Creative Outlet

I love finding new "crafty" things to do. Last week we had a graduation party to go to and I really wanted to make a candy dish for the graduate. After searching a couple stores I couldn't find the size glass jar I wanted. So, I decided to improvise. After walking all the isles at Joann Fabrics I found the perfect items to make a "mini" candy dish. It wasn't what I initially wanted, but it was PERFECT! I already had the paint I needed, so I just bought the glass top, which came with a lid, the base and some decorations. I had a bunch of coupons, so in the end this little gem...

next to a vitamin bottle so you can see the actual size of the dish
And it only cost me $1.79!!!

Then I realized by best friend, Felicia's twins have a birthday coming up. What kid doesn't love a candy dish?!? Plus, I still haven't sent anything for her older daughter Lizzy's birthday, so I made one for each of them. 

Paige, Elizabeth & Amber

Paige

Elizabeth

Amber

I didn't have as many coupons this time, so it cost me $10.89 to make all three. It cost more to mail the package than to make the gift:)

Then I was trying to think of a fun gift for Kimmie to give to her awesome teacher, Mrs. Bacos. This is pretty much the perfect little gift for anyone. This time I wanted it to be done by Kimmie, so I came up with the idea to paint it and then have her draw on it with permanent marker. I painted the "grass and sky" and then let Kimmie do whatever she wanted. It was so cute to watch her be creative and she put so much love into it. 

Kimmie & Mrs. Bacos

a swing set and slide with flowers, the sun and clouds.

butterfly and clouds

Kimmie walking her pet cat with Mrs. Bacos

On the top of the base Kimmie wrote "to Mrs. Bacos From Kimmie 2012-2013 with a flower

Just one more view of it. 

Mrs. Bacos has a special skittles machine for the kids when they do something right or get a reward they get one skittle. So Kimmie insisted we make her her own skittle machine. Mrs. Bacos LOVED it! She cried and said it was so thoughtful and she would cherish it forever. She said it was a picture that summed up her year with Kimmie. She also told me it meant to much to her that Kimmie would put so much thought and effort into a special gift for her. She is such an amazing teacher and has really been a huge blessing for us this year. We will miss her!

This one cost me $15.35 because I bought a 12 pack of multi-colored Sharpees, only to get home and find that some of them were completely dried out, so I will be returning it today. That brings the cost down to $6.48 because I didn't already have the paint or gold puffy paint. Still a great price!! I can't wait to make some more! I love that each one can be different. You should try it too!!!

3 kids, 1 room

Having three kids is sometimes...ok always...crazy. They are the sweetest and most amazing kids. With baby #4 coming, we decided to start transitioning Joshua into a toddler bed. My plan was to just do naps for a few weeks, and then start at night. Well, after one day of napping in it he was ready for the full thing. Then I started thinking about moving him into Kimmie & David's room. I usually like to move the youngest a couple months before the new baby comes so that they are used to it and aren't feeling "replaced" by the baby. So, again I thought we would just do naps in the big kids room and then night time in his room. Nope, Mr. Independent wasn't having that. After one day he was screaming to be in the room with his big brother and sister. I was a little nervous at first, but he has done GREAT! It makes bedtime so much easier having all of them in one room. He usually does really well and goes right to sleep. In the rare instance that he doesn't, all we have to do is threaten to put him back in his crib (or "the box" as we sometimes refer to it) and he goes right to bed. He loves to be with Kimmie & David. Now I have a few months to get the baby's room all together. 

I can't believe we fit all three kids in one room and still have plenty of room for them to play

Joshua's big boy bed 

We moved the dresser from our bedroom into their room. I am jealous they get the biggest closet!

trying to get a picture at church

Joshua wasn't too excited

pretending to sleep at Ikea

Kimmie reading a bedtime story to her brothers at Ikea

Food Carts

Scott was accepted into the University of Utah MBA program and will be moving sometime this summer. So, to celebrate we went downtown to the food carts for lunch. We got a random assortment of food and everyone tried everything. I love Portland and all of the fun food they have to try. I even had my first falafel! 

Daddy's day off

Now that Seth is busy working, we have to make the most of his days off. Last week we took the kids to the zoo. We have a zoo pass and now that it's getting nicer outside we will be going a lot more. We saw lots of animals, had an elephant ear, and just enjoyed spending time as a family. Oh yeah, and we finally put together the swing set my Mom got for the kids. It only took us 2 hours and we did it without fighting, success:)

I was excited to see the Flamingos