I am...

a cleaning machine.

Spring is in the air. It is so very beautiful, makes my nose itch, eyes water, makes my throat scratchy, but I love it just the same. This time of year reminds me of a few things. For one; track season. Although track in my old high school starts in the gym and running around the halls of the school because of all the snow, this weather reminds me a track. The wind and the sun. It literally makes me sick to my stomach. It is that feeling of getting into the starting blocks waiting for the race to start. I get the tense feeling in my stomach just thinking about it. Even though this memory sounds a little unfavorable, I still like the spring-knot-in-stomach-track-feeling.

Next I think about spring cleaning. I become a bit crazy I think. My house all the sudden feels so dusty and neglected. Like gross, when did the baseboards get to dirty and why are the fans growing extra dust wings? I feel like I have a million house projects that I need to get done before the dreaded heat creeps in and slows me down. Lucky for me this weekend Jer took Bode on an overnight camping trip. That left me at home for nearly 24 hours to get all the cleaning done I wanted. I scrubbed baseboards, tubs, walls and everything else I could think of. Feels good. I love to clean actually. I just wish it would last longer.

Now on to the millions of projects to get done soon...

stain/paint the kitchen table

paint the chest of drawers in my bedroom

find for night stands to redo for my bedroom- anyone have a set they are getting rid of?

redo the cute new shelves I found for Laine's room

paint the chest of drawers in Bode's room

make a slip cover for the chair in the master bedroom

finish decorating the master bedroom

get up the courage to ask my landlords if I can paint a room...or 2....or 3...

find fabric to make valances for the curtains in the living room

and any other crafty endeavor that comes up

Oh yeah... And I need to convince my husband that these are all things that need to be done :)

First up, finish the kitchen table. It is going to be beautiful!

 This sums up my mood for the week.

Kids say the darnedest things...

Bode has been saying the funniest this these days. I really need to write them down. So here are a few that I can remember right now.

A few weeks ago Bode wakes up in the morning and does his morning thing. Pees in the potty, gives me a hug :), then demands breakfast. He finished breakfast then sits on the couch to watch his morning shows. I was sitting at the computer and all the sudden Bode jumps off the couch, runs to the big sliding glass doors looking into the back yard, rips open the curtains and looks outside. Then he turns to me and asks me all surprised and says "mom... we don't have a trampoline" then he sat back on the couch. Who knows where that came from. I guess I will never know.

When bath time comes around in our house I tell my kids they have stinky buns and need to run to the tub. This always results in a mad naked dash to the bathroom for Bode. This evening was different. I announce the kids have stinky buns and they need a bath. Laine knows what this means and heads to that bathroom. Bode stops and looks at me and says,"Mom, I don't have stinky buns. I have a stinky wiener". Oh dear.

Speaking of inappropriate wiener stories. Bode has become very aware that there is a difference between boys and girl. He tells me girls like pink,  girls play with dolls and girls don't watch Transformers. So the kids were in the tub and Bode tell me this "mom, boys have wieners. what to girls have?" Um what do I say? I was trying to figure out the best way to explain girls and boys to my then 3 year old. Before I could come up with a good response, Bode says "mom, girls have squished wieners". Someday Jeremiah will have to tell him that girls don't have squished wieners.

This morning Bode found a black piece of paper. He then was all cleaver and found a white crayon and started drawing away. He has learned how to write a lot of alphabet letters and filled up the whole page with random letters. Later we were going to the store and I told Bode to get shoes, put away toys so that we could get going. He came to me later with shoes on and pats the front of his shorts and says "nope mom, nothing in there" as he does this I hear a distinct crunchy noise. It made me laugh and I pretended not to notice but for him to get tell dad what he told me. So he did. Jer asked him what he had in there. He replied "his schedule". Jer convinced him to not put stuff down his pants and that he could just carry "his schedule". Fast Forward to a few hours later pulling up to Costco. Bode informs Jeremiah and me that his schedule says that we have to look at the toys at Costco. Where did this come from?

I also really need to start watching my choice of words these days. {No I don't have a potty mouth} The other day we were waiting at a red light and Bode yells out "stupid cars!". I know where he got that phrase from.

Ok there are the little Bode-isms of the day. He is a funny kid and I love him dearly.

A Campaign Begins Today [Mitt Romney]


America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation — rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he has succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better.



He calls his accomplishment “historic” — in this he is correct, although not for the reason he intends. Rather, it is an historic usurpation of the legislative process — he unleashed the nuclear option, enlisted not a single Republican vote in either chamber, bribed reluctant members of his own party, paid-off his union backers, scapegoated insurers, and justified his act with patently fraudulent accounting. What Barack Obama has ushered into the American political landscape is not good for our country; in the words of an ancient maxim, “what starts twisted, ends twisted.”



His health-care bill is unhealthy for America. It raises taxes, slashes the more private side of Medicare, installs price controls, and puts a new federal bureaucracy in charge of health care. It will create a new entitlement even as the ones we already have are bankrupt. For these reasons and more, the act should be repealed. That campaign begins today.



— Mitt Romney is the former governor of Massachusetts and author of No Apology.

Sometimes I get an idea in my head...

and I get nothing else done until I do it.

This time it was this...

My mom found this frame and print at a yard sale last year and gave it to me.

I love the primitives,

but I could never find a home for this one.

(I have a plan for the print though)

The frame was just the perfect size.

These little frames I bought back in December at Target for 50 cents apiece.

Don't you love the little orange clearance tags at Target?

You can find the best stuff sometimes :)

After many coats of paint and a little bead board wallpaper

... oh how I love that stuff...

this is what I came up with.

*update-

Getting the little frames to attach to the board took a little more thought than I expected. I couldn't glue them because then I could never change the picture.

So here is what I did:

The back of the frame is cardboard covered in bead board wallpaper.

I measured where I wanted the frame to sit, then punched 2 holes about a 1/2 inch part.

Then I threaded some ribbon through the hook on the back of the little frames, pushed the ribbon through the holes and tied them in the back. So easy and I can change out the picture whenever I want.

I hope that makes sense :)

Hobby Lobby has this neat long frame with little frames in it. I always look at it when I go. I pick it up every time look at the price, put it back down and walk away. It is a bit pricey for me, so why not make a smaller, cheaper version?

I have had the hardest time figuring out what to put on this hutch. It is red so I feel like the things I place on here need to be light colored. I am loving the white. I don't normally decorate with white, but I love the crisp feeling white has.

This box sits on one of the hutch shelves.

It has always been green. A nice mossy green.

Once I put my new frame up it looked so muddy and well not looking so good.

So what do I do...
Paint it of course!

I wanted it to look old and weather.

It has little compartments in the back half of it that

I wanted to have glass vases filled with flowers.

But after looking at the prices of cute little glass vases I decided not spent that kind of cash.

But good old Goodwill never lets me down.

If you ever look at those lightly green tinted glass "vases" please ignore the Coke-a-Cola logo.

Now I just need to find an old set of gardening tools and maybe some gardening gloves for the front compartment.

With a few other nice crisp pieces,

I think it has come together quite nicely.

I love this little bowl!

A nice $1.00 find at Goodwill.

I found all these little birdies at Michael's. I paid $1.50 apiece for the first 3.

But today I bought one more for 99 cents. They are on sale.

And it is done! {until I get another idea in my head} I love it. The only neglected spot is the space underneath. And that won't get any attention until I have no more babies at my house. Seeing as it is the absolute best place to eat snacks, race cars, and hide shoes and socks.

Oh yes... can't forget this guy.

Found him at Goodwill this morning for 50 cents.

"Whoo-whooo" knows what I'll do with him?

It's party time...

Actually it is more like party week for Mr. Bode James. Tuesday we got to go to the zoo. Wednesday he got to go on a special birthday dinner, visit to toys-r-us with Grandma Rena and Grandpa Steve. Thursday he got to to on a shopping trip to buy new summer clothes with mom and dad. Friday we went to the store to buy all his party decorations. Saturday was his first every birthday party. And Sunday was his actual birthday. Wow! What a week for our big 4 year old.

Bode is such a lucky boy. He had his first party. He has been so excited to have his all his friends over to play games and eat cupcakes. I asked him what kind of party he wanted and it was all about the Transformers. What a boy.

Here are all happy party go-ers. Only two kids couldn't make it. Probably a good thing. I am not sure I could have handled ten, four year olds.

Make a wish!

After presents everyone got to take a swing at the pinata.

After I closed the door on our last party guest I looked around to see where Bode had gone. This is where we found him...Laying outside on the small patch of grass in the back yard. He was all alone. And if I had acted a little faster the picture would have been better. He actually had his head down. He had such a fun, fun time with all the kids but I think he just must have needed a moment to regroup. Thank you everyone who came!

We love our little Boder-Dude! He makes me smile and laugh everyday. He has a kind heart and is very gentle with his little sister. But he is a rough and tough little boy who love to wrestle with his dad. Love you little man.

ABC's ???

Bode is the kind of kid that learns stuff when HE wants to. We have been trying to teach him to count and recite his ABC's forever. We haven't had much success with either of those 2 things. He can write all his letters, spell his name, knows all the shapes and colors, but counting and the alphabet are a mystery.

Today during quiet time I hear this loud singing coming from his room. Normally I would have told him to quiet down but I decided to listen to his song. Here is Bode singing his version of the ABC's. They are in no particular order but I think he got them all in just the same.

Now to work on the real order and counting.

I love it when Heather turns 18...

Heather turned 18 this past week and to celebrate we all went and had some fun. Pedicures and Olive Garden are the perfect way to spend the day.

Happy Birthday Heather! I can't believe that you are 18. You will forever be the cute little girl I met like 6 years ago with a wad of babysitting money and a little blue room :0) I had such a fun time! Thanks.

Field Trip...

to the ZOO!

Bode's preschool, along with a few of other preschools in our area, got to go to the zoo for a field trip. It was fun. We walked the zoo with friends and then we walked together. It was really nice to spend some one on one time with my littler Boder-o. He is growing up so fast.

We were lucky to have the weather agree with us this morning. It has been raining a lot these days and there was talk about postponing it so another day. I was happy to see blue sky when we woke up that morning. It was a bit chilly and windy, plus there were a few sprinkles but over all it was great.

Bode was so happy to get to feed one of the birds.

These are all the boys in Bode's class. There is one more girl in Bode's class. She was at the zoo to but we didn't manage to get a picture with her in it. She is a cutie and evidently these are all her boyfriends at Mrs Tracy's school. Bode loves all these boys and talks about them all the time. It is good to have friends.

Yeah for preschool!! We love it.

Every time I turn around...

this is what I find!

She loves my table. She has just figured out that the best way to enjoy the table and the world is sitting on top of it. Any suggestions on how to keep her off of there? I pulled the chairs away. She pushes them right back. I give her a time out every time I see here up there (which is every 4 or 5 mins) and really... time out isn't working on this little one year old. She doesn't get it yet. My next idea is to get 2 gates for the doors that go into there. But if she isn't climbing the table I am sure she will find something else. Maybe the best option is a helmet and pads... I forgot to mention that it doesn't matter if there is stuff on the table or not. She just likes to get up there.

Busy, busy, busy...

Last week was a busy one for us. Full of fun and family. We were able to visit Jeremiah's Grandma. She had flown in from Missouri for the week. It has been over a year since we have seen her and it was Laine's first time meeting her Great-Grandma Joncas. Hopefully we can make a trip out to Missouri this summer. That would be so fun!

On top of the visit with Jer's Grandma we also got to meet my brother's newest baby and stay at my sister's house. Bode was is heaven. He loves to play with cousins. This picture pretty much sums up the days we spent there. Here are the babies longingly looking after all the big kids running around having fun. Thanks Jill and John for letting us crash in your house for the week!

Number 11...

Here is the newest member of the grandkids bunch.

Congrats Tim and Connie!

Why...

*if you are here for the DIY Showoff scroll down to the previous post :)

plant sod...

(this is our teeny tiny patch of grass in the back yard)

when you have dirt?