tuesday's true confession: apparently ants live in texas too!

I've never reposted before, but I am today because it's Tuesday . . . and it's been far too long since I've confessed anything.  And there is an incredible sense of irony in the fact, that this is my very first Tuesday's True Confession and I can pretty much confess the EXACT SAME THING that I did in my very first Tuesday's True Confession in my old state.  Let's just say that I woke up this morning to about 100 little ants coming through a crack in the caulking of our back door.  I opened said door to find a GIANT ant hole as high as the threshold of our back door that is the cozy home to probably a thousand ants.  My three year old and I spent the entire morning waging battle with the ants.  Now, she just walks around the house with her eyes darting across the floor looking for ants.   Picture me trying to explain to her that when the ants are outside in their home, she should leave them alone and not stomp on them . . . but when they are in our home, we stomp, squish, spray and basically annihilate them.   

Poor kid is damaged for life!

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I'm grossed out.  You will be too, but please don't judge me.  I found an ant.  Not outside in the grass or on the sidewalk, but in . . . my . . . kitchen!  And not just on the floor, but in . . . a . . . cabinet!  And we all know that there is NEVER just ONE ant.  I confess (This technically isn't my true confession for today.) that I am not a person who cleans the house everyday, but please believe me . . . our house is clean.  Not spic-and-span-so-you-can-eat-off-the-floor clean, but at least I'm-not-going-to-find-an-ant-crawling-in-a-cabinet-at-11:30-at-night clean.  So, like I said, please don't judge me.  

As a result, I did something that I have wanted to do and needed to do for a long time.  I took everything out of the cabinets, scrubbed everything in serious scrubbing fashion and put everything back in a neat and orderly way. 

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

I started doing this at 11:30 PM, so it was a late night.  I just couldn't go to bed wondering if there were more of those little pests running around in there.  Thankfully (I think), I didn't find anymore, but now every time I walk into the kitchen or open a cabinet I'm expecting to find an ant.  HELP!  I don't want to use toxic pesticides just for peace of mind, but does anyone know of a toxic-free way to keep these little critters away? 

Here's my true confession . . . I'm a hypocrite.  You see, whenever I find a spider or other crawly little bug in the house, I gently scoop it up and put it outside where it belongs.  I know, weird.  I'm fully aware that this is completely bizarre behavior, but I just can't bring myself to kill them.  I even have my girls trained now to come get mommy when they find a spider so we can rescue it and put it outside.  But there is something in me . . . something deep down inside of me that cannot muster up the same compassion for ants.  I'll just say it . . . I HATE ANTS - not outside-type ants, but any ant found in my house is definitely in danger and should fear for its life. 

I guess I should thank that little ant because it helped me mark a to-do off my list that I've been putting off.  At least my cupboards are cleaned, and now I can do what I like to do and . . .

confess on!

movin' it monday: the family room

This past weekend we got one step closer to "finishing" one ENTIRE room in our house . . . not the entire house . . . just ONE room.  My husband has been begging for a flat screen TV for years, and with the move, we acquired one.  We've been living with it on the floor in front of the fireplace for five weeks as we tried to figure out whether to look into LCD TV stands for the side wall or mounting sets for above the fireplace.  Here's what we decided:    

I so wanted this space above the fireplace to be a great focal point with a family picture or a favorite piece of art, but it just didn't make sense to put the TV stand on a different wall.  The electrician did a fabulous job, and I'm ready to whip this room into shape.

   Next up . . . trying to figure out what to do with this space . . .

Craft on . . . or unpack on! ;)

the end of winter countdown calendar

Winter officially ended for me when we moved to Texas in February and it was 70 degrees.  (Holy smokes . . . I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it being 70 degrees in February.)  But the official end of winter is this weekend. 

Good bye winter!

Hello spring!   

I had BIG plans to post this little end of winter countdown activity calendar a month ago, but well . . . as you know I've been a bit preoccupied.  So . . . you will have to keep this in mind when next year rolls around OR better yet . . . make your own version for the end of spring or the end of summer or . .  . you get the idea.

End of Winter Countdown Calendar

We hung our countdown calendar up about a month before the end of winter.  Each hat, sweater or mitten had a little activity or treat tucked inside that we could do each day in anticipation for the end of winter.  By the end of the countdown, all our shapes were tucked neatly inside our little storage bag ready to be hung up next fall as a countdown to winter. 

Here's what you need:
-felt or fleece . . . A big shout out to National Nonwovens for supplying the felt for this project!
-paper patterns cut out in appropriate seasonal shapes . . . For winter I used a mitten, a sweater and a hat.
-ribbons
-clothes pins
-small strips or rectangles of paper

Here's what you do:
1)  Cut our varying shapes from felt.  You will need two of the same shapes for each day.  I did 10 mittens, 10 hats and 10 sweater, so I needed 20 of each shape.

2)  Pin two of each shape together (or not if you dare) and sew around the outside edge or each pair.  Do not sew the neck and waist of the sweater, the head opening of the hat and the wrist opening of the mitten.

3)  Write or print off an activity for each day.  I used a variety of fun activities, service oriented activities and treats. 

4)  Secure ribbons on a wall, mantel or ceiling of your home. 

5)  Hang shapes up with clothes pin tucking paper/treat into each shape.  (Actually, I put the paper in each morning before the kids got up because I have sneaky kids, and I knew the temptation of all those activities and treats just sitting there all month long would be entirely too much for them to resist.)

6)  Each day tuck the shape you used back into the storage bag. (Brief and super easy tutorial . . . so easy it really isn't necessary . . . to come this weekend.)

What shapes would you use as an end of spring countdown?  An umbrella?  A rain boot or coat?  Hmm . . . that's about all I have.  Clearly, my creative juices aren't quite flowing yet!

Craft on!

oh where, oh where have i been?

I know . . . I know . . . I've been MIA for far too long.  As you know, I've been moving.  I was hoping to be up and running here with crafty projects and more, but this moving thing has been totally zonked.  I still don't have all the boxes unpack, and we've been in our new home/town/state for four weeks now.  Not good!  Plus my front room is completely bare . . . well, that's not true . . . there is a piano sitting in the middle of the room . . . but other than a lonely old piano . . . it is completely bare.

Not only have I been MIA from the blog, but I've been MIA from your blogs, from my e-mail, from facebook, from the internet almost entirely.  So boo to me! 

I'm going to slowly get back into the blogging routine again, so I won't be posting daily like I did before the mover . . . for the time being anyway.  And I'm going to slowly get back in contact with many of you as well.  I've missed you!

Craft on!