That's what He said.....

Setting/Scene: Yesterday morning in my bathroom getting ready to leave for Field Day at school. MP is brushing his teeth. Alex is taking his vitamins.

I walk in and...

Me: Matt. Wanna mohawk for field day today?

Matt: It's too late Dad already fixed my hair.

Me: It's never too late for a mohawk!!!!

Alex: It is for Pa!!! 

Everyone: Pawahahahahahaha!!!!

We love you Pa!!

Story Book Character Day

It's Children's Book Week. The boy's school is celebrating with different themes each day. Today is Story Book Character Day. After MP decided at the last hour, minute, second that he wanted to participate... last night we brainstormed and brainstormed and then came up with this idea from one of his all time fave books. The book is Arnie the Doughnut. A book about doughnuts is one of his faves. Duh. Ha! Awesome part is we had all the supplies to a make his character here at home. Phew!

I took a swim ring spray painted it and then glued some card stock on it for the sprinkles, eyes, and mouth. Then I taped some string on the back so he can wear it around his neck. Yay! Quick. Next time we'll come up with something more creative when we have more time!

Check out Arnie the Doughnut next time you are at your public or school library. It's a cute story!

                                   

                       

                  

Wordless Wed

My boy, AJP and First Lady Barbara B.

Alex's class submitted questions to, if picked be used to ask First Lady Barbara Bush a question during a video conference on Feb. 7. One of his questions was picked and so, he got to ask the First Lady his question directly to her via satellite. It was a pretty exciting time around here because of it. I just got video from that day just yesterday. My boy. Watch. Its really cool. I don't know though. They do say that kids say the darnedest things. Ha. Is he overly confident? Sassy? Nervous? Maybe a little bit of each. So, glad Barbara B. has a sense of humor about it all! LOVE her!!!--P.S. I am not that surprised that he responded that way. If you know Al he is pretty serious when it comes to his sports "opinions"! Ha. And a sports related question at that. ESPN are ya watching? Lol. Will AJP be on Sports Center some day? Hmmm.. I think. Maybe. How fun would that be!?! :)

Thanks for watching. Enjoy! -B

I pulled the following from his school's website!! 

Mrs. Wright's video conference with First Lady Barbara Bush

Mrs. Wright’s fourth grade class enjoyed the amazing experience of interacting with First Lady Barbara Bush while participating in the Reading Discovery video conference held at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Thursday, February 7th.  Via the distance learning connection, her students joined with over 35,000 other students and teachers acrossAmerica and worldwide to share in the opportunity to engage with Mrs. Bush and to experience the discovery of new ideas through reading.  Mrs. Bush read excerpts from the award winning author Lynn Curlee's book, "Capital” and answered questions asked by students during the video conference.  Mrs. Wright’s fourth grade class was honored to be one out of just 20 schools chosen worldwide to ask the First Lady a question.  What an incredibly wonderful and meaningful experience it was!

John Elway. The Game. Of His. LIFE.

Alex had to read a biography last month for class. Then he had to do a report/presentation about it. He chose a book about John Elway, the ex-Denver Bronco's quarterback. He pretty much had free reign on how to present the book to his class. Be creative it said. So, he and I came up with a board game idea of John Elway's LIFE. We pulled out our LIFE board game and used it as a model. I went to Lowe's and got some paint samples to create the game board squares. KP helped with the spinner. Alex told me what he wanted the game pieces to be and then I made those. He did the rest. Each square represented a different fact about John Elway. Every other square had something like "you fumbled the ball go back 2 spaces" or "you scored a touchdown move forward 3 spaces" kinda deal. You started in John Elway's birthplace. Port Angeles, WA and the winning square/the end was Mile High Stadium in Denver, CO. After it was all said and done we all knew a ton of facts about John Elway! Did you know John Elway played baseball as well? Yup was drafted by theYankees?? Yeah. It was fun lil' project. 

Click on the pics to enlarge them.

We made four games pieces. John Elway the football player, baseball player,
his Super Bowl trophy, and jersey. I used binder clips as holders.

This is what the final product looked like. 

He started the game in John's birthplace.

Wordless Wed

Countdown to Spring Break

Are you like me and as soon as the Christmas break is over you start counting down to Spring Break? Yes. I am always ready for a break off with my boys and KP, too. Spring Break. Seven days of hopefully good weather and lots of fun! Most years we take a trip of some kind. Sometimes we fly somewhere. That is what we will do this year. Sometimes we take a road trip. Last year we went to Huntsville. Alex had done a school report about Sam Houston and so we spent a few days exploring Huntsville and the many places in the area that we could learn more about Sam Houston. It was fun! It was. For real. Who knew. We've also had a few Spring Break stay-cations. These are usually an over night stay at a hotel or motel in the Houston area. Since KP travels some for his job he has accrued hotel points that we save and use. The Woodlands for example is where we stayed once and visited the Children's Museum there, rode the carousel in the mall, and ate at some of our fave restaurants that we don't have in our area. Its was a quick get away where we pretended to be tourists.

We like to make the most of any Spring Break/trip. Be it big plans or smaller low key ones that we have planned. We approach each with excitement and awe! There is always lots of pictures, lots of learning, and of course a ton of laughing. Our motto is if you are not having fun you are doing it wrong!!!

We try to keep in mind when planning for and deciding what to do for Spring Break, that it is that...a break. So, we try not to over plan the week and keep our fun to a 3 to 5 day limit. The boys like to have days where they can just hang out in their pjs and veg around the house and play video games all day. Setting a limit to the days away from home saves us from needing a vacation from your vacation. You know those. Where you are more stressed and more tired than before you left for your "vacation"!

So. This year we will be taking a big trip. Flying to New York City for 5 days. We saved up our hotel points and will be taking a family trip there. It will be MPs first time to NYC. He is excited! The rest of us are excited, too. We have our list ready of all the things we want to see and do in the Big Apple. And we'll be back with time left in the week to be at home and chill before the boys return to school. Then we will start the countdown over. This time we will be counting down to summer break!! ;)

Have a fun & safe spring break! Whatever your plans may be! 

Everything Has Its Place. Sometimes You Just Need To Find It.

So. I am organized. Yes. But. What does that mean really? To me it means I have a space and place for everything. Everything. Everything has its "SPLACE". Splace = Space and place. Oh. You got that. Of course you did. Just making sure. If you have somewhere for it. Your stuff. Then you always have a splace to put it!! Yea! And this makes me happy when that happens. :) Your family can then help you put things back in its splace where it goes. It can happen. Becomes routine. It does. Sometimes you just have to get creative and find a place to put things! Example:

Take this piece of furniture below. A dear friend gave it to me. Thanks, Keri. I love it. After I found a splace for "it",  it later became what you see now.  A splace for the boys craft supplies. Before it housed some odds and ends. See, I used to have a Rubbermaid box full of these craft things and would bring it out when they felt creative and then would open it up in the kitchen and then I would box it up again.

Since, the cabinet just so happens to be right near the kitchen. Tada!! It became the craft supply cabinet. Now the boys have access to it 24/7. Well really. 12/7. Good bye Rubbermaid box. We have a splace for the "stuff" now. So, see look around and make things that work for you. Get creative! Make things flow. Find a splace!

So here is the cabinet that. Sits off the living room.
The baskets below for now are full of Penny's things.
Here? That way we can grab her a treat, leash, toy. Its
by the back door. The boys can both reach them as well.

Inside the cabinet. Playdoh, stickers, markers, glue, paints....oh, my!

I labeled these so the boys could read
the box and grab what they needed quicker.

In the drawers. Left side has paper. Right side is a table cloth
that they have to put on my table before they get crafty.
There are also old Ts and aprons when they use paint. 

See. Cabinet is right by the table. The table.
Where the craft magic happens. :)


I hope this post inspires you to find a splace for something that you have around your house that is currently homeless. Remember. Make it work for you. Get creative. And don't forget to share. I wanna hear all about it!! I will share more of my tips and tricks, too.
-B

I think every household needs this stuck to the fridge!!

Wordless Wed

My Halloween Costume 2013

So. If ya don't know. Let. Me. Tell. You. Number one. I love Halloween!!! Two. I love Ellen DeGeneres and her show. Three. I have always wanted to be on a red carpet interviewing celebs. So, that is why this year I am thinking I will be Sophia Grace for Halloween. This lucky little bitty currently holds my dream job on my fave of all time talk shows!! Yes. Maybe if Ellen sees me dressed as Sophia she'll let me have a gig like her, too. A girl can dream.

If you don't know this super cute girl, Sophia Grace who just so happens to be the 6 year old version of me. Check her out on YouTube. She's a hoot. I love her and her enthusiasm! She's kinda awesome.
Here's a link to one of a million videos this cutie. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p-pOGkhxoy4&feature=relmfu

And Now A Matthew Moment

Someone. MP. Penny, our dog is a little short yet to reach these. Changed his mind I guess.  So nice of him to put it back and save it for someone else. Want a snack? Anyone? Ugh.

Clearing out the clutter: The 40 Trash Bag Challenge

By now you may know that I am always cleaning or clearing out stuff. I love to go through stuff from time to time. All the time. Lets be honest. I look for things we don't use, wear, or play with. For me to fill a bag or two and remove it from our house is truly cathartic. It not only physically removes it from our home it mentally removes a weight from my shoulders and brain. It comes easy to me. I bag it up. Donate it. Or pass it on to others that can use it. Freecycle. I keep an empty 13 gallon trash can out in the garage. Everytime I find something we do not need anymore it goes in the "bucket". When it fills up. I bag it up. I know that for some this does not come easy. Be it sentimental reasons or maybe just being overwhelmed and not knowing where to begin. A friend shared this article with me. Its great. Worth the read. And maybe you have been looking around your home and wanting to but, just don't know where to start...this article may just be the encouragement and motivation you have been looking for. It is a great thing to do for lent! Get the whole family involved. Remember this. Getting rid of the "stuff" does not get rid of the memory! Its ok. Even if someone gave it to you. -B

http://simplycatholic.net/content/40-trash-bag-challenge

Wordless Wed

Here's Johnny. Er. Matt.

SHINING STARS! 

Nutcracker Market 2012

This is for you gals who have never been to Houston's annual Nutcracker Market! These are my treasures from yesterday's visit. :)

It will be here until Sunday. Run. Don't walk. It's a blast.

Might be my fave find. My burlap painted Longhorn.
Hook'em Horns!! \m/

And Now A Matthew Moment

MP is in First Grade this year. Today he brought home some things he's been working on at school. We found this little gem in the stack o'papers. He was given this piece of paper with the picture on it and was asked to write something about it. Here is what he wrote. He makes us LOL!! You can click on the picture to see it bigger.

Wordless Wed

And Now A Matthew Moment

Boys and Their Toys

Its too cloudy and rainy to swim today. That is not stopping my boys from having some fun. KP got this boat for Father's Day.

Like Father Like Son

Wordless Wed

And Now A Matthew Moment

Wordless Wed

These 2 Pics Inspired My New Haircolor

Thanks, Lauren Stell for my fun new haircolor for spring!! I love it!!

DIM (Did It Myself): Frame on my Front Door is The New Wreath 2.0

Before

I like to keep a wreath on my door. Especially, during the holidays. They look so pretty. I have several Christmas and Fall looking wreaths that I love and that still look good. Its the winter and spring and even summer wreaths that I had to get rid off because, they were starting to look a little worn out. So, instead of a wreath I found a frame at a garage sale for a few bucks and hot glued a "P" to presto it became my wreath replacement. Well, that frame fell one day and broke. Thanks to weather or maybe it was 2 little boys that slammed the door to hard. Jury is still out. My money is on the 2 little boys. We may never know. So, I found another frame and a new "P" to replace the others, but this time I decided to tweak it a bit. I put a piece of black foam board on the back of it. Then I found our initials and used velcro (the heavy duty peel & stick kind) to put each letter around the giant "P" and ta-dah new frame/wreath for my door! I love it! I am still on the hunt for a fun bright springy/summery wreath though.

After

And Now A Matthew Moment

My boy. Always making me laugh.

Wordless Wed

Saw It On Pinterest

Its been a while since my last post. Fail. I love to blog. I don't why I don't just sit and do it. Even if its just for me. Its nice to look back. Like a diary or photo album.

ANYWAY. Before Christmas, I saw this super cute idea on Pinterest. Wrapping your kids door with crepe paper. They can bust through it. You can do this for Christmas or their birthdays, too. We did it for Christmas!! It was super fun!! I waited until they were sound asleep and went up and wrapped their door ways with crepe paper in Christmas colors. Christmas morning they busted through it to come and see what Santa brought them. They thought it was so much fun!! I will do it again this year. It might also be fun to do for the last day of school or the first day of summer and or the first day of school. Ideas are endless. Thanks, Pinterest!!