time's a tickin'

Are you starting to panic?  Only 22 days left!

Momma's Salon & Spa

With school finished up and summer in full swing, my life is absolutely crazy right now.  Copious hours have already been spent at the pool, our door is a revolving door for neighborhood friends (which is great), the swing set only entertains for so long, and the kids are already complaining there is 'nothing to do'.  Plus, we are smack dab in the middle of VBS this week.  It is definitely summer, baby!

To change things up a bit, I took the time to 'play' with each of the girls' hair.
G's Woven braids:

C's Criss-Cross Fishtail:

M's Curving Dutch Braid:

 O's Double Headband Braid:

I'm sure next week we will break out the nail polish and decorate those little fingers and toes.

Hope you all are having a wonderful start to summer!

A Birthday and A Recipe

Our oldest turned 9 (9!) a week or so ago.  Crazy how time goes by so quickly and just seems to speed up the older the kids get.  We had a family celebration with a friend over - sweet and simple.

 This year Gretchen wanted an ice cream cake.  I was able to find this recipe for OREO and Fudge Ice Cream Cake at Kraft and just substituted in Mint OREOs.  So simple to make and tasted great.

Our next birthday is in September and I've already had a request for one made with Snickers.  :)

Kids Kitchen Tower

Most of you know I have a love for all things DIY - even doing some woodworking here and there.  It's just so much fun to make something out of nothing.  The addition of the power tools just pushes it to the next level for me.

I guess the 'nut doesn't fall too far from the tree'.  Since my father retired a few years ago, he has been able to get a shop area set up in their basement.  And, now that he has the time, he has been making a few things for my family and my siblings' families.

One of the projects he did for all of us was a tower for the kids to help in the kitchen.

 My kids love being able to have turns in the kitchen helping me cook.

 Or just being able to play in it pretending it is a spaceship or just a quiet place to go and look at books.

 It adjust to fit all my kids from the 8 yr old all the way down to the almost 2 yr old.  Giving each of them just the right amount of boost.

It's been a great addition and it's even better that my dad took the time and care to make it for us.  He even adjusted my older sister's to be a little wider to accommodate her two sets of twins.

If you would like one, Ana White has plans for a very similar one called 'The Little Helper Tower'.

Life Happens

I'm having trouble locating my camera cord.  Hmmm.....

I really have no clue where it is.

I also have 2 kiddos on antibiotics right now.

Waiting to see which kid will be #3.

I've decided to take about a week off and to focus on the little ones.  Maybe in that time I'll be able to locate my camera cord.

Now, where to look next.....

Meet Joe the Crab!

Joe the Crab is a little blue crab that goes for a walk along the beach one day and discovers he's a little different.  What a shock!!

This is an adorable little story written by a friend of ours and shows kids it really is okay to have something different about you.  I can't wait to give our kids their copy at Christmas!  I see this becoming a favorite in our home.  Plus, Tim is slated to have two more books about Joe the Crab coming out in 2012.

If you would like your own copy, Tim has them for sale at his website for $8.99.

Any cute kid's book recommendations out there?

**Tim's Blog and Facebook

Gift Idea - Apps and Tunes

I thought I would deviate from handmade to easy and cheap.  I know a LOT of people out there have a smart phone.  How many of you allow your kids to play with said smart phone turning it into a ridiculously expensive 'toy'?  Yep, I'm guilty.  There are times when parents get desperate to entertain the little ones, though.  {Like when you have to spend 5 hours at the auto repair place with 3 kids waiting for tires.  Not the most kid friendly place and even new display tires are dirty.}


I personally I have an iPhone.  I absolutely love it!  Apps for me and the kids, plus all the music we like to listen to.  We rarely listen to the radio anymore when in the vehicle.  I also like to have it playing throughout the house when we're cleaning.

Do you have an iPhone or Mac?  If you do, I'm sure you have iTunes on your electronic already.  If not, you can download itunes easy enough.  Itunes cards are all over the place and make great gifts for all ages.  Plus, it takes away the angst of deciding which songs/albums someone else would like or want.  For younger kids, consider placing money in your iTunes account and then giving each child a certificate or coupon they can redeem for x amount of songs.  (This is what we plan to do for our older kids.)  Or, pick the songs and make a personal CD for the receiver.

'There's an app for that.'  An app for just about anything you might want - couponing, stores, games, educational, jokes, weather - you name it.  Want to know what's popular?  How about apps for kids?  Just do a quick search and you've got it!  There are so many free ones out there, too.

Here's a rundown on some that we like - Nook and Kindle, The Weather Channel, Angry Birds,  Glow Draw, Racing Penguin, DoodleBuddy, Fisher Price,  and KidCalc.  Right now I'm bribing my 8 yr old with Fruit Ninja for when she passes her times table test.

I know this isn't a crafty post, but it is a gift idea.  Hopefully this will give you another idea for your gift list.

Do you have some favorite apps?  Please share - Here in the comments or on Facebook.

** I know there are other devices that can download apps.  I'm not familiar with them.  Better to stick to what I know.  :)  Do a google search if you have a different brand of smartphone.

Gift Idea - Kid's Apron

My kids love helping in the kitchen.  What kid doesn't?  So, my mother sewed up these pretty little aprons for all the girls in the family one spring.  If you look at the picture closely, you can see she even made matching aprons for each of the girls' Bitty Babies.  They were all thrilled!

These are great ideas for being in the kitchen or getting into character when playing 'house', too.  My kids pull them out all the time.  Do a quick Google search for 'kid's apron patterns' and you will have several free patterns from which to choose.  Or, head over to Joann's during one of their sales and get a pattern for $2 or less.

**Patterns used - Simplicity 3802, Simplicity 4286, Simplicity 2626

The Zoo Called Yesterday

We (meaning I) decided we needed a break from the norm yesterday.  Saint Louis has a lot of free or nearly free attractions, and the zoo was our destination.

Two things on our list were the Children's Zoo and the zebras.  The Children's zoo has a petting area full of goats.  Kid #3 and Kid #5 really enjoyed themselves.  Little Boy kept chasing the poor animals around yelling 'puppy!' and loving every minute.

 Kid #4 tried to climb up my leg as soon as we entered the pin.  Here I'm trying to just get her hand out to touch the back of a goat.  She was having none of it.  Try running after a 20 month old with a 34 lb 3 yr old on your hip.  I'm sure we were quite the sight.

 Can't really blame her when all she sees is something like this in her face.

 After we left the goats and Kid #4 realized that all the other animals were 'stuck' in their different cages, all was good.

The weather was perfect for the outing, too, bringing a lot of the animals out for easy viewing.

 We only spent a couple of hours there, but that was long enough with three little ones.  While I was getting the stroller and cooler loaded up in the vehicle, I told the kids to go run in the grassy area of the park.

 Only two had the energy to go play.  Liv decided she just wanted to get in the car and rest.

We had such a good time!  I'm so glad I was impulsive and just went instead of worrying about all the stuff that was put on hold for the day.  Now, I need to find some good indoor activities to get us through the cooler months coming up.  Any suggestions on free activities in the area for little kids?

My Baby Girl Turns 3

Three years ago, we were happily awaiting the arrival of our 4th little blessing.  I ended up toting around an extra 40 pounds while trying to keep up with the other 3 kids.

Summer time had never seemed so hot in Georgia as it did that year.  There were times my feet would swell so much I couldn't even get flip flops on.  {Not that the undercover redneck in me really minded being barefoot, but it is nice to have shoes on when going to church.  ;)}

Since I was measuring 2 weeks ahead of where I was suppose to be, my wonderful doctor scheduled an induction time 10 days early.  (I LOVED that doctor!)  I can't imagine having a baby any bigger than what she already was.

Our first few months were a little trying.  (A lot of crying happened the first seven months.)  But, she was worth all the fuss.

It wasn't long before she was pushed out of being the 'baby of the family' into the role of 'big sis', but she handled it well.

She has become a very independent - something that I love seeing in all my kids.

And she is growing into such a beautiful little girl.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LIV!  We love you so very much!

A Bouquet

In honor of our first week of school, here is a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils just for you!  May my kids' enthusiasm last the whole year! (HA!)

A Mini Vacation

This summer has been a lot of fun so far.  I'm also finding how much the school year really helped me with having 'extra time' when I wanted to get projects started/finished around here.  So, I may not have many new projects through this summer, but I am busy.

We headed in to Indiana to spend the July 4th weekend with my side of the family.  It's, of course, complete chaos when we are all able to get together; but, it's also a lot of fun!  The kids and I got to stay for another week and had a blast!  Time alone with Papaw and Nonnie is rare and precious.

The main past time while there was swimming.  My kids are like little fish in the water.  The older 3 can all now swim without any aid.  My 6 yr old was even diving off the diving board this year!

Mom purchased a tent for the kids to play in as well.  You can see it in the background of the picture below.  They had so much fun running and playing in the woods - even making little houses for the fairies that live there.  (I forgot I took most of the pictures of this with my mom's camera.)

The older kids got to pic the last of the blueberries with Papaw - in the rain.  Couldn't take my camera out (for obvious reasons), but I did get them puddle jumping.

One of our last nights there, we were able to go to the county 4-H fair.  It's amazing how excited the kids can get over a 30 second ride.  The kids had fun on the rides and we adults enjoyed watching their reaction to it all.

A great visit and a lot of great memories made.

Total Randomness

On wish list:

wool felt

Latest project:

For the kids:

Most recent predicament:

Family pictures:

Mother's Day:

 From oven to freezer:

Hubby project:

Something red (almost):

Greens in the garden and on the table:

Lettuce

Spinach