I love my son. I love spending time with him. I love watching him learn. But sometimes I get caught up with life and miss out on special moments. I'm also a planner, if I don't plan it, it probably won't get done because I've planned something else for that time slot. Seriously, I'm not kidding. I plan out every hour of each day and some days I forget to schedule in special specific time with Ryan. I always steal away a few fun moments with him here and there to play or laugh or read a book, but it's not as consistent as I'd like. Or maybe it's just because this week has been completely CRAZY, so I'm feeling a little distant from him. I don't know. In any case, I'm changing it.
So here's the plan I desperately need. Each day of the week we will do one of the following:
A craft
Cook something
Go somewhere fun
Do an activity
Complete an item from our Mommy & Me bucket list
Perform an act of service
Get outside
Celebrate a holiday
Have a gospel lesson & activity
Obviously, the gospel lesson & activity will happen on Sunday. Also, getting outside and going somewhere fun must happen EVERY SINGLE WEEK! I'm good at getting Ryan out of the house to go places, so I'm not worried about that one. But I'm horrible at going outside to play. Now that it's cooling down, I'm looking forward to spending time with him outside.
Next Week
Thursday: Drink chocolate milk while watching a show together for Chocolate Milk Day
Friday: Play date with cousins
Saturday: Go to the library with Daddy
Sunday: Gospel lesson
Monday: Paper Plate Hop Game
Tuesday: Farm animal craft for Farm Animal Day
Wednesday: Finish quiet book pages and play with them
What do you do to make sure you spend quality time with your kids on busy weeks?
Can I even tell you how excited I am to get my Halloween decor up?!
SO EXCITED!!!
What is it about Halloween that makes it SO fun to decorate? I love it! I'm also loving the Halloween projects I have been working on and the ones I will finish this week {hopefully}. Just in time to decorate on Saturday. Woo hoo!
Now, I present to you my "Boo" plate!
It was super easy to make!
Materials:
White melamine plate
Tape
Orange paint
Sponge brush
Black vinyl & Cricut or Silhouette
OR
Big black stickers
Spider web paper
Spider (I got mine at Michaels!)
Hot glue gun
Directions:
(I really need to get better at remembering to take step by step pictures...)
1. Use the tape to mark off stripes on the plate.
2. Paint the stripes. I did 3 coats.
3. Peel off tape. I didn't worry about doing this perfectly. Since it's a Halloween plate, I wanted it to look a bit speckled and old. So I didn't care if paint seeped under the tape or what not. Just go with it!
4. Using your favorite font and your Silhouette or Cricut, cut out the letters B, O, and O. I made mine 4" tall. You could also do E, E, and K. I didn't want the stereotypical EEK with a spider on it, so I went with BOO instead.
5. Wait for the paint to dry.
6. Stick the vinyl (or stickers) to your plate.
7. Cut the spider web paper to fit the inside of the middle "O." I just used my Cricut to cut a second O in the same font & size to make sure it fit.
8. Glue the spider web circle to the center of the "O."
Whew! This is proving to be quite the project! I only have 2 pages completed and I was hoping for 7 + the cover. Oh well. I'm not complaining because Ryan LOVES the 2 pages I DO have done and they have already given him 1 hour of entertainment. {Guess what? They have only been finished for 1 hour. Can I get a, "Oh yeah!"}
I'm SO happy with how these turned out! I used my Cricut to make them and it was MUCH easier than felt (in my opinion).
Shapes
Supplies:
Cricut cutter
Quiet Book Cricut cartridge
Your choice of font cartridge
1 8x8 piece of colored cardstock (I used turquoise)
About 1.5 sheets of another color 8x8 cardstock (I used orange)
1 strip about 2.5x8 inches of another color of cardstock (I used black)
Another partial piece of cardstock (I used white)
1 laminating sheet
20 magnets
Glue
Scissors
Steps:
1. Using the quiet book cartridge, cut 2 circles, 2 ovals, 2 triangles, 2 hexagons, 2 stars, 2 hearts, 2 diamonds, 2 squares, 2 rectangles, and 2 trapezoids on the 1.5 sheets of 8x8 colored cardstock with the height dial at 1.5 inches. (**The shapes will be the whole 8th column of your cartridge keyboard, then the same column again using the shift.)
2. Using your font cartridge of choice, cut out the letters S, H, A, P, E, and S on card stock. (**I used the block font from the Boys Will Be Boys cartridge.)
3. Glue the 2.5x8 inch strip of cardstock to the bottom of the 8x8 cardstock.
4. Glue the letters to the 2.5x8 inch strip.
5. Arrange one set of cut shapes to the top portion of the 8x8 cardstock and glue.
6. Laminate the 8x8 card stock an the second set of shapes. (**I used self-adhesive laminating sheets and they worked perfectly!)
7. Cut out the laminated second set of shapes.
8. Put a magnet on the back of each cut-out shape.
9. Put a magnet in the center of each shape on the 8x8 cardstock.
10. Watch your kid enjoy!
Colors
Supplies:
Cricut cutter
Create-A-Critter Cricut cartridge
Your choice of font cartridge
1 8x8 colored cardstock (I used white)
1 2.5x8 strip of cardstock (I used black)
7 colors of cardstock--you will only use a tiny piece of each. (I used red, yellow, blue, green, orange, pink, and purple)
14 magnets
1 laminating sheet
Scissors
Glue
Steps:
1. Using the Create-A-Critter cartridge, cut out 14 balloons (2 of each color) at 3.5 inches tall. (**This will be the first row, second column on your cartridge keypad using the shirt key.)
2. Using your font cartridge of choice, cut out the letters C, O, L, O, R, and S on card stock. (**I used the block font from the Boys Will Be Boys cartridge.)
3. Glue the 2.5x8 inch strip to the bottom of the 8x8 cardstock.
4. Glue the letters to the 2.5x8 inch strip.
5. Arrange one full-color set of balloons to the top of the 8x8 cardstock and glue.
6. Laminate the 8x8 card stock an the second set of balloons. (**I used self-adhesive laminating sheets again! Also, I cut the "strings" off the second set of balloons before laminating.)
7. Cut out the laminated second set of balloons.
8. Put a magnet on the back of each cut-out balloon.
9. Put a magnet in the center of each balloon on the main page.
10. Let your kid(s) have fun!
Coming soon: My Name Is...page, car 2-page spread, counting 2-page spread, cover, and putting it all together.
Hopefully I will get to add some more pages soon. I'm thinking a memory page, getting dressed, barn animals, tying shoelaces, clock, and alphabet pages.
I knew Ryan was a bit too young to fully comprehend this day and all that it entails, so I just stuck to focusing on America and how lucky we are to live here. I pulled out some construction paper and some silver star stickers we had lying around and helped him make a US flag. He LOVED putting the stickers on. Oh, and yes, I know our flag isn't 100% correct, but I didn't want to deal with measuring and what not. So we don't have 13 stripes and 50 stars. But we have the basics.
Stand Up to Cancer Day (9/14)
I have an aunt who died of cancer (breast and back) and a grandmother who is a breast cancer survivor (though she did have to deal with a double mesectomy), so this topic is close to my heart. On Friday I donated some money to breast cancer research. Whenever I think of breast cancer, I think of the dance on So You Think You Can Dance a few seasons back with Melissa and Ade. That dance makes me cry every single time. It's so powerful. If you haven't seen it, please look it up!
Apple Day (9/15)
For my before bed snack, I ate an apple with peanut butter. I LOVE apples with peanut butter. Or Nutella. Yum!
Play Doh Day (9/16)
Yes, if you were wondering, the first thing Ryan did with the play doh was stick it in his mouth. Gross! But then he just had fun stacking all the containers. Whatever works.
Constitution Day (9/17)
Ryan and I got on YouTube and watched some videos about the constitution. Our favorites were from Schoolhouse Rock (The Preamble and I'm Just A Bill). Cute shows! Ry loved them! He didn't want to stop watching them.
I finally got a couple! Turquoise and bright yellow. They make me happy!
Veggie/Fruit Snack Packs
I've seen these at Walmart and Safeway so far, and I LOVE them. Each is 200-300 calories and is filled with fruit, veggies, cheese, etc. My favorite one? Apple slices, baby carrots, cheese, and pretzels. So yummy! And a perfect lunch or late night snack!
The Mortal Instruments Series
I stopped reading this series for awhile because I have SO many books to read and I was focusing on reading only books I own. This month I'm allowing myself to check out books from the library, so I finally got to City of Fallen Angels, book four in The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare. Oh my gosh. I'm hooked again! I finished it last night and I must get book five NOW! The love story in this book seriously gets me. Just listen to this line: "I love you and I will always love you, and pretending it could be any other way is just a waste of time." ~Clary (pg. 407). Perfection.
Cricut Machine
Mine {well, it's actually my moms, but she lets me keep it at my house} never worked. Ever. After some difficulties, we got them to fix it. Yay! Now I can't stop using it. I'm in LOVE! What's even better though? My mom and I went halfsies on a Silhouette machine. It should arrive today! Now THAT I can't wait for.
My New Bra
Too much info? Oh well. Don't care. But seriously people. It's called the Genie Bra and I've heard people talk about them before, so I decided to get some for myself. LOVE! It's basically a sports bra, but more supportive and with cups. I don't feel like I'm wearing a bra, but I look like I am. Win, win! Target and Walmart both sell them. My suggestions though? Get the inserts. It costs extra, but you will need them. And they tend to run small, so go for a size up.
General Conference (For those of you who aren't LDS/Mormon, this is something that happens twice a year in April and October. We get to hear from many speakers, including our prophet, and be spiritually filled. I love it!)
Learning to use the Silhouette (should arrive on Monday. Yay!)
My iPhone 5 coming in the mail in a couple weeks (just pre-ordered it this morning. No more Droid!)
Yes, it's THAT cracked. And has been for about 8 months...
Dressing up for Halloween (costumes arrived early. Woo!)
Some exciting ideas I have for this blog
California trip in October (maybe even Disneyland. Yay!)
I love Pinterest more and more and I find I can't allow myself on there too much because I just go crazy with inspiration! It's almost too much to handle! Here are some of my favorite recent pins:
