Thursday, January 31, 2013

January's Favorite Things

Em's completely rational fear of Chuck E. Cheese.

January's Ipsy bag.

My boy's birthday dinner at his favorite place,

and my celebratory I've-Been-A-Momma-For-Six-Years-Now drink.

Nightly slumber parties.

Watching my baby brother's freshman basketball games (that's him shooting. he scored. he's awesome.),

and my girl's desire to cheer for Uncle Wooky, since there were no freshman cheerleaders.

Birthday parties for new friends,

and birthday parties for old friends.

Narls' spot-on observations.

Evening yoga classes.

Kiddos having fun at the circus (which is more than I can say for Clay and myself).

Awesome notes home from awesome kindergarten teachers.

Early mornings.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Valentine DIY: Wine Cork Heart

Need a reason to drink more wine? Um, no. I know, you don't. I don't either. Great day? This calls for wine (happy face). Bad day? This, too, calls for wine (sad face). But how about making a super easy Valentine craft? This definitely calls for wine, and the wine cork.


Clay and I have been saving our corks for years. We were talking last night, and we guesstimate that we probably drink about a bottle of wine a week, so we literally have hundreds of corks. Some of these have got to be from our early days, making them at least ten years old. I wish I would have thought to write the date on them as we added each one to our collection; I must remember to do that from now on.


This is like the easiest craft ever. And it's fairly quick. I whipped it up last night while Clay took the kids to karate, and I was finished by the time they got home so it's definitely do-able in an hour.


You'll need something sturdy to glue your corks onto (I used cardboard from a pizza box), lots and lots of corks (I think I ended up using about 75), hot glue, and ribbon. Add some wine to make it fun. Maybe some paint, too.  When I was planning this in my head, I thought I'd paint the cork tops a festive red to pink ombre, but honestly? I liked the natural result better. We drink a lot of red wine though, so many of our corks were stained deep purple to light pink already.



Cut out your heart,


then start gluing on your corks.



When doing the outline of the heart, keep the wine label on the outside; it looks great and it's fun to reminisce about all those delicious wines. Some of the labels may be upside down because you'll want to keep the destroyed part of the cork (where the corkscrew entered) from showing on your finished project. Assure any arising OCD that this is ok.


Ohhh, Estancia. A big favorite in our house.


Try to glue in between the corks as you go; that will sturdy up your finished project.


Hot glue on a big ribbon, let the glue dry for a few minutes, then hang.


Maybe pour another glass of wine as you admire your finished project.


Hell, open another bottle.


Just remember to save the cork.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Sewing Love

I've been sewing a bit more lately. 

A few more of my friends have had babies so I made them new baby sets (wipe containers, bibs, burp cloths, and changing mats). 

Also, Em is still very much in her only-wear-dresses stage, so I've made her some more upcycled dresses








Monday, January 14, 2013

Six Amazing Years

My baby boy turned six years old on Saturday. 
Six. 
Six amazing years have flown by at lightning speed. 


Clay and I surprised him by taking cupcakes to his classroom Friday afternoon. His smile was priceless.


And then Saturday morning was his party, which I'm pretty sure came straight out of his six year old dreams with a Star Wars birthday cake,



rollerskating, including his first coupleskate with the lovely Rilee K ;)

 

pizza and cake with his besties,

 


a very exciting and prosperous trip into the *~money machine~*,


awesome prezzies,

 

LASER TAG,

 

and arcade games.

 

We couldn't of had a better day to celebrate our boy. In fact, my husband summed it up perfectly on his facebook page.


Happy birthday again, Sweet Narls. 
I cannot thank you enough for making our lives as wonderful and hilarious as only you can.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Classroom Christmas Parties

Our first Kindergarten Holiday party was held back in early December. 

 

Parents were asked to volunteer our time to help the kiddos each make three Christmas ornaments for their classroom Christmas tree.


We also got to check out the decorations they've been busy making, such as Narls' stocking detailing his Christmas wishlist.  He wants a grappler, a black box, a toy dog that comes alive, and a disc.  Hmm.  A curious list, especially since two of those items aren't even real things.

Em's preschool Christmas party was held around Christmas. They sang Christmas songs, had a holiday lunch, and Santa came with presents. 




    Narls' kindergarten Christmas party was supposed to be the same day, but his elementary school closed two days early due to safety concerns. A large number of bomb threats were being called into various school districts and school officials were acting proactively.

    His party was thankfully rescheduled to last Friday. After Christmas of course, but everyone was still very much in the spirit. The kids decorated Christmas cookies, made a gingerbread man, and played Christmas Bingo.  Narls gave his teacher the Christmas mug he made her and he got a really funny book from her.


    I gotta share the Bingo boards I volunteered to make for the party, which were a big hit.  I'm pretty proud of them. Email me if you'd like the pdf files to print your own :)


    Good times were had by all and I feel so fortunate that Clay and I have jobs that allow us the flexibility of attending our children's parties and events.