Shutterfly Promo

When I bought my first digital camera my oldest daughter wasn't yet born.  I agonized over the decision because at the time it was a HUGE amount of money to plunk down on a camera and ended up picking out a canon.  I don't know why, I just like'em.  I had every intention of taking all of these great shots and then printing them out at home on our printer.  Oh how naive I was.  I was able to print my pictures out, most of the time.  The remaining times I was ready to throw the darn thing out the window.  They would either print with all of these wacky colors or hardly at all.  I had enough with wasting all my ink and photo paper so I decided to try an online photo site - Shutterfly.  I've used them ever since and couldn't be happier with the quality. 

While reading another blog, I came across a post about Shutterfly giving away 50 (free) holiday photo cards  to bloggers.  Here's the link Shutterfly Blog Form.  Hope it works!  I was just telling my husband this morning that I was going to try the photo card route this year instead of writing out actual cards.  Of course I'm going to write a little something on the back of them.  I get really annoyed getting generic cards in the mail with everything already printed on it.  At least take the time to actually sign the thing!  I know we're all busy and all but does anyone agree?

For the Love of Toys

When I visit friends and family's homes I love to see what kind of toys their children have and play with.  I'm always on the lookout for toys that stand the test of time and truly get used and loved for more than the day they are brought home because so often that is not the case.  One of my favorite blogs, Clover Lane , is hosting a link party of favorite family toys just in time for the Christmas shopping season so I thought I'd share some of ours:

My son is really into puzzles and for his age group (3 years) these are the best.  The pieces are large enough for him to easily grab and put together.  I'll admit that I like doing them too.

An old fashioned favorite.  This also includes markers, paints, and anything else they can make a big mess with.  It never seems to lose it's appeal.

Hidden picture books are a big hit with my oldest.

Of course we can't leave out Thomas and his friends.  All of the kids like these sets, even my 18 month old.  I love that the wood can take any beating that my son has given them thus far and that nothing really requires batteries.  (or at least nothing we have does.  I know that some of the newer buildings and trains do)

 

And then we have these guys and girls.  We are slowly being consumed by Barbie clothes and dolls, but again, I like that they are battery-free and require an imagination.

 

 

These are also somewhat of an odd hit and to think that a couple of years ago I was going to give them to the Salvation Army.  So glad I kept them!

 

 

 

My older two also like the Leapster 2 game system, the Loving Family Dollhouse, and having me read any book they can get their hands on.  I cannot wait for Christmas this year!  It's becoming more and more fun the older they get.

Craiglist how I love (and hate) thee

I hate furniture stores. I love to look, but seriously, those prices? They are ridiculous with capital letters. We still have a lot of furnishing to do in our home but with a 3 year old boy in the house nothing stays nice for very long. I just can't spend 2,000 bucks on a piece of furniture that's going to looked trashed in 6 months. That's why I love Craigslist. I bought this small buffet for 40 bucks knowing full well that I was going to refinish it. It's solid wood opposed to the cheap junk they sell in the stores and just the right size for the space. When we brought it home my husband noticed that two of the legs were so badly damaged that they had to be removed. A gallon jug of putty wouldn't have fixed them.

So here's where my hatred of Craigslist comes in. Had I known that the legs were damaged I would have offered less money for the piece. Ok, okay, I maybe should have looked it over a little more but the lady was standing right there. I assumed that she would tell me any major problems. It was never mentioned in the correspondence we had either. Not really a big issue because we just went to Lowe's and picked out some new ones. Better ones.

So #1 Sellers : Be honest about the condition of your items!! Perhaps she was taking on the 'don't ask don't tell' policy :)

#2: If you really want to sell something from your home, get rid of all crap around it first. Just sayin...

I put the final coat of poly on a few minutes ago. All that's left is to spray paint the hardware and then move it on in. All in all it was a pretty painless process. Did I mention it's been in the garage since May? And it may or may not be November now. Oops. I get reminded all the time. And my reminder to the hubs is you can work on basically anything you want uninterrupted for long periods of time. I cannot. My kids must have put an invisible bell around my neck because the minute I stepped outside to work on it one of them would follow me within 2 minutes.

It was an awful honey color but now much better. Here's a small peak...

Moving On

So Halloween is over. Next is Thanksgiving. Then Christmas. I can't believe it. This year has been moving so fast and so slow all at the same time. I've heard that once you have a child in school the years just fly by and I'm afraid to admit that I'm finding that to be true. I'll try to slow down and enjoy it even more now. (Of course I say that now and then next year at this time I'll be saying it again!) But for now we've done this (twice):



Eaten plenty of this:



And have decorated and carved a few of these:



Quite honestly I'm getting a tad tired of looking at those orange guys and so tonight after the kiddos go to bed I may partake in a pumpkin massacre. My husband I love roasted pumpkin seeds...

Glasses Case

My oldest wears glasses. She has since she was 3 years old. I still have trouble accepting it and I still get a little sad that she has to deal with all that goes with them. (I do realize also how ridiculous this is because there are parents out there that can only wish for a stupid "problem" of their child wearing glasses.) However I do find solace in the fact that one day she may choose to get contacts if she would like.


Last year we switched to bunk beds and she got the top one. I would take her glasses off before she went to sleep and then would check on her an hour or so later only to find the glasses back on her face and books scattered all around her. I hated that she was sleeping with them on because she was afraid to take them back off and climb down the ladder to put them on the shelf or to leave them lying on the mattress. So I came up with this:


The attach-it-to-the-bed-glasses-case:





This was actually my first sewing project. I know that it's so hard to tell -the way I sewed the double fold bias tape is spot on! Yes, I'm joking here people. This was extremely frustrating for me to do but I needed to hold all the layers together and this was the way to do it. The inside is lined with some kind of quilting material to add more protection. The back has a velcro strap that can hook onto the side of her bed:





This was definitely a learning experience the whole way through and I made several other mistakes that I will just keep to myself for now but it serves it's purpose. No more late night trips down and up the ladder or sleeping with glasses on.


You'll see this material later on... I made a bag for her that I am in the process of finishing up. It's intended to hold a Leapster but I have a feeling it will be used for anything but :)

I love preschool!

Today my son had his Halloween party and parade at preschool and the whole time I watched these little three year olds all I could think was how awesome this age is! I truly love their innocence, their wide-eyed wonder, and how cuddly they are and I'm really going to miss it once it's gone. Oh sure, I do have one more child to go through this with, but this is my only son. This one I only get to experience once and it's going waaaay too fast!

He's the little batman. I made the cape and the mask and he couldn't have been prouder or happier to wear them. This of course made me all the more proud and happy to have made it for him.





I laughed to myself at how impulsive they were to just blurt out a "Hi Mommy!" or a "Hi Daddy" during the middle of a song. To wander out of the parade line for a hug. To just do their own thing regardless of what was going on around them.

Tomorrow night is our neighborhood trick or treat and batgirl is still without a full costume. Guess I should get a jump on that!

Put the kids to work