What Does Mommy Like to Do?

So, my mother's day was lovely.

I got to sleep most of the day, which sleeping is on my top 5 favorite things to do.

My man got me a mug with the cute pictures of our family and the boys. you know what i'm talking about... if not, here is a picture.
and yes, it's me "pretending" to drink it.

... you like how I plugged in my product? haha... no shame here!

D made me a picture. his favorite color is blue. this is me with blue flowers with a beautiful rainbow behind me.

As for C, well, the teacher asked him a series of questions. 

teacher: why do love your mom? 

C: i love daddy!

teacher: what does your mom love?

C: daddy!

teacher: what does mommy like to do?

C: daddy!

teacher: what does mommy like to do?

C: daddy!

teacher: does mommy like to play?

C: Monster TRUCKS!

He's usually a mommy boy, so, for a Mother's Day gift, there sure is a lot about Daddy.

Yes. Mommy likes to do Daddy. Only my child. What a silly boy.

Thunder Snow!

We had our first real snow storm this year!

This is the first one that we had the boys play in. Child #1 was so excited! He couldn't WAIT to get his snow suit on!

We had a lot of fun! The boys had a lot of fun eating the snow too! 

As for everything else, I am currently creating a pdf pattern for the craft show apron.  I will be sending them to my testers soon (if you’re interested in becoming a tester, please go here).

Here are the craft aprons that I have made:

Birthday Party, a month late

Child #2's birthday was exactly a month ago. I never planned a birthday party because someone was always getting sick.
So just last week, I said, we're doing a family birthday party for Child #2 this Sunday!

That is exactly what happened. S made roasted pulled pork on the grill (delicious, and I usually don't like these things from restaurants). and we made banana cupcakes with decorated them chocolate icing with nilla wafers.

We didn't do anything fancy, just a family get together for Child #2.


for the monkeys:
whatever cupcakes you want to use. we just chose to do banana cupcakes.

dark frosting, we used milk chocolate

mini nilla wafers (cut them in half, don't try to break them, or you'll be eating most of the box from them breaking apart) - you can also see the top left where i didn't cut them, and they don't look as cute as the ones that were cut for the ears.

regular nilla wafers

Red and Black Piping gels. for the nose, use toothpick.

Busy busy busy

Oh dear. It’s been a busy week… let’s say, it’s been a busy May. Can’t believe June is here! How did it get here so fast?!

So yes, it’s been a busy May. Child #2 had gotten strep last week. So, I hightailed everyone in the family to the doctor’s to check if anyone else had gotten strep too. Nope, just Child #2.  But I did get antibiotics from my doctor to make sure that I won’t get it. While he had strep, I have been coughing like crazy. I seriously thought I had caught something! I didn’t feel sick, no fever, nothing, just lots and lots of coughing. So much that I’d wake up every hour at night.

So while I had been coughing, during the Memorial Day Weekend, we went to Colorado for Steve’s grandmother’s memorial service.  It was really nice to see everyone, and get to know some a little better. We drove to Colorado in one day. It took 10 – 11 hours. The night before we left, S went and got a portable DVD player with two screens for the boys because we’re pretty sure they’d get antsy in the car for that long. It definitely got them glued to the screen.

While in Colorado, we stayed at his aunt’s house, and I seriously woke everyone up with my coughing. S says it sounds like a bad smoker with lung cancer cough. I’m thrilled.

Overall, Memorial weekend went well… the boys couldn’t wait to get out of the strapped in seatbelts! I don’t blame them.

I went to the doctor’s on Tuesday for the smoker’s cough, … no sickness. Just really really really really bad allergies. I normally take OTC allergy meds, but none of them works for me. Now, I am on prescription allergy meds. I don’t have asthma either, but I have an inhaler to calm my coughing.  Yes, yes, I am that person in the work place where I always show up to work sick. Hey! I’m not sick! Really!!!

I’ve been losing quite a bit of sleep because of this coughing. 

We left the house a mess when we left for Colorado, now it’s taking us forever to keep up with laundry, cleaning… bah!!!

If you didn’t see on Facebook, I was lottery picked to gift Trista Sutter.  I still have not made the yet! I know! I’m terrible! I MUST ship it out by June 8 to meet the deadline!

AND I have a show this Saturday, I haven’t made enough to fill my table! AHH!

Ok, thanks for listening reading me vent. I appreciate it. :) 

Here’s a picture of the boys snoozing on the way home from Colorado. I call it synchronized snoozing.

Family photos

We get our family photos taken once or twice a year.

If you are in the Kansas City Metro area, and you're looking for a photographer, I highly recommend Christine at Click Photography. She's pretty awesome. Hands down.

Here are some that she took of us. You can see more here.

I love this one of Steve and me.

Christine is mostly a wedding photographer, and she's even more awesome at that.
She's fun, easy to get along with. She's just a great person to work with. I can keep going about how great she is, but I'm sure you got my point.

So check her out if you're looking for a photographer in the Kansas City area.

Happy Friday

So many great things this week!

1. D (Child #1) has pooped in the toilet! This is so wonderful! This is a milestone for all parents. I even have a picture of him with his poop. Yes, I do. But I will spare you of this wonderful monumental picture. He was really scared to poop in the toilet, so S would sit with him, hold his hand, ... just anything. He would tell us, "it's too hard" or "I'm scared" ... And we really wanted him to just poop in the toilet. But 3 nights ago, I told him to go potty before dinner and wash his hands. I see his face turning red. He gets the "red man" face when he poops. So, I asked him what he was doing. He responds, "I'm pooping." like it was nothing. I ran over there asking him if he wants a book to read or anything. and he's looks at me like, "mom, i'm pooping, get out of here!" ... he says, "no." and keeps going.
I am so proud of my boy! He has pooped in the toilet 3 days in a row now! Wahoo!
oh yes, we leave the door open when he goes to the bathroom because if he closes it... he will be playing in there, toilet paper everywhere, etc.

2. We just introduced sunglasses to C last week. He loves them. D never really cared for them. I tried to catch a picture of him, but he was moving too fast. I think he looks like a mini Cee Lo. Now I need to find him a white cat (oh yeah, I love The Voice!)

3. I am FINALLY getting over my sinus head cold. I was feeling really miserable all last week and part of this week.

4. I had lunch with a friend, Erin, on Monday. We try to get together once a month for lunch to catch up on life and all the above. So, every time I meet with her, it's pretty awesome.

Happy Mother Challenge - Day 5

LOL, I have no idea why it took me this long to realize that I've been typing "day" instead of "week"... oh well, might as well stick with the "day" but you get the idea, right? :)

Happy Mother Challenge - Day 5 -- *snickers*
CHALLENGE:
The next time you want to open your wallet to buy something for one of your children, stop. Ask yourself what your motive is. Do you think your child will love you better because you’re buying him or her the latest game for their Xbox? If you realize that you are doing it to feel better about yourself as a mother, don’t spend the money. Challenge yourself instead by giving your child something more long-lasting. Carve out an evening the two of you can spend together.
Then do a test: see how you feel about life the next day. Chances are excellent that you will feel a deeper sense of satisfaction about life and about yourself.
Spending time (not $$) is the only authentic, lasting way to improve your relationship and make lasting, fulfilling memories with your children.
Remember to focus on providing love, attention and your time. Nothing that you can purchase can come close.

I grew up pretty frugal. We were definitely not rich, but lived by with what we can. I started buying my own school supplies, clothes, etc. the moment I could work. So, saving money and putting it in good use is important to me.
This may come by pretty silly, but my dad would always tell us that if we're going #1, use 2 squares of toilet paper, and we're going #2, then we use 3 squares of toilet paper. This is so instilled in me, that now, I still count the toilet paper, but I thin I now go up to 4 squares! LOL
So, ok... where I am going with this? LOL... no idea, just wanted to share my toilet paper story! haha

I think I do pretty well for this challenge. We have a budget for our kids when we buy for them, like $30 per child for Christmas and $30 for their birthday. I'm sure this will change with the technology and how every one of their friends has this and has that. They do not get presents for small holidays, like Valentine's day or first day of Spring.
There is no denying that I do buy stuff for them when I am out shopping. They are usually craft supplies, like paint, construction paper, coloring books, etc.
I think this challenge is for us to turn off the TV more often (D loves to watch Team UmiZoomi and Super Why) and spend quality time with them.

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Not sure what I'm talking about? Meg Meeker, MD's 10 Habits of Happy Mothers - Happy Mother Challenges Click here for my Happy Mother Challenges.

Everyday Love

If you did not know, I am not the type of person who is into the "small" holidays (i.e. Valentine's day, st. Patrick's day, etc.). I may have cared about Valentine's Day when I was single, when I called it "Single Awareness Day", but I usually just hang out with friends or hide in a book.
For [every] Valentine's day, I actually request that S not to do anything special. It should not be the only day where we show love to each other. Shouldn't everyday be Valentine's Day?


I do want to list a few things how I know that S loves me :

1. He lets me sleep when the boy(s) wake up in the middle of the night. He would do this the moment our children turn four months.
2. He lets me sleep in the morning when D (child #1) comes in our room letting us know that his Tot Clock has turned yellow. D is our alarm clock.
3. He gets the boys changed, dressed, and the bag packed with their breakfast for school in the mornings while I shower and get ready.  The moment that I come downstairs, the boys are ready (except for the coats).
4. He supports in everything that I want to do. Even if I get all defeatist (which is often), he still supports me.
5. He cooks. 90% of the week, he cooks. ... and I eat.
6. He watches the boys while I run (for training and race day).  He entertains the boys while I'm running the 'race'.
7. He folds laundry.
8. He made me my craft table (which I need to post updated pictures) and stenciled the craft/office wall.
9. He listens, and gives me feedback (positive and negative)
10. He is always warm and lets me snuggle on him even if my fingers and toes are frozen.
11. He always tells me how much he loves the boys and me, at least once a day.

I'm sure I could go on. I sure got lucky!

Happy Friday

It's been a rough week. I haven't been getting very much sleep. ... and now, I have a sinus cold allergy and all that other gross stuff. I think it really hit me couple night ago. And now, I feel like it's dragging me down!

1. I finished my submission for Art Gallery January Project - Shoulder Heat Pillow with tutorial.  I just realized this could practically be one of my goals of started & completing a project every month.

2. Ran my first 10k!

3. I will have to thank God for this one. I went running couple night ago after work. I was in such a rush because it was getting cold, and I just wanted to get home. I was crossing the street, and I only looked at my left side, but not my right... it wasn't until I almost hit the sidewalk was when I felt a car coming. I am very frustrated with myself that I didn't look. Therefore, I am thankful to God for watching after me.

4. Snuggles. The boys have been in snuggling moods. So, I'm okay with that. :)

Happy Friday

Happy things that happened this week.

1. Craft lunch at work

2. My sewing machine working much smoother. I still cannot stop talking about how awesome it is now! lol

3. Talking to Leslie.

4. Child #2. He is not talking. He's 18 months old, doesn't talk other than babbles. But he's so good with his body language. The boys get dessert (usually couple tablespoons of pudding) after dinner, and I'll hand C his little cup, he'll get whatever he can with his spoon. Then he'll fuss for me to come over to him. He hands me his spoon, then points to the inside of his cup. It cracks me up. Then I'll take the cup, and he'll start fussing a little bit... as if he's saying "Mom! Hurry!!!" Then he'll start giggling the moment he gets more pudding!

5. Child #1. He is so independent. We're working on potty training [still]. He's doing really well. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he'll be trained by end of February or sooner!!!!!

Mother Challenges

If you have boys, I recommend reading Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons by Meg Meeker, M.D. It's a great book to just helping you understand that boys will be boys, and it's okay. She points out a lot of common sense, but sometimes pointing it out helps us realize some of the things that we need to pay attention to.

So, Meg Meeker, MD has a website ... she has these Mom Challenges. Granted, we all have obstacles everyday. Moms do have a lot on their plates. There are days where I'm just running around like a chicken with its head cut off... frantic on how to get things done before I go to bed! I hope I'm not the only one that feels that way! I also think S helps by calming me down, asking me how he can help me, and even just say, "what are the priorities for tonight?" He's the calm one in all this.

These challenges that Meg Meeker, MD posts, I'm going to try and do them. Feel free to join me if you'd like! Let me know if you do!

Meg Meeker, MD's first challenge is Happy Mother Challenge.

Make a list. Yes, a list. But be serious about it. I know you have a list in your head about everything that you don’t do right. It’s a long list of every little failure and moment that you think you really messed up this Mom “job.”

I want you to make an actual, physical list of things that you are really GOOD at and what you LIKE about yourself, just as you are. Write down what you are, what you like, what you dream about, what makes you happy, what you’re good at, etc. A Happy List. A Positive List. Now, take that list and put it in your wallet. Take it out when you’re having a tough day and read through it when those negative thoughts embed themselves in your mind. Remember that you have value and you are good. Just as you are.

If you do not know about me, I'm quite a negative person.. which is why I started Happy Fridays, to remind myself that my week was pretty good. If something bad/negative happened... forget about it! Think of the happy moments!

I have my list of the negative thing that I have felt, thought, and done as my Mom "job" in my head. ...

But to write down the good... this is going to be tough.
1. I'm good at sewing.
2. I enjoy baking muffins from scratch for my family every Saturday or Sunday morning.
3. I love seeing a smile on my boys' face when I pick them up at daycare.
4. I love watching D paint, play with his car, trains, etc.
5. I love watching C play at the play kitchen, his joyful laugh when he runs away from us after taking off his clothes and diaper so we can change him (he loves to be naked).
6. I love seeing my boys enjoy the foods that I make
7. I love snuggling with my boys, even if it's so they D can stay up 10 extra minutes
8. I love my husband, who helps me around the house.
9. I love my husband, who supports me in everything that I do.

Happy Friday

1. BBQ in Williamsburg, KS -- Sunday was my MIL's birthday. She wanted to go to this place in Williamsburg, KS. Unfortunately, they were closed on Sundays. We went on Saturday. It was about an hour drive... it was very nice that the speed limit went up to 75mph! S and I (along with the kids) have never been there, let alone Williamsburg, KS! I really wasn't sure what to expect. It's a small town, that's all I know! We arrived at Guy & Mae's Tavern around 6pm. It was packed! I think it was the only place that was open on that main street! We had ribs, of course, and it was pretty good! We had a good time! C LOVED the potato salad. When it was done, he used his turkey (from his sandwich) to get the rest of the salad out. I was surprise for his 18 months of age that he was clever to do that. Kids surprise me all the time. He was a bit upset, so Grandma suggested to give him her cole slaw. The moment i put it in his mouth, he could not get it out quick enough! Needless to say, he threw a fit... until another side of potato salad came out for him.

2. C's (Child #2) 5 new teeth - they all pushed out this week! 4 molars, 1 canine. Yay ... and Poor guy.

3. My submission to Spoonflower for "outdated technology".

4. Mandy from iamthemandy was selling zippers for cheap! Yes, this totally made my week. lol

Happy Friday

Totally late on my Happy Friday!

1. D's Birthday Robot Party on Sunday!

2. I'm glad that the Robot Party is over! LOL! It's nice to not make the 2D and 3D robots every night. Each robot took at least an hour. There were a few late nights last week.

3. I'm very happy that C does not have hand foot mouth disease! Quick story about my stressful week! We learned on Tuesday from our daycare that a new child that just started coming last week had hand foot mouth disease, and the parents of this child did not inform the daycare until this Monday. C was sent home with a low grade (99.9 degrees) temp. The daycare was taking a precaution... so, C stayed home. He had a bad diaper rash that turned into blisters throughout the week. Needless to say, I panicked! I took C to see the doctor on Friday. Found out that he's allergic to the disposables that he's been using at daycare. We use cloth at home.  AND! The doctor says C showed no signs of hand foot mouth disease! Relief!

Robot Party!

I don't have all the pictures, but this is what I currently have. I'm missing the main attraction's picture... I'll post that tonight! Scroll all the way down for Piino the Robot!

The night before was his actual birthday, we told him about his birthday party. D was so excited. He made a comment, "... and I'll have birthday cake after nap?"

The day of the party (which was yesterday), we couldn't get D to nap at all. He was hyper and just excited. Probably because he heard Grandpa and Grandma's voices downstairs.

We finally just brought him downstairs after over an hour of not napping.

Cupcakes were made (confetti cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting)

The cupcake wrappers were from Robot Party from Cricut. The toppers (2") were for the water bottle wrappers, we didn't like the cupcake toppers that they had, so, we improvised. The toppers are actually two sided. One side is the square robot, and the other side is the round robot. We cut a circle small enough that you can't see it outside of the gear outline.
The purple wrapper and topper (top right cupcake) was for our niece, I made sure I made her a purple one since purple is her favorite color :)

The gears on the banner were from the Robot Party (8"), and the letters were from Robotz (6").  You can see couple of the robots hanging out over there on the edge of the frame.

D helped me put these robots around the living room.

This one makes me giggle because it looks like the dinosaur robot is chasing after the other two.

I made a 'girly' robot, D calls her "Mommy Robot"

And these guys watched over the presents. :)

I think I'm going to put the 2D robots in a shadow box. I'll post pictures when that happens :)

Overall, the party was a success! Everyone had a great time! They loved the cupcakes (I'll post recipes sometime soon)! ... D loved the robots! That makes me happy!

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Ed from church created this robot for vacation bible school. We asked if he still had it, and he was happy to put it together for us for D's birthday party!

His eyes glow, his heart beats (no sound, it just comes on and off), and his head moves too!

Here is a link to free printable ones for your parties!

Robot Birthday Party Invitations

As you may know, we have been prepping for D's 3rd birthday party - Robot Theme.
I just finished the invitations over the boys' nap time yesterday.

I used the Robotz Cricut for the robot. It was my first time, I think it turned out pretty well. It did take 1.25 hours, a bit longer than I had expected. We scanned the robot, then I added the gears, text, and picture with Photoshop.
The invitation itself took about an hour.

I usually send these to 1 hour photo at Walmart (it's close to my work, so, I pick it up over lunch). I'm not too concerned with the quality since these are just invitations, and most people throw them away after either marking it on their calendar or the day after.

Here it is!

After the party, I'll put together all the pictures and links for you so it'd be easier for you to see it all.

Happy Friday

It's been a slow and yet fast week.

Five things that made me smile/happy this week:

1. We sent out our Christmas photo last week, while I put it together... it just really made me smile.

It was crazy! D didn't want to sit still, C wanted his binky... lol, but sure makes lots of fun pictures! I just love D's silliness.

2. Progress of the Craft Room / Office.

3. C is a Momma's boy. I'm ok with that! ;) Wednesday morning, S was dropping C off at his parents'. C sees me in the car seat, and fusses a lot. S tells C "You'll see Mommy later, but we're going to see Grandpa." .... [silence]. ... hey wait a minute, I thought he's a Momma's boy! Well, priorities Mommy. Grandpa wins. lol

4. I went to D's Holiday Party at his Daycare yesterday. They had various activities for all the kids to work on. I volunteered with D's group.

5. We had a Secret Santa lunch on Tuesday for our work. It was a lot of fun. I always enjoy getting together with my team :)
This is my favorite. Couple guys here play ping pong with another team downstairs. So, they call themselves the Moon Pie. This is what one of them got. I just laughed so hard. It was great.  He got a moon pie hat.

Happy Friday

1. Ran the Jingle Bell 5k Run for Arthritis. I didn't do as well as I hoped (30:36). It was only 3 seconds better than the Gobbler Run (30:39). This was my first underground run. It was in the Meritex caves in Lenexa. I heard it was a pretty good run, but I had a really hard time. All I could smell was fumes, not sure if it was paint or exhaust. I don't think I'm going to do this run again.  But good news is that I took a picture with Santa! :)

2.  S and I made cookies for our neighbors again this year. This year's repeat is the Lemon Ricotta Cookies. This was apparently the favorite. We also made Chocolate Gooey Butter Cookies, and Sour Cream Cinnamon Cookies.  I apologize that the pictures do not look the best. Daylight is difficult to come by.

3. Stroud's! We went there for lunch. Took a few people from work. and it was delicious!!!!!!!!!!!

4. Daycare Holiday Program. D, along with all the preschool kids, presented their Holiday Program. It was so fun. All the kids did so well! And they're just so cute!
Do you know a parent that is always in everyone's picture or video? Well, this mom was standing in the middle of the seats... So, she's in every one of our photos. I know she's all excited for her kid, but... a bummer for all the other parents.

5. 10k. It's official, I signed up to do a 10k (6.2 miles). Training, here I come!

Birthday Party Planning

D's birthday in early January. We're going to throw him a Robot party.

He absolutely LOVE robots, since 18 months. He watched Robot Rampage from Backyardigans at Steve's parents' house while I was on bedrest in the hospital... ever since then, he love robots.

Since his birthday is so close to the holidays, I've started to buy items for his party. I bought the Robot Party Cricut cartridge when it was on sale on Black Friday. I know I won't have time the weekend before his birthday... So, I've started to cut out the gears for the banner.

The colors will be mostly blue, red, and yellow. His two favorite colors are blue and red. It's also KU Jayhawk colors!  We never really pushed colors on him. He has a blue blanket that he loves, I think that's mainly the only blue item that he has. But ever since he started to play with blocks, he always played with the blue and red.

I bought some metallic color sheets... so, I might use that for letters... I haven't decided yet.

Hopefully after the holidays, I'll have more to post! 

Flashback...

In January this year, he has a construction birthday party!

Cookies and Cream cupcakes, cream cheese icing, crushed chocolate graham crackers, and toy tops from US Toys.

He wore that bib during his first birthday too, I wonder if he'll let me put it on him for his third birthday! :P

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Update: Birthday invitations  (and Free Robot Invitation Printables)

Happy Friday

I really don't have much of an excuse for my late Happy Friday. lol


1. D (Child #1) was in the Church play last Sunday (Dec 4). When we heard that we needed to have them wear a box, so that they could look like presents. We were not sure how D would react to it.
We wrapped the box in Darth Vader/Yoda wrapping paper. He was so excited to wear it!

2. C (Child #2) got a hair cut! [finally]  We save his hair and ship it to my Aunt in Taiwan to make calligraphy brushes.  Since this is his first hair cut, the ends have a fine point and not blunt... perfect for brushes.

3. S and I took Friday (Dec. 9) off so we can have a 'date day'. We got the kids ready for daycare, dropped them off. Ran errand at Target, and... well, came home and cleaned house. lol, not much of a 'Date'. I really enjoy spending time with him.

4.  My work had the company holiday party at Arrowhead Stadium on Friday. S and I had a really good time!            

5. Almost forgot this major break through. D has a hard time when we drop him off at Sunday School, so one of us usually just stays with him through out the whole thing. On Saturday, Dec 3, our church had a Santa's Workshop... where there are activities for the kids to do.  S and I volunteered to help with the seven 8-yr-olds. We had to leave D at his group. It was difficult because he cried a bunch at the beginning, ... I had to sit him down and tell him that he needs to let himself have a good time and not rely on us. So, after about 10 minutes of crying (and some screaming)... he did. He let himself have a good time. It was so nice to see him have fun without hanging onto one of us. It was a major break through for him. It really made S and me happy that he was having fun.

Happy Friday

Since I didn't do Happy Friday last week.... ... being a holiday week and all [my excuse].

1. I ran the Gobbler 5k Sunday, Nov. 20th. I did it in 30:39. I felt like I could have done better. They had all marathon, half-marathon, and 5k people run together. ... everyone split off to their respectable run when it came time. I felt like I could have done better because I had to run around a lot of walkers that were at the front of the run.  Oh well, in the end, ... I did better than my previous 5k (Girls on the Run 30:51).
It was a really cold morning too! It was 27 degrees when I got to the location, and it was 31 degrees when I left.... But I have to say, I enjoyed the cold run better.

2. Thanksgiving. Even though Holidays are also so hectic... this Thanksgiving turned out really well. The boys slept in (yay), and both our families came. We had a great time together. So thankful for everyone in our lives. See below for our collection of family pictures. I don't think there is a 'perfect' one.

3. When I went to pick up the kids last Tuesday, the director of the school wanted to let me know that the head teacher for D (Child #1) was impressed with his math skills. D being only 1.5 months shy of being three years old was doing things that they would expect a 4 or 5 year old to do. I am so very proud of him.

4. S and I got to see his dad in the Messiah last night at the new Kauffman Center of the Performing Arts. Well, kind of. It was a dress rehearsal. It was still pretty awesome.

5. I had lunch with an old co-worker, Erin. I haven't seen her for awhile. So, I thought we should get lunch! It was such a delight!