{Birthday Cake}

Found this

{CAKE}

idea a few months back

and this

{CAKESTAND}

a few weeks ago.

So glad I got to try it out

on a friend from work.

Happy Birthday Tamara!

What I Did. . .

My two, no make that THREE days off of school.
Sunday night I got a sub for a Mental Health Day on Wednesday.
Monday night we were preparing and hoping for just a delayed start Tuesday.
Tuesday school was cancelled due to the ICE STORM.
I cancelled my sub for Wednesday, because I got to have Tuesday off.
Tuesday night, we find out there is no school on Wednesday. :(
Most people are happy for the time off.
Yesterday I was happy, today I was bummed, tomorrow makes me worry these days might cut into my trip to Idaho for my little sisters wedding in June.
All of our bad weather days are all used up-- days that teachers long for during the crazy days of spring. When twitterpated hormonal teenagers are driving you bonkers. :0)
I know you know what I am talking about.
We have made the most of our time off.

1. Since the whole family was home Tuesday we had a whole family cleaning party :D
2. A closet clean out and bags filled for GOODWILL
3. Claire and I made her Valentines, I packaged them all up without a pic, but here is the picture from the website and a link just in case you want to make your own.


Photo from Shabby Blogs

4. I graded papers, and more papers


5. I made homemade chicken and noodle soup-- with homemade noodles. Thanks for the suggestion Becca.


6. I had some {ALONE} time at home with my hubby while Claire was at a friends house. I can't remember the last time we were home {ALONE} together.


7. Claire and I played with my new camera
8. I made a Birthday Banner for a friend at work.
9. Claire had slumber parties in our room

10. We played lots of games

11. Made homemade Chili

12. A couple sessions of Yoga

I am sure that there will be much more to add-- I am hoping this does not extend into Friday. Say your prayers and cross your fingers everyone.

More {Fall Goodies}

I ♥ the fall

and I wish I had some

time

to sew

'cause there is so many

cute things

I would love to get my hands on.

I ♥ All Things {FALL}

Can't wait to make these!!!!

Sandi's done it again.

Back to School Feast and. . . .

Main Course : Grilled Chicken w/Lemon Basil Pasta-- to die for

Side: Grilled Artichokes

Side: Jello Magic Mousse

Drink: Archer Farms Sparkling Peach Cider

Dessert: Dimples Cupcakes-- heaven in your mouth!!!!

Chore Chart

Told you I was C-R-A-Z-Y!!!!!!

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

Yes, today was my first day back to school!!!! :o{

I'm exhausted, but if I weren't I would be making one of these cute

Chalkboard Clipboards.

You can find the tutorial on

Little Birdie Secrets

Maybe next summer.

I did end my summer break with a big crafting bang.

It included, mod podge lettering, table skirts, classroom curtains,

hemming pants, shortening apron straps, a darling nursing cover,

and

the cutest chore chart

EVER MADE

ok, I may be a little biased on that one :0}

Only problem is, I didn't take pics of any of it.

It was a mad dash to get it done and out the door, pics were the last thing from my mind.

If I have a spare moment I might take a pic of my cute chore chart.

But then you would see how desperately insane I am.

Wish me luck for another fabulous year of

Angelic 8th graders :0)

My Little Sister Is Getting Married

This project has been so much fun.

I can't wait to do another one.

I have so many more ideas.

First I Googled

the greatest love stories of all time

#1 was Wuthering Heights

Next, I found a copy of Wuthering Heights

at

Half Price Books

I then painted the spine

and

mod podged coordinating papers

on the front and back

finally I sanded inked and distressed the edges


I'm loving the vintage scrapbook frames I found.

I also made sure to include their invite inside the front cover.
I also left lots of pockets and envelopes
so all the guests can leave a note for the
Bride & Groom

One week until we leave for

steamy

AZ

This Is What I Have Been Up To!!!!

For some crazy reason I wanted to make a quilt for my

sister's wedding

this monthI've made small quilts

but nothing this big

It was definitely a challenge

but I learned a lot!!

The funniest thing I learned was:

disappearing ink

DISAPPEARS!!!

I marked my lines one night

and got up in the morning

to start sewing

and to my surprise

the disappearing ink

didn't last as long as I expected.

Kira, you did a great job picking the colors!!!

I like to call it

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

This is where I got my pattern

♥ this quilt blog

Claire's 1st {Sewing Project}

If you know my kid

you know her favorite phrase is

"What can I do now?"

(I've seriously heard it at least five times while writing this post)

So to keep myself sane this summer

I religiously read

Skip to My Lou

and

steal every single ideaLast week one of the ideas was pillow making

and then the next day was embroidery

two things I ♥ 'd when I was a little girl

I just didn't know if Claire was old enough to do this

While the embroidery was not too hard for her

it did not captivate her attention

(i had to do most of the embroidery--

i think i was around 10 when i started liking this stuff)

but

she did love drawing her own design

and choosing the colors it would be

She also loved choosing her own fabric

whatever she wanted

I think she did a great job matching her room

and the Cat fabric is soooooooo her

She was most excited about getting to use the sewing machine

this was the hardest part for me

there is a reason

five year olds are not allowed to drive

heck, I don't know how she rides a bike

she does not know how to watch where she is going!!!!!

She did love using the sewing machine

and course

she is the BEST pillow stuffer in the world.

Great Job Claire!!!!!

{Maiya O.} You My Best Friend

This little girl melts my heart.

From the first time she told me,

"Sister Waygr, you my best fwend."

There was about a year straight

that I heard this from her

on almost daily basis.

It was always the always the highlight of my day.

One of my fondest,

but least enjoyable memories of Maiya

was when

She willingly allowed

Claire to coat her in vaseline.

That's a true friend!!!

So, for her 5th Birthday

I decided she needed something special from me.

Thanks Maiya for being

My BEST Friend.

Bubble Burst Painting

Obviously we are obsessed with bubbles at our house.

While watching Claire entertain herself with our homemade bubbles,

I remembered a bubble burst painting she had done in art at school I wanted to see if we could duplicate it.
The end result was not that great.
If anyone is a pro at this technique we would like to know :D
We definitely had a lot of fun!!!

{Family Home Evening}

I love Skip to My Lou.

She always has the greatest ideas and best tutorials.

Lately she has posted some of the

most ingenious things to do with the kiddos during summer.

Yesterday, this was her post and we decided to try it for FHE.

It was successful and we all had a blast!!!


Claire went to bed saying, "How did that sock make bubbles?"

Who knew so much fun could come from:

an old water bottle,

an old sock,

dish soap.

&

a little water.

Who can make the longest bubble snake at your house?

I ♥ This Blog

Once again I have procrastinated my Visiting Teaching until the end of the month. Sorry, ladies!!!! Hope you will still love me despite my shortfalls. In looking for VT ideas I found the coolest blog. If only I could be so cool. Check it out :D See Me Visit Teach

Back To School Celebration!!!

Taking a few tips from Nie Nie

we had our own

Fancy Celebration

Claire was embarrassed to wear the crown I made her
We visited the Cupcakery for a very special treat for the occasion

It made for a very special evening

Dylan was so great about making it a very special night.

A tradition we will be carrying on in the future.

Westward Ho!!!!

Painting this map

of

{Westward Expansion}

for my classroom today,

had me thinking of

our long journey at the end of the week.

(I know you're jealous, you wish you could teach 8th grade U.S. History)

So, did this!!!

Miss you tons Mom and Dad,

can't wait to see you soon.

P.S. Idaho friends, I'll be in the Treasure Valley the 6th through the 12th. I'd love to see you!!!

♥pRoJeCtS♥ & Update

Things have continued to move forward over here

and

Summer continues to quickly slip away.

I managed to complete

TWO professional development classes in the last week

(only one more left this summer)

I've started piecing my quilt-- cross your fingers friends

and

I've completed the following two items

not to mention

{Swimming Lessons}

oh, my hotness Swimming lessons

never again, outdoors in the summer.

UPDATE!!!!

Since I will miss

{Miss Cora's 1st Birthday}

I decided to crank these out at the last minute.

Let's hope they fit :D

Last Minute {Card Idea}

Little Birdie Secrets

Saves the day once again!!!

If you don't have a card for {Father's Day} yet,

Check out their tutorial.

Quick easy and done in five minutes,

with stuff you probably have lying around.

I made one, super easy and CUTE!

I Told You. . . {Projects Begetting Projects}

As you could surmise, cleaning the craft room left me frustrated with a few things, namely my ribbon. I have tried numerous things to enhance my organization sanity. Unfortunately I always had the same dissatisfied results-- ribbon everywhere and not where it should be. See the ribbon hanging on the wall in the picture above. I saw that at Michaels and fell in love. Dylan said what he always says, "I can build that for you." I love and hate that phrase. I love that he can, I hate that its on his schedule and not mine. Our schedules are years apart.

So, after being frustrated again with the ribbon, I scoured the Internet for ideas that {I could build}. I found this idea and of course made my own little adjustments. I am pleased with how it turned out.

1. An old frame sitting in my closet
2. Two cafe curtain rods via TARGET
3. A little screwing {he he} Dylan helped with that part {he he}
4. Two nails {come on now}
5. Slide your ribbon on!!!
6. Woo hoo!!

Another project I completed yesterday. Is a great {Father's Day Gift} I am also very pleased with how it turned out. It was Shandi's idea and my design. Those are indeed my four year old's footprints. She has quite large feet-- those come from me-- poor kid.