Mod Podge makeover coming soon!

Are you ready?

The fun begins tomorrow - October 1st!

Come back to link up with your
Halloween or Fall themed craft.
Don't stress if you aren't quite ready...
you'll have ONE WEEK to link up!

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In the meantime, head on over to
Xazmin's for her Monthly Mod Podge Mania!

This was a holiday decor project from last Fall.
I painted each of these wooden plaques and then Mod Podged paper onto the "faces". Then I went to my local scrapbooking store (because I don't have a Cricut!) and had them custom make the letters to spell FALL. I thought this would do the trick to add a little extra flair to my simple Fall decor (take a peek at last year's Fall decor).


However...
in true Heidi fashion, after pulling them out of the Fall decor box this year, I just wasn't satisfied with it! I am just not in love with the colors and the choice of patterned paper. I realized it really wasn't the look I was going for, which I had kind of thought last year after I had completed the project, but at the time I couldn't bare to destroy all of my hard work.

So, what did I do, you might ask?
You'll just have to come back tomorrow to find out!
*wink*

party details - construction style!

No blogging about housework today. This is all about fun, fun, fun!! Austin's 2nd birthday was on Monday and we celebrated his special day over the weekend with family and friends. I love party planning, so this one was quite the tackle to get it all complete to my liking without going overboard...not only with my sanity, but the pocket book, too! I think I've said this before, but when I plan a party I tend to put a lot more time and effort into it than money. It's a little stressful, but it's worth it! And I really do enjoy the small little details. Another tip is that I start planning far in advance and that way I'm on the lookout for the added touches to the party and "collect" things as I go along, looking for things on sale. It doesn't seem so overwhelming if I were to wait until the last minute. This year's theme was CONSTRUCTION! Boy, was this a fun birthday party to tackle!!

~ INVITATIONS ~

~ BIRTHDAY BANNER ~
(a picture for each month of his 2nd year)
The best part? I re-used his birthday banner from his monkey party last year by simply taking off the letters. Gotta love when you can re-use something you've already put a lot of hard work into! (I pretty much save everything that I can see a re-use for!)

~ FRONT PORCH DECORATIONS ~
I love having that extra "wow" factor when the guests walk through the door. The cones I found a month or so prior to the party in the Dollar Spot at Target. I added a group of balloons, caution tape that I found at a party store...

...a "Party Area" sign in the flowers, and...

...I swiped one of Austin's trucks to add some more fun!

~ PARTY SIGNS ~
I couldn't help but add these party signs to my Celebrate Express order (I had a $5 off coupon!) when I orderd the cutest construction plates and napkins (see below). The greatest part about this sign was that the food table was just underneath and I used it to alert people to not hit their heads on the chandelier. Ths signs included "Party Area" (with the front porch decorations), "Yield", "Stop" (seen with the birthday banner), and "Construction Area"

~ PARTY FAVORS ~
This is always one of my favorite things to do! This year, I bought Home Depot tool belts (only $.77 each!) and wrote each of the kids' names on the front, added a Tonka truck coloring book that I found at Michaels for $1.00 each (I snagged every last one and couldn't believe I had hit the jackpot!), some construction stickers (purchased with the plates to match!), and an orange colored fruit roll up.

The note attached said,
"So glad you came and joined the crew,
To celebrate Austin turning two!"

I even set out some construction colored candies and baggies that the guests could fill up and take home for some on the go goodies. What a great time of year for a construction party...Halloween candy (orange, yellow, and black)!!
~ THE FOOD TABLE ~
I love decking out the food table with the little details. On the menu? Build your own sub sandwich, fruit salad, veggies and dip, chips (orange colored by the way!), and soda pop in yellow, orange, and black! I even found orange disposable cups!

The pasta salad was even made with wheels!

~ CONSTRUCTION WORKER SACK LUNCH ~
Each of the kids got a lunch bag filled with a juice box, bag of chips, applesauce, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was fun to pass out the lunches. Many of my friends had to leave early, so the kids got to grab their lunches to go!

~ CUPCAKES ~
Cupcakes are so easy to have for a party treat! And I love decorating them. This year was extra fun!! I colored the construction worker, added an orange sign that said "A" or "2". Then I used crushed up Oreo cookies for piles of dirt. I realized that it needed something else, so thank goodness I had bought a small truck set at Target for only $5.99 that came with mini cones, signs, trees, and small trucks. Perfect! This was one of our gifts to Austin and so it was fun to use as decoration, too! The truck to the left is another one I swiped from the play room.

I also served cookie crunch ice cream to represent the "dirt" in the ice cream. Aren't those plates and napkins so cute? And the yellow silverware...I found on Target clearance!

~ PLAY TIME ~
For entertainment, I had four stations set up in the backyard (thank goodness for beautiful September weather!). Each station was marked with a sign...creating station (Play Doh), building station (foam blocks), digging station (trucks and pea gravel), and break time (a bouncy house I borrowed from my sister and brother-in-law...what a hit!)

I think everyone had a great time and the party was a success! It was a lot of fun being able to celebrate our "little man" turning 2 years old with family and friends and tackling yet another year!!

birthday boy

My sweet baby boy...
how can you already be TWO!?

{13 months}

{14 months}

{15 months}

{16 months}

{17 months}

{18 months}

{19 months}

{20 months}

{21 months}

{22 months}

{23 months}

{24 months}

{2 years old}

Happy Birthday to my blue-eyed boy!

two days to two

2 more days and my little boy will be TWO!!

We celebrated his birthday with family and friends today.
Such a cutie-patootie he is!

I love my blue-eyed boy!

{Many more pictures to come!}

spot on!

Our play room is always in some sort of transition and I'm not sure if it will ever be exactly the way I had envisioned, but...

it's getting closer!

So, what started as this (a blank wall):

Turned into this:

By adding some of these (wall vinyls):

All for only $8.99!!

(FYI: I've already added an extra dot to the right after seeing this picture
and realizing it looked uneven...and I need to move the frame up a little
higher after moving some furniture around. See? Always a transition!!)

I still have some of these wall vinyls left,
so who knows where else I might get a little spot crazy in the room!

A cheap way to spruce up a wall definitely works for me!

enjoying the journey

Oh my! What a Monday morning! I'm not sure why Mondays are such insanely frustrating days, but it seems to be becoming a trend. Although, the more I think about it...Mondays aren't the only days of the week that my patience is as thin as paper and "ugly mommy" comes out in full force. I could blame it ALL on the kids and say they are the cause of all this frustration and little old me is just trying to be mommy, but to be fair I should also take a little (a lot) of the blame on this one.

As I type, my two sweet angels are sleeping soundly...after less than 3 minutes of their head hitting the pillow (or the crib sheet). This, my friends, is a GREAT indication that they were simply exhausted. Acting out from their exhaustion is one way children cope when they are tired. In fact, anyone who is tired can get a little grumpy. It's just one of those obvious signs of exhaustion.

So, in the quiet of the house, I sit here to collect my thoughts on what it takes to get rid of "ugly mommy"...for good. You know the one. She snaps at her kids, huffing and puffing and complaining to them because they just don't listen to their mommy. She stomps around the house looking all grumpy and has a constant frown on her face just because. She tells her kids to do this and that when all they want is for you to stop and listen to their needs. It's hard giving up yourself all day long. And it's exhausting. Hmmm...go figure.

Simply put: Giving up of ourselves, as mothers, is what is required of us and I need to learn how to be OK with that. Not just OK, but HAPPY that I get to stay home with my children and tend to their needs. All. Day. Long. It doesn't mean I don't deserve to do what I want to do for myself (because WE do!), but it's about balance. Priorities. It's about enjoying the journey. Sometimes this journey of motherhood will take me places I really wish it wouldn't have. But other times it will take me places that I would go over and over again.

It takes a conscious effort, time with God (which I've been lacking), and desire to be who I am designed to be. Not perfect. Not flawless. But willing. Willing to see the big picture and to enjoy the journey.

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This is one little girl who is definitely enjoying her journey...and even dancing through it.

check out these cards {over there}

Head on over to my Stuck on Stampin' blog to see some fun cards I made last week at a workshop. I have so much more to share, so come back to visit {over there} in the next few days!!

just a sample of one of the cards you'll see over there soon

80 years young

So...

It's been a little while, hasn't it? Thanks for all the well wishes and "I've been there" support in my last post...over a week ago!? I was able to snap out of that weird funk I was in and joined the land of the living, but not so much here in blog land. Last week was a rush of busy-ness, mixed in with some not-fun-at-all sickness for both Ryan and myself (two words: stomach flu). I was going to try to attempt to make this a "here's what I've been up to" kind of post, but changed my mind and thought I'd share bits and pieces along the way. I'm enjoying a lazy SUNNY Sunday afternoon while the kids nap...perfect timing for a little blogging.

2 weeks ago my mom came for a one-week whirlwind visit from Alaska to surprise my grandma for her 80th birthday.

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

my mom and the birthday girl...80 years young

We had a family party to celebrate those 80 years. "All because two people fell in love" gives great meaning to our family...2 of the world's greatest grandparents, their 3 children (+ their spouses (minus my dad who stayed back in Alaska)), 7 grandchildren (+5 spouses), and 8 great grandchildren. Talk about a full house!! We took this opportunity to snap pictures of each of the families and unfortunately it was pouring rain outside, so we all had to cram inside for the photo shoot. It would have been fun to get one of all of us as a group, but there was just no room for that!!

The great grandparents with their great grandchildren

My poor mom had to juggle her one week here between my grandparents, me, and my other two siblings (my sister and family were also in town for the same week my mom was). I bet she was exhausted after her stay, but I know we all loved having her here, although it would have been 10 times better if my dad had come, too! Those kids love their Papa!! The countdown begins for December to come when they'll BOTH be in town for 3 months (maybe longer?? hint, hint)


So, of course while we were all pretty much in the same zip code as each other, we squeezed in lots of cousin time...

Jacob (9), Noah (3 1/2), Mikayla (3 1/2), Hunter (2),
Austin (2), Hailey (14 months)

My nephew turned 9 years old last Monday,
so we celebrated while they were still in town.

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I won't be as MIA this week as I was last week (let's hope!), but I'll just send a little reminder to keep working (or start) on your Monthly Craft Challenge...Halloween or Fall-Themed!! You still have 11 days left, so that's PLENTY of time to get going. (please note: this is a little reminder for me, also!) Leave me a comment if you have questions or click on the button below for more information!