Growth Chart

This post is WAY over due. I made this bad boy more than a year ago. I really wanted a growth chart that I could take with me throughout our lives. A keepsake to have in every home. I can just see us measuring our grand kids and watching them compare themselves to their Mommy and Daddy when they were their age.

There are a ton of tutorials via Pinterest and I can't remember which one I followed but here is a link that has all of the instructions.

I painted it all by hand by using this technique. Once traced my number with a pen I just started painting. I didn't outline it with a pencil but that's a good tip. I can't stop staring at my ruler and the kids love getting measured. It's something I will treasure for years to come!

I Spy Bags

I have been wanting to do this project for awhile now. It is super simple and a lot of fun to make! When I was thinking about what to get my nieces and nephews this year I was drawing a blank. Money is tight being a non working student family so I decided to go with family gifts instead of individuals. I figured that I Spy bags would be fun for all ages (I mean I think I play with ours more that my kids do!)

I wrote out the list of items in the bag on a piece of fabric so that it wouldn't get bent like a laminated piece of paper.

For our family I made one for Duke and a separate one for E. I had lots of fabric and stuffing pellets left over so I figured I had better use them. I {love} the little robots.

As you can tell E's has been loved a bit more than Duke's. Chartreuse chevron. be still my heart!

I also {love} the kites.

I really love how they turned out! If you are interested in a tutorial on how to make them head over to my craft blog (click here)

Memory Game

 I get bored. Really bored. My darling children usually take a 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon and that is my time. My time is sacred. It is not used to clean, organize, or work on my "to-do" list, it is for ME! Like I said, I get bored so I usually have a project or ten on the go and sometimes I just need to find something new to do. This is usually when I turn to Pinterest for some inspiration. I found this memory game a few weeks before Christmas and knew I had to make some for my nieces and nephews (oh and for me of course!) 

 It was a little bit lot of trial and error! I bought the discs from Michaels they are 1 1/2" (I think)  and they came with 22 pieces per package. Next came to sizing the photos. At first I printed out wallets which was pretty pricey and they ended up being too big. Then I got smart and printed collage photos for around 9¢ a photo. I put around 3 photos per page and *boom* finally success!

 I then used a punch I had on hand to punch out the photos. I painted the discs, sealed them and then modge podged the photos on. They turned out just perfectly! 

Then I went to Michaels and found some cute little burlap bags to put them in and *Voila* a super cute and easy Christmas present!

Car Carrier

 Since I made E a felt pizza (post coming soon) I knew I had to find something to make the little man. I was searching Pinterest (where would I be without Pinterest?) and I found this darling car carrier tutorial. (Click link here.) It was perfect, just what I had in mind and it already had the measurements for me (hurray for not having to draft a pattern!) With a few variations (you know me, I can never just follow the pattern) I was set!

 My first variation was the road itself. I work with felt a lot and I knew that it if made a felt road it wasn't going to hold up the way I wanted it to. So I went with a heavy cotton which my MIL happened to have in her stash. I used a heavy iron on interfacing to give it a bit more stiffness. I also appliqued the stripes onto my fabric  instead of gluing (which is what it looks like the tutorial did.)

 I just loved the fabric! I know monsters have nothing to do with cars but the bright colors and super cute monsters caught my eye and I knew I had to have them!

 On my roll I also added a Velcro strip to keep everything together. It folds in half and then rolls up. 

I just {love} how it all came together. Of course I had left overs so I made one for my nephew. Duke is still a bit young to understand it purpose but E loves it!

Princess Dress Make-over (Sort of.)

My SIL Janet sent Ethnie some adorable princess dresses. Unfortunately E is not a fan of skirts. Thankfully I have a sewing machine. In less than 10 minutes I took those two pieces "skirts" and made then in to....

 Princess dresses that were "So cute and beautiful Mommy" -Ethnie. Talk about your easy fix!!

 She also sent this SUPER cute Elsa blue skirt, which E wanted nothing to do with. (She can be such a stinker.) I had miss placed her Elsa dress (gasp!) and this was the perfect replacement. I went into her drawer and found a shirt that went with the skirt nicely. 

 Two minutes later.... Voila! 

 And this little princess couldn't have loved it more! 

 Thank you so much Aunt Janet for the treasures!!! You're the best!

Date Night

Being college students, date nights are a luxury. Toss in two children and they are simply a fantasy. This is what our Friday Night Date Nights usually look like. I love at home movies nights. I think Jakob likes them even more because the kids usually like to snuggle up with him. (They don't usually snuggle with me, I think it's because I'm too boney.)

E {loves} popcorn and usually requests a seperate bowl for herself.

On the rare occasion someone will come snuggle with me. This is my happy place.

This is how date night looks in our house and really, there is no place I would rather be!

Sweater Men

My dad gave Jakob his old man sweater years ago. It belonged to my Opa and we love it. It is a treasured piece of clothing. My parents got Duke his sweater last year and it has got to be one of my favorite outfits that he has. I couldn't resist snapping a picture of the two of them in their matching sweaters before church. These boys have my heart! (p.s. doesn't Duke look super grown up in this picture?!)

18 Months

• Weight: 27.5 lbs
• Height: 32 1/2 inches
• Nicknames: Little Man, Monkey, Booger, "Duke Manfred"  or just Manfred.

•  Duke is a mountain goat. He {loves} to climb and gets on top of the table at least 6 times a day.
• He loves the dishwasher and pulling things out of it, usually when they are dirty.
• Duke now has 11 teeth and is working on two more. They really came through all at once. Poor kid.  
• He has a laugh that comes from his toes and you can't help but laughing with him! 
• He has started to say a few words like Mama, DAAAAAAD!, up, all done, and Santa. He signs very little but he knows exactly what you are saying. He loves to shout TADA and raise his arms in the air and have you copy him. 

• Duke's favorite foods include; FOOD! He will eat pretty well anything. His favorites are pizza, noodles with sauce, fruits of all kinds especially bananas, gold fish and whatever you are eating. Most days we have to cut him off since he over eats. He is not a fan of veggies unless they are in soups, avocado, cheese or chicken tenders. He loves to eat with a fork or spoon!
• Duke's favorite toys include; The monkey I made for him, he carries it with him everywhere. It even sits at the table with him. Spike, Blue Woofs, and his blue fuzzy blanket and any toy that sister is currently playing with. He has started playing with Lego's but they don't keep his attention long. He {loves} Mr. Potato Head.

• He likes his shows. He will watch anything with the new kind of animation (Pixar) he {loves} Toy Story and Buzz. He still enjoys Frozen but has branched out and he is also an Elmo fan.
• He loves to slide down the slide we have inside. 
• If I would allow it he would spend his entire day outside. He loves to explore, run and climb around in the back yard.

• Duke is go, go, go, DESTROY!!! He likes to make messes, pull things apart and destroy any area that is orderly. He will specifically wait until I finish cleaning an area and then race over there to mess it up again. I usually clean when he's asleep. :)
• He's really starting to grasp the concept of technology and loves to hang up the phone or on Skype.I think he's be further ahead if he didn't have sister there to "help" him.
• He hates wearing socks but doesn't mind them if he's wearing shoes.

• If there's a latch/ lock off a cupboard he knows it. It is amazing how fast that kid can mess up and pull everything out onto the floor.
• Duke likes to get his dance on! He has a signature spinning move and will bounce along to the songs. It is super cute!
• He loves to play peek-a-boo around corners and screams in delight when you shout BOO! He loves to be tickled and chased.
• He has really gotten into reading books the last few weeks. His favorites are the blue ABC book, Elmo's search and find, anything Sandra Boyton and the Mathew van Fleet books.

• He is on a pretty strict routine and his knows when everything happens. If he is late for a nap he'll let you know Here's his current routine. Up at 7:30- 8:30 . Breakfast as soon as he wakes up. If he's gotten up at 7:30 or earlier he'll need a half hour power nap at 8:30. Nap at 10:00. Up by 12:30 (he usually wakes up by 11:45 -12). Lunch at 12:30. Community nap time at 2:30 (E goes down too). Up by 5:00-5:30. Dinner at 6:00. Bath at 7:15 and bed by 8:00. I was thinking of switching him to one nap but there is no way. He still needs two and doesn't even fight them. He loves nap time and if I run behind he usually comes to me with his blanket, sue and a toy and drags me to his room.
• This kid is a TANK! I swear he gets bigger and heavier every day!!

Seriously, my baby needs to stop growing up! Duke is full of such light and laughter and I am so thankful that I get to be his Mama. He brings so much joy and love into our home. He is 100% boy and that is a fun learning curve but I couldn't imagine our lives without him. Gosh I {love} this boy!!!