Little Mave Guest Giveaway

Little Mave Guest Giveaway

Thrifty finds!

I spent less than $21 on all of this!

My Mom, Chan (Mom and Dad's foreign exchange student), and I headed to Green Bay for a little shopping this afternoon. first I went to Kohls where I picked up some sparkly shoes and a cute dress for Maddy. I spent $11.47 and save $43.12 (not that great of a deal, but she'll need the shoes for Christmas). Then I headed to JCPenney I purchase the bicycle shirt and jean shorts for me and the jean shorts for Maddy for $1.68. I had a $10 off coupon. Then I headed to Target where I purchased 3 pairs of shorts, a tank top, and a hat for myself, and the cute pink shirt for Maddy. I spent $8.12, pretty good for 6 clothing items.
If your interested in how I did this here are a few tips. 1. You can get a $5 Kohls coupon by giving your e-mail address here. I already used mine so I didn't have that on this trip or I would have gotten a better deal. 2. If you register any current credit card at here (scroll to the bottom, and click on the JCpenney rewards) you'll earn points each time you shop. I do NOT shop at JCPenney very often, but I entered a rewards card 6 months ago and they send me a $10 off ANY $10 purchase coupon about once a month. 3. Check the target.com page for current Target coupons. Here is the Link, but you can access it from target.com if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page. A few weeks ago they had $5 any Merona top and $5 off any Mossimo apparel item coupons available. Hope that helps if you have any other questions check out thte websites hip2save.com or moneysavingmom.com both are great resources!

Train Ride- I promise I'll post some more craftiness soon!

Today wasn't exactly a beautiful fall day like I'd hoped for, but we still made the best of it.

The kids were super excited about riding the train. We were even able to pull the whistle. Chan really enjoyed himself. My Dad was supposed to snap a picture of our family. He didn't get a very good shot.

Tonight we played chutes and ladders and sequence for kids before baths and bed. It was a busy day, but so fun! I love the ages the kids are at. They are so full of joy.

Homeschooing- well sort of....

For a while now I've been struggling with my need to sew and make things. I LOVE to create, but while I've been creating my children have either been watching t.v. or tearing the house apart. Before you ask I've tried sewing at nap time, and after the kids go to bed. When the kids get up or my bedtime arrives I struggle to leave a project that I know won't take much longer to finish. Also with Maddy starting school I've been able to see a few areas where I could have prepared her better. So with those things in mind I dove into a sort of haphazard version of schooling my younger kids this week. I know they are only 2 and 3 so it's more like supervised activities than real lessons, but it's an improvement from what life has been like lately.

I used some "busy bag" ideas from here.
I used the free printable available over at confessions of a homeschooler. She has a great set free printables with directions!
Are you wondering how are week is going? I'm exhausted at night, but that really isn't anything new. The kids are thriving! They love the sense of accomplishment. I've been hanging their work on the fridge so they can show Daddy and Sissy when they get home. The pom-pom ball activity entertained Annie for half-an-hour. Do you know how amazing it was to sit and drink my coffee this morning while Annie pushed pom-pom ball's into a Tupperware container and Max practiced writing. They were having fun, and the house was quiet and clean! After that we worked on counting and I had them work together. Let me just preface this by saying that my children haven't understood that they are on the same team for the last 3 months. I'm constantly reminding them that life isn't a competition. They worked together without grabbing, arguing, or fighting! They even did a puzzle together afterwards! I'm not saying, my children are perfect, but I am saying I've seen a definite difference! As a Mom I'm seeing the benefits of sitting still and working hands-on with my children! I've been....allowing my children too much free reign instead of practicing good parenting over the summer. So hopefully this is the start of something wonderful.
I do plan to continue sewing. I just have to figure out where it fits into the schedule. I'm guessing it'll be in the evenings when I'd rather be vegging in front of the t.v. (My feelings on that are another post for sure). So for tonight I'm going to look through a few books I checked out from the library (another GREAT resource) and sleep peacefully knowing I'm doing my best to train my children up in the way they should go :)

One hour baby shower gifts

This could be a super long story if I decided to go into it, but I'll spare you and just say that I had to bring a gift to a baby shower today. So here's what I made...

I made this cute little wetbag. I heard the mother-to-be is considering cloth diapers so I figured she'd need one. I used the tutorial here. Except mine has different dimensions since I only had a 14 inch zipper.

Of course I thought a matching basket would be nice so I whipped one up. It's not the sturdiest thing, but it'll work. I found the tutorial for that here


I didn't get to go to the shower because I was called into work, but I heard it was a smashing success. Although maybe a little disorganized since I was supposed to be heading it all up and wasn't there.....oops! It's a good thing we are all able to work together when that happens.

In other news around here we were able to go visit Dale in the hospital tonight. I'm going to be honest and say he looks terrible, but he has an amazing spirit. He told us he feels really awful about hitting Boomer and hopes the kids are doing alright. We shared how our sweet little Maddy (I'm giving up on not using names) came into the house, sat down on the couch and told her very sad little brother, "It's alright Max now we can get a bunny rabbit." To which Dale said, "Yeah, bunnies are easier to run over!" I'm so thankful that even through this he can joke with us. Getting the strength to go see Dale was harder than I'd expected, not because I thought he'd be upset, but because I knew it was our fault he was there and I felt horrible about it. Praise the Lord that even through this.....somehow....God will show Himself to be good and always in control.
If your the praying type, I'd ask that you pray for a fast recovery for Dale. He needs to have teeth removed and replaced, his skull fractures need to heal and be free of infections, his elbow will probably need surgery, and his left wrist will be in a cast for a while. Those are just the things I know about.
Also if I could ask you to pray for my mom. She's struggling through some emotional things right now. She needs wisdom that only God can give her. Please Lord meet her needs!
That is what's going on here. I'm going to go to sleep now, and hope that in the morning the black bags that have developed under my eyes this week will have faded away.

Getting out of the house

I have been blessed with amazing friends! My friend Gretchen spent the morning here yesterday, and then today we all headed over to Maleah's house. She had offered to show us how to do photo emulsion screen printing. I love to learn to do something new, and being able to do that while drinking coffee with friends is wonderful.

This is as far as we got. Yep, that's it. My sweet little boy had a complete meltdown. Honestly, peeing pants (I know in 10 years he will be so mad I posted that), hitting the little girls, yelling at mom. Yeah, it was HORRIBLE! So hopefully, someday we'll be able to finish the project.   For now stop by Maleah's blog and see all the amazing things she's created.

Today we said goodbye

A few hours ago we arrived home to find the police at our home. Our dog had just been hit by a motorcylcist. The man on the motor cycle, a friend from our church, had just been taken to the hospital and we were unsure of his condition. Our Boomer who we all loved dearly was no longer whole. I think we were able to cover the kids eyes in time, but what I saw was disturbing. We did recieve a brief update on Dale (the motorcyclist) the injures aren't life threatening, but he's pretty beat up. I don't know what else to say other than it's been a rough night.

This is Boomer shaking right in front of my camera.

My little boy who is really going to miss his Boomer.

The kids loved always having him here.

Baby Girl loved Boomer.

Adjusting to School

We've been having a lot of fun around here. It's been a little chaotic around here, but that has become normal it seems. Saturday was a beautiful sunny day Indian summer you might say. We had to take a trip to GB to do some shopping and the kiddos all donned their sunglasses. They are SO CUTE! Our little boy was laughing until I asked him to pose he got really serious and crossed his hands all on his own. We told him he was a GI-Joe. "Who?" My sweet little 5 year old is developing her own personality. She sees everything the adults around her do. Little girl was being silly as always. My handsome husband of course, and I had to get my own photo in there too.

Packer shirt day at school

My adorable little kindergartener needed a Packer shirt for school dress up today and we didn't have one. Thankfully, yesterday I stopped by a friend's house to pick up some hand-me downs for our little guy, and saw that she had 2 jersey's she was sending to Goodwill. Of course my mind started runnning. I brought them home with this cute dress in mind, but then realized that I couldn't cut the jersey down small enough to make a dress b/c I'd cut the number in half. I ended up taking the size 10 shirt down to about a 6. Then I took a yellow t-shirt that wasn't being worn and made it into a skirt. I cut the G-emblem off the sleeve of the second jersey and sewed it unto the skirt to embelish it a little. I think she looked adorable sporting some team spirit.

The shoes, entirely her pick. Thankfully once it warmed up a bit she ditched the leggings and put on tennis shoes. CUTE!

Tunic from pillowcases

I'm pretty sure this project was a success.  Awhile ago I purchase 2 cute pillowcases from Goodwill.  I wasn't sure what I would do with them, but they were only 99 cents and I LOVE polka dots!  Yesterday I pulled one of Child ones shirts out and decided to copy the pattern only make it longer.  I was pleasantly surprised to be able to finish it today.  I tried it on her before she went to bed tonight and she liked it (which says alot).  She even asked if she could wear it to school tomorrow.  I was thrilled!  You see she is at that stage, you know the one where her outfits don't really match, but they are spectacular.  Anyways,  here is the end result.  I really do like it, and will try to get a picture of it on her before she heads out tomorrow.  I like the different color buttons in the back, but it was one of my first buttonhole making experiences. They're to close to the edge. You live, you learn.

Yes, the tunic is hanging on a basketball hoop in my our bedroom. I really need a white wall for a background, but my love for color just hasn't allowed any of those in our home. So I went for convienence and hung it up on the first thing I saw. P.S. cleaning our room is on the to do list

Happy Labor Day

We enjoyed a wonderful Labor Day today and I hope you did too!  We started our day by taking the kids to a photo shoot with their Grandparents.  Child 3 also had her 2 year pictures taken today.  I felt like it was a litte thrown together on my part, but I'm sure the amazing Gretchen (my friend and our photographer) was able to capture her personality very well.

The kiddos wore their Thing 1,2,&3 shirts that grandma got them, but Thing 3 (all on her own, honestly) added suspenders to the ensemble (well yes, I put them on for her). She is soooooo cute! I snapped these, but Gretchen's will be 1000 times better! After that we took a walk down to the marina. The kids love boats and the lighthouse. Although we forgot all about walking out to the lighthouse. We also dancedsang in the bandshell.

Then we took an unexpected trip over to the DeYoung Family Zoo. They have some pretty amazing animals there. We were able to watch them feed the Big Cats and see the hippo. We watched Louie the chimpanzee play for awhile too. Child 3 loved him!

We ended our day with a few couponing stops at Walgreens and Walmart.
4 Bags M&M's $3, 4 Bottles Spic and Span $2.00, Sauve and Pantene-free, Simply Orange and Simply Raspberry Lemonade (we drank them there were 4)-free, Paint samples $2.94, Starburst-$1.50, Revlon beauty tools- they paid me 50 cents, OP swim diaper- 50 cents.
Pretty nice trip considering I barely planned it :)

Not exactly the relaxing day I think it was intended to be, but we had a wonderful time as a family.