Mission accomplished!

(I have a different idea for paint colors, but you get the general idea anyway)

Finally today I found the bedding I was looking for. It was a fluke that I came across it during some random search. It is being sent from some store in Utah and should be here in a few days. I know boring stuff, but if you are interested you can see it here: http://just4uinteriors.com. I bought everything, all the accessories. I am so excited. The part I was thrilled with is the train mural that I purchased to go with it. You can see it on the wall of the demo picture. It is huge--Creighton's eyes will light up at the sight. This is going to all be a suprise for him. I can't wait. I love suprises! And he loves TRAINS!!

Trains?

I have been searching fervently for bedding with trains on it that is not Thomas the Train or babyish. Creighton decided he wanted his new room to be trains instead of the nice antique tractor theme that I had previously decided upon. He is lucky that he is just too darn cute to resist:) Anyway, I have searched high and low and come up with bedding that looks like it should go in a baby boy's room, Thomas the Train which I said no way to, or the bright blue and red Lionel train bedding that is just too bright for me! I found one that is OK, not great, at Pottery Barn Kids, but other than that I have struck out. Any ideas where I might find train bedding for this sweet little boy pictured below ;)?

It's only a hurdle, JUST a hurdle......

"I believe in mind over matter.

I believe in the human spirit to prevail.

I believe in miracles and blessings, both big and small.

I believe in possibilities.

I believe that hurdles in life are to be jumped over, not something to stop us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Not sure where this originated, but read it today, and it was a great reminder to me that hurdles are made to be jumped. I pray that I am able to jump them with grace and understanding. Hoping with every step I am drawn nearer to Jesus, and that my faith is strengthened, knowing He will catch me when I fall.

Done!

As of 5:30pm tonight the wallpaper is officially GONE and Creighton's room is all put back together! However, that leaves all the dishes that went untouched this weekend, the 5 loads of laundry I have left after the 6 I fit in yesterday, the kids are tired, need supper and baths and I am spent after 6 pretty strenuous volleyball games this afternoon. Tomorrow is Monday and the weekday chaos begins all over again. And although the wallpaper is gone, there is still much work to be done in Creighton's room. Another project, another weekend. It will just have to wait.

What was I thinking?

Creighton's room is in desperate need of a make-over. It still has the wallpaper that we put up when I was pregnant with Colby, the ceiling needs re-done, etc. So last October I contacted someone to hire to tear down the wallpaper. There is a lot of it and I wasn't about to attempt doing that in my spare time--oh wait, I don't HAVE any spare time! Well apparently I am still on the wait list for her services and I decided not to wait another day. So last night after work I picked up the kids, went to Menards for a new scoring tool and scraper and set out to get this project started. I worked for 2.5 hours last night and got about a 3ft x 3 ft space down. This is going no where fast. I worked on it for two more hours this morning with about the same results. Now, the weekend is fading fast, I got other things that I need to do like about 50 loads of laundry, Greg is working all weekend, I have kids that haven't seen their parents all week that need attention, I have to play volleyball tomorrow (wish I wouldn't have made that committment :(, and Creighton's room is a complete disaster. This could be a never-ending project while in the meantime Creighton will be living in my bedroom. I think I'll call a contractor on Monday :)

Colby Marie....

Colby continually amazes me with her initiative and the interest she is taking in her academics. On Wednesdays she stays after school so she can go to the school library to read until 4:30pm. She chooses this over going to daycare to play with her friends or coming home early when Greg can pick her up. She chooses to stay and read and take AR tests. And she loves it. This week she has decided that she would like to go to school at 7:50am so that she can go to the computer lab for 30 minutes before school starts. She is so eager to learn more, read more, study more. I am so happy for her. I pray that this fire stays lit under her for a long time. I am so thankful for her school and the special people there that have encouraged her and brought out the best in her. I can't take the credit for any of it. Being a kid can be so hard and unfortunately some of life's greatest struggles start in school at an early age. And I know that being smart or getting good grades won't make her immune to all problems, but it is just one less thing to worry about. Praise God!

Just because

I like bridges.

Redneck sledding.....

I consider this to be a little redneck....using your daughter's four-wheeler to haul your son around as he leisurely lounges on his sled all the while he is yelling "yippeeeee" every time he about gets dumped off. Made for a few laughs from the peanut gallery though.

These are for DAN! :)

My friend Dan has a great love for the ducks at the park....these are posted especially for him :) ha,ha,ha,ha.....

B/W

Just a couple of black and white shots that I like....

Pretty

Took a drive through the park this morning. Everything was so beautifully covered with fresh, white, undisturbed snow. Wish I would have had boots on so I could have got out and tromped around to get some good landscape shots. :)

This is what I get.....

for not paying attention to my children for a total of about 10 minutes......(no Colby didn't do this to him. He did it all by himself and was quite proud--at what point do you not allow your son to participate in your daughter's girly stuff????)

Faces

Took a lot of close-ups today. We had a wide variety of expresssions--excited, frustrated, happy, sad, energized, exhausted, serious, silly and many more. Just a few I happened to capture......

Cool Slideshows

More Sledding

Forgive me....I had a lot of sledding pictures today :) (You can click on a picture to make it stop)

Cool Slideshows

Snowboarding....

READY, SET

GO....

CRASH!!!

More Sledding Pictures

Cool Slideshows

Sledding

Greg and I took the kids sledding for about 2 hours this afternoon. It was so much fun. We all got wore out and cold. After the last trip down the hill Creighton was so tired that he was stumbling and couldn't make it back up the hill. Colby worked on her snowboarding skills too. I am amazed at how well she can handle that thing. Greg and I both have tried it and neither of us made it two feet. Colby can go forever without falling down. And as little practice as she has had with no snow this year, I was pretty impressed with her skill. Creighton has no fear and likes DAD to push him. Apparently mom doesn't do it good enough. A fun day, and a lot of pictures to share. Too many to post this way so I will work on a slide show later tonight.

Simplicity

Wild Cat Den - at the Mill

Winter in Iowa

I had been disappointed because I hadn't been able to get out and take any 'winterscape' pictures since it had finally snowed. It's dark when I leave in the morning and dark when I get home so no time for pics. Yesterday on my lunch hour made a quick trip to Wild Cat Den for a few shots. Didn't have much time and I thought I had some good ones, but once loaded, they weren't as good as I thought. The waterfall behind the Mill was quite pretty, half-frozen, but in very dark shade at that time of day so those pics weren't so good. Enough of that....I'll try again today!

And the winner is..........

I assumed that my photos for the Changes in Nature photo contest had been looked at, looked over and passed up.

However, the berries with the frost(the close up one) got FIRST place in it's class AND Best In Show! And the black and white of the tree branches with frost on them got FIRST place in the B/W class!

They are on display at the library and should be in the newspaper sometime. A little cash and a little recognition and a lot of fun. It was worth the effort.

I was a little excited, but contained myself for Dan's sake. I promised I wouldn't gloat, but I had to, just a little bit :) Plus, I think my shots were just beginner's luck.

So, all in all, it was fun shooting the pictures, fun getting them ready for entry, and fun winning my first contest! I guess there are much worse things I could be doing in my free time. I admit, I am addicted to pictures.

(if you haven't seen the pictures, I posted them earlier in January. scroll back if you would like to see them--I have been having such trouble posting pictures that I don't even want to make the effort tonight :)

Oh boy.....

Creighton came to me the other night and asked me to please put Colby's scrunchie in his hair. He thought it was quite funny and asked me to take his picture. I have a feeling that Greg probably doesn't think it is quite as funny as I did...... (no, that is not orange lipstick around his mouth--he had 'Dorito face'--I draw the line at hair ties, no make-up :)

Icy Grass Sledding :)

My kids have just been chomping at the bit waiting for snow. So far only icy grass, but it was just slick enough to hook up the sled to the four-wheeler and pull them behind.

(If you click on the cube it will stop and make the picture bigger)

Cool Slideshows

Colby and Company

More Blogger Frustrations

The following three pictures are the ones that went with the post "He Has No Idea". However, since they just showed up as big boxes with little red x's in them, I guess I will post them one at a time. I guess I just have to quit trying. Anyway - Creighton in the hot-tub. Here they are:

Creighton just doesn't understand that the hottub is for RELAXing! He splashes and plays just like it's the pool or the bathtub! Several times during our stay at the Holiday Inn I had to remind Creighton to please stop doing cannonballs into the hottub :)