Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Today, was such a great birthday! It started with Ryan letting me sleep in until 9! He made me breakfast too! After we all got ready for the day, I dropped Ryan off for classes, went to Jo Ann's for some crafts, and then we found a FANTASTIC library. This might have been one of the BEST birthday gifts, because I have had a REALLY hard time finding things to do with my kiddos here. Woo Hoo! We checked out about 20 books:)

We then decided to splurge on dinner:) We ended up at the Olive Garden (which is one of my faves). Tortellini, peach tea, and CHOCOLATE CAKE. I LOVE CHOCOLATE CAKE.

Of course I didn't take any pics of today... which I fully inteded on doing.

BUT here are some pics of a few of those great deals I got last week:

 (brown jacket- $12)

 (green 3/4 sleeve jacket- $5)

(orange flutter sleeve top $3)

Not my favorite pics of myself, but it was one of those days where I just couldn't get a good pic of myself. Oh well- cute clothes for me!!! (sometimes I don't know if I am more excited about the clothes, or just the awesome deals I find...)

Open for Business

My friend Nikki gave me some inspiration for helping with chores through her blog (which you can find here). We decided to scrap the whole chore chart thing. I honestly hated the chore charts. I love that I can teach my children about earning money and saving for things instead. We had a lot of fun this week passing out paper money and the boys were extra helpful with their chores.

I liked how Nikki doesn't take away money for bad behavior... she's right, that's no fun! Of course I had to motivate them a occassionally to keep trying to earn money (especially since they hadn't been shopping at our fun store yet). Overall, I just LOVE this idea! We will definitely be doing this every week!

This week we had things like silly putty, hot wheels, stickers, glue sticks, and most definitely a treat or two:)

I enjoyed watching them count their money:)

(by the way... that's Ethan's poor busted lip :( .   He slipped in the kitchen a couple days ago and I thought it would be a trip to urgent care, but thankfully it has been healing quickly!)

I found the template for the play money on the stinky kids web page. Check it out!

Cold Weather Cowl

I found this great pattern for a puff stitch scarf, so I thought I'd share my version with you! It is such a simple pattern and took me all of an hour to make it. I wore it all day today... out and in. Let me tell you- COMFY!

I think the flower pin adds a lot to the look.

You can find the original pattern here. I used an extra HUGE crochet needle. Not really sure what size. One of those plastic ones. I also kept the length short and sewed the ends together. I think I will try a longer one next time and see what the double wrap looks like on me:) 

Also... did you notice the new bang? I've worn them like this before, but I am loving my new haircut. So easy to do and it even looks decent when I don't do it!

I got some AMAZING deals this week at my work. They were offering all of the employees an extra 50% off clearance! The paid only $2 for the flower pin and get this... $4 for the cardigan and $5 for the jeans! I couldn't pass up deals like these, so I got quite a few items. I will be posting more outfits later:)

Sawyer's ONE!!!

I sure did plan on posting this A LOT earlier than now, but with a week full of sickies in our home... it just didn't happen. Last Saturday was Ryan's 31st birthday (I know, old guy... right?). Since it was only a few days before Sawyer's first birthday, Ryan said it would be good to share his day with his baby girl:) I planned a small party for her complete with lots of pink! My sister, bro-in-law, and nephew came out for the fun too. One problem... this was the start of the sickness in our home. Ryan woke up sick on his birthday with the stomach bug so he had to miss out completely. Thankfully the boys didn't get it until later and Sawyer and I seemed to escape the worste of it. Whew!

We still managed to salvage a pretty good day for her party and it was nice to see my sis and her fam. I am SO thankful that we live in the same state!

 I think I am going to pounce on it!

 Ok... this is good...

 REALLY GOOD!

 Now I am ready to sleep:)

Tyler and Saywer are only 3 weeks apart! His 1st birthday is just around the corner!

Oh and yes.... Sawyer is finally crawling! She has been pretty "lazy" about getting around to doing this, but now I can't keep up with her! Only a matter of time until all three of my kids are walking!



Tutu torial

For Sawyer's first birthday we decided on a princess fairy theme... of course. I made this fun little tutu for her to wear at her party and thought I'd share! It's super simple and super cute!
                                                   

 NO SEW reversible tutu:

You will need:

  3 different colors of tule, 1 yard each

  1/4" elastic

  scissors

  ribbon if desired or any extra embellishments you want to add

1. You will want to start with 2" or so strips of tulle. (I purchased 3 yards total from 3 different colored bolts and had a bit left over) It is not super important to keep the measurements exact so just lay out your tulle and cut away. For mine, I did two separate lengths. (You may want to just purchase the tulle ribbon rolls which will make for easier cutting. I wanted different colors than what was available.)

2. For the lightest color, I cut one yard worth of strips to about 18" long (keep in mind they will be folded in half, so the length once on the tutu, is about half that).

3. For the darker colors I cut the strips to about 9".

4. Measure your elastic and tie the ends in a knot to form a circle.

5. Start adding your tulle strips to the elastic circle:

Fold 2 strips, (depending on the desired length) leaving a loop at the top.



Place the loop behind the elastic band.

Draw the ends through the loop.

Twist the the tulle downward, making sure not to twist the elastic.

Push the loop to the side and keep adding! I did one color at a time, with each new color being added in between the previous colors. For the green, I did 1 strip at a time and placed them in between every space.

Push your longer strips to the bottom of the tutu, keeping the shorter ones on top. This gives your tutu a layered look.

Just keep adding strips until you run out or until it looks full.

Here are the finished looks:

Please feel free to comment or ask any questions!