Valentines day 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!
I thought I would share some love by sharing some signs that I made!

I still have a lot to learn, but it is fun to create signs.  My goal is to make signs and open an Etsy shop and sell them.  Dad has a idea to make them even more unique... which I will share soon!  Hopefully, with my amazing skills and his brilliant idea, my Etsy shop will be HUGE!  First, I need to decide on my shops name (named after this blog?)... and will anyone even want to buy a sign made by me?  Who knows?  Worth a try?  We will see.

Here is a little look at my Valentine signs.

The kids each picked out a sign to give to their teachers today.  I hope they like them!

What do you think of my first signs?  Would you buy one?

Check back later for some more Valentine's day love! 

Ella turns 7!

My baby is S-E-V-E-N!

What?!?!

How did that happen?

She was very specific about what she wanted this year... she wanted it all to be a surprise.  She didn't want any hints on her presents.  She didn't want to see any decorations beforehand.  She didn't want to know what we were going to do on her birthday.  Nothing.

I did get her to give me some color ideas to work with - purple and teal blue (and highlighter yellow was ok too).

Here is how we celebrated her day:

After eating heart shaped pancakes and bacon, we went to see The Lego Movie.

After picking up the Uncle Christopher, Gramma and Papa, we headed to Dave and Busters to eat lunch and play games.  Even though we say we go there for the kids, us adults seem to have a good time too!  It was Uncle's first time there and I am pretty sure he had as much fun as the kids!

And when the game cards are empty, the kids get to turn in their tickets for amazing prizes which makes them happy ;)

After tickets were traded in, we headed home to have her open her gifts.  We decided to take the plunge and buy her a Kindle.  Yes, she is only seven, but we thought it would be nice for her to be able to read books (she is very serious about her reading right now) and play games on her own tablet.  Caleb and Olivia both have tablets and Ella is always stealing my ipad.  Now, I can reclaim it and we will all be happy.

Ella also got Barbies.  This girl LOVES her some Barbies and plays with them everyday.  I also picked up some new bedding to finish her room redo, but I am not convinced it will work.

She also got colorful paints and canvases (great idea!) and some sweet cash!

I made this banner for her based on the colors she said.  Highlighter yellow didn't seem to go too well, so I left it out.

Finally, it was time for cookie cake!

Ella perfectly placed her seven candles.

Since her birthday was Sunday, we took cupcakes to school on Monday.

Her class sang to her and made her a birthday book.  Each classmate wrote a little saying to her.  They wrote that she is a good colorer, she is a best friend, she is beyutiful and the nicist in class ;-)

Ella was such a good girl on her birthday.  She shared her tickets and prizes with Olivia and Caleb, making sure they had fun on her special day, too!  That says a lot for a little girl to think of others when all of the attention is on her.  She made me very proud!

Happy 7th Birthday Ella!  We love you!!

Funny friday #4

I couldn't decide if today's post should be called ANOTHER snow day or Funny friday.  So, let's go with both!

Today is a crazy combination of both... it is our 3rd snow day, but there is NO snow.  There IS a winter advisory due to the cold weather and possible precipitation.  If you remember (or really read this amazing blog of mine), you will recall that last week we got all the way to school when our district decided to delay (then cancel) school approximately 2 minutes before it was to begin...  Now, it seems they are trying to make up for that mistake.  The kids are excited to stay home and play. They don't seem to understand that they now have 3 days to make up.  And I don't have the heart to crush their current excitement.  Later today I may feel different... (maniacal laugh)

Here is a picture of the temperature yesterday morning on our way to school.  It was cold enough to have school delayed 2 hours. 21 degrees in Texas is just plain wrong.

Here is a picture from the morning.  Cold.  No ice, no snow.  Here, in Texas, we do have to worry about bridges and overpasses icing over.  And drivers.  No one can drive in the rain or snow here.

Enough about weather, let's get to some funny.  My kids.

Our neighbors had a Super Bowl party and while the adults watched the game, the kids layered as many dress-up clothes as they could.  Olivia never came downstairs, which is why I don't have a picture of her.

Hope your Friday is funny and snowy like ours!

School lunch

Olivia did something BIG at school.  She bought her first lunch tray!  She has always wanted to buy a tray, but has been too nervous and shy to go through the lunch line at school.

She asked me about a lunch tray one night and said she was ready to buy one.  We looked at the lunch menu and she made her choice.  She then had me write out on a sticky note what she would select.  We read and reread the sticky note over and over again the night before.  She even asked me if I could meet her up at school to walk through the lunch line with her.  I did.  I wanted to show her that she can do things and to not be so afraid.

I met her at school, making sure I was at the cafeteria waiting for her so she would not worry and followed behind her as she grabbed her tray.  I praised her left and right as she quietly waited for the lunch lady to tell her it was okay to grab her cheeseburger, french fries, fruit and chocolate milk.

She was so nervous, but she did it!

The best news is she has bought her lunch again at school - all by herself!  She loves to buy lunch on days they serve french fries, mashed potatoes, broccoli, cheeseburgers, spaghetti, and cheese pizza.

Way to go Olivia!!

Safety and flags

Caleb has been a busy little guy lately.  He joined the safety patrol team at school and helps load and unload students from their cars at the drop off lines at school.  He is a serious worker too!  I should know, I spied on him one day ;)

He also joined flag football!

Caleb even won the weekly sportsmansip award for RESPECT!

Caleb was given this sign to put in our lawn for the week.  He was so proud and excited!

Way to go Caleb!

Snow days!

Last Friday we had a snow day.  A snow day - in Texas!  The kids were beyond excited to be able to stay home from school and spent hours playing outside in the snow.

This much snow ;-)

Today is another snow day.  There is no snow on the ground (so no picture to show you), but the roads are icy and people in Texas do not know how to drive on icy roads - or when it rains.  This morning there was no announcement of today's cancellation.  In fact, I woke up the kids and got them all the way to the school drop off line only to see school employees standing with poster board signs that said TWO HOUR DELAY, GO HOME.  Well done, school district.  Great planning and timing.

We turned around and headed home and the kids IMMEDIATELY put on their Christmas pjs.  I am not kidding, they still wear them all the time.  We later got word that school would be cancelled for the day.

The good news is the kids are happy as can be.

The bad news is both of these days will need to be made up.

I learned something new!

One of my goals this year is to learn more about blogging.  I know the basics and that is about it.  Time to learn more!

So, this is what I learned today - adding a banner (or label) to my photographs.  I have been googling how to do this for days and never found an easy answer.  Today, I emailed a blogger (she doesn't know me) and she immediately replied with a few suggestions.  There are some nice people in this world!

Here is what my photo would normally look like...

And this is what it could look like... JUST by adding a banner.

AND, I can even add my blog name to a photo - if someone wants to pin one of my awesome ideas.  You never know, right?!

I still have a lot to figure out, but I learned something new today and that feels good!