Backyard Patio Upgrade

Finally got around to making some nice pillows for the backyard patio. It took me about a year of living here to decide that this is what it needed. I look around to buy some pillows but I didn't see any nice neutral ones that were priced right. So I just sewed some up- ended up being about 5 bucks for materials each and about an hour of labor for all three. Makes me smile looking at our backyard now! Next up is possibly a garden!?

Mother of One!

The Ceej turns 1 today. This time last year I was laboring like crazy. Push, push, push...

I love this kid. As crazy as he is, he brings joy into my life. Happy Birthday! Mama and Dada/baba love you!

Before

After

My husband is my guitar hero

Look at him go! Doing two things at once. 

No special occasion, its just good.

Last Chinese New Year we had a friend bring over a huge pot of black sesame paste. I didn't like it a whole lot but the Ceej absolutely loved it! I did recently made some pre-frozen black sesame rice ball desserts from the local Chinese market and offered it to him. The evidence is on his face. Its a hit! Our kid likes Chinese desserts! I didn't like it growing up but I've grown to enjoy it over the past few years. Next up is red bean!

Front Yard Surprise

With lots of rain, sunshine, and patience, our front yard finally looks decent! Our last owner planted some rose bushes that just started blooming this spring. Love it!

Slurpies and Wii means Spring Break!

Through the years working as youth ministers, I have seen many groups come and go. I've seen kids grow tall, voice change, different hair styles, baggy jeans go to skinny, etc. But for some reason as I get older, I feel like the kids start youth group at a younger age (as in maturity). It's still fun and rewarding.

Even though we have a baby, we've still had a handful of sleep overs at our place. We have one today. Right now as I type the boys are playing Ghost Squad on Wii and making "nut" shots. I'm making chili dogs and fries for dinner. Last sleep over I made tacos. Boys prefer heart attack foods while girls prefer healthy light alternatives such as pita and hummus.

Tonite they will sleep late and watch "scary" PG-13 movies. I will be sewing and painting my toes while I wait for the night to be over.

No Facebook, Yes to Twitter!

See, this is what mojitos do to you! I had 2 small glasses of this refreshing drink yesterday while playing some Boogie Wii game and my cousin somehow convinced me to join.

I've said no to Facebook because I knew that it would eat up many hours of my day as my youth at Church say its one of their greatest things that stopping them from focusing on God. But I figured that Twitter won't be as time consuming. Follow me here if you like!

Good weather calls for a good guava mojito!

Beautiful. Refreshing. Relaxing. I want to be on a island sipping my cares away...but sipping this at home is good too.

Things that make me go "yum"!

I have nothing to post about. Really, I don't. But today I realized that I do like this combination: coffee and hummus (with crackers). It's 12 noon and I don't feel like eating lunch but this sure taste good as a snack before lunch.

Almost 28. I'll be 30 in less than 2 years. Sigh.

Jumpin' at our house!

This weekend our neighbor, "gladiator" Ali turned 40. Her party was so big that it overflowed onto our house. We should of just celebrated CJ's 1st birthday today too.

Pretty clips in minutes!

I'm on a roll this week on diy projects. I made some other things that I'm dying to post but according to my mom, she says its "too personal". You can look here to get a good idea of what I've made. I must say, very comfortable. Enough said.

Anyways, I saw these being sold on Etsy and I didn't want to pay money for them. So I just made them myself for pennies. I had a lot of scrap material lying around, but not enough buttons to use for decorating. Oh well, the buttons are cute but not neccesary. A good tutorial on these clips can be found here. It took only a few minutes each to complete them.

The Best Small Investment Made in 2009, So Far..

I would say I'm a creature of habit. Once I do something repeatedly for about a week or so I have the habit down to keep doing it. I used to think my parents were nuts to have coffee every morning but I have caught on. Coffee is great. There is something very soothing about the aroma of it. It's comforting.

So the other day I was at my friend Janet's house for brunch. She whipped out this thing that I've never seen before and told me that it was a single cup coffee filter. This was an ingenious idea! Whoever thought of this is amazing! No longer will I need to run my coffee maker to make one small cup of coffee. Plus, this Melitta Ready Set Joe Single Cup Coffee Maker only cost me $2.40 at Bed Bath Beyond (I used a 20% off coupon that I get in the mail every so often).

This is by far the best small purchase I have made this year. Tell me about yours if you have one!