My friend Marie Ynami puts on a cool event for Mom’s every year - Mommy Fest! This year is the fifth year she is putting this together and to celebrate she is holding a High 5 contest for chocolate. All you need to do is take a picture of five of something - you can see my five crafts over at Crafter Cast - and here I have five hands. These are mine (obviously the biggest hand), then going clockwise we have my daughter, my son, the younger of the nephews I watch, and then the second youngest one. They loved taking the picture and we have a few because they wanted to try standing close to the chair, leaning far away, hands all touching, not touching, etc.

Mommy Fest is being held May 12-16 and will have more contests, freebies, exhibitors and more.

My current crafty space is so much smaller then I am used to! As you can see from my picture yesterday we have student desks set up and my boxes of card making supplies around it. This set up is in the living room and the student desks are what the kids use when they want to sit and do school work. My Dad bought them for the kids and I have to say, they love them. I’ve been sitting at the biggest desk and making cards. It is a small work area so I have to be careful what I work on and how many tools I have out. I have perfected working in an assembly line fashion and that does help.

The supplies have been out for a week and they are getting put away today. We are starting a family dinner night and since that is Thursdays, I need the stuff out of the way so my nephews little hands don’t get into my things! Of course the kids will either all want to play outside or play the Wii and I doubt my crafty stuff will even be of interest to them.

So I’ve been in Montana at my Dad’s house for a few weeks now!

1. Socks and blankets are good! Dad’s house is big and it’s just him, and he works all day. So while the heat is on when he’s home, it isn’t while he’s gone. I mean, before we got here it wasn’t on. Now it’s on but I realize how hard it is to heat a place this size. So the kids and I are making sure we wear socks and that the blankets are out! We stick to a few rooms during the day so it works out just fine.

2. The library is awesome! When we were in South Carolina, I didn’t care for the library all that much. It was too small, didn’t have newer things and seemed to never have what I was looking for. That didn’t stop me from checking out books and owing them a fine though. But this library here - two stories! Awesome kid section! The kid section has a huge rug that has hopscotch printed on it and they don’t mind if kids play. They also have legos and a few other toys. They have reading time every single day and tomorrow should be our first day of going to that. I’ve already reserved a few books and have quite a list going - the online system allows you to add books to a list, not requesting them, but merely saving them. I’m going to print it before I go then look at the books - I’d hate for someone to have to get them for me, only to realize I don’t want to read them.

3. The Visitors Center is cool. I got lost last week and ended up finding the visitors center. They put out weekly and monthly lists of what is going on in town! I planned on seeing Grease in the local theater, but Alice was sick so I didn’t. But Little Women is coming in April and I really want to see that! I’m going to get the book and read it to Alice and hopefully take her. Maybe she’s a little young, but that’s okay. I didn’t mind getting lost once I found that place.

4. I’m reading again. I didn’t bring many books - and what I did bring are craft books so it’s not like I could sit down and read a story when I wanted to. I started reading An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler -I really like this series. The sampler is the first three books in the series and I had already read the first so it was nice to skip ahead. I also put others on my list at the library.

5. Amazon Unbox rules! Let’s face it, the writers strike sucked. And with moving I was thinking I’d miss a few of my favorite shows. Thanks to Unbox and abc.com (they know how to show tv online - I’ve tried on nbc and cbs and it just doesn’t work for me - maybe I need to try again) I’ve kept up. Not that there has been a lot to keep up on, which is good for my wallet.

6. I finished Financial Peace University online. I have been talking about money for the past two weeks - being annoyed with people about it, wondering about it, doing a budget every other day, etc. I had to do a crash course of FPU because you are allowed so much time to finish it - and with moving I forgot about it. But now that I’m done I have a short list of things I need to check on and a renewed sense of money management.

7. Costco samples can fill you up. I finally got to shop at Costco again! It was great to go there. We went on Saturday when they have samples every other aisle. I shop much different then my Dad or brother - they both know what they are looking for, go in, find it, and leave. I like to walk around, browse the books, etc. I’m sure their way saves money though. I suppose not shopping at Costco would be good for my renewed sense of money management though.

9. Copy machines at home are so worth the money. Dad got a new printer and though it had to be replaced, I’ve been using the copy portion of it today. I borrowed a few craft books from the library just to bring them home to make a copy or ten. I found a really cute kids quilt idea and one book of handmade cards - Quick & Clever Instant Cards - that have either cute cards or good layouts that I’d like to try. I think if I need to make that many copies of a book I should just buy it!

10. My kids love having other kids to play with. One of my nephews is the same age as Alice and they have been having a good time together. Actually my nephews and my kids are all 8 years or younger, so they get along fairly well.

11. I think I lost weight. I say I think because I’m basing it on slightly looser jeans and my watch sliding down my wrist. I have yet to join the Y but I have all the paperwork so that will be very soon.

12. We have renters! I have a signed rental agreement! I’m so glad we were able to get the house rented out, I was worried because of the market and the reasons why people were opting for other places after looking at ours. If you ever need a real estate agent in South Carolina, I can tell you who to stay away from, and who to work with.

13. It’s snowing! yeah yeah, it’s winter in Montana. It is supposed to snow. But a few days ago it was in the high 40s and the sun was shining. After being away from snow for years, I’ll gladly take some now. Plus the kids really love it. They have snow pants, jackets, boots, gloves, hats, the whole works - and haven’t worn them since we got here.

All in all good things have been happening in just a few short weeks here.

Yesterday I posted a picture for Wordless Wednesday that was of my son and I. He is the one who took the picture in early November, so about four months ago.

One day he walked in the craft room/office and was playing with my camera. He said he wanted us to take a picture together so I leaned down and he took a picture. We ended up taking four or five both with me leaning down a little and with him on my lap. When I went to pick out which picture, I asked him which one was his favorite and the one I posted is the one he picked.

I love that you see him and I - yeah the background is there but it’s so dark you can’t see it.

My friend Marie has had the Tuesday Toot going on for a few weeks now and it’s about time I joined in! This week has been busy so I have a lot to ‘toot’ about!

The fingerless gloves I am making for Alice actually fit her! Or rather, the ones I thought were hers actually fit. They are a little long but she doesn’t mind.

I found a clinic we can go to! I don’t really worry about medical care when we are away from home because we typically don’t get sick. Or if we do it is a cold and that usually doesn’t warrant a hospital/clinic visit - but the kids got sick last week. After about an hour and a half on the phone (or waiting for a call back) with my insurance and our clinic back in SC, I was able to take the kids somewhere here in town. And it’s minutes away! I’m glad knowing it’s there if we need to go again.

I contributed politically! I hope you have too - spread the word, change is possible and it will happen.

Thank you all for the compliments on the house. It’s no secret that real estate in the south is cheaper then real estate in the Northwest (where we were) so this house is big.

Oh and Lisa - more details: 4 bedrooms, a loft, 2 1/2 bath, family room, living room, dining room, laundry room, eat in kitchen, 2 car attached garage. I think that’s it? No fence outside, the BEST neighbors anyone could ask for, and a master walk in closet you could live in. Trust me, I almost put my craft stuff in there because it is so great.

The yard may not be that big, but we have a super awesome screened in porch! I love this because it has a ceiling fan and we put our swing in there. Perfect for the wicked hot humid days the south has all summer long.

We are in a new development so our yards are not huge - though they are perfect for kids to play in with the neighbor girls, bbq’s with friends and setting up a pool for the hot summer. But not too hot - then you just want to stay inside with the central air.

But sorry Chele - no furniture will stay - though all the appliances and even the washer and dryer will! You still interested?

This would be a perfect house for 40 acres Donna! You are so right. My Dad has five acres and a large house and it’s awesome. I can’t wait to stay with him and I know my kids can’t wait too - nevermind that he has horses for them to ride!

Our house is great to live in. We painted inside back in October and I’ve been replacing our curtains with blinds over the past month or so. It is surprising how little things can really change how your home looks - okay, it isn’t surprising and anyone point me back to this post when I say we are moving into a new place. I am great at unpacking and setting up a house in just a few weeks. And I can get all of the shelves and my candle holders on the wall a few weeks after that. But paint and blinds - that always takes a lot longer. Next time I will set up the house how I want it within the first few months.

It’s important to really enjoy your space. I did that after we painted - put up a few more pictures and such. But that’s just been the past couple of months, really not enough time at all.

Update: Click on the “Rent My House” link in the right sidebar - it goes straight to the listing!