Busy Busy Beaver

Today I feel like I ran a marathon!!!  If you can consider having to run to the grocery store (4 times!!!) making two different types of dessert, dinner, starting some sewing projects, enjoying the 65 degree weather and getting snapshots of my lil lass and lads decked out in their Irish glory a marathon.  Maybe a relay...but I didn't pass the baton off.  Oh well.  I'm exhausted!  So I'll post a few pics and links then call it a night!!

We started off the day by getting ingredients for a Guinness chocolate cake and the corned beef and cabbage and the shirts I needed to make some spring tie tees I'm making.  I got to the car and realized I didn't get potatoes OR cabbage.  {Ha!}   So I ran back in to get those two things and saw there was a huge display of Smithwicks and walked out with a 12 pack in tow.  {Yes!!!}

After getting the kids in their green, I sent Briana off to school and Brayden and I started in on our rainbow cupcakes and as I dropped the whole egg (shell and all) let out a little mutter and ran back to the store.  When we got home we started again, this time I was more aware of what I was doing and they turned out beautifully!  Like little clouds of homemade butter cream frosting with rainbows beaming out of them!  Except after indulging in one we found there was no pot of gold.  Maybe next year. 

Then I started the Guinness chocolate cake.  I had to go back to the store when I realized I ran out of powdered sugar.

{sigh}

First of all, the smell was amazing, while melting Guinness with cocoa powder and butter!!  And it was really easy to make too.  I did substitute low fat yogurt for the sour cream though.  And when it came time to frost (to make it appear like a pint of Guinness) I realized I hadn't purchased enough cream cheese, but I was NOT about to run back out, so I just adjusted the recipe a bit.  It wasn't as sweet I think as it would have been, but that works well for me!  I used one block of cream cheese, an eight oz container of whipping cream-whipped and one cup powdered sugar. 



All in all, we had a great day!! 



I'm Gonna Getcha!

It's time for leprechaun traps!!  Hope everyone got theirs out today for those little mischievous fella's! 

Briana is at such a fun age right now.  Her teacher wasn't able to have the kids do their own traps at school this year, but she did say if we made our own, to bring it in for 'show and tell' today. 

Of course I had forgotten about the project until this morning at about 9am. 

So off to Michael's I went, hoping to score some good deals but hoping more to find what I needed on such short notice!!

So here is what I came up with.  Green felt.  Green clear shamrocks.  An Irish themed floral piece.  Some Ferrero Rocher candies.  Some Irish ribbon. 

I already had a can and the ladder, so I had something to go off of!

So the theme of this years Leprechaun trap is a HUGE Leprechaun hat!  Since we know how those silly guys like to have the biggest and best stuff out there, we thought "how tempting would a HUGE hat be!??"  (Especially with a huge golden nugget of Ferrer Rocher on top!)

To assemble the hat we used all the items mentioned above and a hot glue gun.  Unfortunately I forgot to get black and yellow construction paper so i cut up an old black sock (it was clean!!) and the buckle was white construction paper colored in with a yellow marker.

First I cut out all the shapes needed from the felt...a large circle for the brim, a small circle with a notch, and the rectangle for the main part of the hat.  And then as each was cut I glued them onto the can.  To cut the small circle with the notch, I used the lid from the can so it was the correct size.  The notch is so that you can glue it to the can, but not all the way around.  This is how you trap your Leprechaun!  It's a false floor!

Then I added the rest of the decorations and glued the ladder onto the whole thing.  Let's not chide ourselves, my daughter is 6, and rides the bus.  If I didn't glue it on, it would have been lost!

And apparently her teacher liked hers so much, she asked her to keep it in the classroom overnight to see if they could catch their Leprechaun.  I was a little disappointed because now I can't see her bubble with excitement as she peers into the can to see if her tiny man is hiding in there... 

But she was VERY proud of her handy work...

Here is the finished result...

Did I mention she wanted to wear her St Patrick's day

 dress today instead of tomorrow?  Well, I had picked up a men's tee shirt at Old Navy on sale and was planning on making her a dress out of it for the St Patrick's day event at church, but she begged me to finish it this morning before school.  So after we made the Leprechaun hat I ran down to the sewing machine and threw it together. 

Of course I couldn't stop there!  She accidentally broke the headband I purchased from etsy last week, so I took the left over ribbon from the hat, sewed in some elastic, and snipped off the bow from the ruined headband, and hot glued it into the new one.  I felt like super woman!

I hope you all catch yourselves a wee little Leprechaun and have a happy and safe St Patrick's day!!

Easter Outfits

I am in love with these kids!!!  They look too darn cute in the Easter outfits I made for them. 

As always, anything you see here can be purchased in my etsy shop.  I will set up a custom listing for you!

I started of just wanting to take a few pictures for my blog but I think I ended up with about 40! 

Trying to get my 4 month old baby to cooperate was a little challenging, but I figured out that the bumbo seat was a good compromise...

The boys are wearing Old Navy jeans (on sale this week!!) and matching navy blue and white boat shoes. I also used their super soft tee's for the tie tees.  I LOVE Old Navy!  I haven't found shoes for Briana yet, but the brown patent leather mary janes are okay for now.  

Silly Gus

We love the bumbo seat! 

He is so handsome!

Can you tell I like snapping shots of the kiddo's?

Charlie is SO tall!  Yes, he is only 4 months old!

I bought their shoes at Old Navy...I love how I can shop in one section for my boys and just buy two different sizes right now! 

Old Navy boat shoes

These two make me smile all day long!

Brayden got a case of the silly's when we were in the middle of the photo shoot...

doing a lil dance

Briana adores getting her picture taken!

What a sweet smile!

Charlie wanted to eat everything in sight.  Gotta love teething.

she's got that mama look down already!

My monkeys!

Briana really does love taking care of Charlie.

What a good big sis

The headband I made was so easy and I think it is just beautiful!!

I used the same technique as in the shamrock.

I swear, only one more picture.  I loved how Briana and Brayden were playing 'ring around the rosey' behind Charlie.  It made for a cute picture.  If only Charlie was looking more at me and smiling.  {wink}

I am extremely pleased with how the sibling outfits turned out! 

Catching Up...

Two posts in one night!??  {gasp!}

Well about a week ago I ordered a necklace that I knew I had wanted for months...even before I had Charlie.  I knew I wanted a 'nursing necklace' but I just hadn't gotten around to ordering one. 

I've seen several types out there.  But then when surfing Etsy I came accross this one and loved it at first sight!

Its perfect for anyone that:

1) has a baby

2) is nursing their baby

3) has a baby that pulls on their hair

4) has a baby that likes to chew on everything

5) has a baby that likes to hold pretty things

The list could go on and on, but you get the point.  I didn't think I would honestly like it as much as I have found I do!!  So thanks "my lil market" for putting out such a great product!

Ruffle Top Dress

The ruffle top dress is done!!  I'm happy with how it turned out, but of course have a few changes to make the next time I make one.  I'm never satisfied!!  {gah!}

Anyway, Briana of course loves the dress!  I love the fabric I chose!  Its a Laura Gunn print called Poppy Denim Dogwood Stripe.  I used a heavy weight fabric that looks like linen for the border and the tie.  What I don't like about it is how thin I made the white ruffle band up top.  I think I will at least double the size next time around.  I also am not completely happy with the width of the dress as a whole, so next time I will add a few inches around.  But it sure does show off Briana's baby blue eyes!!!

This is what I mean...I think the ruffle band should be the same width as the straps maybe...

...and maybe if it were wider, it would be 'fuller' looking too

I love the little 'v' in the back with the straps!

she loves it!

love her blue eyes!

she really isn't bashful....

Next I will be making a head band for the outfit and maybe ruffle leg warmers?  And the boys material came in for the ties for their shirts and I'm in love with that too! 

My sister is having me make her niece an apron, so those pics will come shortly as well!!!

My Baby Is A Third Of A Year Old

I can't believe it. 

Charlie is 4 months old. 

Its gone by so quickly this time around.  He is growing by leaps and bounds!  In just one month he went from being a typical newborn, to being a professional infant.  Why does it have to go by so fast??

My sister made me month by month photo stickers so I can have cute pictures of the lil man as he grows, and here is the big number 4!!

you can gaze into my eyes anytime

"wonder if I can get this off...."

look at those piggies!

my chunky monkey!

chewing on everything in sight now

{Deep sigh}

Pretty soon he will be eating baby food and crawling.  But for now, today, he is my little cuddle bug and I'm loving every second of it!

Photo's By Becca

I love taking pictures...cataloging my life is how I see it.  Today I had baby Lexi over trying on her new blue dress and of course had to share them!  She is such a beautiful baby!



I love this color blue on her!  Look at those eyes!

The dress isn't that bad either.  {wink wink}

Please send me a message if you would like to order something from my shop!





Éireann Go Brách

Happy Saint Paddy's day everyone!

We are very excited to celebrate our Irish heritage...the kids (meaning mostly me) wanted to get their green on yesterday for church, so I took that opportunity to snap some pics of the cute outfits I made for them this year. 

 Cáilín álainn (Gaelic for pretty girl)

A glagaire (Gaelic for silly boy)

Glaicín (Gaelic for little bundle)

Mo ghrá, mo clann (Gaelic for my love, my children)

I'm very excited for the St. Patrick's Day event at our church this year.  Irish music, Irish food, Irish dancing, Irish beer...  Oh, and for the men, they have March Madness on some huge TV's.  Maybe I should bring a babysitter...

Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

English to Gaelic translation