Don't Underestimate Mommy

These make great gifts. I just made 4 of these for O's teachers at school. I should have waited for teacher appreciation, but just couldn't help myself when I came across the tutorial on Pinterest. Here's the how to: Materials: -clipboard -Mod Podge (matte) -paint brush -scrapbook paper (I used multiple pages/designs) -scissors or exacto knife -embellishments (optional) -paint (optional) 1. Start by tracing the clip board to fit the scrapbook paper(s). The tricky part will be the clamp at the top. I traced the part that I could and eyeballed the rest to cut out so the paper would fit around the opening. Once I figured out the first one, I created a template to have for the rest and for future ones I make. 2. Paint your first coat of mod podge onto your clipboard (I did this in sections, since I used two different paper designs.) and adhere paper. Use the side or heel of your hand to smooth out any bubble or wrinkles. Let dry. 3. Repeat step 2. if you are usin...

It's hard to believe that Luigi has been with us for only 2 weeks. It feels like he's been hanging around much longer. He's been a very busy elf; spending his nights reporting to Santa about the boys and mommy and daddy's behavior. Once all of his work with Santa is complete he sure knows how to have fun. Here is a run down of Luigi's first 2 weeks at our house. 1. Luigi arrived bright and early on Sunday, December 1. He showed up with breakfast for all of us. 2. Milk and candy cane cookies for Luigi's midnight snack. 3. Luigi was bored and colored O a picture with his two favorite colors, red and green. 4.  Luigi is a real prankster. Drew a mustache on O's school picture...even left a message telling Owen that he's watching and to be good! 5.  Midnight movie? The crazy part is I don't even know who the girl is or how she got in the house.  #elfontheshelfgonebad 6.  Looks like someone wet for a joy ride last night... 7.  Luigi has lots of tri...

It's not like I actually need a daily reminder of how many days there are until Christmas. The inner child in me already knows. It's the crafty mama in me that NEEDED to make this cute little count down charger. What you'll need: Charger- I choose red, but you could go with whatever color you want. Also keep in mind that you could used this for other holidays as well. Chalk paint Paint brush Embellishments- I used ribbon. You could also use rhinestones and, scrapbook paper etc. to embellish. Step 1 - Paint the inner circle of your charger. This will take at least 2 coats. I did three. You will need to do these coats throughout the day to give each coat enough time to dry before applying the next coat. Step 2 - Embellish! I kept it simple and just put a bow on the top of mine. I used festive wire ribbon and my trusty glue gun to adhere.  Step 3- Write your message. In this case it was XX days till Christmas! Need to know how many days till Christmas? w...

Hello friends or should I say, Gobble, Gobble as my friend Tucker the Turkey Wreath would say. This is the simplest wreath I have made yet! You can crank this out in just a couple of hours even with kids crawling up your legs. Tucker the Turkey Wreath Originally inspired by,  Thom The Turkey Tulle Wreath Tutorial. What you'll need- styrofoam wreath brown yarn 50-75 yards of yellow, orange, burgundy/red tulle (I bought by the spool, cheaper and much easier to cut) You can find at Jo-Ann Fabrics, Michael's Arts and Crafts and even Wal-Mart 2 small styrofoam balls for the eyes 1 small styrofoam cone for the beak 1 sheet of red craft foam or felt ( I actually used 3 in red out door ribbon I had on hand) yellow paint black paint or paint marker ( I used a paint marker to draw the eyes on) 3 tooth picks I started by painting my beak and eye balls. I then stuck the tooth picks into them and stuck them into the wreath to dry. Next I cu...

The Mister thinks I am a bit crazy and rightfully so. I just can't help it...I am so excited to introduce Elf on the Shelf this year. I wanted to do it last year, but O was too young. I actually bought the Elf last year after Christmas when it was on sale at Barnes and Noble. So here is where the crazy (according to the Mister) comes in... I am going to have an "Elf Introduction" breakfast. God bless my husband because he goes along happily with all of my crazy antics. I have to admit, this is not my unique idea. Guess where I found it? Yup, you're right, Pinterest. I was inspired by "In Between Laundry's" post, "Our 1st Elf Breakfast" . I can't wait to have the power of  "good behavior manipulation!" I know it sounds horrible, but how easy it will make life. Hopefully no more intense toddler negotiating. All I'll have to do is mention the Elf's name. Which bring us to our first order of business for this breakfast...h...

If you're like me you tend to hold onto all those instruction manuals that come with appliances, toys, baby gear etc. At first I use to just toss them into a "junk drawer." The good news is that I knew where to find them. The bad news is that they were unorganized and a mess, thus always making it a challenge to find the one I was looking for. My first attempt to organize this mess was with a 2 inch binder and sheet protectors like the ones pictured below. It actually worked for awhile, about 2 years, but then it just got out of control. The manuals became too heavy for the sheet protectors and were starting to tear. Plus the binder just wasn't big enough. I ignored the problem for some time. It was like the closet you open, shove something in and close quickly before its contents can come tumbling out.  So my solution... a file box, file folders and tabs...viola! Simple, inexpensive and piece of mind. Now, I can find, access and/or file my manua...

As with all of the holidays I like to give a little something to O's teachers/caregivers. It's the least I can do. I entrust these lovely ladies with the safety of my little man. The challenging part of crafting is not spending an arm and a leg on some of these projects. Sometimes I find myself in the check out line at Michael's or JoAnn's with a cart full of items and a receipt that could be mistaken for a small trip to Publix! Good thing the Mister doesn't itemize our monthly statement. Bugs & Kisses Goody Jars Germs are Scary Hand Sanitizer Both gifts above were super cute, simple and inexpensive. Bugs & Kisses goody jars are full of Hershey kisses, hence the Bugs & "Kisses." I found the adorable FREE printable on Pinterest at Tammy Mitchell Designs . I printed it and matted it to some orange card stock I already had. The goody jar is actually a salsa jar that I re purposed. I was able to take of the sticker label with...

Fall is finally here! For us Floridians it may be hard to tell though. Temperatures are still in the high 80's and low 90's. Actually as I write this post, I look at the window and am reminded that we are in the thick of Hurricane season. Since Fall is hard to come by in this neck of the woods, I do my best to bring Fall into our home with decorations. Thought I would share with you how Fall is shaping up in our house. This is my favorite. We just bought this mantle for the living room about a month ago. This is the first time I am decorating it and I had a blast doing so. Our Fall Mantle Next, are a few random shots from around the house capturing our Fall spirit. Lastly, what was suppose to be my porch decor. I decided to keep this at the entryway inside the house. With all the rain we have, I didn't want to take the chance of it getting ruined. Hopefully, I'll be able to move it outside as we get closer to Halloween. This is still a bit of a ...

I saw this cute little craft on Pinterst and decided to recreate it for our door this year. I believe the rule of thumb is that if the lights are off the house is either out of candy or just doesn't want trick or treaters. Pretty simple, right? Well maybe this is not a universal rule or maybe the kids in my neighborhood are just plain relentless. The last two years living here we've had visitors after we've turned our light off. Hopefully this will help. My inspiration came from Eleven Magnolia Lane's  Halloween Must -Have: Out of Treats door sign. My inspiration from Eleven Magnolia Lane     My spin on the trick or treat door sign What you'll need: Wooden Halloween cut out- I choose a large pumpkin, but you could pick a smaller and/or different cut out like a black cat, witches hat, bat, etc. 2 smaller wooden pumpkin pieces or whichever cut out you choose Paint/paint brush - I used orange since I choose a pumpkin Ribbon (I choose a 2 inch ribbon...

P without Zantac P with Zantac Having a reflux baby is the pits and I mean that in a nice way. Our little Moose, P has been on Zantac for 2 months now. It has changed our lives and most importantly his. Out of the blue, someone in our house (not me) decided he was doing so well we should take him off of it. Ummm, maybe he's doing so well because the Zantac is working, duh! Well after two days without the Zantac, P went full blown reflux monster. It started yesterday morning. I noticed his was fidgety and a little irritable. Next came the spit up after feeding and that's when it dawned on me this was all because someone got the bright idea to stop the Zantac. I was not about to wait around and see how things played out. So back on the Zantac we went. I was hoping, no, praying that the Zantac would take effect immediately, but as we know from when we started, it doesn't work that quick. It can actually take up to a week. Lord, have mercy on me, please! Lucky for us...

What's not to love about football season? Good food, tailgating (of course from the couch these days) and some adult beverages. Sounds good to me. Last year, I shared with you our Florida State Football Wreath. Click here for the tutorial. Like the good wife I am, I made one last season for the Mister's Alma Mater, but not my own. Correction, I started my UCF wreath, I just never finished it. So I dug out the half finished wreath and decided I would finish it this weekend. Better late then never, right?  I think it looks great! I am so excited and proud to hang this on our front door (of course next to the FSU one.) Just need to figure out how I am going to fit both of them on the door.

So it turns out I am more of a sissy then I had originally thought. Sleep training is some serious stuff and this girl had no idea just what she was in for.  So before I admit to you that we had the strategy  all wrong and share our new strategy, I'll recap how nights 5 & 6 went down. Night 5- I was under the impression this would get easier as we went along...not the case. I think it's actually gotten worse. No wait, I know it has gotten worse. P was up at 1:00 a.m. like clockwork. We went through the soothe, put down, walk out routine 3 times, for a total of 39 minutes. On the fourth trip to his bedroom, the sissy (mommy) inside me gave in. I just couldn't take it anymore. I fed him. He slept till 6:30 a.m.  I started to give my strategy some thought. Since he seemed to be truly hungry at 1:00 a.m, maybe I should switch the feeding I was trying to eliminate. Feed at 1:00 and soothe at 4:00. Easy peasy, right? Wrong! Night 6-  We were determin...

The time had come and to be honest, the idea had been creeping in and out of this busy brain of mine for some time. I finally did it; I pulled the trigger and began the sleeping training process last Thursday night. There are a host of reasons one sleep trains. I'll share ours (or really mine since I am the one to get up with P and sometimes O during the night): P began eating less during the day. Why? Because I had basically conditioned him into a nighttime eater. To elaborate the above...P started waking 2 times a night to eat. 1/1:30 a.m. and 4/4:30 a.m.. I am not talking have a little snack. I am talking polish off a 5-6 oz bottle with 1 TBS of rice cereal.  At 4 months, P  weighs 16.4 lbs. That is more then double his birth weight. So as you can see, he is not starving. Lastly, it gets old waking up each morning tired.  Yes, the last reason is a selfish one. Let's be honest though, a tired, worn down mommy does not make for a very productive or fun momm...

Looking for a delicious treat on a hot summer afternoon? Look no more, I've found it. I pinned this little recipe a while back and decide it was time to experiment. My real motivation was a healthier alternative to dessert for O. So I guess I can consider it a win-win. Healthier dessert for O and a tasty treat for me on a hot afternoon. It's super easy, I promise. I think it took me all of 10 minutes to prepare. You can check out this recipe at  FitSugar.com What you'll need: Bananas (5) Greek fat free vanilla yogurt (2 ounces) Peanut Butter (1 tablespoon) Mix 1 mashed banana, tablespoon of peanut butter and 2 ounces of yogurt and set aside. Next slice your remaining bananas into approximately 1 inch slices. Take half of your slices and spread mix onto bananas. Top with the remaining half of banana slices. Freeze at least 2 hours. Yum-O!

...So yummy, who would have thought. So I've decided to turn over a new leaf (pun intended).  We are a family are going to start a cleaner eating life style. Let me be clear, the goal is not to be extreme, but more conscious about what we eat. There are certain things I am just not ready to give up- coffee, diet coke, chick- fl-a french fries, pizza...well you get the point. Like I said, I won't be making extreme changes, just more conscious choices. The fun started yesterday when I bought my new toy, the Nutribullet. I made my first Nutriblast smoothie last night. I chose to start with their Toxin cleansing blast (spinach, pear, banana, apple, pineapple and water) and to my surprise it was delicious!     So what does this have to do with Kale Chips??? Well, I got crazy in the produce section at Fresh Market and bought a little to much kale. Good thing I pinned a baked kale chips recipe eons ago. This great little recipe is from the blog, "Playing With Our Food, ...

Oh, how I've missed you. It's been some time since I posted. How I managed to get that Mother's Day post off, still amazes me. Truth be told, I've actually been writing posts... in my head that is. The hard part is actually finding the time to put those thoughts in writing here. If I do manage to find some free time for me, there seems to be something else that "MUST" get done. So my apologies to myself for not keeping up with my writing. Okay, enough of my sob story. The real reason I am writing today is to share with you the chaos of my laundry room. The laundry room is one of my favorite rooms in our house. I know, call me crazy. I happen to spend a lot of time in here, so I may as well like it. I love all the extra storage the cabinets give me for my sheets, crafts and other miscellaneous "stuff." I also love the big tub sink. I am still trying to figure out how 4 people make so much laundry. I think there are little gremlins that sneak in wh...

If you're looking for a unique gift for mom or the special woman in your life... look no further. This is the gift that will keep on giving and please everyone. As I mentioned in my last post, I treated myself to a couple of Mother's Day gifts a little early this year. At about 35 weeks into my pregnancy extreme exhaustion had set back in. The late afternoons and early evenings were rough. All I wanted to do was lay on the couch. The thought of making dinner...well just forget about it. Standing at the stove was killing my back and ankles. Any of you who saw my kankles would understand what I am talking about. Needless to say, we were eating a lot of takeout, breakfast for dinner or simply just inviting ourselves over to my in-laws for dinner. It's a good thing they live around the corner and my MIL in an excellent cook. It was at that point I decided I was going to treat myself and my family to a food preparation service (Happy Mother's Day to me!). I wanted to find ...