Top O' The Mornin' To Ya!

Home...

There is nothing quite like coming home after being away! Jason & I enjoyed our trip to DC so much! Pics to follow below (I won't bore you with all 5 bazillion of them!)...
The girls ran into our arms the minute they saw us! How blessed we are. My Mom & Dad took exceptional care of them & reported back that they of course were all perfect angels...what?? Don't get me wrong, our girls are the loves of my life, but they can through a whopper of a tantrum! We usually have at least one melt down per day around here, so how Mom & Dad skated through 5 days with not one, I will never know!


The White House


You know I had to lay down on a bench & take a pic of the Washington Monument looking straight up!



Our Nation's Capital


And...sorry if this isn't Mommy Blog PC, however I must include our pic with "Joe the Plumber"!

We arrived home to 8 inches of Southern snow!!! Our home town, NE of Atlanta, received the most out of the entire stat of GA! We only made it up 1/2 the driveway as it was a snowy, icy mess...no power, but being reunited with the girls made it all worth it! So happy to be thawed out & 75 degrees!

Leaving on a jet plane...

Yup, you read it right! Jason & I are going on a mini-vacay JUST THE TWO OF US!! I know, I know, I can't believe it either!! Can you hear the excitement in my typing?



This will be our first vacay, sans kids, in 8 YEARS!!! We are beyond thrilled! This worry free, relaxing trip would not be possible without my amazing parents, whom will be strapped with my sweet little darlings for 4 full days! Good luck Mom & Dad (& thank you) :)

They will never know how much we both appreciate this!

Where are we going you ask? A place that I haven't visited since my 5th grade year...



The Nations Capital! DC, here we come! Even thought my guy didn't win this election year, it will still be so much fun to be dorky tourists & enjoy the sites!

The home "beautification" projects as mentioned in the last post are FINISHED! I am so happy it was completed before we leave on our trip! Pics to come soon...

Have a great weekend!

Random Sunday Chatter

What a beautiful Sunday morning! The Wise fam has been a bit out of sorts this past week, due to a little home beautification (is that a word?...Mom, you out there?)! We are enclosing the back screened porch into a lovely playroom for the girls, complete with wrap around windows! We also made the decision to paint the inside of the house, such an easy to decision to make right?...not so fast! The painting portion has been hell! I knew, that I would have to remove pictures, etc...from the walls, well that all just sounded too easy! Oh my! My house has been an absolute disaster area & I am so obsessive compulsive about keeping it tidy, that I have been "off my rocker" so to say, the past few days! Everything, and I mean everything, in my home is in complete disarray!! I have taken many deep, cleansing breaths & counted to 10, at least 100 times! Needless to say, I will be OH SO HAPPY when the painters are finished, crossing my fingers that day will come tomorrow & I can get my home back in it's original order!!

I wanted to also share a cool website, Artsonia. A wonderful place to scan & upload all of your children's artwork from school & keep it on file! You can organize, share & even purchase items with your child's artwork! Just the site for me, as I have many totes filled to the brim with Chloe, Hannah & Shelby's art! I never have the heart to throw anything they make away, & this gives me a great place to keep it all organized! Perfect for the OCD mentioned in the paragraph above! You can find the site here, just sign up & start scanning!

These boots

Take my picture Mama, 'cause I really love my MOO cow boots that Nana gave me! ~ Shelby



Today is the third day in a row that Shelby has adorned her MOO cow boots from Nana...I see a trend :)



Don't you just love random Wednesday morning "togetherness"

Valentines Day

This post is long overdue! A quick update on CPSIA...a one year hold! So all of my wonderful designer friends can keep the creative juices flowing! I am so glad, as I have a big addiction to handmade! A real victory for them all!

I think I have been bitten by the "crafty bug", I am redesigning different rooms in my home & found some SUPER cute ideas for Valentines day in Family Fun Magazine (one of my new favorites!)

Chloe, age 9, thinks some of the store bought Valentines are "babyish" as she calls them, so I was on the hunt for some ideas for older girls & I hit the jackpot! For somebody like me, who can't sew a button, I am feeling quite proud of myself!

iPod Valentines, perfect for the 9 - 12 year old set!! The instructions call for 4" circles of aluminum foil to wrap around Reese's miniature cups, imagine my luck when I browsed my local craft store & found...guess what...4" pre-cut heart printed foil in the Wilton handmade candy aisle!!!!! Totally made the edible "ear buds" that much cuter, can you hear the pride on my voice??!! Instructions here...



And Hannah's Valentines! This just involved her fave candy: Tootsie Rolls & some card stock! Instructions here...



I am also working on a "Jar of Joy" for each teacher...I sent home pre-cut heart for the children to write sweet notes on & we will put them all together in a sweet bucket! Anytime their teachers are having a bad day, they just reach in to pull out a little joy!



Another cute teacher idea...a small tube of hand lotion, two pieces of card stock traced with your child's hand print, cut out the hand print & write...here is the clever part!!...
Mrs. so & so, you deserve a hand!!
Add a few foam heart stickers & your done! Instructions here...So cute!







This will be Shelby's Valentine...I haven't assembled hers yet, so this is the pic from the magazine, such a cute & simple idea! Instructions here...



My kitchen counter is a huge mess as a result of this "crafty bug"!
Worth it though, as I think the girls are excited about their Valentines this year!



Next, my house. I have scoured through issues of Southern Living, Better Homes & Garden, etc...and have come up with some cute ideas! I am attempting to create my own headboard for the master bedroom, more on that later. I am going for a "cottage chic" look...lots of white, some shabby, some birds, some vintage. The more I write, the more I think I am trying to combine several different looks here! We will see how this all turns out! Here is a peek...I love the framed floral canvas (yes, I framed it myself, more pride!), it screams Spring!





Send me a comment with your V-day ideas, if the "crafty bug" has been to your house!

My CPSIA Rant...

Ok, I will make my "rant" about the new Consumer Products Safety law as painless as possible, as I know many of you have been reading lot's of rants on this same issue for the last few weeks. Unless you live in a cave, you have probably heard about a new law, set to take effect on 2/10 that will shut down thousands of small businesses! I only sell resells, but I do buy my girls custom sets new from many amazing handmade designers. These wonderful people, who work tirelessly on their great products, will be hit hard when this law takes effect. Long story short: Every component of any handmade piece of clothing or toy must be lead tested! Now, this won't be hard for say Gymbo or Gap, but for tons of handmade designers, this will shut down their businesses! For most of them, designing handmade is their livelihood! I know, it sounds like I don't want children to stay safe, on the contrary, but I know that the sweet clothing these ladies make for my girls hasn't & will not poison them with lead! This law needs to be revised & I with thousands of others have signed petitions, etc... to raise public awareness & get some congressional attention, thank goodness they are starting to pay attention!

I love my friend, Kristen of Gocks Frocks take on this issue, here is her TV interview here & her fabulous $15,000 skirt here on Etsy! That is what it will cost for her to sell a $40 skirt after 2/10 if some changes aren't made to the current CPSIA law! If interested, shop Gocks Frocks on Etsy & Ebay while you can & cross your fingers for some changes, so all of these fabulous clothing & toy designers can keep designing & selling their wonderful products!

There is also a great updated article on HotAir.com here!

Nie is back...Yay!!!!!

Stephanie Nielson & her Hubby (her beloved Mr. Nielson) were in a terrible plane crash this past August. They have 4 darling children & Stephanie is author to her own blog: The NieNie Dialogues...I found "NieNie" & her wonderful dialagues after the crash. I had seen "buttons" on blogs that I love to read & decided to click & check it out, what was the fuss all about anyways?
Well, I struck Mommy Blog GOLD, the most wonderful blog read of the day! So, I spent time going through her archives & "catching up" on her story as she recovered. Her story went national after the crash & thousands of people now know & enjoy the NieNie Dialogues! Me being one of them. Well, she is back! So, if you need a "pick me up" or just some inspiration...click HERE & see what all the fuss is about...you won't regret it...I promise!

Have a happy day & be thankful for family, friends & those that you love...

Jennie

Gettin' my Craft on & Vote for Chloe!

I have been a bad blogger lately, totally neglecting to update with posts, pics, etc...
I have finally gotten my act together & have something fun to share today! No-Sew fabric covered accent pillows! A few posts back, I had said that I would be making these beauties with Patty Young's new gorgeous line of fabric: Andalucia! As soon as the girls were back in school last week, I took the fabric (that had been sitting in the closet for a month) & pillows (cheap, purchased at Target) & got started! I was so excited & prayed that I could make pillows that looked half-way decent!
I am so happy with the result & the yummy colors in Patty's delicious fabric were perfect for our brown suede-like couch & overstuffed chair! Instructions below...if you aren't too crafty (like me!), you will love this easy way to punch up your living room, bedroom, etc...I know that you amazing custom designers out there, my pillows probably look a bit pathetic, but for someone who can't sew a button onto a shirt, these suckers look fabulous, LOL! Check out Patty's blog to find out where to buy Andalucia!










On to the second part of my title above...is it really time to vote again already? Well, sort of. My sweet Chloe (age 9, 3rd grade) is participating in her classroom election this year! Sounds like fun right? However, for my ultra-sensitive Chloe, this has proven to be quite a task! She truly wants ALL of the voters in her classroom to love her & will totally stoop to bribing them if necessary! Who do you think she enlisted to help her with this bribery? Me, of course! Below are pics of the cupcakes we (I) made for her to pass out to her class & hopefully impress the heck out of them! Her "running mate" is her sweet friend Katie & they both have a bit of a competitive edge & will cry if they lose...This Mama has her fingers crossed for a solid win for my girl, as I know heartbreak will ensue if she doesn't. Pray for me!!





Pillow Instructions (per Family Circle magazine) ~

*Buy a standard size accent pillow at your local discount store (Target, Walmart)

*Use one yard of your favorite fabric

*Wrap pillow in fabric as you would wrap a gift

*Secure ends with fabric glue or even better; Velcro! If you use Velcro, you can change out the fabric easily

I want one!

Ok, as soon as these cute Hurley Benny cable knit beanies are NOT sold out (at least the color I want: parchment)...I will be clicking "buy now" faster than you can say Katie Holmes!



How wonderful is cozy cable knit in the Winter?