Dora Hair Bow

I hope I am finally coming out of my crafting and scrapbooking slump.  It's been a while now that I have not had any motivation or energy to do either.  I have a scapbook layout on my table waiting for me to finish it. It's been sitting there for over a month now!

I finally made something off a pin I saved on Pinterest.  It's directions on how to make a hair bow. See directions here: http://www.twentythreeohone.com/2011/04/hair-bow.html.  This blogger made it  sound so easy to make these bows that I decided to give it a try.  Here's my bow.

Grace absolutely loves Dora.  And she loves this bow.  It fits perfectly on her head and it's a great size too.  It wasn't too hard to make the bow following the directions.

My sweet little model.  I had to bribe her with a Popsicle.  She stayed put long enough for me to get pictures of her with the hair bow.  It helps that she has inherited her daddy's gorgeous hair.

Of course I had a lot of extra ribbon and of course I made extra bows!  I have four of them for sale on my Etsy store here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/123948769/dora-hair-bow.  I have decided to give them away instead.  I am giving them away off of my Facebook page.

Blessings!

Beth

Copic Marker Storage Box

My very own Copic Marker Storage box!  I was so excited to make one for myself.  I saw it for the first time from a girl on a facebook group called "We's Crafty."  She got the directions from this blog, Davine Designs by Terri.  It didn't take long to figure out how to put it together once I got Jonas on it.  I couldn't visualize it because the directions were not very good and the supply list was a bit inaccurate.  But thankfully, Jonas had extra supplies and the know how to help me put this together.  I love it!  And there is room for lots more makers!!

The box is going to hold up to 361 markers!  In my mind's eye, I pictured that I had a lot of markers.  Once I put my markers in the box, I soon saw that I didn't.  My supply of makers actually look quite pathetic in the box.  Guess I have to go out and buy more...

If you want to make your own, you will need more washer and bolts than the directions specify.  About 16 of the large washers, 16 of the small washers and 16 bolts.  I couldn't find the nylon lag bolts nor the nylon couplings.  So the assembly doesn't look as polished as the original one, but I don't care.  I still love it and it stores my markers nicely.  I have organized them based on the Copic Marker Hand Color Chart.  Makes it easy to see what I have and categories them by color family.  That will make it easier for blending.

  

Poor baby Caleb has been sick with a severe sinus infection.  He finally seems to be on the mend. It's been a tough last month for him.  He got pink eye and then from there he developed a cold that turned into this sinus infection.  The doctor gave us antibiotics for him and that has finally been helping him get better.  That and lots of prayer.

Grace is doing great.  Such a strong willed toddler.  She is 2 1/2 years old going on 13.  She makes us laugh and smile and then she makes us want to scream!  It's definitely fun.

Blessings,

Beth

Happy New Year!

We bid goodbye to 2012 in a relaxed and fun fashion.  We didn't go to a fancy party or stay up all night.  We didn't even dress up!  But we had fun spending time together as a family.  We let the kids stay up just a wee bit later than their normal bedtimes and Jonas and I spent the rest of the evening together watching a movie.  It made me hopeful for 2013 because I want the focus of it to be family.  My little family brings me such joy and that is the best blessing I could ask for.

Grace loves playtime with Daddy.  He is having so much fun with her now that she is a bit older.  And he is starting to have lots of fun with Caleb too.  Caleb has been such a momma's boy, but now he is really starting to bond with daddy.

 We took the kids to the LA Zoo.  They had a blast!  Especially in their petting zoo area.

 Grace kept asking for the hippos and when we finally found their area, they were no where to be seen. That was a bit disappointing, but Grace didn't seem to mind. She has a blast at the zoo.

Jonas with the kiddos looking at the Elephants.  These are the three I love spending time with.  Such a blessing!

Here's a little video of Caleb walking.  He is becoming such a good walker.  He starting walking on the day of his first birthday.  He gets into everything!  And he loves climbing.  I am so impressed with his abilities too.  It's neat to see the differences between a boy and a girl.  Grace is now in love with jewelry and accessories and Caleb likes putting things together and taking them apart.

Here's to hoping for an awesome 2013!

Blessings,

Beth

Eagerly Waiting For Christmas!

And just like that we are on the doorstep of Christmas again!  That was fast.  Last Christmas we were celebrating the birth of our baby Caleb and now we've just celebrated his first birthday.  I'm really excited for Christmas this year.  Having kids has brought a whole new level of meaning and fun to Christmas for me.  I love it!  I am also looking forward to them getting a little older so we can do lots more Christmas type activities.  It's hard to do a lot of Christmasy stuff with a 2 year old and a 1 year old.  It's actually hard to do much at all!  They have us busy just looking after them.  It took us a whole week to decorate our Christmas tree.

 Grace liked the final product!  And she loves playing with the Little People Nativity set.  I purchased this last year.  Last year, she didn't really play with it, but this year she is really into it.  It's fun telling her about each of the characters and she seems to get that Jesus is the baby in the manger.

 I have been busy this past week getting ready for Christmas.  I think I may have overdone it with gifts for the kids.  In the future, I will have to reign it in.  Nobody likes spoiled kids!  Shopping for them was just so much fun!!  This year, for the first time for me and the kids, we will be doing stockings.  This is new for me as my family didn't do this for us.  We went ahead and filled the stockings ahead of time.  Jonas and I know that as the kids get older, we won't be able to do this or just have their gifts sitting on our bedroom floor.  It will all have to be very well hidden.

Grace was in her first musical!  Her preschool put on a Christmas Musical.  Grace's class were snowflakes.  She was a cute snowflake!!

The musical was about the story behind the candy cane.  Here is the true story behind the candy cane taken from www.justforkidsmagazine.com.

  A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness, 

so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbolsfor the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy: white to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the Foundation of the Church and firmness of the promises of God.

The candy maker made the candy in the form of a "J" to represent the precious

name of Jesus, who came to earth as our Savior. It could also represent the 

staff of the Good Shepherd with which He reaches down into the ditches of the 

world to lift out the fallen lambs who like all sheep have gone astray. Thinking 

that the candy was somewhat plain, the candy maker stained it with red stripes.

He used three small stripes for the blood shed by Christ on the cross. So that

we could have the promise of eternal life.

I absolutely love Grace's preschool and am so excited to have Caleb attend there as well next school year.  The staff there truly love Jesus and that is so evident in what they teach and how they treat the kids.  It's such an loving and warm environment and Grace has been flourishing there.  In light of what happens in schools, I am so blessed to have Grace in this type of environment.

And our Christmas picture for this year.  This was the only good picture we were able to get of both the kids.  Grace was not cooperating!  We only got this picture because we bribed her with fruit snacks!!

Hoping you have a blessed Christmas full of peace, love and rest.  May you not get stuck in traffic, finish all your Christmas shopping and enjoy great time with your family and friends!

Blessings,

Beth

Happy Birthday Caleb!

 And just like that, Caleb is one!  His first year went by so fast.  He's such a big boy that he literally was only a small little baby for a minute!  He's such a joy to us.  So charming and so joyful all the time.  Well, except when he's tired and it's past his bedtime...

We had a farm themed birthday party for him.  I promised myself to make it easy and buy everything.  Well I got so excited that I couldn't help myself and starting making things.  The theme was so cute and so fun to make things for. 

I made a "corral" for the cupcakes.  I made lemon and strawberry cupcakes and added farm animals as toppers.

 I saw this idea for a barn backdrop on pinterest and just had to make one.  I bought a red display board, cut out the shape and added the detailing.  It looked really cute.  The cake was made by my friend's mom.  So cute and so yummy!

The little guy being sang to.

Trying to get him to blow out the candle.

 His first cupcake!

It's very anti-Mexican, but I do enjoy these pull strings pinatas.

The bounce house was a hit.  Grace has a blast in it.

 The kids had so much fun!  And that blessed my heart.  It was a lot of work and I was so tired by the end of the day, but it was all worth it to hear them laugh and see them having a great time.

And now, time to gear up for Christmas.  That will be a little easier now that I am on vacation.

Blessings!

Beth

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!

 Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We spent ours in Sacramento with my side of the family.  It was a lot of work to travel with our little ones, but they did a great job!  And I think we packed way too much stuff, but better safe than sorry.  It's a good thing we own a mini-van!  Mini-van used to be a bad word for me, but now I am in love this this vehicle!  It makes life with our little ones so much easier!!

 Grace refused to take her nap on Thanksgiving day.  I think it was being in a a new environment.  We were a little afraid that she'd be fussy that night, but she did great.  Other than being a little shy, she was well behaved.  And she crashed hard that night.

 Caleb stole the show!  He was all smiles and not shy at all.  He was held a lot!! Our little guy turns one year old next month!!  That was fast!!

Our Thanksgiving family picture!!  I am so very thankful for my little family.  I loved my life before, but now with my hubbie and these two little angel, I am loving life on a whole new level.  I could neve have imagined what it would be like to be a mother and it's such an awesome thing!

We have been teaching Grace the names of her Nashville family members.  It's so cute to hear her say their names.

Blessings!

Beth

Halloween Fun

It's been busy BUSY around here.  I keep wondering if life will eventually slow down, but I am told it will only get busier as the kids get older.  I will be shuffling them around to different events, sports, lessons, etc.  I suppose the lesson in all of this is to just enjoy the precious moments I get with them.  Grace learning to talk more and more and how darn sweet Caleb is with his huge smiles and laughs.

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch at the Irvine Park.  Caleb loved playing with the pumpkins.  Grace was a little harder to get pictures of because she wanted nothing to do with the pumpkins.

 Grace is such a little lady.  Already she protests about the clothes and shoes she wants to wear.  Looks like she might be on her way to becoming a little fashion diva!

 For Halloween, we dressed Caleb as a little lion.  He sure did look adorable.  I don't think he liked the lion mane much, he kept trying to take it off. 

 Grace was Minnie Mouse.  She loves Minnie and constantly asks to watch the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show.  It seems like just yesterday, she was enamored with Elmo.  Sorry Elmo, you've been replaced.  He has lost his place in her crib, and Minnie has been added.

 Here is my dear sweet Caleb at 10 month old.  I can't believe we are so close to him turning a year old!  This is going by way too fast!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner!!  YIKES!  I am looking forward to turkey and pumpkin pie!  And I need to be careful not to go crazy shopping for Christmas gifts for the kids.  Every time I look around, I see something else I want to buy the kids!!  Ahh!  It sure is fun to buy for them.

Blessings,

Beth