Welcome to my World

The kiddos each have their own towel and have had them since they were babies...I love them because they have hoods in them and those hoods can be used to hang them on hooks as well!    Another reason I love them is that they were made for me as baby gifts by friends!  They have sentimental value...BUT my kids have outgrown them.  At least the boys have.  My youngest son just found out today that he has a LOOSE TOOTH!  My baby has a loose tooth!  And so, we went to Target and bought some new towels...  I sewed straps on them to hang them by...    This project cost $12...Gotta love that! (I know these are beach towels, but is there a rule that you can't use beach towels for bath towels?  I didn't think so!) Oh and the boys love them!  To keep my children occupied this summer, I have been trying to come up with some projects for them...Ben suggested making shirts with Hot Wheels on them...so I bought shirts at Michaels, Iron-...

  Ah the Fountains...We love coming here in the summer because they are open until 7:00 every nite.  It's so relaxing for Brendan and I to just sit and watch the kids play.  The picture below was  two years ago...We are outgrowing the manatees!   Some Fun Wet Faces:        Love the scenery:

 I had fun taking some of my photos from Central Park, NYC and Photoshopping them and mounting them on painted canvas with modpodge.  How I love that stuff! I think they turned out very nice...Now to find the perfect place for them... I always keep my eyes open for unique items that are really inexpensive....I couldn't pass these tumblers by...I think they are awfully cute... I also found  this cute trash can...yes I said trash can...at Goodwill for like $2...kinda fun, doncha think?

AWAY IN A MANGER I was trying to think of a way to make the true meaning of Christmas very real to my kiddos, especially the youngest. It seems easy to take for granted that the little ones just pick it up, but I wanted to be intentional about it this year. So I had Brendan make a little manger just the right size for a "baby Jesus" doll. It was a hit, and the kids really didn't want me to put it away. It was fun watching Joanna play with "baby Jesus"...holding him, wrapping him in blankets, cuddling him... WORK of ART For about three weeks, Brendan had barely any work, so I put him to work here at home! Booster seats had wrought havoc on our kitchen chairs over the years, and our table was in need of a face lift, so I bought some off-white paint and Brendan got busy, and here is the result... OWLY GIFT for AVERY I know Jenn loves owls so I decided to attempt to make a sleeper for Avery...It turned out cute, on the hanger at least... It was a little BIG on ...

My Ben has been playing piano for a little over a year and I think he's doing a great job! Way to go Ben, I'm proud of you!

I just want to say that I am so proud of my oldest son. Not only did Jeremiah perform in his recital while feeling VERY tired (after having been camping all weekend), he also did a very good job! I am so happy to see him excelling at something he loves! This week I got the craft bug again and I decided to make a baby gift from an idea I saw on etsy (a website that features handcrafted items for sale). These are supposed to look like cupcakes! I had a lot of fun doing them! They are made up of onesies and burp cloth diapers that I embellished, and washcloths.

I can't believe I made our dog a blanket! But I wanted him to be able to lie on the couch or our bed without getting them all hairy or scratching them. So I rounded up some scraps and wah-lah! (I have know idea how to spell that word, but I really like it!)