Earring Holder

I originally had my earrings hanging from my hair tie/headband basket but I came across this idea..

Found the frame at a thrift store, the mesh backing at Home Depot and the flowers at a craft store.

The inspiration...

Source

P.S. I Love You

 My Husband and I leave one another notes on this. We'll then move it to their side of the bed. I LOVE my Husband's sweet thoughts. He's seriously the best! I couldn't ask for anything better. <3

Easy to make, frame, and a lined piece of paper. I've always loved handwritten notes and letters so the lined paper brings that feel to it.

Other versions:

Source

Source

Source

Our Week Frame

Here's Our Week Frame.

Right now nothing is written on it except for breakfast! I stopped writing what was for dinner on it because I made a Menu board. I usually write down schedule of TV shows that the adults watch (we hardly watch TV and we (I) always forget what day the shows I've been waiting all year for are on) like Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead. I also write down doctor appointments, dentist appointments, birthdays, play dates, etc. The only downfall is not actually having enough space for a full length calendar. I always forget what day it is. So sometimes I even write the numbers of what that week has under the weekday. For example, Sunday is the 12th, Monday is the 13th etc. I purchased the frame at Walmart along with the scrap paper. I had the week stickers already on hand.

Source

Activity Can (D's)

I decided to make an Activity Can for all of D's 3-6 year old daily activities to help keep us entertained. I just took some empty formula cans and decorated them with scrap paper. I then put three toilet rolls inside to hold the popsicle sticks. The sticks have the activities written on them.

They're separated by topic:
Rainy Day Play 
Kids in the Kitchen
Outdoor Activities, and Out and About
Reading, Writing, 'Rythmic and more
Music, Dance and Drama, and
Arts and Crafts

We just pull out two sticks a few times a week and do whatever the activity is. It has helped tremendously from the monotony of being home a lot. Has helped trigger my imagination that I've seemed to have lost over the years. I love it!

Menu Board

Here's our menu board. It has been a work in progress for months now. I've slowly worked on it and it's almost to where I want it. I am going to change the papers out when I get the new papers cut evenly and maybe a different color.

The menu board was inspired by many others. Here are their menu boards:

Menu Board

Menu Board

Menu Board

My Fav!

Menu Board

Reward Jar (D's)

Back when I was potty training D I was researching tips on what to do. I came across the reward jar. I decided to make our own instead of buying a package from Use Your Marbles. It looks like the site is no longer in use. However, here is a picture of what their system looked like.

Start out with 5 marbles in the 'Use your marbles' cup. Throughout the day if you notice negative behavior a marble is moved to the 'Lose your marbles' cup. At the end of the day whatever is left in the 'Use your marbles' cup goes into the reward jar. When a line is reached a reward is achieved. Here's our version...

D decorated it with the star stickers. I just purchased the decor rocks from a craft store instead of actual marbles. You could even use pom poms. D LOVES putting his marbles in his reward jar. I have not used it for rewards purposes since his potty training because it did not really work with him only being 2. I should have kept up on it however, I'm going to start using it again. I also want to research possible rewards. The first line he would receive a smaller reward and the higher line he'd receive a bigger reward. The only thing that worked for us when potty training him was this 3 day program. What I did was camped out in our kitchen for the 3 days because it has tile. If he had an accident it was easier to clean up. He was naked from the waste down the entire time and I pumped him with liquids all day long. Every 20-30 min I'd set him on the potty to go and I made a big deal about when he'd go in his potty. After the 3 days of camping out we just had him go naked from the waist down for a month or so so he could just hurry and use the big potty if he needed to. Eventually we transitioned him into underwear and pants again. I also had him go to the store with me and he enjoyed picking out his big boy underwear. 

4th of July

This year we had a BBQ with some friends we've made here in good ol' Twentynine Palms, California. I had so much fun! Half the food didn't get eaten which is still mind boggling. I mean, there were 6 Marines here! I really enjoyed everybody's company, Rochelle and Gavin, Rachel and Adam, Sutton, Roman, and Cpl D... The boys grilled the food and us girls just sat inside chatting away, getting to know each other better. Rochelle and I found out that we are so much a like. It's nice meeting  such good people and having a good time with everyone. Afterwards we went to Luckie Park and watched the fireworks. It was probably the best seat in the house! They were so close to us that D was getting scared. :( He thought they were going to land on him. T loved them. Nothing scares that boy. Except car washes...

A milestone to remember: T took his first steps!

Love the Pledge of Allegiance frame.

Made this flag this year. From The Wood Connection.