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Monday, February 27, 2012

House Guests


-House Guests-

My baby sister and brother were in for a quick visit this weekend, and it was wonderful having them here.  The boys don’t get to seem them very often, but when they do it’s as though no time has passed since their last visit.  Michael (my brother) and Abby left right as the boys were going up for a nap.  Michael woke up and said, “They coming back, Mama?”  I sure hope they do sooner rather than later.  I love those kids, even though they aren’t kids anymore.


AND... A BIG SHOUT OUT TO AUNTIE ABBY!!  SHE WILL BE TURNING 20 ON MARCH 2ND!!  SEE, NOT KIDS ANYMORE.  
WE LOVE YOU, AUNTIE ABBY.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Chippy Goodness


Chippy Goodness
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Thursday is my new favorite day of the week.  Actually, it’s kind of always been Thursdays, but now for reasons other than I could generally start my weekend.  Can you say ESTATE SALES?!  I know, this is probably no news to anyone who loves rare finds, but for the last few years I haven’t really been able to manage nap schedules, snack schedules, feeding schedules and estate sale schedules.  But, the glorious year is here!  Where Michael and William are on the exact same schedule, which makes my life a hell of a lot easier!  The boys even look forward to sales now, because I do promise them that they can pick one item they would like to take home.  Michael always, always, always picks an antique car of some sort and William, well, William likes whatever Michael picks out.  Anywho, today I dropped by a sale in Naperville, a large sale.  I was looking for a “new”crock for my kitchen utensils, but for whatever reason the crocks were ridiculously priced so I moved on.  I know, I know, old windows may be old news but I ‘ve been on the hunt for the perfect window for my office and today I found one.  Perfect, chippy gooness to the tune of $10.  Ahhh, finally.  I am going to cut some pennats to hang from it to give it a pop of color, but I had to share my favorite find of the day.  Also a good find, vintage Illinois license plates that will eventually decorate the boys’ bedroom.  It was a good day.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Super Brothers.

Super Brothers
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These ridiculously cute shirts can be found @ BabyGap!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Valentines Day Projects


Valentines Day Projects
Wanna know what I do with all of my “spare” time these days?  I spend every single minute of it on Pinterest.  I’m not kidding.  You must be living under a rock if you haven’t jumped on this bandwagon yet.  Let’s just say that a number of my projects start with an idea I saw on Pinterest, and maybe I changed a thing or two, and maybe I didn’t.  But, I can tell you that I have yet to be disappointed with a project I’ve attempted to tackled.  This past week and weekend were dedicated to Michael’s valentines for his classmates, goodie bags for his party and the valentines we send out each year to our closest family members and friends.  

Friends and family valentines were a no brainer.  The second I saw this tutorial I couldn't resist...
Left: Original Tutorial  Right: Our pile of valentines!
I decided to forgo the stickers the original poster used for her message and relied on my best friend, the Sharpie, since I was making 18 of these bad boys.  I was so happy with the result, and they were not nearly as time consuming as I expected with all of those little fingers to cut out.  

Next up, valentines for Michael's classmates and goodie bags for his party.  I knew immediately what was going in the goodie bags.  Shopping for 2/3 year-olds is maybe the easiest of shopping.  So, I relied on my favorite party supply store Shop Sweet Lulu for the cutie patootie bags and let a shopping trip to Target and one super quick Pinterest project complete these bags o' loot. 


The tough decision this year was which valentine to go with for each of Michael’s classmates.  I had so many choices, but school rules kinda restricted in which direction I could go.  As I’m sure you’ll find now at most schools all of the treats brought into the classroom now must be prepackaged and purchased from a store.  Nothing homemade and nothing can be removed from its original packaging.  Let me paraphrase this for you- none of the good stuff.  This is absolutely the only rule at his school that bothers me.  Allergies smallergies.  Come on!!  They are taking the fun out of it for me.  Ok, I’m done ranting.  Anywho... these were the top contenders for Michael’s valentines (all Pinterest inspired of course!).

1, 23, 4
I loved all of them.  Some didn’t work because the treats had been repackaged at home.  Others weren't quite age appropriate yet.  So... I improvised and this is what I came up with...


And, VOILA... Store bought treats with a fun twist.  My mother-in-law asked me the other day if I will ever be the mom who buys a box of valentines from the store.  I simply replied no.  I always had the boxed valentines growing up, and I loved preparing them every year.  Then somewhere in my early 20's as I was spending my days going to school and teaching preschool something came over me.  I started adding twists to everything.  I love going the extra inch.  It's a disease actually.  I just can't wait for the boys to jump in and help me with this list of never ending "inches".  Now, what the heck do I do for the husband for Valentines Day?!  And, P.S.- this valentines day I ESPECIALLY LOVE YOU, PINTEREST!!

Friday, February 10, 2012

Comfortable.

Comfortable.
Michael’s at school this morning, and I’m paying bills.  William climbed into my lap- here I thought he was going to write a couple of checks.  Nope, just needed a quick snooze.


Brotherly Love



I snapped this pic last night.  Melts my heart.  They are becoming the best of friends!