The Winner is....

Connie!  You just won a set of 3 Winnie the Pooh Bottles.

I'm emailing you now. :)

Toysrus Big Toy book

We got our Big Toy book earlier this week and they hit the papers today!

Sissy and I looked through and and suprisingly she didn't want everything in the book. lol  She did say she "really" wants the Barbie Power wheel.  The $270 one!  I don't think Mommy or Santa will be able to get that.  Her friend has one and she loves driving Bubby in it.  He loves it too.  Maybe we can look for a used gender neutral 2 seater one they can share. lol 

We are already looking into getting Bubby a tryicycle.  I'm thinking we may just need to stick to self proppelled cars/bikes rather than motorized.  :P  I have lots of things in mind to get my kids for Christmas...now I just need to narrow it down to what we are and can get them. 

Did I mention I met my husband at ToysRus?   

If you didn't get one in the mail or in the paper you can view it on facebook here.

NO!

Bubby insists on throwing his food on the floor when he doesn't want it.  I've been working on this with him.  The results??  He says "No!" with every throw.  Fun times. LOL

My Favorite Super Heroes!!

 Here are my most favorite super heroes every!!!  I love that I was able to have them "match" this year.  It will probably be the only time...ever. Ha.  Sissy really wanted to be the pink supergirl and Bubby absolutely HATES hats or anything on his head, so it's perfect.

Happy 2011 Halloween!!

Update:  I decided to add more pictures and even included two of <gasp> me.  :P

Super Mom T-shirt - Halloween

My kids are going to be superboy and supergirl (the pink one of course) for Halloween, so I decided I need a SuperMom t-shirt to wear with them.  I found some online, but didn't really like any of them or the $20+ price (not including s/h).  So...I decided to make my own.  I found a pink t-shirt clearanced for about $4 at Walmart.  I created my logo in photoshop.  I bought some iron on transfer sheets which did not work.  They got stuck in the printer everytime (I'll be taking those back soon), but thankfully, I found an Avery transfer sheet left over from another project I had done.   

I wanted something subtle and I knew the pink would be very close to the shirt color, but was hopeful anyway.  I wasn't sure that the word MOM would show in the pink, so I outlined it and made the text white.

I like it.  It's subtle like I wanted and for $4 it will be great.

Not the best pictures, but it works.  I'm happy with it and it was easy. :)

Paint the Moon

I know I've blogged about Paint the Moon actions before, but that was before I purchased some of her actions.  It all started with a freebie.  I think I got a little obssessed for a moment and bought more of her actions than I was originally anticipating.  I had one of my rare moments of splurging, but this time I do not regret my purchases. 

  I took some pictures of my kids in our screened in back porch with a black (cheap & somewhat wrinkled) muslin background.  I used my Cannon Rebel Xsi and 50mm lens.  I cheated and used Auto for a lot of this photoshoot.  Here are the settings it chose for me. :P  ISO 200 F 2.5 1/60

Here is a before shot.

 After

 I love it!  It's not perfect.  I'm NOT a professional.  Just a Mom with a nice camera.  We don't have a fancy studio.  This is seriously our back porch, so no flash just natural light.  We have not gone back to Sears Portrait Studio since about this time last year.  I'm still annoyed about how we were lied to about their prices.  We weren't as happy about the prints that we got back either.  The backgrounds were all wrinkled, the chair that was featured in front of our family photo had stuff on it (I'm afraid to know what) that they claim is supposed to be "antique" when my husband pointed it out. We did get some nice pictures and I love the studio look to photos, but we were overcharged and the quality wasn't as good as we've had in the past.  When I wrote to complain (mainly about the being lied to and overcharged) they sent us a free 10x13 coupon which you can find in every flier, email, ad, all over the place.  Anway (sorry for the rant)....we haven't gone back and you know what?  I don't miss it thanks to my camera  and Paint the Moon actions.  Plus I save tons of money.  If I had gone to Sears (or any place) the number of times I set up my "studio" it would have costed much more than I've spent on the camera and actions.  If only I could have better photographer skills and still, perfect children.

Before

 

After

See?  Who needs Sears Portraits?!  :)

I used Remove Wonky Colors from Miracle Makeover and Wham Bam (my favorite!!) from Fresh Wonderland Two.

Check out her page.  One of the actions I purchased months ago was just updated...for free!  How awesome is that?!  I find myself just looking through her beautiful photos on her sites!   I would love to have some of those skills...I'm working on it slowly. 

I was not compensated for this post in anyway.  I purchased photoshop actions myself throughout the year.  I just love them that much I had to share.  :)

Photography

Photography is a hobby of mine.  I think if I wasn't a teacher, I'd love to be a photographer.  I'm not a professional though...at least I don't think I'm that good.

These are pictures of my newest niece!  Little Miss "A" was one week old when I took these last weekend.

Free Phillips Avent 4oz Bottle

Get a FREE Avent 4oz bottle by signing up on  Philips Avent Facebook page.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for cute Winnie the Pooh Bottles

Girl and her doll...

My daughter got a cute outfit with a matching doll's outfit for Christmas last year.  She has to take that doll with her everywhere when she wears that outfit.  She LOVES it!  Zulily has some really gorgeous dresses and outfits on sale.  I'm SO tempted to buy one for her.

It's worth the $23 just for the dress! 

Go here for other outfits.

Winnie the Pooh Bottles Giveaway

Before my daughter was born we decided to decorate her room/nusery in Winnie the Pooh. We picked neutral colors just in case.

We thought the red was perfect since the name was drumbeat red and I'm a music teacher. :P   We put up cute Winnie the Pooh wall stickers up all over her room.  She was going to be our little Piglet and was (she still is).

For her 4th birthday we changed her bed from the toddler bed to the full size bed and figured we'd be changing the Winnie the Pooh stuff to cupcakes and princesses. 

She decided she couldn't wait and took most of them down herself. How did she reach them? She used a stool and even put her stool on her bed to reach some of the highest ones. She was supposed to be napping! Now she has to wait before we put the new ones on because we don't trust that she won't do it again.  A little punishment to show we are serious about her not taking them off.  I doubt she believes us.

Here is my stinker!

 In honor of my little girl turning four and growing out of her Winnie the Pooh theme, I'm giving away a set of 3 Winnie the Pooh Bottles. 

Close up of the back. :)


Contest ends 10/31

Silly Students...

I'm sick with a cold and lost my voice...almost completely.  One of my students kept staring at me as I was attempting to talk.  He looked so confused and said "I didn't know your voice was going to change."  He looked all serious.  I don't know what he was thinking.  I guess it weirded him out and he thought it was a permanent change (like puberty?).  I don't know. 

I had to explain to him and many other students (I see 500ish a week) that I am sick and that my voice is sick, but will be better soon...I hope.

It's been a fun two days trying to teach music with no voice...no singing ability at all, but I made it and it's the weekend!

Turning a patio table into a chalkboard table

This was SO easy to do.  We got our patio furniture really cheap years ago on clearance and it has actually held up remarkably well.  We very rarely use the patio table though.  It's usually pushed off to the side next to the screen where it gets pretty dirty.  I was thinking about getting rid of it for more play space for the kids, but decided to turn it into a chalkboard table.  The best part it was less than $10.

It is just an old glass table.  Not the most beautiful of tables.

What you need:

Table

Chalkboard Paint (I got a small can for less than $4 at Walmart)

Paint roller

That's it!

I already had a paint roller, but I did send my hubby out for one that said smooth or for a foam roller.  I actually used both and they worked similarly.  I had a pan for the paint and roller, but it was easier to just pour the paint on the table and spread it out.  I painted the top as even as I could, rolled around the sides, and let it dry.  The paint can says two coats and I put on three.  After it has dried for a couple days (the official time is on the can), you rub chalk all over it to condition it and it's good to go.  I was worried about the paint staying on a glass table while being outdoors (well in a screened porch), but it's been a couple months and looks fine.  I figure if it does wear off I can pressure wash it or scrape it off and start over.

 My kids love it!  They've spent lots of time drawing and writing on it.  Sissy practices her letters and drawing.  Bubby likes to draw and bang the chalk on it for a nice effect.  He  has only eaten a little bit of the chalk.  :-)  Their cousins and friends love it too.  Our neighbo'rs daughter helped a little bit in the chalk eating too.  Good thing it's not toxic. 

One of our teachers bought some of the magnetic paint and spent time painting different things around her classroom to make them magnetic.  Now I have the urge to paint with magnetic paint...somewhere.   

Skidders Shoes

I bought two pairs of skidders shoes for my son several months ago from Target (online).  They were buy 1 get 1 50% off. He was just starting to get around better walking and I wanted something flexible that would not make it harder for him.  They were perfect.  He loves them too.  They are the only shoe/sock that he will leave on for extended periods of time.  It's so easy to just grab them and not need a pair of socks too.  They are so easy to slip on and it's not a struggle to get his foot in right like some other shoes.  He's worn them everywhere (outside to play in the yard, sandbox, the park, inside, etc).  Many people have said they double as water shoes.  We havn't used them in full water yet, but I would trust them since the skid protection on the bottom is awesome.  We have these cute dinosaur ones and the fireman shoes.

I've been meaning to go back and get another pair since his are getting small.  We went to Target tonight and found them on a little end cap, but there weren't very many.  I was thankful to find his size and didn't even look at the price...this is how much I love them.  I remember they were about $12 when I bought them online, so that was fine.  We bought these.

 I checked my receipt after I bought thme and they were clearanced to $3.24!  I love them even more now. :)  I think I will be going back soon (maybe to the other Target) to see if they have any more.  I really hope they aren't discontinuing them. :\