I'm so super proud!!!

Vaughn is signing a little bit!!! The first time he did it, I thought it was a fluke. He was being kinda fussy on my lap and I said, "What do you want?" and he sorta signed milk. I was like, ok, that's awesome, but figured he was probably just doing his "pick me up" motion, though he doesn't usually clench his hand when he does that. Then he did it again last night and again today. THEN today at Breakfast, I gave him some cheerios, he ate them, then some more, then I asked if he wanted more (and signed it) or if he was all done (and signed it). He signed all done back at me. He did it again at lunch when he was done. I'm beyond shocked! My other two didn't start signing till they were like a year at least, so this is so exciting!

Super Secret Tutorial- Circle Coaster Album

Ok, so I feel like a total genius!!! I was at Target with my mom the other day and saw some really cute paisley coasters. Now, you have to remember that I am borderline obsessed with paisley. I had seen them there before, but this time they were on clearance for $.98, so I knew they were phasing them out. So I bought them. I came home and tried to figure out what to do with them (since we don't ever ever ever use coasters at our house) and then it hit me..... A CIRCLE ALBUM!!!!!!! Now, in all fairness, when I came online to find circle layouts, I found that it had been done before, but not with THESE coasters, so HA!

So here is a tut.

You'll need:
2 coasters
a hole punch
binder ring or keychain ring
enough paper for desired layouts
clear glitter puff paint
coluzzle if you have one. If not, a pencil and a good pair of scissors

First,
decide how many pages you want and cut out the circles. If you have a coluzzle, that's easy. If not, you'll have to trace the coaster and very carefully cut out the papers.

Second,
create your layouts

Third,
decorate your cover. I used clear and gold glitter to trace the design already there. It was great fun. I also added paper flowers.

Fourth,
punch your holes. First in your cover, then trace the circle onto each page, making sure the album will fit together.

Fifth,
put a keychain through all the holes

Does anybody have any ideas....

for paper doll storage? I want to start collecting paper dolls for gifts. However, I want to be able to present the dolls in some sort of storage that would hold the dolls once cut out. My first thought was a cigar box purse, but I don't know if it would be tall enough.

Pictures, printables, and projects

Hi Y'all! Been a while. I've been busy busy! I made some UGLY t-shirt bags that will work, but I"m warning you, they are UGLY!!!!!!!

Told you they were ugly, but they were easy. Even though the sewing machine and I did not get along at ALL!!! I mean, way to wage war. It won every battle, but I kept going..... and I won the war. Take that!

I also have some printables to share with you. I have been trying to figure out how to get Xander to recognize the words "the" and "and" without having to sound it out every single time. One of Roger's best friend's mom is a preschool teacher and she said that you just make flashcards. DUH!!!! Ok, that is how I learn ANYthing is through flashcards, why hadn't I thought of that? So I made one set of flashcards for all of you to share too. Xander knows ALL the words. He does struggle with down and out, though, hahaha, not kidding.

Also, I'm trying to get my kids to clean their rooms, but I don't want to overwhelm them, so I made these chore charts for them:

Also, on Sunday, I went to my sister's and took pics of her kids. Check for them soon on the old blog: http://www.craftwithme.blogspot.com

More of theflashcards to come, you'll see!!!

P.S. Also be looking for a tutorial coming up VERY soon!!!

Getting Vaseline Out

day 3. Almost there!!!

Day 1:
remove as much as possible with fingers
wash with dish soap
rinse
wash with dish soap
rinse
wash with dish soap
rinse
cut hair short.
apply shampoo, wait 30 min.
rinse.
wash with dish soap.

Day 2:
Wash with dish soap in morning
rinse.
wash with dish soap in evening
rinse

Day 3:
wash with dish soap
rinse
wash with dish soap
rinse
wash with bar of soap
rinse
wash with dish soap
rinse
wash with shampoo
rinse

Like I said, almost there!!!

Mini Album Case

I went over to Sarah's last night and made two of these super cute albums. The tutorial is HERE, as well as the templates and all that jazz. My first one is the one in the pics. The second didn't turn out as cute as the first, not because of instructions, but because  I wasn't paying as much attention.
 So, thank you Avital for the tut!

Vaseline

My kids got into my big tub of Vaseline today. Besides being all over my walls, windows, couch, and tv..... we have THIS

That is not wet hair you see in the picture. No, no. It's Vaseline. And that was AFTER I tried dishsoap THREE times to get it out of Juliana's hair.

Luckily, Sarah came to the rescue and we chopped this much of Juliana's hair off:

Even then, there was so much Vaseline, we could do this:

I can't wait to see what her hair will look like in a week when the Vaseline is finally out. For now, this is what we get:

Easter Pics

And then, I went upstairs to get a few things and when I came down, this is what I found:

Halloween Crafts

As I talked about earlier this year, I'm working on Halloween projects all year long! I went to my sister, Jennifer's as part of our family's staycation and this is what I made while there:

This is my banner, although I haven't tied the pieces together with ribbon yet.

I also made these card thingies, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them yet:

And I used the cricut to cut out this big owl. Cute, isn't he? He'll probably end up on my wall just by himself.

Speaking of cards, I also made some cute cards while I was there:

Fun, huh? It got me all in the mood to be crafty, so tonight I"m going to Sarah's to make a really cute mini-album, as found here

Staycation- the right thing to do

So, Saturday night at 12:30, we were catching up on ABC's In The Motherhood. In one episode a family decided to take a stay cation (that naturally went horribly wrong). We laughed and laughed, partly because of the hilarity of it, partly because it was 12:30, and partly because our staycation starts today! It's true! Roger took 3 days off of work and we are going to PLAY!!!

Today's Agenda:
Swimming at the indoor pool (yay for me getting to wear my $50 swimsuit that only cost me $6 and is adorable to boot!)

Vaughn has a Well Check appt

Monsters Vs. Aliens IN theaters

Staying the night at my mom's

Tuesday's Agenda:
Head up to Layton to pick up 2 of my nephews

Visit the air force museum (yay for free)

Go to Burger Barn in Roy. Yes, the one that was in Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (which I almost accidentally truncated to Drivers)

Stay the night at Jens (which means partying for the kids, computers for Roger, and possible scrapbooking for me!)

Wed:
Go home sometime and clean.

We're pretty psyched. And there is a 50% chance that we may go to NYC for a weekend in June. We'll see though. I'm afraid to get my hopes up too much. Although I should start preparing, because it'll cost us like $200 to go.

Xander

Disclaimer- these pics are not in a shoot. They are just pics of my eldest son taken around the house.

Addison

Photos

I'm picking up my old Craft With Me blog and using it to post pictures I've taken. My portfolio, I guess. I hope you can enjoy them

www.craftwithme.blogspot.com

Hello Treadmill Love!!

Rachel gave me her treadmill today and so I'm going to start off with the Couch Potato workout. Then I found some Treadmill Workouts I'd like to try here on Fitness, Runner's World,  and Prevention. If you know of any others, please let me know!! Anyway, I can't wait for Roger to get home with the extention cord I need so I can start a walkin! Guilt free TV, who could ask for more? Granted I still need TV time to do laundry and, if I don't get them all done Wed or Thur, paint Cascarones. And I also crochet while watching TV, but the point is..... I can excersize while watching TV if I so choose. Roger said that if I don't use it at least once a week, it's gone (unless I'm sick or whatever). So I have that goal also. In my dream land, I'd be ready to walk for a cause or half marathon or something by next summer.

Cascarones Challenge

I want to make Cascarones again this year. I made them last year and had fun making them. The kids had fun breaking them, naturally.

So, these are last years pics, but I can't wait to see yours for this year!

Newborn Pics

had to share a couple pics that I took a few weeks ago

Have some more, but digitally

So, for three months, I was really good on Ravelry and made personalized digital stationary for everyone who had birthdays in those three months. Now I have them all on my computer, but I don't remember to print them often enough. So I'll share some with you. If you like them, please comment so I know whether or not to post more. You can save them and print them if you want, but they were made to use digitally. Save the picture, open in a photo editing software, add your text and send via e-mail.










THese were all made using various digital scrapbooking supplies from various artists. If you want more specific info on one, let me know and I"ll see if I can remember for you.

Stationary for conference

Print some pretty paper for your notes (or just because it's pretty)
All brushes used are by obsidian dawn