Bullets

• We just started doing Elf on a Shelf. The girls {Reyna in particular} are having so much fun with this. They look for her every morning. So far, she has not caused any mischief. I think she might start though. Oh, her name is Sparkle. Reyna named her. Is it just me, or is that Elf creepy looking???!!!
• Last night, it was time to clean up.....Ruby informed us all she lost her cleaning powers. Where does she come up with this stuff??!!!
• I had some chairs that went with an old table that we had. I changed the covers on them. I got rid of the chairs we had in the kitchen and put these in there. You like?
• I do not know why people bother going to stores when you can shop online. I sat in front of the computer, in my pj's with a hot cup of coffee yesterday and finished up shopping while Ruby watched Dora. I didn't have to fight the crowds AND I didn't pay for shipping. It sounds lazy, but It was so easy.
• Christmas just keeps getting better and better. The girls are so excited. The tree is up and house is decorated. We are going to see Santa this week. They love doing their Advent calendars. I have a few crafts planned. I admit, it's hard not to go overboard. They are only young once.

Christmas Wreaths

My mom & I spent the day crafting yesterday, which was a ton of fun. The other day, I asked her to go shopping, she said she was going to look for a holiday wreath. I told her we should just make one. Reyna was at school, Ruby was suuuper low key. I love having my mom off for the Winter. The top two pictures are my mom's wreath and the bottom two are my wreath. I am still planning on making one more for a gift. We referred to this tutorial to make our flowers.


Of course Ruby enjoyed having my mom over, as well. In between crafting, we played Elefun, had a Taylor Swift dance party, ate lasagna leftovers and enjoyed hot coffee and tea. It was a lovely afternoon, I tell ya. One of the perks for me, was not having to take Roobs with me to pick up Reyna OR taking her with me to gymnastics. I dont' know who loved it more me or Ruby.

 

 

Day #14

Today I am thankful for the sun that is shining and hearing, "I love you's" all day from Roobs.

The Haps

• This is becoming the new "Ruby norm" around our house. She will take a bath or a shower in the afternoon, I wrap her up, she asks for her bebe's and she falls asleep. Two weeks ago, she didn't even make it off the bathroom floor before falling asleep. Two weeks ago, I laid her on Reyna's bed to get her dressed and I went back to check on her and she was zonked. The problem is, she does this about 45 minutes before it's time to get Reyna. School is really taking a toll on Ruby, as well. :)
• Kristin, my cousin, is about to go into labor. She is the closest person I have to a sister since many of you know, I have a brother. I am so excited for her and Travis. I think it's such a different feeling you have for someone close to you having a baby AFTER you have had your own. Does that make sense? It's so much more emotional. She sent me a text the other day giving me the deets of her dialation and I was in tears. Oh, my. Bottom line, I am just so happy to meet this little man and watch her become a mama.
• When I picked Reyna up from school the other day, she informed me that a little boy in her class tells her she is beautiful. She said it so casual to me because to her, it means nothing. We talked about being "beautiful" after that and she knows it is more than just her looks. So, for now, I am glad that she is in this naive state. Whew! Okay, so where do I sign up to home school???
• I made this sign for our dining room. I do like how it turned out. It is pretty nice having Jade have an office/shop that has an ample supply of wood, paint, saws and whatever other craft supplies I can get him to bring home for me. My friend, Jen, asked if I was going to open an Etsy store. My neighbor (okay, she is my dear friend but I LOVE calling her my neighbor it is so much more fun!!!!) & I have talked about it. She makes burp cloths, knits and is very crafty. I have kind of ventured into making a few things here and there, but it's a scary venture. What is people don't like your stuff??? I don't know. As of right now, I am just being crafty for myself. I just finished a sign for my front room. I will take a picture of that and share soon. I always thought I wasn't the crafty type. I am kinda thinking of going the homemade gift route for Christmas for certain people. It's so much more fun. Also, I am going to ask for a sewing machine for Christmas....say what?!?! Once again, I would have sewn my fingers together a few years ago. No, I am NOT kidding.
•  We had a sad weekend. Our bunny passed away. It was sudden. I'll post more soon.
• My mom & I picked up the girls' Halloween costumes on Friday. Reyna is going to be Merida from Brave. Her costume is gorgeous and it comes with this red curly wig that looks so stinkin' cute. Ruby is going to be Ariel. She told Jade last night she wished she had a Prince Eric to go with her costume. I almost fell on the floor laughing.

Pretties

This showed up Tuesday. It was a belated birthday/I rock at being a wife (I threw that last part in) present from Jade.

Working on some hair clips. Ruby claimed the yellow one and Reyna has nabbed the pink. I definitely have some more ideas for clippies. Next on my list of projects? Burb cloths. I am also in the process of painting something. I am definitely enjoying gettin' my craft on.

Bird Nest Necklace.

I am child-less today. It is so strange being in my house without anyone else. It seriously never happens. Am I enjoying it to the fullest?? Oh, yes. I promised myself absolutely no cleaning, organizing.

So, I am not sure why, but I have turned into a crafty biotch. Excuse my language, but I do not know how else to put it. I have a mile long list, a pile of craft supplies and just yesterday, Jade asked me if I had anymore JoAnn's or Michael's reciepts to cough up. hehehe. :) I seriously do not know what has gotten into me. Sewing, canning, baking, cake making, hair bows, painting and the project I wanted to show you I accomplished today.

 My bird nest necklace. I thought two eggs might not look as balanced as three, but since I don't have three kids, I didn't want to add a 3rd egg. Watchya think?

{Mostly} Wordless Wednesday

The girls painted today.

Birdie houses.

Reyna wanted a house triple this size.

Roobs was fine with a teeny one.

After Reyna's house was dry, she climbed the tree to hang it in the "perfect spot" for the birds.

Ruby caked her paint on, but when it's dry, it will go next to Reyna's

She will not be climbing.

She will rely on big sis for that job.

:)

Sew Much Fun.

Okay, that is one cheesy title, but looking at it, kind of makes me laugh. I took this picture while Michelle was nursing Mason, Ruby was running around nakey and Reyna was doing lord knows what. Oh, I think she was trying to "entertain" Michelle while she was nursing. We had no choice, but to sew yesterday with the babes around, which was fine. It was just a little chaotic. Last year, Michelle was kind enough basically make tutu's for Ruby's birthday. I did help, but she was definitely the one who knew what she was doing. This year, I wanted to attempt skirts. Once again, Michelle came to my rescue. Okay, and adorable Mason.

Whaddya think????

This is Ruby's and it will match her cake & cupcakes of owl and birds, which I am making...Lord help me. This will be the first year that I have ever made the cake or cupcakes for either girl, so I am sure I am going to be a frazzled mess. I always get that way when we host a party and it's going to be 10x worse making the cake and cupcakes. Remind me to add wine to the Meijer list.


I think I am going to make a few more skirts for the girls since they refuse to wear anything else besides skirts or dresses. They will look cute for fall with leggings & long sleeve shirts, right?

Michelle's Shower

I posted these pictures yesterday and forgot to share them. I had the privilage to make Michelle's cake & cupcakes for her baby shower that was on Saturday. ((I think that my cake looked better in person than my picture.)) Oh, well! :))))

Sunday night, her water broke. She is 32 weeks pregnant. The local hospital where she was going to deliver, took her by ambulance to a bigger hospital where there is a NICU. Please pray for her and her tiny little guy. I just talked with her hubby and they were giving her fluids and the baby shots to build his lungs and hoping to hold her off from delivering until morning. ~

Gingerbread house 2011

I wanted to save the construction of our second annual gingerbread house for the week of Christmas. I thought it would give Reyna something to look forward to. Believe it or not, we had a TON going on two weeks before Christmas, but not a lot the week of Christmas.

Instead of destroying our kitchen like we did last year, we went to Nana & Papa's and messed their counters up a little bit. lol. Luckily, I learned a little and this year was smooth sailing.

Things I learned making our second second gingerbread house:

• When I packed the gingerbread house to go to Nana's, I also packed my hot glue gun. I will NEVER rely on frosting to hold this house together EVER again.
• Ruby was still too young to help. I saved it for Reyna while Roobs napped.
• After mixing the frosting, I packed it into the plastic baggie. Reyna wanted to frost, but it kept leaking out of the top. I emptied the frosting into a bowl, gave her a spatula and let her go to town.
• I wanted to have an adorable house like the Wilton samples last year, but this year, I wanted to have a "Reyna original" more than anything. I stepped back and let her do her thing. Didn't she a fabulous job??? I think so.

{Almost} Wordless Wednesday

I got crafty over Christmas. If you are intersted in checking out who gave me this idea, head on over to Tatertots & Jello. I love all of her ideas.

Our first ever gingerbread house

Things I learned today while making our first ever gingerbread house:

• My counters & table was messy and it was useless trying to clean until we were completely done.
• Wilton, let me tell you something. Your examples are hard. We attempted to re-create one of your lovely pictures and it did not go so hot. How in the world do you make your roof designs oh so pretty??
• When Ruby is old enough to do this too, I have a feeling I will be purchasing two kits.I cannot see them sharing this project. This is just a guess though.
• The icing was darn good and I "sampled" just as much as Reyna.
• It was slightly tricky gluing a house together with icing. Once it was together, it was smooth sailing.
• This kept Reyna occupied for a.long.time. It was awesome.
• The end result? A cute gingerbread house, messy table & counters, one happy little lady.

Arts & Crafts

I have been trying to keep Reyna entertained during the day with arts & crafts. It's so hard this time of year to keep from going stir crazy.

I dragged my scrap stuff out and let her pick out embellies for her snowman.

She traced the snowman's body with my Fiskar's scrap circle cutters. The only thing she didn't do was cut them out, but I am sure she could have done a decent job. She is getting very good with scissors.

Her snowman is on the fridge. She is so stinkin' proud of him.