Takin' It Easy

Today was going to be our first day of "normal". We are officially past the week mark with the kids & their tonsils. They can resume "crazy boy normal" next week. But, this morning Kaden {our almost 6 year old} woke up with flu like symptoms. Poor boy has been laying in my bed & visiting the toilet all day. I feel horrible for him. The poor thing is just miserable & can't get comfy. It doesn't help that it is SO stinkin' hot!!!

So, hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for all. I will leave you with a cute picture of Kaden before the tonsil thing. His birthday is next week & he LOVES Captain America.

All Done

The babies are finished with their surgery & we are back at home after a long day. We were at the surgical center for about 6 hours. Everything went great & the boys are doing amazing. Thank you for all of your thoughts! Now, I will be snuggling & loving on these boys for the next week or so.

Gimme a Break

I am going to take a little break {through August}. I may or may not post...it depends on the situation. We have a TON going on over the next month & a half. Both boys are getting their tonsils out this week. I want to devote all of my time to pampering them & making it a positive experience. We have the freezer & fridge stocked with popsicles, ice cream, frozen fruit slushy, jello, & drinks galore. We also splurged & bought a snow cone/slushy maker. I am going to make my own syrup with Koolaid. I will post that before Thursday.

We may have an eye surgery for Kaden in the next month. Three surgeries in the next month will pretty much do us all in.

I apologize for being MIA, but I hope you can understand. We have a month left of break & I can guarantee that it is going to be crazy. We have some fun things planned & I will spill those beans when I return.

I hope that you have an amazing Summer & enjoy your babies.

I will end with sharing the super jammies that I made for the boys for their surgery. If you want to know more about how I made them check out this post about the shorts & this post about doing a freezer paper stencil on the shirt.

Teddy Bear Picnic Day

I missed Teddy Bear picnic day yesterday. I thought I had the post scheduled, but left it in draft form instead. Sorry. So, a little late, but here it is:

If you haven't had a Teddy Bear Picnic before, you HAVE to! It is so fun. We did Teddy Bear Picnic last year. Invite your Teddy Bear to join in on your picnic.

I am reposting this from August of 2009.

My boys ♥ teddy bears. They both choose teddy bears over any other stuffed animal. I thought that it would be fun to have a Teddy Bear Picnic with them. Plus it would be a GREAT excuse to use one of my NEW TEA SETS. We went to the library & I picked up some bear related stories. For lunch we had:

bear shaped pb&j sandwiches
chips
raisins
bear shaped cookies (I used THIS recipe & pre-cut a bear head out of the sheet of cookie dough...then I put the chocolate chips on for the inside ears, eyes, & nose. I also cut a little smile out. Once they were cooked, I just had to re-cut the bear head shape out.)
apple raspberry juice



The boys had no clue what their "lunch surprise" was. I invited them to grab a very special teddy bear & come outside to the picnic blanket. They were excited to have a picnic & use one of our new tea sets. While they ate their lunch with their "friends", I read them the stories that we got from the library.



Kaden held his teddy bear on his lap the whole time...it was so cute.



Preston named his bear cookie "Mr. Preston Polar Bear".



Tomorrow we are going to do a bear craft...stay tuned!!!

National Sugar Cookie Day

I ♥ sugar cookies. So, in honor of "National Sugar Cookie Day" I will share with you a really cute sugar cookie with my favorite sugar cookie recipe.



I came across a really cute sugar cookie idea last year, but I changed it up a bit. Rather than using frosting...I thought that it would be easier to just color the cookie dough different colors. This is my favorite sugar cookie recipe:

1 cup butter (softened)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4-5 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

For the Watermelon Cookies you will also need:

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
red food coloring
green food coloring


Mix butter, eggs, sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a large bowl. In another bowl mix all other dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients.

Divide the dough (I did did one bigger than the other). Color the biggest amount red & the smaller amount green. Chill each color for about 2 hours.

Roll 1/4' thick. You will need to different circle cookie cutters. Cut the red dough with the smaller cookie cutter. Then cut the green with the bigger cookie cutter & the inside with the smaller cookie cutter. Place the green around the red circle & cut the whole thing in half. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Add the mini chocolate chips. Bake 7-8 minutes at 350 degrees.

I usually cook them about 6 minutes and then check them every minute after that.

CRAZY!!!

This is going to be a CRAZY week for me. My little brother is getting married & I am making the cake. STRESS!!!! We also have a TON of family in town & it is ALWAYS a party when they come in to town. So, I guess what I am getting at...is that I am going to be MIA for the week. I will be back next week. Thank!

Happy 4th of July

I hope that you have a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I am grateful for all of the amazing men & women who protect our freedom.

This is my favorite picture for the 4th of July. It serves as a reminder to me of the sacrifice that is made by so many people, but especially the children. Please remember on this day that freedom isn't free.



Happy 4th of July!

4th of July Shirts

I have a hard time MAKING shirts. You can buy shirts for so cheap all ready to go. Especially 4th of July shirts. They are everywhere for only $5.00. But, I must admit there is something fun about creating them the way that you want.

I saw a shirt that had the cutest saying on it, but the shirt itself was UGLY. Even for $5.00, I couldn't bring myself to put the boys in it. So, that was my reason for making a shirt.

For those of you that don't know..my husband is in the Army. We are so proud of him. What better way to show that than these adorable shirts.

I have been wanting to try freezer paper stencilling for a while now. I used the tutorial over at I Am Momma. I usually don't like video tutorials, but this one was pretty good & answered any questions you might have.







I can't wait to make some more shirts. If you have been thinking about freezer paper stencilling...give it a try!

4th of July Craft

Last year, my cute sister in law Val made this really cute centerpiece with her kiddos. So, here you have it!

She took a drink mix container (like Crystal Light).


Then she covered it with crepe paper. You could really use any kind of paper!


Then poked a foil fun pix (from the holiday section at Michael's) through the center of the lid. She cut off most of the toothpick after she poked it through and covered it so it won't poke anyone. Then cut out red, white, & blue stars & stick them on.


The finished product...


I made one similar, but used the supplies that I had on hand. I used craft foam & chenille stems. It was fun to make & they turned out pretty festive!



I love this idea! Thanks Val!!

{reposted from July 2009}

Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day

Today is Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day. You could head to Cold Stone Creamery or just mix up something on your own. What kind of flavors can you come up with?