What was your guess?

Do you remember guessing what was in those boxes ? BUNKBEDS!!

I still have some decorating "things" I would like to add and change, but the boys love them! They have claimed the shelves that are also their head boards for their special things, which I think is wonderful. K-man changes his often and Little Bit is very clear that those things on his shelf are "mine". On a side note: My adorable husband did a GREAT job putting them together!

LOVE is in Our Home

Welcome to our Home built on and full of LOVE...








I am one who has to use the same wreath over and over again...
This wreath has been used different ways for different holidays. Nothing on it is permanent except the red berries. I thought there was no better way to celebrate the month of love then to share the love written to us in the Bible.


I love making pillows for my front porch rocking chairs. There is nothing better then a cozy porch...can you feel the LOVE?I am all about vintage Valentines cards.
Here is a few pictures of the LOVE in my home.
God is LOVE.

Aren't these two guys too cute?
Do you want to make your own LOVE pixies look
here .

I wanted as much LOVE as our home could handle so I made about 20 of these stuffed hearts to plant around the house.

Does you home have some Love?

Ch*na Fun!

Just in case it slipped your mind today is the Ch*nese New Year!

I'm always looking for a reason to celebrate and fun ways to teach the boys about this amazing world around us. With that said, today we are learning a bit about Ch*na. We have made fun dragon masks...

I have made a special fortune cookie out of paper and written a special fortune for everybody to read tonight at supper. I just love these take-out boxes!

The table has been set in red with things I already had and a little added punch with the chop sticks and take out boxes.


We made lanterns and hungthem on the chandler.
The boys enjoyed this activity
(anything they can use their scissors with is a plus for them)...very simple!

The K-man and Little Bit both added some special touches to the table...

Grrrr!

AND for the real fun...supper tonight on our festive table!
It is not fancy, but oh..so easy!
More take-out boxes seal the deal for tonight~

I have also printed some fun facts about Ch*na we will talk about tonight along with a couple of games (example: guess what animal month you were born on by characteristics of the animal). I have borrowed a ball globe (none breakable) for the boys to get an idea of where Ch*na is in relation to us.



I love learning stuff with the boys and watching their eyes get big with excitement as light bulbs go off in their heads! It doesn't take anything to make a big impression. An $11 meal with $5 spent on decor for the table (an using things you already have) you can make a night a learning adventure!


It's still early in the day so check out this site and have some simple fun tonight~

Pumpkin Carving Party 2008

We decided to have a pumpkin carving party this year. We carve pumpkins every year and decided we wanted to share the fun with friends! Oh- meet the new additions to our porch! I picked out the tall one-such personality, don't you think?

Here is a close up of the K-Man doing all he could NOT to touch the "yucky stuff"!

Throughout the whole carving process Little Bit kept saying,"EWWWewwwEWWW"!

Here is a quick glance at some of the fun that went on Friday night!


Here are some ideas from our pumpkin party:

I decided to read The Pumpkin Patch Parable at the beginning of the party. I love this book and recommend you read it to your children during this time of year!

I made these little jack-o-lantern guys out of marsh mellows, craft sticks and flavored chocolate!

I thought these party favors turned out too cute!

I stuck the "guys" in a black pot with some moss to make them easier to display.

I also typed out a summary of the parable with various scriptures for the families to take home.

I also made these jack-o-lantern picks. I used store bought stickers, black card stock and toothpicks.

The picks were stuck in these pumpkin shaped sandwiches for the kids. Easy and fun!

Here is my table with a simple menu of Pumpkin...Pumpkin and more Pumpkin!

(We had other hearty foods that remained in the kitchen-not to mess up the pretty table-Ha!)

The party was a blast and I look forward to making it an annual event!

Frog Birthday Party

I know many of you love giving birthday parties for your children. I'm totally crazy about birthday parties too! I wanted to share some tips from the birthday party I just gave for my 2 year old boy.

With my parties I always start with a broad theme and then get creative. While I think pre-packaged parties can be the way to go...I tend to want to search around and make my own things or create activities just to make it more one of a kind (and part of the fun for me is finding things cheap!) .

Little Bit is CRAZY about frogs (Hoppys)... there is my theme!

Then I found this frog fabric for $2 a yard at the old Wally World...

That was all I needed to get my brain spinning AND there were also my colors!

Here is the invitation I made with the computer (I didn't scan it very good). The computer and I have gotten very close over the last year or so! These are post cards...cheap to make and cheap to mail!
I also made the favor tags using the computer. I found the favors here . I also got the little frogs for the "frog hunt" there.

I took that cute and cheap "hoppy" fabric and made this banner for the party. The other colors were only $1 a yard!!! I got the idea from Kelly . It was fun to make! I see more in my future!

This cake was a winner in my book! Little Bit LOVED it and it was so easy (and quick) to make!

2 boxed cake mixes

(follow directions for an 8 inch cake AND 24 cup cakes)

I used food coloring for the cake and cupcakes to match the theme colors

(a totally of two tubs of icing)

1 fruit roll-up for tongue

1 peel a part twizzler to mouth

2 oreos for eyes

Ta Da!

(Oh- I have to say the flies were tricky to find...but thanks to the K-man's keen eyes we found them at Good Will-24 for a dollar!!!)

Here is another look. I also made table cloths with the fabric for the indoor and outdoor tables.

I felt we had plenty of frogs with the balloons and fabric that I just got cheap-o colored plates, napkins and such...that matched the fabric.

Along with hunting for 72 little frogs outside we also played Pin the "Fly on the Frog's Tongue!"

I free-handed the frog using two pieces of poster board(it has been saved to be used in my mom's classroom). The flies were on my clip art...printed and cut out! The kids loved this game- Hee Hee, the memories!

Then came my special touches just for Little Bit. I made his "Hoppy" shirt for his special day. You can find a tutorial here .

I also made him some PJs using the cheap fabric!

Finally, I recently mailed these Thank You post cards with a picture from the party. I added a personally note below the typed "thank you". I think the more I get to be creative the more I have with these special days! For more party ideas check out here .

I had a fun "Hoppy" Birthday for my special boy...

You can too!

The Crafter in Me!

I don't know what it is about the fall like weather and the whole fall season, but I get pumped up about crafts and decorating! The latest has been these Halloween pillow cases and Pjs I made for the boys.
Here is a closer look at the flying bats- how fun! I loved the material. The K-man did great picking them out!
The boys couldn't wait to wear them and I couldn't wait to see them in them! Too Cute!
Here is my decorating -Ha! HANDS!

I love this idea and it really helped fill in an odd size spare wall!

I will always treasure the small hands on my wall!

What have you been crafting?

Any Simple decorating ideas?

First Day of Pre-K

The Teacher 's Survival Kit was made...

(Thanks Tip Junkie for the idea.)

The "A little bit about me" was typed...

(It gives the teacher a little more info such as: K-Man take a while to warm up...he love Dinos...

I also made one for Little Bit's new MDO teacher! )

* I had a picture of it, but it gave too many readable details-sorry!*

The clothes set out...
(The new blue tennis shoes were the highlight of the new stuff for school. K-man is convinced they make him run faster!!)

The backpack was hung...

(Notice the theme of blue?)

The "First Day of School" cupcakes were made...

The Good Luck letter from Daddy written...
(We have started a tradition- the parent who does not take the boys to school leaves a note. It started because I'm often gone before the boys get up on the days I work and my adorable husband has a job that he has to travel with.)
All for this special day...Being in the Pre-K class!!!
Here is a SPT taken before K-Man left for school!

The day went great EXCEPT he didn't use the bathroom all day! I found this out while he squalledand danced all the way home (about 2 minuets) from school! No worries- we had a long talk about not being scared to go to the potty! Poor Guy!

Have a GREAT Pre-K year!