Thankful for . . .

being safe and sound after our little adventure this past Saturday.

The boys and I were traveling from our home (point A on map) to visit my mom, sis and her husband up in Chester (point B) and got caught in a major freak snowstorm. We caught a patch of ice and skidded sideways across the freeway into the snow-covered mountain. I tried to steer the car so the front would take the impact, since the boys were in the back, and it worked, but there was some damage to our car, and we couldn't continue.
I am incredibly thankful for:

The kind gentlemen who stopped to help us. They got us unstuck from the side of the road and one of them eve offered to drive us to Chester, but I couldn't just leave the car where it was.
The police officer who took us back down to Chico, helped me get the boys and our gear in his car and got us to the repair shop.
The tow truck driver who didn't charge me for the extra miles to tow the car to Chico.
The fact that my brother-in-law works for the same hotel chain as the place we stayed in Chico that night, and got us a discount.
The luggage rack I chose to keep in our hotel room, because it was a jungle gym for my boys.
Having bought Cheerios and Froot Loops, milk, oatmeal and yogurt earlier that day because it tided us over until we got into the hotel and ordered pizza for dinner.
My sweet boys, who were a little rowdy at first but in the end, slept like champs, and let me sleep after a scary and confusing day.
My in-laws and our friend J, who offered to drive to get us that evening, driving through the night if needed.
My wonderful husband, who didn't care what I had done to the car (even though money is very tight around here) but just wanted to make sure we were okay. Since we were set up for the night in a hotel room, we agreed that he would get us the following morning. He left at 3am and got to us by 8am, as we were having breakfast. I drove home and he tried to catch some sleep on the way.

Our car is supposed to be ready today so my husband and his dad are going to make the 4 hour drive there, and 4 hour drive back to get the car.

I feel so terrible about what happened, I am not a reckless driver, and at first we thought I'd bent the axle - not that I know what that means - but it turns out it was the strut that got bent, which can happen at lower speeds.

I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, I hope your holiday weekend is a wonderful one!

Everywhere a little sign of the season

I am a firm believer (I'm also a Firm Believer, but that's for another blog) in spreading the festivity of the seasons to every room in the house. Who cares if no one will enter your bedroom? I still like pretty candles dressed up to match the season, and even my bathrooms get a bit of sprucing up.

My main bathroom has an absolutely hideous, banjo-shaped counter, that extends from the sink area to all the way over the toilet. I hate the thing because it's far from my aesthetic, but it does have its merits, and right now a major bathroom reno is not in the budget.

I felt a little bit of fall should be displayed, and the bright orange combined with my cheerful yellow walls makes the little bathroom glow with its own light.

And in 4 more days it's getting a new layer of Christmas goodness!

Thanksgiving garland, kid style!

It's a cold and windy November day chez nous, so we decided to brighten things up with a sparkly garland.

You'll need letter and fall-themed stickers - I found these leaf stickers on clearance, they have beads and sparkle on them, I loved them! And cardstock in fall colors, I chose dark yellow, brown, and green. Also, double-sided tape or glue dots, scissors, and a stapler.


Begin by placing your letter stickers - to spell Thanksgiving - on your lightest color cardstock. You will then cut squares with the letters on them, and mat them with a darker color cardstock.


Then take your green cardstock and cut out some thin arches, you will be placing your leaf stickers and your squares with the letters on these arches. I did 5 arches for my garland.


Place the leaf stickers and the letter squares on your green cardstock arches. I didn't like the green space between the letters so I added star stickers in the same fall colors.

Yes, we have a lot of stickers in this house. I didn't buy a thing to make this ;D

You should end up with your five arches looking like this. Leave a little bit of green cardstock showing at the ends of the arches with the leaf stickers on them.


Because then you will join them, placing the ends of the arches with letters on top of the arches with leaves.

I chose to staple mine . . .


And then placed a star sticker on top to cover up the staple.

The story of my life: use some sparkle to cover up the defects. It's a good philosophy that has worked well for me ;D

Then, hang up your Thanksgiving garland!


I stuck mine above the entrance to the playroom with double sided tape.

Not bad for an hour's work with my kids. My little one was more interested in doing his own thing, he took one of the green arches and spelled out MAWEEM, he was very proud of himself because he knew the letters :D