Inspiration! Birthday present...

My awesome Great-Aunt Sheila turned 70 this last week.  We surprised her with a party on Friday night.  It was awesome!  She was totally surprised by both the party and her brother and sister-in-law.  It was one of the first parties I've gone to with the boys and I didn't have to worry about them the whole time!  I checked on them periodically, of course, but they played happily upstairs with the other kids and there were enough big kids(several over 12) keeping an eye on the little ones that I didn't have to worry at all.  I loved it.  I'll miss it when our next little peeber comes along in July and I have one that I have to keep a constant eye on again. At least they are cute so they are fun to watch. :)  Anyway I wanted to make something special for my Great- Aunt because she truly is great.  They are our closest family here and they have adopted us and made us feel totally welcome.  I've been loving the look of all the ruffles and flowers and vintagey stuff I've been seeing on the internet in clothing and decor and accessories.  So I decided to see if I could imitate something.  I got my inspiration from this wonderful Etsy seller, You are my Sunshine.  Here's an example of my inspiration- That 70's necklace.  I love everything about that necklace, brightness and all.  For my Aunt I went with her favorite color- pink.  I actually don't have a photo of the one that I made for her but I made another for a Mom in my mom's group who is having a birthday party in two weeks.  I made hers in purple since that's her fave color.  It was fun to experiment with jewelry making and I feel like I was pretty successful.

 

I learned how to make the flowers on Little Birdie Secrets.  I think I need to make one for myself now. :)  

Christmas present projects

Here they are.  It seems like I did so much more!  I certainly was strained for time at the end.  I think it seemed like so much because of the repetition.  For example I did four of the nephew presents and have two more under way for my own sons that didn't get done by Christmas.

Nephew present is a smaller variation of this:
JCaroline
I got some micro machines to go with it since the roads are small.

It rolls up and ties so it can be taken with to church or wherever little hands might need some entertainment.

Niece present:
I was going to do this with a few changes and peg people to go with it:
http://www.cookiemag.com/magazine/blogs/nesting/2008/02/diy-dollhouse.html
but I decided to do that for next year so I can take more time with it and deck it out nice.
And I made them this this year:
Little Birdie Secrets
my frames aren't as cute but they'll work...

and for my littlest niece:
I followed this idea: Smashed Peas and Carrots

Flannel on one side and minky on the other.  It is supposed to be a giraffe but it came out more of an indeterminate animal.
For My Mom-in-law I bought this pattern on Etsy and made her this bag:
Ali Foster
Great easy to follow pattern.  I think next time I make it I will make the handle longer- but that's just personal preference.  I like cross body bags.

For my mom and sister I made tree pendants... I just kind of winged it though I'm sure I was inspired by wire wrap pendants I've seen before...

I was pleased with the way it turned out.

I made a couple other things but I didn't take photos of them so... they'll just be left out.

Currently I am working on a present for my niece Makayla for her B-day and then I will be working on a present for my niece Cheyenne.  Sadly they will be very late b-day presents but hopefully they will make up for it in their coolness. :)

Progress

So the week started off slowly due to the Stomach flu hitting Asher and I over the weekend.  Even so I managed to start to put a daily routine in place.  My kitchen has been clean more this week than in a long time.  As the week ends I feel myself losing momentum and motivation.  Matt will have this weekend off but then he may be working 7 day weeks for the next three weeks.  This will be a true test of my endurance with my goals.

To keep me on track I need to:
Make a checklist of chores for the week.
Go to bed earlier
Catch up on my laundry

I am pregnant with our third. :) Which means I have less energy... which also means it's important that I concentrate that energy wisely.  If I keep up this mild routine I will have more energy to focus on having fun with the kids and I will be able to take a day here or there to relax without the whole house falling into disaster. I have definitely seen the benefits of the routine over the last week.  Just gotta keep that momentum going!

New Year's Resolutions

So obviously I tapered off in my posts last year.  I just didn't make things simple enough I guess.  And I am lazy.  I did continue throughout the year to work at my goals and they were not an entire failure but I certainly wasn't consistent.  So this year I thought I would build some consistency.  Here is the basic routine so that I will get some basics done around here!

Morning routine
Make bed
Shower
Matt: sweep floors, empty dishwasher, take out trash/recycling
D:  make breakfast, wipe counters and table, fill up dishwasher, clean bathroom, prepare for dinner


Afternoon routine (or midday more like- during Asher's nap most likely)
Do a weekly chore(ie laundry, menu planning, etc...)
Do a monthly chore( ie clean out the fridge, clean the baseboards, vacuum under the couches)
Declutter monthly focus area
Evening routine:
An hour before Matt gets home pick up all toys, then boys can watch one show- every other day it should be a shorter show and they will take a bath(while I clean the bathroom). 
Matt: put food away, sweep, make lunch
D: do dishes, wipe counters and table

So I think this is a reasonable routine.  Once we get the hang of it I won't feel like I am cleaning all day long(I have a lot of catching up to do!) and I will enjoy Matt's participation.  His responsibilities have not increased too much but it will be of great help to me to have us cleaning together.  We've been kind of easing into it and I think it will work.  Tomorrow will be the first full day of trying it fully.  It will have to adjust depending on Matt's hours but this should work for the job he has starting tomorrow.  I will have to adjust and pick up when he can't due to long hours.  Hopefully I can overcome my rebellious attitude toward cleaning and make a nice home for us.  

My other goal is to do more projects and preschool time with the boys as well as at least one play date a week. 

My plan and routine is inspired by this site: Just Mommies

There are days on her monthly calendar that are catch up days. If I am all caught up then I will reward myself by doing a craft on those days. :)  Now there's motivation for me to stay caught up, right?  I have a huge list of crafts I need to do!