They're here!



A little over 2 weeks ago we celebrated the birth of our twins. On July 9th I got up bright and early for my scheduled C-section (Samuel was breech the ENTIRE pregnancy, little stinker). I was nervous having only experienced vaginal deliveries before but it all went quickly and smoothly and at 8:13am Samuel Craig came into the world weighing 7lb 5oz, followed immediately by Amelia Joyce at 8:14 weighing 6lb 13oz. You read that right folks - about 14 pounds of baby in all. And that was at 37 weeks, imagine if I had gone longer! Such an answered prayer to have them come into the world healthy. They went to the nursery initially as is protocol for all C-section babies but joined me shortly in recovery and were with us the rest of our stay in the hospital. They were actually ready to be released before I was! Let's get on to the good stuff - pictures of my adorable babies.

My last pregnant picture, I think the day before delivery at 36w6d -

Here are some pictures from that first day:



And a few of my favorites since then:

We are just overflowing with new baby love (times two!) and getting used to being a family of 7. Looking forward to watching them grow but so trying to cherish this sweet time that I am sure will fly by. Lack of sleep and all!

{No-Sew} Fabric Scrap Tutus

A few years ago I made a no-sew tulle tutu for my niece's 2nd birthday. It was so easy and I have been meaning to make more, especially now that I have a second niece to spoil! So when I saw the new trend of fabric scrap tutu's, I knew that I had to give those a try.

This was a super easy project and took no time at all. And what a great way to use up your scrap pile! Here is how my youngest niece's skirt turned out:

Hers is made up of 4 different fabrics and I cut a point on the ends of the orange flowered strips for some extra dimension

Want to see how I did it? Let me walk you through the steps I took on my older niece's skirt. To get started you want to measure the waist of the person you are making it for (I used my 4 year old to get a rough estimate) and then subtract 3 inches. This is how much elastic you want to cut. I believe I am using the 1 inch wide elastic here. Then you want to sew the two ends together to create a waistband. (Okay, I said no sew but this step is super easy so I don't think it counts:)

Then you want to find some coordinating fabrics and start cutting strips. My strips are between 1 and 2 inches wide and to determine length just measure from the waist to wherever you want the skirt to hit and then double. It doesn't hurt to go a little longer because you can always trim it down. You can also cut the different fabrics in various lengths for dimension. The number of strips you need is going to depend on how big your skirt is. For this skirt I used almost 50 strips (this isn't all of them, I had to add some at the end):

Now you are ready to assemble your skirt. Find a comfy seat {and if you are like me, some ridiculous Reality TV show to past the time} and slide the elastic band up over your thigh.

At this point you need to decide what order you want to add your fabric in. You can alternate colors in an ABCD pattern or clump them together in various ways - AABCCD or ABACAD, etc. This will depend on what you want your skirt to look like and how much of each fabric you have. You can also just wing it as you go and see what looks good. When this is decided, you can start adding the fabric to the waistband. This is done with a simple slipknot (I will label the directions with numbers that correspond with the following pictures for those of you who need a visual). Fold a strip of fabric in half so that the non-pattern sides are touching[1]. Slide the folded piece of fabric under the elastic[2]. Create a loop at the top of the fabric[3] and pull the ends through the loop[4]. Pull and adjust until it has created a tightened knot on the waistband[5].

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

Continue doing this until your entire waistband is covered and you have a full skirt.

You can see that I got through my first pile of fabric strips and had a gap so I had to find some more fabric to add to it. The nice thing is that you can slide the knots around so you aren't limited to adding to the gap, fill that fabric in wherever you want to:

I also added in a few ribbon strips and a bow and then I was done!

This is such a versatile pattern, you can feel free to add in ribbon or tulle as you go for accents or embellish with fabric flowers or bows. The possibilities are really endless! Wouldn't this be fun in team colors for a little fan? I think tights and boots would be darling with these skirts. Can't wait to see them on my already adorable nieces!

{Waste Not} Vegetable Broth

Two weeks ago I made my first homemade chicken broth. I am totally hooked! So when I read this post from Simply Frugal on making your own vegetable broth I knew I had to try it. I think that what I love most about this is that it is frugalness at it's best...not only do you save money by making your own broth versus buying it, but it doesn't cost you anything to begin with because it simply contains all the scraps from the vegetables you are already using! I am so smitten with any thing that lets us pinch that penny a little further {my husband works HARD for those pennies and the more I pinch them, the more I have him home to pinch as well} so I knew this would be right up my alley. Plus, anything homemade is just better.

Have I lost some of you already? Those of you who hear homemade stock and imagine slaving over a stove for hours and doing 20 different steps...have you tuned out? Don't! Trust me when I say this is easy. Don't believe me? I dare you to keep reading. Don't make me bust out the double dog dare!

First step: Save all of your veggie scraps. Really, anything goes just make sure it is clean and not rotting. Throw said scraps into a resealable bag and keep in freezer until full. Here is my first full bag from the last week or two - celery stalks, cucumber and mexican squash peels, onion and garlic skins, cauliflower bits, bok choy stems, pepper tops and some other random stuff.

Second step: Once you have a bag full of scraps you are ready to make your stock. Dump the bag in a stock pot and top with water (don't even have to bother defrosting!).

Third step: Put it on the stove, add black pepper and a bay leaf and put it on high until boiling. Then turn it down and let simmer for an hour {this is where all you busy folks walk away and get an hours worth of stuff marked off your to-do list}:

Fourth step: Let the broth cool down, strain out the veggies and store in a sealed container in the refrigerator or in the freezer. I am saving large yogurt containers for keeping this in my fridge. For freezer storage try putting the broth first in ice cube trays and then into a ziploc bag will allow you to grab the amount you need without defrosting an entire batch. Want to keep those veggie scraps working for you? Add them to your compost!

So...did I keep my promise? That was easy, huh? Let me know if you try it and for those of you who are light years ahead of my homemaking and already do this, feel free to share how you do it and what you use it for. I am planning to use part of this first batch in cooking some dried garbanzo beans for homemade hummus. I think it is going to be great in some veggie chili as well!

Overnight Steel Cut Oatmeal (with an unexpected surprise!)

We are working on overhauling our breakfast....be looking for more on that in an upcoming post. Last night I decided to get a jump on this mornings breakfast by preparing oatmeal in the crock pot. I have done this before (see Peaches N Cream Crock Pot Oatmeal) but this was my first time using steel cut oats. Can I just do a quick plug for steel cut oats? First off, they are a better choice nutritionally as they have not been processed like old fashioned oats and therefore retain more of their nutrients (not to mention more of their flavor and texture) as well as taking longer to digest which means you stay full longer. Plus, when I bought them from the bulk bins they were the same cost per pound as old fashioned or quick cooking oats but I only had to use half the amount of uncooked oatmeal in my recipe to get the same amount of servings. GO STEEL CUT OATMEAL!!

Okay, enough of my random enthusiasm for oats. Lets get on to the recipe (and the surprise). The recipe I used called for 2 cups of steel cut oats and 8 cups of water in a 5-6qt crock pot. I decided to add 1 cup of pureed beets and a grated apple for fun color and added nutrition. I wish I would have taken a picture of this because it was dark purple as I mixed it all up and put the lid on. I was excited as I woke up this morning (takes 7 yo 8 hours on low) to see what would be waiting for me when I lifted the lid and saw....oatmeal. Plain brown oatmeal. Didn't look purple at all!! I was so surprised. But I guess this is a benefit if you don't want picky eaters {or leery husbands} asking 20 questions about the color of their oatmeal. Here's what it looked like before I stirred it all up (oh, and for your own sake - make sure to spray your crock pot with cooking spray first. I ALWAYS forget this step so you can guess what I will be doing later this morning scrub, scrub, scrub).

And in the bowl (seriously, no purple at all - still shocked by that!):

And with some of our yummy toppings like walnuts, almonds, raspberries and bananas:

Surprise aside, this was a truly delicious breakfast and my belly is nice and satisfied. The kiddos liked theirs with some milk and a little brown sugar for a slightly sweeter taste. Hope you give this a whirl and enjoy it as well:) Let me know what wonderful, and possibly surprising, things you mix in.

Magnetic Paper Dolls

I told you to be on the lookout for my post on Magnetic Paper Dolls...and now you can look no further! This is yet another Pinterest inspired idea. The amazing talent over at Make It and Love It created an awesome tutorial that I actually copied exactly for my nieces birthday.

Aren't they adorable? And this isn't even half the books worth of dolls and outfits so I can get a whole other gift out of the book. Great deal!

While I was making this set for my niece, my boys became totally enamored with it and I actually had to take it away from them to give it to her. It gave me the great idea to search something out for Isaiah who is getting ready to celebrate his second birthday. I came across this link for printable paper dolls and printed them out myself on card stock and then went about the same process of sticking them onto magnet paper and cutting them out. Easy peasy!

I really love the retro look of these and think they will be fun for my little guy. I see many more magnetic dolls in our future because the possibilities are truly endless. You can find all kinds of really cool printable paper dolls online that range from Little House on the Prairie, to wedding themed, to Princess dolls. And for boys you could do super heroes, dinosaurs, heavy machinery, and so on.  And this gift is truly affordable. Printing at home and picking up a cookie sheet at the dollar store makes for minimal cost there. And if you have a Hobby Lobby near you I recommend using their 40% off coupons to get cheap magnet paper. You know how much I love affordable, easy gifts that have that special homemade touch!

Gardening From Kitchen Scraps - Green Onions

Oh, the never-ending wealth of knowledge I receive from Pinterest! I totally have dreams of growing my own garden one day but in this season of life the idea of tending to it seems a little overwhelming. But I am thrilled to learn that there are some pretty easy ways to grow veggies from what I already have in my kitchen with very little time or effort involved. Just my kind of project!

This week I decided to try to grow some green onions. Seemed easy enough. Take a bunch of green onions, cut of the bottoms, place in a jar of water in the window and done. No really, that's it. Too good to be true? Maybe. Let's see how it worked for me.

This is what my green onions looked like the first day when I started this little experiment:

And this is what they looked like exactly one week later:

Pretty awesome, huh? I can just start trimming them off and using them whenever I need and they will continue to grow over and over again. The only upkeep involves changing out the water and rinsing off the roots every once in awhile. I can handle that!

~Thank you Homemade Serenity for the idea~

***Update - Wanted to come back real quick and update you on this. We got 2 great re-growths out of this bunch and then nothing worth using after that. I still think it is worthwhile and a good way to stretch each bunch:) 

Let's talk Pinterest!

Okay, I'm officially hooked. Like most other things I am a little behind in jumping on the band wagon but now that I have I am glad I did! There are so many great ideas floating around Pinterest and even more than that I love that I have one place to keep them all. My brain could never begin to hold all of the recipes, crafts, decorations, etc that I see and want to remember in the future. And now it doesn't have too! All my future plans are neatly pinned on my boards for just that moment when I am ready to make a new recipe or start a new craft. Brilliant!

Because I am always falling in love with ideas I find there and I have this blog to share what I love, I thought I would start trying to post some of favorite finds from Pinterest. Things I can't wait to try or things I got inspired to try. What do you think? I don't know if this will be a weekly thing or a here and there thing...we'll see! But if you want to see all the things I am finding feel free to hit the Follow Me button to the left of this post:)



This week I am going to share a few of the things I have been inspired to do or make. Click on the caption if you want to see the original source and start creating yourself:)

This Countdown to Thanksgiving turkey from my last post was Pinterest inspired:)

 

 

My boys are loving my twist on the dinosaur hats pattern I found!

 

Matching winter hats for my nieces made out of old fleece pajama pants

Want to know what the number one Pinterest inspired item I have been making lately is? Anything pumpkin flavored!! Here are some links to the recipes my family tried and liked:
- Pumpkin Cornbread - http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2010/10/01/pumpkin-cornbread/
- Pumpkin Fudge - http://sweetpeaskitchen.com/2010/10/21/pumpkin-fudge/
- Pumpkin Pancakes - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Pancakes/Detail.aspx
- Pumpkin Gingerbread - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/pumpkin-gingerbread/detail.aspx


Finally, with Thanksgiving a little over a week away (really??) let me share with you all the Thanksgiving decor and crafts I have been inspired by. This will take you to my board full of pins dedicated specifically to Thanksgiving: http://pinterest.com/chrystalscorner/thanksgiving-decor-and-crafts/

Happy Pinning, as they say!

Halloween Fun

Our family won't really be celebrating Halloween on the day this year as my husband is working night shift and that is when we would normally go to our church's Harvest Festival. But that doesn't mean we haven't had plenty of Halloween fun already!

Last weekend we made our annual fall trek to Greenbluff for some fun on the farm. This year we picked Walter's Farm where we met up with my brother and his family for some pony rides, tractor rides through the orchard, and of course scouring through the pumpkin patches for just the right gourd.

Jordan riding Daisy

Daddies took the kids through the orchard

Isaiah found one just his size

Shouldn't the ones with all the energy be pulling the cart instead of riding in it?

 

 

Friday Nathan's school was having a Family Pumpkin Carving Contest. So my husband let his creative juices flow and they put together this really adorable Pumpkin Piggy Bank. Nathan proudly came home with a 3rd place ribbon in the Creative category! While he was at school Jordan worked on a tribute to his favorite food by carving his pumpkin into a hotdog:)

He's proud, can you tell?

3rd Place! He actually got a nice silk ribbon to keep as well:)

 

 

Mmmmm....Hot dog!

We rounded out the Halloween fun by heading to the town my brother and his family live in to attend Pumpkin Lane on Saturday. This is a two hour block of time where all the businesses hand out candy as families walk through town from place to place. We have been doing this for several years now and always have a blast. Next year we are thinking about all coming together with a theme for costumes. After all, we now have 9 people between our 2 families so that gives us a lot to work with! This year we had a hodge-podge of costumes. Nathan was in a homemade dinosaur costume, Jordan has been begging for months to wear the chicken costume Nathan wore 2 years ago, and Isaiah was in a monkey costume we have had for years. Easy peasy!

Dinosaur tail from Isaiah's birthday party, crocheted dinosaur hat and Daddy's make-up job:)

Yes, he's a chicken (but doubling as an Angry Bird!)

Our cute little cookie faced monkey

So indicative of their personalities - our happy dinosaur, angry chicken and confused monkey:)

All in all we have had a great October. Looking forward to the coming months and all of the holiday fun still to be had.

First Day of School

The time has come - My first born started school today. All day Kindergarten to be exact. To be honest I am kind of glad it is all said and done. I have been anxious about this day and spent a lot of time thinking about it so it feels good to have jumped this hurdle. It has been such a mix of emotions as we celebrate this milestone as well as say goodbye to the stage in our life where all of our kids are home with us everyday. I know that this is just the beginning of these types of days as our kids continue to grow and take on new things and it makes me want to hit the pause button. It's all going too fast!

That being said I am completely confident in Nathan. He has been ready for this day for sometime and was nothing but excited. In fact, he was up and ready by 6:15 all on his own! He was very concerned about being late for his first day and kept asking when he could leave. He also told Jordan that he would make sure to find every red thing (Jordan's favorite color is red) in his class so he could tell him all about it when he got back. So cute:)

Last night we got everything ready, including lunch. Sunday night I made ahead his sandwiches for the week and froze them so that made things even easier. I did a special dinosaur shaped sandwich to match the lunch box note I made him. Hope it brightens his day!

We of course had to do the obligatory first day of school pictures before heading out. Jordan just had to be in one with him! And I got the idea for the K sign here (they have free printable card which is way easy and cute!).

When we arrived at the school we prayed with Nathan about his day and then I let Jeremy take him to play on the playground while he waited to line up outside of his classroom. Poor Jordan burst into tears as soon as Nathan got ready to get out of the car. It was so hard to wait and watch from afar but I'm glad I stayed in the car because I probably would have embarrassed him! Jeremy said he did great and lined right up when the bell rang. I'm so proud of my little man. Counting down the hours until I get to hear all about his day:)