Dandelions

Happy Friday!  It was such a beautiful day here in Michigan and we were *finally* able to get out in the yard and play.  I think that sunshine energizes me because today I got so much more house work done then I did any other day this week (it pretty much was cloudy/rainy).

This is what we spent the afternoon doing:

Yesterday I got some new sandals and I wore them outside today.  They are so comfortable.  Here they are in action!

$10 Walmart sandals

I hope that your day was as glorious and beautiful as ours was!  Have a great weekend!

baby blanket

Wow, it's been awhile since I last blogged.  Not a whole lot has been happening here.  Lately, the weather has just been rainy and cloudy.  I tend to be lazy and not very motivated on cloudy, rainy days. 

Over the last 5 -6 years I have accumulated a lot of yarn.  Most of it is acrylic, nothing too fancy.  I have gotten to the point where I told myself I am not allowed to buy anymore yarn until I use up what I have (or at least some of it).  I looked through patterns on Raverly and put a bunch in my queue.  One of the patterns I wanted to try was a baby blanket.  Actually, I have a few baby blanket patterns in my queue.  I know quite a few people that are having babies in the next few months so this is a perfect time to try them out.  The blanket that I am featuring today was made for a friend that is having a baby in July (It's a boy!) and her shower is this weekend.  It took me a lot longer to make the blanket than I thought it would, but it turned out nice.  Hopefully she will get a lot of use out of it.  The pattern can be found here.

Finished blanket

Close up of the heart pattern

   Below is a sneak peak of the project I am working on next.  It should be done by next week.
   I also have another baby blanket in the works. 

MSU graduation

This past Saturday, my sister graduated from MSU from the college of Ag and Natural Resources (my college!).  It was such a nice day and my hubby, the kids and I walked around campus and got ice cream from the dairy store.  Their ice cream is sooo delicious!!  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera in the car during the walk so the pics below are from dinner and the graduation. 

Cupcakes that we bought Jess!



opening our gift which was a picture frame



Getting ready to walk across the stage - can you find her??  She had the hot pink heels on!



My sister and I ~ Congrats Jessica!



Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day!  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, grandmothers, and soon-to be mothers.  My mom passed a year and a half ago and I really miss her.  Especially on days like today. 



My sister, my mom and I two years ago at my cousins wedding

 Even though my mother is gone, I still got to celebrate with my mother-in-law and munchkins.  I wasn't completely sure what to get my mil but had a few ideas.  This is what I ended up making her.

The frame was super easy to make and I really think it turned out good. 

Hand print picture frame tutorial

materials:
-acrylic paint (or any other paint that would cover the frame)
-paint brush
-old frame
-scraps of fabric (inch to inch and a half wide, 10 to 12 inches long)
-hot glue gun and glue sticks
-white paper that will fit into your frame

Step 1
Find an old picture frame and paint it any color of your choosing.  I used acrylic paint on my frame and put on two coats.  This did a decent job of covering the frame.  I am sure you could use other kinds of paint (i.e. spray paint).

Step 2
Using your scraps of fabric make fabric roses for the corners.  I personally followed this tutorial to make the roses. 


My first fabric rose ever!  They were so easy to make!
I will definitely be making some more.

Step 3
Glue the roses onto the frame.  I overlapped mine because I thought it looked cool.  Play around with them on the frame and adjust them before you glue the flowers down. 



Step 4

Paint your child(ren)s hands and place them on the paper.  I just used a piece of plain printer paper.  Take the paint brush and paint acrylic paint onto their hands.  Then place their hands onto the paper.  Make sure you have an idea of where you want the hands before you start.  Also, it's a good idea to only do one hand at a time.  The acrylic paint that I used dried fast and some of it was even drying before I could get the entire hand painted.

Step 5

Let the hand prints dry and put the frame back together. 

TA-DA!!!  All finished!  Now you have a beautiful gift for that special mom or grandma.

My inspiration came from this blog!



Grass cutting

So yesterday was the first time I cut the grass this year.  Last time I cut it, my children were six months younger.  At the time, Malachi took two naps, in the morning and afternoon, for two hours.  Alyssa could and would still play in the playpen.  Normally, I would put Malachi down for a nap and then put Alyssa in the playpen with toys.  She was fine, never tried to escape and I got the grass cut.  Yes, I got weird looks.  O well!  So yesterday I tried my tatics to keep them entertained while I was cutting the grass.  Malachi doesn't take two naps anymore so I had to take both of them outside with me.  The kids both love being outside so I thought that I could bring the playpen outside and put Malachi in it with some toys for him to play with.  I let Alyssa play in the garage and driveway.  She listens pretty well so I wasn't afride she would run out in the street or anything.  I also showed her where she could go in the driveway and kept an eye on her.  For the first half hour, everything was fine.  Next thing I know, Malachi somehow got out of the playpen and was riding on a little bike in the driveway by Alyssa.  I totally freaked out because he could have been hurt, or run into the street (He is at the running and not listening very well stage).  I didn't know he could get out and have never seen him try to do it when he was put in the playpen in the house.  He must have really wanted to ride the bike.  Needless to say, I only got half of the yard done.  I guess I will have to finish the yard during the next nice day, which lately has been few and far between.  Any advice for entertaining children (and keeping them safe) while cutting the grass?  Alyssa is fine, it's Malachi that I am worried about.  I guess my only option right now is to cut it while they are napping, or try to cut it on an evening when Leonard is home and it isn't raining or the yard isn't wet.  That has yet to happen.

A Trip and friends

 



Car Ride Activities

 

 

                                                                            

 

A few weeks ago I got the chance to visit with two of my college friends, Amanda and Kelli.  It was so

good to see them.  Kelli lives outside Chicago so we don't get to see her very often.  The kids and I decided to take a trip to go see her and her son Elijah.  This is the first time we met him and he was really cute.  He will be walking very soon.  On the way to Kelli's, we picked up Amanda, who lives approx. half way between Kelli and I.  It was great to get in some adult conversation.  Here are some pictures from our week together.

 

Kelli and Elijah

Amanda, Kelli and Elijah at the Michigan City outlets

Elijah playing

Kelli, Malachi and Elijah

Two babies playing

All the kids playing