Words Cannot Express....

So..today was the first day in a very long time I didn't feel like I had to force myself to get out of my bed. I didn't feel the incredibly strong desire to crawl under the mounds of warm blankets and go back to sleep. Why?? Because (angels singing) the sun was shining! This has seriously felt like the longest winter of my life! I know I've complained a ton about this...so I couldn't go another minute without sharing my joy for the beautiful 50 degree weather we had today! Now I'm just praying that it will last for a few days! I took these pictures outside of my back door. I think we might possibly live in the most beautiful place around (it may be the weather talking...but seriously!) Oh...I also was able to put my big blow up Santa back in his box today. He has been buried under several feet of snow for over 2 whole months! Yay! It's a happy day!

Extreme Makeover...room edition

Out with the old
In with the new
The boys new karate room

Thanks to the wonderful painting skills of my husband and the awesome vinyl from my father-in-law we now have a fabulous "big boy room" at our house. The boys love the way their room turned out! Their quilts turned out so great! I am so excited about them! (thank you Grandma Gail for finding the perfect fabric)...Jace (the difficult one to please) did however mention that his new quilt wasn't "bery comtable". Oh well...he has definitely taught me that I can't please everyone...and he always keeps me laughing! :)

A Little Bit About My Mom

I seriously have the world's best Mom! My Mom is the type of person who never puts herself first...she is always doing things for others. Her kids and her grandkids are constantly spoiled by her (and we all love it). Just yesterday I got a text from her saying that "I had a surprise at the salon"....she had scheduled a hair appointment and an eyelash tint for me. Anyone will tell you that she is the absolute best listener around. She has a love of learning and we all think she should have been a psychiatrist (don't get any ideas about going back to school again mom)! My Mother never raises her voice...if you're in trouble...the silent treatment it is. (This doesn't happen to me too often...being the favorite child and all!) She makes friends easily and is loyal to the end. I know that her friends love her like she is family! I had a wonderful childhood with a Mom who was always fair and had time to listen and talk with me. I have never had a day in my life where I have doubted the love that she has for me or my family. I just wanted to say thank you Mom for all that you are and all that you have taught me. I love you with all of my heart! I hope to be half the mother that you are! I am forever grateful to have had the good fortune to be your daughter! Have a happy birthday!

P.S. your gifts await you at our house since we will see you in 11 days! Yay!

Spelling B-E-E

Tonight was the school spelling bee. This was our first experience. Camry is an amazing speller and she did great! She seemed to keep getting all of the really difficult words (of course this may be my distorted view as a mother). But seriously she misspelled "patina" She spelled it "petina"....which is exactly how I think it should be spelled! The kid after her got the word "noodle"! What an injustice! But really...she ended up taking 5th place which I think is great! I was very proud of her that she wasn't one of the many little girls who sat down after being eliminated and cried.....honestly I don't think I would have been able to handle it...it was breaking my heart watching them cry and they weren't even mine!

Camry accepting her certificate.

Speaking of spelling....why in the world is spell check still not working!? Seriously...it's driving me insane! Please excuse all of my spelling errors!

Boys And Their Toys!

I've been considering buying a couple of banana chairs for my boys' room so that when they play their video games they will have something to sit on.....apparently there is no need! This is how I found Jace today. I was cracking up! Who needs banana chairs right?! Oh...and just wondering...does every male have to stick out their tongue while playing video games or is it just my imagination?

Just A Little Update...

The Halliday's are now a "tablecloth-less" family. I'm not too happy about having to conform to my dog...but it was that or the pound for Emmy! On a happier note..."the big stuffed pillow" won first place in Camry's 5th grade Valentine box decorating contest! Yay!

Valentine Boxes

So...I could lie and say what an enjoyable, bonding experience this was for Mother and Daughter.....or.....I could tell the truth! Grandma Gail had this great idea for Camry's Valentine box. Cover it with batting and fabric and sew buttons and things on it to give it a "dimpled" effect. The original plan was to make it look like a mailbox with a flag and all.....PSHH!!! This was the most incredibly hard thing I've done in a while. I pride myself on being somewhat crafty....but seriously! After severely burning myself with the glue gun, poking myself with a very sharp needle, and spending WAY too much time....this is what we came up with! TADA! At least she loves it! She says her friends at school said it looks like a big stuffed pillow. On a side note.....she came home from school today and said, "Hey mom, I was just thinking...how are we going to get the Valentines out?" Ha Ha Ha! Any ideas??? Camry and her beautiful box
Easton and his robot box
Easton came home today and announced that he needed to make a Valentines mailbox for tomorrow....thanks for the heads up buddy! His box was a spur of the moment, thrown together robot.....which actually doesn't look too bad. :) He is a good sport and didn't care what we did. He even said, "Mom, I don't need a mailbox if you think it will be too hard." (he witnessed some of the stuffed pillow drama from a couple nights before) If that doesn't give you mommy guilt I don't know what does! He's such a sweet boy! I told him we could make him one...no problem!
Anyone who has any great ideas for next years mailboxes I'm all ears...I think I'll start working on them right away!

Tag I'm It...again...

Rochelle tagged me with this easy..yet somewhat lame..tag. :) Here's what you do: (I'm thinking someone was really bored to come up with this one...)

1. Pick up the book nearest you (at least 123 pages long)
2. Go to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence on the page
4. Type the next 3 sentences
5. Tag 5 other peopleThe book nearest me is Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. I've already read it. I really like Nicholas Sparks...although this was not one of my favorites.

My dad left for work at exactly 7:35. Once he was gone, I scanned the paper, uninterested in the news, at a loss as to what to do next. I had no desire to go surfing, or even to leave the house, and I was wondering whether I should crawl back into bed to try to get some rest when I heard a car pull up the drive.

I'm tagging Bonnie, Jacci, Tanya, Lisa (even though I know she won't do it), and Arah.

What's In Your Bag Tag....

I got tagged by Arah. Here is my bag and it's contents....

• Keys-so I can drive my car (actually kind of wierd that they're in my purse...usually I leave them in the car)
• My camera-I always carry this with me...you just never know when you might need to take a photo! (it's the blogger in me)
• Doublemint Gum-Jace LOVES gum...doublemint is the only nonfruity kind he likes.
• My checkbook-?? so I can buy things ??
• My Bedhead lipgloss-I love the color but hate the wierd flavor...need a new one!
• Tampon-pretty self explanitory
• Advil-from my Hawaii trip....my knee was killing me on the airplane!
• My pretty Irving Rice mirror-my mom always sends me the coolest gifts! It has pretty little charms on it...I love it (and so does Maddie)!
• 2 pair of black sunglasses-I have no idea...I should take one out and put in a brown pair!
• My Target receipt-In case I want to take back the picture frame I just bought for my bathroom.
• Paint samples-redecorating the boys room.
• My purple Massage Envy pen-I love this pen....don't really know why.
• Registration receipts-I signed my kids up for "fishing club" haven't taken the receipts out of my bag yet.
• $10.00 reward for Old Navy-gonna go spend this....didn't remember I had it (thanks Arah)!
• Pamphlets from my Dr.-from my last checkup
• $2.00-in case of a Diet Dr. Pepper emergency
  

Maybe you all learned something about me...maybe you didn't.....it was fun! I'm tagging Rochelle, Jenny, KerrieLeigh, Kristin, Marci, and both Amy's.

Going To Work!

Wow! That is a big step up!
Every little boy loves to go to work with their Dad. I think the boys have a big bonus to be able to go to work with Dad in the crane! They were so excited for their day out...I'm sure they'll have a manly time together!

Book Group

Rochelle and I started "Across the Miles Book Club" aka Sisterhood of the Traveling Books. I am so excited to see how this works and how many women we can connect through the love of books. We started the blog last night and sent out invites to all those we thought might share an interest. Once the invite has been accepted they are able to post and comment on the book club blog. The problem is I don't have everyone's e-mail so send me what you have. Share this with your friends and family and let's make this fun! I hope this will be something others will enjoy as much as I know I am!
Rochelle and I stayed up into the wee hours of the night trying to put this together. If anyone has a cute background idea or knows how to change the font in the banner and so on, please help. Share your ideas with us. It will take awhile to get it just right for our club but then it will be perfect!

How Much Is That Doggy In The Window??

FREE!
So...Emmy LOVES Fruity Pebbles! If this were a rare occurance I would totally be fine. But this happens on a weekly basis at my house! When I am not looking, my puppy sneaks into the kitchen, grabs a hold of the table cloth, and gives it a pull until her prized bowl of Fruity Pebbles comes tumbling down to the ground! She wasn't too happy today because the bowl landed on the chair rather than the floor....lucky for her since I had just mopped! Seriously!? I would love to get some advice from anyone with well behaved animals! I'm at a loss on this one!

Seeing Is Believing!

Yes...that's right! I actually finished this project! I have some serious issues with starting a project and getting to the very end, and then procrastinating forever...sometimes never finishing it at all! I truly had a great time working on this quilt but, when I got to the binding I hit a brick wall. When I decided to redo the boys' room and knew I was going to be making 2 quilts for their beds I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't start them until this one was finished. It took me all of about 1 day to do it. Why have I been putting it off? I don't know...I am thrilled with my finished product! Thank you Holly, Amy, and Emily for inviting me to join your quilting project....I have found a new love....here's to many more quilts-that I actually complete!
my wild and crazy backing...I love it!
21st Century Bullseye Quilt