pics to share

sorting through my february file of pictures to print and found a few good ones to share :)

the masked wondergirl.


and not to be left out... little backward masked wonderboy.

all bundled up with her new haircut.
i told lilly she looked like kit kittredge :)
love this pic.

mr. bone wild.
wearing his sister's boots.

wearing other people's shoes is a big deal around here.

only cohen can get away with this look :)

if you haven't already checked it out, i do have a Q&A link set up to the right. so if you do leave a question, i'll try to get back with you!!

and... i have 1.5 openings left in the chain of love party. (1.5 because i think katie needs to post on her blog yet?)

also... i've recently set my blog so that if any comments are left 4 days after the post being commented on, i have to approve it before it will be shown. i had been getting some 'comments' left for purses, nike airs (ha!), jewelry... junk comments basically :) so... keep commenting, but i may have to approve it depending on how many days after the post you are commenting!!

have a good day :)

it's spring here today. let's hope it lasts a while...

770

I am pleased, proud, excited, delighted to announce that together, through auctions and donations, we were able to raise...

$770.00 for the Tarapchak kids!!


Thank you :)
Thank you :)
Thank you :)

sorting laundry

conversation while dave was sorting laundry to be washed.

d: how many times do you wear your pants before you wash them?
me: look up at dave in silence. then laugh.
d: what?
me: i wear them until they are peed on, pooped on, spit up on, or they are crusted with food, formula, and/or not limited to playdoh, boogers, and anything else not completely solid :) which is usually about 1 day. sometime less than one day, sometimes more (though usually if it's more than one day, there is something hidden on them that i dont notice until i put them on for the 2nd time)
me: why?
d: it just seemed like there were a lot of pants in here.


thank you sweetie boy :)
for washing my pants ;)

Chain of Love

I just found this on my friend Rorie's blog, and because I love to spread the love and all I had to do so far was cut and paste her blog post, I'm in!

Chain of Love

The first five people to respond to 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 for you!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a song. It may be a self portrait or maybe even some creation I haven't yet dreamed up. I may draw. (Although it would just be stick figures...) I may bake you something and mail it to you. It may not be big or impressive. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure! But lets be honest here. This is me and I will likely do something amazing. =) So come on, sign up!
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 and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to post this same blog on their blog and leave a comment telling me they did will win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Let's keep the chain of love going around!!

quick hello

i'm still here.
thinking.
too much.
wondering.
questioning.
being me.
i drive myself silly.
i wish i could just say... ok.
this is the right thing.
just do it.
i really want to want to.
with no hesitations.
at all.

my husband on the other hand.
he's confident.
bold. daring. adventurous.
proud.
borderline egotistical :)
depending on the situation.
i admire him for that.
his faith.
that eveything will be ok.
that we will make the right choices.
we've done ok so far.

it will be fine.
everything will happen just how it is supposed to.
even if it requires a small leap on my part.


ok... enough of that poetry style writing.
just had to get that out ;)

i'll be back.
when my mind settles down.
and i feel rested.
and caught up.
ha.

have a great weekend :)

Happy Vday and THANK YOU!!

Happy belated Valentine's Day to you all :)

I am addicted to this sugar cookie recipe.

I made hearts for Lilly's class.
I made bowling ball sugar cookies for a bowling party today :)
If there is a reason... I will make these sugar cookies!


A HUGE thank you to everyone involved in making the Tarapchak auctions so successful!

I am so excited as to the results!!
I'm waiting to tally our entire earnings towards the children's fund until the donations/winning bids start coming in, because these are the kinds of surprises that I do like ;)

Have a great week!!

Raq Quilt auction!

It's here!! and I am SO very excited...
The Tarapchak Family Blog Auction Weekend!!

Right here... up for auction is one handmade, custom rag quilt including an embroidered name, intials, or monogram. (custom... as in, it hasn't been made yet, because it will be made JUST FOR YOU!) 100% of the proceeds from this auction will benefit the Tarapchak kids!

Please read the following information before placing a bid.

-The winner of this auction will get to choose the gender/color/theme of the quilt according to the fabrics I have available. (Photos of available prints shown below)
-I generally use 9 patterened/printed fabrics, and 4 solid fabrics.
-The size of my typical quilt is approximately 44 x 42 inches (9 squares x 10 squares)(This can be adjusted per winner's request)
-The winner may choose to have one name/monogram/intials embroidered onto a square of the rag quilt

Here are some photos of a few rag quilts I have made, to get a sense of my 'style'.

Here are some more photos.

And here are the available prints :)
(I have most solid colors to coordinate, so I did not include photos of those.)

FREE shipping within the United States.
Auction will end at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard time, Sunday, February 15th.

Staring bid... $20.00
Bidding increments of... $5.00

Place a bid by leaving a comment to this post.
Cash, check or money order will be accepted.
PayPal will be accepted, with additional PayPal fee charges added on. I MUST have a way to contact you in order for your bid to be valid.

Please email me with any questions!
jenfinh@yahoo.com

I will contact the winning bidder the evening the auction is done! Payment is appreciated ASAP. At that time we will discuss your rag quilt preferences :) These do take a while to complete, but I would hope to have it in your hands within 4 weeks.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my auction!!
Please check out the master list of all the Tarapchak auctions going on this weekend... the image below will take you to the page with links!!

Happy Bidding :)

Now go hug the ones you love ;)

photo tagged!

Arminda tagged me to post the 4th photo, in my 4th folder of pics.

I've been wanting to be tagged for this, so here I go... off to see what the photo is!! I'm even going to surprise myself, I'm going to add a photo by the jpeg name, not the image :)

ok, it got a little tricky, cause i have folders in folders in folders, but here is the surprise pic!

ha!

i couldn't really tell you much about this picture besides it came from the april 2008 folder, it's in our kitchen, and it's lilly... hamming it up... true to herself :) looks like she has her pants rolled up and is sockless. VERY lilly :) and looks like the little man is drinking juice and having a snack. VERY cohen :)

now... i tag... erin, ali, denise, mary, and anyone else who just wants to!

and don't forget! the auctions are this weekend :)

entertainment.

besides music of course... here are some things we do for entertainment in our frugal home.

game entertainment: besides the Wii which we usually play at night and on the weekends, we've found a few 'new' games that we love to play during the day while the little boys are napping.

The Ladybug Game.
VERY fun and cute.
I would HIGHLY recommended it to any pre-schooler :)
i believe i got it on sale at Target for $5 a few Christmasses ago, though it's not too costly even at full price :)

War.

who doesn't LOVE a game of war?

great for learning number/face card values.

TV entertainment.

Desperate Housewives
House
LOST
My Name is Earl
Kath & Kim
The Office
Grey's Anatomy
Friday Night Lights

(throw in a little American Idol and The Biggest Loser... if I have time to sit around)

mind you, we have regular old cable.
no tivo. no DVR recorder thing. no hi-def whatever... so our Thursday nights involve taping (yes, VHS taping) The Office while we watch Grey's. Then we watch The Office on Friday before Friday Night Lights comes on. (Unless I go to bed very early on Thursday, in which case we watch the rerun of Grey's on Saturday)

Movies entertainment: As in... "it was on TV, we got is as a Christmas gift, we rented it with gift cards, or we checked it out of the library" movies. We've been out of the movie loop for so so long. I do miss movies. We did start a little movie watching spree over the holidays, but we are back out of any movie routine at the moment. Here's a list of what we did watch...

The Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

High School Musical

High School Musical 2

High School Musical 3

Tinkerbell

Batman Begins

The Dark Night

I now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry

Pineapple Express

ok... so what movie(s) do we need to put on our list of movies to see??

i really do have a list of 'movies to see' up in a kitchen cupboard :)

happy week to you all!!

this time next week.

this time next week...

will YOU be there??

1. Hosting and auction?

2. Shopping and bidding on auctions?
3. Spreading the word so that others can help with the above 2?

I'll be doing my part ;)

Here is my fabric stash for my rag quilts (I'll be auctioning off a custom made one!)

And luckily, there is a nice little sale on this fabric through next weekend. And I have gift cards :)

Little Bean will be giving away a set of goodies too...

Dave too!

Ali has a post up.

Erin as well.

Arminda!

Check out LeAnne's adorable tote!

Just added... from Mimi, Jenny and Krysty!!

Thank you to everyone who has already committed to hosting an auction (there is still plenty of time to do this!), or who has already posted a link on their blog, or who has spread the word in their own way :)

Have a great weekend :)

randomness.

a random post.
because i love reading the random posts of others :)

1. i got my hair cut a few weeks ago (thanks to my sister who spoils me!).

2. after taking pictures of my new hair and seeing once again the lovely shade of my teeth... (here's a closer up for for your pleasure, though it still isnt a great portrayal of how bad they were, im not going to show you a full on frontal grin)

i finally let myself fix that issue :) (see pic below)
so happy that i did :) it's so nice to feel good about your smile.

3. i've been doing lots of cleaning/decluttering. im tired if being that kind of person. it's amazing how a clean space can make you feel :)

4. we got our vents professionally cleaned!! 1st time since we've lived here (which i won't say how long that's been, though some of you can figure it out... too long to not clean your vents). let's hope that helps the dust issue. and the sneezing issue.

5. we had friends over for a Wii party and food eating yesterday. i said i wouldn't post pics :) lilly took most of the pics, so im sure you can imagine how those are.

6. went to a chuck-e-cheese bday party with lilly last night. that place is wild. here is the bday girl's gift.


7. worked on a custom embroidery order this morning.

8. sorted and sent to order our Dec. and Jan. pics. need to save them and get them off the camera.

9. listening to my hand me down from dave ipod. it's on shuffle. my music taste is hilarious. so many different types. love it all. the earbuds hurt my ears though. lol. my ears must be a weird shape or something. ha.

10. updating the LBE site and LBE blog. pink totes are back in stock and i have red now too!

11. just some pics of a few of my favorite little people :)

12. Go here and check out the master list of auctions! A few of our auction hosters have given sneak peaks as to what they are auctioning :)

Happy week to you all!

my part(s) of the benefit auction

In just 3 weekends, I will be auctioning off a custom made rag quilt as part of The Tarapchak Family Blog Auctions!! Details for this particular auction will be listed here on my blog February 14th and 15th, but I just wanted to give all my readers a sneak peak :)

I will also be hosting an auction over at the LBE Blog for Little Bean Embroidery!

AND... Dave will be hosting an auction too!! Check out the his little photo blog.

If you haven't already... please check out The Tarapchak Family Blog Auctions by clicking below. (You will also find a list of other auctions that will be held that day!)

Thank you :)

hugs

a challenge and some scrapping!

FIRST.

a challenge.
part 1 of the challenge.

grab a scrap of paper and something to write with...
jot down the FIRST person (friend/family/someone you know) that comes to mind for the following 3 prompts.

1. someone that doesn't have email
2. someone that you haven't seen (in person) in a very long time
3. that constant someone in your life. the person that is there for you all the time, for whatever reason (whether in real life, or via phone/email... )

...you'll have to keep on reading for part 2 of the challenge :)

SECOND.

You may never believe this.
I scrapped this weekend!!!!
It was so much fun. I always forget how much I enjoy this craft until I do it again :)

I got 6 pages done in a little under 6 hours! So, my journaling is not so great, er... not even there… lol… sorry erin! But I got 6 pages done!! I’m almost to the end of my stack of pictures I printed a loooong time ago, so I’ll be able to print out new (Nov 2007... ha!) ones to scrap!!

Next month I’m going to a weekend (yay!!!) crop fundraiser for Lilly’s preschool and I am VERY excited now that I have a little bit of the scrapbook fever back. Just think how much I’ll get done then :) Or not. I may be talking and eating too.

This year, I vowed to let myself scrap/go to a crop once a month this year. This will be so good for me.

most of these very fun (and very new to me) papers are from this awesome lady. she sent me a HUGE priority box filled with all kinds of scrapping goodies. let's just say it was like opening Hobby Lobby in a box :)

THIRD.

part 2 of the challenge.

Those 3 people you wrote down on that scratch paper?

I challenge you to mail them a note. A card. A letter.

The old fashioned way.

You know, with your own handwriting, some sort of paper, an envelope and a 42 cent stamp.

The kind of mail that you put in a real mailbox :)

(...and if #3 resides with you... send them a letter to their office building, or stick it in with the rest of your mail!)

(... and no one is stopping you if you have a few more people that you'd like to add to your list)

Have a great week everyone :)

Q&A, a big day, and unders :)

In attempts to make this blog of the more interactive sort, I have set up a little section where I will answer any questions left in my comments! It's off to the right in the side bar.... see it? It says...

DID YOU LEAVE ME A QUESTION?

Find the answer here!

Then you click "Find the answer here!"... and wallah!

Questions and their answers :)

I will do my best to answer questions sooner or later.

But I thought it would be nice of me to respond :) So, if you do leave a question... check back there for the answer!

So today was a big day.

I had the inauguration on all morning, then went to pick the kids up and turned the TV back on. The kids were a bit bummed that they weren't going to get to watch Full House today:)

The best part was when the 5 of us (including me holding Cohen and Bryce in the exersaucer... ha!) stood up for the swearing in of the new President. When it was over, the crowd on TV went wild, wild with those billions of little flags... Lilly and Brady automatically, unprompted, put their hands over their hearts and started reciting The Pledge of Allegiance. (Which still includes the Widgens.) That's what it's all about. Regardless of your politial stance. The future is what matters.

...and just because, what good is a blog post without pictures?

Check out the new unders.

Q&A

Did you leave a question on one of my posts?
Find the answer here :)

3 questions are answered in their own post here...

a few people have asked about the destination of our 2009 vacation... the beach is called Atlantic Beach, NC.
LOVE IT!!

in response to this post on 2.1.09
ok... so quite a few were interested in the teeth and the vents :)

TEETH: I already have trays that I wear to sleep as a follow up to my braces, so all I needed was the bleaching gel. I got it at my dentist. It was fairly affordable, since I didn't have to pay to have trays made just for the bleaching. Having the trays made is the costly part :) And since I spent a small fortune on braces to have my teeth and overbite corrected, I figured I could spend a tiny bit more to be even happier with my smile.

VENTS: Well, I'm not a vent expert, but I think 'they' say you are supposed to have your vents cleaned once a year. Just like you are supposed to have your hair cut every 6 weeks, your teeth cleaned every 6 months, your oil changed every 3,000 miles, etc. The vent bill was not cheap, but we did have 3 additional vents cleaned (on top of the 10 included in the initial price), and our furnace cleaned as well (and of course the furnace had an additional box to clean), since that had never been touched either. The inital 'coupon' price was $79.99 for 10 vents. But we all know that's just the price that drags us in. We really did need the vents and furnace cleaned though, so I didn't mind the overall price to make our house nicer. We need to find a better quality air filter now, to help keep things clean and out of the air a bit more. My sneezing is less, though still there. I think I need to change pillows :) What do they say?? Change them every year?? Something like that. I'm sure I'm well over that time limit.

And I'm glad to hear that others have the same issues with the ipod ear buds. Now I don't have to worry that I have weird ears :)


Lisa says… Just got the form for the crop in March for the PTA...will we see you there?
I won’t be making the March crop. It’s Lilly’s bday weekend and our neighbors are getting married that weekend as well!

Daphne asks… DO you Facebook?
NO!! I keep in touch with just who I want to via this blog :) No need to add to my already time consuming blogging.

Colleen asks… When you make your rag scarves, what type of batting do you like to use...cotton?
Hmmm. I use the same as in my rag quilts :) Which I guess is cotton? I never even looked to be honest! If it is something other than cotton, I will let you know!

Nicole of Nicole and Sanjay says… I'm curious, do you make T-shirt quilts?
I haven’t made one yet! Though they do seem neat, I haven’t made a ‘real’ quilt before. Just the rag quilts, which you ‘quilt’ as you go... rather than making the front, then quilting the back on real type of quilt.

brrrr.

it's cold.
but life is good.

my sister sent me new music in the mail today!!
2 of my favorite things. mail and music. thanks miss :)

it's a good TV night :)
earl. kath and kim. the office. grey's.
scratch earl. george W is on.
no k&k either. darn president.
that means I have time to finish this post ;)

hot chocolate sounds good.

no school tomorrow! Yay!
(loading and unloading 4 kids in carseats to go to preschool is not my favorite activity in the world. especially in the arctic tundra.)



the winners of the labels are.....

Rorie with a guess of 250 (i currently have 280 in my bloglines!! that isn't horrible right?)

and

Ali as the random winner (thanks to Dave who drew that!)

I have both your contact info, so I will email you sooner or later to get details on what you'd like :) Thanks to all who played :) I love knowing that there are really people out there reading this!

And if you haven't already, please click the link below... and even more so, please help me in spreading the word of this event.

blog sharing, a new game, a recipe and a give-away!

blogs.
it's amazing how many wonderful ones are out there.

blogs about cooking, baking, recipes, scrapping, stamping, card making, sewing, crafting mommy-ing, families.... everything.

i saw one about meijer the other day.
i'm sure there is a blog about peanut butter.
i bet there is a blog about buttons too.
and maybe even one about seashells. and worms.

i have a little addiction to reading blogs. i admit it.
i get SO many ideas and so much inspiration from them.
you read one blog. it has a link to another blog. you click it and you find a new awesome blog to add to your list. that's just how it works!

i do follow quite a few blogs, but i use bloglines to tell me when they've been updated, so im not wasting hours on end seeing if my favorite blogs have been updated. (I highly recommend bloglines to anyone who isn's already using some sort of 'blog organizer'.)


Anywho... I just wanted to share a few things recently found while blog hopping.

This game... Don't Eat Pete!! (The link to the download gameboard is there)



SO SO cute. The kids LOVED it!!
When i read the directions it seemed too simple, and maybe even boring.

But i'm glad we tried it, because it's now one of our favorites!

We've used oyster crackers and M&Ms so far... Dave and the kids played it for dessert the other night. We only printed it black and white, so I'm anxious to print it in color and laminate it :) Cohen plays his own game with his own rules and drooly chocolate slobber fingers :)

Lilly and Brady even extended the game (all by themselves!) by choosing 2 Pete's during one game:)


Another blog find... i've always loved her recipes. but THIS Mac&Cheese recipe i believe is my new BEST mac&cheese!! i adapated it, as i dont have kosher salt, so i sprinkled the tiniest bit of regular salt in, and cut the butter to about half of what it called for. DELICIOUSNESS.


These next blogs are just fun.
They are in my bloglines, but often i go to them just to have background music on while i sew/embroidery/check email/whatever im doing. it's fun to find hand-selected playlists from someone whom you share a similar taste in music. though i love all kinds :)

Old Red Barn Co. (listening to this now!)

Allie Hoopes

Ain't Nothin' but an E Thang Baby

Speaking of music... thanks to Target's 75% and 90% holiday sales... we doubled (maybe even more than doubled) our Christmas CD collection!!

Enjoy this video of the new Cheetah Girls (and Boy).

Alright so if you are still reading... here are the give-away details!

I will be giving away personalized address labels. I have a thing for return address labels and I have the things to make them... so nothing fancy, just fun! They can be made for yourself or as a gift. half and half. Whatever you choose!

There will be 2 winners... one who gets the closest number and one random winner :)

The number I'm looking for... how many blogs do i have in my bloglines? That number will probably change from now till when i do the giveaway, so guess accordingly :) I will pick winners right before my next post... so in a few days i'd guess! Check back then to see if you've won :)

One hint :) I read a blog the other day, and she said she had over 600 blogs in her bloglines. That number made me feel better about the number I have ;)

Have a great week!!