Can I help?

I was trying to figure out this morning how I could make some much needed extra money in order to buy things like carseats (apparently you have to get more than one through the life of your child- didn't know that). So, I remembered something I used to do all the time. Here's the plan. Please let me know if you would like me to make your homemade Christmas cards or scrapbooks (great for Christmas gifts). I have done a lot of cards and scrapbooks for other people and I loved doing it. I can also make digital scrapbooks, well, anyone can but I can do it for you if you don't want to take the time. I have plenty of examples I can email you or client recommendations and my prices are quite reasonable. So, please tell anyone who might need these services and let me know how I can help. Oh, you can email me at supercat107@yahoo.com if you want to hear more.

Vacation

I know I should have written more by now but it's just about all i can do to post pictures. This is from our cruise we took in Sept. If you click on Linda & Don's blog there are more pictures and descriptions there.

Nursery Inspiration

Okay, so i know we don't know what i'm having yet but that doesn't stop me from thinking about the nursery. I found some pictures online of other nurseries that I love and I would like to hear what ya'll think. Tell me which one is your favorite. Of course, nothing will be copied exactly but I need some inspiration to start!

Kids are Cute

Mike Recently spoke at a local private school at their chapel. He did an awesome job. I know that because all the kids wrote him thank you notes and they told him that. I picked a few of my favorites to share. I kept the spelling as it was in the letter. oh, these are 5th graders.

Dear Mr. Mike,
Thanks for speaking in chapel today. God always gives second chances. It helps to see that and it is easier to relax.

Dear Mr. Mike,
I like your hair. I think that forgiveness what you preached on was just right for what were going through.

Dear Mr. Mike,
Thank you so much for all the time, energy, money, and everything else to make this chapel fun. You were great and I liked the kid-friendliness in your voice. You are an awesome guy. Your message helped me understand lots of things better. Thanks for everything.

Dear Mr. Mike,
I loved your speech! You are the coolest, awesomest, and the most rockin' dude I have ever met! Thanks!
Rock On!
P.S. Thanks so much again, whenever you get the chance could you come back? Peace out!

Dear Mr. Mike,
I loved your speech today! It was very intertaining. I wish that you could come more often but you can't. By the way you rock my socks off!

Dear Mr. Mike,
Thanks for coming and talking because otherwise we would still have to be in class, and I bet you know how boring that can be! I loved how you said that we need to forgive because that really sunk into me and I fully understood it. Thanks!

Dear Mr. Mike,
Thank you for teaching to us in chapel, you a rocking dud. Please next time can you give the card to me.
(he gave a gift card as part of the lesson)

Dear Mr. Mike
Thanks for teaching chapel to our undeveloped mines. You rock for that.

Dear Mr. Mike,
Thank you for speaking in chapel today. I remember going to FBC. Whenever you came up I knew it was going to be fun. Thank you for reminding us that God loves us.

Fall Weather

I thought these pictures were cute of the dogs enjoying the fall weather. I don't know about you but I think it's wonderful and I'm so thankful for a bit of coolness. I know it's going to be hard to sit at work today and wish that I was outside but I will try.

Painting the Kitchen

We finally painted the kitchen! I use the term "we" loosely because I didn't do much of anything, Mike and my Dad painted the whole thing while I went shopping. The pictures don't show the color that well but it looks great. Just added a little something and made the white trim pop. You will have to look back at the post where we did the tile to see what it looked like before we painted.


I also worked on my fall table decoration. It's very much like the one i did last year with the added peacock feathers. I know Martha Stewart would make it a bit more elaborate but she's not here! :-)

Nursery Bedding

I change my mind daily about what kind of look I want for the nursery. Of course, it somewhat depends on what i'm having which i find out on Nov. 4th but until then, I can dream right? So today I like the idea of using some colors that are popular right now- gray and yellow. Random for a nursery but that's kind of what I'm going for. I'm guessing that I will be buying fabric or large sheets and making my own bedding because I don't know if I will find anything that I like in baby sizes. So, the pic below shows kind of what i'm thinking. I can even have my friend Connie come over and paint the cool tree on the wall behind the crib. Here's the link to the web for a better view- Chiasso.
So, I need your help, if you see anything that fits with this theme, let me know. I was thinking the colors could be used for a boy also, just not so flowery.

Modern Nursery

I posted something new on my design blog.... finally! It's about modern nursery furniture. I will probably have a bunch about nursery furniture and accessories since I'm going to need to pull everything together soon. I'm very open to suggestions for affordable modern so start looking!

Back to fall- i got another starbucks pumpkin steamer this morning, well, they first gave me a coffee drink of some sort and even though i was almost out of the parking lot before i realized it, i drove right back over and demanded my steamer.... without coffee (in a perfectly nice way). Then, i tasted my steamer before i got in the car and did a little happy fall dance when it tasted great. Did i mention i also got a pumpkin scone? Warm that up in the microwave and the beautiful smell of fall filled the room. Ahhhh, I love it!

And keep the TV suggestions coming. I'm stocking up in case I get put on bedrest later in the pregnancy. I wouldn't want to spend the time developing my mind or anything, I will spend it catching up on all the great TV shows that I haven't had time to watch during the season.

Fall TV

It's no secret I like to watch TV. I'm not going to hide it or pretend like I don't love to watch my shows because that would be wrong. I didn't grow up watching a lot of TV and I'm thankful for that but I am making up for it now. I figure I better get it in before kids come along because it might be awhile before I get TV time to myself. Lots of watching comes on Saturday morning while Mike is asleep and I'm taking care of the dogs, the rest is during the week, after all my household duties are finished (of course) and Mike is watching ESPN or something.
So, I want to share with you my Fall TV lineup (another reason I love fall) so that if you are looking for a new show, maybe I can help you choose one.
One Tree Hill- Mondays at 8- Love this show!
The Starter Wife- Fridays at 8, starts 10/10- started watching this last summer as a miniseries but now it's going to be a show so i'm excited about it.
Grays Anatomy- Starts 9/25
Lost- starts 2009- if you haven't already been watching this, don't start
Private Practice- starts 10/1- I'm going to give this season another shot
Desperate Housewives- Starts 9/28
Brothers and Sisters- starts 9/28- one of the best shows on TV
Samantha Who- starts 10/6- this is only a 1/2 hour show so if you are looking for something quick and a comedy, this one is really funny!
Heroes- Starts 9/22
CSI Miami- i can't figure out when the new season of this starts

So it looks like i'm going to have a pretty busy fall. somehow i'm going to have to work in all the other stuff like work, and church activities, and baby planning, and anything else life may bring up. If you ever want to come over and watch a show, you are welcome to!

Pumpkin Spice

I had a great day yesterday. I mean, really amazing. I started the day with a pumpkin spice steamer from Starbucks. Every year when Starbucks brings back their pumpkin spice flavor I feel like fall is starting, and I LOVE fall. I love pumpkins, and the squash, and the clothes, and the cooler weather, and the changing leaves, and the colors and pumpkin spice at Starbucks. Since I discovered its return i've had 3. This evening it was a frozen one but either way, they are amazing. Anyways, back to my day yesterday, I got to end my day with another pumpkin spice steamer... but before that, I got to hear baby Harveys heartbeat and it was sooooo cool. I never thought I would be the kind of person who would get excited about that but it was really amazing to know that everything was okay. I took my first sono pictures to work to scan and forgot so i can't post those but i will try and post something soon. So far, pregnancy hasn't been too bad, just don't feel like myself and food doesn't taste the same as it used to but really, i shouldn't complain that much. I'll try to keep you posted as I go along. Well, it's time for bed. This weekend I am going to attempt to paint the kitchen and put out my fall table decorations so it's going to be a big weekend. Let me know if you want to help :-)

Sail Away

We are headed to Galveston EARLY tomorrow morning to sail away on our 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. I'm sure you have all heard of Hurricane Gustav by now so we are hoping he doesn't ruin our cruise. Please pray that we have a safe trip and the weather doesn't cause problems including a lot of rocking on the ship. Hope ya'll have a great week and I'll have lots of updates when I get back!

Our latest House Project

Here's the before picture. Sooooo boring!

In progress. This was our first time to tile with the exception of the few mosaic art pieces I have made. The process isn't hard- by that I mean you don't have to be extremely skilled or have been to tiling classes but it is very time consuming, messy, and requires a lot of energy. Since Mike did most of the work, I found it particularly easy.

Above we were gluing the tile to the wall. Below is the finished product after it was grouted.


I can't believe how great it turned out! We still need to paint but it makes a huge difference in the kitchen. We also got stainless outlet covers and mike installed those as well so it's all coming together! Anyone want to help us paint?

More Puppy Photos

The dogs are getting along so well and Charger is cuter every day. I have to share some more photos!

You can call us crazy!

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted anything but it's been a crazy summer! Our latest news is about the latest edition to our family. We have had our "son" Champ for a few years now and recently added a new "son" Charger. He's 7 weeks old and completely adorable. He's also the 1/2 brother of Champ and they get along great. I was hoping if Champ had a brother it would give him someone to play with and help him chill a bit. Champ is not a big fan of most of our friends so maybe Charger will change that. Here are a few photos to enjoy. Come on by to visit him- he's much nicer than Champ. Enjoy the slideshow and I promise I will be better about posting!

Once a Month Cooking

My new favorite thing- Once a month cooking. Search for the cookbook on amazon and get started. The idea is that you spend one day cooking and have meals in your freezer for a month. The cookbook gives you a grocery list and step by step instructions on how to do everything. Most of the recipes serve 4-6 so my mom and I split the cost and the cooking and it was much easier. I think after we split the grocery bill it cost $150 for 30 main dishes. Before you start assembling the dishes, you chop all the veggies and meats and have all your ingredients out so putting everything together so much easier. While it's a long day cooking, it's so nice to have your dinners already planned out and ready to go with minimal cooking or heating up. Give it a try!