Tempting...

I wish I had time in my schedule today to settle in. It's tempting!

Experimenting

Kayci wanted a shirt for the last day of school, so we broke out the Silhouette and the freezer paper last night.  This is what she came up with, which meant Mommy got to experiment with layering color.  My reaction?  Meh.

I'll keep at it.  :)




I don't care for Noble's first "I dig summer" shirt because it's so puffy-painty...but then I messed it up again last night.  Bleh.




I love Silhouette's "my name is" design...I learned that it's best done in vinyl on a white shirt.  The paint was pretty hard...and you can't really see it, but the letters are crazy crooked since I ironed them on individually.  Eh.




I'm almost out of shirts to experiment on...yikes!

End of the Year Gifts

I love giving gifts, and I'm so grateful it's a love Kayci shares.  Teacher gifts are her most favorite gifts to give, which always challenges me to find something extra special.  I found the idea below at this cool site--check it out!  (If you don't feel like clicking on a link, the tags are from eighteen25 and I saw them on Tip Junkie).  The tag was a free printable, and the buckets are from the $2.50 (shall we call it the UN-dollar spot?) at Target.  What do you call that side, anyway?   I've been wanting to personalize something for Kayci's teachers and the awesome office ladies for a while now but haven't had the time--I don't know that I had the time this month, but it WAS time.  :)  I'm really happy with how they turned out, and I hope they'll enjoy mini ice buckets.  Or whatever you can use a bucket that size for.  :)  For the administrators and Nobles teacher, I used the fun sand pails from Target.  I love the colors on those!



















And for Kayci's "old" teachers (y'all aren't old at all!), a little happy since I was having so much fun with the paw print.  Kayci's kinder teacher told me yesterday, "y'all can stop!" but I don't know...we're so grateful for the experiences Kayci has had and the foundation of LOVING school and learning.  That is a priceless gift!  And Noble just LOVES Kayci's first grade teacher to pieces...I'll never forget last year when I didn't know her well at all and she saw us at HEB one day after school in the middle of a screaming 1 1/2 year old FIT.  It was bad, y'all.  She very calmly picked Noble up (and of course he stopped screaming) and carried him around with her for a while while she shopped.  I think he and I both needed a minute to cool down, and as a Mom of two boys, she recognized that.  While my pride wanted to be wounded that the boy would quit crying for HER and not me, I couldn't give in to that...it was a kind thing she did that day, and it cemented her place in our hearts forever.  Some of you teachers reading know that if you saw one of your parents in the store with a screaming kid, you'd judge first and try to get to know the family later...maybe, but you'd always hold that day against them.  But I digress...




These last two aren't from "us," but I know some of my PTO/PTA friends will be interested.  Jana F. had the great idea to give the t-shirt designs to Mrs. Nelson (our principal is retiring!) as a gift.  The more we went through them, the more it was clear that those are not just pieces of t-shirt art, they're love letters to the school and staff.  As a parent, it was such a blessing to see the school through the kids' eyes!  We gave a 2nd book to the new principal, Mr. Silvey.  :)




The school staff is always so kind to the PTO board; instead of writing a thank you for their gift that may not make it around to everyone, we put this in the lounge.  That way we're all covered!




I've got to get back to work, but I wanted to share the link to the "cool summer" tags since they're so much fun!  Happy Friday, y'all--it's the last day of school for Kayci!  She doesn't know it, yet, but we're all going to see "Kung Fu Panda" to celebrate after early dismissal.  I'm not going to lie, I'm not excited about the movie but I am excited about seeing the kids' faces when they realize we're going to see it.  :)

Pink giraffe?

The rugs in the office & kitchen have gotten absolutely filthy over the past couple of weeks. So, I bit the bullet and washed them this morning. And since I'm me, I had the brilliant time-saving idea of putting the bathroom rug in with them.




The red bathroom rug, of course.

Fail.

But a funny one, at least. :)

Pants!

Noble was NOT having it last night, apparently...but I figure this blog is a reflection of our life around here, and it ain't always so pretty.  :)  (See the pile of trash bags in the corner of the yard behind Noble?  The yard man raked up about a billion leaves and we haven't had time to take them to the dump, yet.  Not so pretty, but that's where we are this week.  Don't get me started on the snakes he found...) 

It's been a busy few weeks around here, but it's been great fun, too.  Between Family Fun Night last week and the baby shower this weekend and end of the year gifts, I've been having a blast making stuff from cards to shirts to burp rags to these cool metal tubs I'll show you in a few days...my Silhouette has been busy!  Madeline was so sweet and gave me a hostess gift; she knew I needed a new cutting mat and she researched and found out that you can cut down Cricut mats to fit the Silhouette.  So she gave me two, I cut one down and it works like a charm!  Thanks, Madeline!  Since a new cutting surface was all that was standing between me and more freezer paper stenciling, I took a few minutes the other night to de-stress and make the shirt Noble has been asking about for days.  He was determined that he wanted a brown shirt that said, "pants!"  I didn't have the brown shirt, so he compromised on brown paint.  :)  And I totally scratched on this one...I got a little brown paint above the design.  Crap.  But I figure these are still practice runs, right? 

Scenes from a Shower

37? Really??

We had talked it out--we set up three 8-people tables, thinking 12 would turn into 24, but then there wouldn't be so much empty space it looked like nobody showed up.  Well, those tables filled up fast and we set up more.  Luckily, it's me so I had plenty of table covers and stuff...but I was chapped that when it was time to enjoy the shower, we had to pull out tables and chairs and look disorganized.  And then someone was worried that we were out of game cards and stressed Madeline about it...it was just unnecessary--we should have been enjoying the shower, not counting things.  Just for the record, the girls and I prepared for 30-50 since we knew it could blow up...but really, if people had just RSVPed, it would have made everything so much easier (and I think about how much $$ Dottie spent on paper products...she's like me, she over-bought...but I've been to many a party where the hostess bought for who RSVPed and ended up pulling out white styrofoam {sigh} plates to fill in the gaps).  This isn't a problem with the people at this shower, either--it's everyone!

Y'all know what I'm talking about...every one of my friends who has hosted something has had this same complaint.  So let's make a pact:  from here on out, let's start a trend and RSVP.

Who's with me??

An Hour Here, An Hour There...

I had planned (I think I just heard God laugh there...) to work all day today.  Get some computer work done, get caught up.  But, there were several loose ends to tie up after Family Fun Night so I ended up working at Kayci's school all day.  As much as I would have liked the paycheck I'll miss now, I'm okay with how I spent the day (and wait, oh, yes, I just heard my husband cuss...).  Because even though my day didn't go as planned...

...I got in an hour of quiet time and morning work time before I got moving today.  I started my day feeling really centered and ready to go...but the day had other plans.  But since I started off right, I was able to roll with it.  Or go with the fwow.  Whichever you prefer.

...I was able to steal Kayci for an hour during the school day so she could help me.  It's been a busy couple of days, and she needed some extra attention.

...I snuck away for an hour and had a lunch date with my Boy.  Just the two of us at Las Fuentes (free queso!).  Dreamy!

...Heather and the boys came over for an hour after school and played.  I don't think we've done that in over a week--it was much-needed for the kids!  And the Mommys.  :)

...while Kayci was at gymnastics, Noble and I spent an hour at the park feeding the geese and looking at nests and eggs.  He learned a new word tonight:  gosling.  Or, if you're Noble, woswing.  Does anyone know if birds lay eggs all at once, or over a period of days?  Do the eggs hatch all at once?

... we dropped by Mitzie's house.  While we didn't stay an hour, it was a nice visit.  My friend answered a prayer I hadn't even had the presence of mind to pray yet, yesterday, and ended up keeping Noble for the whole day.  How awesome is she?  He didn't have to get shuffled around while I worked on Family Fun Night, and he had a blast.  Then Heather took time out of her day to go pick him up and bring him to the school...which saved me an hour.  I know it's yesterday, but still, it was an hour Heather saved me, and many hours Mitzie gave me.  Thanks, girls!  I couldn't survive without my village!

...I had planned (ah, did you hear it again?) to grab Schlotzky's for dinner, but Noble and Kayci wanted to BUY mac & cheese.  The kids and I spent *almost* an hour at the grocery store.  Is it weird that it was fun?

...after the knuckleheads passed out from sheer exhaustion fell asleep, I finished Noble's teacher's end-of-the-year gift since tomorrow is his last day of "regular" school.  And then, since Kayci was so sad that her "smart girls rule" shirt has gone missing, I made her another one...and also a shirt for Noble.  This may be the most satisfying hour I spent today.  Nah.  But definitely top 5!




It's late and dark here, so the color/light's off.  On Kayci's shirt, the rule! is actually bright pink.  




My Silhouette mat needs to be replaced, so I used vinyl instead of freezer paper.  It was okay...but I think I still prefer the freezer paper.  Nope...scratch that.  I just still prefer freezer paper.  But I'm grateful for this!  (And busy brainstorming something I can put on a friend's birthday shirt for this weekend...)

...my Boy has been asleep for over an hour, and I think it's time for me to put the computer away and go cuddle with him.  Good night, all!

The Flow

Today the Dallmeyers came over to play after school. It's been a long, crazy week already for all of us, and Noble was particularly whiny. After several times of reminding him not to whine and scream but to use his words instead, I put him in his bedroom for a minute to get it together. After a minute when he was still crying, I went in and picked him up. I told him that sometimes when our friends are over we need to just take turns and go with the flow.

This started a fresh round of tears. He sobbed, "but I can't FIND de fwow!"

I know how he feels sometimes.

Weapin' Wizards!*

So this is where the story ended.  Let's go back to the beginning...

It was a lovely day at Antique Rose Emporium with Marsha and Grandma.  The kids were having a blast roaming around chasing lizards and just being kids. 

Then we noticed a bright green lizard on a statue next to where Grandma was sitting.  So,

Daddy caught it to give the kids a close-up look.  He's the best!

See here, kids, this is how you hold a lizard safely.

Kayci wants to hold it,

so of course, Noble wants to hold it, too.  

Wow, Bubby--great job!

What a nice lizard, laying there so nicely.

He lets Noble pet him.  

And Noble gets comfortable.

Maybe too comfortable.  It takes Noble a second to realize that the lizard has, in fact, clamped down on his finger.  Until Mommy gasps.  And then, all heck breaks loose.

*Disclaimer:  No Nobles were harmed in the making of the blog post.

You tell me!

I don't have time to tell you the story behind this picture right now...so you tell me what you think just happened.  Come on, it'll be fun!

Let me just tell you that the photo James snapped right. before. this. is PRICELESS.

Happy Monday, friends--have a great one!  I'm off to the big city...

Finally!

I finally tried freezer paper stenciling...and I don't know that I'll buy vinyl again for shirts. I'm in love!

Reason #1,449,308,087,112 I love my Boy...

...he knows that Hydrangeas in a Mason jar will thrill me much more than dozens of roses in a crystal vase.  I love, love my Mother's Day flowers, Boy--thank you!  

Trivia:  my love affair with hydrangeas began when we were planning our wedding.  Since we got married Mother's Day weekend, we had to go with freeze-dried flowers (sounds weird, but they were beautiful and we had them for almost 10 years!).  When the florist pulled out hydrangeas, it was love at first sight.  Sigh.  

Thirteen!

13 years ago today, I married my best friend.  

Lucky me.  :)

Happy Mother's Day!

 When I stopped seeing my mother with the eyes of a child, I saw the woman who helped me give birth to myself.

-Nancy Friday

It's a Mother's Day tradition around here for me to stay in bed until DaddyBoy and the kids bring in cards and coffee (and these past few years, breakfast in bed).  As I sat here waiting, I was making a list of all of the women who have taught me how to be a Mommy and a Mother and a Mom.  The list is long...to write it down would be, inevitably, to accidentally omit someone. 

I can very safely start the list, though, with these two women and this little girl.  Mom and Grandma taught me how to be a Mom, and Kayci taught me--is teaching me--what it is to be a Mommy.  

I love being a Mother, and I am honored to be a Mommy.  It's something I always wanted to experience, but until I got pregnant with Kayci, I had no idea what it meant.  Until they laid her on my chest that first day, I had no idea.  To be a mother is to love so much that it hurts sometimes, and to see glimpses of God every single day. Every single day, I see my Mom and Grandma in what I do and how I do it (which is mostly a good thing!).  

And every single day, I work to be more, do more, love more.  

Four years ago, I thought our family was complete.  Just when I stopped hoping for another child, Kayci made a birthday wish and we were blessed with Noble Orion.  Where to even start with him?  If Kayci has taught me about love, and wanting to be a better person, Noble has taught me to not take myself so seriously.  He's taught me about joy and silliness.  (Not that we didn't have these things in our lives before, but just in different measures.) 

I often wonder what my kids will remember about me, what they'll want to carry into their own parenting and what they'll leave behind.  I pray they'll talk to me every day like I talk to my Mom, and that they'll want to see me often.  I pray I'll be a part of their children's daily lives and memories.  

Of course, only time will tell, and I'm in no hurry--

every day right now is such a beautiful adventure.

 I look at these kids and I see FAITH.  I see HOPE.  

And I see LOVE...shining and reflected, always growing. 

I am so blessed.  

Thank You, God, for my Mom, and for her Mom, 

and for letting me be Mommy to these knuckleheads.   

Preview

This is just a preview--Daddy will post real Maifest pics later. Our 60s dancer is having a groovy time!

Teacher Appreciation--Day 4

Yesterday was our "Friday"--school's out today for Maifest. I feel a little guilty I only had 4 days of appreciation and y'all have 5, but I slept just fine last night. :)

Yesterday was pretty simple...buckets of supplies for Kayci with a note from her. I intended to put some vinyl on the bucket, but just couldn't get there. I'll live. :)




Her other gifts were fun-I saw this with Swedish Fish, but since I only know one person who eats SF (Keely), I opted for Goldfish. Yum!




For the staff, we put out 12 2-liters, cups in school colors, bendy straws & a cooler of ice with a note that said, "Celebrating you this week has been SODA-lightful!" the teachers always like any version of this one. And of course, k forgot to take a picture. I won't tell you what our day was like yesterday...we'll say busy, but really good!

This is what I have to do at some point today: clean up the aftermath. You should see my desk!




It was all worth it, though, and I can't wait to do it again next year!

Now for Maifest...

Teacher Appreciation-Day 3

Yesterday was a WHIRLWIND...can you believe I forgot to take pictures? Dang it. I'll just tell you: Kayci's teachers got cute owl notebooks (dollar spot again!) with picture frame pens that Kayci filled with a note that said, "whooooo loves you?"
She took packs of gum to everyone else with the typical "you were MINT to..." notes.

As for PTO, we served dessert to the staff yesterday. I found a roll of (red) wrapping paper on clearance at Hallmark, so I built the table stuff around that. It came out well, I think!





I have been too busy to think about this, but in the craziness I dropped several of my enamelware bowls on the driveway and chipped them--badly. Does anyone know what I can do to reseal those chips and keep the bowls foodsafe? I'm so sad!

And Heather, I owe you BIG--you saved me yesterday afternoon!

Trash Talk

Sigh. Tuesday, Noble and I had to run into Houston for work. He laid his phone on the seat, and after school Kayci accidentally stepped on his headphones and snapped them. We were crazy busy, and I remember saying, that's okay, we'll throw these away and get new ones. No big deal.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. We had to go back to Houston last night, so I was trying to get organized. Noble's phone was nowhere to be found. I finally thought to ask him, where did you put your phone?

In the twash.

Seriously?!

Seriously. And it's totally my fault. Good thing I asked, right?