Thankful Thursday . . . SUPER POWERS!!!!

Today is Thursday and we spent the A.M. Snuggled up on the couch. . . we have been potty training (well me running him to the potty every 20 minutes). To say it's been tough on our relationship is a massive understatement. I came to the realization that I AM ready to be done with diapers but he is not. I was pushing and pushing telling myself that he is so smart, so perceptive, surely he can do this. . . . he is a boy. He loves to play, he loves to use his imagination and that often means being so caught up in what he is playing with that running to the potty, or even realizing he has to go at all is just not an possible at this point... he'll get there, I know . . . but in his own time... not MINE! 

Soooooo I realized we need to spend some time enjoying this phase we are in . . . playing, using our imaginations and what better way to do that then to be SUPER HERO's. What does every super hero need???? a personalized cape of course!!!!

My first step in any creative idea is to check pinterest, ( I know, I'm obsessed right?!?!) sure enough I found a great tutorial and started there for inspiration (great site for inspiration  )


Here is my take on the project . . .


Supplies :
1.  A t-shirt (one of hubbies driving you crazy with stains ??? that's what I used)
2. Scraps for personalizing (I used cut off portions of the t-shirt and an old tank top )
3. Sewing machine or make this a new sew and use fabric glue where I sew

First: Cut out your cape

I laid the t-shirt on our table and smoothed it out . . . it's stretchy (and this is by no means exact) but just smooth as best you can . . . I used the shirts natural seams as my guided....(make sure you lift up the top layer so your only cutting the front of the shirt and not the back )

 So I cut across the top seam (the one that runs along your shoulders and then down around the neck ). . . I left about 1/4 inch of room from the seam just to make sure I wouldn't snip the seam . . . . Your cutting on the front side of the seam . . . meaning that you want to make sure the seam and back of the shirt are what's left ...  (you want the full neck to stay together)

    not sure if this helps or makes it more confusion (I'll take better pictures all along the way next time!!!) but the pink shows the cut area ....


Next I flipped the shirt over and smoothed it out  ... I tried to picture what I wanted the general shape of the cape to be and drew it out with washable marker. . . .

Second : Personalize

You can go as detailed and crazy as you'd like... but your little super hero will probably be just as happy with a plain cape... This mama loves personalizing :o)

 I used the scraps of the t-shirt to cut out the "E" . . . . I found an old yucky tank top laying around and decided that would be the perfect background for the "E"....you could either sew it on with a machine or use fabric glue

 Finallly I added a quick seam along the edges, not sure how the T-Shirt would frey with washing and the use and abuse that is sure to follow..... it's not perfect by any means.... but it gets the job done :o)

After trying it on him I realized that my husbands shirt neck was way too big and caused the cape to drape too much in the back... I snipped in the center of the front and did a quick cross seam cutting the neck hole about 1/4 of what it was... now it sits better on his shoulders and is big enough to stretch over his head :o) (he has a big mellon) ... you could also use felcro, snaps, buttons... whatever you have on hand

What a great little super hero he makes!!!!

Adios Mis Amigos,

Thankful Thursday . . . terrible two's

 Thankful Thursdays . . . Gratitude creates it's own attitude 

Today's post was inspired by my son. He is two. I'm not sure why the two's have recieved such a bad rap. . . .perhaps because it's when the children start to voice their issues. You, as the mom want to put on green shoes and he wants his blue shoes... Let the tantrum begin. Your in the grocery store and for "no reason at all" the once sweet little girl that melted your heart has turned into a demon monster screaming at the top of her lungs because you won't get her the sugery suger sweets cereal she wants. 

My son is not terrible.....  Not really terrible, okay sometimes terrible.... but today, I'm seeing he is just really passionate. Perhaps it's my husbands latino blood running through his veins....  

Every single thing that happens is a big deal! 

 If he is happy, he is all smiles, giggles and laughing from the depths of his belly. When he is sad, he is genuinely heartbroken. Huge crocodile tears stream down his face. If he is nervous or scared by something his blood curdling screams will be sure to clue you in. 

He feels everything to his core. I pray that this never goes away. 

How many times as adults do we slap on a happy face despite the crocodile tears that are welling up inside. How many times do we get frustrated and upset over the little things and tell ourselves they are no big deal? 

Today, I'm thankful for the reminder that nothing is too little, too small, or insignificant enough to capture my emotions. And that each and every day I should take whatever it is that I'm feeling and allow it to be felt to my core!

Adios Mis Amigos,

How to clean your house and keep it clean.... no seriously!!!

Now that we are settled into our new place and I'm getting into the swing of things. I'm back on track to my quest for Domestic Awesomeness!

What is Domestic Awesomeness you may ask? Well, so glad you did. It's my own personal quest to be an awesome wife, amazing mom, fantastic housekeeper, and to cook at least 3 times a week (lets not get carried away) ((cooking is by far my least favorite task when it comes to all of this ))

So, like I was saying, now that we are all settled in, and I'm back on track, I've started up my Cleaning Regimen.  But, I like to keep it real. We are all busy, kids to chase after, life to keep up with. My idea of clean is organized and not dirty. If you walk into my house at any given time, I'm sure you will find debris, but Lord willing .... nothing will be gross, dirty, or unsanitary!!!!

So, what's my secret..... a chore chart..... for ME! Sure you hand out chores to the kids, even ask the hubs to help out occasionally, but I find the only thing that honestly keeps me on track and on top of the mess is to write it all down and check it off the list one by one!

I have daily stuff I do every single day. . . .
make the beds, and tidy the bedroom
tidy up the bathroom from getting ready
Each person has a designated laundry day
Every Room in the house has a designated deep cleaning day
In the evening, I clean up the kitchen, counters, stove, load the dishwasher and do a quick sweep up on the kitchen floors.
Finally before little man's bedtime, we do the clean up game.... set a timer for 1 minute and race around picking up all the toys

All in all I can say I honestly spend about 1 hour a day doing everything above, only about 20 minutes seriously getting down and dirty cleaning.

This is my weekly chore chart that has everyone's laundry day, the room cleaning, and then on days when I'm feeling extra AWESOME I pull out one of the Bonus items... I think those get done about every 1-2 months.... which is fine cause they are the things that don't need to get done every week :o) 

It's not rocket science, but sometimes the life of a stay at home mom gets nuts. Sure we may not run out to the office 5 days a week for 8 hours a day, but I guarentee that life is just as chaotic and crazy and there is surely no scheduled break times . . . .

So this is how I clean my house, and keep it clean.... whats your secret????



Adios Mis Amigos,

New Spaces, New Places (makes my monday)

We are all unpacked (unpacked being a relative term) and settled (settled also being relative) in our new place. Amazing how I thought it was tough two years ago moving with a 4 month old. HA! Moving with a two year old takes the cake.... Every thing I would pack, organize, unpack, and arrange he would come through like a stampeding tornado and un-do. Good thing he's cute!!!

We downsized here in Jersey, going from over 1,800sq.ft. down to a little less then 1,200sq.ft. So we are getting creative with storage, organization, and functionality.

One solution meant getting rid of our sons ginormous playhouse pirate ship. (he loved it!) But there just isn't room and even if we could make room for him to set it up and play it in, we definitely do not have the storage for it when it's not in use. So the solution.... 

A Sheet Play fort. . . . he is entertained, I can get stuff done, and it folds flat and gets stored in our linen closet when not in use!

My inspiration . . . yet again came from Pinterest. . . .  "my must do DIY for the kids" . . . . specifically this little genius ( folding table house) .... it has been in my dreams ... literally.... I dream of making a kick butt version for little man (picture post office on one side, ice cream shop on the other, yes it will be great!!!) But that creation is looking like hours and hours spent sewing, cutting, and figuring out, this one.... 30 minutes, with a two year old helping!!!!  best of all... NO SEWING!!!

It reminds me of an old cardboard box fort, but with a sheet :o)

Works for me, and best of all... he's been happily playing for over an HOUR!!!!! score for this mama!!!!

Materials. . .. Flat sheet (I used King size) , scissors, paper clips (hold the door in place) and Markers.

in case this makes sense to someone... the pink dots are cut lines.... sometimes a picture is all I need to figure something out :o)

I laid the flat sheet over the table and lined up the one side (Quique's Casa) making sure that it just touched the ground . . ..

I then went down to the Semi Circle end and made sure that touched the ground.

 

Then I went back with the snappy paper clip things (their technical name I'm not sure) and clipped everything before cutting. (my grandfathers words of wisdom measure twice cut once) glad I did, because with the help of my assistant it had become totally uneven and I had to realign and clip again....

 I had to trim the other long side, (two windows) so that it just touched the ground. (cut off about a foot of extra length.)

Next came the window cutting. I first drew out what I was thinking in washable markers, figuring that if I messed up big time I could wash it and try again. . . .luckily nothing major went wrong, so I just cut inside the lines. . . .

VOILA ......















and of course we had to get his house all "settled" first order of business, a window flower box for Mommy

A welcome sign, to welcome all of our friends to the house warming party :o)









Stanley (ginormous monkey), Blue Dog and Pooh
were a few to RSVP

 and best of all Quique LOVES IT!!!!!

Adios Mis Amigos, ...