winter mantel with some returning items

i keep forgetting to share this.. my winter mantel. i actually completed it before i even had christmas taken down and put away. i figured that would take a few days, and it did. so i went with what i knew i wanted to do on the mantel so i could enjoy. and i have! i love the blue!







my favorite.. my snow man. the pumpkins that won't go away :) they were sparkly green for fall, became a tree for christmas... and now a snowman. i just spray painted them white (walmart has a really cheap white spray (like 1.97) .. i don't recommend it for anything but something you just want to spray like crazy over.. but it worked well for this. i sprinkled some Epsom Salt on it to get the textured look. love it!



















and here is the tumble weed that won't go away! it's kind of fun using some of the same things and tweaking them :) i think Garrett taught me that. Here i spray painted it white, then a little spray adheasive and sprinkled the epsom salt again. the wine bottle was a fun addition too... sprayed it and added some glitter called "bling" .. how fun!

before it had some beaded ornaments on it in the summer.. some halloween items in oct. then at thanksgiving it was our thankful tree.











Addie and Garrett helped me make these plastic bottle snowmen. G's is the tall one on the right, and Addie designed the one on the left.. complete with a flower button on the hat :) We tried to use Micah's fingerprints for his.. but it didn't work well... why do i keep trying?? i put a battery powered candle in them.. and they look really cute flickering.





The kids also made these snow flakes. it was a fun, messy afternoon. shaving cream mixed with glue (equally) then spread it on the snowflakes. sprinkle with glue and let it dry. they dry puffy and soft... very neat.
This post is part of Get Your Craft On Tuesday at Todays Creative Blog.

a link!

i've been wanting to try to link up something i've done to the long lists of craftiness that gets put out there each week. i scroll through Skip To My Lou's "made by you monday" and Today's Creative Blog on tuesdays.. which tend to have a lot of the same ones. I find some things on there all the time to pin to Pinterest...my obsession! so who knows... maybe someone will pin me! lol!

today i linked my crayon wreath. check out #495 on Made by you Monday @ Skip to my Lou

also check out #552 :) posted by aubrey barela .. it's a great idea to use your crafty little ones beautiful art work...

thoughts from princess addie

Addie had two birthday parties this weekend. both good friends. both princess themed. she loved it. all the girlies were so cute. i loved seeing her with all her little girlie friends. it was a glimpse into what a day in school must be like... F.U.N.N.Y.!

i tend to see addie as my little girl.. but she showed me this weekend .. she's clearly growing up. i mean sure, i Know she has her own opinions and her own style.. we all know that! but i saw her with her friends just laughing and giggling. bouncing, really. when did that happen?

then at dinner she declared that her "throap" was a little sore. yes. that reminded me that she is still fun little addie.... with A Lot to say. ......

this week's thoughts by addie
* "hivernation" was a very popular topic. hivernation song

* "insticked out"... what she calls inside out... "mom, will you get this insticked out?" i make her ask about 4 times (she thinks i have a hearing problem).

* "thumb toe" ... her big toe.... "owwww! my thumb toe is stuck!" i agree. the big toe should have a name. a pinkie is a pinkie weather on your hand or foot, right?

* i told her to stop talking so loud. "i can't. my voice got hot in the sun." ????? must be a "throap" thing.

* i told her she was "cool" ... she said "i'm not cool. i'm pretty." .... yes humble is a word we need to work on.

* i was sounding out 'pop corn' for her to guess her snack.. p...o....p....c (you get it). i asked her what she heard... "oreos!" :)

* she recited the Pledge of Allegiance .. with a little twist to the end. Pledge video

but my favorite was certainly when she told me she was glad she tried her veggies. "why?" i asked. "because God is in my heart and he probably gets hungry and wants 'healfy' veggies."
yep, i'm pretty sure you make God smile addie :)

"hiVernation" vs. sleep training... who wins?

Addie has been talking about "hiVernation" all week because that was their big word on monday at school. she just can't believe bears will go to sleep and not wake up till spring! she told me yesterday, "Mama, i think i am going to be a bear so i can hivernate." me too addie, me too.

we've been reading "The Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson.. and it will make an appearance at school tomorrow as her show and tell item. hopefully she'll get bonus points for it actually having to do with what they are talking about ... addie tends to sneak things for show and tell. like her chap stick. yep, she shared (showed) her Burts Bees with the class. LOL... any. way. it is a really cute book, if you haven't read it.


so while Addie is hivernating... Micah is refusing to enjoy the wonderfulness of sleep. He's now 10 months and i remember when reading "Healthy sleep habits, happy baby" a long time ago with G that babies go through a sleep change around 9 months. that makes sense. that's about when it started. also from that book... "sleep begets sleep" ... i have remembered that one so i KNOW that his 1 hour of napping today.. was not enough.

it's not that he is up all night. infact, he sleeps well, all night, mostly. but our real problem is in going to sleep. as long as he falls asleep drinking his bottle, we're good. scratch that. that mostly works at night. but in the day even when he does fall asleep, he sometimes will pop his head up laughing! he LAUGHS at me! he's lucky he's so darn cute:)

i was feeling really discouraged by the sleep issue earlier this week. i mean, he's my 3rd. shouldn't i get this by now? but just as with behaviors and personalities.. every kid is different. and my responses have all been different too. Garrett.. was not a good sleeper at All ... i was going in sane. the books gave me the recipe to put my kid to sleep, without crying no less. and i couldn't do it. failure. oh my! ( i now know that i was not a failure and like to think i've come a long way!) Addison.. good sleeper from the start. she found her thumb early and that's all it too. didn't have to do any training with her. incidentally she's the only one to finder her thumb to self soothe. G attached to his "Bubby" around 10 months and that helped. so yes, i've been shoving Micah's "bubby" on him. So that brings me to Micah mooey.... why doesn't he wear himself out enough pulling that chunky little body up!

what am I doing different this time? well.. i know i held him way more in the wrap and let him sleep there while we were out and about. i have not been good about schedules and routines. i go to the school sometimes 3 times a day and sometimes .. ahhhh micah is sleeping. (though i'm very lucky to have flexibility of when i pick up G!) also there's those long trips to reno to shop anywhere besides walmart. so he has slept a lot in the car.

i think Micah and I are both craving schedules and routine.

so here we go. day 2 of naps at 9 and 1. we'll see how it goes.

oh.... and as far as Hivernation.... today it was rainy and cold. micah went down for his 2nd nap :) addie said she was tired and wanted to lay down with me. .... yep.. we hivernated. ......

until sleep training woke me up a half hour later!