Friday, May 29, 2009

Teacher Gifts

So, what do you do when your 2 kids have 4 teachers!?! Ashley only has one teacher, but Eden has 3 at her preschool that teach her everyday. I know I can't complain, my sister has 4 kids either in school or preschool. It just seemed like it would be more money than I wanted to spend on teacher gifts this year.

Normally I'd buy something typical, like a large candle or a fleece blanket, or a bunch of flowers for each teacher. This year, I wanted to do things cheaper, but still have a nice gift to give. So I looked around online and found these!


This is where I got my idea, but I improvised a bit. This is just one of the many site I found these on, I just like the instructions on this site the best.


So I made these! There a more than 4 there, for a reason. I got an extra of the large clipboards just in case I messed up the first one. I also got a little one, just in case I needed a bit more practice before doing them for the teachers.


What you'll need is the clipboard, Mod Podge (amazing stuff), several foam paint brushes (I used about 7 of them since the brush would harden while waiting for the glue the dry each time), pencil, paper for clipboard, scrap paper, scissors, a fingernail file, paint to match the paper, ribbon, and your favorite snack (mine is almond M&M's).



First, paint the back of the clipboard, I put 3 layers of paint on it since I was using light colored paint on a dark board. Also paint around the clip on the front.



On all the sites I've looked at, no one said what to do with the clip while you wait for things to dry, so I used crafting/florist wire to hold it open.



Next, using the scrap paper, make a template for the cutout around the clip on the front. That way, you can just trace it onto the nice paper. The reason I painted around the clip was so it didn't have to be exact.



Measure and cut out the paper. I had the bottom paper go about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up.



Then, using the Mod Podge and the foam brush, glue them on. I found, you don't have to be too careful with the glue since it dries clear.



While the glue is still wet, use the file and get those edges of the paper filed down to the board! This helps the edges stay down.



Now, take the Mod Podge and put a nice layer of it right over the top of the paper! I ended up doing 3 coats on top sice I'm so paranoid about stuff. (Let it dry after each top coat.)



Now this part wasn't on any sites that I saw, and I wasn't planning on doing anything with the back till I saw this really cool paper at the store. So, I cut out what I wanted to put on the back!



Arrange it however you like and do the same thing as the front. Mod Podge it on and then do a layer or 2 over the top of it. Remeber to let it dry after each top coat.



Now the ribbon. I cut mine about 5 inches long and then "Fray Check"ed the ends. Instead of ribbon, or along with the ribbon, you could glue a cute flower on the clip too. But I was keeping it cheap.




So, here they are again! Front and back! My favorite is the one with the girl on it, but I'm not keeping that one.



So do I throw all 4 teachers in a room and let them fight over who gets which? J/K!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Lessons learned (from a peep show)

Sorry, no pictures with this post, but you'll understand why in a moment.

Ya'll know Mandy is potty trained now. Well, while at church, just before Sacrament Meeting was going to start Mandy said she needed to go potty. So, like the dutiful mother I am, I took her to the ladies room and helped her up onto the pot. I grabbed some toilet paper and turn around just in time to see she had "fountained" over the edge of the toilet right onto her panties.

I didn't have my bag with me and knew that there were no extra panties or pull-ups in it...

unless...

Paul had, maybe, possibly, out of some burst of inspiration, could have put some panties in the bag before church...? I rinsed out her panties and dried them off as best I could using paper towels.

I wadded up her semi-wet panties and held them in my hand and asked Mandy to put her dress down. She gave me this look, like, "Mom, did you forget something or are you just going crazy!?!"

I told her that her panties were wet and we needed to go see Dad, and to PLEASE keep her dress down. She kept arguing with me that her panties were dry and that she didn't have an accident. I couldn't get her to understand what was going on.

We made it back to the chapel with no problem. Walked in front of all those people, no one suspected a thing. Aren't I sneaky.

BUT...

While I was trying to explain to Paul what happened, I glanced over at Mandy (standing at the end of the row, practically in the aisle) who had her dress up around her shoulders!!!! I quickly grab her dress and pull it down and explain to her again that she needs to keep her dress down.

As Paul and I looked for that extra pull-up or pantie that just didn't exist in my bag, I noticed Mandy's bare-ness again!!! At that point I didn't care, I grabbed her and put those somewhat wet panties back on her.

Of course, after that, she wanted to sit on my lap. (I think that was her revenge.)

So, what's the lesson to be learned in all of that!?! Come to our ward if you want to have a peep show! (that and always have extra panties on hand)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDY

Today is Amanda's 3rd birthday!


She is so much fun to have around. She totally loves her sisters and even though she imitates a lot of what they do, she is still so much her own person!

Amanda is so insistent on doing things herself. She'll try doing something for several minutes and if it doesn't work, only then will she ask for help. And then the next time she's doing the same thing, she'll try again, really hard for several minutes to get it. She just keeps trying! That can be a bit trying on my patience especially when we're in a hurry, but I love that about her.

She can be totally sweet one moment and the next, totally crazy and the next, completely impish! Her favorite thing is being tickled! Her laugh is so contagious!

She's quite the character and we love her so much!

Her birth announcement!
















Don't you just love her poses!










HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Yee Haw, Ride em Cowgirl!

Last Saturday we went to visit Paul's mom. She lives 2 hours away and we don't visit as often as we should. But in honor of Mother's day, we made the trek (thank heaven's for cars).

His mom and step-dad have a nice ranch-ish sort of place and the kids love going there.

The kids love playing with the different toys. We mostly have girly toys at home, so when the girls find trucks and construction tools, they love it!

Grandpa Don


This time they had 2 calves that needed to be fed milk with bottles. The girls loved that!



(it was bright)



(it was really bright)



And of course they had to do the horsey rides. They could spend all day on that horse!

Don't you just love Mandy's rapper pose!











THANKS GRANDMA!


Monday, May 4, 2009

Dizzy!

What do you do with something as boring as this!?! (BTW that's a mouse pad)



You do this!!!
I named the fabric pattern "Dizzy"!




I got this cute idea off of this site, which Jenny was nice enough to get me hooked on, and then that site referred me to this site!



I wasn't brave enough to try the mod podge on it, even though I had some on hand, so I tried the less messy fusible webbing method instead.