Summer is coming

Do you hear that? That roar in the distance? It is the sound of the horde thundering toward us.

That's right. The school year is hurtling to an end. Are you ready for it? I'm not either. We're going to have to find ways to occupy our children for two months, aka eternity.

My son was home for a week during March break, and by the end of it I was just about ready to lose my mind. I had watched countless movies, gone on several outings, listened to hundreds of stories about pirates and spiders and dragons, gritted my teeth through tantrums and constant whining, and said the word "No" about 1700 times. If you have kids, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. We love them. But too much time together isn't good for anyone. And that's the threat that summer brings.

And it's only 7am.

My five year old is the kind of kid that needs to be occupied. He likes to be noticed and acknowledged and he needs me to know that he had some juice, that he jumped across the room, that he found one of his old trains, that he ate a goldfish, that he finished his lunch, that he took a sip of water, that he washed his hands, and...it pretty much goes on like that. Endlessly. Mommy look at me is the soundtrack of my life, and the only way to put it on pause is to give him stuff to do and take him places.

A trip to the local splash pad, the park and lunch at McD's can turn what would have been a hellish morning into a nice way to spend 4-5 hours. A walk around the neighborhood, exploring nature, can help him get rid of some built-up energy. A fun craft can give me20 minutes of silence. So I have all sorts of things planned over the summer to keep these little ones happy and busy and I'm hoping to share some of them with you peeps!

 

Anyhoo, summer is definitely on its way, and we have to at least pretend we're happy about it, right? And my new summer countdown printable is perfect for that. I used digital scrapbooking elements created by Kate from Just So Scrappy.

Print it, put it in a frame, and use a dry erase marker to count down the days. Your kids don't need to know that you're screaming inside. That's what vodka is for.

Download my summer countdown printable here!

Happy Mama Day!

Hey peeps!

I'm back from the Forgotten Lands of no sleep to send a shout out to all my fellow mommies! I hope you all have a fabulous day, you deserve it! For Mother's Day I was asked to write a guest blog post over at Sour Skittles by my fellow blogger, Tami. Her blog is an awesome combination of thought-provoking and hilarious so head on over and check it out here. You can also follow her on Twitter @Tsansai.

Click here to read my post about the joys of motherhood.

Have a great week!

EGGS-CELLENT EASTER FUN!

I haven't been updating as much as I want to, because I've been vegging out and watching TV busy and stressed out lately. My brain has been so fried. I'm egg-xausted. I'm almost cracking under the pressure! Alright, that's enough. But I'm back with a very eggy post!

I made a neat little Easter printable this week for a good friend of mine. Beth and I share a common love for mommyhood, HBO's Game of Thrones, and an appreciation for the deliciousness that is Shemar Moore.

*swoon*

She's made it her mission lately to take Lil Boy off my hands several times over the past few weeks, and allowing me to enjoy some quiet time and a reprieve from the 770 "Mommy look"s I get each day. Beth, you're awesome!

So as a little thank you, I picked up some chocolate eggs, put them in an egg carton, and created this message:

If you'd like to give an Easter treat to one of your favorite peeps next year, you can download the card here.

Lil Boy and I also did the 'float or sink' eggs-periment this week! We've done it several tines before but he never gets tired of it.

You'll need a few glasses of warm water, salt, baking soda, oil, and any other ingredient you can think of to add to the water. (Cute baby is optional)

Lil Boy decided he needed to wear his Jack Sparrow shirt for this. Whatever floats his boat!

                                                                                                                          
If you add enough salt to the water the egg will float to the top. We experimented with different amounts of salt too, to see if we could get the egg to float halfway.

After a while Lil Boy lost interest and ran off to pillage the high seas, so I started my Easter project - an egg wreath! I came across the idea here and thought it was super cute!

I used an empty diaper box (no shortage of those around here!) for the base. Using two plates of different sizes to measure, I cut out a circle.

Then I hot glued two layers of plastic eggs to the base.

                                                     

                                                                  

I then filled the spaces with Easter grass. I could have used glue but it wasn't necessary - the spaces were small enough to hold the grass in place.

I added a purple ribbon and my Easter wreath was all done! The cost of the materials was less than $10, so it was cheap enough to throw out after Easter was done. However, I found an awesome use for the leftover plastic eggs: a phonics learning tool!

I came across a math version of this on Pinterest and decided to modify it using phonics and rhyming words instead.

Feel free to steal any of my ideas for your next Easter festivities. Hope you had a great holiday weekend!

Linking up at Tip Junkie!

Like Totally 80s!

Recently I was watching YTV with Lil Boy, and was surprised to see one of the characters re-enacting a scene from the movie Flashdance. He was performing on stage and then threw himself back against a chair, reaching out to pull a rope and dumping a bucket of water on himself. I was pleasantly surprised to find an 80s movie reference on YTV. But then I had to ponder: how many 7-15 year olds are familiar with a movie about a struggling welder trying to fulfill her dream of becoming a dancer?  And would they care?

Suddenly Lil Boy piped up: "Mommy! I know that scene!"

I was intrigued: "Really? from where?"

Lil Boy: "From Shrek! Puss in Boots did it!"

And then I died a little inside.

I know, I know. He's only five. Why would he know anything about how awesome movies in the 80s were? And they were awesome! Many 80s movies were romantic, cheesy, full of dance numbers, and almost always about the underdog.

Admit it. You've always wanted to do this.

So I decided to gather a few friends and take a trip back to the 80s. Like totally!

The 80s was such a fabulous decade. Big hair, bright colours, great music, cheesy movies...so much material for a theme party. I did my best to dress the part:

Here is the invitation I created:

Psst...customizable versions of this will be available in my etsy shop, coming soon! 

I created an 80s video montage of clips from movies and music videos so we could all indulge in some nostalgia. I also made an 80s mixed CD for each guest.

Here is my "I Carried a Watermelon" fruit tray. I printed a picture of Baby from Dirty Dancing in the scene where she meets Patrick Swayze for the first time. The toothpick labels each have a quote from Dirty Dancing printed on them.

I designed some cute little cupcake toppers, chocolate bar wrappers and water bottle labels to go with the theme.

 

I was so happy that people really got with the theme and dressed the part.

Getting that hair teased!

Love this checkered jacket!

Remember these sweaters?

So fabulous!

Check out the denim jacket and big hoops!

Roz's 80s make up was spot on!

Antoinette brought some fabulous Pac Man cookies!

After we watched the video montage, we spent a good while just reminiscing about the 80s. Then it was time to belt out some old tunes, karaoke style!

Some of the selections included Cyndi Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Toto's Africa, and Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Such great songs! 

I was all for throwing down some 80s moves on the wii next, but I think everyone had embarrassed themselves enough. We ended the night by watching "Sixteen Candles."

Of course, the babies had to make an appearance!

Pretty little Averi!

It was so much fun indulging in all things 80s. And now I'm thinking I need to plan a 90s party....

Free printables coming soon! Happy Friday!

Marvelous Mondays!

I know it's been a week since my last post. Lil Boy came down with a bad flu. Usually he gets sick for a day or so and then bounces back quickly, but this time was different. He's had a fever for four days! And if you spend your nights holding an insomniac baby in one arm while holding a bucket for your five year old to throw up into, the last thing you're going to think about is blogging. I know my hundreds of followers were devastated. Alright, maybe not hundreds. Eighty. Well...more like 30. Okay, nine.

But I'm proud of those nine followers, dammit. So for my few, but faithful subscribers, here is Monday's free printable:

Little shamrock cupcake toppers for St. Patrick's Day! Just print on card stock and cut out with a 2 inch punch or regular scissors. You can download them here. Hopefully Lil Boy recuperates in time for some St. Patrick's Day fun. We've been working on a leprechaun trap, which I will share with you guys this week. All nine of you!

Happy Monday!

Monday's Free Printable!

Hey peeps! March is finally here, which means spring is on the way! Soon I'll be able to throw off the heavy blankets, put down the snacks, and lumber out of hibernation. I don't do winter. No frolicking in the snow, no tobaggoning, no snow angels, none of that for me. I prefer to turn the heat up til it's nice and toasty and sweat like I'm in the Caribbean. Luckily there are several family members always willing to take Lil Boy outside to play in the snow, which allows me to wave cheerily through the window while he braves the elements.

To be fair, this year's winter was pretty mild, but cold is cold and I just don't like it.

Today's post is going to be a teeny tiny one because I have been super busy working on new freebies, and designing items for my digital party supply shop, soon to open on Etsy.com! However, I do have your free printable, as promised.

A little St. Patrick's Day Decor:

This is is a subway art printable I created. Fun for decorating, for kids' rooms, as a framed gift or even for scrapbooking. Just print on regular sized paper. You can download it here.

I've used it to get our St. Patricks's Day decor started.

It's still cold outside so I'm off to turn the heat up a bit more. Have a happy Monday!

Preparing for St. Paddy!

Today, I tried to teach Lil Boy about the concept of St. Patrick's Day.

Me: St. Patrick's Day is a holiday that originated in Ireland.

Lil Boy: (Blank Stare)

Me: Ireland is a country far away. 

Lil Boy: Oh! Are we going there on a plane? 

Me: Um, no....

Lil Boy: Yay! Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay!


Me: Sigh.

So St. Patrick's Day is fast approaching. And it really shouldn't mean anything to me because I'm a have a three month old and I won't be going out to drink green beer and tell people to kiss me cause I'm Irish. This holiday isn't celebrated where I'm from, and for most people I know it's really just a fun reason to party and get joyfully drunk. However, it does give me a good excuse to make printables and do crafts and all kinds of silliness. It's also great for a cultural lesson, and there are so many fun St. Paddy's ideas for activities to do with your kids. After I explained to Lil Boy that we were not in fact going to Ireland, we talked about St. Patrick's Day and leprechauns and rainbows and all that great stuff. So needless to say, there will be lots of crafts and activities in the next couple of weeks.

I did some browsing for inspiration and found 16 ideas for free printables, crafts and recipes that you might like to try yourself.

St. Patrick's Day Printables:

1. "Lucky to Have You Printables" by The Crafting Chicks
2. St. Patrick's Day Gift Tags by Hello, Good Gravy!
3. Subway Art by Eighteen 25
4. Pot of Gold Favor Tags by It Is What It Is
 

St. Patrick's Day Recipes:

1. Rainbow Pancakes by Amanda's Diner
2. Chocolate Guinness Pudding by Sprinkle Bakes
3. Shamrock Green Peppers by Martha Stewart
4. Rainbow Cupcakes by Family Fun

St. Patrick's Day Crafts:

1. Lucky Leprechaun Beard by Blissfully Domestic
2. Paper Plate Leprechaun by All Kids Network
3. Tissue Paper Rainbows by That Artist Woman
4. Rainbow Favors by 4 Crazy Kings


To get things rolling over here, we did a fun craft that I like to call shamrock marble painting, using paint and shaving cream. Lil Boy got a huge kick out of doing this, I think he loved the feeling of the shaving cream against his hands.

To make your own shamrock marble creations, you will need:

Supplies:
Green paint
Shaving cream
Paper plate
White construction paper
Paintbrush
Popsicle stick

Fill the paper plate with shaving cream. Add drops of green paint.

Use a paintbrush to swirl the paint around.

Cut the shape of a shamrock out of the construction paper.
Press the shamrock down against the paint/shaving cream mixture.

Pause so your child can revel in the messiness.

Scrape the excess shaving cream off the cut-out.

And voila!

Fun, messy, and the results are so pretty.

Happy crafting!