I"ll be the first to admit I'm out of time these days. Hopefully the rat race is over for a few weeks so I can finish up some of the projects that are laying around half started....biggest of which is my new king size bed! Next in line is a bathroom vanity for guests in the new basement. Yep, only a month overdue...So I've been really busy!

Here's what you all come here for anyway....notice the personality differences when you look through the photos, you can really see it!

This one of Syd cracks me up, it's actually a fairly accurate representation of her...baby medusa! She flat out refused to look at me so this is a side view of her. 

This is Syd's new pride and joy. We couldn't find one garage sale-ing so daddy went to wally and brought this home one sunday afternoon, and you could not find a happier baby on the block!

And this is my latest creation. Lil' sis wanted something different for graduation, so this is what we came up with...ok so it was more me than her, but she picked the colors! This little baby holds close to 100 cupcakes! and the zebra pattern was hand painted on the cake by yours truly! It's supposed to have a cute little bow with it but humidity and food don't mix well, something about 2 inches of rain in 2 days makes for a hot sticky weekend!

Oh, I almost forgot...today is the last day, so if you're reading this can you help out my little cutie?!! Hadleigh is in the local cutest baby contest. Huronregional.org has a contest going on that you can visit and vote for your favorite....Please vote for Hadleigh!

I'm done....done with a lot of things actually...read into it as you desire, I know you will!

The biggest project and the most beneficial for me is the one that comes to mind right away!

 HERE IT IS!!

Well, minus curtains, a kitchen for inside and the cute little door that I envision yet, but it's busy season in this house.

Ok, so we know I live in South Dakota, we know what happens here...I started this in march, so the majority...ok 99.9% of it was built in my kitchen. It's open, the slider isn't used in the winter and there's no good spot for a table, but there was a nice big open area calling out for a playhouse. Yes, this mom is a serious over achiever! It was built without much more than lifting and "how's it feel...smooth enough?" during the sanding. I'm unbelievably proud of this one....would build another one if the price was right to do so....and not change much. Ok, so honestly I'd probably sell this one cause I WILL NOT do another closet, that thing was a logistical nightmare...building, sanding...painting...assembling...everything! 

 And with 2 walls up Syd has already moved in....and was told that she had to be super careful, it was only clamped together...she played in it like this for a good week while I assembled more walls and waited for more wood. 

 Mostly complete, and taking up more of the kitchen every second

And the most time consuming part of the entire process...Literally! The painting! 

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me, I'll do my best to answer! 

It's taller than the plans at http://ana-white.com that I referenced for a few parts, just so I knew my oldest darling would get more than a years use out of it...the railings are taller too, it's completely 1x6 boards up the front.   Thanks to Ana and the PB kids catalog for inspiration, and a lot of imagination and making decisions as I went!

So this mom is working some serious cool points...

The basement is starting to look like a trash collection with all the miscellaneous toys spread through it, so I'm building something for the girls that Syd won't outgrow a year after she gets it...will hold toys, and will hold their attention for more than a minute at a time...bonus on all three!

I should wait until it's finished to show it off, but it's so darn cute I just can't help it! Playhouse/bed...or in our case just plain playhouse, with an upstairs and a downstairs, and as soon as it's finished a big girl kitchen to match. Something about my oversize toddler doesn't fit well with the plastic kitchens. I promise to show you the finished product when it gets that far but here's the sneak peek...

Sydney learned something new this weekend...

Mom and dad aren't the only ones that can have fun with the 4-wheeler. The neighbor had his 3 girls here this weekend, and all of them were outside playing in the abundance of fresh fluffy snow....when daddy said we should put the girls on a sled behind the toy...he was in the house with the baby, and I was in no mood to injure someone elses' children so their dad took the toy and the girls and all four of em were riding somewhere....2 in the sled and 2 on the back. Syd had an absolute blast! So much so that after we forced her to lay down for a while and rest the first thing out of her sleepy little mouth was I want to sled daddy....so out we went again!

Notice how much the pooch has grown?

I did it....I finally figured out a stool I like....and I can make all 4 of 'em for less than I could buy just 1! Thanks to www.Ana-White.com again ...she had the plans for a chair, I took the plans and went like a runaway train. If you're handy and like them let me know and I can give you the changes I made to them! The base is awaiting a sander and stain, but on top of being way too cold, me being way too useless yet, and the girls not napping I had to make sure I liked the look before I spent too much time on it....just to be torn apart like the last one.

Hadleigh a few days ago....she can hold herself up now and is a pro at sitting by herself.

And a second when Sydney felt lovable.

Now here's my make of the week. I was getting super dizzy being up and doing stuff around the house from having the kidney stone treatment, so I hauled out the sewing machine and decided to take it easy on the couch. Syd picked this cake out of the Pottery Barn Kids catalog a while ago....and there was no way I was paying $40 bucks for it. So a few hours later, a couple sheets of felt and a fancy stitch or two we had a cake! Watch for this, it just might end up in my etsy shop...when I have a few minutes that is!

I'm back! So it's been over a month, and it's been incredibly crazy the entire month and a half!

I'm officially down one kidney stone, and the doctor wants to repeat the procedure two more times to which I directly replied that he was nuts! I was so out of it after the first shot at the big one that I'm not signing up for that again in the near future. I figure if they're not causing pain and not compromising my kidney's they can stick around for a bit.

On to the next order of business....it was warm out yesterday, REALLY warm out, and the puppy just happened to find the old dog's favorite digging spot, I swear there is something buried under our house that compels the dogs to dig out the corner! She best be getting it out of her system before my flowers come back to life!

And now everyones favorite two little girls!

Haddie is 6 months in this one...

Mom's creative genius to keep big sis at bay, and keep the toys within reach...

Oops...sorry baby, you're sideways! Haddie with her first cheeto

And two very sleepy girls...so busy playing they couldn't make it to a comfy piece of furniture

Now that you're caught up I'll try and keep up too. As long as the craziness stays at bay for a while!

Baptism...the day after christmas! We jam packed the weekend, and took advantage of everybody's time off. Luckily Pastor Steve is accustomed to our family, he's able to just go with the flow by now...we consider him a member, and he can't get enough of us!

Grampa, the hat explains it all! This is my grampa, the girls' great grampa....he claims he can't see, but he knows when you're being naughty....We still don't know if he could read the hat or not but he was a good sport! FYI...the hat belongs to Syd, and is DEFINATELY fitting on her!

Hadleigh watched Syd long enough she knew what to do with her present, she just couldn't figure out how to make her fingers work like she wanted them to. Nice face Joey! After a little help from auntie Caley she had success!

Her first Christmas left her confused and sleepy, poor baby didn't know what to do when she had a bow plopped on her head!

And all 4 of us sitting together at one time...only happens once a year!

And it's a winter wonderland!

We had a busy busy Christmas, and things are finally starting to calm down after 4 days of being back home!

The days have been flying by in this house!

It's like I blink and we're on to the next one already...

Here's a glimpse for those of you who didn't get to attend our very SMALL birthday party for Syd last weekend. Thankyou mother nature for ruining the best intentions!

Can you tell she got lipstick in one of her gifts?

Luckily I have a quick camera so you get to see the smoke from the candles, thanks to daddy they were extinguished almost before they were lit! It was all kinds of crazy when we were supposed to be hosting the birhtday girls' party, no power, snow, and ice cold temps. Try telling a 3 year old she can't have a big party because everyone by grandpas had too much snow to come see her when she could look outside and see grass! Then finding entertainment long enough to not notice the lack of lights and heat. I'm seriously considering starting to celebrate in June at her half birthday instead of the middle of December!

And a couple of the girls I snapped while they were both in a good mood..

Here's what our puppy looks like this morning...

I keep telling Sydney the marker belongs on the paper!

Apparently Jewel got too close

Granted, the dog shouldn't surprise me, this was Sydney yesterday...after brushing her teeth

And before brushing her teeth...you should have heard the wail come out of her...as if I was the one that turned her a brilliant shade of aqua. The drool running off her was plopping on the bathroom counter just as vivid as if it was dripping from the marker!

Man am I glad someone invented washable markers...

Here are the girls in the Mall of America this weekend. Poor Sydney had a half hour nap on our 5 hour road trip followed by 5 hours of straight shopping, and fell asleep on our way back out.

It's been a week since we were there and she's all ready to go back while mommy is still recovering!

And here's Halloween!

We made it through...all the candy that is!

Sydney wasn't too sure of the first doorbell of the first house, and I made sure it was someone she knew so she wouldn't be scarred for life. After that first one, and realizing ringing the doorbell resulted in candy she was like a runaway train! We went to every house that had a light in a 4 block radius before daddy met up with us....and got oohed and ahhed at at every place when she said "trick or treat" and "thankyou" then we were off to people we knew around town, which was even more fun for her, she'd walk right in and make herself at home!

After being followed by the sweetest all black kitten and a few more houses we filled 2 pumpkins and headed back home to eat and crash!