All Aboard!! The 3rd Birthday Express is Here!

My oldest turned 3 last week and it still amazes me that I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old.  They are no longer babies and part of me is very sad about that.  Despite my melancholy, we had to celebrate Sammy's big day in a big way and there is nothing more exciting to a 3 year old boy then trains, lots and lots of trains!  My inspirations for this party came directly from pinterest and none of these crafts were difficult at all, I promise.

I started out with a fantastic template from Paper and Cake for the banner, signs, etc.   I got this on sale for only $10!  I never used anything from Paper and Cake before and I loved it.  I was really easy to use - I just put in Sammy's name where I wanted it and printed it out.  I didn't use all of the ideas that came from packet, but for only $10, it was worth it to me.  Here is an idea of what I did use to decorate. Please ignore my spelling mistake on All Aboard - can't believe I did that and that no one told me until I posted a few pictures on Facebook and an old college friend broke the news to me.  :(

Since Sammy and his buddies are pretty active I knew I had to have an "action" activity.  I started with just having his train table in the family room instead of his room and then I got inspired....... this is what I ended up with:

I made 12 cardboard trains for the kids to play with and I have to say they were really easy to make, just a little time consuming. 

To make them I started with a diaper box or a wine box, either worked out fine.  I sprayed painted them and let dry really well.  I cut off the flaps of the box on the bottom and then cut a hole out in at the top of the box.  I didn't remove the entire top of the box so that I had a place to put the smoke stack.  The smoke stake is a canister of oatmeal, too bad I don't eat oatmeal......I attached the smoke stack with a hot glue gun and a paper fastener.  To strap it onto the kids, I just used ribbon and paper fasteners.  I found the template for Percy's face here.  For some of the trains I added a little extra dimension with a cereal box on the front and just used the glue gun to attach it.  To decorate I used electrical tape and colored duct tape.  In the beginning of this project I was really elaborate with my decorating, that waned after about 5 trains and the duct tape won out in terms of ease and patience, but it still looked great.  I also found this website that had tons of Thomas trains that gave me lots of ideas and also reminded me that I am only a weekend crafter and not nearly as serious as some people!

As you can tell, the kids were adorable in their trains, but I have to say they didn't gravitate to them like I thought they would.  The train table was a much bigger hit as well as our other everyday toys.  But each child was sent home with their train and a red bandana and an engineers hat and many moms have told me they have been a hit at home.  But isn't it so adorable!  I wish I could have gotten a picture of everyone with their trains on, but it just wasn't going to happen.  Unfortunately, a November birthday means lots of stuffy noses and coughs, including my own little guy who barely worn his James train that day.

Asher looked fantastic as Thomas

In addition to the trains, my husband became a saint for this party.  He built us the greatest train crossing with an arm on a hinge so it would go up and down and he also put a track out on the floor of the house.  He hated doing this and found it totally unnecessary, but he still did it for me, what a tropper.

Here are some other things I used to decorate for the party.  Vintage trains across the mantle, plastic shoe boxes covered with construction paper to look like a train to hold snacks for the party,and anything else I could find.

All and all it was a great party and the kids had fun. If your little one loves trains, I'd really suggest making one of these cardboard trains. So easy to do and something they can really have a lot of fun with too.

Oops, almost forgot --- for the babies, I made little tiny trains to wear with the same concept in mind. I just used wipes boxes and only put a face and straps on them.

The cake is a post for another day. So stay tuned.....

Christmas Book Tradition

I wanted to start an easy Christmas tradition for my kids last year and came across an idea while shopping at Barnes and Noble.

We love  books in our family, the more the merrier!  I thought won't it be nice to have the boys open a special Christmas book from Mommy and Daddy each Christmas morning.  The book had to have beautiful pictures since our kids are young and we would spurge here too.  Not a paperback which I normally turn to since my kids are also hard on their books, but a hardback, fancy book!

For our first year we choose Carl's Christmas by Alexandra Day.  We are big dog lovers in our family and this book totally fits our family.  Our bullmastiff, Cooper, could probably watch our boys with no problem just like Carl does for his baby.  The Carl books have just a few words in the beginning of the book and then the rest is up to your imagination with the help of the fantastic pictures. 

For this year, we are choosing You Are My Miracle by Maryann K. Cusimano.  Its a beautiful book that really helps convey just how much you love your little ones and this special time of year. 

I also write a special inscription in the book with the date so that we can easily keep track of the books each year and hopefully one Christmas morning, sit down and read them all together. 

Does your family have a Christmas tradition?  If so, please share!  I love to steal great ideas from friends!

Feeding the Birds

My backyard is like a nature preserve most days. Deer stroll in and out of it at their own will, not at all bothered by the people or large dog who live here.  Squirrels and chipmunks have endless entertainment running around the big boulders and rocks hunting for food.  A family of fox call our side yard their home. And a ground hog has even been spotted a few times.  But by far my favorite guests are the birds.  They don't dig up my flowers or eat my bulbs, but rather eat the bad bugs and add a little color to the sky. 

I kind of spoil our birds, I keep their feeders filled from about November to April thinking that between April and October there should be plenty of natural food for them to eat.  The only problem with feeding the birds is the squirrels.

I have had several bird feeders, always trying to outsmart the squirrels and have found that the Droll brand feeders seem to do the best job at this.  They are a little more expensive but they are really durable and are something you will have for years.  My favorite feeder of theirs is the Yankee Flipper.

You need to watch the product video on this one - it is hysterical.  When a squirrel tries to eat the seed and leans on the birds' resting bar, the whole bar jerks and "flips" the squirrel off.  Its great.  I have seen this live and am always amazed by it. After awhile, the squirrels do catch on to this trick and figure out other ways to get the seed, but at least for a little while I have a bit of entertainment.

I also keep a suet feeder filled all winter.  Wood peckers really like suet and my yard this fall has been filled with them.  My first suet feeder was a cheapy from the grocery store ---- it lasted one night.  I hung it from a normal shepherds hook and didn't even think of wiring it onto the pole, which is why it lasted only one night.  The squirrels must have dragged it into the woods that night to have the delicious suet all to themselves, selfish little buggers!  After this experience, I invested in a double suet feeder and some wire.  The double feeder has a cage around it so the squirrels can't get to it and the wire is my extra insurance.

I have also found that different seeds bring different birds.  Your run of the mill grocery store blend is junk, just don't buy it.  It has so much waste in it and will just give you weeds on the ground below the feeder.  Find a feed store and see if they have their own mix, these are usually made special for your area and will have less waste.  I also sometimes mix a few different seeds on my own to make a blend.  I try to pick seeds that don't have a shell so it isn't so messy.  Right now I have shelled sunflower seeds and thistle.  Best part of this mix is that the squirrels don't seem to like it, they aren't even bothering with it which is amazing to me!  Just be sure to store the seed in a steel container.  I was optimistic last year and thought the mice in my garage couldn't eat through a big rubbermaid container.....so wrong and disgusted on the day I opened up the container to find a mouse inside!

While you are at it, might as well pick up a bird book too.  As kids, my mom always had bird books in the kitchen on the window sill so that we could identify all the birds in our yard.  Kids are fascinated by this; it is especially fun on a snowy morning when the birds are all out looking for food.

Happy Birding!

Winter Flowers

Winter leaves us with a very drab and boring landscape, especially after the New Year when all the fun holiday decorations are gone and we are stuck looking at bare mantles once again and empty cookie jars.

Start planning now and you can have a "garden" almost all winter long.  Flowers like paper whites, amaryllis, and poinsettia will grown inside very easily and can add just what you need to any room to make it feel more lived it.

I think paper whites are my favorite because they can pretty much grow in anything.  I have grown them in  just pebbles and in a pot with soil and had great results with either.  The fun part is figuring out what you are going to grow them in especially since they are so relaxed that they can literally grow in a regular old drinking glass with some water.  Pretty low maintenance, huh?

No matter what you plant them in, the instructions are pretty basic -- pointy side goes up, they can be close together, but not completely touching and keep them watered.  When you first "plant" them keep them in a warmer spot until they flower and then move them to an area with indirect sunlight.

I even keep poinsettias out all winter long and sometimes they last into the summer months too.  The key here is to replant them just like you would any other annual flower.  Water when it is dry and fertilize it once a month.  Remove the flowers or leaves as they die too.  You could even plant it in a holiday pot through December and then move it into something else for the rest of the winter.  With the great pinks and oranges that you now find poinsettias in, there is no reason to just have the typical red one that reminds us of Christmas.  They also come in different sizes, not just the traditional larger size.  I love the tiny single blooms to decorate with, they are a bit more expensive, but they make up for it!   Look for these at higher end garden shops.  For more information on caring for a poinsettia and making them rebloom, take a look at this page from Martha Stewart.

Get creative and you will be greeted by a cheerful flower all winter, hopefully chasing the winter blues away!
Here are a few inspiration for you to try out on your own!

 

Fabulous Way to Keep and Store Kids School Work!

My oldest started preschool this fall and each day after pickup we sort through his collection of pictures and crafts from the day. I love each and every thing he creates, but had no idea where to put them until I stumbled onto this blog.......

IHeart Organizing: School Paperwork Storage

If you love to organize and feel like a new person when everything has a place, you need to go to this blog. It is amazing! I love the cataloging of each school year and creating an easy memory box at the same time.

Happy Organizing!

Playroom Storage Solution

Like many of you, I dream of a perfect playroom.  It has amazing organization, thoughtful details, and all toys are always placed exactly where they belong.  Basically, it always looks like the pages of the Pottery Barn Kids catalog.


Reality at my house is a whole other story.  The only person really doing the putting away of toys is yours truly and my playroom floor is often covered in trains, blocks, trucks and my toothbrush (Tommy's favorite teether right now).  So, when I saw these large tubs or buckets for $7.99 a piece at Target I jumped at them!  My kids are old enough to put toys away, but they need direction and the big toys really had no place to go.  These tubs were the perfect solution, with 3 of them we have enough room for the smaller toys and the monster trucks. Also, its easy for kids to put toys in these, its just a big, over sized bucket that holds a ton of stuff

I can't seem to find these tubs online at Target, but they could still be in stores.  Regardless, they are really just tubs that you would use for a keg which makes them even better.  Party supply stores or the local beer distributor would have some on hand.  Since they are large and plastic, their uses are endless.  One will certainly move to the garage to hold balls in future years, another will be used as a makeshift water toy this summer, and perhaps one day, one of these will be used to chill a keg at the boys college graduation parties.  The versatility and sheer price (did I mention $7.99!!!) make these a great storage/organization solution. 

Not loving J&J right now! Baby Wash is harmful?! WHAT???!!!

I think we all try to keep our children as safe as possible and also believe that there is an unspoken rule about how awful it is to knowingly harm children, which makes this news from Johnson and Johnson so hard to stomach. 

Lauren at MommyBreakdown has the full story with all the details, check it out here and find another product this week to serve as your new bath time staple.