True Texan

One day, I was reading Jack this book and he had a toy gun in hand. Each page, he would take his turn feeling the texture of the page, then he would aim his gun and shoot. Texan Boys. What else can I say. Steak anyone?

July's Rain

We had a summer rain that lasted 4 days straight back in July. Well, maybe not "straight" but almost. I don't know if it's because I grew up in West Texas, but I LOVE the rain. It can rain for 4 days in a row anytime. By day 3, I decided the boys needed to play outside anyway. They had a blast in their swimsuits.

Oh, Jack. He's a tough one to break if you want a smile from him. I'm figuring out that he's a lot like me, though. He's very funny, but he's not going to laugh at all your jokes. Only the really funny ones. 

Ben apparently thought water guns are even better in the rain.... 

*all photos shot from the back door of the house. I love the rain, but I'm not going out there!

Big Boy Quilt

Back in July, our neighborhood was throwing their annual block garage sale. We don't every time, but this year, we decided to participate. It seemed like a good opportunity to clean out the house a bit. I decided that since we were doing this garage sale, we might as well sell Jack's crib and transition him into a big boy bed. Our crib was cheap and basic, but had held all our babies and many babies before that. It's the first time our home had been without a crib (or 2) since Zane was born! 

Jack hadn't started crawling out yet, but we knew he would soon. Here he is the day after the garage sale, before we had gotten his big boy bed. He barely fits in the pack n play. 

A friend gave us the bed so that was a huge blessing, but I was having a hard time finding a comforter or quilt that I liked, wasn't girly, and matched his room. I gathered ideas from Pinterest, and finally decided how I wanted to make his quilt. We were planning a trip to Lubbock, so it was a good chance to stop by Joann's. I bought some fabric, worked like crazy for a few weeks, and made him a quilt for his bed!! First time I've made a quilt this big.

I bought flat sheets for the front and back, only $4 each at Walmart. Much cheaper than fabric and much wider.. After I made the front, I realized that the orange twin size was going to barely fit on the back with no room for error. I was scared that I was going to get off and mess up the whole thing. I couldn't figure out a plan, but then it dawned on me just to buy a bigger sheet. DUH!! 

Figuring out how I was going to make it....

Once I figured it out, it was really quite simple. If you look closely, it's just a bunch of triangles sewn together. I started with 7.5 inch squares, sewed 5 orange squares to 5 grey squares, then 5 orange squares to 5 white/turquoise squares, 5 white/turquoise to 5 leaf squares, etc, all wrong sides together so the seams would be on top and I could rag them.

Like my illustration? The grey line shows where I drew with a pencil, then the dotted lines are where I sewed, 1/2 inch on either side of the grey line. Then after sewn, I cut across where the grey line is, opened it up, and ironed open the seam. Then I had a bunch of squares that were half one fabric, half another. 

Then, one by one I sewed the squares together making 5 long strips. Then I sewed all 5 strips together.

I then added more of the grey sheet on either side of the chevron and my front was finished! 

I added batting, the orange back, and lots of safety pins. Now for the quilting. As I was drawing all these circles (traced different cake pans), I realized how insanely long this was going to take, but it was too late to change my mind. I hate quilting with a machine because the fabric always shifts and messes up the whole thing, so by hand it was. Up, down, up down. Lots of Netflix to save the day. I think I got through a whole season of Private Practice. I never counted the circles because I knew it was depress me, but I imagine there were over 50.

Then the binding. Oh that binding. I had originally bought some, but the color was just too bright. I finally decided I needed to just buy fabric and make my own. No fabric store in town had the right color, but we were making a trip to San Antonio, so back to Joann's. This Joann's was, and I'm not kidding, almost as big as our HEB!! To get your fabric cut, I had to take a number. Was ridiculous!!

I googled directions on how to make binding and literally it took less time then checking out at that Joann's. I didn't realize how thin it was going to be, but I really like it. More sewing by hand, more Netflix. 

I made the pillow sham, too. You can find directions for the sham and see where I got all my ideas on my pinterest board.

We also sold his rocking chair in the garage sale, and I replaced it with this bench I've used for photo shoots. I'm glad it has a home, now. I hated storing it in the garage. 

Jack did really great with the transition, and the garage sale went great, too. The boys sold some of their toys and make lots of money selling cold water bottles. I think they've spent it all now, though, but I think I've spent all the money I made, too.

New Toy

I know this is quite ridiculous, but I just recently bought myself an external flash for my camera. I've had it sketched in my brain that you are NEVER to use your flash, so if a photo op with the kids came about, I either made them go outdoors or stand close to a window. Dumb. I know. So I finally just bit the bullet and bought an external flash so I could take pictures of the kids where ever I wanted without worrying about the lighting. BTW, I do have a built in flash on my camera, I just hate the way it makes the pictures look. So here's my first day's playtime with it.

I should note, I did not edit any of the pictures before posting (GASP!!) and I have not read the manual, yet. 

This was a dark afternoon in the darkest room in our house. 

I'm also bad about never taking pictures of my kids just being kids. I normally make sure they are dressed nice, hair cut, posing as perfectly as I can get them to... etc. Today, they picked their own clothes, Jack has a rash on his face, I did not clean up first, and I obviously did NOT pose this...  

So here's to a new goal of mine: Taking more REAL pictures of our family. Now, I need a cute camera bag to carry everything in.

Star Wars Room

I promised Z years ago that when he turned 7, I'd redecorate his room. At the time, it seemed like a good age to get to pick what you wanted in your own bedroom, and he had never gotten to pick before. Both boys agreed on Star Wars (neither have ever seen a single movie, but they play the games). Here and here is their room before. Well, his 7th birthday came and went, and I still hadn't done it. I had thought about it, saved stuff on pinterest, but never did anything. I really wanted to do in all in a weekend when their grandmother took them so it'd be a surprise when they got back. But, I can't work that fast. So, I finally just decided, the next time she took them, I'd just do what I could do and finish the rest later. 

So here are the results......

I absolutely LOVE the colors I picked out. The blue is called Loch Blue, the gray is Mindful Gray, both from Sherwin Williams, color matched at Lowes. The gray isn't an exact match, but I like Lowe's version better. The blue has a bit of turquoise in it and the grey has a bit of brown in it.

The bedding I bought at Target on Black Friday (told you I thought about it for a long time). The pillows I got there, too. The pillows are actually just plain suede yellow pillows that I added the star wars applique to. I just found a silhouette I liked online, printed it the right size, and made me a pattern out of some fabric I already had. I then just stitched it on them by hand. The "BEEP, BOOP, BEEP", I stitched by hand, too. 

Their letters were red before, so I painted those yellow to match the pillows.

The curtains are a shower curtain cut in half and hemmed, also from Target. I thought they were just manly enough for a house of boys decorated by a lady that likes things cute. Plus, it saves a lot of money to use a shower curtain. Curtains panels are so expensive! Thanks, Mom, for the seamstress work! 

Chris helped build the rain gutter book shelf. I had seen it a long time ago and had been wanting to build one for them. I let the big boys read in their bed at bedtime, so this is perfect for Z to be able to keep books close to his bed. Ca is too jimmy leg to have anything on the wall next to his bed, but we do have enough to build one for him later. 

Opposite wall...

I want to change out the photos on the wall eventually. One is a pictures of just the 3 boys. The hanging buckets have balls and Star Wars figures in them.

I painted this quote by hand, and yes, I know it's not perfect, but it doesn't bother me. I made straight lines with painter's tape, printed the quote on the computer how I wanted it, then just went for it. TIP: fold printed one in half so you can find center and start painting each line from the center out. Keep eyeing other lines, too so that your letters line up vertically.  

These shelves I already had from their room a long time ago. I let the boys "decorate" them. For the Star Wars silhouettes, I used their Mickey Mouse silhouette boards  (here - plain wood boards from Hobby Lobby). I ripped off Mickey repainted the edges, printed silhouettes from online (just here and there) onto dark gray paper, and cut them out. Last time, I lacquered the whole thing, but this time, I just put the papers through the laminating machine. I glued it all with a hot glue gun. The silhouettes, I attached some foam to the back of them so that it'd stand out a little.

Few Star Wars extras... 

I still "need" something for this wall. I bought a cheap Star Wars puzzle that I might have the boys put together, then hang, but not sure yet.

I'm so glad I got them all finished. It had been a project I had been thinking about for a long time. And I'm absolutely thrilled with the way everything turned out. I was kind of concerned they'd out grow it but truth be told, Chris is 40-something and he hasn't out grown Star Wars yet.  And when I asked the boys how much they liked it on a scale of 1-10, they said 100! 

School Room Redo

 For months, I've been complaining out the lack of desk space in our school room. Here's the first redo of our space from 2010.  The big boys were really outgrowing that preschool sized desk. I needed the new desk to look like a piece of furniture because you'd be able to see it from the living room. It needed to be narrow because our space doubles as a walkway. And most importantly, it needed to be functional. So I set to work on Pinterest for ideas and came up with this. I found these "desk legs" on ikea but they were wider than I wanted. So I gave the idea to my dad. He came up with the plan, Chris cut the wood, and then I left the wood on my dad's back porch. Magically, the desk got built (I love my dad!!). I think all the wood cost about $60-70. 

It's a little tall, so I bought these swivel chairs at Walmart for $20 each that you can raise. The kids are learning how to sit still in them. But I think it'll be great for them to grow into, and the rollers are less likely to scratch the floor. I'm thinking about covering the chairs with some fun fabric. What do you think?

I bought this lamp for the desk because it's kind of dark over there on that wall.

I painted the top with chalkboard paint so we can write on it. Today, the boys took their spelling test on it.

The shelving has been WONDERFUL!!! We were really running out of bookshelf room, so it adds a lot more space. I left the bottom shelves empty so they can have a "Mommy check" spot. 

Here's my bookcase "cleaned up". I know, it still needs work. 

I still have my preschool chalkboard table in front of our window for my little guys, but I know one day, they'll outgrow it, and I'll have to rethink the whole room again. Ugh!! But this is working great for now. 

Birthday Boys | Star Wars Angry Birds

This one's for all you geeks out there. For the rest of you, yes, there really is such a thing as Star Wars Angry Birds: the theme that Ca and B chose for their birthday party. To be perfectly honest, I had never played Angry Birds, but luckily, I'm married to a geek that has it on his phone.

My hotty geek just so happens to be an artist, so I talked him into helping me these fondant characters for the cake. He made the storm trooper and R2D2 (the hard ones). I did the rest. Date night! 

I think this might be my first cake that is 100% edible. I don't have any pictures from the party yet. I'm waiting for a cd from my mom. Ahem.

So little Ben is now 4 years old

• Just started learning to read Bob Books.
• Thinks all his brother's friends are really HIS friends even though they are years older than him.
• Hums "Josh & Isaac's Battle Song" all the time. So much that now Jack hums it, too.
• Started Kindergarten Math, but it's really easy for him.
• Can count to 100 by 1's, 10's, and 5's. Can also count some by 2's and 4's. 
• Loves his veggies, especially squash, cabbage, and asparagus.
• Just started soccer for the first time.
• Is SOOOO funny!!

Caedon is 6 years!!

• Is ridiculously smart
• Can read at a 2nd, maybe even 3rd grade level.
• Still wearing 5T.
• Can be the SWEETEST kid.
• About to start 2nd grade math.
• Has perfect handwriting.
• LOVES legos.
• Is also playing soccer, but that's old stuff for him

Happy Birthday, boys!!

Magical Tokens

So a little update on how the token jar system is going....

I decided to simplify things a bit and mix our "school" tokens with our "chore" tokens, then let the kids buy Wii time whenever they choose (as long as their school and chores are done, and we have the extra time). Before, they got tokens during school time that they could only spend on game time. I like this new way better. Easier and they can play Wii on the weekends. 

The big boys have been bi passing the cash option when they fill up the jars and have been digging in my toy box for prizes instead. Several of the toys in the box are worth more than one token jar, and I told them they'd have to fill it up twice for those. They are never patient enough. They just keep taking the crappy cheap toys. So I came up with a way to make patience a little more appealing: the golden token. When they fill up their jar, they have the option of taking the magical golden token. It makes your token jar worth an extra $3, so when you fill it up the second time with the magical token inside, you get a nicer prize. 

Z got excited about this the first time I told him and chose it. No one has since. Oh well. They are running out of options for the cheap toys. Eventually, they are going to have to take the golden token or cash.

All and all, when I stay on top of it, it goes well (imagine that). I'm definitely sticking with it for the time being. But I do need to buy more tokens. When all the boys have their token jars almost filled up at the same time, we run out. I have to start writing IOU's. 

Sock Owl Mobile, Take 2

I needed a baby girl gift a few months back and when I looked at the registry, I found lots of owl decor. Just my thing. So we asked the expecting parents if they wanted an owl mobile - my specialty. Well, at the time, life was crazy busy, and I could NOT find women's pink socks. So I waited until the beginning of the new year for life to slow down. Luckily, this is also Valentine season and pink socks are easy to find. I bought 2 sets of 3 pairs packs b/c there was only one in each pack that would work. Here's my first attempt (Jack's) and this is my second, but this time, I turned it into a how-to. (I should note, I'm no seamstress and I had no instructions - this is just my version).

• First I turned the socks inside out and machine sewed an arch across the toe. This makes the 2 little points on the owls head. Cut off excess sock.
• I turned it right-side out and stuffed it with batting.
• For the rest, I used embroidery thread - 2 strains at a time - all by hand. I loosely sewed an upward arch at the bottom of the owl (about 3/4 up the foot). 

• I gathered that seam up by pulling the thread real tight and knotting it off.
• Then I cut the excess sock off the bottom (the ankle), but left some sock to make owl feet. I also cut up the middle so that there would be 2 separate feet.

• I rolled up the sock into itself and sewed those rolls together. This is the make the feet. It wasn't too scientific - just played with it until it looked right. Because I rolled the sock up, I didn't have to put any  batting in the feet.

• Eyes: I cut ovals in felt, making sure they were the same size and stitched them in place. It helps to start in the middle of the face and work around, that way, you're in the middle again at the end and can start the 2nd eye without tying off your thread from the first eye.

• Did the same for the brown pupils.

• For the nose, I just sewed a diamond shape with the embroidery thread. Not exactly perfect, but I think it adds character that way. My nose always itched when I got to this part.

• Wings: I wanted color on them, but the felt helps them be a little stiffer. I cut the fabric a little smaller so the felt would be a bit of an outline. 

I used Jack's mobile to hang them from. I was sad to cut that apart, but really, he's 21 mths. He doesn't need it. It was just SOOO cute!! Took a couple tries to find the right size of twine to hang them with....

Finally I had it complete. THEN.... THIS PART!! The morning after I had finished, Z played with the winding mechanism and overwound it, breaking it. I had had that mobile for 7 years!  You know how hard it is to find one of those? We went to 9 stores!! No one had a white mobile!! Finally, we checked a local resale shop and she had one in her spare parts box! Yeah! Finished!! I just covered the plain white-ness with scrapbooking paper.

So what did I do with the other pairs of Valentine's socks? I'm so glad you asked.

I thought it'd be nice to give away to a few friends, but I didn't want to just hand them a pair of socks, so with rubber band and a few scrapbooking supplies, I made them more presentable.