House Updates

It's been a little while since my last house update. Mostly because our weather has left a lot to be desired which has resulted in some delays. {That and we've had non-weather related delays too. Isn't that just the way?}. But since many of you have asked. Here ya go.

You're welcome, Julie ;)

The start of the rough plumbing. Woohooo! {Who knew you could be so excited over plumbing?}

This will be our basement. Can you see the stairs through there? Stairs! We are big time, people.

And a little side shot.

This is how it will stay for a few days. We are waiting for approval from the county before we proceed much further. In a couple of weeks {fingers crossed} it's actually going to look like a house!!

Here & There

We've been on the go a lot lately {which suits Miss Kameryn just fine}. On Monday night we had a hankerin' for Mexican food, yum!

We had a bit of shopping to do, so on Tuesday we made the trip into town. The girls could have stayed at Old Navy all day browsing the jewelry.

I may or may not have purchased a new pair of shoes ;) I won't tell you how long it's been since I've bought shoes.

Watching Kam with the "Modelquins" cracked.me.up! She just stared like "what the heck is up with these people, Mom? They don't even blink!"

The best part of the day? We met up with my older sister, Heidi, for a quick visit and birthday hugs.

After a long shopping day we rushed to Sierra's final dance class before we break for Summer. Tomorrow is the big recital!

Other activities that have been keeping us busy this week? Makenna's last tap class was Wednesday night, and framing of the house has started. YAY!

And today, after my dr.'s appointment, we met my dad for lunch at Lil Cooperstown. It was delish. Out to eat twice in one week? I could get used to this!

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What about y'all? What have you been up to? Relaxing? Enjoying summer vacay?

I'm going to be honest, I'm kind of having a sad day :( Without going into a lot of detail, I think I may have opened my mouth too soon {and without thinking}, and hurt the feelings of a couple of very special people. Ugh. Not a great feeling. It's like, I see their side, but I see my side too. Does that make sense? Anyway.

Oh yeah, and if that weren't enough, I lost two blog followers today. You know what the worst part about that is? That I even care. Why does it bother me? I blog for myself. As a journal of sorts so that I can remember the day in and day out of my precious little family. But I love new friends, and when I lose one {or gosh sakes, TWO!} it makes me sad.

That's it. Whine-fest over.

And finally . . .

The necklaces for my tap girls.

I do realize that these are ballet slippers, and not tap shoes, but I couldn't find tap shoe pendants :( I think they'll like them anyway.

I stamped their initials on each one. Can't wait to surprise them at the recital!

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And, yeah, three posts in one day?! Can you believe it??

Contain those Crayons!

Whew, it's been busy! In between the house building mishaps {oh yes, there have been a few}, errand-running, preparations for recital, and the usual, I have tried to squeeze in a little craft time. It's been nearly impossible, but a necessity. You see, I made some very sweet little dance necklaces for my tappers {stay tuned for pictures of those later}. My only concern was an adorable little boy who happens to be in my class. I just couldn't see him super excited about a necklace, so . . . craft time to the rescue! Surely I could find something to make him as an end of the year gift.

How about a Crayon Keeper? I love these things. Several years ago I made a couple for my older girls, and they still use them regularly. I like to use wool felt. It makes an already simple project, super easy peasy.

Anyone ready for a tutorial? I know, it's been awhile.

Here we go!

I use three pieces for the keeper. Two that get sewn together initially, and one for the outside to cover up threads and such that you don't want showing.

A project just isn't a project without a cute little applique embellishment.

Side note: Our class is dancing to "Sea Cruise", so I think this little fishy will be perfect!

I was in a bit of a hurry {shocker, I know}, so I didn't sew the fish on. I just used my handy dandy Steam A Seam 2 and ironed it right on. It's not goin' anywhere!

I suppose you could just attach the third piece of felt to the outside using a sewing machine {or even iron it together with Steam A Seam, but I love the way embroidery floss and a blanket stitch finishes it off.

See?

And the inside, with all those gorgeous new crayons!

Now, find a coloring book, and you've got the perfect gift for any child on your list!

I plan on making more of these soon! :)

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Linkin' up with:

Wordless Wednesday ~ Outdoor Life

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For more Wordless Wednesday fun, head on over to 5 Minutes for Mom and Miller Racing Family

Updates amidst the chaos

I'm not going to lie, it's a little bit chaotic around here. {Fingers crossed} tomorrow we start the framing on our house. It's so hard for me to believe that in a few short weeks our house is going to actually look like . . . a house! And that means, whether you like it or not, there will be more building pictures to come :) Stay tuned for those. Or don't. The choice is yours ;)

We are officially done with our school year! Sierra will be in 3rd grade next year {um, how did this happen?}, and Makenna will start Kindergarten. Oh my my. I am going to have my hands full. I am so proud of all that Sierra has accomplished this year. She tested at a 6th grade reading level, and is solving 4 digit borrowing/carrying, and has {almost} all of her multiplication facts down pat. Third grade, here we come!

Amid the constant errands, {trying to keep up on} the housework, and chasing after the littles, I've tried to get back into a craft groove. Saturday is the end of the year dance recital, and my little tap class has been working so hard. I wanted to do something special for them. I found the cutest little ballet slipper pendants {yeah, I know, I teach tap, not ballet, but tap shoe pendants were nowhere to be found, I tell ya}, and I can't wait to show you what I made for my little tappers. The challenge? We have a little boy in our class. No problem, I made him a unique gift all his own. I will try to snap some pics to show y'all soon.

This end of the year stuff is insane! This week, alone, we have Sierra's last jazz class, my last tap class, shopping for last minute odds and ends for the recital {plus I have got to start thinking about Father's Day!!}, a dr. appointment for moi, and finally, Saturday's recital. Whew! How are y'all keeping busy?

P.S. Did ya notice my new header? It was about time, don'tcha think?

Confession Time

I have a confession to make . . . {though some of you may already know}.

Wait for it . . .

Wait for it . . .

I don't exercise.

{GASP!}

I know. I know. I should. I just . . . don't. {Colleen? Are you there? Can we still be friends?}

I haven't always been this way. Obviously when I was doing the Miss USA thing I exercised. Like crazy, really. And even after Sierra was born. I exercised every day. Every.single.day.without.fail. But then I got pregnant with Kenners. I was put on bedrest at 13 weeks, and my exercise habit came to a screeching halt. Once Makenna was born I was out of the habit and I had a newborn. And a two year old. Exercise just wasn't at the top of the ol' priority list. And ever since, {I am so embarassed to say}, I haven't had a regular exercise routine. Or even a semi-regular exercise routine. Sure, I'd start back up before, like, our trip to Hawaii. And I might throw in a little aerobic activity before bathing suit season. But that's it, folks.

So, here's the deal. I'm actually pretty happy with my weight, but I really need to get in shape. I thought if I came here to confess, maybe I'd be held accountable. And maybe I'd even get a little support? Encouragement? Opionions on what has worked for others? If you love to exercise {or even if you don't, but you do it anyway}, please share. I'd love to hear about your experiences. What works for you {what doesn't work for you}, and if you're an aerobics girl, like myself, which dvds you enjoy {and which you hate, so I can stay away from those}.

Whew! It feels so much better to get that off my chest ;)

Wordful Wednesday ~ My Outdoor Girl

Kam ♥ LOVES ♥ to be outside.

She takes my hand and pulls me to the door as if to say "C'mon Mama, let's go outside, already!"

We've had so much rain lately that it's been difficult to find much time to play outside. As soon as there is a break in the weather, we sprint outdoors for a little fresh air.

And I have to drag a little girl inside, kicking and screaming, once the rain starts up again.

Yep, she's my outdoor girl.

~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~ ♥ ~

For more Wordless and Wordful Wednesday posts, jump on over to Miller Racing Family

Seven Clown Circus and 5 Minutes for Mom

Jumbled Thoughts of a busy Mama

Um, yikes. I have been abandoning blog land lately. Though I assure you, it's for good reason. Turns out, building a house is a pretty big {and slightly stressful} project. Who knew? I will have more house updates shortly as {squeal!} we are nearing time for framing!!! Yay!

A few more things that have been keeping me occupied:

♥ So, I have had a toddler before {two, in fact}, but boy, oh boy, Kam keeps me on my toes. I do not remember Sierra or Makenna being quite so . . . busy. Miss Kameryn Faith can destroy a room faster than you can say "Holy Tornado!"

♥ We are finishing up our homeschool year. There is a lot to do. Evaluations and planning for next year have taken up a lot of time. I'll have a 3rd grader and a Kingergardener in the Fall. Wow!

♥ We have two weeks left of dance classes, and preparations for the recital have kept us hoppin' {and tappin', ha!}

♥ And finally, day to day odds and ends, {including a lot of illness this Spring} have continued to keep us busy. Kam is feeling much better {thank you so much for all of your sweet comments and emails of concern}. No more fever {hallelujah!}, but she continues to be kept up at night with a cough. We are so looking forward to some nice weather so that all of these germs can just dry up and GO AWAY! :)

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That pretty much sums it up. Have y'all felt a little overwhelmed with the busyness as Summer nears? {Tell me I'm not alone! Please?} I'm ready for a little R & R ;)

Nature Walk

On Thursday we actually had a few hours with no rain {insert a hallelujah}, so we headed outside. Some of us with cameras ;) The girls love going on "nature walks". The goal was to find a butterfly, a ladybug, and a caterpillar on our walk. Funny enough, I don't think we came across any of them. That's a first!

But we did find Mr. Bug.

And some daisies. Sierra loves daisies.

And these dainty little buttercups

Gramps came along.

Kam learned the proper way to throw rocks in the creek.

Thank you, Grampa.

She found that the bigger they are, the bigger they splash!

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It's been another quiet day inside due to a very sleepy, very feverish little sugarplum. Oh how I hate it when the kiddos are sick.

Poor Baby

This little sugarplum . . .

She isn't feeling so well today :(

There wasn't a lot of sleep happening last night, so we went in to the doctor today. I suspected an ear infection as she was running a 104 degree temp at 2am. But nope. It seems that the germs from the virus we've all been fighting for, oh, a month have made their way back to Kameryn. Poor baby. So we're just snuggling today. And that suits us just fine.

What are y'all doing? Any fun plans for this weekend?

Wordful Wednesday ~ House Update

Three things about this photo that make me happy:

1. Sunshine! Do you see it?? This was taken on the 17th. I'm pretty sure that was the last day we've seen even a ray of sun. Have I mentioned my irritation with the weather? {Oh, I have, haven't I? Well, I'm going to mention it again}. This is the coldest May we've had in over ten years, and the wettest in five. And, oh yeah, one day last week was the coldest "high" they've ever recorded. That's nice.

2. Because of the cooperative weather, we were able to pour our stem walls. Yay! The foundation is done!! Now we are waiting {not so patiently, I'm afraid} for a little break from the rain so that we can weatherproof the basement and pour the basement floor. Then, we can move on to framing!

3. That's my hubby up there on that ladder. Isn't he handsome?? ;) That's the guy who goes to work for 24 hours straight at the fire station, and then comes home {often with very little sleep} to see his girls, and then put in another two full days of work on the house before going back to the fire station. Yeah, I'm blessed.

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For more Wordful Wednesday fun, head on over to Seven Clown Circus! Too wordy? Stop by 5 minutes for Mom and Miller Racing Family! :)