Inside Outside Inside

A yummy little something for your inside:

 Made these by request for Stephen's birthday. First started making them last summer and they are delish! Get the recipe HERE. Only, make cream cheese frosting instead. And fill with caramel syrup. And top with chopped pecans and a cherry!  Don't worry if they don't dome like cupcakes normally do- they are moist on the inside! :) YUM :)

And a few goings on outside around here lately as we pretend it's warmer than it really is:

 Coop and Ry discovered Taron and Keaton's old bike helmets recently and now wear them around like an essential- silly silly!

Guess this is inside, but oh well... this picture characterizes Ryder right now! He is fixated with shoes! Yes, by the end of the day I swear I am buying one single pair of sandals for summer!


K, here's the real outside pics... LOVE these of them both- they are really diggin' their bikes right now.

And to come inside again.... A fun little craft we did recently. Cute little bubble wrap crocodile! You can learn how to do it HERE. (I just used punched paper circles and marker for our eyes, though.)

Coop really enjoyed this little guy while he lasted! :)

Meaningful Monday: Hardship and Sorrow

Meaningful to me today: Herein I wax philosophical...

My patriarchal blessing tells me there will be "days of hardship and sorrow" in my life. Big words, eh? I think about them A LOT. Every day. Have I really experienced what I would consider "hardship and sorrow" in my life so far? Some days, or probably really some moments, I think YES! This is hardship, or this is sorrow.

But has it been really? 

And is it self-inflicted? I've been thinking lately about how our choices, and our pride, create our hardships and sorrows. Hardship and sorrow, and embarrassment, disappointment, regret.

And to really get complex, how do our ideals vs. reality contribute? One of my favorite movies growing up was Anne of Avonlea. If you know it, you're smiling right now at the thought, right? :) Anyhow, in the end, Anne tells Gilbert...

"I went looking for my ideals outside of myself

and found that it's not what the world holds for you,

but what you bring to it."

Am I bringing what I can to make my reality my ideal? What would you say about yours?

And the next time I think about hardship and sorrow, I hope I'll remember this image:

And offer a prayer of thanks for my blessings, for simple goodness, for ideals and reality.

Stinkin' Cute Shabby Shoelaces!

I recently saw the cutest shoelace idea on a fun new blog called Sara vs. Sarah! Sometimes I see ideas that just stick and a green light comes on in my head. This was one of those and I almost immediately set to work to make Coop a pair of his own!

Boy did this project make me wish I had a serger! (I'm going to learn how to use my Mom's old one before too long hopefully!) Since I've thought of a different way to do it to keep them from fraying... Anyhow, aren't they about the cutest thing ever?! Perfect for riding bikes...

Jumping on the tramp... just being a boy :)

My favorite part- Cooper loves showing them off! He happily displayed them across the fence to our neighbor and to Grandma Janie. Love love love, projects that can be called CUTE but are still do-able for boys! Will be making more of these no doubt... Thanks Sara vs. Sarah for a great idea and a fun new blog find!

Linking to: My Backyard Eden, What are Little Boys Made Of and Momnivore's Dilemma!

Meaningful Monday: Taking the Plunge

I guess it's still Monday... barely! Such is life...

Meaningful to me right now: For quite awhile now I've wanted to try listing some of the crafty things I make on Etsy, a site for selling handmade goods. But I just hadn't taken the plunge!

Recently I started swapping my creations on a fun site called whoopdwhoop, where I earn points for creations that people request from me, then use those points to request things from others. Well, it's been so fun and has gone so well that I decided to finally dip my toes in Etsy water and actually sell some of the things I've made!

Kinda fun and kinda scary... check out my new Etsy Shop- creativesky. I've only got some of my larger creations left over from last fall's craft show there now, but as I create from now on, I'll be making extra for the shop! You can get a peek at the bottom of my sidebar too...

And I'll still swap on whoopdwhoop also- it's so fun being able to share what I enjoy with others who do too! If you have some extra "this, that or the other" that you've made- check it out! So begins another new little venture!

Happy Birthday Stephen!

I remember when Stephen and I were engaged and I was thinking about

our age difference- eleven years.

I thought "I think it'll only be weird when I'm 29 and he's 40."

Well, guess what? We are there!

Happy 40th (yes, 40th!) Birthday babe!

And ya know what? Those eleven years are still

No Big Deal...

... thanks for being older than me.

Those years you spent waiting for me to catch up

make you so appreciative and adoring of who I am.

And so begins the next 40 years-

and this time all of them together!

Time to reach our goals,

set new ones

and grow old together...

because we are far from it yet!

Happy Birthday, Stephen!!

Home Again Home Again

Earlier this week the I took Cooper and Ryder and headed to my parent's to be with my sister, nieces and parents while Stephen was in Nevada working. It was really a fun visit! Lots of good times with Grandpa and the chance to love on my favorite little girls...

Cooper and Quincy scored when Grandma came packing up these old lunchboxes for them to play with! We had a quick walk down memory lane remembering them from when we were in school. And my new little niece Brylee was about the funnest thing ever... Cooper and Ryder both enjoyed loving on her too!

Love these little ones! We are looking forward to getting back again in the next few weeks- I love the comfort  and spirit of home I still feel at my parent's!

Cute as Cute in the Kitchen

I recently made these adorable ties for a few dishtowels in our kitchen and thought they turned out so fun! I saw the idea around Christmas time on Trey and Lucy.  I love gingham and polka dots- these make me smile to walk into the kitchen! Plus they are really useful- the perfect height for the boys to dry their hands.

I thought they went well with my daisy potholder- fun eh? :) And even after some use, they still look really cute. Click through to make some yourself! (Unless your my sisters or Monica, then maybe I'll just gift them to you sooner than later! ;)


Linking this to Craftomaniac, Young and Crafty, Sugar Bee Craft Edition and Saturday Mornings!

Paint and Pancakes

Cooper loves paint and I'm always trying to come up with different ways to keep it interesting for him. Both he and Ryder love when I make bath paints for them- and I actually love mixing them up too!

We've tried two different kinds- mixing clear dishsoap with a few drops of food coloring and also mixing shaving cream with food color.

I like the foamy texture of the shaving cream, but really the boys enjoyed them both the same it seemed. Both are really easy to wipe down when the bath is over!

Another really fun paint activity we tried was putting several drops of washable paint inside a small box, then Coop found a handful of small rocks, closed the lid and shook it up!

He really enjoyed this and tried lots of different times, excited each time to see how the paint would splatter and mix up inside. He ended up painting the outside of the box for a new treasure chest!

I had seen the idea to try bubble painting on Dragonfly Designs and thought this would be one Coop would really like. I put paint and bubble solution (about half dishsoap, half water) in a bowl and let him have it blowing bubbles with a straw! Then he dipped paper in the big bubbles for a neat effect. The blowing was certainly the highlight more than the "painting" itself! And yes, we practiced the blowing instead of sucking first!

So lots of fun painting go on around here lately! In seperate news...

...we having been loving these cinnamon swirl pancakes! I make normal pancake batter, then whip up an easy cinnamon filling to swirl on top just after spooning batter onto the griddle. I like taking a spoon and marbling it... Then top with butter and whip cream- yum! I don't actually care for the taste of maple, so this is much better in my book! :)


Cinnamon swirl recipe:
1 Tbs milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbs flour
Usually double this to get enough pancakes out of it. Kind of gets slightly crispy when you flip it over- makes for a nice light crunch. Enjoy!

Paint and Pancakes... pretty important staples in our boy's life world!

Pride Up Close

The wall you first see when you walk into our house

has long been over-due for

some updated pictures of the boys.

I am so happy with these I can hardly stand it!!

If this were the only decor in my whole house

I think I'd still be pleased as punch!

Love these boys!

And a little shameless plug:

Costco has amazing prices on enlargements-12x12 for $3-

plus I'm always happy with their quality!

Meaningful Monday: 18 months

Meaningful to me this week: my baby is 18 months old.

He's actually well on his way to 19 months already.

He says Dad, Mom, Shoes, ball, bath, wee, out, up, off, Peps (for Pepsi), Sus (for Jesus)... and is getting more words, more clearly every day it seems.

He still likes balls and gets excited when he sees balloons at Dollar Tree.

He loves to be outside and begs to have his coat put on even when we aren't going out.

Anywhere can be a seat- the bottom of the fridge is a fav!


He's a menace boy! He thinks the toilet is a treasure box and loves lifting the lid to drop things in, then closing the lid on them again. He is a professional toilet paper un-roller.

He drinks from a cup and saves the last little bit just so he can dump it on the floor on purpose.

These shoes are a big deal! They are worn hand-me-downs from Cooper that he found on his own in the closet. Ever since he can hardly stand to be without them.

He loves peek-a-boo and being chased around the rocking chair.

He likes putting lids on and off of things. He enjoys things that go inside of one another. He's not so much in to books yet, but I still try reading to him.

He thinks Cooper hangs the moon. He follows him like a shadow and wants to be doing whatever he is doing. He loves when Taron and Keaton are around and gets so excited to see them! He is almost always happy to cuddle with them.

He is mostly content, happy to explore and discover. He hates when I'm on the computer. He loves helping me with anything in the kitchen.

He loves music and is immediately happier when I sing to him. He's a dancer for sure! Anytime he hears music, he starts to move.

As always, I just want to shout for time to slow down! Not stop necessarily, since I confess there are moments I'll be greateful are past as he gets older- this is a needy age. But, oh how I wish I could know I was really soaking him in to the fullest. I want for him always to be so cuddly, so quick, so calm. I pray happiness for you, my sweet Ryder. You are forever my baby.