9th Wedding Anniversary

Ken and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary today.  It seems like we were just celebrating our 5th.  Time really does fly.  It is fun to think back from where we started and where we are today…and now our family has doubled in size and is about to gain one more!   I love Ken so much and I can’t imagine life without him.  I feel so blessed to have him as my husband.

We’re going on a date tonight and decided to use the money we might spend on gifts to do some more landscaping in our yard.  I know, romantic right, but I am excited!  It has been a couple years since we have been able to do anything much to it and it’ll be good to see some progress again.  Ken had hoped to take me somewhere exotic next year, like Fiji,  for our 10 year but I’ll be nursing a baby and the last time I left a nursing baby at home to go to Ecuador it had bad results…so maybe for our 11th!

A bit about our wedding…I am not one for the lime light and was always nervous about having a wedding where everyone would be focused on me for the day.  That just makes me sweat and not excited like it does most ladies.  Because of that and other issues like not wanting a million bridesmaids but not knowing how to choose less, getting family together that would be happy not to be together, and more we came up with the plan to go to an island somewhere and just get married by ourselves.

I decided that staying in the carribean area would be best since we wouldn’t have to mess with huge time changes and also flight times and cost would be better too.  After looking at all the options though the easiest place to go was St. Thomas since it is American.  The other islands had rules about having to be there for a number of days or longer to get a “residency” to be able to apply for a wedding permit.  On St. Thomas you could get off the plane or boat and get one immediately…and that is just what we did.  We didn’t want to have to go to a place and hang out for a week before we could get married.  The hotel we stayed at had a wedding coordinator (whose name was Franz which made me laugh and think about Franck from Father of the Bride) and we chose a simple wedding package that included having a professional photographer and a bouquet.  I can’t remember if there was anything else.  We didn’t need much.  It made planning for the wedding so easy…because there was nothing to plan.  We got to spend the rest of our time exploring St. Thomas and St. John.

Thankfully, our family was all very supportive of our plans.  Since they weren’t there to see it we sent out announcements and included a picture.  Here is the one we used.  We don’t have digital copies since this was before digital became popular.  So it is scanned and doesn’t look as nice as it does in person.  (And for those wondering, we were wearing shoes when we got married, we just took them off while walking around the hotel grounds for the pictures.)

It was a really great experience and we saved so much money.  In fact, we were able to put the money that would have gone to a wedding as a down payment for our new house.  To me that is a much better investment.  I would highly recommend it to anyone!

Here is a book we used to help us get great information on doing a wedding this way:  Let’s Elope: The Definitive Guide to Eloping, Destination Weddings, and Other Creative Wedding Options.

Tags: 9th wedding anniversary, elope, marry, St. Thomas, wedding anniversary

You Betsy: Mon Cadeau

Ok, confession time.  Here is the real reason I’m having a third child.  It’s so I can buy one of these pretty necklaces!

We gave one to a friend at Christmas and I loved it so much I wanted to get one for myself.  I could’ve had one made with two hearts but I really like the symmetry with the three.  The hearts are so tiny and delicate but still give a lovely reminder of the ones you love.  And you can have it customized for however many hearts you want on it.  Now my main problem is with whatever we end up naming this baby.  If I put the kids in order of birth I have a J and an A so far…so it makes it very likely that what we choose for the next one could end up making a word.  So, do I potentially wear JAB, JAM, JAN, JAR, JAW, or JAY around my neck?  Do I wear the kids out of order? Or do I make sure to name the child something that won’t make a word.  Hmm….there’s much to think about.  Ok, kidding of course, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens.  I look forward to making my order.  Also, because that’ll mean we’ve finally met this little one since we are not finding out the gender, and therefore can’t know the name ahead of time.  It’s hard enough to make sure that one child’s initials don’t spell anything weird let alone worrying about if all the kids initials together spell anything.  Who knew?

But back to the beautiful shop of Mon Cadeau!  I have been a big fan for a long time.  I go back and forth about whether I favor big chunky jewelry or small minimal pieces.  But as most of the people who know me are aware, I end up wearing nothing most of the time because I am too busy getting others ready for the day to worry about myself.  I think having some of these lovely little pieces though would help inspire me to put something on though.  And they would go with anything.

Here are a few of my favorites.  You can click on any of the pictures to go straight to the listing.

The set above is a gift package for all your bridesmaids!  Great idea!

This bow necklace is one I bought for my sister last year.  I don’t currently see it in the shop.  I wish I had gotten one for myself too!  Maybe it’ll come back soon.

Oh, and as far as the necklaces being the reason for us having a third child….well, I’m kidding….or am I?!

Tags: custom, earrings, etsy, jewelry, mon cadeau, moncadeau, nekclaces, personalized gift, sterling silver

Camping with Kids

We did it again…we took the kids camping.  We knew that we needed to do it now while the weather was still cool and before I get too pregnant and don’t want to sleep on the ground.  Over all it all went great.  We did have a couple snafoos but the biggest thing was all my problem.  I’ll get to that at the end..so stick around.

We took our kids (now 2 and 4 years old) camping in the Fall and they did really well except for the going to bed part.  This time around we prepared ourselves mentally to just deal with the kids going to bed way later than we’d like so that it wouldn’t stress us out.  We also ran those kids like crazy to wear them out.  We went on a Thursday evening which worked great because we were the only ones staying there that night at the little private campground except for some people in an RV that didn’t come until it was bed time.

We spent the evening walking around, playing t-ball, letting the kids wander as long as we could see them (since we were the only ones there), playing with glow sticks, and an epic light saber battle.

Last time we were in the drought so we couldn’t have a campfire but this time we got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over one.  So much more fun that way!  We also made pancakes and bacon in the morning for breakfast.

After exploring the area in the morning we packed up and went home.  Ken had to work and I think we were back by 9:30.  It was perfect though because  the kids were a bit grumpy from lack of sleep and at this point we re just trying to let them have the “camping” experience.

 Could we get any more redneck here?  We couldn’t keep shoes on the kids the whole time.  Her shirt was drying by the fire since she had gotten drenched under the faucet.  Her face is covered in smores.  But boy is it good to be a kid!

At dusk a deer showed up.  It had a tag in its ear and was obviously used to being around people as you’ll see in the next picture.  I was a bit nervous about it all but thankfully the deer didn’t accidently bite them when they fed it graham crackers later.

This is what an epic light saber battle looks like in case you were wondering.

Ok, so now for the “fun” part.  I had been feeling great and apparently very hungry because I had two hot dogs and later two smores along with whatever fruit and chips we had with dinner.  Hours later when it was time to go in the tent around 9 pm we laid down to watch a little veggie tales movie to let the kids relax and I started feeling really awful.  It seemed to come out of nowhere.  I laid there very still the whole time just waiting for it to end…but it never did so after the movie was over I finally decided to try and walk outside to see if that would help.  Of course by this time it was completely dark so I could barely see anything.  I tried to find the zipper to get out but it was too late…I grabbed the nearest thing in front of me which was Josiah’s shirt from the day.  I used it to catch most of what I threw up but it got all in my hair and in my lap too.  Uggh, so gross, and now you get to be grossed out too!  Of course, did the kids get freak out…uh, no!  they were playing what Josiah later told me was called “push over”, a game where they were screaming and laughing while running back and forth in the tent and hitting the walls.  I started crying just because I was so mad that I had actually just thrown up in the small space that were supposed to sleep in that night.  Thankfully it was pretty contained and the floor of the tent is made of tarp material so it was easy to clean up.  Ken was so nice to wash the stuff that got messed up and I used a million wet wipes to clean up as well.

The kids were unphased and finally fell asleep after 10 pm.  Even though Audrey didn’t fall asleep until 10:48 it was huge because this was the first time she has fallen asleep on her own (without the help of the car) outside of her crib since she was an infant.  So, hopefully it’ll get easier and easier each time.  It better because in a few months these two will be sharing a room and will have to do this every night.  They totally feed off of each other which is what keeps them awake.  It can be really cute but is also frustrating since they are both obviously tired and you know they will be the next day as well.

So, even with those little issues we still had a great time and look forward to doing it again.  It was so sweet laying beside little Audrey as she slept.  In between her rolling around and slapping me in the face she would reach for my hand and hold it.  I am definitely glad I don’t sleep next to her every night but it was a good memory.

Tags: camping while pregnant, camping with kids

Sock Peanut

I was asked to make a sock peanut for a friend because her nephew’s nickname is Peanut and it was his first birthday.  This was definitely a first but it was fun to do.  He’s definitely kid friendly since there aren’t lots of pieces to pull off, just something squishy to snuggle.

Tags: sock peanut, sock toy, the nesting spot

Tin House for the Easter Bunny DIY

Here are the next items I made for the kids.  I had seen this adorable pattern for sale on etsy from mmmcrafts and wanted to try it for myself.  I loved the idea of a little toy that is easy to take along in your purse or even a pocket.

I didn’t end up buying her pattern though but made up my own.  I am sure it would be very helpful since the way I did it turned out to be quite a pain.  So definitely consider buy the pattern yourself if you want to make one.  I did make mine quite a bit more complicated though which is apparently what I like to do.  Anyway, I saw her sweet mice and figured I could make the ears a little different and make little bunnies for Easter.  I knew it’d be tricky though since the tins are small and there’s no extra room at all.

I laughed when I took these first pictures because it kind of looks like a coffin, but the kids will never consider that, so no worries!

I started by getting the dimensions of altoid sized tins (approximately 3 5/8″ x 2 1/2″ x 3/4″) and drawing little pictures of a boy and girl bunny that would fit inside.  I then picked my fabric and totally winged it on making the pattern pieces.  I just made each piece a little bigger than the way I drew it on the picture so there’d be a seam allowance.  Some of the pieces ended up being way to big so I later had to cut them down before sewing.  In the original the arms and legs are made from felt so she was able to sew them on the outside since felt doesn’t fray.  I used the same yellow flannel that I used for my bunny purse and so I had to sew them and turn them inside out.  This proved to be very annoying since all the pieces, especially the ears, were so tiny.  If I were to do it again I’d definitely go with felt.  It would cut down a lot on time and frustration.  I also made my head and clothes peices made from different pieces unlike the original.  Of course the less you have to sew the easier/faster it goes.  I used embroidery floss for the faces.  They turned out a bit wonky but that’s part of being handmade, right?!

One issue I came upon was that the pillows were filled too much and when the rabbit’s head laid on it the tin wouldn’t stay shut, they kept popping open.  I also had to take the boy bunny apart after sewing the head and shirt and shorts together because I realized I needed to have put the suspenders on already as well.  These types of things definitely happen when you make it up as you go.  But I got all the problems solved.  I did forget to put a tail on the back of the girl bunny, so if I think about it I’ll add one.

I didn’t want my tins to have altoids plastered on the front so I bought plain tins from an etsy shop called Five Seed.  Yancy was really great to work with and made a custom listing for me with the number I needed.  It looks like they may currently be out but you could always contact them to see if they are getting more in.  There are also some other sellers on etsy that have them as well.  Look in the supply category.

I still have some plans for the front of the tin.  I have a silhouette machine and have a bit of white vinyl left from what came with the kit.  If I have time and don’t forget I want to cut out either some type of design or the kids’ names or initials to put on the front.  If I do that I’ll share pictures.

It should be fun to see the kids’ faces when they open up the boxes and find what is inside. They both love playing with little containers and hopefully they’ll get some fun out of them.  I do wonder how long it’ll be though until little army men or something similar end up living in the box.  It was a fun project but I am glad I finished them.  Don’t know if I’ll ever make any more.  I guess if I do, I take the lessons I learned and hopefully do it a bit smarter next time.  But please, don’t ask me to make any for you.  Give it a go yourself by purchasing the pattern from mmmcrafts!

And if anyone is shaking their head at all this handmade stuff for the kids, don’t worry, I got probably 3 Easters worth of stuff today for the kids from some big box stores. 

Tags: altoid tin toy, diy, easter bunny, rabbit, sewing

Easy and Sweet Bunny Purse DIY

Hello again,

(note:  I wrote this post on Weds night but didn’t get it finished til Thurs morning, hence me talking about Thurs as tomorrow.)

I wanted to share a couple things I made for the kiddos for Easter this year.  One project was super easy, which I’ll share first, the other not quite as much.  I am also excited to get a small break tomorrow to do some shopping to get the rest of the items for their little baskets.  My pregnancy hormones have definitely been in full swing this week, so a break will do me good.  Tuesday morning I was feeling pretty overwhelmed and tired of being around the kids.  Part of that is because our son has been pushing every button we have lately.  Today I was weepy about something, can’t even remember what now.  I start week 15 tomorrow and even though my naseau has been very mild this go round I still have my moments.  We eat dinner at church every Weds. and after the meal tonight, Josiah decided to sit on my lap.  I was feeling very full and not too excited about him sitting on me, but because of our tensions as of late I thought it’d be good to love on him for a bit.  That was until I threw up.  I thought I could contain it but nope, it wasn’t a ton but it doesn’t take a lot of enchiladas on your shirt and pants to not be cool.  I don’t remember how Josiah ended up off of me.  I don’t know if I pushed him off when I knew it was coming or if he flew off but I am pretty sure the boy was safe from it.  The sweet thing was worried and ran and got me some napkins.  Of course (and thankfully) Ken and everyone else at the table was totally unaware of what had just transpired.  I tried to wash it all up but the rest of the night I could smell it on me.  Hopefully no one else noticed too much.  I tried to keep my distance from others.  Luckily, my husband works at the church and got me a shirt to wear from a previous youth event because after washing my shirt in the sink it was looking a lot like a wet t-shirt contest since it happened to be white.  Hopefully I won’t be repeating this any time soon.  Yea, for being pregnant!  If you enjoy reading about others’ miseries while being with child you can read about my blogging buddy, Ruthie’s fun times.

But enough of all that.  I got on here to show you some bunny cuteness!  A few days ago I saw the most adorable Easy Bunny Candy Pouch on Mer Mag.  I love, love, love it!  It is amazing how some of the simplest things can be just perfect.  I decided to make my own, but then thought about taking it a step further by adding a strap to make a little purse.  My daughter just turned 2 and is in love with using little purses and bags.  Merrilee made her pouch out of felt but I didn’t have any on hand that I could use.  I did have some yellow flannel though.  The problem is that if I were to just cut it and sew it like she did the felt it would fray.  So, I decided to cut it with my pinking shears.  This helps it not to fray.  It took me awhile to figure out what to do for the strap.  I wanted it to look a little different from the bunny so that it wouldn’t look like the bunny had huge ears coming off its head.  I started to try and weave some yarn like you do for a friendship bracelet but it was taking waaay to long to make it as long as I would need it so I stopped that and just braided 3 colors of yarn together (I used two strands for each color).  I was going to sew the strap between the layers of the ears but ended up liking how the tassels looked on the ears so I hand sewed the knot on and then when I sewed around the edge of the whole bunny I sewed over the braids for even more strength.  When Merrilee made her pouch she sewed all the way down the ears but I only sewed down a little bit on the inside of the ears so that the hole would be bigger.  It is all so easy and quick to make you can easily make a few!  Please visit her awesome blog to get her tutorial and template for the pouch.  I love how she ties the little ears together.  So sweet.  She is a talented artist.  Today she made a free printable to make Easter stickers.

Next, I’ll share a little toy I made for my kids.  I can’t wait to show you!

Tags: beginner, bunny, diy, easter bunny, easy sewing project, mer mag bunny pouch, purse, quick sewing project, rabbit, yarn

You Betsy: Easter Bunny Edition

Well, somehow Easter has snuck up and is just a couple weeks away!  I am actually thinking about it this year so I have been able to order a couple cute things from etsy.  I found the sweetest little bunnies that are hand knit by Elizabeth Ziegler from Periwinkle’s Market.  They come in three sizes:  3″, 4.5″, and 6″.  (The one pictured is 4.5 inches)  All sizes are the same price-just $8!!!!  You can also ask for any color you want or be surprised.  I loved the nubbly look of “honeysuckle” seen above.  She looks so cuddly and real.  I can’t wait for my kids to see the 6 inch version in their baskets Easter morning.  Elizabeth will also dab a little lavender oil behind the ears if you want a calming scent.  She was very nice and quick to answer my questions.  I can’t wait to get them and stroke their little bodies.

Update:  I just found out that Elizabeth and her mom work as a team.  Elizabeth does the knitting and her mom does the sewing and stitching up of the bunnies.  I just love it when families work together.  What a great way to spend time together.

If you have yet to find a bunny for your basket, you have to visit Periwinkle’s Market!  You can click on the pictures to go straight to the listing.

Tags: easter, easter bunny, etsy, gift, handmade, knit stuffed animal, lavender oil, periwinkle's garden