Katolin family

Projects 1-4

2012-01-26T20:32:00.000-08:00

I want to share some pics of my latest projects but I had to start off with these cute pics of my girls being creative.

Fancy crown!

So here are my first projects of the year!

First up, this awesome pillow, inspired by an Anthropologie one, designed by my mom. Isn't it awesome! A great way to use up some scraps.

A few more pillows added to the mix, one already enjoyed by Elyse (I'll admit, I picked the fabric of this one but my mom actually put the pillows together for me...isn't she great!)

A new wreath for the front door:

A book of the this year's Christmas cards. Cover from here.

And I recovered this $5 clearance lampshade with some new fabric. I love the change (as long as the light is off...otherwise the design shines through!)

My Word for the year-Balance

2012-01-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

Several bloggers I've read in the past few weeks have decided to come up with a word to describe their aspirations for the year. I thought it would be cool to do the same but nothing came to me and I just let the thought rest in my mind.

That was until Wednesday, when as I lay exhausted on the couch, my word jumped right into my head.

For me, my word is balance.

Wednesday had very little balance for me. I started the year and this month with many projects and plans running through my head. My list from a few weeks ago speaks to this. Last Wednesday, among the comings and goings of a normal day, I planned on cleaning and organizing the entire pantry along with rescuing the mess that was Elyse's room. That might not sound like much, but along with all those tasks, I needed to take care of two girls, make meals, do my classwork. Elyse is officially done with naps and hung out with me the entire day.

So I was busy. And tired. Everything I set out to do had been accomplished but I was spent.

I woke up on Thursday with the notion of balance in my mind and experienced a much smoother day. I kept my self imposed chore list short. I decided our new plan for nap time was for Elyse to hang in her room for an hour and then watch a short show (the super-mom of the day before was determined to keep the TV off in the afternoon). I had time to myself. We got dinner from Chik-Fil-A. The day was much easier.

And when bedtime came, I certainly was tired but not emotionally exhausted.

So in finding balance, I plan to:
-Exercise most mornings but sleep in guilt free when my body needs it
-Find time everyday to just sit and be
-Keep my "to-do" list for the day short and doable (and let things go when they just don't get done)
-Keep our babysitter coming over each week so I have time to get my work done
-Drink a green smoothie in the morning and enjoy guilt free chocolate when I want
-Spend time with both my little girls and my grown-up girlfriends
-Complete my crafty "projects" but only when it's fun, not out of obligation

I think this focus will make for a more enjoyable 2012!

Year in a Jar

2012-01-21T06:55:00.000-08:00

Last year, I was inspired to create "a year in a jar." It's a simple idea. You leave a jar near the front door as a place to deposit little tokens from the year.

I'm so glad we did it. It was easy and gave us a place to put those little things that we don't really want to get rid of but really have no where to put.

Here are some of the things we found in last year's jar:
-Seashells
-Fancy-Nancy play ring
-Photo strip from the zoo
-Movie stub from Bridesmaids
-A button from our Mommy and Me preschool graduation
-Last year's Legoland pass
-Our place cards from the Marine Corps Ball
-My metal from the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon
-A stamp card from the Straw Maze at the pumpkin patch
-"ID cards" created from the machines at Chuck-E-Cheese
-My ticket from the Long Beach International Quilt Festival
-A mini Polaroid of us in our Halloween costumes

I've created another one this year. I learned the hard way to get a plastic jar, as last year's glass one got handled and broken by little fingers. My hope is to someday have a whole bookshelf containing many, many, memories.

Friday phone pics

2012-01-20T18:18:00.001-08:00

Phone pics

2012-01-12T20:44:00.001-08:00

How we play

2012-01-04T19:48:00.001-08:00

2012 Goals

2011-12-30T20:27:00.000-08:00

A new year starts tomorrow and like many across the world, I have noble aspirations of projects to complete and goals to meet. I know my list is more than a little over ambitious and certainly all over the place. And I understand that it might not include some of the really important life-improving-thought-changing goals maybe I should be thinking about. But it's my list still the same and I thought I'd share it with you!

1. Go to bed early most nights and get up most mornings to do some exercise.

2. Run 300 miles on our treadmill.

3. Learn to decorate cupcakes that look like they do at a bakery.

4. Do 3 pull-ups.

5. Complete 50 "projects".

6. Read 15 books.

7. In addition, read 5 "life" books, the kind of self-help, grow closer to God and my family kind of books.

8. Learn how to fix my hair like it was for the ball.

9. Decorate our bedroom

10. Decorate Elyse's bedroom too (Madelyn's is pretty much done).

11. Keep up with this cleaning schedule.

12. Set the timer to pick up the house for at least 15 mins a day.

13. Spend some "craft" time with Elyse each week.

14. Spend some one-on-one time with Madelyn each week too.

15. Sew more

16. And organize my mess of sewing and craft supplies

17. Organize my spice collection

18. Learn how to embroider

19. Watch all of Mad Men

20. Create and be consistent with some kind of chore system for Elyse

21. Blog more

22. Take more pictures

23. Organize and display our pictures from 2011

24. Save some money

25. Stick to a budget

26. Organize my closet and clothes...and find a way to be more stylish

There are more goals in mind that I decided to trash, like cut and actually use coupons, give up sweets, lose 20 pounds, take and edit a picture for everyday of the year, and blog three times a week. I just know these ones aren't happening.

As for the rest, I'll let you know how I do.

Stuff

2011-12-09T23:30:00.001-08:00

In the past couple of weeks, we've had some totally awesome family time. Dennis has been on leave and we've done lots of fun stuff together. Here are some pics of some of it...

Elyse participated in her first ever dance recital. Her costume is to DIE for! She looked as cute as could be in her tutu. But we'll be honest and admit that's where the fun stopped. The performance was at a Christmas festival outside and the music was so loud that she stood up there and cried for the first 30 seconds or so. It was kind of awful. But then she danced and did great. Dennis and I were both fuming afterwards...that situation was NOT designed for four year olds. Since she loves dance, I think we'll be shopping for a new place to go. But in the mean time, I'm so glad we have pictures of her in this cute little outfit!

We won't be in CA for Christmas so we decided to celebrate a little earlier. Elyse wanted a cash register since she played with one at a friend's house MONTHS ago and luckily I remembered. All day long she's been letting us know how much she likes it and that she's going to work at Chipolte when she grows up (with the trill of using a cash register on a daily basis!)

Madelyn got a train set but seemed more excited about the "dress-up box" we put together for the girls.

Madelyn wasn't the only one who got in on the fun.

Elyse has been super creative and crafty. Often she'll ask for some paper, her scissors and tape and come up with some creation. In this picture, she made some gloves. Clever, eh?

Madelyn has been a bit of a nudie lately. We've resorted to cutting the feet out of her jammies and putting them on backwards. Otherwise, we'll hear her shout "I'm naked" when she's supposed to be sleeping. And as any intelligent person knows, we don't want a non-potty trained toddler to be in her birthday suit.

The girls switched rooms and I've been working on updating the decor a bit. I made two curtains like this for Madelyn's room (super easy...panel of fabric with those clip ring things on...it's not quite the right size but that's OK!)

And tonight we went to the botanic gardens here for the winter light show. Luckily we got the member discount and only paid $12 (I thought it would be free but the attendant informed us that this is a "special" event) because the lights were a bit of disappointment. The lights were pretty but the quantity was less than expected. Dennis said he's going to pay our neighbor's $12 tomorrow night because they have more lights on their house. He's right. But walking around with the girls bundled up in the wagon was arguably the best time we've had in the past two weeks.

This may be a crazy crew, but there's no one else I'd rather share my life with.

Madelyn at 2!

2011-11-15T15:01:00.000-08:00

This girl is a hoot! At two Madelyn joy is funny, loving, smart little girl.

She loves Mommy and Me school, attention from her sister, and taking care of baby dolls.

Her language is really taking off. She can speak in full sentences and just about everything she says makes sense (to me anyway). She can count to 29 (not kidding...although she mumbled through the middle teens), say her ABCs and knows all her colors. When she says an "l" sound she sticks her tongue out and moves it from side to side. She loves to sing songs randomly as we move about our day. Her favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Slippery Fish and Waltzing Matilda (which was randomly in my head one day and then took off...although I was corrected by Madelyn today that it is Waltzing Atilda).

This girl is funny. At two she already practices comedic timing and knows when she's telling a joke. She loves to sing "Old MacDonald" and make us each an animal on the farm. Dennis is a cow, Elyse a chicken, Madelyn a pig and I'm the duck. And it says consistent every time she sings. If we call her something like sweetie, she'll respond, "I'm not sweetie...I Maddy!"

She loves having her babies and stuffed animals around. Most nights she has a whole zoo in bed with her and insists on each animal receiving an individual blanked to be "cover up." She has to be covered up too (we've recently reduced the number of animals in the bed with her so to shorten our nightly routine!).

She likes to color, especially when Elyse is doing it. Last night she drew scribbles and said, "Look! A birdy!" She can often be heard shouting, "Look, Mama (or Leesy or Pappy)" which comes out as "Yook!". Then we get to see her baby in bed or the bug outside or whatever new picture she drew.

She's a pretty good eater. Here is a picture of her with broccoli on her head, her veggie of choice (this is a "Yook at me mama" moment). The teeth are still coming in. I see the "pointy" ones making their way on the bottom. Someday this girl will have all her teeth.

Here's a picture of Madelyn sitting on the rug. That's our time out threat. It's rare that she ends up there but on this day she didn't want to put something away and decided herself that sitting on the rug was a better option!

She often likes to pretend she's asleep, and can hold an asleep pose for awhile! Here she slept while eating her food at Chipolte and she'll stay like that for a good two minutes only to pop up and say, "I awake!"

She LOVES going to Mommy and Me school and seeing Miss Chris. Here she is leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

No terrible twos here! We love this girl and just can't get enough of her!

2011-11-09T23:00:00.000-08:00

Just in case anyone is wondering, I promise to have an update on Maddy soon!

In the mean time, I just wanted to share my attempt today to recreate a picture I took of the girls together just after Madelyn was born.

Here's today's attempt, two years later. They were probably having a little too much fun.

Thanksgiving Tree

2011-11-02T21:59:00.000-07:00

Just this morning, I ran across this post and decided to make one right away.

I printed off the tree added a little color on the trunk. I didn't have the right size frame, so I covered the inside of the frame with some fabric, taped the paper on top and stuck it into the frame. I cut out the leaves from scrapbook paper and Elyse and I tapped them on (on top of the frame).

Everyday this month we'll write down something we're thankful for until Thanksgiving.

I think it makes the perfect addition to my newly painted dresser (along with the downed tree branches I added to the vase!)

Go and make your own! It was super easy and is the perfect Thanksgiving decoration.

On Halloween

2011-11-02T13:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween! Hope you had a great one.

This year, Elyse decided to be a magician and Madelyn agreed to be an Octopus!

Not the best pic of Maddy but you can see her costume. I bought a hoodie from Wal-Mart, cut three sections in the front and back and sewed tubes to make her tentacles. Then I added felt for the eyes on her hoodie and for the suctiony things on her tentacles. Fun!

Elyse decided to be a magician. Making costumes are fun when the four year old has an opinion about how it should look. We painted "Elyse the Great" on her shirt and made her a cape (pink and purple of course!)

Madelyn was the helper at Mommy and Me.

Can you guess what Dennis and I are for Halloween??? Stick people! Easiest costume ever! Copied the idea from here. It would have been cooler with the masks but we didn't want to walk around the neighborhood in a mask.

Our Life

2011-10-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

I have a new camera (hurray!) In order to get a little practice and figure out how to use it, I'm going to bring it with me everywhere I go this week and share some pictures. They are imperfect and unedited but so is our life! :)

Morning dance party. Teaching the girls how to "limbo."

Lunch at Chipolte.

Elyse likes to get food from Panera across the way.

Madelyn pretending to be asleep while she eats.

Pumpkin cookie

Dennis pretends to take a huge bite of the cookie

A stop at Lowes

What's cookin' in the new smoker?

Looking at pictures with Pappy.

Kisses from Pappy (looks like a bird pooped on our chair. I think it's a toothpaste stain).

Game 6

2011-10-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard, the Cardinals are in the World Series. We don't have cable at this house so we had to watch the play by play on mlb.com. Dennis couldn't watch most of it. He wouldn't even check on the score until it was almost over. Luckily we tuned in on time to see the crazy awesome victory! In his moments of anxiety and victory, I shot a few pictures of my favorite Cardinal's fan. Hopefully we'll have some more happy pictures to show after tonight's big game!

Seize the Day!

2011-10-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

The other day I noticed a fun quote on the box of my Tazo tea. Something like, "When there's a diem out there that you absolutely must carpe..." I loved it!

I've been playing around with Picnik lately to do things other than just edit pictures and came up with this. I think I'll hang it up on the fridge, or maybe my mirror.

I have trouble coming up with color schemes sometimes. My mom shared this blog with me. It takes photographs and then shows the color scheme in html code. In Picnik, the code can be plugged into the color box.

Printables seem to be all over the web lately and I think it's fun to try and make my own with the quotes I like.

4! 4! 4!!!

2011-10-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

Early this month, we celebrated (the much anticipated by her) 4th birthday of our Elyse Katolin.

It seems like the perfect time to update you all on the girl that made us parents.

Where to start...

Elyse is funny, smart and sweet kid. Her mind is always going, thinking, planning, analyzing.

She loves school (mommy and me still), dance class, drawing.

Her pictures are so fun lately! She draws things like the pumpkin patch, elephants at a circus and her family (and they are actually recognizable!) Lots of times late at night, she is found on her bed creating pictures and cards for anyone in her inner circle. Letters have become part of her creations and she has even been able to sound out some words (Happy Birthday is "HBBDA").

Her mind is always going and it has led to some worrying. Sometimes she worries about germs. Often times her worries are about breaking the rules (a crying spell came in dance class when she said she hadn't paid attention to EVERYTHING the teacher said even though she had). This certainly pays off most of the time but I want her to relax and have fun a bit.

But even as a rule follower, this girl is not a perfect angel. She has her "freak out" moments when things don't go her way. We're working on that.

Enough with the bad stuff. This girl is fun. She likes to make up songs about just about anything going on (a favorite is, "Up, Up, I like to be UP!" when she doesn't want to go to bed). She is a great big sister and cracks up at Madelyn's silly antics. She is a good friend and plays nice with other kids although she sometimes only lets the "sillies" out when she has known a friend for awhile. She can play by herself pretty well but would rather Dennis or I join in on her pretend play (either restaurant, house, store).

Her favorite foods are still bunny noodles (boxed mac and cheese) and ice cream. For her birthday dinner she picked bunny noodles, ham, carrots with honey and strawberries (the balanced meal took a little guidance from mama).

She can hold her own in a conversation. She can order her food at a restaurant. She can get dressed, brush her teeth and clean up a bit on her own (notice I said she CAN...not that she always DOES).

She likes to read Fancy Nancy books, watch "Abby's Flying Fairy School" on Sesame Street and Pinky Dinky Do.

Happy Birthday, Madelyn Joy!

2011-10-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

Today is Maddy's 2nd bday. Elyse turned 4 last week. I promise to have some updates up here soon but I had to share this pic. We love you Maddy Moo!

Dressing up the Dresser

2011-10-07T14:22:00.000-07:00

For the past few months, I've been checking on Pendleton Yard Sales (think Craig's list for this base). I finally was able to get this dresser...just $25!

I removed the hardware and painted it! It now sits in our dining area.

I finally had the perfect place to hang the round mirror I love.

The materials required for the painting kind of took away from the "bargain." Hopefully I'll be able to reuse them for another project to make it worth it. I might replace the drawer pulls at some point...I had to get the cheapest ones to keep the price of this dresser from going off the edge.
I'm working on styling the top (do youlike the pumpkin the girls covered with stickers and painted as soon as it came through the door?). I seem to struggle with arranging objects on flat surfaces. Something to work on. I am going to use the damask fabric to make some kind of runner.

It might not be perfect but I"m super happy that I finally have the dresser I've been longing for. :)

The Faces of Elyse

2011-09-21T21:08:00.000-07:00

Elyse has quite an expressive face of her own (all captured in a matter of a few minutes!)

Fabric Floor Mat

2011-09-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture a few months ago on a blog and I've been wanting to make one ever since.

The blog didn't have much in the way of directions so I kind of had to wing it so here is what I did.

I started with a charm pack of Anna Marie Horner's new fabric line. Just like this one.

I arranged the squares how I wanted them and then sewed the squares together.

I decided to sew an old piece of home decorator weight fabric on the back but didn't want the layers to shift so I used a bit of wonder under in between.

I ironed it first to the back of the pieced side, peeled off the paper and then sewed the two layers together, right sides together.

Then I flipped it and ironed the second side of the wonder under in place.

Then I edge stitched around the whole thing (look, mom, I'm using the right foot!)

I took it outside and painted on two layers of rug backing. It made the fabric feel rubbery so it won't slide around (just like a rug you buy at the store). After two layers, it was set.

My initial plan was then to cover the front with modge podge. I thought this would make it sweepable and keep it clean. Instead, I decided to leave the front side alone. The rug backing is washable and I figured it would be easier to keep it clean by tossing it in the wash.

I love the punch of color this adds to the kitchen.

The Classics

2011-09-14T20:52:00.000-07:00

Gallery Wall

2011-09-01T14:54:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to create a gallery wall in the playroom for awhile and I finally got everything put together!

I've really been into yellow lately so I tried to use yellow to tie it together a bit.

Here's what I put together:
1. "Living the Dream". I made this sign a few weeks ago and I'm *satisfied* with how it turned out. I bought the board at Michael's for only a few dollars and spray painted it white. Then I cut the letters out of freezer paper and tried to iron them onto the board. Then I topped it with a coat of black spray paint. Unfortunately, the seal wasn't perfect and lots of "spray over" got under the letters. I cleaned it up a bit with some white paint and a brush but I still think it looks a bit childish. I think I'll redo it when I get one of these. :) "Living the dream" is Dennis' response anytime someone asks him how he's doing. And we really living the dream are so I thought it was appropriate.

2. This is a free printable I found here. I just printed it out on regular white paper and stuck it in the frame.

3. Family picture from our photo shoot last year.

4. The "K" I painted.

5. This little picture is of two little heart trees with a big heart tree in the middle. I bought it when I was in London during college. I like what it represents.

6. My map.

7. Framed pictures, one of the girls and one of Dennis and I. Here's a closer shot of the pic of Dennis and me. It's from our real first date, almost 11 years ago. We don't look a day older today, do we?! :)

I bought the frames at Goodwill for a total of $10. I spray painted the frames white and added a piece of yellow scrap booking paper before adding in the pictures.

The Many Faces of Madelyn

2011-08-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

The New Ottoman

2011-08-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick side note, this project is about my creation of a new ottoman, but have you ever wondered why the piece of furniture we put our legs on is called an ottoman. Does it have anything to do with that ancient empire? Does anyone know??

We have had this lovely ottoman in our living room since Elyse was in my tummy. It's worked great and is a perfect piece of furniture to store a bunch of junk. But, it has seen better days. It has a few scratches on the side (mostly from me being to lazy to move it when I vacuum the rug) and the brown on brown just bugged me.

So I've been thinking of creating a new one for this space.

I was at Home Goods a few months ago and ran across this:

It's a leather top to an ottoman that must have lost its legs along the way. I grabbed it!

The brown "leather" would have been nice except for the lack of contrast on the brown rug. Enter two yards of fabric from Ikea, a can of black spray paint and four spindles from Home Depot.

I used my handy staple gun to adhere the fabric to the top.

The corners were tricky but I cut off some excess fabric, pulled one side over and stapled it and then made a fold on the other piece to cover the raw edge (that probably makes no sense and I'm sorry I don't have a picture).

I spray painted the legs (easy enough) but ran into a big problem when I went to attach them to the top.

The holes (already in the ottoman) were too big for the screws (already part of the spindles). Luckily, I consulted the experts at my home improvement store and they had a perfect solution.

I removed the screws from the spindles and screwed in the right size. Worked perfectly!

And I'm in love with the final result!

I know my Home Goods purchase was a lucky find but I am convinced this could be done without it. Just a piece of plywood, some foam and batting and a version of this could come to life. Maybe I'll give it a try someday!

Escondido Children's Museum

2011-08-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

We met some friends at the Escondido Children's Museum recently. The girls loved it (and I loved it too...a big room where they could play and it was free for military!)

A Reminder

2011-08-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

It's not when the kids are all out of diapers

or when we get a new car

or when the house is finally decorated

or at our next duty station

or when I lose 10 pounds

or when Dennis retires

or when I find a way to get eight hours of sleep a night

or I win the lottery

It's right now...today...this moment.

Playing

2011-08-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

There's a great park on base and we went there today to play with some friends. I captured a few shots of my (matching) girls!

The Fifty Nifty!

2011-08-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

I saw this just last week and I knew I had to make one of my own.

You see, I love maps (from my dad) and pretty patterns (from my mom) and this project is the perfect marriage of the two.

Luckily, last Thursday when I was inspired to start it right away, it was the perfect time because my mom was here to help me figure it out.

So here's what I did.

I started off with a blank canvas I happened to have in my closet. It was white so I decided to spray paint it yellow.

Then I found a map to use online. I just Googled "USA map coloring page" and one came up.

I printed it off the computer. It wasn't close to being big enough so I enlarged it 200% on my copier and taped the pages together.
(Maddy was sitting with a marker nearby and decided to add some color to my map)

Then, I labeled each state on the back, 1-50.
The example I found used scrapbook paper but I decided to use fabric (my mom had just brought me lots of her scraps!). We decided wonder under would work to both work as a template to cut the shapes and attach the fabric to the board.

I laid the map face down on my white kitchen counter and traced each of the 50 states onto a piece of Wonder Under (so it was in mirror image). That's when I decided this project would have been much easier back on 1776 when there were only 13 colonies. I labeled each state with the number from my map so I wouldn't get them confused.

I then took each state and ironed it to a piece of fabric and cut out the shape.

I laid out each state on the canvas as I went.

After they were all cut out and laid out, I peeled off the back of the wonder under off each state and ironed it to the canvas (ironing on one at a time).

I'm in love with how it turned out.

If I did this project again, I would be a little more exact when tracing each state. If you look closely, you will see some gaps like this one between Montana and North Dakota.

I might add some buttons to mark where we have lived.

The plan is to add this to a gallery wall in the playroom I have in the works.

I hope you give it a try!

Art Zone

2011-08-08T21:53:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by this post a few months back to replicate this art area. I try so hard to keep our art stuff organized but it's hard!

Here's how we adjusted it for us. Day one...success! (Thank goodness for IKEA and all their cheap and fun organizing stuff).

On a side note, we came up with a business plan the other day...I'll shop at IKEA for all the poor people around the country without one and ship off the goods for a reasonable sum. I think it could work!

Part of the success was because of the success of these paints my parents brought with them. Genius!

Our Superheroes

2011-08-08T14:14:00.001-07:00

Summer

2011-07-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying our summer here at the Katolin house.

To be honest, things here are pretty much the same as they are any other season (the weather is a few degrees hotter but still "nice"!)

We've been going to Mommy and Me School, learning about kids around the world. I've been working really hard to give Elyse a sense of the world. She asks questions like, "Is California on Earth? Can I visit Jupiter? Do you know anyone from Jupiter?" (Jupiter was her "fetus" nickname so she's kind of obsessed with the planet Jupiter).
Madelyn will be the helper on Thursday so I'm interested to see if she'll revel in the attention or shy away under the pressure.

We've soaked up in the water from the sprinkler!
We have had a few successes from the garden.

And I passed a mommy test...homemade play-dough!

But mostly we are just enjoying being together.

How is your summer going?

Little Chair Recover

2011-07-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

I've been eying this new Anna Marie Horner fabric since it came out. I knew I wanted to use some but I wasn't sure what for.

When I saw it in laminate at my local fabric shop, I came up with the perfect plan!

We've had this table and chairs for a few years and LOVE them, but I decided the chairs needed to be a little more "fancy" (and it kind of bothered me that the fabric on the chairs didn't match).

In just 20 minutes or so, I used my trusty staple gun to recover them in my new fabric.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Now, I'm on to a bigger and better re-upholstery project. Here's the before picture. Let's hope the "after" shot looks as great as I hope it will! Stay tuned!

I'm linking up to Tidy Mom's I'm Lovin' It!

Happy Fourth

2011-07-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of the July as Elyse likes to call it. We hope you had a great one!

A Monster

2011-07-02T23:18:00.000-07:00

Watch out...

There's a two-headed monster in our house (a pretty cute one I might add)

But it's nothing these two can't handle!

Reminds me of the one we had a few years back!
(boy did that house have nice lighting!)

The Beach

2011-06-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

(not to rub it in but...)Sometimes we forget the beach is only a two minute drive from our house. Tonight we decided to just go after dinner and had a blast!

Happy Friday!

2011-06-24T07:48:00.001-07:00

Dry Erase Board

2011-06-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've had this dry erase board up in my kitchen for the past few years. It helps me keep track of everything I need to do and everywhere I need to be but it wasn't too pretty.

I decided it needed a makeover. I was inspired by this and another blog that I can't seem to find now.

I used a frame I already had. I bought the yellow fabric cheap at the Crate and Barrell Outlet (another reason I love living here). I cut the yellow fabric to be a little bit bigger than the insert in the frame and then used duct tape to wrap the front of the insert with the fabric.

Then I used a permanent marker and drew the lines and words on the back of the plastic part of the frame. I wrote the words on the front with a dry erase marker and then was able to trace them in mirror image on the back.

I think it adds a nice little burst of color to my pantry door!

Zoo

2011-06-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

Even with the most fancy-schmancy camera, there's nothing like a photobooth strip of pictures. This one is from our trip to the San Diego Zoo today.

What we're up to...

2011-06-14T20:36:00.001-07:00

We're staying in shape! Dennis introduced me to a few Crossfit Workouts (serious next day soreness!)
We've been eating yummy food. You wouldn't believe how much this little thing eats.
We've been learning and graduating from school with the coolest teacher ever (when not teaching preschool this awesome lady is a surfer!)

I've been sewing a bit. Here's a little set I made for my friend having a baby boy (and a picture from Elyse with images of the baby and the big brother...apparently the baby is going to come out with a toupee!)
And we've been hanging out with some good friends.

What have you been up to?

An attempt

2011-05-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

We have a "mini-ball" coming up in a few weeks and I need a little clutch (rather not bring the diaper bag). So tonight I decided to try and make my own. Sad to say it didn't turn out. Guess I should have used a pattern. I'll try again tomorrow if I'm in the mood. Here is what I came up with.
It's gathered unevenly and I'm not really digging the fabric combo.

Dennis said "It's kind of long" and decided it makes a better hat. I think he's right.

But here is something that did turn out. Aren't they cute?!