i'm a crafty son of a gun

A while ago Nobody got all crafty on us and recovered some furniture. I was inspired. I got this chair from a garage sale and went to town. I've recovered many bar stools, many dining room chairs and a piano bench so I was thinking that this would be a piece of cake. I was wrong. This seat cushion didn't unscrew off so I had to figure our how to tuck and staple and hide mistakes and all that jazz. Two things: 1) don't judge & 2) don't look too close because you might get a staple in your eye...they're are a few untamed ones.

This might be one of my finest Marta Stewart moments...and I'm not talking about jail.

Before:

After: [drum roll please...]It looks like a box of Crayola Crayons threw up in my living room. Let's just say, I'm not afraid of color...or patterns...or things not matching...or peacock feathers. Wanna hire me? HA!

dear sweet jamaica,

Andy and I talk about our next vacation a lot. Especially after I get on Facebook and see that everyone and their mother has taken some sort of vacation in the last year. We know it's far away but we feel if we keep talking it up then maybe it will get here sooner. We're crossing our fingers that on our 5 year anniversary we'll be able to go on one. We're 1/2 way there! I'm hoping it's Jamaica. We went there on our hunnymoon and it was amazing. I wrote this letter...

Dear sweet Jamaica,

I miss you.

I miss the jerk chicken at the 24 hour snack bar.

I miss Red Stripe...kinda sorta.

I miss that restaurant where I could sit 15 feet from the beach and dig my toes into the sand. Still wish Andy would have danced with me in the middle of the restaurant on the beach like I asked. To embarassing I guess. Andy, How many times do you live? You live ONCE.

I miss the spirit of the Jamaican people.

I miss the room service.

I miss the resort staff that seriously thought I was a movie star from the states. When they asked if I was famous I answered, "Pretty Much" and kept walking.

I miss drinking pina colada's before noon.

I miss how awesome that wooden winding staircase was that led to our loft bed.

I don't miss the 10lbs I gained while visiting. They never left.

I miss the hot rock massage at the Red Line Spa.

I miss that one blue hammock on the right side of the resort that we slept in for hours every single day.

I miss the 'disco night'. Who knew how much Jamaican's loved disco? Who knew how much my husband hated it?

I miss the sunset.

I miss that nice waiter who I jokeingly told could stay with us anytime he was in Indiana. He took me seriously and asked for my cell phone number so he could reach me if he ever made it to the states. I'm not sure if he'd ever seen a map and realized where Indiana is in relation to Jamaica...or even Florida. So I grabbed a napkin and gave him Andy's number, he's better with giving directions :).

I miss the sand.

I miss just about everything...except for the man that tried to sell us weed on the beach, and the Hedonism resort that was right next to ours and the shop that only sold chunks of wood that were carved into naked people, and the talent night when the resort staff sang. Jamaicans can't sing. I didn't really miss that.

Sincerely yours,

Mo Breden, the movie star

ding...answered!

Guess What?

I have a job.

I'll be watching a little boy. [same age as Colt]
Three days a week.
From 6am-1pm.
In the comfort of my own home.
In my pj's...drinking coffee...watching Pooh Bear.

I was like, "Dear lord...give me a good job"

And he was like, "DING...ANSWERED!"

He loves me.

suckin air

Head... [skip shoulders]

[skip knees]

AND toes!

Spending all day at the pool is rough.

my dome & sparklers

Here are a few pictures from the 4th of July and my extremely large head.

Question: How is it possible that my head is 3x's larger than the normal human beings head in EVERY picture. It's like an orange on a tooth pick.

Answer: My brain is so large it's just busting with knowledge and big words like 'Sparklers' and 'America' that God decided my skull should be large enough to house the brain...and there you have it...my giant dome.

I'll pretend it's not so extra large when pictured next to my 10 month old's head.
Looking mighty large.Abby, Maddy and Colt. Small heads all around.Meghan, her small head and her invisible boyfriend. Even his head is smaller than mine.Ok, his head looks kinda big here.Colt had his first cupcake. It was messy. It was awesome.

dear journal

Andy expressed to me a few days ago how stressed he was working, mowing, spending time at the ER and going to school. He wants some help with the financial load we have right now...to help pay off our debt faster.

My car needs paid off. We want more in savings. That is the goal.

So I'm job searching. BLAH! It's really hard to get back in that mind set after leaving my career as a Visual Merchandiser and being a stay at home mommy for the last 10 months...but if it will make him happy and less stressed then I'll do what it takes. It's hard to do though, not gonna lie. I don't wanna have to work. But arguing over the grocery bill isn't fun either. So it looks like I'm going to try to find something at least for a little while.

I'm being really picky about it. I'm considering serving at a restaurant somewhere. I get bored really easily so want to be constantly busy if I do have to work. Serving would be a good option. It will only be for a little while.

My secret plan is to get pregnant as fast as possible...that way I'll TRULY only be locked into working for a little while...because I'll be so huge and then pop out a kid then I for sure can stay home.

These last few months have been hard on us. He's stressed because he's working his tail off and I'm stressed because I never see him and when I do he's, like I said, stressed. So much on his mind he's just not fully with us. Ohhp, and here come the tears. I know everything will be fine and we'll be stronger because of all this but right now it's just sucky.

Whelp, enough complaining for one night. Andy is snoozing, Colt is out, Copper is chasing rabbits in her dreams and I'm up. Think I'll go return some crap at Walmart. Think they'll know I left?

Feeling alone. Kinda. Not really.
Bye Computer Screen.

where's waldo?

He found his way into the toy box...and it made me laugh. He's a cutie.If only he had an on/off switch like all his toys...KIDDING. I KID. I love him.Getting out isn't near as easy as getting in.I think I'll keep him.

o seven o four o nine

Happy 4th of July!

In honor of this festivius...I'm making Colt wear the ugliest blue/white collard star shirt I could find. I also made a million red/white/blue cupcakes & a two layered cake.

Let me tell you about this cake people. This cake was the result of one of my finest 'betty crocker' moments! I made a cake! One layer is white cake, the other layer is chocolate. I frosted it perfectly and even put frosting between the layers. Then I found food coloring and added a gaudy red star...with beautiful bright blue beams shooting out from around the star.

This cake is some serious stuff.

When my parents came to visit a few hours ago I asked if they could take the cake home for me since I didn't have a cake carrier and didn't want to put plastic wrap around it because it would ruin my design. Mom and Dad got home just a few minutes ago and sent me a few pictures of the cake after transit.
Take a gander:

Totally destroyed!

Oh well, good there I made 5 gadillion cupcakes to match. Just toss it MOM! [She feels bad...her and dad are trying to salvage what's left of my most beautiful b.crocker moment.] There will be more of those moments! I'm a young mom. I've got years of ugly cakes up my sleeve!

On a more serious note I'd like to say that I'm proud to be an American. I'm not sure what makes me so lucky to have been born into this great country but I don't want to take it for granted!

I'd also like to thank Sam Chaput who recently got deployed overseas. He'll be serving for a year and it's because of him and all the other army guys out there who make this country the greatest in the world! I'd also like to thank Shannon [Sam's wife] for supporting your husband in what God has called him to and for carrying the load while he's gone. I know it's not easy, but I thank you and admire you both more than you know!

NOW go light a sparkler!
[make sure you're holding the right end!!]

it went fast, real fast

You know that one summer that you had so much fun you wanted everyday to last forever? I've had one of those summers. That summer went by fast. Really fast. But not near as fast as my last 10 months. On the 4th of July, Colt will be 10 months old. Which means in 2 months he'll be 1 year old. I will have a 1 year old.

He's not 1 yet...so today I will enjoy my 9 month old. I'll cuddle with him. Give him his paci and his blankie as much and as often as he wants. Instead of jumping to a sippie cup...I'll let him have his baba. He's my baby. And he will never ever be 9 months old again.

Time really flys when you're in love with a baby.

he got his hair did

Colt got his 1st big hair cut right before the party. It went well. No one was bleeding when all was said and done. That falls under the 'success' category in my book!


The before shot.
Sometimes I change my mind 2.5 seconds of I've made a decision. Giving Colt a sucker to keep him busy was one of those decisions I would have liked to change. But you can't steal candy from a baby. You just can't. It's not legal.I didn't realize how short a #2 guard was on a buzzer. I learned! Much shorter than I had envisioned. But I pretended that it looked nice. Then Spencer leaned over and muttered 'white trash'. He did look like a hillbilly for a few minutes there...but definitely not WT!Andy was getting antsy watching me. He's a control freak. [did I just say that out loud?] I forgot that on top of being a fireman, and a lawn care guy he is also a barber. I caved. If Colt did end up looking like WT, I wanted to be able to partially blame Andy :)Luckily we didn't have to sweep any hair up off the ground because it all stuck to Colts sucker...which he put in his mouth...and ate. Haacck...hairball.AND...TA DA!!!! Colt and cousin Meg showing off the new doo at the party. He even has a little left on top to fauxhawk!