Napkin Rings Tutorial

Because I'm feeling like a dork and am telling myself I have nothing better to do I thought I'd share the napkin rings I made for our Thanksgiving dinner. If you will be at our Thanksgiving dinner please kindly pretend you never saw these little cuties and upon seeing them on the table on Thursday act shocked and amazed at them and most importantly forgive this horrid run-on sentence!

Here we go: You'll need some good old Elmer's (or craft glue), double sided tape and scissors (please try to find ones that are sharper than mine. I think gnawing the ribbon with my teeth would have gone faster!)

You'll also want some type of silk flowers. (These are some of the leftovers from my extravagant spending trip to Michaels. They cost me a whole 19 cents!!! And I didn't even use all of them! Lunacy!!)
There's the glue. It helps if you don't have a defective one so you won't have to use a q-tip like I did, but it actually worked pretty well.
Then jump on your 'puter and print up some cute little "give thanks" and mount them onto some card stock.
Next you'll need some rings. I used corrugated card stock for scrapbooking. I got it for 25 cents per sheet a few months ago and could have easily made 10 or 12 out of one sheet! Cut them to the size you want and lather them up with Elmer's.
I used clips to hold them still until they dried.

Go ahead and use the baby's nail clippers to remove any excess "leaves" from the flowers. I won't tell!

Next you'll notice I didn't take a picture of the ribbon before starting. Once again, I'm dork so I think it's excused. 

Cut your ribbon with enough to wrap around the ring and some to overlap. Then tape it down with double sided tape. You could use glue, but I used tape so it'll be easier to reuse these by changing out the ribbon. For these I used a yummy chocolate brown ribbon that I got for free on something we bought a few weeks ago.

Before you stick the end down tuck a flower in the front side.

Add a nice dab of glue to the ribbon on top of the flower.

Then put one of your nifty 'give thanks' cards on and clip it in place. It'll need to be clipped or you'll have to hold it while it dries since it's not a flat surface. (Don't I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about?!)

Here they all are drying. I'm a confirmed dork because I didn't take a picture of the final product, but you can see it pretty well in the last picture.

Like 'em???

Oh the Joy of a Good (Thrift Store) Deal!! and a heartfelt confession!!

I HUMBLY CONFESS TO YOU: I'm addicted to Tweaking!!!

I just can't leave anything alone!

I've already made changes to my cheapy fall decorations. It's not a huge difference, but I'm even happier with them now than I was before.

The boys and I (the boys were reluctant companions on this trip!!) went to the thrift store today and found these little beauties. 

They're cute little wine glasses with a nice twisty type design on top. 

They're fairly sturdy little buggers (unlike the ones I had in the arrangements before) and they have perfectly flat bottoms so I couldn't resist! 

I think the budget will be ok with the purchase - just $2.90 each!! woohoo!

I used some super strong double sided tape and put them on top of some glass bowls that I had. It gave them just the right height.

My next find was this tin medallion type joby. I really like it! It too was only $2.90!! Maybe some day when I'm feeling ambitious I'll repaint it, but for now it makes a nice little background for another fall display I have on top of the entertainment center and hides the hideous speaker pretty well. Of course I forgot to take a picture. Sorry.

Let me also apologize for the dark pictures. I'm new at this photography thing! 

My other finds were toys for the boys for Christmas (assuming I can keep them away from them for that long since they already saw them)

The first one is a perfect Candy Land game which Sammy has been asking for. This one is Pooh and both boys love pooh. $1.90!!!

Lucky Ducks for $2.90!!! I've been wanting to get this for him since last Christmas!

One of Caleb's friends has this phone and he loved it so I was planning on getting it 

for him for Christmas and paid just $1.90!! So exciting!!

Fun Fryday Contest (a day late!)

One of my favorite blogs is hosting a contest. 

I've been following MckMama's blog for a while now 

and praying for their family during good and bad times that they've experienced recently.

Anyway, she's hosting a contest and this here is my fancy shmancy entry! =)

** Click on this sentence to go to MckMama's blog **

Hooray for 80% off End of Season Sales!!!!

I've never had any fall decorations and have always said that when I find good prices I need to slowly build up my collection. I love decorating my house for every season, but that normally just means a few vinyl clings on the front door!
Autumn will never be the same in our house and I'm so glad!! It all started at the Christmas Tree Shop. Hallelujah and God bless the amazing person (had to have been a woman!!) who started that amazing place!!
I bought a cute bead garland there for a couple of bucks that went on my dining room hutch. I also bought 2 pumpkins that are made of corn husks. So cute! I forgot to take a picture of them, but will try to soon. I was so excited with my finds! I think I spent about $8 for all three things!
Then I went to Michael's...two times! Lord help me I love their sales!! All of their Autumn stuff is 80% off!!! Crazy good deals!! Here's what I put together with what I got there.The berry garland is from Christmas Tree Shop ($3.29) and the pumpkin inside the cabinet I already had (FREE!! It was a leftover at church that a friend gave me!)

The 2 glass votives holders were my Grandmother's and I love using them all year round. The hurricane I bought last year at Kohl's for like $4! The rest of the things I got at Michael's ($3.76!!!) There's a leaf garland, 2 different berry/bead garlands and 2 picks with pumpkins and gourds. I also threw in some pinecones that you'll also see in the shelf decorations. They were $2.90 for a huge thing of 78 at BJ's!! The tablecloth looks somewhat Spring(y) but I'm not ready to pay for a new one right now!There's a close-up of the centerpiece. I love it!!!
It's a huge improvement over this. Don'tcha think?!?!
These are the arrangements I made for on top of my 2 shelves. I used a leaf garland, some of the pinecones and some fall flowers. The glasses I already had and I put tealights in them. I can't wait to see them lit for Thanksgiving!

Warm Heart, Warm Cheeks

My heart is warmed because of our sweet Caleb. 

He said "I love you" for the first time tonight. 

I said it to him and he replied "Ah woo woo!" 

Made my heart sing! =)

My cheeks are warm because of Sammy. 

I seriously had tears running down them I was laughing so hard. 

He was praying at bed time and said his normal 

"Dear Jesus, thank you for this day. Thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Caleb. Thank you that Caleb and Sammy can sleep good" 

(not great grammar, but cute nonetheless. 

Then he said "thank you that....." and he paused for so long I thought I should help him out and added "we could go to church today?" 

he said, "no. Thank you that the piggy banks are where they belon

g and that the books are there and that the pants and socks are where they belong. Thank you that S-A-M-M-Y spells Sammy and that C-A-L-E-B spells Caleb. In Jesus' name, Amen." 

Oh mercy! 

I was holding him and trying not to shake from stifling my laughter, but the tears were rolling down my face. 

It was so funny and so cute and sincere. 

Kids are so fun!

WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!

The Fightin' Phils have won the WORLD SERIES!!!!! GO PHILLY!!!!

Proof that I live in a house with too much testosterone!

The longer he sits, the messier he gits

Caleb is such a good baby.

95% of the time he can sit in his highchair 

for an hour and be happy as can be. 

Long after he's done eating he'll just sit 

(sucking his thumb and twirling his hair, of course) 

watching what's going on around him...

...the other 5% of the time he gets messier 

and messier the longer he's there.

And this is the result....

...leading to this shortly thereafter!

Fireman Sam*my*

 

(never actually watched this show, but it sure looks cute!)

Sammy absolutely LOVED the fire truck that came to preschool the other day! So much so that he climbed so high on the ladder that his teacher could no longer reach him and a taller woman had to help him down. And, while in the driver's seat he managed to step on the brake causing the (hydraulic?) brake to make that "pooff" noise and the 2 firemen came running just to make sure it wasn't going to lurch forward taking several 3 year olds with it! 

He seriously isn't like that normally! This is the kid who didn't realize he could say "no" to us until he was 2 and has never gotten into things like his brother has at 18 months!

(check out the Caleb label and see his little brother's antics!)

Anyway, the fire truck was a hit. Here are some of my favorite pictures. 

I'll spare you most of them since I took 90! 

I'm sick! 

Please send for help!

Climbing up the ladder

I think after this he wants to be a Fireman. Please don't tell his father who plans on him having a high paying job (preferably in MLB) so that he can buy us a house...now there's a man who has his priorities straight!!

Look at that brave guy ready to put out any fire! And so handsome!

"Ummm, sweetie, I don't think that's a very good idea!"

Anyone remember that silly little song "first you take a rubber hose. Then you stick it up your nose. Turn it on, then you're gone! Wo-o-o-oh!" It's stuck in my head!

Here's his whole class. I had so many group pictures because more and more kept jumping in, but wouldn't you know the only one with all of them still doesn't have all of them because they're either not facing the camera or hiding behind someone else! Toddlers! =)

After the kids got a little ways away they sounded the horn and siren.

Let's not forget the ever adorable Fireman Caleb!

“Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy”

**Title compliments of Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu.**

I was planning on making Pork Fried Rice last night for dinner. I knew I didn't have any sprouts in the fridge (who am I kidding? I NEVER have sprouts in the fridge!) but what I didn't realize was that I was out of eggs! DRAT! (I should have realized since I had used the last ones in the morning for breakfast, but to admit that would be a blow to my sensitivity about my horrible memory...so let's pretend I just didn't realize it.)

Either way it turned out quite yummy, but I was afraid that Sammy wasn't going to eat it (too many snacks yesterday was making him impossibly picky). So rather than fight with him to eat his dinner I whipped out the trusty chopsticks. He loved eating with them. His father doesn't have the patience...I mean...doesn't care for them, but I love using chopsticks.They were kind of cheating chopsticks since they had the little paper rubber banded between them, but still he did really well.

New camera pictures at the park

New Camera/Wonderful Husband!

My amazing husband is so sneaky and totally awesome!!!! 

We have mentioned in the past how nice it would be to have a better camera. Ours is 8 years old and just a simple "point and shoot" digital something or other. Not a bad camera, but not great and it often made me sad that our boys' young years were not being well documented since the camera took mediocre pictures and was slower than my granny walking to the cafeteria to slurp pureed carrots for dinner (I don't know where that came from. It was totally random. And very strange)

Anywho (I hate when people say that!! It's so silly and just wrong!!) my awesome husband decided he wanted to get me a new camera for my birthday (28th birthday that is) and looked on Consumer Reports to find the best one. He happened to find the one that I had been thinking of and then found an amazing deal on one. He has this uncanny ability to find better deals than any woman I know. It's a sickness really.

So he bought the camera and kept it for several weeks until my birthday came and I was stunned when he gave it to me (along with the other 99 things he got

 for free with it including a beautiful new printer!)

It's amazing and once I learn to use it I'll post lots of cool pictures! =) I've already taken some good ones so I'll post them next, but I can't wait to learn how to do some cool stuff with it.

This is my new baby:

Isn't she purty?!

Shock and Awe!!!

So apparently not all mortgage company's are completely corrupt these days.

 I know you don't believe me. I wouldn't have before today either. 

But we just got a refund check in the mail from our previous mortgage company because after their audit they found that we had been overcharged for something. It's a substantial little check too! Sweeet! 

It makes my heart sing to get unexpected money! I don't even care that it technically was our money given back to us. 

Same with tax refunds. I love that hearty check at the end of the year!

Now if only we could get a loan to do the construction on the house we've been waiting 2 years for! (and finally have permits for! woohoo!!)

Mommy, Wow! I'm a Big Kid Now!!

Ok, lame title. So what!

Sammy started preschool last week. Where has time gone? Seriously?! I can't even believe he's going to school (albeit just over 1 hour, just 3 days a week).  

He absolutely loves preschool. I bought a big blank calendar at the most awesome store (Lakeshore Learning something or other) last week and we put little school buses on it to show him which days he goes to preschool (I'd show a picture, but it's still a work in progress since I want to laminate everything and make some other things to put on it). I'm hoping it will help him straighten out the days of week in his mind since he randomly chooses what day it is (don't think it works that way!)

I would love to put up a picture of him as a sweet innocent little baby to show you the then and now kind of thing, but long story short I can't get to them because of a piece of junk laptop that is keeping all of my pictures from me. 

There's my big boy!

The sun was in his eyes. Poor kid.  

He finally looked away to keep the sun from hurting his eyes (or as he says "Mommy, the sun keeps looking at my eyes!")

Tomorrow a fire truck is going to preschool for them to climb on and explore. He's so excited!! He said they're all getting fire hats and rides on the fire truck. I didn't hear that and seriously doubt they're getting rides. What can I say? He's a dreamer like his Mama! ;)

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to get some pictures of that.

SAHM Syndrome

One of my favorite bloggers posted this today and I totally relate so I thought I'd share it with you.

She talks about feeling like she was once a somebody when she worked outside the home and learning to see being a stay-at-home mom the same way. (my paraphrase - I hope I didn't change her thoughts on that!)

I couldn't agree more! I sometimes feel like a nobody being a SAHM. Although I don't like to work so I love being at home! My struggle is with the survival attitude (SAHM Syndrome), going about my day just trying to make it though and not really taking advantage of the time that I have with my boys. In my head I know that there's no better place to be than at home raising them, but in my heart I feel like a snot, spit, cheerio covered toddler keeper who doesn't have a real purpose. 

That couldn't be further from the truth and I'm learning to set goals. I've been forcing myself to focus on where I'd like our family to be in the future, what type 

of family I'd like us to be and that helps me in the little daily things to keep my perspective as to why I do what I do. When I remind myself that I want my boys to being loving I'm able to deal with them more lovingly rather than get frustrated and annoyed at their whining or fighting (not that my boys ever do those things!! It's just an example!)

I've been thinking about writing out my goals and putting them up somewhere so I can see them constantly and not forget that how I live and treat my boys now will, to a great degree, determine what type of fathers, brothers, sons and husbands they will be someday. (total run-on! sorry!)

(this picture is from July, but I don't think I've posted it yet and I just love how Sammy is holding onto Caleb and kissing him!)

A Nose in Need Deserves Puffs Indeed!

Sammy has a cold and he apparently thinks that his stuffy nose is visible on the outside. When he woke up during the night to use the potty he pointed to one side of his nose and said "Mommy, see that big ugly thing there? That needs to go away!"

Then when Daddy went in to get him up this morning he said "Daddy, my nose isn't working right....both of my noses aren't working right!"

Poor kid!