Sidewalk Sunday with a twist...

Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure;
where your treasure, there your heart;
where your heart, there your happiness.


-Saint Augustine

Here is where my heart is...

 

 

Can't even imagine my life without my children. I didn't grow up day dreaming of white picket fences or being a mother but when it happened i knew I was meant for it. There is nothing else on this earth that I would rather do.

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow partners in motherhood.

Now on to Sidewalk Sunday!!!

Check out this little cutie I scored for free!

 Well, it was more of a trade for another freebie I got but hey either way no cash exchanged hands!

Here' a couple other angles..

Great detail right?!

I'm excited to get working on this one!

But first I need to finish...

If you are curious what color she's going to end up with, stop by my Facebook page to see her first coat.

Second one going on as soon as I finish this post!  I have been taking entirely to long to finish her up!

Wonder what I've been up to since my last post?

Wish I could say it's been painting a ton of furniture instead of wasting away 8 hours a day at work.

But sadly I can't.

What I can say is every moment not a work has been spent with the ones I love most!

Here's what March, April and a little bit of May have been so far....

Lil Red turned 11



and had a slumber party complete with a scavenger hunt




and a HUGE mess for Mom to clean up!



Basketball injury

a scalp biopsy

Easter

Fundraising for a school trip to Washington D.C.

Honor roll



a school carnival



Music recital



Football injury..




Costume birthday party



A little bit of pool time







Meeting family for the first time!

The photo above is of my niece and nephew who up until now were born and raised in Florida.

My brother and his family moved back home about a week ago so there has been a ton of time spent getting to know these little ones.

Sound busy? It certainly felt that way!

Well, I am off to paint!

Until next time,

Angie

How about a little summer reading?

Today I want to share with you Connor's Gift.

 This is a book written by an amazing woman Tracie, whom I am lucky enough to call family.

Tracie at our Annual Mother's Day Tea Party 

Even better than that?

                                                      
                It's written about her beautiful son, 

                                      
Connor

This amazing book sold out on Amazon at least once that I know of!

Here is what someone had to say about the book 

(The Forward correct?)

"Connor's Gift introduces the world to a very special boy and the family who love him. He is at once funny, charming, silly and sweet, and can also be a challenge that most would wish to avoid.

Until you've met this dynamic and very special boy, you cannot know what life with an autistic child is like in this New Age. And that is what makes Connor's Gift such an outstanding read."

I decided to give one away so someone else could enjoy the Carlos Family journey.

Even if you don't know anyone with Autism in their life, this is an amazing, inspirational story that everyone can enjoy.

If you would like to be entered into the drawing, here's what I would like you to do..

Stop by Connor's Gift Facebook page and say a quick hello. Even better, "Like" it!

I would love it if you could help spread the word about this amazing book as well!

I've included a button at the top of my side bar for you to use if you'd like to help out.

And last but not least,  leave me a comment!

Let me know, do you know anyone with Autism?

I would love to leave the drawing open until Connor's birthday which happens to be the same as Lil' Man's, but I'm too excited for you to start reading this amazing book- so waiting until July 31st is just too long!

How about we give it until....

June 12th

"I am here, and I will wait for you to put aside all your preconceived notions until you absolutely fall in love with me; and when you do, you will be loving YOU."

Angie

A Mission, A Dinner and the Modeling Clay...

The dreaded 4th grade Mission project.

 The deadline is drawing near all the while my dinning room table is being held hostage to the bits and pieces that we hope will soon resemble the grounds of the San Juan Capistrano Mission.

Only one problem, the clay that Mr. Treasures and Lil' Red picked up for the project NEVER hardens.
Yep, just like it says on the package.

I haven't had a chance to pick up any other kind of clay nor do I have flour (that would mean I bake) in the house in order to make our own. So we have $20.00 worth of clay, with NO use for it.

Tonight, while eating dinner  (at the other half of the table not being consumed by the project) I asked the kids about their day. Lil' Man started to tell me about wood shop class and how his teacher finally operated one of the machines today instead of talking nonstop about his travels around the world. He then began to tell me about his P.E. teacher who is obsessed with everyone "suiting up" and his dreaded English class.

As he was talking, I began to play with a piece of the clay, rolling it the way you'd roll a map. The end of it resembled a cinnamon roll. I showed the kids and they laughed.
Now, it was Lil' Red's turn to tell me about the mean 5th grader who had a date with Karma.  It was a tether ball match up that appeared to be lopsided. On one side Lil' Red's friend, a very meek, soft spoken girl - on the other, the Meany.

By  some cosmic payback to all that have been pushed around, the tether ball came off the pole, flew up in the air and managed to come down right on top of the mean girls head.  I asked Lil' Red, "Do you know what that is?" she answered "Yep, Karma."

Now of course I didn't stop there, we talked about what might be going on in mean girls life that would cause her to behave that way. We also talked about ways to handle any situation that might involve mean girls.

By this time, I had rolled the clay into what looked like the handset part of an old telephone. I held it up to my ear and said "hello" again, everyone laughed.

Mr. Treasures said "What can you make out of it?" and just like that we found a use for the clay.

Lil' Man took the receiver part of my phone and came up with this

While Lil' Red was hard at work on her laptop

 Mr. Treasures was working on his Football

Think someone might miss football season this year??

Next was a cell phone

 Followed up with a computer

complete with mouse and keyboard no less!

There was a penguin,

and an airplane

(Momma needs a vacation)

This went on for the rest of the evening.

 I think it might have been the best dinner I've ever had.

Angie

An Interview With Lil' Red

Sorry I didn't post this earlier!!  I decided to FINALLY work out last night and let me tell you, THAT took all my effort!!

Better late than never right?

If you missed yesterdays Makeover Monday, you'll want to start there!

Otherwise, here's the quick interview from a soon to be 10 year old and her outlook on "Living Creatively"

Q) What made you decide to paint your clubhouse?

A) What made me decide to paint it is that I want it to be a cool place to hang out and not be a dirty old thing in the back yard.   (I'm thinking we need to take better care of the backyard, how about you?)


Q) Can you tell us why you chose the colors you did?

A) I chose those colors because they are cool, funky and fun so it won't be boring in there.
      (Great reason. Who wants to be somewhere boring? Not me!)


Q) What do you think "Live Creatively" means?

A) I think live creatively means to just have fun and to do things that you've never done.
     (Can you imagine how great life would be if we didn't forget this as we grew up?)

Q) What are other ways you can be creative in life besides crafts?

A) I'm creative at school doing things my own ways. (explains a lot) I'm also creative the way I dress or when I play games.

Q) Pick 3 words to describe yourself.

A) Three words to describe myself would be cool, athletic and weird.
(I love that she views being "weird" as a good thing)

Lil' Red really enjoyed answering these questions so I might have to do something like this more often.
In fact I think it is a "creative" way to interact with your children!

Thanks for taking the time to find out more about Lil' Red. She's definitely a character!

Angie

Update

I wanted to stop in and give you a quick update.

We finally got a hold of someone at BofA with a brain!!!

He agreed that  our case was not handled correctly and stopped the sale. 

AMEN!!

Now we have to start this process all over again.

At least this time we will only deal with this gentleman in the "Escalation Dept"

With the good news, I decided a little retail therapy was in order.

Say hello to my new pillows....

 My camera battery was dead so I had to use my cell. Not to worry though, you'll be seeing this pillow and it's twin in future posts!!


I also took a ton of  "Lunch time inspiration" photos!! I'll be uploading those to the facebook fan page tomorrow! Make sure you visit the page to see!!

Before I go I want to say a HUGE thank you for those of you who've left comments, said a prayer and have been so supportive.

Thank you!

Angie

M.I.A.

 The Treasures household has been a chaotic place to be the last couple of months. We are always trying to adjust to this new life we have and as soon as it seems we have a handle on it, there is some sort of surprise.

And I'm not talking about the.....

good kind.

The latest battle has been trying to speak with someone at Bank of America (who actually went to high school) about their mistake in regards to our modification. It's quite a long story that I don't feel like telling right now but it boils down to a HUGE screw up on their part that might actually cost us our home on Wednesday February 2nd.



So I might be posting even less (if you can imagine that) than I already am for a little while.

Thank you for following Treasures. I appreciate everyone of you.



Angie

Operation Christmas 2010

Operation Christmas 2010 was a HUGE success!!

Mr. Treasures called in every favor and managed to get the kids everything on their "must have" list.

Along with a few "extras"

Do you watch Human Target?

 Well it turns out Grandma Treasures works with Chi McBride's sister in law.

He plays the character Winston.

The Lil' Man LOVES the show.

This is the entire first season autographed.  It says "Thanks for watching "Lil Man"

Lil' Red loved her extras as well..

It cracks me up how animated she is.

Always the goofy character!

There is no mistaking what this one feels!

Then there is Lil' Man, always calm and reserved.

                                                    

Yet, there's no mistaking what he feels either.


Yep, Operation Christmas 2010 was a HUGE success.  Hope yours was as well!

Angie


P.S.  Everyone is still in their "Christmas Coma" right now so I've had some time to catch up on a couple blogs. One I haven't visited in a while?    Tracy Porter, this post had THE most beautiful images of her yard all dressed up for Christmas at night. Stop by and check it out!

Christmas already!?!

Can you believe it's Christmas already!?

Where did this year go????

It seemed like it was on fast forward for the most part, except for a few times that were painfully slow.

Like learning to punch a time clock again after all these years.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it looks like the Treasure's household has adjusted pretty well.

Lil' Man made honor roll

 and Lil' Red made high honor roll.

The difference??

Lil' Man is in Junior High now and realized

"We're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy" 

I'm in no way saying that honor roll wasn't enough. I'm very proud of the job he has done.  It's just that everything academically has always been very easy for him, so he assumed Jr. High would be a breeze. He quickly realized that effort would be necessary.

Lil' Red is still in elementary where the grading system is Advanced, Proficient, Basic and Below Basic.

In order to get high honor roll 70 % of her grades had to be Advanced with nothing below a proficient.

You might be wondering why I'm talking about their grades. The reason?

They have NEVER known anything but Mom at home, volunteering at school, driving them to the  library and giving them pop quizzes!

 I was worried their school work might suffer if I wasn't there like I had been before.

Silly huh?  I know. I can really work myself up when it comes to my kids.

But I don't have to tell you guys that now do I?

For awhile there, after school care was a HUGE concern. There were several unsuccessful attempts to find after school care to my liking.

Just when I was about to have a melt down, we were lucky enough to have a family friend volunteer to take care of the kids after school. 

The best part?  She stays with them at our home so they can have the closest thing to what they've always known. 

As for me? I've slowly started to navigate my way through a new "normal" but still haven't managed to figure out how to carve out time for some creativity.  It's all a work in progress I guess.

As for Mr. Treasures, well he's a trooper like always. In all this craziness that has been our life these last couple of years he has remained my number one fan and on occasion my knight in shinning armor.

In fact- he's out in all this madness right now, taking care of our Christmas shopping and he'll be heading back out tomorrow as well!!!

All together now....

 Awwwwww what a sweetheart. 

 

Merry Christmas....

   From the Treasure's household!!

 How wrong is it hat I used a photo from last year??  :)


                          Angie

A Halloween Wish...

 A Halloween Wish


I'd like to go fishing for a star

and send it to you wherever you are

to wrap you once more in the spells of the night

and fill all your senses with awe and delight.

To make you a pirate or perhaps a queen;

to experience the magic of Halloween.

To capture again the mystery and surprise

as can only be seen through a small child's eyes.

- Nancy Hughes




Happy Halloween From Lil' Red and the rest of the Treasures household!!

What I've learned

I've learned a few important things, that had it not been for the economy, I might have missed.

I learned that I have a passion for furniture refurbishing.
 (Something I had no idea I could do until there was no other choice.)

I learned that I really meant "for richer or for poorer"
( We never had to struggle before, I had no idea how stressful that could be on a marriage.)

I learned that nothing makes me happier than time with my family.
(and you don't even have to spend a dime to do it.)

I also learned that I don't have to spend a lot of money to enjoy luxury. 

(Sounds like an oxymoron doesn't it?)

Last night was "Facials at Grandma's" night.

(Something that I might have missed had I had the $$$ to pay a professional)

We each had a bowl of hot water, lil' Red's had chamomile tea.

 Grandma Treasures and I opted for a few drops of eucalyptus.

 

Then we took a towel and placed it over our  head and the bowl.

The steam opens your pores and feels very refreshing!

Next up was the Oatmeal Honey facial... 

Good enough to eat! Just ask Lil' Red.

This is the look I got when I told her she was eating her portion of the facial.

That got her to stop long enough for me to put her mask on...

However, it didn't last long!!

She was right back to eating it!!

She barely stopped to take a photo!!

She ate so much...

I had to slop more on her forehead!

Then all of the sudden....

Mine started to slide off my face!

Lil' Red was laughing hysterically.

I did manage to catch it in time!

"Look Ma no hands!!"

After we were all rinsed off Grandma Treasures wanted a photo of the three of us.

Some how I don't think this.....

is what she had in mind!

In order to get her to stop making funny faces...

we had to each make one of our own.

I learned something else tonight...

It doesn't take much to have a great time.

Angie

P.S. here's the link to the facial mask.