Happy Heart Day

Hugs and Kisses to you and yours. 

(Well, I won't kiss yours, but you know what I mean...)

May you feel so much love today and every day that your heart could just burst.

xoxo

Mom Ramblings - The Christmas Edition

1.What a fantastic Christmas Vacation we had!

This cute blue-eyed kiddo was getting two molars and was NOT the most pleasant one to be around. But, it's hard to be upset with him, I mean, look at him! Plus, I read that the pain from teething is comparable to labor....so I understand the pain. And the crankiness. And the drool. And the snot.

2. We traveled 10 hours to NoDak. 10 hours. We saw family and hung out with my Dad. We were spoiled rotten with treats and presents and snow. Lots of snow. And one extra pound on the tush. We had potato cakes for Christmas Eve and Lasagna for Christmas Dinner. Hence the extra pound....But that's okay. It was totally worth it. The boys got spoiled rotten with time with their aunts and uncle (and one aunt's boyfriend)!

3.Why didn't I take any pictures?

4. We then traveled 8 hours to Northern Wisco to spend some time with Tom's family. 8 adults, 9 kids, 4 dogs. It was chaotic and messy and delicious. We had a fantastic time. It is so nice for the boys to spend time with their cousins. They all seem to get along so well. The weather was crazy warm for Wisco and we were outside most of the time, sledding, building snow forts, and mastering the art of rolling snow into a ginormous 12 foot tall snow man.

5. Oh, and eating, which of course is where the other pound I gained came from. That's right. I gained back what I just lost. I know. It's such a vicious cycle. Oh well, you lose some, you gain some. I've got all year to lose it again!

6. Jack loved the snow fort. That's right. Helmets with tape covering the holes. And goggles.  Safety first.

7. Gus and Jack loved being pulled on the sled by their "Reindeer Mommy". Uh, that would be me. To get some exercise I would run them up the hill/driveway and push them down the driveway and run next to them....it's a long driveway!

8. We made chocolate covered pretzels, and to say Jack got carried away is an understatement....

Sprinkles anyone?

9. Ooohh! We took a sleigh ride with hot chocolate and peppermint schnapps (only for the adults, of course). Porter with his cousin Maggie (they were connected at the hip the ENTIRE week).

Jack and Daddy enjoying the sleigh ride.

10. Porter spent most of the time with his cousins sledding. I've got video. It's hysterical. He stands at the top of the hill and yells, "Comin' dowwwwnnnn...." Then he throws himself onto the sled and goes down the hill. It is the best to see him lovin' the snow. It makes his 'downhill skiing obsessed' father so happy! Did I mention he went to college in Colorado just to be able to ski?

11. We are so sad every year when this week is over. It is such a great family time for all of us. And now, back to work, back to school, back to the grind.

12. In true form, the second we arrived home I started unpacking all our stuff and at the same time packing up all the Christmas stuff. We left the lights on on the tree out back, it's tradition for Tom to leave those up until sometime in the spring. He loves to irritate the neighbors. Dork.

13. Merry Christmas, Happy 2011.

14. I can't wait to see what is in store for us this year. Welcome to all the new readers! I hope you stick around and find out too.

Ornament Wreath

Okay. I finally finished this stinkin' thing.

I started three weeks ago when we got all our Christmas stuff out.

It's not the wreath on the hanger that was all the craze last year....this is different. New. Better. (If I do say so myself!)

I haven't done many crafts this season, I've been trying to just "BE" instead. Are you buying that? I just couldn't find anything that I was dying to do....Well, there is one thing that I'd like to do, but it involves finding a very large ladder and some birch branches, and attaching lights to those branches, so it's on hold for the moment.....

Here's one that I did, and if I hadn't been putting it off, it would have been finished in one evening of sitting in front of the boob tube.

I took a dollar store wreath form, that I bought for, well, a dollar. And a four packages of mini ornaments from Target. They were 5 bucks a container. I used three and a half containers.

So, this wreath cost about 20 dollars. If I'm being technical. A little pricey, but totally worth it, again, if I do say so myself...


My glue gun and I were friends through this. No burns. I just started putting them on and went all around filling in where needed.

When I was ready to put the ribbon on I took two push pins and attached it to the wreath. I also glued the ribbon to the wreath, just to be sure it would hold.

 I love it. Ignore the half painted window, divert your eyes. Just stare at the wreath, and those absolutely beautiful and ingenious mason jar lights.

I love it. I may leave it up. All year. Just like the moss one from last year, that stayed up until, June, or yesterday, whatever.

So fun. So festive. Just perfect to "BE".

Santa 2010.

The boys were ecstatic. We went all the way to the big mall. The one that takes 45 minutes to get to. We did a little shopping, we ate greasy food. We stood in line for 35 minutes.

The older boys climbed up on his lap, told Santa what they wanted, and thanked him kindly. Then they got a little stuffed animal that they haven't put down since.

It was so great to see how excited they got when they were talking to him. He asked them what they wanted (Pillow Pet and Legos for Porter, Pillow Pet and Remote Control Spider for Jack...conveniently the Pillow Pet kiosk was positioned right next to Santa.....hmmmm.)

Gus stared at Santa and pulled at his beard. That was it.

Santa 2010. Done and done.

I hope their belief lasts forever. In all honesty, part of why I didn't want Porter to ride the bus to school was because of all the older kids talking....no Santa, no Easter Bunny, no Tooth Fairy....ugh. I wish I could ride with him. Or whisper in his ear to ignore them....I think I'll just put them in a bubble and not let them go.

Anyone with me?

Holiday Goodness.

Here's our tree and our mantel (I like to spell it that way, not the other way, mantle. I feel more sophisticated when I spell it mantel. Like I'm royalty.)

I didn't clean, or organize or beautify. Our tree is full of a million ornaments that we've gathered over time. They are all special. Each one. The stockings, however, nothing special. I made the white one last year for Gus. I probably should have taken some of our regular stuff down, but I didn't. Things change a lot around here. For example, we have no where to put anything. Stuff keeps selling and I haven't replaced it, which is a good thing, I suppose....

You would be shocked to see the difference from last year to this year in this room. Or the rest of the house...

This was the mantel last year:

And this year:

The stairs, last year:

And this year:

We've done our traditional cookie baking....no tears this year!

I made my first ever whoppie pies. I didn't use the traditional middle. Instead I used a cream cheese frosting concoction that is divine. I think they were a hit.  We also did some sugar cookies. And, my brand new hand mixer started burning and smelling and couldn't get through the sugar cookie dough. Boo-hoo.

Instead of watching over the boys this year and helping them out, I threw caution to the wind, let go of my controlling ways and let Tom oversee the cookie decorating. I took Gus to bed and read several books while they finished up. Things seem to have turned out quite well!
 

Ummm....very well, in Jack's case.

Now THAT is a cookie.

This week we're laying low, bundling up and getting ready to travel soon.

Thanksgiving 2010

1. We've been giving thanks. We've been eating. We've been rough housing.

2. We ate.

I successfully made sweet potatoes with caramelized onions, pecans and marshmallows. I mediocred (yeah, that's a word, alright.) my first ever batch of homemade stuffing with mushrooms. And I made my first ever oatmeal pecan pie that was out of this world delicious and I will share the recipe with you this week. I had a dream about it last night.

My MIL made the best garlic mashed potatoes ever and my Dad cooked the farm fresh never frozen turkey that turned out amazing.

All in all it was a very successful meal. Even the boys enjoyed.

3. We played games.

Porter won at Sorry. Jack was a pirate.
4. Gus had his first time-out. Obviously he wasn't happy.

5. Then we took the Christmas decorations out. And went to town.

6. We received a Nativity set from Tom's grandma this year, and so Porter helped me put it up. All together.....awwwhhhhhh.....so sweet.

(Sneaky peak at my hair! And my favorite jcrew sweater. Ever. It's at least 15 years old. Love it.)

7. Tom and I got to do some Christmas shopping. Hooray for Grandpas that like their grandkids! We got to go all by ourselves. I was so proud of Tom for braving the crowds.

8. Today we went to Discovery World (a hands on type of museum) which was so fun and then we attemped this:

Obviously it didn't work too well. But, Hubs put some pins in it, and now it's surviving...sort of.

8. And now, what I know you've all been waiting for. The self portrait. It took me 17 takes. And I still hate this shot. But, it was all I could get. It was my first shot.  Definitely a change. But I love it. Take a look at the header if you want to see what I looked like before.

There you go. Thanksgiving 2010 is officially over. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I've got a few furniture posts coming up. Can't wait to show you a few new pieces! Unless of course you are a fan of White Butterfly on Facebook or you watch the White Butterfly blog...then you've got a few sneak peaks!

Halloween Bunting

Just thought I'd share this cute little project I did using my Cricut cutter.

I love bunting. Anyone else? 

All I did was cut out a bunch of tags on some Halloween paper. And then I cut out some little houses with the letters of "trick or treat" inside each house (that's for a different project! Stay tuned.) but I used the left over letters for this project. 

I then just mod podged the letters to the tags and strung it on some jute.

I love when I can get many projects out of one!

I know you are all staring at that half painted window in the background. One thing at a time, right?!

Halloween Pumpkins

Or as I like to call it, Copying.

I will be the first to admit that when I see a great idea I immediately want to copy it. Then I do. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not, anyone remember my sad little trees?

Not so good, eh?! Erin, from Lemon Tree Creations has this twine thing down! Someone was having a "craft fail" party. I should have linked that one up! Oh, the fails, they are abundant! I'm sure I'll have more this holiday season too.

But, here's one that I think turned out pretty well. So, without further adieu here is my shameless copy of my friend Kellie's (from This Blessed Nest)fantastically amazing Halloween pumpkin stairs...

I took a bazillion five dollar pumpkins purchased from Wally World taped off the stems and spray painted them white, okay, it was only nine...just nine pumpkins. 

First I primed them. Then I sprayed them white. Well...I primed most of them. I ran out of primer with two pumpkins left. Bummer. I know which ones weren't primed...do you? 

Then I got out my Cricut cutting machine. I had some Wall Pops (It's just vinyl. Almost like drawer liner, but a little thicker, you can use drawer liner too, I've done it. Works great!) from Home Depot that I hadn't used yet, so I pulled those out and cut out the letters H-A-L-L-O-W-E-E-N. Just in case you need to know how to spell it. (I don't know how many times I said it in my head and counted out the letters and the pumpkins. I'm a freak.)

This part is boring, but someone may care, I used Jack Sprat at cut depth 2 and 5 inch letters. It worked perfectly and I even have a cut out of the letters I can use somewhere else.

The wall pops are great because they can be pulled up and moved if they need to be. Easy as pie.

Here they are on the stairs. Lookin' pretty good!


Now, this isn't just like Kellie's, I mean she's fancy. Me, not so much. I can't be just like her. Although I would like her curly hair. And her cute chalkboard hall. Yes, that's right, a hall. The whole hall.

Seriously. Did I spell that right? You know how some things just don't look right....that's this word for me right now.

And now, the stairs.

I know Halloween isn't for over a month, but the boys have already been dressing up in their costumes, so I just couldn't resist putting these up.

Then, because I just can't quit, I grabbed some tea lights, the fake kind, that have that little pretend flicker....

Of course, no photo op is complete without some goofy faced kids:

Thanks for the great idea Kellie! I love how it turned out!