Kids room artwork

I have a small stash of things I pick up at Goodwill here and there.  Mostly chunky picture frames, and a few other home decor items to rotate around.  My three little kids share a room, and the walls needed some more artwork. 
It started with this picture $2 from Goodwill:

I removed the back (it had a dust cover so I ripped it off), and took out the picture.  I decided to use the back of the picture to glue my project onto because it was a nice sturdy cardboard. 

I got out a nicely sized set of alphabet stamps, a couple pieces of scrapbook paper (I LOVE stripes), some white paper and some ink pads that went well with the stripes.

After taping off the glass, I took my free paint from Glidden that I got a while back (true turquoise) and painted the frame.  No sanding or any prep, just painted it with two coats.

Then I got the stamps out.  In a very calculated mathematical way, I began stamping. 

hahaha  OK, what I actually did was just stamped as many letters as I could across the paper.  I got 10 letters across, so figured if I did 10 more across the bottom that would leave 6 for the middle.  So that's what I did!  For the striped paper, I had to piece two papers together to get the size I needed.  That's one reason I chose the stripes, because you can't see the piecing. I also matted the white paper onto a dark teal cardstock.  (also pieced together)  I distressed the frame a bit and voila!

Here it is all finished!  I think it came out so cute, and you can't beat 2 bucks!!!

Mallary, cont.

Well, we decided to go to the doll shop to have Mallarys hair replaced.  When we got there, Blondie chose a wig she liked (it was $17, not bad).  Then the lady said that Blondie might not want to watch her shave the doll's head, because kids don't usually like to see that part.  As soon as she said "shave her head", I could tell this was not going to fly well.  Blondie immediately said she changed her mind, and wanted to leave.  I told the lady (who should have just suggested we look around the store while she took care of the doll and never mentioned shaving heads...) that we were going to have to think about this for a while and might be back later.

We decided to go to Target and see if they had another doll just like Mallary.  They did, but I wasn't liking the idea of stockpiling dolls just because of frizzy hair.  I suggested another plan.  We bought some scissors instead, went to the car, and I gave Mallary a haircut.  The plan was that if she didn't like the haircut, we would go for the hair replacement.  After talking about it a little, she was comfortable with that.  Well...turns out the haircut was JUST what Mallary needed!  She is cute as a button once again with her new 'do, and we only spent a couple bucks on scissors. 

We needed some new scissors anyway. :)

The Drawer

At our house, we have a drawer.

This is a picture of that drawer at several different hours of the day.  One day, the same as any other.

Yes, I closed the drawer after taking each picture.  And yet, somehow, it was open again a little while later.
How does this happen?  I'm not sure, because I never actually see who gets into the drawer and leaves it open.  I just pass the bathroom ... and there it is.

Any suggestions???

Mallary

This is Mallary.  She has a frizzy hair problem.  This is a picture of her in a "downy dunk".  We call it her "Spa Day". 
She is an Our Generation doll from Target that Blondie got last year.  The ends of her hair have been REALLY frizzed out lately.  I searched online and found this site that had some great tips for fixing doll hair, but nothing worked.  First, I tried washing the hair.  Didn't work.  Then we tried the Downy Dunk.  Nope.  I was going to try steaming it, but my steamer wouldn't work and I really think the hair is too far gone anyway.
I think Mallary might need a trip to the "salon"...

TO BE CONTINUED

Happy Guy

This baby is one happy walker!  Isn't he cute in these jammies?  They are my favorite. :)

Birthday pictures

Sporting her new toys: the salon chair and new doll, whom she named "Jo Anne".  She also got a doll hair brush and styling book, cash, and a new wallet.

Watching Coraline in 3 D

Blowing out the candles with  cousins around

It was a great day!  Blondie chose one of her bff's and we watched her new movie "Coraline", then went to Bounce U for a while.  We came home to eat and then went swimming at Kino.  The kids had a blast on the high dives and water slide.  Then for dinner almost all the local cousins came over for a family dinner and party. 
Here's a shot of the bedroom packed with kids:

Birthday Blondie

Our little Blondie had a birthday! 10 years old now!! She is officially in the double-digits. I can't believe how time flies. I remember when she was born, and after carrying a baby in the heat of the summer, I was so glad to have here out of my tummy and in my arms!

The first thing I thought when I saw her was, "She looks just like ME!" I mean, exactly like me!! I kept thinking, it's kind of like I'm holding myself when I was a baby. My mom said the same thing. She was a good size, 8 pounds 2 ounces. I called her my little Butterball because she was such a sweet, round little thing. She was the happiest, mellowest baby. She LOVED her bouncy seat, and would sit there with both chubby little legs spread way out and would hold her feet with each hand in that spread-eagle position.

She is a precocious child. Lots of questions about everything. When she gets focused on an idea, nothing can get her mind off that thing until she is ready to move on. She does great in school and is learning piano and viola, and is doing awesome at both! She also loves swimming, gymnastics, and playing. Her favorite things to do are play American Girl dolls (or Our Generation, the Target version), watch movies, draw--this girl can DRAW!! She is a very talented artist. VERY talented. Her favorite movies are Penelope and Coraline. Her favorite color is turquoise, favorite foods are sushi, pizza, and shrimp scampi. Favorite treats are oreo ice cream and cherry cheesecake. She wants to be an American Girl doll maker when she grows up.

Blondie is also my only blond haired, blue eyed kid. I can't imagine life or our family without her. I love you, Blondie!!! Happy Birthday!

Well, I did something very un-green this week. I threw out all of my re-usable shopping bags. Yep, they're gone. Turns out I'm not even feeling guilty about it. The whole story is this; I have too much stuff. Way too much. I am having a hard time keeping my house clean and am feeling completely overwhelmed. So, I'm going through things a little at a time, and when I got to this bag full of bags, I thought long and hard and then I tossed. I always mean to use them. I even keep them in my car. Do I take them in to the store with me? No. I forget. Every time. And, the truth is, the couple of times I did use them it was a pain in the neck. And I actually re-use the plastic grocery bags anyway. So...when I got to all of these shopping bags I decided I could free myself of them and let them go to someone who actually wants to use them. And it feels good! :)

That is all.

BTW, I didn't actually throw them away. I'm donating them to the clothing exchange our stake is doing this weekend. If you want them, come get them!

Our Fabulous Fourth

This post contains lots of pictures, be warned! :)
We started out the day early at our ward's celebration breakfast. We ate yummy food, listened to DH share some stories about our country and the flags, and the kids paraded around the parking lot on their bikes and scooters. It was fun, but here are a few suggestions for next year (cuz I'll forget if I don't write them down): Have the parade FIRST, and put out some orange cones so the kids know where to ride. Have loud patriotic music to ride to. Then come in for breakfast. Have the flags set up as a display, but no presentation necessary. Too many little kids. Instead, have 2 good patriotic musical numbers. That's my opinion. ;) Later in the day, we went to the Freedom Celebration in downtown Mesa. It was busy and fun!! Of course we went in our matching flag t-shirts, per tradition. It was a bit hot, and lots of walking, but we had a good time. The only thing that would have made it better is if my Teeny Bopper was with us!! (she is camping with a friend and we MISS her!! She misses us too. That's a good sign, right?)

DH set up his flag display and gave presentations all evening.

There was water sliding.

There was someone who was too scared to slide so came back down the ladder.

There was hanging out in the stroller.
There was a photo op with lots of ammo involved.
There was rock climbing.

There was face painting.

There was a memorial walk, with photos of all the soldiers from AZ that have been killed in the war thus far. Here we are with Jake.

Then there was the watching of fireworks. When Tail Gunner caught sight of the fireworks, he looked up, smiled, and gave a little clap. It was so cute!

This is the closest we have ever been to a fireworks show. Well, except for once in Taylor. It was pretty great! And luckily I read this article about how to take better fireworks pictures.
It changed my pictures from this: (pathetic, I know. I was trying to figure out my settings)


To this: (ooh, ahh! :) The lines are wavy because I didn't have a tripod with me.

Happy Independence Day!!!