The Great Kiddie Pool Disaster

So innocent looking, right? 

How could a tiny wading pool cause trauma, 

screaming, weeping, and gnashing of teeth?

When a rookie mom fills said kiddie pool with ice cold water straight out of the hose, all hell breaks loose. Big time rookie mistake, people. There was screaming, there was hysterical crying, there was lots of clinging to Mama long after the 5 second pool dip was over.  I had visions of a happy baby splashing and laughing and thinking, "My Mama is the best mama in the whole world because she bought be this awesome $5 kiddie pool."  Let's just say that little dream was crushed.   

The Bear finally calmed down after we moved over to a blanket in the shade.  I tried showing him how fun it was by sticking my feet in it.  It felt amazing.  He wanted no part of that action.  Oh well.  We will try again another day, but this time I'll let the water warm up in the sun first.  

What was your latest rookie mistake?

Summer Mantle and a Cheap Giant Photo

I love to change up my fireplace mantle, but I don't like to spend money.  I have to look at it constantly, so I want it to be something I enjoy.  Often I repurpose items from around the house.  I used one of my Meme's vintage blue mason jars to hold up 3 fun pinwheels I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby last year.  I also used 3 red candles from around the house for the other side.  The giant photo in the middle is my masterpiece.  I saw a great post on Pinterest about blowing up photos for under $5 and decided to put it to the test.  I edited my photo by adding text, then took the file to Kinko's on a thumb drive.  I asked them to blow it up to a 2x3 engineer's print.  It cost $3.  Total.  The quality is not the same as when you pay for a more expensive print, but I love the look of it and the fact that I can change it out at will.    

My husband cut out a piece of foam insulation to fit the print, and I painted the edges aqua to match other accents in my living room and disguise the ugly foam insulation.  I mounted the print using spray adhesive.  Easy.

Have you tried the giant print trick yet?

I made 2 others; one for Jed's classroom and one for the 

ugly mirrored closet doors in The Bear's room.  

So fun and so frugal.  Go for it!

I love linking my ideas at these blog parties.  Click the links to check them out and find crafty inspiration.  If you've never visited a blog party, you will be blown away by the creativity shared and imaginative ideas.  

Monday: CraftOManiac, Mad in Crafts, It's So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, The Girl Creative, Keeping It Simple, C.R.A.F.T., Boogie Board Cottage, and Sumo's Sweet Stuff     
Tuesday: Raising 4 Princesses, The Kurtz Corner, Hope Studios, Today's Creative Blog, Coastal Charm, and New Nostalgia  
Wednesday: The Trendy Treehouse, Polka Dots on Parade, Lil Luna, and The Thrifty Home 
Thursday: Somewhat Simple, Tales from Bloggeritaville, The Shabby Creek Cottage, and House of Hepworths
Friday: Sugar and Spice, Kojo Designs, and The Shabby Nest 
Weekends: Tatertots and Jello, Serenity Now, and Candace Creations 

Simplify Saturday 2

Dates: May 19-31

Items: 13 Books

Method of Disposal: Sold to Half Price Books

Week 2 is here already, and I found more books just taking up space and gathering dust.  I sold them at Half Price Books and made $25 for the lot of them.  Yay!  I call that a win.    

What is Simplify Saturday?

Inspired by my latest issue of Real Simple magazine, I am on a quest to clear the clutter from our house and simplify our lives.  We just have so much stuff.  Stuff we're holding on to for whatever reason, tons of it.  Most of the time I walk by it without even noticing but not anymore.  I'm done with the clutter.  I used to watch the show Hoarders and wonder how that could happen to people.  How does it happen?  One thing at a time.  How do you prevent it? One thing at a time.  

I've decided the clutter collection stops now.  From May 1, 2012 to April 30, 2011, I vow to purge our house of 1 item every day for an entire year.  Most of the time it will be in groups like this week, but there will be at least 365 things by the end of this experiment.  The other part of my quest is to not add anything to the landfill in the process.  I hope to sell, donate, freecycle, or recycle ever item.  I'll post a round up each week and share how I got rid of the items.  

How are your simplifying your life this week?

Please vote for Fisher!

I entered Fisher into the Parents Magazine

Cover Model contest and we need your votes

so that he can win this week.  

Click HERE to vote.

It takes less than one minute.  

I promise this is not a slow slide into 

Toddlers and Tiaras territory.

Stand by Me

Our big boy is standing up completely on his own now.  It seems like about 5 minutes ago when we thought kicking his legs was an awesome trick.  I know it is is only a matter of days before he takes those first steps and starts walking.  I'm a little sad about this milestone, because it means my baby is officially a toddler.  I'm sure I will love this next stage just as much as all the others, but I think I will miss my snuggly little baby.  This is just one of many, many big transitions the Bear will make, and I'll have to come to terms with every one.  I'm so thankful to have a strong, healthy son, and hopefully he will still want mama snuggles once he is running at full speed.  

What stage transitions have been the hardest for you?

Burlap and Pinwheels - A Summer Wreath

I'm still in love with my interchangeable burlap wreath.  It just makes switching out seasonal decorations so easy.  For summer I left the grass and flowers in from my spring wreath and added pinwheels from Dollar Tree that were 3/$1.  They happened to match the ribbon I used in the spring wreath.  Click here to see my spring/Easter version and here to see the Valentine's Day version.  

 Getting the pinwheels to stick in the wreath was far more difficult than I thought it would be.  I thought the stakes would poke through and make the pinwheels stand up.  Nope.  They broke off instead.  I weaved each stake through the grass a little bit and then used straight pins to secure the stakes onto the back of the wreath.  Because the wreath is on our front door and gets opened and shut a lot, I've had to readjust the pinwheels several times.  I'm ok with that.  I love the whimsical look of this wreath and the fact that it cost only $1 to switch to a summer version.

Pinwheels, flip flops, Americana, beach flair... 

How do you decorate for summer?  

I love linking my ideas at these blog parties.  Click the links to check them out and find crafty inspiration.  If you've never visited a blog party, you will be blown away by the creativity shared and imaginative ideas.  

Monday: CraftOManiac, Mad in Crafts, It's So Very Cheri, Sew Chatty, The Girl Creative, Keeping It Simple, C.R.A.F.T., Boogie Board Cottage, and Sumo's Sweet Stuff     
Tuesday: Raising 4 Princesses, The Kurtz Corner, Hope Studios, Today's Creative Blog, Coastal Charm, and New Nostalgia  
Wednesday: The Trendy Treehouse, Polka Dots on Parade, Lil Luna, and The Thrifty Home 
Thursday: Somewhat Simple, Tales from Bloggeritaville, The Shabby Creek Cottage, and House of Hepworths
Friday: Sugar and Spice, Kojo Designs, and The Shabby Nest 
Weekends: Tatertots and Jello, Serenity Now, and Candace Creations 

Hey Girl. (On the Swings)

Hey Girl.  Looks like your having a good time over there.  

    

  I'm a little nervous about this whole thing if I'm being 

totally honest with you.

But you sure do look good with the wind in your hair.  

Simplify Saturday 1

Inspired by my latest issue of Real Simple magazine, I am on a quest to clear the clutter from our house and simplify our lives.  We just have so much stuff.  Stuff we're holding on to for whatever reason, tons of it.  Most of the time I walk by it without even noticing but not anymore.  I'm done with the clutter.  I used to watch the show Hoarders and wonder how that could happen to people.  How does it happen?  One thing at a time.  How do you prevent it? One thing at a time.  

I've decided the clutter collection stops now.  From May 1st I vow to purge our house of 1 item every day for an entire year.  Most of the time it will be in groups like this week, but there will be at least 365 things by the end of this experiment.  The other part of my quest is to not add anything to the landfill in the process.  I hope to sell, donate, freecycle, or recycle ever item.  I'll post a round up each week and share how I got rid of the items.  I'm weirdly excited about getting rid of the stuff that is clogging up my house.  

Dates: May 1-18

Items: 18 Books

Method of Disposal: Donated to Young Life Yard Sale

How are your simplifying your life this week?

Frugal Friday - Thrifty Bear

I love stuffed animals.  

LOVE them.

I  love to buy them for my boy.

Unfortunately they are a bit pricey.  

I recently discovered a stuffed animal gold mine.

I've found so many NEW with the tags still on fluffy friends at garage sales and consignment sales.  Cost of the furry friend above: $4.  Do you know how much a bear like that would cost if purchased from a retail store?  Amazon has several from $35-70.  I racked up at a high school's yard sale and bought 3 really nice fluffballs for $1 a piece.  Guess what's getting wrapped up for Fisher's birthday...  

Some folks might think it dirty or gross to buy used stuffed animals.  Not me.  I only buy the ones that look new with no wear and tear.  Then I throw them in the wash like this guy (who needed the whole machine to himself) so that I feel like they aren't sketchy.  I have seriously been amazed by how many great toys you can find slightly used for really cheap.  

Would you buy toys from garage sales?  

Do you buy only new toys for your children's gifts?  

What a Way to Make a Living

The Bear loves to help with the filing around the Young Life office (my dining room).  And by help I mean destroy every file folder within reach and repeatedly open and close the filing cabinet drawers. He really has been the best baby ever while I've worked from home this year, but it kills me every time he wants my attention and I can't give it to him fully.  Which brings me to my next point...

Over the past 2 years we have prayed, discussed, debated, and finally decided that it is time for me to quit my job and stay home full time with the Bear.  I am so sad to leave Young Life, but at the same time so excited to start this next chapter.  I can't wait to be able to focus my attention on my family.  I love my job, but as anyone in full time ministry knows, it has a way of owning you.  This ministry has given me so much over the last 12 years, and I am so thankful to have had the privilege to be a part of the lives of so many people through it.  If you had asked me 5 years ago if I would ever want to be a stay at home mama, I would have said you were crazy.  Now it is the desire of my heart.  Thankfully we have budgeted and saved and are debt free so that we can afford to live off one income.  I know things will be much tighter around here, and I look forward to sharing our even more frugal ways with you.  I have a little over a month left at my job, and am currently trying to finish well and set my yet-to-be-named replacement up for success.  

I would love to hear from any of you have made the transition from workaholic to stay at home mama.  How did you make it work?  How do you structure your days? How do you live on one income?  Share your ideas with me.  

Hey Girl.

Hey girl.  

How you doin'?

You are rocking that sun hat almost as much as I am.

  

Mind if I move in a little closer?

The two of us together takes the cute quotient at this 

park to almost unmanageable levels.  

I'm not sure our moms can handle it.  

The Wait is Over

The wait is over, people. Teeth have arrived.  

After nine glorious months of a gummy, toothless grin, teething came at us full force.  Within the span of six weeks the top four came in first, followed shortly by the bottom two.  Let me just say that all the horrid things you've heard about teething babies are true.  Our sweet angel turned briefly into a fussy, screaming, restless, no appetite, wake up all night, ball of frustration.  I felt so sorry for him.  I'm so thankful he won't remember it, because it was ROUGH.  As I'm sure it is for every other baby out there ever.  Poor things.  Hopefully we get a little reprieve before the next teeth try to break through.  

Side note: He has only bitten me twice while nursing.  I screamed and that seemed to be an effective deterrent. 

Please share with me any brilliant strategies for dealing with teething.  Help!