the Mathews Family Happenings

Dirt Cheap Missoni and a 3D date

2012-02-10T12:00:00.003-06:00

Happy Friday friends!

Wanted to share a little news bulletin with those of you that are local, AND, even if you're not, you may want to head to the Dirt Cheap nearest you anyway...

are those everywhere? Hudson's Dirt Cheaps? Are they nationwide or just in Southern states? I've been to a few in other cities while on vacation but I wasn't sure...

Anywhoo, I got a text from my SIL last night (thank you MK) that said she'd been to one of the Dirt Cheap's in our town and had spotted lots of Missoni goods. That's right. Missoni. As is 'Missoni for Target'. As in, goods that sold out online and in stores and caused a website crash, not to mention several cat fights. THAT Missoni. Well, evidently not everything sold out, and our Dirt Cheap got a shipment from a Target store somewhere out there of the goods they had left. Of course I was in my car and headed to Dirt Cheap within 2 shakes of a lambs tail.

Here's what I found-

flats in various sizes (children & adults)

heels in various sizes

a couple chevron plates,

as well as a few floral ones (not pictured)

poufs

I grabbed a buggy and pretty much threw anything Missoni inside until I'd picked what I wanted. I also found a notebook and a couple clipboards, as well as the set of platters in my hand and the one in the buggy. Almost bought the big platter too, but in the end,...

this is what came home with me.

The blk/white platters, (nevermind that one's missing from the group- at $5, who cares?) and 2 pairs of little girl flats. E has already worn the fabric off of the toes on the pair that currently fit her, and I bought the next size up at Target already, so I picked up a size 6 for little MM, and a size 9. Now E will have an 8 AND a 9. Ya know, for when she grows.

I also brought home this cricut cartridge for a sweet $12.

Beach party anyone?

Did I find anything else I wanted to bring home, but didn't?

I'm so glad you asked.

Why yes. Yes I did.

I wanted this:

That's right.

A lucite chair on wheels.

Never in a million years (or 31) have I seen anything this cool at a Dirt Cheap. The Zig zag flats come close, but this wins.

(*ahem....attention family...I have a birthday coming up....ahem*)

In other non-dirt-cheapy news....

Hubs and son are stoked to be seeing this in 3D today. Will any of you be heading to the theatre as well??

Happy Weekend to ya!

An evening at home

2012-02-09T07:51:00.004-06:00

One of my favorite things to do is grab my camera and shoot my kids in their most familiar environment. Well, not shoot my kids.

Take pics. Capture moments.

Yes, we'll say "capture moments".

Tuesday night while we were at home, I grabbed my camera and after the initial,

"Look at me mom! Take my picture!" phase wore off, they forget my camera and I were watching. That's when the good, natural, everyday moments occur.

No posing.

Just play.

Here are a few of my faves from Tuesday night.

In other news...

6 loads of laundry last night.
2 were sheets, 4 were from my 4 weeks of neglect
still have 2 to go.
blargh.
On the bright side, I'm now back on the A team.
Good stuff all the way.

Happy Thursday friends!

Smash, the B team, and a little bit of Wu

2012-02-07T00:39:00.000-06:00

So,

if you've watched anything on NBC for the past month, and I do mean anything, including flipping throught the channels and landing on the network for 3.8 seconds, then chances are you've seen some of the promos for the new show Smash. Since the premise of the show has to do with Broadway and auditions and staging a musical such, and since there's also a real honest to God broadway actor in every scene, I was of course intrigued.

It premiered last night.

I watched.

And I loved.

I'm curious-

did you watch? What were your thoughts? Are you in Sutton's fan club and therefore find it hard to like Christian? Are you a McPhee fan from AI? Do you love the fact that Hilty is a real-deal broadway gal? Do you want Debra Messing's glasses as bad as I do? And how cool is it that she's married to Shrek?

If you're a Broadway lovin' gal/guy and you just got every single one of those references, raise your hand.

Awesome.

Moving on.

Remember my boycott? The one where I put off washing my own clothes, forcing me to wear things in my closet that must still be there for a reason? Showing love to the pieces that I deemed a necessary purchase at some point in time but maybe pushed to the back once newer stuff came along? Well friends, lemme tell ya- it was going great, and I mean great until I had to go to the B team. You see, while I'm still going strong in the "I still have clean clothes to wear and so what if they're not my favorites" department, I've had to go to "so this underwear doesn't make me feel like having an awesome day but it'll do". You all know what I'm talkin bout. The A team undies are the ones we all have that are the favorites and make us feel awesome. They make us smile when we wear them because they're a bright color/lacey/accent the bootay/help suck in our tummy...

basically, you think about whatever it is that makes you love a pair of undies and THAT's what puts them on the A team. For me, it's the Body by Victoria seamless in pretty much every color they come it. Did I just talk about my favorite type of undies on the internets? You bet your sweet bippy I did.

So...when you neglect your laundry for so long that you no longer have A team left, well then it's time to no longer neglect your laundry. The B team's been treating me fine this week, but I miss the good stuff. Hubs always buys me the good stuff for Christmas/birthdays/Tuesdays and I'm ready to get back into the A team. And if you're wondering what a C team would consist of... well that would be undies that you've been hanging on to since college (or high school , or basically whatever you were doing 10 years ago, depending on your age) and should have thrown out ages ago. I got rid of my C team last summer and really couldn't believe that I'd been hanging on to some of it. And while I like to be completely honest in sharing the good/bad/ugly, I'm sharing the mountain that is my dirty laundry as of this moment. And just as a reminder, no other members of my house were harmed in this experiment. Everyone else has clean clothes and is wearing their A team, although I did come across some B team 3T undies while putting away my son's clothes this morning. Might need to throw those out since he's nearing 7.

Enough of that.

It's time for a little Wu talk.

Did any of you head to Target on Sunday to snag pieces of Target's latest partnership with a hip design label?

Jason Wu's line for Target hit the sales floor early Sunday morn, and while there was buzz of a crazed-mob-snatching-Missoni-goods-crashing-website-and-selling-out remake, things were actually pretty calm here in t-town, and in the rest of the world. My sis arrived a few minutes before I did (yes I totally just ratted you out. No Chad, she didn't buy anything.) and texted that there were a total of 4 people in line, one of which happened to be my friend and hair stylist, Lindsay.

Hey Lindsay!

My honest opinion of the line?

You need to be supermodel-stick thin to wear it.

I had checked out all of the pieces online well in advance and knew I wanted to try on the navy dress with the stripes across the bottom. (Front and center of that first pic) The waist hit right below my boobs and poofed out creating a bit of a bump which would no doubt cause people to ask when I was due.

The dress did not come home with me.

See what I mean?

Some of the other pieces I tried made me feel downright grandma-ish. Specifically that blue floral number hanging in the dressing room with me. WAY too much fabric in the boob area. Picture Sandra Bullock in the too-big wedding dress in the proposal. Dontcha love when Betty White asks where her boobs are? Sorry...I digress.

Not all of the clothes were ill-fitting though. This dress was awesomeness, and while 1 of those 4 people in line must've snagged the only one in my size, I grabbed one on ebay yesterday for the same price as the store and scored with free shipping. So take THAT all you suckaz who thought you'd make a quick buck by buying up a buggy load of Wu and listing it on ebay like those folks did with Missoni. Doesn't seem to be working this time. There are even still items available online. (gasp)

Of course, another HUGE difference between this line and Missoni is the number of pieces. While Missoni's line included everything from dresses and shoes to vases and bicycles, the Wu line sticks to a handful of dresses, sweaters, tops, and a few accessories:

I didn't go to Target today (I know, shocker) so I don't know what's left, but I'm curious- did any of you go to check out the pieces? What did you think? I loved the handbag in the lower right corner of the pic above, but I swear to you it weighed 10 lbs EMPTY. No joke. I wanted to like all of it after seeing the look book online, but I just wasn't over the moon for it like I was for Missoni.

Ah well...

I'm off to start on this crazy huge mound of laundry so hopefully next time I write or see you in person I can happily say that I'm back on the A team.

Happy Tuesday!

mustache + lips baby shower

2012-02-05T15:38:00.000-06:00

Happy day to you friends!

I wanted to share a few pics + details with you from the shower this weekend-

First, I'll let you see pics of the actual party after people arrived and there was food on the table and whatnot. I'm usually terrible about forgetting to take pics during the party, but actually got a few shots this time.

The basic theme of the shower was mustache + lips = Owen

and boy howdy does Owen's daddy (my bro-in-law) have a huge honkin' mustache right now...

Here's the parents-to-be opening gifts,

And Kent trying to diaper a fauxnotreal babe.

Yes, the babe is upside-down.

Here he is again reading aloud some of the wishes that he has for his son.

All of the guests filled out a sheet of wishes for a keepsake book.

And lemme tell ya, they was some doozies.

Funny, funny stuff my friends.

I thought a few folks might pee they pants.

There was a table in the dining room with this on it:

a few photo props,

a chevron-y diaper cake,

and an 8x8 scrapbook with sheets for everyone to fill out for baby Owen.

You know, sweet things that he could read many years down the road.

And some were just that: sweet.

And some were not so much.

Back to the partay-

here's a few pics I snapped before anyone arrived,

hence the no food on the table

I made the table runner and the banner for the dining room in blk/white, but made a red one for the mantel since I plan to keep that one up through V-day.

I found THIS printable with tons of nicknames for a mustache and strung it up in the kitchen-

Here's hubs and me after the party doing the thing that he loves the MOST.

He said he felt silly having a prop, which is funny since he asked for one

on our first date.

So I held one for him...

And as for O man,

he was only too happy to take care of a leftover chocolate mustache.

I've had so much fun working on projects for this party for the past few months and now...

I jump straight into planning another one.

It's Batman mode now, all the way.

Can't you just see Gotham City in my dining room?

I'm off to the Bat cave, friends.

Until tomorrow!

psssst- I've linked this post to

hob lob and party prep

2012-02-02T09:10:00.000-06:00

the two go hand in hand-

yes?

Yes.

Happy to report that our brandspankingnew hob lob is bright and shiny and fully stocked with all of your crafting/party planning/general happy place needs. I'm currently prepping for a baby shower on Saturday and hob lob opened not a moment too soon and, of course, had everything on my list. Not to mention items that I could find NO WHERE ELSE in town. While I wasn't able to locate my iron-ons in time to make an 'I heart Hob Lob' t-shirt, I decided Elmo would suffice as he is almost always happy and giggly. Perfect for the opening of hob lob occasion if ya ask me.

Thank you hob lob.

From the bottom of my heart.

I'll be sharing all of the party deets with you this weekend, but for now I'll give ya this sneak peek at the direction I'm going:

Happy Thursday Friends!

hello lover

2012-01-31T11:03:00.001-06:00

Because,

sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.

And, well...

they're always glad you came.

Yup.

It's back.

Different location, same fabulousness.

many thanks to my friend Lisa for tweeting this pic and making me pee my pants with excitement.

As most of you know, our beloved Hob Lob was blown off the map last April and we've had to 'make do' with a stand-in which shall remain nameless to protect the semi-innocent. For this post's sake, we'll call this stand-in Shmichael's, mmmkay?

Things I WON'T miss about having to get my craft fix at Shmichael's:

1. Employees who look 16 and know nothing, and I mean NOTHING about crafting, craft supplies, things to do with crafts and general craftiness altogether. They also have no idea where anything is in the store in which they are employed.

2. Employees who have no idea what a Cricut machine is and tried to sell me a cutting mat for a Slice. To go in my Cricut. That ain't the same thing folks, but the leetle gal at Shmichael's tried to tell me it was. She be wrong. She be real wrong.

3. Although this could've happened in any parking lot, it didn't. It happened at Shmichael's.

It was raining.

I couldn't get in my hotmomvan.

I took pictures of the idiot parking job by the driver of the VW until that idiot driver came out of Shmichael's and saw me taking pictures of her car. I explained to her that I couldn't get in, which was obvious.

She made no apologies, but only looked at me as if I were the crazy one at fault. Again, this could've happened anywhere,

but it didn't.

It happened at Shmichael's.

4. On my last visit to Shmichael's, I found a lovely rotating rack on which to hang my flower pins. After searching through the store while pushing a double stroller with two antsy little gals and having no luck even finding an employee to help me, I took said rack up to the check-out counter to ask my question.

"Could the two hanging bars be adjusted on this rack or are they stationary?"

That was my question.

The response I received from the 16 year-old behind the counter:

"Well it probably has instructions inside".

That was it.

That was her entire response.

And then she just stood there and looked at me.

Nothing else.

"So, should I just take it back to the aisle and bust it open or should I do that up here on the counter?" was my response.

Again, she just looked at me, dumbfounded.

After waiting a few seconds and realizing she really had no idea how to solve the problem and after hearing the whines of my babes in the stroller growing louder by the second and after the frustration inside me had risen to a boiling point, I tore open the box, read the instructions myself while others waited behind me in line, because at this point I didn't really care. I found that, yes, the height of the racks could in fact be adjusted to your desired height. I crammed the pieces and the instructions back into the box as best I could in a hurried, frustrated state and through clenched teeth said,

"I'll take it."

It really is quite a cool little contraption and works exactly how I hoped it would, however, every time I look at it I'm reminded of the stupidity in which I had to deal with upon its purchase.

5. I'd also like to mention that on this same trip to Shmichael's, an employee of the store was there for a visit. On her off-day. With her dog. Behind the counter. Perhaps the reason that the gal from behind the counter didn't want to deal with me and my spinning-rack questions was because she was more interested in the dog running around. Behind the counter.

6. Shmichael's does not carry clothespins nor have they had bar pins in stock for the last 3 months. When I asked an employee where the clothespins were and after we both searched the store for a good 7 minutes, and then after she realized that they don't, in fact, carry them- she tells me to phone corporate and request that they sell them in their stores. Again, true story. I can't make this stuff up nor do I have the time. This same employee also had no clue what a bar pin was.

"You know, the thing you put on the back of a pin. To wear on your clothes. A thing to pin to your clothing- like a scarf or a shirt. Like the pin on the back a brooch." I had to say all of that for it to register with her. All of it.

7. The past two times I've been, they've been out of 1-inch grosgrain ribbon in black, red, and white.

8. They only carry photo storage boxes with nasty flowers on them. At hob lob, they have a plethora of photo storage boxes in all manners of color and patterns for you to choose from, including plain-jane black and white which is my preference.

9. I know the employees at our hob lob and I hope most of them will still be at the new location. I do not, nor do I care to know any of the employees at Shmichael's who again, know nothing of the things they are employed to sell.

10. I will not miss the occasional 25%-40% off sales of Shmichael's but look forward to once again enjoying 50% off entire departments for weeks at a time at hob lob.

Have I made myself clear?

To summarize, Hob Lob is back and Shmichael's stinks.

Can't wait to show you what I bring home on my first visit to the new store.

Also can't wait to show you my I heart hob lob shirt that I designed last night. Because I do.

I heart it.

Happy Tuesday y'all!

boycott, ballet, and busy

2012-01-27T06:41:00.000-06:00

3 things to share with you today:

BOYCOTT

see that?

That's my laundry.

A hamper full in the closet + overflow pile on the floor.

Haven't really been in the mood lately to wash my clothes.

Just mine, mind you. The rest of my fam is A-OK.

You could definitely call this an experiment in laziness, but I'm choosing to call it an experiment in creativity.

Why creativity?

Well you see, the longer I go without washing, the further I have to dig in my closet to come up with something to wear. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that people only wear about 10-15 % of their clothing the majority of the time because of favorites and whatnot. Do you have favorites? I do, but like I said, not really feelin' the laundry duty as of late so...

I'm gonna show some love to the pieces in my closet that have felt neglected, abused, and unwanted. Because they deserve their day in the sun too. Just like I deserve a little more time away from the washer + dryer. If you see me in the next few days and think I've gone shopping, I have.

In my closet.

BALLET

Eliza went to her first ballet class yesterday. Before we left the house, she showed me a few spins and twirls that she learned from Angelina Ballerina. I honestly don't know which of us was more excited. This child has been talking about ballet class for months and months and has had a fascination with tutus for as long as I can remember. I was just so happy seeing her so happy. We made it to the studio a few minutes early and within 2.5 seconds she'd already made a friend.

Take a bunch of teeny gals, dress em up in tutus + ballet shoes, put em in a room together and you got yourself a whole lotta BFF's.

The studio has an 'observation window' for parents to watch their kiddos, which is awesome. The window, however, is reflective and one-sided so the kids can't see everyone staring at them, which is not so awesome for taking pictures. My iphone seemed to work the best on the half window/half mirror, so here's a quick video I took of my girl in action. For the last 20 minutes of the hour-long class they wore tap shoes.

Pure cuteness.

She's ready to go back next week.
Can't wait.

BUSY

I'm finding more and more lately that my kids can keep themselves busy.
On their own.
Without me.

While it's nice to have a break from the constant need-to-be-on-mommy's-hip-all-the-time, it's just further proof that my babes are getting bigger.

I found the 3 of them coloring in the dining room last night while I made supper. Together, but working on their own masterpieces.

Always busy.

Happy Friday friends.

May you all have a lovely weekend!

a few things you should know

2012-01-24T09:05:00.002-06:00

Good morning friends!

Just wanted to share a few quick things with you today.

First....

I found this via Pinterest a few weeks ago.

I pinned it. I loved it. I ordered it. And I waited.

And waited.

And then I realized the etsy seller that makes it is based in Hawaii.

And then, yesterday, our postman left it in my mailbox.

It's true.

They do.

I opened my e-mail yesterday morning to find this:

I knew it was coming, but this e-mail was like opening a golden ticket.

Might just have to take the day off to spend some quality time perusing the aisles. It needs a proper welcome. The STORE needs to know how much we appreciate them being here.

I feel it is my duty.

I enrolled E in ballet class yesterday.

She's ecstatic, and if there was a word to describe being 1000 times happier than ecstatic, she'd be that. The only downer is that she thinks she gets to go to ballet whenever she tees or poos in the potty now. As in, every single time. It's going to be excrutiating for her to have to wait until Thursday rolls around each week, and I must say....

I'm as happy as she is.

A child of mine? Performing on the stage of the Bama?

Twirling and whirling and pointing toes and wearing a COSTUME?

Yes.

Ecstatic.

SO ecstatic I could pee my pants.

But I won't.

Because then I wouldn't allow myself to go with her.

Oliver got a video camera from my parents for Christmas.

It's his new favorite toy.

He takes it everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

He snuck it to school last week in his pocket.

I've got the video footage to prove it.

I'll have to share some of his cinematic genius soon-

it's quite entertaining to see what he deems 'video worthy'.

MM wore pigtails last night.

She's growing up.

I don't care for it.

She's growing up so much, in fact, that she teed in the potty last night.

Did you hear that, internets?

My precious little wee babe teed in the big girl potty and wants to be a 'rina' too.

Turns out she's been watching and listening and knows the deal.

Teetee in the potty = get to go to ballet class & be a ballerina

Done.

"I can do that", she says.

I can't handle it.

She's my babe.

Although...

If she does start using the potty NOW, and we've just said buh-bye to diapers for E, just think of all the extra money I'd have to spend on shoes/ finishing the kitchen/ getting my hair done/ gas/ bills/ clothes.

you get the picture...

every potty has a pooper, that's why we invited you

2012-01-23T08:15:00.002-06:00

She did it.

That's right.

Number two in the loo.

We danced, we celebrated,

and then we promptly sent the boys off to a hockey game while we girls went in search of a new Barbie.

Because my friends, that little gal had been a'holdin her poo IN, so not only did we have cause to celebrate over the fact that she'd done it in the potty, but we were celebrating the fact that she'd actually done it at ALL.

I love the look of pure astonishment that Toys R Us can cause.
Those aisles of stocked shelves can be overwhelming, not just to wee ones, but to the parents of the wee ones as well.

My kiddos each received gift cards to this most magical place, so we have Aunt Cindy to thank for this loot:

E picked a purple-haired Barbie, a half-dozen fake cupcakes for her kitchen, and a ballet tutu. MM is holding a new Minnie cell phone (because one can never have too many) and a mini Cabbage Patch in a lion costume.
Oh the happiness.

I must add that before leaving for the toy store, I too had to use the potty. After hearing me tee, Eliza patted my shoulder, told me, "Good Job Mommy! You want a new Barbie?" Can you even handle the sweetness of that? I told her that I just wanted HER to pick a new Barbie, but seeing as how proud she was of me, I think I'm at least entitled to a new pair of shoes.

Yes?

Moving on...

Muh boys enjoyed some UA hockey while we were perusin' the aisles.

Isn't my little man cute up there with his daddy's friends?

So glad they could do something manly while we were gettin' our girl-time on.

I made a lil' somethin somethin while I waited on the menfolk to get home.

It probably weighs in at a gajillion calories but it tasted so good, I didn't even care. It's another crockpot recipe I stumbled upon at school on Friday and friends, sometimes words can't describe the pure goodness of how something tastes.

This is one of those times.

Bananas Foster via slow-cooker:

1/2 C melted butter

1/4 C brown sugar (packed)

1/4 C rum (or 1/4 C rum extract)

5-6 bananas cut on the diagonal

Mix up those first 3 in your slow-cooker, toss in the bananas, and simmer on low for an hour. Since I was making this for one, I did about a fourth of what's called for and only waited for half an hour. Turns out, that actually worked, and consequently, sent me straight into a sugar-induced coma.

I kid.

But seriously-

it was gooooood.

(Subject change)

O lost his 2nd tooth this week.

Check out this snaggley cuteness:

and here's a look at all 3 coloring a birthday card for my Dad.

Happy Birthday Pops!

We love you!

Also tried out a couple more recipes from my board.

For supper Saturday night, we had chicken taco chili-

this pretty much required me to open several cans, dump the contents into my crockpot, put a few chicken breasts on top, and then go and play with my kiddos for 4 hours. About 30 minutes before we were ready to eat, I shredded the chicken with a couple of forks and bada-bing, bada-boom.

Dinner was served.

This one gets an A-plusssss because my kids ate it too.

Thanks again Pinterest.

Source: redsie05.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

For Dessert, I made this yumminess:

Source: myellowumbrella.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

Sopapilla cheesecake?

Made with crescent rolls?

So easy to put together a 3-year old can do it?

Yes.

Oh heavens yes.

Sheesh was it good.

That's all for today, but I do want to thank God for keeping us safe last night/this morning. Alabama had some rather nasty weather and I truly hope that none of you reading this were affected. Havea safe day my friends!

Love day inspiration and a lil' secret

2012-01-19T10:14:00.000-06:00

Happy Thursday friends!

If you haven't already, I urge you to take a moment and educate yourself about new legislation regarding the internet. This video is the best I've seen explaining the details.

Make your voice be heard.

Now, onto other matters at hand.

Like "love" day.

Like, "really wish I could go on a date with my hubs and no kids" day.

Like, "haha....that's not gonna happen" day.

I digress.

Of course, Valentine's Day is a day to celebrate those you love, not that you shouldn't do this EVERYDAY, but Hallmark is counting on you to celebrate on THIS day more than others. And really, it's hard to resist pink and red lovelies strewn about your mantel and door and where ever else it is you like to strew lovelies, because....well,....it's pretty. Today I want to share some of my V-day crafts from last year as well as some of the brilliance I've seen on the internets as of late.

First up is my "made from junk I found in my house" heart wreath:

wreath tutorial HERE

Foyer decor from 2011

Links to printable vintage V-day cards, 'Love one another' printable, and subway art printables all found in THIS post.

Love canvas tutorial HERE

And now, some of my faves from the internets:

FREE printable patterns.

SO many uses...

Source: hostessblog.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

Free V-day printable:

Source: proclamationpictures.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

Such a clever way to make an envelope- perhaps out of free printable paper?

Source: fortyweeksandthensome.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

You know that I love some book page crafts. This would be so easy-peezy:

Source: luxefinds.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

Fabulous Valentine printable suitable for giving to your sweeties:

Source: onecharmingparty.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

and an uber-simple paper chain made of hearts:
may have to string one of these up in my classroom...

Source: mangomommycrafts.blogspot.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

(these and other fabulous Valentine's day crafts can be found on my

Pinterest board.)

Now, for a lil' secret...

an editor of this website contacted me yesterday.

I almost peed my pants.

Don't know details of when it will happen, but they've asked if they could share something I made.

I told them I'd have to think about it.

Just kidding.

I answered with a giddy 'yes'.

Will share more when I have the deets.

Adieu for now my friends!

SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-18T10:25:00.000-06:00

Hello friends-

if you're not already aware, big changes are ahead for the internet as we know it. Many sites are going dark today in protest of these possible changes. If you're not familiar with SOPA and PIPA,

then take a look at this:

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

If any of you can shed more light on this, I'd love to hear what you know. From what I've read, it seems all we can do now is write to our state Senator. Is that right?
It kinda looks like a lot of the sites we use everyday, including blogs like mine, could be shut down.

Say it ain't so.
No really.....

SAY IT AIN'T SO.

9 things from my weekend

2012-01-17T01:08:00.000-06:00

1. Yesterday, E wore panties ALL.DAY.LONG. with no accidents. I was even brave enough to take her out, away from the comforts of our house and her little pink potty seat. Super Girl was amazing and she made it through an hour and a half of running errands with not even a drop of tee on her princess undies. This is one proud mamma who's not afraid to admit that she's already dreaming of what she could put that diaper moolah towards now that we'll only be buying half as many....

2. I got hooked on Downton Abbey over the weekend. Do you watch? It's a Masterpiece Classics production on PBS and it's amazeballs. Seriously. If you're not watching, you should be. Season 1 is now on Netflix so I watched the first 5 episodes Saturday & Sunday and then cheated and watched parts of the first 2 episodes of season 2 while also keeping up with the Golden Globes Sunday night. The writing/directing is superb and if sleep was something I could do without, I'd have finished the entire season already. The show won the globe for best television mini-series and airs Sunday nights on PBS.

pssst- just realized you can view full episodes of season 2 for a limited time on the link above. Don't jump ahead if you've not seen season 1 though-
do as I say, not as I do.

3. I read the first page to Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 5 times over the weekend. That is all.

4. I took the Christmas cards off of the cabinets and the Christmas wreath off of the front door yesterday. MEH, however, is still on the roof.

5. I cooked. Actual food. In the crockpot and in the oven. Can you even believe it? No microwave involved. I've been pinning recipes like crazy but never actually used any until Saturday. We had this for dinner:

Source: myrecipes.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

this for dessert:

Source: eatatallies.com via Mary Kathryn on Pinterest

and these while we watched the Globes:

Source: jennasjourneyblog.blogspot.com via Monica on Pinterest

I also made the Zaxby's sauce from the recipe on Pinterest and goshgollygee is it good. All of the recipes above can be found on my recipes board HERE, and just for the record, crescent rolls are my new BFF.

6. While watching the Golden Globes, E came running towards me with a distressed look on her face. She started crying, saying that she needed to poo-poo, but once she was within 3 feet of me I could already smell it. The poor girl was beside herself over the fact that she'd pooped in her princess panties, and really- who could blame her. I'd be distressed if I'd pooped in my panties too. We all would. I calmly but somewhat hysterically asked her where she was when she'd done the deed, knowing that if she'd been sitting on a white bedspread in her room, chances are some poop could've squished from the sides, but then...

I saw it.

And friends, lemme tell ya, I've never been so happy to see something like this before.

Rabbit pellet poo.

On the floor behind her,

down the hall to her bedroom,

in her bedroom floor,

and then all over the bathmat when we took those soiled princess undies off.

If you're a parent, or a human, you know rabbit pellet poo.

It's small, round, and hard, which makes it super easy to pick up- should you ever have to.

So there I was, watching the second most prestigious awards show of the season with all this glitz and glamour oozing from the screen and walking along, picking up rabbit pellet poo.

Our little Super Girl still won't poo in the potty. Number ones all day long in the loo, but no number twos.

7. I feel as though I've blogged about E way more than my other kiddos lately, and I have- what with all this potty training and whatnot. I'll have to correct that soon.

8. I'm working on lots of new goodies for the shop. Pics to come.

9. I have to share my faves from the Golden Globes and also tell you that I think a couple of my twitter friends nailed it when they said that Tilda Swinton looked like she was channeling David Bowie. What would we do without the Tilda's and the Bjork's to liven up the awards shows, hmmm?

My fave of the evening was Kate Itshouldbeillegaltobethisgorgeous Beckinsale:

(yes, that's her real middle name in case you wondered)

also loved Emma, Heidi, and Debra,

as well as:

Viola, Kristen, Sofia, and Kate.

And now, for those I lovingly refer to as the crazies who really give us something to talk about:

all photos found here and here

Tilda Swinton a.k.a. David Bowie

Jessica Biel in a 1980's promslashwedding dress

Kelly Osbourne as a futuristic Jeston's-ish mermaid

and Madonna in one glove and a dress that was just...heinous.

Who were your bests and worsts of the evening?
Or are you not an award show junkie?
Have you ever had to pick up poo before, or is it just me?

Do tell....

someone at my house is wearing princess panties

2012-01-13T11:54:00.000-06:00

and it's not me.

It's this little gal right here:

yup.

It's our sweet little diva-costume-wearing-wizard-of-oz-lovin' Eliza.

At 2 1/2 years old, she's actually been 'ready' for a while now. And when I say 'ready', I mean totally knows when she needs to go and hides under tables and in closets so as not to be seen as she does her bidness type of ready. She's also been telling us to change her diaper and has, on occasion, brought us one herself as if to say, "My bum is wet and/or nasty with poo and I'd like for you to get it off now". She also, and here's the kicker, will tell us which type of butt paste she would like. Yes, .... I know. Such a diva.

When this started several months ago, we immediately began trying to get her little booty on the pot but were met with screams of protest, and when I say 'screams', I mean just that. Screams. Even with promises of new Barbies and dress-up clothes, ponies and jewels, keys to her own car and a Swiss bank account with loads of cash. Since it's not our habit of making our kids cry and flail about if we can help it, we didn't push it. No sense in making her crazy mad, and after all...it wasn't like she's 6 and being denied access to big school because she can't wipe her own tooshie. She's just 2. There's still time.

Well my friends, that time has come.

She is finally willing to not only sit on the potty, but to do something in it. Only #1 so far, but we're hopeful that any second now we'll get to flush something solid. Better for it to be goin' down the loo than ending up on our curb. Why the sudden change in attitude over sittin' on the pot? Well...I have to credit the hubs. Don't know how he did it, but he was off at the beginning of the week and called me on Wednesday to pick up a little prize on my way home because low and behold Eliza had peed in the potty. The teeny little bowl full of teeny little fruit in her hands in the pic above are erasers that I picked up in the dollah spot at Target. Also picked up some super-cool felt sushi for a buck. Because what 1 and 2 year old don't like to pretend that they're eating raw fish? Hmmm?

Anywho, just wanted to share a bit of what's happening at the Mathews hizzy this week. Along with the extravagant list above, we've also promised E that she can go to ballet classes as soon as she poops, so here's hoping we're taking a tutu-clad girly to a studio near us soon and very soon. We've had two in diapers for almost 20 months now, which has been totally awesome. And when I say 'awesome', I mean expensive.

Happy Friday y'all!

awards show season, how I love thee

2012-01-12T11:23:00.001-06:00

Anyone out there as excited as I am about awards show season and the fact that it is upon us?

The movies, the fashion, the nominees, the winners, the fashion, the upsets, the interviews, the fashion....

In case you missed it, the People's Choice awards took place last night. While it's not considered one of the big ones, (The Golden Globes, Academy Awards) it does offer up a bevy of gawgeousness on the red carpet. Here are a few of my faves:

Gawgeous hair, gawgeous dress, love it ALL

Although this makes me think of "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" with it's web-like design, I still liked it

LOVED the 20's vibe Lea had goin on.

LOVED.

Her tv BF looked dapper as well.

Love the color and those SLEEVES

Almost didn't like this one, but it's Katniss y'all.

She didn't make my 'best' list because of the craziness goin on in the back of what could have been a fabulous dress, but he totally DID. Gale looks good.

Have I mentioned lately that I can't wait until March?

Va-va-va-vooooom.

Who doesn't love Betty?

And now,

for the 'not so pretties'...

She may be wearing Pantone's color of the year, but Kelly's dress missed the mark for me. The bright red lips aren't helping the situation either. And Sharon's dress doesn't look too bad here, but....

it looks just plain awful here.

Sorry Sharon.

I wanted to Like Ashley's dress too, but I can see her belly button, and...

is that the outline of her undies?

Mirrors are our friend, Ash.

Nice legs & hair though.

Demi, Demi, Demi....

this is just too much for the People's Choice Awards.

Too too too too much.

I do like that she kept the hair + makeup low-key so as not to overpower the loud dress that would fit in lovely at the Academy Awards.... but not here.

Fringe?

No no.

Too much crazy at the top of the dress as well as the bottom.

Is this plastic?

Whatever it is, it's awful and the flat hair isn't helping.

It's ALL bad.

And while I do love you Emma,

I am not a fan of this green jacket.

Love the pants + shoes, but the top just isn't workin for me.

What did you think?

Who were your faves and who do you think looked like poop?

Hmmmm?

(all images found here, here, here and here)

And since there actually is a point to these award shows other than to praise and ridicule what everyone wore, here are the categories + winners from this years People's Choice Awards:

FAVORITE MOVIES

Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Movie Actor: Johnny Depp

Movie Actress: Emma Stone

Movie Icon: Morgan Freeman

Action Movie: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Action Star: Hugh Jackman

Drama Movie: Water for Elephants

Comedy Movie: Bridesmaids

Comedic Movie Actor: Adam Sandler

Comedic Movie Actress: Emma Stone

Ensemble Movie Cast: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Movie Star Under 25: Chloë Moretz

Animated Movie Voice: Johnny Depp as Rango, Rango

Movie Superhero: Ryan Reynolds, Green Lantern

Favorite Book Adaptation: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

FAVORITE TELEVISION

Network TV Drama: Supernatural

TV Drama Actor: Nathan Fillion

TV Drama Actress: Nina Dobrev

Cable TV Drama: Pretty Little Liars

Network TV Comedy: How I Met Your Mother

TV Comedy Actor: Neil Patrick Harris

TV Comedy Actress: Lea Michele

Cable TV Comedy: Hot in Cleveland

TV Competition Show: American Idol

TV Crime Drama: Castle

Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show: Supernatural

Daytime TV Host: Ellen DeGeneres

Late Night TV Host: Jimmy Fallon

TV Guest Star: Katy Perry, How I Met Your Mother

TV Celebreality Star: Kim Kardashian

New TV Drama: Person of Interest

New TV Comedy: 2 Broke Girls

FAVORITE MUSIC

Favorite Male Artist: Bruno Mars

Female Artist: Katy Perry

Song of the Year: "E.T.," Katy Perry, featuring Kanye West

Album of the Year: Born This Way, Lady Gaga

Pop Artist: Demi Lovato

Hip-Hop Artist: Eminem

R&B Artist: Rihanna

Band: Maroon Five

Country Artist: Taylor Swift

Music Video: "Last Friday Night (TGIF)," Katy Perry

Tour Headliner: Katy Perry

psssst-

the Golden Globes are this Sunday.

Will you be watching?

ROOOOOOOLLLLLL TIDE ROLL!!!

2012-01-10T10:20:00.000-06:00

It may be raining in Tuscaloosa right now, but I geh-rohn-TEE you can't dampen the spirits of the TIDE fans! Last night, Alabama brought home it's 14th National Championship. That's more than any other school, just in case you didn't know.

Alabama 21 - LSU 0

Awesome game.

Awesome team.

Awesome coach.

Awesome fans.

LOTS of awesomeness going on.

The game was broadcast on ESPN and I can't write about it without talking about Erin Andrews attire.

A buttercream pantsuit with a purple blouse?

Really?

via

Yes, those are LSU's team colors, but the outfit itself wasn't even pretty. Next time Erin, ya might want to try wearing some Crimson & white.

Just sayin'.

Another interesting tidbit: LSU only crossed the 50 yard line ONCE in the entire game. Can you say defense? I also heard that this is the first shut-out EVAH in BCS National Championship history. Anyone know if this is true? I'm gonna go ahead and say it is...

It was so cool to immediately hear the screams/shouts/celebratory HOO-RAHS of our neighbors after the game from our own living room! I can't imagine what the atmosphere was like on campus. Had to have been downright crazy! We also heard fireworks. Lots of fireworks. Folks also started to post pictures of the crowds lined up at sporting goods shops all over town. I imagine most of the people in my town had a very late night.

Of course, I immediately got to craftin'. Nevermind that it was after 11 pm when I stopped watching the trophy hoisting and the speech giving.

This was first-

just a simple glittery '14' added to one of my flowers-

I also made a super-quick wreath by wrapping crimson flannel around my Christmas yarn wreath from 2 years ago. (I just cut the rosettes off of it) I free-handed a big '14' out of cardboard, covered it in houndstooth felt, and then hot glued the numbers to the wreath.

Easy peasy lemon squeazy.

I didn't really think about selling the wreaths but I've already had a request for one, so if you're interested just shoot me an email. I'll be glad to whip up a few more. As for other Roll Tide awesomeness, you can shop my store HERE for flower pins, headbands, hair clips, houndstooth pennant banners, and soon to come *new* pillow covers in houndstooth and elephant print. In the meantime, I hope you're having a fabulous Tuesday friends!

Roll Tide.

Roll Tide y'all

2012-01-09T10:16:00.002-06:00

The big game is tonight!

Will you be watching?

via

You know where my loyalty lies, so I just have to share the fact that I came across a poll on one of the sports sites where I grabbed those two pics and guess what it said?

Out of those who have voted so far, 83.6% predict a Bama win!

Roll Tide to that.

I've been sewing my fingers off making houndstooth & crimson goodies!

Pillow covers, head bands, pins, clips, and *new* mini clips

Not all of these items are listed in my shop yet-

If you're local and would like something ASAP, just let me know.

In the meantime, I hope you're having a fabulous Monday!

And I have to throw one more ROLL TIDE out there.

ROLL TIDE.

(okay...two more)

Is it March yet?

2012-01-05T23:19:00.000-06:00

can

not

wait

I finished the third book (Mockingjay) today, which means I read all 3 in a span of 3 and half days.
Yes, they're that good.
Can't believe I thought it was a diet book.

I keep watching the trailer to see how the actors compare to what I envisioned the characters to look like as I read. Katniss and Gale are a perfect fit. Even Effie I like. Not sure about Peeta yet...

Are any of you looking forward to the movie as much as I am?

I got sucked in

2012-01-03T23:17:00.000-06:00

I haven't blogged in days.

I also haven't slept much lately and it's not the babes faults.

I admit that when I first heard of this, I thought it was a new diet fad and immediately dismissed it,

but now I'm hooked and soon to be on book 3 of

(Yes, I know I'm late to the party)

Have you read them?

Did you think it was some sort of new age diet at first, like me?

Does everything turn out okay, because I'm right smack dab in the middle of book two and things ain't goin so hot.

We've had one amazing Christmas break and I have much to share, but for the next 24 hours I will be trying to finish out this series because I must know the fate of Katniss and Peeta before I start back to work on Thursday.

Was that dramatic enough?

(I do enjoy the occasional drama.)

I promise to be back soon with news of 2012 and real life and whatnot, but until then, I'll be sucked into this future world of starvation and victors and hunting and romance- only stopping briefly to fetch a sippy or change a poop.

p.s.- I'm the new owner of a nook tablet which I'm still learning to use-

do any of you have one? Do you love it? I've just learned that you can loan and borrow books from other nook users which I find to be totally cool. Are there any other books out there that any of you are reading now that you can't put down? Please share- I'd LOVE to hear!

The soon to be Clark 3

2011-12-31T13:39:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year's Eve friends!

I took some photos of my seester and her beau a few days before Christmas and wanted to share them.

This is me pretending to be a photographer.

I am not one,

although, like I said...

I pretend.

So excited that they'll be going to the chapel next Fall.

Also pictured is Harper, Chad's dog and their first child.

Sweetest.Dog.Evah.

I'd like to thank my handy assistant, Oliver, for toting my lenses around for me.

He is most helpful.

I'd also like to thank Mal for getting this shot.

I have pretty much zero pics of me with my kiddos because I'm always the one taking them.

so thanks, Mal.

I'll be back soon with a re-cap post on 2011.

It was a dooooozy.

Around here...

2011-12-29T00:01:00.001-06:00

...we're still putting away new Christmas toys,
and building some of them.

yes, he's crazy flexible.

...still enjoying our realnotfaux tree.

...drinking lots and lots and lots of coffee and tea from this new piece of aswesomeness.

...lots of Nerf battles are raging.
Even the girls are getting in on the action.

...lots of princess dress wearing is goin' on.

Lots of new dresses + shoes in the princess wardrobe now.

...lots of staying up late + sleeping late.

I love this part.
Not having to wake up early to go to work is an invitation for me to stay up as late as I want. I read, I watch Fallon, I tweet, I scour the internets looking for great boots. Speaking of boots...

...searching for the perfect pair of black boots.

Already own the perfect pair of brown ones, but alas...

no black.

And the perfect boots is hard to come by, my friends.

...6 loads of laundry were done today. Everyone is sleeping on clean sheets as I type. Well, not me of course. Just the 4 others I live with. I'd love to say that 6 loads was the whole kitncaboodle, but it's not. 3 loads remain in hampers, but I'll think on those another day.

...lots of 'too small clothes' are coming outta the kiddos closets. This part of cleaning out is hard for me. Just proves that they are, in fact, getting bigger and can no longer wear that cute minky dot jumper or that favorite Star Wars shirt anymore.

boo.

...finally watched Water for Elephants. I don't know that I've ever seen another movie that stayed so true to the book it was based on. (Besides omitting much of the modern-day storyline.) I quite enjoyed it, and since it was a gift from the hubs, I'm looking forward to enjoying it again and again and again...

...lots of hugs and kisses and playtime.

Oh how I LOVE being home during the day with my kiddos.

...we're drinking some crazy good milk.

Crazy good and crazy fattening.

Good thing it's limited.

...started reading this today.

have any of you read it?

It's written by Nester's sister.

I gifted it to myself, along with these swell dish towels I found at Target last week.

...we like to make up songs while we hold our new Barbie umbrella.
I believe she titled this song, "It's Raining Outside".

***

things are calming down,

despite those raging Nerf battles.

***

I hope all of you had a lovely Christmas. We were blessed to be able to spend time with almost all of our family last week. Looking forward to lots more dress-up and snuggles and legos and songs and milk mustaches and lazy mornings and no more laundry.
(for a little while, at least)

Happy Thursday friends!

Merry Christmas y'all

2011-12-25T00:39:00.000-06:00

Friends, I wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas, from the hearts of our bottom.

I mean,

the bottom of our hearts....

{grin}

I pray that you are blessed with a wonderful day spent with friends and family and that you're mindful of the reason we truly celebrate.

I'll be singing in the worship service at our church today, and although many of you are probably already familiar with this song, I wanted to share the lyrics for those of you who might not be.

Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would save our sons & daughters?

Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?

This child that you deliver will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to the blind man?

Mary did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?

And when you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God?

Oh Mary, did you know?

The blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.

The lame will leap, the dumb will speak the praises of the Lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy was Heaven's perfect Lamb?

And the sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am-

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Happenings and such

2011-12-21T17:45:00.000-06:00

Wowza.

That's the longest blogging break I've taken in a while.

It's a crazy time-

we've sped right into Christmas gathering/concert/party/present swap hyper-drive. Yes, yes we have.

Have you?

I am this { } close to finishing all of the Christmas shopping.

After today, I plan to be this close: {}

as in pretty much done.

I wanted to post some pics of a few of the gatherings/concerts/parties/present swaps that we've attended/hosted/swapped at thus far.

Enjoy.

***

12.3.11

Our annual ladies ornament swap.
I look forward to this every year-
good friends, mounds of yumminess, and dirty Santa.
What better way to spend a Saturday morning?
So glad our pastor's wife was able to come.
She's been out of church since April battling cancer and it was amazing to have her back with us.
Love you Brenda.

12.10.11

The children's choir at church does a precious musical program every year which tells the story of Jesus' birth. And really, is there anything cuter than seeing little ones acting out the nativity in full costume?

That lil' wiseman in the middle is mine.

12.16.11

We went to a live nativity at a church near our school with all 3 kiddos.

They loved the donkey and this little nativity that we were given by members of the church.

After meeting up with hubs parents to pass off MM, we took the older two kiddos to see A Christmas Story at the Bama Theatre. This is one of the quintessential Christmas movies and seeing it live (especially when you know most of the actors) was a treat. I snapped this on my phone and I know it's hard to see, but this is the scene when Ralphie comes down the stairs in the bunny pjs.

12.17.11

We had a 'Tacky Christmas' party at our house.

Have you been to one of these?

I went to the thrift store to pick out my attire and hubs went to Belk.

That's right.

He was in brankspankin new clothes and I was in something that's been around since 1983.

My sincerest apologies if you happen to own the sweater hubs is sporting.

It really is quite lovely,

just not on a man.

His brother came in the same thing.

Awesome.

Here's our youth minister and his wife and their 2 girlys.

Yes, Kathryn is freakishly skinny to have just birthed a babe.

She and Jonathan both raided their moms closets and came out with very similar vests.

Cute.

Our friends Brittany and John Paul and their cutie-patootie-non-tacky baby girl, Turner McCartney

My lil dude sported a moustache all night.

He was also armed for most of the night.

We ate lots of yummy goodness and played a rousing game of Scene it-

12.18.11

Our church choir combined with members of the church where we are currently having services for the Christmas cantata this year. Was that confusing enough? (For more info on my church and why we're having services in another building, go HERE.) It was beautiful. Gorgeous music followed by a fellowship with both congregations after the service.

12.19.11

"Comfortable Christmas" at my hubs parents house.

As in, dress comfortably, which hubs took to the extreme.

Knowing hubs would be dressed down,

his brother chose to do the opposite, and so-

they looked like this:

The rule for gifts this year was to wrap up items from your home that you wouldn't mind not having anymore and that's what we played dirty santa with this year.

Hubs opened a box of Poly-grip and several old pie pans.

Sorry he's half dressed here.

His uncle opened several framed pictures from our house that hubs brother had stolen a couple days prior while at our tacky party.

There was also a can of Resolve in there.

Can't forget about the Resolve.

Hubs grandmother opened a pair of Flash undies.

Hubs mom opened a VCR/DVD combo from our house that no longer works.

We also threw in a VHS tape and a DVD as a bonus gift.

After hubs gave his first gift to his grandfather, (no, we didn't exactly play by the rules) he was free to open another.

It was a doozy.

Before you see the whole thing, don't be alarmed.

It's just acrylic paint.

Because who wouldn't want to open a pair of poopy undies?

Kudos to hubs aunt who worked her magic and made it so, ummm,

realistic.

Here's just one of the many pics I had to steal back.

You know, since they were mine anyway.

The kids got real presents.

Barbies and costumes galore.

I'm so glad I have new Barbies to play with!

I mean 'they'.

I'm so glad they have new Barbies to play with...

and here's E in her new costume, complete with crown and wand.

And now I'm caught up on what's been a'happening around these parts lately.

I hope your Christmas season has been full and festive as well!

And FYI, the Witch was just liquidated for the 3rd time this week.

She's still on a Wizard of Oz kick and I love it.

Merry Christmas friends!

Our 2011 Christmas card

2011-12-16T11:18:00.000-06:00

Hello my name is Mary Kathryn and I procrastinate.

A lot.

Finally made Christmas cards.

It's hard, because there are approximately 300 sites and eleventy-billion designs to choose from.

You do the math.

I feel like I deserve a pat on the back for picking a design and sticking with it. And some cake. A pat on the back, some cake, and maybe some earrings.

Nevermind that I designed two different cards on 2 different sites and basically did eeny-meeny-miny-mo to make the final decision.

They're cute,

I get to show off my kiddos,

and they're cute.

Also love that I was able to add a message on the back, although you can't see that part below. If I share these on my blog, I get a sweet discount on my next Shutterfly purchase, so...

Thanks, Shutterfly!
I'll keep ordering and sharing and rackin' up those discounts!

Seriously, thank you.

And to all of you out there reading this on the internets,I wish I could send a card to each of you, but not having your addresses or millions to spend on stamps, this will have to do. I appreciate each and every one of you who take time to read my dribble, so...
consider yourself carded.

Merry Christmas to ya!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

2011 Christmas home tour

2011-12-14T18:01:00.000-06:00

I'm linking up with Nester, Michaela, Kelly, and Thrifty Decor Chick, so here's my tree + the rest of the house I haven't posted pics of yet.

And the roof.

Let's not forget the roof.

Come inside, won't you?

Grab a juice box and make yourself at home...

This is the same wreath I had on our front door last year. If you look closely, you can see the dust from having been in our storage room for the past 12 months.

See?

HellomynameisMaryKathrynandIdon'tliketodust.

Moving on.

Into the foyer-

I added an 'M' ornament from Restoration Hardware to my berry wreath.

Kinda like it.

Watch your step,

toddlers crossing...

Book page snowflakes, garland, and a Nativity in the dining room-

and those trees on the table.

Forgot about the trees.

There's also tee-niny little white ones in the cabinet/hutch thing, along with a book page ornament and more snowflakes.

My fave nativity from Damdaco.

Taking a left and crossing back through the foyer, we come to the living room/playroom/office-

start snapping pics in here and this is what happens:

Like moth to a flame I tell ya.

Moth to a flame.

They're actually playing Deck the Halls.

At least, that's what page the book is turned to...

To the right of the piano is the mantel.

Loved (and still loving) my Christmas mantel this year.

More info about what I thrifted/made/spray painted on the mantel HERE.

And to the right of the mantel,

the tree.

Our first ever real not faux tree.

Yup.

No ornaments on the bottom half.

I live with a 1 and a 2 year old.

Within 30 seconds of opening the infamous red/green Christmas tubs, two ornaments had already been dropped and broken.

Boo.

It's okay- no biggie. It just lead me to not unpack a single one of these-

No Hallmarks this year.

No.not.one.

Okay I lied-

I just looked and there's actually a few that made the cut, but they did NOT come out of that tub. Must have been stored somewhere else.

My awesomesauce '12 Days of Christmas' tree skirt and the naked bottom half of my tree.

Let's just concentrate on the top half with the ornaments, shall we?

I scored that one at the ladies ornament swap this year.

Still need to blog about that...

Watch out for toddlers again-

The star topper hasn't made it to the top yet because I couldn't reach high enough and hubs was busy keeping the kids occupied in another room so we didn't have to trash anymore ornaments.

On the other side of this room is the sofa.

It's sportin' a brandspankin' new red pom pom throw from One Kings Lane. Do any of you shop from that site? Kinda like a deal-a-day type thing, ...almost.

I left the green chevron pillows and threw on the pillow I made from a Target dishtowel.

I kinda liked it better after I threw it and the dvd box on the floor though.

A bit more simple and clean looking.

Except for the pillow and the dvd box on the floor.

Backtracking to the dining room and into the kitchen:

A Christmas message and a countdown on our chalkboard,

and a Christmas card display on our cabinets.

Nope.

Still no crown moulding.

Soon...

very soon.

And now, if you'll follow me all the way down the back hall, I'd like to show you a little something in the bedroom.

No, silly....

get yer head outta the gutter.

I'm talking about my stud on the wall.

I even decked Moe out for Christmas.

He's super pumped about it.

Back down the hall and the last door the the right,

you're in for a treat.

It's the man cave.

Keep in mind- I let the hubs decorate in here.

It's his room afterall, and he did it up real good for Christmas.

This is the ONLY room with colored lights.

It's his room, not mine.

and with the lights on, ya know...

so you can see the Dumb and Dumber poster on the mantel a little bit better.

Yes, the lights go ALL the way around the room.

Staple gun, my friends.

Good thing he's freakishly handsome or I mighta had somethin' to say about that.

And now, let's go back through the house to the front door and out into the yard so you can see our famous roof.

That's right-

it was on a blog.

A blog that's not even mine.

A friend sent me the link on facebook-

(thank you Kayla)

Here it is if you'd like to see the post yourself-

it sparked quite a debate in the comments

My hubs and his shenanigans.

And for the record, let me say that 'meh' is in no way our attitude towards Christmas. We are Christians and definitely stress the true meaning of this holiday in our home. In fact, we rarely mention Santa Claus because that's not what we want our kiddos to be focused on at Christmas time.

It's all about Jesus my friends.

The words hubs puts on our roof are merely for fun. Pure shenanigans. And again, just in case you missed it, here's last year's roof.

Merry Christmas friends!

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

The Angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good tidings of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11

Pillows full of sentiment

2011-12-14T11:07:00.000-06:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! I wanted to share a project I made for a friend because it was just so genius I'll probably be making my own soon. While I'd love to say this was all my idea, I cannot. Because it wasn't. My dear friend Mary asked if I could turn a couple of her shirts into pillow covers, and while I'd never done that before, I knew it could be done. Shirts are fabric too afterall...

You may be wondering what would make shirts so sentimental as to cause someone to want to keep them forever as a pillow-
well I'll tell ya-

The pink one on the left is a maternity shirt that Mary wore while pregnant with her daughter Rory, and she wore the turquoise shirt while in Ethiopia adopting her daughter Magy.

Pretty cool, huh?

I've got a couple maternity shirts I'll never wear again but would love to preserve in some way because they're special to me, ya know?

First, we picked out coordinating fabrics and then I got to cutting. I used the same technique as with THESE pillows except that I had 3 seperate pieces this time instead of 1. Same dimensions, with a piece in the front (the shirt), and two pieces that overlapped in the back to make the envelope part.

To create monograms on the front, I cut out letters with my cricut, flipped them backwards, and traced them onto the back of the fabric.

Then pinned them and stitched each to the front of the t-shirt piece. It's much easier if you're gonna add a monogram to do it before sewing the whole she-bang together.

After attaching the letters to the front, I laid the pieces of each pillow right-sides-together and stitched all 4 sides. Flip them right-side-out, grab a pillow, and there ya go.

An awesome way to hold on to a garment with special meaning without having to wear it. Maybe YOU have some special pieces that this project would be perfect for-

Before I sign off for today, I have to share two more things.

First: this pic of MM that I snapped with my phone a couple nights ago. I don't even think she understands about Santa and the chimney and whatnot, but doesn't this just seem as though she's looking for him?

Precious girly.

And 2nd:

I know there are several companies/organizations out there who are giving $ to various charities during the holidays and while we all would love to do our part, it's sometimes not realistic for us to volunteer hours of our time or give away loads of our money. There is, however, one company who is donating $1 to Toys for Tots for every viewing of this video-

so here's a way you can help and ALL you have to do is click this link.

That's it.

It's super short and just like that, you've (kind of) donated a buck to a great organization.

Happy Viewing!

http://www.luckie.com/santa/