Creepy up cycled figurines.

Some time this year I saw a post about these little creepy Figurines. I knew as soon as I saw it that we were going to have to make some. It was a fun fairly easy up cycle to help us get in the halloween spirit! 

We went to 4 different second hand stores to come up with a total of 7 Figurines. I was actually very surprised at how much the cost. they are all made of various material, porcelain , plastic, and one is heavy enough to be clay. the smaller cats are actually a pair of salt and pepper shakers. i just filled in the holes on top with glue and let dry before beginning.

The first thing we did was clean them off, (apparently my diuter is broken so the book shelf has not been cleaned, it adds a little bit of character to the pictures , wink ,wink.) then we let them dry completely. we then took all of them outside to paint, this took about 3 hours. We sprayed one side and let it dry , then did the other side, and the top and bottom. Not the bottom of the figurine but the underside of each and evey angle that we wanted completely black. 

Here is them drying between coats. Almost like they are looking in the yard. The net step is not pictured. my daughter and i painted the eyes on each one and she painted the tears that all turned out great. 

They all look amazing!! I will find other places to put them around the house to creep people out.

The Owl.

Mama Cat.

Choir boy and Tiny Angel.

We had a lot of fun making these and will defiantly make more in the future. Maybe though next time we will find out when the half off day is at our local second hand store. This is not a very romantic post, the season is coming for all things scary so we must be prepared!!

Muahahahahahah!

A clean room is worth a homemade pizza.

 Being a parent is not always easy, sometimes its messy.
My middle child has had a messy room for a long time now. We have tried various things to encourage her to get it clean and nothing has worked. A friend at school asked when she could come stay the night at her house, that was the spark. She also had a desk she received for Christmas that was not set up yet due to her messy room. Within a week she had her room all cleaned and their was now room to set up her beautiful Drawing desk!

 She also asked if we could make pizzas like we had done at her birthday party the previous year. My youngest and I went to Trader Joes and got some pizza dough. It gets pretty messy but its always a blast! Below is a picture of the directions on the back of the dough.

 We follow it loosly, I so set it out to rise a bit before we start and then we flour evreything. the kids usually play with it for a while and then they decide on a shape. Add pizza sauce, cheese and anything else they like. Here is what the came up with!

A Cat.

A Heart

An "F" for Fortnite.

 It is always fun to see what the kids come up with. They are always amazed  

at how good it tastes . All in all we had fun! My daughter got her room clean and we got to have yummy pizza!! 

Update.

  My last post was in April, we had just started a landscape business and I was super inspired to share my personal story. It was something I had been thinking about for a while. I actually got a lot of positive feedback and support I didn't realize I had. I was afraid people would see me differently or not want to talk to me, I think though because I was honest they did look at me in a different light. Because I wanted to be better.
  Everything I learned from helping this company has changed me as a person. I have overcome so much in just a few months. Its not easy, Its not glamorous, People are not always nice, but it was really cool to be a part of a great team. I told Josh in the beginning that I would be too busy to even think about my depression. Apart of that is true, I was too busy to think about me.
  We grew Faster then I thought was possible. One reason I never went any further in my own business ventures was that I was afraid I would get too much work and not know how to accommodate it. I have learned that we have to build that bridge when we get to it. Sometimes you have to change things up in order to make them work. So that is where we are now, My husband is doing amazing and the business is still growing!
  Working with my husband was not always easy for either of us. Some days we only talked about work and someday we didn't talk at all. We learned through it though. I love him even more because of what we learned together. Through the great days and the hard ones.
  Overall I am doing a lot better. I have goals for my self and I am helping the kids through some fun stuff as well. We are growing and changing around here in a great way! I hope you will stay along for the ride.

Romantically yours ,
  Mj

Get up, dress up , show up.

  Get up, Dress up, Show up.

So a lot has happened since my last post about my adneo/endo. 10/13/16. 1.5 years, 18 months, 78 weeks, 548 days give or take. I have had up days and down days. As everyone does. I have tried to get on and blog about what I was going through but it was just too hard.

  When I had the surgery I was working at CVS. I loved my job and everything I did for the company and my managers above me. CVS gave me a confidence I never had before. After the surgery though things changed. I was still heart broken and it was starting to affect my work and home life. I would cry everyday before work and literally stay in bed until I absolutely had to get up. Then on top of that my child care was not working out. So my husband said it was enough.

  I was off work for a bit and was trying to heal. Although after the surgery I started drinking on a regular basis. I used to enjoyed a few beers with my best friend on the weekends and we would watch movies and such. It was around the same time that I lost her. I lost her as my friend. She had not been there with me through the surgery or healing at all. By the time I left my job I was drinking every night and I heard through other people that she had moved away.

  An opportunity came up through a salon I had worked at before. It was just what I needed. I love doing hair. I love making people happy but, I was still drinking.
   My husband was starting to worry. I was always up for the kids and everyone always had clean clothes but I was still drinking. One night I had drank way too much. There I was 33 years old having a relapse praying to the porcelain god alone.  It took me a few days to level back out. I decided it was time to try and help my self.
This is how I saw it.
  If I could make it through one day then I could try another day.
  If I could make it through a week why not two.
  why not three?
It was not easy. It hurt. I couldn't sleep. I had the shakes. I cried and couldn't stop rocking.
   I made it 23 days. I didn't feel that I needed it to sleep anymore. I was not numb anymore. I could really see the amazing things if front of me I was trying to blur. I did a lot of talking, to anyone who would listen. It helped.

   I am still struggling with depression. Now I take it one day at a time. One day in my sadness I came across a few motivational pictures on Pinterest . They said "No matter how you feel, Get up, Dress up, Show up, and never give up! It really spoke to me. I started making my own pictures and sending them to my husband. It has really made a difference for me. Even if I feel crappy and don't want to get out of bed. I have to. For my kids, my husband, my chickens, dogs, cat, For myself. Some days are easier than others and they show in the pictures. Hope you enjoy them. Maybe you could try it too..

The wife of a chron's patient.

Nothing can prepare you for the call you get from your husband that after you finish your shift you will have to take him to hospital and sit in the ER for 6-8 hours and the be most likely admitted for at least a week. To tell him everything will be fine that you will be just fine with three kids and a full time job.

Nothing can change the feeling in your gut as you drive to the hospital that this isn't the right way. To look at him in pain and not be able to stop it.

No one can give you the right words to say to  you children as to why daddy didn't come home from the hospital or why when we go see him we have to suit up like he is radioactive. To answer the hard questions like "will daddy ever be ok?"

No one can help you put on a face when others ask "How is he doing?" when NO he is not well but do they really want to hear it. To smile and say he is ok.

As I hang up the phone and try to wipe away the tears something inside me changes. I have to keep it in and push through my shift.

As we drop off the kids and get in the car i have to hold tight and think about how much better he will feel when hie comes home.

When I get home from a 10 hours at the hospital to get a few hours of sleep before i have to go back to work I hug each of our children and reassure them daddy will come back home better.

And when others ask how he is doing I smile and tell them “ He is not better yet, but he will be.

He WIll Be Better.

Endo/Adneo

For the past 7 years or so I have been fighting endometriosis . I went a few years not knowing what it was at all. I have always had long heavy menstrual cycles and never thought anything of it. Then the pain got worse. It was all the time and nothing I was doing would help. I had an exploratory laparoscopy in 2012 and we decided to hold off on any further steps as I wanted another child.

So in 2014 I had my IUD removed and we were soon Expecting our third child. Pregnancy was not easy as I was feeling pains I didn't with my other two pregnancies. My Ligaments were too loose and it was painful to walk most of the time. The Last few months I didn't work and couldn't really do much.

I really Wanted to go into labor naturally but I was getting too big and the doc wanted to induce me. Long story short I had to have an emergency cesarean section. It was so scary and yet one of the most amazing things i have ever experienced. With our little lanee the first moments up to an hour we had to hold her against our skin and it was exactly what i needed after the shock of and emergency c-section. I was afraid to go home after. I think I stayed 5 days.

One of the reasons we decided we were ready for another child was that I was just so done with all the endo pain. After I had her things were as normal as they could be after having a baby. I had another IUD put in till we could figure out what my next steps would be to eliminate endo symptoms.  A couple months went by and I was still bleeding. I went back to my doctor and he acted like it was nothing. I was fed up.

 I went to another gynecologist. She listened to everything I had to say. As the months went on we tried different things to stop the bleeding and nothing was helping. A different IUD, Hormones, Birth control, Nothing would stop it. Her Last options were to either try and push me into menopause hormonally (which is not a great idea as i'm already at high risk for breast, ovarian and uterine cancers) Or she could refer me to another doctor in her practice for a Hysterectomy. She is thinking that the endometriosis has advanced to Adenomyosis which explains all the other symptoms and the constant bleeding.

In less than two weeks I will be having the procedure. I am glad to not have to deal with the pain and bleeding anymore, and it will reduce my chances of cancer. Although there is a part of me that is heart broken to know I can no longer carry a child. Yes that is selfish, but i'm not perfect.

Friday night finds.. Well Saturday morning.

 So I just realized it has been a year since I posted a Friday night find. I have had blogging on the brain and today is a great day to get back in the habit! This week all I have been thinking about (other than blogging) is going to the park! I recently met a great friend at the park. We hit it off and so did our munchkins!

 Since the weather is finally getting better we have been going every few days it seems . After all the running around we have some hungry kiddos. I found some great ideas for snacking at the park.

1: Picnic buffet. This is a wonderful idea. We love to do snacking buffet style and this is a great example of how to do it! Check out the other great ideas from this blog post!! (Link is under photo) 

2: Portable deviled eggs.

This is such a great idea . Not only does this make it easy to transport but it is a great snack for busy little people!

3: pinwheels. We absolutely love pinwheels. My new friend brought these to one of our park trips! Such a great power packed portable snack! 

4: Snack Pack.I love this mix and match idea. And the containers are perfect!

5.  25 Snack Ideas : This link has a great round up of 25 awesome ideas !! But I love the idea of edible kabobs!! Perfect for little fingers!

Bonus: We love bubbles at the park . This link has the solution! 

I hope you like these great ideas for a wonderful picnic at the park.

How Romantic!

-Mj

Beach themed cake

About mid 2015 we found out that my mother in law was getting married ! Naturally I wanted to make a cake!! So the plan was that they would have a reception at home but get married at a beach. So I asked her what ideas she had. She said beach themed. We talked about a few things and as followers is what we came up with. I loved it and so did she.

The first thing that came to mind was chocolate seashells. I went to a few craft stores and found the mold. Then I picked up some candy melts.

I also had some gold dust that I thought would look good in the little creases of the shells. Then I got to work.

Here is a few pics of the process. Candy molds are fairly easy, I have done a few before. As soon as they came out of the frige I put a little gold powder on them.

So I didn't take any pictures of making the cake as it turned in to a really long cake due to a bad batch of cake mixes. I wound up making 3 tiers of yellow cake with a gradually changing blue from bottom to top.

Then we placed the seashells around and on the cake with tiny piped balls around each tier.

We then put a few gram crackers in the food processor and blended till they looked like sand. I think it turned out great.

For the very top I found a tiny bottle at hobby lobby and placed a note inside. It turned out to be a wonderful beach themed wedding reception cake. We were hearing praise about it for weeks! 

-Mj

Monday November 2.

We had a wonderful Halloween! All three kids had a great time. My husband and I grew up in this neighborhood so it's kind of neat to take our kids trick or treating where we went. The day after a holiday is always a mixture of emotions. Sad that the holiday is over but excited for the next one to come. I'm really hoping to be on top of things the next few weeks. Going to be a little crazy with all that's going on. I'm super excited though. A wedding cake, first birthday, and thanksgiving !! Plus some Christmas crafts! I hope you will stay for the journey!

-Mj

$5.00 flash sale!!

Ok so I really need to move some of my items from the store so I can start working on holiday items!! What better way then to have a flash sale!! Originally it was going to end the 23 of October but I decided to extend through the weekend!!  

Flash sale Sunday 10/18 -Monday 10/26

Stop on in and see what's on sale!! 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/mjssweetthings

Friday night finds.

This week has been a rough one. To make along story short I have been put through the ringer. Maybe I'll explain in another post. Or two... When going through hard times I always think of my family and how wonderful it is to have a family that is there for me. With the holidays around the corner I have Christmas crochet on the brain. The hubby is out with the guys for the evening so I was browsing Pinterest for inspiration and came across some really cute stuff! So I figured, why not share ? 

Here are a few fun Christmas crochet finds. Enjoy! 

( note : These are not my crochet projects. Links to each pattern/item are below picture)

                              Peppermint ornament  

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/candy-shop-ornaments

                                  Christmas socks

http://www.lemondedesucrette.com/2011/11/16/little-christmas-socks-the-pattern/#comment-6328

                                Jingle Bell Garland 

http://www.curbly.com/m/9473-crocheted-jingle-bell-garland

Wine Bottle Cozy

http://divinedebris.com/building-up-the-willow-line/

The last item on my Friday finds list is a beautiful crochet blanket. It is from an etsy store and seems to be sold out but its but too beautiful to not share. Maybe the seller will make another!

                          Christmas BabyAfghan 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/194825436/crochet-christmas-baby-afghan-granny?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

Let me know if you enjoyed this post. If you know me you will know I love sharing and would love to make this a weekly post! Until then live romantically.

Mj

Waiwow.

Waiwow: baby blanket and hat to match.

I can't believe it's almost time for my newest niece to be here! The time really flies when your not pregnant! Anyway this week I'm working on some beanies and a blanket for her! 

For the blanket i just used a traditional granny stitch pattern until it was 36"x36". Size I needle.  I started with 2 rows of raspberry then switched to pink camp for one row. Then every 5th row I changed to the pink camo color for one row then back to the raspberry !
Click HERE for a tutorial on the granny square from the crochet crowd!

I am just in love with them! I'll let you in on a secret.... I made these both in one sitting! I got all my tools together made sure everyone was taken care of and got to work! Of course with three kids and a hubby I had to get up a few times but I got it done! 

I hope she loves it. I just can't wait to meet her!

Mj 

My crochet breezy purse.

I love crochet and I love crochet with tassels. I needed a quick , fun, stylish , gift for my sil who was turning 16. I took all these elements and created my crochet breezy purse. 

I absolutely love it! So did she! She told me after the party that she had been looking for a new purse and it was a perfect fit.

So I shared it on Instagram and got a request for a white and orange version. It turned out great also. Within a few days of that one being done I received another request.

The third was a request for pink and purple . I then remembered I had a great purple multi colored yarn that would match the pink. Every time I finish a purse I'm blown away at how adorable they turn out. Wonder what color will be next?  

https://www.etsy.com/shop/mjssweetthings

-Mj