Embroidered Necklace

You probably have everything you need for this DIY lying around the house. I’ve been laid up trying to recover from a cold-turned-sinus infection. I was able to easily complete this while “resting” in bed.

 

Imagine all the potential combos!

A night at the ballpark

On a warm Summer night, nothing beats watching a baseball game and eating hot dogs! My little Calvin LOVES baseball and it’s so much fun to take him to the ballpark! We took a day trip out to see the Lake Elsinore Storm, they are the San Diego Padres single A minor league team. My grandparents live close so it’s convenient to go spend the day with them and then head to the game together.

We got to the ball park early and got to meet some interesting characters. Thunder is a crowd favorite and his antics did not disappoint! Would you believe it if I told you that Calvin scored THREE baseballs during this game? The first baseball came from the MC/ crowd runner, the second came from a foul tip and given to him by the player on deck and the third came from another player when he saw Calvin scouting out the dugout. Needless to say, Calvin has a small game ball collection started.

If you have a minor league team near you, check out a game! The tickets are more than reasonable and it’s always a good time!

Countdown to the 1st Day of School

The kids are very excited that the first day of school is almost here! The kids made a paper chain for the days left until school starts. Calvin has a little longer chain than Zoey since he starts pre-school about a week later. The kids enjoy waking up and tearing off another “link” to the chain.

Since we’ve made the chain, we have also been preparing for school everyday. We had been spoiled with a PM start for Kindergarten last year and have enjoyed a slow start to the day. Now that Zoey will be in 1st grade, she starts at 8am like all the others and we are no way ready for that kind of transition! For the past two weeks we have been waking up early and have gotten into our new routine. To help keep us on track, we started up our daily stamp sheet/chore chart and it really has helped the kids stay motivated!

The kids each have their own magnet board with their stamp sheets. I purchased these small magnet boards from Walmart for about $7 each. The boards come with double-sided mounting tape, I chose to mount our boards with those wonderful Command strips that I love! I didn’t want anything that would take the paint off of our doors or leave any residue behind. Command strips are my go to for about EVERYTHING I hang on my walls.

So, do you have any special preparations to the start of a new school year?

Why the long face?

Summer Break is almost over and it’s been quite eventful. I will be posting some of our fun adventures over the next few days. With the kids back in school, I hope to find more time to work on projects and try some new recipes! Hope you all had an awesome Summer too!! – Caasi

It’s finally Summer!

The first full week of Summer has come and gone. I’m beat! It’s been a jam packed week and I have 9 more weeks left. I can’t wait to share what we have been up to!

Look for new posts next week. I’ll be sharing our outings and activities that maybe you can add to your Summer schedule!

Happy first day of Summer!

Who’s Juicing?

I am constantly trying to get my kids to eat their vegetables! While I can occasionally get the kids to eat broccoli and carrots, they won’t touch any green veggies with a 10′ pole. What’s a mom to do? Hide ’em! I’ve tried “hiding” the veggies many times unsuccessfully, until now!

The kids slurped up ever last drop of this blended drink!

3-4 ice cubes
Handful of spinach (stems and all)
Handful blueberries
5 strawberries
1 cut up apple or pear
1 cut up banana
Splash of water

Blend until smooth… (Add a little more water if it’s too thick)

Even though this drink is an ugly green color, the kids didn’t hesitate to try it. I couldn’t believe they drank all of it! I’ll tell you that you mostly taste banana, for those of you grossed out by spinach. I actually like this and drink one each morning. I’m not brave enough to try kale yet..that is for another post.

Wallpaper Art

This wall art is the last piece to the bathroom renovation puzzle. The print is the vintage wallpaper that was originally in the bathroom. During demolition, we were able to salvage a few large pieces off of the drywall. The plan all along was to frame it and hang the print on the wall of the newly completed bathroom.

I sized up the area that I wanted to show in the frame, once I had that, we checked out frames. Lucky for us, we found an in stock size! Custom framing is expensive and we wanted to keep this relatively cheap. I found that the 24×36 size was a good fit and it was only $30 on sale! At home, I found the center of the print and measured 12″ to each side and marked it. Once marked, I used a straight edge and then cut the excess off. I repeated for the length. Lastly, I used double sided tape and smoothed out the wallpaper to the frame backing so I had no wrinkles. I can’t wait to see it hung in the bathroom!

The print itself is beautiful, but the fact that the colors are all in a grey/sepia tone makes it worth saving! There have been lots of ugly wallpapers being torn out of old houses, mine included, but this one is one of the most interesting I’ve seen in a LONG time.

My mother-in-law said that her mom was actually going to let the kids “color” the ladies in! I’m so glad she didn’t, I can only imagine what that would look like. Yikes!

Hiking: Franklin Canyon Park

On a beautiful and warm Saturday morning, we took a family trip to Franklin Canyon Park to go hiking. This park in tucked away in the Hollywood Hills and is a hidden jem! With about 13 miles of hiking trails, this place has it all! You can picnic, take an easy walk around Heavenly Pond, bird watch, sit and paint, take photographs, hike, or find a spot to sit and read a book.

If this place looks somewhat familiar… you may recognize it from the opening credits of The Andy Griffith Show. I grew up watching that show with my dad. Our favorite episode is Aunt Bea’s kerosene cucumbers!

While we hiked, I took tons of pictures! You wouldn’t guess that I was just a few minutes from bustling Beverly Hills! If you plan on visiting, take lots of water! Enjoy!!

Diaper “Golf Bag”

For my best friend’s baby shower, I told her I’d make her a golf bag out of diapers. I had seen some online to order, but I wanted hers to match the color scheme she selected. Also, I love making anything because it’s much more special.

I started with an idea and sketched out a plan. Once I came up with this, I made my list and hit the stores. I shopped at Joann’s, Michael’s and Walmart.

First step was to drill a pilot hole through the center of the large dowel.

Next, I took 2- 8″ cardboard cake rounds and drilled the screw with washer through the bottom.

Now that I had the base, I could get the fun part started!

I rolled up the diapers around the base until I got to the edge. I used a couple different diaper brands, Huggies inside, Pampers outside. I like the Pampers size 1 on the outside since they are plain white and soft.

Keep stacking until you reach the top! I tied a thick satin ribbon and then a smaller grosgrain ribbon for contrast of color and texture. I left a little bit of length so that I could tie the “handle” on the back.

I used thinner dowel for the “golf clubs” with socks for the tops. I stuffed the matching sock inside to maintain the shape.

The wheels are rolled up washcloths. I used gift wrap ribbon to thread around and create that wheel look.

Around the top, I added a wash towel and pacifiers with ribbon.

On the other side, I tied up a onesie to make a little sack. Inside, I added baby shampoo, baby powder, baby lotion, etc.

Overall, I love the way it turned out.

Daddy’s Little Caddy Baby Shower

I’ve been kind of busy and haven’t had the chance to post final baby shower photos! The event was beautiful and everyone had a great time! Mommy-to-be was gorgeous and glowing! I am so happy that I got to be a part of the event and help out. It took a small army of helpers to pull it off and everything came together like a perfect puzzle.

I made these vanilla cake pops with white candy coating. Wilton’s golf ball candy mold was the perfect size for the pops. I love that the impressions came out so well. As for the stand, I made that as well! You can see the details for that project here.

I got so many compliments on the diaper golf bag. I love the way it came together and actually looks like a golf bag! It looked HUGE sitting on my kitchen table, but it was the perfect size for the centerpiece of the large dining room. My diaper golf bag “tutorial” to come…

I was so excited to see how the table linens and everything were going to look with all the other decorations. I didn’t know what the table linens or flowers were going to be until I got to the house. I guess all great minds think alike, everything matched perfectly!

The flowers were purchased from the Flower Mart in Downtown LA. We arranged cut and arranged them in the morning and added the flags once we put them on the tables. I like the pebbles at the bottom of the vase and the addition of the golf balls… it’s the perfect kind of water hazard!

The shower was a success!! It was slam dunk! Hole-in-One! Touchdown and all that Jazz!