Baby its cold outside!

Burrrr…today was one of those days you just wanted to curl under the covers and stay in bed and watch movies kind of day! While that would have been nice it just wasn’t feasible. Ya see Christmas is upon us and being on a budget well this require some homemade gifts. I’ve known this for some time now and really should have started sometime back, however I generally lack motivation! I did not get to Christmas gifts today, however am working on a gift for my cousin who had a baby girl a little while back. Hopefully I will start Christmas present crafting this week. If you are looking for a little ones Christmas gift idea or even Birthday gift idea I recently made this cute little set for a neighbors birthday.

I achieved this by using my son’s cape as a pattern. I then created a mask, arm cuffs, and crown. I embellished them all and it turned out great! Now to think of little ones I can make these for.
Also, since we didn’t put up Halloween decorations I am seriously considering putting up my Christmas décor in November. Let’s face it decorations are time consuming to put up and even more so to take down. I like enjoying them for as long as possible, without being tacky of course!
Tomorrow we will be cheering on my hubby who is running his 2nd year in a row the Marine Corps Marathon! He spends a lot of time training for this day, so I’m hoping everything will go as he plans!
That’s it for today…Happy Blogging!

Spooktacular Birthday Party

Today I am posting details from the awesome Halloween Birthday Party my fabulous neighbor and her family threw for her grandson’s ages 9 and 10. The detail and time that went into planning this party really paid off! We saw some awesome costumes and ate some ghoulish food! Get ready for some photo intensive viewing! First though is my kiddos in their costumes. Silly Whim and Stinky Face are both sporting Hula Girls costumes fashioned by myself. Actually the Hula skirts were made for Silly Whims recent 9th birthday party Luau, which I will share sometime in the near future. Bubby of course is Iron Man.

There were so many cute costumes below were just a few a caught on camera:

Our Party House hosts:

Some of the awesome decorations:

I even took a picture of the toilet!

Now I have saved the best for last, the FOOD! As gross as some of it looked it was all awesome! I made sure to get picture before all the hooligans devoured it! The green pie looking dish was Chicken Buffalo Ranch Dip. The Deviled Eggs were green with orange insides. There was a veggie dip that looked kind of bloody with a hand. I so loved the Mummy English Muffin Pizza’s, which we will be having this week for dinner with salad one night! The Rice Crispy Treat Pumpkins were to die for! Popcorn hands with ring embellishments. Gray Pasta Salad with Chicken, Veggies, and Ranch dressing. The Punch had a frozen hand in it with plastic rings! The cake was so cute as well! Loved it all! I was totally impressed, which takes a lot for me.

If you are preparing for an upcoming Halloween Party or considering planning one next year I hope you got some great ideas from this post!

Happy Blogging!

Lunch Note Monday on Thursday

Yeah…I’m thinking I might move to a Lunch Note Weekly theme…it leaves me open to do lunch notes anyway during the week as opposed to always feeling late to my own party. Who am I kidding though I will always be late to my own party and others too. So without further ado, just click on the image below to download.



Also, I just have to say the proofs are in from my oldest senior photo shoot. Below are just two of the proofs, but Susan D. Photography did an awesome job and I could not be happier. My little girl looks so grown up.

Happy Blogging!

Senior Sunday

Today was Senior Sunday, well at least at my house it was. If you have ever had a senior or even been a senior yourself you know there is alot of details that go into ones senior year. Today just so happened to be one of them in my oldest life...Senior Pictures! Honestly we could not have asked for a more beautiful day! We had a nice little walk around downtown Fredericksburg with my favorite photographer Susan Driggers from Susan D. Photography. I can't wait to see all the great shots she captured of my beautiful daughter!

On another note birthday parties are officially over in my house for the year!! YAAAAA..now for the serious stuff...Christmas. Needless to say when you operate on a budget you have to start thinking about this stuff early. Honestly this is not early enough for me, but with all the birthdays hitting me between August thru October this is as early as it gets! This week the kiddos will each be completing one of these! To download click on the image below.



Hope I've got you all thinking about getting a move on Christmas now!

Check back tomorrow for Lunch Note Monday.

Lunch Notes Monday and a Happy Birthday too!

Today celebrates a very special day in my life. It was 9 years ago today that my daughter Silly Whim was born. I baked cupcakes for her class, I baked cupcakes for Girl Scouts, and I baked a cake for the family all to celebrate her! Her sleepover is scheduled for this weekend and I'm sure some more baking will be involved! "Happy Birthday, my sweet girl!"

On a sadder note my stinky face has been sick today. I hate it when little ones get sick and they don't even complain, but they just are not themselves. She has been such an angel today and just sitting and watching her show and sleeping. I hope that she starts feeling better soon.

Below you will find this week’s lunch notes!



Happy Blogging!

Lunch Notes Monday on Wednesday?

Rain..Rain..go away we have had enough of you these days! Goodness, I really wish the weather would make up its mind. It's hot, it's cool, it's rainy..it's sunny....I'm actually so ready for the summer/rainy season to be over, and then when it is over it can take the ants and mosquitoes with it! It's hard living in limbo between seasons...our drawers can't handle the clothes influx to accommodate two seasons. I love fall the weather is a nice medium between warm and cool...perfect. I love bonfires and walks that don't leave you drenched in sweat! Enough of that rant though, I think you get my point.

I hope you are finding good use for your lunch notes...while these are intended for kids I suppose your spouse could get a chuckle out of them too! Below is this week’s lunch notes and I promise next Monday I WILL be on time. I know this because they are already to go! Just click on the images to download.



Join me tomorrow for a great gift idea for a little boy or girl. This would make a great gift for birthdays or Christmas!

Have a great one!

Lunch Notes Monday

Well three parties and one more to go! Today my sweet baby girl Stinky Face turned two. Where does the time go? It's amazing how even the smallest family parties can wear you out! Last up a 9 year olds slumber party...Ya..aa..a.a...a, can you sense my excitement? Hopefully I will have some pictures up of Stinky Face's birthday in a day or so. Up now though is this weeks lunch notes. Hope your little person is enjoying their notes!

Lunch Notes

We are starting week two of school and everything is bumping along nicely, although I’m still adjusting to getting up at 6:30am. Sunday my Bubby officially turned 5. We celebrated Chuck E. Cheese style. It was small and fun. One can always count on Chuck E. Cheese to pull you through. He really wanted a carnival birthday party; however rain was in the forecast for the next ten days so we adjusted. Now I have plenty of time to pull off and awesome carnival party next year. Today was actually Bubba’s snack day for Kindergarten to celebrate his birthday. Yesterday, I gave him a couple of options for cupcakes and he settled on these

This idea was pulled from the Family Fun magazine site! I think they turned out cute. I’m anxious to see how they fared with his classmates.
Now to get started planning Stinky Face’s 2nd birthday this weekend, which should be easy since we are just doing a family thing. This Silly Whims birthday is coming up in 3 weeks. Ahhh…then I can focus on getting Christmas done. To some it may be a little early, but when you have four kiddos and have to make every penny count it is never too early. I actually already have a few!

So, I’m a little late with getting this out, however here are this week’s lunch notes. I hope you can use these to put a smile on your little ones face.

Don’t forget to come back next week for new lunch notes!

Lunch Notes

Well summer is officially over…school has started…and we are commencing with new routines! Back to blogging we go. Today was my kiddo’s official first day of school. I’m not going to lie I’m feeling a little sad and depressed. No matter how annoying my kids could be sometimes I do love them and miss them when they are not here! Especially my Bubba, he started kindergarten today and I’m going to miss him sliding up to me and rubbing his head on me telling me “Mommy, I love you”. I know he is going to have a wonderful day and is going to be exhausted when he gets home…I can’t wait to see them! I’ll probably change my tune once they get home though..just saying!
I’ve decided to try and start something new. Since I pack my kiddo’s lunches pretty regularly I like to stick little notes and jokes in their lunchboxes. While I am posting this one today my plan is to post these on Sundays. I may even post my lunch menu plans, but we will see how well I can pull myself together for that. I have two of the same joke/note to a sheet as I have two kiddos packing lunches. My kids are the worst a pulling off knock knock jokes so I’m hoping this will help them out at lunch. Click on the link below to download this weeks lunch notes!


Hope everyone is enjoying the peace now that school has started and don’t for get to come back and pickup next week’s notes on Sunday!

Daddy’s Day

I hope everyone enjoyed spending Father’s Day with that special guy in their life! I know I enjoyed spending the day with both of mine (Dad and Husband). Of course I always enjoy spending time with my family, but days like today give me the excuse to craft something for them too. I blog hopped all week looking at all of the cool ideas everyone else was doing and I meshed my own idea into something of my own! First I would like to share with you the awesome present I received for Mother’s Day. Can I just say I think my craftiness has rubbed off on my hubby as he has really come up with some great ideas over the years for me. How lucky am I he understands my value of homemade memories rather than store bought stuff! This was made using my kiddos hands and fingers!

Okay, while I wish I could remember the link for where I saw this idea alas I do not. The only difference for mine was I was a little cheaper. I could have purchased a three slot picture frame for my finished project; however I chose to create one. I purchased (3) unfinished 4 x 6 wooden picture frames at Michaels for $.66 each (they were on sale), also a steak stick which I purchased for $.99 back in the unfinished wood section as well. First I painted all the edges of the frame inside and out. Next I traced and cut the frames out of scrapbook paper and modge podged the paper frame to the wooden one. I purchased two letters “D”& “A”, which were on sale for $.99 at the Hobby Lobby. I spray painted the letters one light and one dark. I took pictures of the kids holding the letters different ways up against a brick wall. I then took the best ones and photo edited them slightly, printed, and placed in the frames. Next I glued all three frames side by side across the stick. For the “DAD” frame I have not yet added the ribbon. However, for my Dad whom we call “PAP” I attached ribbon to the back so that it could be hung. I also decorated the front of the frames with scrapbook stickers which best fit each recipient. I am totally happy with the outcome! You can really do so much with this and it was a pretty inexpensive project, which we will be able to lovingly adore forever!

Lastly below is a picture of my oldest that I snapped when we were doing our pictures for the craft. I adore her, although I will openly admit she is a pain 99% of the time.

Happy Blogging!

Unique Birthday Wrapping

I seems we can go all year only being invited to one or two birthday parties, then all of the sudden May comes and they come in a flood!! Let me just say I “LOVE” Etsy! I love a handmade item over a store bought item any day. For starters they are original, and chances are no one out there is going to have one exactly like that! So, naturally I just like assuming everyone else would appreciate the same kind of gift. I always like feeling like I put more than just a trip to the store into my gift…I mean my kid’s gifts. (smile) Last weekend I made a gift for Silly Whims friend like one I have made before the nail box kit as seen in this post. Additionally, I made her friend a t-shirt, which really fit her personality. This weekend both Silly Whim and Bubba have parties. While I did buy both gifts I wanted to add that touch of personal to them, so for Silly Whims (one of her best friends) I had a picture from Silly Whims Spa-rific Sleepover, which I hope to post on soon. I took the picture and created an iron on design. I also used Steam-a-seam (love that stuff) to create fabric appliqués of her name. Additionally, I used spray paint to create a splattered paint look and went over my appliqué with fabric pain. I started with these a 3 pack from Wal-mart was $6.97, and everything else I already had!

Below is the finished product:

Next for Bubba’s friend, whom I will say we don’t know that well I created an appliqué of race car and his name on the bag. (appliqué is indicative of contents) Bubba is going through a car phase right now. To create an appliqué I simply print out whatever design word I want to use then flip it print side down and trace over my light box onto the steam-a-seam. Next I peel off the side that is NOT traced on and place it on the WRONG side of my fabric. See below:

I gently press with an iron to seal together, and then cut along traced lines. I arrange how I want it all to look on whatever item I have chosen to place it on then remove the last piece of paper from the steam-a-seam and iron on for my permanent look. I also used the spray paint for this as well. This bag turned out like so:

Both bags stuffed and fluffed:

I’m probably over estimating others appreciation for this type of stuff, but it makes me feel better and honestly you spend just as much maybe even less than you would have if you purchased a bag!

Have a great weekend!!

Toilet Seat Sweet

Interested in the title of this blog post? Keep reading to find out what it is all about! Honestly though I was rather embarrassed to post after having gone for such a long time in between postings. I long to be that person who posts several times a week, I suppose to become that I may have to settle sometimes for just simple posts. That leads us to today’s posting “Toilet Seat Sweet”! I have come to accept sometimes the simple things in life are what be me joy. We have been needing new toilet seats in all of our (3) bathrooms for some time now, so I was excited when I was meandering through Home Depot not too long ago and saw these ditty’s .

Having a 4 almost 5 year old boy toilet seats can really mean a lot! You can imagine my excitement when I can get the Whisper (No Slam) Close toilet seats for $9.93 (originally $39.97). So, I pretty much got three for the price of one! Gotta love it when that happens!! While that was almost enough excitement for one day I had also searched the internet for some type of seat handle for any size boys to use when lifting and lowering the toilet seat! That is when I came across these:

http://www.theshandle.com/

These have to be the coolest seat handles every. Such a simple idea I actually wish I had thought of it! Alas I did not; I did invest in three handles. These are great not only do I feel better about my little man lifting the seat and not touching the gross seat! Added bonus is the reminder on BOTH sides of the handle reminding little ones to wash their hands! These are super easy to install, the seat does need to be flat on the bottom of the seat. This is what mine look like installed. They have several designs to choose from and some neutral ones. I have three different ones.

My Whisper Seat in action (teeheehee)

Please note this is NOT a paid promotion I have not been asked to review these, however as a mother of four I always like hearing about products out on the market that make life a little easier for moms! I am just simply sharing with you what I found that I like and works well for me. This may not be the case for you; however I hope you found this useful!

Good Friday

Today is a very special day as it is the day that Jesus died for our transgressions so that we could be forgiven. I for one am very thankful for all that he sacrificed for me. It is sad that I did not truly understand the meaning or the word of God until I was older. I am very fortunate to have a husband who has taken it upon himself to ensure that myself and our children completely understand and give thanks daily. This evening after dinner and getting ready for bed we sat as my husband read from the Bible the meaning of Good Friday and Easter. It is important that our children understand Easter Is more than just baskets, eggs, and candy. Silly Whim asked plenty of questions! Afterward my husband, La (my 16 year old) and myself watched “Passion of the Christ”, which in my opinion is a very moving movie. I cried like a baby the first time I saw this movie! If you haven’t seen it I strongly recommend seeing it at least once in your life, though I do not recommend it for young children.

Now onto a little of what I have been up to lately. I have not posted much lately, but I have been busy trying to finish up some projects started some time ago. A friend of La’s had a baby back in December. She graduated last year so she is a young mother. Having had La when I was 18 I empathize with being young and starting your family, it’s was not easy, but it was part of my life that brought me here. So when her friend’s daughter was born I had said I wanted to make her a blanket. It took me a while, a long while, but I finally finished! Below are the things that I made her. I am very happy with how things turned out. As a young mother I hope she appreciates them, I know I would have had someone made them for me when I had La!
This is everything that I made:

This is a closer look at the blanket and matching onesie:

Then of course I made this cute little onesie dress for Easter:

Lastly I made this cute one. The “C” is her initial. I found this ruffle material on clearance at my Joann’s. I plan on making Stinky Face a skirt with this same material!

Well, that is just one of the little projects I can now mark off my to do list.

Oh...and a week or so ago I ran across a really cute little snack, which of course I do not remember the link to, however I jotted down the recipie and made the for Bubby's preschool Easter celebration the other day. They were so cute. Definitely a make again!

Here is a closer look at these birdies and their nest...so cute!

I pray that you all have a blessed Easter and remember why you are here, by his grace.
God Bless.