January Phone Favorites

We had the January blues this month. It was cold so Jakob took the car every day to work, which left us stranded and stir crazy. We usually have friends over at least 3 times a week but we all got sick (I mean we had a play date and 6 of the 8 families that were there caught the flu.) It was horrible. First Duke caught it. Then a week later after dance class E caught it. Then E had a fever and caught a cold. Then a week later Duke caught a cold which meant he could hardly breathe. All this added up to putting our home on lock down for the entire month. We didn't even go to church. So naturally... we were bored and a bit crazy. BUT we did have some fun! Here are a round up of our phone favorites!

This girl and her silly faces!

Sometimes you just need to need to wear your ballet dress and tights to bed. We finally bough another dress since is taking classes now and wants to live in them. (Thanks again aunt Janet!)

She says her name in Dr. Needle. She wasn't very soft either. Perhaps she'll enter the medical field like some of her Aunts and Uncles. 

Nap times in the tent. 

Due to sickness, E only went to Sunbeams once this month and she {loved} it! I can't believe I have a sunbeam on my hands! Where is the time going?!?!

KC has the prettiest sunsets and right now I get to see them every evening from my kitchen window as I make dinner. 

Don't you go surfing on your changing mat?

Duke was too quiet one afternoon so I peeked into the teepee to see what he was doing....

... he had stuffed his jammies full of cars. As my Mom said; it was quite the traffic jam. 

This was on the way home from the play date where we all caught the flu. The kids had found markers in the back seat and had "painted" their faces. It was Hi-larious! 

We went out on a double date to a vegan restaurant with our new buddies Hattie and Justin. I totally love these guys! and it was SUPER fun going out with adults and having grown up conversation!

Since we are all hunkered down it has been the perfect time fro projects. I finally purchased my very first pair of sewing shears and oh my heart just sings every time I use them. 

Dreaming of warm weather!

For Christmas my Mama bought me an adult coloring book. At first I thought it was the silliest gift ever. I mean really coloring? But while E colors and wants you right. there. I color and it is super relaxing. I'm not entirely hooked but it gives me something else to do other than searching Pinterest. 

I think someone is ready for her nap. 

Duke has been taking a morning shower lately. I tossed him on the couch wrapped up in his towel after one shower and left to get him some clothes. When I returned I found an empty towel and a little bare bummed baby in the fridge. I laughed so hard I cried. This boy and food.

It doesn't get much better than Daddy snuggles when you're not feeling well. 

After almost 3 weeks stuck at home we finally made our way out to Costco fro lunch. We just {love} Costco!

One Saturday afternoon Hattie texted me and asked if I wanted to go see Star Wars with her. Done and DONE! Jakob kindly watched the kiddos and I had a ladies day. We saw the movie and then we went to get some dinner. I went to Whole foods for the second time ever and we started sampling to soups. It was a very fabulous evening! 

A quiet Manfred is a dangerous Manfred. 

Sickness round 2!

Poor boy is just a few inches too short. 

Jakob has started taking an evening course one night a week and so I get to do tub time with the little people. This boy is just too cute!! 

And finally, up at 3:00 in the morning with a baby who can't breathe very well. These are the longest and scariest nights ever. Thankfully he doesn't catch colds very often. While is a was a slow January we are super excited for February! Bring on Valentines Week, hearts, kisses and E's 4th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Sunny Days

I am not an outside Mom. I very rarely send the kids outside to play for a few reasons; 1. I have to stop what I am doing to watch them like hawks (until recently where they can play in our fenced in yard together.) 2. They get super dirty and the hassle of having to clean them up isn't very appealing. 3. The bugs love my kids and for the most part, 10 minutes outside isn't wroth 3 days of telling the kids not to scratch. But now that it is spring, there are no bugs  and I have discovered that the kiddos play really well in the backyard by themselves so playing outside is my new go to!

Any time the sun would shine and the temp got above 55F we were outside, raking, cleaning the car, playing with chalk, riding bikes or the kids favorite, walks!!

I even got drug along by a stick. they were so gosh darn excited to get out of the house!

We are so excited for spring, sunny days and many more afternoons spent exploring!

Catching Snow Flakes

One afternoon the snow was just picture perfect. Nice big fluffy flakes so E and I went outside to try and catch some snowflakes while it lasted. 

She was so stinking cute. We need some practice though. 

I just love fluffy snow but I think I'm ready for some warmer weather now.

10 Minutes

One afternoon I was working on a project. The day was busy and there weren't enough hours before I had to be done. Ethnie was playing downstairs in the play room while I sewed. She came in after about 20 minutes and asked if I could do a tea party with her. I told her that I was really busy and that I had to work. She said okay and toddled off to keep playing. She came back a few minutes later and this is how our conversation went; "Mommy, can you have a tea party now. It's all set up." to which I responded, "I really need to get this done, can you play by yourself for a while longer?"

E placed her hand on my arm, I looked at her. She raised her little hands up by her face and said, "10 minutes Mommy and then you can come back to work. You can set a timer on your phone." 

I was still a bit frustrated but she was asking so nicely with her little hands by her face, so I explained that we would do 10 minutes and then I had to get back to work. I came over and we had some tea and she made me some food. After 10 minutes the timer went off. She looked at me and said; "Thank you for playing with me Mommy, you can go back to work now." With a hint of sadness now that our time was up. Then my heart melted. My list no longer mattered. What mattered was spending time where it was most needed and that was with my sweet girl. I grabbed my phone, turned off the timer, and cupped her face in my hands and said "Mommy is all done work for today, do you think we can play a bit longer?" It was in that moment that I found pure joy. Her smile said it all. So often we get caught up in our "to-do's" that I forget about what is really most important. It took me 10 minutes to learn that these are moments that I will never get back and I am letting them pass me by. So here is to savoring those precious minutes.

Teepee

I have a problem. I am a Pintrest addict. Quite literally. On those mornings that I am awake before my kiddos, I lay in bed and scroll through my Pinterest trying to find a "project" and one morning I decided that I was just going to make a teepee. The kids love making forts so I checked online. $159 for the Land of Nod Teepee. It wasn't lined and the stripes didn't match up (which drove me CRAZY!) The lady on Pinterest had the pattern listed for free (which took away all of the mental work) all I needed to do was cut and sew. This It was totally random and super last minute before I was headed out to Vegas, so we were a bit pressed for time.  

I made it out of canvas so it is HEAVY! I wasn't originally planning on lining it so I surged all of the pieces, which took longer than necessary, then out of the blue I decided that if I didn't line it, it would drive me nuts, so I grabbed an old sheet and used every inch to line my tee pee. Then Jakob said I needed to add pockets to the inside. So we did. Then I decided that it needed trim around the edges. This project sort of grew and grew. Once she was all sewn I went to Home Depot to get poles. The Dress This Nest lady said she used dowels cut at 6.5' but that would have cost almost $75! That was WAY more than I was willing to spend. So I got a few 2x2's which were too big. SO back to Home Depot I went. We settled on metal conduit. It went well with the grey and it fit in the hole pockets. 

At last she was finished, and she was HUGE! I was a bit surprised by how big she was. I was just following a pattern and I hadn't given size much thought. But a can lay inside comfortably with the two kiddos. 

I just love the pom poms around the edge. 

We put the fur rug inside which keeps things nice and cozy. The pockets are in the back. 

Laying inside. E and I like to snuggle up inside on chilly days since it's so nice and warm,

This was such a fun project and a major upper bodywork out. I just love cuddling up inside and reading stories. 

Ballerina Doll

I was short by 1/2 an inch of fabric for the Star Wars Heels I was making (another post) so I called up my bestie and we headed to Jo-Ann's to get some fabric. 2 Mama's + 5 little's 3 and under + 3 carts = crazy train of fun in Jo-Ann!  While we were there we decided to pick up fabric for some ballerina dolls that we have wanted to make for a while now. Once the fabric was purchased we just HAD to start working on the dolls... instead of packing for my trip the next day.

 My inspiration came from this doll. But there was no way I was spending $64 on a doll I could make myself... and a cuter version if I had any say.

Then I saw this one and I began to draft up a pattern. 

 She's done! And while we had some learning curves I couldn't love her more! 

 

 The longest part was doing her hair but I just love how it turned out. Super simple, just time consuming! 

I double love the crisscross back.

I have drafted up a pattern and will be making up the instructions soon to be listed in my Etsy shop. I also think that I will be making them to sell. We will see. They are just so much fun and perfect for your little ballerina!

This little girl was happy! Now we're all set for dance class!