im a steelers fan!

(that is nicole, her dad (the terrible fan) stacey and me!)

Stiller Fight Song (from the 1970s)

Da-Da-Da-Da-Ta-Da - Charge!
We're from the town with that great football team,
We cheer the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Chuck Noll and all his friends are all on the field.
Go out and get them Steelers.

Bradshaw, and Rocky, and Franco and Lynn,
We love you Pittsburgh Steelers.
It's been many years in coming,
just keep that Steelers machinery humming

Defense, Defense, make them scramble, intercept that ball.
Defense, Defense, keeps the Steelers always best of all!
Mean Joe, Mean Joe, do your thing against the other team,
You start from year to year, we're so glad you play here,

Now join with me, and sing the Steelers cheer-er-ER!

We're from the town with that great football team,
We cheer the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Winning's a habit, not only a dream,
Go out and get them Steelers!

Gerela's Gorrilas are here for the show,
and so is Franco's Army,
It's been many years in coming,
just keep that Steelers machinery humming.

Offense, Offense, take that football whole way up the field!
Offense, Offense, let's score and score and never ever yield!
Franco, Franco, can you believe we have a running game?
The Steelers are so great, and so hard to overrate,

Good things, will come, to those who work and wait.
Charge!

my first portraits!

i decided that i needed to paint portraits of my boys.

of course, with no real training, i did the best i could.

here is parker.

here he is in oil paint.

i even got his eye colors right!

nathan

nathan after paint.

i think i captured his attitude nicely!

i think nates turned out better. but i love them both!

i am my own biggest fan!

i found this for only $4 at d.i. and i had to have it.

of course, i don't really have a place for it except the floor of the piano room.

suggestions?

it is about 18" by 12"

(no, it doesn't fit on the shelves above my fire place. bummer)

still bragging...

with some extra christmas money, i headed to kohls.

because, as you know, it is my second home.

(and some days, my first.)

all i have to says is that this vest was $60 and it was marked down to $12

holy crap i love it!

i wore it to church and felt HOT!

(are you allowed to feel like that at church?)

and yes, chris is still tired about me bragging.

my hubby wants me to stop bragging...

even though i am once again strepy (i jinxed myself with my last post), i was the one who had to buy a birthday gift for my sister in law, alison.

after hitting my regular haunts...kohls and target, i couldn't find anything.

wtfreak?!

they are always helpful when i need a gift.

i saw old navy across the parking lot and thought id try there.

and then i saw the sign that said all clearance was an extra 40% off!

forget alison-i was gonna find something for ME!

well, i didn't find anything for me or my boys.

but alison is totally making out on this gift!

first let me say that the total, with tax was $25.27.

we usually stick at the $25 amount for adults in our family. so this was perfect!

this jewelry is so very al.

(ring was $2.69 and the feather necklace was $3.59)

i LOVE the tank top! i wish they had more than just this color!

(tank was $2.39 and the long sleeved t was $5.09)

and this sweater is so very soft. you cant tell in the photo but it is green, but almost black.

(only $9.89!)

i kept pointing out to chris how much things cost and he was getting just a little tired of it.

i wasn't!

good news bad news

the good news is...

1. i don't have strep (well, as of my typing this!)
2. i have a job
3. the job is at my kids school!
4. i will have more money to spend at aunt pegs and kohls!
5. my shift is over at 1.30 everyday, so i can still catch my 2pm nap
6. i get a bullhorn while working on the playground! (huge job perk)


the bad news is...

1. i have a job
2. i will have less time to craft
3. i so i won't have much to blog about

my job is only 3.5 hours a day and since i will be working for the school district, im certain i wont be paid much (so im not going to be chris's sugar momma or anything). i will be an aide in the copy room and the playground. we have 1200+ kids at our school, and this is a good chance to see which girls are cute and well behaved (and italian would be a plus!), so i can steer my boys their way.

im sad about the less crafting and blogging time. but im sure with only working 17 hours a week, i can find someway to post 2-3 times a week. i hope you will stick with the thrifty ba blog while i figure out how this will all work out.

but don't worry-i have a few more crafts to post before i start my new position!

planning for halloween! it IS just around the corner you know!

my first teacher gift for the 2011-12 school year!

halloween soap!

and yes, you are seeing that correctly my thrifty friends, it was 90% off!

80 cents baby!

this is gonna be one cheap year!

1st day back to school of 2011

what did i do? was it...

get a massage?

a nice lunch with an old friend?

nap?

shopping spree?

no, i spent 4 hours taking the lights off of my prelit tree.

and before you say,

'ba-just buy a new freaking tree!', let me tell you the thrifty story of how i found this little baby!

5 years ago i was in a bad place and had group therapy every saturday morning.

well, therapy put me in a WORSE place for a few hours afterwards and i couldn't go home.

so i went shopping.

most of which i returned by wednesday of the following week. (chris REALLY appreciated that i returned it!) but not this 7 foot prelit tree.

this baby was 90% off!

so instead of $150.00 it cost $15!

even chris didn't want me to return it!

the lights on the tree cost at least that much.

well, this year there were a few strands that didn't work, and i was too lazy to take the broken ones off and replace them. (i really really wanted the tree up!)

so i spent monday ripping and cutting the broken strands off.

and the ones that weren't broken (yet).

my hands and nails are a mess.

so is the floor under the tree.

but now im ready for christmas (which is only 354 days away!)

happy 2011!

i hope everyone had a great holiday season and are now back into 'real life'.

yup-that means cleaning.

i avoid real life as much as possible.

my little family had fun skiing (i stayed home and shopped), swimming (i fell asleep on a sofa at the rec center reading) and celebrating the new year (i was asleep before 9.30pm mst).

i did join my family...in eating!

because really, that is what the holidays are all about!

i did work on a few projects.

no really, i did!

i made me sweet niece megan a birthday banner.

you might have met megs already, last year one of my first posts was her birthday gifts for her 10th birthday.

it is almost as cool as the one i made here.

needless to say, she likes pink.

we made this new years eve night and had it hanging while she was visiting on new years day.

it IS her birthday month after all.
(here is a photo of my boys and megs from last spring. it is one of my favorites!)