11.25.2012

just for fun

A little comparison....

1 month from Hudson's birth

 
 Hopefully less than 1 month from Miles' birth


 Preggo with Hudson on the left...........Preggo with Miles on the right

7.26.2012

a little olympic fun

we love the olympics around here.  it is what we will be doing for the next 17 days.  did you know that coverage starts at 4 am?  i will not be getting up that early to watch, but we will spend a lot of time watching our favorite sports like swimming and track and field. 

so i decided we needed to get a little festive this year.  i saw these cute olympic ring shirts online and figured i could make one for hudson.  i took an old, dingy white t-shirt and used martha stewart paint and her t-shirt medium.  first time using it so we'll see how it turns out.



 to make the rings, i used mason jars.  they were the perfect size for a little guy shirt.  i had to get a little creative with the black ring, because i don't own black paint.
 

 Here's the finished shirt.  It still needs to dry and then I have to iron it.  Yep it's a sideways picture.  i just spent 5 minutes trying to get it rotated and i'm done.  and yes, there is an yellow smudge in the middle of the black ring.  some paint splattered and i tried to wipe it up and probably made it worse.  good thing my 2 year old won't notice.


 Hudson also helped me make some decorations.  I let him color on the back of paper plates and then cut out 5 rings and taped them together and then taped them to our tv cabinet.  Not the classiest decorations, but i think they're cute.


7.05.2012

what we're eating: camping edition

We're heading out tomorrow for our great family adventure!  Mike and I are super excited to take Hudson camping for a week in Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park.  Both of us grew up camping a lot and spent our spring breaks in college camping with friends.

This is the first long camping trip that we've really planned together and it's definitely taken some work.  Especially when planning for a toddler too.  Food is always a tough one, especially with a preggo wifey who still feels icky sometimes.  We've done a lot of prep work this week to make cooking not to difficult so we can spend most of our time enjoying the parks.  We will have a camp stove a long and fires to cook over, but we're going to try to only cook dinners and make breakfasts and lunches super easy.  So, here's what we're eating this next week.

Breakfasts:
Breakfast at Hotel 1st morning
Oatmeal & fruit (2x)
Cereal (2x)
Pancakes
Breakfast Burritos (already made & frozen)
Yogurt & Granola

Lunches:
Turkey & Cheese Sandwiches
PB&J Sandwiches
Cheese & Crackers
Banana Bread & Hardboiled Eggs
Snack Stuff

Dinners:
Dinner Out
Dinner @ Wedding
Potato Corn Chowder (already made & frozen)
Hot Dogs/Brats & Corn (2x)
Chicken Quesadillas
Pasta
Foil Packets (onion, potato, hot dog)

Snacks & Treats:
Veggies & Dip
Hummus & Pitas
Fruit (watermelon, blue berries)
Fruit Snacks
Homemade Granola Bars
Graham Crackers
Chips & Salsa
Choc. Chip Cookies

6.25.2012

15 weeks

I was a super slacker and didn't take any weekly photos for the last 4 weeks.  Because I was sick, and tired and crabby, and let's face it, nothing excited was happening.  We finally remembered to snap some quick before church over the weekend, since hopefully this little baby will start popping out in the next few weeks.



6.20.2012

eating for $30 this week

i'm posting this to remind myself that we can do this when we need to.  we don't normally eat this cheaply each week.

It's been a bad couple of months for sticking to the grocery budget.  Morning sickness=lots of trips to the store for what sounds good in the moment and super convenient food for the little guy.  Since I'm finally starting to feel better, I really wanted to get back on the budget bandwagon this month, so I was good and took out our cash at the beginning of the month.  And then somehow spent most of it in the first week.   Ooops.

So going into this last week ( I shop wednesdays to wednesdays), I only had about $35 to spend.  I thought for sure there was no way I could do it since a typical grocery trip has been running me $80-100 a week.

But using all of my good grocery shopping tips, like shopping the pantry first, looking at the sales and using coupons, I was able to do it.  It did involve trips to 3 different stores today, which I don't normally do.  So here's what we're eating this week and what I had to buy.

Menu: 
Breakfasts- yogurt, cereal (what's left in pantry), eggs, smoothies
Lunches-pb&j, turkey (leftover from last week), leftovers, cheese & crackers

Dinners:
Oatmeal Quinoa Breakfast Bake
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad
Shrimp Scampi, Parmesan Orzo
Bean, Rice & Corn Stuffed Red Peppers
Fried Egg Sandwiches
Turkey Tacos
Polenta with Spinach and Poached Eggs
Leftovers

What I had in the Pantry/Freezer:
Rice
Quinoa
Beans
Spaghetti
Shrimp
Ground Turkey
Taco Shells, Cheese, Seasoning
Crackers
Peanut Butter & Jelly
Frozen Fruit
Hudson snacks (graham crackers, fruit snacks, etc)

What I Bought @ Sunflower:
2 Limes   .40
1 Big Yougurt  2.00
2 Blueberries 2.50
6 Red Peppers 2.00
3 Corn  1.50
Bananas  1.36
Green Onion .50
1 Chx Breast  2.06
Total: 12.12

What I Bought @ Albertsons:
Bread  1.88
2 Strawberries  3.00
2 Spinach  3.00
Total: 7.88

What I Bought @ King Soopers:
Cheese   1.25
Gallon Whole Milk  1.49
2 Doz Eggs   1.76
6 Greek Yogurts 3.00
2 Lays Stax (for camping trip) 1.00
Orzo Pasta  1.38
Total: 10.33


I think my favorite part is that there is so much fresh produce included.  Hurray for summer!




6.18.2012

trucks trucks and more trucks

I had so much fun getting things ready for Hudson's 2nd birthday.  I wanted to keep it pretty low key since I didn't know how I would be feeling.  Trucks was an obvious theme since we have a house full of them.  I spent money on scrapbook paper and favors and that was it.

I knew I wanted to make Hudson a #2 shirt, but when I started making it, I realized I had enough fabric to make him some truck shorts.  I know white shorts are not practical at all for a 2 year old, but he loves them.  I used Ashley's tutorial over at Make It and Love It.  Super easy and fast.

favors for friends

drinks

road table (thanks hubby for indulging me)

birthday banner

fruit

#2

somebody loves trucks

invite

invite inside

5.28.2012

5.24.2012

growing at our house

we're attempting a garden this year.  little plants are actually starting to come up.




but that's not the only thing growing at our house......

we're having a baby! due in mid-december.  I've got a little bit of catching up to do with pictures.



4.05.2012

sewing for me

Inspired by the Spring Top Contest at Made-by-Rae.com and Kojo-designs.com series on sewing for your self, I broke out a couple of patterns I've had for awhile and did a little sewing for me.  

The first one is a shirt using Simplicity #2892.  The fabric is Lisette fabric I found on clearance at Joann Fabrics.  

I always have a hard time figuring out what size to cut.  I ended up taking this top in quite a bit on the sides.  I also wish I would have made it a bit longer.  I added an inch to the bottom, but should have added more.  The neckline was a pain to make with all the ruffles.  I don't think I would make another shirt from this pattern again.


hudson wanted in on the pictures

The second thing I sewed was a cute knit dress using McCall's M6032.  I love love this dress.  Getting the gathering and belt right was a bit tricky, but it's so comfy to wear and didn't take too long to make.  I got it done in a day between nap times and sewing after H-man went to bed.   I would probably make this dress again if I found some cheap knit or something similar.




3.30.2012

spring toddler craft

I wanted to make a fun spring craft with Hudson to send to some family members for Easter.  I don't do a lot of structured crafts with him since he is still uninterested in them.  This craft was made possible by my wonderful husband doing the painting with him while I took pictures.

Easter Thumbprint Flowers

I cut out small circles from scrapbook paper and glued them on some card stock.  Then, using my Clementine Paint, we dipped his thumb in the paint on the lid.


With Mike's help, Hudson put thumb prints around the circles to be the petals.  Lots of help needed here.  Hudson had a hard time keeping his thumb straight at first, but caught on quick.  I ended up turning the paper so Mike could concentrate on not getting paint everywhere. 


I then added stems and cut grass for the bottom.  This one is headed to my sister, Karen, to help brighten her day with some goodies for her last week in the hospital.



My entry into Creative Me is sponsored by Appliances Online and Bosch Washing Machines.

3.25.2012

craft room redo {part 2} - fabric storage

As part of the craft room redo, I wanted to add some more storage for my fabric.  It's been housed in two plastic tubs and a bazillion joann fabric bags.  

I came across this great idea on pinterest to turn a file cabinet into fabric storage.

picture from sewmanyways.blogspot.com



I got an old file cabinet from craigslist for $5!!! Most of them were $40 or more but this one was perfect.  It's definitely used and had some rust spots, but I knew I was going to paint over it anyway.

I wiped it down and then taped off the handles.  Then it was time to spray paint.  This was my first time spray painting anything.  I used a rustoleum primer that was good for metal.  I used the whole can and did 4 thin coats.  


Now for the fun part.  I used Rustoleum Ultra Cover in Satin Lagoon.  I wanted to go with a bold color since most everything else in the room will be a neutral.  I love love how it turned out.  I know I took pictures of the process, but I can't find them on the computer.  I did 5 thin coats, which used the whole can.

Here's the pretty blue color.  I wanted to stencil on it a bit too.  I used Martha Stewart's new paint for Michaels and her stencil brushes and one of her stencils.  All bought with 50% off coupons, of course.


This was my first time stenciling anything.  I should have started on the side, since there was a bit of a learning curve.  I started out with too big of a brush, so some paint bled through.  I still love how it turned out, just don't look too close.

And here it is.  The white and red really break up the blue so it's not too much. 


To hang the fabric, I cut file folders in half and just wrapped the fabric around the folders and pinned it in place.  Some folders have 2 pieces of fabric wrapped around.  Now I can see all of my fabric and it doesn't get all wrinkly in a big bin.  It's already full and I still have some more fabric.  I'm going to have to come up with a secondary way to store some.



3.24.2012

craft room redo {part 1}


 This is what my craft room looks like 90% of the time.

It's a horrible mess and makes me super unmotivated to sew.  I finally decided to get my act together and tackle a little redo so I can have a pretty crafty space.

This desk is where I sew.  It was originally bought for Mike to study while in seminary, but when we moved in, I took over the desk.  It doesn't work well for sewing because it is a corner desk, so there isn't a lot of room for fabric.  

After I cleaned up the room, Mike took the desk apart and we just threw it away.  It was in pretty bad condition.  I'm going to use a 6 foot long banquet table so that I have room for cutting and sewing.


 I cleaned everything up.  Threw a lot of stuff away, and everything else is boxed up in the crawl space.  I'm going to paint the room a much lighter white, hoping that it will brighten up the room since it is in the basement.  All the paint was free from Ace Hardware with their free quart of paint on Saturdays in March.

Here's the room almost empty.  Just a few things left on the chair and the bookshelf.  Next up, taping off the baseboards.  I'm hoping to get it painted this week while my mom is in town.