Recent Happenings...

We have been enjoying some wonderful weather the last few days and Steve and I had a date on Saturday! Lots of playing outside, taking walks, and we even had a picnic in January! Life is good!

Drew still had a lingering cough this week and he was complaining that his ear hurt when he would get water in it during his bath/shower. I decided to call the doctor's office and they had me start another antibiotic that the doctor had already prescribed "in case". They felt that the ear infection was probably not cleared up which was causing the cough and the ear pain. He seems to be doing better and I hope this is the end of it! Ear infections are not new to Drew, but that is why we got tubes???!!!! Anyway, he goes to the ENT in April, so hopefully we will be clear until then and we can then decide to have the tube removed or let it just fall out on its own.

A couple of cute items: Drew said to me the other day, "Mom (yes, it is always Mom), I can't wait until I get older. When I get older I am going to drink beer and touch breakable stuff". Ha!

I also heard he and Kate playing at their play kitchen the other day. He was playing the child and she was the mommy. He said to Kate (aka mom), "Come on Mom, I don't want to eat that". Kate responds "you cannot get up until you eat your apples, honey". At least they are listening!

I am signing Kate up for preschool tomorrow! I can't believe I am signing up my baby for school. Time sure flies when you're having fun!

PICTURES: These pics have uploaded strangely and I am not doing them again :), so here are the captions before the actual pictures!

Drew eating his favorite food on earth-plain bagel with raspberry cream cheese.

I'm not really much into bribing your kids to do things, but I made an exception and told them they could have icees and popcorn if they took good naps this particular day. Drew actually slept-shocker! Steve was out of town, so I needed the break!

Drew thought he had died and gone to heaven when the neighbor boy, Holden, played street hockey with Drew the other day. Holden's dad is the minor league hockey coach, so Holden has all the gear and is really good on his roller blades. Drew of course was asking me why he didn't have any roller blades yet. Every time a car would come down the street, Drew would go to the inside of the net to be safe!

We played and made a craft at The Learning Store over the weekend.

Finger painting-Drew goes all in and Kate does one delicate finger at a time...

Picnic in January! Love it!

Drew getting some good swings in. He wants to play every single sport...this week alone, we played golf, la crosse, football, soccer, hockey, and basketball. He cannot wait for soccer to start back up in the spring! Neither can Mom! :)

Coupon Storage

I am not a coupon fanatic or an expert on the topic, but I do use coupons and have saved a lot of money doing so (used $15 worth of coupons yesterday at Target, for example). I clip from the Sunday paper (I love sitting with the ads and coffee on a Sunday morning), and I print relevant coupons online. It takes such little time to do it and now I would never pay full price for peanut butter, pasta, deoderant, etc.

It is Sunday, so I thought I would post about my recent coupon storage solution. I have been using it for about a week, and it is wonderful.

My coupons were starting to drive me nuts in this horrible contraption...I think I got this in the dollar spot at Target like 3 years ago. Sad, right?

So, I did a little looking online and a little asking around to see how others organize their coupons. I decided to go with the way www.moneysavingmom.com organizes her coupons. It took me about 30 minutes and $3 to get this done. I purchased a Sterilite container that snaps shut, used some old envelopes leftover from baby announcements, a red sharpie, existing coupons, and some index cards.

I simply cut the flaps off the envelopes and wrote different catergories on the tops of the index cards. Each envelope gets an index card and the coupons are placed in the envelope. Then you must put your alphabetical order skills to good use...

This is not rocket science, but my trips to the grocery store are so much more organized and efficient!! :) I usually always have both rascals with me while I grocery shop, so the faster we can get in and out (while saving money) is a good thing! My friend, Sarah, also suggested that I just leave the coupons in the car at all times, since you never know when you might make an impromtu stop at the store.

This box fits perfectly in the front seat section of the cart too! Happy clipping!

Chest of Drawers Makeover

I had my sister send me some additional pics of my niece's room. She found a great chest of drawers on Craigslist and gave it a major makeover. I love how this dresser turned out!

BEFORE:

DURING:

I love the knob and pull mix...gives it more character...

AFTER:


I love the idea of putting a dresser or chest of drawers next to the bed in place of a nightstand. Mia has a queen size bed and a wall of closets, so this was the best space for it. Side note: upholstered headboard is from Target (online), rug is from Target, and bedding is the Brooke Collection from Pottery Barn Kids. Thanks for sharing, sis!

DIY Valentine Decoration

I don't really do much decorating for holidays (other than Christmas). As my kids get older, I want to start doing a little more to make it extra special for them. Valentine's Day can get a little cheesy for me, but I saw this post on http://www.inthefunlane.com/, and I thought I would try my own version. I love the simplicity and decided to dress up my mantle a little bit.

Here is how I made my version of the LOVE string.

I found all my supplies at Hobby Lobby and/or had them at my house already. I found these stencils in the clearance section for .99! They are 2" letters which fit perfectly on my paper squares.

In the post that inspired me, she printed off sheet music and aged it with tea. I found sheet music scrapbook paper that already had an aged look! Score, right?! It was .59 per sheet and I only needed one. I then cut the paper into four equal squares.

I used black acrylic pain and a brush that I already had.

Simiply put the stencil where you wish to put each letter and dab on the paint (I just eyeballed). Make sure to dip your brush in the paint and then dab on a paper towel so the brush is not soaked with paint. I did the "L" and the "V" first, since they are on the same side, let them dry and then did the "O" and the "E".

They are not perfect, but they were made with LOVE!



I hole punched the top and threaded through some red yarn I also already had at the house.

I decided to string the finished product on my mantle and added a little heart wreath I picked up at IKEA last year, as well and some red flower stems I already had from World Market. It is just enough, but not too much. Total for my project was $1.59! Total time was about 15 minutes (drying time included).

Now, go spread the LOVE!

"Old School" Desk

A friend recently asked me about a school desk I have in my kid's playroom, so I thought I would share its story with all of you! I stumbled across this great old desk a few months back at the Habitat for Humanity Restore. This is the same place where I found my newly painted dresser for a great price. Don't you just love a great deal??!!

Anyway, I paid $10 for it. They had about 10 more desks and I think I should have snatched them all up that day because this one turned out so cute! My sister and I used to play hour upon hour of "school" as kids, and I know my kids will get so much use out of this as they get older.

I love something with a little character, and as you know by now, I love RED! This is spray painted with Krylon Indoor/Outdoor in Glossy Cherry Red (Walmart sells Krylon for the best price and it is my favorite to work with).

I decided to only paint the metal parts and leave the wood original so it still felt old, with a twist. I just used plastic bags and tape to cover the wood parts and gave it two good coats of spray paint. If you have never spray painted anything, you must try it! It's addicting! Instant results and instant gratification!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Love the charm of this desk!

Popcorn for Dinner?

Drew had a busy day at preschool and then wanted to play lacrosse with me in the backyard while Kate napped. Kate and I had a fabulous day of shopping and lunching together. She actually requested shopping when I asked her what she wanted to do this morning. How could I say no? We found some great deals, and I always love to drool over the items and the displays at Anthropologie.


So....I'm pretty sure my kids were in their pj's at 6pm (sans a bath) and had popcorn and milk for dinner. I'm also pretty sure this latter chain of events has put me in stiff competition for the Mom of the Year Award, don't ya think? :)

What's On My Tivo?

So, at the end of the day, I like to watch a show or two, since during the day the programs of choice at my house involve an animal rescuer and a talking green turtle.


I'm not a 6 o'clock news kind of gal. I am a straight up guilty pleasure type of gal as evidence by some of my favorite shows on television right now...


The Bachelor (oh, that Michelle is scary, isn't she??)
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills (waiting in great anticipation for Thursday's reunion show!)
Jersey Shore (I swore it wouldn't do it and I caved)


I also love me some good ol' fashioned reality shows:

American Pickers
Pawn Stars
Hoarders
Giuliana & Bill

As well as some informative shows:


Oprah
The Nate Berkus Show
Anything on HGTV


As well as entertainment shows:


Glee
Modern Family
Saturday Night Live
30 Rock


Ah, so many shows, so little time. Are you embarrassed for me for my top 3? Yeah right, you're watching them too!!! :)

Cute & Crafty: My Niece's Room

I had my sis send me a few pics of my niece, Mia's (almost 3 yrs), room. She has done some cute and crafty (and inexpensive) things and I wanted to share!

I love this bow hanger she made for Mia (she also made one for Kate). She took a cheap frame from Marshall's and covered the glass part with fabric and found cute little letters at Target for .99 each. She then glued two long pieces of grosgrain ribbon to hang the bows from, and voila, a one of a kind bow hanger (okay two of a kind because Kate has one too :)! Mia is famous for her big, cute bows clipped to her adorable white/blonde hair, so she needs lots of storage!

My sister also came across this cute little wooden rocker on Craigslist for $10. I love Craig and his list! :) She painted it white and added a cute little stencil at the top (from Michael's). Of course, those precious little owls are from Pottery Barn Kids. Love!

Lastly, she took a large blank wall and added some framed scrapbook paper and inexpensive wooden letters. The MIA letters are from Hobby Lobby ($1.99 each), the frames are from Michael's ($4 each and the mattes are included!), and the scrapbook paper was also from Michael's (.25-1.00 each). I love how you could easily add/change out the paper, pictures, or prints as she gets older or she tires of it. So many uses for scrapbook paper, I love it!

Recent Happenings...

I donated blood today, so be nice to me if you see me! Nevermind, I'm in for the night :)... It's National Blood Donor Month so get out there and do it if you're not scared of needles! Go with a girlfriend and treat yourself to a nice big lunch afterwards!!! Total time from needle in to needle out was 4 minutes. They said I was a "good bleeder". I guess that made me unlucky after I gave birth to Kate, but lucky when I donate blood! I'm going back in 8 weeks if any local gals want to join me!



In kid news, Drew is very into being Kate's teacher right now. He is constantly quizzing her on colors, animals, etc. He has recently been carrying around a Dolphins, Whales, and Sharks book (which is for like 3rd graders), but he loves it. I think I have read it 50 times and now he knows the words, so he tries to teach the information to Kate. It is really very sweet, but Kate could really care less about the difference between a Bowhead Whale and a Grey Whale. :)

Drew can finally recognize numbers up to 10 and can recognize about 75% of the letters. He wants to talk about letters and numbers all day long (he notices license plates, store names, letters on shirts). He is a little sponge right now, soaking up any knowledge he can, evidenced by his asking me if there were cumulus clouds in the sky (I think he heard this on Franklin as it certainly wasn't from me) the other day! I hope his love for learning isn't just a phase!

Kate just seems like such a big girl lately. She loves to mimic her brother and still asks every hour on the hour when it is time to pick up Drew from preschool. I have started trying to teach her colors recently, but I think the only one she consistently knows is pink! Go figure!

This week I have been a real stickler about Kate's potty situation. She has been going on the potty for several months, and was in all underwear before her 2nd birthday. During that time, we went to Chicago and she spent 8 straight days in a pull-up which was the worst decision EVER. She sort of regressed with the pottying (100% pooping, but only about 70% peeing on the potty). I started putting her in a pull-up because I got lazy (especially because we are out and about so much). I woke up on Monday of this week and decided to change things, and no more excuses. We have gone back to full time underwear and a small reward and she is doing great! I know she is young, but I don't give her a lot of slack because I know she gets it! Thank goodness we are back on track! I am now working on painting a little stool for her so she can practice getting up and down by herself so the independence can continue!

a little sweetness...

double trouble... :)

big girl braids!


a little driveway hockey...

a little scootering (not sure if that qualifies as a word!)

a little posing...

a little cheesing...

a little ice cream eating...

Hope you are having a great weekend! Off to prep dinner: Beef Carnitas w/ homemade pico de gallo, & cream cheese and bacon wrapped jalapenos!

"I Love You, Blogs and Coffee" Print

I received the print I ordered from http://www.madebygirl.com/ and I love it! It adds the perfect touch of style and whimsy to a little wall in my kitchen. I spray painted a (8 x 10) frame I already had in a crisp, glossy white. My husband even likes it, and he doesn't like either of the items in the quote! :)

Children's Seating

We quickly decided after moving into our new house that our kids needed some seating for watching TV, or hanging out with a group of people while spending time in our great room. It seems that the go-to option is the Pottery Barn Kids "Anywhere Chair", which are super cute and I love, but they are pricey and hard to color coordinate to work in an adult space.

So...we decided on two POANG Children's Chairs from IKEA. They were inexpensive ($29.99 each), easy to build, have a removable, machine washable cover, and they are neutral! They are the perfect size for my 2 and 3 year olds, but they will also work when they are 6 and 7, which I love. If you did want to add some color, the wood would be super simple to paint or spray paint. The cover also has a little flap at the top which could easily be monogrammed (I have been meaning to get this done)!

They have also discovered the arm of the chair is a nice place to rest your sippy!

I would absolutely recommend these chairs if you are in need of something for your child/ren! Steve and I say almost every day that these chairs were such a great purchase (they have adult versions too)!

www.ikea.com