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!!!

Read it, share it, tweet it, follow it...

Have you ever received one of those annoying chain emails? No matter how much you want to delete them, you still feel compeled to read them in their entirety:

Believe me.. this really works!! Just scroll down to the end, but while you do.. make a wish. Whatever age you are, is the number of minutes it will take for your wish to come true (ex. you are 15 yrs.old = 15 minutes). If you don't send this to 20 people in 20 minutes and if this 20 people don't sign up as followers, you will have bad luck for 20 years!! GO!!!


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STOP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!


YOUR WISH WILL NOW COME TRUE IN YOUR AGE MINUTES!! NOW FOLLOW THIS


CAREFULLY.... IT CAN BE VERY REWARDING!!!!!


IF YOU SEND THIS TO 10 MORE PEOPLE, OTHER THAN THE 20 YOU ALREADY HAVE SENT IT TO, AND IF THEY ALL SIGN UP AS FOLLOWERS SOMETHING MAJOR, THAT YOU'VE BEEN WANTING, WILL HAPPEN IN THE NEXT 10 SECONDS, MINUTES, HOURS, OR DAYS!! PROBABLY MINUTES OR DAYS. GOOD LUCK!!!!

All jokes aside if you like "DaddyDayCare", share it, tweet it, follow it...

John's Joke Of The Day.

-What is a crate full of ducks?

-A box of quackers!

Paracord Stocking Stuffers.

Since we are big Jets fans, as you can see above, I figured I would take a few minutes this afternoon to make a couple of green and white survival* (friendship*) bracelets.

For one bracelet, I used about 5 feet of each color paracord so about 10 feet altogether. I also used a 3/8inch side release buckle to make it easy for them to put on and take off.

I hope they will wear them proudly when the Jets make it to the superbowl. Although, by then I might have to make some bigger ones, the kids will be all grown up!!

*The boys need to work on their friendship, the Jets on their season survival.

Here is also a picture of the watchband I made for myself a couple weeks ago. It goes well with this watch and got a lot of compliments.

I did not post a tutorial, there are so many ressources on the internet. Here are a few  very  useful links.

http://stormdrane.blogspot.com/

www.fusionknots.com

 

The Things They Say...

Me, this morning: "Guys, I cleaned up and organized your playroom, so please try to keep it this way until Christmas. Otherwise Santa won't know where to leave the presents if it's a mess."
Matthew: "Santa doesn't leave the presents in the playrom, he leaves them under the tree. Besides, last year it was messy and he left the presents anyway!"
Me: Sigh...

Yesterday, listening to WFAN:
Matthew: "Daddy, I'll never play for the Mets!"
Me: "What if they're the only team who wants you?"
Matthew: "I'll play for the Yankkes and I'll have a no trade clause."
He's not 7 years old yet and he knows about a no trade clause!!

It's ok to say...

I understand the need to be politically correct and that a lot of our vocabulary has changed and evolved. One is not blind, but is visually impaired, one is not mute but has a speech impediment ...
But aren't we pushing it a little too far sometimes? I remember a few years ago during Christmas time, a couple was leaving the restaurant I was managing, and as they exited I wished them a Merry Christmas. The hostess at the time reminded me that I couldn't say that and that being politically correct I should have wished them happy holidays. Of course I disagreed then and still disagree now. Why should people get offended because they celebrate a different holiday. If you want to wish a Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanza, Happy Hanukkah, Happy "whateveryouarecelebrating", go ahead and proudly do it.
After all, don't we teach our kids to repect and embrace our differences.
How about teaching by example.

Awesome Log Cabin.

This is a project that my friend Jen made for her daughter's school.
She turned a cardboard box into an amazing log cabin.
The paint job is fantastic and the house is finished with window treatments and Sinead's art work decorates the walls.

Now that's talent!!

Mr. Kurt Rocks.

We saw Mr. Kurt for the first time a few years ago as he was playing at the Tarrytown library and we already thought he was very good.
Over the years, the kids have gone to to see him play many times and when it comes to chidren entertainers, few have the patience that he has and last night at the New City library was no exception.
He always gets the kids involved in his concerts and John had a blast showing off his voice!

Mr. Kurt treated the boys to an autograph session.



He even sang duet with Grace when everyone was gone, how awsome!!



So don't forget to check out his website: http://www.kurtgallagher.com/ and take the kids to see him, he rocks!

Tying the knot.

I have been wanting to experiment with decorative knots for quite a while but never got to it so as I had a few minutes to myself this afternoon, I dug into my craft box, came up with some nylon rope and started practicing.
Here is what I came up with.
My first lanyard:

A funky looking thing that I might use as a keychain. I made it to practice a monkey fist knot:

And a small lanyard bracelet that I thought Grace would want to wear but she didn't want anything to do with it because it didn't have Elmo on it!!

If you're ready to catch the bug, the internet is full of ressources. Have fun and be carefull it can be quite addictive.

Next stop Etsy!!



The scariest job.

No matter how dangerous your job is or how much of a thrill seeker you are; no task, no job, nothing is scarier than raising children. Before they even take their first breath we worry about our kids. A million things could go wrong during the pregnancy. The birth itself is a frightening ordeal. And from the moment we welcome our little cherubs to this crazy world we can't stop worrying. The first few weeks of a new born can be nerve wrecking, especially with the first one. We get home from the hospital with our tiny bundle of joy after getting a few minutes crash course on how to handle him. Quite frankly, a kid getting a hamster will get better instructions. Anyway that's it, you're home, clueless, tired and stressed out. He's crying! Why? Is he hungry? Wet? In pain? He's sleeping! Is breathing? Is he breathing too fast? Too quickly? How about SIDS?
And this is just the beginning people. Kids get ill, sick, they get hurt, there is trips to the ER, hospital stays. And these are just a few of what I would call "natural" dangers. Then we have to worry about peer pressure and bullying. And as they grow up they're involved in more activities and we have to worry about more peer pressure and we also have to think about child abuse, and risk of abduction...just read the headlines, there are a lot of sick people out there.
Wow! It's enough stress to make the most level headed parent become totally insane. One solution would be to get cloned and miniaturized so I could be with each one of our kids every second of the day (no, not to spy on them, the need to spy will come later) just to make sure that they're safe.
Until that happens, we stick to plan B.
We educate them as well as we can, we teach them how to be safe, we try to be good role models and most importantly we keep telling them that they can come to us for anything. And we can only hope that they will.
No, parenthood is definitely not for sissies!