Alyssa Turns 9

Don’t forget to head on over to S.Y.T.Y.C and vote for this weeks around the world projects then check back on Friday to see which one was mine!!

I know this is a few weeks late but better late than never right?!?  My oldest baby, Alyssa, turned 9 years old on the Jun 28th.  I can’t believe it has been 9 years since God blessed me with this beautiful baby girl.  Last year the kids decided instead of having big birthday parties that no one comes to that we would do something just us. Alyssa picked for her and I to have a girls day and we are going to sips and strokes but due to different things we haven’t been able to go yet. But she has been such a good sport about it and knows we will go in the next few weeks.

For Alyssa’s birthday she kinda knew what she was getting for a while.  I have been working on a desk for her room and I told her for her birthday I would fill it with craft supplies. She got lots of goodies!!

We had a fun day!!  She picked Chickfila for breakfast.  We had Yogurt Mountain for lunch.

Then we had Gigi’s cupcakes with Auntie that evening. Alyssa picked out a special one for her and I got an assortment for the rest of us.  Happy 9th birthday Alyssa!!!

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Monday Memories #13

During the summer these post will probably be a little smaller and some weeks I may not even post them. These post are general a recap of my pictures from Instagram for the week. Most of my pictures this summer will be posted over at asantbsummer2013.wordpress.com. So make sure you check it out over there to see what we are up to.  Although right now I am having some technical difficulties.  My computer doesn’t want to acknowledge when I put my memory card in my computer.  Have I ever said I hate my computer??  Ok, I want get off on that rant today.

The three big kids have left for eight days. I use to get really sad when Alyssa and Noah would go to their Dad’s for a week but over the years I have learned that it is a much needed break for me and it gives them a chance to really spend some time with their Dad. This summer I told Adam we needed to let Taylor go somewhere for a week too so I could have a good break after the week we had last week. I wasn’t sure I’d make it through the summer. If you are following my summer blog then you probably saw the issues we had one day that were just too much for one day. But we aren’t going to relive that here.

My little sister is turning 21 this week. Happy Birthday Nevesha, I love you!! So Saturday we had cupcakes for her birthday with the kids. I totally forgot to get any pictures. Then me, her and the babies went swimming. Since I love her so much and she asked me so nicely there aren’t any pictures of that to share. Saturday night we went out to dinner at Sushi Village. The babies did really well and it was so nice to get out and have some adult time even if the babies were with us.  If you like sushi I highly recommend Sushi Village in Gardendale.  It is really good and cheaper than Stix.

When we were getting ready to leave Bradley was getting his diaper changed in the front seat of the car and got to play in the front seat for a few minutes. I got this cute picture of him driving Mommy’s car. He thought he was big stuff.

Hope everyone has a Happy Memorial Day!! Adam and I will be painting.

Bradley’s Birthday Hat

Bradley’s first birthday was done in monkeys so my color scheme was red and brown. I knew one thing I wanted for his party was a birthday hat for him to wear that matched everything. I looked online for a pattern to make one and all I could find was one that was smaller than what I wanted, so I decided I’d look at the store for a cheap one that I could redecorate.

When walking through Dollar Tree one day I found one. Sorry I forgot to take a big of the before. I knew I could easily take off the tisle around the bottom of the hat. Then I undid it to make it a flat piece of cardboard. At first I thought about covering it with card stock but then I decided I wanted something that looked nicer and that would hold up well. So I decided I’d cover it with some brown fabric. I used a glue stick like I buy the kids to glue the fabric onto the hat.

Then I used my hot glue gun to glue it back together and make it back into the hat shape.

I had originally wanted ric rac to glue around the top and bottom of the hat but I was only able to find it in brown so I bought this other ribbon in red and honestly I loved the red ribbon and hated the ric rac. I decided I needed something other than the brown and red so I got in my stash of ribbon and found this off white that I thought went well with it.

I am not sure what I was thinking when I spaced out the ribbon but I was not happy with it. So I decided to add more ribbon and make it fuller. I also added some of the red ribbon around the top. Then I cut out a “1” from some red fabric and attached it with fabric glue.

It didn’t turn out exactly how I imagined it but what ever does?!? Noah has requested one for his birthday so I know what changes I’ll be making and it will not have ric rac on it. I’ll save that for sewing.

Monday Memories #1

I decided I wanted to start a weelyk blog post that is kinda like a digital scrapbook but not. I want to not only remember the pictures I took but what was going on when I took them.

The last few weeks I have been under the weather and it seems like each day another child has become under the weather. The sickness finally got Bradley. I really hoped that would mean some cuddle time but he is just not a cuddler. Boy am I glad I spent the first few months holding him all the time now because getting to hold and cuddle him since he can crawl is rare. I did get him to let me cuddle him for about five minutes after his nap the other day and was able to snap this picture.

As everyone know this week is Valentine’s. Last year I made cute Valentine’s for the kids to take to school but between being sick, going to all these appointments, getting ready for Bradley’s birthday and planning family dance night at the school; I decided that I was going to go simple and just buy some that each of the kids would like.

I was prepared in that sense that I bought them several weeks ago. Noah and Taylor both brought home notes about their Valentine’s parties. I asked Alyssa and asked Alyssa and finally she told me they are not having one. 😦 They are only allowed two parties so third grade is having Christmas and End of the Year. Since I had bought her some we decided she could take some of her close friends one. I did explain to her that she probably won’t receive any though.

Noah filling out his Lego cards.

Taylor filling out her Justin Bieber cards.

Alyssa filling out her fortune teller cards.

Now that Bradley is crawling really well he is into everything. He is pulling up on everything. Most days his falls are not very graceful. He does not have the best balance and with another ear infection his balance is even more off. Over the weekend he fell and hit his face on the bookcase in the girls’ room. I am so hoping his eye looks better before birthday picture time.

We also went to my parent’s house over the weekend to celebrate my Dad’s 72nd birthday and I completely forgot to take any pictures. Bradley didn’t get much of a nap and was less than happy most of the time we were there. The big kids all had a blast. They played at the “farm” aka the barn. To them the house isn’t the farm only the barn is. I guess that’s because the cows and pony are all over there.

First Bday Invites

A few years ago I made these very time consuming pretty birthday invitations for Taylor’s birthday party. When I was done I had spent more time and money on them than they were really worth and I said never again. But never again came apparently because I did it for a baby shower that I hosted and now I have done it again for Bradley’s first birthday.

This is probably the last time I’ll get to throw a 1st birthday party and I’m going to do it like the other ones BIG, all the way down to the invitations. What else is my cricut for?? Ok so maybe that isn’t the best excuse since I use it for many other things and will be using it for something special for I’ll man’s 1st birthday.

When Bradley was born he had to stay in the NICU for 13 days and the doctor told us it was important for Bradley to hear my voice as much as possible. Since I was having to go home from the hospital and he was staying Adam got us a monkey that I could record my voice and the nurses could play it for Bradley. Ever since then monkeys have kinda been his thing. Since this birthday is probably the only one I’ll have a say in, he is having a monkey themed party.

I used my cricut and the new arrival cartridge to cut out the monkey and your invited lettering. I used a glue stick to glue the pieces of the monkey together. But I used my xyron create a sticker for attaching the monkey to the card and the lettering to the card. I printed the cards on 8 1/2 x 11 paper and cut them in half. I decided to use wiggle eyes for the eyes and I attached them with mini glue dots.

Now to get some envelopes and in the mail they go. Next is the decorations for his party!!

Now I wish I had of bought the cricut cake a few years ago when I saw it on sale because I’d so make a cake to match the invites if I had of.

Noah Turns 7

Wow, I can’t believe it has been seven years since the doctor asked me, “Are you ready to have a baby?”  I won’t tell you my whole story but what Mom doesn’t love telling the birth story of one of her children.  Noah was a long pregnancy withouts of issues and lots of contractions for days.  So when the doctor told me I was far enough long that I wouldn’t make it to the hospital if I went into labor at home and that she was keeping me I was thrilled.

Yesterday was Noah’s 7th birthday and he wanted a Lego themed party.  I found lots of cute ideas online and used several of those ideas.  I have pinned most if not all of them and some on Pinterest under my birthday idea board.  Make sure you check it out.

Happy Birthday Wreath

In the process of getting ready for Noah’s birthday.  I decided to make a birthday wreath I recently saw on Pinterest.  I fdecided to make a sign to hang in the middle of the wreath that I could easily change out so I could use it for all of the children’s birthdays.  Seeing as how Noah’s birthday is the next one it is shown with the sign I will use each year for Noah’s birthday.

My husband gives me a hard time and says we celebrate our birthdays for a week so I went ahead and hung it on the front door so the children will see it when they get home today.  I can’t wait to see how they like it.

Grandkids

Lately I have been in the mood to make stuff & I have found so many things on pinterest that I want to make. This weekend was my mother in laws birthday so I decided to make her a photo display I found on pinterest. Thanks to Facebook I was easily able to find pictures of my three nieces so I was able to give it to her with pictures instead of without. I used an ultrasound picture of Bradley so I didn’t leave him out. I changed it up a little bit from the one I found on pinterest, I decided to put the kids’ names on the pins that holds their picture instead of flowers. It was really easy to make, the part that took the longest was waiting on the paint to dry.

Taylor’s 6th Birthday

Yesterday was Taylor’s 6th birthday party. She is probably the easiest child to prepare for her party. Her only request is cookie cake and for next year no icing on her cookie cake. This year I cheated on her party more than I ever have on any of the kids’ parties but with me being six months pregnant and with all the sickness we have had I just didn’t have it in me to do the things I normally do for their parties but she was still super happy with hers. We went with a princess theme so I got the stuff from Party City that had all the princesses on it. Its so hard to pick just one anyway. Last night Taylor told me it was her best birthday party ever. Happy Birthday Taylor!! I love you with all my heart!!