{Recap} February 2016

February is here!

That means Carter's Birthday and Baby Boy's Birth...and you'll never believe it! 

Read to the end to see what else happened!

My sister did it again! Blew me away with another amazing cake. We've been telling her for years to go into business! But she won't! And you know what...  I'm okay with that! More time for my kids' awesome cakes!!  This is 144 mini cupcakes! Talk about a labor of love for a nephew!

Whipped up these shirts the day before my pre op appointment.

When we had Ellie both boys wore Big Brother shirts, but I thought this lineup fit us perfect!

Baby Brother, Big Sister, Bigger Brother and Biggest Brother!

When I went to my pre op appoint I found out the kids could not come to the hospital to meet baby!

I was devastated! Anyone else ever have this happen?

NYS put an age limit on visitors because the flu was high in the region.

With all my babies that has never happened!

Here he is! Practically perfect in every way! 

Baby boy was nameless until after he was born!

Mommy and Daddy could not agree! 

Mommy and some of the kids wanted Nolan. While Daddy didn't

Once baby was born Daddy came out with Everett. 

I had mentioned once after we found out he was a boy, and Daddy wasn't in love with it.

But clearly he let it sink in, and that was that. Once he saw him, he said He looks like an Everett.

So Everett it is!

Now onto the "fun" of the month.

This is my kitchen. This is my kitchen just days after having baby Everett.

That hole in my cabinets? Used to hold an ancient oven. It finally died.

We guessed it was from 70's but upon taking it out there was a date of 1954 behind the cabinet.

So your guess is as good as mine.  

Either way, because of the age of the oven. New wall ovens are not the same size. 

Our opening for the oven was 28" wide. We were able to find one oven that size, on clearance because it was discontinued. I knew it wasn't going to work. But was hopeful since the price was right, so I came home. Picked out my largest pans (turkey roasting pan and biggest cookie sheet) and went back and sure enough neither fit.  

Back to the drawing board.

With that said, we had to take out the cabinet the oven was in, plus the cabinet under the stove because we now had to look for a one unit stove/oven.  

A little irony for you.When we bout the house in 2007 I though "oh no! This setup is so dated." 

And over time fell in love with it. No bending over to pull turkeys, cookies and casseroles out of the oven. So when we had to get a one unit, my husband and I were a little bummed!  

Now, about that one unit...

Ah. A five burner gas unit.

I am in cooking heaven. 

My husband knows I love to cook, and can.

We went back and forth over electric vs gas quite a bit. But in the end gas won.  

A huge factor was my All American Canner. It is very heavy and it is recommended to not use on an electric glass top stove. Most electric stoves are glass topped now. And if they aren' they are super cheap in price and look/feel.

Now that I have been coking on gas for a couple months, I can say I'm not sure I would go back to electric.  If we bought a house with electric, fine. But eventually I would switch it over to gas. It definitely has its perks!  

So there it is... what a month! 

Don't worry, my kitchen does not look like that anymore! 

Even with a newborn we made progress!  

{Recap} November 2015

November for us means Ellie's birthday and hosting Thanksgiving.

This is only my second year hosting, it took a long time to finally be able to host!

This year it worked out perfect, Miss Ellie wanted a Sophia the first birthday and a cousin had one for her daughter over the summer, so I was able to reuse all the decorations she had purchased!

This pregnant mama, loved the hand me down decorations it helped so much!

Ive always made the kids' birthday invites, I used to mail them. 

Nowadays, I create them on the computer and send the file to my guests.My sister makes the kids' cakes for their party, and I make them a cake on their actual birthday.

This was the cake I made Ellie for on her birthday. Didn't it come out pretty? She loved it!

I don't think I have ever mentioned it but in the past year or two my husband has taken up woodworking!  He made Carter a twin bed, then he made us a gorgeous queen size bed and in November he decided to make us a dining room table!  

The wood has an awesome story to it too!

A coworker of my husband had cherry logs that he cut down, but didn't want to use them for firewood. My husband had something he wanted so they bartered.  So that's how we got the logs.

Once we had these giant logs, we needed to have them milled.  In comes another co worker! 

Who uses firewood to heat his home, and we had just taken down a tree in our yard... 

So we know where our dining room table logs grew, and know who milled them and that my husband built it! Talk about a piece of furniture with a story!

Lastly, Thanksgiving!

Like I said, this is only the second time I have hosted and it went really well. 

Carter brought home this little first thanksgiving diorama from school, and Wyatt immediately added some friends to it!   So if you were ever wondering if Super Heroes were at the first thanksgiving, Wyatt would tell you yes!!

{Recap} August 2015

August is always a pretty busy month around here.

End of Summer, Two birthdays in our house plus friends and family birthdays too, Gearing up for School, and Winding down the Garden.

Last year, a local beach (at a lake) was re opened. I remember going as a kid, and then not going for years. I am so happy they reopened this beach as it is the perfect size for my kids! The first set of buoys goes maybe up to my 6 year olds waist! The second set of buoys maybe go up to his neck!

Makes it that much easier for me to feel comfortable, even with all their swim gear on I am always doing a head count!

My second son, Wyatt celebrated his 4th birthday! And he is all about Batman! 

This was my first attempt at fondant and I have to say it came out pretty well! 

Everyone warned me that the black would be hard to get dark enough (fondant is marshmallow based) and I didn't have a problem! What I did have a problem with? The bat logo! So hard to cut out! I tried over and over and ended up using a tag from one of he shirts we bought him as a gift! Ha!

Love when things just fall into place!

This picture just makes me smile! Actually the whole album it's from does.

This is from my great aunt's 90th birthday parade!

Yes. We gave her a parade! 

My only "big" potato. Darn root vegetables you stump me!

30 Things When 30!

Eek! It's official, today is my 30th Birthday!

To be honest, it's just a number!

I know some people freak about monumental birthdays, but that's not me.

 

So in honor of my 30th birthday I thought I would pick 30 things I want to do in 2015:

(in no particular order of importance!)

 

1. Create. I've fallen off the craft wagon, I blame my pinterest boards. So many crafts, not enough time. I just keep pinning, and not making! So I'm going to shoot for an item or two a month. Whether is it sewn, knit, crochet, home décor, even art pieces. I am an art teacher!  

2. Cook. And not just to cook, I love trying new recipes. So I better start making some!

3. Photography. Step away from my smartphone! I really need to get back to where I was before the kids. I carried my dSLR everywhere.

4. Drink more water. I'm terrible. I could just drink a cup of coffee in the morning. And not drink anything else. This past year I lost some of the baby weight, and drinking water was a big help.

5. Get back on track.  The beginning of 2014, I did so well with calorie counting, drinking water, adding exercise that I lost a good amount of weight (I'd say 1/2 my goal) and then summer hit, life got busy and I made excuses.

6. Take notes. My kids say the best one liners, I really need to write them down, maybe incorporate in #9.

7. Print pictures. I'd be happy just printing them. But...

8. Organizing said Pictures. If I print them, I'd love to do albums, books, something with them. Maybe hang some. You won't believe it. But I don't have a single picture hanging on my walls. Sigh.

9. Organize & Burn DVDs.  I made DVDs for my husband for Christmas of the kids videos, all sorted by child. So I just need to add this year.

10. Organize my Time. Maybe now is the time to use a planner. I've tried in years past, but never felt the need because I stayed home. What was I going to pencil in? Laundry? But maybe I should.

11. Organize my time long term. Planning ahead. I hate last minute, or being late. I always say I work best under pressure, but I'm over that mentality.

12. Continue Organizing our Home.  In the last couple years I feel I have really organized some of our things, and what I have learned is that you can't organize once. It has to be a recurring process.

13. Learn more about my family. I have some family trees that were given to me on my dad's side, but I'd like to dig deeper about both sides of my family.

14. Family Recipes. Growing up I had 5 great aunts, and sadly we have only one left. I'd love to go through her recipes and save some of the favorites for my kids to cherish that I remember.

15. Expand my Garden. You had to see that one coming! I grew 167 lbs in 2014, wonder what I'll grow in 2015. We have made some progress "out back", and moved things around so expanding is inevitable! Half of the orchard has already moved! 

16. Winter Sowing. I did one milk jug experiment last year, and will never go back to the greenhouse on my windowsill again. I got 20 cherry tomato plants out of one jug!

17. Preserve my Garden. I'm still learning about canning and am addicted. So new canning recipes here I come!

18. Printables. A couple years back I made some printables, and really enjoyed it. I made some last week, and immediately remembered how much I loved it!

19. Snail Mail. I love getting it, but never send it. Silly.

20. Read More.  I really love to read. I go to the library bi-weekly, but rarely get a book to read. Don't get me wrong I get lots of garden books, knitting books, cook books. But I don't read them cover to cover.

21. Date Night. It may sound cheesy, but I'd love a hot meal with my husband, sister, brother, mom, dad, friends. No kids.

22. Game Night. Again, may sound cheesy. But I think game night with my nephews, friends kids would be a blast for the kids!

23. Try something new. It could be anything. Food? Hobby? Options are endless.

24. Go somewhere new. I've become a creature of habit, we visit the same places, Vacation the same places. Shop the same places. I better shake it up this year.

25. Random Acts of Kindness. I'd like to think I am kind overall, but I want to go that extra step every once in a while. Especially for those I love.

26. Teach someone something. I'm an art teacher for heaven's sake.  Just because I don't have a job in a school district doesn't mean I can't and aren't teaching someone something.

27. Finish what I start. I am notorious for starting and not finishing. Whether its something small, like laundry. Or big like Ellie's bedroom décor. I need to finish.
28. Monthly Resolutions.  I always try to make resolutions at the beginning of the year, and as the year changes so do they. So this year, I'm hoping to do it monthly!
29. Relax. This one is kind of humorous. But really. I need to relax, whether its a bath, a hair appointment. Something for me once in a while.

 30. Enjoy everyday more. We only live once, and will only be 30 once. So I better Enjoy it! Especially, my kids. I'm still in denial my baby Carter is a big boy, my other baby Wyatt is a big boy and my little baby Ellie is a big girl. So, whether its singing with Ellie, Marrying (dancing with) Wyatt or Lego Building with Carter... Making memories and enjoying them.

Overall, I think everything on this list is doable! And will happen. If I stick with it. Oh wait. There's #27, finish what I start! eek!

Yes, I could have put things on here like swim with dolphins, or drive cross country.
Maybe we will take a  road trip somewhere and be able to swim or see dolphins.
But honestly, to me the little things are more important.

Have you ever made a list like this? It was harder than I thought!
I'd love to see what you would put on your list!
 

 

 

 

 

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie!

It's amazing how life changes.

When we had Carter's first birthday, we rented a hall and invited everyone we knew.

I went all out with the Ocean One-derland theme, coordinating the food, the decorations you name it.

Since then, I've stepped away from Pinterest and all the perfect parties and became more realistic.

It's one day, one birthday. 

We invite fewer people, I make less food, and I know I enjoy it more!

I'm not as stressed to throw a picture perfect party, and then forget to take pictures anyway!

For Ellie's 2nd Birthday, we went with Frozen. She loves it.

 So much so I had to mail the DVD back to Disney for replacement!

For Ellie's invites I found these great free printable invites and party accessories!

Since I send mine through email I put it in photoshop to add my text.

I ended up not being able to match the font, so I erased what was there and replaced half of it with a font on  my computer so that it all matched.

For the other half, I found Ice Kingdom that matches the font/graphic used for FROZEN. 

(Of course, two weeks after I make the invite, I cannot find the link to where I downloaded it!)

(It was a free font download, and in my font book on my computer it comes up as Ice Kingdom)

Another fun touch I did was I found these,

 and in photoshop added Happy Birthday Ellie, or Ellie is 2! Or my favorite...

I printed them out on full sheets of paper, and just hung amongst the streamers throughout the house.

To finish off the decorations I purchased these balloons, so worth it!

 They are still floating today on her actual birthday, 5 days after we bought them! 

Once they deflate, I will be trying to cut the big one in half, to see if I can hang it like to portraits on her wall! 

Lastly, my sister made another amazing cake! 

{we need to get better about taking pictures of her cakes! They are amazing, and none of our pics do them justice!}

We had trouble finding little figures that we can put on the cake, so she printed and laminated her own!

Worked perfect, and Ellie had been playing with them like they are little paper dolls!

She made a mini "wedding" cake so to speak, then a sugar cube staircase, and icicles out of blue and white candy melts! I love that I never have to worry about my kids cakes, I tell her the theme and she runs with it! 

Birthday Hat for Baby S!

Right before I started my teaching position, I made a 1st Birthday Hat for Baby S!

Mom told me the colors, and I went to work!

I love how it came out!

I made a bunch of these when Carter was a baby, 

and included them in presents for the birthday babes. 

They are so easy to make, I don't know why I stopped!

It's really simple to make too, cut your quarter circle. Sew your seam. Done.

If you want anything on the hat you add that first, then the boa embellishment after it's sewn!

Celebrates: Carter's Dino Decor

While I love all the fabulous birthday ideas that float around blogland, 

We keep it pretty basic around here. 

I made the invites, we bought a pinata, banner and some balloons from Target. 

My favorite element of the party were the cupcakes!

Normally my sister is our baker, but this year her kids were sick, so I had to make them!

Didn't they come out great?!?!?

Maybe I can be a baker after all!?!

I made my cupcakes and frosting, but if you were in a pinch, 

bakery cupcakes and add some little toy dinosaurs and your done!

These were the easiest cupcakes I've ever decorated!

I wish I had examples of some of my past disasters! 

Because these are amazing compared to some of my past baking attempts!

Celebrates: Carter's Dino Birthday Invite!

Each time a birthday happens in our house, we let the guest of honor pick a theme. 

For Carter's 5th Birthday, he chose Dinosaurs!

We found a couple Dinosaur birthday items at Target (not available online though, boo!)

Knowing that I would email them to our family, I decided to create a digital invite myself!

To make it match the birthday banner, I scanned the dinosaur off it and got to work!

I loved how it came out! 

If you would like to use these for your own Dino birthday, feel free to email me!

I could edit it to match your details too!

Our Monster is One!

I can not believe it, our "baby" is actually 1!

Last week I shared out invite here.

We decided to go with a Monster theme, because it fits Wyatt's personality to a T! 

He is into everything! The cabinets, the toilet  you name it. But when you try to get a smile out of him, good luck. He can be super serious.

Once I made the invites, I was stumped as to what to make to go along with the Monster theme. 

I pulled out my cricut (ha! I bet you didn't know I had one! I never use it!) and tried to work out a banner. But then noticed if you cut the silhouette of a cupcake they look like goofy monster shapes. Perfect!

So I cut a bunch of fun paper into the cupcake/monster shape added some googly eyes and a marker smile and had monsters for our goodie bags and made little puppets too!

I stuck the puppets on the tables and the kids played with them ( and took them home) throughout the day.

The morning of the party, I felt awful! I forgot to pick up a Birthday boy Tshirt. But as usual my sister pulled through for me and whipped up a Monster shirt! 

Not only did my sister make the shirt for Wyatt but his awesome cake! 

Did you know if your grocery store makes cakes you can buy the accessories and not the cake?

We do! We picked up the tray that the cupcakes and cake sit on ( purple tentacles to hold the cupcakes) 

the eyeball on the big cake, and all the rings (eyeballs) on the cupcakes!

The rest of the party was full of primary colored balloons, table clothes, plates, cups etc. I even hot glued eyeballs on toothpicks and stuck them into the food!

Overall we have a great day! 

And our little Monster was pooped and couldn't wait for bed!

What's your favorite first birthday theme?

Toy Story Moving Box Pinata {A Tutorial!}

Carter requested a pinata for this birthday, I think Dora made him do it! 

But to not let him down, my husband and I said we could do that. Well, being the more frugal of the two I decided let me try to make one. After all it's just going to broken for the "goods" anyways and who wants to keep a broken pinata (my guess, Carter would have!)

So, when I was looking all over the internet for cake ideas, I came across a great cake that had moving boxes from Toy Story 3! And that's how this came about, and it was really fun to tell Carter that Andy had packed up his boxes and sent them to us just for his party!

To make your own pull string pinata:

 ( did you think I was going to trust a very active now three year old with a stick?)

Carboard box (shape/size can be up to you, mine was pretty small and square)

Craft paper

Hot glue, duct tape

Scissors

Ribbon and Strong string to hang from

First:

Cut the bottom of your box out 

( I didn't cut all four flaps out and regretted it when it didn't break much, so trust me on this one!)

Remove all four of these flaps!

Second: 

Wrap your box to hide the current logos!

I used hot glue to attach mine, and had no issues!

Third:

Poke a hole in the bottom of your pinata, this will be your "active" pullstring.

Your will not have cardboard to make pulling easier!

Ours pulled but didn't pull open as I thought it would! Boo.

Duct tape your ribbon inside.  

Four:

Trick your little party goers! Just scotch take ribbons on the bottom outside, for their pulling pleasure!

Five: 

Camoflauge your ribbons, I just attached strips of paper across each row of tape and glue on each side.

(Sorry no picture!)

Six:

Add your hanging string. 

I went through the handles, across the box and had the string criss cross.

See?

Seven:

Fill! I went with some candy and some plastic toys! Had to include army men!

Eight:

Place a piece of scrap carboard on top, and I duct taped in place (not shown)

This creates a place for all your toy story themed toys!

Nine:

Add toys, tissue, packing peanuts (that I couldn't find!)

Ten: 

PULL AND PARTY!

Printable Pennant

Yesterday I shared all of Carter's party with you. 

So today I am starting to share some of the details!

The very first thing I made for his party was this digital pennant!

Both the Cowprint and Woody's Flannel are available in the shop!

I used three different pennant backgrounds (Cowprint, Flannel and Clouds) to make my Happy Birthday Carter's banner. But I have only uploaded two in the shop ) I've got to fix up the cloud one a bit first, it printed a little funny!

Toy Story Birthday Bash!

Happy Birthday Carter!

I cannot believe he is THREE already! 

The first thing I made after he decided on a Toy Story theme was this banner.

The pennants are Woody's flannel shirt, his cowprint vest, and Andy's Sky wallpaper!

(Available in the shop, Cowprint and Woody's Flannel!)

One of the last things I did was add some streamers to the staircase! 

(I decorated after he went to bed the night before so it was a surprise on his birthday!)

(As you can tell he loved it!)

But it was the first thing he saw after getting up!

Some other decorations were the "Ready To Play" banner my mom picked up for me.

I love that its plastic, and doesn't say Happy Birthday! So now it will be going into the playroom! 

Love when I find great freebies online!

Pin the tail on bullseye!  

Of course the army men were staked out in all my plants!

 They were telling all of Carter's toys what he was getting for gifts!

I made several Army men garlands! Picked up a pack of men in the $1 store and hot glued them to some kitchen twine!

The paratroopers also made an appearance too!

My biggest accomplishment for the party! 

The "moving box" pull string pinata!

(Tutorial here! So simple! And no guilt throwing it out, because it cost NOTHING to make!)

Any and all Toy Story themed toys made an appearance somewhere amongst the party decor!

My sister's awesome dump truck cake! Lotso beware! Woody and Buzz where using his truck all day!

We snacked on traditional party fare, and my oh so yummy cake batter dip!

I'll be sharing some of the details in their own post later this week!