One World, One Heart Giveaway!

DRAWING IS NOW CLOSED!!!

The winner is Lisa W. said...
"Please enter my name. :0) I am #1025, would love for you to stop by."

Congratulations Lisa! I will be contacting you via email. Thanks everyone for stopping by!

This year is my first year participating in the One World, One Heart giveaway, and I couldn't be more excited! If you're unfamiliar with One World, One Heart, just click the picture above to get the entire scoop! I am SO looking forward to looking through all the blogs that will be participating, and maybe I'll even be lucky enough to snag a prize from one of the other participants!

Click photo for more detail

I will be giving away one of my handmade reusable coffee cozies, as pictured above. Do your part to stop excess waste and look chic doing it! This coffee cup cozy fits standard size to-go paper coffee cups, and it also has enough stretch in the band closure that you can use it to help insulate most travel mugs as well.

This giveaway is open to ANYONE (worldwide!) - all you have to do is leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. BE SURE TO LEAVE YOUR EMAIL SO I CAN CONTACT YOU IF YOU WIN! On February 15th I will sort through all of the entires to be sure that there are no duplicates, and then at 12:00 noon PST I will use Random.org to choose my winner. Winner will be announced by the evening of February 15th. Good luck!

Indoor Fun: Coloring Castle

I picked up this cardboard "Coloring Castle" at Joann's on clearance for just under $5 last summer. I had originally intended to use it as a Hanukkah gift for the boys, but then it got shoved way into the back of our attic space behind a bunch of boxes, and I didn't even remember that I had it until the other night. Since it's been stormy here, I figured it would be perfect for indoor play while we're stuck inside.

Unfortunately, even though assembly was as simple as "Insert tab A into slot B," doing it by myself with two impatient preschoolers jumping all over me meant that it took me almost an hour to assemble the darn thing - the directions had like 30 steps or something ridiculous and were almost impossible to read (I actually put one of the towers in the wrong place thinking they were all identical and then had to cut my own slots for a couple of tabs - oops!). When it was all said and done, it's actually quite sturdy, and I reinforced the seams with strong packing tape so that it will hopefully hold up to two rambunctious boys for awhile. I don't think it was worth it's original $20 price tag, but $5 for hours of indoor fun can't be beat!


The boys spent most of the morning giving the castle their own artistic touch


They love that it's big enough for both of them to fit inside

Sutton is especially thrilled with the front door that opens and closes :)

Now, of course, it would have been even more frugal of me to have just created something from one of the old cardboard boxes that we have, but I like that the castle came with it's own personality, ready for decoration...as long as you have the patience to put it together!

Kids Craft: Rain Sticks

Today we had steady, heavy rain and wind gusts up to 60mph! When Mitch got home tonight he had to head up and down the street to hunt down our blown-away garbage cans. I was so glad that today wasn't a school day for the boys and that we didn't have to go out in this storm! We stayed in our jammies all day and did a few craft projects in keeping with the crazy weather theme. Sawyer kept looking outdoors and telling me, "Mom, this sure is quite a rainstorm!"


We started by covering paper towel rolls with construction paper. Normally I would have had the boys paint them, but I was too lazy today to deal with cleaning up a paint mess :)


Start decorating your tube...we used dot markers and stickers

Take a sheet of aluminum foil about as long as your tube, and crunch it up loosely

This sheet of foil actually ended up being a little too crunched up, so learn from our mistake! It ends up sounding more like real rain if the foil is a little bit looser. Insert the foil into your tube. Cut two circles from construction paper, and use one of them and some strong tape to close up the end of the tube.

Pour about a 1/2 cup of uncooked rice (or beans or pasta or whatever you have on hand) into the tube, and then use your last construction paper circle to close up the other end.

Viola! Turn the tube gently from end to end to hear the sound of rain!

Why Not Wednesday

Why not add some color to your breakfast?





Food Coloring + Pancakes = ♥

Sickies

(we ♥ the window markers that Aunt Debby gave Sawyer last year for his birthday!)

Sorry for the lack of updates...we've all been really S-I-C-K for the past two weeks. First I got a bad cold, then Sawyer got it, then Sutton got it, and now they've passed it back to me again. Yuck! We have been having a lot of fun while we've been stuck indoors though, so I'll be sure to post some catch-up craft ideas in a few days when I'm back on my feet again.

In the meantime, we're holed up indoors due to massive amounts of rain outside, and there's no sign it's going to let up anytime soon - the ten day forecast shows that it might subside a little over the weekend, but then it will be back to another week of rain next week. Ick. I guess that means it the perfect time to be sick though, if there was such a thing. I foresee lots of pajamas and hot chocolate in store for Sutton and I as we try to battle out the rest of this cold this week.

Sawyer On Getting Older

Mom: "Sawyer, I can't believe you're already going to be FOUR years old in a few weeks! How'd you grow up and get so big so fast?"

Sawyer: "That's because I drink a lot of milk, Mom."

Indeed ♥

DIY: Guitar Picks

My boys are NUTS over guitar picks...don't ask me why! I decided to have them make their own special guitar picks instead of raiding their dad's pick case every five minutes (you're welcome, Daddy!).

Here's what you need:



* Permanent Markers
* Foil
* Guitar Pick - trace this and enlarge about 230% to make a template
* #6 plastic - this can be found in many food packaging materials. Our came in the form of cake pan lids that we purchased at the Dollar Tree.
* Optional: nail file or sandpaper

Cut your plastic into a flat sheet and trace over your guitar pick template. My kids were too impatient, but at this point you might want to lightly sand the side that you are going to draw on as it makes the marker adhere better (without sanding, the marker will likely start to scratch off after awhile unless you are also planning on using a sealer on it). Start coloring!



Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Cut out your picks and place them on a "cookie sheet" crafted from foil. You can also use a regular cookie sheet lined with foil, but it makes the shrinking process take a little longer.



Place the picks into the oven, and after about a minute they will start to bubble, shrink and curl up. Don't worry about the curling - they will flatten themselves out as the shrinking process finishes!



Carefully remove them from the oven - if you're still concerned that they're not perfectly flat, you can place something flat and heavy (we used a dictionary) on them while they cool, but you'll have to work quickly as they cool very fast. I should mention that melting #6 plastic fumes are not the best thing for you to breathe in, I'm sure. If you're just doing one quick batch like we did, you probably won't even notice any fumes, but if you're going to do a larger project, I would make sure the area is well ventilated.



Get someone to test out your finished project - family jam session!

See, I told you...

Freezer paper stencils are addictive! These ones didn't come out as crisp and clean as I would have liked, but that was probably because I was lazy and didn't wash the fabric first...not to mention that I was using fabric that my mom had given me from her old stash (we're talking circa 1980-ish) that has some sort of light sheen to it, so the freezer paper didn't stick as well as it does with other fabrics. Oh well, the kids love their new personalized Batman pillows, and that's the important part!

Freezer Paper Stencils

I've seen this craft posted a thousand times, but for some reason I never got around to trying it myself until this past weekend. Sawyer had asked me for a skateboarder shirt awhile back, and I knew it was something I could make myself, if only I could find the time. Who knew that freezer paper stencils would be SO easy...and quick and rewarding too! I followed this tutorial and cut my stencil from a vinyl wall graphic that someone was selling on Etsy. I tried to find the image again, but it looks like the listing is no longer active; however, you can find tons of great stencils at Stencilry.

If you're like me and you have another little guy at home begging for his skateboarder shirt too, you can always use the negative part of the stencil to quickly create a second shirt. Be prepared to get addicted though! Not too shabby for a $2 shirt that I picked up on sale at the craft store :)

Happy New Year!

I can't believe it's the year 2010 already! This morning I made a new folder for my photos, and it felt so strange not to be typing 200x. 2010, a whole new decade - I'm excited, willing and ready! This year I decided not to make any resolutions, because I honestly don't need any more self-imposed standards or deadlines. Instead I decided to make a few guidelines and goals to strive for (with no deadlines, no time tables and no penalties for falling short):

1) Home and Family first! Because I work from home, it's easy to slip into the trap of working when I should be doing other things (like that mountain of laundry) and vice versa (like baking brownies when I should be doing quarterly taxes). This will be the year that I finally master the work-home-family balance! To begin, I am going to re-create our family chore/tasks chart - scheduling things, even daily tasks, always helps to keep me from feeling overwhelmed (and keeps me from doing the dishes or those darn quarterly taxes at 1 am).

2) Be present and mindful. My boys won't be little forever, so I'm going to make sure that I'm fully there, connected and loving every minute of it. ♥

3) Reconnect with the things I love about myself - starting with the interior design skills that I have and rarely find the time or budget to use. Because I'm at home so often, I want my home to be a place that I love spending time. Look for some frugal and crafty home decorating projects from me in the future. It's time for me to create my own happiness, starting with my environment!

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The house is so quiet this morning, it's almost unnatural after having a bustling house full of guests and visitors for the last two weeks. Here's what we've been up to:

Enjoying bikes and scooters in the relatively mild California winter. When I see photos of people who have been snowed in all winter it reminds me how lucky we are to consider 50 degree weather to be "freeeeezing!"

Baking brownies with Grandma (who always lets the boys lick the batter and decorate their own brownies with extra sprinkles!)


Grandma also brought some new board games with her: Candyland, Chutes and Ladders and I-Spy Bingo. We ♥ playing games together.

We built a bunch of new marble race tracks with Grandma and Grandpa too.

The boys' cousins (aka "the triplets") Rachel, Ryland and Jonathan came to play. We went to Wacky Tacky (an indoor play place) and then came home to play on the new Wii that we got for Christmas.

Everyone say "Cheese!"

Holiday Reunion

Every year my highschool girlfriends and I try to get together after the holidays with all of our hubbies and kiddos. We have all known each other since we were fourteen, and we were all on our school's dance/drill team together (go Rio Raiders!). This year Courtney and Brian hosted everyone (thanks Court!), and as usual, it was a BLAST! The kids played with all of Courtney's son's new toys, and the grown-ups drank wine, ate homemade chicken soup and reminisced about anything and everything. I always have to give a special thank you and lots of love to Aisha, because she was the one who introduced Mitch and I all those years ago!

I am so blessed to have these amazing women in my life, and it thrills me to death that it always seems like it has been only days since we have seen each other (though it is usually a year or so in between get togethers). We always have SO much fun together, and it's been great getting to know everyones' spouses and kids over the years. I can't believe it's been seventeen years since we all became friends - it truly feels just like yesterday! ♥


Kearsten, Aisha, Darcie (with Jaxon), Ashley, Courtney, Me (and Sawyer)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We hope your holidays were as busy, fun and full of love as ours were!

Aside from these first two photos, I only took video at home this morning, so I'll have to see if I can get a video clip uploaded in the next day or two. The kids actually slept in, and we had to wake them up at 8:00 so that we could get down to my mom's house in time for presents and breakfast with the rest of my family. Santa left Sawyer his much talked about "Batman House" with strict instructions that it is to be shared with his brother.



Santa also left each boy a marble race track that they can either use on their own or combine to make a huge marble run. Sutton loves it!



After quickly opening up our presents we headed down to Gigi and Granddad's house for more presents and breakfast.


Sawyer got some fun classic stocking stuffers like this ball cup and a (hysterically funny) whoopie cushion

Sutton was so excited to open more presents. Every time someone brought him a new gift he'd turn around and yell "Look Mommy! ANOTHER one for me!"

The biggest hit were these blue light-up swords (that also make noise, naturally!). They have been having so much fun with these - thanks Gigi!

Every time I'd ask Sutton to show me his present, he'd stick it right up in front of his face and do this silly little one-leg-up pose...I think Holly needs to teach him some of her display and pose Christmas photo skills! :)

Jessi, Stella & Erik

Stelly gave the boys a Whack-a-Mole game - definitely a new favorite!

I didn't take any photos or video tonight at my aunt Heidi's house...sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the moment and hope that someone else captured some cute pictures of your family. ♥

Christmas Week: Christmas Light Drive

We bundled up the boys, decorated our Jeep with Christmas lights, and headed off on our holiday light drive. We drove around old Lincoln for a little while, and by the time we got to our final destination - a street filled with lights and Disney characters - Sutton had already fallen asleep!


We could barely rouse him in time to catch the last half of the lights...he was trying SO hard to wake up, but he was beat!


Every house has cartoon character cut-outs in their yard in addition to the lights that decorate all the houses. These Chicken Little characters were awesome - SO much perfect detail!


This house is working on actually making 101 dalmations cut-outs! They had a big sign on the other side of the yard that read "82 more dalmations to go!"

Sutton loved this house with it's yard all lit up. He was quite concerned, however, that the reindeer weren't actually able to fly because of the fact that they were anchored to a tree.

I figured that I'd try to take another picture of the boys since they were both awake...and it turned into a goofy face making contest! Oh well, maybe next year!