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This, That, and Everything in Between- May ’18

Hello everyone!
Long time no see! 
We are still busy with pre-moving things, plus with end of school year activities and Miss P’s birthday so I am just now getting around to sharing my May This and That post. 
 When I first started getting my photos ready for this post, I didn’t think we did a lot and that it would have been a short post but that was far from the truth! We did a lot more than I thought and had some good times! 
I’m just going to start with a picture I snapped of Miss S that was too cute not to share. I went to check on her before I went to bed one night at the beginning of the month and found her like this- all snuggled with her blankie and looking sweet as can be.

And how about another super cute snuggly, sleeping picture but this time of Poppy?! 
She was sleeping in her favorite chair in the living room and Miss P’s favorite doll was in it and she curled right up next to it. Miss P actually put her paw on top of her doll but she continued to sleep like this for a long time so I had to capture a photo. 
Miss S had her very first school program at the beginning of the month. She only went to preschool for 2 days a week but she worked so hard on her songs and did so amazingly well during her performance! I was so proud of her and that she didn’t get scared once she had a large audience to sing in from of and she knew all her words and hand gestures.

 Miss S LOVES to play dress up, LOVES, and one day she was dressed as Rapunzel but was pretending to be a teacher reading me a book. I hope she always uses her creative imagination!
 When spring time arrives in WI, know that it is also time for lots and lots of bunnies to show up! 
We have had our fair share of bunny burrows in our yard throughout our time here in our house and it is always so fun to see the momma bunny hanging out and then seeing the babies when they start coming out of the burrow. We actually had a burrow at the base of the tree behind the girls in the photo and this momma bunny was totally cool with just hanging out near her babies along with the girls right there playing outside. The girls loved it too! 
Travis actually caught one of the babies when he found it while cutting the grass and we let the girls hold it for a few. I took photos of it but they must be on Travis’s phone.
 The girls love dandelions, LOVE!! This field near our house recently flooded when we had a lot of rain at the end of April, early May, and from the water line down to the water was a sea of yellow at one point. We took the girls down there to let them pick some dandelions and play a little and they were in heaven!
 
 I signed the girls up for a 4 week mini gymnastics glass in May and as usual, they really enjoyed it. I think this was the best class they’ve taken yet. They really worked hard and learned new techniques this time.
 Mid May, Travis’s brigade at a military ball. Travis was the MC for the ball so we got to get all dressed and have a nice evening out. 
 The day before Mother’s day the girls and I painted rocks for a fun little activity. We were going to go hiking on Mother’s day so thought they would be fun to take and hide along the trail while we hiked.
 BUT… Miss S had other plans for Mother’s Day. She woke not feeling well with a cough and running a fever so our hiking plans got put on the back burner. We did have a nice day at home even though she wasn’t feeling very well.
 Our town did a little Wine Walk where you would go into the shops downtown and each store was passing out little wine tasters. We had a little date evening out with some friends and it was a lot of fun!
 Fort McCoy had a family day towards the end of the month where they had lots of activities for families to come out and do and cool things to see. Travis actually had to work the event so we stopped by for a little while to play and see everything that was on display.
Have you ever seen a bunny burrow?! Well, here you go!
We were on a walk on day and saw all these baby bunny in a large dirt/rock pile in one of our friend’s yard. We were amazed at how many were in there and it actually looked like there might have been another one at one point in the pile. 
 There is a museum in our town and it has been on our bucket list to visit for quite some time. The downstairs is all about the history of our town and our county while upstairs is a bicycle museum and a museum for Astronaut, Deke Slayton who was actually from Sparta. We finally make it over there for a visit one evening when we had a showing on our house and we needed to go somewhere. It was a fun little adventure.
 Miss P’s school did a cancer walk toward the end of the month and Miss S and I went to walk with them at the football field. Here’s a shot of Miss P with all of her classmates and teacher.
 Miss S had her last day of school on the 23rd. She definitely loved school and learned and grew so much over the year.

 Miss P turned 6, SIX people, on the 24th. We had a super busy day that day so we all surprised her at school with Taco Bell for lunch then we opened presents and had cake right after school before we had to go back to her school for an event before heading to S’s school for an event. After S’s event, she picked where she wanted dinner and we had some friends come eat with us and then made a stop at the park.
She had a great birthday and I still can’t believe she is 6!
 After going to P’s school event we quickly headed to Miss S’s school for her end of the year program. It was graduation for the kids going to kindergarten but she still received a fun little memory book and she got to say goodbye to all her friends.

 Our kitties, like each other but I can’t say they love each other. They’ll play, they tend to take turns when eating even though they each have their own bowls, they don’t sleep together so when I found them together in the basement window watching all the birds and squirrels in the yard together, I HAD to take a picture of them!
 Memorial Day, Travis had to give a speech at an event in another town so we all tagged along. After the event we decided to have a family adventure canoeing. The girls loved it and we all had a great time!
 Since we are moving, we have been trying to take full advantage of our screened in porch while we still have it. We have all been enjoying it to its fullest and we are all going to miss it so very much!! 
I think that’s it for now! I’m sure I am forgetting something but the days are running together at this point since school is out and we are prepping for our move. 
Stay tuned for our June adventures next month!

June 13, 2018 By
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House Update: Craft Room Reveal

Today’s the day! 
After 3 yrs of living in our house, I am FINALLY revealing my craft room with all of you! 
And let’s be honest, if our house wasn’t on the market, I have no idea if I ever would have gotten around to sharing my room with you even though I have wanted too because the room was always crazy, unorganized mess! 
 Would you like to see what I am talking about?
I shared this photo on Instagram last year before I decided I needed to do a massive purge and organize this room. Granted, this was at its worse because a suitcase full of stuff wasn’t always in the room. I took these shortly after returning home from SNAP and I had my suitcase in there waiting for me to empty all the swag.
But anyways…. everything was a mess! Every surface was covered, the floor was covered, it was ridiculous! 
Before I show you the room, let me show you what it looked like when we bought the house. 

The walls were painted a light baby blue with carpet on the floor.
This room was used as a guest room by the previous owners but I definitely had other plans as soon as I saw it.
Now let me show you what the room looks like today and all clean! 
My craft room is nothing fancy and over the top but I have loved having this space and a designated room where I could actually close the door. haha
As you step into the room, this is your view. 
White cabinet to the right, large hutch straight ahead, table to the left along with lots of other storage options and that other door it my large closet.
Stepping in and to the left, is a large white cabinet that is full of stuff!
Next to the cabinet, I have a small table with our printer on it with some art work I painted on the wall above.
 On top of the cabinet I have some fun little projects that I created and this frame for a little encouragement for this room.
Swinging around to the left is my large hutch. You may recognize this piece from past posts on our house or photos on Instagram and it was previously painted beige. When I started my whole craft room purge, I finally got around to repainting it to this super fun bright teal and I LOVE this pop of color in the room.
 This piece is the perfect place for my cutting machines as well at tons of supplies and even some decor items.
I have a large walk in closet in this room. It is under the stairs but it has a large amount of shelves and still tons of space for lot of things. I have a small cabinet in the closet along with way too much stuff. haha Past projects, fabric totes, boxes with old memories, supplies and so much more! 
I even have a side where I have wrapping paper hanging and a tote full of gift wrap supplies. 
See! I told you this closet was huge! 
Right outside the closet, I have my small little painted bird shelf I made years ago and it holds canvases, embroidery hoops, small pallets, and then I have a tv sitting on top of it. 
I use a large, long folding table as my craft table in the room. I always had/have the best intention to make it cute by adding a skirt but I’ve never been able to get around to it. But it works great at a work space for me. I have a carousel on the end full of scissors, pens, markers, glue glue, rulers, and tons more along with a small tool box, paper pads, and baby wipes. 
On the left side of my room as you walk in is this large storage cube system, along with a roller cart and decorations.
I bought this rolling cart at Michael’s and have paint, markers, canvases, and some random supplies on it.
I had a small little space between the door and the storage cubes and this cart fit in perfectly in that little space so it doesn’t end up as a drop zone for clutter.
I’ve had these storage cubes for year and I still love them! They hold scrapbook paper, paint, painting supplies, glitter, glue, and well, you can probably name it and it is somewhere in this area. lol
I created a gallery wall above the storage cubes and just went surfing my craft room and house for items that I already owned to put on it. I love how it turned out with it’s mix of projects I’ve created, photos, and quotes to keep me motivated in my space.
Then, between the storage cubes, and the window wall, I have this small shelf with more supplies. On each side I have some canvases I’ve painted or are waiting to be painted. Not really the most ideal spot for these but they are out of the way so it works. 
Lastly, here is a shot of my curtains. They are one of my favorites things in this room. 
I actually bought two sets of these curtains on Joss and Main but have seen them on other sites as well and since they are actually too short for the windows they are on, and the fact that I love them so much, they are coming with us when we move. haha
And if you noticed the rug in the room I bought that at Wayfair and I love it as well.
 So that’s my craft room reveal in a nut shell! 
Like I said, nothing super crazy and over the top but I love this space and will miss it when we move!

May 9, 2018 By
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I’m Taking a Step Back…

You may have noticed that I’ve been a bit quiet lately around here. I have been thinking about this for some time now and finally decided to sit down and write about it. 
Around the holidays with family visiting, followed by sickness hitting our house, I wasn’t thinking about blogging very much. I wasn’t thinking about crafting much either. I worked hard during the 4th quarter but feel like I didn’t get much out of it, at all. Blog times have changed since I started A Glimpse Inside back in 2009, I get that, but to be honest, I miss the old times. So it has been hard for me to come back in the new year excited about blogging.
So with that said, I’m taking a little step back from my little old blog.
I’ve never been a blogger that stresses over numbers and making money, maybe I should have been, but I see my fellow bloggers that do stress over that stuff and see them freak out over every little fluctuation and I didn’t want to do that. I started this blog for fun. I enjoyed it. I didn’t want to make it a stressful job. I just wanted to keep it fun and a place for me to connect to others while I share my ideas. I’ve met some of the greatest people that I am thankful to call my peers and friends by starting this blog.
 I’m not getting rid of the blog, it will always be here. I will still pop in and share projects when I work on them. I will still share family updates. I
have a few project ideas in the works so expect to see those soon. The
Handmade Hangout Party will still be up every Thursday evening along
with Must Have Craft Tips every Friday.
 I just don’t want to feel the pressure that I HAVE to work on something to blog about if I don’t feel the creative urge to craft. I feel like I am letting people down when I don’t blog and I want to put out great content not ok content just to have content. I hope when I do post, that you guys will still be here to check out what I have to share or say. 
We will be moving this year as well, yep-again, so it will be crazy when that time comes around. 
Now I’m not saying I am taking a step back and never coming back to posting regularly but I can’t make any promises either. I feel a little lost right now and I feel like I need to find that one thing that I absolutely love to create/do, and work on that for a while. So wish me luck in that department because I have been thinking about that for quite some time as well and I feel like I’ve had very little motivation or time to actually sit down and truly figure out what I want to do.

 So for now, this is see you soon. When, I’m not sure, like I’ve mentioned I do have some project ideas to work on, so I’ll be back! And I’ll always see you on Thursdays and Fridays! 🙂
Oh, and you can still find me on all my social channels! 
Much love! 
xoxoxo

January 23, 2018 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between: December ’17

Hello everybody!
Long time no see! 
I have been really quiet lately, for a few reasons, but I thought I would pop in to share what we were up to in December. 
 It was a pretty busy month with parties, family visiting, and sickness hitting the house but we made some fun memories.

We started off the month with a night of fun with the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train. This is such a fun annual event and the weather was actually pretty warm for it this year which was good since the train was running a tad behind schedule due to some rain. We met up with our friends and had fun singing and dancing to some holiday music. Plus, we saw St. Nick!
A few days later, we became foster parents to two adorable little kittens. These little siblings were fun little additions to have and the girls were so smitten with having baby kitties in the house. 
Travis’s work Christmas party was at a large farm nearby that has an event barn and we had to go decorate the whole place. They have animals and Miss S had fun running around looking at them and playing with daddy.

 Our first snowfall came at the beginning of the month and we actually haven’t gotten much since, which I am totally fine with!
 We had a fun time at Travis’s work Christmas party and had a visit from Santa and both, yes BOTH, girls actually talked to him. We had to REALLY convince Miss S that it was ok to talk to him and even though she was reluctant.
 Back in April when my parents came for a visit they brought all sorts of old things that they still had, such as old toys and costumes. Miss S discovered this angel costume which was actually my Halloween costume when I was her age and the cutest little angel she did make!
 I spent time in the kitchen baking all sorts of cookies for out neighbors and the girls helped me make the sugar cookies before we had a large family night decorating the cookies. The girls had such a good time and the neighbors enjoyed their treats!
 Mid month, we were able to get out with some of our friends for a fun adult night out. All the kiddos came to our house to hang out for the night with a babysitter while we all went to eat and to an escape room. We had a great time solving the clues to get out of the room and managed to get out but with only 10 seconds to spare! 
We were so glad we were able to have that night as our group of friends got smaller since one of them just moved to their next duty station.
 We enjoyed our little fur babies for 2 weeks before returning them back to the shelter for adoption right before Christmas and thankfully both of them were in their forever home in time for Christmas. 
I will say though, if we didn’t have two cats already, the little black one would have been ours in a heartbeat she was such a little sweetheart. 
Now onto fostering other sweet babies! 
 Our annual Christmas craft night occurred the week before Christmas.We made our usual painted clear ornaments and then the girls decorated a wooden tree ornament as well. 
They love getting crafty and it is a fun tradition that Travis and I started when we were dating that we’ve continued.
 Miss S had her first school Christmas party. They played all sorts of games and did some cookie decorating before having a gift exchange where Miss S got this fun pony set which she was thrilled about.
 We had to make another visit to Santa before Christmas so we went to see him in the park near our house where all the holiday lights are. Again, it was a miracle in which both girls talked to him and I got a picture of both of them with Santa. This is huge and Miss S actually was willing to talk to him this time. 
 Travis’s parents and brother came to visit us for the first time over Christmas this year so we took them to explore all the lights in the park with us one evening for a night of fun.
 A day of sledding with the whole family was also on the schedule before Christmas. We went on post to the ski hill and had fun racing each other down the hill. 
 The girls were so ready for Christmas Eve and got all in their Christmas pjs, helped set our cookies and milk for Santa and were than eager to go to bed. 
Santa was pretty generous this year when he visited bringing each of the girls things they asked for.
 Chrismas morning was packed full of tons presents for the girls followed by opening everything to play with the rest of the day. It was a huge success!

 Miss S loves dressing up, LOVES IT, and she looked awfully cute in her new Merida dress she got as a gift.
 The girls were so excited for this gift from their Aunt Rissa and wanted to make it right away so Travis and I helped them make these super cute cakes and they were so proud of the results! 
 The end of the month we went over to Wisconsin Dells for a fun night of dinner where our food was delivered on a train. The girls thought it was so cool! We then walked to a different area of the restaurant for some more fun. Unfortunately we didn’t get to stay too long as Miss S suddenly came down with a high fever and was not feeling well so we had to head home. 
 Thankfully Miss S was better just in time for us to still have our fun New Year get together at our house. We had yummy food, played lots of games, had a mock ball drop for the kiddos and just a grand ole’ time with friends that are more like family! It was the best way to bring in 2018!
Travis took off the last 2 weeks of the month so it was nice having him home for a while. 
Unfortunately, one or all of use has been sick since the week before Christmas and we are still fighting colds or a virus. Hoping we all heal soon! 
It was great seeing and spending time with extended family and friends this year for the holidays.

 

January 10, 2018 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- November 2017

Another month has passed by and we are that much closer with each passing day to Christmas, New Year’s Eve, followed by 2018. That just seems so utterly crazy to me! 
Why is when you are a kid, it feels like time goes by slowly but as an adult, and as an adult with kids, it flies so freaking fast?! For real?! 
Perhaps it is also the fact that lately I feel like a chicken running around with their head cut off. Going in every direction attempting to get something checked off the to do list, circling around to something else and the list just keeps on growing. Ok, I’ll digress! 
Today is all about recapping our activities from November! I feel like the month was crazy busy and I don’t have a ton of pictures but here’s what we did…

 The very first day of the month began with Miss S turning 4!! She was so excited! 
She got to go to school to have her first school birthday party where we took a cookie cake and she got a birthday crown and she did not want to take that off all day long! She made out in the birthday gift department this year too and had a fantastic day.

 A few days later we celebrated her birthday again with friends at her Shimmer and Shine party. It was a great day and she loved it, if you can’t tell by the blurry picture of her! lol
 The party was fun but I think the girls has just as much fun or more playing in all the draping as we were taking it down from the walls and ceiling.
 Miss S got a Snow White wig, her favorite princess, for her birthday so we’ve been living with Snow White on and off ever since. She sure looks cute with all that hair!
 On the 7th it was time to celebrate Travis turning another year older! We opened gifts, went out to dinner, and then instead of a cake, had Culver’s concretes for dessert.
 Miss P had her first school program on Veteran’s Day. Travis had the day off so we all got to go and enjoy the program.
 Travis and I have been lucky enough to go on a lot more date nights recently. We snuck out one evening to dinner, a quick little thrift store shopping, and then went to go see a Christmas play at the local theater.
 There were quite a few super busy days and evenings mid month with tons of work and school activities but I was able to sneak in a paint party teaching some of my fellow Army spouses how to paint the Winter Farm. This was such a fun party!
 Miss P had Thanksgiving lunch at her school and we were all able to go eat with her. She was so excited we were there!

 This is our one and only shot from actually Thanksgiving. We had some of our really good friends over that will soon be moving and we were having such a great time, none of use took any more pictures! The girls were exhausted from playing and the adults had a great time chatting, drinking, and eating.
 The day after Thanksgiving I got all my fall decor put away and brought out all of my Christmas decorations instead of going out shopping. Though I must state, I finished shopping and the gifts are already wrapped and it feels so good!! Now to just find the time to fill out Christmas cards!
 The month came to an end with much warmer weather than we had all month and we had some gorgeous ORANGE sun rises. The entire sky looked like it was on fire multiple mornings. And for a girl that hates to wake up early enough to see a sun rise, the sky made it worth it!
To round out this month’s recap I’ll share some cute pictures of our fur babies.
Poppy has discovered that we have turned on our in floor heating in our master bathroom and it has become her favorite napping spot. And who can blame her? It is always nice ans cozy in there!
 And one more of Patton… he has to be with me all the time. If he can’t sit and cuddle with me he has to be near some how. I was working on making some birthday banners for our good friends and this was where he decided to hang out while I worked on the floor. Comfortable but he kept his watch on me with that one exposed eye.
I’m sure I am missing something to share because it was a very busy month but that is all for now! 
Stay tuned for our December activities!

December 6, 2017 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- July 2017

I say this every month and I will say this again… you guys, how in the world is it August?! 
 Like for real, yo!! August?! Seriously?!? This year is going by so quickly. 
I have tons of friends posting photos of their kids going back to school already. We still have all month before we start here so we are going to try to soak in the rest of summer this month.
But enough about August, time to recap our adventures of July.

Since Travis got home from CA the end of June, July began with trips to the park and enjoying time together as a family.
To say we were all excited to have him home was an understatement.
July 4th we had our neighbors over for a bbq and hung out until it was time to walk to the park down the street to watch the fireworks.
We started something new this month… sister sleepovers! 
We let them try sleeping together and it has worked a couple times and a few times we had to make them go back to their own rooms but they love doing it and ask to do it frequently.
Had a little fun at Family Day at the campground on Fort McCoy. The girls played some games, played on the playground and got their faces painted as Shimmer and Shine from the kid tv show.
Checked something off our summer bucket list by finally making it to one of the events the library puts on. We attended their World Craft Day and got to make all sorts of fun crafts to take home.
July saw a ton, a TON of heavy rain in short period of time which caused some crazy flooding in  our town.
Parks were completely flooded and the mighty Mississippi River was much higher than normal! 
We even had a ton of water problems in our basement with flooding so we spent some time trying to figure out where it was coming in from and trying to fix the problem. Luckily, it wasn’t in the area we recently gave the makeover to and so far, so good with our fix but we haven’t have such crazy rain since so we’ll see!
We went down to La Crosse and rode the old large paddle boat on the Mississippi River. It was for a work event for Travis but it was still a lot of fun to get out and do something different for an evening. 
Travis took a few days off at the end of the month so we rented a camper from Fort McCoy and went over to Sheboygen where we camped in an awesome campground right on Lake Michigan. 
It was a ton of fun hiking the sand dunes and other trails in the area and playing on the beach and in the water. The girls had a blast and we are already trying to figure out when we can go on another trip.
Then to round out the month, we finally made it blueberry picking. We found a new place this year and we really enjoyed it. Then after we picked blueberries we ran to a Chicken Q (they love to have chicken bbq’s around these parts to raise money) and there was a petting zoo, tractor ride, pony rides, and some great food. The girls wanted to take the kittens home so bad. Ok, who am I kidding, I think we all did they were so calm and precious! 
And to round out the month, a trip to the beach on Fort McCoy followed by taking the girls to play mini golf for the first time was squeezed in. The girls had fun learning how to play and didn’t do too bad either for their first times.
July also saw us hanging out with good friends and also having to say good bye to a few as well as it was time for them to move on to their next duty station. 
And some big, exciting news, I got Miss S all signed up for preschool!! She’ll go only for 2 days a week for a few hours in the afternoon but you guys, I am so excited to have that time to myself to do WHATEVER I WANT! I am hoping and praying I can spend that time frequently crafting and breathing new life into this poor little blog of mine. 
August won’t be super exciting as Travis starts another month of training, luckily here this time, but hopefully we’ll manage to do a few fun things before school begins.
Stay tuned! 🙂

August 2, 2017 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between- June 2017

June is officially in the books. How that is possible I am not sure but this year is half way over already! 
 Time for my monthly recap post on what we were up to in the month of June.

We started the month by having a good friend of ours take some family pictures of us. 

I was thrilled she wanted to take pictures of us so I didn’t have to pull out the tripod and set the camera timer like we’ve done the past two times we took family pics. haha

The day after family pictures it was time for daddy to head off to CA for a 3 week training session.

He took the train all the way to CA for a fun, 3 day experience but the drop off did not go too well with the girls. They were excited to see the train but as soon as it was in view they immediately started to cry because they knew daddy was leaving and they cried the entire 20 minute drive home from the train station. 

I tried to occupy them immediately and we played at our neighbor’s house for a fun water day the next day after daddy left. Miss S loved just chillin’ in the pool while Miss P tried a slip n slide for the first time. 

Miss P had her last day of school on the 5th of June. It was a not so good day being only a few days after daddy left and then school ending immediately. She loved her teacher, her friends, and going to school everyday. 

The evening school ended I thought it would be fun to go play on the playground that evening and that was not a good idea. Miss S had a great time, Miss P not so much. She was not handling daddy leaving and school ending within days of each other too well and just going back to the school made her so sad.

 

 We started our kindergarten prep with doctor’s appointments and discovered Miss P needs glasses.

These are the ones she chose and they are so cute!

I tried to keep these girls occupied and busy while Travis was gone. 

We went to Mcdonald’s to play a few times and the park a lot! 

One day for running errands they both just had to get all dressed up in the dresses they wore when they went to dances with daddy. I felt a little under dressed. lol

Our little town has something called Butterfest which is a big festival and parade and all sorts of fun stuff. We tagged along with out neighbors to head to the carnival one evening. The girls enjoyed the rides much more than I thought and I got stuck riding the dragon coaster back to back with each girl. BLAH! lol And Miss P ran into her teacher so that made her happy! 

The last day of Butterfest there’s a parade so that was a fun afternoon watching all the floats and gathering candy thrown our way.

One rainy evening, we met some friends at McDonald’s for dinner. We didn’t really get that caught in the rain but I was amazed at how curly both of the girl’s hair got.

 

 Here’s another sneak peek into the basement project. I got all the accents painted this like aqua blue and primed and painted all the window frames. 

We are organizing everything now so hopefully the reveal will be soon!

Mid month I taught two paint parties, back to back days. It was wild and fun.

I taught my first kid birthday party for 4 yr olds and they did so great! It was funny watching their parents try to let go of their perfectionist to let their kids just paint however they wanted. 

Then on Father’s Day actually, was the next party with some fellow spouses who all had husbands in CA as well for the training. 

Since daddy was missing Father’s Day, we have to take some photos to send some love his way anyways.

More park time trying to wear these girls out! We went out to their favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner and then stopped at this park on the way home for a little extra fun. 

Momma was a bit DONE by this time in daddy’s work trip. lol

It rained quite a bit in June and towards the end of the month we saw a super vivid, beautiful rainbow. The girls were super excited so we grabbed our umbrellas and ran out for a better look. 

I managed to clean up my craft room! Holy cow!! I can actually walk in my room without fear of falling over something. I still have a ways to go as I want to go through every cabinet, drawer, closet and purge, purge, purge, but this is HUGE!! 

Travis was suppose to come home on a Sunday evening and we were going to go get him at the airport just in time for dinner. Well his flight was canceled and I had two very sad girls on my hands and again, this momma was DONE! So that night we decided to cheer ourselves up and have dessert for dinner. To say they were excited was an understatement! 

Daddy did arrive the next morning, after taking a red eye home, and we were all super excited for his return! 

That’s it! 

June was wild. I was literally just trying to keep my head above water with Travis gone so long and Miss P testing me to my very limit with her attitude but we made it through and are onto fun things in July!

 

 

 

 

July 5, 2017 By
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This, That, and Everything in Between

Happy Wednesday! 
 Hope your week is going swimmingly and that the first few days have May have been nice to you. 
I’ve decided to do a little something new on the blog. I originally started this blog as a family blog and once I switched it over to a craft blog I still threw in our military and family adventures but I have definitely slacked off in that department as of late. 
So I have decided that the first Wednesday of every month will be a recap post of the activities going on in our little bit of the world. I’m sure it all won’t be too exciting but I want to bring back that little piece of the blog once more. And if you’ve been with me for quite a few years, especially through both my pregnancies, thought it would be fun for you as well to watch the girls grow, and not just birthday posts which I’ve slacked on as well.
Since it is already May, this month will be little bits of recaps of a couple months.
Going way back for a quick second.
I realized I never introduced the newest member of our little family that joined us back in November.  
 Meet Poppy! 
Our cute, new, one year old kitty! 
After Oscar passed away last January, Patton was showing some major signs of loneliness and the girls and I finally convinced Travis to get another kitty as a new pal for him. 
It took them some time to get used to each other but I’m so happy to see Patton up and active once again and she fits right into the family. She loves Travis just like Oscar did so it was the perfect match! 
January:
Travis and I celebrated our 10 yr wedding anniversary on January 6th. 
I still can’t believe we’ve been married that long and still love being around each other as much as we do, lol. 
He spoiled me, like he normally does on our anniversary, and came home with a giant bouquet of flowers. 5 types of flowers- one for each state we’ve lived in and then 10 of each type of flower for our 10 yrs married. 
Then that night, after I took Miss S to her first gymnastics class, Travis set up a little romantic evening on the porch after the girls went to bed with candles, a heater because it was only 0 degrees on the porch- lol, and then he pulled out our wedding champagne flutes to toast to us.
I’m lucky to have this handsome guy! 

Also, on the morning of our anniversary, Travis became a Commander once again so we are on that journey once again.

I also started a new side job as well as a Social Artworking consultant. 
I have always loved painting so when I found that I could start my own business by doing painting parties (think going to Painting with the Twist but in the privacy of your home with your friends or family) I talked to Travis and decided it would be something fun for me to do. Plus, it gives me that much needed adult time doing something that I love. I have had a few parties then a few work shops at our house and am enjoying it so far!

 February:
 Travis was nominated by his previous Commander for a Military Hero Red Cross Award and he was chosen for the state of WI. 
The Red Cross had a large award ceremony about an hour away in a large hotel/casino and we were given a hotel room for the night along with some casino credits so it was a fun night away from the girls where we were able to get all dressed up, eat a yummy meal, watch a concert, gamble a little (and walk away winners!) and honor great people for their volunteer acts and great deeds that they’ve done. 
March:
Since Miss P is in pre-k this year she was able to go to the Daddy Daughter Dance that the high school puts on every year. 
It was so fun letting her pick out her own dress, she wanted daddy to wear his uniform, and then prepping her for their big date! I felt like she was going to prom! 
And daddy is prepping her to show her what she needs to look for in a man some day. He bought her a tiny corsage, let her pick where she wanted to eat for dinner and went there ahead of time with nice plates, a flower and a vase, a small candle, and a table cloth so it would all be set up when they got there and super special.
They had a blast and she still talks about her date with daddy and what they did that night. 🙂 
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We also started a few house projects this month. One I have shared, the stair risers, and the other major project is our massive basement laundry/storage room! We have painted all the walls and the ceiling but need to finish the floors and get everything set back up. Hopefully we can finish it at the end of this month and share soon! 🙂 
April:
April has been a super busy month for us, like crazy! 
Travis and I began the month by a week long get away to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic to celebrate our 10 yr anniversary. 
It was so glorious to get away together to paradise sans kiddos (thanks to my parents for coming to stay with the girls!)! 
I’ll get more into detail about our trip and share more photos in another post. 
We got home from our trip one day before Easter so then Easter prep was in full swing.
It is so fun watching the girls grow and get more into egg hunts and have a blast. 
It was also so nice to celebrate Easter with my parents this year since it is a rare occurrence for us!
Only 3 days after Easter I was off again to Salt Lake City for SNAP 2017.
I always have a blast seeing blog pals and learning new things. 
Hopefully, my mojo will officially come back now because I do have some good ideas! 🙂 
While I was away at SNAP, it was Miss S’s turn to go to a Daddy Daughter Dance with daddy! 
She was so upset she couldn’t go with Miss P but luckily there was one on Fort McCoy so she got to have her turn as well. 
She got to pick out her own dress just like Miss P and then Travis did everything for Miss S as he did for Miss P- corsage, fancy dinner and dessert, and get daddy daughter fun! 
I was so sad I missed it and made my parents and Travis takes lots of pictures and send them to me so I could see it all. 
And Miss S loved every second just like Miss P! So thankful Travis is able to have these sweet memories with the girls. 
And just to share a real life photo with you guys… here is my junk craft room. 
The messiest room in the house, I think our basement is even better than this even though everything is out of place because of painting! 
This is one of the reason I have struggled making and sharing crafts with all of you! 
This has turned into the catch all room especially if people are coming over. Things get thrown in here since the door stays closed and then who knows when it will ever find its proper home. 
There is stuff everywhere! 
My suitcase full of swag from SNAP in the middle of the floor. Crap on top of every surface. Bags of new supplies in corners here and there. 
UGH! I need to get in there and organize desperately but every time I attempt, I get overwhelmed and give up! I definitely need to commit to doing it, take everything out, and slowly being it back in. I haven’t even shared this room with you guys yet because it has pretty much been a disaster since we moved in!!! 🙁
I will get to it soon! I WILL!!
Well, that is it for now! 
A quick recap of the past couple months. 
I know more has happened but those were the high points. 
See you next month for the May recap! 🙂

allison

May 3, 2017 By
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My Word of the Year

Over the last few years, I have noticed some of my blogging friends pick a word. It’s kind of like a resolution but not quite as precise as losing weight, or pay off debt, but something that you want to strive to do better or an action that you want to try to do more in the new year. 
I haven’t participated in the past but this year I felt like I needed to pick a word, not sure why but I did. 
With 2016 just around the corner, I mean really- how is it really here on Friday?, I thought I would share my word with you today just in case you also want to choose a word of the year for yourself.
For my word of the year, I chose the word:

I went the word “present” to pertain to both my personal life and my blog life.

I feel lately, in this crazy world we live in, I am not as present in my children’s lives as I should be. Yes, I am there everyday with them, talking with them, teaching them, etc. but I don’t feel like I am as present as I could be. I definitely need to be off my phone or computer more and take more time to play with them, read with them, do fun projects with them. I need to turn that tv off so they too are more present. 
I actually have been trying to start this already because I know it isn’t something that I am going to totally switch over night. I need to consciously realize I am spending way too much time on my phone on FB or some other social media site, instead of enjoying every minute of their little lives. They are growing way too fast and I need to enjoy them.
I also want to be much more present on A Glimpse Inside this year. 
2015 was a rough year for me and the blog. With prepping to sell our house, moving, and then working on our new house, the blog fell by the way side. I would buy things to create and never would get to them because I didn’t feel very inspired to try to create anything new to share when my house was in chaos. 
Now that things are dying down around the house with the house projects, and hopefully I can share all those with you super soon, I feel like I can dedicate much more time on the blog and on the blog’s social pages. 
I know it sounds like I will be canceling out how I want to be more present, be there for my family without being on technology a lot, but I plan on scheduling out time during naps and after bed to bring A Glimpse Inside back up to where it was a few years ago. Plus, there will be a few new folks around here to help me on the blog which I will be sharing about next week.
I really feel like this is the perfect word for me this year. I truly hope that I can be more present in the coming year. I think it will be great for me, my family, my blog, and you too!! 
So you have a word of the year!? If so, I’d love to hear what it is.

allison

December 28, 2015 By
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My Whole 30 Adventure- Week 3

This was suppose to go up on Thursday morning and well, life got in the way and I didn’t finish it in time so a special Friday night post it is. 
 I’m not gonna lie to you guys, I didn’t do too good this week. I may have cheated once or twice. BOO but I’ll get over it. I am forging on and continuing until the end, cheats or not. 
Anyways… here is what I ate this week.
Day 15:
What I ate: 
Breakfast: Sunny side eggs, banana, hash browns that Travis made
Lunch: Cucumbers with chicken tenders
Dinner: Steak, brussel sprouts, and broccoli and yellow squash
Snacks: a few cashews
Drank water all day
I have noticed a change in my body. Can’t really say I have ever noticed the energy change but I have been super busy so perhaps it is there. 

Day 16:
What I ate: 
Breakfast: Omelet with bacon and onion (Travis made this for me) and strawberries
Lunch:  I ran out to run an errand and pretty much grab a banana on my way out the door and that was my lunch.
Dinner: Hamburger sliders with red onion, butter lettuce, on a white sweet potato bun, grapes and butternut squash as a side 
Snack: no snacks but drank some fruit juice after dinner
Drank water all day until the fruit juice in the evening
We were interested to try the sweet potato bun. It was good. Travis made dinner this night and he did fry them in some olive oil before serving them. I have never been a huge butternut squash fan and that pretty much hasn’t change. Blah! 
Day 17:
What I ate:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with hamburger and spinach in them. Strawberries, banana, and kiwi
Lunch: Grab something fast and easy in between working on some projects so it was just two hard boiled eggs, chicken tenders with ranch dressing, and cantaloupe. 
Dinner: This is where I cheated. Travis and I had a date night out again and I may have enjoyed a cheeseburger (on the bun) with fries. And I may have had a glass of wine. Oops… but it was delicious. 
Snacks: no snack
Drank water all day until the glass of wine at dinner
I know I cheated this day. I know there were healthier choices I could have picked at the restaurant we went too or asked for the burger without the bun. I know I could have not had the wine but you know what, it was date night and it was awesome. All well! 
Day 18:
What I ate: 
Breakfast: Sunny side eggs with bacon and blueberries
Lunch: Skipped lunch again today (apparently that is a theme this week) since we were working on some more bathroom projects.
Dinner: Travis made dinner again- He created a stir fry with chicken, red pepper, onion, garlic, and cucumber on the side.
Snacks: almonds
Drank water all day
Day 19:
What I ate:
 Breakfast: Sunny side up eggs with strawberries, grapes and blueberries.
Lunch: I was working on organizing my craft space so just grabbed two hard boiled eggs to eat quickly.
Dinner: Pork chops with green beans and carrots.
Snack: Cashews and Almonds
Drank water all day
Day 20: 
What I ate:
Breakfast: Sunny side eggs and banana and strawberries
Lunch: Lettuce wraps with baked chicken breast pieces, carrots, hard boiled eggs, and red onion
Dinner: I slow cooked a whole chicken, then had mini red and golden potatoes that I pan fried in olive oil and oven roasted asperagus. 
Snack: no snacks
Drank water all day
Even though I cheated over the weekend, glad I am back on track.
Day 21:
What I ate:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and banana- actually ended up not eating the banana after all. 
Lunch: We found out some not so great news that morning so I MAY have cheated once again and ate Mac and Cheese for lunch because I needed some good old comfort food. It was a rough day of crying and I was stressing out over other issues so I chose to eat that and I am not sorry one bit!! 
Dinner: I made The Pioneer Woman’s Hamburger Soup in the crock pot. First time I made it and it was really good. Will probably add this to future menus. 
Snacks: no snacks
Drank water all day and Travis may have poured me some wine since we were both so upset with the news. 
I cheated again today and truthfully, I don’t care. It was a super rough day after finding out the news and I was stressing over other things. I cried numerous times so when it came to lunch I was making the girls the mac and cheese and decided what the hell, I am eating it too. I would have eaten ice cream or anything this day. All well. It is what it is… time to get back on track to finish this Whole 30 strong!
I have continued working out. I even started some new stair workouts I found online. They kick my butt but it is nice to try something new.

allison

January 24, 2015 By
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