Canvas Wall Hanging

I recently decided it was time for a slight change in decor for our living room.  I had made a lap quilt a long time ago and hung it on the wall above our love seat.  While I like the quilt and was proud of the fact that I made it, it was not quite the look I wanted for the room anymore.  I forgot to take a "before" photo of the quilt, but it was in the same spot as the canvas in the photo below.  

I didn't want to spend a lot of money on something, but needed something substantial for the space.  Along came CraigsList!  I found this blank canvas with a frame for $20...right in my budget and perfect for the space!  I scoured the internet for some ideas of what I could do with it and decided to get some vinyl wall art and make an easy project.  I found a design that I liked in a size that would work on Etsy.com.  Here's a link to the Etsy.com listing.

I prepped the canvas by painting it with white latex paint.  This caused the canvas to "seize" up and become more of a solid surface for the vinyl to adhere to.

The next step was to unroll and cut out all the individual vinyl pieces.  Kelly (the etsy shop owner) included instructions on how to prep everything and even included a test decal to try out first (the fish at the bottom right corner of the photo below).

Once I had all the pieces cut out, I arranged them on the dried canvas.  I followed the layout guide first and then adjusted the pieces to fit my frame size.

Next, I just peeled off the backing to stick the pieces to the canvas, and then peeled off the top paper to reveal the design.

Here's the final canvas.  I ended up putting a layer of Mod Podge on top to seal everything up and make sure it wouldn't peel off over time.

Easy, cheap and I think it looks nice.

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Minivan Momma...aka "The Great Vehicle Swap of 2011"

Part of our journey from having 2 kids to 3 included a new vehicle purchase.  In reality, this was probably the hardest part of my pregnancy.  You see, I just always thought that minivans were so *uncool*.  Despite what all my friends that had one kept telling me, I just felt like as a mom in my 20's, the jump from a car or SUV to a minivan was pretty much the worst thing about having 3 kids.

It started back in the beginning of December, 2010.  I peed on a stick and it came up positive.  Yikes!  So, I proceeded to show the aforementioned stick to my husband.  And his first response?  Something like "Oh, great.  Now we have to get a minivan."

So, in January, we had to sell our car.  I guess we could have kept it, but you definitely can't fit 3 car seats into the back of a 2002 Saturn SL2.  As a second vehicle, it wasn't very practical for us anyway because my husband needs a vehicle he can carry tools and a ladder in (he's an electrician) and I need a vehicle that I can fit a wedding cake in.  The sad part about selling it was that it was the first major purchase we made as a married couple (well, really as a couple) and is probably the only vehicle that we will ever purchase brand new (thanks to Dave Ramsey).

The second move in our quest for a minivan was to decide on a budget for our new vehicle.  Once again, thanks to Dave Ramsey, we were out of all consumer debt and started saving in December so we could buy a new family vehicle with cash when the time came.  After scouring craigslist, autos.com and autotrader.com for months, we finally decided that we needed to up or budget and to sell our other vehicle.

It was a 2004 Saturn Vue.  We hated to do it because we loved it, but it had low miles and therefore had a higher value than what we could justify just sitting in the driveway for 90% of the time since we couldn't fit all 3 kids in there comfortably.

In May we finally found a van that fit the bill for what I was looking for.  Not exactly what we wanted to use our hard-earned money on, but we knew it was something we needed to do prior to baby #3 arriving.  So, one Saturday morning we hopped in the car and drove to Akron, OH, purchased the minivan and headed home.

We ended up with a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan.  And you know what?  Despite my hatred for minivans, I actually kinda *like* it!  It has so much space inside, the gas mileage isn't that much worse than our SUV got (like 2-3 mpg less) and the kids love the setup!

It doesn't have a DVD player built in, but we had a portable DVD system (thanks to Steve's parents one Christmas!) that works quite well.  It has power doors...a feature I wanted, Steve didn't understand, but one we use ALL.THE.TIME.  The only downfall is that the boys like to play with the auto doors as well.  I also love the fact that all the seats can go flat into the floor, and when the captains' chairs in the 2nd row are in use, you have tons of hidden storage in the floor!  Plenty of room for a change of clothes for each of the boys, jackets, stroller accessories that only get used once in a while, emergency diaper stash, etc.

yep, we believe in child labor :)

Talk about cutting it close...we ended up purchasing a new (to us) 2nd vehicle this past week.  As in, we looked at the car 3 days before we had a scheduled c-section and picked it up just 2 days before.  It's a 2003 Buick Rendezvous.  It's a little bigger than our Saturn VUE was, but it has twice the miles and therefore fit into our budget better.  It also has a 3rd row seat, so if something happens to our minivan (knock on wood) and it ends up in the shop for a little bit, we can fit all the kids in it.  But with all 3 rows in use, there is absolutely no storage (aka, no room for a stroller!)  We bought it from an individual and it's really dirty right now since we've been a little busy adjusting to life with 3 kiddos, so I'll just show you a photo I found online :)

Anyway, we're usually the type of people who keep our vehicles until they are basically junk, so the "Great Vehicle Swap of 2011" has definitely been out of our comfort zone!  But it's now over and hopefully these vehicles will last a few years so we can save up our cash and buy better ones!

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Gummy Bear Bark

Show me a kid who doesn't like gummy bears, and I'll show you... well, a weird kid.  I'm totally kidding!!  I am not a big fan of gummy bears myself, but in this bark I can't stop eating them.  When my mom and I visited the Savannah Candy Kitchen on our trip to Savannah last month, they had some samples of gummy bear bark.  I tried it and thought it was really good, but then saw they were out of it.  I knew my kids would love it, so I decided to make some.  The addition of the butterscotch was my idea, and I think it adds alot in appearance and flavor.  If you'd prefer peanut butter or white chocolate, just substitute those.

There really isn't a recipe, but I used half a bag of semisweet chocolate chips and 1/4 bag of butterscotch chips.  I wanted to make a really small amount.  I melted the chocolate first in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stopping to stir every 30 seconds until melted.  Then I poured it on a foil lined cookie sheet and spread it all out with an icing spreader.  Next I quickly melted the butterscotch chips the same way.  I dropped the melted butterscotch in spoonfuls on the chocolate and then used a knife to swirl, the same way you'd make a marble cake.  Then I pressed the gummy bears on top.  You have to do all this pretty quickly before the chocolate hardens.  Put it in the refrigerator until it hardens and then break up into pieces.

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Quick Tips for Disciplining Toddlers - FamilyLife.com

I think I'm a pretty "normal" mom.  I love my kids and I would do anything for them, but sometimes they drive me CRAZY!

I recently came across a blog post and wanted to share it with you...hope it helps you as much as it did for me!

Quick Tips for Disciplining ToddlersSusan Yates 

“My kids are driving me crazy,” a young mother with toddlers said to me. “My discipline methods don’t seem to work. My children are so strong-willed. I am frustrated. They are frustrated. Some days I don’t even like my children!”

These are honest emotions from a very normal mother. We’ve all felt this way at many different points, particularly in the toddler years. Having raised five strong-willed toddlers to adulthood myself, and now watching them raise their kids, I’ve learned a few things I hope might encourage you.

1.  Husbands and wives need to agree on a discipline philosophy, otherwise you will confuse the child and the child will learn (especially later) how to play one parent against the other.

2.  Discipline must be immediate (particularly with the young), needs to hurt (it has to hurt or it doesn’t mean anything), andshould be over quickly (give your child a hug after the punishment is finished and tell the child you love him or her).

3.  It must be consistent. This can be the hardest, but the deeper lesson you are communicating to your child is that you are reliable. He can count on you. You mean what you say. This gives him security. He has to know you are in control andnot him.

4.  Don’t over negotiate with small kids. Clearly explain actions and consequences. Then follow through. Do not threaten or say the same thing over and over. They don’t need clarification; they need action, otherwise they are manipulating you: “I can get out of this; she won’t really punish me.” Translated: “I am the boss, not my parent.” This breeds insecurity in children.

5.  Use the word “obey.” It will help your child to know you mean it. You can say, “If you do not obey now, I will have to discipline you.” And then if she doesn’t do what you are asking, follow through immediately with punishment. Remember, your child is learning that you are reliable. With small children, you can try diversion to avoid conflict as much as possible, but there comes a time when diversion will not work and the child has to obey immediately just because you say so. (There is no time for diversion when your child heads toward the street. She needs to have learned to obey you immediately so that when you say “stop,” she stops.)

6. Determine specific consequences for disobedience. Explain the plan to the child as best you can. Follow through. Any time you institute a new plan, expect it to take at least three times of enforcement before your child will believe what you say and realize that you will follow through with punishment. Make sure all caregivers are on the same page with the plan.

7. Take action when your child misbehaves in public. Kids are smart. They learn they can get away with bad behavior in public, at the grocery store, etc. If they disobey, immediately go some place and discipline them in private. The principle you are teaching is “right behavior is the same no matter where I am or who I am with.”

8. Distinguish between whines and intentional disobedience. Whereas disobedience requires immediate consequences, whining kids are usually exhausted and need to go to their room to play quietly. Usually they fall asleep or just need some solitude. It’s not punishment; it’s alone time. As moms, we’d love to be sent to our rooms!

9. Keep in mind the goal of discipline. We want to teach our kids to obey us—their earthly parents whose voices they hear say, “I love you,” and whose arms they feel hug them. Teach them to obey because as they grow up, they’ll be weaned from us, their earthly parents who they can hear and feel, and they’ll need to obey a heavenly Father whose voice they might not audibly hear and whose arms they will feel mainly through the body of Christ. But remember that this Father loves them even more than we do. How can we expect them to want to obey Him if they have not been taught to obey us?

10. Keep a long-range perspective. We expect our kids to “get it” after a few days, weeks, or months, but sometimes it takes years. Yes, years. That’s why training is exhausting! But it is also why God gives us more time. Remember that you are building for the future, and God is patient.

Feelings of failure and frustration are normal. No mom feels like she’s got the discipline thing down pat. As soon as she does, a child will throw a kink into her plans.

This article originally appeared on MomLife Today, FamilyLife's blog for moms.  http://www.momlifetoday.com/2011/03/quick-tips-for-disciplining-toddlers/

Quick Tips for Disciplining Toddlers - FamilyLife.com

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New Addition!

Steve and Beth would like to welcome Molly Sue to the world!

Born today, July 27 at 8:04 am.

8 lbs, 9 oz

20.5 inches long

She shares her birthday with her Aunt Jo!

Birthday Buddies!

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Good Luck Beth!

Such an exciting day!  Beth's family will grow by 1 more!  Keep her in your thoughts and prayers today!  Can't wait to hear the exciting news Beth!

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DIY Topiary

Excuse the terrible iphone pics here.  I wanted to share a little project I recently did.  I love color, but like to keep furniture and wall colors fairly neutral.  I recently wanted something with a little pop of color to replace some photos in our entry while we try to sell our house.  I also tried to go with something versatile that I'll use again when we move.

Supplies I used:  a stick from the woods (free), a round styrofoam ball (can't remember the cost so I'll estimate $3), flowers (I used $12 worth), a small pot ($3 clearance at Michaels), some green styrofoam I already had (free), and a little moss from the dollar store ($1).

I took the flowers off the stems and then pushed them into the styrofoam a little to make the hole.  Then I filled the hole with hot glue and put the flower in.  I just continued that until all the ball except the bottom was covered.  I put the stick in the bottom and glued around the stick.  After that dried, I covered any remaining space around the ball and filled in any holes I saw.

Then I put the squares of styrofoam into the little pot and put my stick in.  I covered the top of the pot with a tiny little bit of moss.  And there it is, in my entryway.

And from a little further back.  (I still need to put something in the center of that frame).  For less than $20, I thought it was a nice addition.  You could do it for much less if you had several Michael's 40% off coupons and went back a few times. The yellow candlesticks were really cheap looking and old, so I decided instead of throwing them away I would cover them with some yellow spray paint.  Then I used a brown color craft paint, thinned out a little with water, and painted that over top. I wiped it off while it was still wet, just allowing it to settle in the crevices and give some more dimension to the paint job.  I may get sick of the yellow, but that's the beauty of spray paint!  Just pick another color.

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