Our little cowboy turned 2!

Yes he turned 2 in September, yes I am just now blogging about the party! ahem. Still too cute not to share.

This little guy was obsessed with all things horses. His rocky horse, his bouncy horse, and his play horses.

His cupcakes were made to look like ponies playing in a pasture.

The decor was barn stars, decorated canvas frames, and little horses playing. I used levi jean legs to cover bowls and the base of the cupcake platter.

And what birthday is complete without a birthday banner? Paper triangles, with letters cut with the cricut and strung on raffia.

Thanks for checking out Mikey's second birthday!

His and Her Pillowcases

Recently I have started a quest to make my bedroom more romantic, more peaceful, more spalike. I decided it would be a fun little additon to our bed to have His and Her pillowcases. I have seen these in catalogs but decided to make them myself. (of course) When we bought our bedding set that I love, actually I picked it out and my Mom bought it for me, it came with a bed skirt. (of course) Well we have no use for a bedskirt since our mattress sits inside a water bed frame. Yes we have a regular box springs and matress. So I have been using the bed skirt fabric for a couple fun projects. This being one of  them. I cut the lettters out with my cricut. Iron on the fusible web first. Then place on your mat and cut. This fabic is silkier than cotton and did not cut as crisp as the cotton does. (as you can see from the photos)

I used the George cartridge and size 4". I also had to speed up the cutting after the first cut and use about a 4 on pressure. Don't be afraid to play around with settings to get the best cut. Sometimes your machine will suprise you.

I asked my hubby what he thought and he said. "Yeah I like it, now I know where to sleep!" OHHHHHH boy! (rolling my eyes) but I do think he likes it!

And I like it and that is what really counts, right? RIGHT!

(now if he will just give me his blessing to paint that headboard!!!)

Packets of Posies Seed Wreath!

I entered this wreath into the So You Think Your Crafty Audition last spring so if you have seen it before that was where it was! Alas I did not win, but I STILL think it is super cute!

This wreath has been a bit of a work in progress for me...an evolving work of art if you will. The idea came to me while clearing the table after a family night of planting window boxes, I had these all these little seed packets left over! They were just too pretty to be considered trash!

The whole project was  almost free too.  That is always a plus! The wreath form is recycled from another wreath. And I used my favorite stuff in the whole world to age and distress the seed packets, can you guess what I  used? Old English furniture polish! Fabulous stuff!


The flowers are strips of an old sheet, and they are stuck onto the wreath with straight pins that I can reuse if I take them off. I put them on next. The colorful heads of the straight pins are like the bright centers of flowers! And they add a little shot of color to the white on white flowers!

The Welcome sign is actually a little chalkboard that can be personalized to spell out whatever fits the situation! I can't wait to show you what the back of this sign says! LOL! I used some chalkboard wallpaper that I bought at the dollar store.

If you were to ask me my favorite part of the wreath I would have to tell you that it is the fact that it can be switched up so easily! The seed packets are held in place by clothespins and can quickly be switched for the different seasons. I can totally see this wreath surrounded by birthday cards in August when we have three birthdays at our house! Or proudly displaying our Chrismtas cards in December. I also think this would be grand holding fall leaves picked up after a crisp day at the park. Or how about little Valentines Day notes tucked all around? I am getting super excited thinking about all the possibilities. How about you, this litte wreath whips up so easily, will you be making one for your house?

A day spent in the garden.....

Yesterday was pretty blissful! I was so excited to spend the day in the garden and outside working in the yard. It was warm but not a scorcher and we enjoyed working together as a family! Here are some shots I took of my garden, so far I am so happy with the progress. This is my first year gardening and I am totally hooked.

I had my middle mister "help me" plant some seeds. I don't think we are too late, I hope not!

Any guesses on what we planted together?

I hope that we get some big ones by Halloween! I want a whole bed full of these next year! Actually that is true of pretty much everything I have grown so far. I want more next year. I also planted some okra, but that was after my little helper scampered off. I guess the gardening bug has bit me. In the next picture you can see where we tilled this year under the black plastic. We ran out of money for fencing material though so hopefully next year all that area will be garden.

Yeah! A tomatoe, I can't wait until this baby turns red! It is off of my Early Girl plant.

Ohhh, my eggplant seems to be doing good too, I LOVE eggplant and can't wait to watch them grow in my own garden!

This is my favorite picture of the day. My two little men walking up to the house from the garden. And no, I don't let him run around naked all the time, just on Saturday. ha ha.

This post is linked up to Frugal Gardening ~ A Blog Hop!

Woeful Wednesday's #1 - Little boy blue, I am done nursing you!

Woeful Wednesday is a new little concept that I thought of while wiping down the bedroom doors in our hallway today. Every week has a little blue, a little sad, a little frustration, a little, well, WOE! I don't believe in letting ourselves wallow around in gloominess or to complain too long, too often or about too many things. BUT. I do think a little venting now and then is a good thing. Especially if you have a glass of whine, errr... wine in one hand and a friend sitting close by. Sometimes though it helps to blog about frustrations, oh, it could be anything, kids, house, sewing projects that don't turn out quite right! I am hoping that by sharing our frustrations, we can gain some insight, some inspiration or just get something out of our head!  I am going to make this a linky party so if you want to add your own woe inspired blog post you sure can. And if it is just me, well that is okay, I like some alone time! ;0)

My woe for today is all because of my sweet cheeks. You can see his darling little grin below.  

This picture was taken back in January and not only has he gotten more adorable, (I know hard to believe that is possible right?) but he has gotten ALOT more demanding and bossy. Only when it comes to one subject though, nursing. Michael is 21 months old, and to be blunt and honest, MOMMY IS TIRED OF NURSING YOU KIDDO! You have had teeth since your 5th month. You started walking at 9 months, you ate solid food way before that, you swim, you ride a tricycle, you jump out of your crib, you wrestle with your brothers, for goodness sakes, you can HIT A BASEBALL! So whats the deal, schmeal?

My 8 year old weaned himself on his first birthday, for real, last nursey during the party and that was that. I expected the same thing with this one, but no here we are 9 months after this and we still NEED mommy milk at least 5 times a day.

When I went to scrapbook retreat in January and was gone for 3 days I thought, this is it! We will be done when I get back. WRONG! Then I went on a church convention and was gone for 4 days in April, and I knew we would be done when I got back, WRONG AGAIN. The first thing he did when I walked in the door was grab his boppy and pat the chair for me to sit down. Oh boy! That boppy got hidden away in a closet first thing.

Michael is adorable and when those big blue eyes are staring into mine and he is saying, pease mommy, while patting the "nursing chair" it is mighty hard to resist, especially when he says, tank ewe, that is "thank you" for those of you not fluent in 1 year old speech! lol But more often than not these days I am being used for a binky, and he tugs hard, and I am not only not enjoying this anymore but it is making me tense and crabby with the whole family. I feel like I have done my mommy duty + and enough is enough. He can cut his own meat for goodness sakes, not that we let him have a knife but he sneaks one from someone else now and then.  

So when he starts the nursey, whine, dance, and routine I first try to get him a drink, then I try to feed him, thinking he must be hungry. But if those don't do the trick and they often don't I try to spend some one on one time with him thinking he must be needing some Mommy time. Often thought these don't work and so I nurse him. And it is driving me crazy.

Today I woke up with resolve, one nursey before bed and that is that. I am the mommy and I am in control.....or so I keep telling myself. After all he can't open the closet door yet and I can always go hide in there with a diet coke and some m&m's.

What has been bugging your mind lately, anything good?

Sweet Treats for Dad! A last minute Father's Day gift!

If you haven't done it yet now is the time to create something special just for dad! I am putting together a couple different things for my husband and Dad this year. This first one is simple, easy, fun, and definitely heartfelt! Can't beat that combination!

Step 1: Gather different treats, (candies, nuts, etc....) that Dad likes. Don't forget some mini candy bars. I bought mine from the dollar store and I only spent $13.00 on the goodies for BOTH gifts.

Step 2: Find a container that you can fill up with the above goodies.

Step 3: Cut strips of paper to wrap around the candy bars. I used scrapbook paper, make sure it doesn't have a pattern on the back. This was a good way to use up some that I had in a stack and probably wouldn't have picked to actually use in my scrapbook. I cut mine 1.5" by 4".

Step 4: Write silly, heartfelt, or loving messages on the back. Let the kids color pictures or sign their names.

Step 5: Glue the wrapper around the candy bars and assemble basket. I used a hot glue to add just a dab of glue and they stuck really well.

Here are some examples of my sayings:

(For my Husband)

*Good for 1 night off from Dad duties

*Good for 1 fre back rub! Love you!

*Heres to a great Dad who gives baths, makes mac n cheese and coaches little league.

*Happy Fathers Day to a winning coach!

*Thanks for being the greatest Dad to our 3 boys!

(For my Dad)

*Thanks for always making me laugh!

*I am so proud of you and The Red Shed! You Rock!

*Thanks for always watching our for me and bailing me out when needed!

*Thanks for loving my kids as much as I do!

*Thanks for giving great advice. And only when asked!

On the jar of peanuts I used some left over paper to make a label that says "Happy Father's Day from your nutty kids. (On my Dad's I wrote, from your nutty grandkids)

If you look closely in the picture you can see all of my candy bars aren't wrapped yet. That is because my kiddos have yet to write their little love notes and draw their cute little pictures. Only my notes are finished. See I told you it was a last minute gift. But one that I think will be cherished by the recipients.

 A picture of my hubby's treat basket!

Another photo of my dad's treat basket! I used a recycled doughnut box for his. Since we have to take it to him I like that it is all sealed up inside.  

Is there anything better than......

Is there anything better than a nap on a rainy afternoon?

Or hitting the snooze after your first nap and taking a second, even longer yet, nap.

Making a big breakfast and enjoying it with your family.

Cleaning house and seeing progress on some of the "worst" rooms.

Having everyone gone from the house long enough to be able to walk out of a room and then back into it and have it still be clean.

But not having them gone tooo long.

Watching your 8 year old's baseball team win the little league championship game.

Seeing the proud smile on your hubbies face, who coached that team.

Finally breaking the sewing machine back out to get a little creative on this rainy day.

These pretty much sum up my last 24 hours. Not in any particular order or timeframe, just random blessings as I remember them.

I am so blessed. God is so good.