Handy

this month i finally finished the quilts for the boys' room. they have been a work in progress for something like 2 years... started out as one quilt, paid for it to be quilted, the quilter did a horrible job, so i started over and cut everything up, added more, had them quilted again, and we have two! note to self: try using a pattern. i always think i'm saving time or something without a pattern. coo-coo! everything else was all ready done. the super cute truck and loader blocks were a gift to the boys last christmas from grandma mc; i hired lisa to make the cute, red frames. the dresser is an old brown girl that i painted red this summer, headboards were at a thrift store in marsing that i re-stained, and the other stuff is left-overs from bentley's room. turned out pretty good. hoping not to do it again for a few years!

props to ben for another handy fix. the downstairs tv has not worked since last winter, so since he has a little more time on his hands now, i convinced him to look into fixing it. he found a repair kit on the internet and borrowed dan's soldering gun (and some expertise). it worked! and it was only $45. shoot, what else is he capable of fixing around here!? better not burn him out with projects, the winter has just begun....but now bridon can watch 'flying house' (movie 'UP') downstairs and tell dad while he's working that he doesn't have any hair. where does he come from? :)

speaking of handy, i have a had a small craze lately with online clothes shopping. it seems that either all three of my kids are attempting to tear/scream down the store or i miss the sale by 1 day when i head to town. since having kids, i've had super bad luck with thrift stores and i believe we've gotten hand-me-downs twice. so, each season i outfit the kiddos. this time online more than ever! it's crazy clothing these kids...the best i can handle is d & b for wranglers and work clothes with all three. super handy to receive snow boots, coats, and dress pants all in the mail this week....even a coat for me. too bad i didn't hit any good sales, but i believe it was well worth my sanity! besides, like ben say's, "why i am working all the time, if i can't enjoy spending the money once in a while?" agreed...why do i work anyway, right?! he also pointed out i wear my coats for like 8 years (i know, embarrassing), so i'll have this one when bentley goes to jr. high. it'll even out to only like a $12/year investment and it might even be back in style then!!! :)