Don't forget about those bus drivers!

I wanted to thank Nathans bus driver Kim. She is so sweet,  and always waves at me when she picks up Nate. On the school improvement days when Nathan has AM Kindergarten instead of PM Kindergarten she always makes sure he gets in the house before she pulls away. It also blew my mind that she gave Nathan goodie bags for all the holidays! I never had a bus driver do that when I was younger. So I made her a card and then found this of course on Pinterest!

There are several great printable on this site. Click here for the bus printable. Here is the card I made her. I love it! It started off with just the bus and then my mojo kicked in.

You can't see it in the picture but I stickled the clouds...I heart stickles :)

Happy Memorial Day

We have such a great weekend planned out. Tomorrow we are hanging with some great friends of ours to swim and BBQ so I made some quick buckets for the kids. Each bucket cost about $6.00 I have snaps, temporary tattoos, glow sticks, a ring pop, and a pinwheel all wrapped up in a cute bucket. Here is what I started with:

And here is what I ended up with. I think the kids will love them!

Teacher Gifts

I wanted to find something for my kids teachers that wasn't the typical thank you gift. My husband and I absolutely loved our son's teachers this year! They were wonderful and we wanted them to know it! I found this on Pinterest (who doesn't love that site).

So I copied the idea and modified it a bit to add my personal touch. I got most of the items at Walmart and Meijer. Each gift cost about $13.00!! I printed a little note and had the boys sign their name. Here are the supplies I started with.

I put it together and thought it needed something refreshing. Water maybe??

Nope....didn't like it. The water was too heavy and I could totally see my boys losing the water bottle and then trying to jam it back in and wreaking the whole gift. While in Meijer grocery shopping I saw these cute little cups....perfect! Here is the final outcome.

All three together

I am happy with the outcome and can't wait to give them to the best teachers!

Holy Scrap!!

Holy Scrap......I found time to scrap. It felt so good. I had some issues with my EHD and my CS5 but now I am all straighten out and was able to scrap! Here are two layouts I did for Bella Gypsy new releases this weekend Celebrate Summer and The Little Things

Favorite quotes from my boys

On a daily basis my boys crack me up. Mostly because of what comes out of their mouths. There actions are pretty funny as well. Some of my favorite lines from Nate are "Mama I have a hair dog in my mouth, I want to go over dare, "Mama you know what they call this (pointing to his nipple on his chest)? A nickel because its round like money and  a nickle is money!" Some favorites from Trace, "Trace what did you do in school today? I don't remember." "Trace did you clear your plate?" "Oh if got for (forgot)." "Mama, I don't want to toot at your table." He then runs over to a wall and toots! I thank God for my boys everyday and the smiles and laughter they bring to me. Keep em coming boys!

My One Word - Change (update)

In January I picked one word to be my word for the year. I choose CHANGE. There were several things I wanted to change in my life. One thing I wanted to change was my grade point average. In high school I was for the most part an honor student but always felt I could have done better. After almost 7 months in school I am currently holding a 4.0 GPA!!! Another thing I wanted to change was more "me" time. I have sacrificed for years between family, friends, and life style choices. Now don't hate me when I say this, but I decided to change, and become a little more selfish. I was always trying to help others, and always saying yes to others. This year I took a step back, not that I don't want to help others, or say yes to others, but I think I learned to say "how will this affect you and how will this affect your family." If I found that saying yes meant sacrificing time with my family, or something that I wanted to do on my priority list I have learned to say no. I also wanted to change my diet and exercise. I can say I have made some minor changes but I need some bigger changes to happen there. My relationship with my husband has changed. Changed for the good. I think we have learned to appreciate each other more and we have had some of the best talks. My favorite time is sitting with him on the sofa just talking after we get the kids in bed. We have had so many great talks that I have logged in my memory banks! The biggest change is yet to come (I'm so close to telling).......to be continued!

Chalkboard paint

Every time I get on Pinterest I see another great idea using this paint. I have seen placemats, menu boards, the stems of wine glass (that is so cool!), walls in kids bedrooms or playrooms, inside a cabinet door in the kitchen, inside the pantry to write down what you just ran out of, and so many more. Has anyone ever used this paint? Any tips? I just saw one today where they painted the table with chalkboard paint and they use it to do homework. Makes sense....less paper wasted! My son has a little square table that is beat up from over the years and I am think about attempting to paint it with chalkboard paint. My biggest question is the dust.....do you end up with chalk dust everywhere? Can you wipe this type of paint down? So many questions! I still think it is cool and will probably attempt using it somewhere someday in the future!