Hannah's Thrifting

Hannah and I went thrifting today...everything was 50% off!

She has been wanting a desk for her room like Richard has. I found this cute little sewing desk for $5.25. The sewing machine was taken out of it and a perfect little desk for my girl was born. I will eventually paint it, but for now Hannah will not allow me to touch it. She loves her little desk just the way it is.

We found these roses and hearts at the dollar store for Valentine's Day. They look pretty darn cute! (Hannah arranged them and took this photo.)

Hannah discovered this folding chair while I was looking at book at the thrift store. It was marked at $3, and it was 50% off! So we got a little fabric and some spray paint...

...to make this. We are both thrilled about it.



A day at the spa...

Hannah was snacking on cucumbers after breakfast this morning. I was at the desk doing my homework so Hannah asked me to turn around to look at her. This is what I got to see...

Ha, ha. She is so funny!

As I promised, here is Richard's organized and decorated desk. He is so proud of it and I think it is a great place for him to read and do homework and art.

He also got these cool Cars 2 Legos from Grandma Kia. Richard plays with the race car while he shares the little guy with Hannah. They are a pretty good team. Thanks, Mom!

Happy Birthday Richard!

My little tiger turned 7 yesterday. He has been excited for weeks and the day finally came. Richard awoke to a fun decorated table. Hannah got to stay up late helping me with the surprise.

Here are the cupcakes we made to take to school.

I let him open one gift before school since Grandma Taggart was going to call. I wanted him to be able to thank her and give him a chance to play with it before school. He was so excited and Hannah played with it all day while Richard was gone.

 Richard asked for a smiley faced pancake for breakfast. This is my half-hearted attempt.

Hannah and I went to lunch with Richard and we were there early so we read a couple of stories in the library. She loved this chair!

And then I let her take a few pictures of me.

I send lunch to school with Richard so I can control what he is eating and I know what has gone to school and I know what has come back. Besides, I am all about saving money! But Richard has been begging to get a tray at school. Chris and I discussed it and let him have school lunch for his birthday. Hannah got one too.

Here is his yummy cake. I am not like Chris and do not do the over the top cakes. I like things more simple and delicious. And as long as it is chocolate Richard does not care what it looks like. Who knows, maybe one day I will take a chance. :)

I found this great desk for him to do his reading and school work as well as art. I will have to take a picture of how Richard has arranged his things on it. It looks great and I hope he will enjoy it and get good use out of it.

Richard told me numerous times what a great day it had been, nothing had gone wrong. Except I found out that Hannah told Richard that he was getting a new Woody toy. That really upset me especially because she told him in order to ask for his old one. Oh well, he had a great day and I am happy that he is happy. We love you Richard!

Family Bowling

Richard's 7th birthday is tomorrow. Since Chris has to work late we opted to have a special family time on Monday when Richard got home from school. We told him he could choose an activity or to go to dinner. Richard wanted to go to Red Lobster but the closest is about 3-4 hours away. So, plan B was to go bowling. And it was a great option. We had a lot of fun. This is the first time both Richard and Hannah did not use the bowling ramp or bumpers. They did a pretty good job and we all had a lot of fun.

You can see how much fun they are having. Hannah has mentioned in every prayer since how thankful she is that we were able to go bowling as a family.

Richard was SHOCKED that he knocked down 9 pins. Look at his cute little face!

It was a lot of fun and great to do something different as a family. Since we moved from Arkansas we have not been able to do as many fun things together. And it is always great to celebrated my little Richard's birth! We love you bud!



Getting ready for Valentine's Day

This is my new Valentine's wreath. I have looked all over Helena, three stores, and there is NO heart shaped wreath form in sight. So I went to round and added my "Love" sign. I really like how it turned out and the kids have each requested one in different colors. I think I will do one in Easter colors for Easter.

Experiments & Projects

We found an ice cream machine at the thrift store for $5, but it was 50% off day...so we got it, in perfect condition, for $2.50. I found a recipe from Alton Brown on Food Network and got to work. It was so amazing that it was gone before I could take a picture.

Then I made this apron for a special young man. I cannot mention his name since he has not received it yet.

Last night I found a darling diaper pattern for dolls and this morning I found this adorbale dress pattern. I put my scraps to use as I tried them out. I still have to figure out the fastening (buttons, velcro, I don't know) but I am pretty happy with my first try.

Although I love my new sewing area, I was not totally happy with it. Hannah helped me pick out the papers and Richard helped with the pattern (which paper on which drawer). I used Mod Podge to seal everything in nicely. I am really happy with it now and cannot wait to Mod Podge our new kitchen step stool, another thrift store find!

Thank you Pinterest for all of your inspiration!

60 degree January (in Montana)

Much like the rest of the nation, Montana has been experiencing a rather mild winter. We even hit 60 degrees this month. This reminds me of a post I did last January when it was 80 in Arkansas in January. Since Chris had more flexible hours he was able to fish much more. We went with him to Lake Helena one afternoon. Richard was proud to show off his fries that we stopped off for on the way there.

Hannah was thrilled to do some digging in the dirt, one of her favorite past times.

And then the little adventure seekers pretended to be paleontologists digging for dinosaur bones. They have great imaginations!

We saw these insane guys ice fishing with half the water not frozen...nuts!

Then I got to spend 20 minutes in awe at the incredible sunset. It was beautiful!

It was a lovely day and so much fun to do the things we have not been able to do for a few months.