Home Growing Happiness

Wordless Wednesday - Me and My Grandpa

2011-07-06T22:30:00.000-04:00

Reusable Snack/Sandwich Bags

2011-06-17T15:08:00.000-04:00

I've been really busy since summer has started and haven't been blogging much but I've got lots that I want to tell you about! So one of the projects that I was working on a month or so ago, was making my own reusable snack/sandwich bags. This is something that I have been wanting to do for awhile. Typically we would reuse our plastic sandwich bags multiple times before disposing, so I figured that reusable cloth bags were the way to go. I didn't want to buy them since they seemed so easy to make. And guess what - they were easy to make (even for a novice sewer like me)!

I wasn't sure what the best size would be, so I made a variety of sizes. I was also exploring my options so some have pull tabs and/or strap. I think I have come to the conclusion that 2 pull tabs are best and straps are best for snack sized bags.

I'm sure that there are plenty of better tutorials on the web, but if my learning curve can help anyone else out - here ya go!

Materials:
Fabric of your choice
Ripstop nylon
Coordinating ribbon if adding pull tabs and/or strap
Thread
Rotary cutting mat, ruler and cutter (or scissors and a measuring tape)
Serger (I used a Singer mini serger)
Pins
Velcro

Fabric pieces for larger bag

Fabric pieces for smaller snack bag

1. Cut out 2 squares/rectangles of fabric (I used 6.5" x 6.5" for a large snack/sandwich bag and 6.5" x 4"for a snack bag). Cut 2 squares/rectangles of the same dimensions our of your ripstop nylon. If you would like a strap, either cut a length of coordinating fabric or ribbon to twice the desired length (I will be adding a strap to the smaller bag).

Ripstop nylon serged to the fabric of the large bag

Ripstop nylon serged to the fabric of the small bag

2. Line up the wrong side of the fabric with the ripstop nylon and serge the edge. If you are adding a strap, fold the fabric in half lengthwise and serge the edge.

I attached two tabs to each bag.

3. If you are adding tabs, cut your ribbon into segments of ~2". I added two tabs to each bag, therefore I needed 4 sections of ribbon. Fold the ribbon in half width wise and center on the ripstop side of your fabric. Sew the tab onto the fabric.

Velcro is now attached to the top of both bags. (Ignore the handle on the small snack bag - I had a little oppsey since I was in a hurry to finish before Little Bear woke up. Needless to say, hurrying is never worth it since I had to go back and fix and finish the bag later anyway!)

4. Cut your velcro into a segment that is the same length as the top of your bag. Pin and sew.

The strap has been attached on the small bag, the right way this time!

5. If you are adding a strap, fold it in half width wise and pin to the outer (right) side of one fabric swatch. Pin it at an angle that is a mirror image to the angle that you would like it to attach. Sew.

Completed bags.

6. Pin bags with right sides together. Sew along side and bottom edges. Turn bag right side out and you're done!

After trying the bags out, I decided that I loved this style for snacks but not so much for sandwiches. I went back and found another design that I like even better for sandwiches. I'll share that one later!

Wordless Wednesday - My Boys (because Father's day is coming!)

2011-06-15T14:14:00.000-04:00

Yard Sale Steals & Deals [9]

2011-06-13T14:08:00.000-04:00

Can you tell that we love yard sales?

Little Bear was getting a little impatient... He snatched up some little people and took off!

For Little Bear:
Magnet board scene with animal magnets (and chalkboard on back)
Blanket
OshKosh long sleeved t-shirt
OshKosh t-shirt
Cuddle Bear t-shirt
2 Children's Place t-shirts
Children's Place short sleeved collared button down
Gap footed pajamas
Gymboree sweater and pant outfit
Carter's pajama set
OshKosh jeans
Polo sweatshirt
Gap sweater
mega Machines super sticker book
Books:
- I Stink
- A Crack in the Track
- I Love My Daddy
- The Truck Book
- I'm a Truck
- Thomas and the Big Big Bridge
- Diesel 10 Means Trouble
- Thomas Gets a Snow Plow
- The Special Delivery
- Fire Engines
- Thomas' Big Storybook
Rocking pony
9 Little people
School Bus Book Preschool wipe off
Three Letter Words puzzle cards
Pooh's Go Together game
Wipe off learning cards
EduCo Turn and Count Dress Up puzzle
Melissa and Doug Number Train floor puzzle
Little Tikes fold up and go train set

For Papa Bear:
Gap baseball cap
Electric knife
Outlet timer

For me:
Charlotte Russe short sleeved blouse
The Limited short sleeved shirt
Express short sleeved shirt
Gap long sleeved shirt
Gap skirt
Gap tote bag
36" x 24" self healing rotary cutting mat

Grand Total: $39.15

Wordless Wednesday (make that Thursday) - Swimming Lessons

2011-06-09T15:59:00.000-04:00

Yard Sale Steals & Deals [8]

2011-06-07T21:56:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to another edition of yard sale steals and deals! :o)

For Little Bear:
Thomas take along mat
Bob the Builder dancing doll (one of those "Remind me why I bought this, again..." deals)
Megablocks bulldozer
Travel etch a sketch
Thomas All Aboard card game
When Bob Became a Builder video
Active minds wipe off learning board
Books:
- Driving Buddies
- Thomas and Percy and the Dragon
- Richard Scarry's Just for Fun
- Richard Scarry's Pop-up Colors
- Alphabet Theme-A-Saurus (coloring and activity book)
- Hug
Bugle Boy dress loafers
Stride Rite fisherman's sandals
4 Carter's pajama sets
Sonoma t-shirt
OshKosh t-shirt
2 OshKosh long sleeved t-shirts
Gymboree collared button down dress shirt
College t-shirt
OshKosh shorts
Sonoma corduroy pants
Children's Place chinos
Sonoma hoodie
OshKosh hoodie
Carter's one piece sleeveless short outfit

For me:
Ann Taylor Loft tank top
BCBG MaxAzria short sleeved shirt
2 Merona long sleeved shirts
Gap shorts
2 Gap skirts
Gap dress pants

Grand Total: $27.75

Wordless Wednesday - Memorial Day Weekend 2011

2011-06-01T07:23:00.000-04:00

"Up High!"

This is how you do it.

Swimming!

Got you, Dad!

Mow!

If I leave my ear protectors on, then maybe I can ride on the tractor again...

Story time with the best Dad!

The Little Prince and his chariot.

3 Generations...

Yard Sale Steals & Deals [7]

2011-05-31T22:22:00.000-04:00

Here ya go!

For Little Bear:
Tonka Wheel Pals triple track tower
Thomas wooden Sodor Fire Department
Golden Books Seek N Sound
Magnetic chalk/dry erase board
Tonka memory grame
Baby Einstein flashcards
Big facts flash cards
Sesame Street alphabet and number flashcards
Mickey colors and shapes flashcards
Wooden bear dress up box
Steel tec work center
2 Little People and a car
Books:
- Bob's Birthday
- The Truck Book
- Let's Go (magnetic book)
- Click Clack Quackity Quack
- McDuff and the Baby
- If I Were a Moose
- Picture That! Bible Stories

For me:
3 garden flags
50 piece animal cookie cutters
Fresh keeper storage container for vegetables
American Eagle long sleeved shirt
American Eagle sweater
Fossil purse

For Guard:
Stack and store food storage bin
Woolrich dog bed cover

Grand Total: $22.35

Glycerin Soap - My First Attempt

2011-05-27T14:07:00.005-04:00

I wanted to add something small to the gift that I was giving my mom for Mother's day (I know, Mother's day was several weeks ago, but I thought that you still might be interested) and I thought that some home-made soap would be perfect! I have never tried making any soap before, so I figured that I would start with something easy. I've seen a lot of posts on making glycerin soap and it looked pretty and easy, so I gave it a try.

Now it wasn't a total fail, but it wasn't a total success either. Thus, I have titled this my first attempt!

The actual making of the soap was easy (just my type of craft!). All it required was melting the glycerin in the microwave, adding any extras, stirring, pouring and chilling. I was thrilled with the way that the scent turned out - I used a combination of orange zest and mint essential oil that resulted in a wonderful fresh scent. I also liked the orange color that was created from the zest. Unfortunately (even after all of my stirring) most of the zest ended up clumping together and floating to the top, rather than distributing throughout the soap (giving it a dirty look in my opinion).

Regardless, since it was a gift for my mother, made by me, she loved it. I guess that love of homemade gifts from your kids never dies!

Fortunately I did only make one batch. Hopefully next time, it will turn out a little better and I can give her some pretty soap next year!

Wordless Wednesday - The many faces of Little Bear {1}

2011-05-25T15:08:00.000-04:00

Yard Sale Steals & Deals [6]

2011-05-23T21:06:00.000-04:00

Check out this weeks loot! :o)
This was a big weekend! May is a huge yard sale month in our area and this weekend there were multiple community sales. I ended up going on my usual Friday but then my mom came to visit so we went Saturday as well. More sales mean more deals!

For Little Bear:
Carter's chenille knit blanket
2 pair OshKosh shorts
OshKosh fleece sweat suit
Carter's swimming trunks and matching t-shirt
Carter's zip up hoodie
Gap sweatshirt
Gap baseball cap
4 Carter's one pice short outfit
Carter's short sleeved one piece pant outfit
Carter's long sleeved one piece pant outfit
Carter's short overalls
Gymboree overalls
Gap shorts
2 Carter's sweatpants
3 pair of Carter's pajama sets
2 Carter's t-shirts
Carter's long sleeved t-shirt
Children's Place sweater
Gymboree rain coat
Gap pajama set
Children's Place t-shirt
Children's Place short overalls
Children's Place collared button down shirt
2 Gymboree flannel shirts
Gymboree sweater vest
Robeez treadz
Megablocks wagon filled with megablocks
Books:
- Are You My Mother?
- Baby's First Colors
- Baby's First Animals
- Bob's Busy Screwdriver
- Meet Scoop
- Meet Lofty
- My Big Train Book
- Digger Man
2 Tonka wheel pals
4 mini Tonka trucks
Stack n Surprise stacking cars
Playskool keys
John Deere tractor with sounds
Playskool wheel pals helicopter
Playskool large wheel pals firetruck with sounds
Leap Frog Fridge vehicle set
Playskool ball popper
Neurosmith jumbo music ball
Fisher Price Little People ramps around garage
2 Real Wheels VHS - There goes a Bulldozer and There goes a Dump Truck
The Toddler's Busy Book
The Baby Bible Storybook and carrying case
Leap Frog My First LeapPad
See N Say Story Maker
Aquadoodle Travel N Doodle
Tub foam shapes
Leap Frog Learning drum
Stuffed Barbie puppy with sounds
Aquadoodle mat
Cloud B sleep sheep
Amy Coe chenille knit blanket

Some of my personal favorites:

Gap sweatshirt - $.50, Gap hat - $.50

Carter's sweatshirt - $.50

OshKosh fleece sweatsuit - $2.50

Carter's swimming trunks and t-shirt - $2.00

For Papa Bear:
Docker's long sleeved collared button down
3 Stafford dress shirts
Nautica long sleeved collared button down

For me:
The Shipping News book
Boston Billows Nursing billow (well for me and Little Bear!)
Isaac Mizrahi cashmere turtleneck sweater

My mom's great find was a bag of vintage Fisher Price Little People for $.25. Little Bear loves them more than the new ones! He is always searching for the mail truck.

And my mother in law got Little Bear a maple wood child's table and chairs plus a toddler slide for $15 each.

My Grand Total: $66.80

Wow, that sounds like a lot (even to me!)! But in reality, I would have spent waaay more if I bought everything new!

Wordless Wednesday - A flower for you!

2011-05-18T14:20:00.000-04:00

Tot Tip: Too Many Toys

2011-05-17T08:31:00.000-04:00

If your house is anything like mine, then you have tons of toys. Often as parents, we enjoy getting our child new toys almost as much as he or she enjoys receiving new toys. Unfortunately the newness quickly wears off and the child moves on to something new, leaving piles of unused toys in his wake.

There is a great deal of research and advice out there saying that fewer toys are actually better for your child's development. I'm not going to get into that here, but there are some easy things that you can do to both bring life back to the old toys and eliminate the over-stimulation brought on by too many toys.

1. Distribute your toys. Don't put all of your toys in one place. Little Bear has 3 play stations around the house. One is in his bedroom, one is in the great room and one is downstairs (we have an open floor plan so this really encompasses the living room, dining room and kitchen).

2. Hide some toys. Don't put out every single toy that your child owns. Put some of the toys away for awhile. Later bring those toys out and put some others away. This will give your child an opportunity to rediscover his toys.

3. Rotate toys between your multiple play stations. Every few months, I will move Little Bear's toys around. Often a new setting will allow your child to come up with new uses for old toys.

After I did some toy shuffling, Little Bear rediscovered this simple tractor. He spent the entire day driving it around and making sounds.

4. Pay attention to the types of toys that your child enjoys. Not that you don't ever want to expose them to new things, but if your child isn't interested in stuffed animals, what are you going to do with a room full of teddy bears?

5. Shop for toys carefully. Don't always buy the toy with all of the bells and whistles that can do everything. Instead search for toys that will allow your child to do a lot with them. Dolls with minimal facial expressions encourage children to create their own emotions for the doll. Wooden cars encourage children to create their own sound effects.

6. If a toy breaks, don't always go buy a new one. Teach your child to be responsible and care for their toys.

7. Rather than buying new toys, give your child safe household items to play with. This allows them to both use their creativity and model your behaviors (one of their favorite pastimes anyway). Little Bear has his own cabinets in the kitchen that are unlocked and filled with things that I use on a daily basis but are child safe (mixing bowls, measuring cups, tupperware, etc.). Often if I am in the kitchen he would rather play with those than his other toys.

8. Play with your child! You are the best toy that your toddler could possibly have, so instead of spending the time and money to buy another toy just have some good old fashioned fun!

Yard Sale Deals & Steals [5]

2011-05-16T23:00:00.000-04:00

My deals ended up everywhere this week! I'm not sure if this is a complete list, but you get the idea... :o)

For Little Bear:
Fisher Price Boppin Bee game
Little touch Leap pad with carrier
Little Touch Leap Pad books:
- Pooh Loves You
- Let's Get Busy, Baby
- A to Z Adventure
- The Little Engine that Could
- Animal World
- Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?
- Lulu The Letter Spinning Spider
- Rainbow Fish 1, 2, 3
- Animal Dance
Little Tikes Popping Dump Truck
2 Large Tonka Wheel Pals
3 Small Tonka Wheel Pals
Police and Fire cars
Sing a Long CD Player
Prince Lionheart 2 Stage Seat Saver
Airplane plate and fork
Stick Horse with sounds
6 Canvas Bin Organizer
Dirt Devil play Vacuum
Bob the Builder phone
Dog bone molds (for making soap crayons)
Gap sandals
Stride Rite sneakers
Robeez Tredz
2 pair Gap footed pajamas
Gap t-shirt
Gymboree t-shirt
Greendog t-shirt
Carter's t-shirt
Gap socks
Old navy socks
Melissa & Doug wooden bear family dress up
Infantino buckets
Fast Moving Trains VHS
Builder Bob to the Rescue VHS
Baby Songs Baby's Busy Day DVD
Thomas and the Magic Railroad VHS
Leapfrog Phonics Writing Desk
Melissa & Doug block puzzle
Fisher Price Little People Noah's Arc
Leapfrog Fridge Farm
Vtech Rhyme and Discover Book
Books:
- Go, Train, Go!
- My Own Five Senses
- Dinosaurs (reusable stickers)
- Fisher Price Little People Let's Go to the Zoo
- Read to Me, Grandma

For Papa Bear:
Werner Tool Lasso

For Me:
Limited capris
Charlotte Russe strapless top
Basket with liner (interchangable ribbons)
CD visor organizer
New Attitude heels
Mossimo dress sandals
Fossil purse

Grand Total: $54.05

(I was a big spender this week!)

Wordless Wednesday - Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-11T09:00:00.000-04:00

Too busy for a Mommy's day photo...

But once night night comes, Little Bear loves cuddles!
Happy Mother's Day!

Yard Sale Deals and Steals [4]

2011-05-10T21:00:00.000-04:00

Mainly toy stuff this week...

Little Bear's loot

Something for momma this week too!

For Little Bear:
Junkyard Jalopy game (obviously for when Little Bear is much older!)
Fisher Price Little People car
Plastic Thomas train
2 wooden Thomas trains (only 1 pictured)
Disney Cars car
Bob the Builder talking Muck truck
Garanimals wooden car
Fisher Price peek a blocks giraffe with 6 peek a blocks
Pathfinder puzzle
Books:
- Baby Einstein Who Lives in the Pond?
- Polar Animals
- Runny Babbit
- I Love You Forever
- The Bernstain Bears Trick or Treat
- Get to Work Trucks!
- And Here's to You!
- Shiver Me Letters, A Pirate ABC
- Who Will Go to Kindergarten Today?
- Tooth Trouble
- Help is on It's Way! (magnetic play book)
Gymboree hat
Disney Cars pajamas
Children's Place pajamas
Children's Place tshirt
Old Navy jeans

Check out the favorites:

Gymboree hat - $.50

Talking Muck - $2.00 (This made Little Bear's week!)

For Papa Bear:
He definitely makes out better when he comes along... So, nope, nothing this week.

For me:
2 American Eagle Outfitters bags

Total: $19.40

For Mother's Day weekend, Aunt M watched Little Bear and I hit a few more yard sales with my mother in law on Saturday. Here were the additional deals!

Little Bear's Saturday clothes additions

Little Bear's Saturday extras

And even some more for Momma!

For Little Bear:

Gymboree long sleeved tshirt

Nike velour track suit

Old Navy long sleeved thermal

Circo long sleeved tshirt

Gap short sleeved button down shirt

Osh Kosh tshirt

Disney Cars tshirt

Carter's Overalls and long sleeved shirt set

2 pairs Osh Kosh pants

Carters jeans

Old Navy sandals

Tonka bulldozer with sounds

Books:

- Amazing Creatures

- Creepy Creatures

- What Makes Popcorn Pop?

- The Lot at the End of My Block

VHS tapes (Yes, we still have a VCR!)

- 10 Years of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends

- The Gallant Old Engine and other Thomas Stories

- Steamies vs. Diesels and Other Thomas Adventures

- Bob the Builder Bonus

- Bob the Builder Teamwork

Nike velour track suit - $1.00

For Me:

Aeropostale purse

Gap jeans

Gap dress pants

Mossimo jeans

Quick carry

Gift wrap cutter

Saturday Grand Total: $16.00

Plus a few of my Mother in Law's deals:

Melissa and Doug wooden play food with cutting board and knife - $1.00
Chef's hat, apron and mitts - $1.00
Step 2 Kitchen set - $5.00

Story Time

2011-05-06T15:44:00.000-04:00

Baby Time Group

Tuesday was Little Bear's last baby story time for this school year. Little Bear and I began attending baby story time when he was 4 months old. We attend at two libraries so that Little Bear can interact with more children (and I can interact with more parents!) and we can be sure that we always make at least one session a week. Although story time is over for the summer vacation, we will be signing up for the summer reading program at our library and participating in other events at the library. And next year we'll be back at story time again!

Little Bear with his prize (the stuffed duck) from his first reading challenge (plus his library books for the week!)

I am a huge supporter of reading to and with your child. The benefits of reading to your child are amazing!
- Develops language skills
- Improves future reading skills
- Increases interest and desire to read
- Increases vocabulary
- Enriches his life by exposing him to ideas, cultures, history, etc.
- Improves critical thinking skills
- Develops confidence
- Influences behaviors
- Prepares him for new experiences
- Creates bonding time
- Increases attention span
- Fosters natural curiosity

Attending a story time event at your library or bookstore adds even more to the benefit of reading.
- Learn social skills with other children and other adults
- Teaches listening behaviors
- Prepares for school
- Develops an external encouragement for education and reading

So if you don't already, please start reading with your child. They are never too young! And if you already read to your child, look into attending a story time at your local library or book store. They are typically free, fun and a great way to meet other parents!

Yard Sale Deals & Steals [3]

2011-05-04T15:05:00.000-04:00

Here's the tally from this week:

For Little Bear:
La Petite Rothschild snowsuit
5 Children's Place sweater vests (2 with matching socks)
1 Gap short sleeved polo shirt
1 Osh Kosh long sleeved button down shirt
2 Children's Place long sleeved button down shirts
1 pair of Chaps jeans
1 pair of Chaps chinos
1 pair of Children's Place khakis
1 pair of Children's Place short overalls
1 pair of Gap shorts
1 pair of Izod shorts
1 pair of Carters summer pajamas
5 pair of Carters footed fleece pajamas
1 Gap lightweight jacket
1 Children's Place lined barn coat
4 Children's Place sweaters
2 Carter's one piece summer outfits
1 Carters long sleeved shirt
1 Osh Kosh short sleeved polo shirt
1 George short sleeved polo shirt
1 long sleeved Gap tshirt
1 pair of Gap camo pants
1 pair of Old Navy shorts
1 pair of Children's Place sandals
2 wood puzzles
1 Lightning McQueen talking car
1 plastic Percy car
1 bag of toddler silverware
3 Builder Bob books

Here are pics of some of my favorites:

Gap polo - $.50, Izod shorts - $.50

Children's Place shirt - $.50, Children's Place vest - $.50, Chaps chinos - $.50, Children's Place socks - $.25

Gap shirt - $.50, Gap pants - $.50

Osh Kosh shirt - $.50, Gap shorts - $.50

Children's Place vest - $.50, Children's Place socks - $.25

Nada for Papa Bear or myself this week. But considering that I only went to 1 yardsale, I'd say I did pretty well!

Grand Total: $24.00

Update: I hit a few more yardsales on Saturday. They weren't that great, but I did pick up some books for Little Bear. Here's the list:

Happy Baby Colors

Happy Baby Words
How Do I Love You?
Baby's Goodnight
My Little Book of Aircraft
Little Duck
I Love Trains
Animal Alphabet
My Very First Winnie the Pooh Growing Up Stories
Go, Go, Planes

Saturday Total: $2.00

My Mother-in-law (aka as Grammy) also goes to yard sales every Friday. She also had a great day! I don't have a full list but here are some of the things that she picked up for Little Bear:

Play kitchen with food, microwave and cart

Additional large bag of play food

Books

Some clothes

Play cleaning kit (mop, broom, dust pan, etc.)

Build and play action models (race car, helicopter, submarine)

3 hats

Megamagz building kit (for when he gets older!)
3 pair of shoes

And other toys which I can't remember at the moment!

Little Bear is showing Pa his new kitchen.

Uncle B enjoys the new action models as much as Little Bear!

Wordless Wednesday - Flashback to My First Mother's Day

2011-05-04T09:43:00.000-04:00

I haven't forgotten you!

2011-05-03T20:45:00.000-04:00

Little Bear has decided that he LOVES being outside, so my yard has been getting lots of attention, but not my blog. Don't worry though, I still love you! Tomorrow is supposed to be a rainy day so I'll get my yard sale deals up for you then (it was a good week!).

Me Time

2011-04-30T22:08:00.000-04:00

When people hear that you are a stay at home mom, they often assume that you sit around eating Bon-Bons all day and watching soap operas. But as moms (stay at home or working) we all know that there is never enough time in the day to get everything done. We are in perpetual motion, just like our kids. We are cleaning, cooking, teaching, chauffeuring, changing diapers, doing laundry, buying groceries, running errands, and on and on. Then we have those things that we do because we enjoy - blogging, crafting, spending time with our spouses, but frequently even these things are done on a schedule that must be completed (or at least we feel compelled to complete by a certain time so that we don't fall behind). But how often do we take the time to truly relax and enjoy some time for ourselves? Not often enough.

Every once in awhile, this hits me head on. I just have a day when I feel overwhelmed and unmotivated. Yesterday was one of those days. The house needed picked up, I needed to take care of mother's day and birthday gifts, I needed to weed the flower beds, I needed to go to the post office, I needed to finish sewing Little Bear's diaper inserts, I needed to do laundry, I needed to cook supper, I needed to play with Little Bear, I needed to exercise the dog, I needed to spend time with Papa Bear, the floors needed scrubbed, the toilets needed cleaned, I needed to iron, I needed to work on my blog, I needed to schedule a play date, I needed return some emails, and on and on and on... And I know that I am not the only one who gets these days.

So do you know what I did? I did the bare minimum to get through the day - the things that truly were important (played outside with Little Bear, Papa Bear and the dog then warmed up left overs for supper). And after Little Bear went to bed, I took a long shower, snuggled up in bed, finished a book and went to sleep early. And it was so worth it! I woke up this morning with the same list of things to do, but a whole different attitude. And did the world end yesterday when I didn't accomplish my to do list? Absolutely NOT!

I know that we all know how important "me" time is and I also know how far down it falls on our to do lists. But I just wanted to remind everyone what a difference it can make when you take a little time and spoil yourself, especially with Mother's Day coming up next weekend. It doesn't have to be anything big or fancy, just take some time for yourself. You deserve it - celebrate yourself and all that you do for your family! :o) And Happy early Mother's Day!

Tot Tip: Keep warm with a cape!

2011-04-28T15:52:00.000-04:00

When Little Bear was tiny I didn't have to worry about putting a coat on him. If it was cold, I would simply throw a blanket over his car seat and carry the whole seat with me. Now that we have transitioned him into his convertible seat, this is not possible (really even if that seat was designed to be removable, there is no way that I could lug that thing plus Little Bear around!).

The new car seat poses several issues when it comes to cold weather. 1. Little Bear is a furnace! He sweats in his car seat without wearing a coat. If I put a coat on him, he would be miserable. 2. Safety. Putting a bulky coat underneath the car seat straps compromises the ability of the straps to properly fit your child snugly.

So what to do? For awhile I tried putting his coat on and off each time we got in or out of the car. What a hassle! Then I tried using a poncho (that came up like a blanket over the seat), but I couldn't leave it on in the car seat because Little Bear was too hot. Finally I figured it out! A cape with a hood.

Okay, I'm pretty sure that I have better pics somewhere, but Little Bear is waking up now! :o)

Little Bear already had a monkey blanket with a hood and it made the perfect cape. I simply keep it in the car and when I take Little Bear out of his seat, I put the hood on. The blanket naturally falls around him like a cape and I just pull it closed at the neck. It's easy on, easy off. Little Bear is cool, comfortable and safe in his car seat without a coat but quickly and easily covered up to stay warm and dry when we venture out. Plus its easy to wash and stash (in the car, in the cart, where ever). And should the need arise, you have an extra blanket with you. (I discovered that it was super easy to put the cape on and then lay Little Bear on the changing table in public restrooms for diaper changes!)

I think for next year I am going to sew some velcro at the neck, just to make things even easier!

Wordless Wednesday - Easter 2011

2011-04-27T14:48:00.000-04:00

From the Easter Bunny!

NanNan thought that she was the Easter bunny! :o)

Yummy candy!

Play time!

Time to get dressed up!

This was as close as Little Bear let us get to a family picture. He had too many other things to do!

Wonder Wednesday Blog Hop

2011-04-27T08:01:00.000-04:00

Yep - It's Wednesday already!

Fabric Easter Basket

2011-04-26T23:29:00.000-04:00

I know that Easter is over. But I was so busy trying to finish this project that I didn't get a chance to share it with you before the fact! So I figured that it was better late than never. Maybe you can get a head start on next year!

At any rate, when I started thinking about Easter this year I wanted to get a special basket that Little Bear could keep and use for years to come. Naturally I figured that anything homemade would have special significance, but how in the world would I make an Easter basket? Never fear - there are more creative bloggers out there than me! And thankfully I found one. :o)

While it was an old post, I found the directions that I needed here, on the Moda Bake Shop blog. For the most part, I followed their tutorial but I did make a few modifications:

1. While the directions say to use a Moda honey bun, I could not find one with colors/patterns suitable for a little boy's Easter basket. Instead, I found four different fabrics that I liked and cut my own 1.5" strips. It actually did not take long using a rotary cutter and mat. Plus you don't have to worry about the strips being perfect - the basket is supposed to have a scrappy look to it.

I used ~3/4 yd. of each fabric to make Little Bear's basket.

2. I wanted a bigger basket that Little Bear could grow with. I enlarged the size of the basket to ~10.5" diameter x ~5.5" tall with a handle that increased the overall height to ~14". Based on these measurements I ended up using ~3/4 yd. of each fabric (3 yards total fabric) and ~60 ft. of size 3 (12/32") piping. To increase the size, simply continue coiling the piping until you reach your desired size!

3. With the increased size, I did not use any of the size 1 piping (6/32"). Instead I used ~12 ft. of the size 3 piping (12/32") to make the handle.

The basket itself was not difficult to make and I really enjoyed it. I especially love that it looks much more difficult than it is. If it hadn't been for the time crunch, it would have been even better! After seeing the joy on Little Bear's face Easter morning, the late nights sewing were definitely worth it. And now we have a special basket to pass on through the years.

The Easter Bunny filled Little Bear's basket to the brim!