PBS Remixed

Isn't PBS the best? Everyone I know has at least one past or current PBS favorite. And now I want to introduce you to PBS Remixed! First, let's start with the fabulous Mister Rogers singing "Garden of Your Mind".

Now you NEED to watch Bob Ross performing "Happy Little Clouds". This is Emily's favorite. I think she likes watching him paint. Who doesn't?

Next up, good ol' LeVar Burton from Reading Rainbow.

Didn't that make your day better?

Arts and Crafts

I have decided that crafting is therapeutic. It's something that is just for me. An activity that doesn't have anything to do with my identity as a wife, a mother or any of my other roles. This is Alicia stuff only! And I'm going to start sharing my art-ing and crafting here. You can be sure that whatever groovy things you might see here, I've got lots of other struggles (see my post about keeping it real).

Let's begin with my crafting bio. Generally, I'm a Recipe Follower, meaning I'm not usually creative on my own, but I do great if I'm following someone else's example, especially if it comes with instructions or a tutorial. I like re-purposing, upcycling, making things for my daughter, crocheting, and most recently, paint-by-numbers. I usually craft after Emily "I-have-to-touch-everything-even-if-you-just-told-me-not-to" is in bed. I find it relaxing, but stimulating in an oxymoronic way.

Here is my latest creation:

(Don't you just love the toddler easel? The belly photo bomb was an awesome bonus!)

This particular piece of art started out as a crappy painted canvas board from the thrift store. I bought it (and a couple others) with the optimistic idea that I could just paint over the original amateur art and reuse it. I scrolled through my DIY and Crafts board on Pinterest and found a couple of projects I wanted to do. These were my inspiration: 

Source

Source

Originally, I was planning to make it look more like the first idea, so I bought primary colored paint, but the more I looked at the second idea, the more I liked the metallic gold underneath. So, for better or for worse, I combined the ideas.

I used Folk Art acrylic paint and your run-of-the-mill painters tape. I painted over the original painting with about 4 layers of metallic gold. This didn't cover as flawlessly as I would have liked. It was a little streaky. Next time, I'll try spray paint.

I was pretty random with my tape placement, but I did try to make sure to press it down securely so the paint wouldn't leak underneath. I wanted an overall metallic shine to the piece so I mixed each color with some of the gold. I wish the photo reflected the shininess better. 

Next time I think I'll try using thinner tape. I'm also thinking about trying one with black lines and making it look like stained glass. Wouldn't that be cool?!

Picture of the Day

I love her face. My sweet girl. 

Picture of the Day

Emily sleeping on the floor in the middle of a mess of books and animals. What a life. :)

Keeping It Real

First, read this: http://dugansincahoots.com/2014/01/23/we-cant-be-friends/

My dear friends, I can GUARANTEE you that my house will be a mess when you come to visit. I like to keep it real. Nope. That's not true. I would prefer to have my house look clean and well decorated all the time, you know, like in BH&G, just so I could enjoy it. But I just can't keep up with that kind of lifestyle. I would go insane. And my family probably would too. So, I try to adjust my expectations of myself, and pretend that I like to keep it real. I was sick for more than half of January, so things have definitely started to slide around the here. Here's what it looks like right now, this very minute.

Part of me says, "Eek!" Another part of me says, "Are you crazy sharing this mess with the whole world?" Yet another part of me wants everyone to know what my average, everyday house looks like because I have a feeling that if we all saw each other's everyday houses, we wouldn't spend so much time stressing about what everyone else thinks.

So my living room (and all the other rooms in my house) is a mess. But do you know what else I see? Victories. Wins. See that pile of laundry on the couch? Sure, it's not folded and my husband's work shirts are getting all wrinkled and the socks are getting lost in the nether regions of the couch......but it's clean laundry gosh darn it! WIN. See all those books on the bookshelves? I have a family that loves reading. WIN. And the bookshelves have only been in that spot for a couple of weeks and my three-year-old has yet to take the books down or mess them up. WIN. See the laptop open on the ottoman? That means that it's quiet time and my daughter is actually staying in her bedroom for once. WIN. Now, see this pile of puzzles in the playroom?

This means that a couple of days ago, when all I could do was sit on the couch and eat rice cakes, Emily actually played by herself for a little while. WIN - with her that's a HUGE WIN actually. And now that I feel better, she has given me the opportunity to remind her that we clean up after ourselves. WIN. 

In so many ways, my life is messy. But maybe I can keep reminding myself to see the "wins" and posts like the link above will remind both of us that our messes help us keep it real and that's what we're really looking for isn't it? REAL friends with REAL lives and REAL messes. Keep it real, my friends. Keep it real.

Our Adoption Profile

Our profile has been approved and published! Wooooohoooo!! Check it out.. I can't even think of what else to say. It's such a relief to have it done and out there for birth parents to see. Now all that's left is for us to wait for someone to contact us. If you know of anyone who might want to place their baby for adoption, we would very much appreciate your recommendation. Contact us at robertandaliciaadopt@gmail.com.

Winter

I'm back! Here's a summary of the last two months:

We had a great Christmas visiting family in Oklahoma. I can't even remember what we did for New Year's, so it must have been mediocre. I spent most of January helping a friend sell some of her things on eBay. Honestly, it's been a lot more work than I anticipated, but I'm glad I can help her out. We've also been completing adoption training and finalizing our profile. And we finally finished! All that is left is for the case worker to approve it and publish it to the website. When I called the LDS Family Services office to make sure all of our paperwork was in order, I told the secretary that I felt like there should be some sort of fanfare or applause soundtrack when you get everything done. We've been working on our application for TWO years. I'm confident that the timing is right though. Somewhere out there, there is a woman who doesn't know what to do. She's pregnant, but for one reason or another, she knows she can't give her child the life he/she deserves. She's looking at the adoption profiles, hoping that she'll find the right couple, that she'll know she's making the right choice. And she'll find Robert and Alicia, and she'll know that this is the family that her child belongs to. And it will be the beginning of a great family relationship for everyone.

As soon as our profile is published, I'll post the link here and y'all can start sharing!