Another Fun Project

I'm still working on my toy-box crates - they are painted but not decorated yet. I only have so much time and energy!

I took a little detour as I saw this cute idea in a catalog and once again I thought, hey, I can do this!

So here it is... Ta Da!

They're clips to hold your child's artwork.

Here's the lowdown - it was SO EASY and inexpensive.

Paint oversized clothes pins then glue on the 59 cent adorable wooden artwork (both from Michael's) - done. Total spent: $6.

I'll hang them on the wall with a string and put some putty behind the clips so they don't slide towards the middle.

I'm becoming Ms. Frugality!

While We Wait

I did a fun project this past weekend that only took about 3 hours.
I had seen a really cute shower curtain online for the kid’s bathroom and it was something like $50. I thought, hey, I can make that and it’s definitely NOT going to cost $50! So I did and it cost a total of $2.97!

It’s certainly not professional by any means, but it’s cute and I love it!

Here are some before and after pics:

A plain, sheer panel

Cut out fish shapes and bubbles from fun fabric I already had.

Attach with Stitch Witchery (Thanks for the tip Lisa!) - I don't sew...

Voila! A cute, hand-made shower curtain!

Next weekend: These hand painted crates for toys or whatever. $54 hmpf! Michael's has these in raw wood for about 10 bucks... Just think of the possibilities!

Anyone else doing anything fun like this?

Please share so we can all make these fun, cute things for our kiddos!

Just Some Random Thoughts

I really have nothing to say on the adoption front... We are still waiting patiently like good little boys and girls.
We have made progress on the "To Do Before The Kids Come" list though.
We had the entry-way and upstairs painted, Jim has almost finshed all of the trim work and we've had the house painted on the outside as well. We've even replaced some light fixtures that I've been wanting to do for awhile. Not too much left to do.

Random thoughts: I had a flat and didn't know it for 2 days. The car ran fine, all the tires looked fine but there was a very bright red light on my dash that looked like this: (!). Turns out, the back tire was completely flat but since I have the Run-Flat tires on my car, I could have driven it for 150 miles before the tire had to be replaced. LOVE those BMW Run Flat tires- it truly saved me!

Another random thought: I saw a business man in my office building yesterday with a suit on and..... crocs. At least they were gray and matched his suit.

3rd and last random thought for the day: At my kickboxing class on Tuesday, there were 2 extremely pregnant girls in the class. One is due tomorrow, the other is due next week. I was truly afraid for them - the instructor kept a very close eye on them!

Traveler IQ Challenge

This is a fun way to test your traveler's IQ.
I got to Level 6 - I'm horrible!!!

Traveler IQ

Good luck and let me know how you did!

Merry Christmas Russia!

Merry Christmas to Russians!

If you'd like to know more about the why, when, how, what about Russian Christmas, click here: http://www.rochedalss.qld.edu.au/xmas/russiachristmas.htm

I pray that all the children are happy, warm and safe where ever they are and that two of them will be coming home with us this year.

Happy New Year a few days late!

Happy New Year to everyone!
We celebrated with Olga and Ira by going to see the Rockets lose, then toasting the new year at their house. On the 1st, we went to Mike and Teri's house and had a wonderful lunch with them and their 2 kiddos (and 1 on the way) along with Danielle and Gerald and their 2 kiddos - next year there will be 3 more kids to add to the mix - should be even more fun than this year!

I decided to add our timeline to our blog so that we can look back and remember how long this actually took. Wow, it's been over a year since we started this whole process.
I'm not complaining though because we were told that it was going to be a roller coaster ride of excitement and frustration along with a long wait so we knew what to expect. We're definitely living that life. It's all good though - it's 2008 and we have a positive attitude that this will be our year!
I talked to our adoption consultant yesterday who said that Russia is still in holiday-mode (they're Christmas is January 7) so we'll need to wait just a little longer to see what Region we'll be assigned. I'm looking forward to learning all I can about the new Region. I had previously learned as much as I could about Kemerovo, so now we get to educate ourselves again!

No other news - work is fine for both Jim and me, dogs and birds are great and our health is perfect. Couldn't ask for any more now could we - except maybe a couple of munchkins!