New Smile

My big boy has a new smile today...

He's been working on his loose tooth for weeks now, desperate to lose it before the end of the school year so that he can get his picture on the wall in the classroom. You know, they keep track of all the important business in Kindergarten.

We celebrated, we took pictures. And then he went into his room to put the tooth in the treasure chest the dentist gave him a few weeks ago... A few minutes later I walked by his room and heard him sobbing on the floor...he lost the tooth! Luckily, after 25 minutes on my hands and knees with a flashlight, I found the tooth! If you're ever curious about the color of our carpet, it's tooth colored, just for the record. So tonight he will be following in his Papa's childhood footsteps by placing his tooth in a shotglass full of water...and hoping the tooth fairy finds our house.

Mama has to run to the bank...

Love is in the air...

I'm blushing. These two need to get a room. Hormones are raging and they can't get enough of each other. Feathers are ruffled, wings are flapping and the boy is strutting his stuff. It's been going on all week, I just can't ignore it anymore so I grabbed my camera to capture their moment...

And then the bigger boy walks into the kitchen and says, "Mama, why are you taking pictures of those fat birds?" And then he looks a little closer and says, "Huh, that bird is sitting on top of the other one. That's weird."
And then he walked out of the room.

As Mama of two future teenaged boys, now I wonder...
Why do they schedule Prom in the spring?

If you need some help getting in the mood, come over. I'll pour you a glass of iced tea and you can watch the sparks fly.
Your sweetie will thank me. ;)

How to stay busy during Screen Free Week

Thought I'd give a little run down on how things went around here last week while we tried our hardest to succeed with the whole Screen Free Week thing. Overall, it went well and was much easier than I anticipated. TV was by far the easiest to avoid, despite the fact that I heard Oprah was airing all new episodes all week...thank goodness for DVR! On Monday morning I told the boys that we were participating in SFW, and that meant no TV shows, no games on Mama's phone. They asked on occasion but when I reminded them, no arguments. On Friday morning we took a little road trip over to Silver City for the weekend though, and my commitment to SFW went out the window. Purely a selfish decision on our part, but sanity is priceless. The boys gorged themselves on Curious George and Clifford on the portable DVD player the whole way there while Mama and Papa enjoyed the silence of two content little boys and uninterrupted conversation. The bigger screens were easier to avoid than the smaller ones... My laptop stayed off all week, with the exception of a few minutes to preview some photos resulting from a collaboration of two dear friends. It just wasn't practical to turn my phone off all week though, so each morning I checked email quickly and cleared out the junk, responded to anything pressing, and resisted the urge to visit FB on the mobile app. And Saturday afternoon while in NM, I came home to find both boys playing Angry Birds and Stupid Zombies on Grandpa's Droid...thanks a lot, Grandpa!

You might ask, what on earth did we do all week? We stayed busy, and happy.

Here are some thoughts on how to survive SFW, should you decide to try it at your house sometime. Which, I do recommend, by the way!

Build the biggest, longest, most elaborate train track you can. When that gets old, take it apart and start all over...
Bake! We made granola and cranberry orange scones.
Visit with friends. Our new sleeper sofa got its first official visitor! Our dear friend Candice stayed a few nights on her way home from our big trip to Las Vegas last week. We spent hours brainstorming and day dreaming about the MakH2OPak...so fun!
Assess your family's undergarment situation...All sock and underwear drawers have been cleared out and restocked.
Puzzles: Build every puzzle your kids own and find homes for the random puzzle pieces that have been found under beds and behind the TV.
Try to figure out how to operate your Anniversary gift from your sweet, thoughtful husband.

And then text your BFF, the amazing photographer and request a private lesson!

Interestingly, last night we let the boys watch their new favorite show, America's Funniest Videos since Papa introduced it to them several weeks ago and it's become a fun little weekly tradition for the 3 of them...and suddenly the sweet, content, charming boys living in my house last week were replaced with crazy, rambunctious little lunatics! So today was a no TV day and the charmers were back...I think we're on to something here.

A week of Facebook Updates...

I like Facebook. There, I said it. I like the friendly banter. I appreciate the articles and news stories shared by my like-minded friends. I enjoy the photos. Yes, if I let it, it can be a time suck. Mostly though, it's a minute or two of scrolling through to see what friends and family are up to. A minute to post a quick thought, share a story, or post a photo. If I need advice I ask, and receive. If I need a product or service, my FB friends will share their tried and true referrals. From that standpoint, I love it. A few times last week, I heard Facebook calling my name and I had to resist the urge to take a peek. I'm not embarrassed to admit that. A few of my witty (sarcastic?) friends sent text messages or emails to tell me that they were missing me... So, just for grins, I kept note of what I would have posted, had I not been trying my hardest to participate in Screen Free Week.

Monday: I've decided that the most frustration-inducing, worthless piece of clothing in a little boy's wardrobe must be the belt.
Tuesday: I must be missing you. Yes, you. In a very vivid dream last night, I had dinner with a bunch of you. A random group, but a fun dinner!
Wednesday: Please tell me I'm not the only one whose children strive to work the word "scrotum" into daily conversation as often as possible?
Thursday: Two solatubes installed in my kitchen and dining rooms today...And now it's painfully obvious just how dirty my floors really are. I think ignorance was bliss.
Friday: Forgot the disclaimer: Roadtrips = Screen Time. Even during Screen Free Week. Purely selfish motivation on Mama's part, but sanity is priceless.
Saturday: I cheated and took a peek a day early.
Sunday: Happy Easter Friends!

It was a fabulous week. It's good to be back.

See you next week!

It's gonna be hardest for me, but our family is participating. Is yours?
Click here for more info.

Hooked on Owls

A few months ago one of my favorite crafty bloggers posted about these owls that she'd made for her boys and I fell in love... Revisiting her post this morning just re-inspires me all over again! I hopped over to Mimi's etsy site to buy my pattern, even though my sewing room was in the midst of being painted and reorganized and all of my crafting supplies were packed away. Then a few weeks ago I printed my pattern and got to work. After ignoring most of my less important responsibilities for a day, I'd created these little friends...

Within days, they were all spoken for--given away as gifts. My mom got the purple one for her birthday last week because purple is her favorite color. My BFF got the pink one--made from a favorite old pillowcase of hers! A new baby boy got the blue one, and we sent a care package to my niece Astrid and her soon-to-be-born little sister, Frida with a quilt for baby and my favorite owl so far for Astrid...

I'm getting the hang of them now, and having so much fun! It's true what Betz says, they each develop their own little personalities and quirks as eyes and ears and bellies get sewn on. If I work in multiples, they come together easily and rather quickly and the more I do, the more I realize that the possibilities for these little fellas are endless! Last night I should have been folding clothes or loading the dishwasher, but instead chose to finish up these cuties.

One of the things I love most about them is that they are made from so many recycled and re-purposed materials--so far, the only thing I've purchased is stuffing to fill up their little bodies nice and plump! I'm hooked...

Sun Jars: How To

Now that we're finishing up with the dirty work on the yard, I'm excited to get going with the pretty stuff: plants, umbrellas, candles... I made these Sun Jars last summer and love looking out and seeing a little light shining in the dark of night so today I made a few more. They're also eco-friendly because you can use recycled and thrifted jars and the lights are solar powered. It's a relatively easy project, here's what to do:

Start collecting glass jars of various sizes--save your candle jars when you've finished burning them. Thrift stores are a great place to look too. Just make sure the lid is clear glass, and large enough in diameter to fit the solar light. (Unfortunately, my favorite candles have a lid that is just a smidge too small...darn!)

Next, you have to etch the glass on the bottom part of the light (you can leave the lid alone) with this etching cream. (I think I used a 40% off coupon to buy mine at Michaels). It's yucky stuff, so do it outside and don't let it get on your skin. We tried spraying the jars with the stuff that makes glass look etched, but it flakes off over time, and without the etching the jar won't illuminate so you can't skip this step and you've gotta use the icky chemicals. Sorry.

You'll also need the lights--I buy mine at Target at the end of the season on clearance, but they are not too expensive to begin with. I buy the stake lights and just twist the light off and throw the stake away. Then use your glue gun to glue the light to the inside of the lid. Disclosure: If you live on the surface of the sun with me in Arizona, you'll likely need to re-glue your light a few times throughout the summer. I've tried different glues and have not yet found one that will stand up to our absurdly hot sunshine. Sigh.

Once your jar is etched and the light is glued in, find some fun beads and some sturdy-but-not-too-thick wire to decorate the rim. Wire wrapping is a bit of an art, I'm not very good at it. Luckily, it's also pretty forgiving. I like to make a long strand and then wrap it a couple times around the lid, then twist the ends and tuck them in. Experiment with your own technique.

Set your jar out in full sun for a day or so, and then look out for a little twinkle in the evening...Fun!

Hues of Blue

Living in Arizona has some perks. Spring comes early, and with it comes flip-flop tan lines and a chance to swim in early April...

We mixed business with pleasure this weekend. Lots of lounging around and enjoying our new yard, and a little bit of manual labor. Papa's mad at me because holes don't dig themselves, and there are still 3 queen palms waiting to be planted...

I managed to get off my tush to paint our bench. I overrode the suggestions of more earth tones and went with a refreshing splash of blue. We love it...whataya think?

That's our fabulously fun fire pit...lots of fun evenings are going to be centered around this spot, I can already tell.

Do you like the blue pillows? My mom received several boxes of fabric and quilting stuff from someone's estate a few weeks ago and in one of the boxes was a few yards of this blue fabric. I snatched it up because I had an idea...

We bought this outdoor sofa set and when it arrived we loved everything about it except for the accent pillows.

Are they not just hideous? I think someone should hire me to pick out fabrics because I know I could do better...

But don't fear, I think that ugly pillow fabric has some owl potential... It's coming along, friends. Keep your calendars open, because the Yard Warming Party is going to be awesome!