Snapshots { boys and birthdays }

(goose family...I love the babies, but was even more excited to see that they stick together as a family!)

We spent the weekend celebrating yet another family birthday, the 4th in the past two months (and that's only my side of the family). I love when we have birthdays in my family because that just gives us another excuse to get together, eat, laugh, and play. My favorite part is watching Ande and Owen playing with their cousins. They have been best friends from the start and as they get older it just gets better. 

We enjoyed our weekend, did you?

Friday Finds {triangle banner}

Here's a fun banner tutorial to start off your weekend, from Dear Lizzy.



This caught my eye mostly because of the cute typewriter set up she used for the tutorial's main photograph. I also love the color combination of the orange, white and turquoise! This would be a great way to dress up your mantel for summer!

Alright, now go and have yourself a happy weekend! This morning we splashed around in our blow up pool on the driveway and tomorrow, we plan to spend a lot of time outdoors riding bikes and playing in sandboxes (ahem...I mean the "construction site"). I love weekends!

a vintage prom

I know I am like 10 years past prom age, but I secretly wish I could go again. I think it would be way more fun as the girl I am today than it was when I was a dorky, shy,16 year old (ok, technically I'm just a more mature dorky and shy person now, but whatevs). I keep seeing beautiful dresses in prom pictures from my cousins, in-laws, and old dance students and I can't help but to browse around the internet looking for a dress that I would wear if I could go back in time. I definitely wouldn't choose either of the dresses I wore way back when. Yikes.

I think I would choose something with a little vintage flair. It would be tea length, with a full skirt, and a definite waist line and probably a belt.

It would either have lots of lace...

(photo)

lots of tulle...

(photo)

maybe some tiered, ruffled layers or peplum...

(photo)

or perhaps just a really cute pattern?...

(photo)

So, what would your dream prom {or fancy occasion} dress look like?

Snapshots {fading flowers}

(Owen and I enjoying the last of the pink dogwood blooms)

How come things that are good, and beautiful, and fun, never seem to last for very long?

Like spring flowers, for example. 

Some flowers only bloom for a week before the green leaves start to sprout. 

Or just spring, in general, I think I would like it to stick around all year long. 

Or what about...

...peppermint milkshakes from Chick-fil-A

...summer tans

...a can of Diet Dr. Pepper cherry (I wish it was bottom-less!)

...finger nail polish

...gum flavor

...episodes of Once Upon a Time

...sleep

...weekends

I could go on, but you see what I mean? We had a nice weekend, but it definitely went by too fast. Here we are at Monday again. Let's hope the week fades quickly too so we can be back to the weekend again!

Between him and me

While reading his Busy Town book, the page asks what the cat family should name their new baby. Ande's response...

"They should name it PBSKids.org."

While running errands in the car, Ande just says everything that comes to his mind, no matter how random it might be...

"Look at those big boys! They go to high school, they have big back packs, like my little backpack. That's why they have to be reverent and yausted (exhausted). Just like a yaust pipe (exhaust pipe). The tractor needs yaust pipes to push the smoke out. Fire trucks are my favorite."

diy pinwheel

Another thing I wanted to do for Ande's bicycle birthday party, was make some paper pinwheels as a fun activity and inexpensive party favor. We didn't end up making them because I didn't get enough  materials together on time, so I made some with my Sunday School class on Sunday instead. They loved watching me put them together, blowing, and spinning them around as fast as they could. These pinwheels could also be used as a fun decoration for your home! I'm thinking red, white, and blue would be perfect in a vase for July 4th!

Here are some simple instructions so you can make some of your own!

Materials:

colorful paper, cut in circle

push pin

awl

pencil

scissors

1. Fold the paper in half, open it up, and fold it in half again the other way to make an x with the creases.

2. Cut on each crease about 2/3 of the way towards the center.

3. There should now be 4 sections. Fold the left corner from each section into the center, overlapping each other.

4. Poke the awl through the center, making sure it goes through all 4 corners.

5. Replace the awl with the push pin (the awl creates a hole which is larger than the push pin, this is essential for making the pinwheel spin!).

6. Stick the push pin into the eraser on the pencil.

7. Blow into the pockets formed by the twisting corners and watch your pinwheel spin!

Play, decorate, enjoy!

Snapshots { birthday boy! }

I've officially been a mother for 3 years. I actually feel like it has been a lot longer than that! The years just go by so fast these days. I guess that just goes right along with the grey hair and wrinkles that I'm getting!

We decided to have a low key, inexpensive birthday get together for Ande this year. We just had family and his closest buddies over to eat waffles (his favorite), and ride bikes around the driveway.

Here are a few things we did to save some extra cash...

Thanks to Curt's sweet computer graphic skills, we designed our own invitations, and then emailed them to friends and family instead of printing them off.

We also saved a little by making our own decorations. I made a fun rag garland using fabric scraps that I already had on hand, and a "happy birthday Ande" banner with colored paper and yarn. For refreshments, we had a homemade waffle bar with all kinds of toppings. Ande especially loved the chocolate chips, sprinkles, and whipped cream!

We used mostly paper products that we already had on hand. The only dishes I bought were these adorable mini caserole dishes from the $1 store. I got yellow, blue, and red and I love them! We cleared the driveway and used sidewalk chalk to draw a road and parking lot for the kids to ride their bikes, trikes, scooters, and cozy coupes around.

So, we did a lot of eating,

visiting,

and present opening.

There was an impromptu story time,

and of course, a lot of riding and driving!

It's probably a good thing that we kept it as simple as we did, since Ande was pretty crazy and emotional the whole time. But, all in all, things turned out good, and I think he enjoyed it. 

Now, at 3 years old, Ande is growing tall and finally starting to lose his pot belly. He is still halfway potty trained, but loving the independence of it (mostly enjoying it by peeing in the yard while outside playing). He still loves cars and trucks more than anything, but is starting to show some interest in super heroes who "save the people!" He is also beginning to play "pretend" a little bit more, having really interesting conversations between the different cars. He loves his little brother and is constantly hugging, kissing, and tackling him. He loves teaching Owen everything he knows (good or bad thing? still not sure), and he shows genuine joy and pride in all of Owen's accomplishments. Ande is my little reader, with an intense need to know how everything works and why. He loves to sit on the top of the car and listen as Curtis describes the engine and how it works. Ande just loves to know things, and I just love to know him. He is our sweet boy and we love him so much! 

Happy Birthday Dude!

Friday Finds { kitchen table color }

Our dining room table and chairs were so bland.
I just stare at them so often (along with other things in our house), that I get this itch to change things up.
I get this itch pretty often. I guess you could say, I'm itchy.

I usually wait around to start projects for a Saturday when Curtis will be home and can help me out.
When I do that, though, the projects never get done. It either rains or we get busy.
So this week, I was very proud of myself.
I went out and bought paint, lugged that daggum heavy table outside, and painted it all by myself.
It was probably the best spray paint job I have ever done (which isn't saying much), but there were a lot less drips this time!
Then, the paint dried, and I realized the blue was a lot brighter than I had anticipated.
Then, I painted the top white to tone it down a little.
I thought I liked it, until Curtis just told me it looked "cartoon-ish" and like it belonged on Blues Clues.
Yikes.

This is it, and keep in mind the color is a little skewed from being an Instagram photo...

So, now I'm in a quandary.

What to do with this table?

We aren't really in the market for buying anything new...

I kind of like the color, but Curtis is causing me to wonder.

 And then there's the question of what to paint the chairs...all white? all blue? a combination of both?

I decided to look up a bunch of pictures online of colorful kitchen tables just to show Curtis that it's not just me, everyone is doing it! Right?

Maybe not the blue mine turned out to be (I was going for a much more toned down cornflower blue, but all well), and I found a lot of aqua, red, yellow, and even orange.

(photo)

(photo)

(photo)

(photo)

So, that is what I've found this week.

Color.

Love it? Hate it?

What are your thoughts?

blankie bribery

(obviously not my kid...pic from aden + anais)

Like I mentioned the other day...life with an almost 3 year old has been a little rough and tough lately. There have been a lot of tantrums, a lot of time outs, and a lot of me pulling my hair out. I have been at such a loss. How do I keep this wild child under control? We have tried time outs, we have tried positive reinforcements...they don't seem to work. The only way I can get him to do something that he doesn't want to do is bribe him (aka threaten). It works great when his best buddy is coming over..."So and so's not coming over until you do such and such!" But if his best buddy isn't coming over, I have to bribe (ahem...threaten) him with his other best buddy...

his blankie.

He can't imagine life without that thing, and all I have to say is, "Shall I go put blankie in the goodwill bag right now?" and he is finally submissive.

It works like a charm. I finally figured out how to calm the tantrums...but why do I still feel so terrible? Well, I've done a lot of praying for patience lately and I think I figured a couple things out.

1. The tantrums all started around the time we started potty training. He was trained going #1 in 3 days, but #2 has been a little more difficult for him. He'll do his duty in the potty about half the time. He can even go by himself, but only on his own terms. At first, I was always positive, but knowing that he could go in the potty, yet still going in his pants half the time got really frustrating really fast. I realized that I haven't been very positive about it lately. It's been more like, "Are you serious? Didn't we just talk about where the poop goes?" Now that I look back at the way I've been talking to him about it, I just feel awful. No wonder he has been acting up. I think this guy just wants a little less criticism, and a little more love.

2. We need some family rules. We can't just threaten to take away blankie for every infraction. First of all, I don't really want to take blankie to the GW. I think I would be just as heart broken as Ande. Second of all, the punishment needs to fit the crime. He needs to be aware of the consequences of certain actions, and why those are the consequences. We need to have, say 5 or so, family rules set in stone. Rules that we talk about with him, explain to him, and make sure he understands. This way, when he breaks a rule, there will be no question what the consequence is, and hopefully he'll understand why he has that consequence. Then maybe he would break the rule less often!

I hope nobody takes offense to any of this, thinking I am trying to be a "know-it-all" about parenting. I am certainly not that. I'm really just talking out loud here, trying to make sense of things for myself. And, what I really hope to take away from it is some advice from any of you! Do you have any good suggestions for taking care of tantrums? Do you have a set of family rules in place? What are they? I'd love to know.

And I also just realized, after reading over this, that you now must think my child is a monster! This is not so...things have been more difficult at times lately, but he is also funny, smart, and sweet. He is tender and is one of the 3 loves of my life! As much as he makes me crazy, he also makes me ridiculously happy!

homemade pizza...a cooking success!

I'm not a great cook, and have always hated doing it.

Even when I try following a recipe, it hardly ever turns out very good.

I told you how my sweet potato fries turned out.

But there is one cookbook that Curtis and I picked up right after we were married, that I love.

(get it on amazon!)

The recipes are simple, and easy.

I almost always have all of the ingredients that I need already,

and it always makes the perfect amount for my little family

 (little to no leftovers...because who actually eats leftovers?)

Among my favorite recipes from this book is the home made pizza.

I made it last week and it turned out to be delish! Yay!

All you need to do is:

- dissolve 1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast in 1 cup warm water

- blend the yeast mixture, 2 cups flour, 2 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 3 tbsp vegetable oil

- stir in 1 more cup of flour

-knead the dough into ball, cover, and let rest for about 30 min.

-stretch dough out into round pizza shape and place on greased pan

For the tomato sauce simmer 

1 8 oz can tomato sauce, 

1 tbsp sugar, 

1/2 tsp garlic powder, 

and 1 tsp italian seasoning. 

I also like to add veggies to the sauce like, tomatoes, spinach, or even avacado.

Add your toppings (can you tell we like pepperonis?) and put in the oven at 450 for about 15 minutes.

I like my crust to be really thin and a little crunchy...this time around it was thick and crunchy, but still good!

As I am typing this, I can't believe that I am actually posting about cooking, considering my track record.

But, this is a recipe that pretty much anyone would like, you can change up the toppings and sauce however you want, and it's pretty hard to mess up.

Now you can have a family pizza night of your own!