proper tea drinking form and some random stuff

tea party

1. saturday while i was painting, kaylee made banana bread all by herself. [i had to get a few things down for her and translate some cursive writing. mike had to turn on the oven and put the bread in]

2. then she gave us all an invitation to a tea party for later that night.

3. so at 9pm, we got to drink "tea" aka water and ate yummy banana bread.

4. thats mike demonstrating the proper way to drinking tea. [i laughed so hard that night, it was an awesome feeling!]

5. i'm almost done painting kaylee's + the guest room's bathroom. just some touching up then the trim and cabinets are next.

6. its looking 100 times better though pulling up the carpet in the sink area and changing out the tile in the shower area would make it look 1000 times better.

7. this is when i wish mike had gotten the do it yourself gene. [his uncle is an engineer who built his own beautiful house and his cousin knows how to do construction/remodeling as well]

8. this week its going to be hot. high of 99 till sunday- a high of 95.

9. good thing my summer attire this year has been my favorite sacramento t-shirt i got from a blog swap and running shorts. 

10. i think the fashion statement is catching on, kaylee's been wearing the same thing too.

not everyday is a perfect day

via pinterest

1. i must of still had some sad feelings leftover from friday because yesterday was another bad day. 

2. being off my allergy meds. for 2 days hasn't helped any either. [hello sinus headaches!]

3. we went to run errands and stopped for lunch at one of our favorite mexican places when mike mentions that we only have 4 weeks left till school starts.

4. kaylee pipes in that she doesn't want to go to school. she wants to stay home and do what i do all day- nothing!

5. ummm....ouch! of course mike told her that i take care of them and the house and thats not doing nothing. it didn't make me feel any better so i had to go out to the car before the waterworks came on.

6. boy did i need to let that out. a good cry never hurts anyone. and i feel a little better this morning.

7. though mike said that he thinks we're assholes and thats why no one wants to hang around us.

8. this was after kaylee said something mean about nanny when they were face timing. she claims she didn't say it.

9. i'm thinking miss kaylee is needing some attitude adjusting.  

10. actually, both of the kids could use some de-spoiling.  is that even possible?

[friday] uncool/cool

a reminder

via pinterest?

UNCOOL:

1. it's friday and i had one of those days. the this is what my life is all about...cleaning, laundry, coming up with the next meal, doing dishes...then to do all over again???  *sigh* i guess so.

2. searching for a green chevron shower curtain for kaylee's bathroom and the only ones that i found cost over $60!

3. our electric bill. we switched companies and still owe over $300 to the old company.

4. dogs who poo in our yard.

5. not having any friends. [sadly,  i'm not close to anyone in my family either]


COOL:

1. painting the rest of the bathrooms tomorrow. can't wait to see the new color!

2. being inspired to getting the house done so i can sit back and enjoy it.

3. trader joe's breakfast trail mix. they need to sell it by the bucket, please.

4. peaches on sale for a peach pie or tart. i think tarts are easier than a pie or are they the same?

5. chick crush: stephanie rausser- who also has the coolest dog.

holding tight to my mojo

via angry little girls

1. i sent this to my sister years ago, i wonder if she still has it? it totally describes her!

2. i'm tired today and i didn't do anything. [i think the paint fumes messed with me last night]

3. i did babysit kaylee's piano teacher's 2 younger kids. [one is kaylee's age and the other is 6?] she's also the one that sold us our house.

4. i also went to ace hardware to buy more paint. went with a little darker gray for the sink area but not too dark.

5. did you know they sell cute stuff at ace hardware? like a decorative pillow for kaylee's room, poo-pourri and a copper fan for me?

6. i also took ham to get his air bag fixed for his bmw only to be told that they can't do it yet because they don't have the recall part in. what the what? then why send out a letter telling us to make an appointment morons!

7. after making a simple dinner, i went for a 3-4 mile walk with a little 1/4 mile jog at the end.

8. last night i got an idea to paint a letter k that i had for kaylee's room. she thinks its pretty.

9. i'm loving all this energy that i have and my creativity.

10. mike says i have my mojo back. i think he's right. i hope to keep it awhile longer!

what big brother's are for

i didn't see these till sunday when i went to clean out kaylee's room and rearrange her furniture.

 ham was trying to embarrass her when her friends came over friday to watch teen beach movie.

 sad, i don't think she was embarrassed because she would fart in front of them. after asking if they minded, of course. [thought this one was really funny!]

before kaylee's dentist appointment, we went to the good marshalls up in the woodlands. i bought a set of dishes, set of drinkware and silverware for ham's new apartment. you know, to make it more homey.  of course when i got home he said he doesn't need any of that stuff. he's just going to take 2 of everything of my stuff. why are guys so simple?

kaylee's dentist appointment was the quickest ever- about 30 minutes from the time we stepped inside to stepping outside. its a really neat office with part of a car as a couch and they have movies playing while the kids are getting their teeth cleaned. they even gave me this cooler.  [it had dentist goodies for kaylee].  i'm going to use it to hold goodies to keep in the car. ]its so hot here in texas that we really should keep some water in the car too]

i've been painting. got ham's and kaylee's toilet/shower area finished. now i'm working on the sink area in kaylee's and the guest bathrooms. i'll do the rest of ham's once he goes back to school. yikes- school starts in a month!

boredom leads to rearranging, cleaning and organizing

kayaking at mom's: indiana trip 2013

1. *sigh* i wish i was kayaking right now.

2. this is the type of family i have, my sister in law and my two nephews are 2 hours away visiting her side of her family in texas and they didn't come visit us. sad face.

3. after mike left on sunday to go to boston and since there's not much to do around here, i decided to rearrange kaylee's bedroom.

4. yup, i moved her humongous bunk bed with attached stairs and wardrobe unit. [photos soon]

5. and this also lead to cleaning and organizing her room. it looks 1000% better!

6. and we finally got colors picked out. she wants a purple, blue and green room.

7. i found the perfect quilt at pottery barn kids. [trying very hard to wait for it to go on sale]

8. kaylee's got teen beach movie and pitch perfect on rotation. [she obviously has a love for musicals]

9. ham's been working out trying to get bigger. i told him to be careful and not turn into one of these guys.

10. and the only other thing we got going on today is that kaylee's got a dentist appointment.

my craft room is 90% done and it makes me so happy that i lay down on the carpet

my weekend has been a little off, friday felt like saturday, saturday felt like sunday and i swore today was monday. maybe its because of my lack of sleep and it was mike's friday off???

anyway, i wanted to post about my craft room because its done! of course, i have a little more work to do but it makes me happy that most of the clutter is gone.

sorta my view from my desk. i want to paint this room and think i will just paint around the bookcases till we have to move them when we pull up the carpet. the wrapping paper will go into the console in the front entry and the mexican calendar will be hung up in the bar area. i just came up with that idea at 11pm last night. [when i do some of my best thinking!]

 taken from the entry way this morning. my "desk" is actually 2 crafting tables from pier 1that they no longer sell but on each side, there's shelving. i have my computer on one side and the other is for crafting/painting/sewing. or for kaylee to do her crafting.

 another view from entry way. the wicker chair will be getting another make-over and the containers all hold photos [before they went digital] and mementos. i need to find a different storage solution till i get around to them and put them in albums.

and my view while i sit at my desk. ollie usually sits on the seatee.  i like that i can see out my window and if any unwanted guests come along, i hide behind the computer and not answer the door. now my next big project is organizing kaylee's room- AGAIN and start painting. ham's bathroom is first.

friday's uncool/cool

nerd herd reunion 2013

UNCOOL:

1. missing these nerds. our time together was not enough.  a whole weekend would of been better.

2. that our chances of moving over seas has dropped to about 50% because mike is needed here.

3. money spent on my momagenda planner and cover and not loving it. [there are parts i love but overall- not loving it]  not sure what to do with it.

4. not sleeping very well all week. [kaylee keeps coming downstairs and one night she about gave me a heart attack]

5. ham dropping a 45lb weight on his big toe- OUCH!

COOL:

1. kaylee's teen beach movie get together was a success tonight.

2. ordering another beloved erin condren planner in dark orange and hot pink influenced by this room. [i got $10 bucks off from a coupon given to me from my last order]

3. it took me almost 2 years but i got the last room unpacked, clean and organized. i still need to find places for a few things but its done!

4. all the rain we've been getting. such a nice change from hot.

5. coming up with a crafty project and actually getting it done. [a silhouette of ollie for ham's bathroom]

yesterday

 taken while i was getting a shiseido makeover

 love this jacket from gymboree

 lunch that she only ate a few bites of

 boy does she love her hats @ crazy 8

hug attack!

1. i was going to start painting ham's bathroom yesterday but kaylee and i decided to go to the mall instead since it was raining.

2. i decided to get a mac make-over so i didn't put any make-up on but once i got there they said that i would have to wait till noon so someone at shiseido was willing.

3. i really loved their make-up because it felt like i wasn't wearing any and all of it stayed put till i went to wash it off before bed. i really loved their mascara because it didn't feel heavy on my twiggy eyelashes so i ended up getting the mascara primer, eyebrow pencil and a new lipstick because that was my main agenda.

4. kaylee got a few new school outfits. not too many because she already has tons of clothes and not that green jacket because its 50 bucks.

5. we ate gross food court for lunch. i got china max and didn't really like it. and she got pizza and breadsticks. she only ate one breadstick. 

6. once we got home, i worked on my craft room. i've been working on it all week.

7. and i decided to have a small get together for kaylee and her friends to watch the premiere of Teen Beach movie on friday.

8. because after i read this blog and how much fun her kids have, i decided i can make kaylee's life more fun too. [plus, we get to know the parents better this way]

9. kaylee ended up breaking girl code and told mike i bought make-up so she doesn't get to go shopping with me for awhile.

10.  and before going to bed, she went and did a hug attack on ham! [love moments like these]

da weekend

mike and i waiting for the return ferry

1. mike and i went and saw grown-ups 2.  i have to say it was much better than grown-ups 1 and i loved grown-ups 1!!  it was just funny throughout the whole movie. *spoiler alert*

2. got the house spic and span on saturday. 

3. even managed a 3 mile walk.

4. sunday was a little rough. i wasn't feeling 100% myself and was a little blue.

5. so mike stepped in and made chicken fried rice for dinner after mowing the lawn and weeding. [this was his first time making chicken fried rice]

6. today was much better and i got some laundry done and felt really good because i had dinner started by 1pm. crock-pot chipotle beef tacos.

7. except once 5pm rolled around, i noticed that i had the temperature set at warm instead of hot. fail.

8. so we went out for dinner. [we're trying not to eat out as much] epic fail.

9. i decided to color my hair myself and go back to my natural hair color. i think from years of swimming, my hair has never been asian black and the 6 different shades of color i was sporting wasn't cutting it anymore.

10. it turned out great and i really love the new look. i feel like a new person.

*it would of been better if taylor lautner took off his shirt at least once during the movie*

[friday] UNCOOL/COOL

we shared this small drink in memphis 2013

UNCOOL:

1. how fast summer is going

2. texas heat [i really enjoyed our weather while in indiana]

3. waking up to back pains

4. the loads of laundry that needs folding. [they're just towels/blankets but still]

5. the anxiety i get when i tell myself we could be moving overseas!

COOL:

1. getting back to exercising. zumba 3 times this week!

2. getting the house cleaned and organizing along the way. its a slow process but i'm getting there.

3. recreated a sandwich i had on my way to mackinac island it turned out- yummy!

4. buying a few shirts on sale at gap.com [i'm totally into wearing t-shirts this summer]

5. the excitement i get when i tell myself we could be moving overseas!

mackinac island part 1

mackinac island 2013

1. it took us 8 hours or so to get to mackinac island since we took the scenic route suggested by my parents. 

2. michigan is really a pretty state to drive through with its rolling hills and natural forests. plus, they had smooth, paved roads to drive on.

3. we stopped for lunch at manistee and ate at a local pub called tj's. i had the best sandwich there called the italia.  i re-created it tonight and it was almost as good.

4. once we hit mackinac city, we missed the ferry by a few minutes so we went to another local bar for a few drinks waiting for the next one to show up.

5. our hotel was right on the water and as soon as you got off the ferry. a guy took our luggage on a bike and dropped it off to our hotel for us.

6. there is no automobiles on the island which made it just that much cooler. you either walk, ride a bike or a horse and/or carriage.

7. mike went and got starbucks before our bike ride the next morning. he's such a yuppie.

8. mike got the honeymoon suite not because it was our anniversary but because it was the only room left. they gave us a bottle of sparkling wine and wine glasses.

9. mike also rocked my dooney and bourke purse.

10. photos 11 + 12 [from top to bottom] is the grand hotel. i heard the rooms weren't all that but its super huge and the lounge area was also decked out with tons of seating. the horse and carriage flower sculpture was on their lawn.

june cara box exchange

not sure how i ran into wifesessionals blog but once i saw she started the cara box exchange, i was in! our theme for june was "going to the fair/circus or carnival".  i got teamed up with the adorable ginny over at buttergirl diaries. since i was on vacay, i had to wait till yesterday to see what goodies she had sent. boy did she go over and beyond even sending ollie a treat!  thanks so much ginny for the box of awesomeness!!!

while i thought the theme was kinda hard it was still fun trying to come up some ideas. here's what i ended up sending to april at hansen love. a funnel cake kit, chocolate covered bacon, kettle corn, sweet tea and a zebra print tumbler since she loves zebra print!  

[photo via april]

if you want to see what goodies others have gotten, go here. its fun to look and get ideas for future swaps or gift giving.

and we're back

sunrise in arkansas through my buggy windshield

1. we didn't make it as far as last year before mike had to stop and get some sleep. i could feel him drifting so i made him stop somewhere.

2. after 3 hours of sleep and another 6-8 hours of driving, we finally made it to his folks house where we stayed for the first 6 days.

3. sleeping in a car squishes my body and it ached the next day even though theres so much more room in the armada than the rover.

4. it was awesome seeing our family and friends.

5. but bad when mike left me with his parents. even though we get along- its still not cool man. 

6. he went out with his buddy brent one night, went over to another buddies house with kaylee the next night and went golfing with said buddies the day after that. 

7. kaylee and i did some shopping at the outlets when he went golfing. kaylee loved spending pooppoops and nanny's money. [they each gave her 10 bucks!]

8. after ham saw both sides of the family, he ditched us the rest of the time to hang with his buddy tommy,  at purdue.

9. i have more photos and more of the trip to share.

10. after being gone for 15 days and driving more than 3700 miles, it sure feels good to be home.