the block project

I am not sure if you remember or not, but about a month ago in this post I mentioned that I was starting a block project. Here is the start to finish for all of you DIY'ers out there. First I bought cubes from Michaels. I had to go to two stores to get enough.

I painted them with the same white paint I used for the wainscoting in the nursery.

Then I chose 6 different scrapbook papers that I had on hand. I tried to coordinate colors that would look good in the nursery. I glued the papers to each side of the blocks. Then I used decoupage over the papers to seal them.

I used a Cricket cutter to cut letters for the blocks. I decoupaged those on top of the blocks. Originally I was putting letter on all six sides, but then I decided to just to the one side.

This is the finished product.

I am pleased with how they turned out and I think they look precious vertically on this little shelf in her room. I know they are a little crooked in this photo. I have since straightened them.

baby

We are taking guesses on the baby's date of birth, weight and length.  Please leave a comment to get in on the fun.    One guess  per person please! 

balancing act

Sorry that I haven't been very blog-a-licious lately. I have been in the midst of a great balancing act. As many of you know- I am possibly about to be a Mommy. But, if I am not, then I am about to start a new year at school. I am standing at the crossroads waiting to see which path I am to be on. In the mean time, I am feverishly preparing for both. Today I went to Babies-R-Us where I purchased a seat saver to go under the car seat, two new bottles (I'm a sucker for good advertisement) and two swaddlers. Across the street at Office Max I purchased crayons, and new tape dispensers for my class. See- balance. It's going to be an interesting next couple of days- so stay tuned.

photos from my camera phone

You guys always tell me that you love the photos from my camera phone post. Well, they just got better. Mr. D. taught me last night how to get them off my phone by hooking it up to the computer. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! I used to email them to myself from the phone and then download them from my email on the computer. DUHHHH!!! Enjoy!!

Kate--- working hard or hardly working???

This is a picture Donovan drew on a letter that he sent to me. I think it looks just like him.

This was my car thermometer the other day. I was parked in the sun- but still RIDICULOUS!
more to come.....

my mother

.... my ever so helpful mother came by this afternoon and brought more stuff for the birthmother's bag. She added:

* Southern Living Magazine

* Woman's Day Magazine

* Paula Deen's Best Dishes Magazine

* a hair brush

* a small mirror

* shampoo

* conditioner

* a small car for her little boy

Then after we packed the bag we met Donovan and Mike on the webcam.

getting ready

We are getting ready for the baby to be born. We are actually 2 weeks away from the estimated due date. This weekend we have really taken care of the last minute things. One task that I have been charged with by the agency is getting the birth mother a bag together for the hospital. She is not planning on rooming in with the child (PRAISE GOD!!) and so I guess it's meant to be stuff for her to do, or to pamper her. Our agency suggested that I do this, so it's on the up and up and totally legal.

Today, I found this super cute bag for her. I am actually packing the bag as I blog. I am a multi-tasker at heart!

In the bag, she will find.....

* a lipgloss

* a nail polish

* a book of a variety of different puzzles

* a su doku book

* a journal

* a pack of pens

* a pack of mechanical pencils

* a gift set containing a shower gel, body cream, body spray, cosmetic bag, shower poof and pumice stone

* two hair clippies

* a manicure kit

I also plan to get some gum and snacks to throw in but I figured I could do that there and not worry about things melting in the car.

Speaking of packing, yesterday we got the last thing we needed for the baby's bag. Check out this super cute dress Mr. D.'s Mother sent.

Love the smocking!!!

Ramona

Ramona Quimby was my first true literary friend.

I loved reading the Ramona books.

I remember waiting till I was 8 to read Ramona Quimby age 8.

I remember being sad when I had read all of the books and there were no more adventures with Ramona.

I also remember that I just didn't like the other Beverly Cleary books as much.

If I had an Amazon Kindle (insert wavy line tv dream sequence here) I would download all of the Ramona book and read them again this summer.

Tomorrow I am taking Eden and Alice to visit with Ramona and Beezus on the big screen.

I hope they love Ramona Quimby as much as I do.

Kaleigh Grace

Here are some super cute pictures of my niece Kaleigh at Playworks. I found out tonight from my Mother that she is exactly 40 inches tall and exactly 40 lbs. I want to give her exactly 40 million hugs and kisses!!

sew vintage

This morning I decided to complete a project I have been studying on for a while. The last time my mother visited she brought me a box of things from Granny's house. In the box were four stitched pillowcases. I later inquired about the pillowcases and she said that my Granny's mother Susie had stitched them by hand. They had some stains on them which I have treated. There are a few stains still, but it adds to the charm. And so, VOILA.....

Little pillowcase dresses for Shelby, Charlie, Rylee and Kaleigh.

I like the little pillowcase dresses because they can grow with the child. If they get too short for a dress, they can be a shirt! I thought this picture was cute because it shows all the different sizes.

For the third sewing project, I made a ruffle and blanket for the Moses basket.

tutu cute!

For a little less than two dollars and a little more than 20 minutes, I created this sassy little tutu for a sweet little lady to be.

This is the first of three sewing projects I plan to accomplish this weekend. Of course, this is the easiest of the three and actually is a no sew project. Here is how I did it.

I bought elastic, ribbon and tulle.

I cut a piece of elastic 12 inches long and stitched it in a loop. This is the size I found out to cut for newborns while searching the internet.

I then cut the tulle into strips. After I went to the store I saw on the internet that they sell rolls of tulle in 6 inch width. Next time I would purchase this because it took longer to cut the strips than to do the rest of the project. Anyway, I cut fabric into strips that were 14 inches long by 4 inches wide.

I then looped my elastic around a space maker storage box.

I started tying the tulle on by making a loop and then pulling the tails through the loop to make a knot.

I did this many times until I was out of tulle.

Then I tied a bow and Voila!!!

I have a lot of elastic and ribbon left over and a few more little girls in mind who might be getting a little surprise!

pictures from my camera phone

I am trying to clean pictures off of my camera phone. Here are the pictures I got uploaded before it was bed time. More to come- lot's more. Enjoy.

I sent this to Maggie with a note saying that I was pretty sure these should be on clearance by now.
Meghan chillin' with me on the Parent's Lounge (even though we are not) at an I-Jump birthday party. This is the color hair I think Shelby will have. Charlie showing off her first head injury. She's fine and as you can see as sassy as ever.
Picture of Rylee texted by my Mother this week.
Charlie eating prunes and loving them.
a little Opossum outside of my school.
My Grandfather with the Colonel
Kaleigh- being cute

It's so hot.....

..... that the glue on Brady's dog house letters melted leaving us with a dog named....

Maggie thinks Brady dropped the "Y" in his name in an effort to be more professional.

I spent my weekend.....

......washing baby clothes and loving every minute of it!

As of tonight, Shelby's suitcase for the hotel is packed and ready to go. I still need to pack her hospital bag and at least some progress was made this weekend! One thing is for sure, she will never say she has nothing to wear! At least not for the first few months anyway! I must clarify that this is all of her newborn and 0-3 months clothes. NO! I did not pack all of these.

hello hydrangea

You may remember from this post that I had taken cutting from the hydrangea at my Grandmother's house in an effort to propagate them for my house. Well, I may have been successful. I noticed the other day that the stems were putting on new leaves.

Look hard at this picture and you will see that I achieved rooting.

I have now moved the rooted stems to a pot of dirt.

We will see if this is a successful attempt or not. Only time will tell!

time to make it official....

Mr. D. and I are planning to adopt a baby girl in one short month!! She is due on 8-9-10!!!!! More to come!!!! We are SO SO SO excited!!!

let this be a warning

I found this little pond gnome and thought maybe he could serve as a warning to the frogs that may want to come and play in the pond. He will string them up by their toes!

Star Spangled (insert my last name here) Celebration

Where to begin..... this was the biggest SSDC we have ever had. The house was packed. We had perfect weather. We had 17 adults and 10 kids. It was a great time. The menu was as follows:

appetizers:

spinach dip

black bean salsa

white chocolate snack mix

creamy mushroom puffed pastries

main :

slider burger bar

hotdogs

sides:

assortment of chips

potato salad

pasta salad

baked beans

macaroni and cheese

fruit salad

desserts:

cake

cookies

kids buffet:

grab bag of snacks

gummies

cookies

juice boxes

pretzels

m&m's

I am sure I probably forgot to list something. It was SO busy and crazy that I didn't get pics of all of the food, but here is what I did take pictures of. Remember, you can click on the collages to make them bigger.

The true hero of the evening was Shane. Mr. D. had a vision of grilling up some slider burgers. Then he read that you can't actually grill them on the grill because they get all dried out and lose their consistency. We picked up this at the store in an effort to make his vision a reality.

Shane jumped in and became the slider master. He used the slider maker and the griddle.

He made like a half a million sliders, a thousand hotdogs and 1 black bean burger! He rocks!!

We had lots of fun things for the kids. We even set up a little pool for them to swim in. Courtney brought star cakes, icing and sprinkles for them to use to decorate. We had bubbles, and sidewalk chalk too.

Oh- and we planted the pumpkins for Halloween. That is our next big party! Here are some pics from the event.

Here is my absolute #1 favorite picture from the celebration! I just LOVE this little lady!!!

We had a great time. The house and yard were filled with happiness, fun and lots of laughter. It was a great feeling! Here are three more of my favorite pictures. Look at what a good time these kiddies are having.

Another CUTE kid at our party was Jack. Jack is a sweet little guy who thinks our last name is Jangles. I get cracked up every time he calls me Sandy Jangles. Anyway, he informed me that the grownups had left a mess in the living room. He cleaned it up.

And in my opinion he did a great job!

I even paid him!

After the party winded down, we got a special treat from Parker and Caleb! A MAGIC SHOW!! Here is a quick video from their show!

After the show, some of us went to the firework at the next town over.

It was an incredibly fun evening!

Since we had our party yesterday, a few of our friends couldn't make it. So, tonight little Miss Ceci and her mom and dad came over for leftovers. Isn't she precious!!

It was a fun and fabulous 4th of July weekend! ! !

***update*** if you can't see the pics larger by clicking on them, check out this album.