Wordless Wednesday

Toddler Talk Tuesday

This week has been crazy busy, no post for me but don't let that stop you.

Wordless Wednesday

BUSTED!!!!

Toddler Talk Tuesday

Yesterday I asked my twitter and facebook friends to ask some questions for Rhiannon to answer via vlog for this weeks Toddler Talk. Unfortunately, Rhi was a little pooped last night and took an early bedtime instead. This mommy is not complaining! Because of that, I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is, I do not have a vlog to share with you today. Because there is no vlog and that is what I was planning on posting, I have no post, again. Toddler Talk Fail!

The good news is, you can now comment with some questions to ask Rhi. Have your questions posted by Thursday and they will be answered. Notice I am planning a little further in advance this week? We live, we learn, right?

Since I don't have a full post, I will share a funny story with you. Yesterday, I snuck a handful of M&Ms, I would pop one in my mouth everytime Rhi wasn't looking. Don't judge me, it was too late for her to have candy. So, I pop one and she spots it. First, it was just a stern look. Then she asked the very serious question "Mama what in you mouth?". I did what any good mom would do and lied "Nothing". She didn't believe me. In an even more serious tone "MAMA, open you mouth". Ahhh busted! Rhi got the last M&M. Poop!

What's happening with your toddler this week?

Summer Bucket List

Did you know that tomorrow, June 21st, marks the first day of summer. Thanks to a smarty pants cousin of mine, I do.

Last year a friend of mine made a summer bucket list, a few things that her and her little one wanted to do through out the summer. A few weeks ago, I began using pinterest, I'm not addicted at all by the way ha! While pinning, I stumbled on a few summer to do lists.

I decided that we should probably have one around here. So I grabbed a board, scrapbook paper, a sharpie and mod podge. I convinced the hubby that he needed to help and we came up with some fun stuff.

Here is our final product. It is sitting in the kids room just waiting to inspire, create memories and be checked off.



I think everyone should have one. It is so exciting to know all the great things we will be doing in the next couple months. To make ours, I just cut my paper into 2" strips, wrote what we wanted to do and mod podged them to a board that my husband cut down. It's pretty simple. If you make one PLEASE show me your finished product.

I'm thinking I might blog about each thing as we do it. Would that interest you?

What are you doing this summer?

A DIY Fathers Day Gift

Shhh!!! Don't tell Steven what you see here today!

Father's Day is only a couple days away and I thought you might be interested in what me and the kids put together for their daddy. We wanted to give him the perfect gift. Something to show how much he is appreciated but also that he would use. Thanks to Alphamom and her DIY Fathers Day gift, we may have made just that!

Unfortunately, our printer is out of colored ink so we had to go with black and white, so ours didn't turn out AS cute as Alaphamoms but the free printables were perfect. We went out and found all of Steven's favorite snacks and I had an old box that once held 1000 envelopes that worked perfect for a display that could be opened and closed easily. Here is the perfect little gift we ended up with:


I used some wrapping paper to cover the lid of the box, that way, it would still look nice even after it was opened the first time.
Filled it with lots of goodies. I used some cello bags, a couple of colored paper bags that you can get at Wal-mart for 25 cents each and then put the chips in a ziploc.

Stuffed the box and it is ready to go.

After we were done making it, I thought it would be fun to take the theme a little further. So I had the kids make him a card.

And I made up some cupcake toppers that we will put on top of Blue, Red and Yellow frosted cupcakes.
We also got him a small store bought gift but thought that these would be the big hit this year.

I love handmade gifts, even if they are only partially handmade. Are you making any this fathers day?

Inspiration Workshop #3

Earlier this week, I stumbled upon Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop. I say I stumbled upon it because I have been crazy busy lately and the fact that I was able to squeeze in some blog reading was nothing short of a miracle. What a fab idea, this inspiration workshop. For more info on it, look here.

I've decided to take on the "challenge" of this workshop. So starting this week, I will be linking up. This week's prompt was green. Green is a very broad topic. I wish I was prompted to be inspired by something fabulous like the outdoors or some handmade wonder. BUT being a mommy of a two year old girl, all I could think of was this little pixie...


Rhiannon, is obsessed with all things girly. Princess and pixies are the common theme in our home, so it makes sense that Tinkerbell would be the first thing to pop into my head when the color green is mentioned.

Since I couldn't get Tink out of my head, I decided to run with the inspiration. I searched high and low for something, anything Tinkerbell that would inspire me. You see, I am not a big character fan. I don't like them as themes or on my kids clothing. I don't know why, I just don't. We often joke that Rhiannon's love of Disney characters is a cruel cruel joke. Ha!

Anyhow, after searching high and low, I found it. A tutorial for a tinkerbell halloween costume. And to sweeten the pot, there is a Peter Pan one as well. How cute would my kids be roaming our church's Harvest Fest in these:

Tutorials and Costume Source- Makeit-loveit

Adorable, right? I think I just may go for it.

What they Wore Wednesday

Today I am taking the kids to Disneyland and they are lookin' pretty cute, if I do say so myself. Since this week was a WIWW fail, I thought they could fill in for mommy.

First up is Rhi. She actually put her outfit together this morning. I'm not big on letting her pick out what she is going to wear when we go places but after this morning, she may just have free reigns!



Shirt and Capris- Old Navy
Sandals- Payless
Headband- Allora Handmade

Then Talon. He is the hardest to catch a shot of lately. He is on the go and not wanting to pose. So here you have it, Talon playing with sissy's princess' at the play table.

Shirt and Shorts- Childrens Place
Sandals-Payless
Crazy Bedhead- Being up from 1:30-4:00am!!!

Toddler Talk Tuesday

For this weeks toddler talk, I want to share a super fun activity with you. We went to a playdate hosted by my friend Michelle, where all of the kids took part in this. Pretty much a hit with everyone, all ages.

Banana Split Party

I know it sounds like something that everyone does but there is a catch. The kids don't get to eat their treat, they get to wear it.

Hand your kids a banana and then dose them with all of their toppings. We used chocolate syrup, whipped cream and cherries.

Have kids with allergies? That's okay, Michelle went above and beyond and found all the ingredients in dairy and gluten free.

After the little ones were all done being transformed, we hosed them off and let them play in kiddie pools. It was a blast.

Look at all the fun we had...




No the last photo has nothing to do with the actual event. Just had to show you how cute Rhi and one her best buds, Anbo, are in their matching swimsuits. Aren't they too adorable?

It's not all in the sauce...

This past week I tried my hand at couponing for the first time. It didn't go half bad. I will try it again and hopefully improve my skills but that is a whole other post. This time around I had a coupon for "Buy one, get one free" on Kikkoman products. We use soy sauce but 2 bottles? No, thank you. I grabbed a jar of the Teriyaki glaze with Honey and Pineapple. Sounded good enough.

All morning I thought about my glaze and how it sounded so boring. Something delicious as a simple glaze...I wanted more. So I thought up a meal around it and daydreamed about creating it all afternoon. Doesn't everyone do that? No, just me? You will be grateful in a minute.

Here is my creation. It has no name though. Boo. Help me out in naming it so I can save it in my recipe book, please!

________________ <----- Insert name here.
Ingredients:

1 large Chicken Breast
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1 red pepper
1/2 of a white onion
1-1 1/2 cup pineapple
2Tbsp Crushed red pepper
1/4 cup Kikkoman Terriyaki glaze Honey and Pinepple

Directions:
Mix your flour and corn meal.
Cut your chicken into 1" cubes, dip in egg and coat well in dry mixture.

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a wok or skillet. Brown chicken.

While chicken is browning cut your pineapple, onion and red pepper.

When chicken is cooked, set aside.Add another Tbsp of oil to your wok, add the onion and pepper. Wok for about 5 min before adding the pineapple. After adding the pineapple, cook for about 3 min.

Put chicken back into the wok with your fruit and veg. Mix in your sauce and crushed red pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, just long enough for it to melt and coat everything.

Serve and enjoy!

Please comment and help me with a name for this.

Wordless Wednesday

Ok, so it will be mostly wordless. I thought it would be fun to do some comparing. Rhiannon vs Talon.




I linked up with Angry Julie's Wordless Wednesday...did you?

Toddler Talk Tuesday

Last week was crazy and I didn't post for Toddler Talk. I told you I was gonna share a little on that this week. Help me! Save me from this madhouse! Here's the problem...

Terrible Twos are in full force around here. My daughter, Rhiannon, is not your normal toddler. She is usually ridiculously easy and sweet. She has always been a breeze to take care of. These past couple of weeks have been a challenge. Especially last week. She has picked up her three favorite phrases. "No way", "Stop it" and "Go away". This would be a challenge for anyone, I think. Being a mommy of a normally super well behaved child, makes it impossible. Okay, not impossible, we are dealing but it is tough.

I feel like I have tried everything. We have tried re-routing her words. If I am asking her something and she says "no way", I ask her to use nicer words and say "no thank you". If she tells me to "stop it" I remind her that those words are not nice and she needs to let mommy know what is bothering her. We've tried numerous disciplines. So far nothing has worked.

On Saturday, I asked my facebook friends for input. Most people suggested things we had already tried. A few gave suggestions that we hadn't. We tried with no luck. Ugh! Then, we had someone point out that she may be seeking more attention, even if negative. Ah ha! Maybe they were onto something. Rhi has been extra jealous of Talon. Don't get me wrong, she gets tons of attention. She has special time with mommy and daddy, on top of the time she has with Talon and I during the day. Let's face it though, babies get lots of attention, especially nursing babies. I have always been very cautious to include Rhi in all that we do. She is my helper, Talons big sister and bestfriend. She knows she is mommys favorite little girl. Did I fail somewhere?

On Sunday, Rhi and I spent lots of time just her and I. We went to Disneyland, came home played a bit and went back for the World of Color. Monday was great, until she got tired. Nap time came and "no way" was back. Woke up and was wonderful...until bedtime and "go away" had arrived again. Grr! What is going on?

I am making extra efforts to give her more one on one time. I am trying to make her nap more often. She cut her naps out over a year ago but maybe she needs them again. I am continuing to correct the behavior. I am hoping to make a change. To see an improvement. I'm not seeing anything. HELP! My toddler has gone mad. This momma is losing it. Do you have input for about talk back toddler? Please comment and let me know what you have done with your little ones.

How this works:

Simply link up your posts talking about your toddler. It can be anything really; crafts, games, trips, suggestions on toys, tips or just fun stories. We simply are going to talk about our toddlers and experiences being parents of toddlers. {multiple links to different posts are fine}
Grab the button in my sidebar and link back here. Help spread the word about Toddler Talk
It's as simple as that.

I {Heart} Mondays - Father's Day

With Fathers Day right around the corner, I thought I would gather up a few handmade items geared towards dads. Let me tell you, there is some super fun stuff out there.

First up, how sweet is this card? I love the little feet on daddies. This is so our daughter. She loves to dance, especially with her daddy. You can find this card over at dearnic on Etsy. Or just click the image. The link is in there.

Next is this beautiful artwork by NiceDay4aWhiteWedding. The word father is printed in over 30 languages. I love the color, the sentiment and really everything about it.


Last but definitely not least is my friend Amy Cornwell. I was going over just to grab an image of the guitar pick keychain but Amy had this image up on her page and I loved all the dad products she was featuring. So many different styles for different personalities. My favorite is still the keychain though. Love it.


What are you getting your dad or husbands this year?

Wordless Wednesday