Routine

You are amazing!

Muddy Buddy- Great gift!

Many of you might be trying to come up with a quick and easy gift for your children's teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. This recipe is so simple and delicious! We made it as a holiday gift for our two boy's teachers and because it's non-holiday specific it's fantastic to make any time of year.

You can find the recipe here.

Make a batch and package in small plastic bags with a note of thanks!

Routine

Cultivating patience is hard work.

Girls Night Out- Painting!

Are you looking for a fun activity to do with your girlfriends? Tired of going out to bars or nightclubs where it's too loud and you leave with a sore throat from shouting to have a conversation?

In Hyattsville, MD Wet Your Palettes recently opened. Shortly after opening they offered a Groupon. I am a sucker for Groupons, this time it proved to be worth it.

You can bring a bottle of wine to enjoy while learning step by step instructions from a local artist. Every person in the class makes the same painting. On the website you can reserve your space based on the painting that will be completed.

My friend and I had a wonderful time. We spent 2 hours, laughing, talking while enjoying being creative and we walked away with a beautiful picture to remind ourselves of the evening. I'll definitely do this again for a fun girls night out! This would also make a great gift for a friend that already has everything, an evening out with while experiencing something different and creative.

Valentine's Card: worst craft ever continued....

Oh remember that horrible craft project I was telling you about with the melted crayons?

Yeah well I forgot to tell you WHY I made them. 

Valentine's day treats for each of my son's classes, oh yes that's right.... 51 of those time-sucking-trippy-crayons.

Remember DO NOT attempt this craft. It sucks!

But the bags I made to go with them were pretty cute. I used The Long Thread's free valentine's printable. 

Routine

In every ordinary moment.... I am thankful for my family.

For the joy and the messes they create.

Melted Crayons- worst craft ever!

Have you ever made one of those crafts and half way through the production you ask yourself "why am I doing this?". If you are an avid crafter, I know this has happened to you!

Or maybe afterwards you total up your receipts and discover that you could have purchased the exact item you just made for half the price?

I am not going to tell you how to make these crayons because I don't want you to make the same mistake I made. Oh sure they are cute and the kids love the trippy colors...but it's not worth your time or the money!

I spent $14 dollars on plastic molds that I now can never use for anything else. This project ate up an entire afternoon of just baking, several evenings were spent tearing the paper from each broken crayon to the point that my thumb nail was separating from the nail bed- ouch!

Do not try this at home. Just buy your kids a 64 count box of Crayola crayons and call it a day.

New Responsibilities

We have two dogs, one large and one medium hound type dogs. 

Our dogs are horrible and I mean horrible walkers. They pull you in opposite directions or will both go charging for a squirrel which results in your shoulder feeling like it's been pulled out of it's socket.

When our nine year old son, Logan, started asking if he could walk the dogs we were really hesitant. 

Every evening we take the dogs for a walk, typically the boys are on their scooters way ahead of us but lately Logan has been interested in walking and requesting to hold a leash.

So we tried it, what's the worse that could happen - right?

Well it was as if our eldest and larger dog knew that he had to be gentle, he didn't pull Logan and walked better for him than he does for my wife or I. Logan takes great pride in this new responsibility and I think really enjoys having a more mature chore around our house.

 

Routine

Every week I sit down at our dining room table with my spiral notebook and I make my week to-do list.
It helps me to feel less anxious.
As I write them down my mind feels free to focus on dreams.

Greenbelt Patch: Blood is Thicker Than Water

Growing up my mom would often tell my sister and I to "watch out for each other". 

When the two of us were on our own, without her parent supervision, she would enforce this rule for us to stick together. As children going to a sleepover at my cousin’s house these were the words she would say as we opened the car doors, it continued into our preteen and teen years when she would drop us off at the mall to hang out with friends or go to a party. 

I’m sure if you psychoanalyzed the situation it had a lot to do with her own upbringing, my mom and her sister often had to count on each other during their not so grand childhood. Or maybe it was because we grew up in a rough neighborhood, full of boys who sadly saw the back of a police car several times before their eighteenth birthday.

My mother has a collection of stockpile phrases that she continues to use to this day, typical phrases that leave her lips include “she’s the only sister you’ll ever have”, “blood is thicker than water”, “sisters need to stick together”. Often we would roll our eyes and say “yeah mom, whatever.” 

There were many years when my sister and I didn’t want to stick together. We spent most of our teen years mumbling, “I hate you” or slamming doors in each other’s face.

And then we became adults.

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Routine

Put it on your calendar, a reminder in your phone...Take a Nap this weekend.

Greenbelt Patch: Instilling Thankfulness in Children

It's a struggle for every parent to instill in their children thankfulness and gratitude. Every year before family arrives for a birthday party or Christmas dinner I have to have the pep talk with my children that goes something like this,

"Even if the gift you open isn't something you really wanted you must smile, look the person in the eye and say thank you."

I have this talk because my oldest son, L, is on the Autism Spectrum and one of his unique qualities is that he doesn't have filters. He doesn't have the ability to lie, he can't comprehend the little white lies that we all say in order to make other people feel good—"It's exactly what I wanted" or "I love it, thank you!"—instead he's brutally honest.

I was chatting with his teacher afterschool one day (she knows that I am a yoga instructor) and she mentioned that she started going to the gym and was going to try the yoga classes offered there. L overhears our conversation and inquires, "are you going to the gym because you are fat?"

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Adventure Time: Finn Hat

My son's school has a storybook parade on Halloween day. Children are encouraged to dress up like their favorite character from a book. Though Finn from Adventure Time is technically a character from a TV Show, my son when asked what storybook character he wanted to be held up a comic book and insisted comic book characters count too.

It is reading after all.

Luckily finding a pattern for a Finn hat is pretty easy to find after a google search. I had no idea Finn was so popular in the indie arena.
I used this pattern and white felt fabric with Velcro tabs under the chin. It was an easy project to complete and seeing the joy on my son's face made it completely worth it!

Routine

Need I say more?

Eternity Birthday Scarf

My mother is a lover of knitted and crochet items. She's a thrifty knitter, buying most of her yarn at Joann's Fabric Store or Michael's Craft Store. She hardly ever splurges and purchases "expensive yarn", as she refers to it.

She was the one who taught me how to knit several years ago. Recently while shopping at a local yarn store, A Tangled Skein, I saw this cotton/bamboo blend that I knew my mom would love. The colors remind me of the beach, one of our shared favorite vacation spots and while the winter wind blows the seaside colors will instantly remind her of sandy beaches.

All of my knitted projects, I cast on and begin. I don't follow a pattern, I allow the yarn to spark my own creativity and inspire the piece.

Zen knitting! Give it a try.