embrace the camera - feb 3

me with three of my four boys.

i love this picture because it shows liam the way he always is...as his own little person with not a care about what's going on around him. haha!

and there's also that silly little mikey there on the left...clowning around as usual.

i'm looking forward to getting some quiet time later and browsing through the fun embrace posts.

thursdays always make my heart smile.

happy day to all!

i'm going to have a lovely day

i'm using reverse psychology on myself and my fingers are crossed that it works. 

i woke up this morning already having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

i was about ready to pack up and move to australia.

the night before last, i was waking up every hour throughout the night. two or three times because i had a nightmare and the other times just from discomfort. 

then last night, when i was already sleep deprived from the night before, i kept waking up with chills and coughing. {please. i cannot be getting sick}

this morning, i woke up and my voice was gone {i'm sure the boys and mister will have no complaints about that} and my throat hurt like heck. {shit. i'm sick.}

it was six a.m. and the kids were already up and arguing.

liam's awake in his crib...and being very vocal about wanting to be taken out.

wyatt's whimpering in his crib...asking to be picked up.

i went to get some sort of medicine to treat my throat...only to walk to through the living where i was greeted with piles of laundry scattered throughout the floor. i folded and abandoned them last night.

i get to the kitchen...only to find that the table hadn't even been cleared from dinner last night and the sink was full of dirty dishes. who knows what distracted me after dinner. probably the laundry that didn't get put away either.

i go to my bathroom...only to find that the baby bathtub is still sitting on the counter full of water from the last time we bathed wyatt. 

holy balls, batman!

disorder does not even begin to describe the situation.

so i proceed to sulk....because that's how i deal with pressure, knowing that it all should get cleaned up before liam's teacher arrives at nine. 

needless to say, the mister was not very happy with me this morning. :(

when he stomped off to work and slammed the door behind him, i went and stood in front of the bathroom mirror, shook myself by the shoulders and screamed, "get yourself together, katrina!"

i guess it worked. because i feel fine now.

i got out of my sweats, put on a nice outfit and sprayed myself with my fave fragrance, inner grace, as i hurried out of my bathroom.

i took the boys to school, told them i loved them and wished them a lovely day.

the house is clean and liam's teacher will be here any minute.

and that's when i'll sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee and maybe a dessert.

i will do everything that's on that list today and i'm probably already about halfway through.

i'm going to have a very lovely day.

diy: no-sew recycled t-shirt bag

i have a number of blogs i follow for ideas and tutorials for crafts that repurpose. i love being able to dig around my house and make things using whatever i can find laying around. the creativity out there in blogland is amazing and inspiring. i have a hard time just looking at something and thinking of how to make something completely different with it. but seeing other people create...it inspires me to do the same.

here are a few of my favorite blogs for repurposing ideas:

choose the thrive (home decor/organization)

dollar store crafts (various, but i mostly use their tips for home decor)

the sisters 4 say more is more (fashion)

yours, mine & ours (fashion)

the fashion blogs are my favorite and are really inspiring. meredith from yours, mine & ours made put a self-imposed thrifting ban on herself. i'm actually considering making this my resolution for 2011! i've always loved thrifting and finding unique {and cheap!} things at second-hand and resale stores. now, if i can manage to throw in some creativity...i could possibly make it work and go all of 2011 only wearing clothes that i already own, thrifted or are gifted to me! it's kind of getting me excited! there would be some rules, though. obviously, i can buy undergarments new. and i'm also thinking i should be able to buy shoes new, but we'll see. i have until the end of january to pick a resolution and stick with it right? that's gotta be a rule somewhere...i'll google it.

anyway...on to the diy t-shirt bags.

i spotted this idea on dollar store crafts today, which led me to the tutorial on leethal.

it took a total of five whole minutes. 

easy + fast + free = my kinda crafting!

 

my kids have this obsession with bringing a gazillion toys with them each time we get into the car. a gazillion toys multiplied by three big boys...you can imagine that those gazillion toys just end up a huge cluttered mess on the backseat floor. i figured they can use these t-shirt bags {made with their own t-shirts! how cool is that!} for keeping their toys together.
i used the boys' shirts to make smaller sized bags for them to tote around, but i think i will also make larger bags for groceries and such. they are actually much more sturdy than i expected them to be.

embrace the camera - jan 27

this week's embrace is an ode to my old man.

he's got ten years on me...so he really is, quite literally, 

my old man.

many think that 'the older the wiser'

but i'm pretty sure i'm much wiser than him on any given day.

obviously, he didn't win me over with his youthfulness or his brains.

i'll let you in on a delicious little secret.

the man can cook, people.

no, really. he can cook.

i've figured out that the way to this woman's heart is through the kitchen.

{after her wardrobe, shoe and handbag closet and starbucks tab} 

oh, 'tis the man i love.

when i look into his eyes, i see eternity....

{swoon}

how will you embrace today!?
hop on over and visit emily at the anderson family crew and link up!

happy thursday!