04/easy-no-sew-roman-shades.html
I used this tutorial to make these and I LOVE them.
http://365days2simplicity.blogspot.com/2011/04/easy-no-sew-roman-shades.html
Friday, August 26, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Today was a big day in Javan's world.
Lance and I decided to start a system for Javan to earn his own money. There are five things that he has to do each day (go the whole day without picking his nose, obey the first time he's asked, make his bed before breakfast, brush his teach without being asked, and I can't think of the 5th one and i'm too tired to run downstairs to look.. but you get the idea). He gets 5 cents per day for each item he accomplishes totaling a whopping $1.75 per week if he doesn't get any stickers taken off of the chart.
He had already accumulated a hefty sum from birthdays and Christmas so we took all of that money, put it in saving and gave him $7 and some change for him to start off with.
Well, the first day we started it... he spent his first dollar at dunkin donuts for a chocolate glaze donut.
Today was big for him, though. He had this huge balloon that he had been playing with over the past few days.... blowing it up and sucking the air out.... well, today it popped while he was filling it with air.
Oh the tears that his "favorite" toy was broken.
So, i told him that if he wanted to spend his money on a new balloon i had to go to the store anyway, he could bring his money and come with me and buy a new balloon.
Let me tell ya, it was excruciating to stand in the isles as he looked at each item and asked how much each thing was but so good because he realized that $6 doesn't go very far. It was interesting because the package of balloons were $2 and he chose not to buy them.
That was a proud mamma moment....
...until we got to the checkout line for my purchase and the package of m&m's were too enticing for him to pass up. So, yes, he spent $1 on some m&m's.
He honestly thought it was the coolest thing that he was able to get his VERY OWN RECEIPT!
Its been great for Javan to have the freedom to spend his money on what he wants and really decide if its something he REALLY wants and great for me because I don't have to say no to him all the time when are at the store. I just have to say "You can save up for it" or "if you want to spend your money on that.." Its cut down on the Mcdonald's requests too...
In other news, baby Ferris is beginning to run out of any extra room she had in my tummy. She's pushing herself around in there like she owns the place. ok, i guess she rules the roost for the next few months but I have to say... the past few days have been beginning to get a little uncomfortable.
One week away from the beginning of the 3rd trimester!
Lance and I decided to start a system for Javan to earn his own money. There are five things that he has to do each day (go the whole day without picking his nose, obey the first time he's asked, make his bed before breakfast, brush his teach without being asked, and I can't think of the 5th one and i'm too tired to run downstairs to look.. but you get the idea). He gets 5 cents per day for each item he accomplishes totaling a whopping $1.75 per week if he doesn't get any stickers taken off of the chart.
He had already accumulated a hefty sum from birthdays and Christmas so we took all of that money, put it in saving and gave him $7 and some change for him to start off with.
Well, the first day we started it... he spent his first dollar at dunkin donuts for a chocolate glaze donut.
Today was big for him, though. He had this huge balloon that he had been playing with over the past few days.... blowing it up and sucking the air out.... well, today it popped while he was filling it with air.
Oh the tears that his "favorite" toy was broken.
So, i told him that if he wanted to spend his money on a new balloon i had to go to the store anyway, he could bring his money and come with me and buy a new balloon.
Let me tell ya, it was excruciating to stand in the isles as he looked at each item and asked how much each thing was but so good because he realized that $6 doesn't go very far. It was interesting because the package of balloons were $2 and he chose not to buy them.
That was a proud mamma moment....
...until we got to the checkout line for my purchase and the package of m&m's were too enticing for him to pass up. So, yes, he spent $1 on some m&m's.
He honestly thought it was the coolest thing that he was able to get his VERY OWN RECEIPT!
Its been great for Javan to have the freedom to spend his money on what he wants and really decide if its something he REALLY wants and great for me because I don't have to say no to him all the time when are at the store. I just have to say "You can save up for it" or "if you want to spend your money on that.." Its cut down on the Mcdonald's requests too...
In other news, baby Ferris is beginning to run out of any extra room she had in my tummy. She's pushing herself around in there like she owns the place. ok, i guess she rules the roost for the next few months but I have to say... the past few days have been beginning to get a little uncomfortable.
One week away from the beginning of the 3rd trimester!
Monday, August 22, 2011
I love my little boy
Javan told me today, as he munched on a juicy peach:
"Mom, I'm going to make a peach without any sugar, that way you can eat one with me."
He's always looking after his momma. :-)
I did explain to him that God made peaches with sugar in them because that's the way He wanted them and that it was good sugar for people to eat. Its just that right now mommy's body isn't working the way God made it to work and we keep praying that God will heal my body so that I can have yummy sweet peaches with my little boy.
"Mom, I'm going to make a peach without any sugar, that way you can eat one with me."
He's always looking after his momma. :-)
I did explain to him that God made peaches with sugar in them because that's the way He wanted them and that it was good sugar for people to eat. Its just that right now mommy's body isn't working the way God made it to work and we keep praying that God will heal my body so that I can have yummy sweet peaches with my little boy.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Pictures from Alaska
The cruise to Alaska was great! We really enjoyed relaxing on the cruise and spending time with mom and dad. I was surprised that there really wasn't much ice and snow. Since it is the end of the summer, most of it had melted. The towns along the coast don't get much more snow than we do here in Kansas but in the mountains they can get feet and feet of it (in the Fjord, they said it can get as much as 100 feet!!)
We arrived in Seattle late Monday night and on Tuesday our bus driver that we got to take us to the cruise ship took us on a tour of Seattle as well. We went to the Space Needle and walked around the city a little then we made a stop at Pikes Market which is a huge market with food and crafts. This is also where the first Starbucks is.
Once on the cruise ship we cruised for 2 days and on the 3rd day we went through Tracy Arm Fjord... it was pretty chilly there... about 48 degrees but the views were spectacular. The iceburgs in the water were really amazing because the tightly packed ice was a glowing blue color.
Pictures of Seattle, cruising, and Tracy Arm Fjord:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/SeattleAndCruisingThroughTheTracyArmFjord
The next stop was an adorable little town called Skagway. Here we took a train ride up the mountains and into Canada. The train ride was very nice but it was quite foggy. Then, Lance and I took a bike ride tour for 15 miles down into the town of Skagway. Brrr.. it was still pretty foggy and misting so it was a chilly bike ride. I really enjoyed it, though. The views were awesome. Once back in Skagway, we had a tour of the town called "Ghosts and girls" tour where we learned about the history of the town, some ghost stories and how the women in the brothels had a lot of power back then.
Pictures of Skagway:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/FirstStopSkagway
The next stop was Juneau Alaska. Another cute little town (although much bigger than Skagway). Mom went hiking on top of the Mendenhall Glacier (the famous glacier in that area) and dad took a float plane fishing. Lance and I went Kayaking at a lake about 9 miles away from the Mendenhall Glacier.
Pictures of Juneau :
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/JuneauAlaska
Then we make a stop in Ketchikan, Alaska. Here we hiked through one of the largest rainforests in the world. The tour ended at a Salmon hatchery where we were able to see a BEAR! Then we got to pet a real reindeer, see an injured owl and eagle close up, and watch someone work on building a totem pole.
Pictures of Ketchikan:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/KetchikanAlaska
Our final stop was for just a few hours in the evening in Victoria, BC Canada. We toured a gorgeous castle. Lance loved all of the detail of the woodworking and Mom was in heaven with all of the antiques!!
On our ride back we stopped at the parliament building which was all lit up with lights! So pretty!!!
Pictures of Victoria:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/VictoriaBCCanada
The next morning we arrived in Seattle and began our trek back home. It was an awesome experience! :-)
We arrived in Seattle late Monday night and on Tuesday our bus driver that we got to take us to the cruise ship took us on a tour of Seattle as well. We went to the Space Needle and walked around the city a little then we made a stop at Pikes Market which is a huge market with food and crafts. This is also where the first Starbucks is.
Once on the cruise ship we cruised for 2 days and on the 3rd day we went through Tracy Arm Fjord... it was pretty chilly there... about 48 degrees but the views were spectacular. The iceburgs in the water were really amazing because the tightly packed ice was a glowing blue color.
Pictures of Seattle, cruising, and Tracy Arm Fjord:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/SeattleAndCruisingThroughTheTracyArmFjord
The next stop was an adorable little town called Skagway. Here we took a train ride up the mountains and into Canada. The train ride was very nice but it was quite foggy. Then, Lance and I took a bike ride tour for 15 miles down into the town of Skagway. Brrr.. it was still pretty foggy and misting so it was a chilly bike ride. I really enjoyed it, though. The views were awesome. Once back in Skagway, we had a tour of the town called "Ghosts and girls" tour where we learned about the history of the town, some ghost stories and how the women in the brothels had a lot of power back then.
Pictures of Skagway:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/FirstStopSkagway
The next stop was Juneau Alaska. Another cute little town (although much bigger than Skagway). Mom went hiking on top of the Mendenhall Glacier (the famous glacier in that area) and dad took a float plane fishing. Lance and I went Kayaking at a lake about 9 miles away from the Mendenhall Glacier.
Pictures of Juneau :
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/JuneauAlaska
Then we make a stop in Ketchikan, Alaska. Here we hiked through one of the largest rainforests in the world. The tour ended at a Salmon hatchery where we were able to see a BEAR! Then we got to pet a real reindeer, see an injured owl and eagle close up, and watch someone work on building a totem pole.
Pictures of Ketchikan:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/KetchikanAlaska
Our final stop was for just a few hours in the evening in Victoria, BC Canada. We toured a gorgeous castle. Lance loved all of the detail of the woodworking and Mom was in heaven with all of the antiques!!
On our ride back we stopped at the parliament building which was all lit up with lights! So pretty!!!
Pictures of Victoria:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115639023178791141355/VictoriaBCCanada
The next morning we arrived in Seattle and began our trek back home. It was an awesome experience! :-)
Friday, August 19, 2011
Well, we are home - it feels like forever that we have been back in our normal routine and, um, its not quite normal yet... but we are on the way to getting that way.
We arrived from Alaska on Tuesday night around 11pm or so.... I think it was close to 1am before I actually fell asleep.
Alaska was awesome, by the way, I'll write an update about that in a bit but more importantly... i thought I'd write a little about Javan's first day at school.
So, i we didn't get to sleep until LATE Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I was up at 6 or so anxious and excited to see my little love. Wow did i ever miss Javan's little hugs and snuggles.
Javan spent the night at Shane and Shana's on Tuesday night so I headed on over there at about 6:30am and he was still sleeping. Oh it felt so nice when he woke up and crawled into my lap and snuggled for a while. :-)
Shana made some pancakes so he had a nice breakfast for his first day of school
Thanks Aunt Shana!!!
We took a couple of pictures at Shana's house before we headed to school
This is Javan getting a little nervous as we walked in the front doors.
Ok, mom.. enough pictures! haha. He's got his nametag on and ready to go.
I got out his box of crayons and told him to find a seat. He chose the empty table (no coloring sheets) all by himself. I encouraged him to move to a table that has some other kids at it and coloring sheets. He said he "just wanted to sit by himself". Well, with a little prodding I finally got him to sit with the other kids.. he was less than pleased and still VERY nervous.
Today when I picked him up, he said "mom, can we go to the playground one day when my friend Luigi is there?" I said "Sure, how exciting you met a friend." and he said "Yeah, Luigi has been my friend since kindergarten round up" (kindergarten round up was on Monday, by the way) I guess Luigi didn't come to mind all the other times that I asked him if he made any friends. haha. I'm happy he's having a good time in Kindergarten.
When we got home today, the mailman delivered a belated birthday present from Aunt Kimi, Uncle JR, Ryan, Jeremiah, and Nathan.
What a fun day!!!
Monday, August 8, 2011
The longest hour...
In about 1 hour my computer will be shut down and Lance and I will be heading to the airport! I'm so excited to get away from work for a while.
We arrived in Kansas City from Puerto Rico at 2pm on Saturday. During that time we ran a whole bunch of errands AND put in new countertops in our kitchen! Ok.. they aren't NEW necessarily, but they are refinished to look like they are new. The stuff we used takes 3 days to dry so we decided that this was the PERFECT time to get it done... giving it the entire week we are out of town to dry. I will post pics when it is all finished. We still have to add a few layers of poly so it will be a few days after we get back (plus I have some other idea's a brewing to spruce it up in here..)
I had lots of extra time in Puerto Rico to fill my little mind with all sorts of decorating ideas to get excited about. Once the kitchen is all finished.... the kids room is next. I'm really excited sqeeeeeeee!!!!!
We arrived in Kansas City from Puerto Rico at 2pm on Saturday. During that time we ran a whole bunch of errands AND put in new countertops in our kitchen! Ok.. they aren't NEW necessarily, but they are refinished to look like they are new. The stuff we used takes 3 days to dry so we decided that this was the PERFECT time to get it done... giving it the entire week we are out of town to dry. I will post pics when it is all finished. We still have to add a few layers of poly so it will be a few days after we get back (plus I have some other idea's a brewing to spruce it up in here..)
I had lots of extra time in Puerto Rico to fill my little mind with all sorts of decorating ideas to get excited about. Once the kitchen is all finished.... the kids room is next. I'm really excited sqeeeeeeee!!!!!
Funny things about Puerto Rico
i know there are things I have forgotten but this weekend Lance and I made a list of some things about Puerto Rico that are unique. So here they are:
1. They don't have crosswalks here. Nope. You just stand out on the edge of the curb like your going to just walk across and traffic just stops for you. Its pretty awesome actually.
2. People drive like maniacs here. Seriously. maniacs. Its not unusual to see someone just drive right up onto the sidewalk if they want to...there is no organization to their driving... if you are at a 4 way stop and the lights go out, every body just drives up to the middle and pushes their way through instead of taking turns.
4. Speaking of their driving.. police drive around with their lights on for no reason - so you never know if you are getting pulled over or not.
5. As my momma quickly learned... they ARE Americans... so do ask if they are American. I did NOT make that mistake, for the record, I learned from my mother's example.
6. It rains every day. Nothing really stops for the rain though (except for the occasional big storm) because usually 10 min later its sunny and warm again.
7. Its this interesting mix of incredible wealth and incredible poverty. If you stand on the corner and watch the cars go by, it wouldn't be unusual to see some fancy ridiculously expensive car drive by (or 2 or 3 of them) YET the streets surrounding this city (outside of the 3 major streets that are all nice hotels, restaurants and shops) are just run down streets with graffiti everywhere.
8. Speaking of cars... when I say ridiculously expensive, I'm not referring to BMW's and Lexus's here.. I'm talking about $200,000 Bently's and other cars that I don't care to remember the names. However, I'm afraid Lance might suffer from whiplash from staring too hard as they zoom by. I frequently have to wipe his drool ;-) We noticed that most of the cars end up in the same place (this weird parking lot near a restaurant). Lance's theory is new money=flaunting it (as opposed to old money in kansas city who could care less about the latest trend in cars) or that restaurant is a drug dealing hotspot. MY theory is that these people are wealthy in the US, have a summer home here and instead of purchasing a car that would just sit in the garage while they aren't here... they just RENT these fancy cars when they are here visiting. WHO knows.. it doesn't really matter.
9. The homes are deceiving. They are all surrounded by (usually rusty) metal fences and completely gated in...usually doubly enforced with a heavy metal chain and a padlock (in case the gate wasn't enough) and the window all have bars on them. BUT... if you look inside the gate you may find a huge gorgeous house. Everything is on the lockdown..even our apartment you need 3 keys.. one for the front entrance, one to use the elevator and then one for our apartment. Once in our apartment there are four locks on the door JUST in case you weren't already safe enough.
10. lizards lizards everywhere. Lizards are like our squirrels...seriously. When I first came here I thought it was awesome to see a couple of lizards crawling up a wall when we went for a walk... over time I realized that its more unusual NOT to see any lizards at all that day. Hey, at least they are pretty cute :-) I must look ridiculous to them taking pictures of lizards.. it would be like a tourist coming to ks and gawking and taking photos of a squirrel. haha. THAT's a funny image!
11. The puerto rican's like to party!! Its quite funny, actually. For example, when we were driving to the airport at 5am on a saturday morning... the bars were still packed!
1. They don't have crosswalks here. Nope. You just stand out on the edge of the curb like your going to just walk across and traffic just stops for you. Its pretty awesome actually.
2. People drive like maniacs here. Seriously. maniacs. Its not unusual to see someone just drive right up onto the sidewalk if they want to...there is no organization to their driving... if you are at a 4 way stop and the lights go out, every body just drives up to the middle and pushes their way through instead of taking turns.
4. Speaking of their driving.. police drive around with their lights on for no reason - so you never know if you are getting pulled over or not.
5. As my momma quickly learned... they ARE Americans... so do ask if they are American. I did NOT make that mistake, for the record, I learned from my mother's example.
6. It rains every day. Nothing really stops for the rain though (except for the occasional big storm) because usually 10 min later its sunny and warm again.
7. Its this interesting mix of incredible wealth and incredible poverty. If you stand on the corner and watch the cars go by, it wouldn't be unusual to see some fancy ridiculously expensive car drive by (or 2 or 3 of them) YET the streets surrounding this city (outside of the 3 major streets that are all nice hotels, restaurants and shops) are just run down streets with graffiti everywhere.
8. Speaking of cars... when I say ridiculously expensive, I'm not referring to BMW's and Lexus's here.. I'm talking about $200,000 Bently's and other cars that I don't care to remember the names. However, I'm afraid Lance might suffer from whiplash from staring too hard as they zoom by. I frequently have to wipe his drool ;-) We noticed that most of the cars end up in the same place (this weird parking lot near a restaurant). Lance's theory is new money=flaunting it (as opposed to old money in kansas city who could care less about the latest trend in cars) or that restaurant is a drug dealing hotspot. MY theory is that these people are wealthy in the US, have a summer home here and instead of purchasing a car that would just sit in the garage while they aren't here... they just RENT these fancy cars when they are here visiting. WHO knows.. it doesn't really matter.
9. The homes are deceiving. They are all surrounded by (usually rusty) metal fences and completely gated in...usually doubly enforced with a heavy metal chain and a padlock (in case the gate wasn't enough) and the window all have bars on them. BUT... if you look inside the gate you may find a huge gorgeous house. Everything is on the lockdown..even our apartment you need 3 keys.. one for the front entrance, one to use the elevator and then one for our apartment. Once in our apartment there are four locks on the door JUST in case you weren't already safe enough.
10. lizards lizards everywhere. Lizards are like our squirrels...seriously. When I first came here I thought it was awesome to see a couple of lizards crawling up a wall when we went for a walk... over time I realized that its more unusual NOT to see any lizards at all that day. Hey, at least they are pretty cute :-) I must look ridiculous to them taking pictures of lizards.. it would be like a tourist coming to ks and gawking and taking photos of a squirrel. haha. THAT's a funny image!
11. The puerto rican's like to party!! Its quite funny, actually. For example, when we were driving to the airport at 5am on a saturday morning... the bars were still packed!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Anniversary
Yesterday was our anniversary!! It has been the most amazing year and I can honestly say I love Lance more now that I did a year ago.
We had a really awesome weekend regardless of the fact that Lance openly admits he's not the "super romantic type". I've learned to accept and love that about him and he's learned to pick up on hints ;-)
Saturday night we went kayaking (on a group tour) through a narrow dark channel (it was more than a mile kayak trip). Throughout the channel were twists and turns lined with huge trees. The branches of the trees created a canopy above us and many of the roots of the trees were above ground winding around each other. It was a spectacular site! We chose not to bring out camera for fear of dropping it in the water but so much of me wishes that I had.
On the other side of the channel was the most beautiful bay. The view was spectacular. The sky was perfectly clear and you could see so many stars and constellations. The bay was lined with trees as well and was absolutely gorgeous. But, what made the bay SO amazing was the WATER. When you put your hand in the water GLOWED! The water was filled with the same enzymes that make a lightening bug glow so when you move it... it literally glowed. It was so cool to pour the water down your arm and watch the glowing drops drip down.
The tour guide told us that there are only 5 bio-luminescent bays in the world. 3 are in Puerto Rico. One of the bays in Puerto Rico was destroyed from pollution. There is one "biobay" in Jamaica and that one, too, was destroyed from pollution. The only other biobay is in the Bahamas. It just made it all that much more spectacular to know that we were literally sitting in one of the natural wonders of the world.
Sunday we slept in, watched movies, did some grocery shopping, read our "bradley birthing" book ... ya know normal stuff... and then after dinner we went for a walk on the beach and talked about highlights from last year and goals for this year. :-) The little park by our apartment had a music festival so we hung out and listened to music and pretended that the festival was in honor of our anniversary ;-) haha.
CHECK out my awesome earrings that Lance bought me on Saturday at the biobay! Are they not the coolest EVER! They are actual butterfly wings. The pic is a little hard to see... you can see them really clearly on the same pic that is posted on facebook (I have no idea why it doesn't want to cooperate for me here.
We had a really awesome weekend regardless of the fact that Lance openly admits he's not the "super romantic type". I've learned to accept and love that about him and he's learned to pick up on hints ;-)
Saturday night we went kayaking (on a group tour) through a narrow dark channel (it was more than a mile kayak trip). Throughout the channel were twists and turns lined with huge trees. The branches of the trees created a canopy above us and many of the roots of the trees were above ground winding around each other. It was a spectacular site! We chose not to bring out camera for fear of dropping it in the water but so much of me wishes that I had.
On the other side of the channel was the most beautiful bay. The view was spectacular. The sky was perfectly clear and you could see so many stars and constellations. The bay was lined with trees as well and was absolutely gorgeous. But, what made the bay SO amazing was the WATER. When you put your hand in the water GLOWED! The water was filled with the same enzymes that make a lightening bug glow so when you move it... it literally glowed. It was so cool to pour the water down your arm and watch the glowing drops drip down.
The tour guide told us that there are only 5 bio-luminescent bays in the world. 3 are in Puerto Rico. One of the bays in Puerto Rico was destroyed from pollution. There is one "biobay" in Jamaica and that one, too, was destroyed from pollution. The only other biobay is in the Bahamas. It just made it all that much more spectacular to know that we were literally sitting in one of the natural wonders of the world.
Sunday we slept in, watched movies, did some grocery shopping, read our "bradley birthing" book ... ya know normal stuff... and then after dinner we went for a walk on the beach and talked about highlights from last year and goals for this year. :-) The little park by our apartment had a music festival so we hung out and listened to music and pretended that the festival was in honor of our anniversary ;-) haha.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)