Black Friday Contests at Vanilla Joy

There are lots of Black Friday giveaways at Vanilla Joy. I get lots of extra entries for cool prizes when I do a blog post. Of course, I'm a sucker for all things free. So you get to read my "coming out of blogger blackhole" post about this free prize.

Vanilla Joy posts about topics like Craft Room Organization and Creative Date Ideas. She features Obaji Skin Care and Scrapbooking Furniture. She even talks about Teaching Baby Sign Language!

Vanilla Joy! Lots of cool ideas. Awesome Black Friday prizes!

just updating...

Well I finished the half-finished pants in my previous post last week. I started a new pair today. Let's all guess how long it takes me to finish them...

On other subjects: I've got a meeting set up with Early Childhood Intervention for an "intake meeting" for David. Basically, the first meeting is a bunch of paperwork. After that meeting, they'll process the paperwork and set up another meeting where several therapists will come and test David in lots of different areas to see if he needs or qualifies for any services. I'm mostly concerned about his lack of eating skills and just want to make sure nothing is wrong.

David also has a dental appointment the first week of August. He has some severe decay on his top four teeth. I have no idea where it came from. Two months ago, there was a little discolored area on one of his top teeth. Today, that tooth is very obviously diseased and the other three are as well. I just hope we'll be able to work out some sort of payment plan with the dentist as I know this is not going to be a cheap fix. More than likely, it will require all 4 teeth being capped while under general anesthesia at the local hospital. And since David is not yet one, I'll probably spring for WHITE caps instead of the ugly silver ones. I mean, he'll have these darn things for up to 6 years!

Mikayla is bored out of her mind with summer break. All of her friends are gone on vacations and she does not enjoy playing with her brothers!

Bryson is a busy little boy. Growing, exploring and destroying.

Well, David is up. Off again.

Half-Finished Cable Longies

Cable Longies Shipwrecked, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

My first pair of cable pants for David! These are pair one of a planned six-pair wardrobe for winter. Currently, only one leg is complete. Of course, they are unwashed, and unblocked, so they look a bit wonky, but I couldn't wait to share!

Thanks so much to Kine from Norway (a lady I know from a private message board) for sending me the wool for these! I knew right away that THESE were the pants for this wool. I'm so glad that they're turning out just the way I visioned!

I'm a photo of the day failure..

Well. It didn't last long. I tried. I did. But honestly, by the end of the day (that's around midnight for me), I've realized I haven't taken pictures for like the past 3 days. Sad, isn't it. I hope you all enjoyed all the pictures though. I'll try to keep up once a week posts. I can probably handle that.

Hubs POTD 14

Hubs POTD 14, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

The man who picked POTD 13. Yup. That's him.

Cake Wreck POTD 13

Cake Wreck POTD 13, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

The Birthday cake my husband willingly picked out. And he didn't get why I laughed the ENTIRE time. Talk about cake wreckage, my dears! The cracked icing. The bleeding food color. The random pick placement!

Riding with the Dog POTD 12

Riding with the Dog POTD 12, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

Sometimes the mistakes are better POTD 11

Sometimes the mistakes are better POTD 11, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

POTD Day 10

IMG_3106, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

Clearly avocado is delicious!

POTD Day 9

IMG_3101, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

Well.. This is the time I remembered to take the photo of the day. Whoops!

I hate toilets [POTD Day 8]

Ugh. Toilets.., originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

I hate toilets. They stink if there are any men in the house. No matter how much you clean, urine seeps into the little crevices and makes them reek. Borrowed my sister-in-laws steam cleaner thingy to try to salvage said toilet. It's better, but still reeks. If only I could convince the men to use the toilet sitting down.

Driving to my sisters [POTD Day 7]

Driving, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

Driving my kids to my sister's house. She actually volunteered to watch my older two for FOUR consecutive nights! God bless her!

A dirty little addiction [POTD Day 6]

The Shoe Chewer, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

She wishes her brother was a sister! [POTD DAY 5]

Bryson, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

but sometimes just dressing him up like one will do. Mikayla "pinked" Bryson up. Complete with pink Webkinz poodle and polka dot high heels. Bryson loved it as much as Mikayla did!

My 3.5 year old [POTD Day 4]

Bryson, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

I've made it to day 4. Woot! This evening, we were enjoying the cooler weather after a week in the 100s. Thanks to a front coming in, it was only like 90 this evening. Bryson was really enjoying the time outdoors, as were the rest of us.

POTD - Day 3

Mikayla playing with goo, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

A very happy Mikayla for you. Normally, at this time of the morning, Mikayla is NOT happy. This morning, she got to play with her goo. We made goo the evening before. How do you make goo you ask. Why.. let me tell you!

First - take a roll of toilet paper. The cheap stuff. Don't waste the Charmin on this folks.

Second - Have child rip toilet paper to shreds and deposit it in a large rubbermaid.

Third - Grate a little bit of soap over the top of the toilet paper.

Fourth - Get a spray bottle. Fill with water and add a bit of food coloring. Spray paper. Really turn it around and get it good and wet.

Fifth - Squish everything around. REALLY REALLY squish it. You might need to add a bit more water. The more you squish, the more fun it gets.

Then, parents, just sit back and watch your kids have fun. If you're a really awesome parent, you'll let the kid do ALL of the above steps while you just sit and watch.

This project kept Bryson busy for TWO HOURS the first day. That's a record. He only sleeps for longer than that!

POTD - Day 2

David Trying to Escape, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

Look! A baby trying to escape!

photo of the Day - Day 1

David's Towel, originally uploaded by amandassnyder.

I'm starting a new blog challenge. Namely.. post a photo a day. Sometimes you'll get lucky and have a story too. Sometimes, it'll just be the picture. Enjoy!

Look a Squeaky clean baby!

Vacation Bible School

Has started! Yippee! I tried sending Bryson this year. His first day (yesterday) went great. He took a nap before he went even. Since the preacher's family lives on my block, they always take my kiddos back and forth for me since I always have a sleeping baby at times I need to get them back/forth. It's such a blessing for them to do that. However, last night that particular blessing meant my 3.5 year old and 6 year old went to bed at 10pm instead of 7:30pm. Today was a DISASTER. Neither one of them had enough sleep. So Bryson missed out on VBS today. He fell fast asleep at 7pm. He would have went to bed even earlier, but he was waiting for dinner.

Mikayla has a weird little rash, but no other symptoms. Lots of tiny little bug bite looking bumps. Weird, I tell ya. She says they don't itch and they haven't spread since they first showed up. I can't think of anything new she might be reacting to, so I'm just going to say it's a mystery.

It's been a LONG time!

Well, it's been about 4 months since my last post. A busy four months filled with joy, sadness, and lots of kids.

My mother-in-law, Sally, lost her battle with cancer on the morning of April 29th. We went to see her the night before and are very glad we got one last chance to sit by her bed and let her know we loved her. Everyone is coping very well. I think in part due to the fact that we had already come to terms with the fact we were going to lose her. Her memorial service was very moving and exactly what she would have wanted.

Mikayla has finished her first year of school. She is a kindergarten graduate and will move to first grade in the fall. She already misses school, her friends, and most of all her teacher, Mrs. B.


Bryson is still the loving, trouble-making 3.5 year old he was 4 months ago. He'll come up to us and give us kisses and hugs and let us know he misses us. He is constantly coming up with new things that make us laugh.


David has EIGHT teeth now. Four came in in one week. He is also in the process of cutting 4 more. Four at a time seems to be his normal. He is army crawling around the house. His giggle is more like a cough than a laugh. David saves ALL of his talking for after the big kids go to bed. His favorite crawling target is the cat. Of course, the cat is a moving target and he rarely actually reaches her! David refuses to eat real food, baby food, or anything other than my milk. He refuses cups, sippies, straws, bottles, spoons, syringes. Basically unless it comes straight from me, he's not having it. It's starting to get a bit frustrating, but I'm hopeful that soon, he'll figure it out!


I am enjoying, for the most part, being my kids' mom. Working to keep the house from looking like a disaster zone. I've started knitting even more. Hardly a week goes by that I don't finish something knitted--shorts, diaper covers, dish cloths, coffee cozies.

Brad is working away. Plugging along babysitting adults. Well, not really, but basically, that's what he does!

A new look!

Decided I needed a new look for the new year! Let me know if anything looks funky on your end.

Nothing too exciting happening for us here. David is growing by leaps and bounds and is now solidly in his 12 month clothing. 5 months old and this boy is HUGE. Bryson has decided to give up naps much to my dismay. He's finally figured it out though and his new bedtime is anywhere between 6:30p and 7p depending on his moods. Mikayla is still going strong in Kindergarten. She's not enjoying it much right now because she says "I'm the last one to read" (in her drama queen voice) when I know for a fact only about half of the class is reading. I have a meeting with her teacher to discuss how I can help her.

Work is really slow this time of year, so I'm already using vacation to cover those hours that just aren't there. Thankfully, I have three weeks of vacation, so I still have two weeks left. I've been blessed with several free lance jobs as well, so that's extremely helpful.

Brad has been pulling a lot of overtime at a unit about an hour and a half away to help us get out of the hole and ahead a bit. Hopefully, we'll achieve that goal before it gets hot and riots are more likely.