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. :\

Fun Summer

We had a fun Summer.  There was lots of hanging around...

It's been a tough adjustment for us all now that school is back in session, but we are still hanging in there.  LOL 

Disclosure: No children were in harms way at any point while taking these photographs.  Just some photoshop fun.  I was there holding both children as they "hung" on the monkey bars...even Sissy had  help.  Of course after seeing the picture she thinks she did it all by herself...even thoug she was there !  She took the picture herself.  See the remote in her hand. :) 

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Photoshop Actions - Free

I love anything that makes my pictures look professional because getting professional/studio is very expensive.  We hadn't gone in almost two years, but decided to go to Sears (had to get a matching shot of little man to match his sissy's) and we were disappointed in some of the pictures and the cost was just way too much.  We did get some great shots, but it didn't help that the salesperson lied about the cheapest package with the CD.  Lesson learned.  :|

I've used gimp, a free photo editing software similar to photoshop, to edit my own photos and create collages.  My husband purchased photoshop when when he started his Masters Program, so I've been trying to learn photoshop. 

Paint the Moon Photography has free actions (automatic...or mostly automatic editing tools) for photoshop if you like them on facebook. 

 I think we will stick to taking our own pictures from now on.