Pottery Barn Curtains - $715

I finally got curtains made for our living room! We love the Pottery Barn look but could never afford to decorate our house with their stuff so we just have to copy their style! It would have cost us $715 to buy these drapes, including the rods, if we were to buy them from Pottery Barn (above). Instead Luke and I went to a great home decor fabric store with super good prices and found some similar fabric for only $10 a yard. After all was said and done we ended up spending $190, including the rods, to make our curtains. (see below) There are four tall windows so I had to make four panels.

Luke has been working CRAZY hours (until midnight or 1 am!) so I have kept myself very busy with lots of projects. Here are some that I have been working on.

Cradle Bumper and sheet

Binky Clips

Crayon Rolls

Grocery Bag Holder

Cool Picture and Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day! Unfortunately Emma and I are spending the day alone. Daddy is at the office all day studying for a big test he has on Tuesday. We will celebrate when his test is over. Good Luck studying Luke and Happy Valentine's Day, I love you.

I love this picture of Emma. We went to the Denver Aquarium right before I flew home a couple of weeks ago and she absolutely loved it! It was a lot of fun and really neat.

These are the best sugar cookies ever!!! I love making these sugar cookies. This is a recipe from Luke's grandmother. It was a school recipe so it is super huge! The recipe I have is half of the original and I always half the recipe and it makes a ton! If you like sugar cookies I would recommend making these, SO GOOD!!

Luke's Grandma's Sugar Cookies

8 sticks of butter

4 C. Powdered Sugar

1 1/4 C. Sugar

4 eggs

10 cups flour

1 1/4 TBS. soda

1 1/4 TBS. cream of tarter

1 TBS. Vanilla

1 TBS. Almond Flavoring

Chill until stiff. Roll 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick. Cook at 325 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

A Present from Me to You!

I saw this on my friends blog and I love it!!!

The first five people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
4. You will have no clue what it is going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me you did will win a marvelous homemade gift by me!Let the games begin!!

(Oh, and I have to be able to contact you with mailing information!!!)

Baby Bedding!

I got baby boy bedding for the crib on Saturday and I love it! I was in no rush to get the crib bedding but Luke's work "pays" him to work out, go to his routine physical, go to the dentist, etc. and he had just gotten an $85 gift card in the mail for Target. Target just happen to be having a big baby bedding sale that week and had a new set that I loved! So, we went to Target and got the bumper, skirt, and sheets. They also had a knitted blanket and receiving blankets to match which I would normally never have gotten but because we had the gift card we just got it all to match and it is so cute! It is more modern than "cutsie" baby boy but I love it and I hope he, "baby boy" does too!

A Year in Review

During the Christmas holiday, with Luke home, I was able to scrapbook all of 2008. I am very proud of myself! I have posted four pages to each page/picture. You can click on the picture to see each page more closely.

The five major things we are thankful for in 2008 are:
1. The purchase of our first home in April, and we are loving it! We would love it even more if we could figure out the electrical mix up and get power back to our bathrooms and front entry way!
2. The exciting news that we are expecting a little boy on April 8th.
3. Our Sweet little princess Emma turning 2 in Oct 2008!
4. Christine starting her own online printing business. http://www.pureprintdesigns.com/
5. Luke having a wonderful and secure job that he enjoys.
Enjoy the pics!

Potty Training: Day 1

Today was the dreaded day of the beginning of potty training for Emma. I have cleared my schedule and have devoted the rest of the week purely to her and staying home. She woke up and we went right on the potty and she went a ton! Then, she put on her "big girl" princess panties and two minutes later she told me she had to go and went some more! I was excited and thought, "oh this won't be too bad." Each time she goes potty in the toilet she gets a piece of candy out of the "potty candy jar" and gets to pick out a sticker to put on her sticker chart. She was doing great this morning, she went six times in the potty with only 2 or 3 accidents. Then, this afternoon I don't think she went once in the potty, she just had all accidents. So, seven pairs of underwear later and 0 for 2 on pooping in the toilet mom is still sane and we are ready for day two tomorrow!

-20 degrees and feels like -33 degrees

-20 degrees and feels like -33 degrees --- That was the temperature last night at 8 p.m. in Casper, Wyoming where Emma and I are visiting my sister and family. Today the kids went out to play in the snow. It was still only 12 degrees so they didn't stay out there long but they loved every second of it! I think Emma knows she won't get weather like this at home so she is really loving it!