The Story of Us: February 2014

20 February 2014

DIY Tent

MW and Lo got tents for their rooms. I know such a great and fun mommy. ;)

Actually Lo got a canopy and MW the tent--because that is more manly!

I am not going to take credit for the idea, because let's face it I am just not that creative, Lo on the other hand is terribly brilliant, me not so much.

However, these are not exactly rocket science.

Lo's canopy consisted of a large embroidery hoop {just the outer ring}, but you could use a small hula hoop, or a even larger embroidery hoop. I get mine at goodwill. :) This all depends on how big you want the canopy. We were working with a smallish corner so this size worked, plus it was what I had on hand.

2. Depending on your budget and or sewing access or ability you can get sheer curtain panels for $7ish dollars a piece. You will need 2-4 depending on the size of the hoop. You want it bunchy and flowy. I have this really tight wallet and a mommy who "loves to sew for her favorite daughter!" Thanks mom! Kisses!! So I just bought 3yds??? {I actually don't remember maybe it was 4?!?!} of fine tulle fabric.
The point is this: Measure from the hoop to the floor and add 1/2- 1 inch for a seam allowance and maybe another 1-1.5 inches to puddle on the floor. Then multiply it by at least 3 panels for fabric.

3. Sew a rod pocket for the hoop to slip through. Now if you have a hula hoop, you will have to cut it apart to get the hoop in the pocket {then just tape it back or glue it. You are going to want to hide the hoop with ribbon or something anyway.} With the embroidery hoop you just unscrew it and screw it back together.

4. put on your "curtains." and viola done.

5. Well maybe not done you can add a ribbon to the top like I did to cover up the hoop and the LED lights that I weaved around the top. NOTE: YOU MUST USE LED LIGHTS. They doNOT get hot and they won't start your fabric/tulle/curtains on FIRE!!! SAY IT WITH ME LED lights ONLY!! Yes they are a bit more, but your house and kid are worth it! :) END PSA.

6. Pile pillows and books in for a fun reading corner. and it makes a nice "night light" for kids who insist on having them. :) Although I wish I would have gone with the warm tone of lights vs. the cool tone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Manly Tent.

Well as predicted MW wanted one too! And while I am okay with him doing some "girly" things. This just wasn't the look I was going for in his room.

Enter A- Frame tent.

1. Enlist daddy to take you to Home Depot/Lowes or Menards.

2. Buy 4--4x2x1 inch boards {cost was like 2.25/board}
Buy a .75 inch dowel rod. I think it was 4 ft long too??!?! {cost $2.25ish}

3. You will need a 3/4 inch spade bit. My Handy Manny doesn't own many tools so we had to buy one and got a really good after Christmas deal on a whole set for like $6.

4. About 2ish inches down {just make sure the are all lined up} one at a time drill the 3/4inch hole with your spader drill. Go slow and be careful as the wood splinter a bit on us.

5. Crisscross 2 of them and insert dowel rod and repeat on the other end of the dowel rod.
We had to cut nearly a foot off our dowel rod as the tent takes up quiet a bit of space. So move the tent to where you want it an judge the length of the dowel rod accordingly. The dowel rod and boards fit snug together so we didn't need glue or rope to keep it together.

6. Now comes mommy's part. Sewing! This was my first ever sewing project.
I know this tutorial isn't fantastic, but everything just depends on what you measure.
Measure from the top of the dowel rod to the base of the tent. x2.
Ex. our tent was around 44 inches top to bottom. SO I needed 89/90 inches of fabric {to account for seam allowance and wiggle room} OR 2.5yds.
I got 2.25 yds in one fabric and .25 yds in the contrasting fabric.
This ended up being a bit to much and probably need to shave of a few inches at the bottom to make it tighter. But like I said this was my first sewing project.

7. If you just have the one fabric. Sew all the raw edges under and add 4-5 inch elastic loops in the corners to hook on to the frame. If you have 2 pieces. Piece it together how you want. I use the .25 yd on top and cut my animal fabric in half and sewed them together and then finished the edges. A big THANKS to my mom again for sitting with me and showing me how to work my new sewing machine and being patient with me while I learned!

the elastic loop for easy on and off.

8. Viola tent is done. Add lights. What kind of lights? LED! Good answer!!

I wrapped the lights around the inside of the tent along the dowel rod and ran them down the legs in "back."

9. Because my tent was a bit too flow-y and not as taunt as I wanted I just added ribbon ties half way up on all 4 boards to make it a bit taunter.

10. Let your little boy camp "out!"

The End.

18 February 2014

It's My Party {Leighton's 5th Birthday}

You know every other little girl in the world is requesting a Frozen birthday, but not my Lo Lo Sass. She wanted Care Bears. An Oopsy Bear {the green one}to be exact.

The invite that I designed.

Chalk Art fun. I have a little project going on with all of these. And that should be a crown on top of her head, but came out looking more like a flower. :/

For her party we decided to keep it to just family and do things she wanted to do. You don't turn 5 everyday.
Up first was ice skating. Had she ever been ice skating? nope. That isn't going to stop her. HA!

Mommy is a natural. It was like riding a bike for me. Too bad. I could have rocked that Sochi stage. :)

Then there was this. Pushing little kids around the ice. Not that easy. MW finally decided he would try and then proceeded to tell me once we got on the ice to "let me go. I do it by myself!"

So I did and he promptly fell on his tookus. Kids with hard heads have to learn the hard way. :)

Then I spun around an nearly dropped us both! Whew! Still on my feet!

Meg and I had to take a few kid free laps! This was probably more fun for me than anyone.

Then off to Chick-fil-A for dinner and home for cake and homemade strawberry ice cream! {Oh my word. I don't even like ice cream and I could have ate my weight in that stuff!!! YUM YUM!!}

The cake. It's a care bear not a gopher! This was my first go at fondant. I made a marshmallow fondant, which was super easy. But I had a hard time getting it on the cake without breaking. So I finally gave up and pieced it together, if you look close you can see the seams. Oh well, I know I am not the cake boss and don't plan on having my own bakery, so it's fine. Lo said it was better than the picture {the inspiration photo from pinterest}. It isn't, but that made me feel good!

This was the rainbow center. Now this impressed me. I wasn't too sure how this was going to work out during the whole baking process, but when we cut into it. It looked amazing!! Everyone was blown away by it. :) Go Michele it's your birthday, wait no...anyway.

Gifts. We are really really really trying to dial back the gifts the kids receive.
This year she got a rainbow loom, ears pierced {mommy and daddy}, Frozen Dvd {pre-order}, How to Train your Dragon Dvd, $$$ and rollerskates. Perfect for this little oopsy bear! HA!

Had to toss this in here. He is looking SO BIG himself. These two are nearly the same size at 2 years apart. Plus, MW doesn't wear pants.ever. The first thing he does when he gets home is take off his pants {even BEFORE his shoes!} Meg talked him into shorts. HA!

She has been living in these roller skates. We can hardly get them off her feet. These were super cool. Thanks Grandma Rachel

Finally able to test them outside! Should be a fun spring!

Peace Out.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

17 February 2014

Lo 5.0 {Watch Me Grow}

Saturday marked your 5th year of life.

I can't believe the time is moving so quickly. You are growing up to be a beautiful, independent, sassy little thing. As I was traveling back through your life via my pictures, I realized while you have grown not too much has changed since day one.

You hate sleep, you have fought since the moment you took your first breathe. I remember that first night in the hospital they only way I got you to sleep was in that boppy curled up next to me. Now you just wander into our room and curl up next to me and daddy. {Although, knock on wood you haven't done that in nearly a month!} You hate napping and you fight going to sleep every.single.night. I wonder if you will ever be a sleeper?! Teenage years?!?!!?

You love playing baby dolls. Holy moly I have picture after picture of you being a little mommy. This has probably been your "go-to" play activity for as long as I can remember. You love your baby Juju and poodle to pieces. You will be a wonderful mommy someday.

Your fashion sense. You have a flair for fashion and being fashion forward. Since you were able to dress yourself around age 2ish, you have had your own ideas about clothes and what goes together. Weird since mommy can't seem to dress herself. Very seldom do I have to intervene with my veto card.

You have always loved gymnastics and dance. You currently love gymnastics more and are getting so good at it. Might have a little to do with mommy being the coach/instructor.

You have always possessed a good sense of humor. You got jokes like daddy.

On Friday I asked you to let in Thatcher {our puppy}. You disagreed.

M: Lo please let in your dog.

Lo: Um, pretty sure he is not my dog.

M: pretty sure he is and that you wanted him.

Lo: Pretty sure you were the one crying to get a dog, so he is yours.

M: Just let him in!

That girl doesn't miss a beat. Very little has ever gotten by her. With a clever mind like that I am worried about the teenage years.

You are an independent learner. You have always just learned on your own. Some days I feel as if I failed you in getting ready for kindergarten; however you always blow me away with what you know and learn on your own. When you are ready you will master it. It has taken me sometime, but I have learned I don't need to push you. When you set your mind to it nothing is impossible.

Case in point--learning to ride a bike this past summer. Gymnastic skills are flowing now. Etc.

And finally you have always had quiet the attitude and bossy pants. Oh the drama you bring to this family. Again, not looking forward to the teenage years and when the hormones are in full force. But on the flip side you can be the best, kindest, sweetest, most thoughtful and caring girl I know. You can't teach thoughtfulness, you just are born with it. That is one the greatest things I love about you--the caring, thoughtful heart. Don't ever lose that quality.

You are a wonderful little girl and you will grow up to be a wonderful woman someday.

Now on to our yearly interview. This was done in 2 parts because Tucker decided it was very important to alert us that daddy was home. So you are welcome that I didn't subject you to that. :)

Pt1