Paula's Hair Party

I've mentioned before that I took over Paula's cleaning houses while she battles breast cancer. She had her first chemo treatment and will lose her hair sometime in the next week or so. So she had a hair party and invited me and another hairstylist to do the shaving and pink streaks! I was in charge of the pink streaks so off I went to bleach out chunks of hair from ages 2-60 something? Oh the fun! It was great to see everyone supporting Paula. Even her bearded husband shaved his head and beard and NO ONE recognized him!

However as I was busy with my girls, Devin had a different plan in mind and somehow got Kai on board. Take a look ----->


Wait who is that????


But I just gave him a cute haircut!! What about Christmas pictures????!!


Well it's all for a good cause :)

Quality Time Tuesday

Nash and I playing with a box.


Grocery store!


Before Haircut


After haircut-Thanks mommy!

Craft time!

Beaded Socks

I have my first pair of beaded socks for sale. I just posted one pair but I have several in different colors and sizes. I also like custom orders :)

cherimarie2.etsy.com

Check them out the shipping is FREE!!

Home As A Pep Rally

I'm reading a book right now with my moms group called "My Heart's at Home" by Jill Savage. I really enjoyed this last chapter called Home as a Pep Rally. It talks all about celebrating your children as a family. Here are some of my favorite ideas from the chapter:

*For birthdays make a tradition to sit down and show them their photo albums from birth up, decorate their room while their sleeping so they wake up to balloons and streamers, have cake and ice cream for breakfast, or go out to their favorite restaurant for dinner

*If they get a grade other then an A and you know they tried their best, put it up on the refrigerator and celebrate it

*If there is a game or recital that they are in and their siblings can come, have everyone come along to cheer their sibling on.

*Celebrate accomplishments and always have party favors on supply

"A Family's love makes a house a home"

I those were some great ideas, especially the birthday ones because I'm always looking for new traditions!

Nash is WALKING!

Yeah! Here is him in action. I'm declaring this his official walking day.

Christmas at the Stabile home

I've changed my blog to represent Christmas time. It's my favorite time of year and I'm away from my family. In an effort to avoid depression I'm going to surround myself with all Christmas items (aka-decorating early, listening to ONLY Christmas music, and baking). Don't talk to me unless it's Christmas related. :)

On a serious note I'm in Illinois only because God made it very clear to me that I'm suppose to be here. So I will remember his son being born at this time of year and focus on pleasing Him and taking the sacrifice of being away from family so God can use me to His fullest. So I will start the festivities early along with the media and department stores as I remember Jesus and the ultimate sacrifice he made for me.

To a great man...

My dad has been married for many years (I've lost count) to my mom. They are so happy together. I don't ever see them fight and you can tell just by looking at them that they are very much still in love!



He was always a great role model for me and showed me the importance of saving money "it's not how much you make but how much you save". I know dad! He is someone that I can always count on and can always depend on. It's rare to find a person with a lot of integrity and who follows through on all that he says.



My dad is a great "Papa" and really takes the time to play with his grandkids. He even sacrifices football to watch things like Word World and Curious George. He has taught Kai to chew on straws and say big words just like him.


My dad has given me more then I could ask for. He has helped us with our car, house, and furniture. I really feel that God uses him in my life to show me a Father's love, God's love.

Happy Birthday Dad!! We are all blessed to have you in our lives!

My poor baby

Nash has been waking up every hour at night for the past 3 or 4 nights. Poor me. But seriously I had some concerns. I called the doctor and got him in this afternoon. I told them he had an ear infection 3 weeks ago and finished his medication last week. It turns out it didn't work and now he has a double ear infection! They have him on new meds but if they don't work he will have to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor. Ugh. Here's to praying that he is healed soon! My poor little baby......

Cleaning tricks

I've mentioned that I have been cleaning houses for a few months. I have learned all about different products and what works best. I have also learned some tricks. I think I will share this information with my readers because it's made me a better housekeeper in my own home and we all want to have clean homes right?

Floors:
If you have the money buy a Kirby vaccuum cleaner. If you don't have the money just buy one that works. ;)
This is a great mop http://www.mamalibman.com/index.aspx?src=PDI&ct=2&pid=114
I use it myself and it's cheap.

Windows:
I find that Windex is my favorite but if you want to be more "green" you can mix peroxide and water to create your own window cleaner.

Couch:
If your couch smells just use Febreeze. If it's microfiber, use a damp cloth first. Take the time, vaccuum your couch!

Coffee pot/hard water stains:
We have hard water here in Illinois so every clear dish gets a residue. Also the sinks get a ring around the drain. Just let it soak in Vinegar and it will take the residue right out. Same with the coffee pot stains.

Stove:
No time to clean a stove top grills (gas stove)? Just put them in the dishwasher.

Kitchen:
I love this

Bathroom:

This is a great cleaner. Also, use wash cloths when cleaning the tub and counter. They are so much easier to use and wash. Paper towels are just a pain!

Toilet:

Scrubbing Bubbles-this wand is easy to use and the flushables are fairly cheap. I would rather dish out the money for this then use Comet, gloves, and a sponge.

Well that's all I can think of but I will post more as I learn. Just remember not to get overwhelmed and take one room at a time.

We're home

Yes we came back to Illinois last night. We left Cali at 70 degrees and flew into Illinois at 30 degrees. It felt like a different world. The trees had lost their leaves and my plants were dead from a frost. The house was 50 degrees inside and refrigerator was empty!

The kids get confused with vacations and Kai keeps saying he wants to go back to Gigi and Papa's house. Sometimes I tell him I do too. I really miss my family.

On an updated note: Nash is walking! Well, 75% of the time that is. He is a really fast crawler so until he feels more steady he probably won't walk all the time. Give it a week or two. He walks like a cowboy with an invisible tree trunk in between his legs. I'm the mom so I think it's cute!

Nash's 1st birthday

Stop looking at me!

Halloween

This year was the first year that Kai went trick or treating. We are still deciding how we want to go about Halloween but this year we decided to do it with our old neighbors in their new neighborhood. The whole block had a party and there were kids everywhere. It was a great neighborhood, I'm jealous! Here are my favorite lines of Kai and his friend Scott "Trick or treating (instead of trick or treat)" "What about me? (while waiting for his candy)" Then of course was the sign that said "just take one" and Kai emptied the whole thing into his bucket.




Peter Pan beating up Captain Hook

Kai and Scott in action!

Beach Day!!

I took the boys to the beach twice. The first time they both just fell in love! Kai liked to shovel sand at the waves and Nash liked to use the shovel properly :)

I never realized how much I love the beach and miss living by it. I really have been so blessed to live by it my whole life. It's just amazing and so relaxing. You don't realize what you have until its gone.

Here are some of the pictures from our fun day:

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Nash turns 1 today! His birthday will fall on Election Day every four years! This could be a very good thing or very bad. We celebrated his birthday on Sunday with a family party. He got lots of toys, which Kai stole and played with, and when it was time for cake he cried because everyone was staring at him. So sad!

This past week we've been in California at my parents house. The kids really feel loved and get to have so much attention! Nash just started pointing to different things saying "da?" "da dee?" It's super cute!! He also likes to go to his gigi and papa and call them by name. He LOVES their dog Molly. As for walking, he takes a few steps here and there but I wouldn't say he is a walker yet.

I'll post a lot of pictures in the next day or so when I have a chance to load them.

Happy Birthday Nash!!