Quick Fix

A while ago, when our Walmart still had a craft section my mom bought this asian fabric to make throw pillows for our livingroom. In my mothers true character, she never got around to making them so she just gave me the fabric. I have actually been trying to add more color into my livingroom but it was too pretty not to use and it is so my style.

 

Here is our entertainment/storage center, not to mention the pile of toys that we have yet to get a toy chest for. I can't stand looking through the glass and seeing the dvds, extra wipes, diapers and other things we store in there.

Super quick fix, I cut two pieces of fabric just big enough to cover the glass. All I did was staple it on the inside and ran some glue on the edges of the fabric so it wouldnt fray. Here my son is checking out the work, he said pretty so I got his approval.

Future blogger, taking pix of mommy's project.

Tada! Hidding my junk.

No more mess, well ok the mess is still there but you cant see it.

It took less than 10 mins for a quick and easy fix!

It actually took longer for me to post this than it did to do the project!

I'm linking to:

New Advertising /PR Tab

Have you noticed a new tab up top there under my header?

(Yes I know I still have to make over my pages)

From the Heart would like to branch out and also help you to branch out as well.

I have decided on offering some Advertising/PR options.

Now every option is FREE (unless you are doing a giveaway)

I am not at the point of accepting paid advertisements yet so now is the time to jump on this opportunity wheneverything is FREE!

Want more info check {here} or email me at collectionsfrommyheart@gmail.com

Thanks!

Dont blink! Pt. 2

The days after giving birth seem like such a blur. Man, in all our early party days I have never been this sleep deprived. There were many days where lots of crying was involved and it wasnt just coming from the baby.

The past two years have been such a blessing. Our lil boy is truly a gift from God. Even though there are days I swear he is a devil!

Today I'm strolling through memory lane.

2 months - first time swimming

3 months

(boy do I miss those blue/grey eyes)

4 months at cousin Paris' bday party, aint I the cool dude

5 months

7 months, yea my mommy rocks

11 months old taking pix for my birthday invites

Look at that a year old and he's already sassy!

Potty training... cant wait to stop bying diapers!

Mother & son love

I look back at the last two years and just amazed at what a little boy my son has turned in to. He drives me nuts and he melts my heart.

I think I'm starting to get baby fever.

Im once again:



Don't Blink Pt 1

Picture taken 27 days before I gave birth.

It was just over two years ago Presidents Day weekend. My dad spent the weekend for his birthday. We brought him home on Monday and since we were in town I decided we better stop at Home Depot and pick up a gallon of fence stain because we had to finish the fence before the baby came in about 3 weeks.

We went home and I finished painting the fence. I had so much energy that I decided to clean the baby's room one last time so I vacuumed the whole room and even got the closet tracts. Well since I had the vacuum out I mine as well get the bathrooms too and under the toilets.

While sitting on the floor 37 weeks pregos and vacuuming under the toilets I realized I must be nesting. I remember asking my sister in law, how long after you start nesting do you go into labor and she said, "you're not nesting, you're just a clean freak"

That night at 1 am I woke up with tummy pains, I went to the bathroom and back to bed. Then I woke up again at 2am with tummy pains. I went to the bathroom again and then back to bed. 2:45 am more tummy pains and back to the bathroom I went thinking it must have been something I ate! I couldnt sleep after that. By about 3:30 I was pacing the floors. At 4am I knew it was contractions and started timing them, they were 5-7 mins apart.

I didnt want to head to the hospital too early and be sent home so I just toughed it out. At 4:30 I woke my sleeping husband and asked him to just keep me company on the couch since I was up pacing in the livingroom anyway.

He got up around 5:45 and asked me how long it was going on and I said well it started about 1am and I've been up since 2:45. He went into panic mode and said we need to leave now! I told him I want to wait as long as possable and I want to go to work, I have to train the temp girl today. He looked as if I had dropped the baby on the floor right then and there!

No you are NOT going to work was all he said and started getting ready to leave the house. I kept insisting I have to go to work, atleast leave some notes the temp girl wont be able to find anything. I insisted all the way to the hospital that we must stop at work in between each contraction, wincing in pain.

I was admited somewhere between 6:30 am and 7am, I couldnt tell it was before the hospital doors opened and my husband had to wait till 7am to move the car from the ER side. I was too busy pacing and trying to stretch my back with each contraction.

The nurse checked me around 7:30 am and announced that I was fully effaced, at zero station and a whopping 1 centimeter. ONE CENTIMETER? Are you serious? I'm going home! They stopped me before I could even get out of the bed and said no way this baby is coming before you know it.... well... little did we all know, he had another plan.

4 hours went by before they checked me again, only 4 cm and boy were the contractions killing me! By 12 noon I decided if I didnt get the epidural I would be too exhaused to push this baby out when it came time. I finally got an epidural around 1pm and they decided to enduce labor at the same time since we were not moving anywhere. Boy did that epidural take the edge off! Whew there are days when I want one from the brain down!

Then the waiting game... and waiting .... and waiting.

The lil guy FINALLY arrived at 8pm that night, but of course like my day was going not without some complications. He became stuck in the birthing canal and as I pushed and pushed I kept telling the nurse (because the dr was no where to be found since 11 that morning) that something was wrong I just knew it. She did a wonderful job of keeping me calm but I knew something was wrong when they started giving me oxygen and I watched the baby's heart monitor going lower and lower. He finally poped his head out after 20 mins of pusing and found that his umbillical cord was wrapped around his neck, not once but twice!

We welcomed our lil man at 6lbs 6oz and he was just perfect with a head FULL of hair.

He was healthy and hungry.

That day forever changed our lives

XOXO

I am Pouring my heart

Hoo are you # 33

It's time for another week of Hoo are you?Ready to get to know more about me? 

1. Where do you usually have your thermostat set at in the winter?
thermostat? whats a thermostat? just kidding... I know what it is but we dont have one, dont be jealous


2. What room do you tend to put off cleaning until last?

uh, that would probably be my own room or my closet. We throw everything in there to hide our mess

3. Do you like to clean with music on or off?
Love having the music on, its motivating and makes it go by so fast!

4. When do you take time to blog?

I do it right before bed. Its the only time theres quiet in my house.

5. How much time do you spend looking at other blogs a week?

According to my hubs, too much. The more time I spend looking at blogs the more ideas I get and he just rolls his eyes when I add another project to the growing to do list.

Alright now go head on over and see what the others are saying!

Old El Paso family taco night Review

A while back the great folks over at Blogspark asked if I would like to participate in Old El Paso family taco night. I love Mexican food and will never say no to a taco night!

First I got this awsome pack in the mail compliments of Blogspark and Old El Paso.

I took my visa card to our grocery store and I was very dissapointed at the selection of Old El Paso products. To be honest, they only had one variety of the taco shells. Tisk Tisk very dissapointed!! Majority of their products were Western Family Brand, I'm not against the Western Family brand at all. Infact I by their products all the time but I was very disapointed that there was no variety offered.

My family taco night hosted by Old El Paso had to be postponed.

I finally found a selection of Old El Paso products at our local (one and only) Walmart. Yay taco night back on. Old El Paso has a variety of products from package seasoning, beans, chilies, rice, salsas, sauces, taco shells and tortillas. My hubby likes his taco meat on rice (yuck) or crunchy tacos, I like my tacos with soft tacos, so their variety pack with soft and crunchy taco shells was perfect for us!

I made my hamburger according to the package directions.

And as it was simmering, I opened a Corona and got in the mood.

Using the cute serving dishes I recieved I had some fun and made a little bit of a spread so we could make our own tacos.

Yea, I got lazy with the taco meat and the beans, it just meant washing one more dish!

We had fun building our own tacos with whatever toppings we wanted. And after all that work they just toppled over and stuff started falling out.

So I ended up making a sort of taco salad with mine.

Then we found these... you remember that commercial with the little girl saying in spanish why dont we make the bottoms flat? Well duh, yea that was the greatest taco invention ever!

Seriouslly my husband thinks these flat bottomed taco shells are the best thing ever.

So what did we think? We really appreciated the opportunity to have this family taco night and actually since the first one had another one after.

Dinner really does bring our family together, we sit at the table and talk about our day and catch up on our otherwise busy lives. Taco night was very fun making our own tacos and having them fall appart on us too!

I did a little research on Old El Paso and Betty Crocker has some great recepies that are super fast to whip up and yummy too.

I really liked the taste of the taco seasoning it wasnt over powering and didnt bring up a case of heartburn. My husband on the other hand said the taste wasnt bold and strong enough for him. (he likes things salty, I dont) The assorted pack of hard and soft shells was great to please our different tastes and the flat bottomed shells rocked our world!

I would definately use the Old El Paso line of products again, especially now I know where to find them. I think next time I would definately try one of their many other packet seasonings and try the receipes on Betty Crocker.

Any of you got some good receipes?

Disclaimer: this review was sponsored by Old El Paso and Blog Spark. They sent me the serving dishes, a seasoning packet and a $10 visa giftcard to purchase the other items I used to make our family dinner. All products were provided by them but the opinions are all my own and I was not influenced in anyway.

I'm back and just in time for 4Ms

I took some time off to spend time with my family and enjoy my growing baby. He turned 2 last week and we had a little party for him at our house on Saturday. So even though I've been MIA I sure have been busy.

I'm back now and boy do I have a lot to catch ya'll up on.

So Im back just in time for another 4Ms!



Today I'm keeping it short so here are a few cute ones:

Maybe not the best story line for a love story but sooo cute.

I think this is the sweeteest. True love loves you just the way you are (and will buy you rogaine)



I dont know how much of a love song this one is, but it reminds you to live and Love deeply.



Have a great Monday I'll be back soon with all kinds of stories!

come and join the fun!

Bokeh Photo Party...

**UPDATE: I missed the party but go check out the photos anyway!**

I'm joining the photo party today over at

Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures.

I have been very MIA recently getting ready for my son's birthdaty party this weekend.

I can't belive he's two, time sure does fly by.

I was really excited for the theme of this party but the timing just wasnt right to play with my camera and get some good shots.

This photo happened totally by mistake.

It was our friend's bachelor bbq and I went down to their house to pick up my party boy (the hubs) and bring the bride back home.

I brought my camera cause the bride knew the boys wouldnt have a pix that she could put in her wedding album.

I saw these clothes pins on the line and thought it was pretty cool and I just snapped the shot, unknowing how totally awsome it would come out.

This one I posted before but I just really like how it looks.

And thats all she wrote for today.

Once I wipe up the tears and gather my feelings I'll share with you the precious gift that we received from God 2 years ago today.

Happy Birthday my lil man!

One more for Valentines!

I just had to add one more song for Valentines. I love this song and the story that goes along with it.

Enjoy!

Valentines Edition of 4M's..... ♥

Yay, super cool news from the 4M's (Monday Music Moves Me)
I was chosen as one in their "spotlight couple" so totally stoked (inset happy dance here)
I love music and this is such a fun party to participate in I love coming back every week so come on ya'll come and play too!




So today is Valentine's Day.
Throughout life I've had many different feelings towards this holiday.

At one point in my life my Valentines anthem was {this} song from Alanis Morissette and the modern day version from Cee Low {here}

(I'm posting just the links and not the videos due to well... profanity)

Is it because I'm happily married now for 10 years? maybe
Is it because I'm older and wiser? hehehe ok possible
Is it because I have realized that Valentine's doesnt have to be about getting a card in your locker from the guy you're crushing on, getting asked to dance at the high school dance or getting flowers sent to you at work infront of all your co-workers?
 I have found within myself that Valentine's Day should be to celebrate love no matter what the reason.
Love between friends, family or that special person.
Love can mean so many different things.

 

Here are some of my faves...

 

This one is for my hubby

I love this song for its words, because you're amazing just the way you are

I like this one cause it's so cute. And I'm totally crushing on Artie




These are classics, love them ♥





This one is adorable. makes me want to dance with my hubby.



And then dance with my hubby 20 years from now...

Do you feel the love??

Saturday Morning

It's Saturday morning... early Saturday morning and I'm up way earlier than I wish I was. And my son is sleeping in, of course he's gonna sleep in the morning I have to wake up early for a garage sale.

I got up half hour before it was to start and it was still dark outside so I decided to stay in bed for a little while longer. Guess I wasnt the only one in the neighborhood that decided to do that because by our second customer they told us a lot of people still havent set up yet or had sheets still covering their sale items. It's kinda chilly today and overcast. Perfect staying in bed weather... not so perfect community garage sale weather.

One good thing about getting up this early, ok a few good things:

1. Sitting in my garage drinking my coffee and my husband and I are watching whales just outside the harbor. How many of you can say you do that on a Saturday morning?

(no whales in the pix I just wanted you all to see what were looking at)

2. My husband and I are spending time together without the kid nagging to one of us, peace and quiet.

3. I'm having a chance to blog on a Saturday morning!

Have a great day everyone and heres hoping the sun comes out today.

Friday Photo Flashback

It's Aloha Friday... no work till Monday...

(actual SONG!)

Well actually TONS of work at home.

As much as I want to crawl into my bed and beg my husband to let me sleep in tomorrow I cant. We have our community garage sale and I'm looking forward to clearing out some clutter.

Next week is also my son's birthday so we've got a little bit of prepping to do for our cookout next Saturday. I cant belive my baby is gonna be two!

(I'm sobing right now)

Well in celebration of the end of the week its time for Friday Photo Flashback over at More than Words

My friend sent this pix to me she was just learning her new scanner so you can see the photo sitting on the scanner. This was our friend's birthday party in the 7th grade! Probably about 1991.

I'm the bottom row middle.

I kinda giggle when I see this picture. Lots of memories and some stories I dont need to bring up. LOL

Have a great productive weekend everyone!

slacking...

I've been major slacking on crafting, sewing and all my projects at home recently and my fingers are gettting really itchy to change something. When I get to this point I usually get overwhelmed and make a list way too long and then dont even know where to start.

I'm loving my new cricut and I've been practicing with small projects but now I'm ready to move on to bigger and better projects.

Like vinyl and stencils for hand painted projects.

(I have ideas for atleast 3 projects right now)

I have so much sewing and reupholstering that needs to be done.

Like my patio chairs that I talked about forever and a year ago,

some throw pillows for my livingroom, covering storage containers with fabric...

Lets not even get into what I want to paint!!!

When I get to this point I usually end up getting nothing done.

ooohh... so may projects so little time.. and money

Well this weekend it is my goal to get atleast 2 things off my list of to dos.

We have a community garage sale this Saturday so I'm hoping to get rid of some of my clutter and it will motivate me to get back in the grove again.

Ok, wish me luck!

Thankful Tuesday Linky Party

It's time again to tell us all what you're thankful for.

Sometimes life throws a curve ball at us all, but we can always find something to be thankful for, something the next person might not have, something we've been blessed with for a specific reason even if we dont realize it at the time.

This week I was thankful for my stove.

A girl's gotta craft where she's gotta craft.

Whatever works right?

Atleast I had the chance to practice with my cricut and make a little poster for my brother in law and his girlfriend's baby shower.

(which in turn they were thankful for)

(kindness and love returns itself 10 fold)

I'm thankful that Pringles invented those single serving take-a-long packs of chips. It makes long car rides much easier (and quieter) to handle

I'm thankful that someone is confident in my ability to pay off debt, but seriouslly Chase? Seriouslly?!

How many credit card offers do you really need to send me in 3 days?

I already have one of your cards do I need 5 more?

I'm also thankful for the opportunity that blogspark gave me to test out family taco night. Stay tunned for more on that.

Alright gang give it your best shot. What are you thankful for?

You know how it goes...

Link up and put my button somewhere in your post or on your blog so others can come and join in.

Thankful Tuesday...

Hey everyone!

Thankful Tuesday will be up later tonight so please come back and play!

Remember to enjoy the little things in life and be thankful!

Love Train... it's a love train baby

It's time again for

This Week's theme is Love songs

This is a classic....

This reminds me of high school...



A local favorite...



This song makes me all giddy



Love this song, my next wedding... actually when when wd do our vow renewal were so dancing to this...



This is my fav, it was our wedding song...