Feeling crafty

I always get a huge case of spring fever when the weather starts to turn nice and I have crazy urges to clean out closets and change things around a bit.  So, last weekend, that's what I did.  I'm pretty sure my spring cleaning episodes are Peter's favorite time of year.....ha ha ha!

I decided to take on a few crafty projects too.  I was inspired by some artwork I saw on Pinterest and thought I could try my hand at it.

Here's the original that you can buy at World Market here

and here's my version of it....

I actually found a huge tub of acrylic paints and the circle brushes at a garage sale the day before for less than $5....it was a sign that I definitely needed to at least try the project.  I'm certainly not an artist, but it was fun.

The step by step instructions on how to do it can be found here:

http://twogirlsbeingcrafty.blogspot.com/2011/02/painted-wall-art-for-non-artists.html

I also decided to recover my throw pillows on my couch.  They were a plain blue and brown and I wanted something a little different.  So I bought some fabric on sale at JoAnn's and some fabric for suuuper cheap at Wal-Mart and worked on it today during nap time.

I didn't take a before picture, but you can see the blue/brown pillows in the background of this picture....

and here's what they look like now...

 I made two of these

 close-up of the fabric

 I also covered another throw pillow I had in storage but wasn't using anywhere

the lighting is bad but its kind of a cream fabric with navy blue and white stitching

I pretty much followed this tutorial:

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2009/10/why-you-should-make-your-own-pillows.html

My projects never turn out perfectly, but it's still fun to inject a little creativity into a day full of diapers, Thomas the Train, and lots of puzzles :-)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Here's a few things that I'm loving this week

*  I'm loving that my husband let me sleep until 9am this morning because he had a few extra hours of work in from this weekend.  I.am.so.lucky.  It felt amazing

*  I'm loving that it's garage sale season.  It's no small chore to get 2 boys out and about on a Friday morning, but I love it.  I'm finding some great deals already on some new fun toys/books for Benjamin, a few clothes and some new Bible study books

*  I'm loving this recipe I found for homemade finger paint.  I'm hopefully going to make it this week and let Benjamin have at it.  Am I crazy??

You can find the recipe HERE

*  I'm loving that it's going to be a 3-day weekend this week....what to do, what to do?

*  I'm loving being able to put Jonah in the same outfits that Benjamin wore when he was this age

                                                JONAH                                                                            BENJAMIN

                                                         

*  I'm loving how Benjamin likes to play "photographer" like his mama, unfortunately he always wants to take pictures of me

*  I'm loving these pieces of jewelry that a local friend/vendor is selling on super sale this week for only $20

You can check out all her stuff HERE

 *  I'm loving that the season premiere of Design Star is next week!  I'm a totally boring home decorator, but I still love to watch the awesome creativity of these folks!

*  I'm loving that I've converted Peter to loving tasty pasta dinners.  This Lousiana Chicken Pasta recipe, from the Cheesecake Factory, can be found HERE.  It's seriously sooooo delicious

*  I'm loving the way God worked in the hearts of the EPIC girls at our retreat this past weekend in Black Butte.  More pictures here

*  I'm loving the Online Storytime you can watch/listen to on Barnes & Noble's website.  They have a collection of books read by their authors, with the books illustrations.  Benjamin loved being "read to" this morning. 

This month's feature is The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Here's the link:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/storytime/index.asp

*  I'm loving that both my boys are napping at the same time right now.  It'll probably only last about 45 minutes, but hey, it's something right?

*  I'm loving this printable I found via pinterest this week.  It's perfect on my bookshelf in my living room.  I switch out the printables in a frame on the shelf, and just keep the old ones behind the new one so I can reuse them.

You can print yours HERE

*  I'm also loving my sweet boys as always!

EPIC Weekend in Black Butte

This past weekend was a fabulous one.  The girls of our EPIC youth group headed to Black Butte where a family in our church owns a huge condo.  It was a beautiful home full of amazing western decor, super comfortable leather reclining couches, and beautiful views.

We had 11 girls, 4 women leaders, 3 baby boys, 1 little girl and 1 husband of a leader there to cook and do dishes the whole weekend.  What a great blessing to not have to worry about food or cleaning and just be able to invest in the girls while we were there.

Our theme for the week was 1 Timothy 4:12, "Let no one look down on you because you are young, but be an example to believers in speech, life, faith, love and purity."  Kristen, Melissa, Jan, Emily and I each took one of those 5 ways to be an example in and provided a devotional for it.  Melissa also played the guitar for our worship together.

We had so much yummy food, celebrated Miranda's birthday, studied God's Word, went for a hike, went shopping, went swimming, played tennis, played cards and team games, laughed a ton, slept a little and just really enjoyed hanging out together and learning how to be better examples of Christ to others.

Jonah did amazing, except for getting up a few times at night. 

I came home exhausted physically but refreshed spiriually.  It is seriously a privilege to work with these girls and see God work in and through them.  And I have the greatest women to minister alongside, it was a blast.

While I was gone, Peter took great care of Benjamin.  They went to the park, watched a Civil War reenactment, saw lots of horses, played outside, went plant shopping, took long naps, and ate leftovers.  I missed my boys but I knew they were getting along just fine.

Thank you God for this group of young ladies, we are praying for God doing great things in you this summer!

Oh how they love each other

It is the sweetest thing to watch my boys grow closer.  Benjamin is slowly paying more attention to his brother and its so precious.  Well, its only mostly precious when he hears Jonah crying in his crib, wakes up from his nap, opens the door and climbs into the crib with his brother!  And Jonah just adores Benjamin, he lights up whenever he sees or hears him.  I probably have such a cheesy smile plastered all over my face when I'm watching them because it just cheers my heart.

 Ben loves showing Jonah how to work all the toys

 kisses!!

 I had to laugh when I saw Jonah watching Sesame Street with the same expression as Benjamin

 Jonah loooooves Benjamin

 always watching his every move

doesn't the adoring look in Jonah's eyes just melt your heart?

$5 Burger

I was so excited to open my mailbox inbox this morning and see a coupon from Red Robin to get any of their burgers for just $5!  I thought it'd be a great idea for dinner, and a late celebration dinner for Mother's Day.  Peter agreed so we made it our plan.  And it was really nice to not have to worry about dinner when my afternoon consisted of Jonah diaper blowouts, Jonah not napping, Benjamin waking Jonah up from his short nap by opening the door to his room and crawling into his crib, Benjamin touching the movies (yet again!), and Benjamin playing in the toilet.  Try not to be too jealous.

I got everything ready and when Peter got home we took off.  I actually closed my eyes on the drive there because I was feeling so sleepy.  But the idea of a yummy burger was enough to wake me up.  We headed inside Red Robin, sat in our booth, and got our waters.  Benjamin was coloring while we decided which burger we wanted.  I settled on a bacon cheeseburger and when our waitress came back to take our order, I told her we had the $5 burger coupon.  She looked a little confused, but I just showed her the print out you were supposed to bring.  She looked at it and said, "um, this is for Applebees."

I think my heart stopped for a second.  I looked at the print out and sure enough, the waitress wasn't lying (which was soooo likely to begin with right?).  The deal was at Applebees.  Now I wish I could say it wasn't obvious in the ad and I somehow legitimately confused the restaurants but no, this is the email I printed....

Yeah, it kinda clearly says Applebees....several times.

The next couple of seconds consisted of me turning beet red, telling the waitress I obviously needed a nap, and us packing up to head to Applebees.  No, I have NO SHAME and wanted my $5 burger.  It was just across the street.  We went, we ate really tasty $5 burgers and went home.  And I now have further proof that I am getting older, still have blonde roots, and reeeeaaalllly need a nap.

Mother's Day 2012

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year!  My boys (and Peter) made me feel very loved and appreciated!

They decorated with this sweet card/sign...

It's hilarious because Peter always traces my boys' bums for me because I think it's so cute.  At some point, it won't be so cute....and then as my boys get older they'll probably start to think it's funny again and will want to do it on their own.  Ha ha ha!

I was also given a voucher for a massage and facial at a fun spa in Portland!  Peter also made the most adorable little video compiling video footage we have taken of Benjamin and Jonah the past 2 years.  It ended with footage of them acting crazy and cute in the bathtub and telling Mommy how much they loved me.  It was really sweet and I so much appreciated it.

We enjoyed a great church service, then we combined with our Hispanic congregation for a yummy lunch they provided.  The carne asada was amazing!!  It was delicious and we didn't have to fight crowds or deal with cranky boys at a restaurant.

Benjamin took a great nap, Jonah didn't, so therefore we didn't nap.  But we enjoyed the afternoon playing with Jonah in his new toy, the exersaucer.

 but first, a little reading

 and Daddy having fun with stickers....

We ate dinner, then loaded up the boys for a walk to go enjoy a tasty treat!

We enjoyed our frozen yogurt, so great!

Jonah slept through it all ;-)

Then on the way home, we stopped at the park despite it being close to bedtime.  And I'm so glad we did.  It was such a beautiful evening and we just enjoyed our boys.  I took a gazillion pictures but I couldn't help it, my boys are kinda cute.

 he is climbing on everything!

 STOP. GROWING. UP..........NOW!

 loooving the blue skies

 we're getting closer to being able to get brother shots!

 love his goofy personality

 I.AM.GOING.TO.EAT.HIM.UP

 melts my heart

 oh my goodness, he is so handsome

 I can't believe he's mine!

 this shot just captures who Benjamin is.  Joyful, ornery and always on the go. 

 there is not a cuter 2 year old planet on this earth

 so sweet!  (I didn't even notice the matching shorts when I first went through these photos, love it!)

aaah, the feet of summer.  We're hoping to see a lot of these toesies on lots of walks this summer!

Sometimes I just stare into the eyes of my sweet boys and I feel as though my heart is going to burst.  Hearing them laugh so hard they snort, watching them burst with pride when they learn something new, knowing I'm the person they want when they need comfort cuddles....it is THE most wonderful earthly gift and I am so so so grateful I get to be their Mama.

 Seriously?  I get to be THEIR Mama?  Goodness I'm blessed

Oh, and to my own Mom.....you're ridiculously amazing and I want to be like you when I grow up!

Happy Mother's Day!!!