Doily Valentine's Art

My plan was obviously to share this BEFORE Valentine's Day, but we were having some technical difficulties.  We're back up and running with a new laptop, so we should be good to go for now.

So when I was buying things for Olivia's Valentine's sensory box, I bought a pack of paper doilies for $1.50 or something like that.  Instantly I knew that I wanted to attempt an art project with them as well.  Then as time went on I started thinking of all the reasons why my idea wasn't going to work--how to keep the doilies on the paper, paint seeping through, etc.

But when it came time to do it, at the last minute I decided to stick with my original plan.  I taped three doilies down to a piece of scrapbook type cardstock.  I didn't have a lot of faith in this project, which is why I just used three.  I just used scotch tape.  One of my worries was also ripping the paper when peeling them off.  That did happen a little bit, but might have been preventable had I not waited for the paint to dry first.

Anyway, I taped and Olivia finger painted.

Apparently Olivia took "finger painting" literally.  She painted with only one finger at a time.

I tried to show her to rub her hands around.  You know... kind of needed the doilies covered. :)

And she went right back to painting with one finger. :)

Eventually I told her to give me a five. Then I took her hand and slapped it on the page.  That sort of gave her the right idea and then she got down to business.

Is she not just the cutest thing ever? :)

The finished product...

I am in love with it.  Every time I pass it on the fridge it just makes me happy.

I will be keeping it for sure!

Here's a Valentine's Day craft she made at MOPS.

It has her finger prints on it.  She was so proud of it too.  When I picked her up she kept saying "butterfly for mommy!".  Sweet thing!

Our Valentine's

We had a busy but fun Valentine's Day.  Olivia is finally at the age where I can do all of the fun little traditions and extras and she appreciates it.  She may not always "get it" yet, and she won't remember when she's older, but she is enjoying it.  Her smile and excitement make it worth it!

 One of my friends at MOPS shared a great idea with me, and I hopped right on it.  You "heart attack" your kids door at night while they are sleeping, and then in the morning it's covered in hearts that say sweet things about them.  I wrote out 6 hearts and Michael wrote out 6 hearts.  They said things like, "I love how you have so much to say" and "I love how polite your are" and "I love your hugs and kisses".  Then I added some small hearts around to help fill it up.

Her bed is right by her door, so when we opened the door in the morning, the first thing she noticed was the hearts on her door.  We read each one to her.

Then she stood there talking about the hearts for about twenty minutes while I made breakfast and Michael started getting ready for work.

I tried to get a picture of her in front of the door, but this is the best I could get.

To be honest, this was probably the cheapest thing we did all day, and it was by far one of her most favorites.  We plan on making it a tradition and doing it every year! I love it!

We headed out to the living room and Michael showed her the balloon we got her.

Next up was breakfast.  I got wild and crazy and let Olivia eat funfetti pancakes that I cut into heart shapes.  Watch out--I even gave her a little whip cream.  Living on the edge over here! :)

 She liked it!

LOVE HER!

Michael had to leave for work, and Olivia got to work opening her gift.

We got her a card that had animal stickers in it, a set of stamps, a Clifford DVD, and a few Clifford books from my teaching stash.  She is IN LOVE with Clifford.  I had the $5 stuffed dog from when Kohl's had it as one of their book selections.  I dug it out of my teaching boxes a few months ago, but she has recently taken a serious liking to him.  It sat on a shelf in my classroom, so it's like new.  It goes everywhere with her. She sleeps with him.  He goes on all car rides, and depending on where we are going, he accompanies us into the store.  Clifford episodes aren't on netflix and I couldn't find any DVD's at the library.  I was able to get a DVD from Amazon for $6.  Hopefully she likes it!

We got ready and headed to a Valentine's Party play date that one of my MOPS friends was having.
My phone wasn't taking very good pictures, but it was cute.  The kids played, we had a snack picnic on the floor, and we made this craft.

Not quite perfect, but still something I'll treasure.

We came home in time to get a quick lunch and head to nap.
Olivia took a long time to fall asleep for some reason, so she ended up sleeping until about 3:30.

When she got up, we had snack and then made this owl craft that I had picked up in the Target dollar spot a month or so ago.  Love it! :)

We also used her new stamp set.

We played a little bit.  Then while I made dinner, she read her Clifford books, stuck and unstuck the hearts to her door talking about them over and over, and admired her stamp picture.

Michael came home bearing gifts.

Olivia was a little obsessed when I got flowers last week, so this time she got her own.

He also got her a little alligator.  She knows what alligators are, but for whatever reason she feels like this guy looks like a sea horse.  Hilarious.  She also got a light up squishy ball.

We stayed in and had a yummy homemade dinner.

It was our only night this week that all 3 of us were home, so we just chilled and had family time.

Oh... and I signed up my SECOND recruit.  Happy Valentine's Day to me!

Five for Friday

Yep.  I have some blog catching up to do.  I have blogs waiting in my head that need to be written... like my trip to Galveston and other fun things we did this week.... but I just haven't taken the time.  I have a full load on my plate today, so I thought I'd just do a very random post.  Enjoy :)

ONE

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After years of working with kids and being in education, I have come to the conclusion that it is just best to buy name brand when it comes to crayons.  I was reminded of this last week as I worked in the church nursery (with cheap crayons), last night at a restaurant (with cheap crayons), and then this morning as Olivia and I colored (with cheap crayons).  Really.  It's worth the extra few cents.

TWO

 19 months after giving birth to my sweet daughter, I STILL cannot lay on my stomach.  Whenever I do, it gives me the weirdest and most uncomfortable feeling.  Seriously.  Almost to the point of making me nauseous.  Is this odd?  I feel as though it is.  I also feel as though my tummy laying days are over.

THREE

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I think Olivia has a mild allergy to cinnamon.  How annoying is that?  Cinnamon has many health benefits, so I put it on a lot of her food--oatmeal, sweet potatoes, toast, applesauce.  Well, she gets a small topical rash on her face wherever the cinnamon may touch.  So far that's the only symptom, so I've kept giving it to her.  It usually goes away after just 10 minutes or so.  I'm just hoping this is not a long term thing.  I realize that in the scheme of allergies, cinnamon is pretty minor.  But still.  I think we've paid our food restriction dues, if you know what I mean.

FOUR

For the last year or so, Olivia has pretty much only wore pedipeds.  I've shared my love of them before.  However, she's reached the end of the soft sole line of their shoes.  I wish she could wear them forever.  I love them!  They do have a line for the next size up, but I figured since they were the harder soles that I'd just try to get cheaper shoes now.  One problem.  Olivia has pretty wide feet.  Michael's feet are super wide.  My feet are sorta of wide, but have a high instep.  So she has wide feet with a high instep.  I have tried shoes on her feet twice now when strolling the aisles of Target and it is just not happening.  I'm trying to avoid the $45 a pair/wide foot shoes from Stride Rite.  Anyone else have wide footed children that have a secret they'd like to share?  We are running out of time in the shoes she has currently.

FIVE

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 Michael's company is finally moving locations!  They've been looking and negotiating and talking about it for months now.  They will officially make the move on March 1st.  They have outgrown their current space, so everyone is really excited about the move.  The new place is really nice.  One fun fact about it... it's where Barney got it's start.  That's right folks.  Michael will be working in Barney's old stomping grounds.  That's a claim to fame right there! :)

Told you it was going to be random!

Happy Friday!

 

Laurie, 34--Columbus, OH

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner for Show Us Your Life--Singles Day.

(Any regular readers who are confused, read yesterday's post.)

I met my friend Laurie 11 years ago when we were both teaching at a small Christian school in the suburbs of Columbus, Ohio.  I was new to town and she graciously took me under her wing.  We became good friends and then eventually we were roommates.  Of course, that translates to partners in crime. :)

(Laurie and her brother on his wedding day July 2012)

Laurie is one of the nicest people I know.  She is funny, geniune, giving, caring, compassionate, sweet and fun.  I don't think you'd find anyone who could say a bad thing about her!

There are so many adjectives I could use to describe her, but the number one thing about her that I think sets her apart is that she has a true servant's heart.  She is always willing to help.  She is giving of her time, money and talents.  There are few people in this world where the same could be said.

(Laurie and her mom)

Laurie has one brother, Kevin.  He was recently married and she became an instant aunt to a 5 year old boy.  Her mom is one of her best friends.

Before her dad passed away a few years ago, it was his dream to live on a farm and own horses.  He was able to briefly see that dream come to pass.  Her mom still lives on the farm and has a handful of horses.  Laurie enjoys going up to the farm, visiting with her mom, and helping out with the horses.  She's a cowgirl at heart. :)

(Laurie, on the right, with friends)

Laurie grew up swimming in a league and on the high school swim team.  She also life guarded.  After college, she went back and managed the neighborhood pool for a few years. She loves the water and the beach is one of her favorite places.  Any beach will do! :)

Laurie loves the Lord, and her personal relationship with Jesus Christ is of high importance to her.  She is active in her church.  She goes to a weekly woman's Bible study and helps out in children's church.

(The bridal party entered on segways at her brother's wedding!!)

Other fun facts about Laurie:

*She enjoys a good game night

*She's always up for Mexican food

*She is 5' 7"

*She enjoys fru fru coffee drinks

*She has a degree in Elementary Education.  After spending 8 years in the classroom, she took some time off to be a professional nanny.  She has been with the same family for almost 5 years now.

*She has just recently began pursuing her masters degree and plans to eventually return to the classroom

*She's always up for an adventure

*She roots for The Ohio State Buckeyes!  O-H!

(Laurie and I at my wedding 5 years ago.)

A little heads up....

Sooo... tomorrow's blog is going to be a little different.  I want to explain now, so that tomorrow I can get right into the purpose of the blog and not have to give some lengthy explanation for my loyal readers.

About a year and a half ago I shared with you guys about one of my favorite blogs, Kelly's Korner.  I have been reading her blog for about 3 years now.  I found her blog through another blog I read, and since have found blogs to read from her posts. 

She has this thing every Friday called "Show Us Your Life".  The topics range from your favorite soup recipe, to showing off rooms in your house, to sharing parenting tips.  I actually found Kelly's blog through another blogger who had linked up with her one time.

Kelly is a Christian and is not afraid to share it.  She has a heart for many things, but one of them is singles.  More specifically, single women.  So a while back she had an idea to do a singles themed "SUYL" and sort of have all of her readers play match maker.  You can read a little about it here and here.  It went so well that she has done it a few times since.

Guess what?  There are EIGHT couples who are either married or engaged.  8!!!!!!  I know at least 5 are married.  Um, that's a better record than the bachelor!

Back when I read her first update on how so many were getting married/engaged, I sent the link to my friend Laurie.  I told her that the next time Kelly did this type of link up, I was going to write a blog about her.  She was all game.  Well, the time has come.  Tomorrow's SUYL link up is for singles!  Therefore, tomorrow's post will be all about my friend Laurie.  Y'all can be praying for good things!

If you have a single friend that would love to be hooked up, you could write a blog about them.  Or send them the way of Kelly's blog to see if there are any prospects.  Especially if you have a single male.  It's just natural that there are going to be more girls participating then boys.  I've known a few sisters who have written about their brothers.  I doubt most guys are going to be checking it out though.  SO help them out.  Send them in the right direction.  Or, do the "research" yourself and send them a link to an appropriate blog.  Sounds fun, right?  I mean.... EIGHT!  That's pretty stinking impressive.

Wordless Wednesday--Just Playing

Pinterest: 2 delights and a dud

 Ok, so I didn't actually get this first recipe from Pinterest... but it was still from the internet, so it's essentially the same thing, right?  I had this bag of carrots sitting in my fridge waiting for me to peel, chop, and steam for Olivia.  The problem is that Olivia has decided she no longer likes carrots.  Then there was the fact that we eat the same list of steamed vegetables all the time (peas, green beans, broccoli, corn, squash, repeat.)  I was sick of it, so I went on a hunt for a good carrot recipe.  I found this.  Honestly, I'm not sure Michael is that big of a carrot fan in general either, but he will eat pretty much anything I put in front of him.

Glazed Mini Carrots

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They were super easy to make and I loved them.  Of course, they used a ton of butter, but I'm sure you could use a little less.  Olivia even ate a few.  I didn't use baby carrots, because I had a bag of regular carrots so I just used slices.

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

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So... the funny thing with this recipe is that neither Michael or I really even like buffalo chicken.  But I saw one friend post about this on another friend's facebook feed.  It was over a year ago, long before I even became remotely active on Pinterest.  Then a few days later friend B wrote back to friend A saying that they loved them and had made them twice that week.  I've NEVER made the same meal twice in one week unless it was because I was reheating leftovers.  I had to know what the buzz was about.  I stalked them on Pinterest, found the recipe and decided to make it.  Good thing too, because we love it.  It's actually one of Michael's favorite meals.  In fact, I just made it this last week and used the rest of our hot sauce.  I don't mess with the green onions.  Michael doesn't like avocado, so he eats his without.  I have no idea why you need to use the seasoning for the chicken.  I don't think you can taste anything but the sauce.  I've never tried it without though.  We are relatively wimpy when it comes to spicy food, so we also have this with a glass of milk.  Of course, Olivia eats something different on these nights.  Like hummus... which she loves but we hate. It's a win/win. :)

 Remember how I said I was sick of eating the same old veggies every week?  Well Olivia loves zucchini.  Seriously, I think she could eat an entire steamed zucchini a day if I'd let her.  So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest, I thought I'd give it a try as a dinner side for all of us.

Zucchini Chips 

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Now I am not a complete idiot in the kitchen, but mine didn't look anything like the ones pictured.  Not only that, but they didn't taste good either.  We all ate them--well, Michael and I did.  Olivia spit hers out--but I didn't save the leftovers.  They were gross.  If the zucchini lover won't eat them, then you know they are bad.  She'd rather hers be completely plain.  I won't be making these again.