Life With Both Hands Full

What we have been up to...

2012-07-24T10:55:00.000-05:00

Well I haven't posted in several weeks and the main reason is internet problems but we have also been busy.

We have been swimming...

Gabe has a new look, it is very serious...

The boys got to play with sparklers for the first time...

We also took the boys fishing for the first time...

They also got to play at the beach while Daddy fished...

It has pretty much rained non stop for the past couple weeks but we aren't complaining it makes it a little cooler outside and we aren't in a drought like last summer.

Another first for the boys was the circus came to town and we took them despite my husband saying that we didn't need to attend because we have our own circus at home.

Their favorite was the "ella" of course.

And a little sneak peek at one of the things I have been working on for the new playroom (that is almost done).

Hopefully all our internet issues are finally resolved and it won't be so long before my next post.

Happy Independence Day

2012-07-04T21:13:00.001-05:00

Patriotic Pinwheels

2012-06-26T19:49:00.000-05:00

As with every holiday, I decorated my shelf in my entryway with subway art and picture of my boys during the holiday.

I downloaded the subway art for free from Tammy Mitchell Photography.

The pinwheels I made with my Silhouette and strung on some jute.

And I may be a little biased but what is not to love about these chubby babies in a sea of burlap?

You can see more of my patriotic projects here:

Stars and Stripes Wreath

Liberty Pennant Banner

Red, White, and Blue Decor

The fabulous parties I am linking up to: Lil Luna Organize and Decorate Everything Crystal and Co. House of Hepworths Delightful Order Gluesticks Tatertots and Jello Be Different Act Normal I Heart Naptime Tip Junkie A Bowl Full of Lemons Let Birds Fly Somewhat Simple Fingerprints on the Fridge Tidy Mom 320 Sycamore Oopsey Daisy Six Sisters Stuff Lolly Jane The NY Melrose Family Creatively Living Cowgirl Up

Two and a Half

2012-06-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

My baby boys are 2 1/2 today.

Hard to believe that these two babies that were so tiny and fragile two and a half years ago...

Have now grown up to be these big, strong, opinionated little boys.

-They love the water. They jump in the pool, know how to kick their feet and move their arms to move around in the pool. We took them to a water park last weekend and they had a blast.

-They use the potty occasionally. Sometimes it is 4-5 times a day, sometimes it is none.

-They love to watch Elmo. Anyone know why Elmo doesn't have his own tv show and not just his 15 minutes of fame on Sesame Street? I mean he is kind of big deal (at least in our house).

- They love to mimick things their Daddy does.

- Gabe finally passed his hearing test in May after failing the test since birth.We had to do a pretty evasive test to find that out but I am glad we did because now I have the peace of mind knowing that my baby boy can hear ( even though I had a feeling he could all along). Woohoo!

- They are major climbers. About a month ago they started climbing their dresser and knocking their pictures off the wall so we had to move that out to where they only had their beds in their room. Then they decided that wouldn't be the end of their climbing adventures, they took their mattresses off their beds and stacked them so they could climb up into the very high window sill in their room!!! Did I mention their room is on the second floor?!? We now have that problem solved...for now. They have also learned how to climb the baby gates on the stairs when we have them downstairs. I guess it's a good thing we are hardly ever downstairs anymore now that their playroom is upstairs.

- When I go into their room at night to check on them, I often find them snuggled up in the same bed with a whole zoo of animals.

- They love to color, paint, and play with play dough. Their favorite toys are blocks.

Happy Half Birthday Boys!

Better put on those shades because your future is looking BRIGHT!

P.S. Stop growing up so fast!

Red, White, and Blue

2012-06-18T20:22:00.000-05:00

Today I am sharing how I decorated my bookshelves for all the upcoming patriotic holidays.

I'm loving all the bright pops of red and blue. Everything except the flag and America plaque, I made.

You can see more of my patriotic projects here:

Stars and Stripes Wreath

Liberty Pennant Banner

2012-06-14T15:03:00.002-05:00

If you liked my Stars and Stripes Wreaths, you will probably like this project too, it is filled with lots of patriotic colors and burlap goodness. Normally I do paper banners but I have decided to start doing fabric banners because they will be able to last year to year.

I made the pattern for the pennant banner with my Silhouette and traced it onto my fabric and then cut it out.

Add a small amount of glue to the top of the tab.

And fold it over.

I forgot to get a picture of the cutting out the letters step but I used my Silhouette to cut the letters out but you can also just trace letters onto fabric and use Heat and Bond.

I then ironed the letters on.

Then I strung the ribbon through the loops and then all you have to do is hang it up.

It's hard to tell but that is actually blue jean material, not black like it looks in the picture.

Happy Flag Day everyone! I will be sharing how I decorated the rest of my built in cabinets for this patriotic season soon.

Stars and Stripes Wreath Tutorial

2012-06-04T11:05:00.001-05:00

Since I have two doors, I wanted to do something different and not make two of the exact same wreath. So I decided on doing one wreath in the stars part of the flag and one on the stripes.

Supplies you will need:

2 straw wreaths (I used 18 in wreaths because my doors are big)

2.5 yards of navy burlap ( I couldn't find this in any store, I bought it online here)

1.25 yards of red burlap

1.25 yards of off white burlap(the color I got was called "oyster")

Sharpie

Circle Pattern (I used a coffee mug to trace the circles)

Scissors

Ball Point Pins

Paper Mache Stars (I used 6)

White Paint (spray paint or acrylic)

Distress Ink (optional)

Floral Wire

Vacuum (you will see why later)

Step 1: Trace your circles on the red, white, and blue burlap and cut them out. Or if you are like me you will trace, some, cut some, pin some, and repeat. Put on a good movie or tv show because this is very time consuming.

TIP: How much fabric it will take you will depend on how big your wreath is and how tightly you place them on your wreath.

Step 2: Once you have all the circles cut out, you will fold the circle in half, then in half again.

TIP: Using a straw wreath instead of a styrafoam wreath will save you money. I bought two 18 inch straw wreaths for 8 dollars where I would have paid 8 dollars for one styrafoam wreath.

Step 3: Pin it to your wreath.

I alternated between three rows of red and three rows of white.

TIP: Make sure you use ball point pins.

These dressmaker pins will go through the holes in the burlap making it fall apart easier. I speak from experience, I used them on the red and white striped wreath and several pieces have come off.

I didn't take a picture of the navy wreath but you make it the same way. It is easier though because it is all one color.

Step 4: Paint your stars white.

I got mine at Hobby Lobby near the wood section for 50 cents.

Step 5: This is completely optional but I wanted more of a distressed look so I added some distress ink on the edges.

Step 6: Cut the strings off the top and poke two holes about one inch apart in the back (making sure not to poke through the front) and string a 12 inch piece of floral wire in one hole and out the other.

Step 7: Place the star where you want it on your wreath and flip the wreath over to the back and twist the wire like you would a twist tie. The wire will be hidden in the front between the fabric.

TIP: I put a piece of tape over each piece of wire in the back so it won't scratch my door.

Step 8: Vacuum up your mess and trust me burlap sheds and make one hot mess. I had already vacuumed once in the middle of the process.

Step 9: Hang your wreath and admire its beauty.

I plan on leaving these babies up all summer long. Since all the holidays in the summer are patriotic I think it is acceptable...Memorial Day, Flag Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, and September 11th.

If you have any questions or want me to explain something better, please leave me a comment or email me at lifewithbothhandsfull@hotmail.com and I will get back to you ASAP.

Crazy or Best Idea Ever?

2012-05-22T17:02:00.000-05:00

I go back and forth on whether I think my husband is completely nuts or this is the best idea ever. He caught me on a weak day(aka: kids have been into everything today) so I have agreed to go through with it. Go through with what you ask? Switching the playroom from its current home downstairs to upstairs. This is something he wanted from the day we moved here, but it made more sense at the time to have the kids playing downstairs in what is suppose to be a office but I turned into a playroom. Well now that they just take all the toys and bring them into the living room anyways, it might as well be a office.

If you are new you can find more about their playroom here:

Reading Nook

Organization
Artwork

Here is a room I never really got around to showing you, it is our bonus room which was "used" ( I say that very lightly because it never got used) as a theater room. It is an L- shaped room, so it is hard to get a good picture of the whole room. This will be the future playroom.

The office nook is to the right when you walk through the door. The desk is built in to the wall. See that window? That is the only window for the whole room. We need to put some daylight lightbulbs in ASAP.

Looking from the office nook, you can see the TV.

And around the corner is the theater chairs.

Pretty much everything that is in this room would stay except the TV will be hung on the wall and the entertainment center will go bye bye because it is glass and it will be a playroom...need I say more?

Pros:

- When people come over they won't walk in and think they are at a toy store. The downstairs will stay for the most part clean.

- Their toys will be confined to one room.

- They will have a bigger playroom.

- I will be able to work from my craft room and office more because it is upstairs next to the bonus room.

-My husband gets a office and we have a place to pay bills, store mail, and file papers. We will also have a place for all his model cars, ships, trophies, and awards.

Interesting fact: Did you know my husband made a platinum record? Not really.... it sounded good though, but he was MVP of his company.

Cons:

- We will have to go downstairs to eat and cook.

- Carpet + Kids= BAD.

- I will have to do laundry during naps and bedtime.
- We will probably have to paint the playroom because of the holes we drilled for the rain gutter bookshelves. If you know me, you know me you know the only kind of painting I like to do is spray painting.
- And the obvious: Taking apart the whole room that I worked so hard to put together and moving it upstairs.

So whatcha think? Crazy idea or best idea ever?
Do you have your children's playroom on different level than your kitchen and laundry room? What do you like? What do you hate?

Tips for First Time Moms

2012-05-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

Hi, I'm Katie Moore- owner and author of "Moore From Katie." Today, Krista has graciously accepted my offer to guest post on her site! I have written an article about pregnancy because May is Pregnancy Awareness Month (neither Krista or myself is pregnant!!!). I enjoy writing, researching and blogging about all things pregnancy... enjoy the article!

Tips for First Time Moms

Having a baby for the first time is a big event in any woman’s life. This is especially the case if she has been trying to have a baby for some time. In the excitement of the moment, it can be easy to forget all the little things, great and small, she must do to get prepared for her little one’s arrival. However, if she takes an organized approach, she can make the whole process go much more smoothly.

Preparations for the Delivery

One of the things new moms need to prepare for is the delivery itself. She should choose the location where she wants to have her baby. If she will be having her baby at home, an expectant mother might want to hire the services of a professional midwife. One the other hand, if she will be having her baby in a hospital, she will need to decide which one.

Regardless of where she chooses to have her baby, she should find a qualified obstetrician to help her maintain her health and her baby’s over the coming months. She should discuss with her doctor all of the things that will take place on delivery day, and any options she might have planned, such as circumcision (for a son) or umbilical cord blood banking.

Things She Will Need

Part of preparing means purchasing things the baby will need. She should make a complete list of all the clothing items the baby will require, such as shirts, booties and so on. She can then check out the prices of local stores for these items. However, she should not forget to ask friends or relatives if they have any of these things they don’t want anymore.

The new baby will also need furniture, such as a crib and a changing table. The new mother may also want a rocking chair she can sit next to the crib. As with clothing, she should check to see if anyone she knows has these things. However, she should only use a crib that meets current federal safety standards, regardless of price.

What to Expect Later

Many new moms underestimate the time and effort required to take care of a newborn. It is a good idea for any first time expectant mother to read books on the subject and talk to other experienced mothers about what she can expect. Sleepless nights, feedings, teething problems and more all make the first year or so very challenging. However, by studying and being as prepared as possible, new mother’s can spend less time worrying and more time enjoying their new babies.

“Katie Moore has written and submitted this article. Katie is an active blogger who discusses the topics of, motherhood, children, fitness, health and all other things Mommy. She enjoys writing, blogging, and meeting new people! To connect with Katie contact her via her blog, Moore From Katie or her twitter, @moorekm26.”

Organizing Spices Part 2

2012-05-17T00:39:00.000-05:00

Two months ago I wrote this post about organizing spices and promised you a second post on how I organized the rest of the stuff in my cabinets. Well after having some trouble finding the right size lazy susan. I finally am finished with the project.

Here is the problems with how it was before and what I did to fix it:

Bottom Shelf: Had a lot of wasted space at the top so it needed to come down a notch.

The wire three tiered shelf needed to go because it was still hard to see what was in the back and the bottles would get knocked over easy. So I added two 9 inch Lazy Susans, one for grilling spices and one for the rest of the misc stuff.

Middle Shelf: The problem was I couldn't see anything and when I would try and get something I would knock something else over (hello olive oil and broken glass all over my floors).

I also added two lazy susans on this shelf. One for oils and one for sauces.

This way I will be able to see what I actually have because while cleaning off this shelf I found out that I had four bottles of Worcestershire sauce....ridiculous.

Top Shelf: The problem was I couldn't reach but by moving the bottom shelves down, I was able to move the top shelf down too.

Tip: Use small lazy susans so that you won't have stuff in the middle that you can't see because that will defeat the purpose.

The rest of my spices are stored on this spice rack I redid.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to: Lil Luna Organize and Decorate Everything Crystal and Co. House of Hepworths Delightful Order Gluesticks Tatertots and Jello Be Different Act Normal I Heart Naptime Tip Junkie A Bowl Full of Lemons Let Birds Fly Somewhat Simple Fingerprints on the Fridge Tidy Mom 320 Sycamore Six Sister's Stuff Lolly Jane The NY Melrose Family Creatively Living Cowgirl Up

This Is My Life- Mother's Day 2012

2012-05-13T22:14:00.001-05:00

When it came time to take the traditional mom and kids mother's day shot, it was anything but posed. When I looked at the pictures this evening, preparing to delete 90% of them, I couldn't help but laugh as I scrolled through them because it captures this season of motherhood perfectly. They are completely crazy, a hand full, they pull me opposite directions most of the time but I LOVE being their Momma.

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Card

2012-05-02T16:09:00.001-05:00

I made these cards last year for all the moms and grandmas.

In case you can't read it, it say "These little hands will hold your heart forever"

I traced the boy's hands but the rest was cut with my silhouette.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to: Lil Luna Organize and Decorate Everything Crystal and Co. House of Hepworths Delightful Order Gluesticks Tatertots and Jello Be Different Act Normal I Heart Naptime Tip Junkie A Bowl Full of Lemons Let Birds Fly Somewhat Simple Fingerprints on the Fridge Tidy Mom 320 Sycamore Six Sister's Stuff Lolly Jane The NY Melrose Family Creatively Living Cowgirl Up

Busy Bees

2012-04-30T15:43:00.000-05:00

I accomplished a lot of stuff this weekend but still don't have a complete project to show you. So I figured I would give you some clues to what is to come.

Cleaning out our closets was in full swing yesterday. This picture is not including all the clothes that I have in the car, ready to be donated. You can tell from the post about my closet that a clean out was definitely necessary. I will do another post when it is all put back together.

Here is my messy spice cabinet, sadly this is even after I condensed all my spices into this spice rack. It is now about 90 percent done I am just waiting a product I had to re-order because the first one was too big. I will probably be done with it by the end of the week and I can finally finish part 2 of that post.

So that is some of what I have been up to this past weekend. What projects have you been working on?

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

2012-04-24T16:41:00.001-05:00

The Good

- They both love to help with everything. They love to do laundry and they can put the clothes in the washer, switch them to the dryer and once I fold them they know where most of it goes. Same thing goes with dishes, they know which cabinet we keep everything in.

- Daddy took them to the store and they came back with footballs. The Daddy has also been teaching them how to play and they learned how to catch the ball and throw it.

- Gabe has learned how to use the potty in the past month. He of course will only do it when it is his idea and will bring me a diaper when he doesn't want to wear underwear. Grant loves to bring Gabe the potty so that he can sit on it but he doesn't want to sit on it himself.

- We live in a neighborhood that is not fully developed so there is a lot of new houses going up and the boys get to watch the action first hand. Yesterday they were entertained for an hour just watching the cement trucks.

The Bad

- They have learned how to unlock the deadbolt and the regular lock on our front door, back door, and garage door. We are in the process of fixing that little problem because well I can't be in three places at once and they like to team up against me and go to opposite doors.

-Now let's play a little game called "Which Is It?". Here is how you play I show you a picture and you pick the caption that you think fits.

A. I am so bored that I decided to decorate my fridge.

B. I am so desperate to keep the boys out of the fridge that I tied a ribbon on it so that I don't end up with broken pickle jars and ketchup all over my kitchen.

The Ugly

- The boys throw fits often and they can get very ugly. They have progressed from their "I'm going to fall on the floor and bang my head on the floor and if you try to walk away and ignore my fit, I will follow you and repeat it" to what I like to call the "I'm going to run away from home fit". I wouldn't normally let him run around like this but I had to get this on video so I can show him when he is older. For the record, this was taken about a month ago before he learned how to unlock doors.

- I could mention a lot of not so pretty things that go on at naptime but I will leave it at this. You're Welcome! ;)

As always the good far outweighs the bad and good or bad I love them all the same.

P.S. If you answered choice A to the question about the fridge, you clearly need to get to know me better ;) I don't think the words "I'm bored" have came out of my mouth once in 28 months....there is always something to do.

Keepsake Card Books

2012-04-17T15:42:00.001-05:00

I have already showed you how I journal about my boys day to day life and how I keep all their memorabilia. Today we will talk about how I organize all those baby shower and birthday cards. Normally cards would probably get thrown away because I don't like to keep clutter but since my boys can't read nor can they really appreciate what is written in cards yet, I really want them to be able to read later how much they were loved, how much everyone couldn't wait to meet them, and what their personalities were like as babies and toddlers.

Around Christmas time I saw a lot of people around blog land were binding their christmas cards in book rings. I don't save Christmas cards but I knew it would be the perfect thing for all the birthday and baby shower cards I had saved.

I knew I wanted it to have dividers so I could put all the cards in one book. I cut out the dividers using my Silhouette, added a picture to the front, hole punched the cards, put them on the book rings, and tied some ribbon on the rings.

Next I did a book for all the congratulatory cards and baby shower cards.

Some funny things I found while looking at the cards, I had given Kevin this card for Father's Day right after we found out I was pregnant. Any guesses what is wrong with this card?

And there was a lot of cards like this one...that needed some scratching out to be made plural.

I will be doing a post later this week to give an update on my two littles and what they have been up to.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:</div>

<a href="http://organizeyourstuffnow.com/">Organize and Decorate Everything</a>

<a href="http://www.crystalandcomp.com/">Crystal and Co.</a>

<a href="http://www.houseofhepworths.com/">House of Hepworths</a>

<a href="http://delightfulorder.blogspot.com/">Delightful Order</a>

<a href="http://www.brandyscrafts.blogspot.com/">Gluesticks</a>

<a href="http://tatertotsandjello.com/">Tatertots and Jello</a>

<a href="http://www.bedifferentactnormal.com/">Be Different Act Normal</a>

<a href="http://www.iheartnaptime.net/">I Heart Naptime</a>

<a href="http://www.tipjunkie.com/">Tip Junkie</a>

<a href="http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/">A Bowl Full of Lemons</a>

<a href="http://letbirdzfly.blogspot.com/">Let Birds Fly</a>

<a href="http://www.somewhatsimple.com/">Somewhat Simple</a>

<a href="http://www.fingerprintsonthefridge.com/">Fingerprints on the Fridge</a>

<a href="http://www.320sycamoreblog.com/">320 Sycamore</a>

<a href="http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/">Six Sister's Stuff</a>

<a href="http://lollyjaneboutique.blogspot.com/">Lolly Jane</a>

<a href="http://the%20ny%20melrose%20family/">The NY Melrose Family</a>

<a href="http://blah2beautiful.blogspot.com/">Creatively Living</a>

<a href="http://www.craftytexasgirls.com/">Cowgirl Up</a>

<div>

Pasta Full of Posies

2012-04-15T15:15:00.000-05:00

This post is sponsored by Country Crock. I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Who has kids that are picky eaters? I know I do! It is a constant struggle to make sure they are getting enough veggies in their diet. One thing that they love though is pasta, so when I saw the Pasta Full of Posies recipe from the A Very Veggie World by Clare Crespo, I knew it would be a winner for them and the veggies make it a winner for Mommy. The bright colors will make it appetizing for kids and the "flowers" make it the perfect dish for spring. I love that her cookbook doesn't try to hide the veggies (like a bunch of other cookbooks) but just displays them in a fun way so that kids will learn to love veggies and want to try new ones. Let's face it, we won't be able to sneak vegetables in their diet when they are thirty, so we need to instill a love for them while they are still young.

Ingredients:

2 yellow and/or orange bell peppers
1 pkg (16 oz.) whole wheat penne
3 Tbs. Country Crock Spread
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 cherry tomatoes, halved
7 basil or baby spinach leaves

1. Chop off top and bottom of peppers. Slice down the side, remove seeds and lay pepper flat. Cut into petal shapes.

2. Boil pasta according to package directions; drain.

3. Melt Country Crock spread and heat olive oil on the stove over medium heat in a pan big enough to hold pasta. Cook garlic and peppers together for about 5 minutes. With tongs, remove pepper petals and set aside.

4. Add pasta and cheese to garlic and toss together. Put pasta in a shallow serving dish. Arrange tomato halves on top and surround them with pepper petals to make "flowers." Add a basil or baby spinach leaf to each flower.

Serves 8

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

Grant even ate his veggies first!!!

You can tell my Gabe's smile and messy face that it was yummy!

Gabe and Grant would like to say that they think all veggies taste better with Country Crock. Their favorite is green beans with a couple tablespoons of Country Crock and some black pepper.

Are you looking for quick and simple tips and recipes to make serving veggies more fun? Download the free Clare Crespo Cookbook here for fun and whimsical recipes your family is sure to love!

The Days Of Your Life: Journals

2012-04-10T04:06:00.000-05:00

Obviously I keep record of most of my children's life right here on this blog. But there is some little moments that I tend to forget about before I get a chance to write a blog post about them, so I started jotting them down in a journal I made them. I write about the silly things they do, the mischief they get into, the things they say, and the places we went.

I started out with a journal like this one. Look familiar? You probably used these back in your school days.

I just traced the cover on some scrapbook paper, mod podged it on and added some embellishments.

I started documenting in a journal in January of this year. I keep their journals in the living room so that I can easily jot stuff down as it happens.

I also made one for my pregnancy with the boys. Wondering how I remember what went on two years ago?

Well I jotted things like their weights and stuff that went on at my doctor appointments in a Word document and Facebook's new timeline design makes it easy to go back two years and see what I wrote.

If you haven't already check out my post from last week on how I organized my children's memorabilia.

"A memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Lil Luna
Organize and Decorate Everything
Crystal and Co.
House of Hepworths
Delightful Order
Gluesticks
Tatertots and Jello
Be Different Act Normal
I Heart Naptime
Tip Junkie
A Bowl Full of Lemons
Let Birds Fly
Somewhat Simple
Fingerprints on the Fridge
Tidy Mom
320 Sycamore
Six Sister's Stuff
Lolly Jane
The NY Melrose Family
Creatively Living
Cowgirl Up

Easter 2012

2012-04-09T14:57:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone had a great Easter! We sure did! The boys got to dye eggs for the first time and really enjoyed hunting eggs this year.

We even got them both to look at the camera and smile at the same time :)

I made their cute little bunny shirts.

Playing in the sand pile at Papa G and Nana's with their daddy and great grandpa.

Kings of the Hill

First time to dye eggs

Just one of the many faces of Grant

They also had their first swim of the season, the water was still a little cool though.

More egg hunting

I think the Easter bunny liked them, he visited several peoples houses to bring them goodies.

Note that they are taking full advantage of mommy being busy taking pictures and got into some candy.

Hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Organizing Your Child's Memorabilia

2012-04-02T21:32:00.001-05:00

I think even the most organized person becomes somewhat of a hoarder when it comes to their kid's stuff. I know I have no problem getting rid of stuff unless it pertains to my kids. Let's just say now I can see why my mom still had my Sesame Street Party Decor from the 80s. I am starting to get better with letting go of stuff now that they are not babies anymore. Knowing that all their memories are well documented in writing and pictures helps too.

So today I thought I would show you how we keep it all contained and organized.

I used gallon sized ziplocs to separate it into different categories. This is all the stuff from their hospital stay: coming home outfits, hospital bracelets, name cards, hats, and ribbons that had their stats from their door wreath.

My curious little boy got this out while I was taking pictures for this post. Can't believe he use to fit in that tiny outfit. At the same time though I can't believe two babies big enough to fit in those sleepers ever fit in my belly.

Special Outfits: Personalized Shirts, their onesies about being a twin, and their anklets that they wore when the hospital bracelets got to small but we still had trouble telling them apart ;)

First Holidays: I put their bunny hat, the hat I made for their Mario and Luigi Costumes, and their Christmas ornaments.

First Birthday: Highchair banner, monthly photo banner, birthday onesie, and handprint mold.

Baby Shower: Since I have twins I separated the stuff so that one gets the stuff from my family and friends shower and one gets stuff from my work shower. I kept a plate, napkin, corsage, and invitations.

I just stacked all the bags in the bin. See that name sign? The nurses in the NICU actually made those for them so they could stop calling them Baby Boy A and Baby Boy B.

The rest of this week, I will be showing more ideas on how to keep and store your children's memories.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Easter's on its way

2012-03-28T15:22:00.000-05:00

We have added some more Easter decor since our last decor post.

The subway art is from eighteen 25 and the pictures are from last year when they had their pictures taken with bunnies. I made the butterfly garland out of scrapbook paper.

The bunnies my great grandma made, she would have been a 100 on the 13th of this month.

If you weren't a follower of my blog last year here are some projects that I did and will probably do again this year.

[Bird Nest Treats]

[Egg-citing Easter Activities for Toddlers]

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Organizing Spices Part 1

2012-03-20T16:27:00.000-05:00

One of the most unorganized cabinets in my kitchen is the spice cabinet...too many spices and too little space. Another problem is my kitchen cabinets are up pretty high and being that I am only 5'2, I can't even see to the back of the cabinet which results in me climbing onto the counter everytime I am looking for something that is not in the front.

I got this Swivel and Store contraption which I thought would be a good solution. While it is a good idea in theory, it is not big enough for hardly any of my spice containers. Anyone else have one of these? What do you use it for?

I also had bought this spice rack many years ago. Problem is none of the spices I used were in it. So it sat on my counter for years just wasting space.

Not anymore folks. I emptied out all the spices in the containers and took all the labels off and let them soak in some soapy water. Then using my Silhouette, I cut out new labels for spices I use all the time. I then filled them up.

What I love most about this project is that I took something that was wasting space and made it useful. Also, now all my spices are easy to find and in arm's reach.

I still have some bigger spice containers and oils and sauces that need to be organized in my spice cabinet. So I will talk about that in Part 2.

Do you have a project that you made functional that was previously just a waste of space? I would love to hear about it.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Springtime Decor

2012-03-14T08:39:00.005-05:00

Remember the day I flooded my kitchen?

Well as if that wasn't enough to do in one day but I also thought that would be a great day to put out my spring decor. It was a great idea too because spring and all it's bright and cheery colors put me in a happy mood.

Want to hear the best part about my spring decor?

The only thing I bought was that big bunny and I bought him before Valentine's so I don't count that ;)

I got him at Home Goods for 12 dollars and I already had the eggs from my kids easter baskets. Doesn't it look like a jar of huge jelly beans?

I spray painted a old plate my Mom had given me and used my Silhouette to put a "Spring Chicken" on it.

Since these tissue rosettes from The Idea Room took me so long to make for Valentine's, I decided I would use them with my spring decor too. I just painted a candlestick I had green and added it to the top. I think it looks like a flower.

This tea set is very special to me, my grandma gave it to me, it was given to her 50 plus years ago for a wedding gift. I added the green plate behind it so it would stand out better. Oh and that book it is sitting on is from my husband's grandfather. Going through those old family heirlooms is a cheap and unique way to decorate your home and make it your own.

I had a bunch of spring scrapbook paper leftover from last year so that is what I used to make this banner. I just wish I would have made the letters a little bigger.

This is quote by Lady Bird Johnson that I found that I think describes Spring, a season full of hope and new beginnings.

Using vinyl cut by my Silhouette, I applied it to a old frame I had in my stash.

I already had that blue mason jar and the hydrangea stem was part of some flowers I had for my wedding.

You might remember my bunny plaque from last year.

I made these yarn eggs. I did them a little different then that site though. I used multi-colored yarn and instead of cutting small pieces, I did one long piece and hung them to dry with a clothespin on a wire hanger.

Here it is all together. I never can get a good picture of this room, it doesn't get much natural light.

My other tips for decorating for holidays on the cheap are to get vases, frames, and plates in a couple colors that can be used for several holidays and interchange them.

For example, Red , Aqua, and Green are my favortie colors to use.

Red can be used for Valentine's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Fall, and Christmas.

Aqua can be used for Winter, Easter and Summer.

Green can be used for St. Patty's Day, Spring, and Christmas.

The fabulous parties I am linking up to:

Mama said there'd be days like this...

2012-03-08T20:45:00.000-06:00

I thought I was having one of "those" days on Tuesday. One where nothing went right, one where the boys were into EVERYTHING. They dumped a container of dog food twice, broke glasses, wouldn't nap on the couch, put them in playpens in my room and then climbed out of course, put them in their room to take a nap and they take off their diapers(that are taped and have on jeans and a belt) and spread their poop all over the room. That would be the reasons that I have been putting them downstairs to nap.

Fast forward to today and they decide they want to go through another phase of doing this....

Only this time they are getting their stacking cups and filling them with water and dumping them on the floor. After them doing that several times I decide I am going to turn the water that connects to the fridge off. Only I end up turning the connectors for the hose to fridge instead of the valve because I didn't move the fridge away from the wall where I could see. Water spraying EVERYWHERE and the pressure was so high that I couldn't even see to turn the valve off because off the water spraying in my face. Babies screaming. All I could think was how my whole bottom floor of my house was going to be ruined. I felt like I was in the scene of the Titantic where the portholes bust, water is going everywhere, women and children are screaming. By the time I got it off, there was water standing from my stove to the french doors and it was flowing out the french doors onto the patio even though they were closed. I squeegeed the water out onto the patio and used a wet vac to do the rest and after 2 hours, the kitchen was finally back to its normal state.

What is my point in telling you all this?

Well God sure has a sense of humor because remember the whole reason I was turning the water off to start with?

So my kids wouldn't dump CUPS of water on the floor, so what happens when I go to turn it off I get GALLONS of water poured on my floor. So I think the lesson learned here, is don't sweat the small stuff and the things that seemed so bad a couple days before are nothing in the grand scheme of things.

via

The good Lord sure is teaching me lots of lessons in patience lately!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

{Random} Thoughts

2012-03-05T23:54:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I have done one of these. Heck it has been awhile since I have done a blog post period.

The main reason for that would be after 3 years of running on very little sleep, I have finally become tired enough to go to bed at a decent hour AND if I go to bed after midnight I can sleep the whole night through usually. I use to do all my blog post and crazy projects instead of sleeping so those have been put on the back burner.

You wanna know who else has been sleeping? These guys!

They hadn't had a regular nap in months, so we finally decided something needed to change. By their evening crankiness we could tell they definitely still needed them, so we moved them on to the couch where we can watch them and it prevents me from going up and down the stairs a hundred times to put them back in bed, make sure their diapers and clothes are on, etc.

All my twin mommas out there know that there is hardly a place you can go without being stopped by someone asking if your children are twins. It is annoying when you are trying to get in and out but I kindly answer their (silly) questions and go on about my business. I really thought this would be over after they weren't cute little chubby babies anymore but that is not so. I could go on and on about the crazy things people have asked or told me but I think by far the oddest story happened today. While trying to keep my kids from throwing cheerios all over the waiting room floor, a man walked up and asked if they are twins and I said yes, he goes on to tell me he has twin nephews. This is not uncommon, everyone tells me how they know someone who has twins( or my favorite, I know someone who had twins and then had triplets). He then tells me how one twin had a "freak" accident( he went into detail but I will spare you the details) and died and the other twin lived a miserable life without his brother. I was so in shock that someone would think that this is what a mother of twins would want to hear or in fact any mother would want to hear. I am sharing this because I think it is a lesson that you should think how your words will affect others before you open your mouth, we all want to share "our story" with other people but somethings are just better left unsaid unless asked upon. I think as moms we already go through worst case scenarios in our head before we do anything and adding extra worry is not necessary.

And to end this random post on a good note...

I texted my husband the other day asking him to go get some tweezers because I couldn't find ours and he comes back with these.

I went back and looked at the text thinking it was a auto correct error but nope he just read it wrong.

Wouldn't be so bad if I liked Twizzlers. Twizzlers anyone?

My Favorite Two Year Olds

2012-02-27T08:04:00.001-06:00

I haven't done a Gabe and Grant update in awhile. It could be because these guys keep me busier than ever before.

Gabe

-Neither one of them are talking very much yet(I could do a whole post just about that) but Gabe started putting some words together this week. I went to get them up one morning and he ran up to me with a torn up book and said "Bubba book uh-oh" then looks looks at Grant with disappointment. I think I have found my tattle tale :)

- He loves to wear his daddy's hats, shoes and sometimes sunglasses.

-He thinks he is too big for naps but then he ends up falling asleep in the middle of dinner.

Grant

- When we look at pictures of babies and I ask him "Where's the Baby?" and he of course points to himself.

-He carries a tape measure around and measures everything.

Both

-They rarely take naps now. When they do they crash hard, notice how they are not in their beds, no pillowcases on their pillows, no sheets on their bed and no shirts on.

-Bath time is like being on the front row to see Shamu at SeaWorld. Read: Mommy gets drenched, there is more water out of the tub than in.

- I tried to give them a bubble bath for the first time a month ago and they freaked out. I think they didn't like not being able to see their feet.

-Anytime I open up the fridge they scream "Cheese". They love string cheese.

- When I give one food, they point to the other's tray and want me to give him the same thing. They are all for equal rights.

-They love any kind of "dip", whether it be ketchup, honey mustard, gravy, or alfredo. Even when there is no dip to be found they pretend like they are dipping their food before they eat it.