Always watching...

I have known this little guy is Daddy's #1 fan for quite some time.  I have also known that he watches EVERYTHING his Daddy does.  What I didn't know was that he was also doing this little routine...
I used my stealth skills to capture this little picture.  He ties his towel {like his Daddy} and puts on deodorant {also like his Daddy}.  I know kids watch {and listen to} everything, but wow!

Lesson learned...good thing this little guy has such a positive roll model.

Thankful Craftiness

  Unfortunately I have gotten out of the habit of blogging, and the longer I wait, the more overwhelming it gets.  For that reason, I'm not going to waste precious time with my Mom guilt...I'm just going to dive on in and play catch up.

No Better way to get back into the blogging spirit than to start with a thankful post.
This house has been really focusing on being grateful for everything that we have.  Not just this month, but all year.  So I thought since the spotlight is on thankfulness this time of year I needed a few things to really hit this idea home, not just with the kids, but all of us.

I started with this adorable banner as a daily reminder.  I found the inspiration, and FREE printable letters here.  Then of course I put my own twist on them and mounted them to thick card-stock in the shape of flags.  I love how it turned out!

My next little project was really fun for the kids.  Lets face it though, ANY time I get out the finger paints, they are SUPER excited!

I simply printed this tree {which can be used for so many things by the way} and inserted my wording.  Then I got out some fall colored finger paints and let the boys go to town with finger print leaves.  How cute is this?!?!

Last, and certainly the most fun and meaningful, I made a little garland on our chandelier.  Nothing fancy, but worth while.  Everyday each of us writes one thing {and it can be ANYTHING! }we are thankful for on a leaf, smear a little glitter glue on it and hang it with a clothespin.   

I can not tell you how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!  You can make a fireplace garland a larger tree and "pin the leaf on the tree".  Whatever you do, this one is worth it.     

So now go ahead and show your gratitude.  

Grammy and the Grandsons

 This Grammy now has three grandsons!
They barely fit on her lap.
And yes, she had to bribe Ty with a dollar to pose for the picture.

Happy Halloween!

We had another happy Halloween this year.  We have a great neighborhood full of kids, so I bought a few ginormous bags of candy and we went through it all.  We went door to door begging for sweets and let me tell you, the boys had this whole trick-or-treating thing down!  They were so fast and moved from house to house to house etc...We actually had trouble keeping up with them!  When we got home and I noticed we were out of candy, Ty dumped all of their candy into the treat basket and {much to my dismay} and to the boys delight, it was FULL again!  
Hello sugar coma?!?!

Vampire Aaron and Obi Wan Kenobi getting ready to head out.

Ty and Aaron, with their friends...

This is Aaron's all time favorite holiday and we really went all out.  We decorated inside and out and even went all out with hair color and make up.  The boy was in heaven all night.  As soon as we walked in the door after trick-or-treating, it began pouring rain.  I looked over at Aaron and he looked a little bit sad.  When I asked him why, he said he was really unhappy that he had 365 more days until next Halloween but to him it would feel like a million.  Life's rough when you're a kid...

Spooky crafts

I know, I know, this would have been nice to see before Halloween, but better late that never.  I prefer to think of it as planning ahead for next year.

So I was so excited to find this FREE printable kit of spook decor to spruce up my mantle with.  It is called the Witches Larder and it even comes with cupcake toppers, menus and place cards if you're throwing a party.  I stuck with the decor items, but it was so easy that I think I have to do a banner for every holiday now.
All I had to do was print, cut and glue!
You can go as crazy as you want with it, and I'll probably pick it up a notch next year, but this is what I did this time.  So easy and so fun!

Click here for the free printable kit and have fun with it!

I used black glue sticks in my glue gun to create the top of the poison potion.  I spray painted my mason jar lids and found some spooky jar fillers at the dollar tree.

I used mini chocolate chips for witches moles and marshmallows for Luna Moth eggs.

The banner was the best part!  I printed it on heavy card-stock and used a hole punch and twine tied with knots.

I really had fun with it and plan on adding to it next year so stay tuned...

Mister Marky 6 weeks old!

I simply couldn't resist snapping a few more of this little guy.  He's getting so dang cute!!!

 

Yeee-haw little cowboy!

Home-made Playdough

Another thing I don't always say yes to is play-dough   It's just so crumbly and messy!  Well, the boys LOVE it so a friend told me homemade play-dough is nowhere near as crumbly and guess what? Not only was she right, but its super easy and cheap to make. 

Here's my recipe:

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix first 4 ingredients in a sauce pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 3 – 5 minutes. The dough will  form a “clump”.  Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a super long time stored in a covered plastic container or baggie.

Ty had a bit of an issue with the scent of it so I put a few drops of my lavender essential oils in and operation play-dough relaxation was achieved   I got out rolling pins and cookie cutters and they had so much fun!