Busy Bees

So, the girls in my family and I have started this new project.  It's called Simple Elegance by moms.  If you want to find out more about it, you can check out the blog at simpleelegancebymoms.blogspot.com.

Lucky Charms 2

So, I don't know if you remember reading my old post about Lucky Charms cereal, and their marshmallows?  Well, I bought some for St. Patrick's Day for breakfast, and I put a handful on my 9 MONTH OLD baby's high chair tray.  Yep, he picked out all the marshmallows!  They learn young!

Whenever Wreath

So, I wanted to make a wreath that would work for just whenever.  Just for in between holidays or even during some holidays.  So, I found one similar to this one on pinterest.  I didn't look up to see how it was made, I figured it was pretty self explanatory.

I just got a foam floral wreath from the craft store and wrapped it around two times.  Then I made flowers out of felt and hot glued them on.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy (that's what Farrah told me to say about it!).

I did a teal colored yarn with yellow, orange and white for the flowers.

It might seem like wrapping it around twice would take a long time, but it really isn't too bad.  You should try one sometime!

My Love Hate Relationship

So, I have this love hate relationship with felt.

Love:

It's so easy to work with
In-expensive
Fun colors
Can make so many things with it
Don't have to sew, can hot glue
Keeps kids entertained for hours.... which leads to the hate part of our relationship.


Hate:

Although my kids are entertained... it makes such a MESS!!

But, we're making memories, right?!!

Chicks!

My mom was born and raised on a farm.  Did she like it?   No, not really.  She always told her mom that she'd stay in and make dinner if her mom would go out and do her chores.  Usually her mom (my grandma) was okay with that because my mom was and is a really good cook.  My grandma was a good cook too, but you know, as a mother, sometimes (okay, always) making dinner gets so mundane!!  Well, both my grandparents have passed away, and now my uncle owns the farm.  We still go out and visit and have a great time seeing and riding ponies and such.  But, I guess visiting the farm wasn't quite enough for my mom.... nope, not enough.

Last fall, my mom and I were talking about being self sufficient, and I kind of mentioned how it would be fun to have chickens.  My kids love eating eggs, and even though there's just the 4 of them (only 3 can actually eat eggs), when we have them for breakfast, with my husband and I, we make a dozen in one meal!  They go pretty fast that way.  Anyway, talking about it struck a chord with mom, and here we are... 10 chicks later!

Mom kind of feels like she's getting back to her roots (that I thought she didn't like!).  No, actually, it's been fun so far.  We bought them last Saturday, they are a month old.  I was terrifyingly excited.  Not meaning super excited, meaning so terrified and excited at the same time.  We bought the coop in January, it's going to be at mom's house.  The chick's are at my house.  I thought it would be fun for my kids to have them around.  It's actually mesmerizing, and kind of therapeutic watching them.  They're so little and content and they're little peeps and cheeps are so cute!

So, we probably won't get any eggs until this fall, but we're enjoying the journey!

These are their names:

Blu (she's the littlest one, and when she does lay, they're going to be blue Easter eggs!)
Ginger Spice (Ginger for short)
Maizee
TwinkyDink
Shepoopie
Poulet
Henrietta
Freckles
Oreo and
Chicken Little

Anyway, wish us luck!  It's a fun new adventure!

Friends

I love my husband, and really, he is my best friend, he knows everything about me.. knows me better than anyone else.  But, even with a great husband, every woman needs girlfriends.  I have great girl friends too, some of them are from grade school, some of them are neighbors (new and old), and some are family, like sister and in-laws. 

So, I've started reading this book by Mindy Kaling (if you watch The Office, she's Kelly Kapoor, she also helped write it.)  Anyway, the book is titled, "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?  And Other Concerns"  I have to admit that the first 25 pages were pretty good, funny, entertaining.  But, since I've been a little bored with it.  She has a bit of a potty mouth.  But, I did just read another chapter where she talks about girlfriends, and I liked and related with most of it.  I just wanted to share some of my fav's.

So, the following is quoted from her book:

"*I CAN BORROW ALL YOUR CLOTHES*

Anything in your closet, no matter how fancy, is co-owned by me, your best firend.  I can borrow it for as long as I want.  If I get something on it or lose it, I should make all good faith attempts to get it cleaned or buy you a new one, but I don't need to do that, and you still have to love me.  If I ruin something of yours and don't replace it, you're allowed to talk sh*t about me to our other friends for one calendar year.  That's it.  Then you have to get over it.  One stipulation to my borrowing your clothes is that you ahve to have worn the item at least once before I borrow it.  I'm not a monster.

*I WILL TRY TO LIKE YOUR BOYFRIEND FIVE TIMES*

This is a fair number of times to hang our with your boyfriend and withhold judgment.

*WHEN I TAKE A SHOWER AT YOUR PLACE, I WON'T DROP THE TOWEL ON THE FLOOR*

Your home isn't a hotel.  I forget sometimes because you make it so comfortable for me.

*IF OUR PHONE CONVERSATION GETS DISCONNECTED, THERE'S NO NEED TO CALL BACK*

I get it.  You get it.  We take forever getting off the phone anyway.  This was a blessing.

*I WILL HATE AND RE-LIKE PEOPLE FOR YOU*

But you can't get mad if I can't keep track.  Robby?  Don't we hate him?  No, we love him.  Okay, okay.  Sorry."


I loved these and thought it was very easy to relate.  All you girl friends out there, I love ya!

Crappy to Happy

So, I'm a "stay at home" mom.  I love my job.  But, I have to admit that every once in a while, I have a day where I wish I had a job.  I know for sure it would have been a better day working for someone, than being at home.

Yesterday was one of those days.

We've had the gunk going through the family.  You know, that super yucky cold where you wake up with your eyes glued shut, and you can hear it in your cough and you can't sleep because you just can't breath!  Well, I try to teach my kids to share, and they did.  It's gone through each of them, working it's way up to me, I'm sure.

So, my 2 year old, Eden, has been wanting me to just hold her all day.  That, in itself, isn't bad, I would love to do that all day, if I didn't have 3 other kids and a house and husband to attend to.  It just makes for a rough day (or days).  Not only physically, but emotionally.  I know she doesn't feel well, and I feel bad that I can't just hold her all day.  I hold her for a while, but her down for a while, repeat, repeat.  Anyway, yesterday Van decided he wanted the same thing.  He's been sick for a few days (which means he sleeps like crap, which means I'm super tired!).  So, he wanted me to hold him all day too.  Needless to say, my arms are going to be super ripped!  Well, he'd cry if I did and cry if I didn't.  So, I took him to the doctor.  Yup... RSV.  (Or, as my husband calls it, RSVP!  Hee hee!)  But, not like hospitalization RSV, just super gunky, ear infected, needs antibiotics RSV.  So, we come home to my husband proclaiming he's going out with several co workers for steak.  Ok.  Well, I decided that I was going to make a dinner that my mom used to make when we were little and I loved.  Lentil burgers.  Basically made of lentils, brown rice, wheat bread and wheat germ.  Super healthy, but good.  If you're a mom, I'm sure you can guess... yep, none of the kids liked them.  Good heavens, if you could hear their moans and groans about having to take one courtesy bite!!!  So, mac and cheese was dinner #2.

Tub time next (which I'm not a fan of... I like clean kids, but after a day like yesterday, I like sleeping kids better!)  Then, I got the opportunity (Brian came home) to go get Van's prescription.  Oh, and you'd better believe I took advantage!  I just strolled around the store, totally mindlessly for about an hour.  It was nice.  I came home and helped Farrah with her spelling homework.  I know it doesn't sound like this day was that bad, but like I said, physically and emotionally, it was!  There's a lot I've left out.  Anyway, I'm telling Farrah (my 6 year old) her spelling words and at the end, she hands me a little piece of paper that says, "I love you!"  Isn't it funny how in life sometimes just the simplest thing can turn things around?  I've been thinking, and a lot of times, sometimes the littlest thing can just be our attitudes.  In the January Ensign, President Monson talked about the ABC's of having an abundant life.  A for attitude, B for believe in yourself and C for courage.  To quote him he said, "Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I'll try again tomorrow.'"

Here's to tomorrows....

Happy Valentine's!

This Valentine's day just came and went. We were so busy getting Valentine's ready and with parties and making treats, the day just flew! So, I don't have anything too exciting to post, but we did make sugar cookie bars and they are SO delicious, so I thought I'd share the recipe. I got the recipe from this website: www.cucinafamiglia.com

SUGAR COOKIE BARS

1 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar

Cream together, and add:

1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream again and add:

1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour

Mix well, and spread mixture onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

*The cookie dough is so super yummy!*

Frosting:

3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup butter, softened

 Combine all ingredients and beat with electric mixer or spoon until smooth. If too stiff to spread, add a little bit more milk until spreadable.

 Enjoy!~~

Love is in the air...

So, I know that Valentine's Day is on Tuesday, which is just about 5 days away, but I decided to go ahead and make this wreath for my door anyway. I figured that I could keep it up even for the rest of this month, and then put it up again in years to come. So, it's was super easy and maybe took about and hour and a half to make. Of course I did this project with my friend, felt. So, I just used a wire hanger and needle nose pliers to shape it. Then I bought 3/4 yard of felt and cut a bunch of 4 inch circles.

I took the circles, folded them in half, and then cut two little holes. Then I folded them in half again and slid them onto the wire hanger. I just kept doing that until it was full. Then I used the pliers to close the heart and hung it by some ribbon.

What's that you asked? Do my hands hurt from all that cutting?... Yes, yes, they do! But, I love how it turned out, so I guess it was worth it!

Valentines Day!

Here is a cute idea that I saw in the Family Fun magazine. It's SO, SO easy, and only took me about 10 minutes to make the three shirts. You just need paper doilies, a glue stick, a sponge brush, fabric paint and a shirt (mine are ones the girls already had). I cut up a cereal box to put in between the shirts until they dried. All you do is just put a little glue on the back of the doily and put it on the shirt. Then you dab the paint on top, and pull the doily off. I also had letter stamps that I used to spell out "love". Speaking of love, I love how they turned out...maybe I'll even make one for me!

Which one is your favorite?

Ow, Ow, Owls!

So, here's more owl purses I made for more little girls birthdays. I put things like notepads and cute pens and lip gloss or hair brushes inside them. I'm still liking these, I hope the girls like them too!!

Birthday Girl!

So, my little niece just turned one, and I thought it might be fun to make her some shoes with my buddy felt. It was my first time. It wasn't too bad, I guess. They could have turned out better maybe, but they worked. I got the pattern from Lena's Baby Sewing Patterns. Her's look better. She used wool felt. I just used the acrylic. But, it was my first time. So, all in all, I think it was a success. I also made her some little bobby pin hair balls and a onsie to go with the shoes. Even though it was kind of hard, (just because I'm a hot gluer, not a seamstress), I still think I might try it again one day!

Tricksters

You know what makes me super crazy? When I get an e-mail that almost seems like it's not spam, but I'm just not sure. So, I want to open it, because "Oh my gosh, what if I'm missing out on this really important message!" But, I don't want to open it, because what if it's a virus! Does this ever happen to you? I do end up deleting them... if it were that important, I guess I'd get a phone call or something. Still, it makes me nuts!! I'm the type of gal who really likes to get the mail. I hate bills, but still, it's always a wonder what you're going to find in the mailbox each day. I LOVE (say that last word one pitch higher) getting fun mail. Ask my husband, whenever it's a holiday or birthday coming up, I am on it, checking the mailbox a couple times a day until it comes. There's been a couple times my husband has mailed me a card out of the blue, just so I would have fun mail that day. I also like reading the ads, I don't know, maybe I'm just bored, but I like to call it hopeful. Even if there's not a fun card or birthday invitation for my kids, you know, something different and fun, there's always ads. Well, those ads change every week, maybe there will be a good deal on them, you never know. Whoops, gotta run, I think the mails here!

Playhouse

So, I don't know if I've told you about my new friend, Felt? Anyway, we spent A LOT of time together over the last couple of months!! I decided to make a card table play house for my kids this last Christmas. It was a lot of work, but I loved every second of it. I was kind of sad when it was finished, but mostly excited to see their faces when they saw it! It's been a hit, they love playing with it, kinda makes me wish I was a little smaller, I think I'd play too!

I tried to make it really play friendly. The mailbox opens, and I made little mail envelopes for each child. There's a little pocket on the inside under the mailbox that that mail can go in.

The garden also has corn and carrots they can pick. They can take off the water spout and pretend to water the garden. You can also remove all the birds and flowers and move them around.

I also made the apples, so you can pick them. But, I'm going to have to revise that one, the ribbon is too thick for the buttons, they haven't been staying on as well as I hoped.

The last side is fishing, I thought Van would like this when he gets a little older. But, my girls love it too. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it so they could catch the fish. Then I decided to put a magnet in the fish and one on the end of the pole and it works FANTASTIC!!

On the inside I put a baby high chair that they can put a baby in, a table with treats that they can remove and a clock.

Tell me what you think... are you going to make one? I got the original idea to make this from homemadebyjill.blogspot.com. I love her site. Then I looked at other peoples on flikr.

More Cute Little Girl Gifts

I have just loved making little owl purses lately, well, I've only made two, but I keep getting ideas for the next one and the next one. These are also what we've been giving my daughters friends for birthdays. Then we put one of the bracelet cuffs inside it and a flower hair bow made of felt on the strap. Oh, I love felt!

Which is your favorite?!

Cute Little Girl Gifts

I always hate trying to figure out what my girls (ages 6 and 4) can give to their friends for Christmas or birthdays. No need to fear this year, felt was here! So, we made these cute little cuff bracelets for them.

I also made cuffs for some of my friends, but not out of felt.

Finger Puppets

For Christmas, my family likes to draw names and we buy a gift for the family. We're only supposed to spend about $25. So, I decided that my main man, felt can totally come in hand (well, I guess fingers!) this Christmas!! I had my sister and her cute family, she has a 4 year old boy and an almost 1 year old girl. So, I made them finger puppets with little carriers to put them in. Now, don't go thinking that I'm so great and crafty...these weren't my idea!! I found the princesses on madeitonmonday.blogspot.com (however, I did make up the Tiana, Jasmine, and Rapunzel) and the star wars at theidearoom.net (but, I didn't buy the patterns, so I had to make up some of them too!)

BFF's!

I know what you're thinking... "Whaaaa? The dead has arised?!" I know, but I've made lots of cool stuff (well, I think it's cool), and I wanted to show you! I thought I'd post the pictures of our Christmas stockings. I let the kids make them this year with felt (I made the two younger kids). CAUTION: letting kids play with felt can get really messy!! But, on the happy side of it, they were entertained for literally HOURS! I love felt, it has become on of my new BFF's. I am not a seamstress, but with felt you can hot glue it or hand stitch it and it always turns out looking cute enough! I love felt!

Lucky Charms

So, we don't eat Lucky Charms very much, and especially not for breakfast, usually if we want a sweet snack. I'm just thinking that I can't blame my kids for just eating the marshmallows out of the cereal. I honestly think I would too. Maybe that's gross, and I'm sure I'd be sugared up the ying yang by the time I was done, but once couldn't hurt. Oh well...I still make them eat the sugar covered "oat" part. Not because it's healthy, but, actually I'm not sure why I do. It would probably be healthier for them to not eat it. Oh geez.

We don't need no Resolution

So... I haven't even thought of a resolution for this year yet. I'm not always that great about keeping a resolution, maybe that should be my resolution, to keep one through the year. But, then you have to make one to keep, so then you're making two...to make one and then the resolution to keep it. Hmmmm, it just sounds like a lot of work, and I'm busy. I'm a mom. What did you say? "Stop making excuses?" Me? Excuses?
Actually, there are a lot of things in life that I would like to resolute. I would love to go back to school, but it's not going to happen this year. Maybe next. I don't even really care about a degree, I mean, I would like to finish and get one, but I just want to take classes just for fun too.
Last year my resolution was to get more sleep. Well, I'm having a baby this year, so that's not going to get me far.
Maybe I just need to start with a super simple one, so that when I accomplished it at the end of the year, I'll feel pretty awesome, like it wasn't that hard.
Okay...my resolution... to eat something everyday. So far, so good!
Hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, happy, healthy year!