color me fancy

or not. a heart filled day all around makes one really look beyond outward appearances and to look throughly at enjoying the randomness that is your life

next year maybe even a little of this...

as seen on pinterest

10 things i ((love)) sunday

i heart valentine's day!! not for the jewelry or the candy or the flowers but for all the fun and creative ways to say 'i love you'. and, for all the crafts that involve pink and hearts!!!

1. take this super cool, easy, and educational game with hearts. maggie from smashed peas and carrots posted a great tutorial on Kids Create.

this game has so many options. the obvious matching game where you find pairs but you could also play a game where you mix both sets (numbers and colors) and then find pairs or take it one step farther and have them find 9 pink objects or draw 9 pink things.....

2. from purl bee, i found this tutorial for valentine heart barrettes. all the girls in ava's class are getting one (all 4 of them!)

3. i love these knotty legs baby leg warmers

4. revolutionary souls makes these tiny slippers .

5. strawberry and rosemary scones so very very yummy. i made ours without the glaze and instead sprinkled sugar on them before baking. pic from http://www.myteenytinykitchen.com/2010/02/strawberry-rosemary-scones.html

6. i am so smitten by these s'mittens by tippy toes knits!
 
7. hanging some art on the wall as an everyday reminder to love fully. falcor digital and silhouette blue

8. for hudson, i would love this bowtie from buttered toast.

9. for ava, i created a blooming hearts tee.

10. for my hubby and me, i would love some us time. life is moving too too fast and i am missing just being us.

sending you the sweetest of wishes for a happy valentine's day!

a breath of fresh air.

we survived! and, luckily i did not need to be admitted to the crazy shack...although...we are a little wacky at times.  topping the list of favorite games is to pretend we are pirates wearing dishrags on our heads. 

we also love to pretend that there are sharks in the living room and alligators and crocodiles in the swamps surrounding the couch cushions.

this little dude has found the perfect hiding place.

hudson has even learned to peddle a bike this winter. this is how they like to cruise the strip in the kitchen.

i love the outdoors so, even though being cooped up indefinitely sounds wonderful...who could stand it. we donned all our snow gear..(i swear next year, i will splurge and actually own a pair of snow pants for myself!!) we built ourselves one rad snow fort and found clumps of snow to throw. that is the one thing about wisconsin winters that i just don't get.....why, oh why, can't we have more snow-packing days. it is either bitter cold or soup.

we are slowly training the dog to mush! eventually, i may even have to buy myself a pair of snowshoes. those snowdrifts that we tried to tackle while pulling this load were ridiculously deep. we were going no where fast.

ava has found the coolest place to daydream.

rosy cheeks and all we are enjoying ourselves this winter: being creative and just listening to one another.

and, now that it is february, it is nice to do something with love or hearts everyday. my kids are great painters. they can whip out a masterpiece in no time and then when i turn around they have the whole thing covered with 10 more colors. so, so creative!  but, what do you do with all of these artworks....we stencilled hearts on to the sheets of dry painted paper and cut them out. then we stitched them all together on the sewing machine. a gorgeous garland celebrating all the colors of love.

sending love and warmth your way.

linking up with emily at chatting at the sky.

melon dot giveaway

my sweets, i am so blessed. i have reached over a 100 shop hearts and facebook likers!! so, i am offering you the chance to win a custom melon dot onesie of your choice! refer someone to the Melon Dot Facebook page and you'll be entered into the contest! contest ends Friday 18th at midnight CST.

.click here to join melon dot on facebook.

rules: the "referred" fan needs to leave a comment saying you sent them and they will win a prize too if your name is randomly picked!

So go blog about the contest, post it on Facebook and Twitter so you get lots of entries! Have a great weekend!

**To hyperlink to another Facebook page in your status, type the "@" symbol and start typing the name of the page or person you want to link.....a dropdown box will appear of pages that you belong to....click on the page you want to link and it will show up as a blue hyperlink in the status box.

batten down the hatches

it is a blizzardy world outside. so what's a mom to do?
...lots and lots of warm snugglies
...lots of fort building (inside for the time being)
...making valentines
...baking something yummy, gooey, and sweet
...sipping hot chocolate with whipped cream mustaches!
...a few cartoons or a movie

now to somehow, slow the kids down so that this doesn't all happen before lunch....wish me luck!

arghhh...wisconsin winters

i for one, am not crazy about winter. it is terribly cold and i do not wish to be cooped up inside for days.  it does have a few perks though....waking up to a glistening world after a silent snowfall, rolling huge too-big to push snowballs and throwing fist-sized ones, drinking hot chocolate made with rich warm milk and snuggling up on the couch with a blanket, 2 kids, a hubby, and a dog to enjoy a movie., sledding down awesome hills.

finding a new fort under the trees.

 heading to the park where you have free range of all the new equipment.

 finding out that even though mommy's boots stink at climbing giant hills. they are very useful as skiis.

 being trapped inside means having to use all your creative juices. what do you think of the newest princess?

 the blue really makes his eyes pop!

 with weather sometimes posing a problem, some things are some times delayed. ava is the sweetest little singer (in public! at home she belts out the loudest of notes!) and a sweet reminder of why the christmas spirit should live in us all year round.

 this girl has got the right idea. we really tucker each other out...it's a good thing! of course....
the silence really never lasts very long. old man winter we are stepping up to your challenge!

the wait is officially over

finally! we have snow in wisconsin. i am so grateful that it waited until the day after we finished moving out of our home. whew!

this week the snow turned to blizzard and we have already had our first encounter with 'i think we're stuck, get the shovel". good thing the neighbors are friendly. i will remember my cellphone the next time. honestly, it could have been one of those moments where i could have easily gotten frustrated and upset about the why me? but, my kids were so positive that they almost made it enjoyable. i would never want to take excitement away from these guys. they can't wait to get outside with the sled.

as fun as it is to sit on the toboggan inside it is much more thrilling to laugh all the ay down a snow covered hill. what isn't fun is the hours and hours that it takes to get the three of us dressed and to find 2 mittens for each of us! someday i will be organized.

we had an awesome first snow day. i can't wait for snow that packs into a snowman and snow creatures.

let's just say i love snow because of the beauty that it brings to a rather dull and dreary world once all the leaves have fallen and the cold sets in. it also brings about a calmness and peaceful feeling when soft snowflakes are falling and the world is just quiet except for the giggles of kids running around and completely exhauting themselves.