Baby Shower!

   I'm going to be an aunt again!  In just a few short weeks!  And it's a GIRL!  WooHoo!

   Now, to be fair, I already have 2 nieces.  But the thing is: I have 4 nephews (5 if you count the only cousin on my husband's side), and when you add my 3 boys in to the mix that makes 7 boys and 2 girls when we all get together at my mom's,...Whoa!  See where I'm coming from!  Plus I only really get to shop for girls at Christmas and birthdays.  But!   This is my sister's first girl, so I can shop till I drop for this little one because...it's My Sister's Baby Girl!!!!

   Anyway, her baby shower was last weekend and since there was a group of us putting it together, and since I live so far away from where it all took place, I only had to do some of the work; and it turned out I got the fun job of providing door prizes!

   The theme of the shower was cupcakes, so with that in mind I searched the web for ideas.

   After quite a bit of searching I found a cute idea of using shower puffs to make cupcakes.  I'd link to it but I can't find it again! Oh well...moving on...

   I ran out to the dollar store and found the cutest shower puffs that have little piece of colored sponge in them!  Perfect for making it look like sprinkles on the cupcake!
   So with the puffs purchased, I hunted around for a way to make the cupcake liners. Turns out my puffs were too big for all the liner ideas I came across.
   After A LOT of trial and error I ended up enlarging a cupcake liner template so that it printed on two sheets of paper and then cut it out and taped it together to make a template large enough for my shower puffs.
  The template was so large I had to use 12x12 scrapbook paper and could only get 2 liners from each page!

   The little "cherry on top" pieces ended up being an idea that just came to me.  I cut out the pieces with my cricut and used stickers I found at the party store.  The toppers are double sided and the two sides are glued together with a toothpick in the center to hold it in place on top of the "cupcake".

   I didn't get any pictures of the actual shower since I forgot my camera at home.  Everyone else remembered their cameras though, so there are plenty of pictures for my sister.
   The shower was a success!  
   My sister got lot's of little girl clothes and things she really needed after having three boys.  Boys (God bless them!) tend to be pretty rough on things and after three...well stuff ends up needing to be replaced!
   I know that at our house after clothes go through my three boys there's nothing really left of them to hand down any more!  Sometimes things don't even make it past the first one!  But it's not just clothes. Strollers, car seats, bouncers, swings... I'm sure my list would be longer if I sat and thought about it, but this thinking about what baby's need is making me think about snuggling a baby and so now I'm going to go make a blanket for my little niece!
   I just found my Weekend Project!  Till next time!

Project Night

   Yesterday in science class my middle son learned about density of liquids and how certain liquids can be put in the same container/glass and remain separate (for example water and oil).  So he came home and asked if he could try it again here. He started with water and oil, then added Karo syrup, caramel syrup, milk and Elmer's glue, then he dropped in an eraser, a paper clip and a rubber band.  Fun stuff!  I loved doing those experiments in school.  I didn't get any pictures though.  I was too distracted by the strangeness of his concoction!

   After we got it all cleaned up I showed him an experiment I learned in school with pepper and a bowl of water.  We got a bowl of water and sprinkled a lot of pepper on top. 

    I had him put his finger in and a bunch of the pepper stuck to his finger when he pulled it out of the water. 
    I put some dish soap on my finger and put my finger in the water.  He was surprised when the pepper flew across the top of the water to the edges! We repeated the experiment so he could put dish soap on his finger and make the pepper "run away".

 

I'm predicting a weekend full of science experiments!  He was quite excited to see if we could find more ideas on line.  I did find one about dissolving an egg shell resulting in a 'naked egg'.  Perhaps we'll try that one!?!

In other news:  I'm totaly in love with Mrs. Meyer Clean Day Basil dish soap!  I love the way it smells, and the way it cleans, and the way it smells! (did I already say that?)  

That stuff is so nice it almost makes washing dishes a "happy" chore!

It remindes me of my great grandma's house!  I love, love, love it!

(Not being paid, asked, or bribed to say any of that.  Just saying what I think!)

That's all for the moment,

Have a happy Friday!

Hooray for Valentine's Day!

   I love Valentine's Day!  I love decorating for Valentine's Day!  And so for the past few days that's what I've been doing!

   Last year during one of our winter thaws I spotted a branch out in our front yard.  It had fallen from the tree and cried out to be saved from the soggy ground.  So I brought it in, tied fishing line to it and hung it from the ceiling.

This is how it looked last year when it was done:

 

Last year I was all about pink.  (I have three boys...sometimes I just gotta do what I gotta do and last year I was feeling out numbered so I decorated in girly pink!)

How ever this year I was in the mood for red.  and white.  and black. 

The colors just spoke to me!  

I saw a cute idea floating around on line and used it to redo the branch for this year.

 

Paper heart garland how-to 

I love the way it turned out! 

 We have this odd little wall in the living room that has become one of my favorite focal spots 

due to the fact that my husband built me a mantle so we had a place to put the boys stockings for Christmas.  We decided to leave it as a permanent fixture because it turned out so nice, so now I get to decorate it for Valentine's Day!

And here's how it turned out!  I love it!

 The hanging pom-pom flowers are made from coffee filters and tissue paper.  (how to make them)  The heart garland is made from scrapbook paper and ribbon I had.  

The Love is last years Hobby Lobby clearance and the Family Rules sign has been a fixture in our house for a few years now.  That's its spot.  Right at the end of the room...where my boys see it...every day...to remind them.

It doesn't always work.  We're working on that.

Anyway, Here's a close up of the roses.  I cut them out from some pages of a book I was never going to reread.  It was an OK book, but I think it makes super pretty roses! 

I found instructions how to make the roses here

 

 My oldest son and I made this topiary by cutting red tissue paper into circles and then hot gluing the tissue to a foam ball.  The flower pot was one I had found on clearance at JoAnns.

 

 My son is quite proud of how it turned out.  

(I am too!)

Well that's all I got for now.

I'm going to get back to my hot glue gun and craft glue!

TTFN!

My (late) New Year's Resolution

   Actually, I made the resolution for New Years to lose some weight, but only halfheartedly.  There was too much yummy stuff in the house to be serious! 

   However, now my hubby is talking about making plans for our 15th anniversary someplace warm... and sandy... and ocean-y.  Our 15th will be next summer (18 months from now)  and we have always said we wanted to go back where we went for our honeymoon - Jamaica!  SO, the long and short of it is this: I'm wanting to go down 2 or 3 sizes. 

   Now I HAD lost some weight a year or so ago, but I kinda gave up on my treadmill and didn't really give up the extra calories the treadmill allowed me.  

BUT NO MORE! 

I'm back to serious!

  I have my calorie counter app on my phone all set up and ready. (I seriously HAVE to have that app!  I don't know how people managed to diet smart before such things came to be!)  

  I have my running shoes out again (a-hem - there will probably be more walking than running till I get back into things!)

  Also I found the neatest idea on pintrest! 
Here's my version of the idea

  link to where I got the idea

  Each little gem (plastic hearts from Target) in the one glass represents a pound I want to loose.  As I loose the pounds, the gems get to moved to the other glass.  Visual motivation!         Now I know that as I get into my exercise routine again muscle will be made, and there's the whole muscle to fat ratio thing..blah, blah.... That has all been taken into account!  

I just need a visual to get me going!

So, Happy Monday!

I'm off for a run/walk!

So, Here it Goes!

As I'm very new to blogging and have much to learn, this is going to be a very short entry.  Not sure where I'm going to go with this blog (or where it will take me!), but for now I will probably just write about life here at our house and our little adventures.