Levi's Room - Part 2

I loved how my DIY workbench turned out for my little guys and was a perfect gift for our youngest birthday.  My inspiration came from The Frugal Granny.  I knew that would make a perfect addition to the Levi's room and/or playroom, because let's face it the toys end up everywhere! (Currently it is in our dining room) There isn't much to to say in how I made it, I guess if you have questions let me know. 

Materials:

unused night stand  (Goodwill) - $10

pedboard - on hand

paint - on hand

polyethylene - on hand

spraypaint - on hand

zip ties (to hold tools) - on hand

Melissa and Doug tool set - 10.00

total: $20. and some change

I added a little measuring tape to the top.

Freezer Meal Cooking Day 1

I finally got a friend talked into doing a cooking day with me!!  And it is was quite successful.  We started off small with 4 recipes: Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Pot Pie, Manicotti and Banana Bread (because I had to get rid of all those frozen, overripe bananas to make room for my freezer meals).

(Not the best pic, my 5 yr. old took it, but we are very proud of ourselves!)

I did the shopping this time, minus the pantry basics, we split the bill then with kiddos in tow my friend, Kelly and I started our morning at 10.  We were a little overwhelmed at first getting the 4 kiddos settled, trying to figure out the best approach, getting our caffeine ready for this cooking frenzy!  After the first hour we looked at the clock and what we had accomplished and thought we might have bitten off more than we could chew, fed the kiddos lunch then barreled through - we had to get done before naptime!  Because neither of us were giving that up.

Here are the steps we took for these recipes:
1. I started the bread, it was the only thing we had to put in the oven.
2. Kelly got the chicken breasts in the pot.
3. While Kelly waited for the chicken, she mixed up the manicotti cheese mixture.
4. Chicken done and cooling then shredded.
5. Once done with the bread, I mixed up the chicken enchilada mixture.
6.  Bread done, started wrapping enchiladas.
7.  Kelly boiled monicotti and peeled carrots for Chicken Pot Pie.
(At this point we realized that the pie crusts for the Pot Pie were not going to happen, that we would just make the cream sauce and when we get ready to use it we could purchase pie crusts or make a crust or biscuits)
8.  Kelly and I started stuffing manicotti....probably the most time consuming part but they are yummy!
9.  Packaged everything up to freeze and split our goods!

With the servings we made and how much the grocery bill was, I figured it is roughly .86 cents per serving, this did not include the bread and I did buy the pantry staples.  I still think that is awesome!

At 1:00 Kelly was out the door!

Here is our haul!

Pinterest: Fail

Well if any of you do follow along, you will notice that I failed horribly!  My Pinterest Challenge deadline has come and passed and I did NOT complete a project from all 21 boards.  I sadly only completed 4 and to tell you the truth I have at least 3 projects started but not completed. :-(  I had a few hiccups in the time between my challenge start and end dates which is part of life.  I do plan to finish my list and a few more projects on my ever growing Pinterest boards so be sure to stop back by...who knows you might actually see a new post.

My Space - Part 1

Imagine me singing, 'Another one bites the dust!'  Another Pin completed off my Pinterest Boards!!  It feels good to get things done that I have been wanting to do.  Not really needing to do but just things I enjoy doing.  I finally covered 3 diaper boxes for my shelf, and I love them. 

This project literally cost me nothing, at one point I paid for it but not for this project.  :-)  My inspiration is found here at Shanty 2 Chic.  I didn't stray from her directions or the site she linked to.  There are tons of these tutorials out there so I don't really feel like I need to waste my time reinventing the wheel. 

I am very happy with how they turned out and might need to save a few more boxes!

Levi's Room - Part 1

Since moving Levi upstairs about a month ago his walls have been bare...it isn't for a lack of ideas, it is just getting it done.  Well, I am happy to say that I have completed yet another Pinterest pin!  I only have 19 days left to complete 17 more pins, I might be in trouble!!!  Here is my inspiration from: Make It Love It

I didn't stray too much from what she did really.  I went online and found a few truck silhouettes that I liked and I had my dear friend Mary (Yellow Door Paperie) freehand the silhouettes onto the canvases. 

I used paint I already had on hand and was on my way!  I am very happy with how they turned out and the job only cost me $5.24!! 

As you can also see I have some very good helpers, they wanted to be in the crib while I was taking pics. :-)

Detox Bath

Well another pin checked off my Pinterest boards.  Not really much to report.  I did skip adding ginger like suggested in the post, here.  I probably did rid my body of toxins but if nothing else enjoyed an hour of peace and quiet.  Now I am off to drink lots and lots of water.

A Week With Preschoolers

With preschoolers the day goes fast but not only would a normal day go fast having preschool only 3 mornings a week for 2.5 hours each day...that flies by.  Now I am not complaining I love my job but as you can see from my personal Pinterest board, and my office files crammed with templates, ideas and who know what else.  There is TONS to ideas out there.
Each week we do a Theme, Number, Letter and Bible Story.  I do really well with the letters, and numbers and pretty good with the theme the bible stories are a little difficult for me sometimes.  I really like when the children can make something, you know a reminder, a momento.  Well anyway, our week:

Theme: Shapes

Letter: Pp

Number: 15

Bible: The Nobleman's son

Here are a few of the things we did:

Shape Cutting:  I traced basic shapes onto construction paper and let the children practice their cutting skills.  I found going ahead and making each shape onto a smaller piece of paper was way easier for them to handle..less frustrating.  I will be keeping these cutting samples for conferences coming up.

Shape Painting/Stamping:  I used shape blocks that came with my sons Little People Boat and Dump Truck.  They are a good size for children to hold onto and plastic (easy cleanup).  Put a variety of colors on plates and let the children stamp away, some even made simple ABAB patterns.  (Which could also be a project with shapes, if you wanted it to be more than free art.)

Shape Book: Printable found at: Ready. Set. Read!    Depending on level of child with some I had to help 'draw' the shape with the glue.  After the fact I thought I could have made a dotted line shape for them to follow with the glue bottle, others had no problem.  Could go ahead a make a couple more pages too.

Sensory Table:  Insta Snow, TOOB artic animals (penguins), some cups and sand shovels.

Sticky Easel:  Great fun.  We have a tub of shape buttons.  We are doing shapes for two weeks so the first week I just let the children explore with the sticky easel and shape buttons.  This week I sectioned it off for sorting like shown here at Learning 4 Kids

Penguins:  Trace one foot of each child (shoe on) onto black paper.  Add circle eyes, triangle nose/beak, oval belly, heart 'webbed' feet.

Number Movement: During our circle time we decided to do different movements for whatever number we are working on.  Example: 15 jump, 15 claps, etc.

Color/Shape/Graphing Page:  I found this great page for the children to do...it almost has it all, even a Pig for P!  I can't find the link right now, I think I got it from TeachersPayTeachers.  If you sign up for their e-mail you get free downloads about every other week, plus it is a great site to find things for your classroom at a decent price.

This post is also related to my Challenge: Pinterest!

Challenge: Pinterest

Okay, so I know (hope) I am not the only who after putting the kiddos to bed sits down at the computer and then gets sucked into a Pinterest Pinning Spree!  Only to be left at the end of the night saying, 

I got absolutely NOTHING done tonight!!  

The dishes are still in the sink, there is still a load of laundry in the washer, dryer and a load in the basket waiting to be folded, I didn't work ahead on any lesson planning (Wasn't that why I was on Pinterest in the first place?), the list goes on and on.  Plus not to mention the guilt of sitting in completely different rooms from my husband after not seeing him all day.  

Well it is 10:15 pm and it is one of those nights, so I am challenging myself to complete/make/do one pin from each of my 21 boards...wow, I didn't realize that I have 21 boards!! 

If you want to take a look at what I'm pinning here you go: My Pinterest

Below I linked the project/thing that I am going to complete so come back and see what I get done!

Boards:                  What I Plan to Accomplish:

all for ME!              Detox Bath 

Make It - Kiddos   All By Myself Tee

Household              Cleaning the Stove Grates

My Space              Covering Diaper Boxes 

Recipes                 Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread

Decorate                Branch Wreath

Gifting                    Love Voucher Booklet

Party Ideas            Little Monster Pals  (like the ones shown)

Playroom               Shower Curtain Town    (there is the pic, the link doesn't work sorry)

Make It                 Recycled TShirt Scarf 

(Side Remark..I need to organize my boards. multiple pins of the same items, things not on the right board! ugh moving on.)

Pinterest - I DID IT!   HA! there is proof that I actually do something...not much but it is there.

Gift Ideas for the Boys   Workbench 

Free Printables         Year of Dates

Teachin'                 Shape Activities

Scrapbooking         Boy Layout

Road Trip              Child Picture Packing List - sorry no link but I will scan mine in.

Holiday                  Valentine's Food     St. Patrick's Day Food

Journaling - Kiddos     ABC Scriptures    Scripture Smash Book

Table Activities        Race to the Top Letter Recognition   - this board should be combined with Teachin'

L's Room               Truck Canvases

Living/Dining Rm     Stenciled Drop Cloth Curtains

OH! I decided to give myself 42 days to complete this list, that way I average about one every two days.  Happy Pinning!

 

And Along Came a Spider

Okay so all the cute trash bags for Halloween are sold out...they always are by the time I get to buying them.  Anyway Noah and I decided we were going to make ourselves a spider.  

All we needed was:

black trash bags (we used 3)

duck tape

scissors

and lots of leaves...if you don't have leaves you can come get some of ours!

It's pretty simple and I am sure you guys can figure it out.  I will tell you for the legs we cut a trash bag into three parts, duck taped up the sides of each of those sections and turned it inside out making a sleeve, so you can't see the silver duck tape. Here he is:

Week 5: Laundry Room

I know I still haven't shown you the Office finished but to be honest I am still working on it.  I have a lot done but I am still organizing my preschool files and I don't want to post pics until it is DONE!  Last week though was the Laundry Room, and to tell you the truth it was nice to have an easy, no nonsense room after the Kitchen and the Office!  Our Laundry Room is in our finished basement and it part of a bathroom.  Nothing fancy, just functional and now CLEAN and ORGANIZED!

The orange bucket isn't pretty but I make our laundry detergent and that is big enough to hold it all.  One day I will find something that works and is pretty. 

 We don't have closets on our main floor so our folding chairs are stored in the corner there.

The bins are clothes waiting for our youngest to grow into, I moved those to his closet instead of taking up space in here.

 I moved in a table we had purchased from Ikea years ago when we lived in an apartment.  It has drop sides and drawers so it will be great for setting up for folding and when not in use just put the side down!

Added a few baskets from the Dollar Tree (need one more) and weeded out all the rags and all those little bottles of soaps, lotions, shampoos you get when traveling.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out A Bowl Full of Lemons!

Week 4: The Office (Before)

The office in our home is shared by myself and my husband as well as all my scrapbooking/sewing/crafting!  Did I mention I am also a preschool teacher, do you know how much 'stuff' preschool teachers keep around!?!?  Let's just say there is a lot of 'stuff' in there and it has easily become dumping grounds this busy time of year. Before I go check out A Bowl Full of Lemons, she started me on this organizing rampage.

One thing we would like to change about our office space is it's location.  In the next year we hope to move the office space to a main floor bedroom that is currently our youngest bedroom and little guy will move upstairs with big brother but until then I need to make this room work.  So here are the before pics, you will have to wait for the results...I am still in the process.

You can guess that there is no work getting done at this desk.

My tools pegboard is a project in progress, can't wait until it is done and hanging up.

 

Ugh, so much stuff EVERYWHERE!

Hopefully in the next week you will come back and see my progress.

Mission Organization

Was it three weeks ago I told you about taking up the challenge to organize my home?  Well the challenge is intended to be done in 14 weeks...it might take me longer.  I can tell you all the excuses but I think what we should focus on is that even though I am a bit behind I am still soldiering on!  (Let's stay positive.)  So three weeks ago the challenge started with THE KITCHEN.  Before I go on to show you the progress I have made, check out the challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons.

I feel like I have taken A LOT of pictures so bare with me. :-)  And first of all I would like to thank my 'helpful' assistants and my husband who stayed out of the way.

Before:

 After:

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 After:

Before:

 After:  And just think how much room I will have when I don't have sippy cups and bottles!  I am thinking the vases in the top left won't stay there, it just makes it look cluttered.

Before:

 After:  Purchased a dish rack for lids, thank you Pinterest.

Before:

 After:

 Before:

 After:  The dividers I purchased at the Dollar Tree, you will see some more of those.

 Before:

 After:

 Before:

 After: The drawers that have made the BIGGEST transformation in my mind.

 This is my 'Kid Drawer'.  Those little things that they don't get all the time:  Window Crayons, Tattoos, Chuck-E-Cheese tokens.  Oh and more of those Dollar Tree dividers.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me do a little bragging.  Next challenge is THE GARAGE.