My Newest Obsession

I seem to have a lot of these lately! I have been in super crafting mode this week. I am loving having time off from school to spend time with my girls and attack all the Christmas projects I've been putting off. Plus, it's been so nice I've moved my workspace to the table outside so the girls can play while I get all my projects done :) One of my favorite projects this week has been the crayon roll. I am by no means a skilled seamstress so this easy project is right up my alley. Just a few scraps of fabric, a hair tie, a button (you can substitute the hair tie and button with a ribbon) and my good old Viking and here's what you get:

I love it! Plus, you can change up the fabric to make it for boys, girls or even adults. I made one with colored pencils recently. I may just make one for myself to throw in my purse. I don't know about you, but I am constantly digging around in the bottom of my purse to find a pen. This would be a great solution to that problem! :) It's the little things in life...

I'll work up a tutorial on this the next time I make one.

Janessa

I've Officially Crossed Over...

Well, I guess I am finally giving in and admitting that I am officially a Dance Mom now. I'm not sure how to do this job, but I guess I'm going to learn :) Both Belle and Rose have been involved with Christmas shows with their dance studio, Tampa Bay Dance FX. They are having so much fun! This is uncharted waters for me because I grew up playing sports so I am counting on learning as I go. There is a little part of me holding out some hope that the girls will enjoy dance AND want to play sports. I guess only time will tell. Until then, here's my life...

Rose does the Penguin Cha-cha in this adorable little outfit. I wish I would have had my video camera out a few shows ago because I looked over when the show was finished and the girls were visiting with the audience, and Rose was signing autographs!

My one-legged elf. I couldn't get her to stand still for a picture.

One of Rose's best buddies just happens to be the owner's son.

Her choice for a future husband is a tough race between Owen and Buzz Lightyear.

The older girls at Dance FX are awesome with the younger girls. Belle loves Miss Mac!

Now, 10 years ago if you had asked I would have said I would never become a dance mom. Don't tell anyone, but I think I might actually be enjoying it. Shhh! That's our little secret! :)

Janessa

The Christmas Countdown Is On!

Last year I went looking on the Internet to find an easy advent calendar. I ran across the cutest idea at Tatertots & Jello and decided to give it a try. I grabbed a few cookie sheets at the Dollar Tree, some festive scrapbook paper and my Modge Podge (love this stuff!) Here's what I came up with:

I glue gunned a ribbon to the back to make a hanger for it.

I made these fun magnets by gluing scrapbook paper to small magnets.

The girls love taking turns each day putting a magnet on. Plus, as an added bonus when there's a picture of a candy cane on the magnet, they get a candy cane. When there's a picture of a present, they get a small present. I love the dollar section of Target for these little gifts. :) The 24th has a present which always ends up being new pajamas because you have to have a new pair of super cute jammies for Christmas morning pictures! Baby Jesus is our last magnet to remind us of the real reason for Christmas. The girls love it, and it was super easy to make :) Anyone else have a cute idea for counting down until Christmas? I'd love to hear any new ideas!

Janessa

Island girls

At every port we visited last week there were ladies offering to braid the girls' hair. Belle begged and pleaded until Daddy finally said okay with the agreement she didn't fuss about how long it took or how much it hurt. She loved her braids! In fact, we just took them out tonight. She had to keep them in to show her friends at school, and I was loving the low maintenance hair-do :)

She got to pick which beads she wanted in her hair.

She said not one word, but those eyes say enough! That had to hurt!

Super cute! :)

My sweet Rose opted for a maraca instead :)

I love my little Island Girls!

Janessa

Back to Reality!

We had a FABULOUS time on our cruise! I have lots of pictures to share, but I thought I'd start my series of cruise memories out with the girls' favorite nightly picture. We would come home every night after dinner to a different towel animal. The girls loved posing for pictures each night with the animals. We got some great shots :)

Cabin sweet cabin!

What a bonus! The couch became bunk beds! :)

Towel animal: Day One. This is what we came home to each night: I think this one is a sea lion- PLUS if you look closely you'll see four pieces of chocolate. A girl could get used to that! :) 

Day two: the girls decided they needed to pose with each animal.

Day Three

Day Four. Notice Belle became an island girl while we visited Belize. More pictures of that later! :)

Day Five. My sweet Rose who usually hates having her picture taken turned into our little model this week.
She was even stopping at all the cruise picture stations and hamming it up.

Day Six. We swam with the sting rays in Grand Cayman and then came home to a sting ray on our bed.
The girls were so excited!

This week was exactly what I needed! I am so blessed! It was nice to have some time to relax and enjoy our girls. Tomorrow is back to work, but only a few more weeks until Christmas break! :)

Janessa

Whirlwind week

We have had a crazy busy week! The girls swim lessons ended, we've had lots of fun stuff happening at school and we've been packing for our CRUISE! We are heading to the Western Carribean tomorrow!!!! I'm just a little excited :) Here's some snapshots of our week:

Rose is a swimmer now! Belle's become a fish :)

Rose's class at school ready for our annual Pre-K Family Feast. Yes, she's the one crying her eyes out!

The kids got to make feathers about the things they were thankful for. Then they shared the feathers before our feast.

We added the feathers all together to make this super cute turkey.

I found these shirts I made the girls last Thanksgiving. They were made with felt and hand sewn.

Thanksgiving 2010.
I thought ahead and made them a size big last year so they could wear them more than once. Hopefully we can get Rose to agree to wear her's. She refused to wear it to school. Gotta love it when their 3 and opinionated! :)

I am so thankful for my friends and family!

I hope you all have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

Janessa

My Little Supergirl

This past weekend I took Belle to Dance Revolution in Orlando. We went just the two of us. Daddy was on call for the weekend for work, and my sweet parents volunteered to keep Rose for the weekend. Belle and I had a blast! What a great organization Dance Revolution is! They encourage young people to use the gifts God has given them to glorify Him! I thought the weekend was going to be fun for Belle, but I never realized how blessed I would be as well. It was nice to have that one-on-one time too. She got to take some fun classes, and we even snuck to Sea World one afternoon just the two of us.We treated ourselves to dinner, ate Oreos in the hotel room and stayed up late. We told anyone who asked that we were on a Girls' Weekend. :) My only regret is there was not one picture of the two of us on our girls' weekend. Guess we'll have to put that on the priority list for next year! I did catch some great shots of Belle and her friends having fun:

The first night they had a Superhero themed dance party. Belle loved this costume!

The Superdancers from Dance FX

Day One. All the girls dressed alike. How did she grow up so fast?!

Ballet class



Hip Hop! This class was awesome! It was all I could do to stay in my seat.



My sweet Rose had a great weekend too. She loved having Pap, Mimi and Auntie Laney all to herself. When we got back on Sunday I asked if she wanted to go with us next year. She told me Belle and I could go to "Mylando" again and she would stay at Mimi's house all by herself! :) We did miss Daddy a lot,but even he had a great time because he got to tackle some of the house projects he's been wanting to do for months. What a fantastic weekend! I am so glad God gave me the family He did.





Janessa

Halloween Fun

I know I'm a little late, but we had so much fun this year I have to share. Rose had four different costumes! She wanted one for dance, one for the party at Uncle Kevin and Auntie Heather's house, one for school and one for Trunk or' Treat. It was a blast! Just take a look:

Belle fell in love with this costume. I think she'd wear it every day if I'd let her :)

We even talked Daddy into dressing up. This is as dressed up as he gets for Halloween.

Belle has two nights of dance so she wanted to wear her "Bride" dress one of those nights.

Rose's costume #1: Ariel

Cousins Halloween party. Rose costume # 2: Purple Ballerina

We had some fun at school too!

My whole team dressed up like Toy Story characters. I had a little too much fun.
(I put together my costume and the potato heads. I got the inspiration from one of my favorite blogs- Oopsey Daisy )

Rose costume # 3: Hula girl

Rose costume # 4: Minnie Mouse princess



I love these sweet girls!

 Too much fun! I am so blessed :)

Janessa

37 Years & Counting!

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Thirty-seven years ago today a handsome baseball player married a sweet majorette who loved Jesus with all her heart. I am so blessed to have them as my parents. Because of their faithfulness in serving God, my family is also blessed. They are two of my all time heroes! I appreciate the example they have given me not  individually in their walks with Christ, but also as a couple who has God as the foundation in their marriage.

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for all this and so much more. Love you!

Janessa 

No Sew Halloween Tote

I have been in crazy project mode this weekend! By crazy, I mean 4 costumes and 8 trick-or-treat totes (6 were sewn and the other two were no-sews). Believe it or not, it was actually a great weekend. This kind of stuff is super fun for me. I shared a tutorial earlier on the easy sew bags I made so I figured I'd do a quick tutorial for my friends who don't sew. I made these super cute bags for my girls to carry tomorrow in about 30 minutes start to finish for both bags. Interested in making one of your own? Here's how:

Here's the bascis of what you need: an iron, ironing board, scissors, some fun fabric, Heat N' Bond Iron On Adhesive (LOVE this stuff!), a canvas tote of any size and if you're a girl like me some ribbon (this is used as added flair)
You may also want a piece of scrap paper and some fabric paint. (We'll get to those later)

 First, follow the directions on the Heat N' Bond package to adhere your fabric.

Trace whatever you want your tote bag to say onto your scrap paper, cut it out, and then trace it onto the Heat N' Bond paper. Make sure you trace your letters backwards b/c when you iron them you'll get a mirror image.
(I've learned this the hard way!) Cut out the letters and remove the paper backing.

Make sure to line up your design before you start ironing.

I like to add fabric paint once I have finished adhering the fabric.
This gives it a little polished look and prevents the fabric from curling or fraying.

Now if you're a girl like me, nothing is complete without a bow so use your ribbon to add a cute accent and you're done!
(Want in on a secret? This tote's bow doubles as a hair bow! I love those little surprises!)

See how easy that was? Now go try it and tell me how it goes!

Janessa