It was one of those days, the ones where I really look forward to having my break time during their nap time... and it just wasn't happening. One went to sleep, then the other one, now the first is up, the second won't stay in bed, arg. I'll admit that I got a bit crabby when I didn't get what I was expecting.

Luckily I had pulled out these Magic Gems I bought at Michael's a while back.
You use 2 Liters of water and 1/4 of the bag of gems. Then you have to let it sit in the water 4-6 hours, so we started this in the morning and were able to play with these after nap time.(assuming their was a nap-which there wasn't)
The gems are very tiny and hard, but when you soak them in the water they expand and get soft and gel-like, I even think they are cool to feel.
So let them sit and watch them grow, they start to look fuzzy and not like a solid at all, but don't worry, they are  :)
Okay, now right there, notice how the gems are pINk? Well...I did not know this until after they grew, and then I NOW notice the package does warn me and say Rose. So...Me thinking this would be "Christmas-y" because it would be RED, fell through. But kids don't care!
I had saved two formula scoops which I set out for Raef to use along with a few bowls. He liked scooping the gems from bowl to bowl using them. 
We discovered these gems are VERY bouncy and they ended up on the floor a bunch.
SO-when I gave him this activity, it gave me a good 30 minutes - I could tell he was interested in this because not only did he stay occupied for a half hour, but he was quite silent too, which is not too common :)
So these magic gems, on this day, was magic, in that it gave me a half hour break! Woo Hoo! Go try it.
 
I copied this idea from a picture I saw of two little boys while I was looking up ideas for a John Deere birthday party. 

Since my boys share a birthday month, starting this year they will be sharing a birthday party. The plan is for them to wear these somewhat matching shirts. I don't think I thought I would be the matching mom type, but I think it can be so cute. 
1. Cut out the number desired out of a piece of paper.
2. Using an old shirt - ours is a very sentimental Hulk shirt turned rags from Dad - fold the shirt so you have three layers of material.
3. Pin the number to the shirt and sew. Be careful not to sew the front and back of the shirt together, not like I ever did that. I used yellow thread to incorporate the other John Deere color. I also originally was going to stamp on the shirt "One" and "Three" but then decided against it. It would be cute to do on the back or the other side of the shirt.
There they are! The finished product! And they are finished in plenty of time before their party! How often does that happen!
They're pretty excited about them too...
 
Who really needs directions on how to make a paper chain, right? Well apparently I probably could have benefited, and you will find out why by following the pictures...
So I am a little behind, seeing as half of December is gone already, but I made it anyway. 
When my little guy hears Christmas songs with the word Christmas, he'll say, "it's not Christmas yet, it's winter" and then the other day a few friends were over for a play date and he exclaimed, "it's Christmas!" 
So I thought I would try to help him understand by making a countdown chain. 
I haven't made one of these in I can't remember when, but I can figure it out, right? Number my pieces, tape them together...
You can't see the bottom, but the top number, the 14 is the final chain-link. Hmm.. that doesn't seem right...
OKAY - there we go, we end with Christmas at the top! and the biggest number on the bottom. 14 more days until Christmas! I'll have Raef rip or cut off a link each day.

Next year I am thinking of doing a Joshua Tree which I recently read about (which isn't a chain I know, but it's a countdown), or maybe making a fabric chain - or a chain with activities for each day? Do you do any countdowns with your kids? Or yourself? 
 
Leg warmers may seem like a more girlie clothing item, but after seeing this handsome guy aren't you convinced that they are so cute!
I made my little babe these leg warmers with a matching tie onesie out of a pair of women's knee-high socks. 
I started by cutting the socks at the angle and then I measured the sock by setting it next to my son's leg. 
Then I cut 2 1/2 inch cuffs, folded them together with right sides out and pinned them to the end of the sock.
I sewed all the way around, which is a bit tricky since the opening is so small.
And there you have it! Now repeat for the other one!
The tie was a little tricky since the sock material is so stretchy. I cut down the back of the ankle sock I had left over and opened up the remainder. I tried ironing it but all that did was make it roll up! I got my tie template from this blog - http://www.crapivemade.com/2009/03/appliqued-tie-onesie.html
Lay the template over the sock material and cut out leaving some allowance to be folded underneath so as not to allow fraying.
Then cut out the exact shape of the tie from some Steam-A-Seam.
One the edges are folded over, position the tie knot under the neck in the center, using your iron, press the top half of the knot onto the onesie. It may curl up a bit because of the stretchy material, so I used some pins to hold it down until I was able to sew around it. 
Now tuck your tie up under the knot a little and iron.
Pin your tie in place and sew around the tie. You can make one fluid sewing path (which you can check out from that blog from above)
Finished!
 
Maybe I can blame it on the Polish in me, but WHO takes a shelf, sands it, paints it white, and then sands it AGAIN so it's back to being just wood??! WHO!?
Well, this gal does. I'm a bit indecisive. On like. Everything.

I was at my parent's house recently and noticed this oldie sitting in their back room being all forgotten about. And I thought, hey, I need another project to do, I'm always bored (please sense my sarcasm here). Anyway, I thought this shelf would be a good addition to my oldest's room. I could sand it, paint it and distress it (something I seriously enjoy doing, really) and then I could have bins go on the shelf and help organize his room and have his toys accessible. Win-Win. Raef get's a shelf, I get to spend some time doing something fun. Well...
Here is what I got this shelf down to.
And looking back now, I see how amazing it looked. But then I went and gave it a coat of white paint. WHITE. For some reason I always go with white. I wish I could go back and just slap a nice coat of stain on it and be on my way. But here is what I am currently in the middle of doing...
Yep. Sanding! Sanding it allll off. And since this wood has grooves in it, it's not as easy as the FIRST time. But I do have a vision, and this is not over... and it WILL look amazing! ;)

To Be Continued...
 
This isn’t a post about the great cookies I made today - because they aren’t great.

This isn’t a post about how I was able to clean my skillet to look good as new – because it hardly looks any different.

This post is about reality. 
Reality is, I’ve been wanting to clean my grungy flat skillet for a while now, and in between mommy-ing, I finally tried a so-called-solution.
Boil some water in the skillet with some vinegar. The oil should come to the top (like magic, right?!) Well it may have gotten the tiniest bit of something off… After that, clean with soap and water. Done. 
Move on to making a paste from baking soda and water, and then spread that on the skillet and scrub.

I scrubbed and DID notice the water and soap turning a slight brown, so I know it got something off, however, the skillet does not look shiny and new…Fail.
I then looked up that doing certain thing to non-stick pans does not do a pan good… like adding oils, or butter, or running it under water when it has not completely cooled. Oiy! So I fear that my skillet has carbonized and warped to a non-fixable state. But hey, it still gets the job done; it still makes my pancakes and grilled cheeses!
Moving along to today’s adventure of chocolate chip cookies.

I have long -since -longed to make the most delicious tasting AND delicious looking chocolate chip cookies, and in recent days, have gotten some really good batches! My sister actually found the recipe that I use now, and with a few of my own changes I have had some good ones. You know, they are chewy, look fluffy and bumpy… YUM! 
So with today needing a pick me up, I thought I would just whip some up. (Whip some up, right…Easier said than done with two little babes running amuck!) Between getting this, getting that, helping him and catching him, and after listening to the whole Nsync Christmas album, and still not finishing these cookies... I finally finished them! 
And they looked like this…    
So then I had this to pick me up :) 
Not fluffy…looking a bit burned…not going to be all soft and chewy once they cool.
But you know what? That’s OKAY! The boys of the house love them, and out of the oven they ARE delish!

Life isn’t perfect for anyone, and as much as I would have liked to have some posts that make it seem like I have it all put together, all the time, and that I always make the best cookies, and clean things great every time…Reality is, I don’t!
Maybe someday I’ll make that great batch, and when I do, I will share it with you!
So maybe I didn’t have the perfect outcomes... 

But look at these guys… THESE are perfect!