Currently....

Currently loving…Once Upon A Time...it's SOOO good and leaves you wanting more.

Currently reading…The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue. It's a twisted story...the jury's still out on whether I like it or not.

Currently waiting for…life to slow down...I better grab a snickers huh casue I don't think that's happening any time soon!

Currently excited about…going to the beach this year and lots of camping trips.

Currently missing…when my babies were babies.

Currently trying…to get my house organized.  The xmas trees are taken down (we have 2) but just sitting in their huge boxes in the middle of the living room floor!

Currently working at…praying more often.  For everything.

Currently enjoying…watching my kids blossom :)
 
Currently snacking on…dry roasted almonds are Me Hubsy and I's new favorite snack.

Currently using…a teenie handful of chocolate chip morsels after dinner to try and curb my ENORMOUS sweet tooth.
 
Currently wearing…jewelry made by me :)

Currently planning…my boys' birthday party in March.  See inspirations here.

Currently singing…"Where I belong" by Building 429

Currently needing…a getaway with just Me Hubsy.

Currently learning…to mellow out and not sweat the small stuff.  It's a continuous education.

Currently listening to…Black Eyed Peas station on Pandora.

Currently wishing...I had more hours in a day.

Currently doing…blogging instead of working...shhh!

Currently praying for…an intimate relationship with Jesus for my kids and Hubsy.

Currently dreaming of…being able to devote more time to Behind the Moon BEADWORKS.

I stole this from Becky at Our Life in Four Bags.  Go check hers out :)

What are you currently up to?

A Little Miscellany

Linking up with Carissa today for a little Miscellany....you should too :)

1.  Back in the saddle and loving it!  

This week has been my first opportunity to start replenishing my jewelry stock from Christmas sales.  I can't begin to tell you how much I have missed working with my hands and CREATING!

And I've even been able to do a new design.
I'm loving these luxuriously long lovelies.  Bad phone camera pics but I  promise I'll do better ;)
Posting soon to my Etsy Shop!

2.  A couple of corndogs
 I love that Me Hubsy and I are so corny. How about you?
Uh...valley girl...like hello!

3.  Loving all things Wendell August Forge!
I love my bracelet that I got as a gift a while ago.
The metal work is simply beautiful!  You simply must check them out.
They have everything from frames and serving trays to jewelryand Christmas ornaments.  Being that they are somewhat local, I really should get up there to check it out in person.
You can watch the forgers working and everything!
Check them out here.

4.  Ready for LOVE!
I'm getting excited for Valentine's day and perusing Pinterest for some ideas.  For some reason I barely have any decorations for Vday so I really want to add some.

This is right up my alley...HELLO...the paint swatches are FREEEE!!

This is such an easy way to change up your decor for any holiday.  Why haven't I tried this before?

Think I might be stealing this idea for Me Hubsy ;)

This is one my kids can really get in on the action to make. They love to color and they'll really flip if I actually let them use glitter!  I have the perfect spot to hang them.

I have a wall hanging similar to this with hooks on it, I'll be making this one to hang from the hooks :)


5.  Let it snow!

The boys got to enjoy some much anticipated sled riding this past weekend.  Thank God for Daddy cause you KNOW Mommy ain't going out in the cold!  I went out long enough to take a couple pics and that was it!  L would have stayed out there all day if we let him.  E (turning 3 in March) was squeezed into a size 12-18 month snowsuit cause that's all I had.  Poor kid couldn't lower his arms the whole way and was being seriously squished between the legs....I hope he can still have kids one day. 

6. I wanna be a loser!
See that little block on my sidebar?  Well I realized the only way I tend to have success with weight loss is to be accountable to someone.  Since I don't have the time or money to join Weight Watchers.....I figured I'll post it on my sidebar.  Not that anyone will care but maybe the chance of people seeing it will be enough of a motivator to kick my butt in gear!  We have a beach vacation planned later this year and I'll be damned if I have to wear a cover-up the whole time!  Who's with me?

Have a wonderful Monday!

lowercase letters

You know it's love when....

.....your Hubsy takes care of everything else 

so you can take care of you

I have been having back and neck pain for about a week now and it has only gotten worse.  I knew I needed to take a muscle relaxer (from a previous prescription) but hadn't done it yet for various reasons.  Last night after getting home from being out for a while, me Hubsy took care of everything else so I had a little time to take care of me :)

Hubsy:  How about you take your muscle relaxer and go have a nice soak in the tub?

Me:  I can't, I need to get lunches and school stuff ready for tomorrow.

Hubsy: I'll do it.

Me:  Really?!?

*Cue screaming from my almost 3-yr-old.

Hubsy:  Yes, but hurry up and go before I change my mind *grin*

Not only did he take care of getting things ready but he also took the boys down to the basement to play Xbox so I could rest on the couch a bit.

I'm telling you....HEAVEN!

Bless you Babe - Love ya!

Inspirations that are Out-of -this-World!

We had our last Christmas party last weekend (yes, I said Christmas party) and I made some Bake Pops with my new cake pop maker that Me Hubsy got for me.  

But....I didn't take any pictures (and I call myself a blogger...sheesh!).

Anyhoo it was a lot of fun and really got my creative wheels going for my sons' birthdays in March.  Trust me,  I HAVE to plan this far ahead or it will just be a thrown together mess.  I started thinking how L is really into space things and the glow in the dark planets in his room.  

You can imagine the angels started to sing and my face began to glow as a smile spread across my face.  

Well not really but that's how it happens in the movies right?  

I said to myself "these little buggers would make PERFECT planets".  

So now my brain was off and running for a space themed birthday party! We all know the web is full of endless inspirations when it comes to kid's parties and it's easy to get lost in them all.  

Here's a glimpse at some of my favorites.

I found these at HOSTESS (with the mostess)

I love these vibrant colors!

Love the Milkyway Shakes!

This could be adapted a multitude of ways!

I'll be using this Training Kit idea for treat bags for sure!

And this one from Disney Family Fun

Planets and white light "stars" can be hung from the ceiling.

The kiddos can make their own alien masks.

A styrafoam soup bowl becomes a flying saucer to be flown as far as possible.

A rousing game of comet toss is sure to be a fun activity for the little martians kids.

So there you have it....
some out-of-this-world ideas for my space themed party.
The question now is "can she pull it off"?  Only time will tell.
The biggest problem for me is finding somewhere to have the party.  We have a large family and it's just getting too cramped to have in our house.  Not to mention L will start wanting to invite his school friends too.  I really want to rent a space ONLY (no catering) so I can provide my own food and activities.
Any suggestions on types of places to try?

P.S. Thanks to all those who answered in prayer to my last post!

When fear is at your door - A call to prayer

I live in a picture perfect neighborhood.

(No...this is not my house)

Cookie cutter houses, mature trees, middle-class suburban heaven.  

Crime happens yes....but we don't often live in fear.  

That has changed a bit this week.

A possible serial rapist is attacking women in their homes a few miles from my house.  There have been 3 attacks in the past 4 days.  It is even closer for my mom and sister.  Not only geographically but they are also friends with the first victim of these attacks.

Needless to say we have all been taking precautions.  

Me Hubsy looked over my mom's house as well as ours to make sure all places that could have a lock actually do.  Little things like locking your car door immediately when you get in and trying to make sure we are extra observant of our surroundings are now heavily on our minds.  I even had a dream about being attacked.  We're just not used to living in fear but are now very aware of it.  

It has made me think of all the people 

who live this way all the time.  

In fear of this or that.  

It is a terrible way to live.  

So I just wanted to send out a prayer request to my readers.  Please pray for the victims of these attacks.  Pray that the police are able to apprehend this man.  Pray for all those in this country and others who live in fear on a daily basis.  And pray for those who commit acts violence.  I know this is often hard to do but I pray the Lord can open their minds and their hearts to realize that violence is not the answer.

May peace and safety follow all of you in your daily lives!

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Happy New Year everyone!!!

I had a crazy December (like pretty much everyone else)!

It was SOOO busy but it was followed by a wonderful 11 day break.  Me Hubsy and kiddos are always off for about a week and a half at the holidays and I am blessed to be able to take off that time as well.  It is such a wonderful time of year to be restful and spend time with family.

Really recharges the 'ol batteries :)

We watched movies.

You'll notice these are all kids movies and I'm not afraid to admit I love 'em :)

We ate tons of sweets.

Um yep, I pretty much polished this baby off all by myself  *shame*

We crafted and played.

I used to LOVE these weaving looms when I was little.

We took advantage of some great local attractions.

Like the Carnegie Science Center. 

They had an unbelievable model train display.  To say my boys were big fans is an understatement.  My little E can't get enough of trains.  They had all of the seasons incorporated into the display and they even had the lights changing from day to night

And the National Aviary.

We even got to feed them fish and worms directly from our hands.  Well, not the eagles of course....scary.

We managed to take some time to revamp a few 
rooms in our house too.

Our bedroom

Vera Wang bedding from Kohl's...click here

I absolutely LOVE it!  I used to make fun of people that have "sitting" areas in their bedroom (all you do is sleep in there anyway right?) but now I have one and since the room is so pretty now I just want to spend all my time in there!

L's bedroom

I'll be doing a separate post for this one ;)

Our Basement

This one's far from complete but we recently added a projector and movie screen down there for the kids to watch movies and play XBox.   I avoided the whole gaming system for 6 years but knew it was only a matter of time and this year me Hubsy was able to score one at no cost!  So I guess I really couldn't argue.  Well you can hardly watch movies and play games without somewhere to sit...hello Goodwill!!  We scored a loveseat and chair with ottoman for cheap.  Watch out creepy spiderwebs, you're the next things to go!

Partying with the family can't be beat.
Getting to spend all that time together as a family is so rewarding.  

I look forward to it every year and I KNOW it means the world to my boys.

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday as well!