you are loved... even when you are naughty

We are pretty lucky with Dylan, for the most part he's a pretty good kid.

Few tantrums here and there.

Seems to be learning to "touch nice"

Listens a decent percentage of time.

Reads his manners books

But occassionally there is need for the time out chair.

In my last post I showed you the blah-before

AND... 9 months later... ta-da !

I've had my eye on the "you are loved" saying for a while.

and frankly, I love it.

I thought it was fitting here.

Because it's a positive message for him to see as he goes fighting and screaming mad to his time out chair.

And because I have humour... here's what the chair seat says....

and because I have even more humour.... I distressed the chair.... how ironic hey?

Have a good weekend !

ps for my American friends- I didn't make a spelling mistake... us Canadians spell it behavioUr
same with humoUr.
:)

You've maybe heard me mention before that I seem to always have a million projects on the go.

One that's been hanging around for about 

9 months is an unfinished

"Naughty Chair"

Raw wood- super cute- child sized.

Indeed used when said child is "naughty"

Well, I can tick it off my list as completed.  

I'll be back tomorrow to show you the finished project.

Tracy

xoxox

We've lived in Kamloops for almost 4 years now.  Anyone who knows me knows that although I wanted to come here, I wasn't quite prepared for what I got, things didn't exactly work out the way I thought/hoped, and I was pretty miserable here.  Well, I should say, I was happy for 6ish months, we bought a house, things fell apart, and I hated it and wanted to move.  BUT the economy was crap, the recession meant we were stuck with a house that we couldn't sell for enough, and Mat had found a job he was learning lots at and really liking.  So I just basically sucked it up, was miserable in "Krap-loops" and was waiting for the time we could move.

Well, long story short, about 8 months ago I was able to shift some of my thinking, and other things have sort of materialized, to allow me to settle here a bit.  So although I still don't love Kamloops, there are some things here that work and have helped me settle.  Well, settle for now.

One of those things is crafting.  Since my shift into settling here a bit, I've started to make the house more of a home with unique character pieces.  It makes me happy to re-purpose things, to make things pretty, and contribute positively to our home environment.  So take a look at my before....a lovely retro buffet that my neighbours passed on....

And my after....

Yes it was a shiny wood...but bonding primer, and a mouse sander are a girl's best friends !!

Ignore the glare, it was a quick photo- but it's a grey/blue that sits in my dining room !  I love the purple/grey damask.  I'm pleased with it... thoughts ??

Tracy
xoxo

hats hats hats....

So last weekend we had our monthly Ladies get together and the theme was diva hats.  There have been some hats that I've been thinking about making and adding to my {Ava Marie Creates} collection, so I made one for myself for the party.

Then I heard that someone didn't have a hat... so I made another

Then someone else didn't have a hat... so, yes, I made another

and eventually I made a forth.

They were well received at the party, and will be showing up soon for sale in my online store.  I think they are totally cute.  Never mind my odd self portraits to show them off....

(wow, really should have had makeup on in the last pic)

Today I came into the living room, and Dylan was there eating something.  I asked him what he was eating.  First he said "nothing" but then he fessed up..... and said he was eating a "birdie" 

I thought to myself... a birdie??

Then I found the others... he had opened the package himself.

Peeps- he was eating peeps that I had bought for a craft. haha

Hello Little Miss Momma followers !

Yes, you landed in the right place.... this is my personal blog with stories of my life, centered around my son !

You'll also find crafting, cooking and just general fun stuff here, so feel free to take a peek at my personal life, and thanks for supporting {Ava Marie Creates} and LMM.

My other baby is my photography business- www.cherryblissphotography.ca and also on facebook- feel free to stop by and take a look at my images.

I'm having an O.M.G. day today- I'm on LMM !!!  haha.... pretty cool in my books !

Thanks for stopping by !

recent obsessions of a 2 yr old

~Swimming- wants to go every day (no pics)

~Crying and pounding on his bedroom door when it's time to go to bed (no pics)

~Waking up in the middle of the night- ie sunday night,up from 11-2 am bouncing on my bed (for sure no pics)

~Painting.... lots of pics....

Dylan's "sister" is staying with us- just for fun and spending the night, and her PD day with us on Friday.  Dylan is beyond thrilled.  He just loves her to death.  He'd been waiting all day Thursday for her to come... saying her name over and over, asking me about her, and finally, she came.  He just adores her.  I enjoy having her over too.... it's fun to do girl things, and do things with an older child.  Like I said when she stayed with us when her family was away, we just might not give her back...  :)  Here's what they were up to Thursday...


make your own pizza night... Rowan starts... and Dylan brings glue sticks to the table....



painting....and Rowan working on a card for her brother's 2nd birthday (such  a sweet girl)

check us out !!

I asked her to make a funny face for her grandma in hopes that she'll see this and laugh...

reading before bed....

Tomorrow- headbands and baking.

crafting

I often steal   use other blogs as inspiration for projects.  I've been doing lots to the house lately.... and thought about doing a no- sew curtain, cuz let's face it- I'm a no sew kinda girl.  I should have taken pics of the steps... but here is the end project.  Cost me $9.00 for the whole project, and probably took me 30ish minutes.  I'm loving it.  And wondering if I should do my other windows.....

(pls excuse the mess on the counters... a girl can't worry about things like that when she's crafting )

the wrong way to blog a craft tutorial

What's the wrong way to blog about a craft tutorial?  Well, don't actually do a tutorial, just show the end product.

Ta-da

So I bought this GIANT wicker  toy basket, it was hideous- a horrible colour, so I repaired it, painted it and attached these giant letters that I painted to match the living room !

I think it's pretty snazzy, and it keeps EVERYTHING hidden away.

Too bad I wasn't on the ball and missed taking before, and during shots.

Double the fun

So as I said the other day, Dylan's "sister" was staying with us for a few days.  His sister being our next door neighbour who is 6 and is close to our family and to Dylan.  Dylan just adores her.  Boy did they have fun.  Here is a synopsis of her stay. Hoping her mom and grandma see this when they get back.  She was lots of fun, we enjoyed having her.  Dylan was sad today that we couldn't go get her from school.  I think we might have to steal her for a night again in the future.

Friday we picked her up from Dance and the three of us went to Montana's for dinner.  Dylan, still being sick got really sick there, so we wolfed down our dinner and left quickly.  This is them cuddling before bed.

Saturday Rowan and I went to dance in the morning and met Mat and Dylan at the mall for lunch.  They went home after, and Rowan and I did grocery shopping.  Once we got back, we did some baking.  Banana muffins and Banana chocolate loaf.  Dylan joined us and the two worked beautifully together.

We made homemade waffles on Saturday and Sunday for breakfast.  We did it both days because they were so yummy.

Sunday we stayed home and made headbands together.  Dylan's birthday party was cancelled because he was so sick, so Rowan and I worked on our headbands, and before bed we put curlers in for school on Monday.

 Here she is Monday morning, dressed and ready to go with the headband that we created together.

Monday after school we went to Michael's for crafting supplies, and Rowan painted a wood jewelry box that we bought for her.  Of course Dylan had to help...

Tuesday we all piled into her bed and she read to me and Dylan. 

We managed to get homework done every night- she got all of her spelling words right, and we did the nightly reading.  She made it to school on time every day she was with us, ate the majority of her lunch, and was a good helper with Dylan.  Monday she woke up at 3:30 in the morning thinking it was morning...haha... ummm NO.  She slept well in her bed, managed to eat a good breakfast and get organized and dressed in plenty of time for school.  Dylan LOVED walking her to school, and peeking in her class. 

She was lots of fun to have. 

We hope her Mom enjoyed her time away, and will enjoy this peek into her little lady's "stay-cation"

My new venture- revealed !!

So, yesterday I was complaining (kinda, not really though) about lots of things that I have on the go.  Well, here is my next newest project.  {Ava Marie Creates}  It's a new business where I create handcrafted floral inspired objects (mostly headbands for now) for girls.  My intention is to sell them to photographers for baby shoots, and to the general public. 

I've been busy creating my winter 2011 collection.  Go to facebook - well just click this link to my new page http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=2361831622#!/pages/Ava-Marie-Creates-/184684224875003

When you get to the page, click the LIKE button up top and then go on to the photo tab to see my creations. 

I'm really tapping into my creativity these days- it's fun !  Poor Dylan has had to model a few of my headbands, but he's not happy about it- because he is ALL BOY ! 

I'm working on opening my online shop at www.etsy.com - called AvaMarieCreates.  It's not up and running yet, but it will allow people from all over the world to easily buy my creations.  So please, tell your friends, pass the word on, and help support my new venture.

Tracy xoxox

-oh- my- gosh-

It's busy busy here.  If you're a faithful reader, you know I have many things on the go.  My crafting, my new photography business (www.cherryblissphotography.ca) my part time job, my other part time job, my son, being a landlord, cooking, baking, and generally being a wonderful cookie cutter wife. Ok, the last one isn't true, but the rest are.  And, we are expecting to be foster parents in the next few months. 

My projects that are yet to be completed are immense.  I started, and deleted the list here because it's too long.

Lately when I read crafting blogs or things, I'm always saying, I can do that.... I can do that... why buy it, I can do that.....so inspiration hit the other day and I thought, well, let's see if I actually can do that.  So I bought the supplies.... and stole the glue which I had intended on buying, came home and tried.  I loved it !  It turned out beautifully, was cheap to make, let me be creative, and seemed like good mompreneur potential (ya know, a mom being an entrepreneur)

So, as I always do I jumped right in, started it up.  I'm working on a facebook page for my new business, setting up an online shop on ETSY, and have signed up for exposure of my new venture via an online giveaway.  So I'm fully in this one too.  So what is it?  Give me a few days to finish working on it, and I'll have some pictures to show... and some details to reveal.

Enjoy a pic of Dylan as you wonder what the heck I'm up to now....




Trying to get organized to get his shoes on... not exactly cooperating... but it was funny.



Christmas Countdown

We were in walmart one day a few weeks ago and Mat wanted to get an advent calendar for Dylan to count down the days to Christmas.  I wasn't really keen on those cardboard cheapy ones, so I said, I'll make one.  Not having any idea how, what type or anything.  Well now that I'm a blogger, I'm also an active blog reader.  I think I subscribe to almost 70 of them, mostly craft related.  Someone posted a calender she had made that was inspired by a pottery barn one.  I thought it was pretty neat, and thought, hey, I can do that without sewing.  It's 5ish feet tall, and made of felt. Each pocket holds a special treat for our little man.  Some of the pockets are not yet decorated, I thought I'd keep decorating them with special things as the years go on.  They are also missing numbers, but only because I'm still looking for neat affordable ones.  So anyway, here's a look at it.  The countdown begins !!!

A Christmas Visitor

I just had to share this, because it's the neatest, coolest thing I've seen in a LONG time.  I'm going to get started getting my stuff together for our arrival of Petey next year for his "Christmas mission".  Can't wait to see what Dylan thinks of this... 12 months from now.  Taken from one of my favorite blogs.... you MUST check it out.  See her post copied here on mine, and this is the direct link to the blog- http://themagicofordinarythings.blogspot.com/

A CHRISTMAS VISITOR

Last night, right before dinner, there came a small knock at our front door. After coaxing our three year old to open the door to see whom it might be, we had the opportunity to meet...

Peter J. Tinslesparkle - The Christmas Elf.

He arrived with a note and a suitcase.

The note was addressed to the boys. It introduced "Petey", and stated his holiday mission.

He obviously didn't travel via airplane. I doubt any airline would have allowed a wreath hanging on the outside of a piece of luggage

His suitcase even had a luggage tag with his monogram and address.

The boys were curious, so Petey was kind enough to share with them the contents of his suitcase.

He brought his own pillow, a candle for being able to see as he wonders about the house during the night, an alarm clock, and a hot water bottle. I guess he must have a bad back.

He brought necessary toiletry items - towel and washcloth, comb, hairdryer, soap, toothbrush and toothpaste. Yet, no change of clothing?

He's obviously still a kid at heart, because in order to entertain himself (when he's not on duty) he brought a toy car, a book for reading, and a coloring book and crayons.

In case he gets hungry, he brought his own snack - graham crackers. He also came with his own drinking mug.

Most importantly, he has his surveillance items - a special phone on which he can directly get a hold of Santa Claus, a camera for recording good and bad behavior, and a pencil for taking notes. Luke told him we would lend him paper if he needed it. I love the fact that the North Pole is still Old School - no laptop or cell phone. Gotta love tradition.

He also brought a basket and a set of keys. Not sure what they are for, maybe their use and meaning will be revealed soon.

Now just to give you an idea of scale.

Petey's already been hard at work. He situated himself on a shelf in the boys room last night, and today he is on top of the TV. Luke knows he's there, and his behavior seems to be shifting to the good. Hopefully, for the time that Petey is staying with us, his work will be easy.

http://themagicofordinarythings.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-visitor.html

Busy Busy Busy

Happy Wednesday- we got a lovely package from Grannie and Grandad yesterday !  Thanks guys !! 

Here we are up to our eyeballs in sickness and busyness.  First the sick- We all have colds.  We have scratchy throats, running noses, bad sinuses.  It sucks.

Here is our sickie boy (with a million suckies)

Busyness.  Here is a pictoral of all of the jobs yet to get done.  I won't mention the new christmas tree stand that SOMEBODY bought which sits in the family room waiting for a tree, or the fact that that certain SOMEONE also needs to put up lights.

I'm up to my eyeballs editing my website.  Blogging, posting previews, making edits to pictures.  I've sifted through almost 900 pictures in the last few days... I won't tell you how many I edited until my eyes went blurry.  And... there are several jobs/projects sitting around needing to be finished......

THE TIME OUT CHAIR I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WITH...

MY NEW FAKE FLOOR FOR PHOTOGRAPHY THAT MAT NEEDS TO DO

PIECES OF MY NEWBORN BACKDROP THAT NEED ASSEMBLY- NOT PICTURED, MY REGULAR BACKDROP TO BE INSTALLED

MY PROP CUPBOARD TO BE ORGANIZED

JUNK THAT NEEDS A NEW HOME

THIS VINTAGE CHAIR THAT I WANT TO RE-FINISH

CHRISTMAS GIFTS TO WRAP

THIS CRAFT WHICH I NEED TO MOUNT AND FIND NUMBERS FOR- I WILL BLOG ABOUT IT SOON, IT'S PRETTY NEAT