Our $6.00 Work bench.

My handyman has been dying for a work bench in his garage since the day we got married (and didnt have a garage).

Back then I took a small rubber storage container and glued a piece of wood to the top so he could put his tools inside and have a small table to work on whatever he could find in our 1 bedroom apartment. Now that we have our Garage hes been trying to find a way to find a cheap work bench, build one or just wait until he can decorate his garage like his KINGDOM! :)

On his lunch hour one day (yes, home depot is his "Target") He found these metal brackets that come in a kit on sale FOR $1.00 !!!! (the kit is normally $30)

We redeemed our American Express points for Home depot gift cards ( i was dreaming they would go to potterybarn or something:) ) to buy the wood....

So, This little baby cost 1.00 plus a box of nails for $5 for a GRAND TOTAL of $6.00!!

The kids enjoyed hanging in the cage for a while. Which kept mason from eating all the SAWDUST!


Isnt she purty?! :)

Great job craig!
I STILL dont understand how when you cut the wood it actually all fits together how it should. My brain couldnt focus that well.....
Im glad you finally have your workbench that is so high I would never think of using it :)
XXOO

Chocolate Give away!

Know anyone getting hitched this year?

Spread the word....

Everything is better dipped in chocolate right?!

We have all kinds of packages & pricing to fit any budget.

Also a small 19" fountain with 4 pounds of belgian chocolate for a party of 20 people is only $60!

Since EVERYONE is doing "give aways" I thought I'd do one....

who doesnt want a free chocolate fountain rental?!

Post a link to our website of http://www.bluminup.com/ on your blog, then come back and leave a comment I will choose a Winner on Sunday 2/22!

I'm giving away a FREE 19" fountain rental with 4 pounds of chocolate!!!

GOOD LUCK :)

Valentines 2009

Saturday was full of pink, red , yummy food & LOTS AND LOTS of chocolate.

I went all out and made homemade strawberry syrup. YUMMMMMM.

It was like a funnel cake for breakfast!

I made these paper roses last year and kept them. Paige and I have enjoyed pretending like we have had real roses for weeks now :) I told craig if i dont look right at them its just like having real flowers right....? :)

Craig replaced the fake ones with real ones on saturday and paige broke down crying when she saw that the paper ones were moved.

We didnt know she was so attached :)

My mom came out at lunch time so craig and I could go and play for a little bit. So what did we do??

Went to the Dollar Tree & 99 cent store to "gift hunt" for each other :)

Weve been doing this since we were dating. Its halarious, cheap and fun!

Among the halarious things we found for each other he found me some Coke glasses, hot chocolate & I found him his own white mug with Crystals that spelled out "His". Every guy needs his blinged out cocoa mug right???

Our romantic night with the Kids and my mom. :)

Amazing dinner.

Paige gave a Toast.

OK, YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Tulips Saturday.

And heres the Tulips Sunday when we got home. Apparently they have given up.

XXXOOOO

He can do it....but does he want to?!

I mentioned to Craig (after discussing with Tanya) that Mason might have a "wierd" right foot. It looked slightly crooked and I half jokingly was telling Craig maybe thats why he is not walking on his own yet?! After he told me to STOP listening to Tanya :) He began a rigorous "boot camp" with Mason after his bath time each night and a few days later we have this!

Mason still does not choose to walk on his own yet....but he is going much farther and stands better on his own. I guess all it really took is a Dad motivated to prove that is son is JUST FINE :)

Now lets see how long until he walks without us prodding him....

until them enjoy this video below..

...he really is his daddys son. :)

Man.

I missed my chance!!!

The end of the rainbow was on the 241 toll road (that we are frequently on)....I missed out on my Pot of Gold (& a leprechaun to take home as my maid) :)

***i should have said, this is NOT MY photo, but I took it off the OC register website-someone else was lucky enough to see this (thats why i missed my chance)***

Blume Post office

I found these cute mailboxes at Target for $1.00 so I thought I would start the tradition Ive seen so many people do in past years of writing "love notes" to each other in February.

I would have started this a couple weeks ago but craig told me to get ahold of myself - 2 weeks is long enough :) haha.

So Saturday night we got out all our decorations and made our own mailboxes.

I realized that I didnt really get anything "manly" for the boys mailboxes but they made due with what I gave them :)
We even found Cupid. :)

Paige has been writing notes NON STOP. I wrote up a paper of how to write all the important valentines words so that Paige could go and write whatever she wanted without asking.

Its been so cute to find notes from her (about every 5 minutes) :)

Paige, Daddy, Mommy, & Masons.

Seriously....so cute....I love this.

Heres to spending a couple weeks celebrating the LOVE we have for each other....and a good reason to help Craig "get in touch with his feelings" :)

XXOO

I got this email today from the money lady Mary Hunt and I thought I would share it. She was giving helpful tips to help if you are feeling "helpless" with all that is going on.

It was a positive spin on the Economy which I appreciate.

1. Take charge of your thoughts. I don't care what the subject matter is, if you immerse yourself in it every day by watching it on cable news, reading about it in the newspaper and talking about it with everyone, you will begin to think about it all the time. If it's a negative subject, your demeanor will change as will your attitude. These days, the media is having a field day with what's going on in Washington, D.C. and on Wall Street. You don't have to be a willing recipient. Choose your thoughts by carefully monitoring what you put into your mind.

2. Launch into austerity. What would you do right now if you got notice that your job will be eliminated in six months? You'd start saving like crazy, eliminating unnecessary spending and you'd dust off your resume. Do that right now. Start living as if that is going to happen. Funnel the money you don't spend into an all-important emergency fund.

3. Pay off debt. Now, more than ever, you need to rid yourself of your high-interest credit-card debt. Sure, the rules for credit grantors will change (in 2010), but until then they can still up your interest rate and change the terms and conditions of your credit card account on a whim. Come up with a realistic plan to become debt-free and your spirits will soar. So will your credit score.

4. Keep a balanced perspective. Memorize a few statistics and then emblazon them on your frontal lobe: 1) During the Great Depression the jobless rate jumped to 25 percent. We have yet to reach 7 percent today. 2) Bank failures, not hedge funds or risky investment, wiped out the life savings of millions of people. To date, not one person has lost a nickel in an FDIC-insured bank account. 3) Some 44 percent of all mortgages were delinquent by 1934, compared to about 4 percent today.

5. Love the job you're in. Instead of worrying about losing your job, redirect that energy into becoming the last employee your boss would let go. Concern yourself with the needs of the company. Dig in and do more than is expected. Be the first to arrive and the last to leave. Instead of feeling entitled to every drop of benefit you can wring out of the system, find new ways you can contribute to make your workplace an oasis of joy and optimism. Become a giver instead of a taker.

Love love the beach, even if it is a "dog beach"?!

Saturday was gorgeous and it was STILL windy at our house, so we headed to Huntington to meet up with my sis, her husband and thier 2 jack russell dogs....when she said they were going to the "dog beach" I didnt realize what we were getting ourselves into!

We pull up and my mom and I are going.....WHAT IS THIS PLACE?!!!

Dogs are roaming, sniffing, pooping, running, jumping on other dogs, and the owners are just as crazy :)

My kids could have cared less. Paige was in HEAVEN!!!! She now thinks summers here.

Mason was having a panic attack because of his obsession with dogs-

and my mom and I are taking deep breaths trying to "enjoy" the beach while these crazy dogs run all around us.

yes, DOG prints-it was actually VERY entertaining.

Large dogs, small dogs, Greyhounds running sprints past you.

Dogs "misbehaving" and being put on TIME OUT!?!!??

Seriously??!!! To "dog people" It was like taking thier "kids to the park".

I even heard one lady say to her DOG "those 2 dogs were playing so nicely together until you went over there-do you need a time out?!"

WHAT?!

ps. my sis and her hubby are a little on the "crazy dog people" side of all this too :)

This one below needs to start walking before summer hits.... :)

I couldnt believe how fast he could barell through the sand though.

and the NUMBER 1 reason I LOVE THE BEACH.......

SUNSET!!!

No matter what is going on-crazy or not-if I can look at the coast like this-

Its ALL good!

My poor boy.

were so mean sometimes :)

All cleaned up after a fun day!

Free PINKBERRY!!!

http://www.pinkberry.com/newsletter/images/PBBirthday_OnlineCoupon.jpg

4 years old is lookin pretty good!

It feels like Paige has been talking about her 4th birthday since the day after her 3rd birthday party and I think the 5th - 10th birthdays have already been planned in her little mind.

We are kind of big on birthdays in our house-some small, some big, but its always YOUR day no matter what! This year since you get in "free" on your birthday at Disneyland or if you have an annual pass you get $60 to spend however you want-that is what we did!

She had been dying to "stay" at the Disneyland hotel since Last year-ask me how she came up with that- I have NO idea.

We went more budget friendly and instead at at GOOFYS KITCHEN at the hotel For breakfast!

It was a lot of fun and really good food suprisingly.

Jasmine came over to talk with her for a while.

They discussed a variety of topics :)

and then Paige let her know that her favorite part of Jasmines movie is

"when they fall in love" :)

Cute food!

Mason was mesmorized with Snow white-I think hes found his newest girlfriend! :)

ONLY ON YOUR BIRTHDAY DOES A PLATE OF FOOD FOR BREAKFAST LOOK LIKE THIS! :) YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

We then began to collect our FREE disney loot!

You didnt have to explain what to do to this girl-she knows how to spend the money and quick :)

Since it was HER birthday we waiting in line for the Princess walk which weve never done.....she met Belle, Cinderella, Ariel and Mulan. And finished off her Autograph book #1!

She then picked up a Baby cinderella , tshirt and a sucker to top it off!

After eating an entire pack of tortillas ...nothing better.....

We kept her entertained for a while like this! (trying to catch her sucker) :)

Paige is such a fun girl! She brings laughter to our home every day! I wish every one of my kids would turn out just like thier big sister.

We love you paige!!!

Heres to a WONDERFUL 4th year!

XXXOOO

MOMMY