Wordle

Huh?

What's a "wordle" you ask?

Well, a wordle is a sort of word puzzle.  I decided to make one years ago that I could add on to over the years.

Here is mine...

 It hangs over my bed and I love seeing all the special dates, places we've been, and memories.

I took it down yesterday and added to it... "El Zonte", for our recent trip to El Salvador, and "O Danny Boy", if you've ever seen Animal, the Swedish Chef, and Beeker sing this song you will understand that one. 

I recently saw one on pinterest that was painted onto a nursery wall.  It was super cute, but wasn't very mobile.  I love that this will go with us wherever we may live.

I painted mine on canvas.  I got the layout and color idea from wordle.net.  Super easy!  Just type in the words you would want to use (the more you type the word, the bigger it will be) and voila!

You can customize the shape of it, if you want the words in a different order.  You can also select from tons of cool color options.

I just created mine and then copied it onto the canvas.

I add on as the years go on, and I love when I add something new and my family notices.  I think my boys were pretty stoked to see "O Danny Boy" up there this morning.

Just a fun memory maker.  Super easy, and really special to us!

Do you have any fun keepsake ideas in your home?  Maybe you could make a wordle today.

Happy Thursday!

 

A second look...

I love to go on little adventures and trips with my kiddos.

But we have come across a problem recently...

They always want a souvenir to take home, and that can get expensive especially with 3 kids.

A friend of mine, thanks AMY, clued me into a great idea...

PRESSED PENNY MACHINES!

Now, I have always looked at those things and thought they were such a rip-off.  I mean who pays 50 cents to smash a perfectly good 1 cent penny?

But when it comes down to it, $1.53 is a lot cheaper than any other regular gift shop type souvenir that I have found.

And the kids love doing it.  They love looking for the machine, and they even use their own money now.

This is little man at Disneyland last Thursday.  Look how excited he is!  Win-Win!!!

And when we bring them home, we have a special place for our pennies right on our mantle...

Right into the penny jar they go.  It will be neat to see this jar fill up and to be able to remember all our adventures we have had as a family.

So, give the pressed penny machines another look.  It just might surprise you!



Short and sweet today, since my kids have been home for a long weekend, the hubs has been out of town, and we've had the dreaded strep bug.  Lots to catch up on!

Happy Tuesday!

Photo Display

by Mollie

  I have this SHORT little hallway in our house.  It connects the master bedroom, bathroom, and kids room. It's TINY.  I could stand in front of it and easily touch both sides of the open wall with my arms barely extended.

  I have been racking my brain on how to decorate this space.  I was complaining mentioning this to my wonderful Mother-n-law and we came up with the idea to use an old door.  She just happened to have one laying around too!

Allow me to reveal....

THE PHOTO DOOR

this guy now greets us every time we come home...

now dont ask me how we got it on the wall.  My dad came over and hung it SO strong that we could literally HANG on it if we wanted and it wont come down.  (which was my concern...glass door + toddler = disaster)

I printed 8x10's at Costco for around $1.20 each, taped them behind each window pane, and Wha-la!

*professional photo by Cindy Kyle Photography

  I am LOVING my photo door, AND the flexibility of being able to change out the photos.  My goal is every 6 months... we'll see.

Blessings,

I can do that.

I saw this lamp shade at Target the other day and I really liked it...

 

So I had one of those moments where I thought, "I can do that."

Now, usually, that thought doesn't amount to much.  But once I realized that I could cut the price in half (from $20 to $10) by doing it myself, I was all in!

 I bought a shade for $9.99 and had some gray grosgrain ribbon that I very carefully ironed on with stitch witchery.

And here is the finished product...

 The old lamp shade was very dark, and this one adds so much more light.  Yay!

 I LOVE when "I can do that" moments work out, because there have been MANY that haven't.  

Oops!

Anyway, a little DIY for y'all.

Happy Thursday!

 

What I Wore Wednesday

by Mollie

  I still haven't figured it out... How do you mama's get a workout in AND get dressed and cute by a decent hour each day?!?  As of right now the only days I am getting dressed (without some sort of spandex pants) are Wednesdays (preschool) and Sundays (church).

Any suggestions!??

 Outfit #1

Church

Sweater: Ann Taylor Loft

Dress: Gap Outlet

Tights & Boots: Target

Honestly... I kinda felt like a smurf in this outfit, but I am enjoying playing around with different color combos and this was fun.

Outfit #2

Going to visit Family

**this picture was literally taken seconds after the first one.  We came home from church, changed, and drove up to L.A.

*** pardon my "accessory" she wouldn't let me put her down and we were running late.

Sweater: Nordstrom rack

Shirt: Marshalls

Tank, jeans: Target

Sandals: Reef (Nordstrom rack)

Hope you are having a fun week!

Blessings,

  

Happy Valentine's Day!

I LOVE Valentine's Day.

I LOVE any excuse to show my family how much I love them.

It can be as simple as...

 A Post It note heart on their mirror...

Heart shaped cinnamon rolls for breakfast with...

 

 A heart shaped milk cube in their milk...

And that's just for breakfast.

What's in store for your sweeties today?

I can't wait 'till my kids come home from school!

One of "THOSE" moms...

by Mollie

  Before I had kids I was a total "judger."  I had all these preconceived ideas about how to raise a child and I KNEW exactly what was the right way and what was the wrong.

THEN I had my own kids, and THEN we all got the stomach flu...and now I am eating my words.

**the following pictures were all taken last night...

I wasn't going to one of "those" moms who let their kids leave a mess everywhere.  

 I wasn't going to be one of "those" moms who let their kids have processed baby food and snacks

I wasn't going to be one of "those" moms who let their kids drink juice and sugary snacks

I wasn't going to be one of "those" moms who had frozen chicken nuggets in the fridge

I wasn't going to be one of "those" moms who had kid stuff out even after the kids went to bed.

and now... I am totally one of THOSE moms, and you know what?!? its OK! 

This weekend was brutal (sickness... oh the sickness) and I was just SOOOO grateful that I could throw those chicken nuggets in the microwave and pop a straw in the juice and call it dinner!

  Before I used to shake my head at the moms whose kids would scream and be crazy in the store, now I offer them an encouraging smile and a pat on the back.  Oh how my life has changed...

  As moms all we can do is try our best, love our kids, and thankfully despite our best intentions they dont judge us!

I'm so grateful that Christ is merciful and has a sense of humor too!

Blessings,

Valentine's Making Headquarters

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and thanks to my addiction to Pinterest... I have grand plans for all homemade valentine's this year for my kids.

Now, I fully understand 2 things...

1. My kids, nor their friends, will FULLY appreciate all that has gone into this grand plan.

2. It will be more work for ME (ie:cutting and taking over when they have run out of attention span) in the long run.

I am fully prepared to handle this.  After all, I do this to myself really.  There is no one else to blame.

That being said, last night was Valentine's Making Wednesday around here and we had a blast!!!

For our preschooler, I set out to make these.

They were super fun to make, and other than having to chop up the crayons with a giant knife, my little man got to do a lot.  

I still have to make the cards for them, but they turned out super cute.  (I also had to leave them in the oven for 5 minutes longer than the directions called for, but that wasn't a big deal.)

For the big boys, I wanted to do something different.  

My oldest is 9.  I feel like Valentine's Day starts getting a bit tricky as they get older.  I know he wants to do something, but cutesy is NOT an option.  You can check out the inspiration for his valentine's here.

I love these little bookmarks!  So I combined these bookmarks with some cards I found for these heart bookmarks (which our 1st grader is making for the girls in his class... the boys get the monster bookmarks).

They were super easy to make, and the boys were so excited to put them together (I did do ALL the cutting before hand so that they could just assemble them.  How did you spend your afternoon?).

I LOVE that these are all book themed and NOT candy.  Man, do my kids come home with a lot of candy!

It was a fun night!  And now we are ready to go.  And, by the way, spent about $5 on ALL their valentine's stuff.  Yahoo!!

Have you got any great Valentine's plans?  

Happy Thursday!

Winter Party!

Mollie and I have an uber talented friend.

Her name is Courtney, and she is the mastermind behind Joyful Joyful Creations.

She started her own wedding planning company out of college and has recently passed the baton in order to spend more time with her precious family.

A few years ago, Courtney and her husband had the idea to throw a party each season that celebrates the best things that each season has to offer.

I LOVE when one of her seasonal parties rolls around.

Well, last weekend was their winter party (although it has been anything but winter around here lately, but what's a San Diegan to do?).

Each party has a different feel, and the winter party is always the most cozy with a soup potluck.

I just wanted to share some of the details...

Courtney usually stays away from making the party a Valentine's theme, but this year she got in a bit of red, white and hearts.  The tables were set up on the patio.

She found these super cute soup bowls on etsy and wrapped them in bakers twine.  We drank out of mason jars with paper straws with little hearts on them and there were tons of votives wrapped in white yarn, covered in red glitter, and wrapped with red ribbon accents.  Super cute!

Courtney sells handmade banners, and she sells these little stands (the centerpiece) with mini banners which are fun for lots of different occasions.

Courtney set up a little table where we wrote down on little heart papers what we love about winter.  Then we stuck them on the big heart on the wall.  Fun!

And of course, we LOVE soup!

Great time with friends, yummy food, and sweet details!  Season parties are the best!

Hopefully you are enjoying the best this season has to offer.

Happy Tuesday!

Hello Monday

by Mollie

Hello true love.  Feeding the baby even when FOOTBALL is on!



Hello getting our bedroom clean!

Hello getting all the decor done (minus painting and headboard)


Hello sister love.



Hello creative friends



Hello sweet ballerina.

Hello playing more pretend with my girl.

Hello going to the library this week.



Hello working out and eating healthy to take care of myself for this little face.



And this one too...

What are you saying Hello to this week?

Blessings,

Mason Jars

by Mollie

  Anyone else noticing the trend? Its CRAZY out there on Pinterest..

Source: i-do-it-yourself.com via April May on Pinterest

Source: penandpaperflowers.blogspot.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: yellowmedaisy.blogspot.com via Mollie on Pinterest

Heck! Even I used them for Zoie's Birthday party.  There were the perfect drink size and super easy to clean up - just pop them in the dishwasher!

Since I bought them for the birthday party ($14.99 for 12)  I have been looking for creative ways to use them in my home.

I have been using them in my jewelry drawer.  They hold my rings and charm type bracelets, plus they are the PERFECT size for my bangles to wrap around.   It keeps everything nice and neat. 

I have this little station on my kitchen counter and I use them here too.  

I keep chapstick, Zoie's lip gloss, and stickers in them.  Also a bunch of different types of chocolate chips.  Those serve as "special treats" for Zoie when I catch her doing an act of kindness OR listening the first time. 

Did you notice my little "bar"  

Left to Right:  Hot Chocolate powder, marshmallows (duh), Hershey kisses (to make coffee sweeter!), Splenda (the organic kind) , and baby cereal.  I use this thing A LOT and I dont think I could love it any more.  

P.S. it was NOT 1:23am when I took this picture...I just need to change the clock..whoops. 

So what do you use mason jars for?!? 

Blessings,