MYA’S NATURE PARTY

Mya loves all living things… including bugs. I don’t know how it happened with me as her mother, but she has no fear of any insect or arachnid. A couple months ago we were at a nature presentation at Fat Brain Toys and Mya was front and center the whole time. She jumped with excitement to hold the tarantula and grinned from ear to ear while the snake slithered up her arm. At the end of the class, Scott the naturist mentioned that the Leawood Nature Center at Ironwoods Park offered birthday packages and the thought of not having her party at our house seemed pretty magical. I got Mya’s overeager approval and called to book a date. Best. Decision. Ever. Also to make it easier, we just sent the invites via email. The “nature” theme gave me a good reason to incorporate one of my favorite illustrators– Charley Harper.

blogimage

(more…)

Continue ReadingMYA’S NATURE PARTY

MYA SPY

Am I lame for admitting this?: I have a coupon folder. I keep it in my car console and grab ’em as I need them. Another truth is that I seem to only use the ones for Bed Bath and Beyond (because they never expire) and I’m sure I have a hundred of them. I pass them out to other customers as we wait in the check out line. Buuuut other coupons that I appreciate receiving are free 8″x8″ books from Shutterfly. They usually expire before I get around to making one, but not this last time! This time Mya and I had a plan: Mya chose what play things were special to her, we staged them, and she photographed them to make an “I Spy” (or in her case, a “Mya Spy”) book. And I love it so.

Books

(more…)

Continue ReadingMYA SPY

CAMERON the EASTERN BLUEBIRD + COOL BIRD STUFF

Mya had bird camp last week, which means they made some bird crafts, listened to bird calls, read bird books, and sang bird songs… which– for all of you who know Mya just a little bit– couldn’t be more perfect for our outdoorsy girl. It seems Mya’s birdie obsession started even before her first birdday party! (Ahhhh– looking back at those pics, I canNOT believe how much my girls look alike!) So in the spirit of the bird, I must share some bird finds and a fun story with you guys…

birdstuff2

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

(more…)

Continue ReadingCAMERON the EASTERN BLUEBIRD + COOL BIRD STUFF

KID DECOR: GRAPHIC ACCENT WALLS

We’re spring cleaning over here. Mya loves cleaning and organizing (and I’m hoping this continues until… forever.) Her most recent job is going through all her little things in her room and deciding what she wants to donate. Sometimes she’ll come across something and says, “I don’t really like this anymore. Let’s give it to baby Leah.” So thoughtful– pawning off what she deems as junk to her lil’ sister. (Insert eye roll here.) But she seems genuinely thoughtful when she says it, so we’ll go with it!

As we’ve been spending our rainy days decluttering in the girls’ rooms, it got me thinking about what I would love to do in their rooms in five or so years. The girls’ rooms are considered “finished” for now and their rooms are some of my favorite spaces in our home. But if I didn’t have a budget, their whimsical, yet sophisticated spaces would look a lot differently. One of the elements that I looooove seeing in kids’ rooms is a bold and bright accent wall. If there’s any space in the home to apply something so graphic, I’d say this is the place to do it. And since my feminine side is rejoicing everyday with two little girls, I would definitely go with some large scale florals.

Bcollage

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

(more…)

Continue ReadingKID DECOR: GRAPHIC ACCENT WALLS

ICE CREAM THANK YOU’S (PLUS FREE PRINTABLES!)

Growing up, one thing that my Mom always had my brother and me do was write thank you’s. Initially, I thought it was a drag because there were soooo many to write after birthdays and Christmas. (I know, what a spoiled brat, right?!) But somewhere along the way I really liked the task because writing became therapeutic to me… and who loves getting snail mail?! The answer is everyone. When you open your mailbox and find something special in between the Aldi ad and the water bill, you most definitely smile.

I always want Mya to be grateful and aware of the thoughtfulness of each gesture and gift that comes her way. In an effort to achieve this, I have adopted my Mom’s thank you note philosophy. And thus far, Mya looooooves “making letters” for her special people. Last week, we made these simple and sweet ice cream thank you’s.

fi2

(more…)

Continue ReadingICE CREAM THANK YOU’S (PLUS FREE PRINTABLES!)

DIY SEEK-N-FIND TUBE

Confession: Everytime I was in the Home Depot hardware aisle, I had always wanted a reason to buy this Everbilt clear container. I was quite sure there were endless possibilities for its uses, but it wasn’t until the other day that I finally realized why I desperately needed it: a seek-n-find tube! Every kid needs a seek-n-find tube and this plastic hardware container definitely ups the cool factor.

FI-final

(more…)

Continue ReadingDIY SEEK-N-FIND TUBE

EASTER GIFT IDEAS

We went to the mall Easter bunny today. Mya thinks that since you sit on the bunny’s lap like Santa, you need to tell him what you want for Easter. And she wants a nightstand. Oh how I love my practical girl. Derek and I each have a nightstand with a drawer and that’s what she wants because she “needs something to set things on and put thing in by [her] own bed.” She also prefers it to be dark blue with sparkles. Duly noted, Mya.

But since I’m guessing most other kids aren’t asking for a bedside table, I thought I’d throw together some fun kid gifts in case you wanted to add some last minute pizzaz to their baskets. (Since this post was published, some products have become unavailable. We have updated some alternative links to the pictures below.)

Collage

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

(more…)

Continue ReadingEASTER GIFT IDEAS

DIY KID ABSTRACT PAINTING

A couple weekends ago, Mya had a 102 degree temperature and a faucet for a nose. (You’re welcome for that visual.) The weather was beautiful– a whopping 60-something degrees in February– and we all needed to get out of the house… even if it was just the back patio. So Derek set up a pretty stellar paint station and Mya– in between blowing her nose– worked her magic. If you only do one craft with your kid this year, THIS should be it. I can’t tell you how warm my creative heart was watching Mya paint a large scale piece of art. It is most definitely one of my favorite things we’ve done together. We’ve painted a lot, but never at this scale. It was so much fun seeing Mya go all out and all in on something so big. She felt pretty special doing it. And she was so proud of the final product that she insisted it be hung in her room.

squeeze-ps

(more…)

Continue ReadingDIY KID ABSTRACT PAINTING

LEAH LYNN

Get ready for picture overload, people! Since I’m having trouble formulating sentences on little sleep, I figured pictures could tell this story better than I could right now. Our little Leah Lynn finally decided to make her debut three days after her due date. I started having mild, regular contractions around midnight on the 27th. We had just gone to bed and I think I was in a state of disbelief/ denial, not wanting to jinx it if labor wasn’t really happening. But we took some deep breaths, gathered our bags, and were at the hospital by 2 AM. I had an epidural and they later broke my water. After that, it was game time. The midwife said I could basically laugh and the baby would pop out. So that’s what I did. Ok, not really. But with just a few pushes, Derek was scrubbed up and ready to catch our second daughter, Leah Lynn…

Sunday, December 27th
10:17 AM
8 lbs 12 oz
19 3/4 in

Familyof4

(more…)

Continue ReadingLEAH LYNN

DARBY SMART: DIYs for EVERYONE

DISCLAIMER: This is a sponsored post brought to you by Darby Smart. The opinions are 100% my own. 

My least favorite part of any project is gathering all the supplies. Don’t get me wrong– I love the weekly outings to the hardware store, but if it takes me more than one store to gather all supplies needed, the project quickly loses its luster. So when I found out about Darby Smart, a company that offers hundreds of creative craft ideas and then delivers the supplies to your door?… I became a super fan! “Yes, I want to make that. No, I don’t want to drive to three stores to get supplies. Yes, I want it delivered to my door like a spoiled warrior princess.” Enter Darby Smart!

homepage

(more…)

Continue ReadingDARBY SMART: DIYs for EVERYONE

GROWN-UP GIRLY GIFT GUIDE

I was going to compile a list of maternity items that’ve helped me through this pregnancy. And then I realized that they’re not maternity items at all because I was too cheap to buy much of anything that I’d only be able to use less than 9 months. Especially when I can live in sweatpants everyday. And I’ll probably have stretch marks because I didn’t get a bellyband; and I’ll probably have back problems because I didn’t get a pregnancy pillow. But I got a super soft infinity scarf, a mommy journal, and some other goodies instead. So I think the tradeoff was totally worth it. And I’m hoping these items will bring you comfort too… if not for you, for some other special gal pal. And most are great stocking stuffers, so just drop some hints to your man friend and make his job a little easier this year.

collage

(more…)

Continue ReadingGROWN-UP GIRLY GIFT GUIDE

ADVENT CALENDAR IDEAS

Sorry I lied. I didn’t get my stuff together last night for Mya’s birthday post. Too. Many. Photos! (So, hopefully it’ll come together next week.) Buuuuut, I have some joyous advent calendar ideas for you… because December is just 7 days away. (Insert wide-eyed emoticon here.) I’m here to tell you, “It’s ok. Take a deep breath. Don’t freak out.” Some of these are super easy. If you have some paper bags or toilet paper rolls, you can make something work for you in no time!

advent

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

(more…)

Continue ReadingADVENT CALENDAR IDEAS