Halloween Boo Sign

My friend texted me a picture of a cute BOO sign she made out of wood with a little paint and ribbon. I thought it was so cute and wanted to make one. My house is lacking in Halloween decorations big time! I asked my husband if he would cut me some wood squares. Well he never got around to it so today I took it upon myself to make a sign out of cardboard instead. It won't last as long as wood but I think it still turned out pretty cute. I cut three strips of cardboard from a diaper box (which I always seem to have) and folded each once twice into a square. I used a small piece of tape to fasten the end. I covered each square like a present with brown paper I found in my husbands toolbox. Then I painted each square with orange paint and then used white and black paint to create the dots and letters. Once it was all dry I used ribbon and a hot glue gun to attach all three squares. I think it turned out cute enough to hang in my house for Halloween. Maybe next year I will make one out of wood.

A Cookie Inside a Cookie

Yesterday my husband came across a picture online of an Oreo cookie inside a chocolate chip cookie. Of course he begged me to make these for him to take to work. I always seem to have a bag of chocolate chip cookie mix in my pantry so we picked up some Oreos at Walmart and I made them this evening. They were a little tricky to make but I think the way to do it is put a little chocolate chip cookie dough on each side of the Oreo. It's okay if the sides are not covered because as it starts to bake the dough will form around the Oreo. They turned out as good as you would think! Actually amazing! A cookie inside a cookie. What could be better than that?

Cardboard Box Dollhouse

I woke up this morning wanting to make something fun for Addison. I have recently put us on a tight budget so I've been looking for fun things I can make at home to entertain Addison. Today I decided to make a dollhouse out of old diaper boxes. If you are a mom you know how many diaper and wipe boxes you end up with around the house. Ours usually end up in a heaping pile in the garage. My Cardboard Box Dollhouse was super easy and fun to make and I was able to use things I already had around the house. Here are my step by step directions...

Supplies: 3 medium size cardboard boxes, scissors, duct tape, white glue, water, paint brush, wrapping paper, construction paper & fabric (optional), ribbon, hot glue gun.

1. Cut the tops off of two boxes (try and get two boxes the same size). Using the duct tape tape the boxes together. This makes the two main stories of the house.
2. Cut the third box to make the roof and tape it to the top of the other two boxes. Should look like a triangle on top.
3. Once the frame of the house is tapped together you are ready to decorate your house. I used wrapping paper for the outside and construction paper and fabric for the inside. You can use whatever you like to decorate the house.
4. Mix together your glue and water to make a paint texture. With your paintbrush paint the glue/water mixture on the back of your paper and begin applying to the walls. 
5. Once your walls are all covered you can use ribbon to cover the edges of your house so it looks cleaner. I used a hot glue gun to apply the ribbon.
6. Once the house it all decorated let it dry before giving to your child to play. 

Here are the before and after pictures of my house!

Tough day at work!

My day started at about 3:30am with the sound of a screaming toddler jumping in her crib. I was in the middle of the best nights sleep I have had in a long time. I knew it was too good to last. My little one hardly ever wakes in the night anymore so I knew something must of been wrong. She has been getting her top two molars for a while now. They are almost fully cut so I figured that was the culprit. I scooped her out of her crib, changed her diaper, gave her some Tylenol, handed her a sippy of water and laid her back down. She seemed fine so I went back to bed. Just as a snuggled deeper under my covers she started screaming again. To make a long story short this went on till 6am. I lost track of how many times I went back into her room. Usually I'd let her cry it out a bit but I knew she didn't feel good so I couldn't do it. At about 5am she started yelling "Momma!" then an occasional "Dada!" It was kinda cute but I was still a bit annoyed because now I was beyond tired. She finally fell back asleep around 6am so I got to go back to bed.

At 8am Joe got home from work and despite his best efforts to be quiet I still woke up when he came into bed. I tossed an turned till about 9 when Addison woke back up for the day. She seemed just fine as if she had a full nights sleep. We went downstairs had some breakfast along with my huge cup of coffee. I'm trying to give up coffee but today was an emergency. I needed it. We played a little and then headed back upstairs to get ready for the day. As I attempted to put on some makeup and straighten my hair Addison thought it would be so funny to bang on our bedroom door where her daddy was sleeping. I kept chasing her back into her room to play but she would find a new wall or door to bang on and the minute I turned my back she would be back to knocking on our bedroom door. Poor Joe! I'm not sure if he woke up. I finally gave up on my hair, having only straightened half, and got dressed. In the mean time Addison managed to take off her diaper and run around naked. Oh this child kills me sometimes!

Finally we were out the door at 11am and headed to the store. I needed to get a few things for dinner. My brain was so scattered today I forgot my purse in the car so we had to go back out to get it. What a wonderful day this was turning out to be. We were home by noon just in time for lunch. During lunch I realized that Addison is getting all four of her canine teeth at the same time! No wonder she is so fussy and woke up crying. This should be a fun couple of weeks.

After lunch I attempted to put Addison down for a nap. Well after almost 2 hours of her screaming and jumping in her crib I gave up. Please tell me my 16 month old is not giving up her naps!!! So now she is watching her show and oh yes I smell a poo! Guess I get to go change her diaper now. It's only 2:18pm and there is still so much more of the day to come. I have to go pick up some friends from the airport, make dinner, give Addison a bath and hope she is not crabby the rest of the day.

It's not always easy being a stay at home mom. It is a full time job! Off to change that diaper now.

Beautiful Kodiak!

So far we have enjoyed living in Kodiak. We have met so many wonderful new friends and have managed to stay really busy. I feel like I do more living here than I did before. This is our first time living in base housing and so far it has been an awesome experience. It's nice being surrounded by people that are in the same situation as us. It has made it very easy to meet people. Yes we miss the heat but Addison and I have been going to the indoor pool once or twice a week and every time the suns out we go for walks or exploring. It is very cold for summer but we will survive. We have enjoyed days at the beach, seeing our first Kodiak bears, lots of fishing for Joe, bomb fires with the neighbors and so much more. So far Kodiak is turning out to be better than expected. Stay tuned...it's not winter yet, my opinion may change!

Finally in Kodiak!

We are finally in Kodiak, Alaska. We are staying in a hotel until we can get into a house. We are on the list for base housing so who knows how long it could take. The past two months have been insane for us so we are looking forward to settling down in our new home. Addison has been our little trooper with all the traveling and visiting family. We drove all the way through Canada to Homer, AK and then took a 13 hour ferry to Kodiak. It was a long and exhausting trip but had it's moments of fun.

So far we like Kodiak but then again it's summer time. The weather is cool, mid 50's, and rains on and off. Today is a beautiful day so we went on a little nature walk this morning. I forgot my camera but I managed to get some great pics on my phone. I now know to take my camera everywhere we go. I just never know what I might see and want to snap a picture of. Maybe I will get to see a Kodiak Bear while we live here. Hopefully not up close!

A Ladybug Birthday!

My beautiful baby girl turned one on May 1st. She had a ladybug birthday party. I had so much fun making all the decorations and food for the party. With the help of all our family we were able to pull off an amazing party for an amazing little girl. She had such a blast opening her presents, eating her cake and playing will all of her friends. This birthday is going to be a tough one to beat.