Feeling Creative

It took me about 2 days to really finish my office, but I did it. You can see my before and after pics. Notice I have created myself a nice little sewing area.

 

On that note I made my first purse today, I used my fat pants. I say that because over the past year, I have lost a good 40 lbs. I went from a size 18W to a size 14 regular. Huge accomplishment, I am still working on losing more weight and getting toned. Right now it is delayed due to medical issues, but hopefully I will get back on track in about a month. Anyhow, a little off track but here is my purse. (I think there is something wrong with my blogger or I did something wrong, because this purse was done before my surgery and my office was cleaned before my surgery as well.)

Random Things

So, I am sitting in the office the other day and I hear this slow clunking on the floor. I turn around and this is what I see. She was wearing her sister's shoes, not only that they were two different ones. She found this whole get-up all on her own and was so proud of herself. Maybe I should find her a pair of shoes.















And, this is what you get when the kids sneak your camera:

We went to dinner at a friend's house a few weeks ago. The kids were all kinds of excited, we haven't been anywhere together as a family in a while with our van being broke down. But they got to get all dressed up and when we got there they went out into the backyard and found CARS!! WooHoo!!

 

  

  

 Gabby had a litter of pups on 8/23/2009. She had 14 but 4 did not make it, so we are left with 6 males and 4 females. They are all fat and happy now, they had their tails and dews done on Monday. I have really never been around a dog when she is giving labor. She started laboring outside and I had to get her back into the house with the pups she already had to her kennel in the house we had set up for her. Talk about an adrenaline dump. I freaked! Luckily Curtis was on the phone and calmed me down. He came home on his lunch to check on things. All was well, I did pretty good that day. Was exhausted, and a little scratched up. She started having the pups behind a short palm tree we have in the backyard and I had to quickly crawl in there to grab the pups to take her inside. Totally worth it. The kids are excited to see the puppies, they want to keep them, but no we have no room. Plus, the money from these pups is our Winnemucca money. They are growing fast. 

This is Pixie one of our chihuahua/pug mixes. She likes to put herself on pedestals.

And last but not least, Curtis and I found a yummy looking recipe in a book the other day. Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter and Fudge Brownies. They turned out pretty good, but they were a pain the butt to make. It will be a while if at all before I make those again. So, I took a picture so it would last longer (haha I made a joke!). 

I guess that is all for now. I cut the boys' hair last night. I will take pictures of them when they wake up and add them later.

Oh, I almost forgot. Check out the fishies on the side there, if you click it will drop food. Also, they follow your mouse around. I know kinda silly, but its the little things that amuse me the most.

Blessed be,

Brandy

Homemade Play Dough

I found this awesome easy recipe for making play dough at home. With the four kids, it can get expensive to purchase it in the store. It always gets left out to dry. I thought I would share it. I found it in a book I got from my brother-in-law (thanks Jay). It is so easy to make, I let each kid pick the color they want and make a separate batch for each of them. It usually lasts a good month if they put it away every time after playing with it. The cookbook I found it in is called KidsCooking: A Very Slightly Messy Manual, by the editors of Klutz Press.

Play Dough Recipe

1 cup white flour
1/4 cup salt
1 tbsp cream of tartar
1 cup water
2 tsp food coloring
1 tbsp vegetable oil

1. Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar in a medium pot.
2. Add water, food coloring and oil.
3. Stir over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Don't worry if the mixture looks like a globby mess; it'll turn into dough!
4. When the mixture forms a ball in the center of the pot, take it out nd put it on a floured surface. Squich it and punch it around a bit; this is called kneading.
5.When you're done, put it in a plastic bag or airtight container and store in the fridge.

Update...

I was talking to my mom the other day, and she made it a point to tell me that I haven't updated in a while, and she was right.So, I figured I would do that now. I had to go back and find out when my last post was and well.. it was April. We are now almost at the end of August. Let's see... I turned 33 in June. We stayed on the strip for my party. We had a blast!! Of course, we always have a story... so here goes. On our way back the next morning, we had a blow out on the freeway, took our entire bumper off the van and the gas cover, it also took some stabilizing thing to hold the part of the gas tank where you put the nozzle in to pump the gas, cause it is all wobbly now. After having that all fixed and drivable again, a few weeks later it crashes and burns. We think it is the computer but still working on it. Meanwhile, we are getting by with the car we have.

The kids are still growing fast. Phoebe turned 2 on July 23rd. We had a quaint little party for her, with some friends here in town. Nothing like our parties in Phoenix with all the family and friends we had there, but we still had fun.

Her birthday dress and a ponytail!!! She does the squishy face like Harley used to do when he was little. If you look real close on the wall behind her, you will see her artwork.


We had a BBQ, she loves corn on the cob.

I had to put that one in there to show of her ponytail!


We did a craft the other day, they made glasses. They didn't last long but they had fun.

I tried and tried but could not get a picture of Phoebe with her glasses on.
The kids posing before We found us a hot tub off of Craigslist for free and have it in the garage, I know a little redneck, but we are limited on room and well, don't care, hehe, we have fun with life.
Curtis and I have been spending our free time planning our move to our property up north. I have another blog for that. http://thefretwellfarm.blogspot.com/. Don't expect too much info on there for a while, but that is where we will chronicle our adventure, when we get there. I am going back to school, hopefully in October. I will be going for my bachelor's in Information Technology with a Software Emphasis. I found the online university where it is competency-based. This means I will move forward based on my knowledge of the subjects. They are 6 month terms and I can move at my pace and not on a rigid schedule. I am very excited, I have missed being in school. http://www.wgu.edu/
My surgery for my hysterectomy is on September 3rd. We are hoping they will just take my ovaries, but if need be I will have a full hysterectomy. I will keep you posted on that.
I think I will sign off for now. I need to work on the post about the puppies.....
Blessed Be,
Brandy

We are still here....

Okay, I know it has been well over six months since I last posted. But in my defense I did point out that I am not good at this, lol.

Well it is almost the end of April already and we have been in Las Vegas for over a year now. I guess we survived the move. Although we still miss family and friends dearly, and have talked about moving back. At this point we will be staying put until we find out about Curtis' job and if he will be entering the Assistant Manager program soon, he has put so much work and effort into it so far that it would be stupid not to stick it out here, instead of starting over in Phoenix.

The kids are doing great, I am working on pictures for them. I was trying to be good and clean up my computer but instead I deleted all, and I mean ALL of my photos of my computer. I was able to recover them but in the process I recovered EVERY single photo that ever crossed my path on this computer, including the cookies from the Internet, so it is taking me time to sort through them all.

Harley is 9 now and is smarter than ever! Cody is 7 and is just as stubborn as Curtis, hehe. Piper will be 5 in September, and she is a pistol. I am working on her and getting her to wear girl clothes, a slow process but I will make it happen! Ha Ha. Phoebe is growing too fast for me. She is walking all over the place, and has her own unique personality just as the other kids have their own unique personality.

I am doing well, still working for the cab company. This alone is an experience. On track for a promotion.

Well, I will be back and I PROMISE I will keep up on this thing and be adding pictures.

Update....

I am trying to get this blog going and I was looking through some old posts and realized I had started one and never finished it. As I read it, I thought to myself 'this is good, why didn't I ever post it?'. So here it is. I made some adjustments.

Curtis - Working graves at Wal-Mart as a support manager. He is enjoying it and is on the list to enter the Assistant Manager program. He is working early mornings now, and not enjoying it so much anymore. He thinks if he can get to a different store things might be different. He took his name off the list for the Asst. Mgr. Program, so that he can do an easy transfer to Winnemucca in March.

Brandy - Still working with the cab company on the Las Vegas Strip. I am waiting on word about a promotion. Got that 'promotion', tons more responsibilities but no raise in pay, not sure if you can even call that a promotion.

Harley - He is 8 now. Unfortunately, our move took us further away from family and those big parties we would have for the kids we still managed to have a good time. He is so smart, I have to ask him how to work the tv sometimes. I always prided myself on the ability to keep up with the latest and greatest in technology and now my eight-year-old is getting ready to surpass me. He is reading very well, although he doesn't care to sit down and read a book. I am hoping to change that in the near future. Harley is a Momma's Boy through and through. He is becoming more attached to me every day. I love it! It won't last long, so I am enjoying it while I can. He is 9 now and still progressing at astonishing leaps and bounds.

Cody - Just recently turned 7 this past October. He could not wait till it was his turn to have the day be about CODY!!! He doesn't forget a thing, and makes sure you won't either. We spent about 3 months counting down to his birthday. We again had an intimate pary for him, but he was just happy to celebrate Cody's Day! Cody is always full of questions, he can talk your ear off. I have just recently witnessed him becoming like his Grandpa Naecker... all three kids were watching tv the other day and Cody had seen the cartoon already. A funny part was coming up and he proceeded to get excited and make sure Harley was watching every second so he didn't miss a thing. Even while Harley was staring at the tv, Cody was saying "watch Harley watch, here it comes watch. Are you watching? Harley look, watch!!!" All the while he is laughing at the joke that hasn't even happened yet. Then, once the part was over, he had to confirm with Harley that he had seen it and to make sure he thought it was as funny as Cody thought it was. Those of you who know my dad will understand and be laughing as much as I did when I saw this happening. What can I say about Cody... he is unique.

Piper - hmmmm, what can I say about her. She is four years old now, and has a mind as sharp as a tack. She is quick witted, and has a come-back for everything. She has now started doing what I did when I was little. When she is doing something she knows she is not supposed to be doing.... I, of course ask her the official mommy question... "What are you doing?" and her reply is "Nothing" in her cute little humming type voice, trying to sound as innocent as she can. Oh my goodness what am I getting myself into? Another one of her favorite come-backs is "there is something wrong with my brain" this is supposed to make it okay that she has just spent the last two hours cutting an entire spiral notebook into little pieces, page by page and filling up the many containers she has accumulated. The thing is some how these pieces of paper that she as so delicately cut up so small always end up all over her floor. By that time she is "too tired" or her "legs hurt" so she can't help with the clean up. She is daddy's princess and she knows it! I really need to keep a journal, and I think I might, just to keep track of some of the things she says, although I am not sure how to express her facial expressions that go along with the things that come out of her mouth.

Phoebe -This is where the blog ended... so here goes. She is following in her sister's footsteps. She doesn't take crap from anyone. I am able to get her into more girl clothes and fix her hair more so that is a plus (for me anyway). She is growing so fast and is 2 already. She doesn't wear shoes, she doesn't care for them.

I am so proud of each one of them and how they are becoming their own person. I sometimes and a patience issue with them but I check myself and realize that's what makes them so special.


Blessed Be,
Brandy

Welcome to the Fretwell Family's New Blog

Okay, I loved Tammy's blog so much I thought I would follow in her footsteps. I figure I will do my best to keep the blog updated as much as possible about our goings on here in Sin City. The picture above was taken shortly after we arrived in Vegas. I will post more over the next week to fill everyone in on our stay here so far.