Let's Play: Wesley or Mary?

#TBT

Wordless Wednesday:: Ear Infections Stink!

Looking for a Quiet Spot

As most of you know already, we have some dear friends staying with us for a few months. This started back on February 1st. It has been crazy and loud, but awesome and exciting at the same time.

This living arrangement has been especially great for Wesley. Being an only child means she doesn't really understand compromise in her home yet. She goes to daycare and sunday school and I believe she understands sharing means caring, but not having to share her actual house and Mom and Dad for so long meant she just didn't get selfless behavior. And we really couldn't make her understand by ourselves either. I mean, why would I refuse to let her sit in the chair she wanted at dinner time, or not go into the bathroom at that very moment, or not pick the tv show she wanted to watch at tv time?

Well, all of those issues are regular occurrences now so she has had to learn to take turns, be patient and respectful of others. And it has been challenging for her. She was used to being the only girl in our world. I'm really glad she is having to adjust her reality in this way at this age.

All that being said, it is really nice when we have little pockets of time together and it is quiet and just us. Having eight humans in your house most of the time makes you really appreciate the moments it's just the two of you. That happened this Saturday afternoon when the weather was just warm enough to get outside and breathe! So Wes and I went to Home Depot and grabbed a pallet of flowers and got to work on the backyard. We planted yellow and purple pansies everywhere we had an empty spot. Then we just sat on the deck and hung out. It was great.

 After awhile I decided I should probably shower for the day. When I got out, my house was eerily quiet.  I went looking for all the little noise makers and this is what I found.

It made her seem so grown up! Ollie's set up wasn't a shocker, but Wes just sitting in the sunlight reading made her like a teenager to me! 

If this is the result of this crazy experiment I couldn't be happier. I love that the chaos is teaching all of us to enjoy the quiet moments. And I love how quickly we have come to love the chaos. Soon after this moment Wee wandered the house asking for her baby and Mrs. Ash-a-leigh and Jack and Charlie. She loves them and I love that.

Fasting from Fishing

During this season of Lent I am fasting from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Don't worry,  I don't think social media is fundamentally evil or anything, but I am worried about what I am turning it into because of my own hang ups. First, I check it way to much. I get obsessive without even realizing I'm obsessed, just by having it on my computer screen constantly, or clicking on my phone every time I have one second of down time. It had gotten ridiculous, yet I couldn't stop. 

The next issue is downright embarrassing, but I'm trying to confess it honestly. I found myself getting a little too excited over likes and comments. I think encouragement is great, but I was checking for it instead of just enjoying the kind words. Almost like I was fishing for compliments. There I said it. I was looking for approval. And that is not why I should be sharing photos or life. If I want to use social media to keep up with my friends and families then I just need to enjoy the community not seek happiness through other peoples compliments. In other words it was a false self-esteem booster that quickly faded. 

My hope is by fasting from these things I will break the habit of constantly checking, and wean myself from the need of digital approval. Then when I go back to social media in 40 days, I can enjoy it for what it is and not make it too important in my life. We'll see.

Meanwhile, I am still going to be blogging. I know that is still a form of social media, but like I said in the beginning, this blog is for me and my family to keep up with our ever changing lives. So I still want to document holidays, happenings and Wesley's antics on here. What I am going to do is turn off the comment section during Lent. 

If I want community and friendship I need to make the effort with email, phone calls and get togethers, not just clicking the thumbs up on someones picture. And I need to look for the same thing in return and not get overly excited about a "like."

So after that heavy post,  here are a few sweet pictures of Wes on Valentine's day to enjoy if you wish.

Happy Valentine's Day

I love Valentine's Day! I love sparkles and bows, pink and red, hearts and candy. I love the gaudiness of glitter and the excessive use of ribbons.  I even like preparing Wesley's Valentine treats! I mean I bought her present back on January 10th!

So each year, I first have to decide on a theme. Her first year in school (2yr old) I did felt conversation heart lollipop holders, that took FOR-EV-ER, and she only had 12 kids in her class that year! So  I vowed to take it down a notch the next year. And I did. For 2012 I did a fish theme. I made her a cute little fishy love shirt and Matt designed fishy valentines and we gave goldfish cracker snacks.

This year I let Wesley pick her own theme. It was hard for me to give up control, but I want to instill the importance of following a theme early, so I figured it was time. I showed her the blog post from last year, and asked her what kind of valentines she would want to give out this year. I was so sure we would be doing My Little Pony or fairies or princesses. But she quickly decided she wanted to do birds!

I started scanning Pinterest and my embroidery blogs for bird valentine ideas and we went with the tag line "How tweet it is to be loved by you!" And I bought a monogram design for her Valentine shirt.

This was back in January btw.

Oh how the time escaped me. This past Saturday I realized I have to actually act on all the "tweet" planning. So I started with her giveaway treats. I had decided to do heart shaped bird seed cakes. I mean what 4 year old needs more candy right? So I got heart shaped silicone muffin pans, bird seed and clear gelatin.

First you melt 2 packs of gelatin in one cup of water, as soon as it dissolves you can turn off the heat and stir in 2 cups of bird seed. I double this recipe and it filled 12 hearts. After you fill your hearts, stick a piece of a drinking straw through the top to punch a hole for the string you will tie in later to hang it on a tree branch. Then you put them in the fridge to set for 2 hours.

Here is my first batch.

You can kinda see the little heart imprint on the bottom.

I did a little less bird seed the second time around, because the tops of my heart crumbled a little in the first batch and I wanted more gelatin to seed ratio. And the second batch did turn out a little more "solid"

Adorbs, right?!?!

I was so proud of myself for getting it all done. After all 24 were completely hard I popped them into plastic bags to prepare to staple the valentine on top.

Then it was Sunday, church..nap..Grizzlies Game...prepare for work week...etc. So I kinda forgot to do any other preparing.

Then, in a blink, it was Tuesday night. And it hit me. Wesley's class was having a "Sweetheart Ball" on Thursday (V-Day) so she couldn't wear her shirt on Thursday, she needed to have it by Wednesday. Which at that point was 4 hours away. So after bedtime routine, I headed to the sewing machine. Only I had forgotten 1. I had not bought a shirt to sew on and b. all my thread was in the guest room where guests were sleeping. Mom FAIL. I started digging through my blank tee shirt reserves to see if I had anything that could work ( and would just sneak very very quietly for thread later) and guess what I found.

The Lord provided a bird themed Valentine dress! My sweet mother had found it at good will years ago  and it just had a few ripped seams (hence being in my sewing box). I stitched the seams up and ironed that sucker. Bird outfit, done!

I headed back downstairs to tie strings on the bird seed cakes and staple the bags closed. So pleased with myself for already finishing them days before. Oh the pride before the fall.

I went to get the bowl of hearts and this is what I found.

They had MOLDED!!! And SPROUTED!!! GROSS!! 

In three short days, there was just enough moisture in the jello and heat in the plastic bags for my hard work to spoil. 

I was so very depressed. By now it was almost 9pm and it took 4 hours to make 24 hearts, and I would need to go buy more gelatin :( I just couldn't do it. I was too tired. And scared it would only happen again overnight. So I threw all my hard work out, to the birds (literally) and instead bagged up plain old birdseed for the kids to spread at home.

Whomp, Whomp :( Mom Fail number 2!

None the less, Wesley took birdy Valentines, and wore a bird love dress to school the next day to prepare for Thursday.

And last night we played fashion show to pick just the right "ball gown" and put in our soft curlers to prepare for the big dance today.

And this morning she woke to find sweet treats, a Valentine unicorn, and sweet blonde curly hairs. 

And all is right with the world, with or without heart shaped bird seed cakes and homemade Valentine shirts!

Wordless Wednesday::In Love with our House Guest

Sewing Update and Valentine's Designs

Even though I haven't posted about it much, I do still sew! I don't have a ton of "extra" time lately, who does?!?! But when I have a baby shower, holiday or birthday I love to get upstairs and work something up. So here are a few things I have done lately, I am awful about remembering to take a picture of everything I do anymore. I used to be so proud that I actually created something, now it's old hat!

A cool rocket ship for a little boy's "Out of this World" birthday party!

A pretty ballerina to personalize Wee's dance bag

Quick monogram patch for a baby gift

A shirt for a 2nd grade teacher friend

And here are some old pics of Valentine's designs in case anyone needs ideas.

Butterfly love

Love bug

Fish love

Love cakes

Bee Mine Alphabet

I've also updated pictures my design and prices tabs. I still don't have pictures for every design I own, but I have been adding every time I stitch something out.

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

I know Christmas is over, but this post isn't about presents, despite its title.

This post is about things in my life that make life a little easier for me. Things I have discovered from Pinterest, friends, coworkers etc.

So I share them with you...

1. An over the door shoe organizer. At first glance this may seem like a duh choice but let me explain. I don't use it for shoes. I have two of these babies. One is used for gloves, hats and scarfs. The nifty little pockets are just the right size to keep up with them and I can see all my choices at once in the morning. It has really helped get me out the door on time in the winter, and I don't end up wearing the same scarf everyday, just because it's on the top of the pile!

The second one is on the backside of our basement door, right off from our kitchen. And it has recently replaced the dreaded "junk drawer." Twenty-four pockets gives you a LOT of room to be a hoarder when you feel the need to save every rubber band, birthday candle and battery charger. And then all those trinkets are there when you need them (because you will need them, Matt!) but they are not thrown willy nilly into a precious drawer in your kitchen, and no one has to ever look at your junk!

2. My next favorite thing is the Target REDcard.  Y'all, I avoid credit cards like the flu. Seriously, I got burned right after college, when I thought I was making money and so I figured I could just charge away and pay it later...oh what's that...an interest rate of 31% AND a late fee every month. Yikes. So when checkers at any store ask I always quickly say NO Thank you. 

But checking out right before Christmas with a particularly productive Target run, I gave in to that first time 10% off (or whatever it was). I figured I would just use them for their discount this one time and then cancel it.  Well, while I was "signing up" the friendly young man (who won a free soda for signing me up, and he was super pumped about it) said I had the choice to link it directly to my debit account, so when I used it it came out of my checking automatically. NO CREDIT CARD BILL! Score! So I did that. Then he further explained I would always receive the 5% discount when I used my REDcard. Sweet! And, I saved the best news for last, FREE SHIPPING for online orders. Hallelujah! That means anytime I think of something I forgot at Target I just hop online and have it sent on over to the door, free of charge (well, you know what I mean). I mean they are basically paying me to shop there at this point.

Matt may not appreciate this new development in my life, but it has rocked my world. The UPS man stops by our house a lot more nowadays. So if you have more self control then me, I highly recommend grabbing a REDcard.

3. My final helpful discovery is the use of the three shelf laundry system. I bought this simple metal shelf (at Target of course) and then grabbed 3 laundry baskets of the proper dimensions for each shelf. It hangs out in our laundry room, and when we throw laundry at the baskets we can easily separate whites, colors and towels.  And when I go to do laundry I don't have to sort, just grab a basket and throw the whole thing in. I will be the first to admit this doesn't always happen, lots of times the top basket (for towels) ends up a catch all.  But it works most of the time, when we are not just throwing laundry at the laundry room when company is walking in the door. 

We have also recently thought of sorting it by person instead of colors. I mean lots of times I do loads of laundry with a little bit of everything in them anyway and everything comes out all right, because I always wash on cold. And maybe if we did it by person it would make folding and putting away (which is the WORST part of laundry) easier?!?!

So what about you? Have you discovered anything life altering lately? Or just a quick tip to make things run smoother in your home. Do I have to sort laundry anymore? Do tell!