Studio Incomplete.

Just a quick glance in my office which we call "The Studio." My new cubes from IKEA and desk. It's not exactly how I want it, but I keep moving things around and organizing when I get time. The bottom row is all junk and not even set up yet.. Just stuff tossed there.
And a few favorites: A lunch pail with a bunch (but not all) of my old postcards, maps and random vintage papers. I keep my people on the look out for such treasure. Most are from Mom and the Lewis Two. The brown book on the end there is called This Little Piggy Went to Prada. I bought it online after finding it in a boutique (Mandi, you were shopping with me in Cedar Falls the day we found it.) when I was just a few weeks pregnant. I bought it for my to-be-daughter, but we all know how that turned out. They are super cute and chic nursery rhymes. (Bell, once you get knocked-up, I will give it to your little girl. Fingers Crossed!) Then there is the Twilight Cubby. Need I say more? My heart with the dart will set there where the box is once it arrives.Another favorite, a fresh box of Crayola. I actually have 3 more unopened boxes just like this one stuffed away for a rainy day or a broken pink crayon. There are 3 jars of buttons, many from Grandma Lee, a jar of ribbon (you can't see from this view) a green jar of flowers all from Grandma Lee and a HUGE jar of bottle caps. There is a milk jar of Making Memories pieces. Some of the jars are vintage found by Mom again. Another Obsession, Vintage Jars and Such. Eventually, I will take better photos of the end set up..

the thursday me, on friday.

Hooray for Friday. And Coffee. Just 2 cups. Took that photo yesterday. It's Me, Mandy. I will post a couple more on flickr later. Today is the usual with poopy diapers, babies all over and tv. Save the Last Dance is on and it is such a favorite. Jacques hates it or should I say loathes it entirely. Jason had his test last night to go up in belt status. He passed. Jacques took some short clips on his phone. Later I will try to post the video privately on flickr. Tomorrow is Monster Trucks for the guys. I may try to catch a chick flick this weekend too. I love me some Harry Conick Jr. Chat at you later, Here's to the weekend and bottled water. Mandy

in the HOUSE.

Looky what arrive today. This little beauty was waiting in my mailbox. Made especially for me by nessaland on etsy.com I absolutely crush super hard on House (aka Hugh Laurie) This is the hottest pink ever too. HOUSE Rules. Not Lupus.

wake up and smell the wednesday.

Woohoo! We are half way through the week. Yesterday was good. The babies, surprisingly, napped, which left me time to bathe, do housework and browse the web. I am hoping today they remember how fun naps are, and go for day 2 of uninterrupted mom time, or um, nap time.

Today I am anxiously awaiting the mail man to coming barking at my door. I am waiting for 2 packages and a Home Depot rebate. All should be arriving soon. Zachary has his appointment at 3:00 followed by Jason's karate at 6:00.

Thinking ahead to rain boots, an amazing new purse, and my valentine. This weekend brings a birthday party, the Monster Trucks with an appearance by Grave Digger, Jason's favorite, more tile and grout, karate and grocery shopping.

Until Then, Just Rockin the Wednesday..

PS- The videos below are better and much bigger on flickr. You should view them there.

Babies Play 3

Babies Play 3
Originally uploaded by mandydake

Babies Play 2

Babies Play 2
Originally uploaded by mandydake

Babies Play 1

Babies Play 1
Originally uploaded by mandydake

dart through the heart and your too late..

Darlin, You gave LOVE a bad name. Seriously, who doesn't love some Bon Jovi? This is Valentines Day come early for me. I got this heart (for myself) as a V-day gift. I have been wanting one. They are from Somethings Hiding In Here. A lovely Shop. An amazing Shop. I have the perfect spot waiting for it's arrival. It will be with my Twilight Books 'cause that is my heart.
Photo Credit: Somethings Hiding In Here.

tuesday.

Today. Bullet Proof Positive Attitude. Achievement. On today's To Do. Kal is this amazing artist and momma bear with such a great voice and blog. And then there is her bulletproof positive. The banner above is by her. Today I am aiming towards a terrific Tuesday.

I got to sleep last night from 10-2 .That's a lot around here. Then I was up at 610 starting our day. We have speech today and nothing else on our to dos. Except maybe laundry. Tomorrow is karate and a doctor visit for Zach. Followed by speech again on Thursday and a doctor check up for me.

karate kid, part deux.

Today. Jason before class, 2 stripes... And after, all 5 stripes. He had memorized the pledge and earned his stripes for kicking and stance. He was super proud. And so were we! Way to go, Jason.

Chuck E Cheese Snapshots.

These are from a Sunday in December, I realized they were never posted. They will also be on flickr. Hugs, M

last nights dream included all of the above.

Tony, our last landlord.
2 Rattlesnakes.
The Hubby.
Wendy's.
Lewis.
Becca.
A car wreck.
Freddy Kruger.
My hiding on top of the fridge.
Becca's first hard crush and mine, KWIM?

the week in photo review.

1. Broke. One of my most favorite Precious Moments people. This is what happens when you let your hubby move the boxes marked FRAGILE. 2. A Prized Possession. I found this book years ago at the Goodwill for a quarter. It is of my favorite soap, All My Children. Book By Agnes Nixon. 3. Three Trips to Starbucks this week. Thanks Again Aunt Jaine. 4. 221 Lego's pieces ready to assemble. Friday. 5. The finished Lego Project. 6. Real Moms Make Forts. Tuesday Night 7. Latest Read. Finished. 8. The boys helping Dad move a box. 9. Ryan in Jason's old hat. He loves hats! 10. Jason playing the Wii. 11. Zachary TODAY. Sunday eating.

sunday.

Bacon, eggs and toast.
Lots of coffee.
Cartoons.
2 trips to 2 Home Depots.
Homemade Chili for lunch.
50 some degrees here.
Back to school and work tomorrow.
Hugs, M

fender bender.

Seriously, what a way to start the day. At nine this morning, we were rear ended. HARD. The kids and I were stopped at a red light. WHAM! Some lady hit us.. She said, "Oh I thought I had came to a stop so I was sorting coupons." WTF? Are you kidding me? Does it look like we are at Kroger? That's not a shopping cart! IT's called a stop light, lady. Grrrrrrrr.. Everyone was fine and this time I didn't bother to report it. She seemed grateful. There was a tiny bit of damage to the van, but nothing to fret over. You may have forgot, but 5 months ago, I was rear ended too..

I should know better.

As a mom, I should of known better than to buy a "natural" colored couch. Especially, if that "natural" color is really white.

As a mom, I should know better than to place said couch in front of a fire place.

As a mom, I should of know that fire-place-ash-hand-prints would end up pawed onto my brand new, once beautiful, barely out of the box "natural" couch.

That's all I have to say about that.

FYI: Said baby will be up on eBay later.

one of my most favorite things..

Seriously, the Mocha Frapp is one of the best things in the world.

Jason got a chocolate chip cookie and a chocolate milk.

Thanks, Aunt Janie.

It was a lovley treat, calories and all.

coffee, credit and commitment.

Wow. Hooray for Friday. I began my morning at 635, not too bad. I woke up in the recliner with two babies asleep on me. By 730, I had kids' toothpastes, Zachary snot, and cookie smeared on my shirt. Jacques took Jason to school.

Then I got my headgear and knee pads on ready to fight with the cable company who overcharged me $43 dollars. The guy on the phone says, "We didn't overcharge you $43. We overcharged you $78." Well Hello, Bill Credit. Cha-Ching.Thanks! That made my morning better even though I was still covered in snot and drool.

This weekend I am committed to working on our master bath. The floor is still bare and we are ready to sheet rock the bottom half of the wall. Then we need to tile and reset the toilet. Not sure what we will do with the tubs tile.. Hey Jeff, Where are you?

The babies are napping. I am chuggin' down the bottom half of the coffee pot and ready to roll. We have no plans today except for Karate. By the way, Jason earned another stripe and will soon test for a white belt with a yellow stripe.

More Later Hugs : )

and here we go again..

Ughh. Today was not the best day. I busted a finger nail and it is killing me. Right up the side. Grrr. The babies were in an awful mood and clung to me like Gorilla Glue. For a moment, I questioned whether being a mom was a good career move. Ugh.

I picked up Jason from school and took him to McDonalds then speech. Once there, I see that the baby's bottle has leaked and he is soaked. I could have wrung out puddles from his pants. Luckily, there was a spare set of wrong-season-clothes in the diaper bag.

Ugh.

I paid $225 to plumbers. They were here for 30 minutes. That's like almost $8 bucks a minute. Ughh. And just when I think things are going our way.. Cha-Ching!

Super: The grilled cheese and soup special.
Followed by baths, books and bedtime.

Hey Tomorrow, Try to Give Me a Break, K?

thursday things.. (are gone.)

I had a post here. A good long one. All things Thursday. Then Ryan touched the keyboard and it was deleted. I am annoyed and am not typing it back up. That's all I have to say about that.

The Georgia Auqarium.

Awww.. The Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest aquarium. We took of early on Monday morning and made the drive there. It was AMAZING and HUGE! They had it all. We saw squid, whale sharks, belugas, rays and everything else. The aquarium is listed in the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die. One thing marked off, 999 to go. That would be some To Do list, huh? So the last picture is really bad, but the manta ray swam up soooo fast and was soooo amazingly huge and beautiful, but this was the only shot I got of him. This is the ONLY manta in captivity in the US. Here is the link to their website Georgia Aquarium for more fun info about the museum and more photos. So going back for another visit or two. Next time we will also visit the Coke Bottling Plant which is also suppose to be magnificent.

Watch the Manta Video, Click here.. Manta Video

The boys LOVED the place. It was too busy to let them down to run, but they had their share of strapped-to-the-stroller kinda fun. I loved the squid and belugas. Jason favorite was the manta ray, maybe mine too.

in photos.

1. Our Snow Day 2. Dollar Stamps 3. IKEA 4. Adventures By The Cup Coffee Shop in downtown Atlanta 5. The Mario Brothers 6. Welcome Home, New Lola 7. Georgia Aquarium 8. Jellyfish 9. Titanic 10. Jason at Johnny Rockets 11. Twins on Ponies

hope over fear.

office organizing.
less obsessive and compulsive.
karate tonight.
babies napping now.
celebrating life.
read more.
clean ceiling fans and vents.
found out zachary is lactose intolerant.
thanks to you cookie dough buyers.
coffee is truly a blessing.
slept 3+ hours last night.
more later and photos.
wishing you a wonderful wednesday.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

My Grandpa is celebrating his 83rd birthday today. Here's hoping you have an amazing day and wishing we were there to celebrate and eat cake. Hugs, Amanda and The Boys' Photos 6/08