Happy February 14th!

Have a wonderful day with the people you love! 

We are off to spend the weekend in Lake Arrowhead.
I will leave you with this incredible video.  This is true love.

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DIY Cupid Costume

As you saw a couple of days ago, I made a little cupid costume for Silas. I thought I would post about how I made the costume in case any of you are wanting your children to grow up to resent you too.  The most complicated (but not complicated at all) part of the costume was the wings, so I will start with those.

WINGS
1) Start with 2 hangars.  If you have baby hangars, that would probably work best for a little one.  I did not have baby hangars, so my kid had giant wings. Tape the two hangars together to create your two wings.

2) Using the fabric of your choice (I used felt), fold it over, and place the hangar on top.  Then, cut the fabric out around the hangar, keeping it folded, so that it can fold around the hangar.

3) Slide the hangar inside the opening, then open up your fabric to lay it flat.  Fold the edges over the ends of the hangar and sew (or glue) the fabric over the hangar.

4) Add some stuffing to the middle of the wing, then fold the rest of the edges under. Fold the fabric back over the hangar and sew or glue it closed.

5) Repeat the process to the other hangar.

6) Take a scrap piece of fabric and wrap it around the center.

6) Take some toilet paper, and form bunches. I used about 3 sheets for each bunch.  Glue onto the wings using fabric glue.

7) Your wings are done!

BOW
Now for the bow.  This is beyond easy. Find a stick that is bent in the shape of a bow, then tie string/yarn/ribbon to it.

QUIVER OF ARROWS
I won't insult your intelligence by giving you step by step pictures of the quiver of arrows. For the arrows, I just cut out a bunch of hearts and triangles and glued them onto the ends of decorative straws.  For the quiver, I used an aluminum can and wrapped it in scrapbook paper.  Then I punched holes in the sides and strung some bakers twine through.

BABY 

Add a cute baby in a diaper, and you're good to go!

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Cupid Is Ready For His Big Day!

I know it's not Valentine's Day quite yet, but I couldn't resist posting these now. It is Valentine's week, after all.

Forgive the abnormally large wings on cupid.  That's what I get for making these while he was napping and not measuring his little body. But, in case you are in need of some abnormally large wings yourself, I will share my little DIY cupid costume on the blog later this week.

***I realize that my son will most likely hate me one day for making him pose in all these scenes (it's a risk I'm willing to take).  And, Nick, knowing this will probably be the case, refuses to have anything to do with any of these pictures, no matter how much I beg for his help. This kind of thing is really more of a two person job. Who wants to come help me with the next one?!  It's going to be a special Olympic edition.***

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Teacher Valentine

I don't talk about it very often on this blog, but in my real life I am a teacher.  Thankfully, I have been able to job share the last two years with my friend Amy.  What that means is that I work 2 days one week and 3 days the next, then she takes over and does the same thing.  So, we share a classroom, and our kids have two teachers, AND I get more time at home with Silas. 

I usually just do boring store bought valentines for the kids, but this year, we decided to spice things up a bit.  I saw this idea and decided to replicate it.  When I couldn't find Laffy Taffy's, I improvised and went with Snickers instead.  Here's our version:  

Now our kids will have an adorable picture of their all time favorite teachers to put in a frame (or to draw mustaches on).

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A Little Valentine's Day Recap

I got home from work and admired my heart garland.

Then we walked the poochies.

FYI: These pictures are totally NOT from Valentine's Day.  But, I didn't take any pictures of our V-day walk, so these here pictures are going to represent that part of our day instead.  The rest are from the actual day, I promise.

After the walk, Nick put dinner on the grill and we relaxed while we waited.

And then after a while, we were still waiting.  Dinner was taking a bit longer than expected.  I suggested we watch something on Netflix while we waited, but Nick said that did not seem romantic enough.

So, we played cards instead.  The epitome of romance.

 And finally, dinner was served.

That little chicken was delicious and organic.  So organic that he even had a name....Henry.  When I found that out, I didn't want to eat him anymore. For a little ambiance, we had some Valentine's Day candles thanks to a couple of my fourth graders.

And just when I thought the evening was over and was washing my face, Nick came into the bathroom, opened up the drawer and pulled these suckers out.

 Ummm, WHOA!  Totally not expecting that, best husband ever.  And what did I get him?  Nothing.  Hello crappy wife!

I did, however, make him a focal point of my instagram for the day.

So, I would say
It was a good, good day.
YAY!
(i love rhyming)

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Happy Love Day!

For you to ponder on this Valentine's Day.

What is love?

Some fourth grade answers.

Our Valentine's Day plans:
Dinner at home, dessert in Laguna Beach.

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Heart Garland -- Repost

This post that I wrote for Caramel Cup has been getting a lot of action on pinterest, so I thought I would repost it in honor of the approaching Valentine's Day.

Here it is:

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I went a little heart crazy this year in honor of Valentine's Day.

I have never decorated for Valentine's Day before, but felt inspired this year.  I now have these hearts hanging in 3 different places around the house.

The Office:

The Living Room:

Our bedroom:

You can read more about the process here.

Have a lovely Valentine's Day with your loves....

(Here are my loves just for fun)

                                     My Mountain Man                                                       My Beller Butt

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And this year, of course, my little Brontie needs to be added to my list of loves.

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Valentine's Day

I was very excited to have Valentine's Day off.  There was no school, which meant we got to enjoy the whole day!  We are way more breakfast people than dinner people (though we do like dinner too, and lunch, and desserts, especially desserts).  So, we decided to go out for breakfast in Laguna instead of doing dinner out with all the crowds. 

We decided to try somewhere we have never been, so we went to the Orange Inn on PCH. It was great food and cheap!  And the best part is that it's been around since the 1930's.

It was a beautiful day, so we spent the rest of the morning walking on the beach and watching some paddleboarders face planting into the waves and seals playing in the water.

And, Nick can't watch paddleboarders and surfers without getting antsy and wanting to go out himself, so he spent the afternoon paddleboarding, while I spent the afternoon cleaning and doing laundry.  But that was a good thing.....I LOVE having free days to do that.  It was the best feeling to get all that done...and I had a fondue dinner to look forward to.

And now I have to think about taking all my hearts down....sad.
I think they can stay up for all of February, right?

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