Thursday, July 30, 2009

Money, Money, Money

I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey.
And who would think a financial planning book
could be such a good read?!

Part of his book details how to teach your kids about money.

Money jars were in order!

Supplies:


Cut your white paper into 2" strips.
Have your workers tear the edges off.


Then go feed your baby and put him to bed.
Have your workers get ready for bed too
but make sure you reassure them
it is not bedtime!

Then"decoration" it, add your money, and take a picture!

Then, the next day, you can explain to them that
'no, they don't get money every day...'

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Knitted Beach Top

Where better to wear a "beach top" than to the beach?!

You can find my knitting-in-progress post about the sweater here,
but it is so gratifying to see Two wearing a sweater
THAT I ACTUALLY KNIT FOR HER!!!

I knit that!!!

Two loved it,
the pattern was easy (and true to size),
and the sweater's already made a few rounds
through the washer/dryer
and holding up great.

For a list of other FREE knitting patterns,
go to the Lion Brand Yarn site here.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Fifty Cents

That's what the Tooth Fairy brings at our house.


Unfortunately, she didn't get One's tooth,
and it's not because One's mama kept it....

we're pretty sure One ate it.

And no, I'm not doing The Big Dig to get it.
As One said, "You can have my second tooth."

I'm thinking the second tooth will be just fine.
;o)


ps. You know the BBQ cookout was good when you leave with some dinner still on your face. And more than that, does anyone else think it's odd that my son is wearing a sweatshirt in late July?!


Friday, July 24, 2009

An unexpected celebration

Growing up I had a baby blue banana bike
with a rainbow on the seat,
streamers and a basket on the handles...
and training wheels.
Because I didn't learn to ride until I was twelve years old.
(Yes, that's right people, I was athletic like that.)

I had no idea how to teach my babies how to ride bikes.
When I finally learned how, I could just do it,
and I never fell down.
(I was twelve afterall!)
So how in the world were we going to teach them?

Our old neighbors just slowly raised their kids' training wheels.
Their bikes gradually got more wobbly
and their kids gradually learned how to balance
and pedal at the same time.

Seemed to work fine.

But then a friend of mine mentioned a scoot bike.
(Oddly enough, I had seen one on Sesame Street
when Grover visited a kid in a Scandanavian country.
Apparently that's what everyone does over there.)
Anyway, her son learned to ride his bike in a week!
So the scoot bike seemed like the way to go
but 90+ bucks?!? NO WAY!!!

So I went to my favorite store and the bikes had just been marked down to $2! Wahoo! We picked out a decent one, brought it home, and DaddyMan took off the pedals. Viola! Scoot bike for $2.

That was three days ago.

Today, One wanted to give his real bike a try.
The one with pedals.
I gave him a push to get started
and then kept running along side him to keep him going fast enough.

But he didn't really need it.

The hardest thing to do was letting go of my baby
so that he could keep going on his own.

But he did it!
My baby can ride his bike!



Here he is with his training-wheel-free bike:



Naturally this called for celebration:


My boy order strawberry:


When he finished , he said "Can I call Gran now and tell her what I did?" Of course!

My baby!
I'm so proud!
And a little in shock at how easy it turned out to be!
:o)

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Plus-Size Flowers

Dollar Store flowers ROCK!

At this post, I used them to make a hair pin for Two.
Then my girls group (10th-11th grade) got together
and we made pins for ourselves.

Here are mine:


My girls got a kick out of how full they were.
I just couldn't stop adding more petals!
Don't knock the plus-size flower!

To make them:
I combined lots of layers of each size
petal to make them super full,
(Seriously, these are like 3-4 flowers combined!)
then topped them with a clearance button from Joann's,
and added a pin to the back.

I wore the pink one on my Anniversary Date with DaddyMan
and got lots of compliments.

Put one on a shirt, put one on your bag....
Go make one!
Seriously, it cost less than $1.50.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

What you were wearing eight years ago?


I was wearing
a really pretty dress!

Eight years ago:
And to keep it real, I'll let you know that yes, it was July and yes, I was wearing long-sleeves. That was all on purpose because when I get nervous, I get cold, and when I get cold, I have to pee! ha ha! Funny fact! That seemed like a disaster waiting to happen so I made sure to find a dress with long sleeves and it all worked out perfect!


So that was then,
and this is now:

Happy Anniversary!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Cut & Paste Yellow Dress

This dress was so easy
it really was just like
cut & paste!

I started out with a yellow adult t-shirt (from the Goodwill Outlet where everything is sold By The Pound!!! yes, so it was probably 10 cents or so) and a child's yellow tank (from GAP, by way of the Salvation Army store, for $1.19)


Then I cut both shirts off at the armpits and sewed the bottom of the adult shirt onto the top of the child's tank --

viola! That's it! And it's yellow, so naturally it's for Two.
Not bad for under $1.50 and about 30 minutes of my time!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Crinkly Ribbon Blanket

When I saw this crinkly tag blanket at Julie's blog, I knew I wanted to make one. It was so easy! Her tutorial is great so I'll just show my finished product.



Because I used:
*scraps from Three's baby quilt
*ribbon I keep on hand for Two's hairbows
*a chip bag that would have just gone in the trash

The $2 I spent to add more variety to the ribbon was all it cost to make this cute blanket! This would make a great gift for a baby shower or for your own little one!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Sleep Tight


We drove home really late from our last road trip and the kids sleeping in the van was a disaster. One kept falling forward, trying to lay down and get more comfy. Then Two would reposition, start crying, and then that would wake up Three.... Yeah, that happened about three times in our hour and a half trip back home.

So I decided to whip up some travel pillows for the kids. These came together soooo easily. I followed this tutorial. One's is actually made with scraps from these pants!

And look, they're already sleeping....


I couldn't ask for more! :o)

ps. Don't you love that Two is in a cami and One is wearing a fleece?!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Magazine Cover

We've been on vacation this last week
so there's nothing crafty to show you
but.......

Look who made the front of a magazine?!?

(pic from countryfolks.com)

That is my cousin!
No, he's not modeling, he's just doing his job.
My mom calls him Dr Dirt.

He's six years older than me and I was an annoying little cousin. He once offered to pay my aunt one whole dollar to take him somewhere without me! That hurt my feelings but he totally made up for it by telling me about the "monsters" that were under the bathroom sink at our grandparents house so I wouldn't get into anything down there (we're so old, that was pre-safety lock days :o) ) and trying to teach me how to ride a bike.

Now he's the daddy of two little girls...


oh yeah....

and a supermodel too!




Sunday, July 5, 2009

Our "happy" 4th of July!

I'm sorry,
but I love this picture.

Two was crying because the sun was in her eyes. Don't see any bright light from the sun on her? Yeah, me either. But check out that dress!

Three was getting ready to crawl away, completely distracted by all the faces Gran was making trying to get Two to smile.

And One, sitting there very patiently even though he was soooo ready to take off with DaddyMan to be in the parade.

Ahhh, moments like these ...what can you do?!

But things got better!

Here's One on his Boy Scout float:


Two got her smile back and some red gel in her hair:


And someone who would get her candy!
(That's the famous Kimi!)
Three's on the other side of the street there with Gran in the shade.


Here are my favorite signs from the parade:

"Life's too short to clean your own house" (maid services)

Freedom spelled with READ - LOOOOVE it!!

This one is for an adult marching band. Their slogan?
"We eat better than we play."


We ended the evening with fireworks at church,
followed by fireworks at home.

Happy 4th!


Friday, July 3, 2009

99 cent Tommy Hilfiger Dress

I don't think DaddyMan was thrilled when I wanted to take time today to make Two a special 4th of July dress (you know, last minute and all). I'm sure he was envisioning hours and hours but this outfit came together in no time! It's the basic pillowcase dress with a felt flower inspired by flowers Kimba used to have in her shop. Two is all about double french braids lately but didn't want to wear the two red, white, and blue korker hairbows I made last year in her hair. But she was all for putting them on her dress! I just clipped them onto the ribbon at the shoulder and I think they look so cute!


Best of all, since this dress started out as a Tommy Hilfiger pillowcase for only 99 cents....


I'm pretty sure that now makes it Two's 99 cent Tommy Hilfiger DRESS!

:o)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Crazy Calendar

With my kids entering school,
my life is now run on the school schedule,
from summer to summer.
My Jan-Dec calendar was just not cutting it.

I would get the school schedule at the beginning of the school year and only be able to write information down through December. By the time I would get my new calendar, that school paper was long gone, or at least lost in the shuffle. So last summer I decided to switch to a calendar that ran July-July.

It has been F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!!!


I have a big wall calendar in the kitchen,
but I wanted a smaller one to keep with me.
I started with this calendar from Target:
(It was about $6.)

I certainly couldn't leave it just like that!

So I made a cover for it with some scrap fabric from this apron,
the same way I covered this journal, and even sewed on some vinyl so I could add a picture:
(How cute are my babies?! This is from One's 6th b-day pics.)


Here's the inside:
I love those black and white flowers! They were the deciding factor in picking this calendar over others!

So that's my new calendar!
What do you think?
It's crazy how full it already is!!!

:o)