Busy busy grandparents.

Well my mom and dad went back to Washington today.

But not without leaving their mark.

While in KC they managed to accomplish more home improvement projects in a week than I could have even imagined.

Here are a few, I am sure that I am missing some.

Cleaning out all the air vents.

Replacing all of the old air vents.

Deep cleaning my hard wood floors.

Placing a lock on my door out to the garage.

Putting up a mirror.

Putting up another wall decor thing that I like (my mom hates it, but she still put it up).

Patching a huge hole in the wall that has been there since I moved in.

Building a space dome for the kids.

Putting together a tricycle for Lincoln.

Putting up a swing in the backyard for the boys.

Organizing my linen closet.

Organizing our craft cabinet.

Organizing the laundry cabinet.

Teaching me how to quilt.

Putting up a toothbrush holder in the bathroom.

And some other things.

I’m sure of it.

They did a lot.

My fingers are tired from typing it all.

Basically they are awesome.

My house looks awesome.

And I am sitting in the awesomeness and let me tell you,

It is awesome.

A series of uneventful events.

It started with Bo’s appointment.

Apparently I am feeding him well.

Then McDonald’s play place.

We had originally planned on the park but the weather put a damper on our healthy ambitions. So junk food and indoor slides it is.

Next, nap time.  Otherwise known as mommy time.

I messed around on the sewing machine some more and made this little sensory blanket for Bo.  He thanked me by only crying a little bit while I tried to do something productive.

 

After nap came movie and lunch.  We watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days.  Linc could have cared less.  I thought it was hysterical, we are actually watching it again right now.

Football outside.

 

Outside was very chilly so we thought we should warm up with a bath.

A boring bath in the middle of the day is unacceptable so we added some “bath paints.”

Basically I added food coloring to some shaving cream and poof…bath time fun for the whole family.  AKA Linc.

Bo tolerated it and I had to clean it up.

But at least Lincoln had fun.

Now dad is here, so I get a break!  He even brought dinner.

Taco John’s, pretty delicious.

 

Baby Name Pillow

So I’m obviously on a crafty, sewing kick these past few days.  And my latest project is a pillow for Lincoln.

Since moving to his toddler bed he has not slept with a pillow.

Largely because I am a crazy worrier and the impending doom of SIDS makes me lose sleep at night.

But I think it is time…the kid needs a pillow.  And what kid doesn’t desperately want a pillow with his own name on it???

So anyways, I am actually pretty proud of this one, I think it looks pretty good.

My methods are a little unconventional.

I literally just wrapped the fabric around the pillow to see how large I should cut the fabric.  No rulers here.

Then I printed off letters from my computer, traced them, and then cut them out on the fabric.

Then I sewed it all together.

and BAM!  pillow.

Saturday Recap

Wakeup, cuddle time in mommy’s bed.  Which is actually me trying to get an extra few minutes of sleep while Bowen eats and Lincoln jumps/hits/wrestles me until I get out of bed.  It’s fun.

Then we cleaned and had a dance party all at the same time.

Played blocks.

Read the book, Moo Baa La La La about 20 times.  Someone please ask me to recite it sometime, I would love to show off my mommy skills.

Nap time for everyone!  Hooray!

Shot some hoops.

Went to Walmart because we needed to get out of the house.

Found pillow cases on clearance for my quickie sewing project.  Ran into a friend.  Bought Surf’s Up per her recommendation for 5 bucks.  Made a decision to have a Movie Night.  Picked up some pizza rolls for dinner.  Left Walmart.  Came home.  Warmed oven.  Popped in said pizza rolls.  Sewed together all the pillow cases to make a giant movie pillow. Turned on the movie.  Ate the pizza rolls.  Laid and played on the giant movie pillow.

Bath, book, brush, and bed for Linc.

And now its mommy and Bo chill time.  And after checking the tv guide it appears I will be watching Prison Wives.  Don’t judge.  A documentary about women crazy enough to marry murderers in prison is a quality way to spend my very little free time.

I made burp cloths!!!

I have been scouring Pinterest for months now posting random things that I would love to make if I ever learned to sew.  I think it is funny that I have such a desire to start sewing because every time I picture someone sewing they are about 70 years old making prairie dresses.

No offense, I know this is not actually reality.

But for whatever reason that is the image that pops into my mind.  I do not picture a young 30 something, PE teacher.

But here I am, sewing away and I love it.

I bought this sewing machine about 3 months ago.  My loving mother helped me make the purchase, cause Lord knows, I sure don’t have any extra money, and she wanted to make sure I got a nice one.

And I did…The Curve.

(check out that sweet work space…right between the wooden blocks, treadmill, and basketball hoop.  I’m pretty sure this house is going to make it on some sort of home tour soon)  (I’m just kidding, if you didn’t pick up on that.)

I was really proud of myself earlier in the week when I busted it out of the box, finally, read the directions, and figured it out.

To my amazement, it was easy.

My first project was some very homely bean bags.  Actually “Quinoa Bags” because I had some expired in the pantry and no beans, go figure.

But yesterday I got serious….Burp Cloths.

I saw these on Pinterest, I followed a tutorial online.

And to my glorious amazement, I made something pretty cute.

…and useful, because this new baby will not stop vomiting on me.

For your viewing pleasure…

 

DIY Dresser

I have had a few people ask me where I bought the dressers in my room.

Well I don’t have any money to spend on furniture, but I do like things to look nice and I have kind of a unique style.

I bought cheap black dressers at Nebraska Furniture Mart, which is basically the midwest version of IKEA, and then I added different patterned knobs to each drawer.

 

Ta Daa.

Unique dresser.

Truth be told, I believe I actually spent more on the knobs than the actual dresser.

I bought most of the knobs on sale at Anthropology.  The hardware at that store can be really expensive, but I love the look of unique knobs on cabinets and dressers.  So any time I see them on sale I snatch them up.

I love the look, but I know it is not the style for everyone.

Also, I have the luxury of decorating for only myself.  I don’t need to worry about masculating anything because it is just me.

Add that to the short list of single parent perks.