Thank you my 3 debacles

Dear my 3 loves,

I love you. There are no better words than that. You are amazing little people and I am so in love with each of you.

You are not perfect. You don't always listen. Bedtimes are a complete debacle. You don't eat all your veggies (or any at all for that matter). Your energy and ability to exhaust me is amazing. You have lots of needs. You are pretty demanding. You whine a lot. You are debacles.

But, you are completely wonderful. You brighten my day everyday. Your hugs and kisses are cures for everything. Your smiles and giggles are contagious. You make life better in every way.

There is no doubt in my mind that I was meant to be your mom. I have been good at a few things in my life, but nothing ever felt so natural and so right as being your mom. I am not a perfect mom and I am sure I am screwing you up some how, but I know that I am doing exactly what I was meant to do by being your mom.

I am truly blessed to be here watching you all grow into pretty amazing little people.

I watch Calan with his tender heart and beam with pride. I watch Maisie be fearless and determined and smile knowing she will always hold her own in the world. I watch Kenley observe us all and can't wait to see who she becomes.

You guys are crazy personalities, but you are mine. You guys are one of a kind. I see your daddy and me in each and everyone of you and truly think you are the best versions of each of us.

We love being a family. Your dad and I have loved each other for years and dreamt of our family and you guys are better than anything we ever dreamed. Our family is crazy, but we love being a family.

The first words I spoke to each of you were "I'm your mommy" because that is who I am. I am proud to be defined as a mother. I know that is who I was meant to be.

You guys light up my world.

This weekend is Mother's Day. I am sure that our day will look pretty much like any other day with 7 a.m. wake-ups and little people demanding breakfast, but I will smile knowing that you guys make this day for me by just being you. I am proud to be your mother.

Heaven blew every trumpet 

And played every horn 

On the wonderful, marvelous 

Night you were born.

Love, 

Mommy

Good-bye Egg Junk; Hello gooey goodness

Growing up, my family's holiday breakfast tradition was infamous. It was my favorite part of EVERY holiday. We'd wake up, do whatever special thing there was to do(a.k.a. present opening) and then we'd all dive into my mom's egg junk that she served us on her good China.

Her egg junk was just your typical egg bake casserole made with whatever meat, veggie, cheese ingredients she had on hand. No matter how it was made it was always the best part of any holiday.

I just assumed that I would do the same things with my children. My husband loves egg junk, so he was all about making breakfast as big of a tradition for our family as it was for my family.

Then Maisie happened. You can't have egg junk with a daughter who is allergic to eggs.

In fact within hours of finding out she was allergic to eggs, I was talking to my husband and mom asking them what I am going to do now for the holidays if I can't make egg junk.

The beauty of egg junk is that it can be made the night before making the morning rush of holidays a little less stressful.

Well, I think I have found our holiday tradition. We make overnight sweet rolls.


I have now made these a lot, and every time, they are delicious and they are devoured. Are they healthy? Hmmmm. Not really. Are they egg-free? Yep. Are they delicious? Absolutely. 

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.

Of course, we don't just eat the sweet rolls. For Easter, I had a yogurt bar with mixed berries and granola as toppings. My husband whipped up some hash browns, sausage, and scrambled eggs. It was a feast and it felt just as special as my mom's egg junk.

Now to come up with a fun kid name for the rolls. Egg junk just had a great ring to it. Hmmmmm.

Little flower dress

Per usual, my little model was not so into modeling for me. Good thing she's so cute. 

Lucky for me, Maisie needed 2 cute dresses for Easter weekend. My husband and I decided that going to church Saturday evening instead of Sunday would be easier for our family and nap schedules. So, of course, Maisie needed another dress to be cute in.

I bought material to make a peasant dress, but realized that I basically would be making a dress that looked like her Easter dress - white bodice with a blue pattern skirt. I scrapped that idea and hit up Pinterest to figure something else out. 

I found an adorable version of a pillowcase dress from Shwinn & Shwinn, another amazing sewing blog that I follow, though a lot of her stuff I just dream of one day being able to sew. My skills are not quite there yet. 

However, her peek-a-boo pillowcase dress, was right up my alley, and would work perfectly with the fabric I had purchased.

The dress uses box pleats to gather the neckline. The tutorial does not go into specifics on how to do this or what spacing to do, so that took me a little while to figure out, but it was not impossible to do. Just take your time and measure and iron and pin till you think  you like what you have. I started with the front piece and got my finished neckline width and then figured out what my back box pleats needed to be to make that work out. 

If you need a couple of box pleat tutorials, this one worked for me and this one. 

I finished off the look with just a white t-shirt ($5) and white leggings ($5) from Old Navy and some silver glitter shoes ($9) from Payless. 

Pretty adorable, right? 

The main dress fabric is Keepsake Calico - Techno Tossed Flowers Blue.
On sale for $7 a yard. I used 2/3 yard for this project. 

Detail of the front.

Back view

Linking post to Trendy Little @ Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles and Trendy Tot and Toddle Along Tuesday.

Right of Passage

Like I said Monday, it is a right of passage to wear matching Easter outfits. My sisters and I look absolutely thrilled, and now I am doing this to my children. I am a mother with no shame. I am guessing this picture is circa 1982.

Matchy, Matchy Easter Outfits

The kids' 2013 Easter outfits. 

When I decided to start sewing at the beginning of the year, I had no idea how much I would love it and how much I would be able to do in such a short amount of time. I am pretty famous for doing things for 3 weeks and then giving up, well it is now March and my list of sewing projects I want to do just keeps growing.

As a sewing mommy, I believe that it is right of passage to make matching Easter outfits for your kids. With Calan and Maisie so close in age, it just had to happen. I am positive when they are older they will complain that I made them wear them, but I can't help but think they will be pretty adorable all dressed up.

I first decided to make Maisie's dress and at the time I had no intentions of making anything for Calan, but as my skills have improved and my idea in my head of what I wanted him to wear was not matching anything at the store in our price range, I decided sewing was the only option.

The front and back of Maisie's
dress. I used Peek-a-Boo Pattern
Shop's The Natalie Dress.
The skirt fabric is
KeepsakeCalico Circle Daisy Navy.

A few weeks back, my favorite sewing blog and pattern shop had an adorable dress on sale. I knew that would be Maisie's dress. She posts discounts every Thursday. Then last week, she had a 25%-off pattern sale that included her new spring line, which included a cardigan that would be perfect for Calan's Easter outfit.

For Maisie's dress, I wanted something that looked spring-ish, but wasn't too pastel or flowery. I fell in love with the skirt fabric. I just choose white interlock knit for the top, and got to work. It was my first time sewing knit, so there are a lot of mistakes on the top, but it looks fine on her. I have gotten a lot better since I've sewn this dress. A part of me would love to re-do it, but I want to do more projects, so the top stays as is. I made the dress more empire wasted than the pattern calls for. I think it looks better on a toddler that way.

The pleats were pretty easy to do. I had a few seam-ripping situations, but overall the project fit well within my beginner-sewer status.

I used Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop's
V-neck Cardigan and
Delia Creates' Lil' MisterBow-tie
for Calan's outfit. 

With Maisie looking adorable in her dress, I knew that I couldn't leave Calan out. I love how the cardigan and bow-tie turned out. I am matching it with a white dress shirt I bought at Kohl's and a pair of gray cordaroys he already had. I can tell by looking at the cardigan just how much better I have gotten at sewing knits. I am still not the best, but I can tell from my first time on Maisie's dress to my fourth knit project of Calan's cardigan, I have much better control. There are a lot of tips on sewing knits online. Using a walking foot and a double needle has made sewing them look like I have been doing it for years instead of just months.

The patterns I followed were The Natalie Dress and V-Neck Cardigan from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shops. The patterns are great because they go from 3 months to 8 and 12 years, repectively, so I can use them for years to come.  For the bow-tie, I followed an easy tutorial from Delia Creates. (The tutorial was easy, but it did take me a while to figure out how to tie a bow-tie; those things are adorable, but tricky.)

Now to figure out what I am going to wear. Decisions, Decisions.

And my not so willing models showing off their outfits. Toddlers and pictures do not mix. 

New Year, New Hopes, New Challenges, New Joys

I do love the idea of a New Year. I love the idea of starting new. The idea that anything once again is possible and that life just keeps going.

The years are flying by right now. My days and months seem to go by in a snap. I watch my little ones get bigger and I know there is no stopping time. They will be too big too soon. It is almost too much to watch, but I love every moment.

2013 will be another year of change for us as we welcome our latest little bundle of joy into our family. Oh, what an adventure that will be. I'm not sure if I am ready to go back to the newborn stage yet. Although, I can't wait to snuggle her and hold her close. I can't wait to count little fingers and toes and watch my little one sleep. It will be fun to watch Maisie and Calan adjust to another sibling. They love each other so much that I can't wait to see how they react to our new addition.

2013 will be a year of exploring and learning for our family. I love watching my little ones learn something new or explore something different to them. I hope to take them to the zoo, the park, and the library as much as possible. My kids are pretty social little ones and staying home is just not for them. I will do my best to keep challenging them and helping them to grow.

2013 will hopefully be another year where I enjoy the little moments. I never want to feel like I am just getting through this season of my life. I want to embrace the craziness that is our lives and roll with it all. We are truly blessed and I never want to take it for granted. I want to sit and read with my kids more instead of worrying about the crumbs under the table. I want to chase them around the yard instead of folding another load of laundry. I want to sing and dance with them instead of loading the dishwasher.

2013 should be a good year. I have no complaints about 2012, but I am looking forward to 2013 and completing our family. It should be a great year.

Happy New Year!

Here are a few pictures from our trip up north after Christmas:

We bundled up the kids and drove over to Tahquamenon Falls

We just visited the Upper Falls. It was gorgeous. We were basically the
only ones there, so it was fabulous. 

Bob and Calan ready for Calan's first snowmobile ride. 

Calan loved it until it was turned on and Bob went too fast. It took longer
to get dressed and out there, but at least we can say we tried. 

My sister's family was up north with us. It is amazing
to me how much my nieces grow each time I see them. 

Bob and the kids building an igloo out of a snow drift. Maisie sat there
watching Bob the how time. It was pretty sweet. 

Serving others, 2-year-old style

Here is what I used for the thank-you cards the boys
decorated. I put together the base of the ornament and they
added green and white ribbon to the red ornament and
colored on the white ornament that we signed their
names to. 

Here are the peppermint covered pretzels I made. I got the
idea from Blooming Designs. 

The final ornament that Calan made for the firefighters. 

Here is one of the firemen that
we met. We were there basically 2 seconds
and Calan is already running as fast as he
can to the fire trucks. 

As parents, Bob and I truly want Christmas to be different for our children. We love being able to give them things that they want or need, but we want them to see Christmas as a time where we help others, love family, and celebrate Christ.

We also know that doing those things can never start soon enough. 

Yes, as a 2-year-old, Calan does not understand the things we are doing or why we do them, but he won't know any different as he grows up. The things we are doing now before he gets it will just be the way we do things. 

We went shopping as a family for Children's Hospital's Snow Pile (basically toys bought for the parents of children in the hospital to pick from for all the members of their families since they won't have time to shop and be there for their child in the hospital). We also do several year-end givings to charities that are important to us. 

While those are wonderful things, they do little for a 2-year-old boy. He approved of the gifts we bought, but never saw or interacted with anyone. 

So, a friend and I decided to take some treats to our local fire station to say thank you to the men and women who work there. This station is probably a quarter mile from our houses. I did not expect the experience to be as wonderful as it was. 

I made a treat for them and Calan and his friend decorated thank you cards for them. And then we packed up and headed over to the station. 

Calan driving a fire truck with all the lights going. He sat there
for what felt like forever and then drove the ambulance for
what felt like forever. 

Basically, we got a one-on-one tour of everything! Calan could barely handle his excitement. He sat in the driver seat for what felt like forever. Every time I asked if he was ready to get down, he said, "No, mom, I driving." 

The men were so nice and wonderful to our little boys. It almost felt like our thank-yous weren't enough. 

I am so glad we did this. It showed Calan in a small way that giving to others really gives joy in return. 

I know as an adult when I am helping and serving someone else above myself, I feel happier, more content, and more peaceful than when I am just serving my own needs. 

This experience was definitely the
right way to go to get a 2-year-old started in a serving direction. 

Thank you Royal Oak Fire Station #3. Merry Christmas and God bless you. 

Tis the Season: Handmade Christmas Ornament

The front of an ornament I made for a Christmas party this weekend.
I love that by making my own, I was able to customize it for the event

This is the back side.

I am the first one to admit that I am not crafty and rarely if ever am I able to think of awesome ideas by myself. But thank God for other women, their talents, and the Internet for sharing all that they do.

This weekend, I am attending a Christmas party with my MOPS group that includes an ornament exchange. I searched a few places, but kept coming up empty handed. There are beautiful ornaments out there, but nothing seemed just right.

Then, lo and behold, one of my favorite blogs How to Nest for Less posted a wonderful how-to that very day.

Seriously, all this ornament took was
pre-cut wood, card stock, bells,
ribbon, and Mod Podge.

I went right to work.

I took a piece of pre-cut wood, drilled a hole, Mod Podged cute designs on the front and back, and added ribbon and bells through the pre-cut hole. Viola! Done.

It was super easy and I love how it turned out.

For the images that I printed out on card stock and Mod Podged to the piece of wood, I used these wonderful free Photoshop scrapbooking kits from Scrapbook Ideas. Even the Bible verse design came from Scrapbook Ideas.

I found the pre-cut 4.5-inch wood square (pack of 2) at Micheal's and the bells and ribbon at JoAnn's.

I love this ornament so much. I think I'll be making one for our tree and adding our family Christmas photo to the back.

Truth in the Tinsel

This is what my family room looked like last night.

This is where all the mess went to.

What am I doing? I am taking Calan and I on an Advent adventure till Christmas.

Using the e-book "Truth in the Tinsel", I have created 24 bags filled with ornament crafts and Bible study for Calan and I to do leading up to Christmas.

We will use each bag to learn a little more about Jesus and the Good News of his birth.

After we create the ornament, we will hang it on a small empty Christmas tree that we have. It will be Calan's own little tree to play and decorate.

I hope to do something like this every year with my kids.

Bob will do the Bible study with the kids in the morning before he leaves for work. I printed out the verses from the Good News translation. It seemed the most kid-word friendly.

Each craft looks pretty easy for Calan to handle. I doubt Maisie will be able to do them, so I'll give her some activity to do in her high chair while we are working. I am sure that I will have to help Calan quite a lot, but the end product is never as important as the process. I hope that he looks forward to the different ornaments each day.

We will paint, glue, decorate, color, etc. till all 24 ornaments are hanging on the tree.

Turkey Feeders

My finished turkey feeder that I used to show the boys what to do.
I found almost all my supplies at our local Dollar Tree. I got the bird seed
at our local grocery store.

In order to keep busy this winter and to keep from spending too much money on class after class, my friend and I have decided to host a craft play date for our boys twice a month alternating at each other's homes.

My friend hosted the first one at the beginning of the month where the boys put together pumpkins and decorated with stickers. We played and ate lunch together heading home just in time for naps.

Yesterday was my day and we made very simple turkey bird feeders. I just kind of took a few ideas from different blogs and came up with something that was easy and not a huge mess. Our boys are almost 2 1/2 years old. I pre-cut everything the night before so the boys just had to stick it all together.

Here is what I did:

Supplies

• Plastic container
• Different color foam sheets
• Brown contact paper
• Googly eyes
• Double stick tape and/or glue
• Scissors
• Corn syrup
• Wild bird seed

Directions

Here are the finished feeders that the boys made.

• Take the different colored foam sheets and cutout feather shapes, beak, wattle, and feet
• Take plastic container and place two strips of double sided tape or add glue along one side of the container and stick feathers to container.
• Take the brown contact paper and cutout a circle for the turkey's face. Stick to front of container. 
• Add googly eyes, beak, and the turkey's wattle (the red thing).
• Stick feet to the bottom of the container. 
• In a mixing bowl combine some bird seed and corn syrup to make the bird seed stick together. I did this so in case a squirrel tips it over, which I am sure will happen, I won't have a huge bird seed mess to clean up. 
• Place bird seed in plastic container. 

We found a nice spot for the bird feeder on our deck that Calan can watch from our family room. I'm pretty sure the squirrels will destroy the feeder, but it will be interesting to see if any birds stop by this late in the season. 

We did not get reading done, but here are a couple books that Calan
has enjoyed reading about Thanksgiving:
1. "Thanks for Thanksgiving" by Julie Markes
2. "Five Silly Turkeys" by Salina Yoon
3. "This is Thanksgiving" by Harriet Ziefert

Happy Birthday Party Day

The special guest of honor

Well, I am done. My party planning for the year is done. Maisie birthday was celebrated with friends and family. My little girl played, got covered in cupcake, and smiled the whole time. It was perfect.

The amazing desserts. I made the strawberry cupcakes, Bob's mom did the adorable cookies, and Bob's aunt made the amazing cake. Everything was delicious too. 

The dessert and gift table. I'll break down both Calan's and Maisie's party tomorrow on where I found ideas and what I did for them. 

Our best attempt at a family photo. One day these will be easy again and not torture, right?

My baby girl. She turns one July 29. Can't believe it.

Really was so happy all day. It made all the work worth it.

I kind of sped through opening gifts because it had started to get pretty warm and we needed to get inside to cool off. 

She investigated everything.

Singing Happy Birthday and another look at her adorable cake.

Getting her first taste. It was love at first taste. 

Love her face here as Calan started to move in on her cupcake. 

She ate all of it. 

(For all my friends and family who have already seen all these pictures on Facebook, sorry for showing them all over again.)

Tomorrow I will breakdown both parties and share links to recipes and how-tos for everything.

Has Pinterest killed the Plain Jane birthday?

I think birthdays are huge. I think they are an important opportunity to show each child just how special they are. With that being said, I think that I have been sucked into Pinterest Hell.

Don't get me wrong. I actually think Pinterest is quite fun. I love seeing how creative other people are or what others have discovered. I wish that I could cook like my Pinterest boards every night, but I can't. 

There is a thin line between reality and dreams and what's necessary. 

Do my kids need to feel special on their birthdays? Yes.

Should they have birthday decorations? Maybe. 

Do they need banners, homemade cupcakes, balloons, themes, color coordination, (whatever you want to fill in the blank with here)? Probably not. 

But did I do all that? Yep. I am a little ashamed to say that I did. 

Calan's birthday was fun with fire engines, but all that he really wanted to do was play in his water table and pool. He liked having a fire hat, but 10 fire hats I used for decorating are now still floating around my house. 

I have now gone crazy with Maisie's birthday. 

Why am I doing it?

I wish I had a better answer than that I love to hear the Ohhs and Awes from guests. I like to hear my efforts be praised. IT IS COMPLETELY SELFISH!

I hate that. I hate that I see it as my opportunity to shine instead of my baby's. I hate that I have some how decided that if I just do a normal party, than I am not that great of a mother. I hate how I have set this expectation for myself. 

The fact is Maisie could care less. She is actually not a huge fan of crowds. She is a typical introvert. She would just be happy hanging out with her brother, trying a cupcake, and maybe me carrying her for a little while. 

I am hoping next year I remember this and keep it small. (But probably not. Thanks Pinterest)

Oh How I Missed Up North

What an almost perfect weekend filled with swimming, boating, and a little a lot of Euchre. The kids were great, the weather was near perfect, and the food was amazing. It was everything we missed dearly the last 2 years. There is nothing like spending time in Northern Michigan.

We arrived Thursday just before lunch time. The kids napped and then it was party time down by the water. Maisie loved splashing on the beach and Calan dug away at the sand and swam. Maisie took her first boat ride. She tolerated it, but the life jackets were just not that comfortable. I don't blame her for being a bit annoyed, but overall she was good. Calan loves boat rides just not sitting still while the boat is moving. 

Friday, we spent the morning visiting with my dad, who lives about an hour away from where we were staying. But Maisie just didn't seem to feel right. She spiked a fever after her nap and from there she just kept getting worse. I wasn't sure what was going on, but luckily by Saturday morning she was back to her happy self. I have since discovered that she somehow caught hand, foot, and mouth disease. So far no one else has gotten sick. Just praying that everyone stays healthy. Luckily, it really only affected her Friday afternoon and she was able to have fun the rest of the weekend.

Saturday, it rained in the morning, so we just took it easy, but once the weather broke and the kids woke from their naps, it was another afternoon spent by the water. So many memories and so much fun.

But everything good must come to an end. We headed home Sunday after lunch. Till next year!

(1) Maisie playing in the sand. (2) Our family on Maisie's first boat ride. (3) Uncle Ken taking Calan for a little ride on the 4-wheeler. (4) Calan loving life playing on the deck.

Calan was a water baby this weekend. Loved everything about it. Well, except swimming in the middle of the lake. He tolerated it, but was not a huge fan at all. Maybe next year. 

Here is my pretty girl. You wouldn't guess it, but she was pretty sick. We just stuck inside while everyone else played outside. 

Last pictures before we left. Both kids were out within 5 minutes. Pretty much the universal sign of a wonderful time.