Saturday, November 10, 2012

how to celebrate a weekend.

1. wake up early enough to watch teenage mutant ninja turtles. be quiet not to wake the sister. she'll make you change the channel to this or this, instead.
2. be patient while mommy makes these. if you arrive at just the right moment "to help" you may get to clean up some of the cinnamon sugar from the counter... with your tongue.

mom's been testing cinnamon roll recipes for two weeks! and believe me when i tell you these are the best she's made -- by far!
she used the dough from this recipe and the following icing.
cream cheese frosting:
1 stick of butter, softened
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
beat the butter and cream cheese until well combined.
add the vanilla and the sugar.
keep beating and scraping down the sides of the bowl until the frosting is light, fluffy and fully combined.
happy monday!

Thursday, November 8, 2012

what i found.

yesterday morning, while doing the laundry...



when our youngest was first born, i joined a mommy-baby class at church. i remember one of our first meetings like it was yesterday. a woman in her forties whose kids were nearly grown asked, "name one big hope for your child." i answered quickly, "i hope she's a reader." i had just left my job as a third grade teacher to stay home with this new little bundle. it seemed like the natural answer, and to be honest, a genuine hope for my little baby.

years later, i can see the naivety of my hope. there are, after all, many hopes i have for my girl --that she would be caring and kind, that she would love deeply, and that she would live with integrity and purpose.

but i'm so very glad she's a reader, too.

when i was blog-hosting over at wcs a few weeks ago, i shared these book labels as a gift idea. a little heads up -- i'm working on some printable labels for you all. check back. i hope to have them up later this week, or early next.

note: melissa, shoot me an email at mrsclaus09 at gmail dot com. i've got some fun mail for you! :)

and with that, wishing you all a very...

happy wednesday!

Monday, September 10, 2012

remembering.

it's sunny out and all i can think about is how my windows need washing and the counter tops need dusting. funny, isn't it? how spring-cleaning is an urge many of us get every single spring? it was in the midst of a little organizing the other day, when i stumbled upon a few layouts. they were meant for a book project, but didn't end up making the cut. in fact, they sat in a binder on my bookshelf, not even integrated with the rest of my pages (which, at the moment, are in stacks on said bookshelf!). i'd forgotten about them completely.




it was a few years ago -- may of '08, to be exact, when we took the kids to disneyland and california adventure for the first time. we were there one looooooooooooooooooong week. fortunately, there was so much to see and do. stumbling upon this page, i realized how much i'd forgotten about this trip -- the high school musical show we attended (that anna could hardly wait to see!), the ice-cream dinner (man, i'm a fun mom!), and the cute little mickey ears the kids wore non-stop! what a fun trip down memory-lane.

i love scrapbooking.

happy tuesday!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

books and more books.

anna and i both like to read more than one book at a time. her nightstand is often piled higher than mine.

i'm a third of the way through this:


and more than halfway through this:



and hoping to crack this open sometime this week:



and on anna's bookshelf is this:



and this, by the author of the babysitter's club:



and this one, that we're reading together (andrew clements writes books parents can't wait to read aloud):



happy sunday!


Friday, June 8, 2012

too fun not to share.


how's that for some weird kind of theology. ;) totally reminds me of my first landlord who's toolkit was stocked with the silver tape. i wonder if he knew it could be used for more than household repair?

like this.


or this.



i just spent a good 30+ minutes over at this site. i'm afraid my plans for laundry may be scrapped today. i think my little guy would enjoy making this!
happy wednesday!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

i'm not here.

i'm blog-hosting over here today. and i'd love for you to stop by and see what i've been up to.

happy friday!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

aprons on my mind.

i bake. a lot. of course, i do have helpers -- they're 5 and 7, and really good at licking the beaters. :)

a few years ago, everyone got aprons for christmas. we love wearing them -- they make us feel so official.

i bought one for my niece who was a toddler at the time. i searched and searched looking for one that wouldn't be too big. of course, i found one on etsy! this one was juuuuuuuuuuuuust right -- and it's reversible!




i loved it so much i wanted to get some for my kids, however, i knew these would be too small -- and i needed one that was a little more boyish for my littlest guy.

enter williams-sonoma. i found these and immediately ordered two with the kids' names on them. one pink, one red.

darling!



since then, i've had a little thing for aprons. i'm certain i could make one -- if only i could find a pattern i like.

a little internet search revealled i need not leave my office to find a pattern that's cute and free, even! the fabric, however, is another matter.

check out whoopsie diasies. she even does a tutorial!
and this one over at feathered nest. another tutorial!
and don't forget this over at my byrd house made out of a dishtowel and a few scraps of fabric!

ah! fun!

happy st. patrick's day!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

love list: spring break edition.

i don't know about where you live, but in these parts it's spring break. that means we don't get out of our jammies until 10ish, and spend the greater part of each day making crafty-messes. :)

so for today i thought i'd share a list of crafty things i'm obsessing over.

fabric number banners. i've wanted to make one of these for years. of course, with banners everywhere these days, the urge has only gotten stronger! this darling banner looks like something straight out of anthropologie, only you can make it out of your fabric scraps. sigh. i'm in love!

felted knitted bowls. i've been knitting a long time, but this bowl could be completed by even the most beginner knitter (as long as you've got a good knitter's reference book like this one). i'm seriously obsessed with these little bowls! like, they're invading my dreams, even. :)

knitted grocery bags. since i have trouble working on only one knitting project at a time, i'm about half-way through this pattern. what a great way to use up that leftover cotton yarn in my stash! wouldn't this look cute going to and from the market full of summer veggies?

egg-carton garden. a little over a month ago, i pulled out my old jiffy greenhouse full of hope. we picked up some new jiffy pellets (aka dirt in compostable pantyhose) along with a selection of seeds. the kids planted, watered and placed in sunlight as directed. unfortunately, for the second year in a row, only a third of our seed sprouted! i found this little tutorial the other day. we're going to try this today, this time, using some good old planting soil. everything you need to make your own egg-carton garden will likely be on hand. the cardboard egg carton, the potting soil and the seeds. well, maybe not the seeds! unless you're like me and have oodles of leftovers from your failed jiffy pots! i'll let you know how it turns out.

shrinky dink necklaces. my 35 year old brother came over the other day in the midst of some serious shrinky-dink designing. my kids had plastic pages out and were coloring easter egg and cross designs using sharpie markers. then j said, "you know, if you put a hole at the top, it'll still be there when it shrinks. you could use it to make a necklace!" he showed off a big grin, like he'd uncovered one of the world's best kept secrets, to which my kids replied (without even lifting their eyes), "we know." ouch. he bounced back quickly, though, but grabbing a sheet and coloring his own shrinky-dink easter egg. he even took it home. :) shrinky dinks are magic! here's a step-by-step tutorial if you're interested.

ribbon flip flops. my kids cleaned out the front hall closet yesterday. i was shocked at the volume of flip-flops that had taken up valuable real-estate in our tiny entry closet all winter long! we quickly bagged up the too-small flip flops, making room for our more needed tennies and rain boots (we had hail yesterday, after all!). it got me thinking about flip-flips, though. in just a month we'll all be wearing them. they'll replace the rain boots as the go-to-in-a-hurry footwear, and once again our closet will be packed. a trip to michaels or ben franklin and those boring old-navy flippies go from snore to score. ;) here's a link.

happy wednesday!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

it may not look like much.



if you're living in hawaii or (heck!) anywhere else but here, it won't look like much. but if you've been nearly drowning in rain and hail this just might make you crack a smile.

i did.

four straight days with no rain in sight! so says weatherbug!

what would you do with this kind of news?

here's what sounds good to me:
  • have the shingles on our house stained. it's time. seriously!
  • take the dog for a good. long. walk.
  • thin my veggie garden.
  • watch anna's riding lessons from outside the car.
it's not a long list, but it's a start.
i'm guarding my morning so that i can do a little scrapbooking. i'm working on a mini album that makes me giddy.
in other news, this week is teacher appreciation week. we've been showering our teachers with little thank yous all week. if i get my act together, i may make each of my kids' teachers one of these.
if you're short on time and just want to print something to give, check out these super cute printables over at creature comforts.
wishing you a little bit of sun today. happy thursday!

Friday, March 2, 2012

july, in review.

seriously. where did july go? i'm happy to report we did NOT spend the entire month in pajamas (not that there's anything wrong with that...), but spent a lot of time together as a family -- much needed!


we had a wonderful week, just the four of us, here. we saw spinner dolphins and went hiking in the rain forest and spent countless hours lounging by the pool. it was just what we needed after what has been a difficult spring.
we returned home excited for a wonderful week of vbs camp, followed by a visit from mike's parents. we took them to the zoo, a mariners v. red sox game and headed to the beach. in all, it was a july to remember.
happy monday. happy august!

Monday, January 2, 2012

come on over.




... to write. click. scrapbook., that is. i'll be blog-hosting all week, monday through friday, on the topic of birthdays. hope to see you there.

happy monday!