Super Bowl Bake Off

Last Sunday, the middle schoolers had a bake off... with a football theme, of course, since it was Super Bowl Sunday.  :)  Some of my middle school girls came over on Saturday & we "baked" a big rice krispie football jersey.  We knew Green Bay wasn't in the super bowl this year (sadly), but Marshall Johnson's favorite team is Green Bay so we were looking for some bonus points.  :)

A few of my sweet girls!

Our masterpiece... 

There were about 30 cakes at the cake off

This one won 1st place.

We got 3rd... nice job girls!  :)

19 weeks!

My baby bump at 19 weeks...  :)

18 weeks!

Here's my baby bump at 18 weeks... 

It's growing, I promise.  :)

Jumbo wooden ruler growth chart

I saw a ruler growth chart on Pinterest and I fell in love with it.  So when Aaron went out of town last weekend & I got bored, I figured, why not?!  I definitely had the time.  Here are some pictures... 

The finished product.  :)
Except that I'm not sure where to hang it.

I got my dad to go with me to Lowes
to help pick out (and carry) the wood.

I ended up getting a 1x8x6 piece of oak wood. 

Then mom helped me sand it...

...and I stained it.

The stain I used was called Early American. 

Then I used a 90 degree tool to make the inch marks.

I used a black paint pen to make all the marks.
I made the "quarter" lines 2 inches long
and the "eighth" lines 1 inch long.

For the numbers, I used the font "Century" (size 180).
I traced the numbers with a ball point pen & it left an
indention that I was able to re-draw with my paint pen.  

Then I put a clear coat on top to protect it. 

Here is the clear coat I used.

And then I nailed a sawtooth picture hanger to the back to hang it.

Voila!  My gargantuan ruler.  :)
My ruler goes from 6" to 6'6" so I can hang it 6" above the floor.

When I told Aaron on the phone that I was making a growth chart, he was picturing a little growth chart to measure a little baby... so he was a little surprised to come home to a ruler taller than he is. Now I just can't wait to have a little kiddo to start measuring.  :)  

Oh...and not related at all, here is a picture of my first purchase for the nursery... number knobs for the dresser / changing table!  I am a sucker for anything related to letters or numbers, so I fell in love with these right away!  Aaron doesn't see the beauty in them as much as I do, but he's sweet & let me order them.  Plus, we have 9 knobs on the dresser... and they came in a pack of 9. Coincidence? Pssshhh, not a chance.  :)

Vance & Renate gave us this dresser / changing table & we love it!
And see ... 9 knobs.  :)

Now just picture these not painted red and ... aren't they fun?! 

1 project down. 500+ more to go before July.  :)

When the Hubby's Away...

Aaron was on the Westover Men's Retreat this weekend, so I was all alone.  Which I do not love.  I can handle a few hours of alone time, but then I get really antsy and wish he was home again.  And my plan for the weekend was just to catch up on my sleeeeep.  Which did not happen.  It ended up being a very busy, but fun, weekend!  :)

On Friday, I went to dinner at my parents' house
(I realized eating alone is my least favorite part
of Aaron being gone!) and then made them go
to Lowes with me because I got in a DIY mood.

Then the next day, after cleaning the house & running errands,
I went to lunch & bowling with mom, Josh, and Aaron Lee.  :)

Josh is a pro.

Mom & Josh.

Then back to my DIY project.

And then I went to dinner downtown with Jessica!
If you've never tried Opa, do.  It's delicious.

And lastly, a movie in bed!  :)  I love sleepovers!

So that's what I do when I have no hubby.  It was a fun weekend, but it made me thankful that Aaron doesn't have a job that makes him travel a lot.  :)

Beginnings of a Baby Bump

It's officially begun.  My baby bump is starting to stick out.  :)  I'm right about at 17 weeks (almost 4 months...wow!) and getting to that point where I'm not very comfortable in my clothes anymore.  It's not a big bump (yet) but I promise it's there... 

17 week bitty bump

This morning at school, a second grader walked up to me in the hallway & started rubbing my stomach.  When I asked him what he was doing, he just looked at me confused and said "Oh.  I thought there was a baby in there." and then proceeded to go to class.  Whew, I'm so thankful I'm actually pregnant.