Just Have To Brag On My Husband

New Year's Resolutions come and go and many times meet with disappointment year after year.  This year has been different.  Seeing success makes the resolution that much easier to hold to and gives renewed confidence to the victor.  In 3 months Jeremy has lost 27 lbs.  January was a rough start.  But in the last 2 months he has broken through his previous plateau and is gaining momentum.  He even put on a pair of pants this past week that he hasn't worn since our first child was born!  Way to go, Babe!  You're looking good!

Fall Decorations

I made these last Fall.  The girls helped stuff them with the batting and loved helping me place them around the house.  We  have little groups of them all over the house.  If you're looking for some fall decor ideas, this is a great project.  I made several different sizes and used some remnant fabric I picked up at Joann's.  You know you want to make them.  Go ahead! Thanks for the How To, Martha.


http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/fabric-pumpkins

Doll Houses

Since I was a little girl I have oo'd and awed over the doll houses at Hobby Lobby.  I can't wait till the girls are about 7 yrs old.  I think that will be a great time to start working on a bigger project.  In the meantime, I found a tutorial on So She Sews and fell in love with this little DIY doll house from Michael's.  We have spent the week sanding, sealing, painting and picking out carpet and wallpaper from my scrapbooking supplies (finally something gets done with all that paper!)  Last night I painted the final coats of Mod Podge and am anxiously awaiting Zion coming home from school so she and Zoan can play with them!  I think they'll be perfect homes for Polly Pocket and her friends! 

The fridge was made from 2 blocks of wood glued together and the stove was just a block of wood.  The tables are wooden spools with wooden discs glued on top.  The beds were some little wooden rectangles. All were found at Michael's.  I'm going to be looking for some other shapes to add a dresser for each and maybe some other fun things.  *Note to self make sure you use a SHARP exacto knife when cutting out the windows or just paint the side walls so you don't have to deal with that.  You live and learn!

Bath Crayons

I wanted to do something different than the typical bag full of candy to give our guests as party favors.  A few weeks ago I found some small spill proof bubbles at Target and bought a ton.  I added some party sized play dough but still felt something was missing.  I decided to revisit some bath crayons I made for the girls a long time ago and had Zoan help me while Zion was at school.  She loved helping me and I think even more loved that she was making something special for her friends. 

Recipe:
1 Cup grated Ivory soap
¼ cup warm water
Food Coloring

Tips:
*Grate the soap very fine, if it's too chunky it doesn't dissolve well in the water and doesn't retain the color of the food coloring
*Use lots of food coloring
*You can use cookie molds if you like, but we just rolled them into little balls. 

We let the crayons air dry for a day then put them in little plastic bags and tied them off with a twist tie.  The girls have been playing with theirs at every bath time.  Good Clean Fun!!!

Solution for too much kids art!

My kids love to color pictures and create all kinds of art. The problem is I simply do not have enough room on the front of my fridge for it all!  If you're like me, you love everything your kids make and have a hard time tossing those precious creations.  But at the same time, you want to keep the clutter to a minimum. I created this "art line".  We fill it up and when there is no more room, we remove a few.  I let the girls choose ones they want to keep in a memory folder and they also choose ones to toss.

All you need is Scotch command adhesive hooks that are easily removable from your wall, some clothes pins, and some type of durable string.  I used some rustic looking hemp yarn.

Decide where you want to place the art.  Mine is upstairs in the hallway near the girls' rooms. Place the hooks on the wall at a reasonable distance following the package instructions.  Then tie a slip knot in each end of the yarn.  Slip the knots over the hooks and start displaying your kids' art!  For a bonus, you can use some pom poms to decorate the clothes pins and it's even more decorative!

I think it's time to bring out the crayons and let the girls put up some new art!

Camp Mommy

This past week my husband was out of town taking the kids from our church youth group to camp.  My girls LOVE their daddy, and especially love being tucked in bed by him each night.  Occasionally, he gets home late and the bed time routine is done solo by me, but there are usually a few tears shed as the girls miss their daddy.  So you can understand my concern at going solo for 4 nights straight!  The days usually aren't a big deal since I'm a stay-at-home mom and that's something they are already used to.  I decided to get creative.  On the spur of the moment after telling Zion that Daddy would be gone for a few days and seeing her eyes already begin to well up with tears I created "Camp Mommy".  I had no idea what that would mean, but it worked!  She thought this sounded fun and seemed okay at the thought of being without her favorite man for a few days.

I decided to let our normal routine kind of slack and added a few fun surprises.  We camped out in the living room the first evening and watched a couple of movies and stayed up much later than normal.  Several good friends made guest appearances and made the girls feel special by just spending time with them and even bringing a few surprises for the girls.  We did crafts, colored, played, went to a splash park and basically did everything I could to keep our minds occupied and off of the fact that Daddy was out of town.

I think all of us had a lot of fun.  The girls were very well behaved and still speak with excitement about "Camp Mommy".

Here's one of the crafts that was a big hit with the girls:

We decorated a couple of Daddy's old undershirts with miscellaneous items from my craft drawer and some fun things my friend Veronica brought over.  We used markers, Aleene's Tacky Glue, buttons, sequins, lace, ribbon, and anything else we could get our hands on.  After the glue dried, Veronica, Chazaq & I were the audience for a wonderful fashion show.  Zion & Zoan were so proud to show off their creations.  And when Daddy came home, he was quite impressed with the transformation of his old shirts!  I think the next time the girls want new dress up clothes, this will be on the agenda for sure!  Plus it kept them entertained for hours!  Anything that can do that is a hit in my book!

Homemade Baby Food

Just last week I was blessed to spend time with a friend making baby food for her little one.  I have made all the baby food for my older 2 children and look forward to doing it for Chazaq when he's ready.  If you're interested, here's the simple steps!  It's so easy and so cost effective!  Plus you know exactly what ingredients are going into what your baby eats!

All you need are some ice cube trays, some zip loc freezer bags, a marker and whatever fruits and veggies you want to prepare for your little one.

I like to start with veggies.   Some of my favorites are winter squashes like butternut, acorn & spaghetti, sweet potatoes, carrots, & beets (although, beware-it causes purple poop!). Most fruits you can simply puree without cooking if they are ripe enough.  Ones I like to use are pears, peaches, plums, nectarines and apricots. 

For the winter squash I cut them in half, scoop out the seeds, place them in a 9 x 13 pyrex baking dish with and bake at 400 degrees for 1hour to an hour & 15 min.  I use the time it's baking to prep carrots, beets, or spinach and to puree the fruit.  You can steam or boil them.  Use as little water as possible and reserve it for thinning the purees.  Once you have the veggies cooked, puree them and pour them into your ice cube trays and cover with plastic wrap.  I leave mine to freeze overnight then pop them out into the freezer bags labeled with the date and type of food. 

To thaw, just place a couple of cubes in a bowl in the fridge to thaw.  My pediatrician recommended trying the same food for a few days before introducing a new one.  Once your baby has had a good assortment, you can start to mix and match to disguise foods he doesn't like or to just make it a little more interesting.

I like to keep a stash of purees in the freezer even without a baby in the house.  The winter squashes and carrot purees are great to add into our Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and the girls don't know they are eating veggies while still getting one of their favorite meals.  And the fruit can be added to yogurt and you have a nice smoothie!

I know I've enjoyed making food for my little ones.  Hopefully these tips will give you a little inspiration to try it out for yourself!  Have fun!