JOYfully featured!

Head on over to my friend, Nicole's super cool new blog called "Doodles and Stitches" where she features some of her 'trash to treasure' furniture projects and various sewing, crafting, and cooking ideas.  Last week, in her link party, I was the winning 'craft feature.' Click the link below to join the party!

"write" stuff

I have to admit, it's always annoyed me a little when people get all sniffly about their 4 year olds graduating from preschool. I mean, c'mon! They aren't leaving HOME or anything??!! What's with all the whining? With my older two children, I was ECSTATIC...couldn't WAIT for them to start kindergarten and watch them grow & learn. But...this past week, I became annoyed with MYSELF! My baby girl graduated from preschool and is rolling on into kindergarten in the fall and I found myself being all...sniffly...

Can you even STAND the cute-ness of this photo? (FYI...Have you tried PIC MONKEY? If you were a PICNIK user, you should visit this FREE site.  I edited the above photo at PicMonkey.) She was so excited to toss that cap that she was the very first one! That's not the only thing she's eager for...she cannot WAIT to go to kindergarten and be 'big' like her brothers. Don't misunderstand me - I was a little sad watching my boys hop out of the van in car line & march into the school, but this was the LAST preschool graduation I would sit though...the LAST year to have a child to myself 3 days a week. Just made me a little sad...PROUD...but sad.

Ok...now onto the craftiness!! I've always had my kids give their friends little treats on holidays & at the end of the school year. Ever since I got my Silhouette SD machine, I have been putting vinyl on EVERYTHING it seems and shopping at Walmart or Target is not the same anymore. Now, it seems I walk through the aisles looking for items to customize! So, when I saw these sidewalk chalk buckets at Walmart for only $1.00 -- I knew they'd be perfect little treats for her fellow preschool grads.

The font I used is called SMILEY MONSTER and you can download it HERE for free! Browse around while you're there - that site is amazing! I use this font ALL the time! I also made a tag that says "You've got the WRITE stuff. Happy Graduation"  My little grad was thrilled to gift them and they were equally happy to receive them.

As I sign off for this post, I'll share one more pic from the Williams Family LAST preschool graduation. We're so proud of you, Ally-boo! We know the Lord has great things in store for you, sweet girl. "For I know the plans I have for you...plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

JOYfully Linking Up:

joyful about baseball

My husband has played baseball his whole life and I know he'd love nothing more than for his boys to enjoy it as much as he does (still). Our oldest son is talented other ways and it's just not his passion. Our middle child might not be the most talented player, but his passion for the game is certainly growing! I just wanted to share some shots I've gotten lately that captures his love of this American tradition.

 Talking to Dad after he got on base

 Props from Daddy

 So disappointed when he strikes out

 This stinker has to PEE everytime he gets on base!

 2 of my boys

 I shot this thru the chain link fence of the dugout. Love how it frames his face.

 His first double!

 On base again...ready to go!

This face just says it all!

joyfully celebrating

We celebrated some birthdays recently and I wanted to share some pics from the parties. My Jake had a LEGO party. This child is from the same cloth as his mother - begins planning the party for next year the day AFTER his party! So, I had plenty of time to gather up ideas and let me just say...PINTEREST is my friend! If you'd like to see where some of my ideas originated from,  check out my Pinterest board I call "If I Step on one more Lego".

 LEGO-filled vase for table

 homemade LEGO pinata

(aka cardboard box spraypainted)

 cookie cake NOT homemade - purchased from Sam's Club & decorated w/Legos

 wrapped juice boxes w/LEGO water bottle labels

 Our Lego-Man Jake - Happy Birthday!

Next birthday party was for our Ally, who turned 5. She's like her brother in that she likes to plan the party, but isn't as full of ideas like he is. Again, PINTEREST is my party-planning friend. I collected ideas on a board I named "Look whooo's having a party". I guess you can tell from that title that we had an OWL party. I had gotten the idea to let the girls make stuffed owls after I saw this AWESOME "Night Owl Party" on a blog called "Snowy Bliss" HERE. Holy Owl - I don't have NEAR the time or talent that this woman has, so I revised mine a bit. Anyway, here are a few shots from the "Make An Owl Friend" party.

 cupcakes made by my 11-year-old friend, Taylor...seriously good!

Those little "A's" are white chocolate! Printed toppers by me.

 Birthday Girl with her owl outfit..and felt crown

 The party room

 See the feathers? Those were HER idea...and I let her.

The "Make An Owl Friend" Room

 The poem on their "owl friend" bags - again, snagged from "Snowy Bliss"

 Warming our owls' hearts

My Birthday Girl with her new owl friend

Love my babies. Can't believe how 8 and 5 years have passed SO quickly. My oldest will be a TEENager this year..yikes! I wouldn't trade a day. And as my Grammie used to say, "My cup runneth over." Oh how I wish she could've met my 3 little blessings. She would've loved every minute. Be blessed...and find JOY in the little things :)

joyful about book character day

To celebrate the birthday of Dr. Seuss, my son's school hosted a "Book Character" day. I would've LOVED to have rummaged up a costume of a character from his favorite book series, "Geronimo Stilton." Aside from putting together a 3 piece suit, I just didn't have it in me this week to put that together. Our little guy just *loves* monkeys, so I thought the "man in the yellow hat" was a good fit.

SERIOUSLY easy costume >> Yellow foam hat in summer crafts at Hobby Lobby, foam sheet for necktie (w/elastic) and a yellow tshirt, also from Hobby Lobby. And, because he loves ALL monkeys, we already had a Curious George. Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

speaking for the trees

In preparation for the National Education Association's "Read Across America" next week, I designed some *free* water bottle labels to share with you.

CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE THE IMAGE FOR YOUR *FREE* DOWNLOAD!

LORAX_waterbottle label

joyfully reading

Reading has not always been my strong suit but in my adult years, have learned to enjoy a good book series. Strangely enough, our oldest son can be found every evening at bedtime with his nose in a book. He loves a good series too. His love of reading really began with the Percy Jackson series and, recently, the Hunger Games series.

Like any parent would, I tried showing interest in what he was reading by asking questions. One time, after I asked more questions than I guess he wanted to answer, my 12 year old says to me, "Why don't YOU read it and we'll go see the movie together?" The movie will be released on March 23rd.

 

The book series has a huge following and it's going to be BIG!  I started the first book over Christmas break and had no problem flipping through it in a few days but haven't made it all the way through the 2nd book. He cannot wait for me to finish, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to share something special with my young fella.

Speaking of reading...Did you know next week is NEA's National 'Read Across America' Day? The LORAX is the book that has been selected. You can read more about it here. I thought I'd share some of the projects I created last year for my daughter's preschool class for Dr. Seuss Week. I love Seuss stuff!! So colorful and fun!

These are some marshmallow pops that I made with wooden dowels & jumbo marshmallows, decorated with a little squirt frosting...super easy! I put some floral foam down in the bottom of the bucket & pressed the dowels into the foam. An afterthought I had was that some aqua tissue paper would've been cute to stick out of the bucket, mimicking the "Thing" hair. I also created some water bottle labels.

CLICK THE LINK ABOVE THE IMAGE FOR YOUR *FREE* DOWNLOAD.
Dr Seuss Water Bottle[1]

Visit here again for more *free* water bottle labels. Now...GO AND READ!