family

My First Date {The Happiness Project}

Posted by Nat on Apr 5, 2012 | 10 comments

I’m linking up today with the ladies at Chronically Distracted and their Happiness Project.  I LOVE the prompt for this week!

{As I type this post my husband is reading bedtime stories to our children.  Love.}

This month we are looking at love.   Our prompt is to write about our first date with the love of our life.  Done!

Michael and I met online.  Catholicmatch.com to be precise.  Before meeting him, I had been doing the online-dating thing for at least 18 months, I think.  Match.com.  CatholicSingles.com.  eHarmony.  Now that we have three kids together it all seems so funny, but in the months before I met him I was so. Tired. Of. Dating.  I have some GREAT crappy date stories.

I told a friend of mine that I was done with online dating, and she encouraged me to continue just a bit longer because she met her husband online, and didn’t want me to give up just yet.  We have her to thank for our marriage, really, because just a few days later, Michael messaged me.

We emailed.  It was nice.  He seemed friendly, and his picture was intriguing (he has a Van Dyke, which I liked). He asked if he could call me, and I said yes.  We talked on the phone a few times, and finally, just before the holiday season started, he asked when he could see me.

Since we were both Catholic and I was playing in my church’s Sunday night choir at the time, I asked him if he’d meet me after mass and we could have dinner.  My memories of that evening are very blurry now.

I remember being so excited to meet him, and taking forever to decide what I was going to wear. I remember playing through mass and wondering where he was, if he could see me while I played .  I remember him coming over afterwards, helping the group tear down our sound equipment.  I liked his smile.  I remember walking to dinner, and him telling me that he didn’t feel well, but he wanted to meet me, so he was powering through.

What I can’t remember: anything we talked about at dinner.

I do remember that I smiled a lot, and we made each other laugh.  We walked the main drag of Pacific Beach after dinner and talked.  He walked me to my car.  I loved that he was so tall.  He seemed incredibly smart and sensitive, in a good way.  We hugged.

About four and a half months later we were engaged.  Six months after that?  Married.  On our honeymoon, which we took over the week of Thanksgiving, we marveled that we had just known each other a year and we were already hitched.

I love my man!

A Birthday Party for My Sweet Boy

Posted by Nat on Mar 27, 2012 | 7 comments

My son, Jack, is 3.

Pardon me while I pause and soak that in…

What is it about 3?  I was just saying to my mom that it seems like 3 is a big birthday.  With both my oldest, and now Jack, they seem to flip a switch and all of a sudden they are their own person with their own quirks.  Jack is blooming into his own little self, and it’s fascinating to watch.  He is a super sweet little boy, and is also becoming more OF a boy each day.

So let me start this series by just saying (and perhaps emphasizing) this:

I am usually not a party person.

When I say that, I mean that I do not usually get into the perfection aspect of parties that you can easily get swept into.  I think it’s totally fine for people to throw a Pinterest-worthy party, as evidenced by the fact that this one *might* (or might not) qualify as semi-Pinterest worthy.  Up until now, though, I never thought I’d even want to venture forth and try one.  Now that I am not getting paid to do the work I love (being home with my kids), I thought it would be fun to put some effort into a party and see if it feels “worth it” in the end.  Today I’m just going to give you some highlights, and then in upcoming posts I’m going to give you all the deets on where I got my ideas (hellllo- Pinterest {okay maybe some were just my own}), what I liked/didn’t like in the end, etc.

I need to send a big thank you to my friend and fellow blogger, Tonya of Create-Celebrate-Explore.   Tonya is an amazing woman, and she takes amazing pictures.  She so nicely sent me many of the photos she took at the party.  If you see a picture that says, “Thank you, Tonya” on it, she took it and I cannot take credit.  I did just get a new camera, but at this party I had not received it yet, so PicMonkey (something I also found through Tonya) is helping me out, too.

Onto the photos.  These are just highlights- more to come!

Invitations were from Shutterfly.

Birthday Balloon Wreath

(this will be a family tradition for us now)

Streamers- these were really fun to make!  More on them soon…

We had a Scavenger Hunt for the kids- it was super cute.

Cupcakes are always easiest, and…

Candy pops, to boot!

Lastly, balloons.  Ah, how my little boy loves balloons!

See you tomorrow when I’ll start spilling sources, how-tos, and more!

New Camera!

Posted by Nat on Mar 26, 2012 | 2 comments

Hello CC Friends!

It’s Monday the 26th of March.  This happens to be the day after my birthday.  And what a birthday weekend it was!  I’m 36 now.  Officially heading towards 40, even though I still feel 29.  Maybe 28.

My sweet son, Jack, was born March 23rd, 2009.  We had his 3rd birthday party on Saturday, which I will be sharing with you soon.  I’m really pleased with how the party went, and hope I can share it with you in a little “mini-series” which would be a first.

The most wonderful thing about my own birthday is this pretty little lady:

My husband found it for me after hours of combing Craig’s List for several days.  I couldn’t be more pleased with it- it’s the perfect “step up” camera.  I have no idea how to use it and shall commence tutorial combing soon.  My Canon Powershot SD750 was just not giving me the photos I want for this blog and for our family.  Watch my Pinterest Boards– there’s going to be lots of photography stuff going up soon!

In this new year for me I want to do so much- I want to make a bucket list, center my goals up, and finish my Happiness Project with the ladies at Chronically Distracted.  Many, many goals.

I’ll be back tomorrow (hopefully) with a summary of Jack’s party.  Today I need to recover, organize, and regain my sanity.  Not to mention update the family blog and maybe do some dishes.  Oh, and work.  I should probably do some work.  🙂

Happy Monday (if there is such a thing)!

Pinterest Projects: Butterfly Window

Posted by Nat on Mar 23, 2012 | Comments Off on Pinterest Projects: Butterfly Window

Maybe I should call this “Butterfly Week”?

{For my fellow Pinterest Pals:  Please do NOT pin this post!  Please go the the original post, linked below, and pin her original content. I want to blog and pin with integrity, and I am not the original person who thought of this- she deserves the credit.  Thanks!}

I saw this post, pinned it on my Pinterest board, and wanted to tackle it immediately.  As in, “We-must-drink-all-the-milk-so-I-can-prep-this-project” immediately.  Alas, I had to gather a few of the supplies, so it was not that quick.  It was most excellent to have a valid excuse to buy a huge pack of Sharpies in lots of colors.  Who doesn’t love Sharpies, right?

I was so happy that I did this with Anna.  Truth be told, she only did the coloring, and she wore out much sooner than I did, but still- she did a few and it was fun.  And she loves them. Every once in a while she will say, “Mommy!  Look!  There are real, live butterflies in our window!”  I’ll say, “No way, really?!”  And she’ll say, “No, silly, they’re just pretend.”  I’m going to miss four.  Four really is fun.

The only thing I will add to the excellent directions on the original post, is that putting these in the window has caused most of the colors to fade. The yellow faded within a few days.  The magenta color hardly budged, though- must be something in the pigment.  It was easy to take them down and touch them up, though.  I love them for this time of year.  So fun.  Make some.  Make them right  now- you can thank me later.

Happy Weekend- my son turns three today, so there will be party posts forthcoming!

Operation Organization: Art Station

Posted by Nat on Feb 10, 2012 | Comments Off on Operation Organization: Art Station

I realize that this is not rocket science.  It’s a simple plastic bin with labels.  But I LOVE to see how other people organize their crap, so I thought I’d share what I did in this situation.

I was going absolutely bonkers.  For reals.

As I mentioned in my recent post about Anna’s mail slot, she is a very creative little girl.  She comes up with crazy Tinker-Toy creations, she builds amazing things with blocks (engineer, architect perhaps?), and loves, loves, loves to draw.  She loves art so much that I have to throw things away on the sly, lest our house become a fire hazard of paper.   I’m still working on a system to determine what stays and what goes, but what was more pressing was how to contain her supplies and her completed work.

I mention in my “About Nat” page that I am a practical crafter.  While I LOVE looking at DIY art stations with cute, color coordinated tubs, repurposed antique holders and such, that is not me.  If I put a lot of energy into something that is likely to get used, abused and tired, it will make me mad/frustrated/annoyed if it doesn’t hold up, stay perfect and pristine.  So with something like this, I like to go with easy, plastic bins from Wal-Mart.

I think this thing cost about $17.  I may get another when Jack gets more into art, but right now I’m lucky if I can keep up with the sticker trail he leaves all over our house.  He has one coloring book right now.  That’s all he needs.

What I like about this thing is it can only hold so much, so every once in a while I go through and downsize to prevent further insanity.

I started with simple labels on the drawers.  From top to bottom they read:

• All done!
• Not done & Blank Paper
• Coloring Books & Stickers
• Art Supplies
• Activity Books

The labels however, did not stick to the plastic bins- they kept curling up.  So I sliced up a scrap of paper and stuck them to the paper.  Then I used some adhesive squares to stick them to the drawers, and now they stay nice and flat.

The art supply drawer is great:

The kids can pull out a tub (Target $1 section- they always have these) of crayons or markers, take them to the table, and then put them away easily (in theory).  Or, in reality, when it’s time for dinner, it doesn’t take me forever to get their crap out of the way. 😉

I’m sure there are cuter ways to do this- if you have one, please do show me.  If I see something too cute to resist I may do something different, but for now, plastic bins rule this particular roost.

Church Family Rules and Mod Podge Lessons

Posted by Nat on Feb 6, 2012 | Comments Off on Church Family Rules and Mod Podge Lessons

My church had an event with an auction.  I decided to make a set of Family Rules for them to auction off.  Here’s a little peek.

I didn’t have much time to take pictures because I wanted to cross this off my list in a very bad way.  These are also not my most favorite rules.  I LOVE the hearts at the bottom- definitely going to do that again.  But I learned a lesson or two about paper and Mod Podge with these rules.  They were more like reminders for me, but because I rushed this project, I need to write them down so I don’t forget.  Hopefully they’ll help you, too.

Lesson One:

Quality counts for something if you’re using Mod Podge and paper.  Do not use cheap-y, flimsy scrapbooking paper if you are adhering it to a canvas.  It will bubble on you and it will possibly stay bubbled.  Sometimes, with other projects, the paper will bubble and then flatten out as it dries, but with this project, or with canvas & paper projects, you have to be uber careful.  In my case, I don’t mind the bubbling- I think it adds some visual appeal.  But if you want/need an uber-flat surface, be careful with cheap/thin paper.

Lesson Two:

Less is More.  I LOVE the Mod Podge part of this project- it’s my favorite part because everything starts coming together.  However, with this set of rules I learned that as much as I like to dump the Mod Podge all over the canvas and spread it around, that’s really a bit cocky of me. Mod Podge does not like to be abused.  So spread it nicely and not too thick.  It dries really fast- you’ll get that second coat on before you know it.

Do you have any Mod Podge questions?  Tips?  I love Mod Podge.  It’s my crafting hero.

If you’d like to see other Family Rules I’ve made, click here and here.

I’m linking up to