Ell Avenue

Smurfette costume and make-up

2013-10-31T13:34:00.001-07:00

This beautiful Smurf hat was custom made by Molly at Molly-B-Cuties and really put together the random things thrown together, into a very life like version of Smurfette!

Mops centerpieces! Faux spills!

2013-10-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

This will be my year and a half mark at being a member of Mother's of Preschoolers through my local church. I feel so good to be using my gifts this year as co-craft coordinator!

This years theme is A Beautiful Mess. After some serious pinning faux spills and messes represented the beautiful mess of motherhood!

This craft was much easier than I imagined! And I had everything I needed in my basic craft supplies!

What you'll need:

Wax paper, I've read plastic wrap will also work

Elmer's Glue

Paint the color of what you're spilling.

What to do:

Lay out wax paper, this will be your canvas, it will be removable, or you can leave the paper and cut the edges off for a little more stability! Mix together the glut and the paint, I used about a 2:1 glue to paint ratio. I end up needing to put a small saucer under my coffee mug to keep the spill from getting to large!

I used foam and skewers from the dollar store to dress up this spill and make it look more like this years Motto!

***Leave lots of time for drying, expect 24 to 48 hours for a completely dry spill!

DIY Homemade Paint, FAIL!

2013-10-22T11:17:00.001-07:00

If you're a Pinner, with kids, I'm sure you've come across homemade finger paints!

Bellow is the Pinned recipe we used for homemade finger paints:

Knowing my child would love making this paint, we found little success in the paint itself, it became to gooey, slimy and sticky!

Looks like we will continue using Crayola for now, there is no comparison!

Fall Decor DIY coffee filter wreath

2013-10-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

I made this craft, much harder than it needed to be, by dying my coffee filters in Chia tea, for the extra aroma. I would suggest for time constraints, you just pick up the color you want from the store.

For the frame of the wreath I used an old fan cover! It gave me just the right spacing to hot glue my filters on!

I attached everything with hot glue, with a little ribbon and a big bow, it really gives it a classy shabby chic look!

Mops Carnival, photo backdrop & dress up!

2013-09-28T18:05:00.001-07:00

Father's Day Gift DIY

2013-06-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

My little slab of Mother Nature!

2013-06-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

The Bethlehem Lil' Braves

2013-05-16T19:30:00.000-07:00

My tiny Herb Garden

2013-04-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

Though I have yet to succeed on my dream of harvesting my very own victory garden, this summer I started a bit smaller, with a very basic herb garden, hardy enough to sustain our mild winters! Photo above, rosemary, below, cilantro

Basil and chives, which are actually supposed to help with natural pest control, I will be encouraging both to spread this spring!

Paris & Poodle's little girl's 4th Birthday

2013-01-18T16:00:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve service

2012-12-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

Hallmark Christmas Village

2012-12-16T20:35:00.000-08:00

Gluten free waffles!

2012-10-16T07:36:00.001-07:00

Bisquick's gluten free baking mix, makes amazing waffles, now if only there were more coupons for this stuff! I freeze and pop in the toaster whenever I want! Yum!

My lil' pumpkin

2012-10-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

Gluten Free Birthday!

2012-09-12T13:52:00.000-07:00

Betty Crocker's cake mix was a huge hit! We'll be using these cake mixes for all our birthday cakes from now on! YUM! As the only GF member of our family, no one was disappointed! A+++++

Take me out to the ball game!

2012-08-09T00:36:00.001-07:00

What a special All-American treat we had watching the flying squirrels play that other team! A girlfriend's Church had a Wednesday night outing, and we were blessed to join them! This was Bella's very first baseball game! She loved the hotdogs, the slurpies, the music and the mascots, but most of all she loved a pig! Lots of times I remember the joys of my own childhood when I'm with her! It didn't matter where we were, my attention was always on the animals! (Except in the reptile department!)

Rainbow over Richmond Skyline

The girls with Nutzy

The girls and Zinger

Toddler Busy boxes!

2012-08-07T14:55:00.001-07:00

I've updated my system for Bella's busy boxes! I use these to initiate independent playing! Generally for those days I can't call in sick, or constantly entertain her! Check it out, the bins I use are $1.00 at the dollar tree! I grab a couple everything I stop in the store! I use them in the office, and storage for cosmetics, and nail polishes an manicure tools! I can always use a couple more!

Song of the day! :D

2012-08-06T09:38:00.001-07:00

Off to the races!

2012-08-06T09:03:00.001-07:00

Bahaha! Guess who won?!?

John Deer!!! & he cleans up after himself :D

What do I do with all of my kids's stuffed animals?

2012-08-03T18:34:00.001-07:00

A few weeks into using Bella's new hutch I decided to try to flip it over. She now can get to her basket and her books all by herself! Hopefully she won't pull out all of the animals when they're up a lil higher! We have to work out the kinks before the painting begins!

After several play dates I realized that the tension rods were not toddler proof & let's get real, they are not the most attractive. Having to refill the entire zoo a few times a week, I made some consideration of functionality and design. Going on the theme of a stuffed animal "zoo", not jail, using a diamond shaped frame seemed most reasonable, and this is now permanently attached!

This is the current look of the one time entertainment center, I am trilled with the results, and it functions perfectly! Still needs Paint!

My song of the day!

2012-08-03T11:54:00.001-07:00

I heard "It's time" - Imagion dragion on the radio for the first time today, and had to crank it! I don't know why, but I wanna rock in a barn to it!

Bella's first performance & last night of VBS

2012-08-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

Going Gluten Free!

2012-08-01T15:19:00.001-07:00

I've never had a doctor suggest that I should try a gluten diet, but the more I read and hear about it, the more I recognize how much healthier a normal person is Gf, let alone people with UC or chrones! The diet is really supposed to help loose bloating in the midsection, which at 118lbs bothered me, I don't even want to think about it now :) the blood sugar stabilization has really helped me feel full much longer! And eat much less! I feel less bloated and it's been only been 2 days! I'm looking forward to an energy increase and a decease in belly fat!
Here's the first web site I have started with:http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/press-media/faqs/

Check out some of the foods I found today, that are GF!

She's getting so big!

2012-07-31T15:13:00.001-07:00

Today was my day to drop the kids off at Vacation Bible school! I was a bit concerned thinking Bella might have a problem with me leaving! To my surprise she could have cared less! I am so thankful she's very so Socially adaptable even with me being a stay-at-home!
Look how happy she was to leave the house!

Bella's first day of VBS!

2012-07-30T18:23:00.001-07:00

She did just fine without her momma! Bella has her two bff's Megan & Aydyn in her class! Tomorrow they all have a dinner date together!
Here's Bella's bookmark she made :)