From the Heart

I love my bloggy friends!!!

2012-01-27T16:32:00.000-08:00

Here is just one more reason that I just love this blogging community.

It's kinda a my mother's cousin's brothers girlfriend's aunt who work with her uncle's grandma's classmate from grammar school kind of story.

It begins like this...

The CSI Project has it's weekly challenges.

This week's challenge was Window Treatments.

I have been having the hardest time to figure out what kind of window treatment to do in my kitchen. As you know I am determined to redo my kitchen this year as part of my projects for 2012.

A while back I book marked {this} post from Domestically Speaking who got the idea from Little Green Notebook. Love, love the idea and I still might do it yet.

Well, I thought, especially where I live, if I glue the fabric to the blinds how am I gonna take them off to wash, cause EVERYTHING gets dusty here. So I put that project to the side.
I brainstormed different ideas for curtians for the window above my kitchen sink. I kept going back to the idea of roman shades.

Today, I came across the most amazing idea yet and there are a ton of amazing ideas out there! Ok, maybe not the most amazing one but it was totally what I was looking for!

So I was checking out the CSI Project for some window treatment inspiration and I came accross this Faux Roman Shades by Sam over at The Junk House
who got the idea from Tatertots and Jello from her post on Faux Roman Shades who got the idea from Faux Roman shade tutorial from Imparting Grace.

Are you guys still with me??

Well... can you guess what I'll be doing as soon as I order my fabric??

I'm so excited to tackle this project!

Life happens

2012-01-26T11:32:00.000-08:00

Did you see my post on FB today?
Yes I'm on Facebook and why are you not a fan yet?

Not the post about my casserole, but the one about it being Wednesday already.

Kinda like I'm sitting here at my desk now looking at the clock that says 3:44pm, when I started this post at lunch time today when I sat down to eat. Obviouslly that didnt happen.
How is time just flying by?

My baby is turning 3 in just over 3 weeks, taxes are due soon after that... what's next?
Christmas?

Anyway, just a quick note to say hi to everyone and let ya'll know I havent fallen off the face fo this earth.

So.... who's looking forward to next week's Glee?
One reason I'll be glad the week is flying by, hehehe.

I'm planning an orange and blue birthday fish theme party for the lil guys 3rd.
Come check me out on Pinterest where I'm sharing the ideas I got for his party.

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If you're not on Pinterest, let me know and I'll send you an invite!
(warning: Pinterest can be very adicting! Please seek professional help if you start to alienate your friend and family and spend all your time on Pinterest. Same goes for Angry Bird and Word's With Friends)

Trying to pick which one of my many projects I have in store for this year that I can get started on. Something I can complete this weekend and something I can afford since payday isnt till next week.

And who else is bumming that GFC is going away?
(Google Friend Connect)
It was so easy to use, especially since I'm such a techno-idiot.
Oh now to get used to Google Reader or whatever it is thats happening now.
So since I'm on the subject, dont forget to subscribe to me so we dont loose touch when GFC goes bye bye. I put the button closer to the top of my page.
Oh and since you're there follow me on FB too!

Note: Just so that were being real here, its now 9:30 am the following day from starting this post and I'm finally publishing this post!

"I can do whatever I want, GOSH"
(name that movie)

Breakfast/Dinner "Cowboy" Casserole

2012-01-20T13:54:00.000-08:00

I created this casserole by combining two ideas.

One I got from a friend who takes her leftovers and choppes some potatoes and calls it cowboy dinner.

The second I got from Giada De Laurentis Italian Sausage and Egg Bake.

I would absolutely love Giada's recipe but I have to also keep my boys happy and they are some picky boys.

So on this particular night, I had no idea what to make for dinner and I had an abundance of potatos leftover from Christmas.
I chopped up some onion and bell pepper and sauteed it with olive oil, salt pepper and some garlic.

Then I took a Turkey Kilbasa sausage, peeled off the casing and sauteed that as well.

I threw everything together and mixed it up.

I also cracked a few eggs over the top of it and poped it in the oven for about 10 mins, just enough to cook the eggs but so that they were still runny.

It was yum yummy!

The boys liked it and it was fast and easy!

Linking at some of the parties at the bottom of my page!

Thanks for checking it out!

Viva La Mexico!

2012-01-17T14:16:00.000-08:00

I am so not done talking about Christmas, nope, I'm not.

I didn't forget about the Birthday Party pictures either, it's just taking me forever to go through all 633 pictures. Yes, I said 633!

As I promised I would share our best Christmas gift ever!!!

Did you guess what it was with the title of this post??

If not here's another hint....

Our family is going on a 7 day Mexican cruise!!!

Can you hear me screaming with excitement through your computer screen?!

I'll be sipping on these

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And the hubby will be sipping on these

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and my lil guy will be sipping on these

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Just kidding... but not really.

We are so very excited and lucky to be able to do this.

Infact the whole family is going.

My mom & dad in law, my sister in law, her hubby & their 3 kids, my brother in law his girlfriend and their daughter and we'll be meeting my mil's two sisters and mother as well.

My mil's family is from New York and well, my hubby and I havent seen them since our wedding 11 years ago.

I still can't belive were going on this vacay of a life time... we'll my lifetime since we cant afford anything else!

YAY!

Eviction Notice

2012-01-13T13:52:00.000-08:00

I grew up in the town of Koloa on the island of Kauai.

I feel very fortunate to be able to have been raised the "old style".

We lived in a Plantation Camp.

Life was simple.

We had no traffic.

We knew EVERYBODY in our town.

(and EVERYBODY knew our parents/grandparents)

We never had to lock our doors.

(pic taken 1/7/12)

Some of us took a bath in outside bathhouses

Going outside to play marbles meant we would go to the cane field up the road and dig marbles out of the ground to play with.

(sugar cane in our front yard pic taken 1/7/12)

Baseball was played with a stick from the mac nut tree and rocks from the road.

The road was (and still isnt) paved. It's a gravel road made out of crushed coral.

(pic 1/7/12)

We rode our bikes and stuck playing cards or our grandpa's old beer cans to the spokes of our bikes to make loud noises.

We played in our neighbors tree houses and knew it best to be home before it got dark or we would get 'lickens'.

Back in November, Grove Farm notified the last of the residents to live in the camp they had 120 days to vacate as they would be demolishing their homes, their lives, all their memories and making room for development and so called 'affordable housing coming from China.
China? Really?

We have a struggling local economy and they want to bring in prefab homes from China?

The first article came and this article followed.
(please do read each article)

The neighborhood has received amazing support from the community even more so proving we are an Ohana.

This past Sunday Lee Cataluna wrote an article in the Honolulu Star Advertiser posted here.
Lee Cataluna's parents lived in this very camp.

This neighborhood is where I lived up untill I got married.
I spent majority of my life there.

I work in the construction industry and so I understand very well the importance of development and new construction. Change is inevitable, I get that.

What I don't get is how they are evicting these people whom majority of the residents are elderly, who have never lived anywhere else in their life, who live on very strict and limited incomes to make way for development.
Money Hungry.

For years the camp has been so called 'shut down' so no new residents could move there.
At any point if someone would move out or pass away (which remember these are mostly elderly people) the house would be demolished and the lot left empty or leased for agriculture reasons. (Most lots are used to raise fighting chickens) Why they cannot continue to do this, I have no idea. But Grove Farm has decided in this tough economy they want to develop.

To read more on the issues surrounding everything please take the time to read this blog post and the website Save Koloa Camp which was created by another lifelong resident and my childhood neighbor Kepa Kruse.

My question to Grove Farm is touched upon in this article written by Lee Cataluna, who's parents as I mentioned were also residents of the camp. And I have to add the photo in the post, that's my grandparents house where my mom lives till today. The window on the far right was my bedroom I shared with my grandmother.

Grove Farm is proposing this new development and offer affordable homes and the residents that they are evicting will be given first chance at those affordable homes.

Published reports put these affordable homes at around $400,000.

I have two points to make regarding this:

1. My husband and I got suckered into purchasing 'affordable housing' 6 years ago at the height of the big real estate boom.

We purchased our home for $420,000 and took out a 30 year mortgage for $400,00 at 5.75% interest.

Our monthly mortgage payment is $2,900.

My husband and I both have very good jobs and it's a struggle to pay our mortgage every month and make ends meet. We tried to refinance our mortgage but we cannot, why?

Because the market has shifted extremely downwards and now our brand new ocean view home is worth only $320,000 on the HIGH side.

So how is it they figure that $400,000 is fair market value of 'affordable housing' pricing?

2. The rent that these residents are paying currently is $600 & $700.

The residents there are my mom's age and older up to in their late 80's.

Do they think at their age and income these residents are going to first of all qualify for a mortgage and secondly how are they going to afford it?

Needless to say, my mom and the other residents of Koloa Camp didnt have a great Thanksgiving or end of the year.

It has been however, very encouraging to see the community come out to show their support. Thankfully my mom does have a plan and a place to move when the time comes.

Until then the residents and community is asking for Grove Farm to find another location for their planned development.

(Grove Farm does only own half the friggen island!!)

Ok, I know its been a long post I hope you've stuck around and read all the way through.

Please do take the time to read all the articles I posted links to and also check out

Save Koloa Camp

Our Christmas

2012-01-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

I am a Grinch.

There I said it.

I dont like Christmas.

Correction, I didnt like Christmas, now it's growing on me.

I guess things change when you have a child and see the joy in their face that Christmas brings.

After putting up our tree, he layed under it looking at the lights for the longest time!

He got to visit with his cousin Emily who visited from Oahu.

He was so happy and they played so well.

(so was mommy & daddy cause we got to visit with lil Em's mommy & daddy too)

After Emily went back home, Talon asked for her for almost a week!

The hubs and the lil guy got to go fishing with Emily and her family too while mommy stayed home to finish her baking and gift wrapping and delivering.

We got a Christmas countdown calendar from our friends, but the boy is not even 3 so he still cant get the concept of count down.

On Christmas morning he woke up to this and was so patient and waited till we said he could open his gifts to rip into them.

He played with his train from his grandma (my mother in law) and it totally kept him entertained and out of the kitchen.

Mommy quickly made some fried potatoes, baccon, eggs (boiled is both my boys favs) and mini pancakes just as grandma arrived. (my mom)

The lil guy loved his breakfast, probably more than anyone of us.

Then we spent the next hour letting him open his gifts.

It was so enjoyable seeing all the excitement and his eyes light up.

(my mom)

Around lunch we went to my in law's house for lunch/dinner there and gifts as well.

My friend who gave me the Christmas countdown also made these ornaments for us. There was three in all. This one, a snowflake and an angel.

They are gorgeous and if anyone wants any hit me up.

She makes cards, albums and all kinds of other items.

I'm trying to get her to open an etsy shop.

Finally I got around to giving you our Christmas wrap up.

Hope you all had a good one.

Stay tunned for the best Christmas gift ever that I mentioned before.

Goals for the New Year

2012-01-10T17:41:00.000-08:00

I hate Resolutions, just calling them a resolution is like asking for failure in my book.
I noticed a sign outside of a church in the town next to where I live this past weekend and I cracked up out loud. It said:
"May your troubles last as long as your resolutions."

HAHAHAHAHA How true is that! Hilarous!

Ok so I have set goals for myself this year as far as project around the house go and here are a few of my personal goals:

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Numero Uno: Spend Less, Payoff Debt!!

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2. Stop spending because it's a 'good deal'
I love getting a good coupon but I cannot be buying stuff if I dont need it.
You know like those people on tv with like a thousand tubes of toothpaste.

3. Plan our meals better.

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I hate coming home from work at 6pm and having to figure out what to make and then having to rush to defrost something to make within an hour. No more!

4. Spend more time doing things my son wants to do.
And speaking of which, I never get a picture doing things with my son because I'm usually the one behind the camera.

5. Read more to my son.

He is really getting into reading and this past weekend we cleaned out his stuffed animal shelf and filled it up with books.

6. Exercise more or atleast be more active.

7. Use up all my fabric before I buy more.

(with the exception of the fabric for my curtains)

8. File my taxes on time.

source

I know this one should be a given but to be completely honest, since my son was born I have not filed on time not once.

Alright thats enough to get me started, I dont want to make my list too long and get discouraged!

I'm linking my goals to Fingerprints on the Fridge, how about you guys join in too!

Projects for the New Year

2012-01-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

Last year, I was just getting used to doing my own home projects.

This year, I'd like to really go for it!

Starting with this project.

We have only ONE water spicket in our front yard.

Its such a pain to drag the hose all the way to the side of the yard, either side of the yard to water the grass or plants that I used to have there. I say used to because they have since dried up and died from lack of watering!

Our plan is to tie into the one existing water spicket and run a water pipe along the slab of our house and make another water spicket on the other side.

See below:

In theory, it all sounds simple... but we'll see.

This second project has been on my wish list since we moved in.

We have a fenced in backyard which is perfect for my son to run around and play and I dont have to worry about him going too far. Problem is, our backyard faces west and in the afternoon it is soooooo hot that I can't stand to be out there. When we have friends come over to BBQ we sweat so bad and its so uncomfortable. We need a pergola or some sort of shade above our back patio.

This is a big project for us, we need to watch out for our roof line and cannot permanently tie into the house or we'll have to get permits and drawings and inspections, blah, blah... all stuff that is just too much trouble for a little shade.

Our backyard also used to be home to my hubby's little crabbing boat. It took up a good portion of our already small backyard and the spot where it sat wont grow grass.

I want to reclaim that space in our backyard and put the boat somewhere else.

Luckily right now, it is at our friends house down the road taking up temporary residence since they use it more than we do.

(I offered permanent residence to which my hubby was not pleased about! LOL)

We want to take down this portion of the fence below and push it back approx 8 -10 feet and create a little parking space for it here.

This past year we tackled our garage project and put up a partial wall. Well now the corner to our backyard is super dark. I would like to put a light up on this side wall so that we can light up that area.

This project feels like something I can only dream of doing.

Our kitchen needs so much work, I pray each time I go into Home Depot that I run into the crew from Kitchen Crashers.

I would like to replace the light fixtures, change out our flooring and the BIG one, paint the cabinets.

BTW, my kitchen isnt always this messy. I took this picture during New Year's Day cleaning.

This room is SCARY!

It's our spare room and right now is being used as storage for just about everything.

My mom will be moving into a smaller house in the near future (I will explain in a future post) and so in order to get rid of some of her things, I convinced her to do a garage sale.

(my mother is a HOARDER!!)

The catch, I have to store everything and have it at my house.

I would like to make this my son's big boy room. If you follow me on pinterest, I've been posting ideas for the room there.

If I can pull it off, I think it will be pretty darn cool!

He'll be a lucky kid.

For the simple projects, I picked up these palets a while back with the intention to make rustic looking planter boxes for my backyard.

Also I scored some really nice pavers from a demo job my boss guys did a while back and we need to put those down as well. I was thinking a walk path from the side of the garage to the backyard since we cannot grow grass. I dont know but grass just wont grow.

Last but not least, I scored this lamp at the Salvation Army for $5.

I liked the shape of it even though it didnt have a shade $5 was a steal.

I actually was holding it checking it out and a man came from out of nowhere and told me if I didnt get it he was gonna. Oh that settled it, it was mine.

So theres a run down of the projects I'd like to tackle this year. Keep posted on my progress or stick around and stay on me to keep going!

Pick your Plum

2012-01-05T13:10:00.000-08:00

Lookie lookie what I scored today at Pick you Plum!

I got one for myself and one for a gift!

Happy New Year! It's 2012

2012-01-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

Yay! We all survived 2011 and I've already hit the ground running in 2012.

Hope ya'll have a safe and good one.

Last year I posted about my "2011 Goals"
So how did I do??
Let's see....

I am still a procrastinator, but I have made an attempt to get better and NOT being that way.

With everything that I have been through this year, I think I have done my best to stay positive always look for the good in things and be greatful for all that I have.

I'm still working on getting rid of clutter and simplifing my life. Slowly but surely I'm getting there. I have spent a lot of time getting rid of the unnecessary and even with the last few days I'm getting there. Now just to keep up with it and stop hoarding!

I still have yet to learn PSE8, but I have made a deal with my friend who likes to borrow my camera that she must in turn teach me how to use it.

I sadly still have yet to sit down and get my Etsy Shop going, someone just spank my hand and make me to it already!!

I also havent been a great blogger. I take forever to check and respond to my emails and I dont post regularly. For that I appologize.

My blog just like me and my life is random.
As much as I wish I could be a stay at home mom and blogger, I cannot afford to.
So I work full time, mostly 9 hr days and I get home and cook and try to spend as much time with my family as I can.

My family will always come first in my life, my blog, happens when I have time.
I will try to be a better blogger though, because I find that I really enjoy it... and as the saying goes "a happy wife is a happy life" hehehe

So stay tunned for what 2012 will bring!

moving on up...

2011-12-30T11:16:00.000-08:00

Ok, well I'm not moving, but I am stepping it up in the tech savy world!

I just got my very first smartphone.

Yea I know, only now, I'm old skool like that.

So far, I have to say, I'm not a big fan of it.

Everyone says I just have to get used to it, so I havent thrown it out the window yet.

I also wanted to let you all know, I'm also on Facebook now check me out at From the Heart.

And if that aint enough, I also made me a twitter account too... oooohhhh....

(@Rhiannonmariko)

Just FYI, my twitter account is my personal account not my blog so you can have a peak into my bipolar random mind.

Tonight we have a little party with our martial arts Ohana.
Hopefully I can check in tomorrow during our massive pre-New Year's clean.

I see the light at the end of the tunnel...

2011-12-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

Yes, as you have noticed I have been very absent.
For those of you who stick by me, I appologize.

It's the Holidays and besides working my butt off for year end financials, I have decided to spend whatever free time with my family.

We had a wonderful Christmas and hope you all did as well.

I didn't feel overwhelmed since I did get a head start this year shopping and stashing.

I am determined to keep doing this every year, it has been such a HUGE relief!

I have a big exciting announcement to make about the bestest Christmas gift ever!!
(no I am not pregnant)

The days are flying by and thank goodness, I cant wait for another long weekend with my family.

I have always been taught that you start the new year fresh and clean.
So you have to give up your grudges, forgive your enemies and clean the house!
Saturday we're planning just that. (Especially since we skipped it this past weekend)

Well, back to work I go... wishing all of you a happy and safe new year!
I'll see you all in 2012!

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Picture this...

2011-12-20T15:19:00.000-08:00

So my friend's daugher's first birthday party was a success, as far as I can tell.

It's over and done with and everyone survived.

It was beautiful and as promised I will be sharing pictures soon, I only took about 500!

The party is over but life sure isn't slowing down any time soon.

Can you belive it's only 6 days till Christmas?!

image source google

I have to spend tonight wrapping my gifts and figuring out who I still need to get for, which isn't a lot. Thank goodness I shopped early in the year.

Sewing gifts this year is out of the question at this point.

Oh and I have to find time to bake family gifts too.

Of course at the very last minute we took family pictures this past Sunday.

I think I got two good pictures of the boys and not a single one of me.

It rained about 10 minutes after we got there and rain and my freshly ironed hair does not do well. So me and my frizz ball of a head didnt make any of the cuts. We'll have to retake soon!

Looks like we're sending out "Holiday" cards instead of Christmas cards.

Here are my boys...

For a while getting a picture of my almost 3 year old was like pulling teeth, now he seems to be warming up to the camera again. Now I just have to deal with the fake smile.

I'm also a week behind on my 2011 recap, so I'll have 6 months worth of recap by the end of the week.

How are you guys doing with Christmas just days away?

drowning...

2011-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

I am running on empty

image source google

I am so tired as I type this my eyes are heavy and wanting to close so bad!

I've been helping my friend get ready for her daughter's first birthday party and I've had late nights every day this week since Monday.

But I cannot wait to see it all put together tonight.
I will no doubt have a ton of amazing pictures.
Not that my picture taking skills rock but that she pays attention to every last detail, no matter how extravagant. Remember the sunfower baby shower?
Yea that one.

I still have some Christmas shopping to do, my spare room looks like a tornado hit and I wanted to spend time with my dear friend Charity before she leaves me and moves to Kansas City, on MONDAY!!! (sob, sob, sob)

Saturday night is the annual Waimea Lights Parade and I really want to take my son, we've been going since his first Christmas!

I love the look of amazement in this photo.

Have a great weekend guys, I'll be back with lots of photos!

cheap Christmas in a vase

2011-12-13T12:15:00.000-08:00

I know I'm super late on getting with the Christmas decorating.

I just havent gotten into it this year, time is just flying by too fast.

We did get our tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving.

So, here is my super fast and super cheap project I did last night.

About a week or so ago I went to Kmart since they had jar candles on sale for $3.99 SUPER CHEAP! But alas when I got there, the shelves were completely wiped out.

But I did find these two vases for $6 and candle stick holders for 99 cents.

(running total under $14)

I had been putting off buying the fabulous E-6000 glue since this sucker is expensive.

I saw a picture on a blog somewhere with a price tag on the tube, it said $3-something.

Woah, our craft store sells it for oh $7.99.

I had a 40% off coupon good for this past weekend, plus a $5 gift card.

I got the glue and a candy bar for 81 cents, chee hoo!

(total now $14.81)

I applied some glue to the candle stick holder and then placed the vase on top.

Man that is some messy glue to work with!

Be careful and have a nice area to work in and some petroleum jelly close by.

After letting it dry here they are...

A while ago we went up to Kokee and picked up pine cones so they were FREE.

I threw a bunch of them in the jar.

I also added some left over glitter ornaments from several years ago, again FREE.

I put them on the entryway table. It still looks bare but, its a start.

I still have 12 days left, right?

Total cost of project under $15!

Plus I got a candy bar too.

I'm linking to the parties at the bottom of my page go check out the other great projects!

Today's Creative Blog

January - March Recap

2011-12-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

I've never done a recap before so when I read about the 2011 Review Extravanganza I thought what a fun idea! Its always good to reflect on the past year anyway right?

So thats what I did. I went back to see what I did throught the year, first up is
January - March Recap, what did I do?

I sewed with Bias tape for the first time.

I joined the 21 days to getting organized challenge over at A bowl full of lemons.
It was great I organized under my kitchen sink, my dresser & drawers, the medicine cabinet (when was the last time you checked the expiration date on your meds?), under the bathroom sink, toy organization and my recipe books.

It was a lot of cleaning and organizing let me tell ya, but I needed it.
They were small enough projects that they were easy to tackle... now can someone else do another organizing challenge please? I need to start cleaning again.

My girlfriend put on a beautiful Sunflower Baby shower.
And its time for her daughters 1st bday so I just can't wait to see it all put together and share it with ya'll! She goes WAY over the top and doesnt miss a single detail!

I practiced a bit with my photography and learned about bokeh and macro.

My lil man celebrated his 2nd bday in February.
I reminised about being pregos and giving birth.
And I reflected on my son's first two years, boy do they grow so fast!

We had a little celebration for him at our home and had a great time.

Hawaii was hit with a tsunami warning on 3/11/11 after the horrible Japan earthquakes.
Thankfully we were not badly affected by it.

I shared my story about karma that till today when I read my own story, I still get goose bumps and tear a little.

And speaking getting teary and geting goose bumps....
I told you about the little gift I made for my friend Kai.
It was supposed to be uplifting and keep him positive.
Little did we know that times were only going to get tougher for him.
Few months into the year, they found a large tumor on the base of his brain.
Thank God for miracles, hes doing fine now.

Hmmm what a way to start the year! Thanks for keeping up with me... next week April - June Recap!

Shaved Ice on a HOT day

2011-12-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

I cannot belive I live on an island where we are KNOWN for our shaved ice stands and I just realized that my son has never had a shaved ice!

Does that make me a bad mother?

Here he is on Sunday with his very first shaved ice.

He actually turned it down and until we told him it was ice cream he gave it a chance.

First bite down, hmmm he's thinking about it.

Then he dove right in and went to town!

Forget the small wooden spoon just bite it!

ugghhh... brain freeze...

But that didnt stop him, right back in there to finish it up!

And then we hung out in the sun to warm up and watch the kids play in the baseball field.

Where else in the world do you have a shaved ice and sit in the sun at the park on a Sunday afternoon during WINTER TIME!

Hoo Are you? With Night Owl Crafting

2011-12-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, but Night Owl Crafting is doing their weekly Hoo Are you again!

Here are my answers!

1. Is all your Christmas shopping done?

NOPE! But I'm in good shape. I did most of my shopping through out the year when I found great sales so I just have a few last minute things to pick up and then the rest is just baking.

2. Do you decorate for Christmas and if so when?

Yes, I decorate usually Thanksgiving weekend or the weekend after.

This year I havent gone all out with the lights on the house and the lighted tree and reindeer in the yard because we just plugged some new grass and I have to water often!

3. Do you bake during the Holiday season?

Yes, I make myself crazy baking every year, but I have to. I just can't afford to buy gifts for everyone, and who doesnt like a homemade sweet treat?

4. What are your favorite smells of this time of year?

I'm not a peppermint fan, I do like cinnamon, cookies and the smell of fresh trees. We never have a real tree but I catch a wiff when we go to the stores.

5. What are your favorite things to do during the Holiday Season?

I love to drive around and check out everyone's houses all decorated with lights.

Card Swap

2011-12-07T14:20:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone? Want to send some holiday cheer but not break the bank?

Kimmie over at Sugar & Dots and Rachelle over at Fingerprints on the Fridge
are having a Card Swap!

Sounds like fun and you can meet some new peeps!
Go check it out

My most favorite dressing

2011-12-06T10:17:00.000-08:00

I know Thanksgiving is so last week (or even the week before), but I just have to share this recipe with ya'll. It's even great for Christmas dinner.

One of my most favorite things about any holiday is my grandma's stuffing, which I have learned is actually dressing not stuffing.

Every holiday we would have her stuffing and I would pick on it from the stove top long before our meal was ready to be served. I love it!

A few years ago, she taught me how to make it.

It never comes out exactly how she makes it, I think she has just the right grandma touch.

Either that or she's not giving me the whole recipie.

We have to start with 2 loaves of white bread, the cheap stuff is fine and were gonna put them out 2 days before to dry out and get stale.

Then you take that bag of turkey innards out and salt some water and boil the heck out of them.

While that is boiling chop a half an onion.

Then take all the goodies out of the pot and chop them up pretty fine as well.

YES, you will be adding all those turkey insides!

Just trust me on this one.

Add it to your bowl of chopped onion and while youre at it throw in 2 stalks of chopped celery as well.

And chop up some olives.

Now take your stale bread and wet it with water. Just wet it till moist if there is extra water squeeze it out over the sink, we dont want the bread too wet.

Then add in all the veggies, 3-4 eggs, salt and pepper to taste and chop up a couple of chili peppers to make it exciting too.

Get a large pan or wok and put some oil in it and let it get hot.

Now throw your dressing mix in and cook it till it dries up a little bit.

Then you freak out and remember that you forgot to add in the flat parsley!!

Rush to your chopping board and cut it up, make sure it's FLAT parsley, if you use any other you won't get the right flavor.

Ok throw it in and mix it up really fast and hope its not too late!

Easy Peasy!

When it's done you have warm delish old fashioned grandma's dressing!

Try not to eat it all before you serve your holiday meal.

I'm linking to the parties found {here} or at the bottom of my page, check them out.

today's creative blog

One last pumpkin post I promise!

2011-12-05T12:24:00.000-08:00

I know its December and almost Christmas....

I know I promised that I wasnt going to post anything more about pumpkins... sorry I lied.

I thought the pumpkin talk was all over but its back.

The other night I walked past my son's room and saw this organge glow.

"What the heck?" I thought to myself.

I went into his room and found this...

My son took his flashlight and put it in his plastic jack o lantern and put it on his bed!

Hahahaha!

My lil man is just like his mama.... loves Halloween!

Special Treat... Guest post from A Little Knick Knack!!

2011-12-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

It's Thursday, only one more day till Aloha Friday!

Today I have a very special treat!

I have Meg visiting from A Little Knick Knack come over to share a little something about herself and her blog.

This is my very first blog swap ever and I'm so happy and honored to have her.

Please give her a warm welcome and dont forget to go and check her out!

Hey everyone! My name is Meg and I live over at A Little Knick Knack. I've been blogging for almost 2 years and love it! I have a lovely link party every Friday called Everything but the Kitchen Sink, and I'd love for you to join! I also host many great giveaways and do some fun reviews, so come by and check things out!

I have a lot of wood. Anything that I can do to wood, I'll do. I love to paint, stain, glaze, hammer, distress, sand...the possibilities are endless. I had so much fun making these birdhouses....

...and these fun little initial blocks...

And this yellow chair...

I've been trying my hand at sewing lately. I hosted a basic sewing series with another fabulous blog friend--Tina from Twinkle Toes, and we did a tutorial on how to make these lovely pillowcases....

And then I went on a canvas kick and made these lovely pillow forms....

....and this canvas table runner.

I hope you enjoyed a little preview of my little blog and can join my Thursday link party, Everything but the Kitchen Sink! It's open all weekend and we have such a fun time! Come check it out!

Merry Christmas!

the nursing cover

2011-11-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

**First of all I need to appologize for the photos in this post. I have been practicing with picnik resizing my images and putting a watermark and I dont know what I did, but half the photos ended up flipped when I uploaded them. I tried my best to fix it, but at 10:15 at night all I can think about is sizing up my pillow ;-)**

So a few times I teased you talking about the fab fabric I got and that I'd worked on some baby shower gifts, finally here it is. Well atleast one of them.

When I became a mother, I realized a lot of things people dont tell you, one of them, when you have to breastfeed.... you have to feed! It dont matter where you are.

There were times when I was shopping at Costco and when your baby wants to eat they want to eat.

From the begining I was determined to have this baby as a part of our lives and not dictate our lives so if that meant whipping my boob out in the middle of my grocery shopping at Costco then so be it.
What made it oh so much easier?
My handy dandy nursing cover!

I just loved, loved mine and so I can't think of a more perfect gift for a new nursing mother.

The first time I made one I used the one I found at Blisstree but I have since made a few adjustments here and there. I think it just depends how big or small you want the nursing cover.

I got two coordinating pieces of fabric and cut the main body at about 24" wide X 32" long and then one at 24" wide X 4" or so long for the bottom trim.
Also cut from the coordinating trim 2 more pieces about 3" wide or so and one at 10" long and one at 20" long for the straps that go around your neck.

Sew the straps together wrong side out so that when you flip them to the right side out, you'll have a nice trim edge. Then sew the trim fabric to the bottom on the large body fabric.

Press the straps nicely and also press the hem on the trim down.

Fold each side in twice and sew a straight stitch and then do the same with the bottom hem as well.

Now with the neck line, you are going to have to get a piece of plastic corset boning. I cut mine at about 15" - 17" long. Fold the hem in once and press. Then place the boning in the center of your nursing cover and fold over again and press. As you can see you made a pocket for your boning to go in.

Pin right next to the sides of the boning so it doesnt move around. You are going to take your two straps and tuck one side under the hem you just pressed right next to each side of your boning. Straight stitch right along the edge all the way across.

You can see the boning is sewn right in there and wont move.

Go back to the straps and I sew a little square to hold it in place firmly.

At the end of the short strap I put on 2 D rings and then fold over the raw edge once and then once again to tuck it under and hide it. Then sew straight across atleast twice.

And tada!

There you go, super stylish and super convenient.

A life saver in fact!

This one I almost wanted to keep and have another one case it was too cute!

Please dont mind the mess behind me in the pix!

(always keeping it real)

Another update... here is the pix! thanks for waiting!

I'm linking up with the parties listed at the bottom of my page.
Go check them out!

**UPDATE**

Oops sorry I just realized I forgot to upload the final picture!!

Please be patient, it will be up later this evening.

today's creative blog

Life's little blessings...

2011-11-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

Our family grew just a little bit bigger yesterday.

My dear friends, that are like our own family welcomed baby number 5.

Welcome precious little Keahi.

I'm so happy for this little addition to their family.

Makes me have baby fever, hehe

This would be the totally perfect way to introduce some of the baby gifts that I made for this lil guy... but that will be another post. Stay tunned...

Does Victoria have any secrets??

2011-11-29T10:33:00.000-08:00

The Big Show is tonight!

Do you guys watch it?

I love watching the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show!

wanna know a secret? when I was young I wanted to be a VS model! True Story.

My favorite performance was last year

This is the only time I make my hubby look at other women... and the only time hes allowed to! LOL

I'm very excited for the show, only problem is... it's the same time as Glee!!
Lucky I have DVR

a long weekend and into cyber monday

2011-11-28T13:35:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

I know I sure did... I thought I'd be lazy and just take the weekend to relax (it was much needed!) but instead we were super productive!

Friday I actually ventured out and did a little of shopping. My son wanted to hang out with his papa and my dad told me to go do my errands so I ran around and got some pretty good deals and checked some things off my Christmas list.

I DID NOT go out for the crazy Black Friday, no way!

Saturday we got the usual chores done and my little helper is getting more and more helpful every week! He vacuumed the livingroom with a smile on his face.

I finished the rest of the house and did laundry and cleaned the bathrooms while he went outside with his daddy and mowed the lawn.

I dont know who I was more proud of, the hubs or the lil man.

They even cleaned out my garden, took out the weeds and replanted my green onions!

Yesterday we planted a TON of grass plugs, uggh my arms are killing me today.

And speaking of today, it's Cyber Monday.

You guys picking up any good deals?

I stocked up on PJ for the next 2 years!

Check out this super cute list of Gifts for your Frenemy from Babble.com
Totally made me giggle at the ideas! You have to check it out, atleast get a good laugh.

Cheers to Monday!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-23T18:16:00.000-08:00

Is it just me or did Thanksgiving really sneak up on us this year?

I can't even belive that its tomorrow already, buuuut thank God for the long weekend!

I started soaking the turkey in brine from last night, put out 2 loaves of bread to get stale for the dressing what else is there??

I found this picture of my son's first thanksgiving in 2009, he was 9 months old.

Looking at this picture makes me have baby fever!!

I miss this little baby!

I'm so thankful to be blessed with him, even though he drives me insane!

You can hear me gush about the experience {here} and {here}

But this post isnt about my baby so moving on....

Because of the Holiday WTF Wednesday will be postponed and will return in 2 weeks as regularly scheduled. You guys should be able to get some good stuff with Black Friday coming up!

I want to wish all you out there a happy and safe thanksgiving!

Chair redo for craft desk

2011-11-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

Thanks for being patient when I catch up around here!

So without further ado... here is one of the projects Ive been wanting to share.

A while ago I got this entryway table from craigslist that came with a couple of chairs.

Just like the table they were pretty beaten up.

I got the table and chairs for $40 so pretty good deal I would say.

I took the dirty cushion off and found another old one under it! I took that one off as well and sanded the chair down.

(please excuse the crooked pix, I just cant for the life of me fix it)

Apparently I forgot to take pictures of the sanding and spray painting process, but I'm sure you guys can imagine it.

Sand - dust - spray paint

Then I took some left over fabric from a sewing project you must stay tunned for...

I layed the cushion I removed on the fabric and just cut around it.

Then I stapled it to the foam and board.

Ok, I didnt staple it, the wood was just tooooo hard!

Even my hubby couldnt get the staples through!

See!

My friend's hubby came from up the road to my rescue!

He's a big strong guy.

He got the staples in finally and even he had some issues!

Then I screwed the seat back on the chair and tada!!

(singing)

Isnt she lovely, isnt she wonderful....

So... after all of this and I put it together, THEN I realized I didnt check to see how I linned up the fabric on the seat cushion!

DUH!

Oh well, I still really like it!

Here is a view from the hallway, see how the colors flow all the way to the front door?

And the print kinda matches my welcome mat too!

Ok, I'm being real here... this is what this desk has been looking like for some time. Getting the chair done has finally put my butt in gear to clean it up.

Now I finally have my little space to work!

And as you can see, I was just getting ready to do some sewing in my spot!

Got a nice view right outside my window and ready to tackle my projects!

I'll be linking to the parties at the bottom of my page and found {HERE} as well.

today's creative blog

you light up my life...

2011-11-17T18:07:00.000-08:00

I love candles. What can I say Im a romantic.

Love all the different glass candle stick holders.

Sorry no image source, if anyone knows where this one and the one below came from let me know so I can give the proper persons credit!

And look at all these brass, silver and metal ones, ooooh ahhh!

Image Source

Here's a cheap DIY idea, use empty wine bottles! I could totally do this, where my girls at? We need to suck back some wine this weekend!

(just kidding, I'm not that much of a wine-o)

Image Source

What a pretty idea for a wedding.

Thankful....

2011-11-16T00:18:00.000-08:00

We had a super busy week and weekend.

As you know my lil man has been sick, but is doing 100 times better.

Last Friday I had a wedding on the very popular 11-11-11

They were the sweetest couple, so cute and sweet. They and their families have been though a lot and it was so touching to be a part of their wedding and seeing this family all together.

They are blessed to have each other.

Saturday was my friend's, nephew's daughter's birthday and welcome home party.

Wow say that 5 times fast!

This lil girl was born with an underdeveloped intestine and had numerous surgeries in her first year of life. She spend the last year and a half in Kapiolani Women's and Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House. She's finally home with her family and they celebrated with a party. We spent 2 evenings after work making 150 cake pops for the guests favors. Whew... I dont want to see another cake pop for a long time! LOL

Sunday we had a small baby shower for a dear friend of mine. She is pregnant with her 4th boy. It was so nice to see the kids playing and nice to visit and talk story with all our friends and family.

I will be sharing some of the gifts that I made for her later this week!

I'll give you a hint... it has something to do with this post.

So I guess you could say I've been keeping busy.

I have some projects that I want to share with all of you, but I just havent been able to find the time to blog about it.

Last night I was lying in bed and I was running all the things I have to do in my head.

It was quiet and I could hear the waves crashing on the beach below our subdivision.

I listened to it for a while and thought, wow, I never noticed that before.

Then, I stopped to think.

How lucky am I to by lying in my bed and listening to the ocean waves break on the shore?

Thank you Lord.

Then I thought, it's so quiet that I can hear it, mean's my son isnt waking up sick during the night anymore. (or that my hubby isnt snoring!)

Thank you Lord.

No matter how much work the cake pops were, thank the Lord their little girl is here and healthy.

All those projects that was going through my mind. I'm thankful for the opportunity to work on them, and finish a lot of them as well.

I dont know if listening to the waves that gave me this Ah ha moment or the fact that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and its time to think of all the things you're thankful for.

Either way, no matter how busy we get we must not forget all that we should be thankful for.

Ok, and as my DECA teacher would say, thats my sermon for today.

See ya'll soon with my projects!

an update...

2011-11-08T15:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's post didnt go up as scheduled and today's post won't either.

As I mentioned in my 'Monday post' we stayed home this past weekend. My son has been ill and after a trip to the dr's last Saturday AND a trip to the Urgent care this past Sunday, let's top off this party with a trip to the ER last night.

Lesson here: A mother always knows when something isnt right and trust your instincts!!

I originally took him in for a cold. He began with a dry cough and since he has a history of wheezing and they're watching for asthma I figured better safe than sorry.

Diagnosis was a slight cold and they gave him a refill for his nebulizer.

We keep our eye on him and his cough got worse and he had a runny nose.

Called the dr's and they said it was a cold going around and to keep him comfortable and give him tylenol if he ran a fever.

This past weekend, the fever hit and as he slept I watched his breathing and it seemed shallow and almost at a pant.

We called the ER who paged the peds dr on call and were told that if he was breathing comfortably and sleeping dont wake him just let him sleep and bring him in the morning.

I woke up every hour and watched him breathe.

The next morning as soon as we got up and my lil man had breakfast we went to urgent care.

He received care rather quickly and the dr seemed thorough and patient. He even called the pharmacy ahead to confirm that they had the correct attachment for his inhaler.

We were sent home and told to make an appointment for Tuesday for a follow up.

Yesterday evening when we got home, I noticed he was just not himself. He was quiet and lethargic soooo NOT him!

He got really clingy and was just crying for no obvious reason. After about an hour of watching him and asking him questions he told me he was scared cause he couldnt breathe.

That was NOT something to take lightly and I was not going to wait until his apointment the following day.

I just kept having flashbacks of last year Thanksgiving! Dont want a repeat of that!

I rushed him to the ER, it was the LONGEST drive ever!!

Thanfully we were seen right away. The dr's and nurses worked efficiently and were very nice to all of us. After a neb treatment, a couple of nurses and dr's checking him and a chest xray he was diagnosed with a slight case of pnuemonia!

Mama just knew something wasnt right with her baby.

Thank goodness we went in and thank God for the nurses and dr's and everyone that he is doing fine. We'll be going for his check up in about an hour and I'm hoping to get hom and all of us geting some sleep.

I'll check in tomorrow if I have the energy.

I did however, get to be quite productive this weekend since we stayed home.

Got some really nice baby shower gifts done too which I'll share later!

Oh Monday, why do you come so soon??

2011-11-08T12:06:00.000-08:00

**note**
I started this post on Monday and fully meant to publish it, well, sorry, it didnt happen.
I'll post an update soon.

Seriouslly? Why does Monday come so soon?

Friday takes forever to get here and come the end of the week and you blink and Monday is here!

It pretty much stormed all weekend long here with flash flooding and they even closed down the bridge going into Hanalei.
We were supposed to go to a wedding on Saturday evening, but the lil guy came down with a fever and we were not going to bring him out in the weather we were having.

We had very restless nights the past 2 nights. The poor lil guy is taking his athsma meds and seems to be more comfortable, except that he's acting crazy!

Well, what comes with Monday's?
MUSIC!
It's time again for:

This week is a freebie and this is just what I need to brighten up my day!

No Christmas in October!!!

2011-11-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today I'm having a double feature! I'll be linking up to Fawk You Friday with my gal Bobbies

and for the first time I'm joining Mamarazzi for some Friday Confessions.

I Confess...... I've always hated Christmas. It's along story, but its just too stressful for me and it's not that joyful time of the year that it should be.

I Confess...... Since having my son, I kinda like it now, like I have a reason to enjoy it and I enjoy seeing him enjoy it. But I still play the grouchy scrooge.

I Confess..... I'm secretly excited to put up my Christmas decorations and lights. I'm excited to take my son riding around to see all the Christmas lights. I'm excited to bring my son to our local Christmas lights parades.

I was horrified when I went into Kmart and Walmart on the first of October to find a HUGE display of Christmas items.
Absolutely horrified.

Yes, they are beautiful and I really do like all the decorations, but seriously, do we have to start before Halloween?

I say Fawk you to how commercialized the holiday has become!

It is a beautiful time of the year, but we shouldnt forget what it's all about.
I won't go into what its about since it means different things to different people.

I also saw Fawk you to the sickies that are going around right now. My son and I have had a lingering cold, me for 2 weeks now and my son for one week. Please oh please let us get better already.

I do confess.... that I love that since my son isnt feeling well, he's been wanting to be comforted and held and cuddled, something he normally wont do. Makes this mama still feel like her baby wants her.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

My First Pumpkin... It's AMAZING!

2011-11-03T14:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, I promise this should be the last pumpkin post I make.

I just think its so cute!

I can't believe we've never done pumpkin carving before.

Now I realize what all the hype is about.

Speaking of which... I sure do hope the stores plan on selling more pumpkins around Thanksgiving. All evening long my son kept asking for a new pumpkin.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-11-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have had a very sheltered childhood.

No seriouslly I have.

For the people who know me, know that although I was exposed to way more than I should have growing up, there are a lot of things that I never got to experience.

I have never watched Goonies, and my hubby still gives me a hard time about it.

I never saw the original Footloose.

We never sat down for family dinners except for holidays.

As I posted about yesterday, I didnt go trick or treating.

And, I never carved a pumpkin.

All my son talked about this year leading up to Halloween was that he wanted a pumpkin.

I told ya'll about our fun picking a pumpkin, now here's our first pumpkin carving!

The pure joy and happiness this brought my son was absolutely pricless!

My boys, getting to work on their pumpkins.

Please excuse the shirtless hubby, I appologize.

We're in Hawaii, around the house, guys hardly ever wear shirts.

Ok, before any of ya'll go calling Child Protective Services cause I let my two year old use a sharp tool let me just say that he was fully supervised at all times!

Here he is with his first pumpkin! Well mama did most of the work, so it was MY first pumpkin as well!

We had such a great time, this will DEFINATELY become a new tradition in our house!

UPDATE: come check out some videos as well!

the Halloween saga...

2011-11-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

Growing up I wasnt allowed to participate in Halloween.

My mother called it the devil's holiday, so instead of dressing up as witches or cats or zombies my mother dressed me as an angel year after year and I went to our church for Harvest Festival. After I had grown out of dressing up, in high school I volunteered with the youth group to work the games booths for the younger kids.

Not saying I didnt enjoy it, I really did. I had so much fun at Harvest Festival, I have so many great memories growing up, but it just wasnt the same as going Trick Or Treating around the neighborhood with the rest of my friends and classmates.

It wasnt untill I was well into my 20's did I get dressed up and go out with my hubby and friends. Ooooh boy! This is what I've been missing out on?

How fun it was to dress as different characters!

How can you not just LOVE a holiday that you can be someone else, anyone else?!

I looked forward every year to picking out a costume.

I have to admit since becoming a mother, its even more fun!

I don't put as much effort or money into my costumes as before, but to see my son having so much fun... PRICELESS!!

This was his 3rd Halloween and we were having so much fun that I forgot to take more pictures! I know bad mommy!

It was sooo tough to get the kids together for a picture that I just snapped some randon shots. I was lucky to get my son to stay in his costume since it was so hot, the headpiece didnt last long at all.

It was amazing seeing my lil man walk up to the front doors all by himself and say trick or treat. It felt like he had grown up way too fast.

Then mama had to have a glass of wine to stop the crying. LOL

The sickies and our version of the 'pumpkin patch'

2011-10-29T01:30:00.000-07:00

I've been fighting a cold for almost 2 weeks and now that I'm feeling better, the lil man is starting it.

Major Bummer...

I feel so hopeless and frustrated that I can't do more for him.

I'd stay sick for another 2 weeks if I could take it away.

Atleast we got some pumpkin time in before we were down for the count!

All my son wanted this Halloween was a pumpkin.

He doesnt want to dress up, he doesnt want to go trick or treating for candy, he just wanted a pumpkin.

He doesnt want to carve it though, just to have it.

Poor kid, this is the closest to a pumpkin patch were gonna get, a display at the grocery store!

He is as happy as can be!

WTF Wednesday... LINKY PARTY

2011-10-27T01:07:00.000-07:00

So last week I told you guys about my idea for a new linky party.

I am amazed at the cost of living especially when I hear of great deals and steals other people find.

I decided to start a new party called WTF Wednesdays.

The party will be every other week, please help keep me on schedule guys.

I want to see anything that you find for an outrageous price or even fab steals.

So last week I showed you a peek of a fab steal {here}

Now to show you the complete opposite...

Drum Roll please....

This week's special deal is SALE on Milk.

One gallon $6.49, but dont be fooled, if I peeked under the sale tag and what is regular price?

Drum roll again...

Ok, so, is it just me or is $9.49 a bit much for a gallon of milk?

Any comments? Thoughts?

And I just had to throw in the price of a half a gallon of milk as well.

So what did you guys find this week?

Link up below!

mama got a new do... oh and i was featured!

2011-10-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

Yay! Cool beans! Marcie over at Don't Waste Your Homemaking featured my Alpha Block project.

It was such a simple project, and it was free and educational.
Go check out all the other great projects too.

So, its been WAY over a year since I got my last hair cut and color.
Picture one year of root growth.
It was bad.
Black roots, blonde tips... not a pretty picture.

Yes, I took the cheezy car photo. I was on my way to my hair appointment and just had to get a quick shot of the before.

Just look how long it has gotten, no wonder I live in a pony tail.

And here it is... well 2 days later.

I just love the look and feel right after you leave the salon.

But I got caught in the rain about 2 mins after!!! UGGHHH!!

So, actually its a bit flat.

I'm loving thats its so much shorter and easier and faster to get ready in the mornings.

Plus if I have to, I can still put it in a sassy little pony tail.

I'll give you guys the real look as soon as I get a good pix.

***DONT FORGET***

Tomorrow is the very first WTF Wednesday!

Get your Deal or Rip Off ready to post tomorrow!

Breakfast time! Egg in a hole

2011-10-24T14:47:00.000-07:00

The weekends are the only days that I have time to have breakfast with my boys.
Monday through Friday I start work at 7:15 so I grab something to eat at my desk and the lil man eats at day care.

Breakfast is my FAVORITE meal to have any time of the day, as you may have guessed from previous posts like {THIS} one.

This past Saturday, I decided to try the Egg in a Hole.

Why I had not thought of doing this sooner is beyond me.

It is super easy, just like the name it's an Egg inside a Hole.

Simple as that.

I used the bottom of a small bowl to cut a hole in a pice of bread.

Melted some butter in a pan and cracked and egg in the hole.

Thats it, when it was nice and toasty on one side I flipped it over, making sure not to cook it too long so the yolk wasnt over done.

And here goes the taste test.... the results are in and....

He loved it!

So I made one for myself, and I enjoyed it too.

How was your weekend?

Great deal just in time for Christmas

2011-10-24T13:27:00.000-07:00

Grab this great deal of the day!
Just in time for Christmas!

Happy Bday Flashback

2011-10-21T15:31:00.000-07:00

I havent participated in Friday Photo Flashback in quite some time, but I got this picture from my friend and I just had to share it.

In honor of my friend Pua's bday which was yesterday, I share this photo which was taken at her birthday party 20 years ago.

Did you hear me say that?

This was taken 20 years ago!

Never have I ever imagined that I would say that!

How did I get old enough to say this pix was taken 20 years ago? I swear that pix was JUST taken of us!

We often talk about having a weekend do over in this exact spot, except this time we'd have our kids with us. How fun would that be?

I promise after sharing this photo if we do this again, I'll have another one to share.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

WTF.... Linky Party?

2011-10-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, I am still a family friendly blog, I promise.

Here's the deal,

I find myself shaking my head and saying this over and over again in my head when I look at the price of things nowadays.

Ok, Im not old enough to sit here and tell you all about back in the day milk used to cost only 5 cents and the milk man would bring it to your door.

I am old enough to remember when I could get a candy necklace for only 5 cents and they still had penny candy at the little grocery store on the way home from school.

I know the cost of living here is high, but sometimes I just dont know how we survive!
So I wanted to start a new meme just for that.

You can say WTF if something is rediculously priced or WTF when you scored or found an amazing deal that blows your mind.

What do you guys think?
Would you participate?

I would start the party next Wednesday, but just to get you started, here's one for 'yall.
This one made my eyes bulge out of my head.

(I stole this pix from a friend of mine who lives in AZ)

Next week, when I start the party, I'll show you what milk costs in our grocery stores here.

So come on guys, find what items makes you go "WTF?!"

Come back next Wednesday and join in on

WTF?! Wednesdays!

Hope to have lots of fun on this one.

Alpha Blocks

2011-10-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

I've been spending some time cleaning out my 'junk' and trying to simplify.

I admit I'm a bit of a hoarder, not toally just a little bit.

I found this fun picture frame I got YEARS ago.

It's fun and cool and the blocks spin and you have 12 photo openings all together.

These pictures are probably about 12 or more years old.

I took it apart and took all the photos out.

Then I cut of different colored paper to use as a background.

Then I took out my cricut and cut out the alphabet.

I glued the letters onto the different colored blocks.

Then I put them all back together again.

Now, we have something more than just flashcards to practice our alphabets with!

My lil man actually loved it and had so much fun.

I know it only holds the first 12 letters, but its a start and he's only 2.

I love this project not only cause my son really enjoys it, its educational and it was completely free using everything I already had!

I'll be linking to the parties at the bottom of my page.

Go check them out!

Hooo are you? 58

2011-10-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Its been a while... but I'm joining Hoo are you again today.Click on the link above for more info or to join in.

Here are this week's questions!

1. Do you sleep with the window open or the fan on no matter

what the weather is like?

the window is ALWAY open, unless its raining so hard that its coming in.

the fan goes on mostly during the summer. its super hot where we are and we have no ac

2. What is your favorite comfort food?

hmmm thats a hard one, i would love to say my gma's fried chix but I havent had it since she passed. I would say.... tea and rice with furikake.

source 3. Do you ever go to a chiropractor? I have never gone to a chiropractor. I have been to a physical therapist with a massage license but if I have any ailments I go to my Sifu (martial arts teacher) he was trained with the ancient art of Chinese massage.Boy is it painful, but let me tell ya, it works! 4.What is your most memorable Halloween costume growing up? Hahaha! I love Halloween love love it! When I was growing up I wasnt allowed to participate. In Elementary school, they would have a dress up day and a costume parade in the courtyard with all the students Kindergarden to 6th grade. EVERY year my mom dressed me as an angel, this one particular year, she dressed me as Lydia in the bible and everyone thought I was a homeless bag lady. Needless to day, once again, I was an angel every year after that again... untill high school that is. 5.Do you prefer the sunrise or the sunset? Ohhhh SOOOO NOT a morning person. I love sunset. I am so lucky to live where I do, the sunsets are gorgeous right out my back window. (sorry I was trying to find a pix but I dont have one!)

FABRIC DEALS! ~ Ends today!

2011-10-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

I am working on some baby shower gifts for my friend and of course I always head over to Fabric.com... Wholesale to the public!

They have gorgeous fabric and really great prices.

So these are the ones I'm getting for her.

Love them and it's SO her.

I love them so much infact that I'm getting these two for me, I'm really needing an apron.

Can you imagine how pretty an apron in this fabric would be hanging in the kitchen?

Fabric.com ALWAYS has free shipping with purchases of $35.00 or more, but today until midnight they have $10 of a $50 purchase. Score!

Head on over now!

Priceless Artwork

2011-10-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Every child makes his mother a Picaso to hang on the fridge.

I love them, but I dont want to just hang them on the fridge.

I found an old picture frame that I already had.

Those cuties are our neice and nephews. Love them, but it was time to update the frame. The littlest boy is now in the first grade.

I just cut the lil man's work to fit in the frame and...

Tada!

Instant Picaso!

(LOL)

Looks so much better in a frame, and its so easy to change out!

Plus its free and personal artwork!

I'm linking to the parties at the bottom on my page!

and...

Thank you my peeps I heart you!

2011-10-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

I really wanna say thanks for sticking around during my hiatus.
Are you still out there??

Last week was a rather rough week.

Between recouperating from the Hoe Down for Hope and my hubby from helping the boys train and cornering we were a woman down in the office during a VERY busy week.

I got a chance to be lazy and do almost nothing and just spend time with my little man.

Monday I got to spend the morning with my son before going to work a half day and it made me sad. He's growing up so fast and I so wish I could be a SAHM.

Now, I'm just trying to get back into the swing of our routine.

Thanks for being patient and I'll be posting again I promise!

Craigslist find

2011-10-05T15:23:00.000-07:00

I found this lil guy on craigslist for $5.00

I still have no idea what I'm gonna do with him or where I'm gonna use him.

For $5 I couldnt pass it up.

I thought about using it in the livingroom but it doesnt match the style.

I'm also planning a room redo for my son and I thought I could use it there.

One day, one day... of course I'll keep you guys posted.

Back from a Break

2011-10-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I took some time off as I volunteer each year with the American Cancer Society's Hoe Down for Hope fundraising gala.

It was a stressful night, but everyone had a great time!

We had local celebrities and all!

Here's a quick video enjoy and I'll be back tomorrow!

learning the ropes

2011-09-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

I'm sort of a self taught sewer.

Is that a word? Looks like sewer as in well, waste.

Anyway, I mean sew-er, cause I aint no seamstress.

This is a good help {here} I love checking out Dana's blog, she has great tutorials, plus a lot of boy stuff.
I also like this one {here} they have a TON of great tutorials as well as a bunch of other fun stuff too.

Besides all the great blogs out there with amazing tutorials that help me along, I also like to go on youtube and watch tutorials.

I came across this one

Does this freak anyone slse out? Or is it just me?

M4 on a Tuesday...

2011-09-27T12:26:00.000-07:00

I know its Tuesday but just because I'm still on my anniversary high from last Friday, I wanted to share these two songs.

The first one I've shared before, it's our wedding song, Rest Of Your Life by Na Leo Pilimehana

This one we had on our wedding video

This one is for my dear, dear friend and his family.
He and I were friends since the 4th grade.
I just heard that his grandfather is on life support and they will be letting him go today.
My prayers go out to his family.

Only my hubby...

2011-09-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

Friday was our 11 year wedding anniversary.

My hubby usually doesnt do anything on special occasions.

So when he showed up at my office with a bunch of white giners and some other flowers that he put together for me I was shocked!

Shocked doesnt even describe it but for lack of a better word, thats what I'm going with.

They smelled so good, but that didn't even matter.

What mattered was he went out of his way to put a smile on my face.

What made me laugh... was this:

Only my husband, would hold them all together with a plastic tie strap and then use electrical tape, all stuff I'm guessing he found in his toolbox.

That was super sweet and he gained huge bonus points.

That night we went to Keokis for dinner.

It was very nice and we came home and me, the hubs and the lil guy fell asleep on the livingroom floor.

I'm linking to:

Entryway table

2011-09-23T13:44:00.000-07:00

So quite some time ago, I found a leaf drop table on craigslist with 3 chairs.

(yes I forgot to take before pix)

It had a nice shape to it but I didnt need a dinning table, what I was looking for was an entryway table.

Hmmm... drop leaf.. comes off... hmm... got my diy brain working.

I scooped up this deal for $40.

At best I could use the chairs and maybe re-sell the table.

First I took the table top and the drop down side off with the help of my little assistant of course.

Then we spent some time sanding her up.

I seriouslly do NOT like sanding, honestly I gave up halfway through and just kinda did a quick sand all over.

I decided to spray the top white and the legs black.

(I just might change my mind and flip the colors)

Or maybe not cause I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed it over and over again.

Maybe it was just spraying white, but it kept looking streakey.

I have this wall that I have been saving for a consol table since we moved in.

Now that the table is there, it looks even more bare!

Of course the house is a work in progress and I eventually plan on redoing the floors, adding a baseboard and if the hubby lets me a chair rail and some moulding.

(you can still see the lines going across the table, but 2 cans later, I was pretty over it)

When I hung the shelves on the wall I had imagined a table being there at some point. I guess I didnt plan the space very well, but in my defense, its really hard when you only have a pretend table there.

As I always say, its a work in progress...

Thanks for stopping by, I'm linking up at the parties listed on the bottom of my page and {here}

Laundry Room Envy....

2011-09-20T12:52:00.000-07:00

Is it possible to have laundry room envy?

For those of you who read my blog, you know that I dont have a laundry room and I want one so very much!

Check out these super cute ones on babble like this one...

I spy 3 applicances. I wonder how much laundry they have to do?

Check out other super cute laundry rooms {here}

Flashback of 1978

2011-09-19T18:13:00.000-07:00

Yup, 1978.

Today's M4 is songs from the year you were born.

Have a great Monday and Rock on!

Enjoy...

V is for Victory

2011-09-16T13:20:00.000-07:00

Victory.... just a little one, but its still a victory or a small step in the right direction.

After a call from our sitter that our son had been acting out and wasnt himself, I sat down and talked with her. We talked about how things have been stressful around the house and a bit tense and maybe he had picked up on something going on. Out of the blue he started asking, "Mom are you happy?" which is completely strange for a 2 yr old to be asking.

I sat down with my hubby and we had a talk. I told him how I was feeling.

Things have just gone too far and if its affecting my son, we have to do what it takes to change.

And much to my surprized, he was listening.

On our way home yesterday evening, he turns to me and says, "Hun, when we get home, go take a bath with the boy and I'll cook dinner"

(granted it was just taco meat that needed to be cooked, I was more than thrilled with his offer)

Small steps.

As long as they are steps in the right direction.

Good job hun.

Oh and just to end the week... I got two great news....

1. I was featured over at A Glimpse Inside Alison has a great blog go check it out.

AND

2. I won a beautiful painting done by a fellow local gal Lindsay over at from the aisle to aloha!

Her blog is super cute and fun and so is her etsy shop!

Here's to a fresh start with a positive attitude.

till death do us part? thats a long time

2011-09-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Today I'm joining Shell and pouring my heart out..

In 9 days my hubby and I will celebrate out 11 yr wedding anniversary.

I think saying we hit a rut would be an understatement, I would say more like we hit a dang wall.

Our 'love life' is as stale as a can of soda left open in the fridge for a week.

Our lives have just gotten so busy that we forget the little things.
I very often feel overwhelmed and feel like I've become a single parent because he's not home almost 5 nights a week. I come home and have to put the dishes away from the day before, do the dishes from that day, cook dinner, give my son a bath, feed him dinner and after working ALL day I'm exhaused and become short with him and angry towards him when he's not there to pitch in. And on top of it all dealing with the terrible twos... uggghhh!

I feel like I've lost myself in the cycle of just doing everything day in day out and never having time to do what I like to do or just even having time alone to myself.

Now, lets add the pressure of making ends meet and stressing about our financial situation.

I'm sure these are just normal things that every couple goes through and like always we work through it and it all works out but for the time being I am just having a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Dont get me wrong, I love my hubby dearly and couldnt imagine life without him.

Interestingly enough Helen over at I'm living proof that God has a sense of humor shared with everyone a new book called Make Love Not Scrapbooks, By Jen who has a blog called Jen's Love Lessons.

Sounds like a good investment.

Homemade Febreze

2011-09-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

I came across a recipe for homemade Febreze a while back while over at The Frugal Girls.

Heather Bea over at Fake it Frugal shared her recipe for the stuff.

I dont use Febreze that often but I sometimes do, the one thing I dont like is the scents they have. So why not try to make some with a scent that I love?

It wa super duper easy, honest.

I went to Walmart and picked out my favorite scent of liquid fabric softener.

I took out an empty spray bottle I had stashed away.

I mixed up just over 1/8 cup of the fabric softner with 2 tablespoons of baking soda and filled the rest of the bottle with tap water.

Thats it.

See it was easy wasnt it?

I sprayed all over the house and my car and now everything has a lovely vanilla scent that I picked out and love.

Go make yourself a bottle too!

I'm linking with the parties {here} and at the bottom of my page!

Rainbow Hot Air Balloon Party from Hostess with the Mostess...

2011-09-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

Hostess with the Mostess has the cutest Rainbow Hot Air Balloon party featured today.

Two things really caught my eye.

{ONE}

Check out that chandelier! Soooo cute!

and

{TWO}

Seriouslly, seeing those plastic balloons made me tingle with warm and fuzzies all over when I saw them.

It reminded me of my childhood where every year my birthday cake had those balloons on them.

I had no fancy party, no fancy cake, no favors and candy bars.

I love how evolved parties have become, but its so nice to remember the bare roots where the neighborhood kids would come over and you would shoot each other with the water hose, eat tuna sandwiches and have dream cake and that was it.

ahhhh... the memories....

U is for Un-freaking-believable...

2011-09-09T13:47:00.000-07:00

YES! Un-freaking-believable!

I'm linking up to a new party called Alphabe-Thursday's
(yes I know its Friday!)

and I cant forget about

(FYF for coming to quickly!)

Is it really September already!?!?
Where is this year going?

I went into Walmart the other day and they had their Halloween stuff out, way to put the pressure on guys, thanks.

I swear as soon as Labor Day hits, all I see are Fall and Halloween decorations and crafts, thanks, thanks for rubbing it in!

Now I'm really starting to have anxiety about Christmas, as if I didnt have enought on my plate.

Also, are you serious people??

Seriouslly?

Un-freaking-believable.

This week really flew by on me.

We had a lot going on this week but we did get a lot accomplished, speaking of which one more thing to say Fawk you too....

Damn housing market!

If you read my blog you've hear me rant a few time or so about our mortgage and house, but that's another story.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

what a week!

2011-09-08T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have been anxious to share 2 things I got done over the weekend but I have had such a busy week so far that I havent had a chance to work on my post!

Anyway, its coming I promise but until then I just wanted to share a quote I got in an email from a friend of mine, its a nice reminder.

"No one is in charge of your happiness except for you"

Have a great day!

My BIG FAT CHECK!

2011-09-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Well... its not that big, tiny infact, but its FREE MONEY $$

(sorry for the crooked pix I just cant fix it no matter what I do. Anyone got photo tips??)

It's free easy money people, how can you turn that down?

If you do any online shopping at all, you have to check it out.

I promise you won't regret it

Happy Labor Day... 70's Edition of MMMM

2011-09-05T13:48:00.000-07:00

It's Labor Day and Im off today! Yippie!

The hubs is working though, bummer, so its just me and the boy today.

We had some friends over for a cookout last night and some wine.... lots of wine, to be perfectly honest, I'm a weee bit hanging today.

But we had a great time so its all good.

Monday also brings Monday Music Moves Me!

And CheeeHooo I am the spotlight dance!!

This week's theme is 70's and I chose this one for, well obvious reasons... enjoy your Labor Day!!!

My little fisherman...

2011-09-02T12:24:00.000-07:00

Here are more pictures from our day over at Kipu Kai.

My lil boy loves anything fishing.

Look at how proud he is holding just that fish tail! LOL

It's Labor Day weekend and we have no plans... again.

I would like to go down to the beach and take my lil man fishing.

I would also like to finish up some of my projects that are still at about 80% done.

I have one thats just about 95% and I am determined to have it done this weekend.

Things are simmering down in the house, hopefully it stays that way.

I think were all just tired and in dire need of this long weekend!

What are your plans for Labor Day??

Breakfast... It's whats for dinner

2011-08-31T15:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a LONG day, seriouslly a LONG day.

I didnt plan dinner and I had nothing defrosted.

My friend Julie had mentioned that they were having breakfast for dinner and so I thought to myself,

(in Emeril's voice)

"Self, thats a great idea"

I had just seen this on a blog somewhere and I'm so sorry I cant remember where it was!

Anyways, its French Toast coated with Pancake batter!

Um, hello!?

How can that not be good?

I'll admit it right off the bat.

I - Use - Instant - Pancake - Mix!

Yes, the one where you just add water. Yup, I use that one, the generic brand too.

So I mixed up some batter.

Then added some vanilla, cinnamon and a tub of sweet potato baby food.

Uh huh.

And a little extra water to thin it out a bit.

I dipped my bread just as I would be making regular french toast.

The batter is a bit thicker than the usual so I flipped my bread several times and rolled the edges to make sure it was covered.

I threw em in my pan and cooked em up!

Ok, all I can say is...

Oh... Emm... Gee

I think it might be the texture but this was sooooo friggen yummy!

I fried some vienna sausage (the boy's fav) and eggs to complete the breakfast.

My son absolutely loved it!

When I put his plate infront of him he got all excited and squeeled "pancakes?"

He ate every last bit of his french toast, 4 sausages and 2 eggs.

I love when he cleans his plate.

I think this will definately become something we do more often!

Monday Blues....

2011-08-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Bleh, is it Monday already?
I was hoping to have a productive weekend, but I came down with a cold.
Thank goodness my son isnt sick though.

The hubs took him fishing for a few hours on Saturday so that I could rest.
I should have rested, but I spray painted instead.

Then the hubs comes home tired and grouchy on Sunday... always the same thing when he goes fishing. I told him not to come home until all this gear is washed and he takes a nap.
Then we argue... seriouslly it gets old.

So today I'm at work and still kinda congested. Not to the point that I cant breathe but to the point where when I breathe in and out, my nose makes a whilstling sound!

So it's Monday, oh why do you come so soon?!

And time for....

Lots has been going on in our household lately.

Nothing that I really wanna talk about but lets just say this song sings to me.

(sorry, no pun intended)

As seen by a 2 yr old...

2011-08-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

We had our company's 10 year anniversary party last night.

Of course its hard for a 2 yr old to sit still during a dinner so I let my son go around the room with my small camera and take pix to entertain himself.

It was interesting to see what he took pix of.

Here are just some of the highlights minus about a hundred shots of the floor or just a white flash of I have no idea what it was.

Ok and just one shot from mommy's point of view :-)

Yummy delish pies... chocolate peanut butter banana, kauai lime and mac nut rum.

From The Right Slice .

I seem to over endulge too often.

Some etsy love....

2011-08-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

Lady Skeleton Cameo by Cinsational Baules

12" Wire Ampersand by Lalfabeto

Jadite Plate from L2Country

Amy Butler Crib Bedding by LottieDaBaby

Vintage Washboard by FreeRangeGoat

Stay at Home Mom or Career Woman??

2011-08-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

I always say if I knew then what I know now, I would have taken a different career path. Heck I would have taken a different LIFE PATH for that matter.
Don't get me wrong I love my life, it's just I wish it wasnt such a daily struggle sometimes.

Being a mother really changes you, well it did me for sure.

There are days that I wish that I could stay at home with my son and spend the day playing and reading and crafting and cleaning and cooking and blogging.
And then there are days that I love having a career and going to work. (I work in jeans and slippers how can I not like it) I enjoy working with adults and earning my salary.

Choosing to be a stay at home mom is a very personal choice, my choice to be a career woman is primarily because of financial reasons.
(with a $3K mortgage we can't afford only one income)

When I find time to blog, I get so jealous of these stay at home moms doing all these projects and fun things with their kids and having time to blog about it.
And then to top it off you guys mostly live close to each other and have conventions and girls night out!
So J!

I noticed a trend... all 'yall SAHM bloggers are from Utah!
No wonder you guys can get together and you all talk about the DI... something I of course know nothing of! (on the island I live we dont even have Goodwill)

Circle of Moms had an article on Working vs. Stay at Home Moms that I really enjoyed.
(link to article below)

Working Mom Vs. Stay at Home Mom

So what is your take on Working vs. Stay at Home?

And just because I can't do a post without any pix... here's my fav time... sleep time.

hmmmm

2011-08-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

Is anyone just as excited as I am?

Just asking...

Weekend Plans...

2011-08-19T16:54:00.000-07:00

Yay! It's Aloha Friday!!

(yeah yeah, I know cheezy... but I really do like this version)

Makes me wanna go back to high school, I never went to prom.
Well, we've had a crazy week... no recovering from our long weekend.

Today is statehood day, a state holiday... most people have the day off... I don't.
(my hubby didnt either but he took the day off to watch the lil man)

I was hoping to run to the bank and DMV today, but they're all closed as well!

I'm going to a rehersal tonight for a wedding tomorrow. The bridal party came in on Tuesday and I havent seen the bride since she moved to Cali.

We're looking at some storms headed to Hawaii, which will probably disapear by the time it reaches us, but we'll probably get some ugly weather so going to the beach on Sunday might be out of the question.

What are your plans for this weekend?

I'll leave you with a few extra pix from Kipu