Kirby!!

Kira drove down to OC with my sister and her family.

To make it up to Enzo that he could not go, I planned a special date night.

As part of our special night,

we ate a special dinner of all of his favorites

rented two movies

Muppets Treasure Island

Chicken Little

Enzo loved Kirby

Kirby, the little alien kid

Enzo was pretty happy

Craft Time

We had craft time

They cut up foam sheets and glued them on a crown

Enzo did such a great time holding the paper with "lefty"

Enzo using two hands and cutting :)

I love that craft time does not have to be anything crazy,

glue

scissors

something to cut

and

they are busy for at least 30 to 45 minutes.

Love it.

Weekend Links 6/5/2010

This is the best idea for a wall mural I think I have ever seen by Design Mom
Super easy and so much fun! I would love to do it with some other picture for our room.

That Crazy Quilty Girl asked for the SMS Giveaway for comments on best quilting advice here are her top picks The best tips every serial sewist needs to read

I found this post 10 Keys to Patient Motherhood from Passionate Homemaking over at Inspired to Action

A gossamar nightgown from Angry Chicken. I love Amy Karol, she continually inspires me.

20 Minute Simple Skirt Tutorial by Grosgrain
Alright I will admit to one more non-list sewing project Friday ;) I made this skirt and it would have been 20 minutes but I was having an off sewing day. I could not get the serger to work and I was interupted by kids but all in all it was about a 20 minute skirt. However, once I made the skirt and Eric saw me in it he ix nay on the skirt. Bad news for me good news for one of you. I am going give it away this week. More on that Monday.

On a side note, my sister and her family are arriving in LAX around 7:00 in the morning. Yippee! Yippee! We will see them on the 15th when they head up this way. It has been two years since we have seen everyone.

Weekend Links 5/22/2010

Weekend Links:

I found so many amazing blogs this week at the SMS Giveaway Day! I will be covered in links for years!
Here are some from SMS and other favs too.

Turn little girls jeans into a skirt, super easy tutorial by Skip to My Lou she is one of my favorite crafty gals!

Cute tutorial for a twin bed duvet by Sew4Home I found it via Sew What!

Seriously such a cute dress and I so want to do this Mojito Refashion Frock by Grosgrain

It is a super fabulous way to make a dessert serving tray from Flamingo Toes

Craving pizza? Garlic, Kale and Tomato Gluten Free Pizza by Hey, that tastes good

Well, I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. We started it out with family movie night. Grandma and Grandpa treat us all to dinner at Chipotle and a movie, Shrek the Fourth in 3D. Yummy food and a funny movie. My first 3D movie in the theatre, kind of interesting. The kids had a blast!

Banner It Up!

Aunt B gave Kira this banner kit for Christmas.

We worked on some of the banners before we moved and I packed it away

While looking for a craft yesterday I found it!

ALEX Toys "It's a party" Banner

They had a blast decorating the flags

Kira liked this one the best out of all she made

Enzo and I made this one,

He picked everything out and helped me place it

The best part is that all of the colors match their room.

Painting

I love the concentration and tongue sticking out

Kira is such a perfectionist and a great artist

Day 5 -28 Days of Nothing

"And the rain rain rain came down down down, so Piglet started bailing."

Not that it has been raining cats and dogs like a couple of weeks ago, but it has been raining on and off since last night. I am finishing laundry, I took a little break. Enzo had speech therapy at the house at 2:00 and he did so well. I do not know if it was the pep talk we had before she came or if he was really enjoying his time, but he did really well with her today. Last week we had discipline issues, but not today. Kira sorted laundry while I folded it. I find this helps her help without me having to refold everything. We made cute Valentines with heart shaped construction paper and tissue. The kids cut out the hearts. Kira did an amazing job following the line and cutting. Enzo was great at holding the scissors and following my directions of opening and closing them. I moved the paper as best I could and followed the outline. Then we took two inch squares of tissue and wrapped it around the tip of a pencil in order to make a little flower. Then with glue on the paper heart we packed it full of tissue flowers. I would put a picture, however my camera has finally died (humming "Taps"). Anyways hopefully you get the idea.

Spending: Zip

Menu:

Breakfast:
Cold Cereal
Banana and sun butter with coffee (me)

Snack:
Apple slices
Banana

Lunch:
Bean Burrito with sour cream (Kira)
Sun Butter Roll-up (Enzo)
Raisins
Leftover Baked Potato cooked up with onions

Snack:
Sticky Popcorn-Whirley Pop popcorn with a little sugar and butter, named sticky because it is.

Dinner:
Noodles with Tomato Sauce, Salad and if I get motivated rice bread sticks.

You know who sometimes you have random cravings? I have got one now. Restaurant Bread sticks, hot out of the oven, all buttery and soft. Waiting for me to dip in
some cheesy sauce or marinara. Oh yeah! I miss those days of gluten gluttony. Ever notice how once you start eating them you can not stop until five or six sticks later.

I bet you never thought food was actually addicting. I am convinced it is. Whenever I cheat and eat gluten, I find that I can not stop and keep on eating it all day. I have found that I can not have just one bite. I HAVE to eat more. I am more and more convinced that I might have Celiac too. I say that because of the addictive behavior my body goes through when I eat gluten. I have slipped and had a bagel for breakfast and then the rest of the day I sit there and wonder what I can eat that has gluten. I crave it, I jones for it, it is my drug of choice, if I had one. But then like all addictions I hit rock bottom and have horrible stomach issues and swear off all gluten and do really good for awhile. I noticed the first year of being GF, I was a rock star and never sneaked any. But after some family issues in August, I fell off the wagon. I drank a beer! And had real bread all in one sitting! Since then I would have to admit I have had probably three or four other binges. I ALWAYS regret what I have done for the momentary pleasure of soft doughy bread, pizza, flour tortilla etc. Anyways now that I had confession, I guess I feel better.

I hope you all do not think I am some "always eat healthy girl". I am most definitely not perfect. I do try to eat as healthy as possible (90% of the time), I guess I feel like sometimes for the kids and I it is okay to have little treats because our diet is so limited. Like our sticky popcorn, we do not have it everyday, maybe once a week. I can justify it because the kids don't eat cookies, drink soda, eat McDonald's and such like so many other kids. Hopefully, I have not come off as some holier than though health nut. My intentions are only to encourage you to think about what you are eating, hopefully.
With that said, have a nice weekend.

Crayon/Marker Roll-ups

So I had theses two slings that I had bought, one for Eric and one for me, that we never really used. They had a great print and I am trying to re-purpose things. I seam ripped it and used only a portion of it to make a crayon roll-up and marker roll-up. Now the original fabric had seems already so I did not want to hassle with re-doing those so it is a little longer than the pattern calls for. I just made extra pockets. For Kira's I used a ribbon and button to close it up. Enzo can not do buttons so I used elastic to close his up. I did not take more than two hours in total between distractions and all. Fun and easy and re-purposing. So my camera is working but the dial up on my computer is taking forever to download the picture. Sorry, yet another craft without a pic. I will try to go to the library this week and use their wifi.

Ballerina Tutu

Easy Fun Ballerina Tutu

Materials:

I bought two spools of tulle at Tall Mouse, but you could get them at any craft or fabric store.

A pink and purple each about $4.99,

I had thin ribbon at home (thanks mom) in the same colors.

I had plenty of elastic at home, I would recommend a 1/2 inch wide,

I used 3/4 or 1 inch and I think it was too wide.

All I did was measured Kira's waist about 22 inches.

She does not like things too binding, so I made it a little loose,

so definitely measure for your child.
Measure elastic out for 23 inches and connect end by sewing together..okay a little sewing
Then I measured out tulle, about arms length.

Fold it in half

Bring the loop under the elastic, I chose this because I like the look of the finished knot

Bring the rest of the tulle through the loop

Pull until snug

Next I cut a few long ribbons and short ribbons and

just tied them in knots around the waistband too

This was the easiest practically no sew tutu

Kira was so excited, she played Angelina Ballerina all day

Enzo and Kira posing like ballet students.

Enzo saw Kira getting her picture taken and got in the shot.

Day 13 of Nothing

I am posting these today because the weekend was crazy at work and I am pooped!

Friday was great, it rained almost all day. I love rainy days, I feel more inspired to clean because I am stuck in the house. That and plus the fact that all four of us were out of clean underwear so I had to do laundry. Six loads later with the help of my mom with the kids and folding, I was done with laundry. I will admit it is not put away and I have to put it away today or else it will move from a basket of clean straight into the dirty basket. I hate when I do that. I think I fold the clothes at least four times, when I should just put the silly clothes away, but for some reason I think that takes to long. Oh well.

The kids and I made mailboxes for their Valentines, well I made them but they made Valentines.

I covered the English Toffee Containers from Christmas

I cut out hearts and used the leftover edge on the bottom, I really did not plan it but it came out pretty cool and abstract. Kira dug it

Enzo wanted white and red. I made his simple but festive

On a different note, I finally found a babysitter!!! On Fridays Eric does not get home until about 7:30 or 8 because traffic is so bad. I usually go in to work at 6:30 and my mom will watch the kids for an hour if they are not busy, or I will ask this older girl to watch them every once in awhile. Eric and I decided to find a permanent sitter on Fridays so that I do not strain my mom with watching the kids. I called every gal I know and I could not find a steady sitter.

My mom suggested the neighbor girl, she is in six grade, twelve years old and has two younger siblings and babysits for other neighborhood families. Out of desperation I went over and introduced myself and asked if she would be interested, she said sure and I asked her how much she charged an hour. I am always scared of this question, because I have one sitter, granted she is in college, but she charges $20/hour for two kids!!! Are you kidding me? So when she said $5/hour, I smiled and said I would gladly pay her $7/ hour. She was stoked.

I talked to my manager at work and asked if I could come in early at 4:30 and be first off and he was happy to accommodate. This way I can get off work around 10 or 11 the latest. The neighbor girl came over at 4:00 and she was great. The kids immediately took to her. I had made noodles, garlic bread and green beans for dinner and had it all ready for them. I explained as much as I could to her and told her to text me if she had any questions throughout the night. So around 7:00 she texted me to see if her friend from down the street could come over. Oh great, what do I say. I asked a fellow server with two girls ages 8 and 10 what he thought. He is so funny, he told me for sixth grade sure but definitely not for a high schooler. I agreed. I texted her back "sure".

My parents came into the restaurant for dinner and when they got home they relieved the girls. The friend is thirteen and offered to babysit too. I go from no sitters to two great ones in one night. I was so happy. So now they are going to take turns sitting and the other may or may not come. Two for one babysitters at $7/hour, sounds good to me. The kids loved both of them and responded really well to them.

So Friday at work we were really busy, as expected. I did not buy anything from the restaurant even though I was hungry. I left around 10:30 and got gas for the car $45 filled the tank. The only cost I had for the week that is new is the babysitter for $28 a week. But then I remembered that I just started tutoring again twice a week and I have not accounted for the new income. I charge usually $40-$50/ hour. I have my degree in Mathematics, so I feel that I can charge that, especially here in Orange County, that is cheap. However, I feel as though my ability to teach math is a gift and I would never want to deter someone because of the price, I know I'm a softy. So I tutor this college student for $35/hour twice a week, plus he comes to my house and they kids usually are playing while I tutor. Look at that, I can pay for my babysitter and still make an extra $42 a week. It is so great how God provides! Love it.

So I had another successful day of no consuming.

Gluten free Playdough and Races

Homemade Gluten Free Playdough
Recipe is the same a regular but use rice flour

1 cup Rice Flour
1 cup Water
1/2 cup salt
1 Tbsp Oil
1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar
Food coloring

Mix in a saucepan on medium heat until pulling away from the sides
Knead dough until desired stickiness

We had every possible spoon and cutter

Enzo did a good job rolling the dough with both hands

He also liked cutting the dough with a plastic knife

Kira made a pizza and she got out the hot pads to take it to the pretend oven


Kira's pizza

It's ready!

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

On Your Marks!

Get Set!

Go!

Kira is rounding the corner and heading to the finish line


Enzo is bringing up the rear


They had so much fun running races.

Felt Christmas Trees

The kids loved the gingerbread so much we decided to do trees today

Yes we are still in pj's!



I am so excited that we do not have any appointments, therapy, school until January 6th!!!
I love not having any commitments and being able to enjoy my kids and do crafts with them.

Creativity and Gingerbread

Kira drew this and told Eric it was her friends
Jesse and Suzi and the girls were going to a birthday party

Since it was raining today I thought we would make a
gingerbread man and woman out of felt. Inspired by Chasing Cheerios,
her gingerbread man is a little more perfected though.

How cute are they posing with their artwork.

I think they did a great job!

A Homemade Christmas

Here is my gumdrop wreath

It was so much fun to make

This was so easy

I got the idea from Sew Mama Sew's Hamdmade Holidays

Here is our Jesse Tree that Kira and I did

I made my manger and Kira made hers all by herself.

She is quite the artist