Funky Bunnies

Easter cupcakes. They started out as dough. Natch, they are colored...purple, green, yellow, and blue.



But they ended up as funky bunnies. I say funky, because I realized that I really needed some sort of tweezer for decorating. Its too difficult to place individual jimmies and sprinkles on a mountain of frosting.


The ears are made from marshmallows that were cut and dipped in pink sugar. The rest are jimmies/sprinkles.

Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Egg Wreath

I got this idea over at Frills, Fluff & Trucks. Perfect for us, since I have to have that balance of decor that I like, yet decor the kids really love (like the annoying singing Easter bunny).

I followed her tutorial. Only I had to get my styrofoam wreath from JoAnn, and they didn't have the circular ones left, so I had to grab one of the flat front ones, which made it a bit more difficult to cover up the white spots. In hindsight, I'd have wrapped it in ribbon first. This took 2 bags of eggs, with 48ea, from Target's dollar spot. I think they were each $1.75 or something close to that. I already had the ribbon, and I went through an astronomical amount of glue sticks.

Burlap

What's up with all the burlap in blogland lately? I am just not feeling it.

Shake, Rattle & Roll!

Every year, our school has a Sock Hop, complete with a DJ, hula hoop contest, bubble gum blowing contest, and a contest for the best costumes. Its a fun time.

(and a big thank you to a little girl in the Pacific NW for lending Norah her skirt and glasses! i tried to get my daughter to wear a cute white blouse, but she wasn't having it. she was going to be "too sweaty". hence the white t-shirt that is now retired)

Our Chicago Trip

We had a great time. What an awesome city. We went to the Children's Museum, swam in the hotel pool, went out for pizza and southern food, hit the lego store and American Girl, and saw the famous green Chicago River. We ended our trip with a day of the Museum of Science and Industry -- a truly amazing place. We got to see trains, planes, chicks hatching (literally!), a working coal mine, and a U-505 submarine that was captured in WWII.

Do you have a picky eater?

I was relaying a story to my husband last night and it involved telling him what Bean requested for dinner last night. She wanted a salad. This salad was huge...a large soup bowl. And it had on it, a hard boiled egg, black beans, peas, carrot, tomato, and cucumber. He said, "You have to knock that off and feed her normal stuff. She needs more protein. She's starting to become such a picky eater!"

I think I had to pick my jaw up off the floor before I responded to him.

A picky eater?

Huh? More protein? What exactly is the egg and legume then?

What, dare I ask, am I supposed to feed her? Should I instead force her to eat "kid foods"? I am so proud that she is such an adventerous eater. I am so happy that I can take my kids to dinner and Elliott requests catfish instead of anything off the kids menu. Don't get me wrong...they like the occasional macaroni and cheese or french fry (not Aidan. he doesn't like fries), but hands down, they prefer tasteful food over anything else. Ask them what their favorite food is, and among the ones they list, Elliott will tell you pot pie and Norah will tell you gnocchi and Aidan will say crab (the *real* kind from New Orleans, not the imitation crab.)

Buffet Help pt II

Requested photos....

The buffet (with the lamps I returned)

*side note: should I paint that inside area arch (the 'ceiling', if you will) the ceiling color? Or the cream of the arches that separate the rooms?*

Ideas...

Tall grasses?

Vase w/ tall berries?

Smaller uplight lamps?

Something else?

What else....

Buffet Help!

And I don't mean the edible kind. This girl needs some serious decorator help.

A few weeks ago, I yanked down everything that was up on our buffet in the DR and had an idea for lamps. I went out and found these at Kirklands, but they just don't do it for me.

Do I need something more candlestick like (smaller)?

Do I need an uplight-type fixture like that or this?

What do I put in the middle w/ the lights there? Do I leave it naked?

Or do I just skip the lights all together and do something else up there?? Something tall on the sides, but different on each side? And something in the middle?

Two things to keep in mind:

1) This area is a catch-all for my wonderful husband. I hate that he loves to pile carp here and I need to stop that!!

2) Our home is mainly mission style/craftsman-ish.

sewing help :)

I got me a sewing machine!!! In all actuality, I've owned a sewing machine for roughly 11-12 years now. I last used it in 1999 when I tried to hem some curtains that I made and failed miserably...something to do w/ the damn bobbin. I called my gramma and cried and tried to get her to help me over the phone and finally, I just packed up the machine, put the curtains in a bag, and gave them to her to hem. The machine has not come out of the box (portable machine) since then. Its moved 2 houses w/ a box of accessories I've never opened, too. I inherited the machine from my other grandma, who used to make all of my clothes for me when I was a little girl.

Yesterday, my grandma gave me her machine that she got roughly 7 or so years ago and has used but once to hem a garment. I am afraid to use it. I am a smart girl - I should just open the book and try the darn thing out on a piece of material. But today I am going to pick up the phone and call some stores and see if there's a beginning class I can take.

However...if anyone can give me tips....books or... I don't know? Whatever! I'd appreciate it. All I want to be able to do is simple hemming and making simple patterns for my girl.

Free swag! Free swag!

Yo....check it. Sarah at Frills, Fluff & Trucks is giving away a Marshall's GC in honor of her 200th post.

On Saturday I had some time and got a chance to organize hundreds of photos and start putting some into an album. Yay - baby steps! (prior to this, all I've done is my scrapbooks)

Tonight, I sat down with the kids and we flipped through the album. We passed several nursing photos without any comment. However, we got to one where the twins were tandem. And Norah stopped my page flipping and says, "what's THAT?!" and Aidan started giggling. I said, "you don't know what that is?" Norah said, "No. What is it?" Aidan said, "they're sucking your KNEES!" [giggle giggle]. I said, ''noooo." This is when daddy chimed in and informed them that they were nursing from mama ... that's how babies get milk. And Norah says, "gross!" (wth?!) and I said, "that's not gross. that's life." Aidan says, "yeah. like a cow. they're on your nipples just like a cow!"

Fantastic.

My baby is eight!

Aidan turned 8!!! He had a baseball themed party and got his first skateboard & had his first sleepover! He even chose not to get gifts and asked for donations for the amur tiger cubs at our zoo. He's growing up!!!

Edited to add: I forgot that you can't see my comments on flickr when I add a slideshow. So.... at the table, there was an armpit noise demonstration, several kids were in awe, and then followed suite. Very "boy". Ugh.
They loved the games, but boy oh boy was it LOUD and chaotic. Very. VERY.

Oh, and of course, pre-party...we gave him a skateboard for his birthday :) He's been asking for one for years, and we always said when he's 8. Well, I guess that time finally came. He got a super cool helmet from his great-grandma, too. I am holding off on kneepads.... for now.

I hate you! ... and cake.

"I hate Mommy!" "I want my daddy!"

I just heard those words coming from upstairs. I had recently scolded Elliott for throwing a football in the living room and knocking down a photo. Dang, they cut through you.

In happier news, Aidan is about to turn 8. EIGHT!

We had a party for family this past Sunday. I had grand visions for his cake. I made a vanilla buttermilk cake and a swiss buttercream frosting, both from Smitten Kitchen. I did the cake like a rainbow cake, but only with blue and gold, for the Brewers. I was going to do the classic Brewers symbol, but apparently, you can't color swiss buttercream the same way you do other frostings. Perhaps its the fact that its made from almost a pound of butter and barely any sugar? (oh, my arteries! but its soooo good.). So my blue? Yeah...purple. All he got was an outline. I had a tub of Duncan Hines in the cupboard, so I broke that open and put some yellow dye in it to make it look a little better (but I wasn't going to color it in w/ Duncan Hines dyed blue. That would taint the flavor of this heavenly buttercream).

He was happy. That's all that matters.

His party with his friends this coming Friday? That will be a box mix and canned frosting, though. And baseball cupcakes. None of this hours of baking stuff.

Progress

Arches painted. Check.

Walls touched up. Check.

Frames spray painted. Check.

Fabric ordered for dining room chairs. Check.

I still have to tackle the doors. Bathroom and upstairs kids rooms. Does anyone recall seeing the blogger who posted her 2-toned panel doors? I wish I had bookmarked it. Gah.

I hate those louvered closet doors. I hate that closet. It needs an overhaul. Anyway, I did these. Not sure what I think of them.

I hung some photos that I took. I have one of Jackson Square cathedral that goes w/ this one, but I didn't have it matted yet.

(yeah yeah. bad photos of photos)

Beware....spray paint

I've discovered spray paint. I 've used it before, but I didn't quite master the method until recently. And I am on a rampage, I tell you! No photos yet...I am busy planning a birthday party. Right now, I've had to keep it to photo frames and other small items. However, I have a small night stand/phone stand in the wings waiting for some green, I think, and low and behold, I actually have this chair! Mine was not orangey-red with leopard print, but its that chair. It was my grandma's dining chair (not sure where the others went?), and its in my craft room now and it could use a cute-overhaul. So once the weather is nice and I can take my spray paint outside, I will find me a color I like and a scrap of fabric to reupholster and make myself a new chair!!!

Speaking of reupholstering, I ordered my fabric. Gulp. So there's no going back. And even with a 50% off sale (gotta love that), I was still in for a lovely $100ish. I better not mess up.

Git R Dun!

Paint. Thankfully, 7 year old paint still works once you shake it up! And much to my relief (huge sigh of relief) my walls were not sun faded, so the touch-ups I did don't stand out like a sore thumb. It looks so much nicer. Why didn't I do this sooner?

(here is my plug for Purdy brushes. they are the only brush to buy. don't mess with the cheap ones)

Today I tackle the arches. That will probably be all I have time for after yoga and a run and laundry (the story of my life).

Yesterday I took a field trip to Goodwill. Its not something I do often, because until very recently, there wasn't one that was convienent. Now there is a brand new one next to my brand new Target. Anyway, I also prefer St. Vincent de Paul - they seem to have much lower prices.

I wasn't terribly impressed with what they had, but of course, they don't have much control over that. What they do have control over is price. Sheesh - some things were quite overpriced. I did get a bunch of cute h'ween and v'tine decorations for $.49. Score. I got some 11x14 photo frames to paint. But they were $5 each. I thought that was kind of high. My happiest score was the christmas ornaments, for $.49/box of 15 (I got several). I can make a wreath next year!

Snowboarding Craze

I was shoveling and I heard, "Look mommy! I'm pretending I'm Shaun White! I am snowboarding!" (on his sled. in the yard.)

Projects!!

Sitting around the house for 3 weeks is a real treat [/sarcasm]. It made me realize that

a) I am sick of looking at the same stuff on the walls, day in and day out, for 6.5 years

b) My walls need serious touching up in places

c) The bathroom door and linen closet door are embarrassing - chipped, dirty. They need painting. Bad.

d) The arches were never painted. And they're nasty dirty. Why did I never notice that?

e) My dining room chairs could use a facelift

So I made a project list. I had Chris dig out the original paint so I can take it to HoDe to get all shook up. I brought home a mountain of fabrics from JoAnn in hopes of finding one we liked for the chairs. And I took stuff off the walls and started moving it around.

Here are some photos:

Chair before

With the fabric we've picked

And since I am a total copy cat, I stole Frills, Fluff, and Trucks artwork display idea and put that up

Then I reframed some embroidered Holly Hobby pictures that my great grandma made for me that hung in my (HH themed) bedroom when I was a little girl.

Since they were not a typical size, I would have had to custom frame them. No thanks. I worked w/ what I had

they were awful. Falling apart and frankly, ugly.

I sanded them while I wore a mask because I was pretty sure they were painted w/ lead paint.

Then I rubbed some wax on them in a few areas, painted them a vanilla color, and once they were dry, I sanded them to distress them. The wax really helped! After that, I took some tea ink and rubbed it over the frame and wiped it off w/ a damp cloth. When that was dry, I sprayed them with a clear coat that crackled, to give it an old look.

I cleaned up the glass, mounted them back in, and voila!

Normally I wouldn't put something like that in my daughter's room (I am not a cross stitch sampler or embroidery on pillows and blankets type of gal). But I always loved these as a child and thought it was neat that she could have something from her great-great-grandma.

And finally, I did this for our room. The rest of our walls will be done with some photos that I took once I blow them up and print them. I saw this on a blog and I wish I could credit the person, but I can't for the life of me recall which blog. I remember the blogger saying that she was inspired by something similar she saw at Restoration Hardware. The skeleton key is mine and its for my hope chest. The frame is a cheap IKEA frame that I spraypainted black. I used grosgrain ribbon to hang it.

Stay tuned....more projects to come this week. AND a baseball themed birthday party this weekend!!

A Special Valentines Day

How did you spend your valentines day? My valentine and I spent 8 hours sorting and putting together all of these sets of legos. Romantic, huh?

About a year ago, the kids had friends over and the younger ones dumped all of our carefully-sorted-in-separate-locked-bins lego sets into one big pile. Since then, no one wanted to play with them. Finally, enough was enough.

I sat down with Aidan and started by slowly grouping them. I finally sorted them into colored piles and we went from there. But the only way to figure out which set was which was to assemble everything. So we set to it. And some of these sets are nothing to shake a stick at.

Here are a few...

And what's left as of today... 5 castle sets

If anyone dumps them into a big mess again, they will be flogged. Regardless of whose child they are :)

No Kissing Allowed

Friday night at dinner, Elliott asked if he could always live with us, forever. I explained that there will come a time that he will not want to live with us anymore - he'll want to go live his own life as a grown up, especially if he has his own family. And besides, I wouldn't let us live with us forever. Its not healthy. He said, "ew! I don't ever want to get married!" Aidan said to him, "you'll have to kiss a girrrrrrlllllll!" And Elliott was all, "ew! ew! yuck! i don't want to ever kiss anyone! yuck!".

he he he. I will remind him of this in a few years.

Art by Norah, age 6

Some recent stuff that came home with Norah. This first one is her and daddy standing in front of our fireplace, with our current heart garland behind them. She even included the 2 brown orbs I have holding it in place! And she depicted the swirly PB candleholder that's on the wall above the FP, as well.

A funky, colorful owl. I think this is super cool.

Norah's Hospital Adventure

On Thursday after school, Norah said she had a tummy ache. I asked if she felt like she was going to puke, and she said no. About 30-60 sec. later, she said, "maybe I will puke." And so it began. And did not stop for 48 hours. Poor bean. She couldn't even lick an ice cube made of pedialyte without losing it. She had nothing left and was still wretching :(

On Saturday, when she walked toward me and staggered and started to fall, I knew it was time to take her in. So off to CHW we went.

It wasn't a pleasant experience for her to get an IV. The first attempt didn't take because she was so dehydrated. She screamed things like, "that huuuurts sooo bad!" and, "why are you doing that to me?" and, "please stop hurting me. why are you hurting me?" It was awful. Torture.

But as you can see, it worked wonders. This is her right after the IV cocktail was started...

and about 40 minutes into it...a totally different kid.

Am I Martha, or what?!?!

Kidding. I have been in the kitchen all day, though. Making the pops (prev. post) and a cake. No special occasion, except that I felt the need to try to make a yellow cake from scratch before I make one for Aidan's birthday in a few weeks. I'd hate to make one and have it be dry as sand. I am not much of a baker, because I am not a huge dessert person (salt. mnnn. i love salt). But now that I have kids, I have been baking more. But especially, I am not a cake person. Carrot and cheesecake aside (oh yum), I could never eat cake again and be perfectly content. So anyway....I tried this yellow cake recipe from Bakerella. It didn't let me down. It was quite good and not dry at all. But the best part of it? The frosting. Ohhhhh... heaven on cake. I iced the cake with this swiss buttercream from Smitten Kitchen. I forgot to put my butter out, so the consistency of the frosting wasn't as smooth as I'd have liked, but it was still yummy. If you are like me and don't care for those gritty, sweet frostings, then try this and you won't be disappointed.

To make the cake fun, I made another rainbow cake. This one was prettier than our first, though.

Ready to go in the oven!

Uh, yeah. I'd never present a cake that looked like this to anyone but my immediate family. Its so homely and I enjoy making cakes funky or pretty. However, by this time it was 8:15pm and I really did not care. So I slapped it on, dumped on some jimmies (sprinkles for the freaks who have no idea what I mean), and we were good to go!

The middle of the funky cake. I am getting low on my food coloring gels. So I used what I had: purple, green, blue, yellow, orange, and teal.

Valentines Goodies

Last year, the kids and I made these crayon hearts for their classmates as valentines. This year, I decided that I'd make marshmallow pops, put them in small cello bags, and attach a small valentine card to the ribbon. I didn't want to purchase cards, because lets face it --they are pretty lame. A friend directed me to some free printable ones and I decided on these cute ones from Secret Agent Josephine. I printed them in B&W and had the kids each color theirs. They are super cute!

The marshmallow pops, in vanilla (pink, which actually tastes like those Carnival cookies. Remember those?), and chocolate. Mnnnn.

Get Fun and Fancy! With Nancy!

Norah got her hands on Mama and Daddy and made them fancy.

applying lip gloss to daddy's nails

posing with mama

this is her "rock star" look, according to her :)

We are the champions....again!!

Go Aidan!!!

Last year (with Darth Taiter) he took 3rd in the pack, but this year, Aidan won 1st place for his den in the pinewood derby race.

The trophy and winning car (the car is a spin-off of the Milwaukee Brewers, obviously)

Floating Hearts

They're nothing fancy, but the kids love holiday decor. So I made 3 of these strings of hearts, featured on One Pretty Thing and hung them in a few places throughout the house. They would have had more of a cool effect if I had been able to hang them together, but I don't have a light fixture that allows a grouping.

Heart Garland

A fun craft that I did to add some Valentine decor to the house: garland for the (yet not finished) mantle. Since the photo was taken last week, I found a much better way to secure it (not my snowmen).

(i apologize for the photo quality)

A big thank you to Sarah at Frills, Fluff, and Trucks for the tutorial on the heart garland!

Breaking Boards

DSCN9848
Originally uploaded by flabonganator

In December, Aidan tested for his yellow belt and part of that involves having to break a board. Here's a video of him doing that. Stop the video once he's done. The camera keeps rolling and I forgot to edit before uploading (and apparently Chris forgot to turn it off?).