Crafty... pass and fail

I am a project person.

I love me a good project.

I love it even more when I finish a project.

Lately, I have been up to a few crafty things. Not anything really huge...but small changes make a girl just as happy as big ones...if done correctly.

# 1. A couple months ago I got some fun boots. Now, being the Pinteresting girl I am... I saw all kinds of fun socks and tights to wear with my new fun boots.

1 Problem... husband has no job = Cari buys no superfluous items.

Fun socks are a superfluous item.

Sad day.

Or is it.

Here is a pic of me and Sara (my sister) from when she was in town. We are feeding the littles... and I am wearing fun boots... and if you will notice, some fun boot socks. ( I have provided an arrow for precise sock tracking.) (you're welcome.)

(are you tired of the parenthesis?)(parenthesis's?)(parenthesi?)

nevermind...

back to my socks...

Not really a big deal. Just some cream colored boot socks.

THAT I "MADE" OUT OF A $2 THRIFT STORE SWEATER!

I know! You just about fell out of your chair at my genius, right?

Me too!

I just cut off the sleeves and pulled the cuffs up my legs. 

No "foot" part. My feet would sweat right off my legs if I had socks that warm on...

Crafty #1 - boot socks. PASS.

# 2. Getting ready for Christmas.

I know... It looks the same as last year...

and the year before...

and the year before (of which I have no pictures...).

But it is pretty, dang it!

and I carved out some precious time to get that bad boy up there.

SO IT IS MAKIN' THE BLOG.

Crafty # 2 - Christmas mantle. Always a PASS.

# 3. Now that we are all in the Christmas spirit... I will show you my new wreath.

Yeah... I made it. Your impressed, right?

Good.

Cause it is pretty.

With the soft cream yarn and the fun felt flowers.

Lauren and I had a craft day... we did them together... and chatted and laughed and ate soup and grilled cheese. It was fun.

And I got to come home with this! Which I promptly hung on my door and proclaimed loudly to the boys, "Christmas is coming!"

All because of my new pretty, felt-y Christmas wreath.

thankyouverymuch.

Crafty # 3 - Christmas wreath. SUPER PASS.

# 4. I have a long story about my dinning room wall. And interestingly enough it also has to do with my fun boots. I would say "long story short" and just show you the wall... but what fun is the final product without a long, drawn-out background story?

So when I put this up in my living room. I used frames that were in my dinning room. Now that those frames had been repurposed... I was in need of some thing for the dinning room wall.

So I bought a LOOOONG, wide, shelf and I was going to place frames on the shelf, overlapping and looking all Pottery Barn.

And I spent the ENTIRE day trying to hang the shelf.

Because our house is 742 years old, we have plaster...not drywall. So the mounting brackets that come with the shelf don't really work. I had to drill BIG, BAD holes in my wall. 4 of them. HUGE! Took up the whole wall.

Then the shelf would not hang.

The "flush" bracket on the back of the shelf was not flush.

nope... it was very un-flush.

1 trip back to the store.

57 trips up and down the shelf isle.

0 shelf's in the right size.

1 stressed out, on the verge of tears Cari.

So what did I do?

Bought boots instead, and just hung pictures over the holes.
Good story, right?

Maybe, if your lucky, I will tell it again later...

So my wall.

Turned out nice. Still need to replace the top middle pictures (from our wedding) with one of Ryder...poor kid.

I made the middle print and the 2 long ones.

The middle one is my favorite.

It is The Captain's birthday, my birthday, our anniversary, Caden's birthday, Rigg's birthday and then Ryder's birthday.

LOVE.

Except...

about 3 hours after I finished, as I was basking in the glow of my finished product, I looked over and my heart sunk. (sank? sinked? (just kidding about that last one! :))

Dang it, if I didn't get Rigg's birthday wrong.

He was born in "09...not "10.

Sigh...

I still have yet to fix it... poor Rigg.

 Crafty # 4 - Photo wall...PASS... and FAIL.

Ryder { 9 & 10 months }

The Captain has just informed me that, although I am posting about Ryder's 9th and 10th month of life, he will in fact be 11 months old in 9 days time. Thus telling me, in not so many words... that I am incredibly, way-far behind. 

My response? A long steady, piercing look at the Captain and the words "I do not see you picking up a camera to capture the wonder and majesty of Ryder's fleeting infancy."

A false wounded look and a slight chuckle were his only responses...

Far behind or no...  I did take pictures of Ryder to chronicle his 9th and 10th month.... I have just been a bit lax in posting them on time.

Better late then never... right?

~ 9 months ~

At his 9 month check-up, Ryder weighed in at a whopping 24 lbs. Which puts him in the 85%. His height was 31 inches, proving to all the world that he is a big 'un and landing solidly in the 95%.

At 9 months Ryder could crawl well. Pull up on anything... even solid walls, and cruise around the furniture.

He follows Rigg everywhere. And reaches and grabs for anything in his big brother's grasp.

He started saying mama and dada with more consistency around each of us... and learned to clap.

As for personality... This kid is loud, demanding, smiley, unafraid, cuddly and absolutely on the move all the time. He is both delightful and infuriating depending on the day and circumstances.

~ 10 months ~

At 10 months Ryder is EVERYWHERE.

He is not only cruising, but reaching and walking from one piece of furniture to another.

He is SO smiley and giggly. He laughs all the time and LOVES to be tossed and thrown around.

He walks really well behind a toy walker or holding your hands. He needs help turning the walker around or getting it unstuck... how is it that such small people can get a toy crammed into such tight spaces?

His newest trick is walking with only holding on to one of your hands.... He is so close to doing it himself... He forgets that he cannot yet walk unaided. He will be standing next to the couch, see a toy or person across the room he wants, turn and take a huge step in its direction just to immediately crumple under the weight and wobbliness of his own legs... completely unfazed.

Just yesterday he took his first un-aided step. He promptly fell flat on his pudgy face, but it was definitely a step.

Ryder's favorite toys are balls of any kind. He loves to play catch or just throw them around and chase them himself.

He loves being entertained... but when he is done... he is done.

a party for Charlie

Let me guess, you're thinking... "A party for Charlie... What about Thanksgiving?" 

Right?

Well I had a wonderful Thanksgiving... gorged myself silly and enjoyed every minute.

I just took no pictures...

So, that's why I am not blogging about it...

However.

My sister and her family came into town from California.

She brought Charlie... my favorite niece, for the next few months anyway..until Sara (my sister) has her second child, another girl... then I will have 2 favorite nieces...

And it was Charlies birthday.

Her1st one.

And I got to plan it.

Right down to her outfit.

I had fun.

Too much.

It was splendid.

and to make up for my lack of photos regarding Thanksgiving...

I took about 900 of Charlies 1st birthday party.( I am a fabulous Aunt!... and humble...)

So feast your eyes inter-webby friends, and revel in the awesomeness that is

Charlie and her1st birthday party!

I decided to do a Candy Land theme. Cute, girly, bright.. CANDY!!! Need I say more? I love the picture on the bottom right... such a girly table and 3 boys chowing down on cake...

How cute is she?!?!?!? 

Charlie likes being the center of attention...she gets that from a certain fabulous aunt...

It was a great night of family and friends, cake, pink, presents and small people (kiddos).  I am so happy Sara, Ryan and Charlie were able to come into town... and let me plan a girly birthday party.

It. was. Awesome.

yet, it made me realize... Ryder turns 1 in 7 weeks... and I have not put 1 thought into his birthday...EEEK!

I have some planning to do!

He's gettin' there...

Last evening we were over at my parents house. It was the first time the walker hasn't run off with out Ryder... so he was actually walking behind it, not half-running and then falling on his face behind it. I think it helped that they have carpet... we have hardwood. He looks like such a big boy! And he was super proud of himself... big smiles and squeals, although that came after I turned the camera off...sorry.

and, yeah, it's LATE Novemebr and that Captain is in shorts...

the everyday crazy

Hi.

Remember me? I used to blog here regularly.

Or, at least, semi-regularly.

I now post new and exciting run of the mill, ordinary things all nilly-willy in hopes that maybe someone besides my mom will read.

There is no big, important reason for my big lapse of inter-webby silence... just life, you know?

It got a bit crazy.

and busy,

and maybe a tish bit overwhelming...

but really... that's just life.

And when life gets crazy, busy and slightly overwhelming, sometimes you drop a ball or two (or 9).

What's been going on, you ask?

Well... since you asked...

colds, teething, laundry, some fun side projects, my Grandma had heart surgery, laundry, dishes, feeding kids, changing kids, bathing kids, laundry, getting sucked into a couple of books I couldn't put down , and a big change in our family schedule.

Why the big change? Well 2 reasons. Reason A) is because the Captain is helping coach a local HS basketball team and practices are in the evenings... so no daddy at home. Reason B) is  the Captain lost his job... So now he is home all day, thus disrupting my groove.

see...crazy, busy, tish bit overwhelming...life.

However, it has not kept me from being a mama to my precious, loud, energetic and messy boys.

Lately, we have been enjoying 2 new and entertaining ways to pass the time.

#1. The tunnel.

For his 1st birthday, Rigg received a tent and tunnel from my Aunt.  One of the boys new favorite things is to get the tunnel out and crawl through it, play in it, throw toys down it, look through it, yell in it, and carry it about the house like a dog on a leash.

#2. Playing/Jumping together in the crib.

Both boys love to be in the crib together. Rigg loves the bounce factor and jumps and bounces until I am a bit sea-sick just watching. Ryder is just ecstatic that Rigg is in his crib. So He laughs and giggles at everything Rigg does. And since Rigg mostly jumps, Ryder mostly gets tossed and jumbled about, which he seems to find delightful. Because most of the activity going on in the crib is fast-jumpy-motion...all my pictures are blurry. And though it pains me to put blurry sub-par pictures on my blog, I will suck it up and do it anyway...because you really should see how much fun they have...it is cute, even if it is blurry.

oh... and Ryder got a haircut. And now eats graham crackers.

How to re-do a dresser {part 2}

You might remember from this post, that we were in the process of re-doing an old dresser.

We found the dresser at a local Salvation Army... for a whopping $17!

And then I hatched a plan to make it into a lovely blue-teal wonder.

and I made theCaptain buy paint... too much paint.

(oops... now I am going to have 2 lovely blue-teal pieces of furniture...poor me..hehe)

and then we began.

How to re-do a dresser {part 1}

After Lunch, put kids down for nap.

Breathe deep, satisfying sigh of relief.

Go back outside, surround yourself with drawers and start to paint.

Make sure to carefully record paint color for later reference or touch-ups.

Gaze longingly at still-wet dresser through your kitchen window while waiting for it to dry.

Get side tracked with children and store still-tacky dresser in garage to dry completly.

and then get VERY busy with life... and leave it in garage for another month and a half.

Get upset with yourself for letting your really fabulous dresser sit in the garage all lonely and abandoned.

THEN

Scuff and destress the lovely blue-teal wonder of a dresser.

get that bad boy inside so you can stare at it intermittantly throughout the day.

Take some pics and post to blog on internet so all the world can see how long it took you to complete a project.

Congratsulations... if you followed the above steps, you have successfully re-done a dresser!

Stuff with clothes and enjoy!

for the hard things: giveaway winner!

Well folks, we have a giveaway winner.

You might remember...for the hard things, a book I made to be a help in trials...a sort of handbook in hard times... I wanted to give one away.

And because I want you to share in the excitement of WHO won...

and because I am SO organized and technologically advanced...

I took pictures of the EVENT.

yes... I said EVENT (in all caps) so you would get all excited and hopefully get a tingly feeling run up and down your spine...

Did it work?

no?

No worries, we shall proceed anyway.

First I laboriously and painstakingly counted and labled each comment by number...

with a purple crayon.

Then, I carefully and evenly folded wadded up each cut out number...

Next, it threw them in one of the boys hats,

and had Rigg choose...

He had no idea what was going on, but he was super excited to participate...

and he chose....

can you stand it?

#

Congratsulations Boyka! Email me (carichastain@yahoo.com) with your info so I can mail you your book!

Didn't win? Super bummed? Want one anyway?

Click here to buy one.

my grief story

I have needed to do it for awhile.

It was just time consuming...and work... and time...

and I have no time.

 ever

I have children...not time.

BUT

It is important.

So.

I worked on it.

and now it is done (enough)

I have felt for some time now that my blog needed to be easier to navigate.

Specifically for those directed here to read about Caden... and loss... and grief.

Because my life looks dramatically different now then it did 2 or 3 years ago. And a sad, heart-sick mama who comes here to read about Caden gets smacked in the face with 2 adorable, smiley and very alive little boys... which could be a bit unhelpful to her.

SO.

I needed a one-stop place where all my God-praisin', question askin', soul-searchin', heart-wrenchin', laughin', cryin' and sometimes completely undirected posts could sit all cozy together and wait. Wait for a person in need of a story. One they can relate to... one they can cry with... one they can be sad with... and hopefully laugh along with...

A place for my grief story.

Just that.

No tumor.

No pregnancy tales.

No Rigg stories... no Ryder stories.

Just posts about Caden and God bringing us through the fire.

So here it is... it is over on my sidebar.

If you want to just read about Caden...this is the place.

If you ever direct anyone to my blog because they have experienced a loss... make sure you tell them about the link on the side. Right under Our Story.

My Grief Story.

*********************************

Less then a day left for the giveaway!

ENTER!!!

a couple of things...

He WOULD NOT sit or stand next to thing 2...

He would not leave his "name sign"alone...

Getting them to keep their "hair" on was next to impossible

butt  ahem...but when they did

Thing 1 and

Thing 2

were SUPER cute.

****************************************************

Don't forget about the

for the hard things giveaway!