the winthrop chronicles

valentine's day photos

2012-02-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

My little valentines.

{Don't forget to enter the Lulu's Little Loft giveaway here}

lulu's little loft giveaway!

2012-02-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

I've got a great giveaway for you guys today! I came across Lulu's Little Loft on Etsy. It is a cute little shop that sells signs and posters. Perfect for so many things! I am always looking for decor to add to my home to make it a bit more personal. Here are some of my favorites from her shop.

{This is a to do list that allows you to keep track of everything, like how much water you drank, goals for the day, exercise, meals, cleaning... seriously everything! It's a perfect way to stay organized, which is something I am always working towards. Seeing this on the refrigerator every day is something that would help so much. You could even put this in a frame and use dry erase markers on the glass... genius!}

{I love this one and think it would be perfect in Elly's or the boy's bedroom}

{I love the colors in this one and it's so cute. It would look perfect in a bright frame for a anniversary or wedding present}

{As a wanna-be photographer, it seems I say this all the time to my kids... but what a good reminder to always be happy!}

Now to the giveaway:

Lauryn will be giving away ANY sign or poster of your choosing from her shop! {excludes "Trendy Paper Dolls"}

To enter:
1. Become a follower of my blog (via google friend connect)
2. Become a follower of Lauryn's blog (via google friend connect)
3. Check out her etsy shop and pick a favorite sign or poster
4. Leave a comment below telling me what sign or poster you would love to win from her shop.

The winner will be randomly selected (using random.org) from the comments below and announced on Friday afternoon, February, 17th. So the more comments, the better your chance at winning.

Good luck!

valentine's cake

2012-02-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love any excuse to make a chocolate cake. Last year I made a chocolate cake for Valentine's Day, and so this year I decided to make one too... but just a few days early because we had people over for dinner. I used this recipe to make it. It was really good... not the best chocolate cake I have ever made, but still really good. {I think my favorite is this recipe}

I added a little banner and put it on a new cake stand I made. Next week I will post how to make the cake stand... I have made a few lately and love them. After spending all of that time making a cake from scratch, it's nice to put it up on a pretty pedestal... like a trophy. And after my long day of baking a cake, homemade bread and lasagna all from scratch... I needed a trophy.

Chocolate is by far my favorite dessert, especially for Valentine's day.

homemade valentines

2012-02-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

This is the first year that Jackson is in school, so the first time we are making mass valentines for Valentine's day. I made these homemade valentines with some leftover packing paper I used for my homemade wrapping paper.

I printed out and then cut up some labels for the valentines. I worried that these little preschoolers would get a brown paper heart and then just chuck it thinking that it was just a brown paper heart. I wanted to make sure they knew that candy was inside... how they open it... well... I am expecting them to just figure that out.

I cut out some hearts out of the packing paper. We stuffed it with M&M's, conversation hearts and a valentine bouncy ball.

I had Jackson draw hearts on the front of the valentine because even though I was making the majority of the valentine, I still wanted him to be involved.

I switched out my sewing needle to the double needle and sewed a double stitch around the outside. I just sewed in the tag. When I had about 3 1/2 inches left to sew, I just kept the needle in place and stuffed the candy inside the heart.

jackson lately

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today I brought in treats for Jackson's pre school class because it is his half birthday. It's kind of nice because if the kid's birthday falls over the summer, then they celebrate their half birthday so that they can have a special day at school like the rest of the kids. Jackson picked out some cupcakes and juice boxes to bring in for the other pre schoolers. For a little gift for the kids, I made these treat bags.

They were pretty easy, I just cut the ziplock part off the top of the bag, filled it with some candy and folded over the top of the bag. Then I printed off this little birthday label on some card stock, folded it over the top of the bag and then stapled it on.

A few weeks ago I was setting up my seamless paper to take some pictures and I asked Jackson to quickly come over and stand in front of it so that I could test the lighting. So he did, and he wanted me to take a picture of his Spiderman glove.

Jackson also wanted to teach everyone how to fly like superman, so here is his tutorial. (He picked the pictures and told me what to write).

I think this age is so funny. So I try to keep track of some of the funny conversations. Here are a couple that I had typed in on my phone.

(after I made a rolling stop at a stop sign)
Jax: Mom that was a stop sign back there and you just went!
Me: I stopped!
Jax: You didn't stop like you're supposed to! (how does he even know the difference between a rolling stop and a complete stop?)
(then I stop at the next stop sign and making a complete stop)
Me: Is this better Jackson?
Jax: Yeah that's better. That's how you're supposed to stop.

(Elly reached over and grabbed some of Jackson's food)
Jax: Mom! Elly's eating my food!
Me: I know but she doesn't know any better.
Jax: Why not?
Me: Because she's a baby so that's why your job as a big brother is so important. You have to teach her it's not ok to grab people's food.
Jax: I know I AM teaching her things but it's not working!

Jax: Elly go away and play somewhere else!
Me: Jackson it's her house too, it's ok if she goes over there.
Jax: But mom sometimes Elly makes things really difficult for me and Parker!

t-shirt up cycle: a baby tee

2012-02-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

My sister gave this shirt to me when she cleaned out her closet. I loved the color, but I went running in it and the collar was just too tight, I hated it. So I gave it back to my sister... then she stayed at my house recently and after she left I realized she left the t-shirt here. Now, I am assuming she left it because she didn't want it either, I hope she didn't just forget it because I turned it in to a shirt for Elly. Normally, I wouldn't take the effort to make a t-shirt because you can buy them pretty cheap, but I haven't really seen a lot of t-shirts like this for babies, and I think it's cute.

first: I used one of her other shirts as a pattern, but added about a 1/4 inch all around for seam allowance.

second: Cut out the pieces. Now, because the collar was already tight, I didn't touch it. But normally, you may have to cut the collar, I would do this at the shoulder seam, just rip the current seam and then cut about 1/2 inch off the top.

These are the pieces you are left with.

third: Turn the shirt inside out and sew the sides of the shirt, leaving room to attach the sleeve.

fourth: Sew along the side of the sleeve, it's the left side in the picture. Then attach the sleeves. {you can look at this shirt I made earlier to see how to attach a sleeve, or google it, you would probably get better directions there anyway}

fifth: Turn the shirt right side out and fold under the bottom of the shirt and do a top stich along the bottom.

Then with the extra fabric from the t-shirt, I cut three skinny strips, braided them together and then sewed the ends together to make a circle. And you have an easy headband.

our weekend via iphone pics

2012-02-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

{The kids are still a little sick with colds. We read "We're going on a bear hunt" and were running around the house. When we stopped, Jackson and Parker were coughing so much I told them they had to lay in their beds and stay there while they watched a movie... there weren't any complaints}

{However, this little stinker snuck out and got in to my bag of chocolate. I found him on the floor in his room eating them. When I saw him, he closed his eyes because he knew he was caught. Lucky for him it looked cute so I didn't get mad, I took a picture. I think it's funny how he made sure to put the wrappers in the little measuring cup}

{We have been loading up on the vitamin c to combat the colds. I bought some blood oranges and Parker and Jackson love them! I think they are a little bit more bitter}

{Parker got a little flier in the mail about a tiny tots soccer league. I asked him if he wanted to play soccer like Jackson and he said, "And get a soccer ball for Parker?!" I said yes, that he can get his own soccer ball and he was so excited. He kept looking at the flier and kept pointing at all of the little kids playing soccer and said, "There's Parker, there's Parker's soccer ball." I can't wait for that, it's going to be adorable}

{I told the kids a story about when I went skydiving years ago, and to demonstrate what skydiving is, I tied their little toy on to a plastic bag. Then Parker put his arms through the plastic bag holes and was jumping off things, so naturally Jackson joined in. They were also able to learn that a plastic bag WILL NOT protect you if you jump out of a plane}

{I spray painted a new chair, a mirror and some other crafty things I'll have to show you later}

{I bought some new fabric for scarves}

{I bought some cinnamon gummy bears and decided to dip them in chocolate, a favorite from my college days. Gotta love the BYU bookstore's chocolate covered cinnamon bears}

{Because the kids have been sick, I haven't gone to the Y lately. Instead I just run on our treadmill. However, Danny is still going every single morning before work. That's some serious dedication}

{Along with Danny's daily workout, he eats his spinach shake every morning for breakfast. It's actually really good. He got the recipe from a friend of ours who is a personal trainer who gained 70 lbs in 6 months and is now spending 6 months to loose it. You can check out his story here}

vintage giveaway {winner}

2012-02-03T12:13:00.002-06:00

The winner of the vintage gold and turquoise jewelry box giveaway is:

Robin: I do not go to thrift stores or garage stores much anymore - after living and raising two boys, I need to de-clutter. However, occasionally I will go for some cookware, or clothing if I am in between sizes.

Congratulations!

Betsy has decided to share the love and is offering 10% off any purchase at her shop for 1 week.

Just type in the code winthrop for the discount.

chocolate cherry cupcakes

2012-02-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

For some reason I have been on a sweets kick... well, I always like eating sweets, but I have been baking a lot more. I usually only allow myself to bake when I have an excuse, like holidays and people coming over. Otherwise, I would bake everyday and start to pack on the poundage I'm sure. Danny and I love chocolate and cherries, but we don't like maraschino cherries that much, so I made up these cupcakes using cherry pie filling. They are my "Valentine's day cupcakes." And they will be followed up with my "Valentine's day cake." Too bad none of them will actually last until Valentine's day! So then, I'll just have to make something else.

the cupcakes:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
3/4 cup milk

Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add vanilla and egg. Add milk and flour mixture alternately while still mixing. Pour in to lined cupcake pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

the cream:
1 stick butter at room temp
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
a dash of almond extract

Beat butter until smooth. Add sugar, milk, vanilla and almond. Beat until spreadable.

the Frosting:
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup heavy cream

Put in microwaveable bowl and microwave for 2-3 minutes, use whisk attachment and whisk until smooth and glossy. If it gets clumpy or hard, put back in microwave for a little bit.

the cherries:
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 can cherry pie filling

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, dip the cherries in the chocolate and then cool in the refrigerator.

to assemble:
When the cupcakes have cooled, use a knife to cut a cone-shape from the top of the cupcake, and trim the end of the cone so you have just a thin circle left. Fill the hole with cream and a cherry. Place the thin circle back on top of the hole.

Cover with chocolate frosting, cream and the chocolate covered cherries.

70's dress

2012-02-02T08:00:00.002-06:00

In October I bought these mustard tights at H&M and since then had been looking for a blue dress I could wear with them. Since I couldn't find one, I decided to try and make one. I knew I wanted a simple straight dress with some pleats at the top, so this is what I came up with.

first: I cut out the front and back panels of the dress by using a different dress as a pattern.

Cut the front panel a little wider at the top to make room for the pleats (as seen in the picture below)

Add the pleats by pining them together.

second: Turn the fabric inside out and sew the front and back panels together on the sides and the shoulders.
third: Cut out the sleeves, mine looked like this. I didn't taper the end because I wanted it to be a little bit of a bubble sleeve.

fourth: Add button closures. I added these on the back panel near the neck and at the bottom of the sleeves. Check out this tutorial to know what I'm talking about.

fifth: Then I added some biased trim around the collar and the ends of the sleeves. Check out this previous tutorial for that.

sixth: Attach the sleeves. Again, check out this tutorial for how to do that.
seventh: Sew an invisible hem. Check this out to find out how to sew a blind stitch.
eight: Sew on your buttons and then you're done!

{necklace: Target, tights: H&M, shoes: Target, awesome dress: me!}

the park-ster

2012-02-01T08:00:00.001-06:00

Parker is growing up so much! He talks so much and you can actually understand it. I think Jackson is partially to blame for Parker's muteness, often this is a conversation that would go on.

Me: "What do you guys want for lunch?"

Jax: "I want a peanut butter sandwich! Parker do you want a peanut butter sandwich too? Say mmm-huh."

Parker: "mmm-huh."

Jax: "mom we both want peanut butter sandwiches."

But now, Parker will say full sentences about what he wants and doesn't want, which is so helpful! The other day Parker was talking about something and Jackson said, "Mom! Parker is talking like me now!"

{I found Parker walking around in my rain boots and hat}

Parker or "Park-ster" as we sometimes call him, is my little sweet heart... with a touch of stinker, and we love him so much. He is starting to potty train and has been pretty successful lately. He is pretty excited because he gets to wear pull-ups now. One day I went to put a diaper on him and he said, "No mommy I a big boy now! I wan car underwear."

peanut butter brownie torte

2012-01-31T07:51:00.000-06:00

I saw this dessert on Pinterest a little while ago and knew I had to make it. And let me tell you this is one of my top three favorite desserts. I love desserts... so that's saying a lot.

I made it the other night when we had some friends over. For dinner I made this Thai meal with some naan bread that was so good and then had this as a palette cleanser from the spicy Thai food. Then we topped it off with this peanut butter brownie torte.

To make it, I changed it up a little from the original recipe. I simplified it a little.

Recipe:

Brownies

2 boxes of your favorite brownie mix (mine is Betty Crocker Triple Chunk)

Prepare two square pans by lining the bottom with parchment paper and coating the whole pan with cooking spray. Make the brownies as directed on the box. Put half of the double batch in one pan and the other half in the other pan. Cook as directed. Let cool. You can put them in the refrigerator to help them cool faster.

Remove the brownies from the pan by sliding a knife along the edge. Cut the brownies in to small squares. Set aside.

Peanut Butter Mousse

1/2 cup whipping cream

5 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1/3 cup plus 2 Tbs powdered sugar

1/3 cup peanut butter

With the whisk attachment on your mixer or beaters, whisk the whipped cream on high until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In a different bowl, add the cream cheese and peanut butter and whisk on medium speed until combined. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add whipped cream in to the bowl and whisk on medium high until the texture is light and fluffy.

Set in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Chocolate Ganache

4 1/2 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (I like Ghiradelli)

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Put chocolate chips and whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl and cook on high for 2-3 minutes. Let sit for a few minutes. Then use your whisk attachment and whisk until it is smooth and glossy. Put it back in the microwave for a little bit if it starts to get hard or clumpy.

*I also cut up some Reese's peanut butter cups to incorporate when assembling the torte.

To assemble the torte:

Put a brownie square on the bottom, layer on the mousse, some cut up Reese's cups, another brownie square, more mousse, more Reese's cups, then the ganache and then more Reese's cups.

enjoy!

vintage thrifting giveaway

2012-01-29T22:47:00.000-06:00

***This giveaway is now closed***
winner announced on this post

Do you know one of those people who always seems to dress cute for every occasion and you think... man I just wish they could shop for me! Well, my sister Betsy is that person for me. She always seems to find the cutest things and she finds them mostly at thrift/antique stores. Which I would love to do more of... but with three kids, it's hard to justify going to a store where I would possibly walk away empty handed because I couldn't find anything I liked.

So I need people like Betsy to do that for me. And lucky me she has opened an Etsy shop where she is selling some of her favorite finds. And because these are single items, you have to check out her shop regularly because there are always new things being listed. These are some of my favorites.

She also has some handmade items for sale.

For a limited time, with any purchase, you get a little surprise gift. I love it when that happens! It's always nice to get a little freebie!

Now to the giveaway: (closed)
Betsy is giving away this vintage jewelry box. Sorry the rings aren't included. This gold and turquoise jewelry box is perfect for little rings or earrings.

To enter:

1. Become a follower of my blog via google friend connect (on the sidebar).
2. Go check out her Etsy shop.
3. Leave a comment below telling me your favorite thing to shop for at thrift stores.

The winner will be randomly selected (using random.org) from the comments below and will be announced Friday, February 3rd.

Good luck!

**winner announced on this post**

the pleated peasant shirt

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

I made this shirt for Elly a few weeks ago. I wanted to use this stripped fabric and wanted a cute shirt to go with some black leggings I bought her. So this is what I came up with.

1. I used one of Elly's other shirts to get a basic pattern.

{front}
*Important step in measuring the front side, make the top about 1-2 inches wider than you want it to be to leave room for pleats. I also cut the front panel longer at the bottom than the back panel.

{back}

{sleeve}

2. Fold over the bottom of the front and back panels twice and do a top stitch over it to hold the hem. (If you have a serger, you can finish the edge and just fold it over once then do the top stitch). Notice I cut the front bottom a little curved, just make sure that the sides are the length of the back panel so that it looks right when you sew the two panels together. (sorry for the blurry picture)

3. Add pleats to the front of the shirt. I just added one pleat in the middle, but you can add as many as you want. Just fold the fabric over then pin it to hold the pleat. You can keep it pinned until step number 12.
4. For the sleeve:

Fold over the end (at the wrist) of the sleeve twice and do a top stitch to finish the edge.

I added some elastic at the bottom of the sleeve to make a little ruffle. Simply use a single stitch and sew the elastic on. Pin the elastic to the inside of the sleeve. Pull the elastic very tight as you are sewing so that when you let go, there is an automatic ruffle.

Fold the sleeve in half, right side of the fabric in. Sew along the side, obviously leave the ends open.

5. For the back of the shirt:
Create a ruffle. Cut a rectangular piece of fabric, fold one of the long sides over twice and then do a top stitch so that you have a finished edge. About 1/4 inch in from the finished edge, sew a single line the length of the fabric. Then very carefully, pull one piece of the thread to create the ruffle.

Sew the ruffle to a piece of fabric that measures about 2 inches x 4 inches. Do this by putting the right side of the fabric to the right side of the ruffle and sewing. As you can see in the picture, below, you only take the ruffle half way around the rectangle of fabric.

6. Cut about a 4 inch slit in the back of the shirt at the top. Cut it about two thirds over to one side. You have to do this so that the buttons end up in the middle of the back.

7. To attach the ruffled fabric to the back of the shirt, place the white fabric inside the slit that you cut and fold the white fabric back on to itself. So as you can see in the picture below, the other half of the white fabric is folded behind it. I just did a top stitch over the white fabric near the ruffle seam. You can kind of see how I did that in the picture below.

8. For the button holes: I actually ended up cutting a separate piece of fabric for this. Just cut a piece that is about 2 inches x 4 1/2 inches. Fold over the edges and do a top stich over it to attach it to the shirt. You can see the top stichting in the picture below.

9. To do the actual button holes, this was my first attempt and they weren't perfect, but it worked. I would recommend just looking up in your sewing machine users manual to find out how your particular machine does it. I think it is different for all machines. Yeah I'm a bit of a nerd, I refer to my sewing machine users manual quite regularly.
10. Sew the front and back panels together, place the right side of the fabric to the right side of the other panel then sew along the top and the sides, leaving the sleeve arms open.

11. Make some biased trim. I do this by cutting a strip of fabric the length I needed to go around the collar and just about an inch wide. Fold one side over on to itself going up half of the length.

Then fold the other side down.

Then fold it over again, ironing as you go, so that it looks like a v.

12. Attach the biased trim to the collar by sliding it right over the edge of the fabric. The fabric goes right inside the upside down "v." Make sure not to loose your pleat as you are pinning the trim around. Do a top stitch over the biased trim. For the back of the shirt and the edge of the trim, just fold it over on to itself and do a top stitch over it.

13. Then sew on the sleeves. The easiest way I have found to do that is just to have the shirt inside out, then slide the sleeve in to the arm hole, the sleeve itself being right side out. Then pin and sew, maneuvering it so that you don't sew the arm hole shut.

14. Don't forget to sew on your buttons. I hand sewed mine on right on the white fabric.
15. I made a little felt circle flower and hand sewed it right on the shirt.

dutch apple pie

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

For Danny's birthday a few weeks ago, I made an apple pie. He always prefers a pie over a cake. This one was pretty good. I got the recipe from my neighbor (whenever she cleans out her recipes, I always end up with some of her old ones).

Recipe:
1 prepared pie crust
3 lbs apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 Tbls lemon juice

For the streusel topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbls flour
1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter, chilled
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t allspice
pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Peel, core and dice the apples. In a large bowl, combine the apples, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice. Mix well and set aside.

In a food processor, combine all of the streusel ingredients except for the walnuts. Process to form coarse crumbs. Add the walnuts and pulse several times to just combine.

Transfer the apple mixture to the pie crust. Sprinkle the streusel mixture over the apples in an even layer. Cover the pie with foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 25-30 more minutes or until the top is golden. Let cool a bit before serving.

I topped it with some homemade whipped cream. I always just beat (with your whisk attachment) the pint of heavy cream on high until soft peaks form, then add about 3 Tbls of sugar and about 1-2 t of vanilla then beat until stiff peaks form.

I had a helper with me. It's always a little bit more difficult when I have "helpers" but since I wanted Jackson to help with Danny's pie, I decided I would be extra patient so that I wouldn't get stressed at how long it took to make the normally quick pie.

My added patience helped when he dropped a big spoonful of whipped cream and got it all over his sweater and the chair. We just laughed and laughed at how funny it was. It was a fun little afternoon with Jackson.

elly's walking {with assistance}

2012-01-25T08:00:00.002-06:00

Little Elly is 9 months old! She is starting to walk a little. She can pull herself up on her walker and then slowly walk. She also is climbing the stairs a lot more... which is always scary. She loves her baby food and can feed herself pretty well, things like, bananas and Gerber puffs. The boys still like playing with her most of the time as long as she keeps her distance when they are trying to build train tracks.

{The sweater she is wearing was actually a gift from Danny's great aunt to HIM as a baby. She made sweaters, bonnets and booties for all of Danny's siblings when they were born. This past Christmas Danny's mom gave them back... Danny's had been sitting in the attic for 30 years}

rolled flower pins

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

Yet another felt flower pin...

To make these rolled flower pins:
1. Cut a few strips of felt that are about 1 inch wide by about 12 inches long.

2. Fold it over and hot glue the long side.

3. Then cut little slits in the folded side. Make sure not to cut all the way through, just cut until the glue line.

4. Cut out a circle of felt and start hot glueing the pieces of felt around it. I did two strips of the folded felt, which gave me about 2 1/2 layers of petals. Each time you go around with a new layer, stagger it a little bit inward toward the center of the circle, you can see what that looks like a little better in the picture in step 6.

5. With a third strip of felt, roll it up, glueing as you go.

6. Take the rolled felt and glue it right in the center of the flower.

7. Hot glue a fastener on the back to wear as a pin or you can glue it to a headband.

last week in polaroids

2012-01-23T08:00:00.001-06:00

{The boys both got pink eye, I got the flu. We sat around and watched movies all day}

{Danny and I were talking in the kitchen and watched as his phone slid off some books and shattered on the floor. Luckily/unluckily it was his work phone not his personal iphone}

{I was backing out of our somewhat long driveway and backed right in to a friends car. I felt like such an idiot that I didn't realize he was parked in our driveway. Luckily there was no damage on either car}

{Danny sent me a dozen red roses just because he loves me}

{We all went to the dentist for our six month check up. Jackson was as brave and talkative as ever. They had sunglasses for him to wear because he said the lights were too bright. And when they gave him his tooth brush to take home he said, "Um, actually I would like a green one with the sticky on the bottom so that it stands up and sticks to the sink." So they went and found one like that. Seriously, this kid! We have to watch out for him}

{We got about a foot of snow so Danny kept busy snow blowing}

{Elly cut her first tooth this past week. She is the latest of all the kids to get teeth, the boys started getting teeth at about 6 months. She's a little trooper though and luckily didn't get sick with the rest of us}

{photos taken with shake it app}

photo on wood wall hanging

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

As I have mentioned before, I am slowly transforming our guest bedroom in to Elly's room (right now she is in a little nursery near our bedroom). This is one more wall hanging that will go in her room. I used basically the same technique as this name wall hanging.

first: print off the picture you want to use. I printed it on white card stock paper, so that it would have extra thickness and not wrinkle when I put glue on it.

second: spray paint a piece of wood. I used a scrap piece of wood and trimmed up the picture to match the size.

third: get out your mod podge and coat the piece of wood with the glue. If you use anything other than mod podge, you should do a test sample first to make sure it won't wrinkle the paper. Mod podge did not wrinkle the card stock.

fourth: after you have placed the photo on top of the glue and have let it dry thoroughly, use sandpaper to rough up the edges.

fifth: go over the photo with a thin layer of mod podge to seal it.

sixth: I spray painted some eye hooks and just screwed them in to the top of the wood.

seventh: tie on a ribbon so that it can hang on a nail. Or you can just lean it against the wall on a dresser or attach a piece of wood on the back so that it stands up.

bobby pins

2012-01-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

For her wedding, my sister made some cute little bobby pins to hold her hair back. I decided that I should make some too. Here are some of them.

{do you notice that I made these with the zig zag side down... I learned that is the correct way to use a bobby pin by reading this blog post}

To make the white one, I just cut some different shapes out of fabric scraps and glued it all together and glued some tiny pearls on.

To make the orange flower refer to this post and just make the flower really small.

Here is how to make the bow:

birthday time

2012-01-18T07:26:00.000-06:00

Last week we celebrated Danny's birthday. Jackson got to accomplish one of his new year's resolutions by learning how to decorate for a party. Remember that conversation? We made little party hats by printing off silly pictures of ourselves. Jackson helped me find pictures that we looked funny in. I just used some elastic and stapled it on the hat. We also made a birthday banner out of some old scrap book paper.

{I'm not quite sure why Jackson has a sock on his hand}

{We ate at Famous Dave's, one of Danny's favorite places for ribs and brisket}

We are so grateful for Danny and love him so much. He is the nicest person I have ever met and lucky me I get to be married to him!

caprese baguette sandwiches

2012-01-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love a good sandwich and I love fresh mozzarella, so the other night I made these caprese baguettes, which were delicious.

The ingredients:
Fresh mozzarella ball (cut in to slices)
Fresh basil
Tomatoes (sliced)
Baguette
Balsamic vinegar dressing

Balsamic Vinegar Dressing Recipe: (taken from the food network)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup olive oil

Put all of the ingredients in a tupperware bowl or other container with a tight lid then shake like crazy to combine.

We toasted our baguette a little in the oven first, then added on the mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. Then drizzled the dressing on top. It's such a good, light sandwich and one of my new favorites.

the river walk + texas bbq

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

I was pretty excited to see the River Walk while in San Antonio because I love water, so being in a place where boats replace cars and rivers replace streets was perfect. It was pretty crowded so that made it kind of scary walking on the little sidewalks right along the river... especially with kids. There weren't any fences most of the way, but luckily the river is only about 2 feet deep if someone would have fallen in.

We came back later at night to see the lights and take a boat ride down the river.

{Danny, the boys and Danny's brother Ben. Grandma and Grandpa stayed at the hotel with Elly}

It was so cool riding along on this little boat tour while people were right there on the edge of the river eating dinner. It was just such a fun atmosphere to be in. And all of the lights were so beautiful.

Then we came back and met Danny' parents and sister Anna for some Texas bbq, a must while in San Antonio. We ate at Rudy's which we were told is the best. You pick out the meat and sides and then it's served on some wax paper with some white bread and you eat outside on picnic tables. The sweet corn was so good!

{and by the way the little restaurant is attached to a gas station}

Then we topped off the evening with some Blue Bell ice cream because it's a Texas original and ice cream was invented in Texas right ;)

Between the River Walk, bbq, and balmy 65 degree weather, it was a perfect Texas evening. And that concluded our short tour of San Antonio. We loved it, until next time Texas.

{See the other fun things we did in Texas here, here and here}

circle flower pins

2012-01-13T08:00:00.001-06:00

I have kind of been on a flower making spree lately. I have several short little tutorials on how to make flower/scarf pins and I wanted to start with these circle flower pins. Anything that I can make while only using hot glue and scissors is a perfect craft for me because it means it's quick and I can usually make it during one nap time.

{I sometimes use them as scarf pins on my non-infinity scarves. It helps keep the scarf in place even when my baby pulls on it}

1. Cut circles to match the size of the flower you want. You can use felt or thick cotton, whatever... just be aware that the non-felt fabrics will most likely fray, so if you are ok with that then go ahead and use it. You can notice that in the first picture above where you see the grey one made out of felt and the yellow one made from a cotton blend.

2. Put a dab of hot glue in the center of the circle.

3. Fold the flower petal in the shape you want and hold firmly until the glue dries.

There are two ways to fold the flowers. You can do it in an "x" shape like in picture 3, or you can do it in a "c" shape like in the picture below. The "c" shape was used for the red flower.

4. Hot glue the point of the flower petal to the center of one of the circles. Continue all the way around the circle, it usually takes 4 petals around the circle. Then put hot glue on the point of another petal and stick it right in the middle. Sometimes for the bigger flowers... you may need to just fill in gaps where you see fit with the extra petals.

5. Hot glue a fastener on the back of the flower. For the larger flowers, it is easier to put the fastener towards the top of the flower, if you plan to wear it on a shirt or sweater. It helps to keep the flower positioned right.

I don't have any pictures of it, but I usually cut a little square piece of fabric and glue it on to cover the three holes on the faster. It gives it a little bit more of a polished look.

For this flower... I only did one layer of flower petals all around the circle and then just hot glued a button in the middle, instead of adding a petal in the middle.

oh, hello winter... there you are

2012-01-12T15:41:00.002-06:00

Do you all remember this just yesterday? Well, winter decided to show up.

{making snow angels}

{we finally tested out our snowball maker}

{going for a sled rid. notice his eyes are always closed... it was snowing so hard when we were outside, he didn't want to look up or snow would get in his eyes}

And it's not over, it's supposed to snow like this until tomorrow morning.

Welcome winter.

j dawgs secret sauce

2012-01-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

While Danny and I were at BYU we loved stopping by J Dawgs on our way home from class. It was a little hot dog stand that opened up right after we were married and we moved kind of near there. We ate there enough to know that it was the best hot dog place ever. We still talk about it and it's been almost 6 years since we have eaten one of the delicious dogs. So when I came across a recipe on Pinterest that claims to be the famous secret sauce... I had to make it. I texted Danny right away and told him I may have found the recipe, and he was out running errands so he stopped by the store and we made them when he got home. They were just as good as we remembered. But to be honest... 6 years is a long time, so it may not be exactly like the real sauce because all we remember is that it was a sweet sauce that was really good... and this sauce is really good, so I am taking that lady's word for it that it's the J Dawgs sauce.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp onion powder

Mix the ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat. Let it boil for about a minute and then take it off the stove and let it cool for a little bit. Make sure to stir it every once in a while so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.

Classic J Dawgs style is to cut a criss cross pattern on the top of the hot dog to allow the sauce to soak in to the dog and not the bun. Our grill is all covered up for the winter so we used our George Foreman but I can't wait to cook these on the grill.

Get a nice thick hot dog bun (we toasted our buns in the oven for a little bit), top the dog with the secret sauce, and whatever topping you want and enjoy! We topped ours with chopped up banana peppers, chopped red onions and a dill pickle spear. SOOO good!

If you are in Provo or Orem, you have the luxury of just stopping by J Dawgs, but for everyone else, this can be a substitute for you.

you call this winter?

2012-01-11T08:00:00.001-06:00

I am loving this winter! Mostly, because every winter since we moved to Northern Illinois, has had some sort of record breaking snowfall. The first winter we were here, there was so much snow and everyone said, "This is the most snow we have ever had!" Then the next year, "This is the worst winter we have had in 40 years!" And we were like, seriously, every year the snowfall is the worst that anyone has ever seen? So to have the "warmest winter" we've had in several years on tap, I'm pretty happy about things. Yesterday, on one of our many unseasonably warm January days, the kids and I played outside. Usually, of course, we would be in snow pants and gloves playing in several inches of snow this time of year.

If there was anyone who is un happy with our steamy January days, it would be my husband, who, for the last 5 years has been shoveling those record breaking snowfalls and this year finally caved and bought a snowblower. It is gathering dust in our garage. Last year we did get a lot of snow late in the year, so I am sure we will get a taste of winter before March.... like tonight, it's supposed to snow a few inches.

el mercado

2012-01-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

Another stop on our quick tour of San Antonio was Market Square. It is a Mexican market with so many little cool things for sale. I bought a nativity set that was carved out of a gourd. We always collect Christmas tree ornaments wherever we go, we got one from the Alamo, but I have also started collecting nativities, they are a little more expensive and sometimes harder to find. So I was glad to add this one to my growing collection.

I tried to get Danny to buy a lucha libre mask in honor of Nacho libre... but he wouldn't.

We stopped by La Margarita to eat some lunch. We were told that it was the best authentic Mexican food in San Antonio. It was pretty delicious. And it reminded me of my time in Mexico... so I would say it passed the test.

I bought these cute shoes at Target and during the two + miles of walking we did, going from the Alamo to Market Square, and the River Walk I realized these were a bad choice. I had Texas sized blisters by the end of the day.

up cycling a t-shirt: baby hats

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here are some cute little hats I made for Elly that are so quick and easy. I used some old t-shirts that I dug out of the attic.

To make the hat:

1. Find an old t-shirt or tank top (I found that the t-shirts keep their shape better than the tank tops). If you want a rounded edge at base of the hat, you can use the collar of the shirt. Cut the t-shirt up so that the front and back of the shirt are separate. Then line up the collar as seen in the picture below. *If you want a straight edge at the bottom of the hat, do step 2 at the bottom of the t-shirt. (That is how I did the polka dot hat, pink hat and yellow hat. Notice the straight edge across the bottom of those hats. And you don't have to do anything with the hem, just use the original t-shirt hem).

2. Turn the shirt inside out and draw a pattern similar to this on the inside of the shirt. (As you can see I didn't turn the t-shirt inside out to draw the pattern, but trust me, it's better to just turn it inside out).

{I added a little tag that I cut off of the shirt. Just stick it inside the hat as you are sewing it}

{below: looking in to the inside of the hat where the tag is}

3. Cut out and pin together, make sure the right sides of the fabric are facing each other.

4. Sew it and then turn it right side out.

5. Tie a knot in the top of the hat.

For this hat:

I made some rosettes from the tank top and sewed them on the hat. I used some leftover dye from Parker's man in the yellow hat costume to dye the white tank top yellow.

remember the alamo

2012-01-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

While in San Antonio, we had a little time to do some sightseeing with Danny's family, one of the stops being the Alamo. We briefed the kids on the history before we got there and for some reason the part that stuck was the phrase "remember the Alamo!" We heard that from Parker and Jackson probably 100 times during the rest of our trip, in the airport, on the plane, even yesterday Jackson kept saying "REMEMBER... THE... ALAMO!" I think he pauses between the words for dramatic emphasis.

I loved seeing the old Spanish culture mixed in with modern architecture.

We heard some kids talking about how they have never seen snow and Danny and I were talking about that and thought it would be like our kids never seeing a cactus because we don't have those in the north. So we made sure to take a picture with the kids by a cactus... and I realized... I am not too sad that our kids can't be around cacti because I was so worried they would touch it and get poked.

{Jackson and grandpa}

{between Grandpa's, Danny's and uncle Ben's shoulders, the boys got a lot of breaks from all of our walking}

holiday vacation: off to texas

2012-01-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

The third leg of our holiday vacation travels took us to San Antonio, Texas for Danny's brother's wedding. I have only been to Texas one other time, and for some reason I just love it there. It could be that it was a full 40 degrees warmer than in Chicago, or that there are streets lined with palm trees, or maybe I love it because you just can't help but be swept up in the Texas pride. Everything has the state name in it: Texas Eyecare, Best hardware store of Texas, Texas Nail Salon. And I even got to wake up and eat a Texas waffle at our hotel's continental breakfast. I don't know about you, but I know I have never seen a waffle in the shape of Illinois.

The kids were great on the plane. Elly slept most of the time and the boys kept busy watching movies.

{when she was awake, Elly loved looking out the window}

We had Parker and Jackson sit across from us which worked out pretty well. It was so cute because Jackson kept telling Parker what was happening, like when we were taking off and landing and what city we were in. Because he had his headphones on most of the time he yelled all of those things. People around us kept laughing because every once in a while we would hear, "PARKER! WE ARE TAKING OFF AND WE ARE GOING UP UP UP IN THE SKY! BUT WE AREN'T GOING TO OUTER SPACE BECAUSE ONLY ROCKET SHIPS GO TO OUTER SPACE!" Then later, "PARKER! THAT'S TEXAS DOWN THERE. BUT DON'T WORRY WE WON'T LAND ON THE BUILDINGS, WE ARE GOING TO THE AIRPORT."

Andy's wedding was at the LDS Temple in San Antonio, which is so beautiful. Danny's mom made all of our dresses, ties and vests.

{Parker was done with taking pictures, he kept running away or making funny faces}

{Elly and Danny's mom}

{Andy, Jessica, Elly and cousin Otto}

I also was able to meet up with one of my former mission companions from my mission in Brazil. She is pregnant with a baby girl due in like a week!

{us with the bride and groom}

The reception was really nice and we had some delicious mexican food. Elly and Otto just played on the floor and Parker and Jackson continued in their role as the hams of the event, doing silly things that made people laugh. At one point I looked over and Jackson was pushing his chair over to the bride and groom table. He went over there and finished his cake with Andy and Jess. I took a picture and then told him he had to go back to our table.

Photography: Brad + Betsy

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

The second leg of our holiday travels: my sister's wedding in Chicago. Here are some of her wedding pictures that I took. And by the way it was freezing!

the bride and groom

{I took some of these pictures at the LDS Temple, where they were married and then the other pictures were taken at a forest preserve just 5 minutes away. It was exactly what they wanted for the background of their pictures and everything worked out perfectly}

the reception

the family

{To the left of the bride and groom are Brad's family who flew in from Nevada and to the right of the bride and groom is my entire family. It was nice to have a little family reunion}

the hams

{Jackson and Parker kept us all pretty entertained during the reception, their cousins Kylie and Kara helped too}

{Jackson's reaction to his food: a huge plate of mac and cheese}

Our time with my family in Chicago was a lot of fun but very brief. Immediately after the reception, we headed to the airport and were off to Texas for Danny's brother's wedding.

ruffle apron tutorial

2012-01-03T08:00:00.000-06:00

I decided I wanted to make an apron because I was in need of a new one. I wasn't in love with it when I finished, but my sister came to visit and said she liked it, so I sent it home with her.

{my sister with some banana bread she just made}

So here's how I made it: (some of the pictures are of a different apron I made)
1. Cut the ruffles: cut your first panel, that will be the bottom ruffle 23" tall x 45" wide. Second panel, 15" x 45" and the top ruffle will be 8" x 45"

2. Make the ruffles: finish all of the edges of the panels except for the top edge, you can leave that un finished. By "finished" I mean fold over the edge twice and then just do a top stitch over it. (*A tip that will help for this project, for finishing the edges, fold over the fabric and then iron it so that the fold stays. That makes it so much easier to sew). For the actual ruffle, sew a straight line across the top of the panel, make sure to leave extra thread on both sides. Pull one of the strands of thread to create the ruffle. Be careful not break the thread as you are pulling it.

Just tie off or sew the ends to keep the ruffle in place.

And there you have a ruffle.

3. Sew all three panels together at the top and your apron skirt is done. I just did a simple topstitch across the panels after laying them on top of each other. Don't worry about what the stitch looks like, it will be covered up.

4. Cut the top part of the apron. I cut mine in this shape and it measures 11" across the top, 9 1/2" on the sides and 17" across the bottom. The sizing could be different depending on your preference.

5. Finish the edges of it by folding over the fabric and doing a topstitch. EXCEPT for the top of it. Leave that un sewn until step 10.

6. Cut the waistband and neck strap. For the waistband, cut a piece of fabric 72" wide x 3" tall. Cut the neck strap 20 1/2" wide x 2" tall. (This would also depend on your preference, you want to make sure you can fit the apron over your head).

7. Fold the fabric on to itself, right side in, and sew along the long side, so that you have a waistband that is 72" wide x 1 1/2" tall and a neck strap that is 20 1/2" wide x 1" tall. Leave the ends alone, because you then have to turn it inside out. Which you do by pulling it through. This takes a little patience especially for the neck strap.

8. Then do a topstitch on the long sides of the neck strap. WAIT to do a topstitch on the waistband until step 12.

9. For the waistband, I cut the end on a diagonal and folded over the edge twice so there were no raw edges, then did a topstitch-(first picture). For the neck strap I only folded it over once and did a top stitch because you cover the inside of the strap when you attach it to the bodice so it doesn't matter if there is a raw edge there-(second picture).

10. Attach the neck strap to the bodice. Lay the neck strap on the top part of the bodice and pin the "raw edge" (as seen in the picture above) side in so that you can't see it. Then do a top stitch across the entire length of the top part of the bodice.

It should look like this (this is the inside of the apron).

11. Attach the bodice of the apron to the skirt. I don't have any pictures for this step... I think I must have forgotten or something. Sew the bottom of the bodice to the top part of the skirt, with the WRONG side of the fabric to the WRONG side. This will leave the unfinished side of the stitch on the front of the apron, but you will cover that up with the waistband. Iron that stitch flat so that it's not bunchy under the waistband.

12. Attach the waistband. Make sure to measure where the middle of the waistband is so that it matches up with the middle of the apron. Lay it over the seam where the apron and the bodice are sewn together. Then do a topstitch right on the waistband attaching it to the apron.

holiday vacation: 1st leg

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

This was a very busy holiday for us. It consisted of a family reunion in Cincinnati, a wedding in Chicago and a wedding in San Antonio. The kids loved it because in just a matter of days, we rode in the car, on a train, a boat, a bus and an airplane. Our first leg of the vacation was the family reunion in Cincinnati.

{Danny's family}

{Parker helping to make the frosting for the gingerbread houses}

We had a gingerbread house making contest, and this was our rendition of Danny's parent's house... but trust me, their house looks a lot better in real life.

{all of the kids loved playing on grandma's piano}

We did a lot of fun things together, one of them being going out to lunch with Danny's siblings while the kids stayed home with grandma and grandpa. We stopped by some Cincinnati landmarks.

{Skyline Chili}

{Graeter's icecream}

We also visited a train museum and Parker was in heaven! He got an additional Thomas the Train track and some trains for Christmas. He l o v e s trains.

There are 10 grandkids, and they are all around the same age, so they had so much fun playing together. We were glad they got a long so well. It was nice to be able to spend time catching up with family.

{Danny and his brother making plans for how they are going to make millions... something they do every time they are together}

We also went to the zoo for the festival of lights. We rode a train around the zoo grounds to see all of the lights. It was cold, but the kids loved it.

{on the zoo train}

{Parker was done with taking pictures}

We spent five days there and then were off to Chicago for the first wedding.

highlights of 2011

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love looking back and reminiscing about some of our favorite parts of the previous year. So here it goes...

january

We found out that our little baby would be a girl. I was so shocked because I just assumed I would have all boys. It took me a few months of me reminding myself that it was actually a girl. I was so happy but just couldn't believe it.

february

We had a record breaking snowfall that kept Danny home from work for three days and kept him busy shoveling the driveway.

march

We had five tornados all within about 20 minutes of our house. We had dime/quarter sized hail and sustained some damage.

Parker sustained some damage himself during church, I thought he bore a striking resemblance to Mikhail Gorbachev.

Jackson played soccer on a team for the first time. After he got over his "mom, I'm all out of energy... I think I need to go play on the playground" attitude, he actually had a lot of fun.

april

We welcomed our little baby Elly in to our family. So we had a lot of visitors which we loved.

Jackson gave his first talk in primary at church, he read the whole thing by himself.

may

Parker stepped up in to his role as a big brother as opposed to the baby of the family. He started talking a lot more and became much more independent.

june

Parker turned 2! We celebrated by going to the zoo and eating cupcakes.

july

Danny started a new job and works much closer to home now. We spent many days at the farmer's markets and water ski shows.

We headed to my hometown in Michigan for the fourth of July. It was so nice to be surrounded by the water and family.

august

Jackson turned 4 and started preschool. He loves going to school so much and is growing in to such a little man.

september

I ran in my second 5k, the first after having Elly... and not the last race in my future.

october

We took a weekend trip to visit the cranberry marshes in Wisconsin, it was beautiful and something I had always wanted to do.

november

We took a trip to Michigan to spend time with some of Danny's family. It was the first time they had seen Elly and a nice little getaway for us.

december

We got to see both of our families for Christmas which was of course wonderful.

Usually the years we have a baby we don't travel much because everyone comes to visit us. And we did have so many visitors throughout the year, which we were so grateful for. We are looking forward to some exciting things heading our way next year.

the first flakes

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love having snow for Christmas, and having grown up in Michigan it was pretty much a guarantee. Now, it is hit or miss, but we did get a dusting in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Here are some macro pictures of our first few flakes of snow in the blades of grass, and some other reminders of this time of year.

snow flakes

poinsettia

pine needle

resolution wall hanging

2011-12-26T08:00:00.001-06:00

Every year, we sit down as a family and talk about some goals for the up coming year. This year, I decided to use our "giving thanks" wall hanging as a resolution wall hanging too. So I switched out the grateful things note cards and autumn leaves and replaced them with goal lists and snowflakes.

{I painted some cardstock with gliter then cut out the numbers and wrapped some thin wire around them}

We helped the kids with their goals. We were pretty sure this is what Elly wants to accomplish this year. I'm pretty excited about Parker's goal to become potty trained. We asked Jackson to set a goal for the next year.

Jax: I want to go to school.

Me: But you already go to school. What is something you want to learn to do?

Jax: I want to learn how to decorate for a party. Because I don't know how to do that. (not sure where that came from)

Danny interjects: Try to think of things that might be hard or challenging so that you have to work really hard to learn it.

Jax: I think decorating for a party IS hard because I don't know how to do it.

I told him I would have a special class with him on how to decorate for a party and we will decorate for Danny's birthday in January.

On my list of goals is to run a half marathon which I will be doing in July. I'm pretty excited about that. Danny has a goal to come home for lunch more often and finish three chapters of his dissertation. I really hope we can all accomplish our goals. And I am glad we wrote them down so that we can constantly be reminded of them and can help each other complete them.

it's christmas day

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas!

Here is a cute little 2 minute cartoon about what encompasses {or should} encompass this time of year... Christlike charity. I am so grateful for this day, when {much of} the world celebrates the birth of the Savior.

{for more Christmas videos and inspiration, go here}

Here are some christmas pictures I found on my phone.

This was at Jackson's pre school Christmas program. It was so cute seeing him up there singing... even though we couldn't really see him because there were tall kids standing in front of him. It was in a huge church auditorium. This picture proves I definitely need the new iphone 4s, the iphone 4 camera just doesn't cut it when trying to zoom.

{Parker would clap and cheer after every song... even if Jackson wasn't singing}

{waiting to see santa at our church Christmas party}

{Jackson sat on santa's lap.. I guess he has gotten a little braver as the weeks wore on, remember this a few weeks ago. You can see Parker was still scared... he is the one bolting away on the right side of the picture}

{the boys on our Christmas Eve at home in their new bathrobes and slippers}

12 days of service update

2011-12-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

Almost two weeks ago, we hung up 12 presents, each with an act of service inside and called it our 12 days of service. This is what we did:

1. Cleaned the church

2. Invited the missionaries over for dinner

3. Babysat some kids so their parents could go on a date

4. Said something nice about everyone in the family

5. Wrote a missionary

6. Picked up some trash at a park

7. Delivered some canned goods to a food pantry

8. Put some money in a Salvation Army pot

9. Did something nice for someone in our family

10. Caroled at someone's home

11. Brought cookies to neighbors

12. Did a secret gift drop off at someone's house

It was so fun for the kids. Each day they got so excited to open a "service present." Here are some photos of our last 12 days doing service.

{one of the acts of service was wrapped with the Old Maid card game, which the kids love playing}

{picking up trash at a park}

{dropping off canned goods at a food pantry, we collected some at our church's nativity event so we ended up dropping off 175 lbs}

{opening the service note inside the christmas bulb}

{putting some money in the Salvation Army pot}

Each time we did service, we reiterated the fact that the reason we have Christmas is to celebrate when Jesus was born. And doing service is something that Jesus did and He would be happy that we are doing it. They of course loved it when we babysat some of their little friends while their parents were out on a date. They also loved putting money in the Salvation Army pot because Jackson had found my change drawer earlier in the week and had been playing with the coins.

This is something we will definitely do again next year. Though next time I will make sure that the service present is somehow labeled on the outside so that I can switch up the days if we need to. The day we picked up the trash at the park was freezing cold so we only lasted about 5 minutes.

homemade marshmallows + hot cocoa

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

Last night we celebrated our Christmas Eve because of our up coming travel plans. So I made some hot chocolate with marshmallows to drink while watching The Polar Express. The boys love hot chocolate and marshmallows, so I knew I couldn't go wrong with trying a new recipe.

For the marshmallows, I used this recipe. I didn't realize that they needed to set for 12+ hours, so I didn't wait that long, and maybe they would have been a little bit more solid... but I think waiting 5 hours was just fine.

For the cocoa, I used this recipe. I didn't add the cayenne pepper because I didn't think the boys would like it.

I put 2 1/2 heaping tablespoons for every cup of hot cocoa. I have a hot cocoa machine, so it gave it a nice froth on top. Before I had the hot cocoa machine, I used to put my hot cocoa in the blender for just a few seconds to get some froth... because it just looks so delicious!

{There were plenty of extras so I put them in mason jars}

holiday pictures

2011-12-21T08:00:00.001-06:00

I snapped some pictures of the kids the other day using some Christmas lights as a backdrop.

I set up my white muslin backdrop and then hung some lights in front of it. I also hung lights right where I was shooting the pictures so that I could shoot through the lights. This is how I got the close up lights you see in the foreground of some of the pictures.

8 months of happy

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

My baby girl is 8 months already!

These days Elly loves to crawl, loves her baby food and little yogurt melts. She sleeps 8 hours at night and takes two, two hour long naps during the day. She's pretty content and amazingly patient with her brothers when they take toys from her or roll over her.

We love having a little girl in our house. The boys are so cognizant of her and are always trying to take care of her. I try to stay impartial as a mother and divide my attention, but I am not very good at it. I am pretty sure she will be spoiled. It's just so hard. Danny always gives me a hard time because whenever I go to the store for something for the boys, I always come home with something for Elly. I am making an effort to make sure she's not spoiled because I know I will regret it when she is a teenager.

{I love it when babies sleep like this}

{she is always putting things in her mouth... she loves to be in the basement because there are toys everywhere on the floor}

customized {creative} wrapping paper

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-06:00

I decided to get a little creative with some of my gift wrapping... not all of my gifts... just a few.

Supplies:
white out pen
sharpie
brown paper bags or brown packing wrapping paper
ribbon, twine
hot glue gun

{I wrote a little note about the gift on this one}

For the flowers:
Cut little pieces like in the picture below, then hot glue the petals to the circle. I crumpled up a piece of paper for the center. I also curled up the edges of the petals. Then hot glued it to the gift.

For this bow/flower: cut pieces similar to those in the picture below. Hot glue them to the circle. I crumpled up some paper and hot glued it to the middle of the bow to make it like a flower, but you could continue with the pattern and add more strips of paper to make it look more like a bow.

I love wrapping gifts. I probably wouldn't wrap my kids presents like this, because it can be very time consuming. Instead, I give my kids each their own wrapping paper as a way to keep their presents separate and organized. My mom always did this with my presents and I loved it because it was always so exciting to see what wrapping paper she would pick for me each year. This year I am starting a tradition where I wrapped one present for the kids with this type of personalized wrapping paper so that every year they will get a "special" little present from mom.

our little crawler

2011-12-16T08:00:00.001-06:00

Elly has picked up her crawling skills and is now a speedster around the house. We had to put up our gates again because she keeps eyeing the stairs. It's exciting seeing her more mobile... but today I caught her in the bathroom and I had flashes of piles of unrolled toilet paper in our near future.

{above image made with picasion}

Baby's first Christmas

2011-12-15T08:00:00.001-06:00

Look who will be celebrating her first Christmas.

Elly loves to play with the lights and always tries to grab them off the tree.

{I saw these photo ideas on Pinterest and knew I had to recreate them}

holiday goodies

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

This year I picked a couple new recipes for my Christmas cookies. I love taking a day to bake goodies and then giving them away to friends and neighbors.

I made Peppermint Bark. For the recipe go here. This was by far my favorite thing this year. I had never made it before but I love mint and chocolate and this was pretty darn good.

I also made Turtles. For that recipe, go here. They were really easy, I would just add more carmel next time.

I found these cute little cookie containers at walmart for like $1.

My stacks of Christmas cards are sent out, my presents are bought and wrapped. I'm feeling pretty good about my Christmas preparation. I feel like I have to be prepared early because we have a reunion, and two weddings to go to over our Christmas break. So I will be packing for a week and a half worth of clothing that will include two wedding outfits, 20 degree weather AND 60-70 degree weather. All of that luggage with have to be compatible for car travel and air travel. Wish me luck!

{these are the little return address labels I bought for our Christmas cards. You basically make a wii character of each of the people in your family, picking the hair, eyes, etc. I got them through Vistaprint, only $2 for 100 labels}

it's christmas in chicago

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love heading downtown Chicago this time of year... actually I love to visit downtown any time of the year, but especially at Christmas. There are so many people and all of the Christmas decorations are so pretty. On Saturday we met my brother and his family for some pizza and cupcakes.

We ate at Lou Malnati's pizza, which I think is the best of all the "Chicago Style" pizzas. Their crust, cheese-to-pizza ratio and sauce clearly sets it apart from the rest... and I have had my fair share of Chicago pizza.

Elly loved her new found freedom from the carseat while at the restaurant. For the first time she got to sit in a high chair.

We drove around to see some lights and then stopped at Sprinkles for some cupcakes. I have been to other cupcakeries, but never to Sprinkles and it is the original cupcakery so it was on my list of places I must go. The cupcakes were of course delicious! I had the red velvet and dark chocolate.

anthro inspired ornament

2011-12-12T08:00:00.001-06:00

I saw some ornaments from Anthropologie and thought they were so cute because of their simplicity. So I made one similar to it.

Supplies:

glass ornament (I had some left over from my 12 days of service decorations and my kids keepsake ornaments)

wire

twine or paper string

necklace (I found this in the jewerly section at JoAnns for $2)

1. Hot glue the necklace to the inside of the ornament topper

2. Bend the wire in to flowers

3. Push two of the flower petals through the ornament topper hole.

4. Tie the string or twine to the top of the ornament.

12 days of service

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-06:00

Growing up, my family always gave secret gifts to families the twelve days leading up to Christmas. So I had been thinking about what we could do that would be similar. I came up with The 12 Days of Service. Danny and I made a list of acts of service we could do as a family. I wrapped the ideas up and also added a little family game, or some candy so that when the kids open the present for the day, they can also have a little present, (the dollar section at Target came in handy). I hung them from our curtain rod in our dining room so that we can all be reminded of doing service. For the twelve days leading up to Christmas, we will open a gift and do the service on the piece of paper.

Our list includes:

1. Clean the church

2. Invite the missionaries over for dinner

3. Babysit some kids so their parents can go on a date

4. Say something nice about everyone in the family

5. Write a missionary

6. Pick up some trash at a park

7. Deliver some canned goods to a food pantry

8. Put some money in a Salvation Army pot

9. Do something nice for someone in our family

10. Carol at an elderly person's home

11. Bring cookies to neighbors

12. Do a secret gift drop off at someone's house

the nativity + holiday trimmings

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

Last weekend our church hosted a nativity display and concert. You may remember that last year I asked the leaders of our church here if we could do this event and since I was in charge of public relations for the church at the time, they said sure go ahead and you can be in charge of it. So I spent many, MANY days and nights preparing for the event which brought in more than a thousand people and more than 300 nativities, along with several choirs from the community. This year, someone else was in charge but I still hosted the International Room (I did this last year on top of everything else I did.. it was crazy but I was young and energetic :) It was nice only spending a few hours a few days of the week leading up to the event as opposed to 13-14 hour days last year. I love decorating the International Room because there are nativities from all over. I made little labels for each of them.

{Danny made this little tent, it was a lot more stable than the one he made last year... it obviously gets easier with each year}

These were all from my room, but there were almost 500 total spread throughout the church. I love being involved in this each year because it makes me focus on the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ.

So then I brought all of the decorations back from church and just loaded them in my living room and finally I got a chance to decorate my house.

This is my Willow Tree nativity set, I love using garland and lights to decorate everywhere. And poinsettias are so cheap and add so much to a room.

In my dining room, I hung garland and bulbs from the chandelier.

{some of Danny's wood pieces from Germany}

Oh how I love the transformation that Christmas decor can have on a home.

last time in the leaves

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here are the kids playing in the leaves before we did a final rake of the yard. We are officially ready for snow now, the yard is winterized, the garage is cleaned out and the snowblower is primed and ready to be used. This is our first year with a snow blower so Danny is pretty anxious for it to snow. He keeps checking the weather hoping for some flaky white stuff. I hope that it won't snow very much... but I always hope there will be some snow before Christmas, we'll see.

{the boys and their buddies, Bauer, Emmet and Reese}

kids keepsake ornament

2011-12-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

I love having ornaments with sentimental value, so that each year when we pull them out, we can reminisce with each other. This year I made some ornaments for each of the kids with their hand print on them.

Supplies:

clear glass ornament

ribbon

paint

1. I attached the ribbon so that I could hang the ornament for drying.

2. Very carefully, I placed the kids hand in the paint that I had previously spread out on the plate, and have them put it on the ornament.

3. I used a q-tip to touch up the paint a little and wipe it off in some places, because it's so hard to have the kids not move their hand while it's on the ornament.

4. I hung the ornament to dry, we have some tie holders in our guest room closet that were perfect for this.

5. After it dried, I used a small paint brush to add on a few layers of paint so that it was thick enough.

6. I added a little name tag, as opposed to writing on the ornament, but you could also use puffy paint to write the kid's name on it. I just didn't want to be able to see the name through the glass, so I chose the name tag.

I have been busy getting my house Christmas-ified, it's almost done!

the story of our little christmas tree

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

Another of my favorite Christmas traditions is cutting down our tree. There is a tree farm near us that we always go to. We rode a horse drawn carriage ride out into the farm. The family who owns the place breeds golden retrievers so there are always puppies and dogs running around. These two jumped up on the carriage with us.

Every year, I think Danny is cutting the tree too short and every year he says it's fine and every year he is right. The tree is the perfect size.

{The right picture is of the kid's tree. This year we just bought a fake tree with the lights already on it because the live trees are a little more fragile. Last year the water was spilled so many times because the boys would play with the ornaments so much. They know that they can't touch mommy's tree or any of the other decorations, the only thing they can play with is their tree and the ornaments. It allows them some fun, but still lets me have my pretty tree.}

We are so excited that Christmas is almost here!

infinity scarf giveaway winner

2011-12-02T11:48:00.000-06:00

And the winner is:

mom2gabnnat said... GFC follower and I love the blue scarf.

Congratulations! Your blue infinity scarf is on its way.

For anyone else wanting a scarf, you're in luck! I will be selling them from my Etsy store. And for you do-it-yourselfers out there, you can make one using my tutorial.

{my green berry shop packaging plant: aka my guest room}

up cycling a sweater part 2: a baby sweater

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Remember when I talked about cleaning out my closet and getting rid of some sweaters... well, with the first up cycle I made some leg warmers from the old sweater's sleeves. This time I turned two of my old sweaters in to a baby sweater.

{I took one of my old scarves and made it smaller for Elly}

I really liked this sweater because I'm a sucker for toggles and a hood. But I have another sweater similar to this and this sweater was a little too short. And I have had it for probably 10 years and haven't really worn it the last 6 years so I figured it was time to go. Honestly, I kept it around because my husband liked it, so now he can see it on Elly.

I took one of the toggles off and sewed it on to another one of my sweaters that was in need of a little sprucing up.

I used basically the same method of deconstructing and then reconstructing a sweater for both.

1. Cut the sweater on all of the major seams. I also cut the bottom ribbing off which you'll see in step 3.

2. Flip your sweater inside out and use a current baby sweater to get the right size. I just traced it on.

3. I cut the bottom cuff of the sweater so that I could have that on the bottom of Elly's sweater, but I kept the neck of the sweater the same. Then pin the bottom edge to the sweater make sure to keep the right side of the fabric to the right side.

4. Once you have the front and back sides how you want, put them right side to right side and sew them together... but leave the arm holes open and of course the neck hole. Speaking of the neck hole... make sure that it is big enough to fit over your baby's head. It's tough because you want to make sure the neckline doesn't hang down to far, but it's a good thing Elly's head isn't any bigger or else this one wouldn't fit.
5. Cut the sleeves using the baby sweater sleeves as a guide. Of course don't sew the ends.

6. Then attach the sleeve making sure to sew the right side of the fabric to the right side, and also making sure not to sew the sleeve shut.

I also made a little rossette out of the sweater material and sewed it on. I mean she doesn't have any hair and this sweater is blue, I don't want anyone thinking my baby girl is a baby boy!

The sweater is for more of a 9-12 month size, so it's a little big right now. One of my friends saw Elly's sweater and said it was cute and I said it used to be mine. They said, "Oh, like when you were a baby?" I said, "No, like on Friday it was mine, and today it's Elly's." I still have a few more old sweaters... so we'll see what else I decide to make with them.

my 5 layer birthday cake

2011-11-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Each year for my birthday I normally get an ice cream cake... but this year I wanted to branch out and try something new. I think it's because I have made so many good desserts recently including this one and this one. So I saw this recipe and decided to give it a try.

It basically combines all of my favorite desserts, chocolate chip cookies, brownies, and s'mores. It is a layer of brownie, marshmallow cream, chocolate chip cookie, marshmallow cream, graham crackers, fudge frosting, chocolate chip cookie, marshmallow cream, brownie and frosting. I didn't add the cheesecake layers like the recipe calls for... basically because I didn't feel like making it. I also added heath bar bits on top. It was really good but really sweet... almost too sweet for me and I have a huge sweet tooth. I think adding a cake layer in there and taking out the marshmallow might make it a little better.

I had a great birthday with my little family. We went out for pizza {my favorite} and then Jackson insisted that he and Parker hide my presents so I had a little scavenger hunt. He also kept asking me who I was going to invite to my party and didn't understand why I just wanted to spend my birthday with them. I told him it's because they are the most special people to me in the whole wide world.

a holiday wreath

2011-11-29T08:00:00.001-06:00

Last year I bought a nice red berry wreath from Pier 1 and then recently we got a new front door and I painted it red and I decided that I can't really have a red wreath on a red door... so I bought supplies to make a wreath. I bought the vine wreath at Walmart for $3 and the berries from Hobby Lobby which were all on sale and totaled about $15. I just weaved the berries around the wreath and hot glued parts of it to make sure it stuck.

I tied a piece of ribbon on the wreath and stuck a utility hook upside down on the backside of the door.

{my outfit above: coat- H&M, boot socks- I made them, you can make them too here, boots- twiggshoes, have you checked those shoes out yet? I also bought the shimmer ballet flat and love them! And their shoes are so inexpensive too!}

infinity scarf giveaway

2011-11-27T21:15:00.000-06:00

***This giveaway is now closed***

I have had a lot of people ask me about these infinity scarves and I have been making them like crazy, so I figured I would share the love and give one away. They are so hassle free and easy to wear, and a great accent to any outfit. Seriously, when I go to the grocery store in a t-shirt and jeans I throw on a scarf and feel so much more fashionable.

To enter:

1. Become a follower

2. Leave a comment telling me which scarf you like best

3. Tweet, Facebook, Pinterest or re-blog this giveaway for an additional entry, and leave a second comment saying how you've spread the word

I will randomly choose a winner. Good luck! The giveaway ends Friday morning, December 2nd. I will post the winner Friday afternoon, and have a scarf sent to them. Just in time for the chilly weather.

thanksgiving images

2011-11-27T20:14:00.000-06:00

We had a great extended weekend visiting with some of Danny's family in Michigan. Here are some images of our trip.

Before we left, Parker, Elly and I went to Jackson's preschool to help out with their Thanksgiving feast. I just love watching Jackson at school it is so cute seeing him as a little student. Parker played with all of the toys in the room, while Elly just sat in the stroller and I helped dish out the food. I saw this little indian picture of Jackson on the bulletin board in the hallway at school and thought it was hilarious.

{Thanksgiving day festivities: a huge Thanksgiving feast and then Christmas gift exchange. The kids made out pretty well because they are the only little kids}

{The boys feeding the fish at Danny's aunt's house}

{We had a day after Thanksgiving brunch at her log cabin}

{Then we visited Danny's uncle at work, the fire station. This is Parker's mad face and Jackson's monkey face}

{Parker with his buddy Kelsie, Jackson and Danny}

{The boys got to spray the fire hose}

{Jackson and Danny got to ride in the fire truck. Danny used to visit the fire station when he was a kid over thanksgiving, but he never got to actually ride in the fire truck so he was pretty excited}

{Parker watching his dvd in the car. Jackson and Parker making rice crispy treat houses. Some people waiting outside Best Buy, their sign said "occupy best buy." A road sign near Danny's grandma's house that has to be the scariest road sign ever. It always reminds me of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure}

We had a lot of fun, we have a busy holiday season ahead of us and I am so excited for it.

a 4-year-olds inner struggle to sit on santa's lap

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite Christmas traditions (and they are many) is to go and see Santa. There is a little boutique shopping center near our house and Santa makes a visit there every year. It's so much nicer going there than standing in line at the mall. When we asked Jackson if he wanted to see Santa he immediately became overwhelmed. You see, he got a toy magazine from Toys R Us and literally every day since he got it, he spends his quiet time looking through it circling all of the toys he wants for Christmas. I sat down with him one day so he could show me and we counted 76 things, two of which were power wheels each $350. I told him he would have to limit them and he asked, "But why mommy, why can't Santa buy me all of these things." And I told him that even if Santa brings him the toys, mommy and daddy pay for them. One day for quiet time I gave him his calculator and told him to add up how much everything costs. He stopped because there were "too many."

So before we talked to Santa, we helped Jackson narrow it down to three things. We waited in line for a little bit and then I passed Elly off to Mrs. Claus so I could get a group shot and I looked behind me and Jackson and Paker were high tailing it out the door. I tried to get them to come over to no avail. So I got their little toy football that Santa gave all the kids, and we left.

Here is Elly, the only one who would participate in this holiday tradition, I am sure next year she will be afraid like the rest of them.

While we were outside, we went and petted Santa's reindeer... Parker did anyway, Jackson's not an animal lover.

Jackson started having regrets for not telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas. He started wondering how he was going to get presents. His one chance to request toys, was gone. He asked if he could tell Santa's reindeer what he wanted for Christmas but we said no. I snapped these pictures of Jackson while Parker was enjoying petting the reindeer and telling the reindeer what HE wanted for Christmas.

Can't you just see the regret in his face.. the pouty lip and all (believe me, I see that pouty lip ALL the time) And we did what any "long live the tradition" parent would do, we told him we would go back in line for a second chance.

This time we periodically checked with him... now you're going to tell Santa what you want this time right? Here are how a few conversations went:

Danny: Buddy why are you afraid of Santa?

Jax: Because he has CLAWS!

Danny: What? He doesn't have claws.

Jax: But his name is Santa CLAWS!

Danny: No, he doesn't have claws he is a really nice old man.

A few minutes later I asked him:

Me: Why do you think it's so scary to sit on Santa's lap?

Jax: Because he's such a BIG man!

Me: So what's going to happen if you get to the front of the line and you are too scared to sit on Santa's lap again?

Jax: It will be a very, very sad Christmas mommy.

{awe poor thing! He has been really shy around people lately and we don't know how much of that is just to get attention, so we are trying to encourage him to go out of his comfort zone a little, making sure he knows we're right there in case he needs us. I think that's one reason we wanted him to go in line again.}

Well, we made it to the front of the line and Parker walked up and started telling Santa what he wanted for Christmas, some more Thomas the Train tracks, and Jackson started yelling, "I want a Dinosaur Train set and a Scooby Doo toy..." really loud from about 5 feet away. He came in a little closer to get a picture. Parker had run away by this time.

I think it's a fun tradition to involve Santa, who knows how long our kids will believe in him. But it's just like all other traditions we do, like the easter bunny and dressing up for Halloween, just a fun thing to do.

This note was attached to the toy football Santa gave out, I thought it was interesting because rarely do you see Santa endorsing the real reason why we celebrate Christmas, which is the birth of Christ. That is one aspect, we make sure our kids are clear on. Which is another reason I love this time of year, because more hearts are turned to Christ.

Overall it was a fun afternoon, we walked around to some of the stores and looked at the ice carvings. Poor little Elly could barely see we bundled her up so much. We'll see if we have better luck with Santa next year.

giving thanks wall hanging

2011-11-23T07:44:00.000-06:00

Being grateful for things is something I try to do all year round, but this time of year definitely helps remind me to continue being grateful. For family night, we talked about the importance of being thankful for things. It was cute hearing the boys say what they were thankful for. Earlier in the day I made this wall hanging as a place to put our gratitude lists, so that we can always be reminded of them.

Here are the supplies:

1. I took the glass and everything out of the picture frame.
2. I hot glued the wire to the back of the frame.

3. I then hung our lists that were written on some textured scrap book paper and hung some dried leaves and berries leftover from my other projects.

{notice Jackson said he is grateful for his warm house, family and friends}

4. I accidentally bought these push pin magnets, thinking they were actually push pins... but because it's a magnent, I just set it on the nail to cover up the nail head.

We are looking forward to spending some time with family the next few days. Mostly, Danny and I are excited that we bought two portable dvd players for our car so that the boys have something to do while we are driving.

picture frame with dried berries

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here are the supplies, a picture frame, burlap, dried berries, I also used some brown ribbon not pictured.

1. Enlist the help of a great scissor user... most wouldn't consider their 4-year-old son as a great scissor user... that's just one of the talents my son possesses. Trace the glass from the frame and then cut out a piece of burlap.

2. I hot glued the burlap to the front of the glass and then put it back in the frame.

3. Get whatever dried or fake berries or twiggs you would like and wrap the bottom ends with some ribbon. I used hot glue to get the ribbon to stay put and then just hot glue the berries to the burlap.

thanksgiving crafting

2011-11-21T07:50:00.000-06:00

I love the fall for many reasons and one of them is the beautiful fall colors. The other day I enlisted the kids help and we collected some leaves in our yard for some crafting. While we were outside, my neighbor came over and was telling me how she sometimes puts leaves in between wax paper and irons them so they get a nice waxy sheen. Knowing I was going to use some of these leaves for decoration, I thought, hey that's a good idea. But let me tell you my friends... it's NOT a good idea. I tried it and the iron started smoking. I soon realized that I should have probably put a cloth or something in between the wax paper and iron... at least that's what logic (or my husband) would tell me, but I'm admitting this wasn't my brightest moment. The iron kept smoking more and more and it started sounding like little kindling burning inside the iron so I threw it in our wash basin, and turned the faucet on it. Don't worry it was unplugged at this point (my husband wondered if I was pouring water on a plugged in electronic... he gives me no credit!) The iron finally stopped smoking after I doused it. And I'm not too sad because I wanted a new iron anyway.

So I scrapped the wax paper idea and took one of my husbands text books and stuck the leaves in there so they would flatten and dry out. I would recommend using a book that you don't like because it kind of wrinkled the pages a little and made the book stink. Maybe your husbands text book isn't the best idea. Luckily, my husband was done with that book.

Once your leaves are nice and flat, here are a few things you can do with them:

Leaf mobile: I pulled out some wooded skewers leftover from summer grilling, and made a little mobile and tied thread to the end of the leaves and then hung it from the ceiling.

Leaves in picture frames:
I had some of these pictures frames just sitting around so I put some of the pressed leaves in there. You could also do this with a regular picture frame, just put a piece of white paper behind the leaves.

Table decor:

Of course I always have to have some leaves on my table centerpieces. These are great for holiday dinners too, to have them spread around the table. The pressed leaves work much better because they don't crinkle up.

This week I am beginning to get all of my holiday decorations out, so I will be posting some of the new ones I have been working on.

from old navy to j.crew

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have always loved shopping for clothes and now that I have three kids, it's great because I have more people to shop for. And even though I would love to buy all of my kids clothes at J.Crew... because their Crewcuts collection is adorable... I just can't justify spending $60 on a sweater that will most likely be covered in glue stick and yogurt by the end of the day. So, by adding a few little things, I was able to spruce up a less expensive item.

I bought this coat at Old Navy using coupons... which, is it just me or is everything always on sale there. I never buy anything full price... just wait a week and it will be on sale. It cost $15

I switched out the buttons with some leather ones I picked up at JoAnns for about $8 then added a little flower pin I made out of leftover felt. A revamped coat with a little bit more character for $23.

I had been looking for a cardigan for Jackson and found this one at Old Navy also. It was $24 after coupons. I liked it because of the color and the style.. but I wanted to make it even cuter.

Just like with the coat, I switched out the buttons with some leather ones from JoAnns for about $12. I also added some faux suede patches on the elbows. That was free because I had the faux suede at home. Total for this one was $36, not super cheap, but I wanted a nice sweater for him to wear at my sister's wedding, so I made an exception.

For the elbow patches... (that actually would be a cute addition to just about any sweater or coat), I just ironed on some interfacing to the backside of the suede to give it a little extra strength because mine is very thin. I was planning on sewing it on, but realized that it would be pretty impossible to do unless I cut the sleeve open which I did not want to do. So I just used some heavy duty fabric glue to attach it and made sure to glue right up to the edges of the patch.

So now when I buy things, I still look for the deals, and I also look for the potential to make something a little bit more my style and cuter with just a few enhancements.

sesame street live

2011-11-17T08:25:00.000-06:00

Last week we took the kids to see Sesame Street Live. It's like a broadway show and so much fun for little kids. I mean who wouldn't want to see people you see every day on TV... in real life?! I remember being so excited to see Jerry Seinfeld live because I had grown up watching him on TV. Jackson and I went to Sesame Street live two years ago, and I told Danny he has to go the next time because it's just so precious watching how exciting it is for the little kids.

We had it marked on the calendar and almost everyday Jackson would point out how many days left until Sesame Street Live. They were so excited and it was so cute watching them during the show.

{Jackson getting nervous as the plot thickens, Elly remained pretty un amused, she just stared at the stage the whole time}

We're glad we went and hope to go again next year. During the show I was thinking if only church were like this... we could keep our kids still and alert for an entire hour and a half :)

canning applesauce

2011-11-16T08:18:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again, that I turn my kitchen to a sticky mess, cover my stove top with boiled over apple juice... and can some applesauce. This year I had a little helper with me, which was kind of fun because I remember canning applesauce with my mom. So I made sure to let Jackson have some fun, playing with all the apples in the sink, turning the food mill to process the applesauce and of course, eating a big bowl of the first applesauce made. I want to make sure he has the same fun experience as I did as a kid.

I simply 1. cut the apples in quarters, with skins and seeds still intact. 2. Threw them in a pot of boiling water. 3. When they were soft enough put them through the food mill. 4. I add red hots for some flavor. 5. I used the water bath method for canning them.

{I also made some with out red hots for Elly}

elly's wheels

2011-11-15T08:15:00.000-06:00

Elly started using the walker a few weeks ago. She likes to follow the boys around the house. But most of the time she just sits there. When she does start walking around the boys get so excited. The other day Jackson ran in the kitchen yelling, "Mom! Elly's walking!" Then later she started walking again in it and he yelled again, "Mom! Elly just learned to walk! She's doing it!" Jackson has been so excited for when she starts walking ever since I was pregnant with her. He thinks it's his responsibility as a big brother to help her to learn how to walk. There's still some time though before she actually starts walking. I love the "walker" phase because it's a way for them to have "controlled" mobility and gets them ready for walking. But man that walker is an ankle's worst enemy, so I'm also glad when we can put the walker back in the attic.

a working portfolio

2011-11-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have always loved photography. Even in high school, I took lots of pictures just for fun. And I grew up in a very beautiful place, so it was easy to find something to take a picture of. I think that's one of the reasons I went into journalism, because you tell the story through writing and through pictures/video. In the past few months I have had more and more people ask me to take pictures of them, and each time I want to show them some of the pictures I have taken to give them ideas for the type of pictures they want. And so I would pick out some pictures to email them and I thought, this is silly, I just need to have a website that I can send people to. And since my husband designs websites as a hobby... it was just a matter of him getting some time away from his busy schedule to make one for me.

I wanted a very simple design and logo. I like things very clean and clear so that the emphasis can be on the pictures. But I didn't want it to be boring either. And my husband can do some really cool things with his web design... so this one was pretty easy for him and didn't take much time. He usually does way more complicated things.

So here it is...

You can check it out here or by clicking on the button on my side bar. On the website I have some engagement pictures I have taken for people including my sister, who chose to use a picture of she and her fiance playing tennis for their invitation. And of some friends and their families. I decided on Green Berry, basically after a long process of picking names and going through which web urls were available. The three "berries" in the logo are for my three kids. I knew I wanted something personal representing my kids in the logo/design.

I will continue to update it as I continue taking pictures. It's more of a working portfolio for me right now. I plan to eventually add things to it like event planning for example. I discovered a love for event planning, after planning and organizing an event last year that brought in more than 1,000 people from the community and used more than 200 volunteers. So eventually, I will plan an event and then take pictures of it :)

And maybe my sister will get her way and I will open an Etsy shop and sell my skirts and other crafts. Right now I have to keep things in perspective because I have three little ones running around keeping me busy... but it makes me reassured that I will stay plenty busy when the kids go to school.

photography: our family

2011-11-11T08:00:00.000-06:00

Last week we went out as a family and took some pictures. Possibly for our Christmas card... but we'll see if I decide I want to take another go at it. Luckily, everyone's pretty patient with my constant picture taking. Check out the chair... I bought it at a thrift store for $2 and spray painted it, antiqued it a little with some sandpaper and put some new fabric over the seat.

Speaking of pictures... I have something exciting I am working on that I'll hopefully share on Monday. We'll be finishing up over the weekend.

top picks: iphone apps

2011-11-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

1. Instagram: It's a camera app with different filters so that you can edit your picture and then upload it so that it can be shared with friends. I soon realized that all of the pictures are automatically uploaded so it drains your data plan. Since my plan isn't unlimited... I can't go crazy with Instagram pictures. Unless I am on a wireless network, so at home I go crazy taking pictures.
2. Touch Mouse: It allows you to use your phone as a remote control for your mac. It's perfect because we watch most of our shows on our computer, then I don't have to get up to adjust the volume or change shows.
3. Map my fitness: I use it for my running and Danny uses it when he rides his bike. It maps your run and clocks your speed and distance. It keeps a log of all of your workouts.
4. 8mm video camera: It allows you to take videos with some cool vintage fliters. Just a fun little thing to play with to make your video taking more interesting.
5. Yelp: We use this all the time when we are travelling and looking for some place to eat. It can look up just about anything you are looking for and uses your phones gps to locate things nearest to you.
6. Camera +: This is my favorite picture app lately. It has so many filters and options to edit your pictures. It also allows you to crop, adjust, or add a border to your picture. It also has a zoom which I like. The only problem is now I can't just take a picture, I have to sit there and edit it because it's so fun.
7. Find my iphone: This uses the gps in your phone and allows you to locate your phone using your computer, if you loose it or someone steals it. Danny and I have each other's phones programed in to our phones, so I can use this app to locate Danny... kind of stalker-ish but when I was wondering if he was still at work, I just found where his phone was. And sometimes when I am running he will look to see where I am to see if I'm on my way home. It also lets you lock your phone in case it is stolen.