Rain Rain Go Away

You know that saying "Everything's bigger in Texas"? 

I must say, there's actually some truth to that. 

...especially when it comes to their rain storms.

Since we've lived here {which is only a month!} there have been three rain storms. 

Only one of them included lightening and, thus, thunder...which I find very odd.

But all three have resulted in some amount of flooding. 

{thankfully we're not in a flood zone}

When it rains it pours.

Literally.

And not to make fun, {but I'm going to} any time something falls from the sky here, 

people. get. crazy.

...well, mainly their driving...which is beyond scary to begin with...

I can't help but laugh to myself {and others around me} at these silly southerners as I imagine them driving through snow. 

{hahaha! & *sigh*}

...back to the point of this post...

With all this rain, the past week has been very gloomy and wet which makes me want to sleep, drink coffee, plan out my future crafting endeavors {but not actually do them), and peruse the pages of pretty magazines.

 I've decided that I could totally live here...

The kids, on the other hand, have busted out in all kinds of creative ways...

Breck made angry birds:

{he decided against making a giant 'stage' for them and instead has been placing them around the house with reenacted bird bombings.}

And Rowan has taken to helping herself to the nail polish:

{for a 3.5 year old, she really does a darned good job!}

Project Pinterest - Book Page Rosette Wreath

Sorry I'm a bit late with Project Pinterest this morning...Seth surprised us yesterday by coming home a full day early and PP had to take a backseat!

***

These gorgeous paper rosette wreaths are all. over. pinterest.
And they make me giddy every time I see them.
I happened to have some old-and-not-worth-reading books that were just begging to be repurposed into something beautiful...I was happy to oblige. ;)

{Tutorial Source: I'm A Yarner  |  Pinterest Source: Sara Harrison}



As the original tutorial states, this is very time consuming, but oh so worth it!
I took mine a step further and used decorative scissors to cut my book pages....it really made a big difference in the look of the rosettes.

If you love this style but don't have the time to make it yourself, you can purchase this wreath in my new Etsy shop, Anthology on Main.



If you're planning to make one of these bad boys yourself, here are a few things I learned from this project that may help you...

Things I learned:

1. This project goes much faster if you cut multiple, stacked pages into spirals at one time.

2. If you use a straw wreath form you will want to wrap it in fabric to keep your home from looking like a barn.

3. Hot gluing a rosette directly to your finger will hurt. A lot.




Now it's your turn to show us what you've made!!
{Oooo! I can hardly wait!}







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Here are the rules:

1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.

2. Create it!

3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.

4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!
5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!

Lots of Words, No Pictures

I've said it before and I'll say it again...the educational system down here is not what we're used to. 

Monday Breck started his second new school here. 

We pulled him from the private school and put him in public. I think he's liking it and it helps that two of our neighbor kids are also in kindergarten at the same school, albeit different classrooms. The two things I hadn't expected were: 

1. The traffic...we live 6 miles from the school and it takes us no less than 30 minutes to get there...in a car! Most of that is waiting in the car line to drop him off. And then we get to do it again when it's time to pick him up. 

2. The other shocker is the sheer amount of busy work {aka: homework} they send home with him every day. We're talking packets of poorly photocopied worksheets with no instructions and/or requiring him to cut out 63 small astronauts and then glue 55 of them to another sheet, for example. The amount of time it takes a 5 year old to do that is absurdly disproportionate to the low education value he gets from doing it. I'm really hoping there isn't a packet in his bag tomorrow....two hours of homework each night for a kindergartner will quickly lead to a conference with his teacher.  

Somehow tonight, between the 2 hours of homework and dinner, Breck found time to draw, color and cut out angry bird characters he'd made from memory. I am seriously impressed with his ability to remember such details! I told him this weekend he could dedicate as much time as he wanted to making a full-view angry birds scene, which he can put above his bed. {pictures will follow!}

***

Rowan is doing a pretty good job potty training....or at least for her she's doing a good job. She is actually taking an interest and initiative with it, which is light years from where we were before we moved!

And we've been working on writing her name and the names of our family members. She's been very busy drawing and cutting!

***

Seth works. And works. And works some more. I hope after mid-February things will calm down...a lot.

For me, life in Texas is starting to feel more like regular life and not some homesick melodrama. We're slowly but surely getting to know our neighbors better and we're clicking with all of them. I think we've got some friendships in the making as well as a trustworthy babysitter across the street!  

{Score and bonus!}

I've been keeping busy crafting and organizing, but have somehow managed to not get out for a photo walk....it might have something to do with a potty training diva and traffic that's just as bad! 

Letter Sounds

Last Fall Breck got an alphabet bingo game in a goodie bag from a classmate's birthday party. 

It. Is. Awesome!

The "call cards" have either a missing letting in a word or a blank space in a portion of the alphabet.

Both kids love to play it and for Rowan, it gives her practice with letter sounds and identification.

...she's much better with those things than I thought!

PS - This came from the Target Dollar Spot!

Project Pinterest - No Sugar Cookies

Two weeks ago I came across a recipe titled "No Sugar Oat Drops" and thought that sounded disgusting. 
A cookie without sugar?No thank you.
But since I'm trying my best to make healthier food choices I decided to at least give the recipe a read.And it didn't sound too bad!Coconuts, almonds and raisins won me over.
Now, keep in mind that these are out-of-the-box cookies.{Not from-a-box...out-of-the-box.}They are VERY thick and do not spread, so however big you form them is how big they will be.
Here are mine, uncooked on the baking sheet.{I used a medium biscuit cutter to shape them.}


And here are my {super badly photographed} baked cookies.
Do not let the poor lighting fool you...these bad boys were D. Licious!I deviated slightly from the original recipe and used what I had on hand.And bare in mind that 175C approximates to 350F.Also, the recipe says to bake for 20 minutes, but mine could have baked much longer...upwards of 35 to 40 as it bakes more like a quick bread than a cookie.
You can find the original recipe at Anja's Food 4 Thought  |  Repinned via DJ Hornsby



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Here are the rules:

1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.

2. Create it!

3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.

4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!
5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!