Girls just wanna have fun...

My Birthday:

Brett took the day off of work to spend some time with me. (He's the best you know). So here's how we spent "my" day...

Breakfast here:


Then a little shopping at the outlet mall, Home Goods and Cost Plus World Market.

Dinner here:


and dessert here:


It was a great day!



Thanks everyone for the cards, gifts and phone calls!



(Mom and Dad gave me this card and as you can see Austin loves it!

This about sums it up today...

A little weekend craft...

Monday was Presidents day, so that meant that Brett and the boys were home for a 3 day weekend, which meant that I got a 3 day weekend as well. We started Monday by going out to breakfast, and then we spent the rest of the day hanging out at home. I decided to take advantage of my day off to finish up a few crafts that I had been wanting to get to.

So, I really felt like we needed to display the family proclamation somewhere were we could see it daily in our home, but I didn't just want to frame it. So, I came up with an idea to jazz it up a bit. So here is a mini tutorial to show you what I did. (Sorry about the lack of pictures, but it is easy and I don't think that you will need them.)

First: You need a copy of the proclamation. I re-formatted the proclamation on my computer using different fonts to make it look a little prettier. (If you would like me to send you a copy of my re-formatted proclamation, let me know.)

Second: Find some cute paper to print it out on. I found some scrapbook paper in my stash that had the "look" that I was trying to achieve. (Which for me was an aged look)

Third: Beg or bribe your husband to get him to cut you a piece of wood to your desired size. (If that doesn't work or seems like too much effort, just head to your local craft store and pick up a wooden plaque). My sweet husband cut my plaque for me (thank you Brett) from some scrap wood we had lying around.
My plaque measures 9" x 12"

Fourth: Drill 2 holes near the top of the plaque to run your ribbon through.

Fifth: Paint your wood and distress if you so desire.

Sixth: Get out your Mod Podge and adhere your proclamation to the plaque. (helpful hint: once you lay your proclamation on the plaque, use a rolling pin to smooth it out to make sure that there are no bubbles under your paper) Once your proclamation is adhered, let it dry and then begin applying coats of Mod Podge over your paper to give it a nice finish and ensure that it is properly adhered. (I applied 3 coats)

Seventh: Run your ribbon through the holes and tie it into a bow to finish of the plaque.

Here is the finished product:




And here it is displayed on my little table:




That's it! Now hang it on the wall or place it on an easel and enjoy. Easy!!!! Now on to the next project!

*UPDATE* Wow! I had no idea that there was this much response to this little project. I have uploaded the file here for you to use! Enjoy!

Before and After....

Remember the chest that we got at D.I.? Well it is finished and resting in it's proper place at the foot of our bed.

Here is the before:



And here is the after:





Isn't it cute! Brett did an amazing job with this project! I love how it turned out!

Happy Valentines Day!

Our day of love...

Heart cinnamon rolls for breakfast:


Flowers for Mom




A heart shaped pizza for our candlelight dinner





Valentines from Mom and Dad (or at least what's left of them) The boys devoured them while watching a movie Sunday night camp-out style.


And last but not least after 2 years (Brett says 3) I finally finished Brett's PJ pants that were supposed to be for Christmas...so the Christmas present became the Valentines gift! Works for me!



Hope that you had a wonderful Valentines day too!

Last minute Valentines gift?

Here's an idea for a quick, easy and inexpensive Valentines gift.

Gather your supplies. You will need a candle (in a jar), rub-on letters, stickers, and ribbon. I bought my candles at Wal-mart for $1.00/ea.



Remove the label from the candle and apply the rub-on letters and stickers.

Tie a cute ribbon around the neck of the jar. You could also tie a cute tag on with the ribbon if you wanted to.



That's it! Now you have a cute little gift to give to a teacher, a friend or even the ladies that you visit teach!

Love Home Depot...

If you haven't checked out their kids clinics, you should. They offer kids clinics on the first Sat. of each month, so we took our boys last Sat to check it out! The boys loved it! Seriously, crafts for boys...I love that! Anyway, they give each child a pre-packaged kit that is easy for them to put together. Saturday's kit happened to be a trinket box. The boys sanded each piece carefully, applied their velvet stickers (for the inside of the box) and then glued their box together. Quick, easy and free! Doesn't get any better than that. After the glue dried, the boys came home and painted their boxes. They were very proud of their handiwork and you know what?! So was I! We will definitely be making this our first Sat. of the month tradition.

Let's get CRAFTY...

I found these little frames at Target in their dollar spot (however this 3 pack was $2.50) and I had a fun idea for some crafty home decor.
Edited to add: The openings of these frames are 4" x 4"

Step 1: Remove the ribbon that came with the frames and drill holes into each frame. (I drilled the holes 1 1/2 inches from the top and bottom and 1/2 from the sides.)



Step 2: Paint and distress the frames.



Step 3: Wire each frame together. (You could also use ribbon or twine to tie the frames together)



Step 4: Dive into your scrapbook stash and whip up some cute pictures to complete your frames. My plan is to change out the pictures for each holiday or season.

Step 5: Fill your frames with cuteness and proudly display in a prominent place in your home!



This whole project cost me under $5! Can't beat that! Now go make one of your own. If you do, I would love to see what you come up with.

*If you can't find the frames at Target, check out the dollar store. Happy Crafting!

Quote of the day...

I've said it before, but we have some picky eaters in our house and tonight at dinner was like all others (a battle to get the boys to even try it). I made chicken and dumplings and of course the boys were less than enthusiastic about trying it. Erik was the first to try and he seemed pleasantly surprised. Cameron was complaining about the dinner and trying hard to get out of eating it. Erik turns to Cameron in an encouraging tone and said:

"Try it Cameron, the chicken wasn't even very gross"

That was the encouragement Cam needed and he tried it. Both boys seemed to like it OK even if they won't completely admit it. Austin on the other hand immediately shoved his bowl away from him and that was that! So now he is eating a bagel. Oh well, it's better than nothing!

I'll let you in on a little secret...

This is what I am making the boys for breakfast on Valentines day....how cute is that!

My laugh for the day...

Austin came to me this morning with this vest and bandana. He wanted me to put the bandana on his head so that he could be a pirate. A few minutes later he came back in to see me and this is what he looked like:

He went from Pirate....



to Aunt Jemima....



Now there's a costume that can do double duty!

For Moms....

Ever have days like these?



This made me laugh! I can so relate!

We got some new furniture over the weekend (I'll post pics later) and the boys decided the box was perfect for a rocket ship! I think they were right! But let me tell you, after about 15 minutes of fun with the box, I was ready to haul that thing out to the recycling bin!

A conversation with Austin...

as I was changing his diaper.


Mom: "Austin, only babies need to wear diapers. Are you a baby?"

Austin: "No" (he doesn't like being referred to as a baby)

Mom: "That's right! You are a big boy now, so you don't need to wear diapers."

Austin: (with a big grin on his face) "Yes I do."

(sigh) That was effective.