Valentine's Day - Our DIY Details

With Valentine's Day just around the corner..

I wanted to share some fun

and easy DIY Details that you can use to

decorate your home or a party!

Mini Powdered Sugar Donuts might have

been used as bribery for this photo shoot...

Here's a Summary of my DIY DETAILS.

I'll explain more on each throughout the post!

--Dollar Store Heart Doily Garland

--Dollar Store Heart Balloons

--'XO' Gold Spray Painted Letters

--2 IKEA Frames filled with Valentine's Day Themed Printables

--Thrift Store 'Donut Stand' Spray Painted Gold

--Gold Sparkly Heart Toppers

--Flower Crowns (Tutorial later this week!)

--Tulle Tutus

I found this cute little stand at good will one day..and knew it had potential!

I spray painted it gold (the metallic kind) and loaded it up with pretty little donuts!

The toppers were made from leftover gold sparkly card stock that I cut out with my heart craft punch(JoAnns) and taped to some candy sticks(JoAnns)

I made the GOLD 'XO' LETTERS using

Metallic Gold Spray Paint and Letters from JoAnns.

We used them on the table display but they could be cute as photo props!

I used a white IKEA storage box(from my office area) upside down

to give some height to my table. 

 I made up in Photoshop a couple VALENTINE'S DAY PRINTS

to put in frames as part of our Decorations!

The girls really loved this one with the cute little bumble bees. :)

You can get the Printable for yourself in my Etsy Shop.

I think they would be cute for your home decor but even for a valentine's day party!

Or printing up a bunch and framing as gifts... a fun little DIY you can use each year.

BE MINE PRINTABLE - $8 

   KEEP CALM and EAT CANDY PRINTABLE - $8

LOCATION: I took these photos in the corner of the Girls' Room...

moved their beds to the side. The Table and heart rugs are from IKEA.

OUTFITS: They are wearing basic white tops from Target...

and their Tulle Tutus I made them last year. (no sew SUPER easy.)

The girls were all about this super girly photo shoot.

It didn't take much convincing for them to participate

once I said tutus and donuts were involved...

DOILY HEART GARLAND

I grabbed 2 packs of heart doilies from the Dollar Store.

Took some Clothes pins I already had, painted one side with mod podge and dipped them in Gold Glitter from JoAnn's (bought big size and used coupon)

I used fishing line that I already had to string them up! For something even more sturdy you could use ribbon. We moved this garland to our mantle! :)

This is what happens when powdered sugar donuts are involved in photos...

Sugar high. ;) goofy girls.

Hope you found some inspiration in this post to make

your Valentine's Day extra special for your sweeties!

I am trying to help Sophia fulfill her new years resolution of "celebrate more"...

I thought that was a good resolution. ;)

I'll be sharing the Flower Crown Tutorial later this week!

or weekend...depending on life.

I seriously have been pooped/peed on every day this week

and our humongous laundry pile is proof of that.

Christmas!...in January?

It's almost February..and I'm finally getting around to blogging about our Christmas Morning!

I shared a video already with some iPhone photos here.

I feel like this yearly full post is more for me than my readers haha...

We love looking back at past Christmas Mornings. :)

Here's our 2010 Photo Re-cap and Video Greeting and

our 2011 Photos and Video Greeting. So fun seeing the kids growing up..

Christmas morning is so magical when they are little!!

I seriously was so excited for them to wake up I barely slept. :)

I've been getting lots of e-mails from readers who start off their e-mails with "You don't know me and this might be weird but I feel like I know you!" hehe. and I LOVE it. It's not weird at all I'm so happy to have this connection and community with you all through my blog!

I know that I love seeing how others celebrate in their home..

so I'm happy to share our morning with you....sleepy face and all. :)

Here's the video we shared on Christmas Night for our Family and Friends far away. :)

I put a qr code with our Christmas Cards for people to scan with

their iPhones and be taken directly to see the video!

Christmas Day was filled with lots of dress up dance parties and shows!

(We always grab up costumes after Halloween... major discounts!)

The guitar..one of sophie's favorite toys.. we found at a flea market near us. I think it was $1? The sound works and everything. We also got sienna's cash register from their for 50 cents??

Santa was proud of himself. ;)

I LOVE the photo below of me with sienna and micah.. 

And I love that sophie put on her hat before coming out to open presents.

She insisted she wear it!! The girls are wearing their Christmas Pajamas from Carters. Grabbed those up during the Black Friday Specials.

I'm wearing my comfy pajamas that I got at Target to put in my Hospital Bag when I had Micah.

We had a bounce house inside.... and the girls flipped over it!

Grandpa Bob gave this to them.

I loved the idea of them getting all their energy out in a confined space. ;)

Micah's first Christmas.. consisted of him getting snuggled by everyone.

lots of smoochies.

One of Sienna's favorite presents was a sit n' spin ben found on craigslist for $10.

Perfect gift for a child who doesn't stop moving! She can sit and move at the same time!

Ben got me the purple north face sweater that I'm wearing below.

so comfy and I love the color.

Bahahaha...

Micah's face sums up his feelings towards sienna at this moment....

Micah: "help.. me.."

We got the girls an iPad for their 'big' present.

We found one on craigslist..great condition. and then got the

iGuy case on ebay for 6 or 9 bucks. I blogged about our Favorite Kid Apps.

We had it loaded and ready to go on Christmas morning. they loved it!

 It was a great Christmas morning.. Ignore my sleepy face below..and find sienna in the background of that photo sneaking candy. that one is silent and sneaky. ;)

Ben surprised me by getting me something I had talked about wanting a long time ago..

Bamboo splash! (for drawing designs/graphics) AND an iPhone 5.

Plus some other fun little goodies. Husband did a great job this year!

Here we are at Christmas Eve Mass. :)

sophie was boycotting photos.. sienna was hamming it up.

If you missed our Christmas Card for this year I shared it HERE.. One of the photos we sent was a little manger scene..Sophie was Mary, Sienna was an "angel" and Micah was baby Jesus. I thought it turned out pretty cute. :) I need to blog the out takes though..They LOVED dressing up and posing..but halos were flying and Mary was having a melt down over how the angels hands were folded......haha. o yes.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

even if this post is coming in February.. :)

I'm 27!?

Yesterday I turned 27!

Pretty much since I turned 25 when my birthday rolls around I have to really think about how old I'm turning..?! I'll blame it this time on the newborn coma I'm still in. ;)

It was a fun day! Ben and I took the whole gang to Qdoba for lunch.

A favorite with kids because it's yummy and FAST.

and for some reason our kids are usually behaved there.

(We can NEVER take them to chili's without someone or all of them having a melt down. weird.)

After lunch I was given my crown from the girls...I think I pulled it off right ;)

Loved spending the day with these sweeties.

Soo...27 with 3 kids.

(4 year old, 2 year old and 8 week old)

Sometimes ben and I are like wait... we have THREE kids?? haha.

They are fun. But I seriously can't believe we have 3!!

I can't imagine life without them.

Once you see their face when they're born...

or hear their voice or see their personality come through..

in those moments you are like wow.. you are such an amazing little person!

I remember being a little girl talking about how I wanted to be a mommy..

and trying to picture my family.. doodling them.. and here they are! ;)

I feel so blessed. I love how silly and sweet they are!

 

Micah wanted to get in on the funny face making!

I always think of Shannon when I see a Pink Sky.

I think this was a special Happy Birthday from my angel.

It made me smile.

My cute kids.

Put one baby down and it's another one's turn. That's life right now.

I shuffle babies through my arms. ;)

The girls are playing well together lately... Sophie was using my tripod to take photos of sienna with her baby....or they run around playing super girls and come to me for a mission. It's a little exhausting thinking of a million different rescue situations. ;)

But... now that they are playing more together..they are 'fighting' more together.

I'm trying to block out future years of that and focus on the now haha.

My cute husband.

Celebrated our 5 year anniversary this past year!

Ended my birthday with Dinner with Ben and friends..

and some Cookie Cake.

My Favorite kind of cake. ;)

(Shirt from Old Navy. It was a polka dot kinda night!)

 

Thanks for all the birthday wishes

via instagram and facebook!!

Have a wonderful day.

Our Favorite Kid Apps!

This Christmas we got the girls an iPad(craigslist) and a iGuy case(ebay)...

and loaded it with games for Christmas morning!

I've been getting a lot of comments via facebook and

instagram for a list of apps that we use.

So below is a screen shot of all our games and a list of the favorites.

We also put on some music.. Most played is Taylor Swift and

some of their favorite songs they hear on KLOVE!

They are pretty good about sharing it.

 And I love seeing them snuggle up on the couch and play together. :)

It is a big help when they can play on it quietly while

I take care of Micah or do house/cooking stuff.

Below sophie is playing one of their favorite games...Play123

Some of their favorites are:

Easy Bake, Play123, PBS Kids,

KidsDoodle, KaleidoFree,

PirateSchool and Bible Heroes!

The iGuy case is awesome.

It can sit upright which is

great when they put on a show or music.

Would love to hear your kids' favorites!

Home Sweet Home - Our Family Room

I have shared bits and pieces of our home..

and recently had some requests to share more of our space!

I'm happy to share our little rental that we currently call home. :)

Here's some shots of our family room over this Christmas Season!

I'm mentioning some of my favorite pieces and the DIY projects in the space below.

Our rug is from RUGSUSA.COM

I fell in LOVE with the pattern. This is the Moroccan Trellis Rug in Light Green.

It also came in yellow and blue and many more colors!

It does shed a bit.. but I heard from others that over time that goes away.

A pretty rug can make a world of different in the space.. and it is super soft!

Our couch and chair are from La-Z-Boy.

They feel AMAZING! We chose the Collins Sofa and The Rex Reciner.

I like how the sofa goes all the way to the floor...no toys getting stuck.

The pieces are very soft and comfy and yet still sturdy feeling.

We first picked out the sofa..and then my husband convinced me to sit in this chair...and it was...heaven. I should add that I was super pregnant..and melted into the chair. I didn't want to get up haha. So comfortable. You are able to choose from a huge selection of fabrics. We decided to match the two pieces. I LIVE in the chair. It is great for nursing. It rocks..and then you have the option of putting your feet up and leaning it back. Everyone that comes to our house and sits there.. loves it.

We painted the space one grey wall and the rest a blue/green. (I'll track down the colors!)

The Piano was free and came painted! love it.

FYI: You can grab up free Pianos all the time on Craigslist..

people list them all the time but you have to move them yourself!

We found our Coffee table in the trash..

my husband sanded down the top and stained it dark.

Then I spray painted the legs white. The curtains are the ANITA Curtains from IKEA.

Our Chevron Pillows are from ElemnOPillows

At Christmas time I string up the tissue paper garland I made for my Cookie Exchange Party a couple years ago. I love it..sometimes it stays up long after Christmas. :)

The large prints over the fireplace I made using Staple's Engineer Prints and Foam Insulation Boards from Lowe's. (for 4 prints that size I spent $6 or so at Staples!

Search "engineer prints" on Pinterest for tutorials!

Morning PJ snuggles

on the couch. :)

(4, 2 & 7 Weeks)

Thanks for stopping over!

Day in the Life Post & "You Know You're a Mom if. . . "

Some mama revelation:

You also know you're a mom with a newborn and a

sleeping husband if in the morning he says

"he slept pretty good last night huh!"................not. ;)

You know you're a mom if your idea of relaxation is a solo trip to Target. ;)

And you know you're a mom if you can't use the bathroom without

fingers under the door or someone busting in asking to sit and watch. (seriously?)

Still not getting much sleep these days.

Micah seems to think night time is when the sun comes up.....

even with his sisters having a dance party in high heels right next to him...he sleeps.

I'm sure you could add more of these to the list!

comment below if you have any good ones...

or join the conversation on my blog's facebook page! ;)

Cute Baby Giggles.

You're welcome.

haha.. seriously though..my phone is

busting with photos of this cutie.

He is solid. My little butterball.

I'm not a fan of the sleeping only 10 minutes at a time at night... not a fan.

Good thing he is so cute. ;)

LIFE.

Our days feel jam packed...even if we don't go anywhere.

And most days.. we don't! Haha. I am trying to tackle life with 3 indoors...

before I brave the world with them on my own. ;)

The other night though ben and I went to see Les Mis.

Micah crashed our date...but he was soo good! ::sigh of relief::

The Freezer crock pot meals have been a big help!

I am already looking up new recipes to add into our mix of favorites for next time!

There was a shark in the water and they

had to put everyone in their boat. Obviously...

(please overlook the hole in sophie's pants. her FAVORITE pants...

even though I bought the same pair..she knows.........?!

I need to patch them up.)

Sophie loves to cuddle up with Micah.

But I'm not so sure Micah is feeling it. ;)

Soon though He'll be able to roll over and smoosh sophie.

I'm not worried.

Someone missed their daddy...

this is sienna as soon as he walked in the door..

and then micah later in the evening.

obviously...daddy is comfy.

And obviously the floor is comfy too...

I wish this was me.

Noticed this the other morning...

I think the current residents of the doll house have a little hoarding problem...

and in other news...EVERYONE made it to the manger!

Happy Epiphany everybody!

TOUCHDOWN.

Still recovering from the national championship game.

big notre dame family.

And that is our family update.

Now I need to go...and intercept sienna

from changing her clothes for the 10th time today.