Anniversary blues AND a bit of a rant...

Ugh! Kind of frustrated with this year's anniversary. I won tickets to go to the American's Hockey game which was my idea in the first place to use as an anniversary "date" night. However, the tickets are on the 23rd (aka the day before Thanksgiving) and also the fact that it would be 5 days after our actual 16th wedding anniversary.
Guess what?!! I got nuttin! Not even a card.
I am presuming that on the 23rd, a card would be nice, but I don't want a damn card now. Hummmph!
You know, is it really that hard to prepare all year for a nice gift for your wife? I mean it's only 1....ONE day out of the year that would be important....well I guess there's 4...birthday, mother's day, Christmas AND your stinkin' wedding anniversary!
Okay, here's my prayer for myself since I am rolling my eyes at the fact that I am being selfish right now...
Dear Lord,
Forgive me for my human nature in expecting something and being so selfish. For I have everything I need, food, shelter, heat, clothes, health, my husband's health, my children and my family. I know you live in my heart and are letting me know that some people don't have any of these things. I also know that you know my heart and sometimes it is corrupt. Thank you for the things I do have and help me to overcome these selfish values that I hold on a pedistal of expectation. For I have the gift of love from my husband who works so hard to provide for our family and I have his love. Amen.

Sissy aka MonsterSpaceSucker

OMG! My little girl is totally an emotional mess! Being 6 years old and getting ready to start 1st grade, she thinks she can control the whole house. Yes, she might have us wrapped around her little finger, but she needs the structure I just know it.
I feel like every time I turn around she is right there like my shadow. Mommy does need a little space to breathe. Today I went into the bathroom just to have my space. She waited outside until I was ready to come out.
Tomorrow will be a better day!

Easter is coming!

We like to do little things during a couple weeks prior to Easter. It's not so much as doing the same thing every year, but different things each year such as this year I bought some fun Easter cookies made by Nestle. I thought they were cute so Samantha helped me punch them out. They were pretty good for being store bought, however, nothing beats homemade.

Autism Fun Run

I was able to take some pictures at the Autism Fun Run on Friday. LOTS of pictures even though I was LATE! lol

On T.V. again!

Yes, yet again, I was in the right place at the right time and was interviewed for KVEW TV station as a parent of autistic children. Then they followed me around a little bit for more footage.

Great cosmetic organizing ideas I found!

Six Cosmetic Storage Solutions

Family Economics

(Before)

By Trisha

If you are like me and ready to get organized, begin with these three steps:

1. De-clutter: First empty out all your drawers, containers and make-up bags that you use to store your cosmetics. Toss out old and no longer used items.

2. Sort: Make piles of the various types of cosmetics you use such as eye shadows, lip gloss, eyeliners, etc.

3. Organize: Use one of the below options I have come up with to keep your cosmetics organized.

• Option #1: Use plastic shoeboxes with lids to sort and organize your cosmetics. These can then easily be stored underneath your bathroom sink.

• Option #2: Use various sizes of utensil trays and drawer organizers in your bathroom drawers to sort and organize.

• Option #3: Use stackable drawers or drawers on wheels. These come in a variety of sizes to fit your needs. Designate a different drawer for each type of cosmetic.

• Option #4: Pencil boxes make great cosmetic organizers you can use for each category: eye shadows, lip glosses, brushes, etc.

• Option #5: Over-the-door shoe hangers make a perfect storage solution and create a simple place to see all of your cosmetics at once.

• Option #6: Fishing tackle boxes are great for corralling your entire collection of cosmetics. They are also on-the-go ready when you are.

Now on those crazy mornings when you are in a hurry, your cosmetics are ready to use and can be found quickly.

(After)

Going to a "Crop" at my friend Tessa's house today!!!

It's always amazing how much you can accomplish when you go outside of your own home to finish projects. There aren't kids running around asking for your help or to make a pb&j every hour. And also, you don't have to worry about cleaning because it's not your house. Tee-hee!
Woopee! Scrapbooking time!!

6 NEW Cards today!

I get on these tangents of creativity and make all these cards at once. I told my husband "You gotta come look at these cards I made. They are all the same, yet different. Come look and you will see what I mean." He says "Oh that makes a lot of sense." ha ha! You'll understand what I mean too:

Crafts take me away to my happy place!

I decided to craft after the kids went to bed this evening.

No peace!

Don't you hate that when you go into the bathroom and lock the door...a minute later...knock, knock, Mom! Brother hit me...Bang, bang, Mom! Matthew tore the book...then you hear rattling on the door and someone is using a screwdriver from the drawer in the laundry room to try to pry the door open. Ugh! Really? No peace!

Flooding

Yesterday I drove down to the Columbia park on Columbia Drive and this was what I saw. Ugh! The river was above flood stage and was very noticeable.

The kids still wanted to go to the park so we went to a small park where it wasn't as cose to the water. They had fun. It was a gorgeous day even in the lower 50's. We didn't stay too long because I was still cold. lol

Friends Scrapbook

Last year I decided to give Valaney a scrapbook of our friendship. I add to it whenever we get new photos. Here are some shots of the book:

  

Tuning in and fine tuning

Stay tuned tomorrow for more drama coming from our home. Sometimes I feel like I am being secretly recorded for night-time television and everyone is watching me. Is this for real?
Yes my life for real.

 I am reading a book in our church women's group called Calm My Anxious Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Finding Contentment by Linda Dillow

In the first chapter it tells us about Ella's prescription for contentment:

Never allow yourself to complain about anything, not even the weather.
Never picture yourself in any other circumstances or someplace else.
Never compare your lot with another's.
Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
Never dwell on tomorrow-remember that [tomorrow] is God's, not ours

Oh boy! How I am a work-in-progress and must be fine-tuned.
So far it's a great book and so relevant to my life right now.

Sunday

Today, I thought I'd take a break from crafting so I did a little spring cleaning. Got a lot done, but can you tell when you walk into my house? Maybe. lol
Monday is coming before I know it and I've got some high hopes for more crafts this week. Be on the lookout!
Oh and why am I up so late? Because my 5 year old won't go to sleep because she'll "be lonely." And I'm still waiting on the dryer.
G'night!

A New Conversation with my child with Autism

I decided to try something new on my son Nathan who is 10 years old. Typing a conversation on notepad together. Here is our conversation: (Nathan's answers are in blue)

hello nathan!


hello!

i love you!

i love you too!

do you like cupcakes?

yes.

what do you want to do today?



what is your favorite color?

brown

i like pink.



when is your birthday?

do you know?

yes.

tell me please.

April 25

great job!!!!!

Are you smart?

yes.

what is daddys real name?

william.

what is mine?

hot bread.

no i mean what is my real name?

nathan

not your name, my name?

yes.

mommy's real name is...

dana.

The ATG gun

I cleaned up my craft room today. It's amazing what a little Spring Cleaning can do when you are motivated!
You should be so proud of me to have cleaned off the kitchen table with that mess you saw in an earlier post.

I also want to followup with where you can get that ATG gun (advanced tape glider) that I spoke about in a couple of previous posts.
I found it at Michaels. Don't ask any associate because they won't have a clue what you are talking about. I found it around the side of an end cap near the stickers section almost at the bottom of the rack. It's retail is $29.99, but I used my 40% coupon and if you buy something this week, they are giving out 50% coupons at the register for next week!
It's worth it because the tape refills are $9.99 for two and you can use the coupons too when you need to. I think I spend $6 for each little tape dispenser and it doesn't go very far. This thing is massive, but awesome! Watch a tutorial like the one I posted previous on how to load or you won't use it and it'll be too complicated.
Oh and it comes in PINK too for breast cancer awareness as a bonus~!