Egg Dying

It was worse than I expected ;) I should have known not to attempt without EJ. Seconds after this picture was taken, I knocked over this cup of blue dye. It splattered everywhere and took a lot of elbow grease to remove from floor, island base and counter. I almost cried and fortunately the cuss words stayed in my head. Ah, the subtle reminders of how much I need Jesus ;)

I threw her shirt in the trash and most of the dye came off later in the bathtub.

He was hesitant to join us but was glad he did ;) 

He has been begging to dye eggs for days, not nearly as often as last year.

 She is one messy artist, just like her mama.

Flyin Ryan

This kid's imagination cracks me up. The conversations we have are mind boggling. If he isn't talking about farming, it's something to do with animals or art. Yesterday, it was the later 2. He made (with my help) a "dragon." Thankfully his imagination is so great, his creations can take very little effort ;)

Well, as soon as it was done, he jumped inside. When the dragon didn't take-off flying, he was flabbergasted. Seriously?!? Oh, the things we should prepare our children for ;) "How can I make it fly, mommy?" Uh...

Again, his imagination came to the rescue and he decided putting it on the swing would do just the trick. Genius, this kid :) And happy as a lark!

His newest idea... "we need a pet pig, momma. To eat all our garbage."

Heart of an Artist

Ryan asks to "paint" nearly every day. I can't and don't always say yes, it has to be relatively calm in the house, which doesn't happen all that often. But since he and I share a love for art, I can relate to his need to fulfill his inspirations, and so, he paints! His favorite medium is fabric paint and tee shirts ;) Wouldn't be my first choice.
Some of his other works of art are on display behind him on the fridge.
His love for animals, specifically horses, is growing. This week we learned about pregnant mares and their babies. Ha! This wasn't planned, just happened during a nap-time story, from a more realistic than I expected, children's nonfiction library book. So glad I didn't give birth to a 100 lb baby!!

Hopefully preschool will help fulfill his need for painting ;) He met his teacher yesterday and has since asked a dozen times, how long till his first day. He won't have to wait long, it's tomorrow!

Switcharoo (Again)

Instead of moving, I prefer to re-arrange our rooms every once in awhile. Ok... 3 times in 8 years :)

If you want to go back to the beginning take a look here. This is what the room looked like until recently. With the basement finished, we moved this furniture into our larger room in the front of the house.

And now it's more like an study/playroom/craft room. We are in here ALL THE TIME.

Remember our date to Ikea? We attempted our first Ikea hack. They sell something very similar, but I wanted a longer table top, so that 5 of us could comfortably sit around it. I stained the butcher block top and EJ rigged it on with clamps also sold at Ikea. 

The computer desk was moved from another room. It's from Ikea too, and has moved all over our house ;)

We are making great use of it. The storage is awesome. Now I have all our school/art supplies in one place, plus small-toy storage in the baskets. Each child has 1 cubby to call their own. Which is more of a catch-all for school stuff, but at least there is a specific place for it and not in the kitchen or dining room!

 

We've had some visitors. Grandma yesterday and I babysat cousin Tripp last Sat.

New paper for my windows.

To coordinate with new art over the desk :) My obsession with scrapbook paper has gone digital. 

I get most of my stuff here. They have a lot of freebies too ;) I added the type in photoshop.

Fun with Paints

One of Mim's Christmas presents from us was a date with the boys and me (as a helper) to a paint your own pottery place. We went yesterday and they had so much fun. I will go back in a week to pick up the finished pieces. They can't wait!

At Home

Today’s prompt was “Creative”

I don't think she meant for me to take it literally, but I do enjoy being creative and my children know this. This is not an unusual sight for them to see. I am at work in the dining room (again). Surely adding 1 new silhouette requires a whole new wall arrangement ;)

Including Myself

I've read ideas like this before, will attempt to do it this week.

Today’s prompt is: MAKING MEMORIES 

(a picture that involves you enjoying an activity with your loved one)

Ryan loves anything crafty. Unfortunately, I have not been very crafty lately. Thankfully he is content with the basics: paper, glue, scissors and crayons.

 

See how Avery is clapping? We clap and cheer so much for her, now she is returning the favor.

Idea for handprint bats here

My 3 Sons

My heart almost burst when EJ added Ryan's silhouette to the wall.

I am one very blessed mama.

They are hung vertically in our dining room.

I made each one when they turned 2 yrs.

 

Here is a side by side for a better comparison.

Wishful Thinking

for the boy's bathroom

I made this WITHOUT scrapbook paper. It's actually all digital scrapbook art and photoshop skills (sorry). I am getting with the times, folks. It's a whole new world ;) ShabbyPrincess has some cute free stuff!

Picture Perfect

I'm in love. I am fairly certain I exceeded the recommended number of pattern's used in one grouping of art, but I don't care. I love it! We originally hung these frames in Dec 2009. Since then I have been creating different art for them for each holiday (to reuse each year). I almost have all the holidays or seasons covered.

Well, I have been meaning to have a non-holiday/season grouping for the in between times. I finally got around to doing so. We don't have much time before March Madness our birthday month, but I didn't want to leave Valentines up until then ;)
It also occurred to me that I haven't done any with scriptures or encouraging phrases. These make me smile every time I look at them.

Love One Another

The framed art below is not new. I rotate it out most holidays. I think I made them last year.

The banner says "Love One Another." Behind each letter/heart is one of the following:

1. hide notes for each other 
2. give food to food pantry
3. call mim and pop pop
4. send a letter to someone
5. pick up trash in neighborhood
6. leave flowers on someone's doorstep
7. say good morning to someone you don't know
8. call grandma and sir
9. say thank you to someone
10. make treats   
11. give treats to sunday school teacher
12. make card for teacher (school)
13. read to someone
14. hug someone

We will spend the next 14 days memorizing John 15:12-13 and doing one of these acts of love each day. They are not listed above in order. I looked at the calendar to see what would work best and also considered 5 days, His way as well. For example. today being Work Ethic Wednesday we are picking up trash (#5). Evidently Owen picked up a gum wrapper at the bus stop. My guess, he thinks he is done ;) 

My inspiration found here.

Thank you Jesus for loving us perfectly despite our imperfect "acts" of love. Glory to Him.

If you would like to print the artwork above for your home, please email me or comment this post and I can send you a pdf. I am not sure that this jpeg is large enough. It's size is 8.5 X 11. I'd love to share.

Chilleeee

I think today may have been our coldest day of winter so far. It might have reached 30 for a little while. Oh, how I really hate the cold. And it's only just beginning. 

Here's a fun idea if you live in a snowy state. The boys and I gave one of these "snow sticks" to the grandmas and aunt lissa for Christmas presents. I got the idea from an oriental trading post catalog. 

My mom LOVES to measure the snow with a yardstick and always calls us to ask how much we have. Now we have a special stick :)

.

We painted large paint sticks (EJ cut off a few inches-we don't get THAT much snow). 

I found snowman and penguin foam ornament kits. The boys glued the pieces together. 

We attached the foam ornament to the top of the stick.

I measured and marked the inches.

"Easy Peasy" (as owen would say)

Little Gift

My post is probably too late to help anyone this year, as most schools are done today. But just incase you want to store it away for next year. I know I am always looking for cute and inexpensive gift ideas. I used this idea last year too but didn't blog it.

The card says, "Mason is truly blessed to be in such good hands. Here's hoping they stay nice and warm this winter."

 

I have posted this one before.

Decor for 2011

It's safe to say that I have a tradition of making Christmas decorations (with paper) each year. (2010 and 2009) I am continuing to use the same huge scrapbook paper pad that I bought 2 years ago. I have 1 more project in mind for this year, but I am not sure it's going to happen.

Normally we have sailboat paintings on either side of the bay window. Each year we put our tree in the same spot. It just seems funny to have summer sailboats with our Christmas tree. Ridiculous, I know! So of course, I made my own art ;)

I selected verses of "O Come All Ye Faithful"

 and "We Three Kings"

 

With my handy dandy graphic design skills I got the words into these 2 shapes. Printed and cut them and then glued them on this cute herringbone paper and added some sparkle black ribbon I had lying around :)

It's the little things that keep me sane!

So Fun!

 

This is one of the necklace's EJ's mom helped me make over Thanksgiving.

In all her cleverness, she realized that our first initials spells AMORE= love in Italian (thanks Shannon- I only had 3 yrs of Spanish, ugh!)

Isn't that so fun? 

She was going to make me a necklace with them and give it to me as a gift, but she couldn't resist showing me the beads, which meant I got to decide what it would look like. 

I LOVE how it turned out. This blue color is my favorite color and I tend to wear it a lot. Perfect!

Thanksgiving- first destination

So much for which to be thankful.

We had such a great thanksgiving. 

Traveling and being away from home is hard with young children, but this year was really great!

We spent 2 days with EJ's mom.

 There is always so much to do and so little time.

 We learned how to make beaded bracelets and necklaces.

Mim generously shared her supply and patiently instructed us.

I walked away with 3 new necklaces!!!

Mim and I stayed up until midnight chatting and crafting :)

We each noted we were so thankful that we share a love for crafts.

 

The beloved (by my hubby) turkey bowl!

EJ is wearing the blue shorts and high white socks.

like fathers like sons

We had the privilege of hanging out with some friends during our visit. Even though the boys only see each other 1 time a year they still have a blast together. Their father played in the turkey bowl with EJ.

Traveling Jack-O Lanterns

Our pumpkins traveled with us this weekend. 

Primarily to provide an activity in a home that is not stocked for small children ;)

Also b/c last week was too busy to do the carving.

He was not too sure about the cold guts, but happily worked just like his brothers ;)

 Mason wasn't sure either

This is the first year Owen would even touch them

 

Mason's  pumpkin was suppose to be a skull and cross bones. 

Maybe if you squint your eyes ;)

I love this man!! I could have watched him work all day. 

He never seizes to amaze me with his creativity.

 

Owen carved Ryan's will Ryan napped.

Several gestures of love for his brother happened this weekend. Love that!

Ring of Thanks

This week at Wellspring we are reading from Genesis 3: 1-8, when Satan tempts Eve and Adam into eating from the tree that God specifically asked them not to. 

I have been pondering the ways in which Satan specifically tempted Eve to sin. 

He made her question God's word. 

He lead her to believe what God had given her wasn't enough. 

He convinced her that God was holding something back. 

Satan distracted her thoughts from all that she had to be thankful for and insisted she could do better.

Satan also tried to tempt Jesus. 

He was not successful. 

So, I pondered on that awhile. 

Satan tempted Jesus 3 times and 3 times he responded "It is written..."

The difference between Eve and Jesus (besides the obvious-he is God in the flesh) Jesus immediately goes to God's word and takes God at his word. He doesn't doubt what God has said and what God has planned for him.

When I start thinking of all that I don't have, I am easily tempted to think God's plan is not enough. But when I count my blessings, take the time to be thankful, it's far easier to fight the urge of temptation. Being in His word also makes this easier. We fool ourselves into thinking we know what is true. But there are a lot of lies out there. A whole lot.

I am thankful for these thoughts as we enter the month of November!

On that note:

 

It doesn't look like much yet, but by the end of November, it will be a wreath full of colorful leaves. On those leaves, will be a record of what our family is thankful for. Starting Nov. 1st at dinner, each night, we will take turns thinking of 1 thing or person and write them on foam leaf stickers. This is our 3rd year for this tradition. We love it. Then, we will trade this wreath for our Advent wreath. 

Both wreaths prepare our heart's for celebrating Christ's birth.

2010

2009

"...giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

Colossians 1:12-14