DIY School Shirt!

 I know it's been awhile since I've posted anything, but I have some fun projects I wanted to share!  For Molly's first day of PreK, we made this fun shirt "Lined Paper Shirt" we saw at Maybe Matilda.  It was SO easy to make, Molly loved helping paint.  Head over to UCreate, to see the full tutorial!  The only things I did a little different, was I used fabric paint, and Molly used a stencil brush to paint the lines.  :)

One of the best parts, (besides how stinkin' adorable she is :)) I was AMAZED how well it washed up!  Molly got some stains on the shirt and I had to use stain stick to try and get them out.  I was worried that it would take the paint off a bit, since the usual rule is Handmade=Handwash.  But, I washed it normal and the stains came out, and the paint stayed perfectly on!!! WIN!  :)

St. Louis

 Last week we went on a "last minute" vacation of sorts to St. Louis!  My husband was traveling there for work, and since he was driving all the way down this time, it worked for me and the girls to go along!

It was SUCH a great time!  I didn't realize how much my family needed to get away.  It was exactly what the doctor ordered.  We even enjoyed the long car trip that I was worried about taking with a 2 and 4 year old.

I have 142 great pictures from our trip, but so I don't bore you I tried to pick only a couple to share.  :)

 The first afternoon we arrived, Randal had to work so the girls and I just swam at the hotel and got some dinner.  The next day, Randal worked the whole day too, so I took the girls to the St. Louis Zoo (which is free, how awesome!).  Our hotel had a shuttle, so I didn't even have to worry about driving and parking.

 

That night we took the girls to The Magic House, St. Louis' amazing children's museum.  We could have easily spent days here!  Molly and Nora both love acting, so we spent a lot of time putting on shows in the stage room.  It was also a free night, every third Friday night the Magic House has free admission!

 We headed to Fitz's Bottling Company for dinner.  It was a huge hit.  We all loved watching the rootbeer and soda bottles get caps and labels while we waited for our food.  And the HUGE Rootbeer Floats we got free with these coupons I printed were AWESOME!

 I was even shocked that bedtime and naps went great in a hotel.  Both girls feel asleep so well, we must have tired them out!

 The next morning we headed to check out the arch.  Molly was shocked how big  it was, here we got up close. :)  I took SO many pictures out here, the whole area and park around the arch was beautiful.

 Molly showing off some of the park we walked through.

I have a million more fun things I want to share; like spending an afternoon on Grant's Farm, Museums, braiding the girls hair to make curls, to our picnics, but I don't want to overload you with "Vacation Slides..."  hee hee.  However, I will leave you with 2 funny pics that are just cracking me up...

 Molly was shocked the Rootbeer Float was so big!

 And yup, that's my Nora...

Happy 4th of July!

 I hope everyone enjoyed celebrating the 4th!

 

We had a great day, and survived the extreme heat here to head to an outdoor family reunion!

 Molly had a fantastic time making "new" friends, (since she doesn't remember anyone from last year).

 I made these fun fruit kabobs I saw the idea for at Weelicious, the kiddos loved them.  You just slide blueberries onto a bamboo skewer or wood stick.  Then top with a piece of watermelon cut out with a star cookie cutter.  Love them!

I also made these Jell-O Firecrackers from Jell-O.  They took awhile to make, but were actually pretty easy.  And I think pretty stinkin' adorable.  I quick took a picture because I was nervous they would melt in the heat, but they got nabbed up pretty quick.  :)

Good old fashioned Tracing!

I am always looking for easy, fun ideas to keep the kids busy during the Summer so I thought I would pass along one my girls enjoyed! The other day I was running out of energy to plan something, so I decided to bring out some paper and coloring books and see if the girls liked tracing.  I was surprised how much they LOVED this activity.  Molly spend almost 45 minutes on it.  

Since we don't have a light table or anything fancy, and I didn't even have tracing paper, here is our quick alternative.  I had them find a picture they liked out of a coloring book and then taped it onto the slider so the light would shine through it.  Then put a piece of white computer paper on top of it and start tracing.  Even Nora loved trying!  I am definitely adding tracing paper to the shopping list.

Rootbeer Floats!

Is there a better Summer snack than a Rootbeer Float??

 My girls would definitely agree they are at the top of the list!

Enjoying an after dinner snack outdoors!

 So go throw a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass, filler up with Rootbeer and enjoy!

Sometimes the simple things make the best memories!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Wishing a special day to my dad and father in-law...

 

 And especially my amazing husband, we love you so much and are so grateful for you!

  You are the best father our girls could ever ask for!

 Thank you for loving our daughters!

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV)

It's SUMMER!!!

With Preschool, Sunday School, Dance, etc. all wrapping up for the year, and the temps getting hotter and hotter... it is definitely feeling like Summer is here!

 

 

 What better way to start Summer off then moving EVERYTHING we do outside, including storytime.  Books are definitely even better under the shade tree.  :)  

 And the "grass" is still green... or should I say the weeds are still green making the appearance we have grass.  :)

 Here's Molly reading!

 And my little Miss Nora!

When did they get so old!  We are already enjoying Summer together, before I know it they will both be in school all day.  :(  I'm going to miss having these two cuties home with me... most of the time ;)

Lemonade Love!

 My birthday was last week, yup, I am officially into the last year of my 20's!  And for my birthday my kiddos gave me these awesome mason jar lids!  (ok, I ordered them for myself because I fell in love with them over at We Love Citrus, then gave them to the hubby to have the kids give to me, HA)

 

But seriously, how could you not love these lids!

 

Molly couldn't get enough lemonade; I do think I need a better Lemonade recipe though, if anyone knows a good one to pass along!

 Aww... Daddy and Daughter drinking Lemonade on the deck... Let Summer begin!

Box O' Princesses!

 I have been so excited to post these cute princesses we made for Molly's friends birthday, but we wanted to wait for her party so we wouldn't ruin the surprise. :)

I feel in love with this idea and tutorial over at Lil Blue Boo.

 

 They have a great printable for the cover and backdrop for the kids to color, I just printed them out on cardstock.  Then I rubber cemented the cover label onto a cardboard box from Hobby Lobby, and hotglued this cute wood crown on top.  :)

 Here are Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and Tiana up close.  Molly insisted on adding a black necklace to Cinderella like in the movie. :)  After I was done painting them all and they had dried, I sprayed them with a clear coat to help protect the paint. To add the little jewels, I used E600 glue.

And here are Jasmine, Aurora, Rapunzel and Snow White up close.

I had SO much fun painting these cuties!

We have a Preschool Grad!

Last week Molly graduated from Preschool onto PreK next year!  They put on an ADORABLE ceremony, and the kids sang songs and showed off for all the parents.  Then they got to put on there graduation hats and get there diploma from the teachers.  It was way to cute!  I videotaped the whole thing since Randal was in Texas.

 I got a ton of cute pictures, but since they all have other kids from her class in them, I thought I better not post them on my blog.  But here is a cute one of Molly and Nora before the graduation in front of Molly's locker!

Then, that Friday they had there end of year party at school, and got to play games and make a craft.  So much fun!  Molly even got to go out for lunch with her friend Jack after school, she was SO thrilled!

Here is Molly all set to graduate.  You can see from this picture how bad her eyes are getting again.  She actually fainted again Thursday night, so her next MRI is moved up to first thing tomorrow morning.

Tulip Time!

 We are very excited it's Tulip Time in West Michigan this week!

 We have had a super busy but fun week.  Randal is in Texas, and I've been Dutch Dancing every night, so it's been crazy over here but fun.  Molly also had her preschool graduation yesterday!

 Both the girls love putting on there Dutch Costumes to join in!

Baking Soda and Vinegar Fun!

After seeing this fun idea on Pinterest from Preschool Alphabet, we heading to the pantry to find some baking soda and vinegar. I filled up a broiler pan with baking soda, then put vinegar in 4 paper cups and added different color food coloring to each.

Then I had the girls take turns picking a color and using the dropper to put it on the baking soda! They LOVED this activity.

Molly loved trying to make volcano paths and mixing the colors.

Nora took it very seriously, and was so sad when we ran out of baking soda!
Quick, easy fun!!!

He is Risen!

Happy Easter!

Bubble Wrap Love!

Nora's favorite activity of the day... walking across bubble wrap!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycling at it's best. :)