Tuesday, November 18, 2014

A Gift a Day: Grocery Bag Holder and Fleece No Sew Hat

The grocery bag holder evolved out of my need to hold grocery bags in a convenient way that didn't take up a lot of wall space. I found a tutorial for making one out of a kitchen towel, using a few pieces of elastic to scrunch the top and bottom and attaching a ribbon for hanging. It turned out so well I am making a lot more for gifts! A kitchen towel is only $1.

The fleece hat I made to match the scarf I made a while ago for my youngest. I may have made the hat a bit on the small side, so I hope it fits. It was very simple and quick- no sewing involved. I used fabric scraps for the scarf and hat so these projects were free.





Monday, November 10, 2014

A gift a day: fleece scarf and stuffed animal sleeping bags

Last night I whipped up some stuffed animal sleeping bags. I made two and I used fleece and flannel so the bags would be soft and cozy. Lucky animals! However the fleece ended up being a bit too thick so next time I won't use it. I did the second one a bit differently as the original tutorial called for a lot of needless steps.

The fleece scarf was the exact amount I had leftover! All I did was cut the fringe. Now that's what I call a quick project!



Saturday, November 8, 2014

A gift a day- Headbands

My girls love to wear all sorts of frilly and girly stuff in their hair. I saw this tutorial for these east headbands made out of ribbon and hair ties and thought it was right up our alley.

Each one took just a few minutes to make, using things I already had on hand. I made the flowers from felt pieces hot glued together and then got glued them onto the headbands. I may make a few more if I can find some fun discounted ribbon!

Friday, November 7, 2014

A gift a Day

I love sharing my sewing and craft projects, and I'll have a lot of them coming up since our Christmas this year is going to be mostly homemade gifts. I'm aiming for one gift or part of a gift every day. Here is what I have done so far:

Barbie clothes from felt. This is one outfit out of 6 I hope to make for the girls' barbies. They were pretty simple to make but I may experiment with different patterns. The key is making them super easy to take off and put on, otherwise the girls won't bother with playing with them.

My draft stopper was an easy project,, and I made a couple for our home. I plan on making several more for gifts. I filled mine with kitty litter in newspaper bags. The dimensions for a 36" door are 6" by 40". Home decor or duck fabric works best, but you can use whatever.



Monday, August 18, 2014

Dallas 4 yr Update

I noticed I never put an update on how Dallas is doing, so here we go!

At her latest doctor visit in May, she was 33.4lbs and 3 ft 5inches tall. She is still in the 90th percentile for height and in the 25th percentile for weight, just where she was when she was born! She wears size 2T-3T in shorts, size 4T-5T in adjustable waist long pants and size 5T shirts for length.

At four years old, she is very well potty trained (she trained in January of this past year at 3.5). She takes herself to the potty with no problems and has never had an accident. She night-time trained very quickly, just a few weeks after she daytime trained. She sleeps around 11 hours at night with no nap.

She gets herself dressed unassisted every morning now and can pick out coordinating clothing very well. It is rare that I have to tell her to choose a different outfit to wear! She loves to wear clothing sets and makes different shoe choices often!

Her speech continues to improve, she now communicates her feelings without too much of an issue. Her vocabulary remains limited, however, so we are working on that with lots of books and reading time!

Dallas loves imaginative play - she can keep herself occupied for hours alone, playing with Minnie Mouse sets, blocks, Little People and other small toys. Sometimes this is a problem for her little sister, who always wants to play with her! Still working on getting her to share better with Dahlia too.

For her 4th birthday, she was gifted her first bicycle with training wheels from us, and although the first couple of times riding it were rough as she tried to figure it out, she has really gotten the hang of it and now rides with ease around the block!

She loves our cats, and enjoys picking them up and carrying them from one room to the other. Thankfully Luna and Pickles don't get too upset by this. She will say her favorite pet is Luna, although she really loves Pickles too. She steers clear of Mrs. Weasley and her bad temper!

Dallas can now write her own name and knows most of her letters as well as numbers 1-20. She still has difficulty writing the "s" in her name, but we are working on it. She enjoys painting, coloring, cutting and pasting, and doing any sort of craft. She loves to sing songs together.

High energy, outgoing and adventurous, Dallas rarely complains when we are doing something new together. She can hike for hours by herself and enjoys time in the forest exploring. Her favorite family activity is camping and she is becoming a real water bug!

Favorite foods include anything that is sweet, tomatoes, greek yogurt with maple syrup, chili and spaghetti and Popsicles (does that count as food?). She is good about eating what we give her and is not picky, liking to try new things. She comes to the table asking us "What are we eating today?" and we repsond by saying things like, "Tonight we are having burgers and baked beans," to which she replies, "Oh, Mmmmm Baked Beans, I like baked beans!"
























Goals for the Day and Week

Today I need to accomplish the following items:

Housework

Complete 3 loads of laundry from start to finish.

Fold and put away the laundry.

Vacuum the rug in bedrooms and living room.


Kitchen and Cooking

Wash and freeze fresh tomatoes.

Take second tomato bag to put in the downstairs freezer.

Make a menu plan and shopping list for the upcoming week. Include soups and salads.


Shopping

Grocery shop with Brittney at Aldi if time allows.

Make a list for CVS, Target and Walgreens.

Buy a cup for Dallas' preschool.

Decide on what books to order online for upcoming year.


Reading

Read 1 chapter of the Read Aloud Handbook.

Read 5 pages of a real estate book.

Read 30 minutes to the girls.


I will come back later and post my weekly goals!


Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Dahlias 2.5 yr Update

Able to ride tricycle really well now

Starting to protest naps but still needs one.

Talking very well, mostly clear. Says things like "no mommy I want to do it myself!" "I'm hungry!" "Uh huh" "I want to jump in the pool!" "Daddy changed me." On and on lol

Pees on the potty if I take her on a regular basis. Still in the beginning stages of potty training though. Has pooped on potty 1 time.

Plays well with Dallas, follows her and does everything with her, they are best friends.

Favorite foods are crackers, spaghetti, Mac and cheese, cereal and cookies! Loves popcorn and Popsicles. And suckers. Hates veggies and fruits except bananas! Have to make her take 3 bites though or sneak them in. Picky eater.

Favorite toys are her green lovey (she still sleeps with it), Minnie Mouse and other stuffed animals, her tricycle, jewelry and little people.

Very demanding and insistent at this she. She yells what she wants and gets angry easily, very intense tantrums!!

Is usually covered in bruises or scrapes because she is always on the go go go or climbing and falling!

Last antibiotic was October 2013 for upper respiratory infection that we all had. Had a bad winter with lots of colds including bronchitis. Managed to avoid more antibiotics though.

She takes a multivitamin with iron, occasional B12 and cod liver oil. Juice daily and sometimes gets emergen C drink with 1/2 gram vitamin C.

Loves preschool Sunday school class and goes with Dallas.

26lbs, 30 inches tall at 2 yrs 5 months. Still sucks thumb a lot. Takes a nap in mommys bed!















Saturday, January 18, 2014

Fall family photo shoot

Recently we went to a local park for some updated family photos. They turned out wonderful! The fall colors and the backdrop of the river was beyond beautiful. I'm having trouble picking which ones to frame! Enjoy!











Friday, January 3, 2014

2 Years of Breastfeeding!

Snowflake turned 2 this week, and she also officially weaned a few weeks ago. My original goal with her was 18 months and I was able to make it to just about 2 years! Although the last few months were short feedings in the evenings only, we still enjoyed the time together and she was able to get some more of that wonderful milk, concentrated and sweet I'm sure! I feel very blessed to have breastfed her so successfully and to have met a milestone I know most never see. It was truly not something that came easy for me, as I have trouble making a lot of milk. My body in fact does not respond well to a pump (I can barely get an ounce even when feeding a newborn), and because of that I never gave Dahlia a bottle. She has never had a sip of formula either. This required a lot of commitment on my part- I never left her for more than 4 hours at a time, and I did nightly feedings for over a year. I nursed on demand to keep up a decent supply, so most days I nursed every 2-3 hrs in the first year. I was happy to do it though, I knew it was good for her and good for me. Breastfeeding relaxed me immensely, something that I needed a lot of having children just 18 months apart! I am so proud to have extended breastfeeding, and I just want to encourage any other mothers out there that it can be done and be a beautiful thing.







Money Saving Tip: Buy Outerwear One Size Up!

Here's a quick money saving tip! Instead of buying the current size for your child in a winter jacket or snow gear, buy the next size up. This way, not only will they fit for the current season, but they will be able to wear them in the beginning of next season as well! By the time they start to grow out of it, you can pace yourself looking for clearance sales since you'll know in advance they need a new one while the current one still fits. We did this with winter coats for our girls last year and it has worked out perfectly. Same with snow pants. As a bonus, we were prepared with snow gear that still fit once the early October storm came through this year. And we had time to shop for sales and get the best deal on new coats. We bought Peanut's new ski-jacket (originally $40) for just $16. Today we scored Snowflake a similar jacket for $17 (originally $33). Both of their new jackets will fit until mid winter next year since we bought a size up too! I sometimes do this one size up thing with clothes if I know it will work ok while they grow into it. Think sweaters, sweatshirts, leggings and tights. I don't recommend doing this with shoes though haha!