A Mini Babymoon!

My Mom has wonderful friends!!! One of her friends was unable to use their Daytona Beach timeshare and offered it to them, but my parents were busy the beginning part of the week and offered it to us!!! A free place to stay at Daytona, how could we say no???

We arrived on Sunday to our room not being ready which we figured it wouldn't be, but we wanted to make sure we got an ocean front room. So while we waited we headed out to the pool to watch the Wings and Waves Air Show! The beach was PACKED!! I haven't seen it that busy ever! One of the coolest planes was the Jet. It went up so high that we couldn't see it anymore and would freefall down! Then it would zoom across the beachfront. It was extremely loud, but awesome to feel/hear/see the power of a jet! Little Lion and I enjoying the show when I wasn't covering his ears because of the jet. Then the 9 plane synchronized group came out. They were amazing and totally together! LL liked that they made "clouds" even a heart with 4 planes doing one side and 5 doing the other.
Just as the show ended our room was ready. Here is our view from the 8th floor. We spent the next couple of hours in the pool and then headed to Bubba Gumps for dinner which LL called it "Bubble Gums" ;)

The next morning, LL kept waking up from 5am on asking to put his suit on. He was anxious to get to the beach! The sunrise was gorgeous!! We enjoyed breakfast on the balcony. Even Monkey got in on the action ;)
We went down to the pool and beach for the morning.

Flower Power couldn't miss out on the action either!! (Sorry if this offends...big belly ahead!) We headed up to the room to get ready to go to Boondocks for lunch. Here is LL jamming on his new guitar.At Boondocks you can feed the catfish! LL really enjoyed feeding them french fries (yes they said you could!) while he meowed..haha! It was just like our tarpon feeding in the Keys with catfish jumping and literally on top of each other vying for french fries.
After naps for all, we went back to the beach. I love the pictures where the boys shadows are in color because of the ocean water!

The sunlight was perfect. I thought we should take some 30 week maternity pictures of FP. Here's the best we got. LL really just wanted to play in the ocean not take pictures :)

And you can't forget about the Love Birds :)

It's kind of sad to think that this will most likely be our last vacation as a family of three. However, I know our family of 4 will have MANY, MANY more vacations ahead of us to make wonderful memories together!

Our Favorite Things

Sorry another craft;o) I promise once Flower Power comes, I won't be blogging about crafting :) My mother-in-law's birthday was last week. She is a crafty person and really into Stampn' It Up. I thought she'd enjoy a craft and find out what we are going to name FP. My sister-in-law is pregnant as well and we incorporated that idea into it as well. I found on howdoesshe.com this cute craft with 2x4s.
I decided to make the same thing, but instead of My Favorite Things, I would use Our Grandkids and put all the grandkids pictures including the new babies' ultrasound pictures.

Supplies...2 pieces of scrapbook paper, a 2x4 long enough for all your blocks, stain, glue, ribbon, and wire

Here is my scrapbook paper I used for attempt 1 ;) You'll see on the end product, I decided to use a darker color. I didn't like the light paper with the cherry stain. We got the 2x4 for 50 cents from the scrap wood at Home Depot!!!



Howdoesshe used a cricut and vinyl to put the names on the scrapbook paper, but I'm not that fancy. Instead I just printed the names out on the scrapbook paper and cut them using my paper cutter. I knew I was cutting the wood with the bottom piece being 8 inches, the next 7 inches, next 6 inches, and continued this pattern. So I used illustrator to set up make trim marks and sized the names to fit each block of wood. I also made them an inch smaller than the block size in order to see the wood.

The lovely Mr.E cut the wood for me. I don't do table saws :) Here's an idea of what the blocks will look like.


Mr.E also stained the the wood blocks for me too :) I shouldn't breath the fumes...that's what I told him :) haha It is for HIS mother :)


I originally was going to use spray adhesive to attach the names, but WOW it made a mess and I had it all over the place! I just used good ole Elmer's Glue to glue on the names. You can also use Modge Podge, but I didn't have that on hand. I did use a sponge brush to put it on evenly.


I got the drill out and the smallest bit that was the size of the wire I was going to use for the picture holder which I also bought at Home Depot. I put a hole in each block on alternating blocks and the middle for the top piece. Notice I changed the paper:)


I took the wire and wrapped one end around needle nose pliers to make the holder for the picture. I also glued the wires in with super glue. And I put a bow around it to hold the blocks together since they are NOT glued together. Here is the finished product :) I love it!!!

If you want better directions check out howdoesshe.com :) Happy Crafting!!!

Finally A Blog About Little Lion

You probably think I forgot that this was a blog about my lovely son since I've been crafting lately:) I did not!!! I was waiting for something ROCKIN' to blog about;)

This story does start at a craft store....LL and I were at Hobby Lobby buying hair accessories for FLOWER POWER (yes that is really Baby Sister's name...j/k haha). I am going to make those cute crocheted headbands with the big ole flower on them for her. Anyway, LL wanted to wear the headband I had picked out. Being the PC Mom that I am :) I let him wear it. Of course to make Dad happy, I told him he was an Indian (ok maybe not so PC...Native American). He wore his head piece proudly for the rest of the day.
When we got home, he started playing with his favorite toy....a Guitar. I thought it was sooo funny since he looked like a 70's rockstar with Star Wars tshirt and all :)

Yes folks this is my retirement :)

We also went to a birthday party this weekend for LL's friend H who is now 4! It was a ton of fun with lots of visual stimulation :) Here's our rockstar getting ready to PARTY!We went to Boardwalk Bowl. The kids started out throwing the ball down the lane, but we soon discovered watching 8 kids bowl this way was going to take forever. So they brought out the handicap ramp which the kids loved pushing the ball down. And shockingly they bowled well! LL got a 70!! Heck I barely get a 70!

After bowling we headed over to the blacklight indoor minigolf! LL is not the next Tiger Woods with his swing, but he was a good cheater...bud bump bud bump ching :)And finally we went to the Arcade. Boys and their video games!!!What a great party! LL even got a very cute embroidered Spiderman shirt with his name since H's Mom has her own Embroidery Shop.(http://www.writteninthread.com/) We were all tired when we got home and naps were a must. Good times!!

Crafting Again--Magnets!

Ok I partly blame my crafting on not wanting to clean out the nursery closet and mostly on Mr.E and Little Lion watching football ALL DAY on Sunday! I was bored and thought hmmm what I can make with things I already have on hand. After reading some crafty blogs, I realized I could make cute flower magnets. My niece's birthday is next week and thought this would be a cute add on gift too!

Here's an easy tutorial, if you want to make some too!

Supplies: A sheet of scrapbooking paper, glass beads, glass glue, magnets, and scissors.


I placed the beads on different flowers to see which looked better and then glued them to the sheet of paper.

After letting them dry for a couple of hours, I cut them out being careful not to cut to close to the flower.

Using the same glue, I glued the magnet to the back of the bead. It also gives extra support for the scrapbook paper.


Taaadaaaaa! Cute Magnets!

These would make great holiday gifts too. You could use holiday scrapbook paper or print out some small holiday clip art pictures. I've also seen people use letters or magazine pictures too. Happy Crafting!!

I'm Not Nesting, I'm Crafting!

I am NOT a crafty person! However, I've get into moods where I think I am :) The past couple of days I've felt that urge. So I decided to make something for Baby Sister and a few pregnant friends. I was scouring the internet looking for something cute and EASY! I decided to make with the help of my Mom (she has the sewing machine!).....burp cloths! So here is my tutorial of a noncrafty person making burp cloths :)

Step One...Buy cloth diapers. I bought Gerber 3 ply with extra absorbency. They were buy one, get one 50 off at BRU. Then I went to JoAnns and bought fabric squares which were 50% off for Labor Day (.99 each) and for softer cloths Snuggle Fleece for $3.99 a yard also on sale.

Step Two...Iron everything! We decided to *practice* on each type of fabric. I ironed the fabric squares and burp cloth.Then I laid the yard of fleece out and found you could fit 4 burp clothes. I cut them out and ironed.

Step Three...Pinning. You are going to do an EASY straight stitch around all four sides leaving an opening. That way you can flip it out. Therefore, pinning is done like you are sewing it inside out. Notice the fabric print facing upwards.

Step Four...Sew the four sides leaving an opening in order to turn it inside out. After a few cloths we realized that the best spot to leave the opening is to leave 3-4 inches on the nonextra padded side. Trim the excess fabric off except where the opening is in order to find it later. And just to show you how hi tech we are, here's my Mom's 1951 Singer sewing machine ;)

Step Five...Flip so the burp cloth is the correct way and use a chopstick to push out the corners. It kinda looks like a pillow case ;)

Step Six...Iron again! It helps to flatten the cloth so when you sew again, there is no puckering. Sorry I didn't take a picture :)

Step Seven...Sew the middle seams. Now that the burp cloth is the correct way, turn the white burp cloth side up and follow their seam where the extra absorbency is located. I tried to show the seams on the white side for the first picture and the finished project.


Step Eight...Close the opening by sewing. You can do this one of two ways. You can hand stitch it closed or if you want a more finished look you can topstitch the four sides including the opening. Just careful to try to keep it straight. Or if you have a fancier machine then ours you can do a cute zigzag stitch which will cover the non straightness. (Remember we aren't crafty :) We did one of each way. I prefer the end stitching since it makes it look a little more finished and flatter. You can see the edging here.

Step Nine...Be proud ;) My cute Mom holding our first burp cloth!

It took us 2 hours to make 3 finished burp cloths and I ironed/pinned 7 more. I'm sure it'll be less time consuming as we continue since we were analyzing, critiquing, picture taking, and laughing as we figured it all out.

Here is the picture of the fleece burp cloth. Sooo cute!

I don't think we are going to open an Etsy.com store, but for Baby Sister and friends they are cute and inexpensive for fashionable burp cloths. And when she pukes all over them, I can say I made this with LOVE as I clean it up ;)

Swear Words

Yup I'm talking about S-H-I-T! Little Lion is such a parrot right now that everything you say he repeats back and remembers!! So last week LL's Uncle was cleaning out the fish pond for Bashi and Gramps. Uncle T says "I hate this shit!" which prompted LL to repeat shit. I didn't yell at him, but informed him that is sassy words and Uncle T didn't mean to say it. I thought the issue was over...WRONG!

In the bathtub....2 days later.... LL says to me as I'm talking to my mom on the phone, "Uncle T says shit" I tell him again that is sassy words and if he says them he'll go to time out. My mom who is hearing only part of the conversation and asks what is going on. I tell her the above story and instead of saying shit, I spell it. I should have known my little speller would pick that up.

LL spells S-H-I-T now. He asked me what that spells and I said "Time Out" So now he thinks it's funny to spell shit and when asked what that spells, he states "Time Out" :) haha He's too smart for his own good! I'm sure his school teacher will love to hear him spell time out!