Nicole's Daybook

Outside my window... Dark, dreary and brrrrrr ......

I am thinking... about a book I want to write called Coffee with June and the Future Queen.

I am thankful ... for a teenage son who tells me that he loves me "to the moon and back 10 times" and his best friend who brings our trash can down from the curb when he comes over.

I am wearing... gray yoga pants, a gray thermal shirt, a blue and gray striped zip-up hoodie and Nike's.

I am planning... to get serious about getting Eli's birthday party scheduled.

I am creating... daily Christmas activities with Brynne.

I am going... to sit here for another glorious 30 minutes before it's time to get everybody up and ready for school.

I am reading... The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (again. I only got through page 300 when it was due last time and my friend Tamara owns the book so loaned it to me to finish the other 600 pages.) Tomorrow I am starting the Rediscovering Christmas challenge with my friend Shannon and six other women ... Join us!!

I am hoping... that Kyndal will get serious about getting a job.

On my mind... keeping things low-key until Christmas.

From the learning rooms... So glad to be back to our school routine! Dawson is starting a new unit on Ancient Rome (which will also include a study of Jesus' birth and life). In Science his unit is on geology. Should be fun! Brynne's studies will have a concentration on Christmas this whole month. We will be doing lots of activities! Kyndal is doing great in every class but Geometry and I'm afraid she's just not doing everything she can to help herself. Eli got his progress report and has 90% and above on everything. Reading is still his weak area, but I see some improvement.

Noticing that ... I've been more tired than usual in the evenings the past couple of nights. I've gone to bed really early and can't seem to be able to stay up and watch some t.v. with Rick after the kids go to bed. I think my last few crazy weeks are just catching up to me.

From the kitchen... We are finally having that Crock Pot Lasagna tonight!!!

Around the house... Are the remnants of fall and Thanksgiving crafts. It's time to start replacing them with Christmas ones.

One of my favorite things... is having two furry doggies curled up against my back while I sleep. I think it makes me feel like I am nurturing even when I'm sleeping.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Today is Tuesday which means I don't do anything outside of this house if I can help it! Kyndal does have physical therapy, but that's it. Tomorrow Brynne and I will head to the library in the afternoon. On Thursday afternoon Kyndal and I are touring the Vo-tech facility where she has applied. On Friday Brynne has her Homeschool Coop Christmas party and that evening her and her daddy are going to a Father-Daughter dance. The rest of us will just be taking it easy all weekend. Yea!!!

From my picture journal.

Eli and his grandma at lunch yesterday at school. He cried when she left.

Lots of women Daybook. See what they have to say at The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Kyndal's Bedroom Makeover

Here are pics from Kyndal's bedroom makeover. I will be posting specifics about some of the individual projects, soon.

Before ~

After ~

It just amazes me to see the before and after photos! We still have just a couple of things to do: add another ribbon strip to her bulletin board wall by the window, add a black panel going into her dressing closet, possibly add a rug and a lamp, and I've ordered a poster I created from Zazzle.com that has an Audrey Hepburn quote she likes.

I will be having some posts coming soon about the spray painting we did and how I made the pillows without sewing.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday ~ Turkey tetrazzini (leftovers!!)

Tuesday ~ Crock pot lasagna (yes .. we really are going to get to it this week!)

Wednesday ~ Fend For Yourself

Thursday ~ Hot dogs and mac and cheese (Brynne's request)

Friday ~ Chicken and bows

Saturday ~ BBQ pork sandwiches

Sunday ~ Homemade calzone

More menu ideas are at The Organizing Junkie.

Rick Rocks ~ (Oooops, I was so busy shopping Friday I forgot to post about him!)

As is my usual custom, I planned a project bigger than me. For Kyndal's 16th birthday we gave her a bedroom makeover. When we moved into our new house three years ago she chose a stripes and polkadots theme. She had clearly outgrown it. She was ready for something more sophisticated and chose a Tiffany-inspired black, white and Tiffany blue color scheme. I, of course, had grander plans!

This makeover was going to involve painting her furniture black, covering her striped wall, painting her bedroom, lots of spray painting and accessorizing! I was honestly going to do it all myself. I didn't expect, or even ask, Rick to help. But he loves a good project so he offered to help me.

And help he did!!  He sanded the furniture, primed the dresser drawers, painted her entire room and assembled furniture. But more importantly he made me stop and do proper prep work and do things right the first time. (Sounds like I didn't do anything, doesn't it.)

How in the world I thought I would get this all done by myself is a mystery. Without him, it wouldn't have happened!

Mind you, I was busy as well. But I'm more into the planning and creating and, did I mention accessorizing? The follow-through always sometimes trips me up.

With his help we created the most amazing bedroom! I cannot wait for her to see it this afternoon when she gets home! We are surprising her. She knows that we were working on it, but she doesn't know that it will be completely finished when she gets home.

{Stay tuned for some specifics later ... but this post is about Rick.}

I love this man! He makes my life so much easier! And he provides me with so much laughter! After he was done with his part of the bedroom, I found him in the storage room cleaning up our old Christmas trees, boxing them up and putting them away, properly storing ornaments. Then I came downstairs and the dishwasher was running. Later I noticed it was unloaded. He just does these things without me having to ask or nag. He is such a great partner!

Rick Rocks!

The Simplest of Thanksgivings

Going to bed the night before Thanksgiving I was a little bummed that we weren't going to be spending Thanksgiving with any extended family. And Kyndal and Dawson are at their dad's, so it just seemed so uneventful at our house.

But it turned out to be such a great day!

Rick let me sleep in, so I got up at 9:30 to see him and the kids watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We had a huge project planned for this weekend, so after some coffee Rick and I got started while the kids watched t.v.

On Wednesday night the kids made some sign-holding turkeys. Then Thanksgiving morning I cut out some shapes and read them a poem called "I'm Thankful For .." and they used the shapes to make a landscape placemat. Then we read a couple of Thanksgiving books.

Eli's turkey

Brynne's turkey

We had a simple but yummy dinner of roasted turkey breast, noodles and stuffing, surrounded by all of the other fall crafts Eli and Brynne had done over the past few days.

Thanksgiving evening we went to the movies. Eli and Rick went to see Megamind and Brynne and I went to see Tangled. Eli really wanted to spend some time alone with Rick, so we decided to separate for the movie. Dang movies are expensive these days, especially now that every movie is in 3-D and they charge you an extra $3 per ticket!

We came home and got the kids ready for bed and Rick and I went straight to bed also. I got up at 4 a.m. yesterday morning and hit the stores for Black Friday madness. I'm one of those weirdos that loves Black Friday shopping. I didn't have anything specific on my list that had to be bought today. But with my Christmas list in hand, I headed out. I took the leisurely approach ... letting people crowd in front of me, go ahead of me in line. I just chuckled at how serious people were about getting a $4 pair of pjs. Anyway, I did great with my shopping and knocked out a good portion of my list. And I enjoyed my time alone. I got home around 9:30 a.m. and we spent the rest of the afternoon on our "little project".

We really enjoyed our time together the past two days. It was a simple and fantastic Thanksgiving.

I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too.

Thankful

Today I am thankful for two very specific things: My husband and children.

As I stood fixing my coffee this morning, I had tears in my eyes as I heard a St. Jude's commercial on television. There are real families with real sick children who are not home with their families today but are, instead, in a hospital. As my children are watching the Macy's Day Parade, there are real children who are receiving cancer treatments for their terminal cancer. I am thankful for healthy children.

And then I immediately thought of my friend Vee who is spending her Thanksgiving without her husband who died tragically two weeks ago. Her children and unborn child are without their father. I am thankful for my husband.

Nothing else in this world matters.

I am Thankful.

At Least I Had a Reason to Clean My House

We have our house for sale again. We had a showing today. They seemed interested, but have their own house to sell. Selling a house is brutal!

Well, at least I had a good reason to clean my house. This is the first time it's been clean from top to bottom in a long time. That's a good way to start Thanksgiving break.

Nicole's Daybook

Outside my window... It went from 80 degrees yesterday to freezing cold today! Brrr!!!

I am thinking... about how exhausted I am. This craft party has about done me in. And I am mad at myself that I have let it consume so much of my time because I feel like the kids' birthday parties have gotten the shaft this year because I just haven't had anything left to put into them.

I am thankful ... for a night of pizza, beer and The Devil Wears Prada after a horrible day.

I am wearing... the total opposite of what I was wearing yesterday. I went from a short sleeved shirt and capris to a sweater, scarf and Uggs.

I am planning... to start cleaning my house for a showing tomorrow afternoon.

I am creating...Kyndal's 16th Birthday Bedroom Makeover.

I am going...enjoy my family this weekend.

I am reading... The Things We Do For Love by Kristin Hannah.

I am hoping... that our house showing goes good tomorrow.

On my mind...is how tired I am but how much I have planned to get accomplished this weekend.

From the learning rooms... We didn't do a thing this week. Eli's school had it's Fall Craft Party both yesterday and today. With that I was at school both days. Brynne got to participate with Eli and Dawson volunteered today with me. We definitely need a break! I want to get the next few weeks planned, though, so Dawson and I can start a new unit on Ancient Rome and Brynne and I can start a Christmas unit. Eli got his progress report and is doing really, really well. Kyndal stayed up super late last night working on an essay that was due today but that she had known about for quite a while. That girl is a procrastinator!

Noticing that ...people are less and less committed to things they sign onto.

From the kitchen... Going to make some BBQ Pepperjack Chicken in a bit.

Around the house... Are more messes than I want to clean up, but I have to get started!

One of my favorite things... cracking open my eyes in the early morning and smelling my coffee already brewed.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Tonight and tomorrow I am cleaning like a mad woman for our house showing. Then Wednesday night I'll be sanding and priming Kyndal's bedroom furniture to paint it and clearing out her room. On Thanksgiving Day it will just be Rick, Eli, Brynne and I, and we are going to have a toned-down Thanksgiving dinner and maybe take in a movie. Somewhere this weekend I am completely redoing Kyndal's bedroom for her 16th Birthday present. I have tons to do! I also want to get up on Black Friday and do some shopping alone. Then it will be back to working on Kyndal's bedroom. Kyndal and Dawson will get back from their dad's on Sunday night and we'll get ready for a new burst of school until Christmas.

From my picture journal.

Me and the girls at Orange Leaf on Kyndal's birthday.

Lots of women Daybook. See what they have to say at The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Menu Plan Monday

We have a crazy, busy couple of days before Thanksgiving. For us, Thanksgiving is actually a slow down as we aren't traveling anywhere this year and it will just be our little family for turkey and stuffing.

Here's what we are having this week:

Monday ~ Crock pot lasagna (we didn't get to this last week because of an invite to a dinner)

Tuesday ~ BBQ pepper jack chicken and linguine

Wednesday ~ Fend for Yourself

Thursday ~ Turkey and stuffing casserole with noodles

Friday ~ Mushroom turkey tetrazzini

Saturday ~ Stuffed peppers

Sunday ~ Salmon, veggies and rice

Have a Happy Thanksgiving week!

Christmas Shopping from the Comfort of Home

With all of the great "Free Shipping" Deals you can get nowadays by shopping online, it is almost ludacris to even consider going out into stores to shop! (I say this as I make plans to get up and do Black Friday this week.)

Anyway, yesterday I sat down and did some online shopping. All total I bought about 20 gifts (including mine from Rick that I picked out) and our Christmas cards, spent about $280 and only spent $12 total in shipping! And I never even got out of my jammies to do it!

I got some great deals! And do you know how I find out about most of them? From other bloggers. And, especially from my friend Sherri at Luv a Bargain. You just have to sign on to follow her blog! She always clues me in on the best deals! It's amazing how much money she saves me every holiday, and throughout the year. Thanks, Sherri!

I hope your shopping is going well!