Gift Wreath

For Christmas, I got my Sister-in-law a too small jacket- of course I lost the reciept and couldn't return it.  So... I promised to make up for it, I decided to make her a couple of things.  First I made her a tie scarf and sent it in the mail.  Then I made her a wreath.  A yarn wreath to be exact.  It's beautiful (if I do say so myself).  I love the yarn.  It's super easy to make and I think she liked it!

I used a straw wreath from Hobby Lobby.  I then wrapped it in batting (stuff you use for quilts).  I then wrapped it over and over with the yarn(from Michael's).  I took 1 yard peices of yarn and glued them onto the wreath.  The balls are small styrofoam balls (from Dollar Tree) wrapped in cream yarn.  It's attached with some ribbon.  Took me less than an hour.  It's so soft, I couldn't stop myself cuddling it....

Purees... phone calls... and falls

I have been keeping myself busy since the very FUN weekend we had with family! My parents, brother, and sister-in-law came up on Friday for a visit. My dad and brother spent most of Saturday getting our HeatPump up and running (of course it was the coldest weekend of the entire year and they had to be outside), but they being the most awesome family ever, it's all in and our rebate will be on the way soon!!!!

Here are some highlights  from the weekend... 2 1/2 is not the best age for Jman and pictures. He is REALLY NOT interested in taking pictures and he constantly says.. "mommy/daddy/grandma stop taking pictures", makes a terrible face and turns away before you can push your finger down!  Even bribes don'twork anymore- one more way he is like Daddy....

 

Watching the snowplow with Uncle and Aunt.

"Helping" Grandpa fix the  furnace

Playing peak-a-boo

finally a good shot- minutes before they head home

Tuesday was a REALLY eventful day-- we went to Prairie du Chien in the morning, it took 4 HOURS to got to Walmart and get all of our errands done.  Mostly Dollar Tree and Walmart.  The boys were absolutely FABULOUS!  Maxwell slept most of the time and Jackson was happy to be at the store and was very well behaved.

After returning home, Jackson took his nap and Maxwell "watched" as I made a whole bunch of vegtable purees for our Deceptively Delicious recipes from  the new book Double Delicious by Jessica Simpson.  I love these recipes, because they taste great and they are more healthy for you!!  So while cooking the first batch of purees (butternut squash, cauliflower) I got to talk to my BFF, Alissa.  She called while she was on her way home from work and we just chatted.  I am so lucky she calls, because I can never get it together to call her around 3:30 (okay, maybe sometimes I am taking a nap).  She's the best!

Jackson woke up and was happy... so then I gave him dinner and started  on my second batch of purees (spinach, sweet potatoes) another BFF called, Meghan, she moved to Michigan right around the time we moved to Waukon... anyhoo... we got to catch up and I found out that she is doing fabulously.  Jackson played well and Maxwell was happy while we talked for over 30 minutes.  (that's a long time).

Jackson takes a bath, there is no crying about the water going away... I get the boys' bathroom cleaned and the upstairs vaccumed and Jman down for bed without much of a struggle.  He stays in bed for about an hour... then he comes downstairs.

I had put Maxwell in his Moby Wrap, so Maxwell, Jackson, and I head back upstairs to get Jman down again.  He's down and Max and I head  downstairs... I slipped on the top stair where there is a little bit of wood and we FALL  down the stairs... I missed at least 4 steps.  I landed on my right buttocks and couldn't move for at least 5 minutes.  Of course Andy is at bowling.  I called for Jackson, but he wouldn't get out of bed, because I told him not to.  So I finally am able to get up  and look down at Maxwell. 

after bloody nose

There is blood... It was coming from his nose.  Ahhh!  I can barely walk and my 2 1/2 month old is bleeding.   I call Andy at the bowling alley and make him come home (15 mins later- which is odd, because door to door it's less than a mile).  When he arrives Maxwell's bloody nose has subsided, but we were both shooken up!

  

He's okay, this is a picture from today. :)

I on the other hand have a sprained disk in my back, pelvic and tail bone out of whack, soreness whenever I sit and getting up from a sitting position is about as painful as can be!  I have been  to the chiro the last two days and go back tomorrow morning, it's helping a lot!  I was just getting over the c-section pain and this happens- very comparable pain (after I was  on the heal that is from the c-section).

Valentine's Day Decorations

I have been having fun searching blogs and looking for fun crafts to keep myself busy- like I have trouble keeping busy, but I love it!!

I have about a million and one things I want to make... I have had to start a pintrest... check it out, it's a fun website.  Gives me a place  to "pin" my ideas and intrests, then I can go  back and see what I like.  It's really neat!

 First off... subway art on a canvas.  It was fun to make!  I found the subway art at Not Just a Housewife, she also made some for other holidays and boys/girls.  So adorable!!  I had mine printed at the local photo lab so it was about $2 for print, $1.50 for the canvas and I had the  paint and  modge podge.  I hung it on the wall  with a little ribbon.  This website, My Delicious Ambiguity also has a HUGE list of free Valentine's Day art.  Jenny and I made one for her, too!  I am going to make one for my MIL for watching the boys on Saturday!

 This is another fun no-sew activity, since my sewing machine is not working-- still need to figure out if the bobbins are moving... anywhoo...I used fabric glue, ribbon, and a white bath hand towel.  I got the  idea from She's Kinda Crafty. It was SUPER easy, but the ribbon kind of buckled up a bit when  washed, but if I wasn't lazy (and we weren't wiping our dirty hands on it) I would iron it and I think it would look okay.

The BIG project

A Cupcake Liner Wreath

My friend Sharon and I constructed these Cupcake liner wreaths from Tatertots and Jello.   It was fun!  We got the wreaths at  Dollar Tree (for  a dollar) and the cupcake liners from  Walmart.  They were a little smaller than I wanted, but way fun!  We both burned our fingers, but the little boys played super awesome in the sensory bin (will post about this later).  Anyway, we finally finished a project and we were both pleased.  Mine is the "redder" one. These cupcake liners were perfect... maybe I should do another one?!?!?!  Actually, I think I am going to make a topiary that I saw on Adventures in Crafting.  Hmmmm... or should I start on all the Christmas crafts/gifts I want to accomplishs for the year?!?!?!

Giggle

Today, Maxwell Giggled for the first time! He was fussing so, I was playing with him a bit. Then I blew lightly at his hair and he was just giggling like crazy! He did it for about 7 minutes straight! I even got it on our little flip-video! Yeah! He is growing up so much!

10 weeks old...

Paper Wreaths

Here are a a bunch of ideas for making Paper Wreaths! I wish I had time to make them all... :)

Clutter Challenge

We moved 150 miles (and my husband will tell you he moved everything in our home at least 4 times) and we still have TOO MUCH JUNK! So I want to start the 730/365 day declutter challenge. This is getting rid of just 2 things a day! I know that I can do this... just going through all the boxes in our basement and all of my clothes will do it I'm sure. :) I found this challenge from 2010 here at the Finer Things in Life. 2011 is being hosted by A Slob Comes Clean. I'm not sure if I will do the linking up, but I do want to keep track of my progress...

So my challenge is to get rid of 2 things for each of the 365 days in the year. This could be putting things in the Trash or giving to Charity (not interested in a garage sale or keeping all that stuff around until it gets warm enough).

Today is January 9- I found 18 things to get rid of...
8- purses
2- duffle bags
1- bag of wedding stuff to MIL's church pews
6- books
1- wallet

By the end of the week I hope to go through all of our Christmas decor and get rid of more! :) I'm already excited about this challenge!

Easy boy art

When we moved this summer I started looking for artwork to decorate Jackson's new "big boy" room, because the new baby was getting his nursery things. I scoured stores and the internet, I found beautiful artwork- however beautiful artwork comes with a price-- way too high for a little boys' room.



I wracked my brain and remembered that I had made the nursery wallart from fabric and canvases. At first I was going to paint the canvases... but then while at Walmart, I found this fun fabric for $1 for a fat quarter (quarter of a yard) and I could get a fun texture by using the fabric. I picked out 4 of the 6 colors of fabric. I got the canvases at Hobby Lobby (2 for $3.99 regularly priced, but they are on sale all the time, so you can get them 40% off). I also found the pre-painted wooden shapes at Hobby Lobby-- one might be from Michael's, not for sure. They were $.69 each! I couldn't buy the wood for that price! So, for around $12 I got this fun artwork!



I first cut out the pieces of fabric a little bit more than what it would take to wrap all the way around the frame. I just folded the corners like a package. I stapled one of them, then Maxman got hungry and Andy finished up (don't tell him, but he did a much better job with getting them tight and clean corners than I did! :)

I then hotglued the wooden pieces onto the fabric, I pushed on the back of the canvas to make sure they stayed. Now, I just have to hang them up... :)

Linked it to a party... not sure how to do this... I (Heart) naptimewith chocolate

Valentine's Day Projects

I have several Valentine's Day projects in mind...



1. Cupcake liner wreath

2. Banner/Garland saying of some kind

3. 8x10 Subway art on canvas



While I am waiting to get a few of the materials I need for the above items... I made this:



It's a styrofoam ball! I spray painted it with "watermelon" spray paint, put a ribbon on it, and hot glued a little over 1 bag of the candy hearts. It took about 25 minutes to glue it all on... the paint takes about 30-45 minutes to dry, depending on how thick you put it on! Also, make sure you spread out the green and purple hearts, because their are barely any in each bag and you end up with big spots of pink and white. ;)

Tie crafts

I love easy and no-sew crafts--- I still haven't used my sewing machine... this week, I tell myself again for the 15th in a row... Here are a couple Tie crafts I've accomplished in the last few weeks.

This is a tie scarf made out of Jersey Knit fabric (stuff you make T-shirts out of), I found it on MaryJanes and Galoshes, cute site! It was super easy and really inexpensive to make. The hardest part was getting my butt downstairs to use the iron on the fabric! I think they will be gifts for a few people this year.

This is the tie blanket we made for Maxwell for Christmas. Andy helped me to tie the sides, super duper easy! There are tutorial out there if you don't know how to do it! I love the fabric for this project!

Christmas

It's already the 2nd week of January! I can't believe it! We had a great Christmas season celebrating with family and friends and lots of food! I think we (hear me) have finished off all of our Christmas cookies, candies, and treat- thank goodness, because when you are nursing you should LOOSE weight. ha ha. I have a lot of "Christmas" to take down, but no one is coming to the house until Tuesday, so I still have time... ;)

We celebrated with Andy's family the weekend before Christmas. Then we celebrated with my family on Christmas. We use to travel between the 2 families on the holidays, but it got too stressful, so several years ago we decided to do every other holiday with each family. It has lead to much more enjoyment of the events and people and less wasted driving time! :) We get quanity and quality, instead of just rushing!

This is what 4 kids 3 and under looks like in a picture at 7pm.

Jackson loves reading... here with Grandma Jo and Grandpa Larry

After 6 days of Christmas and playing with Grandma Donna and Grandpa Leslie, I think they may have been ready for us to go home... :)

Jackson really does not cooperate for pictures anymore...

kiddos with Uncle Michael and Aunt Jenny

Jackson with his backhoe from Santa... he opened almost all of his presents with it!

Maxwell about 5 weeks

Jman using glitter to decorate his handmade cinnamon ornaments
Our Family of Four After the Christmas Eve Church Service Grandma Jo helping us get ready for the Farm Bureau Christmas office party

Hansel, Lofgren, & Moore Christmas Party


Lily, Maxwell, and Jackson at the HLM Christmas

Tori and Maxwell enjoying their first HLM Christmas Party

Brielle at her first HLM Christmas party