Printables

Charades a game for the toddler in your world. This is pretty genius actually, in our house most of the games are geared toward our 5 year old … so having something that really works with where our toddler is in life sounds perfect.

A-MAZE-ING! Corny, I know! But accurate none the less. Speaking of games and kids – my daughter is a maze freak so this is great. I’m thinking these would be good to pull out on our way home from school. Get her mind unwound from the day, maybe loosen up some of the stories I’ll be dying to hear but she’s not entirely ready to share ?? It’s a process, I know. (Also check out these other kid mazes, a little easier)

Penguin family super fun and free printable for your wall. The entry way? Your office? They need these penguins.

Baby Shower invites Ok really, I just love the ABC design and color of these. I might forgo the invitation and frame one for a craft room or even my office. Having varying sizes of things to look at in colors that inspire you is always a good idea.

Passwords are hard to keep straight.

Shapes! Dinosaurs! Adorable!

Money Bingo I printed these off this week because I was tired of hearing “I’m bored!” and we’re working on a no-nap schedule for the 5 year old in preparation for school. Yes, she still naps … every single day. What I loved about this game was two-fold. It was sneaky because she was learning something (which she loves to do), it was a game, it was time together. The best part? watching her light go on as she put two-and-two together and seeing her eyes sparkle as she looked at me with pure delight in herself. I also liked how this game provided an easy way to talk about money values. Pennies, nickels, dimes … their sizes vary as do their values and she really seemed to understand that in the perimeters of this game.

Free Save The Date with a vintage twist. So pretty!

Make Stuff

A clock with paper and clockworks. Love this.

Build some shelves which I plan to do for the apartment because school paper is about to take over every square foot in this space and I’m not about to let it win.

ReBeautify that bronze thing in the corner… oh! It IS a lamp! How lovely.

Make rubber stamps the adorable potential is all over the place on this one.

Pine cone runner. There’s something about woodsy elements to this time of year that really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Plus, this is stunning.

Homemade Bug repellent You’re welcome.

Oh Martha, you never steer us wrong Map Coasters!

Outdoor games Please make this, someone. This looks like ridiculous fun.

Shelves for that wasted space I have the building bug right now.

CUTE! Paint chip bag. Love love love.

More shelves – these I’ll be making for our new kitchen. Yay!!

A few days ago I thought it was really cute watching my son play “FIRE!” with some poster markers. He was distinguishing fires all over the house making that adorable little hose noise with his mouth and protecting us all from the impending danger in his imagination.

Adorable, right?

Well, he has this ability to get really quiet and I let that go on for a minute or two – I mean, kids have to learn right? So what if I have to clean up an entire box of Cheerios or fish his trucks and cars out of the toilet, AGAIN. He’s just figuring out how the world around him works.

It’s getting less adorable by the second.

I hear my daughter shrieking and scolding her brother so I go to investigate.

Oh No.

Apartment walls. Walls that we do not own. Walls that I have to keep clean lest I want to lose our security deposit. Oh No.

OLIVER!

The only ‘damage’ to the apartment was the wall – the rest of his art was all over his sheets, pillow and crib. And it was very washable. No big deal. We laughed. We giggled and then we just bent over and cried from laughing. All three of us.

Because of course this would happen! Who was I kidding letting him play with markers? The kid is Curious George in a boy’s suit. He will test every water, ever boundary that is presented him.

His middle name is Wayne, after all.

He has stinker in his blood.

It all came off with a baby wipe and a cycle through the wash machine. And a bath. Then I decided it was time to buy more finger paints and to appoint a few minutes a day to letting him test his artistic abilities. Only, well … I haven’t done that yet.

So I’m hiding the markers until I do.

As part of the cocktail party center piece I made some paper airplanes (idea here) and although I love the paper, it was too heavy for the centerpiece to really work … I made it any way. It still sits on top the buffet in the dining room just asking me to retry the whole idea with lighter paper but I CAN’T get rid of the airplanes. They’re puuurrrtty.

I picked up the paper from a local Hobby Craft store … I have been slightly cured but I am majorly addicted to paper. Ask my mother.

Maybe it’s just me, but paper gets me. I’m crazy, I know.

Over the next week or so these are the dinners our family will (hopefully) enjoy:

Chicken Pot Pie.

A Boxed GF Hamburger helper type thing. (The night the hubs works late of course!)

Taco Salad.

Chicken Spaghetti

Surprise Plate! (usually means we clean out the fridge/freezer)

BBQ Ribs.

Spaghetti/Meatballs.

Pork Chops.

Chicken something (I actually wrote this)

Skewers.

None of that gives a great deal of description on how I make a main dish turn into a meal – but it really depends on what’s still fresh in my fridge, what we have and haven’t eaten, how my pantry is doing and when the next Farmers Market is.

A few staples I have around right now are: Carrots, Green Salad, Corn Bread, Bisquit makings, Squash and Fruit for fruit salad.

Turns out this is a big deal. Full days of school start soon in this house which means I’ll be packing a lunch for my daughter almost exclusively because of allergies the hot lunch isn’t really an option.

Only, we have to worry about more than just her allergies and how to protect her from them, because we also have to protect the other children’s allergies from whatever might possibly end up in her sack-lunch.

Nothing of a peanut variety may be along with her for her bus ride. They did say we could pack them but that they could not open their lunches on the bus and thats like asking your three year old to help you wrap the presents blindfolded for Christmas.

It’s easier to just do it yourself, am I right?

So, no peanuts. Which is one of the food groups she can have plenty of and we can be pretty creative because of it … but not for school.

And because of the cost we don’t eat a ton of Gluten Free breads or crackers, which is half of what a sack-lunch used to be – your sandwich and those yummy-bad-for-you crackers and cheese. Oh yum!

I put it out there on my personal facebook page asking parents who make them WHAT THEY PUT IN THEM!! I just don’t know.

I’ve gotten some great tips, best one of all was to include the occasional note or sticker, I loved it when my mom did that and can’t believe I was totally forgetting that about lunches.

Here’s the other dilemma I run into … how much do I pack with her? She get’s a snack in the morning (crackers that all parents provide to the school, in her case, special crackers) and then lunch. Do I plan that she’ll stuff herself so she can make it through the ride home and then beg me for something to eat? Or do I pack something that along the way home, she might find and decide to snack on herself.

I have been the sole source of nutrition and food for my daughter since she was born. Unleashing this huge responsibility on her and strangers around her feels like I’m handing reigns over to someone I haven’t met, who doesn’t understand that her rosy cheeks mean more than she’s warm.

Or the tight red line she gets around her lips means her stomach hurts. That when she starts itching her legs and arms she’s having an allergic reaction and the only that makes her feel better is a cold drink and time on my lap, possibly some lotion.

They don’t know that the awful sound she makes when she’s frustrated is really where the word “HELP ME” is supposed to go but she can never find it in time to say that instead of burst out yearning.

And how in the world is the teacher going to see all of this when there are 20some other children, all with their own special quirks and stories, in her room expecting the same treatment that I expect for my baby girl? WHO IS NO LONGER A BABY AND … AND …. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

{long pause}

Well I just lost my marbles. So this week is going to be tough, the week I have to act all “This is so exciting!” and I’m feeling “Dear God please keep her safe, when did she start walking again? Will she come back to me?”, “She’s still so small!!”. She’s already announced to us that she realizes I am going to cry on her first day of school – it’s what I do! She declared.

She’s right.

But along with working through all of this, letting her go, giving her wings and watching her take off and be great, I have to pack a Lunch! With no peanuts.

Mom’s, how do you do it?

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In my rabid searching of the Internet for fun DIY projects and inspiring projects I came across Bethany Actually’s tutorial on homemade vanilla which looked super easy and completely worth the effort.

I looked into the suggested link from Bethany’s blog about where to buy the bottles and decided to ask friends on facebook if anyone might be interested in ordering with me. Shipping was quite expensive for only 12 bottles so I figured if we could order a few more and disburse the cost we might be ahead before we even begin.

Thankfully I got 3 other friends, Donielle, Jill and Katie to combine efforts and order bottles together.

Then I found the vanilla beans on amazon and Katie and I ordered them to split since we only needed 20 beans for the vanilla recipe. We ended up getting 60 which left us each with 10 extra beans to use however we wanted … I added some into a cookie recipe, used them in my Raspberry Charlotte and still have some left over to use in baking. Yum!

SO … now that we have everything we need … let’s make some vanilla!

Gather your beans, vodka, and bottles.

And have a funnel and glass measuring cup near by.

I started by cutting all 20 of my beans into 3 parts each, then made 12 piles with the vanilla bean pieces for each bottle.

Put the beans into the bottles until all the bottles have their beans!

Measure 1/2 Cup Vodka into the glass meassuring cup and pour through funnel into each bottle, repeat until all bottles are full. Close with caps.

Place in a sunny sill to distill for up to 4 months.

Enjoy!

**A few notes: Mine have been sitting in the sunniest sill of our apartment for about 2 1/2 weeks and are very amber in color already. They also have a small amount of film at the top and I’m really hoping that it’s just because of the denseness of the distilling vanilla in the sun and not because something green and unfriendly is growing. Right now, I’m going with it’s part of the process. I’ll let you know.**

A few Sunday’s ago we hosted our first Cocktail Party at our new apartment. It was a way for our friends to see the new place but also a wonderful way to have friends over and finally use some of my ideas for decorating and enjoying a fun evening.

We made super fun use of the mustaches.

I tried a few new recipes and made some yummy treats.

And we even had games to play.

Getting together with our friends there usually is never a lack of conversation, but since this evening was specifically for adults only I decided to try to steer the conversation in a direction that would make everyone think of something other than where soandso’s kids were for the evening. Not everyone has children and it can be pretty difficult to sit in a circle and only ever hear myself talk about my kids. So the Conversation Game was a way for me to practice using other parts of my brain and to keep it interesting.

The first question we pulled out of the jar was “What are your thoughts on the oil spill and BP’s current reaction to the problem?”

Wowza! We hadn’t had enough PomTini’s to answer that one yet … so we skipped it. I had a blast going through the questions and hearing everyone’s answers. After 10 years of knowing and hanging out with these guys, I still learned something new about them … which was refreshing and fantastic.

The last slip I pulled from the jar as people were getting ready to head out was “Refill your drinks!” … ha! A little late in the evening for that one, but a perfect ending nonetheless.

Unfortunately I failed to get the invites in the mail early enough for an RSVP but I did print them! I chose a template from Download and Print and customized them with this invitational message:

join us for a

Cocktail Hour @ Schaap’s New Roost
sunday, august twenty-second
at
seven o’clock in the evening

address street, holland

rsvp is requested by august eighteenth 

adults only, childcare not provided

Next time we host a party it’ll be my first goal to get the invites in the mail 14 days prior to the event.

It was a blast! We can’t wait to do it again, have you hosted any fun parties lately? For a birthday? A friend or family member? A wedding or even a graduation or retirement bash? I’d love to hear how you pulled it off, helpful tips you thought of or creative ways you decorated for the event.

Here are more photos of our fun evening.

This weekend the husband and I went to Chicago to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary.

More to come on our trip and how I went about planning it, how we decided what to try, what to do and where we went.

Until then – Happy Anniversary, Aaron! Seven years and I STILL do.

{Mushy face}

**Disclaimer: This blog post is an entry into a contest to win a ticket to the Type A Mom conference. If you’re looking for something else today, please check out the Lists We Love To Do**

As far as conferences go I’ve been to one, planned one and am now hoping to win a ticket to another one!

I’ve heard people talk about conferences in a number of different ways, mostly I hear that what you get out of them is social interaction; putting faces to names and making friends across the world from right across your table. Which I’m excited about and did experience first hand at BlogHer09, however, I’m more excited to get energized and excited about what I’m doing here every day, day after day, when I’m in a room of creative people who think that this is valid. That writing within this media is worth it.

Most of the audience at the conferences I’ve been to so far are women and it feels like this wonderful, welcoming tribe of people who want to listen to you. There’s always someone who’s interested, who has questions/ideas.

I’m interested in the Type A Mom conference for the same reasons that drove me to plan a conference for bloggers by bloggers with my partner in crime, Stacey from Stacey Says…, to learn more about how to get to the next level. To create relationships with the kind of companies, other bloggers and friends that go beyond the giveaway, that go beyond the page and where respect runs both ways.

This website is work for me (fun and amazing work but still work). It’s time away from my kids and getting to a place where the companies I am or have worked with respect that and don’t expect my words, my time and my influence for free is difficult. Which is just the reason Type A Mom fits where I am right now in this business and I hope to get a chance to be inspired to continue thinking outside of the box.

Yes. YES!

We had our first party at the apartment last week and it was a blast. I finally put some of these links to good use.

Come along for the ride, lets make some mustaches!

I downloaded the template for the mustaches here and then bought a couple sheets of brown card stock from a craft store to print the template on to.

Cut them out.

Grab your glue of choice and some wooden sticks (skewers work great too) to have close by.

Turn your mustache over, dab a dot of glue and stick a wooden dowel down.

Repeat until all the mustaches are mounted on dowels or until you have as many as you’ll need.

Let them dry and then take them for a spin!

I set them in a large container for our guests to grab as they walked in.

Enjoy!