fall fun

I love the beginning of the end of the year. It starts with fall festivals and church Halloween events. The girls are at such a perfect age to enjoy the festivities too.

Here are a few shots taken today and yesterday at the COD Trunk or Treat and the CVAS (Crescenta Valley Adventist School) Fall Festival...

Leaving for Trunk or Treat at Church of the Open Door

Not sure why Mya is kind of saluting me... Winter's confused too :-)

 



 

Winter says this is her mean face.

 

 

It took about 20 pics to get a cute one :-) and Winter's not even looking

 

 

 This was today at the fall festival. There was so much to do, we did not have enough time. We lost the infamous "Black Baby" for about an hour or so but someone found her sitting with the pumpkins, thank goodness! The girls had the time of their lives riding ponies, petting goats and sheep, painting pumpkins, bouncing in the Elmo bouncy house, getting their faces painted and much more. Winter was in the petting zoo most of the time turning the turtles on their backs and brushing the chickens. There was a 12 year-old boy in charge of the animals. He mostly followed Winter around to make sure she didn't kill anything, poor guy. Winter wants a pony more than anything now. She cried hard when we had to say good-bye.

 

 

These balloons lasted for about 1.5 minutes. Mya's snowman is still perfect. She went to sleep tonight with it looking exactly like it did when she first got it done :)

 

When the lady wasn't looking, Winter grabbed a paintbrush and started her own picture on the other cheek and said, "It's okay, it's just a little one :)."

 

 

 

Thanks Auntie Wendy for the best day!



mya the photographer

I love to look through my phone after Mya has been on one of her picture taking sprees. Here are my favorites from yesterday's get together at Grandma's house...

Best picture ever. A shot of my mom sneezing :) Sorry Mom! This is really not a flattering picture. She's usually quite pretty. I posted another nice pic of us to be fair :)

And here a few shots of my crazy sister. Mya and Wendy could spend hours doing this. Mya loves to shoot and Wendy loves to pose :)

auntie rose's rudolf

This is not a pinterest craft. It's a craft that Auntie Rose helped us make at Growing Up Mom. She's my half sister's aunt and not really related to me but I didn't know that until I was about 12 or so. Either way, I like her a lot and she's super crafty. She holds greeting card classes at her house and has made all kinds of cool crafts over the years. She is one of my favorite people. She used to give us boxes of cereal for Christmas which we loved. She's Italian and she has the greatest Rhode Island accent even though she's lived in Sunland, CA my whole life.

Here she is at one of my baby showers...probably Winter's.

This craft doesn't take much explaining. You could recreate it just by looking at it. You just need a pinecone, some pine needles for antlers, a pompom for the nose, some eyes, ribbon and a glue gun. I think she said she got the green steak at Hobby Lobby?

Oh, I did learn how to make the perfect bow though. I thought I should definitely pass that on. It's easier to practice on a shoelace or something skinny first. Basically you make two loops and tie them in a knot. And voila, out comes the perfect bow. It's how we taught my brother to tie his shoe laces when he was little because it was too hard to do the bunny around the tree and through the rabbit hole.

So here's Rudolf:

You put it in a potted plant (or the ground) to make it festive. So cute.

these days

It's the final count down. I'm going to say we have about a month left until we meet baby #3. Wishful thinking but I'm hoping to be 10 days early again. Not sure how women are supposed to raise children while growing them in their belly at the same time. It would be like asking my 89 year old grandmother to take care of my kids. That is how old I feel around 3:00 in the afternoon. She constantly says, "It's hell gettin' old." and I totally feel her pain. My whole body aches and I can barely get up off the floor after reading a story or changing a diaper. (Winter is totally potty trained during the day but frequently saves all her poop for her bedtime diaper. So nice of her.) It takes giant grunts and horrible sounds but eventually I'm standing again. Things I used to take for granted like picking up my girls, walking up the stairs and retrieving sippy cups from under the couch must be done with a self pep talk and extreme effort. I understand that we are designed for this but it just doesn't seem like the best way. I don't have a better one but sitting on an egg sounds pretty reasonable at this point.

Anyway, our normal days are spent getting out of the house, usually going to the park in the morning, enjoying a peaceful naptime then running errands in the new minivan and killing time by going to places like Target or Costco until bedtime. Yes, I have fully accepted motherhood at this point.

I thought I would share some cute pics of the girls more for my sanity than your enjoyment. Looking at pictures like this helps me love them when I want to throw them :-D

I took this at the park yesterday. They both took their shoes and socks off (which they know they aren't allowed to do at the park) and threw them down into the woodchips for me to retrieve but I still could not resist the photo op. 

I took this one after dinner tonight. They went upstairs and changed into their bathing suits so that they could go swimming in the imaginary pool in their bedroom... It's even better than the real thing because they can keep their boots and fancy shoes on.

 

stones & anchors

I just got back from the Church of the Open Door Women's Retreat. I realize many ladies did not get to go and I would hate hearing about what an awesome time everyone had if I wasn't able to go. So I thought I would share what I brought home with me.

I did have an amazing time and feel truly blessed to be a part of such an amazing body of believers. These women are real, honest, down to earth, flesh and blood, Christ loving ladies. My favorite thing about COD women is that no one is pretending to be something she is not. Everyone is open about their faults and accepting of others. Feeling that way allows me to be open and honest about my life as well. It makes it easier to connect with others at the church.

There were two speakers from our church who shared with the group. They were amazing. Lindsay gave some great illustrations that were super helpful because I am a visual learner. It's easy for me to tune someone out accidentally and start thinking about something totally unrelated like something interesting someone else said earlier that day. It really helps me focus when speakers have pictures and props.

Lindsay's theme was "let go and let God." She brought a bunch of stones and written on the stones were things that steal our focus from Jesus like fear, worry, money, relationships, to do lists, loneliness, housework, job stuff etc. She piled them in the hands of one volunteer.

Use your imagination and picture those things written on these stones =)

 

She could barely hold them all. Then in another volunteer's hands, she placed just one stone and written on it was "Jesus." There is no room for Him when our hands are filled with all of those other stones.

She had great suggestions to get rid of the "stones" that continued to steal our focus like placing verses in our pockets that we could look at throughout the day when we feel one of those other stones creeping up and taking over our thoughts. Also, simply saying to ourselves, "That thought is not from God, that's me talking" when we start thinking thoughts that are not healthy and really not helpful. She shared the example most moms can relate to. Having a pity party can really be distracting but so easy to do because as moms, we have so much to do and it never ends and we feel defeated and discouraged so much of the time.

But really taking charge of our thoughts and ending the damaging ones before they get the best of us is really the key. And obviously, it isn't something that happens overnight but eventually we will get better at putting those stones down and just holding onto the one that matters.

Lindsay also used this verse a few times to remind us that God intends so much more for our lives than pity parties and distracting stones. "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." John 10:10. God has big plans for us but we have to "Yield and relinquish fully to God and rely on His power." (from Lindsay's notes)

The next speaker was Shelly. Shelly gave me the best spiritual metaphor. Christ is our anchor. An anchor can be used in calm or rough waters. It is used in storms to keep the boat from capsizing. It is used in the harbor to keep the boat from drifting. Both are equally important I think. I have seen people drift away slowly from the church. It happens when you are not anchored to Christ and His people. I have also seen storms pull people away because they were simply too big and they did not cling to Christ. Instead they sank. I must have heard this comparison before but for some reason, it really stuck. This weekend I almost became obsessed with the whole anchor thing. I want a necklace with an anchor on it. I want a picture of an anchor to put on my fridge. I want to see anchors daily so I am reminded that He is my anchor.

I don't know if this season of my life would be considered stormy waters. I've certainly been through bigger storms than raising kids but my waters are certainly not calm. I don't really expect to be in the harbor any time soon. From what I hear, children do not become easy and neither does life. I will need Christ to be my anchor always.

After hearing from both ladies, it was hard to pinpoint exactly what was distracting me from being a one stone girl and keeping myself anchored to Christ. So I wrote some thoughts down on paper. I am so mentally foggy these days that I cannot really think unless my thoughts are written or typed out for me to see. That's why I'm so into blogging right now.

Here is what I came up with. They are all centered around my girls, husband and house because that is what my current season of life looks like right now. These are my stones that are consuming my daily thoughts and keeping me from living the life God has for me.

-Frustration with disobedience
-lack of patience
-anger toward my children
-guilt for not responding in love
-regret that I'm missing my kids' little years because I don't appreciate them enough
-frustration with my unclean house, laundry, dishes
-selfish feelings of resentment toward my husband for not helping more
-trying to plan, organize and improve my house and my life
-exhaustion; physical, mental and emotional
-losing touch with friends, family and world around me

These things are not of God. They are my own stones.

Now what?

Well, I can start praying that God focuses my thoughts on Him instead of my own stones. I can put verses in my pocket, purse or car when I'm out and about so I can pull them out and read them when I feel like my attitude needs adjusting. I plan on putting the anchor illustration up somewhere in my house as well. Being in the word daily is huge too. It's pretty much a necessity for being anchored to Christ.

Here are some helpful verses Lindsay gave us to keep handy when we are holding on to stones like the ones below:

Afraid: 2 Tim 1:6,7 and Isaiah 43: 1-2
Weak: Isaiah 40:31
Worry: Matthew 6:19-21, Philippians 4:6, Isaiah 54:10 and John 16:33
Questioning Future: Psalm 84:10, Matthew 6:33, Psalm 139
Sick: Psalm 91
Hatred: Proverbs 10:12
Needing help: Psalm 121:1-2
Sad/stuck: Psalm 40
Treasure on earth vs. treasure on heaven: Matthew 6:19-21
Loneliness: Psalm 139:7-10 and Hebrews 13:5
Miscarriages or loss of hope for another reason: Romans 15:13 and 2 Corinthians 10:5

washer necklace

Craft #5

I found these on Pinterest and have been really wanting to try them for a while. I've really been into the crafting thing lately if you haven't noticed. It's so much healthier for my brain than TV, which I would definitely be watching if we didn't cancel our cable last year. I go back and forth on my satisfaction in our decision, especially since the Dodgers just may win the World Series for the first time since 1988, but that's beside the point. Nevertheless, I have lots of time at night now. So I'm taking advantage before the next tiny bundle comes along. I have about 6 weeks to complete all Christmas gifts and projects.

Here is my finished product:

Here's the link I used: http://www.thriftyandthriving.com/2012/04/washer-pendant-necklaces/

Materials:
Necklace cords that come ready to use with clasps etc. (I bought 3 for about $2.50 at Michael's)

Washers - $.33 at the hardware store.
Scrapbook paper
Mod podge
Diamond glaze found on Amazon.com. (I used clear spray paint I had from the last craft) I'm assuming it will serve the same purpose.

First, cut out circles from your scrapbook paper to glue to the washers. I don't have fancy tools to do this as suggested in the blog above so I did it by hand. It turned out just fine.

Trace the washer on the back of your scrapbook paper. 

 

Then cut it a little smaller so the paper will fit nicely with a little silver showing.

 

 

 

 

Then glue it to the washer with mod podge on both sides of the paper.

 

 

Let it dry, then use either diamond glaze or spray paint to seal in the paper. Sorry, no pic of that. Here's the different designs I used. I find that the darker ones with smaller print work best. The white or lighter colors turn out dingy looking.

 

 

Tie the cord to the washers and you're done! I plan on changing the washers out with different outfits :-)

 

 

 

 



coasters

Craft #4
DIY Coasters made from kitchen tiles. I made these last year for our craft boutique fundraiser at church. I already had a lot of the supplies so I decided to make them again. Here's the finished product:

 

Materials:
Kitchen tiles - $.16 each at the hardware store
Scrapbook paper - found at Michael's, Target and Walmart (prices vary depending on how many sheets you buy)
Mod podge - found at Michael's and Walmart ($5 for a small bottle but such a great investment for all kinds of crafts)
Felt paper - found at Michael's, Walmart or Target (or foam squares found at the $1 store in the school supply section)
Clear spray paint found at the hardware store (about $5)
Something to tie them together like ribbon or string.

I had all of the materials except for the tiles so this craft was $2.56 because I bought 16 tiles. If you have to buy the mod podge, spray paint, paper, tiles and felt squares, this could get a little pricey but once you have everything, you can make 100 coasters! :-) $20 and Christmas presents are done!

Step 1 - Cut scrapbook paper into 4 inch X 4 inch squares. The tiles are a bit bigger so they fit perfectly. Also cut felt paper into 4X4 inch squares to use later. You can make all the coasters the same or chose different patterns with the same color scheme which is what I did.

Step 2 - glue the paper onto the tiles using mod podge. You will then use mod podge to seal the top of the paper once you've glued it to the tile. The mod podge dry's clear. Make sure there are not any air bubbles.

Step 3 - I forgot to take a picture of this step. Sorry! Spray paint the tops of the tiles so they are sealed so you can actually use them as coasters. I laid them out (paper side up) on a giant trash bag cut open. Then sprayed them generously and let them dry in the sun. Once they are dry, you can move on to step 4.

 

Step 4 - glue felt squares to the backs of the tiles using mod podge.

 

 

 

Final step - Wait for the glue to dry then tie groups of four tiles together with a bow or string. I actually used pieces of fabric I cut up from a dress I'm using for another craft. It was not a cute dress but I love the fabric so I've been putting it to good use.

 

 

 

pic frame dry erase board

Craft #3

This isn't a Christmas craft although you could probably make it festive with the right scrapbook paper. It's just something I've been wanting to do for a while and finally got around to doing it.

I got the idea for a dry erase board made from a picture frame off of Pinterest of course. But in the pin, the picture said something like, "I love you because..." and then you are supposed to write a little note. That's sweet and all but I went another direction.

Here's my finished product:

 

Materials:

-8X10 picture frame (99 cent store)

-piece of scrapbook paper

-dry erase marker

-velcro

 

All together I think I spent about $5 for the picture frame, dry erase markers (pack of 4) and velcro (pack of 16 pieces). I already had the scrapbook paper.



I ripped off the stand part in the back of the frame so it would hang flat. It was pretty easy because the frame is so cheap. I used a piece of scrapbook paper, inserted a pic of my girls and wrote on the paper with a sharpie. I wrote "3 Things" because as mentioned in a previous post, that is my to do list. I wrote "Someone to Bless" because I find that focusing on others improves my attitude. It's not completely selfless ;-) I plan on sending a card, making a meal or doing something else nice for someone different each day. I wrote "Verse or Quote of the Day" because I can always use biblical inspiration or inspiration from someone smarter than me. And finally, "I'm thankful for ______ today." That's always good too.

 

I used velcro to fasten the frame to the fridge and a dry erase marker to the frame. Now it's on my fridge where I see it several times a day.



sock wreath

Craft #2 - Christmas Sock Wreath

This was SUPER cheap because I already had all the socks. It was a great idea for me because I never wear those fuzzy socks I've received for the last few years but didn't have the heart to throw them out. I only wear the ones with grippers so I don't slip and fall on my wood floor :-) In the blog below, she buys some Christmas socks from the $1 store.

Here's my finished product:

 

Here's the link I used: http://wipkits.blogspot.com/2010/12/sock-wreaths.html

Materials:
Foam tubing ($1.50 at any hardware store)
Paper towels or tissue paper
Duct tape
Christmas socks
Thick Christmas ribbon (optional)
My total cost for this project was $1.50 for the foam tubing. I had everything else. 

It only took like 30 minutes (with kid distractions) and there wasn't any clean up. This is the cheapest, easiest craft I think I've ever made.

Step 1 - Cut tubing and fill with paper towels. I purchased foam tubing at Lowes (on the plumbing aisle) and cut in half. So it makes two wreaths. It doesn't make a great circle because it's hollow but I filled it with toilet paper and that made it work. You could also use tissue paper. It may slide through the middle easier. The toilet paper was kind of hard to push through. I used a broom handle to push it in when it would get stuck.

 

Step 2 - gather 4 pairs of socks and cut the toes out.

Step 3 - Scrunch them onto your tubing covering the cut sides with the hemmed sides of the socks. I used 4 pairs of fluffy socks.

Step 4 - Use duct tape to fasten the two sides of your tubing together. I actually redid my duct tape after I took this picture. It wasn't on tight enough. I had my hubby hold the ends together tightly while I taped. It made a much better circle. Then move socks over the tape and make it pretty.

The girl in the blog I provided used an extra sock and made it into a bow. I just used ribbon to decorate it. (I was just at Costco today and they are selling fat Christmas ribbon, 50 yards for $7 - super great deal)