what we've been up to...

Christmas is always a busy time for our family, here is a little bit of what we've been up to:

Here's a {shortened} list of what we've done in the last 3 weeks:

family photos

ashlyn's birthday party

disneyland

gingerbread house fundraiser for church

women's tea

craft fair

Christmas Play for church

Christmas play for preschool

Christmas tree shopping

and now we've all gotten sick!

but we're on the mend and we'll see you soon

Crafts gone awry

There are usually two schools of thought on Halloween candy.

1- let them eat as much as they want the night of and then toss the rest

2 - slowly portion it out over the next several days {or weeks, or months!}

Usually I'm in the first boat. I want it all GONE or I'll end up eating half of it. This year though, Emma was actually old enough to protest to all of her left over candy being tossed in the trash.

So, I had to come up with something else. It had to be a way to divide up the candy over time and in a way that they wouldn't be begging me all day for another piece.

I saw this idea on Martha Stewart years ago and decided to give it a try... I couldn't find any pictures of the original project which turned out much cuter. I am trying to give up perfection in crafts so that my kids can help. In this instance I wanted to make a rainbow but they just wanted all purple...

Sort out the candy {if there are siblings make sure there's enough for each kid!}

cut out tissue paper about the size of the mouth of the cup

i decided if it couldn't be cute it should be educational. It was going to be a calendar... you'll see later why that didn't work out {several reasons why}

glue the tissue paper on top

here's my sideways picture of the finished product.

{yes we are in a constant state of remodel... and we need a light switch cover}

It's not exactly what I was hoping for but I let the kids do it themselves and they loved it.

Since I used this frame it couldn't be a calendar b/c it's only 5 across. And then there's the fact that it's low to the ground and the little one helps herself to a cup of candy anytime my back is turned!

Oh well, at least we had a fun afternoon!

Rewards

Awhile back, it became apparent that our older daughter needed a reward chart of some sort... a way to earn toys or privelidges without always having them handed to her. I cringed at the thought of the poster board full of stickers hanging on the wall - my dear husband will tell you, one of my pet peeves is primary colors - and along came my good friend Kerry, with the shell jar. It's so simple really, Emma earns shells {or sea glass, or starfish}, and when she has enough she gets the pre-determined reward... but the best part is that the jar just looks like a part of the decor!

I'm sure this could work a million different ways with different styles of homes!

Basic

Not much today... drove in the rain a lot {worth it to see my dear mom}, did very few chores, and I actually fed my family grilled cheese and top ramen for dinner {sadly, they weren't surprised by this!},

Also, washed the pups too many times because rain + dirt = muddy pups

In an attempt to give you something for taking the time to check on me: The new Basic. film came out this week. It's a video series that challenges what has become the church's view of, well, church. The videos are done by our old pastor from before we came to San Diego... Francis Chan. Super solid guy. It's free to watch online until Thursday, please do!

http://premiere.basicseries.com/

pumpkins, ponies, and soup

It was a l o n g day. Some fun, some rough.

pumpkin patch

ponies

giant slide

hay ride

tears

nap

poop {on a pillow}

fighting

chalk board

butternut squash soup

bike ride

bath

quiet!

Here are some pictures of the fun parts!

simple skirt

While I was catching up on blogs yesterday I stumbled upon this SUPER easy diy skirt. i love that her daughter's name is ashlyn too!Seriously people, it took me maybe 10 minutes... and only minimal sewing skills are needed {very minimal} I only glanced at her pictures and went from there.. I know she used a serger around the edges, but I don't have one - jealous - and didn't want to spend the time to hem all around. If you use a knit {tshirt type material} you do not have to finish the edges because it really doesn't fray. I pretty much always take the easy way out ;) have fun!

did i forget to mention that i made it during naptime, and actually made it so long she pulled it up to be a dress? {below}

We've lived in our house almost a year now, and I have a confession to make... there is almost nothing on the walls. Maybe it's because of our time in college dorms or apartments, but I always think twice {or 3 or 4 times} about putting something up. Probably, it also has something to do with my fickleness (a word?) I am constantly changing it up in here! Well I've decided it's far past time to get some things up on the walls, and so, slowly but surely I will be posting my DIY art here. Today I tackled a small project in the kitchen. There's not much wall space in our narrow galley style kitchen, and we're planning to remodel this summer, so I needed something easy, and cheap that I could change when the mood struck me. Just like most of my projects, this DIY was not my own idea - but I cannot remember where it came from in order to give credit. As soon as I figure it out I'll post the site.

I decided to paint the word l o v e above my kitchen entryway...

to remind myself, when I look up {from cooking, scrubbing dishes, mopping floors}

of the reason I'm doing these things!

But I might want to change it, right? So I used a chalk pen instead!

First, I printed out the letters in the size I'd want them (above)

next, I cut them down to size... not perfectly, just smaller

then, color the back of the letters with regular chalk

tape in place

press firmly to trace over the letters. it works better with a pencil, a pen's tip is too fine.

remove the paper and you will have a faint outline like this one

then just fill it in with your amazing Chalk Ink pen and you have this...

sure, if you have great penmanship you can just write it without all the hassle, but mine's atrocious!