Admitting the Problem is the First Step...

Hello, my name is Candy and I am a Pinterest addict. My husband goes to bed alone some nights while I sit in front of the glowing computer screen until 1 or 2 in the morning, and then try to slip into bed before his alarm goes off at 2:30 and he realizes I've done it again. But JEEZ, the awesomeness to be found there is just unbelievable! I have a board called craftyness, and I actually have the supplies to attempt to make at LEAST 4 crafts from my board. After the crochet hat I'm going to make a homemade camera bag(originally from a guest poster on Ramblings and Photos), and then one that I am REALLY excited about, but not telling just yet because it's so awesome, and I believe in keeping the good stuff private and making a grand reveal. All I can say is if it works out I will be able to stay home with the kiddos a good while longer!!  Here's some pics of the finished hat...it's a little slouchier than the pattern but I used a different yarn because that's what I had on hand and I wasn't sure I could actually crochet.

Happy Thursday...what crafts are you planning on doing soon?

Sweat at least...

They say blood, sweat, and tears go into a dream....well at least sweat does in this case. And back pain. But I am working on a website for my business(another blog format for now). Which should be up and running by friday-let's make that monday. I'm so excited, I have awesome family and friends who are encouraging me and referring potential clients. Right now the main thing is just getting set up and doing the not so fun part-government paperwork, contracts, pricing, etc. BUT once it's done only improvements to be made from here on out. Any passersby have any suggestions for a newbie business owner? I am looking into online proofing, I think that is where I have the most trouble. I am using whcc.com, and want to be able to set my own prices and order prints  myself through them.  Really, any tips on anything would be much appreciated :)

Here's my contribution for Texture Thursday, my favorite breakfast :)

Okay Cloth Diapering...

Lets call a truce. Actually, why don't you just submit to me and make my life so much easier???
Since the last post I have only been cloth diapering about 30% of the time. Those Dappi cloth covers I got off of Ebay? CRAP. I didn't really realize this until, on my quest for more covers that moment, I went to Target(my favorite store)and stumbled upon 2 BumGenius 4.0 AIO's for $9 each. That's right...regular price 35.99(according to the tag) for 9 bucks. So of course I bought them. Problem: they are lilac and pink, and they are for my son. Not so much a problem for me, but for his father an absolute tragedy. Needless to say I won that battle on sheer savings value, and baby Que wears them anyway and doesn't know the difference. I LOVE these things, which has shown me what crap the ones I already had are. Problem is there are only 2.
I feel like my whole house smells like PISS all the time, and I spend a good hour of my time everyday rinsing and re-rinsing the things to get some of the pee out so they can wait until night to be washed.
For the love of...well my sanity, can't there be a less expensive way to build up a stash? Ebay-not the way. No diaper trading in my area, and I don't have any unwanted ones to trade anyway. Mom to Mom sale maybe? I'll have to look into that....


P.S. I should probably note that this post was not sponsored in any way, I bought all diapers mentioned and the review is just my personal opinion.

I Heart Faces- A Touch of Sun

A memory of one of my favorite days this summer, just watching the princess blow bubbles :)

I'm a Crocheting Fool!

For a while I have had a basket full of different yarns and knitting needles and crochet hooks(inherited from my mom when she was cleaning house), and it has been gathering dust. I was on Pinterest yet again and found a FREE pattern for a slouchy hat, which I have been looking for to buy(but not for $30) since I started transitioning my hair. It was super cute in the picture, and I thought "I can do that!". So I read through the pattern, looked up how to do stitches on YouTube (btw here's a really good tutorial series for beginners) and went mad. Apparently I wasn't as boss at crocheting as I thought I was initially, because I got about 3/4 done before I realized that my creation was not about to be a hat anyone with a head smaller than Shrek could wear. Then I decided to click the FAQs for the pattern, and low and behold that was where all of the answers were! If only I had read through them first...but anyway I unwound the whole thing and started over, and here's where I am so far.

 Now I think I ROCK at this! Look out friends and fam, crocheted items may be in your Christmas future :) After I finish this one I think I may buy 2 of Julies patterns I saw for other hats, they are super cute.

And of course, just because no post is really complete until I have put at least one of my lovies faces on it, here's one of Baby Que dressed for church Sunday after the Wolverines pulled it out!! Hail to the Victors!

Taking a Different Approach...

Things around here are tight financially. By tight I mean TIGHT. The last few days I haven't been smiling a lot, or doing extra fun things with my kids because I'm stressed. Hubs brought to my attention that I shouldn't worry so much, and that got me thinking. So instead of griping about what I think I need but don't have, I decided to take a different approach and remember why even in times of lack I am blessed beyond measure.

My Children. Really enough said, but they are healthy and happy and make me feel like supermom.

First day of kindergarten!!

I love his smiles!

Hubs. He keeps me grounded and makes me smile, he compliments my neurosis with calm laid back charm..and he's HOT :)

No matter how bad I think things are, I must not forget that there is someone worse off than me. There is someone who is homeless, who has NO income, who is truly hungry(not just eating something that isn't their favorite meal), who is grieving the loss of a loved one...and now I can take a deep breath and smile through my circumstances because God is good.

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

Cloth Diapers

I follow a blog called Letters to Ames, and recently Rachael has been talking about cloth diapering, and how she manages it with three littles in diapers. I was thinking for a while about trying this with Baby Que, but I must admit I've been lazy about it. The idea of scraping poop off of cloth diapers had me grossed out, but lately I've been realizing that even with disposable diapers I often still get poop on me, so what's the difference? So I got out the cloth diapers I got at his baby shower and ordered a set of 6 Dappi Diaper Covers from ebay, and this week is the beginning of the experiment. I am keeping some disposables on hand just in case I feel like I can't do it anymore, but I have high hopes for the money that we'll save!

Okay...I started writing this post yesterday and today has been our first clothy try. Can I just put out there that I am not nearly as boss as I thought I would be with this?? First clothy on at 8:33am, first poop in a clothy at 8:34am. I figured I would put him in the thing and have a few hours to get my setup worked out. Apparently NOT. I'm on my way to it, but boy do I feel like I overestimated myself right now...but Baby Que does look cute in his little getup :). And unfortunately I can't even say that he usually wears clothes because the truth is, well, he doesn't at home especially in the summer...he likes being nekked, and I like doing less laundry since he doesn't dirty up 3 outfits a day.

Lightning Strikes...

...I just can't seem to catch it with my camera. I this gorgeous picture taken by Mary Kate for Fabulous Friday, and wanted to try. Today we just happened to have a really bad storm brewing, and while I was trying to get my settings right and figure out what to do it rolled right in so my trying was cut short. So here's what I came up with....

No Lightning striking for a full minute....

Then it struck to the left of where I was pointing.

While I didn't catch anything worth really looking at, I am pretty excited that I have learned something new tonight about my camera, and I'm excited for the next storm so I can try again!!