tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54736805611597357012012-04-23T13:46:17.519-07:00The Notetakernoreply@blogger.comBlogger203125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-73376934027758150162010-12-08T20:51:00.000-08:002010-12-08T20:57:53.777-08:00

Merry Christmas! I've missed my blogging buddies here! I'm not back, just wanted to post that I'm putting the aprons in my Etsy shop on sale for Christmas. They're now only $15! They're a perfect stocking stuffer or gift for a little dude or missy in your life. I'll ship the day following your purchase so there's still plenty of time to order before Christmas.new EtsyNameSpace.Mini(7669186, 'shop

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-67749587101698835562010-10-11T20:33:00.000-07:002010-10-11T20:44:14.188-07:00

Well, I'm sad to say that I'm going to say "So long" to this here blog. I have truly loved it. It's been such fun sharing ideas here and I've enjoyed getting to know so many of you that have been faithful to check in to see what I'm up to. With three little ones, a husband in residency and homeschooling, I'm finding I just can't give enough time to this blog. Writing and taking pictures takes

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-90314738872034294552010-09-28T21:18:00.000-07:002010-10-02T20:18:15.351-07:00

We had a joint birthday party this year for our boys since their birthdays are only 2 weeks apart and I didn't have the energy to throw together two birthday parties while toting around a 6 week old. They didn't seem to mind combining the celebrations, though I'm sure that'll change as they get older.We had a cowboy themed party this year {see last year's construction party here}. We crammed a

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-36836022742464397462010-09-22T14:25:00.000-07:002010-09-22T14:40:18.694-07:00

Do you take monthly pictures of your infant during his/her first year of life? Sadly, I totally dropped the ball on this with Boo. He was my firstborn and I was among the first of my friends to have a baby so I was clueless on the cutesie stuff that people typically do with their infants. With The Noodle I wanted to take a picture of him at each of his month birthdays until he turned one so we

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-85584054385235483062010-09-17T05:28:00.000-07:002010-09-17T06:54:02.405-07:00

Wow! We've had a busy couple weeks with family in town, celebrating the boys' birthdays, and starting back up with our school year commitments. Sorry for the silence over here but more posts to come soon!

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-67172793048843610372010-08-31T10:01:00.000-07:002010-08-31T15:37:21.471-07:00

We started our first year of official homeschool last week. Hooray! More on our curriculum and our routine later. First, how about a peek into our schoolroom? I mentioned a while ago that we were turning our study into a schoolroom for the kiddos. Because of the location of the room {you can see into it as you enter the house}, I didn't want it to look to "school-y" with primary colors and giant

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-834104813888260522010-08-24T20:33:00.000-07:002010-08-24T21:36:39.824-07:00

Our baby girl is growing so quickly. It amazes me. Why does it seem faster with each child? Hopefully my incessant picture taking will help me capture all of these fleeting moments of infanthood.Anyways, baby girl was blessed with some hair straight off the bat but not enough to don any clips or bows. I hadn't stocked her wardrobe with infant-sized headbands so I was looking for an easy and

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-26166860305685568122010-08-16T14:17:00.000-07:002010-08-16T14:47:42.300-07:00

All I wanted for Mother's Day this year was this retractable clothesline. I know, lame. But I couldn't have been happier when my boys gave it to me. I love it!My mom hung out our clothes on the line growing up. We were the only people I knew who did that. Other than the stiff towels and jeans, I never thought twice about it. But I do remember being completely embarrassed whenever my great aunties

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-5655522195229100722010-08-04T09:55:00.000-07:002010-08-04T10:07:10.555-07:00

We've been spending most of our time the last few days marveling over our sweet baby girl. And though she's only days old, I'm already having fun dressing her up.Here she is modeling the appliqued butterfly onesie I made her a while ago. {I posted about making it here.}I am really loving these embellished onesies on her. I used several newborn sized onesies I had on hand to make them. They're

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-82396329293210204222010-08-02T11:22:00.001-07:002010-08-02T11:25:25.855-07:00

This weekend we welcomed our sweet baby girl into the world. Praise God for a healthy and precious baby. We are all enjoying adjusting to life with her. Her big brothers are so proud of their new baby sister.

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-74251749024970032302010-07-30T02:08:00.000-07:002010-07-30T03:13:32.332-07:00

I loved the Itty Bitty Dress pattern from Made By Rae so much that I made another one. {Remember, the first one I did was for our baby girl and in a cherry print.} This one I made with monkeys in mind. My friend, Kelly, {who had her baby girl yesterday!} decorated her nursery with monkeys and when I saw this fabric I immediately thought of her. This time I stitched ribbon around the waist and

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-24254484986370098442010-07-24T22:09:00.000-07:002010-07-24T22:47:58.518-07:00

This is an easy and delicious appetizer recipe that my mom makes. They're great for lunch with soup too!Here's what you'll need:BaguetteOlive oil1 garlic clove, peeled & sliced in half2 cans boneless, skinless salmon1/2 block cream cheeseSaltFresh ground pepperChives {or whatever herb you have handy - parsley or dill would be great}1 package smoked salmonCapersSlice the baguette at a slight angle

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-43794951142291348832010-07-13T20:15:00.000-07:002010-07-13T20:38:35.989-07:00

I have two friends that are having their second boys right now. I thought it would be cute to send something for baby boy and big brother to match. I've been wanting to make appliqued necktie shirts for a while and decided to give it a try for these two friends. What a simple and quick project! I wish I would have tried it sooner.There are plenty of tutorials for these out there so just google "

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-72717140600102835632010-07-10T14:41:00.000-07:002010-07-10T15:58:45.737-07:00

My sweet girlfriends from my preschool co-op threw a shower for our baby girl recently. It was so much fun celebrating and it felt like my first official introduction to the world of baby girls. Oooo, it's fun! We drank girly pink drinks, ooh'd and aah'd over the cute outfits and even made bows and clips to start our baby girl's collection.I wanted to get the hostesses a little something as a

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-89146873660935550832010-07-05T11:21:00.000-07:002010-07-05T11:33:42.747-07:00

Hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July! We had a full day of celebrating with neighborhood festivities and fun with friends. We're truly thankful to live in this great country. Pictured: A delicious fruit pizza my friend Shannon made for breakfast, Boo trying out his first sparkler {big hit!}, the kids watching fireworks, snapshots of our neighborhood parade, and The Noodle running up the path

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-52454297744431583052010-07-01T14:41:00.000-07:002010-07-01T14:55:43.195-07:00

Here are two simple crafts that the kids did this week for the Fourth of July.The first craft is one we did during our preschool lesson this week after we learned about the flag. I gave them each a half sheet of white paper, 7 red stripes cut to size, and a blue paper rectangle. They had to glue the pieces of the flag on correctly by looking at a small American flag I had on the table as a guide.

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-63134065117628613292010-06-24T09:39:00.000-07:002010-06-24T13:50:53.988-07:00

Boo's turning four at the end of the summer and money is something he's been learning about lately. I feel it's so much more difficult to teach about money in our culture because it comes in so many forms and isn't as tangible as it was when we were growing up.We had a couple come speak at MOPS last semester about teaching children to manage money. They offered several great tips, one of which

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-56245569945374938822010-06-22T12:09:00.000-07:002010-06-22T13:03:46.214-07:00

I've been trying out a few new recipes lately and thought I'd share. Also, I added a link to a printable version of my Roasted Chickens recipe at the bottom of that post.Salmon with Grapefruit Quinoa Salad from Food Network . Yum! This is a unique but delicious dish. It's perfect for summer as it's really refreshing and light. Instead of kebobs, we just grilled the salmon filets whole. I'll warn

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-54417862158725613262010-06-15T04:40:00.000-07:002010-06-22T12:11:46.466-07:00

Even as I write that title I think, "Wow, that's a bit much...perfect chickens?!" But really, they are that good! Roast chicken is no common thing at our house. It was a most requested meal growing up. My dad had perfected it over the years and was renown for the accompanying gravy he made with it. Chicken, rice and gravy. Mmmm. It was and is a family favorite. Dad started making roast chickens

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-19806352732467272612010-06-08T05:20:00.001-07:002010-06-08T13:28:09.395-07:00

Wow - two weeks has flown by since I last posted. We've been traveling and camping with the kids. It's been a great start to our summer. The weather is heating up in Colorado and we're already in our summer routine of spending hours each day at our neighborhood pool. What would we do without it? I'm especially drawn to it this summer as the temperature climbs and my belly grows. Hope you're

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-17238997369589627552010-05-25T13:26:00.000-07:002010-05-25T14:57:52.839-07:00

Isn't this little guy adorable?I made this crocheted pea pod and matching peas for a dear friend that had a baby recently. I didn't have a pattern so I just winged it and it turned out a bit on the small side. Whoops! I'm going to make another to use for our baby girl and hopefully I get it right this time. Is it weird that I think babies look so cute dressed up like fruits and veggies?

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-56646587360192105662010-05-22T09:10:00.000-07:002010-05-22T09:10:00.612-07:00

The newest addition to our baby girl's wardrobe is this sweet cherry print dress. I tried Made By Rae's Itty Bitty Dress tutorial this week. I'd come across it a while ago and have been anxious to give it a go. It's an adorable and simple dress for a baby girl. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It took me less than 2 hours - a great project to do during the kiddos' naptimes. Here's a

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-39330101754365869552010-05-19T04:53:00.000-07:002010-05-20T05:58:15.060-07:00

We picked up a copy of Annabel Karmel's The Toddler Cookbook over a month ago at the library and have renewed it twice already. Obviously we love it. I have Karmel's baby puree cookbook and had a feeling this one would be a favorite too. It's full of step-by-step illustrations and tasty recipes. Boo is a big fan. The first time he picked it up from our library basket he sat down and looked

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-43787927386832290752010-05-11T05:43:00.001-07:002010-05-12T19:44:45.803-07:00

I found a cute sweater tutorial a while back and decided to try it out on a maternity shirt I had from my first pregnancy. It was a hum-ho Target clearance find and I thought it was a great candidate for improvement. Plus, I love the color.Excuse the wrinkles.I cut it down the middle, took in the side seams and added ruffles using a knit in a similar color. I plan on adding a button closure like

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5473680561159735701.post-90906626940495219522010-05-09T12:33:00.000-07:002010-05-09T20:34:48.589-07:00

I went through the boys' baby clothes recently and pulled out everything that was somewhat gender neutral for baby girl to wear. Most of what I gathered up were plain white or yellow onesies. I thought it'd be fun to girly them up a bit. This onesie is one of the first I've made.It's a newborn size Gerber onesie. I used this tutorial to add organza ruffles to the bottom and a little flower to the

The Notetakernoreply@blogger.com2