diy birthday gift for the kiddos.

I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. There are some pretty things are there that inspire me by words, or in decorating my home, or what to cook. It's been handy to find a craft for the kiddos to do. But sometimes I get rather overwhelmed and the "am I doing enough?" feeling comes into play. That's when I close it up and stay off Pinterest for a couple of days.

Recently, though, I have opened it back up to find some yummy recipes and great activities for the girls. One of the easiest and fun things to do is make homemade play-dough using this recipe. The girls enjoy the mixing then of course the playing right afterwards. Yesterday we made a double batch so we could give some as a gift for my nephew who turned four.

To store the play dough in, I bought some small mason jars and took to another Pinterest idea. [Although I never actually pinned the idea.] I had everything else I needed---super glue, little plastic animals, and spray paint. I super glued the animals onto the lids, let it dry overnight and the next day put a couple of coats of spray paint on the lids.

And ta-dah!

The little gift turned out like this:

Pretty cute, huh? I'm thinking this might become the year of play-dough and cute containers for gift-giving. 

painting a canvas for baby brother.

For about two months now, I have been wanting to do a little art project with the girls that involved them creating something for Lincoln's room. [He doesn't actually have a room yet. Ha!] I found a project on Pinterest and it caught my eye. Finally, today I got up some motivation and did the project with the girls. It's really easy, fun, and turned out great.

You need a blank canvas, painter's tape, paint, paint brushes (I used sponge brushes) and some type of letter cut-outs. I found my letters at Hobby Lobby, they feel like post-it notes. I glued the letters on lightly with some of the kids stick glue.

First, I glued the letters onto the canvas. I was nervous about glueing them on, but I needed them to stick through the painting. I did it pretty lightly, but enough for them to stick. Then I used the painter's tape to create the "chevron" design.

Then I let the girls go at it with painting. The colors were orange, grey, and turquoise-blue.  (They were only in smocks and underpants. Easy clean up. Also, it was a windy day, so we put rocks on the plates to keep them from blowing away.)

When the girls were finished, I immediately took off the letters and tape. I didn't want the letters to dry too much on there since I glued them down. They came off fairly easily. Then I let it dry. 

And ta-da! It's far from perfect. I didn't measure and do exact taping or anything. I but I love the handmade look to it. The girls were awfully proud of the painting too. 

Lincoln has some creative sisters, ready to welcome him into our family!

today.

It's raining today. All day. I made it a goal to keep the kiddos in their footie pajamas as long as possible. They are currently taking their afternoon nap in them, so far so good. I took them out of the house today just so I could go to Starbucks and buy one of my favs--peppermint white chocolate mocha (decaf, nonfat). I have multiple Starbucks giftcards in my wallet. This makes me very, very happy.

This morning Audrey and I made a "thankful tree." (Took the idea from my cousin.) I cut out the tree, branches, and leaves. But she did the gluing and coloring. She also traced the words "Give Thanks." She is kind of an awesome tracer, I must say.  We are doing a "thankful" leaf for each day. We had to catch up and do three today. I asked her what she was thankful God gave us. She said clouds, trees, and scissors. I agree. She even drew a little picture of each thing under the word.

I've started to listen to Christmas music. Mainly while I'm driving. On Tuesday I had a "day-off" for my birthday present from Andrew and while I was browsing Target {alone} I decided to jump on the band-wagon and buy the She & Him Christmas Album. I'm glad I did, it's light and airy and not-too over the top Christmas-y. I do have a personal rule not to put up any Christmas decor till the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, I love having the fall colors up around the house still and celebrating Thanksgiving in it's full.

And just because this picture cracks me. It's like a window into a real life moment.

Also, I have been lacking on comment response. But I plan to catch up! Thank you to those who take the time to leave a comment, I definitely read it and even think about the sweet words throughout the day! xoxo

i walked outside for the first time in four days.

Yesterday I spent a lot of time my time stealing things. Yup, I'm a thief. I would get on Facebook and see my friends post things they are doing with their kids and then I would proceed to do them. My friend, Jade, talked about making homemade pancakes. So what did we do? Make homemade (blueberry) pancakes. Then she talked about a tea party. And what? Yes, we had a tea party. Then my friend Mindy talked about making clean mud. And you guessed it- we made clean mud.

I'm always for sharing ideas, that's one of the many, many reasons I love blogging and just social networking in general.

So, now you may steal the clean mud recipe from me. (Which is really not my recipe at all.)

Another easy, fun, sensory activity for the kiddos. I used one bar of ivory soap, had my little sister grate it, then took about 1/3 roll of toilet paper and had Audrey tear it up. Then mixed the soap and toilet paper with hot water, a little bit at a time till it was a consistency I liked. I think I had a lot more fun playing in it then Audrey, but she did want her pigs to you know, roll in the mud.

So fresh and so clean clean

Also? We left the house for the first time today, since basically Sunday. (Besides driving around on Monday to pick up my sister.) Fresh air is amazing. It also feels good to not be wearing pajamas. What? I've been wearing pajamas for four days straight? Never. Ahem. Audrey sported her skirt that I made. I haven't posted the deer applique one yet on my shop, but do plan to.

And those of you that look really closely at pictures (like I do) will notice my super dirty floor. And a crayon randomly on the floor. Folks, this is the norm in my neck of the woods. Mmmmkay. Now come on over and have some tea, would ya.

goop, gak, and what not.

You know that whole choose joy thing, that I am consciously trying to do each morning. I think it's working out quite well. Considering how much little sleep I have had lately, I am feeling pretty good about my days. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm exhausted when I wake up and wish I had just five more minutes to sleep. I am still grumpy and short on patience sometimes, but I'm trying. And that's what really matters.

Yesterday, we had the best stuck-inside-because-of-snow, messy day that we could. Including making goop, gak, and snowman sugar cookies with decorations and all.

To make Goop: Take 1/2 c. cornstarch, 1/2 c. baking soda, 1/4c. water, mix in bowl. Add food coloring for fun, but remember, it can stain the hands for bit. (We don't mind a little color.)

To make Gak:  Put 1 c. of glue in container, add food coloring and stir, then add 3/4 c. of warm water. In separate bowl mix 2 Tbsp. of Borax with 3/4 c. of warm water. Then mix both solutions together. Drain any extra water. (This took some trial and error for us. Moral of the story: Use Elmer's Glue, the cheap stuff won't work nearly as well.)

(There aren't any pictures of Audrey besides her hands, because she was practically naked while playing.)

Who says sugar cookies are only for Christmas time? My mouth certainly says they aren't.



And as usual, Naomi was a doll-baby all day while we made a fun mess.

(My little sister took this photo. She has been staying with us all week,

while my dad is on vacation with my brother.)

Our weekend is pretty free of plans. [Which I love.] Do you have anything exciting going on?
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By the way, the goop and gak recipes are not my own, I found them on a website, but I forget which one. Why reinvent the wheel, right?



blanket of white.

We awoke to a beautiful layer of white outside. Since I'm trying to embrace this cold, we got our craft on this morning by making snowflakes from none other than noodles. Yes, you can turn anything into a snowflake when you are dealing with a two-year old. All it took was some glue, uncooked noodles, and farklies, also known as sparkles to any one older than a preschooler.

And as much as I dislike being outside in the cold, I managed to get my completely non-matching ghetto snow gear on and go outside with Audrey. [Sorry, there is no picture of me in my ghetto get-up.] I actually enjoyed myself outside. It was like Audrey and I were in our own little snowglobe. [By the way, Andrew was working from home, so he was inside with Naomi while she slept.]

Being snowed-in isn't so bad after all. A good excuse to stay in our pjs all day, drink hot chocolate, and bake cookies.

It's a good Tuesday. A hope yours is too.

since last.

Wow. Since the last time I posted, which was really only a couple of days ago. I feel like so much has happened. Remember my goals? Well, I have been hitting them hard. Or at least trying to. Sunday evening I spent two precious hours trying to make an inspiring place for me to create. Andrew and Audrey were gone, so I was trying to be productive. It started with me just wanting to bring out my sewing machine and make it look pretty. And ended in me rearranging our living room and Naomi's closest, then putting everything back the way I started. Which almost resulted in tears from me. [No kidding.] I felt defeated. But, don't worry I got back on the wagon and tried again. [The next day, after I recuperated, of course.] I didn't get anywhere on the created space, but I did manage to still create. And it feels so good. I added a couple of things to my shop. [Side note: My blog friend, Lenae, bought some earrings from me. How sweet is that?!] To keep the creative juices flowing I picked up about 8 books from the library on sewing and making. [I had no idea our library carried so many fantastic creative books. You should try yours out too.]

 I also have been going to a Zumba dance class on Monday nights. Which is good because Andrew and I looked through our honeymoon pictures and I was like Whhhhhaattt. Hello body before two kids. And then I ate a cupcake. Just kidding. I didn't eat a cupcake, but I'm sure I would have if we had one.

On a more personal note, Andrew and I celebrated forgot about our 10 year dating anniversary on Tuesday. [Yes, I still count that as an anniversary date, although Andrew would argue otherwise.]

How about a picture from way back in the day.
Circa 2002. (Year after we started dating.)
Hello skinnies.

Naomi turned 3 months yesterday. She is becoming a little baby now. Chewing on her hands. Grasping toys. Making the cutest little noises. Still sleeping pretty good too. Smiley, happy baby most of the time. I was just telling Andrew that I can't believe it has been 3 months, it feels so right to have her with us, like she has always been a part of our family.

And she is a growin'. (Her hair too.) Check her.

In other news, Audrey is fighting off a cough and a cold. Which I think she secretly is trying to keep as long as possible since I give her a spoon full of honey to help it. [Hey, I'm just taking advice from Mary Poppins. That is what she would do right?] In the meantime, we are still having fun, runny nose and all.

Potato stamping at it's finest.

So what has your week been like?

countdown to christmas {week 3}.

Here we are, just one week away from Christmas. And I tell you what, this whole activity a day thing really makes it seem to come so fast. I'm lovin' doing something fun each day, in fact, I'm just going to admit it, I'm pretty sure I'm more into the Advent activities than Audrey. And I think it's safe to say one of the best things about becoming a parent is you get to experience life through the eyes of a child. In other words, you get to become a kid again.

Last Thursday we made Christmas bells. Simple and fun.

The weekend, was sort of a diaster for me. So Advent activities didn't really happen. We traveled to a wedding in Illinois and basically paid $90 to stay in a hotel and have zero sleep. Mmmkay. Moving on.

Monday was fun though. Our activities included making super easy and delicious Oreo truffles to bring to a Christmas party we went to that night. And Audrey ate a Christmas tree for an afternoon snack. Well, not an actual tree, but a pretty cute one made from cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and ranch dressing.

 [Want the recipe? Crush Oreos in a ziplock bag, then blend with cream cheese till super creamy. Roll into balls. Dip in chocolate and top with whatever you want- like a candy cane. Place on wax paper and refrigerate for at least an hour. Eat and say delish.]

On Tuesday (my favorite day so far) we did a lot of baking. We made sugar cookies, decorated them, and bagged them up to pass out to loved ones around town. One of the best parts? My little (almost 15 year old) sister helped out and she cleaned the ENTIRE kitchen for me when we were done. And boy, was it messy.

 [Ignore our windows that need replaced. Remember our kitchen used to look like this. Also? these days, Audrey doesn't do much without wearing some type of tutu outfit.]



On Wednesday we went to Santa Story Hour Extravaganza at our local library in the morning and in the evening we went to a Pajama Party with Santa, a free event our city put on. [Do you know how cute it is to see a room FULL of little kids in their pj's, writing letters to Santa, eating cookies, watching the classic Rudolph movie, and visiting with Santa? Oh my. ADORABLE.]

 [Yes, that is a tutu pajama outfit. Audrey's Papaw got her and Naomi a pair at the Carter's Outlet. Stinkin' cute, I must say.]

So, a week left. Do you have any fun activities you will be doing? Want some other ideas? Go check out Liz at Sugarplum Creations for the link up to the Countdown to Christmas.