Bloomin Onion

An onion started sprouting a bit, so I stuck it in a small pot on the window sill just to see how it would do.  My amusing little houseplant may not last forever, but it's kinda cute.  I'm curious if the sprouts are tasty. 

Been there Pinned that

I received an invite to join something called Pinterest back in October.  I distinctly remember saying to some friends at a pumpkin carving party that I would not join because I didn't need another distraction like facebook.  It was only a couple weeks later that I peaked into Pinterest and was immediately hooked.  

What is Pinterest?  

It is basically a virtual bulletin board customized by you.  

I was always guilty of "bookmarking" things online and never referencing them again.  Even more frustrating was when I would bookmark a recipe or webpage and could not find it in that long list of unorganized bookmarks...or could not remember what I named it.  Pinterest is the perfect solution!  You create your own categories/boards for things you like to search for online: home decor, craft ideas, recipes, a great bag or book.  Okay, you got me, it really is a chic thing.  But in all honesty, it has been a fun and rather handy resource for me the last few months.  

For example, I like to make my kids birthday cakes and have fun with it!  I have a board for birthday ideas with cake ideas I have found online and pinned, and a few fun ideas some other people have pinned and I "re-pinned" onto my own board.  This was Abby's cake I made for her 6th birthday.  It was so fun and turned out super-cute!  

We had a little fun the other week cleaning up all the old broken crayon pieces in the bottom of our little shoebox of crayons.  We baked them in a silicon cupcake pan. 

For a little fun in our homeschooling activities last fall, we traced and cut out the girls hands and feet.  I let them decide what they wanted to make out of their cut-outs.  Katie made a butterfly, and Abby made a tree and a chicken.

At Christmas I took a fun idea from Pinterest and put the kids handprints on ornaments.  I let the girls paint their fingers to look like snowmen.  I messed up on Wesley's handprint...I was so focused on getting a good clean print that I didn't put his print in the right direction, so I had to get a little more creative and make it into something else--I went with a little reindeer.  And it turned out pretty cute I think.  I completed it by writing their name and the year with a marker on the back.

My favorite Pinterest idea come to life was the Christmas wreath I made.  A friend from church hosted a "Pinterest party", where everyone brought the fixin's for their favorite Pin.  This is what I attempted, simply made by stringing ornaments around a wire hanger!

For Thanksgiving, we took on our own crafty little project inspired by Abby.  I think she saw it on nick jr. 

We traced and cut out a template of the girls handprints.  Then rolled out sugar cookie dough and traced our template. I added a smidge of cookie dough to the thumb to give our turkeys a beak-like look.

Then we iced and decorated and had some messy fun.

These were originally going to be place-holders at the Thanksgiving dinner table, 

but we decided not to put everyone's names on them after all. They turned out so cute!

So, if you think Pinterest might be for you then check it out.  Leave a comment and I will be glad to send you an invite.  Click, Join, Follow, and have fun!  Happy Pinning everyone! 

Linking up with Carissa at Lowercase Letters for Miscellany Monday

I have a dream...

I have this dream of being crafty, sewing dresses and cute things for my girls, re-claiming old things into something new with a little slip cover or some paint. I will browse through a store and say "oh that's so cute..I could make that" and not buy it because I reason that I could make it myself for less. That method works out fantastically for our wallets, as I happily window shop and never buy materials to make it myself either. BUT, I promise...one day, yes one day, I will find my inner crafty self and actually make one of these fabulous projects I dream about. Here is one that I thought was an ingenious way to reclaim a broken doll stroller (which we have). Maybe you will find your inner crafty self take on this project for your little girl.

kojodesigns: kojotutorial- upcycled "vintage" baby buggy

TuTu Cute

I had a little project I have been holding on to for a while.

The girls made their own tutus!

Abby got the hang of it very quickly!

She did all of the loops & knots by herself.  All I had to do was cut the tulle. 

I made the loops for Katie and she tightened the knots of the tulle.

She did a really good job!

They were very excited to wear them to dance class that night (until they realized how itchy they were).  We still have to embellish them with ribbons and things, but we were glad to get them finished in time for class.

In case you were wondering, these were just the shoes they picked to wear TO class, since we don't wear the dance shoes outside the school.

Little Entrepreneurs

We had a community yard sale on Saturday.  Our girls got very excited about having their own lemonade stand.  I told them they could keep whatever money they made.  They LOVED that idea!  I said you can save it or use it for something you've been wanting.  Abigail said well, we need to give "Jesus money" too. (That's what they call tithe at Faith Kidz at our church).  I was so proud! :)  So I said yes, you and Katie can give "Jesus money" and you can save the rest.  I asked what she would want to save it to get.  She responded quickly "DISNEY WORLD!".  More excitement followed.  Oh dear...well, this is something Jessie and I have discussed for a while, but their enthusiasm prompted us to start a savings specifically for Disney World. :)  

I have recently been trying to think of ways to show them the value of being a good steward of money and this seems like a great family lesson in saving for something special, rather than giving in to impulsiveness.  

I'm not sure where it came from, but I had some lemonade and 
cups in the pantry, so there was no cost involved in this venture.  So the girls got busy making a sign!  They each drew their own versions of Minnie & Mickey Mouse on their sign.  Abby proceeded to decorate a lipstick shaped bank with a smaller sign which says "Disney World Fund".  They do know that it will take a while to save the money for Disney World, but we figure they will enjoy the journey saving and appreciate the trip even more when we get there, since we as a family worked on it altogether.  Oh, and I should add, they sold their lemonade for .50 cents and made $15.00 in pure profit!  

More Recent Pictures:

Katie (mid-yawn) chilling with her baby brother

Abby & Ava (& Granny) picking strawberries

Katie at the strawberry patch

I hope these girls will be friends forever!!

Abby & Wesley (he's getting soo big!)

Katie & Wesley

Our Three! 

2 Months Old!

Abby's first practice session with no training wheels!!

Birthday Boy!!  I can't believe my little nephew is ONE!!

GREAT picture of Abby with Aunt Amanda!

Katie riding Ethan's pony at the birthday party

Cousins!!!

Puppy Pancakes by request (and some mickey one's too)

Play Ball

This past weekend Jessie and I asked my parents to keep our girls so we could get the nursery painted and ready for Wesley.  After all, he will be here in less than FOUR weeks!  Over the last several months, we have discussed ideas for Wesley's room.  We knew we wanted an overall baseball themed baby nursery.  We had several ideas that would have been over-the-top awesome, but we had to stick with our most economical idea.

And we are really happy with the results!  There are a few tiny details and accessories missing, but you can get the general idea.

We painted the full wall (right) and upper half of the other walls a creamy tan.
You can see to the right a rough sketch of what is to come....  

We used a slightly darker tan (leftover from another room) to create a seam. 

We made little hashmarks along the curve and I used a spongebrush
to paint the stitches along the seams

Don't look too close at my freehand work. :)

Jessie went back and added some shading for "holes" to add some dimension to the stitches. 

The finished baseball wall!

You can see the navy portion of the wall in this picture,
but no chair rail yet.

Jessie had a little fun with the name above the hutch using
some little baseball figures from his collection, and the 3ft Chipper Jones 
bobblehead on the floor.  You can see the finished chair rail in this pic.

The piece above the closet says "play ball". The toddler
jersey is a Smoltz jersey. And the space to the right
is for the custom wall art below...

Custom Wall Decal from Etsy

(If you have a minute, please check out my most recent post about our Personalized Beach Towel Give-Away!  FREE Personalized Beach Towel)

Overall, we are so pleased with how Wesley's room turned out.  Every time I walk by I have to peak in or go look around for a minute (I know that Jessie does it too).  Now, that his room is complete, we are looking forward to bringing our little man home!  

I couldn't resist...I have to include a picture of my diaper bag that I am super excited about using!!  Jessie surprised me with this bag for Christmas! 

Timi & Leslie Felicity Tag-A-Long

While in the hospital, I asked the nursery if they could get Wesley's handprint on a baseball I brought with me.  The nursing staff at our hospital was so great...have been for all three of our children.  They got the perfect print of Wesley's little hand!  I want to have a plaque made with his name, birthdate, birthweight and length.  But for now, this is how it is displayed in his room.

Wesley's handprint keepsake