Easter Weekend

Joe got home Friday night around 2:30.  Saturday, he was ready to roll with the family to have some Easter fun.  We went to a place in Wenatchee that had an organized Easter egg hunt and a small petting zoo.  Emma was very disappointed at the Egg Hunt.  I was disappointed by their "petting zoo"  but it was nice getting out.

Sunday morning, the kids and I were all sick with coughs and sneezes so we had to miss church.  But we still had their baskets ready to go.  Emma told me "this is the best Easter EVER!"

Once it got a bit warmer in the afternoon, Joe hid their plastic eggs and we did an Egg Hunt in our backyard.  Then we moved to the BIG backyard the to the front yard.  I think that was the funnest part of Easter this year.  It was too fun watching them find the eggs.

Luke is now a pro with his tricycle and kept trying to run me over as I was trying to take pictures of him and the girls.  Seriously such a stinker.

Conference Weekend.

It was conference weekend and the older I get, the more I appreciate and look forward to every session.  The kids did well for the first session.  They had M&Ms and a Bingo card.  But then they wanted to eat the M&Ms and who was I to say they couldn't eat them?  So that was the end of the "exciting" bingo game.

I still printed off a packet for them to do while we listened.  Luke can only handle so much so he would be in and out form watching a movie in the other room.

In between sessions on Sunday, I made waffles with syrup and whip cream...YUM.
Did you know waffles are my ultimate favorite comfort food?  And i'm not talking about Ego waffles!
Gotta be homemade.

Luke & Kate appreciate them as much as I do.  Emma only likes them with butter on them...what?!  who are you child?

I loved this all the sessions!  Lots of focus on Home & Family.  I heard things that I definitely needed and wanted to hear.  On top of that, I am becoming more of a baby as time goes on.  Conference weekend is so emotional for me.  I get a spiritual overload that anything will trigger the tears.  Anything that uplifts me, I get that tear pain in my eyes.  ESPECIALLY the things they play between sessions.  I love that stuff.   I can thank my mom for that trait....thanks Ann.

So suffice it to say, i'm exhausted.  Oh and did I mention Joe left out of town on Saturday?  For the whole Spring Break week?  ya, i'm kind of terrified.  But I did get out today to open gym at the gymnatistic center in town.  I'm trying not to be a hermit.  I WILL go insane if I am stuck at home.  

But i've got some plans now that will make it all worth it :)

Fish Lips.

When I went in to wake up Luke, this is what I found:

I don't know about you, but sleeping babies and kids (especially my own) just melt my heart and I don't want to wake them up.  Especially when they have those adorable fish lips that they inherited from me.

Mornings like this put a great start on the day.

Spring Layered Frame

Who else is ready for Spring?!
I sure am.  Where I live, there is still snow on the ground....blah.  Ready for warmth!!
So I need some "Spring" in my home until Mother Nature decides to get her act together!

 Here's my Spring Layered Frame.

Supplies:
A couple of frames

Plastic egg

Accordian flower

eCraft 

Jen Allyson Designs SD card

Burlap 

Hot glue

Spray Paint

Ribbon

Adhesives

5x7 piece of cardstock

I had these antiqued frames on hand, waiting for a new fate.

 So I took 2 different sizes and put them aside.
Next, I made an accordian flower.
I then cut out "spring" from the SD card.
Then I took a plastic egg and hot glued it shut.  Once dry and cool, I took an exacto knife and cut the egg in half lengthwise.  Then I spray painted it turquoise blue.

Then I grabbed a 5x7 piece of white paper and placed the "Spring" word and accordian flower on there.  Next, I put some ribbon onto the egg to cover the line.  I placed the egg on top of the flower.  Then I put that into the frame, making sure you take out the glass.

Next, to layer the frames, grab some burlap and string it behind the top frame and loop it around the back of the bottom frame then tie it in a knot!

 All Done!

 Great way to add some "Spring" to your home :)  This has a nice spot on my Entertainment center :)
So what is your favorite Season?!

DIY Dry Erase Board.

Here's what I made this week for the eCraft Design Team.  And sadly, this will be my last week on the Team.  I need life a bit more simple right now.  So I reluctantly resigned.  But hope to get back on in the future when things aren't so crazy here at home!  It's been a wonderful 3 months!

This week's project is SO simple to do.  It took me all of 10 minutes to make.

You just need a frame, scrapbook paper, some bake and shrink paper, and a dry erase marker, along with the eCraft machine, of course ;)

I cut out the "Today" with the eCraft using the bake and shrink paper, pressure to 8 and 5 inches big.
I colored it black then baked it.  It shrunk to a perfect size that fit perfect on the frame.  Since the design I chose to shrink was a bit delicate, it took some prodding on my part to flatten and get back in a descent shape.  But it worked out just fine :)

I took my frame and grabbed some scrapbook paper, cut it to 8x10 and placed that inside the frame.
So now you have a dry erase Today board.  Perfect for the office or kitchen!

Today for me, Laundry, Vacuum and hopefully a NAP!

It's super simple but makes a great statement in your home!  Just make sure you have a dry erase marker that works better than mine!  lol

On the mend.

The past weekend was a bit hectic.  Thursday night, Luke woke up throwing up.  Friday night, I went to a Love & Logic seminar with Emma and Kate.  Usually they are a 3 day seminar but they squeezed it into a day and a half.  It was a great seminar with lots of great ideas that I want to implement for my kids.  So Saturday, we were there from 9 am to 4 pm.  It included lunch.  The girls had so much fun. The church it was held at did a great job at organizing groups for the kids and Emma's group even made soup and gave it to a local retirement home.  What a great idea!
Saturday night, it happened.  After we went to the St. Patrick's day Parade in town, we got back to get the kids to bed and my stomach had turned on me.  Joe and I even watched a pretty funny movie but I just couldn't handle it.  From then until Sunday evening, I couldn't hold anything down.  All through the night, I was heading to the bathroom every hour.  It was probably the worst night of my life!  Lots of bed rest, lots of Netflix documentaries (I suggest a few to watch: Fork over Knife and The Business of Being Born...never watched this many documentaries in my life).  Praying no one else gets this ucky bug.
So now, i'm recooperating.  And my house is a disaster!  Laundry is in great need.  Every single room in the house is trashed.  I am so relieved I am better and can tackled the neglect that occurred over the weekend!  So today is my laundry, bathroom, vacuum, kitchen, trash day.
And you might be wondering what Joe was doing?  He has been a trooper and serving me and the kids hand and foot.  He has been in charge of food, taking kids to church, wake ups and bedtimes.  He is not much for house hold chores but after last night, he started on the kitchen until it was just too late...midnight!  lol  Very grateful for Joe and his selfless service he does for his family.  Sure relieves the anxiety I experience when I am not able to take care of my family.

DIY baby onesie

Anyone headed to a baby shower?  I bet you are!  It's baby shower season...always!  And you can whip us a very, personal present in 10 minutes.

Let me show you how I did it.

Supplies:

ECraft

Color Printer,
INKJET OPAQUE PRINT & CUT

Photoshop

Iron

Parchment Paper

Ok so I started off in Photoshop to make an image that I wanted printed onto my paper. 

Next I took my printed paper and took it to the eCraft and cut it with animage from Jen Allyson Designs.
Then I put it back onto a 4x6 piece of paper for the next step.

I made a word to be printed onto the image.  I made sure to center both the paper and the word so they would line up.

Ta Da!  Lined up!

Get your Onesie ready.  Have a stable, hard surface to work with.

Follow instructions for the paper.  There is a backing that you peel off and then place the image onto your clothing.

Next you place the piece of parchment paper on top of the image.  Then Start on one side and firmly hold iron on image.  Then move to the next section.  Do that over and over again form 5 second intervals for about 45 seconds to 1 minute.

If the parchment doesn't already come off on it's own, wait until cool then slowly peel off.

Then you are done!  An adorable personalized onesie ready to be given away :)

You can find this over at the eCraft Blog today too!!

What are some of your favorite baby shower gifts to give?