A True Yankees Fan.

On Mother's day morning.
MommyO: "Remember boys, what's going to be Mommy's greatest gift today?"
The boys in unison: "Good behavior Mommy!!"
John: "Right! And Pettitte pitching for the Yankees!!!"

Personalized Travel Mug

When Grace and I went to the dollar store to get the supplies for the Flip-flop wreath, I also picked up a travel mug. I thought I would have the kids decorate it as a gift for Mother's day.
I gave them some colored Sharpies and told them to write something nice for MommyO and here is the personalized mug:

Custom iPhone Case

Filmstrip Fun iPhone 4/4S 1 piece

Unique designs that are as unique as you. Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Flip Flop Summer Wreath.

Grace and I went on our almost weekly trip to the dollar store this morning in the hopes of finding some supplies to make a Mother's day craft. Instead we came back with four pairs of flip flops, a straw hat and some decorative sea shells, ready to make an original summer wreath.

I glued the flip flops around the hat with some E6000, since the wreath will be hanging outside I wanted to use a strong glue.

Then it was the sea shells turn to find their way onto the hat.





Let the glue dry and seal it with a generous coat of outdoor modpodge.
And there you have it:

Shoe Scandal

Reverse Psychology.

A couple of days ago, I took the kids to ride their bikes around the lake. Matthew started whining that he didn't want to ride his bike. He was afraid to have forgotten how to do it since last year. As I was starting to lose patience I thought better of it. I told him it was fine with me. I said I wouldn't force him to do something he was scared of and that it was his choice to be the only kid in his class not being able to ride a bicycle.
And as you can guess:

Not only he got over his fear, but he wouldn't stop. I was really proud of him.
He got a little carried away:

He picked himself up and got back on the "horse".

Yesterday, as I was halfway through my run feeling lazy and ready to call it a day, I couldn't help but thinking about my little guy and how he kept on going until he made it. So I kept on going and made it to the end of my workout.

Thanks fo the inspiration Matthew.

Easter Peep Show.

Check out these awesome Easter cupcakes made by MommyO.
How is that for a peep show.

Valentine's Day Jewelery: Heart Shape Pendant

I have been working on this one for a while but was never happy with the finished product.
Not the right color, cord too thick, cord too thin... Now that I think I finally got it right, here it is.

For the cord I used just over 3 feet of sky blue 2.25mm knotting cord.

I tied a heart shape glass pendant with a prosperity knot. I then threaded an antique looking bead on each side of the knot and tied a double coin knot. I repeated the last step with another bead and another double coin knot. I used some spiral cord ends and a lobster-claw catch to close the necklace and voila:





For the box I used an old cardboard box that was in terrible shape but with a little creativity and a lot of Mod Podge you can work wonders.

Using a generous coat of Mod Podge, I glued some pink polka dot paper (that I had left over from an old project) to the box.



I lined the inside of the box with some white tissue paper

and closed it with a light pink ribbon.

Yes It's ok to post it now. MommyO rarely reads my blog and thanks to the Giants winning the Superbowl, she will be getting something a lot nicer.





Heart Hand Prints T-Shirt.

This is a project that I did with the kids last year for Valentine's day.
I bought a pink T-shirt and some red fabric paint.
I had each child dip their hands in the paint and make a heart on the shirt with their hand prints.

It's a very easy, inexpensive and thoughtful Valentine's day present.

Holidays Post Partum.

We took our tree down this morning, our living room is back to its normal mess, the Christmas decorations are back in the shed until next year. So now what? The last week of the year is the most anticipated and the most hyped up time. Since the day after Thanksgiving we have been getting ready for it. Decorating, shopping, planning, making sure we didn't forget anything, the lights, the ornaments, the stockings.
Planning the Christmas holiday is very much like getting ready for a newborn. Mommy does most of the work, the shopping, picking the cards and sending them, wrapping the presents... Would be nice for Santa to help a little, the guy gets all the credit.
On Christmas morning, the kids get into labor tearing up the wrapping paper, screaming, shouting, getting so excited. What is it? What did I get? A truck? A doll?
We then celebrate in church, kind of like taking our newborn to get christened. After a whole week of celebration (eating chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate) we welcome a new year and just like that it's all over. Our holiday hormones will level off, our blood sugar will go down, holiday post Partum depression will start settling in by tomorrow morning. We could just drown ourselves in chocolate truffles (we have about 10 pounds left over) but we decided to be healthy. What's wrong with us?
I think that's one reason we make New Year's resolutions. It gives us something to look forward to after the holidays. It helps us cope better with the "Holiday crash". So why make resolutions that are going to make us more depressed. Forget about dropping the extra pounds, we're not going to waste some perfectly good chocolate. Let's all focus on being better people, better friends, husbands, parents, neighbors and let's make this world a better place.

New Year's Resolutions.

For most a new year means new resolutions. Some very popular resolutions being losing weight, quitting smoking, quitting drinking, getting out of debt, volunteering...
I don't smoke and rarely drink and even though I could afford to lose 15 to 25 pounds (and will lose them) I don't want to make that my new Year's resolution. Spending more time with my family would be a good one but it would mean starting a new career and as much as I would love to, it's not very realistic and most resolutions fail for being unrealistic.
Why are we making new Year's resolutions anyway? To better ourselves, our lives, our family lives...
So as I am sitting here taking a few minutes before going to work, looking for a good resolution, I am reflecting on this past year.
Back in 2009, I wrote a post titled "life happens" about how our lives changed after a few years of marriage and three (fantastic) children. Letting life happen like that has not necessarily been a good thing and it has brought more downs than ups to last year. So as my New Year's resolution I will not let life happen. I will make sure that 2012 brings us more ups than downs.
Happy New Year!!! Cheers!!!