You Are My Sunshine

Today was pretty much uneventful. I took advantage of not having been assigned massive amounts of homework this early in the semester and worked on a few projects on my to do list, watched a couple of movies with my boys and spent a couple of hours at the park. To some that may sound boring and uneventful but for me it was so nice and relaxing.

I warned Isaac that if he climbed in the baby swing when he was and old man of five that I would take blackmail pictures. He didn't believe me. I have ammo for further embarrassment with future girlfriends!

I spent the day hearing the Zoo Pals commercial song from this little guy.

And Seth was showing off his recently learned swinging abilities. I no longer hear "will you push me mom?". I love when they learn new things and become more independent, even if it will someday make me obsolete.

What made you smile today?

-Erin-

Denim Dino

One year my mom made dinosaurs for one of my brothers and I (the little bro wasn't born yet) and so I thought it would be cute to make this little guy as part of my little nephew's first birthday gift.

He isn't fully done yet. He still needs a face and clothes and a name.

But he is turning out so cute I couldn't wait until he was done to post pictures of him.

; ) There's a secret to him as well. When I show off the finished product I will let you know what it is.

-Erin-

Another Christmas Gift Ready To Go!

When I was checking out the remnant bin at Jo-Ann Fabric's the other day I found this fabric and knew it would be perfect for a pair of PJ pants for Seth Andrew...

Newsprint from Metropolis!

So I whipped these up for him and have them set aside for him to get for Christmas.

I think he will love them.

-Erin-

You Are My Sunshine

Today we had a visit from my great aunt Gloria Jean. She is such a sweet person and very much adored by my boys and I. We had a nice visit and I am so sad that I didn't think to get any pictures of her while she was here. I did snap a few of the boys today and their uncle Jonathan. I love watching their personalities emerge and hearing the things they think about throughout the day.

I took Ethan with me on a trip to Wal-mart recently and the cashier told him he was so cute. Normally he just shies away and hides behind mommy but this time he responded "You should see me in my sun glasses!"

He is such a brave little boy. When I took him to get a shot on Friday he walked right up to the nurse and never shed a single tear!

Seth thinks it is unfair that he cannot attend kindergarten with his older brother, so when I told him on Friday we had to take him to get a shot:

Seth: Yes! Because I'm five? (he was thinking of his brother's kindergarten shots)

Me: No, but you do need them for pre-school

Seth: Oh OK. They won't shoot me in my eyeball right?

Me: No, probably in your arm

Seth: Oh OK.

Then after the shots:

Seth: I thought they had to take me outside and shoot me...

Me: Like with a gun?

Seth: Yeah mom! That's how people get shots!

Me: Ooohhh! Well not this kind. We use a needle of these kind.

Seth: Aww man!

Isaac is loving kindergarten so far. And he told his first joke the other day!

What do you call a snail on a ship?

A snailer!

He is getting so big too fast. He even ordered his own food at the restaurant today when he used to be to shy to talk to someone he didn't know.

I had to get a picture of this today! I told Ethan to sit on his hiney so he had to make Lightening McQueen sit on his hiney too!

What made you smile recently?

-Erin-

Easy Back-To-School Project

As if I don't stay busy enough with raising three boys and my many projects I always have going, I am a full time college student. I start back on Monday (not that I really had a summer vacation because I took summer classes as well) so I took a little time this weekend getting my school supplies together and personalizing my binders.

I just buy the heavy duty 3-ring binders with the clear plastic for adding your own inserts.

Then I cut scrapbook paper down to size.

Use my handy Cricut to cut out my letters. If you don't own a Cricut there are so many other options, such as stickers, and stencils, or even using a solid color and doodling all kinds of fun and silly things. The idea is to personalize it however you like.

Glue the letters in place. And insert the pages in.

And this is how mine turned out. Good luck at school!

-Erin-

Throwback Thursday

When I was a little girl my aunt tina made me a doll for Christmas. She had a long brown pony tail with a purple bow in her hair. Her dress was white and she had a purple pinafore and matching panties. I loved that doll and played with her all the time. She still has a place of honor on the top of my bookshelf.

As I got older and began sewing more and more complex items I scoured the Internet looking for the pattern. Finally I gave up and asked my aunt where she found it. She said it was a Carolee Creations pattern. And I finally found it!

And for Christmas one year I made a few of my little cousins some hoping they'd love them as much as I loved mine.

-Erin-

Isaac Started Kindergarten Today

Yes, I cried. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Last night was meet the teacher night and when we were walking down the hallway towards his class I asked him if he would be able to find his desk because it would have his name on it. His eye's got sooo big and he said "I get my own desk?!?"

 A few of the other things he said he is excited about:

breakfast and lunch-because he gets to choose

learning to spell 'actual words'

being at school all day like the big kids

This is his current signature pose, and I love it! He is really starting to grow into his own little person with his own likes and dislikes and ways of doing things.

As I started to leave this morning his eyes welled up with tears and his best friend (who unfortunately is in another class this year after two years of pre-k together) threw his arm around Isaac's shoulders and said "It's ok. I'm here with ya!" So cute! And I'm so happy that he has friends that are already supportive and encouraging. He's no longer my baby any more : ( 

But I'm so happy and proud of my little man!

-Erin-

Bulletin Board Idea

Need a back to school bulletin board idea? This is the one I did for my mom's classroom last year.

It was a huge hit with students and teachers alike.

There was one student in particular that loved it so much, he cried when my mom took it down. (She gave him one of the turtles so he didn't stay too upset for long)

-Erin-

Scrapbook Page

I had some paper left over from the party invitations and the birthday banner so I made a simple scrapbook layout to coordinate with the theme.

All his momma has to do is add pictures from the party. The rest is ready made.

If you are getting tired of robots for a while there is only one more planned project to go with this. Then you can have a little break.

-Erin-

You Are My Sunshine

I was organizing old photos today and ran across these today. Ethan is about 7 months, Seth is about 26 months and Isaac is about 3 1/2 years old.

My boys take after me! They love to go camping. We go at least once a year and then we also go to "camp driveway" or "camp backyard" several times a year as well.

I start them young! This was Ethan's first camping trip at about 7 months. Seth's first camping experience was at about 2 months and Isaac's was at about 5 months.

Isaac proudly displaying the helmet he got to wear on the quads that year.

We walked the trails (trail 3 to the punch bowl and back) at Turkey Run State Park.

And rode quads at the campground. I love that my boys love the outdoors and the activities that are done outdoors. These memories made me smile today.

What made you smile today?

-Erin-

Birthday Banner

Just a simple birthday banner to go with the theme.

They also match the cards I made for the little guy.

-Erin-

Makes A Momma Proud

I was sitting on this quilt and pinning the layers together.

  

 One of the boys walked through and says " That looks so neat mom! You did a good job!". 

(In his bed watching Tom & Jerry while I worked on my project today.)

I kept working away trying to get it ready to be quilted.

A few minutes later another boy walked through and says "Looking good mom!".

(In his bed watching Tom & Jerry while I worked on my project today. Such a silly boy laying like that. It doesn't look comfortable at all!)

This is the bias tape binding I made for this quilt. It is kinda 'scrapy' but I like that look and think it will look so cute on this quilt.

And a little later "Ooohhh pretty. Can I help you?"

(In his bed watching Tom & Jerry while I worked on my project today. His sheets are missing because we are potty training.)

I love how encouraging my boys are. It's so sweet. I believe you learn what you see and I hope this is a trait that they get from me. I always want them to feel as if they can go after their dreams. And encourage their hobbies. Make them feel that what is important to them is important to me too just because it is to them.

Throwback Thursday

I will apologize for the quality of the photos right now. I am still learning how to take higher quality pictures from a variety of angles. I finished this project in December of 2008 (or was it 2009? Hum...)This quilt was the first quilt that I hand quilted completely by myself! I loved how it turned out! It was made for a twin size bed in a nursery in which the recipient was a huge Grover fan. I traced coloring pages I found online and colored them in with Crayola fabric markers and a couple of soft fabric paints.

The complete quilt.

Kingston Livingston III

Bert

GROVER!

Prairie Dawn

Rosita

Ernie

Little Bird

Forgetful Jones

The Count

Roxy Marie (My personal favorite square)

Snuffleupagus

Slimey

Betty Lou

Oscar The Grouch

Zoe

The Countess

Alice

Elmo

Cookie Monster!

Barkley

Big Bird

The Amazing Mumford (I think this square is super adorable too!)

Telly Monster

Herry Monster

There are so many characters on Sesame Street to choose from and completely customize it. I made this one to work in both a boy's or a girl's room.