Weekend craft...

Most people know, I'm a "creative" type person.  Not to the degree some ladies are - but I like arts & crafts and using the creative side of my mind... Sadly, I never make time for that anymore.  This past weekend, I had planned on the usual cleaning, taking care of Aislynn, laundry, errands etc...  Saturday I was picking up Aislynn's hair bows all over the house & got inspired to make something to keep them all together.
I looked in my "craft box" to see what I had.  I grabbed some scraps of ribbon, some scrapbooking paper, a wooden frame I had gotten from a craft store a year ago (.75) and some left over paint from Aislynn's room.

I started by painting the frame a light teal color (same color as her accent wall).  I got some scrapbooking stickers, and spelled her name at the top.  Added a little "bling" (sticky rhinestones).

I tore 4 round pieces of scrapbooking paper, (various sizes) & crinkled them up a bit to turn into a rosette.

I did this all in Aislynn's room while she was playing around.  Of course she got her hand in the paint when I wasn't looking (a minor delay).  I got some Modge Podge and painted a light coat over the letters and frame (just to seal everything in).  It was looking very plain to me at this point... hmmmm... what to do next?

Aislynn was busy getting into her crayons & coloring - ("hmmm, crayons?" I thought I'd try something here...) And, this was a big fat NEG-O-TIVE! (blah!)

 Thank you magic eraser!  I was able to erase the stupid crayon squiggles.  I ended up hot gluing some ric-rac on the side - and added some more bling to the other side.

I then hot glued some strips of ribbon to the back of the wooden frame and cut them at various lengths.  One trick for "sealing" the end of ribbon (so it doesn't fray) is to take a lighter & very quickly run it over the end of the ribbon.  Seals it right up. (sorry, no pic of the fire-technique)

Last but not least, I glued my paper rosette to the corner - added some rhinestones.  I clipped-on her bows (the ones I could find) to the ribbon - hung on the wall with a thumb-tack and... VOILA!  A little Saturday morning craft.

Had I actually planned this out - I would've done something more cool with the frame (maybe distressed it, or added some other embellishments, so many other things I could've done!)  I also would've made the ribbons longer.  But even while looking after Aislynn - it only took me about 1 1/2 hours to do.   Oh, and sadly, I didn't have a picture handy to add to the frame.  I want to print a recent one of the three-of-us.

I really should make more time for my creative side.  (I used to be an avid scrapbooker & just haven't done it lately).  If only there were more hours in the day...

2 out of 1,000,000

These are just 2 out of 1,000,000 reasons why I LOVE Aislynn:

1.  She's learning to pray, and so she's stinkin' adorable doing it:

2.  She loves to help me - especially doing laundry (Need I say more?)

Thank you, God, for the sweetest little tender soul that you chose to knit inside of me. 

How much can you experience in 19 months?

Today, Aislynn is 19 months old! I feel like 18months was the top of the hill and now we're on our way down to 2 yrs. Amazing. I think about everything Aislynn has been able to experience during her first year & 1/2 (more than some adults!)

4 wks: First "outing" to the World of Coke (Atl, GA)

8 wks: First airplane ride to Colo. Spgs, CO - 8,000 feet high - first visit to the "mountains"

5 mths: Second airplane ride and trip outside of the US - Halifax, NS

6 mths: First road-trip to Tampa, FL (and wedding)

8 mths:  First time meeting Santa Clause



 13 mths:  Second road-trip to Orlando, FL - First visit to Disney World - First visit to the ocean (Cocoa Beach, FL)  AND, first time seeing a shuttle launch!

15 mths:  Third airplane ride and 2nd trip outside the US - Halifax, NS and 2nd trip to the ocean (Rainbow Beach, NS)

18 mths:  First time trick-or-treating (and one of her most fun experiences)

I look forward to all the other "firsts", (developmental, or just fun times).  Part of why I blog is to keep in touch w/ our out-of-state family... another reason is just to document & keep track of all the little details of her life that make me smile.  I don't want to forget anything.  A few funny things she's been doing the last couple weeks

• She tosses a toy on the ground & then says "Oh woooowww" or "Baw, baw, baw" (not sure what "baw" means yet)
• She says "oh yeah" & "wow" a lot (all the time, for everything)
• She grabs my sleeve and tugs me to get me to go somewhere with her, or do something (I love this)
• She still calls me "dada" - it takes a lot of work to get her to say "mama" willingly
• She points her finger & scolds Zeus (gee, wonder where she gets this from (*cough*daddy*ahem!)
• She says "Eye-la" for Aislynn and "Lay-la" for Alaina (her cute little gal pal)
• She gives LOTS of kisses now.  She puckers up and goes "mmmm" (I love these kisses!)
• She loves to chase and be chased - she loves when daddy tries to 'get her' and will cling to me, trying to hide from him.
• She loves to help mama: cleaning, laundry, washing herself in the bath, or helping me give Zeus a bath

Last but not least... I've mentioned the "Preggo Posse" or "Fab 5" before on here.  Shortly after I found out I was pregnant - I found out 4 friends of mine were also expecting.  We had fun keeping up with each other's pregnancies - asking each other questions - hanging out - then getting to celebrate when each of our babies were born.  These ladies have been encouraging - made me laugh - shared lots of great advice... and I'm just so grateful for their friendship.  My friend, Hillary, posted the best blog about the history of the Fab 5.  <----Check it out! 

The MOST FUN weekend!

What a weekend we just had!  The highlight was Halloween (but I'll get to that in a sec...)  My mom flew in Thursday eve.  I took Friday off, and we spent all day doing "Spring FALL Cleaning", starting on the kitchen.  It felt good just to pull everything out, organize, get rid of stuff - and make it all shiny & new!  Grandma surprised Aislynn with a new purse, some fancy beads, and a princess tiara (Ais is all girl!)

 

 

Saturday morning, Aislynn woke up early to draw a birthday picture for daddy.  It was Michael's big 32nd :)

I thought we'd give Michael a nice quiet morning to himself.  I dropped Zeus off at the groomers, and my mom and I thought we'd make a short trip to IKEA (my mom has never been before).  We started by having their .99 cent breakfast (yum!) - 3 hours later we barely escaped that place!!!  What was I thinking?  It took us 2 1/2 hours, just to get through the top level - by the time we realized what time it was - we quickly rushed through the lower level of the store.  Aislynn - was SUCH a trooper shopping with the big girls, being stuck in a stroller all day, and waiting patiently for lunch (not to mention, missing her morning nap).

We did a bit more cleaning, and finally cleaned ourselves up to go out to Rafferty's for Michael's birthday.  It was great - and Aislynn provided nothing more than pure entertainment. 

The waitress gave her a sticker

Cutest profile!

Grandma made a paper airplane out of her menu 

Waiting to catch the airplane  

Happy Birthday Daddy! 

Me & my may'an 

getting some good grandma time in 

Her "all eyes on me" smile

 Sunday = Church... It was nice to have my mom there and she was excited to get to hear me sing :) (Have I mentioned lately that I love my church, and all the people that help lead worship?) After church and lunch, we took Aislynn to the park and snapped some cute pics.  It was a beautiful Fall day, and I wanted to just get some good 18 month shots of her.  Just a few...

She's ALWAYS on the go!

Checkin out some acorn tops that grandma found 

When we got home the Sunday afternoon "laze" started creeping in, and I realized I was totally pooped from the last few days.  BUT - still so much cleaning and organizing to do... Somehow we managed to work a bit more - my mom made some yummy stew for dinner - and then it was time for TRICK OR TREATING!

This was definitely the highlight of my weekend.  My mom made Aislynn's costume - and we dressed her up as the cutest darn Minnie Mouse you ever did see (if I do say so myself). 

We thought we had a trick-or-treat plan.... A little church down the road was advertising a "trunk-or-treat" night for all kids.  Well, that turned out to be 6 parked cars, (no decorations), in a parking lot with a few people standing around.  Needless to say, we just kept driving after we saw that.  We tried heading to another church in Marietta who "supposedly" had trunk-or-treat - but no luck.  To prevent myself from getting TOTALLY frustrated... I quickly ordered Michael to just pull into some nice, random neighborhood. It turned out to be the BEST street for trick-or-treating!

Aislynn had no idea what this was all about.  This is what I was imagining was taking place in her little mind...

A: (Yippeee dooodly doo - I'm skipping along... Oh, where are we going mama? Visiting someone? I've never been here before)

Mommy: *ding-dong*

Lady:  "Oh look at you - how cute you are... Hi Minnie Mouse"

Mommy:  Say "trick-or-treat"

A:  (Do I know her? she's smiling... hmm, what's that bowl full of? Lot's of bright & colorful stuff in wrappers... Hmmm she's handing me some, should I take it?  Okay, I'll take this stuff...)
Mommy:  "Put it in your bucket"

A:  (Oh, is that why I'm carrying this around? okay... Hey, that lady is shutting the door - don't we go in there? Oh, we're leaving now?)
A:  (Hey, we're walking up to another house - skippy-doo-dee-doo-be-bop-dee-doo)

Mommy:  *ding-dong*
Guy:  "Happy Halloween - aren't you cute"

A:  (Okay, I def don't know that guy... but he's got another one of those bowls, and he's smiling... now he's handing me 2, no 3 of those wrapper things!)

Mommy:  "Go ahead, put it in your bucket"

A:  (Now what? aren't we going in that house?  He's shutting the door too...)

A:  (I'm not sure I quite understand what is going on here - but I'm getting stuff for my bucket... And we're walking again...  Hmmm, this time there's a chair with one of those bowls full of wrapper stuff, and a sign...)

Mommy:  "Go ahead Aislynn - you can take 2 candies"

A:  (I get to reach in there and take whatever I want?  This is fun!)

Mommy:  "No Aislynn, just take 2"
A:  (I think I'm getting the hang of this! - we're walking.. lets walk faster!

Mommy:  *ding-dong*

Lady:  "Awww, it's Minnie Mouse - you're so cute - here's some candy"

A: (Let me get this straight.... my mama takes me to all these doors, rings the doorbell, and then someone comes out and gives me lots of wrapped stuff for my bucket - I think they call it candy - I love this... lets run to the next house!)

 

 Hurry, let's run!

 

 Just got me some more candy...

 

By the time we reached the 3rd-4th house - Aislynn would just giggle her heart out and want to run to the next house.  She just couldn't get over the fact that people would open the door - hand her candy so she could put in her bucket.  She was so adorable just waiting there by the front door, knowing I would ring the doorbell and then someone would hand her candy. 

She was just so cute and this will totally go down in my mommy-memory as one of my favorite experiences.  There's nothing like seeing Aislynn get to trick-or-treat for the first time :)  And, she made out pretty good - her bucket got heavy & by the end of the night, she was practically dragging it.  Some people would try to put the candy in her bucket - but she would always take it from their hand & put it in herself.  The best part, is that she didn't realize what she was getting.  She's never had candy - but she knows that GOOD stuff comes in bright colored wrappers.

When we got to the car - I let her have a little kit-kat stick... she chomped it down so fast and was saying "moooore" while her mouth was still full.  She KNOWS candy now :)  and she knows it stays on the kitchen counter in her orange pumpkin bucket.  Today, she ate her lunch & dinner so fast, only to point at the bucket and say "dat!" (then sign "please").  She earned it!  **Props to the people who went all out with decorations, gave lots of goodies and even a glow-necklace... That is what makes Halloween fun**

I dreaded Monday - but only worked 1/2 day - came home with lunch, and then spent the rest of the day trying to wrap up some cleaning/organizing with my mom.  I'm still up - and I'm totally pooped but kind of "delirious" awake.  We have to leave at 4 am!!! And here I am - trying to update my blog (what better to do, right?) oh yeah... SLEEP would be nice.

All that to say - I had an awesome weekend.  Aislynn LOVED getting to bond with her grandma.  She was so entertaining and I SWEAR said 10-15 new words!  She sang all weekend and even learned a new song that grandma taught her.  Such an imagination she has - and she loves pretending. 

Back to reality... Keep jammin'