Hello one and all, and as always welcome back. I'm so happy to have been able to share a few recipes and crafts in the last few weeks. It's nice to get a little normalcy back into my life, hopefully the kids don't go and change it all up on me again.
I am sharing Kaley's 8 month picture today, and I'm started to feel like time is moving twice as fast not that I have two kids. Seriously, where has this year gone? In four month I'm going to have a 3 year old and a 1 year old. Crazy town. But back to Kaley's picture and update.
This girl is hilarious, and I mean absolutely belly laugh hilarious. She is the biggest ham ever, loving to be the center of attention and getting people to laugh at her. She loves having her picture taken and usually gets me laughing while doing so. The faces and noises she makes are adorable, especially when she's off playing by herself. She's extremely independent and is very good at entertaining herself when she needs to. There is a path of destruction in her wake, but she's very happy while doing it.
She started really crawling this month and we were so not ready for this. She can literally crawl clear across the house in about two minutes, and has gotten very quiet while doing so. This is impressive since almost our whole house in hardwood and laminate. It seems like every two seconds you have to move her from somewhere she's not allowed to be like the dogs water dish or Rokko's dog crate.
And she started pulling herself up onto everything. Everything, even if it's not stationary. Poor girl has more bumps and bruises than Braxton, and that's saying something. It's getting hard to keep her out of Braxton's things and his snacks because she just crawls after him and pulls up where ever he is to bug him. Kaley may or may not have already tried Cheerios and is a cheerio fiend with a slight addiction. If a Cheerio hits the floor, you can bet Kaley will find it in about 4 seconds and eat it before you have a chance to stop her.
And the sleeping is awesome compared to Braxton. He woke up every two hours until he was a year old to eat no exception. Most night Kaley is up only once and is starting to become a full night sleeper. She goes to bed around 6pm and wakes up around 6am, with a possible 1am bottle on some nights. This is so nice, because I don't have the option to nap like I did with Braxton.
This little girl has definitely made our lives much more interesting and we certainly have our work cut out for us. Poor Braxton is still trying to adjust to all the new changes, and has no idea that she's going to get much more mobile in the coming months.
That's it for this month. I'll be back again for another update after Kaley turns nine months old. Thanks for checking in each month and watching our little girl grow with us. A year will be here before we know it.
Kerby
Hello everyone and welcome back! Good thing you're here because boy are you in for a treat! Today I am sharing a recipe for some really yummy healthly-ish brownies.
A few weeks ago I asked Luis to bring some fruits and vegetables home from the farm stand that he drives by on his way home from work. He said they had zucchini and I was in, because who doesn't love zucchini bread? Well I definitely wasn't expecting what he brought home. They were two for a dollar and this was one of the ones he decided to bring home.
Sorry for the iPhone picture, but I had to share this with a few people and it's the only picture I managed to take. And yes, that is a bunch of bananas for size comparison. I ended up with 8 and a half cups of grated and drained zucchini. Holy man was that a lot of work, and I don't plan on doing that again anytime soon. Seriously. Though probably the best fifty cents ever spent by my husband.
So off to Pinterest I went and I came across this zucchini brownie recipe and it seemed like a much better idea than bread. It only used 1 cup of grated zucchini, so I ended up freezing the rest in 1 cup portions for future recipes.
The original recipe calls for using a 9x9 baking pan, but I used an 8x8 pan because for the life of me I cannot find my 9x9 pan. So I adjusted my baking time and it was 40 minutes instead of the 25 minutes until a toothpick was clean when tested.
This was much more cake like for a brownie than I usually make, and I loved it. You couldn't even tell that there was zucchini in there, which is the best way to sneak vegetables to those who don't like to voluntarily eat them. Luis brought a few to work and the guys loved them and didn't believe that they were zucchini brownies, and one guy actually preferred these as well. Quite the compliment to this recipe.
I love brownies, and this was a nice way to make a healthier version for my family. I didn't even make the accompanying frosting recipe included with the original recipe, though I think that would have made these a one sitting treat. And like I said before, what a great way to sneak some vegetables to your kids or spouse that won't eat them any other way.
I have a feeling this recipe will start to be my go-to brownie recipe when zucchini is in season. I'm sure this could be made even healthier with a few substitutions, and maybe one day I'll try that. But for now I'm just going to enjoy the fact that there are "healthy" brownies in my house.
Do you guys have any zucchini recipes that are to die for? Please share them because I need to use this zucchini up!
Kerby
Linking to:
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday #286
Tatertots & Jello - Link Party Palooza 12/16/16
Two Chicks and a Mom - Funtastic Friday #112
eighteen25 - Show & Tell #13
Hello everyone and welcome back! Summer is almost over and I am desperately trying to get some last minute crafts done before the crazy seasons start to happen. We have Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas and two birthdays in the next four months! I think we may just be crazy people.
Anyway, I have had this on my to do list for some time now, and I finally found the wood I was looking for to get it done. I love the idea of having door signs on kids rooms for a few reasons: 1. Kids get used to seeing their names and start to associate it with themselves; 2. Other people (and kids) know whose room it is because they can see it on the door; and 3. If there was ever an emergency it is easy to identify where the children's rooms are located.
I would love to use vinyl down the road when we replace our doors, but who know when that will be. Doors are expensive people, I had no idea. But for now, these cute little signs will do the trick.
You will need a few things, so head to the craft store to grab them.
You will need:
- Balsa wood (found at craft stores)
- White spray paint
- Name printed in font choice
- Pencil
- Paint (in colour of your choosing)
Here is what the balsa wood looks like when you grab it at the craft store. I can't remember the size that I chose, but there are a few so choose the one that fits your door the best.
Lightly sand the top and all edges of the wood to remove any rough spots. Next give one side about four coats of spray paint. I chose to hand paint the sides of the wood to save myself some spray paint for another project. You can do this either way, just wait the full curing time as per the spray paint to be safe.
Once your wood is dry and ready to be painted you will want to choose a font for your child's name. I choose Waltograph because who doesn't love Disney letters?
Print this on regular paper and shade the back of the names with the side of you pencil. Make sure you have an even coating and cover each letter.
Tape this bad boy to your wood in the center and trace the letters with your pencil. You will want to press really hard so you can transfer the pencil on the back of the paper to the wood. Once you are happy with your letters grab your paint and start carefully filling them in.
I felt that they needed a little more detail than just the names, so I added some pretty flowers to the edge of Kaley's sign and a masculine edge to Braxton's sign. Here's a better picture of each sign.
Then I grabbed my trusty command strips and put them on the kids doors. I wanted them high enough that the kids couldn't take them down but still low enough for them to see their names. I think I could have lowered them just a touch, but not enough that I'm willing to waste command strips over it.
I love that these signs now define the kids spaces and lets other people know what each room is. And it's great for Braxton to see his name every day as well as see that it marks this room as "his". He was a little confused because he used to be in Kaley's room, and now it's not his space anymore. Hopefully as time goes on he will learn how to associate his name with his things.
These are so easy to make, and you know how I love an easy craft. You don't even need to do this for your kids rooms. These could be made for your laundry room, or even a bathroom. Imagine no longer having to tell people where your bathroom is, just follow the signs people. You're welcome for making your life a little easier.
Kerby
Linking to:
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday #284
Two Chicks and a Mom - Funtastic Friday #112
Hello everyone and welcome back, today I actually have a craft to share with you guys. Crazy, right? It's been such a long time since I have been able to craft that I was getting rusty, as you would have seen from my Instagram picture a few weeks ago. I burned myself while using my hot glue gun, rookie mistake.
Anyway, I needed to make something to organize and hold all of the hair accessories that come with little girls. I had no idea I would need as many hairbands and bows as I have, but the are very necessary. Trust me, they needed to be bought. For the last several months they have either been sitting on things or stuck into drawers, which lead me to lose a few as well as have them in the way. I had empty space on the back of the door for a storage solution, so I went for it.
This was pretty easy to do, it took a little bit due to the wait between paint coats and hot gluing things, but it was worth it. It's such an inexpensive way to get those hair accessories out on display and organized. All you need is a canvas, paint of your choice, clothespins and ribbon.
I found these canvases at the local dollar store for $1.25 each, so $3 for the two. These exact same ones were $3.99 at the Micheal's two stores down, so glad I stopped there first!
They are 8x10 canvases, but you could do bigger or smaller depending on what type of storage you need. Next I pulled out the same paint I used for Kaley's Pink Fox Art and gave the top a few coats of the light pink and the sides a few of the chiffon rose.
I had a certain idea in mind, but once I started going I realized that it wasn't going to look as good. Nothing wrong with changing your mind in the middle of a project, it's better to make changes as you go then have to start at the beginning to get the look you want.
I hadn't painted the side colour in the above picture, but you will see it in later pictures. But I loved the light pink as the main colour, and it took three coats until I was happy with the coverage. While I had the paint out, I decided to paint the clothes pins the same colour as the canvas.
These took a few coats in multiple steps because I was trying to make sure that the clothespins didn't get stuck closed. I used some clothespins to hold these open while I painted the inside and left it open until the paint was thoroughly dried. I chose to paint the whole clothespin, back and front, but you can leave one side unpainted because it will be glued to your canvas.
Then it was time for the design, and I'm going to be honest with you guys, I just kind of winged it. My original design had stripes on the sides and some feminine lines along the front. But after doing one canvas with the stripes I realized it looked better in my mind, so I changed the design and decided to try vines with flowers.
I measured the center of the canvas and drew one line there, the did two more lines centered on either side. Used a gold metallic sharpie to draw the lines, which I thought might add some sparkle to Kaley's room. I drew branches for flowers in a pattern of sorts, and I decided to make both canvases the same.
Once the sharpie was dry I added painted flowers on the little branches with the chiffon rose paint. I just free handed the flowers where I though they would look good, and it took three coats to get the flowers nice and bright. I then used the end of the paint brush to put a dot of the light pink paint in the center of the flowers.
Once all of this was dry I grabbed my painted clothespins and hot glue gun and chose the placement of the clothespins. I decided that I would put one on the middle line in between the flower bunches, then two on either side on the outside of the lines.
It makes a little more sense once you see the picture. I had originally planned on putting all three clothespins on the lines, but I did not place my flower bunches correctly and would have had to cover some of them. In the end I think this placement worked out better because it gave more room in between the clothespins for hair bows and bands.
I also hot glued some pink ribbons to the bottom back of the canvas, folding over at the end for a cleaner look. Though I forgot to take pictures of this step. You can see the ribbon and the clean ends in the below pictures.
I grabbed some command strips, two per canvas, and got ready to attach them to the back of Kaley's door. This was the perfect spot because it is close to her closet, but can be out of sight if needed. Trust me, these only look nice in the pictures. Once you start adding everything, they fill up pretty quickly.
I used two command strips per canvas, one on the top and one on the bottom. I find this works better to reattach (at least for me), and if you only put one of the top the bottom will bang on the door when you close it. If you attach to a wall instead, you may be bale to get away with only one command strip.
And that's it! It is a lot of steps, but they are all pretty easy. The hardest part is waiting for the paint to dry between each step, and depending on your design this could take a lot less time. I love that I have somewhere to display her hair bows and such. Before they were just stuffed into a drawer and I could never remember what she had and what fit.
This would also make a great baby shower gift if you knew what the nursery theme was, and I make actually take my own advice! Have you guys tried making anything to organize the multitude of little girl hair accessories? Feel free to share. Next organizing step for Kaley, shoes. Wish me luck.
Kerby
Linking to:
Ginger Snap Crafts - Wow Me Wednesday #288
Hi everyone, sorry for the radio silence for the last little bit. We've been having some computer issues, but they are cleared up now and I'm hoping to get some new stuff out to you guys shortly. I have been able to get a few things done, now I need to find the time to edit the pictures and write the posts. I'm sure anything is better than nothing! Thank you for bearing with me while I adjust to two littles running around my house.
And speaking of my littles, today I want to share Kaley's seven month picture. My gosh, this little girl is growing way too fast. It seems like everyday she changes and does something new.
My little girl started crawling, which is crazy. Braxton didn't crawl, so we have not experienced a crawling baby yet. Holy is it ever tiring! It's like a whole new type of baby proofing that you need to do, and we are learning every single day. And the dog hair that gets stuck all over her little fingers is just exhausting, even vacuuming every day they are like little magnets. I love my dogs, but I really do consider shaving them on a daily basis.
Kaley also started teething and cut her first two teeth (bottom middle) at the exact same time. That was fun, especially since Braxton decided to cut one of his second year molars at the exact same time too. There were many tears in my house that week, I'm sure at least half of the tears came from me. I'm pretty sure she's working on a few more, but nothings broken through yet.
Kaley's middle name should be personality, because boy does she have one. She is so animated, and is really great at entertaining herself. It's adorable to hear her laughing and giggling at herself, even though I don't get the joke. The best is when she sneezes and laughs hysterically for a few minutes after, you can't help but laugh right along with her. And is she ever curious, everything needs to be inspected and looked at.
And the fits she already throws when she doesn't get her way, oh my gosh are they hilarious. I laugh every time because, how can you not? Have you ever seen a 7 month old stomp her legs and hands when she wants something but doesn't get it? I swear her teenage years may be the end of me.
She's going to be such a little trouble maker, I'm already dreading it a little bit. She loves to crawl to her brother and try to take his toys or his food. This is gold to Kaley, and provides hours of entertainment. Braxton spends a lot of time up on furniture and where Kaley can't find him. Poor kid doesn't know what's about to hit him. I see a lot of refereeing in my future between these two.
My little girl, my baby, is growing up so fast. I can't believe the things she is already doing, and I can't wait to see what another month brings. I will see you guys for the next update, hopefully she will stay still long enough for me to take the picture!
Kerby
