Bell's First Tooth!

My Bella with all her baby teeth.... ...And here she is after losing her first tooth. She was so excited!

I know she's beautiful!

Then maybe a week later, here she is again, with "#2".

And just a pic of her with a "rollie-pollie"...she loves her bugs!

Up Close And Personal

My kids are always grabbing my camera and taking pictures. I never know what I'm going to find when I browse thru them. One thing is always certain, there's going to be a close up face shot. Here are some randoms I've found throught the years...

Time To Catch Up!

A LOT has been happening in the last few months. So I thought I would catch up a bit. First of all, I've taken on more house cleaning jobs. Something I really didn't want to do, but we could definitly use the extra $$. I don't mind the extra work, but it's been all work and very little play. I did manage to get in 1 girls night out with all my favorite women! It was for my friends' birthday, and we just went to dinner and drinks at this fondue place in Reno. It was a lot of fun.

Our family had a very nice little break from all the sicknesses we've had since September...a 3 week break to be exact...then it was right back to all the coughing, sneezing and sleepless nights. Chase ended up with a double ear infection with 1 ruptured eardrum. He has since recovered from that, but then yesterday I started feeling sick. I ended up throwing up all day. Then last night I was woken up by the sound of vomiting in the kids' room. Bella threw up all over her bed, the room, and a little on her brother. After that we just took turns running to the bathroom. Now today, my husband feels sick! I'm really hoping Chase sits this one out. He's missed so much school from being sick.

On another note, we signed Chase up for baseball. He is on the Orioles, and is very excited. We got all his gear (very expensive!) and are ready for the crazy season to start. My friend has her kid on the same team so I look forward to getting to visit with her at practices and games.

What else...oh, we got another dog. We ended up getting rid of our male beagle (he just wasn't fitting in) and we got another lab! Her name is Pepper, and we just love her! Garrett really wanted another lab. We haven't had one for a few years since Shadow died so I think it was just time for another. Here she is at about 3 months old. She's probably about 5 1/2 months now, and she is HUGE!


As far as my projects have been going, I haven't been doing very much. My latest is a window panel I've been repainting. So far it's turned out good, but I'm not sure the color is right for the room I want to put it in. I'll post some pics of it finished soon.

And that's about it for now. We're just enjoying life, even all the craziness it brings!

Redneck Freezer

This is our freezer. I think, by now, everyone knows my husband is a die-hard hunter. But I often forget how die-hard. So take a look in our freezer...........From the outside it's your average up-right freezer. Then you look up............... ....and see the turkey fan sitting on top of it. This came from a turkey Garrett shot last year down in the valley. It tasted great! But honestly, what are we going to do with the feathers?!?!

So I open the freezer and look for the rack of pork spare ribs I know we have in there somewhere. Is it behind the deer steaks we have crammed in there? Nope. Then something catches my eye.

And yes folks, it's a whole duck! A buffle-head, to be exact. (I'm actually guessing, but I am sure that's what it is.) Then I remember I have to put Welch's grape juice on my grocery list. Whatever, I can get past the duck.

And then I remember where the ribs were last seen. But first I have to move the bobcat from his resting place.

And there they were! Yum, can't wait for dinner!

2010 Is Already A Bust

So I thought we were off to a great start this year. My newest niece was born New Years day! YAY! I can't wait to meet Lauren! But our 2005 Tahoe is in the shop getting a new transmission. This car is NOT old, we have taken very good care of it, and we have NOT done anything to cause it to lose the transmission! Fortunately, we did not skip out on the warranty when we bought the car. We got the best warranty they offered. I am told though, "I don't know why they covered the damage." As it turns out, our warranty company doesn't cover the damage when they can't figure out the reason for the damage. There is no reason why the transmission should've gone out. But by some miracle, they're going to cover the expenses. All I can say is THANK GOD! We can't afford $4000. But then I am told that it's going to take several weeks to fix my car! I can barely make it thru this week with no car, let alone 3 weeks. So I have to call either my car insurance company, or the warranty company and see if they cover rental cars. They should, but at this point, anything's possible.

On another note: I thought I had our last beagle sold. But then the lady called this morning and said she wasn't interested. All I could do was cry. It's not even a big deal, but every little thing is bothering me right now. I'm trying desperately to find that silver lineing, but can't quite find it yet.

I could really use some good news right about now...

2009 IS OVER!

I am so happy to put 2009 to bed! It was a stressful year full of financial hardship (thanks governor) and family up's and down's. Our financial crisis seems to be getting better. I've had to take on some work. No big deal. When it comes to sink or swim, the Giessners will ALWAYS swim. For all my family still wondering about my mom, we still haven't located her. I am confident GOD will point her in the right direction toward us. It's been hard, but I've had great friends to lean on, and not to mention my supportive husband and kids who are always there. That's been a little of the downside on family. The upside is the birth of 2 MORE nieces! Little Hadley Hewitt, and Lauren Giessner! I still have yet to meet Hadley, and Lauren just arrived yesterday! I couldn't be more thrilled! I have 8 nieces and nephews now! On Garrett's side of the family there is only 1 boy, and that is Chase. He has been disappointed that there is not another little boy for him to pal around with, but have been trying to tell him that it's pretty special being the only boy. He is responsible for protecting all his cousins, is what I've been telling him. Despite his reactions to more girls, I know he secretly adores his 2 oldest cousins, Tessa and Taydem. And I know in time when he gets to know Hadley and Lauren, they'll have him wrapped around their little fingers as well. On a different note, we've sold off all but 1 of our little beagles. We're down to 1 female! The finish line is in our sights, and I can taste freedom! What a crazy, cruddy, surprising, shocking, thrilling ride 2009 has been. And I'm looking forward to a slower, less eventful 2010, with more up's and less down's.

Our Beagles!!!!

Well our beagle puppies are finally 6 1/2 weeks old!! They're totally cute! And I want to keep them all.....well at least until I have to go clean out the kennel. Since the last time I posted, we've lost one. It was a tri-color male. :( The kids and I were very sad, but I was just thankful it wasn't due to disease or anything. Koda just accidentially sat on him. But without further adue, here are the puppies today! These ladies (top) are our females. Aren't you just in love!?!?!?!?! We call the one on the very left Flo, ( my friend's son gave her a character name from the movie "Cars") the one in the middle Little Girl, and far right, Big Girl. Yes, we have zero imagination!

And these are the fellas. Far left is Two-Face, Chocolate, and Big Boy....again, I know, no imagination. Chocolate is sold already, and of course he is our most popular one of the litter. I love them, but I'll definitly be happy to see them go.

Hummmm, what else? We had Bella's 5th birthday party. It was simple but fun, or at least it was supposed to be fun. When we picked Bella up from school she seemed really tired and grumpy, but it all made sense when she puked all over the Pizza Factory bathroom. The whole party was a bust! And now she keeps asking when we're gonna have her birthday party! I don't know how to explain to her that she done for the year. But oh well, she'll get over it.

Well that's about all that's been going on in this house. Lots of sickness and colds, and a lot of puppy work!

The Giessner Family Pets

My sweet Isabella! She loves her barbies, fairy princess books and her very pink ballet outfit. And she also loves earwigs, sow bugs (aka "the rollie pollie") and, above all, worms. So meet Wormy.... ...her very bestest friend in the whole world. She really "lubs him"! We found Wormy in an apple we were peeling for an apple pie. YUM! It really was a good pie.

R.I.P. Wormy...you will never be forgotten!

Wormy Giessner: Oct.1 2009 3pm--Oct.1 2009 6pm

Moving on...Koda (our beagle) had her puppies. Seven! That's right, seven puppies! She's such a great mommy too, and a real trooper. She was in labor all day, but once the first puppy came out, the rest were all out within a few hours. The kids really enjoyed watching her. They came home about 15 mins before the first one arrived, and they stayed by her side until I had to DRAG them away for bed. Six are traditional tri-colored, and one big fat male is chocolate. They should be ready to leave about a week before Christmas! Great timing, huh?

Bench Project

So I posted my $5 bench makeover....http://thegiessnercircus.blogspot.com/2009/09/bench-makeover.html#links

I thought it turned out really well, but thought it needed something more. So I took the advice of some of the ladies that commented on it, and decided to put our last name on it. It was definitly a chore, but I love the end result! All I did was pick out a font I liked on the computer. Printed it out, then used my exacto blade to cut out a stencil on thicker cardstock paper. I taped the paper where I wanted it, directly in the center. Then using a foam sponge paint brush, I dabbed on the black paint. This is what I got.... A HUGE MESS!! What I should've done (my friend pointed out to me after I was finished) was use a black paint pen to outline it, then fill it in with black paint. Yes that would've worked much better. So I ended up having to touch it up with the black paint and the white paint.

And then after hours of a simple project gone complicated, this is what I got.....

I know it probably would've looked nicer if it was a little bigger, but I couldn't get the font any bigger. I like it though, and I can set something on either side if I want to. After a few days, I realized that my kids were drawn to it. It took a beating, so I ended up putting a coat of polycrylic on. Now, hopefully, it will last even longer.

Catching Up

I've fallen behind on my blogging! Last week Chase and I were sick with a stomach bug, and this week Bella and I are sick with the flu! Will it ever end?!?! So just a quick update (because I'm already out of breath from walking from my bed to the computer):

Koda is HUGE!!!! Just a week or so before we have puppies!!
I'm planning Bella's 5th birthday party. Small, but cool. Lots of pink, the way little girls like it. :)
Duck hunting on opening weekend, not me.
Halloween, still not even close to being ready. Although I did buy a few bags of candy, I still need more....
Thanksgiving and Christmas....don't even want to think about it yet.
Crazy life, check!

That's it for now. I'll catch up even more in a few days when, hopefully, I'll be better. :)

A Bench Makeover

I scored this bench at a yard sale for $5! I didn't know what I was going to do with it right away, but everyone is soooo into the distressed furniture look, so I thought I would give it a try. The technique itself was actually pretty simple, and I do like the way it looks, but I definitly don't think I'm going to distress every piece of furniture I re-do. So here it is before: First I just sanded it down, but didn't worry if I didn't get every little dent out (I mean, it is supposed to look old and a little beat up). Then I put my first coat on. I used American Accents, java bean. It looks kind of purple in the can, but goes on more like a brownish stain. I let that completely dry before rubbing my candle on the areas I wanted distressed. Then it was my first coat of antique white. Between each coat of white, I rubbed off the wax, and applied a new layer of wax before the next coat. That way I didn't get a thick layer of paint before I tried to rub the wax off. I think it took 4 coats of the anitque white. I rubbed off the last of the wax, then lightly sanded it for even more distressing.

And this was what I got! Like I said, I do like it, but probably won't be doing much of it. I need to do a coat of Minwax Wipe on Poly, and then it will be finished. But I'm toying with the idea of putting a big "G" on top of it, so I haven't put the finish on yet.

Here it is from the top. There's no distressing on top. That's how I wanted it. It's long enough though to put our entire last name on it. What do you think? I'm entering this in Kimba's DIY day on Thursday, so look for it there! http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/

The Leaves Are Turning

Fall, oh how I love Fall! I love my sweaters and jeans, my Uggs and knee highs, my scarves and poofy jacket, hot chocolate and hot soup....okay most of that usually comes in winter. But when I see the leaves turning colors, I know we're just one step away from that cold weather!

Decopodge Fun!

I have a new love, yes, it's decopodge! One little project, and I'm hooked! Decopodge is a sealant/glue. I did a very simple tester project to start out with. Here's what I used: Just a bit of paper that caught my eye, spray adhesive, decopodge, ribbon and, of course, my little bottle I bought at a yard sale for 10 cents. All I did was cut out some paper, sprayed the back with the spray adhesive, then stuck it to the bottle. I waited for it to dry, then painted the decopodge over the paper with a small wide-tipped paint brush. It dried pretty fast, then I just tied the ribbon on around the top, filled it with water and stuck in a flower I cut from my garden. Here's what I got....

A little flower vase to sit in my window! I ended up giving it to a friend of mine. For some reason or another, I always give away flowers in little vases. Pretty cool, right? :)

Photoshop Experiment Continued...

Just a picture I took with my camera and then photoshoped. Cool, but it took FOREVER!

Photoshop Experiment Note

The picture below is pretty small. Click on the image to see it bigger, it's much better. :)